This story is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

All things are impermanent,
Coming into being and ceasing to be.
When coming into being and ceasing to be both stop,
There is blissful quiescence.

In the past, Śākyamuni Buddha offered up his life for half of this four-line verse. How did it happen? When he was cultivating in a past life, he met a being from the Heaven of Pure Dwelling who manifested as a rākṣasa ghost to test the his sincerity. The rākṣasa ghost walked by the old cultivator chanting to himself, “All things are impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be.”

The cultivator thought, “What’s he singing? Oh, it’s a verse” Then he asked the ghost, “Hey, what did you just say?”

“I said, ‘All things are impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be.”” Replied the ghost.

“Aren’t there two more lines to your verse?”

“Yes,” said the ghost.

“Please tell me what they are.”

“I’m starving, I don’t have any energy,” said the ghost. “If you give me something to eat, I’ll tell you.”

“Okay,” said the cultivator. “I’ll offer you whatever you want, and then you can tell me those two lines.”

The rākṣasa ghost said, “I need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a living human being. Can you give up your own flesh and blood?”

The cultivator thought, “Well, if I get to hear the Dharma, then my death will be worth it. But if I don’t get to hear those two lines of verse, I’ll never be able to put everything down.” And so the cultivator replied, “Fine, tell me the rest of the verse, and then I’ll let you eat me.”

“Okay,” said the ghost. “The last two lines are: ‘When coming into being and ceasing to be both stop, there is blissful quiescence.’ Everything in the world is impermanent, coming into being and ceasing to be. The attainment of what neither comes into being nor ceases to be is true and eternal happiness. Okay, now I’m going to eat you.”

“Hold on!” said the cultivator. “Don’t eat me yet.”

“What? Are you going back on your promise?”

“No, no. I’m not going back on my promise. I just want to carve this verse on a tree, so it will remain in the world. When people see it, they will bring forth the Bodhi mind and eventually attain the Path.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the rākṣasa ghost said. “Go ahead and carve it.”

The cultivator scraped off the outer bark of a tree with a knife and carved the verse onto the tree. Meanwhile, the rākṣasa began wailing, “Please hurry! I’m famished!”

After the cultivator quickly finished carving, the rākṣasa said, “I’m not going to be polite anymore. I must eat your flesh and drink your blood.”

“Hold on,” said the cultivator. “Please wait a bit longer.”

“What? You’ve taken so long already. What else do you want to do?” complained the ghost.

The cultivator said, “The words on the tree will eventually be worn away by the elements. I want to chisel this verse in stone so that it will last forever. Please be patient for a little while longer as I do this.”

“Oh, all right,” said the rākṣasa.

When the cultivator finished chiseling, the rākṣasa said, “Now I can eat you!”

“Fine,” said the cultivator, as he closed his eyes and waited to be eaten.

Suddenly a voice in space said, “Bravo! You are a true cultivator who is able to sacrifice himself for the Dharma. You will certainly become a Buddha.” When the cultivator opened his eyes, the rākṣasa ghost was gone and a god from the Heaven of Pure Dwelling appeared before him.

That is known as “not being afraid to renounce one’s life for half a verse.” Could we be that sincere in our study of Buddhism? Could we renounce our lives for half a verse or for a sūtra?

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

The ten good deeds
The three deeds involving the karma of the body are:

1. 1. Not killing, which means not taking the life of any creature;
   2. Not stealing, which means not taking what has not been given to one;
   3. Not engaging in sexual misconduct, which means not having improper sexual relations with any man or woman.

The four deeds involving the karma of the mouth are:

1. 4. Not lying, which means always speaking truthfully;
   5. Not speaking harshly, which means not berating or speaking rudely to others;
   6. Not speaking duplicitously, which means not speaking of others’ faults or sowing seeds of dissension;
   7. Not speaking frivolously, which means avoiding obscenities, off-color jokes, and idle chatter.

The three deeds involving the karma of the mind are:

1. 8. Not being greedy,
   9. Not being hateful,
   10. Not being deluded.

The opposites of these ten good deeds are the ten evil deeds.

Five Heinous Acts

1. 1. Killing one’s father
   2. Killing one’s mother
   3. Killing one’s teacher (ācārya)
   4. Destroying the harmony of the Sangha
   5. Shedding the Buddha’s blood

Now that you know that killing your teacher is a heinous act, I’m sure none of you will dare to murder me. Sometimes the third heinous act is listed as killing an Arhat–the Arhat is just one’s teacher. If the members of the Sangha had been dwelling peacefully and happily in the monastery, but you go there and break them up, then you are “destroying the harmony of the Sangha.” “Shedding the Buddha’s blood” includes destroying statues and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If you break a statue of the Buddha, and it wasn’t an accident, you are also shedding the Buddha’s blood. If you didn’t mean to break it, then it doesn’t count as a heinous act, so don’t panic and think you’re going to fall into the hells.

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

Life is filled with suffering. There are the Three Sufferings, the Eight Sufferings, and the limitless sufferings. Mentally and physically oppressed by all these sufferings, living beings never find any peace, happiness, or comfort. These oppressive sufferings dominate their lives.

The Three Sufferings:

1. The suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions.
2. The suffering due to the loss of pleasurable conditions.
3. The suffering due to inexorable change.

The “suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions” means that in the midst of suffering, there is still more suffering. One has neither food, clothes, nor shelter. That’s suffering piled on top of suffering, suffering that never comes to an end.

If one does not undergo the “suffering due to contact with unpleasant conditions” that comes with poverty, one may undergo the “suffering due to the loss of pleasurable conditions” experienced by rich people when they lose all their wealth in a sudden and unexpected disaster, such as robbery, fire, or flood.

“I’m neither poor nor rich, so these two sufferings don’t apply to me,” you say.

However, you cannot escape the “suffering due to inexorable change.” From youth until the prime of life, and then on into old age and death, your thoughts flow in an unending succession. That’s known as the suffering due to inexorable change. The life process itself entails suffering.

There are also the Eight Sufferings:

1. The suffering of birth
2. The suffering of old age
3. The suffering of sickness
4. The suffering of death
5. The suffering of being apart from those you love
6. The suffering of being together with those you hate
7. The suffering of not obtaining what you seek
8. The suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas

Birth is a very uncomfortable experience. You feel as if you were being squeezed between two mountains. You feel as much pain as a live turtle whose shell is ripped off. After a painful birth, you gradually get old. Old age is also suffering. One by one, your organs start failing, and even simple tasks become very difficult. The pain of sickness is even harder to bear. You may moan and cry, but no one can suffer in your stead.

Such suffering is very democratic: everyone from the king down to the lowliest beggar must bear it. Even the emperor, who owns the empire and is worshipped by all-even after his death-suffers just like anyone else when he gets sick. Of course, if you don’t get sick, then it’s not a problem. If you do, then sickness treats you the same as anyone else; it’s not polite at all.

Ordinary people have deep emotional attachments. They hope their loved ones will live and their enemies will die. When two people fall in love, they forget about everything else. Like besotted fools, they are always stuck to each other, as if with Crazy Glue, and nothing can pull them apart. …

There is also the suffering of being together with those one hates. “I really detest that person,” you think. “The mere sight of him upsets me.” You wish to get away from him, but strangely enough, he follows you wherever you go and always makes a point of greeting you and working with you. You detest him, but he always hangs around you. You can’t escape him. That’s the suffering of being with those whom one hates.

Then there’s the suffering of not obtaining what you seek. When you fail to obtain what you seek, you may become so afflicted that you can’t sleep at night and you lose your appetite. You feel restless and ill at ease. That’s the suffering of not obtaining what you seek.

The worst suffering Is that of the raging blaze of the five skandhas. The five skandhas are form, feeling, thinking, formations, and consciousness. No one can leave them behind. They are so powerful that they have suffocated us and smothered our Buddha-nature. However, once we understand them, we’ll see that there’s no real substance to them. They are just like clouds drifting by. Once we “illuminate the five skandhas and see that they are all empty,” as the line from the Heart Sūtra says, then we know that “originally there was not a single thing; where can the dust alight?” (a verse from the Sixth Patriarch’s Sūtra)

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

Fundamentally, our tempers do not come from the food we eat, nor from heaven or earth, nor from the weather. They come from our own ignorance. Ignorance comes from selfishness, as do afflictions, indirectly. We have so much anger and affliction simply because we are afraid to suffer a loss. Not wanting to take a loss, we get mad and fight. If we did not fight, were not greedy, did not seek anything, were not selfish, and did not want to benefit ourselves, we would have no anger.

Among the Bodhisattvas, Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara, Kannon) has great compassion, and if you recite his name, he will relieve your suffering and pain. He has great affinities with all beings. If you wish to strengthen your ties with Guanyin Bodhisattva, recite his name more often and let your light blend with his.

Earth Store Bodhisattva (Kṣitigarbha, Jizo) has great vows. He cannot bear to see any living being in suffering. If we recite his name, he will help us to quickly attain Buddhahood with his awe-inspiring spiritual power. Did these two Bodhisattvas place advertisements in the sūtras to promote themselves? No. The Buddha, who always speaks the truth, personally praised them and told us about their great compassion and great vows.

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

When we make offerings to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we should not think that they are as greedy as we are, always hoping someone will invite them for tea or a vegetarian meal. We offer fine incense, fresh flowers, and so forth to show our sincerity, but that doesn’t mean the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas enjoy these things. They aren’t delighted if we burn incense for them, and they don’t get upset if we don’t. They don’t need any of the worldly things that people offer to them. We make such offerings only because we have no other way of showing our sincerity.

When we make offerings, we should not be like those superstitious people who light big handfuls of joss sticks in front of the Buddha. When they burn so much incense, the Buddha, who had been peacefully shining his protective light on living beings, disappears in a cloud of smoke and can’t even open his eyes. That causes him to stop shining his light and protecting people. Of course this is just my foolish conjecture about the Buddha’s state, but my point is, there’s no need to offer great big handfuls of incense to the Buddha. It would be like covering a hundred-foot-long table with food and expecting one person to eat it all.

We should light no more than three sticks of incense as an offering to the Buddha, with perhaps one more stick for the Dharma-protecting spirits, making four sticks in all. Usually, one stick of incense is enough. If you are sincere, the Bodhisattvas will protect you even if you don’t offer incense. The Buddhas will be happy as long as you are mindful of the Three Jewels and you recite the sūtras. You don’t need to light incense to make them happy.

Ordinary people dislike criticism and are fond of praise, but Buddhas are not so petty. Our common minds cannot fathom the wisdom of sages. Don’t think Buddhas are as greedy as people. Don’t be like the superstitious folk who worship in the temples, thinking, “The more money we give and the more incense we burn, the better.” They are very sure that their attitude is correct, but they can’t explain why. Now wouldn’t you say that they are muddled? Buddhists should listen to truth and wisdom and not be superstitious.

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

By giving, one reaps blessings. Those who were stingy in past lives are poor now, while those who were generous are now rich. It is said, “You must first give in order to get something in return. If you don’t give, you won’t get anything.” We must be clear about cause and effect. If you make even a tiny mistake in cause and effect, the consequences may be terrible. When we come to the temple to bow to the Buddhas, we should try to benefit others, not try to gain something for ourselves. We should be willing to take a loss. People who come to the temple to steal food, money, or other things will certainly fall into the three lower paths.

Be sure to tell your relatives and friends that, no matter what temple they go to, they shouldn’t go there hoping to obtain responses or bargains, or to steal things. If they do, they are creating great offenses. If you fail to tell them, then you have a share in their offenses. You should clearly explain the law of cause and effect to them, so they won’t make mistakes.

The sūtras tell us to give to others, not to constantly be seeking offerings from others. Buddhists should benefit others. Otherwise, we will only be “thieves among the virtuous.” If we constantly exploit situations and pull strings with the Dharma-protectors, we are simply creating offenses and trying to destroy Buddhism.

Hearing my advice, I hope you will wake up and quickly take stock of yourself. If you have faults, change them right away; and if you don’t, then try even harder to be a good Buddhist. Don’t be a phony Buddhist who tries to take advantage of Buddhism. Don’t be tempted to do business within Buddhism, for it will surely lead you to the hells.

This explanation is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

When the Buddha was about to enter Nirvāṇa, Ānanda was so overcome with grief that he could only cry. Although Ananda was a third-stage Arhat, he was still emotional. He couldn’t bear to think that the Buddha was going to enter Nirvana, so he wept piteously, forgetting about everything else.

Then another bhikṣu (Venerable Aniruddha) reminded him, “You’re in charge of remembering the Dharma spoken by the Buddha. The Buddha is about to enter Nirvāṇa, so you’d better think things over clearly. There are some important matters you should ask the Buddha about before he enters Nirvāṇa. All you know how to do is cry! What will become of us in the future?”

Hearing the Venerable One’s words, Ānanda collected his wits and said, “Yes, you’re right, but I’ve been crying so hard I can’t think straight. What should we ask the Buddha?”

The Venerable One said, “First of all, when we compile the sūtras in the future, how should they begin?”

Ananda replied, “Right! That’s very important.”

“Second, when the Buddha is in the world, we take the Buddha as our teacher. After the Buddha enters Nirvāṇa, whom should we take as our teacher?”

Ānanda said, “Yes, that’s also an important question.”

“Third, when the Buddha is in the world, all the bhikṣus dwell with the Buddha. After the Buddha enters Nirvāṇa, with whom should we dwell?”

“That’s certainly a good question.” Said Ānanda.

“Fourth, when the Buddha is in the world, he can subdue the evil-natured bhikṣus. After the Buddha enters Nirvana, who should discipline them?”

“These four questions are all extremely important,” said Ananda. “Now I will go and ask the Buddha.”

Then he went before the Buddha, knelt, placed his palms together, and said, “World-Honored One, since you are about to enter Nirvāṇa, there are some important questions I would like to ask. I hope the Buddha will compassionately answer them.”

The Buddha replied, “What are your questions? You may ask them now.”

“Buddha, you have spoken the Dharma for forty-nine years and expounded the sūtras in over three hundred assemblies,” said Ananda, “In the future, when we compile the sūtras, how should they begin?”

The Buddha told Ānanda, “Our sūtras are different from the scriptures of other religions, which begin by speaking of either existence or non-existence. You should begin the Buddhist sūtras with the four words, ‘Thus I have heard’ which means, ‘I, Ānanda, personally heard this Dharma, which is thus; it is not hearsay.”

Ananda said, “Okay, I will use the four words, “Thus I have heard.’ My second question is, when the Buddha is in the world, we bhikṣus take the Buddha as our teacher. Whom should we take as our teacher after the Buddha enters Nirvāṇa?”

The Buddha said, “After I enter Nirvāṇa, you bhikṣus should take the precepts as your teacher. The Pratimokṣa is your great teacher. If you uphold the precepts, it will be the same as when I am In the world. You should avoid all evil and practice all good deeds.” …

“Now I’ll ask the third question,” continued Ānanda. “When the Buddha is in the world, we dwell with the Buddha. We always live and study with the Buddha. After the Buddha enters Nirvāṇa, with whom should the bhikṣus dwell?”

The Buddha answered, “After I enter Nirvāṇa, all the bhikṣus should dwell in the Four Applications of Mindfulness.”

The Four Applications of Mindfulness

1. Contemplating the body as impure.
2. Contemplating feelings as suffering.
3. Contemplating thoughts as impermanent.
4. Contemplating dharmas as being without self.

The first application of mindfulness is to contemplate the body as impure. “But,” you say, “I take a bath and keep my body clean every day, and I put on makeup and jewelry to make it beautiful.” You may adorn your body with expensive jewelry and designer clothes, but it’s just like decorating a toilet; no matter how beautiful the toilet looks, it will still stink. …

Second, contemplate feelings as suffering. Feelings refer to sensations. No matter how enjoyable the sensation is, it is basically suffering. Happiness is the cause of suffering.

Third, contemplate thoughts as impermanent. Thoughts arise in continuous succession, one after another; they don’t last.

Fourth, contemplate dharmas as being without self. All dharmas (phenomena) are free of the notion of “me and mine.”

These are the Four Applications of Mindfulness. …

“Here is my fourth question,” said Ānanda. “When the Buddha is in the world, the Buddha can subdue the recalcitrant bhikṣus. After the Buddha enters Nirvāṇa, how should we deal with them?”

The Buddha said, “When you encounter a recalcitrant bhikṣu, just ignore him – don’t talk to him.” To ignore him is a passive way of expelling him. If no one pays attention to him or argues with him, he will soon grow bored of making trouble. If you pay attention to him or try to fight with him, he will think that he is getting somewhere. But if you ignore him, he won’t be able to do anything.  …

Recalcitrant bhikṣus are perverse and unreasonable. The more you argue with them, the more they enjoy it. That’s why the Buddha instructed us to ignore them.

The Three Doubts of the Assembly

When Ananda first ascended the Dharma seat – the seat where the Buddha spoke the Dharma – to begin the compilation of sūtras, there were many auspicious portents. For instance, Ananda became endowed with the thirty-two features and eighty subtle characteristics of a Buddha. Seeing those portents, the members of the assembly immediately had three kinds of doubts:

1. They thought that Ananda was their teacher, Śākyamuni Buddha, who had come back to life.
2. They thought that Ananda was a Buddha from another world. “Is this a Buddha who has come from another world to speak the Dharma in the Sahā world? Otherwise, why would he look like that?”
3. They thought Ānanda himself had become a Buddha.

The entire assembly was startled and at a loss, but once Ānanda said, “Thus I have heard,” their three doubts were dispelled. He was in effect stating, “This is the Dharma that I, Ānanda, personally heard Śākyamuni Buddha speak.”

Even the Arhats had three doubts when they saw Ānanda leading the compilation of the sūtras. As we listen to this sūtra, we may have a thousand or even ten thousand doubts. “Is this sūtra true? Did the Buddha really say this? What proof is there?” Our human brain starts plugging away, generating millions of doubts. So, you see, studying the Buddha-dharma is not that easy. Why haven’t we had any attainment? Too many doubts, that’s why!

A cultivator should take care not to doubt.
Once you doubt, you go astray

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

[Medicine Master’s Vaiḍūrya] Buddhaland has always been completely pure. It is always clean, pure, and undefiled, as bright and clear as vaiḍūrya.

There are no women in the Vaiḍūrya Land. Some women’s rights activists object to Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss, saying, “Why are there no women in that land? Does Amitabha Buddha look down on women? Does he favor men over women?” Not at all. We should realize that the Sahā world, in which men and women engage in lust, is filled with all kinds of evil and suffering. There is nothing worthwhile here. Everything is unclean.

The Sahā world Is known as the World of the Five Turbidities. Our time is very impure–that’s the turbidity of the eon. The things we see with our eyes are also unclean–that’s the turbidity of views. We all have incredibly many afflictions–that’s the turbidity of afflictions. Living beings are all born from emotional desire, and they are differentiated into males and females–that’s the turbidity of living beings. Not only human beings, but all beings with blood and breath are this way–born from sexual desire and dying from sexual desire. Even germs are imperceptibly brought into existence by this kind of desire. As long as there is desire, one is impure. The turbidity of life comes about because beings in the Sahā world live in an extremely unclean environment. The things we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and think about are all unclean. Thus, this is known as the Evil World of the Five Turbidities.

In contrast to our dusty, defiled world, there is no dirt in the heavens; nor in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, where the ground is paved with gold; nor in the Eastern Vaiḍūrya Land, which has ground made of vaiḍūrya.

The people in the land of Ultimate Bliss are born transformationally from the vows of Amitabha Buddha, and they are free of desire. The Vaiḍūrya Land is created from the vows of Medicine Master Buddha. Because these Buddha lands are completely free of desire and birth occurs by transformation, not by sexual reproduction, there are no women in these lands.

No lower destinies and no sounds of suffering. The hells, hungry ghosts, and animals do not exist in the Vaiḍūrya Land. There aren’t any heartbreaking sounds of pain, sorrow, or distress.

This quote is from Master Hsuan Hua‘s commentary on the Medicine Master Sūtra.

We were born from ignorance. Ignorance is the root of birth and death, the source of all troubles and afflictions. The goal of our practice is to break through ignorance. Ignorance confuses us, so that we live as if drunk or dreaming, driven by the desires for wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. Ignorance causes us a lot of trouble. Once there is ignorance, it manifests in activity. We act on what we don’t understand, and then we become attached to appearances. When consciousness arises and begins to make distinctions, the marks of self, others, living beings, and a life span appear. Activity and consciousness generate name and form, making it possible to talk about things. Then the whole body comes into being, and with it, the six entrances (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind). The six entrances come into contact with the external environment, and that contact brings on feeling. We differentiate between good and bad sensations, trying to avoid unpleasant sensations while craving pleasant ones. Thus, feeling then brings on craving. As we grasp at the object of our craving, there is becoming, then birth into the next life, and then old age and death all over again. The Twelve Links of Conditioned Causation describe the endless rounds of rebirth that all living beings undergo.

Pratyekabuddhas feel that this cycle is a lot of suffering, so they practice the Path in order to liberate themselves from birth and death. When they succeed, they attain to the fruition and become Pratyekabuddhas or Solitary Enlightened Ones, who belong to the Two Vehicles.

The Two Vehicles consist of the Hearers and Those Enlightened to Conditions (also called Solitary Enlightened Ones). The term “vehicle” is used to designate a class of cultivators. The practice of the Two Vehicles is not ultimate, because they have ended only physical birth and death, not the birth and death of thoughts. This is why Medicine Master Buddha vowed to lead the cultivators of the Lesser Vehicle to abide in the Great Vehicle and to resolve their minds on realizing the Buddhas’ Unsurpassed Enlightenment.