Venerable Master Gangxiao: Buddhist Lecture — Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels

Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels

We already mentioned earlier that in this world of suffering, only our Buddha World-Honored One can compassionately save and liberate all sentient beings. So now that we have the affinity to study Buddhism, what exactly should we do? We’ve all had the experience of being stuck in sleep paralysis: you thrash to wake up but can’t. When you’re trapped like that, no amount of empty chatter can pull you out. This life of ours is no different from a dream, thick with immeasurable, unending suffering. We can’t afford to waste time on empty talk either. We need to follow the Buddha’s guidance and put his teachings into practice right away.

Some people don’t live just for themselves — for them, life is a matter of responsibility. When someone is deathly ill, they still fight to stay alive: I can’t die. If I go, my mother will be heartbroken — a white-haired parent burying a young child. I can’t die. My kid is only a few years old, still too young to fend for themselves. If I’m gone, how much more will they suffer? These are the people who live for their parents, spouses and children. When their loved ones are in pain, they would trade places with them in a heartbeat. Right now, our parents, spouses, children, friends and relatives are all caught in suffering — so why aren’t we throwing ourselves into studying and following the Dharma? Only when we practice well will we have the skill to rescue our loved ones, and only then can we liberate ourselves and others.

The Dharma is a vast ocean, and only faith can carry you across it. Esoteric Buddhism uses the metaphor of entering a treasure mountain: faith is like having hands. Step into that treasure mountain, and gems line every path — but if you have no hands, you can’t pick a single one up. How pitiful that is! That’s why faith is the highest good.

What is faith, exactly? As the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas explains, it is faith in three things: reality, virtue, and capability. We have faith in the factual truth of the teachings, faith in the pure, perfect virtues of the Three Jewels, and faith in their power to liberate sentient beings. Faith’s defining nature is mental clarity and purity; its function is to incline us toward goodness. When the text says “nature,” it means inherent essence; when it says “function,” it refers to activity or effect. In short, right faith in the Three Jewels includes all three of these qualities.

The Buddha is real, endowed with immeasurable merit, and has the power to save all sentient beings. The Dharma is real, endowed with immeasurable merit, and can save sentient beings — haven’t you heard the common metaphor that compares it to a boat? The Sangha is real, endowed with immeasurable merit, known as the pure field of blessings, and can also save sentient beings. Even if we talk about them individually: the Buddha possesses immeasurable merit, the Dharma is ultimate reality, the Sangha can liberate sentient beings. Without the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, there is no right faith at all. This is what we call the Three Jewels.

These days, people do not believe in the Three Jewels, they believe in the Two Jewels: they believe in the Buddha and the Dharma, but not the Sangha. This is all because monastics are failing to live up to their calling, doing all kinds of inexplicable, shameful things. They all admit the Buddha is a good Buddha, the Dharma is good Dharma — but say the monks are “crooked-mouthed”: they twist the teachings to suit their own ends. When a monk twists the teachings, it’s a disaster: even a good sutra gets misread and warped out of shape. This has been true since ancient times. In Water Margin, in the chapter where Shi Xiu assassinates the monk Piao Ruhai, there are a few crude folk sayings attributed to Su Dongpo: “If you’re not bald, you’re not poisonous; if you’re not poisonous, you’re not bald; the balder you get, the more poisonous you get; the more poisonous you get, the balder you get.” These sayings were aimed at monastics. There’s also this saying: one character is “monk”, two characters are “Buddhist monk”, three characters are “ghost musicians”, four characters are “hungry ghosts of desire”.

What are “ghost musicians”? It refers to monastics who specialize in leading universal Buddhist services, conducting hungry ghost liberation rituals, and organizing water-land ceremonies, claiming to liberate ghosts on behalf of the deceased, but in reality deceiving people. When they perform these rituals to “liberate ghosts,” the ghosts are only pleased by the material offerings. These acts are utterly contemptible — they ought to be cut into a thousand pieces. But these people are not the true Sangha of the Three Jewels at all.

Now let’s talk about what the Three Jewels actually are. First, the Buddha. A Buddha is one who has attained complete, perfect enlightenment, fully extinguished the two hindrances, and awakened completely from the great dream of ignorance. That is what a Buddha is. There were Buddhas in the past, there will be Buddhas in the future, and there are Buddhas in the present as well. There were countless, immeasurable Buddhas in the past; many will become Buddhas in the future, and there are still many Buddhas alive now.

In the Earth Store Bodhisattva’s Original Vow Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha entrusted Earth Store Bodhisattva with the heavy burden of liberating sentient beings during the Buddha-less era before Maitreya’s descent to Earth. In fact, Earth Store Bodhisattva has all the qualities of a Buddha, though he does not hold the official title of Buddha, and acts as the provisional teacher of this world system. This teaching is not found in any other sutras, nor is there any similar statement anywhere — it is truly inconceivable. In truth, Shakyamuni’s nirmanakaya (his emanation body) has passed into parinirvana, but his sambhogakaya (enjoyment body) still abides in the Palace of Maheshvara in the highest heaven of the form realm, continuing to teach the Dharma. His dharmakaya (truth body) is unborn and undying. What’s more, the Amitabha Sutra tells us that Amitabha Buddha is also teaching the Dharma in his Pure Land right now. If that’s the case, how can we say this is a world without any Buddha at all? No — all we can say is that there is no Buddha present in our particular world system right now.

As for how many Buddhas have appeared in the three periods of time, there is a story in the Agama Sutras: a lay follower came to pay his respects to the Buddha and asked, “World-Honored One, I’m swamped with work right now and have no time to practice the path. Can I practice later in life?” The Buddha replied, “Of course you can.” The lay follower was still uneasy, so he asked again: “Are you sure? Is it only because there will be Buddhas after you that I can put off practice?” The Buddha answered, “There are immeasurable, boundless Buddhas who will appear after me.” The lay follower felt relieved and turned to leave. But as he was about to walk out the door, he remembered another question, so he turned back and asked the Buddha, “Lord Gautama, were there Buddhas who appeared in the world before you?” The Buddha said, “Yes, there were immeasurable, boundless Buddhas who appeared in the world before me.” The lay follower was stunned: “There were already immeasurable, boundless Buddhas in the past, and I never thought to practice. If there are Buddhas in the future, will I even know to practice? There’s no guarantee. Now that I have the affinity to meet Shakyamuni Buddha, what am I waiting for? I can’t delay any longer — I’m leaving home to practice the path!” And so he gave up his business and began his practice.

There are Buddhas across all three periods of time; as for the ten directions of the universe, there are even more. Who here can recite the Amitabha Sutra? The sutra speaks of Buddhas in the six directions extending their long tongues in praise of the teachings; in Master Xuanzang’s translation, the Sutra of Praise of the Pure Land and Reception by the Buddha, it is Buddhas in all ten directions who offer this praise. There are so many Buddhas across the ten directions and three periods of time, and yet we can’t meet even a single one — how sad. In our current world system, only Shakyamuni is a Buddha; no one else is, not a single person. Some people say Master Shantao was Amitabha Buddha; these days, some even say Master Hsuan Hua was Amitabha Buddha. You can hear these claims, but don’t take them to heart.

Next is the Dharma. What is the Dharma? It is the body of teachings spoken by the Buddha. How did the Buddha teach them? All dharmas (both phenomena and doctrinal teachings) are provisionally established based on ultimate reality. Though these teachings are provisionally framed, they are rooted in the direct realization of ultimate truth that the Buddha attained through his own awakening — this is what the Compendium of the Mahayana calls teachings that flow forth from the purest dharmadhatu, the realm of ultimate reality. After the Buddha taught these truths, his disciples compiled them into sutras; these were passed down through generations of transmission after that, and this is what we call the Dharma. These teachings can accurately reflect ultimate truth, and guide sentient beings toward liberation as they progress toward nirvana.

What are the defining characteristics of the Dharma? They are “in accordance with the scriptures and in accord with reason” — meaning it aligns perfectly with the true intent of the sutras and conforms to the principles of observable reality. The Buddhist Dharma never contradicts secular, worldly truths. This is why we see some practitioners who, no matter how hard they try, rub everyone the wrong way. They’ve lost all their human warmth in their practice. That’s not real cultivation — it just means their practice is off track, distorted.

Speaking of this, the Dharma falls into four categories: a. Dharma taught by the Buddha: all that the Buddha taught is the Dharma. b. Non-Dharma taught by the Buddha: this category does not exist at all. It is equivalent to the empty set in mathematics. Before attaining enlightenment, one cannot be called a Buddha; once one has attained enlightenment, all of one’s words and actions are Dharma. Some people say the Buddha may have said some irrelevant, trivial things now and then, which would also count as part of his teaching; we don’t need to be too rigid about this. c. Dharma not taught by the Buddha: for example, teachings spoken by the Buddha’s disciples, which can also guide sentient beings to end the cycle of birth and death. d. Neither taught by the Buddha nor is it Dharma: irrelevant idle talk by ordinary people.

Generally speaking, the Dharma must be taught by a Buddha, but Buddhas do not stay in the world forever. Take Shakyamuni Buddha, for example: before he was born and after he passed into parinirvana, there was no Buddha in the world for a very long time; he only lived here for eighty years. This is truly what is called a “treasure of the present age”: everything that appears in this world has its purpose, which is exactly what philosophers mean when they say “what exists is reasonable”. However, these days people have twisted the meaning of “treasure of the present age” to refer to someone who makes a fool of themselves in public. The Long Agama Sutra states that the Tathagata could have remained in the world for a full kalpa (aeon), but when he was about to enter parinirvana, Ananda missed the chance to ask him to stay. If he had, we could still see the Buddha today.

When the Buddha no longer appears in the world, when he enters parinirvana, the Dharma remains. The Dharma can never be destroyed; it can take countless different forms. Let’s not go back that far. In Chinese history, there have been many large and small persecutions of Buddhism, the most famous being the “Three Wus and One Zong”. But to be frank, though these persecutions are well-known, they didn’t actually do much damage: all thunder and no rain, a lot of noise for very little result. In fact, the two most devastating attacks on Buddhism in modern times were the Taiping Rebellion and the Cultural Revolution. Take the Cultural Revolution, for example: it is not classified as a formal Dharma persecution, and this is an important distinction to make. Why? Because the Cultural Revolution impacted every industry and sector across the country equally. Buddhism was in the same boat as every other field, sharing the same hardships and the same fate — they were comrades in adversity. The Three Wus and One Zong, by contrast, targeted only Buddhism, launching attacks specifically to suppress it. Buddhism was left to hold up the sky all on its own — a single tree can’t make a forest, so these count as formal Dharma persecutions.

Even though the Cultural Revolution is not classified as a formal Dharma persecution, the damage it did to Buddhism was unprecedented and unmatched. If Chinese civilization had truly wanted to wipe out Buddhism, external attacks alone would never have been enough. After so many attempts to destroy it, Buddhism still endures. This is true of Han Chinese regions, and it’s just as true for Tibetan regions. Langdarma’s persecution of Buddhism was a very famous event, but didn’t the Later Dissemination period of Tibetan Buddhism still rise up after it? Crows are black all over the world — it’s the same everywhere. Buddhism was once completely wiped out in India, wasn’t it? After all these years, it is now slowly being revived!

We’ve only been discussing the external, surface characteristics of the Dharma; its fundamental essence is even harder to eradicate. Because it is ultimate reality, we come to see that the Dharma is the very essence of the Three Jewels.

Third is the Sangha. “Sangha” does not refer to us ordinary people, nor to our teachers, nor to elder monks. So what exactly counts as the Sangha? The primary prerequisites for the Sangha are:

1. Pure and unbroken precept practice.
2. Cultivation that bears fruit, and putting the Six Harmonies into practice.

So what is the Sangha? It is the assembly of noble sages realized through the spirit of the Six Harmonies. Put simply, it is “the assembly of holy sages forged by the spirit of the Six Harmonies,” or, in more everyday terms, “the assembly of ordained practitioners who rely on the spirit of the Six Harmonies in their shared practice.” This assembly of noble sages is able to carry on the Buddha’s household mission, and to uphold the right Dharma.

Keep this in mind: a single person cannot be called the Sangha. The Sangha is the “assembly of saints”—note the word “assembly.” Take an army, for example: if there is only one person, it is not an army. Even if you are the commander-in-chief—the highest military rank in ancient times, known as a marshal—you still cannot be called an army. Of course, in certain contexts you can represent the army, but only when you are basking in the spotlight or taking public credit. When it comes to actual fighting, that does not work. If the other side has hundreds of soldiers and you are just one commander, can you fight a hundred people alone and survive? As for how ancient battles actually played out, I am not entirely sure, but judging by old novels, you always read about two opposing generals fighting each other in front of the ranks while the rank-and-file soldiers stand idle. If one side’s general is defeated, the other side’s soldiers only move in to claim the spoils. Once a general is routed, his soldiers lose all morale—this style of fighting is really hard to believe.

Take a political party, the Communist Party, as an example. The Communist Party is the entire organization. No single individual can be called the party itself, even if you are the General Secretary of the Party. You can act on the party’s behalf to carry out work, but you are not the party itself.

The Sangha Treasure works the same way. No single person is the Sangha Treasure, even if you are a Bodhisattva at the stage of near-Buddhahood, like Maitreya Bodhisattva, who will attain Buddhahood in his next life in the human realm. Even he cannot be called the Sangha Treasure. Because the Sangha is defined by the spirit of the Six Harmonies. Since even Maitreya Bodhisattva cannot be called the Sangha Treasure, what about someone like me, Gangxiao? None of us can be called the Sangha Treasure! There is a text titled Heavy Transgression Committed by Speaking of the Faults of Monks that uses the term “bhikshu” (Chinese: 苾刍, meaning fully ordained monk) throughout instead of the word “Sangha.” Do you know why?

This is using the bhikshu as a representative of the Sangha Treasure, but keep in mind that not just anyone can serve as a representative. When we elect deputies to the People’s Congress, not just anyone can be elected. There are specific eligibility requirements. If I, Gangxiao, wanted to run for a People’s Congress deputy, who would vote for me? ~~Who’s going to vote for you? Nobody’s going to cast a ballot for you—you think you can be a People’s Congress deputy? You don’t stand a chance. Why don’t people elect me? Everyone thinks I don’t meet the qualifications. So what is the standard for meeting the qualifications? While most people don’t know the exact criteria, the eligibility review process for People’s Congress deputies is very rigorous. As for backroom deals that sometimes crop up, that is a separate issue.

Likewise, a bhikshu can only serve as a representative of the Sangha Treasure if they meet specific qualifications. Not just any bhikshu can qualify. What does the term “bhikshu” mean? It means “mendicant”: one who begs for alms to sustain their physical life, and begs for the Dharma to sustain their wisdom life. It also means “one who instills fear in demons”—even demons fear you. Note that even demons are subject to dependent origination. It also means “one who destroys evil,” “one who upholds pure precepts,” and “one who has a pure livelihood.”

To qualify as a representative, one must be a worthy virtuous person, a capable teacher, and a supportive friend on the path—these are all necessary conditions. I covered the ten qualities of a truly virtuous person in my last talk; see how many of them you embody.

That covers the basics of what the Three Jewels are. You can only truly take refuge in the Three Jewels once you understand them clearly. We have all taken refuge in the Three Jewels already, so let’s take a look at our own mindsets now.

Once you have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, you should cultivate a mind of firm, unshakable conviction (胜解) toward the Three Jewels. What is this firm conviction? It means you understand something so clearly that no amount of pushback can shake your certainty. For example, this is a chrysanthemum, and you say it is a rose. I will say, “It is definitely a chrysanthemum, no question about it!” I practice the Pure Land school, and I recite the Buddha’s name. Some people come and tell me, “You should practice Chan instead—you can attain enlightenment right now.” I reply, “Chan is wonderful, but I don’t have the requisite qualifications right now, so I’ll keep reciting the Buddha’s name first.” Others come and say, “Tantra is excellent, you can attain Buddhahood in this very lifetime.” I say, “Tantra is excellent too, but I don’t have enough spiritual merit and provisions right now, so I’ll keep reciting the Buddha’s name first!” This is firm conviction.

What sets firm conviction apart from blind faith? Blind faith is when emotion overrides reason, leaving you with an unshakable belief in something you may not even understand at all. Firm conviction, by contrast, is when reason prevails: you understand the matter so clearly that your certainty cannot be shaken. Let’s look at ourselves: do you truly believe in the Pure Land? You recite the Buddha’s name, but have you fully grasped the Pure Land teachings, or do you only believe out of religious sentiment? ~~Most of us are operating on blind faith, not firm conviction!

We need to have this kind of mindset toward the Three Jewels. Why is it that some lay Buddhists study Buddhism for years, only to turn around and follow Li Hongzhi’s *Falun Gong when they hear someone claim, “The world is constantly changing, so Buddhism can’t stay fixed either. Shakyamuni’s level of attainment wasn’t some unreachable peak—I’m already more advanced than he was”? What kind of Buddhists are these? They haven’t even taken refuge in the Three Jewels properly.

After taking refuge in the Three Jewels, this mind of firm conviction arises, giving you unwavering faith in the Three Jewels that no external circumstance can change—as solid as a nail hammered into a board.

After taking refuge in the Three Jewels, you should also cultivate a mind of joy: a sense of delight, of ease, of feeling at home. Some lay Buddhists feel this the moment they step into a temple: “I’m back.” They feel happy and at ease—this is the mindset we should have after taking refuge in the Three Jewels. What does this feeling of coming home feel like? You have to leave home first to find it. There was a little girl whose father took her on a week-long trip away from home. The next day they were heading back, and he asked her, “Do you like going out on trips, or do you like coming home?” The little girl said, “Of course I like coming home.” Her father teased, “Then next time I’ll only take your little brother on trips.” The little girl replied, “How can I come home if I don’t go out first?” We have to find this feeling of coming home too.

This joy is a feeling of hope and longing, like the warmth of lovers reuniting after time apart, eager to be with each other. Huang Hong performed a skit about a couple separated by distance: a husband travels to his military post to visit his wife and family, and the joy of that reunion is so warm and vivid. We should have this same mindset after taking refuge in the Three Jewels. I’m sorry to say I’m not there yet myself—I’m still numb to the Three Jewels, and don’t feel that kind of connection.

What signs show that you have truly taken refuge in the Three Jewels? First, your mind will grow clear and calm—this is the natural function of the Three Jewels. There is a parable in the Āgama Sūtras: the Sea Dragon King possesses a precious jewel called the Pure Water Jewel. If you drop it into extremely turbid, murky water, the water clears right up. The Yellow River is famously muddy, right? Why does its water stop looking turbid as soon as it flows into the ocean? It’s all thanks to the Sea Dragon King’s jewel. The Three Jewels are just like this Pure Water Jewel. Even if your mind is scattered, flooded with endless stray thoughts, as long as you have truly taken refuge in the Three Jewels, your mind will naturally settle. This is also a way to check in with your own practice. If you claim to be a Buddhist who has taken refuge in the Three Jewels, but your mind still wanders nonstop, that shows you are not a sincere, committed Buddhist at all.

Another sign of having taken refuge in the Three Jewel is that you naturally gravitate toward goodness and turn away from harm. As long as you have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, you will naturally be drawn to all wholesome dharmas, both worldly and transcendent, and have no desire to engage in unwholesome deeds at all. This is also a standard you can use to reflect on your own practice.

With this, we can summarize the marks of right faith:

• Its object of focus is the Three Jewels.
• Its cognitive factors are acceptance (firm conviction) and joy (deep, steadfast longing to encounter the Three Jewels).
• Its inherent nature is a pure mind.
• Its function is the joy of doing good.

All four of these must be present for faith to be right faith; none can be missing. It is just like this Dharma talk: it only holds meaning if four conditions are met: a) you are all willing to listen, b) I am able to teach, c) the Dharma being shared is authentic, d) you all gain practical benefit from listening. Only when all four of these conditions are fulfilled can we say this lecture is meaningful.

Now let me introduce a few situations you'll find in the Buddhist world. Some people take refuge in the Three Jewels with extraordinary devotion, feeling that these are the Three Jewels and therefore worthy of faith, and they seek nothing in return. The rest of us, though — our faith is mostly about praying for promotion and wealth, or praying for good health. That's all called seeking. Those who seek aren't of right faith; they're of deviant faith. A person of right faith takes the great compassionate heart as the driving force for studying the Buddha-dharma. A person of right faith can draw near to a good teacher, hear the true Dharma, contemplate it as it should be contemplated, and practice the Dharma according to the Dharma. To practice the Dharma according to the Dharma means accepting things as they are, without concealment, and doing what needs to be done when the time comes.

Taking refuge in the Buddha means arousing the bodhicitta. Taking refuge in the Dharma means giving rise to the aspiration to attain realization — delving deep into the Tripiṭaka to open up wisdom. Taking refuge in the Sangha means living in harmony with the assembly, united and without dispute. That's what makes threefold refuge true study of the Buddha-dharma.

Once you've truly taken refuge, your life has somewhere to rest. Even though you may still drift through the three realms, you have no terror, and your mind finds peace. Picture a crown prince: he's still young and wants to slip out and play, so he wanders out in plain clothes. Being a mischievous child, he gets into trouble and offends a gang of small-time thugs, who tie him up. Looking at this prince, we see that although he's suffering a bit, he's not afraid inside. Of course suffering must be endured — they did bind him, after all; how could things go his way? Why isn't the prince afraid? Because he has power to lean on: the backing of the imperial house. He knows that though they've tied him up now, in a little while he'll collect what's owed. They bind him with one rope now, and later he'll take off their heads.

After taking refuge in the Three Jewels, it's the same: you can lean on the power of the Three Jewels, and no demonic harm dares to touch you. They're not afraid of you — they're afraid of the Three Jewels.

Then there are those who call themselves Buddhists. They've received the refuge, but they can't tell what the Buddha is, what the Dharma is, what the Sangha is, and have no idea what right faith even means. They just go along with worldly custom. That kind of faith is blind faith. What they believe in isn't really the Buddha; it only wears the name of believing in the Buddha. The way these people show up is captured in the line "cannot distinguish the Buddha from what is not the Buddha, and likewise with the Dharma and the Sangha." What does that mean? They don't recognize the Buddha. Someone says, "That old master is Amitābha," and they believe it. Someone says, "That old master is a bodhisattva's manifestation," and they believe that too. They have no clue what a Buddha or bodhisattva actually is. Amitābha is a saṃbhogakāya Buddha; that old master is a nirmāṇakāya. What's going on here? And the sūtras plainly say that in our world, after Śākyamuni entered nirvāṇa — Śākyamuni being a nirmāṇakāya — Maitreya comes next, and between Śākyamuni and Maitreya, no Buddha appears in the world. Yet these people still listen to claims that some old master is Amitābha.

As for the Dharma: there's a book called the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sūtra, and people say it's a Buddhist scripture, so you go and recite it. There's a book called the Blood Bowl Sūtra, and you recite that too. That's not distinguishing the Dharma.

The Sangha is even worse, especially in remote areas where there are no monastics. One day an ordained person shows up, and the faithful greet him with great reverence. But later that ordained person cheats them out of some property and disappears. They never knew what the Sangha actually is. Of course, this isn't to say they should ignore every ordained person they meet — they need to be able to tell them apart, or there'll be trouble. Some people are exactly like this: they obey their master in everything, and later discover the master is terrible, so their aspiration collapses. That's not distinguishing the Sangha.

As for these people's faith in Buddhism, you can't really say they haven't taken refuge — but their refuge amounts to nothing more than reciting the refuge verse three times. They understand nothing of the true meaning of refuge, and they've never actually obtained the refuge-body. Yet these people are quite self-confident — blindly so. It shows up on the outside as greed for the great dharmas: "I want to practice Chan! I want to recite the Buddha's name! I want to cultivate the esoteric teachings…" Tell them about the sequential stages of practice, and they still won't listen: "We have the Mahāyāna capacity!" These people are like building a tower on marshy ground — backbreaking work, but it can never stand. We should be on guard against this.

Then there are those whose faith in Buddhism does involve wanting to distinguish the Three Jewels, but they don't understand their true meaning, and they stubbornly cling to their own views. For instance, you might listen to my lectures and not believe me. That in itself doesn't matter much, because this is called the obstacle of the holy Dharma. Although it's an obstacle, it is the holy Dharma after all, so it's not a serious problem. Our faith isn't right faith, yet we all consider ourselves to be of right faith — that's a lack of "wisdom." What is wisdom? It's the capacity to resolve things, the ability to distinguish true dharma from false dharma. When we are like this, even if you apply yourself with vigor, accomplishment is hard to come by. It can, however, keep you from falling — like the story of the man heading south by driving his chariot north: he wants to go to the state of Chu, but he whips his horse to race northward. Someone tells him he's going the wrong way, and he says, "But my horse is so fast!" Wrong direction.

Then there's yet another group, the most pitiful of all. They have right faith in the Dharma, and they do have the ability to discern things — but they lack "deep endurance and joyful aspiration," which I mentioned earlier. Deep endurance is superior understanding — settled, decisive faith in the Dharma. Joyful aspiration is hope, which in the Lam rim chen mo is called the heart of good desire. These people say they love the Dharma, but they love the three poisons more. And they don't even know it — they still think of themselves as right-faith Buddhist disciples. They go everywhere propagating the Dharma, lecturing everywhere, but in reality it's greed, hatred, and delusion at work. Take Mr. Wu — he really does know the Dharma deeply; his research is thorough; he's an expert. Mr. He Yun told me: "Mr. Wu's earnings from lecturing on sūtras every winter are several times what an ordinary person makes in an entire year." Look at that… And then there's Mr. Liu. When we invite him to lecture, naturally we'd give a lecture fee, but usually it's wrapped in a red envelope and handed over after the lecture, when he's about to leave. After his talk he'd leave the manuscript with me, and I'd arrange to have it printed right away. On one occasion I brought him the manuscript to review in the morning, but the schedule had him leaving that morning. He took the manuscript and asked me, "Isn't there still a lecture fee?" Actually, it had already been wrapped up for him — I'd planned to deliver it myself.

This is the breed of scholar. Ordinarily they can speak about the Dharma with flowers raining from the sky, but when it comes time to divide housing, I still have to fight for my share — otherwise I can't get by… This is exactly what Master Yongming Yanshou said in the Zongjing lu: "Peering at scholars of the present day, they are only in mental constructs, much attached to words and phrases. They merely say there is no Dharma outside the mind, yet thought after thought constantly follows conditions to arise. They only know how to speak of emptiness with their mouths, yet step by step they always wander within existence."

These people have reached the doorstep of the Dharma, but instead of entering the Buddha's gate they fall — the most pitiful of all. And we ourselves are the same — we can't let go of the mind for fame and profit. There's a child who, angry with his parents, ran away from home. He spent all his money, and now he's hungry and thirsty. He's arrived at his parents' doorway, but still sulking over the grudge, he won't go inside. Why must he act this way? Because he's holding on to that fit of anger, like the three poisons. His parents have already forgiven him — what's the point of still sulking?

Pitiful indeed!

Here, I'd ask everyone to note that we need to distinguish between religious scholars and social scholars. What is a religious scholar? One whose research serves religion — that's a religious scholar. Their work provides a rational check on religion, which is necessary. Examples are the present Mr. Wu Limin, and in the past, Ouyang Jin, Lü Cheng, and others. Social scholars, on the other hand, study religion for various reasons — that's not our concern. The most typical example is Hu Shi.

Then there are those who already understand what right faith is, who have taken refuge in and received the Three Jewels, who can discern what the true Three Jewels are and what right faith is — all that's in order. Although they have right faith in the Dharma, their minds are extremely greedy, greedy for the supreme dharma, unwilling to cultivate step by step from the ground up. According to the sequence laid down by Master Xuanzang and Master Yijing: logic, the Abhidharma, the Vinaya, Prajñā, and Yogācāra. Or according to the sequence established by Master Tsongkhapa: reflection on death and impermanence, fear of the evil realms, taking refuge in the Three Jewels, deep understanding of karma and its effects, seeking liberation, contemplating suffering and its origin, cultivating dependent origination, arousing bodhicitta, studying bodhisattva practices, training in the six pāramitās, and practicing śamatha and vipaśyanā. You must go step by step like this. Master Tsongkhapa said: "If the sequence is lost, it becomes the work of demons."

Someone said to me: "I'll study Yogācāra with you." I said: "No, I'm only half a bottle of vinegar myself — you don't need to study with me. For now, you should first study the Āgama sūtras. That's the foundation."

Now let's look at ourselves. How many years have we been ordained? Even many great elder masters — how many of them have actually studied the Āgama sūtras? We all presume to believe in the Mahāyāna. The Daśacakra Sūtra says: "If one is still confused about the Two Vehicles' dharma, how could one understand the Great Vehicle? Like an eye that is defective and cannot see forms, so a faulty exposition cannot understand the Great Vehicle. Without the strength to drink from a pool or river, how could one swallow the great sea? Not having studied the Two Vehicles' dharma, how can one study the Great Vehicle? First believe in the Two Vehicles' dharma, then one can cultivate the Great Vehicle. Without faith, reciting the Great Vehicle is empty words without benefit. Within, one harbors true views of annihilation; outwardly, one falsely calls oneself Mahāyāna." These are the original words of the Buddha's sūtras!

When Bodhidharma came east, he said he came because he saw in the land of Zhen Dan the qi-xiang of the Mahāyāna. But this "Mahāyāna qi-xiang" has harmed people!

Most of us ordinary folk have no foundation in the Two Vehicles and go straight to cultivating the Mahāyāna. So, even though you may apply yourself vigorously, you're dwelling on your own views and can never attain accomplishment. This is obvious. When we first left home, we applied ourselves diligently, but we couldn't sustain it. There's a saying: "One year after ordination, the Buddha is before your eyes; two years after, the Buddha is in the main hall; three years after, the Buddha is in the Western Heaven." Why? Because we didn't follow the proper sequence. You thought you were cultivating, but what you were actually cultivating was the "demonic path." It's like building a great tower: the foundation wasn't laid properly. The first story goes up fine, but when you reach the tenth, the foundation can't bear the weight, and the building collapses. The virtuous deeds we cultivate now are the same. Without right faith and right view as a foundation, this goodness will ultimately collapse. Just like the vigor you had when you first left home — without right view and right faith, you'll eventually lose heart.

To change this situation, we must turn back and properly cultivate the Threefold Refuge.

Right-faith Buddhism begins with clarifying the Three Jewels, having right faith in the Three Jewels, taking refuge in the Three Jewels, and bearing the Three Jewels in mind. On life's journey, walk according to the guidance of the Three Jewels — willing to give up body and life rather than violate the Three Jewels.

It's still the words from before: draw near to the virtuous friend, hear the true Dharma, self-cultivate right contemplation, practice the Dharma according to the Dharma. If you do this, it's like a child who has already been born — you only need to nurture him carefully, and he can grow into adulthood. If we do these things, we have planted the seed of attaining the Way. As long as we follow the sequence taught by the Buddha, we are certain to attain the Way.