The Three Stages of Spiritual Cultivation (修行的三个层次）

Zen Buddhism often talks about the three stages of spiritual cultivation. At the first stage, an ordinary person sees a mountain as mountain and a lake a lake. An ordinary person will feel happy upon seeing a beautiful mountain but upset upon seeing an ugly one. The mind of an ordinary person will be affected by the external environment. An ordinary person will feel happy upon seeing a beautiful lake, but upset upon seeing an ugly one with murky and filthy water. Our old Singapore River was filthy and stinky. When one saw it in the past, he would feel very uncomfortable. That is the mentality of an ordinary person. No one is spared before he embarks on the path to enlightenment. All ordinary folks are in this stage, no matter how smart he is, be it a president or a bagger - it makes no difference. As long as you are still bound by the misconception of the notion of “I”, your mind will be affected by your surroundings.

At the second stage, you have started doing your spiritual cultivation. Initially, you must observe lots of precepts, refraining from the negative conducts and abiding by the Five Precepts. You must be bound by the precepts at the initial stage and do the Ten Virtous Acts. In order to transform from an ordinary person to a saint, you must uphold the Five Precepts and do the Ten Virtous Acts. Otherwise, you will forever remain an ordinary person in the first stage. As long as you do not discard your self-importance, you will forever be stranded in the Six Realms of Existence.

Precepts are very crucial. You must start from observing the precepts. There are many precepts in the Hinayana practice and a greater number in the Mahayana practice, and even greater number in the Vajrayana practice. If you want to attain the ultimate enlightenment, you must observe the precepts. You might ask, “Can I not abide by the precepts?” The answer is “No!” We were born with the three poisons of lust, hatred and ignorance deeply ingrained in us due to our karma. Our negative propensities are so strong that we can easily fall into the Three Lower Realms (animal, hell being and hungry ghost), if we are not protected by the precepts. Besides, at this stage, a rigorous practice is a necessity. Without rigorous practice, you will never stand a chance to break free of the cyclic existence. At this stage, you have already started doing your spiritual cultivation, and you will now see a mountain not as a mountain and a lake not as a lake. You have broken away from the old mindset and perception of an ordinary person and see the world in a different light. The second stage can last an awfully long period, up to many lifetimes or even eons; you might not realize that you have been practicing for a long time. In the Hinayana, this stage can last billions of years, even as long as three big eons. This is just the preliminary practice of the second stage.

Take a look at how Saykamuni Buddha attained His enlightenment. In his past life, he even offered himself to a hungry tiger because he already attained the state of “selflessness”. Take a look at Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara who readily gave up His eyes to someone else! “A mountain is not a mountain, and a lake is not a lake!” To Him, eyes were not “eyes” - they were not “His”. He would give His eyes to you if you want them. Now you have come to the later part of the second stage which is extremely difficult only a few can reach. Most of you can only reach the earlier part of the second stage, which is to observe the precepts and do the virtuous acts. How will you be able to give up your wealth when others request it? Or give up your house, car, wife, children, etc.? Will you give up all your possessions, your life? Although the advance practice in the second stage is of extreme difficulty, it is not the ultimate attainment yet.

Finally, you must enter the third stage, where you will see a mountain as mountain and a lake as lake once more. If you continue to persevere on observing the precepts, you will forever remain in the second stage where you will see a mountain not a mountain and a lake not a lake. You will just be a special practitioner different from others; you will appear to be a sublime looking deity being worshipped in a shrine, at the most. You will not be able to walk into the crowd and mingle with them, with the ultimate aim of guiding them onto the path to enlightenment. If you want to help the sentient beings, you must return to the state of seeing a mountain as mountain and a lake as lake once more, like the rest. Of course, by now you have already become a different person in the third stage, different from what you were in the first stage. Regardless of whether the mountain or lake is good or bad, it makes no difference to you - you will not be discriminative now. You have become a happy person, immersed in great joy in a state where you will see a mountain as mountain and a lake as lake once more.

Basically, when you have reached this stage of cultivation, you can break free of the precepts – you can “transgress” the precepts. Like the story told in the Mahā-vaipulya-buddhâvatasaka-sūtra, you could even become a prostitute and offer yourself to any man who wants you, in order to help him enter the path to enlightenment. You can do anything you want and offer anything you wish, for you have already surpassed the conceptual mind of life-and-death, and the discriminative and antagonistic views. You will appear crazy but, in fact, you have truly attained the state of enlightenment. Many of the enlightened Tibetan masters were accomplished practitioners of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), who lived like animals in filthy places such as a garbage-dumping ground or a latrine. They appeared to be lunatics but, in fact, they are the accomplished masters! The real lunatics are different because they are mentally disordered, unable to tell the difference between good and bad, clean or dirty; they are unable to spiritual practice nor help other sentient beings, let alone being accomplished in spiritual attainment. Those who have attained the third stage of cultivation are different - they are superior, accomplished and non–discriminative. They are fully aware of the differences between good and bad, clean and dirty, but they are just not affected by the differences. They are fine with what you give or not give. They are not bothered by your scolding or teasing. The third stage is a very superior level of attainment most difficult to achieve.

We must walk the path to enlightenment one step at a time. Zen Buddhism has its danger of being reduced to mere “pet phrases of enlightenment”. One might just end up having an empty claim of “I am a Buddha.” If you are not a truly accomplished practitioner and yet you choose to do something against the Dharma, you will fall! It is pointless for you to simply claim that “I am a Buddha!” You will fall because you have not truly attained the state of Buddhahood. So, you had better start from the second stage and abide by the precepts! Otherwise, you will get yourself into trouble.

You might say that “I can do anything. I can kill!” Alright, then I will give you a knife to kill and see if you will be spared from the universal law of cause-and-effect. Unless you have truly attained enlightenment, like Guru Padmasambhava who could deliver the souls of those He killed immediately to the Western Blissful Pure Land, you had better keep the knife away. We had better walk the path to enlightenment one step at a time, starting from the Hinayana, progressing gradually to the Mahayana, and finally the Vajrayana. A gradual approach is a safer approach

Do not be mistaken that you could truly understand the quintessential teachings of Zen Buddhism through the mere intellectual study of Zen books. In the past, there were many Zen practitioners who expounded Zen without truly understanding it’s true meaning. Grand Master has written nearly 10 books on Zen by now, in order to help us understand the ultimate teachings. However, so what if you have intellectually understood the ultimate teachings? It is pointless as long as you are unable to apply the ultimate teachings in your daily conduct! It is more important to be able to apply the ultimate teachings in our conduct than having a mere intellectual understanding. Both pet phrases and intellectual understanding are inadequate - you will still fall unless you are truly enlightened. So, we had better take it one step at a time - walk the path slowly to break free of the cyclic existence eventually.

When you truly break free of the cyclic existence, like that mentioned in the Diamond Sutra, you can discard all the teachings including the precepts, cultivation, meditation and mantras. They are like a boat ferrying us from one shore to another . When we reach the other shore, we should not carry the boat along on our back anymore - that will be meaningless and it will become a burden instead. A boat will become useless when we reach the shore. A boat must be discarded after crossing the river. Another word, when we have truly accomplished our practice, we should discard all the doctrines and precepts. However, you cannot do so before reaching the other shore. Without the boat, you cannot cross the river but you will get drown in the river instead. As long as we are still practicing in the Causal Stage, we will still need the doctrines, the precepts, the practice, the meditation, the mantra, praising the Buddha, the Six Perfections, etc. One day, when we reach the other shore, we can then discard the boat. Otherwise, we need to hold on to it tight!

Now, while we are holding tight to our boat, we might be seeing someone else discarding the boat. We must not criticize others for discarding the boat because we may not understand their true ability. There are many people who criticize Grand Master for drinking alcohol, dancing, eating meat but not vegetarian food, etc. Not only outsiders criticized Grand Master, even his own students followed likewise, “Why did he do that?” The outsiders said, “Your teacher does not look a bit like a monk! A monk must abide by the numerous precepts, but he does not!” Sometimes, Grand Master wears normal attire instead of a monk robe when he goes out of the temple. Others saw it and criticized him, “How can a monk like you wear normal attire? You don’t have the serious mannerism of a monk.” Actually, the person did not know that Grand Master is a truly accomplished practitioner. A truly accomplished practitioner can wear anything, be it a monk robe, normal attire or nothing – he is still an enlightened Buddha. When you are not a Buddha yet, no matter how serious you wear, you are just an ordinary person!

So, we must not criticize others before knowing who he really is. The greatest taboo of a practitioner is to criticize others based on what you think you know – you can be wrong! This is my greatest taboo too. I do not criticize others but merely sing praises of them. If I happen to see any actions of you against the Dharma, I will just think to myself that “Maybe you have already attained enlightenment. You may be breaking away from the precepts for the sake of helping the sentient beings. I may not understand it yet. How could I simply criticize you? If I do so, I might just be committing a great sin through my speech!” No matter what, we must not criticize others. We should not commit bad karma through our speech but to maintain a pure speech at all times. When we criticize others, we are actually criticizing ourselves for being non-accommodating. So, instead of committing bad karma through our speech, we would rather train our own mind and practise with vigour, which will be a more meaningful act.

A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 26-10-2010

Reading is Part of Practice (修行要读书)

The mere reading of sutras or books on the teachings will not free you of the cyclic existence nor make you enlightened immediately. Nevertheless, I still think that reading is very important because a spiritual practice could either start with an actual practice followed by the intellectual understanding, or start with an intellectual understanding followed by the actual practice. Even the Great Perfection (Dzogchen) teachings of the Nyingma start with intellectual understanding.

Mipham Rinpoche said, “If one does not understand the teachings, he will have great difficulty attaining enlightenment.” So, one must start with the intellectual understanding through studying the teachings. Some of the incomprehensible spiritual attainment could actually be explained intellectually through the teachings. So, reading is very important. Sometimes, you may come across some inspirational teachings, inconceivable personal attainment or experience of others that will humble us and spur us on the path of cultivation.

I hope that you can choose a wider range of subjects including the sutras, for reading and sharing. This will force you to think more deeply on the teachings expounded through the sutras instead of doing mere recitations, and you should strive to understand the various teachings in totality, without conflicts. You will make good progress through the preparation and thinking process before sharing with others, unless you have already achieved a very high level of enlightenment and could simply share any teachings in an impromptu manner.

A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 25-03-2010

The Cultivations of Wisdom & Merits (福慧要双修)

(Singapore River in the old days)

Acho Rinpoche: Yesterday was the birthday of Dharma Sister Yue. So, we bought a cake for her to celebrate her birthday tonight. Although we are late by one day, we still wish her a happy birthday today. We had a very special encounter yesterday at the Singapore River. So, I would like to invite Dharma Brother Shao to do his sharing first.

Shao: First, I would like to share with you a dream that I had this morning. In the dream, Acho Rinpoche instructed me to share the story at Singapore River. I did not know the reason initially, but I did know that it was related to Dharma Sister Bing. She told us that she worked at a place near the Singapore River. She also joked about asking me to do a soul deliverance ritual at her workplace. In the dream, I told Acho Rinpoche that there were seven of us sitting at a table. The word “seven” in Mandarin sounded like “begging”. So, it meant that there would be seven of us experiencing starvation at an eatery.

Last night, we had our dinner at an eatery selling clay-pot rice. On my way to the washroom, I had a vision: there were many laborers squatting on the stools, sharing a very small bowl of food on the tables. The employers were very stingy in the old days, paying meager salaries to their employees. So, the laborers lived a very thrifty lifestyle, eating very little food each day. Most of the time, they did not have a full meal. Some people did not even have a job and were unable to make their ends meet; they had to do without meals every day. How pathetic! But they got use to it. So, we ought to learn to appreciate our food and good fortune today.

In the dream, Acho Rinpoche told me that “seven” meant “death”. I could not figure it out and I woke up from my dream at that point. It was 4am in the morning. I went to the washroom and had a vision at that point – I “saw” Fort Canning Hill. I ignored the vision and returned to my bed. But I could not sleep again because I kept “seeing” Fort Canning Hill. I understood the meaning of the vision - the spiritual beings in Fort Canning Hill were requesting my help. So, I went into my shrine and did a prayer for them. After the prayer, I emptied my mind and saw numerous spiritual beings coming out from my stomach. How strange! In my vision, Fort Canning Hill is a place full of negative energy. For it was a place where many people were brutally killed (during Japanese occupation). It is being ruled by a Mountain God. There is a palace within the hill, resembling the nether world. What a strange place!

Acho Rinpoche: Due to a very strange reason, we made a trip to the Singapore River yesterday. I seldom go to such places because they are usually very crowded. And it is not within my scope of work too. However, there was still a small reason for us to be there because Lianhe Zaobao (a local Chinese newspaper) organized a Mid-autumn Festival celebration there. So, I thought, “Probably we could celebrate Dharma Sister Yue’s birthday there. There were Taiwanese food stalls selling stinky bean curd, oyster omelet etc. Since we just came back from our Taiwan trip recently and we still find their local delicacies memorable, why don’t we just celebrate her birthday there?”

When we reached Clark Quay at the Singapore River, Dharma Sister Chan informed me of those coming. But I somehow felt that an important person seemed to be left out. Soon after, I saw that person appearing among us. Clark Quay was full of people that we could not even squeeze ourselves into the crowd. So, I decided immediately that we should leave the place and go somewhere else for dinner. Since Dharma Sister Chan also works in the same location, she recommended us a place nearby. We came to an eatery selling clay-pot rice. This place was crowded and there was not seats available but we did not feel like going elsewhere and just waited for our turn. Soon after, there was a big table available which accommodate about twelve of us. But still, we had a few more members waiting outside for their turn.

We ordered our food but we believed that the kitchen could not deliver, because there were too many customers that they could not cope! The eateries around this area are usually very quiet on the weekends but the celebration of festival brought such a big crowd to this place. We waited for about 20 minutes before our first dish was served. The clay-pot rice was reminiscent of the familiar taste dated back 30 years ago. It was very delicious! The small group sitting outside already had their seats and ordered their food. When we were almost done with our dinner, the group sitting outside was still waiting for their first dish to be served. So, they checked with the owner of the eatery on their order. But another hour passed and they still did not have any food served. Dharma Brother Liang was kind and he brought over a small piece of bean curd from our table and gave it to them. Our little Dharma Brother Xin usually was not too interested in bean curd but he ate it all up as he was too hungry. Next, we sent a set of clay-pot rice over to them too. By this time, their food was still not delivered. We were done with our dinner, and the customers on other tables had left too, with new customers continued streaming in who had their food served too. It was only our group sitting outside had nothing served. After two hours, there was a small plate of stewed port knuckle served and that was it.

Finally, the group complained to the lady boss. The lady boss found it very strange, “This is the first time such funny thing happened in our shop! The orders are placed in order. There is no reason why only the first dish was served and the rest are left out!” She could not figure out how on earth it happened? I stood beside her and just smiled. Of course I knew what the reason was.

After that, everyone asked me the reason for such strange happening. I told them a little bit of the secret. It was just like what Dharma Brother Shao said, “One plus one.” First, the laborers in the old days lived in poverty. They hardly had food to eat. Often, they had to sleep with an empty stomach. The group was made to experience hunger felt by the laborers in the past, so that they would understand that our ancestors built our modern Singapore through hardship. Their contributions are great, yet they had so little to eat and they were starved most of the time!
In addition to that, Dharma Sister Bing tried to help the spiritual beings stranded in the nether world by pouring the holy water into the fountain at her workplace, and that brought some of the spiritual beings over to the eatery too where we had our dinner. These spiritual beings were beheaded during the Japanese occupation, and they could not eat because they were too used to the habitual actions of eating with their mouths. I had to give them blessings and “reproduced” their heads, before offering them the food. And we had to transfer our “merits” from our table to the table outside, giving them (spiritual beings) the food to feed them.

These sentient beings suffered in hardship due to the lack of merits. So, we must cultivate merits too. Without merits, it will be difficult for one to practice spiritual cultivation. Just take a look at those laborers, they were so pathetic because of the lack of merits – they could not even afford a meal! Take a look at those beings who died from being beheaded – they suffered great pains and are still stranded in the nether world today, unable to take a rebirth. They continued to suffer from starvations – they can’t eat without heads, even though there is food.
We cannot do without merits. So, we must practice the cultivation of both wisdom and merits. We did a Jembhala prayer just now at the request of a Dharma Brother who had the word “merit” as part of his name. I thought of doing this prayer at 3pm today but it slipped my mind soon after. It was this Dharma Brother who requested the prayer to be done that we managed to do it today. Just now, an inconceivable number of Jembhala descended from space to receive blessings from the Sun Moon Lamp Buddha. So, this red wine being offered to Jembhala during the prayer will bring merits to those who drink it. Such merits will follow you in your future lives, supporting you financially in your spiritual practice. With that, we have completed our prayer today. Amitabha!

A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 11-9-2010, the birthday of Jembhala.

(Singapore River today)

Going Through the Bardo State (超越生死）

Acho Rinpoche:
We chanted the Hundred Syllable Mantra 21 times just now; we did it 49 times last time; one day we will do it 108 times. You should practice the way I do - sitting completely still, listening to the sound of mantra, and completely resting in a state of emptiness. I felt extremely light, free of sensual feelings, completely disappeared - gone! You have to reach this state of stillness that your body is free of sensual feelings, you only heard the sound of mantra, and you dissolve into the sound of mantra. In that state, you can chant 108 times or 1,080 times of the mantra, and your mind will just sink, sink, sink… First, the enlightenment being will descend, and your body will feel a hardened sensation as though you are a piece of rock, and then you will find yourself vanished into emptiness. Finally, you will find “yourself” present outside of your body - in space. At this point, you will feel that your legs, body and mouth no longer belong to you. In this state of non-being, only the resonance of the mantra continues, within which you completely dissolved. Then, you can sit there in a meditative posture for a long period of time. If you feel restless, you will feel that your legs have turned numbed, and you will not be able to continue chanting the mantra and you will feel very uncomfortable.

The next thing I want to let you know is that I have been sick for the past 2 days, during which I could not sleep at all. First, it was my toothache caused by a badly swollen gum. The pain persisted from 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am, to 5am. I exhausted all methods including taking medications, using salts etc. I almost felt like extracting my tooth using a plier! The pain was simply too great to bear! Finally, I thought to myself, “Alright! Just go ahead and torture me with the pain!” I just lied in my bed and continued chanting the mantra in my heart, till dawn.

On the following day, I called my dentist. Before that, I consulted a Chinse physician who said that I was too heaty and he gave me the strongest medication and assured me that the pain could be treated. However, it did not work! When the dentist saw my condition, he was surprised. He said, “The swell is really bad!” He asked me why I came to him so late? He asked me how long has it been? I told him, “2 days.” He wondered how I could bear the pain and he thought by now my blood pressure would have shot up very high! “110/70,” he said, “normal!” My body temperature was also normal, at 36 degree Celcius. He said, since the swollen gum did not affect my blood pressure or my body temperature, he would do an operation for me. The operation, although was done under anaesthetic, was very painful!

After the operation, he said he would not be available on the following day because of a meeting already scheduled. He gave me the contacts of two of his dentist friends, in case I need further assistance. “Tell them that you are sent by me, they will attend to you,” he said. “I think you must consult one of them tomorrow,” he said. I told him, “I may not need to seek their help tomorrow.” He gave me lots of medication. I told Dharma Sister Yue that we might need to cancel the prayer tonight. Actually, I had a meeting today and a prayer tonight. I had not been able to sleep for the past few years. After taking the medication, surprisingly, I could sleep again. Although I still feel the pain, my gum is no longer swollen. That’s why I could practice with you tonight.

Now I would like to invite Dharma Sister Xiu to say a few words. Let her share with us the details of some events that had happened recently.

Dharma Sister Xiu:
I took care of my husband for more than ten days by now. It was hard work and I almost fall sick now. He is someone who is very stubborn, probably because he served in the army in the past. Although he is a Buddhist, he has not been practicing the teachings. He consulted a fortune teller recently and was told that there was a spirit following him closely. However, the fortune teller could not help him solve the problem. Acho Rinpoche also said something similar about the problem faced by my husband but he could help solve the problem. I am very grateful to Acho Rinpoche.

Initially my husband had a headache. He kept vomiting too despite taking the medicine. I was panic and tried to help him by chanting the mantra and seeking help from Acho Rinpoche. I hope he could recover soon. He was so stubborn that he refused to consult the doctor despite the seriousness of his sickness. Finally, I managed to drag him to a family doctor. The doctor did not even dare to prescribe any medication for him but merely gave him a jab. He advised me to take my husband to the hospital instead but my husband just refused to do so. He vomited again at night.

On the 2nd day, I brought him to a doctor. He was given a jab and blood pressure assessment. He showed no sign of a stroke. On the 3rd day, he fell somewhat unconscious and hardly opened his eyes throughout the day. At night, when he woke up, he told me that he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a shadow, dressed in a floral shirt. When I heard that, I could feel the presence of a foreign being in his body. On the 4th day, I told Acho Rinpoche that I wished to bring my husband to see him for blessing. But I could not force my husband to go with my plan. On the 5th day, I told my husband, “If you are still not well today, I will bring you to Acho Rinpoche.” Surprisingly, he agreed. He put on the shirt he wore when he took refuge in Buddhism i the past, and a rosary. But he took them off soon after. I really felt that there was a foreign being in his body. I made an appointment with Acho Rinpoche and I finally brought him over to seek blessing.

At night, I asked Aco Rinpoche about my husband’s condition. Acho Rinpoche told me, “He is possessed by a spirit.” It matches what the fortune teller said. I asked, “Will he be alright?” Acho Rinpoche said, “ No problem!” After receiving the blessing from Acho Rinpoche, my husband had a dream on the same night. In his dream, he fought with others but won the fight. He took three human heads home, placed them in paper bags and placed them before the earth-god. After that, he fell sick. He consulted a doctor but was told that he did not suffer from a stroke. So, I felt relieved because it meant that it was not a very serious illness. Few days later, he became dehydrated after vomiting continuously. Finally, he was admitted to a hospital but again, the doctor said he did not suffer a stroke. He was put on drips and became conscious again. When I returned home for a sleep, I dreamt of taking a photograph with Grand Master. After that, I returned to the hospital and was told by the doctor that my husband was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit due to internal bleeding in his head. I became panic because I initially thought that it was not a stroke. Why did he suddenly bleed in his head? After the prayer at night, I learnt that Acho Rinpoche fell sick and I guessed he must have taken over the sufferings of my husband. I could not sleep after returning home on that night, feeling guilty.

On the following day, the doctor told me that my husband had suffered from a stroke at least 7 to 8 days ago. I told him that my husband just refused to consult the doctor. The doctor said, “I see. However, the blood clot has disappeared almost completely. If there is no further complication, he can be transferred to a normal ward soon.” At the time, there was another experienced doctor with us who said, “It must be the blessing from heaven! He is very lucky!” In the afternoon, he was transferred to a normal ward. Grand Master and Acho Rinpoche must have given their blessings. I felt very touched by what the doctor said and felt like crying. I hope that my husband will change some of his bad habits after surviving this crisis, and cherish the Dharma. The Dharma is truly inconceivable!

Acho Rinpoche:
The dentist told me not to speak in the next three days, in order to reduce the pain caused by my toothache. I experienced great pain when swallowing my saliva. When I left the dental clinic looking for my lunch, I could not find porridge after checking it out at 4 to 5 coffee shops (eateries). I could not speak at all and had great difficulty in swallowing my saliva, besides not being able to eat anything throughout the day. As I need to attend a meeting in the morning, I had not time for breakfast in the morning. I am not a choosy person but all I could find in the eateries are just hard foods that need chewing.

Since I have given him the blessing, he will turn out to be fine. There is no need to worry too much. All things in this world are impermanent, aren't they? It is coincidental that I just talked about the “Bardo Teachings – Going Beyond Birth and Death” recently. This story tells us about the sufferings before death. I must live through the great pain while I am still alive! However, such pain is very insignificant compared with the pain of going through the bardo state. It is a far more painful process of going through the bardo state. Her husband actually went through a state closely resembling that of a near-death. We must learn from this lesson and prepare ourselves well to go through the bardo state.


A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 10 Oct 2010

The Illusory Cyclic Existence （六道轮回的虚幻）

Dharma Brother Yi:

Acho Rinpoche gave a very wonderful teaching the other day. I felt that it was indeed a very rare teaching that I have ever come across in this lifetime. I have always found the core teaching of Buddhism somewhat elusive. However, on that very night Acho Rinpoche pointed out the core teaching in a very direct and reassuring way, giving me a very clear sense of direction that prevents me from digressing. My heart was indeed filled with the Joy of Dharma!

On the following day, I had a dream in early dawn. In the dream, we were practicing in a group. Acho Rinpoche taught us the recitation of the name of a highly realized Thai Buddhist Master who had a very stron spiritual connection with the former. Acho Rinpoche was holding a book in his hand. The book consists of two sections, with the first half section written in Thai and the second half in Chinese, translated by Acho Rinpoche.

After the group practice, Acho Rinpoche told us that he invented a special fertilizer lately. This fertilizer would enhance the booming of flowers for any plant. He gave the fertilizer to all of us. I was the first in the queue, and I took one big bag of it. The fertilizer appeared to be translucent and was milky white in color. I held the bag in my hand and thought to myself, “I don’t have any plants, what should I do with this fertilizer?” I knew not what to do with it. Then I noticed that the fertilizer given to others looked different from mine – they looked like the “black pills” instead. Acho Rinpoche instructed them to swallow the black pills and they did so accordingly. I thought, “Why is it that I can’t eat mine?” I felt very grateful in my mind, and I woke up from my dream at that point, still feeling very joyful at heart.

I had yet another dream this morning but I forgot it completely after waking up. Suddenly I recalled this dream during our practice and it became vivid again. In my dream, I was standing beside a lake, staring at the water in the lake. The water was murky. There were numerous illusory sentient beings in the lake which looked extremely sad and troubled. They were swimming all over in a very chaotic manner. I felt clearly that they were illusionary, not real – why would they suffer from so much mental afflictions? “An illusory existence should rightly be free of mental afflictions,” I thought. “I must tell them!” So, I jumped into the lake, trying to reach them. However, the moment I entered the lake, I felt tremendous pressure and my mind became very confused! I could not see my own body, instead I felt like one of them – an illusion too! However, my mind was telling me that I was not an illusion but real! I struggled in great discomfort. Again, I thought, “How can I pull them out of this place? How should I tell them that they are just illusory?” At that point, I no longer felt that it was just an illusion - my mind became clouded and confused. Suddenly, I saw Dharma Brother Shao leading a group of people moving towards a certain direction, looking for his master. He told the rest that his master would be able to free them from the cyclic existence and their mental afflictions!

I looked at the direction to which he was pointing and saw two vertical rays of light. When Dharma Brother Shao mentioned his “master”, a message flashed through my mind immediately – “Acho Rinpoche is there!” So, I helped to lead the rest moving towards the light in that direction too. The lake water was murky and we lost our sense of direction completely. When we came close to the two rays of light, we began to develop a clearer sense of direction – and we could feel that this was a lake. We moved towards the two rays of light which appeared to be two vertical pillars of light leading upward from the lake. I started feeling very uncomfortable and I said “I go up first!” I charged upward and half way through, I sensed that I would be seeing Acho Rinpoche. And I knew that the two pillars were, in fact, his legs! I felt that he was seated, with his two legs resting in the lake.

When I reached the surface of the water, I returned to the initial state where I could see the lake, the water, the mountain, birds and trees. I felt very comfortable in the nature. At that point, I knew that the lake was illusionary. I had awaken in the dream but had yet to wake up from my dream. I could not quite remember the dream after waking up until I did my practice, where I quietly analysed my dream once more. I thought this was a special dream that must have its significance. When I re-emerged from the bottom of the lake, I expected to see the face of Aho Rinpoche but I saw an empty space instead. I did not see the face of Acho Rinpoche appearing before my eyes but his two legs of light. Which one was his true identity? While I was searching for the answer, the vision of the entire lake appeared in my mind. Actually, the upper half of Acho Rinpoche’s body was formless! It was just nature – trees, flowers, grass etc; the manifestations of emptiness!

Both legs of Acho Rinpoche that appeared as light symbolised “luminosity”. The water in the lake symbolised “sentient beings in the six realms of cyclic existence”. It simply means – luminosity actually exists within the sentient beings of the six realms of cyclic existence”. When I saw the light from the bottom of the lake, I thought it was Acho Rinpoche and I saw his face appearing. Actually, the face of Acho Rinopche is just an illusion. His face appeared from luminosity in order to give us a sense of direction, guiding us upwards the pillars of light. What is above the lake is the true existence – it is not impermanence but "emptiness and awareness". It was a very clear sense of awareness! That was the whole picture! I was very touched when I understood the meaning of this dream!

Acho Rinpoche:

Dharma Brother Yi had a very meaningful dream. It is likened to a small opening, through which he saw a small facet of my attainment. Actually, the upper half is a luminous state of emptiness. You will finally reach a luminous state of emptiness. The whole universe and nature are just your manifestations. In order to help the sentient beings, you place both your legs in the Six Realms of Existence. The manifestation of rainbows, rains… are meant to bring them back to their place of origin. The Seal of Great Perfection can deliver the sentient beings to the Pure Land of the Buddhas. This is simply an inconceivable method – the Great Perfection!

As what Dharma Brother Yi said, the lake represents the Six Realms of Existence. When sentient beings entered the Six Realms of Existence, they lost their ways. The lake is simply too vast, and everyone is lost in his dream, lost in his delusions, stranded in the process of birth, aging, sickness and death, and trapped by his career, family, children, spouse etc. Although Yi wanted to help others, he too was lost when he entered the lake. He was trapped too and became helpless himself. This is to tell you that it is just not easy to break free of the Six Realms of Existence. If the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the enlightened masters do not re-enter this realm of existence to help the sentient beings by teaching, blessing and helping them, it will be impossible for anyone to break free of the Six Realms of Existence at all!

Sakyamuni Buddha said there is no one who can break free of the Six Realms of Existence, regardless of your status as a king, a president, a billionaire, a professor etc. You simply cannot break free of the Six Realms of Existence but repeatedly born and die within. Only with the blessing of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, one can break free of the cyclic existence. The wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is simply inconceivable - it is simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary beings. If you want to break free of the Six Realms of Existence, you must practice with vigour. When you break free, you will realize that the whole world, the universe are just parts of your body. Rainbows will appear wherever you are because they are part of your existence. Wind, rain, streams… are all parts of your existence - they are just your manifestations. You did not create them intentionally - they just appear very naturally. This is the state of being when you reached the ultimate state of enlightenment. So, the dream was very meaningful - it leaked slightly my state of attainment. I am pleasantly surprised that Yi had such a dream.

A discourse given by Acho Rinpoche on 31 Jul 2010 in Singapore.