Uncovering our Original Consciousness and setting ourselves free to dwell in any and every corner of universal space and time is also called "liberation." After Buddha witnessed the Way, he enjoyed seven days of true liberation. This concept of liberation is well-known from the Scriptures. What are the joys of liberation? What meaning does liberation have for human life?

If we have achieved liberation, then we can already comprehend Buddha's joy of liberation and also understand the images of liberation discussed in the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra, the Lotus sutra, and the Flower Ornament sutra. What cannot be seen by the eyes or heard by the ears can be seen, heard, and substantiated by the Original Consciousness. The Western philosopher, Georg Hegel, uses a term, the "substantiation of Spirit" (Phenomenology of Spirit). [1] Yet how can spirit be substantiated? After we attain liberation, we will see that we have the ability to transform our every conscious thought into solid substance, ultimate, and perfect reality. Only then can the spirit be substantiated, so as to realize and experience the "Pure Lands," the spiritual universe, or the natural universe. Since the Pure Lands or spiritual universe reveal themselves only to a consciousness that has tapped into the Universal Mind, we only have to think of a cup to substantiate and realize it. Even the coffee inside of that cup will have aroma and flavor.

All foods, not just coffee, that we can imagine can become reality; if we can achieve this, then we have taken the initial steps of liberation. If we can succeed in thinking of and substantiating just one item, it is equivalent to thinking of and substantiating billions of items. Why? Because the Buddhist Way is precisely the Way of the Original Consciousness, the One Mind. To the universe, all things are equal and indistinguishable. From what we consider the monumentally great to the infinitesimally small, the Universe sees everything as the same. This is why one and a hundred million are equal; the Universe does not distinguish between the two, even if our un-liberated minds do. To manifest one is to manifest many, one can be manifested into many, many can be converged into one, because one is all, and all is one.

The Flower Ornament sutra first proposed the fundamental unity of all things. [2] If we can think of a cup of tangible, full-bodied coffee, and can drink it, smell it and, without using our five senses, appreciate the taste of that cup of coffee, then liberation and the Buddhist Pure Lands are within our reach, and we can journey to them at our heart’s whim. We are able to completely let our Original Consciousness be liberated and released from our physical body; we are capable of manifesting a beautiful, majestic world according to our desires. Starting from that cup of coffee created by our consciousness, we have achieved the "substantiation of spirit" expounded by Hegel, and have made real Aristotle’s philosophy that all things in the Universe come into being through the variation in our consciousness. Consciousness can change all things, consciousness manifests all things. All Dharma lies in consciousness.

A Buddha is able to completely express all Dharma true forms, because a Buddha has completely uncovered, reverted to, and resurrected his true, all-compliant, and limitless self-nature. The Buddhist scriptures discuss the Pure Lands as stemming from within ourselves, from our true fundamental nature as a seamless part of the Universal Entity. This is the eternal, immutable truth of Buddhism – that the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms (containing the True Form reality of all dharma) and the true Ru – the original, all-compliant, and limitless self-nature - are one and the same eternal truth. Apart from these, everything else is a matter of convenience and expediency in terminology. Where are these Pure Lands of the Buddhist scriptures? They are within us, contained within our true essence. It is just like the passage in the Bible, wherein the Pharisees asked Jesus, "When is the kingdom of God coming?" Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation. Neither shall they say, ‘Lo here!’ Or, ‘Lo, there!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you." [3] If we look outside of ourselves for spiritual salvation, if we look "without," instead of "within," then we are stray from the right course. As a result, the kingdom of God and the Pure Lands of the Buddhist scriptures will become invisible and unknown to us.

Ten years ago, a person may have accepted our views of the Root Self [4] and developed his or her celestial sight through his/her Third Eye or Wisdom Chakra. However, opening our Third Eye can only help us to see into the cosmic realms, but we cannot actually touch them, smell them, or hear them. And what about the state of true liberation? When we achieve liberation, we can see, touch, taste, and smell the cosmic realms: they are splendid, real, solid, tangible, and endowed with Buddha-nature, replete with vital energy and life. Without using our bodily senses, we can absorb and experience all the entities in the cosmic realms. It is the Forms manifested and created by an individual who has unlocked his or her Original Consciousness that comprise the Pure Lands of the Spiritual Universe. The same holds true for the realms of Buddha, with their ten directions, Nirvana, and the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says that God's kingdom cannot be seen by the naked eye. The kingdom of God must be viewed with our inner vision, one which has sprouted from uncovering our Original Consciousness and Root Self. Hence, Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is within you." Why is it inside us? How can the kingdom of God be inside us? Why does that seem strange to us? Our essence has already been activated, and this true essence exists within our Dharma nature . When our true essence is clear and unlocked, Dharma realms reveal and become reality. Thus, the Kingdom of Heaven is manifested and created by us！

After attaining this state of liberation, we will truly understand what is meant by the "Spiritual Universe" and what is called the "Eternal Pure Lands." It all starts with that cup of coffee manifested by our consciousness. As we are able to drink that cup of coffee, we can also extend this ability to encompass anything and everything in the great expanse of this limitless spiritual universe. And as for turning coffee into tea, tea into wine, and wine into anything and everything else possible - all these "metamorphoses " or "transformations" are also called "Liberation." For example, we hold a cup in our hand and, although it's so small, we drink! Now, it's empty. But if we want to eat fish fins, look! The cup changes, it naturally becomes larger (Buddhist scriptures state, "Suddenly enlarged." [5] ) A small cup changes into a large bowl to contain a fish fin, and then a spoon automatically presents itself as needed, a tangible one! Take it a step further, and scalding hot water can be changed into ice water, and then releasing more heat, can be changed into ice, into all things. The objects cannot and do not change themselves; rather, the change is caused by a liberated consciousness that is One with the Original Consciousness. The ability to alter the form and structure of physical matter at will is simply the interchange of energy between one body of energy and another.

These phenomena of spiritual states altering physical states, which scientists find so difficult to explain, nevertheless do take place and are real! But in order to prove this principle of the interaction between mass and energy, we have but to wait for the scientists to achieve the state of liberation so that a reasonable explanation can be produced. Now it is not our task to prove anything to others, but for us to prove to ourselves, to witness for ourselves. When we are liberated, we prove to ourselves that all is caused by the changes in our Original Consciousness. We use the Buddhist scriptures only to facilitate our recognition and hasten our actual experience of liberation, not to introduce to us to Buddhism or to the Buddhist scriptures in and of themselves. We can only use the Buddhist scriptures to explain, describe, and help us comprehend our current state and our true nature. If our comprehension and understanding of the state of liberation has grown, our consciousness is naturally already directly connected to the Universal Mind and our Original Consciousness. We do not need to maintain this connection through the practice of asceticism, or difficult study, or seclusion. By not acting, we are acting. And by not acting, we actually achieve absorption. Asceticism, on the other hand, is an action, it is acting. And it is merely a kind of ceremonial formality. Just like Buddha himself! Six years of asceticism had gotten him nowhere. One night, while meditating and visualizing the stars, he suddenly became aware of the supreme equality of great wisdom. After witnessing his Self and his Original Consciousness, he became enlightened. It happened all of a sudden that his consciousness naturally merged with that of his Original Consciousness, and his consciousness began to bloom, naturally and freely. Because Buddha happened to be in the lotus position of meditation when he became enlightened, others interpreted that as an ascetic practice that was necessary for achieving enlightenment. The world’s great Buddhist teachers mistook asceticism as a necessary condition for enlightenment, and this conception has influenced the world even into the 20th century.

But who has ever reached Buddha-hood through suffering, self-denial, and asceticism? Reaching enlightenment does not make one a Buddha. Reaching enlightenment is just becoming truly aware, such that one has proven to oneself beyond all doubt, of the existence of one’s True Ru Self-Nature. Reaching enlightenment is not reaching true liberation, and unless we reach true liberation, we cannot transcend the eternal cycle of life and death. Must we wait for the return of Maitreya to attain Buddha-hood? According to the Ascension sutra, we must wait for Maitreya to be reborn! Yanfuti is 5,670,000 years from now, and we must wait for Maitreya to return?! Maitreya’s paradise was extremely popular in the time of Nagarjuna Buddha. After Buddhism was propagated to China, great and wise teachers like Xuanzhang and Kuaiji worshipped Maitreya, and they began to aggressively research and study his paradise. In truth, Maitreya’s Heaven-on-Earth is not reached with blind adulation, nor attained through the practice of asceticism. Xuanzhang and Kuaiji worshipped idols, practiced extreme ascetism and self-denial, and attained the highest levels of integrity. But although they became great teachers, they were unable to reach Heaven-on-Earth. So if we continue to emphasize ascetism and the traditional rituals and rites of Buddhism, then you have not found the true Buddhist Path. It is because our true Ru self-nature encompasses all divine knowledge and all phenomena, which can consummate all potentials into embodiment, we need not practice asceticism, self-denial, or any of these empty rites and ceremonies. The more we do this, in fact, the more obstacles we face. The more we thresh ourselves in this way, the more difficult it will be to attain Buddha-hood.

Uncovering our Original Consciousness without attaining liberation will still prevent us from reaching and expressing Nirvana. That coffee cup of ours, if we can reach a point wherein we think of it and it appears physically before our eyes, well then! We will have transcended the ten directions, we will have brought paradise into our lives on Earth! The entire Kingdom of God can be brought closer for us to dwell in during this lifetime. And so the biblical phrase, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," is truly telling us that this world of paradise is right before our eyes, right in front of us. Why is paradise right in front of us? Isn’t it ten trillion miles away? How can it be before our eyes? Because the distance to the spiritual realms are determined by the level of our consciousness. Once we have uncovered our Original Consciousness and achieved liberation, then we will experience no temporal barriers, or distance, or spatial separation. When we attain Buddha-hood, we can use our liberated consciousness to determine the distance (or lack thereof) to the Pure Lands, the realms of Nirvana, the Kingdom of Heaven.

For example, as stated in the chapter on Tathagata's divine power, number 21, fascicle 6: "The Buddha Sakyamuni remotely scattered over the whirling world all kinds of fragrant perfumes, necklaces, toiletries, and other items for personal adornment, all treasures and wondrous objects. All things scattered came from the ten directions." [6] As an example, the gathering clouds became precious tents, covering all of the lands of the Buddha when the world, in its ten directions, was thoroughly sensible and without impediment. This sort of "remote scattering" from the ten directions over the whirling world has same force of meaning as the Kingdom of Heaven "descending," or "coming from above," as stated in the Bible. The Kingdom of Heaven is coming, but how? In what manner? "Coming" and "remote scattering" both have the meaning: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The "proximity" of the Kingdom of Heaven is as near as the space before our eyes, which is consistent with the notion of Plato's God "transporting" the Universe to place it in the space before our eyes, thus forming the Spiritual Universe. Hence, the Kingdom of Heaven in the Bible and the realm of ultimate bliss, or Nirvana, in the Buddhist scriptures both belong in the spiritual universe. The spiritual universe is what Aristotle called the "natural universe." Buddha’s descriptions of the Pure Lands as "naturally all-encompassing" or "naturally permeating everywhere" can be included in the implications of the terms "transport," "descent," or "approach."

As an example, the "descent" that is frequently seen in Buddhist scriptures is described as: "Sandal twigs rain into the water, in riotous profusion they fall; as birds fly down from the sky, to make scattered offerings to the Buddha. Heavenly drums emit their wondrous sounds in empty space. Heavenly garments, in thousands of designs, come whirling down in swirls. The treasured incense burner burns priceless incense, its scent naturally permeating everywhere." [7] The Kingdom of Heaven or the Pure Lands will descend in a natural whirling or swirling motion. In reality, it does not come from the sky, but from the Original Consciousness, from the original truth itself. And the Original Consciousness is pure truth. The true forms of all Dharma emerge from the true self-nature. The "descent" from heaven or the "emergence" from earth as described in the Scriptures is nothing but the natural, magical power of the truly liberated. As far as the liberated are concerned, the question of where the Kingdom of Heaven comes from does not exist. It comes from our consciousness and in response to our thoughts. It appears suddenly, and also disappears suddenly. Now we see it, and now we don't. Now it solidifies, and now it dissipates. Whether it is ascending or descending, expanding or diminishing, rising or falling... all of these descriptions are defined by or confined in time and space. Once liberated from temporal and spatial limits, all of these impediments naturally fall away. And then the Kingdom of Heaven is naturally at hand, and the realm of ultimate bliss is naturally before our eyes.

Once liberated from time and space, there is no such thing as "distance." Witness the passage in the Bible: "…and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward." [2 Kings 20:11] (In essence, time was slowed by forty minutes.) In the Lotus sutra, in the section on emerging forth from the ground, fifty small kalpas (80 billion years) was as half a day. And in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra, one kalpa (16 million years) was considered to be equivalent to seven days, and seven days to be equivalent to one kalpa. These are all instances and expressions of liberation from time and space. The capacity of our human consciousness is vast and limitless, encompassing the universe, containing the void, simultaneously embracing past, present, and future, and penetrating antiquity and modernity. Hence, any spatio-temporal segment can be manifested by the limitless expanse of our human consciousness. These incredible states of liberation all depend on the breadth and expanse of our consciousness. When our consciousness is liberated, its capacity becomes limitless and boundless, such that the universe can be contained therein, and the past world disappears without a trace. There is nothing for it but to apply the principle of converting spirit into matter to cause it to materialize and actualize, such that the events of the past appear one by one. Recurrences of people, episodes, places, and things of the past are compatible with the deterministic intellect, which embodies the principle that we know what happened in the past. Therefore, the spatio-temporal universe is defined by the level of liberation of our consciousness, not by looking at distances with the physical eye and saying that something is "so far away." When a person talks about something being far away, it is clear that this person is not liberated!

The Buddha is liberated, and naturally he is able to transform and cause not only the world in its ten directions to appear, but also the realm of ultimate bliss! The content of the true forms of all dharma depends on whether our "true self-nature" has been liberated, not on discussions of the distance, size, origins, or elevation of the limitless realms. Hence, we need not focus on the content of the true forms of all dharma; rather we should be concerned with the issue of how to achieve liberation. Upon attaining liberation, we will naturally understand the nature of the true forms of all dharma, and the Buddhist path will become thoroughly clear and understood. The key to all this still lies in liberation. But how can we achieve liberation? First, we must understand the contents, capabilities, qualities, and uniqueness of the Original Consciousness. We must understand how the Original Consciousness is able to effect changes, enter, and exit Universal space and time, and how we can become liberated. How does one master the abilities of the Original Consciousness? Today’s masters are keen on asceticism. The Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra speaks of not extinguishing desire as the starting point of liberation, and of achieving liberation through practicing the five disagreeable behaviors. In a section on the Buddhist Way in the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra, Manjusri asks Vimalakirti: "How does a bodhisattva understand and master the Buddhist Path?" Vimalakirti replies, "If the bodhisattva walks the wrong path, it will lead him to the Buddhist Path." [8]

By "walking the wrong path," Vimalakirti means not practicing abstinence and continuing to be consumed by life’s daily obstacles and burdens...and yet, this path will lead to a thorough comprehension of Buddha’s teachings! His is a dissenting voice to the modern masters' doctrines of practicing asceticism and self-denial. The Buddha in the Ascension sutra also designates Maitreya, who "does not practice meditation and does not stop being troubled by life’s obstacles and burdens," as the Buddha of the Future. The idea of not practicing meditation and continuing to do battle with life’s petty obstructions and yet attaining Buddha-hood, denotes direct absorption and attainment without cultivation. The Buddha affirmed that Maitreya did not undergo cultivation, and yet became a Buddha. The main reason for this was that the Buddha was able to emit light directly to the Maitreya’s Universal Mind; therefore, Maitreya did not need to practice ascetism. The Buddha "emitted light" to illuminate Maitreya’s true self-nature; likewise, he could emit light to illuminate all living beings, so that they might directly absorb and receive the Original Consciousness as well.

It is conscious thinking that produces the emission of light, not meditation. While emitting light, the Buddha was sitting cross-legged in meditation, perhaps only to observe and comply with liturgical requirements to display solemnity and to present the dignity of Buddhist teachings through external ritual. Moreover, the Buddha had a noble and elegant disposition and possessed perfect moral integrity, such that a natural stateliness took shape about his person, and ritual became a means by which he educated Buddhist followers. But the fundamental objective is still liberation. The liberated can emit light at will, without having to go through any ritualistic ceremony; this is because light emission is an activity of conscious thought. The Buddha's ability to emit light is a consequence of the liberation of his Original Consciousness. It is absolutely not based on practicing external, ritualistic rites or ceremonies, or on practicing meditation while sitting in the lotus position! The Buddha could attest to Maitreya ascending to the Pure Land of Tusita Heaven. The structure of Maitreya's Pure Land was illuminated and created by the Buddha's light emissions. The Buddhist Way is free and unlimited, having neither form nor shape.

It is the way of liberation that cannot be seen by the eyes of mortals. We ourselves know whether or not we have attained the Way of liberation. To be able to liberate ourselves, see all Universal phenomena, manifest the heavenly realms in this world, enter the Dharma realms with merely the flicker of a thought – this is what it means to have found the Buddhist Way! Faxian, Dao'an, Xuanzang, Kuaiji, and their contemporaries have propagated Maitreya's Pure Lands very well, but they have propagated only theories. The ability to truly ascend to Tusita heaven does not come with merely propagating theories. If we do ascend to Tusita heaven and meet up with Maitreya, we have to wait for another 5,670,000,000 years to bring him back to the world to construct Heaven-on-Earth with a united humanity. Surely, that is too much trouble! This idea was rejected by Master Shandao. Instead, he suggested that chanting, "Amitabha" might be faster. Since people feel that ascetism is too slow, why not just chant "Amitabha" until the Buddha appears?! Chanting "Amitabha" will allow us to become reborn in paradise? That’s a great theory! How very simple! It’ll only take seven days to reach Buddhahood; better yet, it’ll take only seven days to reach paradise?! Oh, but if this is too fast, we’ll then wonder, "How could it be so fast?" We’ll say to ourselves, "But after all, I haven't practiced asceticism…." And this, too, will be a cause for suspicion. That’s why these kinds of religions, with their theoretical debates and deliberations, have puzzled many ardent seekers of Truth, causing many of them to go astray.

We must find the fundamental, ultimate method. After all, it’s already the 21st century, it’s about time we put theories into practice, to verify our true spiritual state. We will instantly and suddenly come to an understanding of Maitreya’s Pure Lands and the original meaning of the realms of ultimate bliss. We will understand that these realms of perfection are rooted within us, within our Original Consciousness and our true self-nature, not externally arriving in a grand descent from Heaven or a swirling emergence from the Earth.

Should we go outwards and worship idols? No! We should go inwards and look for our Original Consciousness! With regard to understanding the way of liberation, listen to what follows. The day will come when we will have achieved liberation, and we will think back to what we heard today, and we will understand everything better and make more sense of it. Learn from the experience within the state (of liberation) itself! Get actual evidence from within the state itself, instead of from only the theory! To deepen our understanding, we should read from the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra, the Lotus sutra, or the Flower Ornament sutra to verify and reflect upon our own state of liberation. Referring to the contents of Buddhist scriptures will help increase our faith, and we must also treasure the visions shown to us by our Original Consciousness and Universal Mind. This way, we will truly arrive at the ultimate goal of Buddhist doctrine. Only then can we speak of thoroughly understanding and mastering the Buddhist way.

In truth, there are two varieties of Buddhist methods of self-cultivation: one is the ascetic path of the Buddha Shakyamuni, and the other is by direct absorption of the Pure Lands. This latter method of direct absorption has been experienced by many people here. Young children have experienced it, as have elderly people. What you people have experienced is the breakthrough miracle of a millennium! The Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra states, "Vimalakirti exhibited in an instant the divine powers that all the shravaka-pratyekabuddhas, after hundreds of thousands of kalpas of transformation, were incapable of exhibiting." [9] This illustrates the astoundingly exalted level of Vimalakirti's state of liberation. When the Buddha was describing Vimalakirti's liberation, Kashyapa the Elder exclaimed in admiration that he had never seen it happen nor heard of such a thing before. How could such an extreme state of liberation be possible? If Kashyapa the Elder, who was sitting right beside the Buddha, could not attain liberation, what chance do we modern people have? The fact is, had the Buddha used the method of "direct absorption" to guide his disciples to liberation, there certainly would have been disciples around him who ultimately became liberated. Needless to say, all the shravaka-pratyekabuddhas, after exhausting all their efforts in transformation for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, were not capable of reaching such a high state of liberation. Why were the direct disciples of Buddha unable to reach it? The Buddha had neglected to use the method of "direct absorption." The Buddha himself had become obsessed with asceticism; though he taught people not to be obsessed with ego and with dharma, he himself committed the error of rigidly upholding his own ideas. The Buddha did not know that his own light emissions could enlighten his disciples and enable them to instantly and directly absorb the state of liberation. One condition of the direct absorption method is that the person who emits light must illuminate the Original Consciousness (Universal Mind) and activate its function and capacity; only then will instantaneous liberation take place without reversion to the un-liberated state. And when the Buddha did emit light, his surrounding disciples did not know they could absorb it, undoubtedly because they were influenced by the culture of asceticism and discipline that was prevalent at the time.

With respect to the Buddha’s light emission phenomena, they should have spurred the liberation of many of his disciples. However, because the Buddha neglected to guide and motivate his disciples via light emission, they failed to attain this state. As the Flower Ornament sutra states, in the section on entering the Dharma Realm 39:1: "...with unfettered, unrestrained power to enter and penetrate all worlds as they turn... to see all of the forms, phenomena, shapes, and things in all of the worlds. To see a huge stupa in a small space, and a tiny stupa in a large space... to see in all the ten directions without puzzlement, and in an instant to go and visit any of them. It was thus that all the bodhisattvas were present at Shiduolin, which was imbued with the tremendous divine powers of Tathagata. The chief monks at the time, Shariputra, Maudgalyayana the Great, and Mahakashyapa... they were all in Shiduolin and yet could not see Tathagata's divine powers, ornaments, visions, games, or magical transformations... [10] When the Buddha was emitting massive amounts of light to illuminate the True-Form technique, his chief disciples could not see it, and therefore they could not know, could not hear, could not enter, could not attain, could not observe, could not measure, could not conceive of, and could not distinguish…". If our Original Consciousness has been liberated, then we are able to see, enter, and thoroughly master the true forms of all Dharma.

Therefore, we must treasure the state of liberation which has been directly absorbed by our Original Consciousness! Stop wondering how or why we can attain liberation without effort and self-denial. When the Buddha said it could not be achieved by exhausting our efforts in transformation for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, he was describing the inefficacy of the hundreds of thousands of kalpas spent in exhausting effort, when we had not attained liberation. [11] If we are liberated, it can instantly be accomplished! Some people believe that they have worked hard, become versed in all the Scriptures, practiced all six Paramitas or [Great Wisdom exercises] for the sake of salvation, donated generously in the building of temples, gone on pilgrimages to honor the Buddha, and been tireless in their quest for spiritual advancement. Yet, why have they not been able to manifest the state of liberation? How is it that a person could attain liberation without cultivation, without effort? How unreasonable! It is too strange, which is why it makes us more doubtful and indignant, such that becoming liberated quickly will not do, but then nor will becoming liberated slowly. If we become liberated quickly, then we get suspicious, just like what happened to Longnü (the Dragon Maiden), who was mentioned in the Lotus sutra. She achieved Buddhahood by a mere turn of her mind, and in an instant activated her Bodhi-mind so that there was no reversion. [12] In the Lotus sutra, the Bodhisattva Zhiji said, "I witnessed Shakya-Tathagata’s practicing of strict asceticism for numerous kalpas to accumulate a great store of merits, pursuing the bodhi-truth unceasingly. It was after all this that he succeeded in acquiring the bodhi-truth. I cannot believe that this woman (the Dragon Maiden) could have achieved enlightenment instantaneously." [13] Not only did the Bodhisattva Zhiji doubt it, so did Shariputra. In the Lotus sutra, he said to the Dragon Maiden, "You say that you attained the Supreme Truth in a short time, that is a thing I cannot credit. How could this be so? A woman's body is unclean, and cannot be a vessel of the Truth. How could you have attained the supreme Bodhi? The Buddhist Way is steep and barren; the goal can be reached only after long periods of assiduous cultivation and arduous trials, to have done all this, and then attain the Supreme Truth. Besides, a female body has five impediments...how, then, could a female body attain Buddha-hood so quickly?" [14] Both Bodhisattva Zhiji and Shariputra evidently did not understand what we mean when we say, "direct absorption!"

In summary, liberation is contingent upon the Original Consciousness’ direct absorption of the Pure Lands. After direct absorption, liberation will come about naturally! From a free, conscious, and liberated mind, a sort of Pure Land effortlessly reveals itself, full of Truth, Good, and Beauty. It is a most ideal spiritual domain. Fit this ideal world into the human realm, into our own lives. Step physically into the Pure Lands on Earth mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures! The Lotus sutra, in section 11, on seeing the precious pagoda, tells us of land transformation: "Then this world turned pure, the ground became paved with glazed tiles. Valuable trees stood in sublime splendor, while ropes-of-gold were used to mark the eight paths. Villages, camps, towns, cities, oceans, rivers, mountains, streams, and forests abounded. Large quantities of precious incense burned, while MANDALA blossoms were scattered everywhere. Over it all hung nets and canopies, adorned with hanging bells, all made of precious materials... the natives who dwelled there, both deities and men, were moved to other locations."

To fully realize Paradise-on-Earth, our Original Consciousness must directly absorb the Pure Lands in order to construct them here. Morever, that absorption must come through an encounter and direct resonance with an enlightened person who is emitting Light. Without this, there can be no absorption to speak of. Moreover, the capacity to directly absorb the Pure Lands depends on our own Original Consciousness, not on our fleshly body. In actuality, the Buddha had already much earlier introduced the idea of "direct absorption." From the Dabaoji sutra, fascicle 17, Wuliangshou Rulaihui 5:1, we have the following: "The Buddha (Tathagata, the omnipotent king of the world) told his monks: 'You must absorb by yourselves the pure Buddha realms.' Dharma-ayatana (Fachu/Fazang) said to the Buddha: 'Lord, I do not have the ability to absorb; may Tathagata tell us about the purity and sanctity of the rest of the Buddha realms. Upon hearing it, we vow to fully satisfy your requirements.' So then, the Lord Tathagata extensively depicted and described to them the 2,100,000,000 Buddhist Pure Lands, in all their splendor. As he preached, a hundred million years elapsed. The monk Fachu absorbed all the splendor and purity of the 2,100,000,000 realms. Having completed the absorption, he fulfilled the five kalpas worth of contemplation exercises.

"Ananda! [Referring to one of the Buddha’s ten Great Disciples] The monk Fachu has exceeded all others in absorbing the Buddhist realms.’ After the absorption, Fachu went to the abode of the omnipotent king of the world, Tathagata, and bowed his head to the latter's feet; then he walked in seven clockwise circles and said: 'Lord, I have already absorbed a full measure of the meritorious, sublime, and pure Buddhist Lands.' The Buddha replied: ''It is time for you to describe everything in detail immediately, to make all present rejoice and want to absorb the perfect Pure Lands for themselves." [15] From this passage, we now understand that people of later generations should also be able to experience the Pure Lands by direct absorption, and that direct absorption can take the place of asceticism. The definition of asceticism refers to the severance of suffering caused by the seven emotions and six desires.

Mahayana Buddhism does not advocate the severance of suffering, however. For if suffering is severed, how can the attainment of the Bodhi-mind be possible? Hence, the Buddha foretold of Maitreya attaining Buddha-hood in the future: "Maitreya will have the appearance of a common man. He will not practice meditation and willl not be free from suffering and obstacles..." [16] Since he does not practice meditation, does not cut off suffering, looks like a common man, but yet is a future Buddha, this "foretelling of the future Buddha" who "attains without cultivation" refers to direct absorption. Maitreya directly absorbed and then reached the Pure Lands. Ah, the Pure Lands of Maitreya are right in our Original Consciousness! The Pure Lands of Maitreya are also in Tusita heaven, and Tusita heaven is transformed into an expediency when Buddha teaches his disciples. Those who are liberated can clearly see Tusita heaven. Tusita heaven is Tusita heaven, and appears at the beck and call of the liberated. It can be far away, or it can be close by, there is no distance. Not only Tusita heaven, but also the Heaven of the thirty-three Deva-Kings, the Buddhist Pure Lands, and Paradise, will all appear at the behest of a single thought or call. As stated in the Lotus sutra, in the section on Devadatta: "Bodhisattva Zhiji asked Manjusri: '...How many people have you enlightened?' Manjusri replied: 'So many they are innumerable and uncountable. It cannot be declared by the mouth, nor estimated by the mind.’ As Manjusri spoke, numerous bodhisattvas sitting on precious lotuses emerged from the ocean. They proceeded to Vulture Peak, there to dwell in the Void. All of these bodhisattvas had been saved by Manjusri." [17] What Manjusri conceives of in his mind and then speaks with his mouth becomes reality, and thus he demonstrates the doctrine of true forms, which is subtle and elusive, yet expansive. The Bodhisattva Zhiji praised Manjusri thus: "He thoroughly expresses true forms, illustrating the principle of One-ness." [18] All of the liberated, be they ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, are capable of manifesting thoughts and words into True-Forms.

The Pure Lands brought about by the Buddha's consciousness contain an unlimited number of Buddhist monasteries, a ten-dimensional world, all of the multifarious worlds, and the "Heaven" of all heavens. The contents are not different than what has been described before: the splendorous groves, courtyards, terraces, pavilions, and music formed by the seven treasures, all more beauteous and perfect than in the human sphere. Especially the pearls and gems, which encrust the precious incense burners, precious garments, precious tents, precious blankets, precious mirrors, precious lights, precious flowers, precious belts, precious curtains, precious nets, precious scents, precious water... everything is endlessly "precious." [19] The various Buddhist Pure Lands, with all their treasure-filled stateliness, are Buddha’s mental pictures of his ideal spiritual kingdom. To understand these Pure Lands, we must first comprehend the backdrop of Buddha's life and the time period in which he lived. For example, the gold-paved streets of Paradise and the pool tiled with the eight most precious gems both have something to do with the background of Buddha's life. Regarding the gold pavement, it is said that the grounds of the Jetavana monastery were paved with gold. The monastery was also surrounded by many pools of fresh, clean water. Given that India is very hot, and the people there had traditionally held the idea that bathing rids the body of bad karma (since the act purifies the mind and cleanses the body), the act of bathing contained religious significance to the ancient people of India. All of the Buddhist scriptures that we have read state that in every paradise there are pools of pure water, such as the Pool of the Eight Precious Gems and the Water of Meritorious Deeds. From the heaven of the four heavenly kings to each of the many layers of Tusita heaven, there are many, many pools of pure water. Since the Buddha lived in ancient India, it makes sense that the ideal world that he yearned for and brought forth would have the above-mentioned gem-encrusted pools of pure water as well.

Our living environment influences our consciousness, which in turn produces thoughts and forms that comprises a kind of ideal world. When we conceive of the existence of an ideal world, it will be our materialized thoughts and consciousness, given substance and reality. The Raise the World sutra, fascicle l, records the Buddha as saying: "These billion worlds change and come together for a while, and the next moment they break apart; they change and are scattered for a while, and then come together again; they change and come together for a while, and then stay put. When the changing stops, and the condition is maintained, this is what is said to be securely established." [20] The billion worlds change in a pattern of coming together and dispersing; in coming together, they congeal to become a solid mass; in dispersion, they scatter and melt into nothingness. They are born one moment and extinguished the next. Birth and extinction, coming together and dispersing, all of these transformations arise from the changes in the Buddha's consciousness. Thus we know that "all Dharma is consciousness." As it is with the billion worlds, so it is also with the Pure Lands of the Buddhist kingdoms, the world of the ten dimensions, God's kingdom of Heaven, and the realm of ultimate bliss. They all contain splendor, magnificence, solidity, and permanence – they are all substantiations of the spirit. The paradise that the Buddha described to Weitixi was also this way. [21] So were the original principles of Amitabha and the ten-dimensional world of all the Buddhas. One Buddha's body is equivalent to limitless realms, and numberless stupas are equivalent to one Buddha's body. Both Buddha's body and Buddha's lands originate in the inherent brilliance of the Original Consciousness. In the Angulimalya sutra, the Buddha states, "The eight billion Buddhas are my body; they are the Buddha's transformations!" [22] When the Buddha ascended to the heaven of the thirty-three diva-kings, while explaining the Ksitigarbha sutra to his mother, he also said: "It is all the Buddha himself." [23] The Surangama sutra also corroborates: "The myriad Buddhas are all his transformations." [24] Through the ideal world wrought by the Buddha's consciousness, we can understand how the spiritual universe and the substantiation of the spirit, is the substantial world – our natural universe - wrought by the totally free and unrestrained will of those who are liberated.

Everything in the Universe can be substantiated and realized with consciousness; a cup of coffee can materialize into being by way of our thoughts; so, too, can the realms of all the Buddhas and everything in the Universe be created in accordance with our thoughts, now coming into being, now gathering, and now transforming...into a world of substance in which we can abide permanently and securely. Buddhist scriptures mention the "incredible state of liberation;" the unthinkable, incomprehensible, indescribable state of ultimate liberation. This truth, that the ideal world is wrought by the Buddha’s liberated consciousness, is absolutely one that we modern humans, living in the 21st century, can realize, practice, and implement. Upon the liberation of humankind, all fantasies and ideals can become solid reality in an earthly paradise. The qualities of peace, stability, prosperity, purity, eternity, peace above-and-below, serenity and harmony throughout the universe... all these things are possible and attained in Heaven-on-Earth. The slogan of modern religion is: "Let us build Heaven-on-Earth together." This earthly paradise is not built with our two hands. As Jesus said, "Whatever is built by hand will be destroyed." [25] That’s right! God did not create anything with his two hands. Jesus also said, "My kingdom is not of this world." [26] Jesus' world belongs to the spiritual realm, it is not manually made or manufactured. And it certainly does not need to accept human management and governance!

The spiritual realm has no equivalent of government. Jesus' world belongs to the spiritual universe – God’s kingdom. And God's kingdom belongs to the spiritual realm, which is modeled after human life. Jesus lived in a time of great troubles! He unwittingly manifested his Original Consciousness, and saw the Kingdom of Heaven. What is Jesus’ ideal world? His ideal world is the perfect city, that city of His…The six heavens of desire that the Buddha introduces also have many castles, pavilions, and divine palaces. When the inner vision is opened and the spiritual eye sees clearly, the hidden contents of our Dharma nature will naturally and spontaneously reveal themselves as supernatural visions (realities). The contents of all of these supernatural visions (realities) are in our consciousness, since all Dharma is contained in our consciousness and does not come from any external source! Sometimes what we have not thought of or conceived of, or what is outside our knowledge, may also be revealed to us by our Original Consciousness to let us know and become aware. All of the miraculous visions and realities recounted in the Bible and Buddhist scriptures can be duplicated by modern people, by those who are liberated.

In the course of our lives, we may occasionally encounter certain states of mind, see supernatural visions, or undergo all sorts of religious, mystical experiences. Alas! We wonder why we are seeing things. But we won’t understand their meaning unless we look for the meaning within our hearts; if we, instead, search blindly about for answers, we will waste a lot of time, and we still will not find any answers. Then we might suppose... well, that we’ve seen Lord Guan, and we must have some sort of affinity with Lord Guan! So we go to the Benefactor Temple, buy some fruit, and pay endless obeisance. Or perhaps we have seen... Jesus! And we think Jesus has approached us? So, we run desperately to the church, where we can dream up all kinds of ceremonial rites of worship. Of course, this is faith-based, and there's nothing wrong with it. At least it is better than gambling!

When our spiritual eye gives us visions, we might see all kinds of people, events, places, and things. And suddenly, a world we have never seen before appears; it is very attractive, very beautiful. Or, we might all of a sudden see lotus blossoms, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, or our dead grandfather, or close friends and relatives. All of the mystical experiences and supernatural visions given to us by our spiritual selves can make us apprehensive, and force us to use reason and judgment to explain them logically, thus exhibiting our ignorance and lack of understanding. "Huh? My grandfather is dead. How can he be visiting me? Perhaps he is already at Jesus' side?" Oh! And then we run back to the church to express gratitude for our ancestors and their benevolence. Or, we might conjecture on our own that our grandfather has become a deity, while, in fact, his appearance is a phenomenon produced by our consciousness. All phenomena have their correct answers if we but delve for them within our hearts and consciousness. All Dharma, all the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms, all universal spatio-temporal phenomena, all things in heaven and earth: mountains, rivers, terrains, herbs, trees, clay, rocks, people, events, places, objects... even Buddhas, gods, bodhisattvas - all things are indeed created by our consciousness!

It’s the 21st century! The well-intentioned great masters tirelessly preached Scriptures to save all the living. Perhaps their physical stamina fell short of their intentions, so they became convinced of and resigned to the difficulties of saving the world, and were instead carried away by the difficulties! A better idea is to first seek liberation by our own efforts! All living beings must save themselves by their own efforts, and we must each liberate our own Original Consciousness. Do not forget about direct absorption of the Pure Lands, for that will cause us to immediately understand and be liberated. The incredible (like opening our front door and seeing gigantic mountains), indescribable, and amazing gate to Liberation can be unlocked from within our own hearts. The so-called "state of Vimalakirti" is the Buddha's state of liberation. The transfigured lands of Amitabha - the realms of ultimate bliss - are also the Buddha Shakyamuni’s state of liberation. All Buddhas in the ten directions, the eight trillions of Buddhas, are the conscious transformations of the Buddha, i.e., the selfsame, including Amitabha, the Mahavairocana, the Varocana, the Aksobhya, and the Ratnasambhava,.

The Buddha uses all kinds of expedient explanations to describe his own state of liberation. You see, those who abide in the inscrutable state of liberation can cut out and take hold of the three thousand worlds, place them in their right palm, and cast them out beyond the sandy banks of the Ganges. All the while, those living in the worlds would have neither perception nor knowledge of where they had gone, or how they had returned to their original location. No one would have any inkling of their own departure and return, and their current world would remain unchanged. Again, all of the Buddhist realms can be placed in the right palm and flung in the ten directions, and yet, they will not have moved from their original locations. How can this be possible? Through the dharma of True-Forms! Those who are liberated can form the will in their hearts and the words with their mouths, and thus transform reality! The Buddha emitted light to illuminate the Pure Lands on Earth for direct absorption. Their contents include what the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra described as: "The one billion worlds can be contained in a box (the Dharma of true forms)." [27] The waters of the four oceans may fit inside a hair follicle. The Buddhist realms in the ten directions can all be seen by looking inside an opening as small as a hair follicle? Certainly! Now we believe, don't we? This is called the state of liberation. This is not occult, nor one of those weird, eerie or uncanny phenomena. The state of liberation all comes from within our consciousness; it is in every person's consciousness.

Why is it that every person has it? The Buddha points out that all living things have their Buddha-natures. When our Buddha-nature manifests, it naturally reveals the Pure Lands of the limitless Buddhist realms, illuminating those perfect, eternal worlds of light! For thousands of years, all human religions have sought the same goal: Heaven-on-Earth. Therefore, humans have flesh bodies, and our flesh bodies contain our Root Self. The worlds manifested by our collective Original Consciousness are the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms, pure and eternal! The world seen by our fleshly eyes obviously contrasts with the one seen in our hearts. Thus spoke Shariputra: "The world I see is so filled with ditches, rubble... (brambles), so full of dirt!" [28] So the Bodhisattva told him to view the world through the lens of the Buddha's wisdom, and then the Pure Lands would be attained. [29] One must see through the lens of the Buddha's wisdom! At present, we lift our eyes only to alight on a bunch of earthlings, each vying to be "bigger" than the next, displaying ignorance and arrogance. They are glib and worldly, complacent, but eventually, they will go the way of all flesh. For after all, they remain earthlings.

At present, we lift our eyes only to alight on a bunch of earthlings, each vying to be "bigger" than the next, displaying ignorance and arrogance. They are glib and worldly, complacent, but eventually, they will go the way of all flesh. For after all, they remain earthlings. Since earthlings do not possess the Buddha's wisdom, let them manifest with the vastness of their hearts, and directly absorb by way of their Original Consciousness! Reflect on our own consciousness with an attitude of humility and softness, and then we may be able to see the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms. These are not hallucinations or fantasies! They are alive and real, extremely perfect! They are absolutely different from today’s world.

Rebirth in Amitabha's world is focused on the afterlife - the time after death. How can we know about the possibility of rebirth after we’re already dead? If we attain and experience the state of liberation now, we can right away enjoy the experience of rebirth in Paradise-on-Earth or the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms. We can actually have and enjoy the experience of existing in a kind of spiritual living space, its lifestyle, and its eternity. Whenever and wherever, the Pure Lands are available to us, right in front of us. Nirvana can be achieved in this lifetime. There is no need to wait for the afterlife.

If during our lifetime, we fail to express the Paradise-on-Earth, to personally access the realm of ultimate bliss, to perceive the ten-dimensional Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms introduced by the Buddha, to attain ultimate liberation, to substantiate the spirit, then after we die, there is no chance that we will be reborn in paradise! Can we count on Amitabha to welcome us into the afterlife? Amitabha is the conscious transformation of the Buddha Shakyamuni! His relationship with Shakyamuni is absolute, while his relationship with us is based on our faith. This is hardly a relationship at all!

The main topic of Buddha's discourses dwells on our true self-nature. After it manifests and liberates itself, we are able to express our very own spiritual world, which belongs to us. Our ideal, spiritual world may be comparable to the Buddha's realm of ultimate bliss, because the consciousness of all beings is equal to the consciousness of the Dharma realm, is equal to the Buddha’s consciousness. All are equal. All of the Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms are equal. So, too, are our own spiritual world and the Buddha's realms of ultimate bliss also equal. As for the statement in Buddhist scriptures that the Buddha Amitabha is the most outstanding, that his brilliance is the most expansive, that his realms are the most sublime, that he is the King of all Buddhas, [30] this contradicts the Buddhist doctrine of zero differentiation, of the equality of all things in the Dharma realm. If there is no equality, how can there be kalavinka birds, peacocks, and birds of common destiny? Soaring birds and running beasts are all equal with Amitabha, with Avalokitesvara, or with Mahastham. All life is equal, and all Dharma realms are equal.

Exposition of the notion of equality in the dharma realms can be found in a passage from the sutra of Consecration, fascicle ll: The Bodhisattva Puguang-Mahasattva asked the Buddha, "What differences are there between the various ten-dimensional Pure Lands of the Buddhist realms?" The Buddha replied, "There are no differences." [31] All are equal then! So why do people of later generations say that Amitabha is the most outstanding, that his Buddhist realms are the most brilliant? This is because the Buddha had described another realm, which was also in the West, just like the kingdom of Amitabha. [32] However, there the Buddha's appellation was not Amitabha, but "Formidable Tathagata," meaning unrivalled, unsurpassed, unconquerable. This glorious Western Buddhist realm was also equal to any other. Afterwards, the masters determined that the realm of Amitabha was the most outstanding! In view of the concept of equality in the Dharma realms, no differences can be found there; any alleged differences have their source in our human minds and hearts.

Using thousands upon thousands of words, the Buddha has sought to teach us the manifestation of our true self-nature and that clarity of consciousness leads to the true perception of self-nature. But how can we comprehend our Root Self’s liberation and subsequent disengagement from our physical body? First of all, we see light! When we modern people see light, we may think to ourselves that God has come closer to us. But what about Moses, who witnessed light on Mount Sinai? [33] And what about Jesus, when he went up the mountain to pray, he also saw light? [34] What are we to think? In fact, the light that Moses saw was emitted by his own Root Self, as the light that Jesus saw was emitted by his own Root self. The light we see is the light emitted by our own Root Selves. The Root Self, or Original Self-Essence, is a metaphysical body of light. When the original essence of human beings is manifested, light is naturally released right before our eyes. It seems to come from outside of us, but truly it comes from within.

The Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra states, "Consciousness is neither within nor without." [35] As an example, suppose we are now thinking about our hometown. Is our mind inside of us or outside of us? If we are only "thinking," then this is the kind of thinking that is like a daydream, or a fantasy. It is elusive and impractical, insubstantial and vacuous. But if through thinking, we create substance, then our thoughts become reality, and our Divine Infinite Self (or "Fen Shen") is released from our physical Self. Suddenly, people in your home can see our "Fen Shen," and it looks entirely identical to our physical Self! So where are we? Are we here or there? We are both here and there. Some people at home see our "Fen Shen," and some people see our "Fen Shen" elsewhere. "Fen Shen" can also appear in the sky and be visible to others. If the person is here, then where is "Fen Shen?" It is neither here nor there, and neither inside nor outside. It is nowhere, and everywhere. Yet the physical person still stays in his original place.

It is like the Buddha ascending to Tusita heaven, to Yama heaven, or to the heaven of the thirty-three Trayastrimsas to explain the doctrine to his mother. He turns omnipotent, to Parajnirmita-vasavartin heaven, his Third Eye emitting light, his physical body completely taken over by his Light Self, "not moving his from his original position," [36] not rising from his seat. The Buddha does not move from his original seat under the bodhi tree, yet his Divine Infinite Self has been released and is gone. Is the Buddha sitting under the bodhi tree, and in Tusita heaven as well? How can he in both places at once? He is also in the ten dimensions, in each of the ten dimensions of the world! Hence, consciousness is neither inside nor outside. Good! So we see light! Well, how can we see light? By the same principle, the light that we see comes from the Root Self, which is neither inside nor outside, not residing in the six sensory faculties, nor residing outside of them. This is evidence of the initial manifestation of our true self-nature!

If, as an example, Jesus saw light and during his time, people did not have the concept of a Divine Infinite Self or "Fen Shen," he would take it to be a deity external to himself. After the idea was propagated over generations, people would then worship light! Jesus used the concept of "God" to define and recognize light. Thus, light became "God." Because Jesus has now become God, we cannot discuss Him anymore! However, truthfully, this represents no disparagement of either Jesus or the Buddha, since they introduced later generations to the light! At that time, Jesus did not have the concept of a Root Self, or a True, Inherent Self-Essence. His religious cultural background was defined by an external, all-powerful Supreme Being, or God. But the Buddha understood that light had its origin in the causal ground of reality, that all dharma is consciousness! That was why the Buddha could emit light. Light comes from consciousness, and consciousness generates all dharma! Thus, the principle of light perception is identical to the principle governing the Buddha's consciousness.

Buddhist scriptures state, "Buddha arises from the consciousness." [37] Yet it also states, "All Buddhas are born from Light." [38] Are not light and consciousness, then, the same? Everything comes from our Root Self! Jesus did not make a mistake when he saw light and thought of it as God. We, too, can externalize the light or internalize it. While externalized, it becomes the great Universal Light Body, permeating the entire spatio-temporal universe. When internalized within the body, it becomes the Root Self of Jesus. The Holy Trinity becomes one entity. The light can be the "master" or "subject" as well as the "guest" or "object." When light is manifested externally, Jesus may be regarded as "master" or "subject," and God can be considered the external "guest" or "object." According to Jesus’ judgment, and in view of the doctrine of the Trinity, there may well be no distinction between subject and object. For example, when our Divine Infinite Self goes to our hometown, are we the master, or is our Divine Infinite Self the master? We say the original person is the master, but Xuanzang considers the Root Self to be the master! When our "Fen Shen"- Divine Infinite Self exits our physical body, then it is our "Fen Shen" that is the master or subject. But we can also regard it as the guest or object. What is separated and goes out from here is, after all, called the "guest." In truth, the physical body is "guest dust," and visitors are, by definition, transient. The Divine Infinite Self is the master or host, because it comes from the Original Consciousness. The Original Consciousness is eternal; it is the vital controller of the physical body. If master and guest become unified, then Heaven and Earth, the celestial and the physical, become one, and the Trinity also merges into a single entity.

In ancient India and ancient Egypt, both religion and culture taught people to worship the sun. When our Root Self manifests, not only can we see many different colors and shapes of light, but we will see them combine and congeal to form a sun. Therefore, the sun – the big sun - becomes evidence of the manifestation of the Original Consciousness. Behind the Divine Infinite Self of each liberated person is a halo, proving that when the Original Consciousness has been liberated, a halo will appear behind them. All metaphysical and spiritual phenomena directly point to the Original Consciousness. This is not a new theory, rather, it is direct personal experience, which does not depart from orthodox teaching, and can certainly withstand examination. If we allow the Original Consciousness to reign supreme, merge our own consciousness with that of our Original Consciousness, and allow our Root Self to make all decisions, we may one day be able to see ourselves liberated.

The Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra puts it aptly: "The straight consciousness is a place of worship. The deep consciousness is a place of worship. The bodhi-consciousness is a place of worship. Liberation is a place of worship. Divinity is a place of worship." [39] In all of these places, there is no departure from the consciousness. Liberation and divinity are both contingent upon the Original Consciousness. Using the Original Consciousness as the place of worship, we manifest divine abilities and bring about our own liberation. Whether we believe in the Buddhist scriptures or in the Bible, they both point to the Original Consciousness. Where is the kingdom of God? Right in our consciousness! Jesus said so! The Pharisees asked, "Where is the kingdom of God?" and Jesus answered, "The coming of the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation. Neither shall they say, ‘Lo here!’ Or, ‘Lo, there!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (St. Luke 17:21) This is what Jesus said! So we’d better return to our Original Consciousness. When we find our Original Consciousness, we will comprehend the true forms of all dharma and understand the true reality of life in the universe.

As the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra states, "For the liberated can put the king of mountains, Sumeru, which is so high, so great, so noble, and so vast, into a mustard seed. He can perform this feat without enlarging the mustard seed and without shrinking Mount Sumeru. Mount Sumeru remains in its original spot, while the deities of the assembly of the four Maharajas and of the heaven of the thirty-three Devas do not even know where they are. Only the enlightened will see and understand the putting of the king of mountains, Sumeru, into the mustard seed." [40] The liberated have the divine ability to reveal themselves in the form of Buddha-bodies, Pratyeka Buddha-bodies, Trayastrimsas-bodies, or various kinds of bodies. Or they can eat "rice of the innumerable fragrances?" Vimalakirti transformed his Divine Infinite Self into a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva-incarnation of Vimalakirti went to the universe Sarvagandhasugandha ("Sweetly fragrant with all fragrances") to eat the rice of innumerable fragrances. When he came again with ninety million bodhisattvas, the city of Vaisali was permeated by the sweet perfume of that fragrant vessel of food. [41] Turning spirit into substance is the vital privilege of the liberated. Once we are liberated, we can, in our living room or bedroom or anywhere, conjure up and create with our thoughts all kinds of enjoyments and pleasures in our daily life. In truth, the objective does not lie in merely pleasure-seeking, but in expressing the total freedom of life. The boundlessness of life enables us to follow our hearts' desires without impediment or restraint, whether from people, events, places, or objects. Any place in the Universe, any point in space and time, including the ten dimensions and the three eras, is available to us.

No impediments or restraints mean complete liberation, omnipotence. It means transcendence, total liberty, freedom from any bondage or limitations. When the fleshly physical body is hampered, then the liberated use their Divine Infinite Selves to express themselves, projecting their five senses and consciousness into their Divine Infinite Selves. In doing so, they establish the principle of all dharma as consciousness only, and that all dharma are naturally manifested through consciousness. Thus, the Divine Infinite Self has divine abilities which the physical body does not possess. The physical body is everywhere hampered and restricted, which is why it does not have divine abilities. The Divine Infinite Self has no restraints or limits, and no restraints or limits mean divine abilities!

Religious masters are against divine abilities, and they go so far as to forbid discussion of divine abilities. But the manifestation of the Original Consciousness naturally entails the revelation of divine capabilities. If the masters do not allow discussion of this topic, then how can we be liberated and disentangled? The Buddhist sutra states, "Liberation is a place of worship. Divinity is a place of worship." [42] Yet the religious masters object to divine abilities, which means that they are against liberation, against Buddhist doctrine! They object solely for the sake of objecting. Well, then, how can life and death be transcended? How can ultimate liberation be achieved? In the first section of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa sutra, fascicle 14, Zhu-Lei section, the Buddha told the Bodhisattva Maitreya, "Now I entrust you with the dharma of the great wisdom, the unexcelled, perfect enlightenment which has been attained only after innumerable millions of billions of aeons, in the same way as the scriptures were transmitted in the latter days after the Buddha's demise, and enjoin you to preach and propagate it with your divine power, so that it will not terminate." In short, the doctrine must be disseminated and kept in circulation by means of the divine abilities of Maitreya, so that it will not come to an end and disappear. The great masters put on their solemn demeanors and forbid the people of today to talk about divine capabilities. Isn't this tantamount to apostasy, to trampling Buddhist teachings underfoot?

Exhibiting the divine abilities through releasing one’s Divine Infinite Self, or "Fen Shen," is in harmony with modern trends, and consistent with the propagation and circulation of Buddha’s teachings so that they will not come to an end. Why, then, do the masters deride releasing our Divine Infinite Selves? To pursue the Buddha’s path is, in actuality, to seek the "truest" truth and to bring to fruition our potential to become a Buddha. It is not to fretfully tie ourselves up with concern over how to perform the rituals, how to sit in meditation, undertake the precepts, recite the sutras, say the prayers, learn how to build temples, or perform the rites of benefaction! Rather, it is to seek out the way of liberation! The great masters have not themselves been liberated, and so they take the building of temples and the performance of the rites of benefaction to be the correct Buddhist doctrine. Rather, this is actually falling into obsession, into the abiding in the notion of self, and the four delusions as well. Building temples and performing rites of benefaction are enterprises of public welfare, but they are not a way of liberation in accord with the Buddha’s teachings, nor are they the ultimate aim of religion.

The Vimalakirti-Nirdesa sutra, in the section on discipleship, states, "No profit and no benefaction, this is what becoming a disciple is about. In terms of our conditioned existence, it may be said there is profit and there is benefaction. But monks and nuns are supposed to walk the path of an inactive, indeliberate existence, and in such a mode of existence, there is no profit and no benefaction. Hence, monks and nuns should practice inactive existence, and guide the faithful into such a state as well." [43] If all we do is focus on building temples and performing the rites of benefaction, then it smacks of what is stated in the Diamond sutra: "All conditioned existence is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow…" [44] The Buddha’s teaching consists of thousands and thousands of words and discourses, but they never depart from the theme of our true, all compliant, self-nature. They instruct all living beings on how to attain liberation and transcend the transmigration and causality of the six realms of karma. Once liberated and let out of the three divided lines of heaven, earth and human consciousness, the body may remain in the three boundaries, but the consciousness is beyond them. When the exit of body and consciousness are both unimpeded, then we have attained the state of total liberation. See how even a layman such as Vimalakirti can elegantly expressed himself as coming and going as he pleases, without his consciousness becoming tarnished.

The main topic, the untainted consciousness, precisely means "no impediments!" We can enter a house of lewd and lustful pleasures to demonstrate the excesses of desire [fault of libido]. We enter all taverns, but are able to make up our own minds and maintain our resolve. We can often go to a gambling den to enlighten people. We can be exposed to evil, waywardness, and wickedness, and yet our right convictions are not damaged. With a consciousness that cannot be tarnished, we walk through life without any "traces" or "tracks," on the right path, but perhaps wearing a wicked or depraved mien. On the other hand, those who are rigidly upright and always taking the "correct" position cannot reveal the mind of "anuttara-samyak-sambadhi." These moralists are scrupulous, methodical, proper in appearance and solemn in demeanor. Their mouths are full of benevolent, righteous, and moral injunctions as they act out the charade of great kindness and mercy. Almost like they are aristocrats!

Such people cannot manifest the bodhi-mind. Why not? Because their superiority complex, egotism, and worldly attachments have obstructed their Original Consciousness. Their superiority complex stems from their public respectability, which causes them to fancy themselves as idols to be worshipped. This is how they lose their Original Consciousness. They become firmly attached to their own authority, to their blotted egos, with which they consider themselves superiors, incomparable masters, great priests, religious leaders, or philanthropists. Yet, in the end, they fail to be liberated.

Vimalakirti describes people suffering as lotus flowers growing in mud. [45] Certainly, lotus flowers cannot grow in palaces! Hence, the moralists and "correct-position takers" cannot reveal the mind of peerless perfect enlightenment. People who suffer and battle the daily battle of life can easily raise the seed of our True, all-compliant, self-natures and thus lotus flowers are grown in the mud! Stained, but not tainted (no impediments)! The Buddha employs all kinds of parables of speech to show us the way to manifest our true, all-compliant self-nature and our Original Consciousness.

We don’t have to sit in meditation, become vegetarians, build temples, and perform charitable works! Did the Buddha ever build any temples? Did the Buddha ever found any hospitals? Did the Buddha ever help anybody financially? The Buddha had to beg for his meals! How could he have donated money to the poor? The aim of the Buddha's teachings is to help us reveal our Essential Selves, our true, all-compliant self-natures with whom we should comply! Were the Buddha to be born in modern times, he would be considered backwards, an anachronism, inferior to the modern grand masters. Of course, charitable works such as building temples and hospitals are good deeds, activities, and beliefs, but these have nothing to do with the way of liberation and the transcendence of life and death. If we feel we must express our faith through charitable works, that’s fine too! The way of liberation doesn't affect faith, and faith will not affect the way of liberation. Faith is faith, and liberation is liberation.

At the same time as we have faith, let us not forget liberation. Let us always pay attention and be aware of the stirrings within our Original Consciousness. When our Root Self begins to awaken, we must become sensitive to and develop the "phenomena" that will reveal themselves as a result of our freed consciousness. Liberation is often initiated and achieved in that flash of an instant, in that split second in which we harness the changes in phenomena revealed by our consciousness.