We know that meditation practice aims to solve the issues of life and death (enlightenment) and health problems during the process. Can't we learn it on our own? Why do we need systematic learning? The first issue we need to address is the efficiency of meditation practice. Some people have been practicing for years without significant progress and even lose faith. We should ensure we can reach a beautiful and advanced state at ease whenever we practice meditation. In other words, we should be able to break through each practice; this is what we mean by the efficiency of meditation practice. At least, we need to understand the reasons for the failure clearly. The second issue is the accuracy of meditation practice. What state do you want to achieve in your meditation practice? Accuracy is very crucial. Different meditation states come with distinctive energy statuses. We must aim where we attend to hit. We should be accurate and precise in reaching our intended state. Otherwise, we are not benefiting from using different statuses out of our free will. Only by solving these problems, we can efficiently address issues related to our life, death, and health. To solve our health problems, we do not need to reach an advanced level of meditation practice. How can we achieve this? 1. We must avoid going astray. Whether you are on the right track depends on your understanding of the theory, that is, the understanding of the principles of meditation practice. Without correct and comprehensive cognition, everything else is meaningless. Diligence alone cannot make…

——Miao Yin Before November 2016, I was an absolute atheist. My neighbor was a university teacher who believed in Buddhism and made offerings to Buddhas. As I almost knew nothing about Buddhism, I was quiet dismissive of her behavior and laughed at her from the bottom of my heart. Acquaintance with The Ontology of Mind I had a week of vacation in November at home. I happened to read Nan Huaijin’s article “Seven days of the South Chan.” After this, I began the practice of Zazen. Initially, I could only have one leg crossed and sit for ten minutes. Since I couldn't understand many of the concepts and contents of Master Nan’s lecture, I borrowed some books, but I still could not understand them. Then I went to some QQ groups to see if I could find something helpful. I happened to find one established by Master Qingliang Yue. A senior apprentice in that group sent a link to the teacher’s Weibo, on which I read almost all the articles written by the teacher. Strongly persuaded by Yisheng, another senior apprentice, I enrolled the theory class and began the study of the Ontology of Mind at the end of January 2017. The first lesson in the theory class is “knowing yourself”. After class I was very confused about the theories. By watching the video of the lecture repeatedly and reading the book, I seemed to understand what the teacher had taught. But when it came to the homework, I was totally at a loss. I learned from other classmates and…

Master Qingliang Yue: Some people are afraid of being possessed by the Devil. One thing we must know is that we are all currently devils. There are only two states of mind: fundamental and derivative. We and devils all live in the derivative state of mind, so we are no different from devils. Unless we return to the state of Rulai Zang (Tathāgatagarbha), we could never avoid being possessed. We simply move from one devilish state to another. There is not such a thing that we move from the state of Buddha into the state of devils. So, without proper methods, we only move from one devilish state into another. We consider this state as devilish simply because it is different from a state which is commonly possessed by ordinary people and so regarded as healthy. For example, sleep is a disease that we all have. We all take for granted that we need to sleep. Those who do not sleep are considered to be sick. Another example. We are in logical thinking all the time. Those who could kill their thoughts are thought to be unusual. Therefore, do not worry about being possessed. We are actually living in different devilish states.

Master Qingliang Yue: A vegetarian diet is basically taken for the cultivation of compassion. Besides, meat diet can easily lead to drowsiness. This is because all animals are in lower states in which they often have a delusive mind. When we eat their body, the matter which corresponds to their distracted mind, we naturally come to a state of distraction. This kind of distraction will block the travel of Qi in meridians and change our body, making us feel drowsy constantly. Therefore, on the whole, a vegetarian diet is better. On the one hand, it cultivates great compassion, and on the other hand, it is good for Qi in the body. Vegetarian Diet Master Qingliang Yue: Before we reach the level of Samadhi (or subconscious concentration), whatever thing we eat, whether it is vegetables, or meats, or other things, will surely affect our body, however not after we reach this level. In other words, as kinds of matter in this world, they could only exert influence on the objects in this world. For those who are in Samadhi, they are of no use. Why do we take up meat after a period of vegetarian diet? Living in the current state of mind, all the animals are not human beings in our eyes and it is ok for us to eat their meat. But we will change our mind when we reach a higher level of empirical practice, in which we understand what animals are talking, discussing, and quarrelling about, knowing they are not different from human beings. So, at proper…

Having been in contact with many Buddhists for a long time, we find that everyone is curious about supernatural powers. They want to know whether we could demonstrate supernatural powers or predict what will happen in the next few days. Regarding this point, I have to say, the display of supernatural powers is not suitable for the propagation of Dharma. What we really need is the study of principles and the progress of empirical research. Only when we thoroughly understand these principles, knowing these principles can explain everything in the world, we could naturally build up faith in the practice of Buddhism. As we keep doing empirical researches, we gain all kinds of benefits, such as feeling the sense of happiness, curing our physical and mental illnesses, and even improving our life. Then, we could really experience the true value of Buddhism. And what is supernatural power? Supernatural powers belong to others, not yours. When other people show magical power, those who do not believe it will say they are playing magic tricks, fooling people, and doing something superstitious. People in contemporary society are more incredulous of these powers, saying that there must be some gimmicks, or that they have made inquiries in advance, or that it is mere coincidence. So demonstrating supernatural power is not of any use. If one doesn’t believe it, he can find any reason for his suspicion. For example, if an ordinary-looking person says that he has achieved Samadhi (or subconscious concentration), we might doubt why he still looks so ordinary. For a well-dressed and…

In the process of Zazen meditation, you need to step through the stages of "weariness", "enjoyment", and "emptiness of the body". The first stage is the most difficult for the beginners. This time, you should regard your agitated mind as an object, trying all kinds of methods to cope with it. For example, you can contemplate the pain of your leg if your leg pains, contemplate irritability if you are irritable. In all these trainings, you are practicing meditation. The moment when you feel very annoyed or agitated is usually the time when you could build up the power of concentration, because at this time you are definitely not feeling drowsy, so you could easily concentrate on this annoyance and agitation. Zazen meditation is nothing but a state of high concentration. Therefore, don’t be afraid of annoyance or agitation. You are practicing meditation while you are fighting against these emotions. Do not make any complaints and consider these emotions as enemies. Remember that you are practicing meditation when you feel agitated and fight against agitation. Don’t worry about too many thoughts. The key is that you have already noticed these thoughts. This kind of keen awareness is the most important. "Late awareness is more serious than the rise of thoughts." It is important that you regard these disturbing thoughts as the object, and keep contemplating them.

1. Why do we oppose empty talk? Empirical research is done against empty talk. Why do we oppose empty talk? Emptied of experiments and personal experience, a talker only resorts to logical thinking or uses previous knowledge to speculate on new phenomena. This analysis is obviously not beneficial to the study of Dharma, since Dharma is based on strict empirical research, without which it could never be truly understood. So, when we talk about Dharma, instead of explaining empty theories, we need to tell how to practice Dharma, or how to work diligently so as to achieve Buddha’s wisdom. A Buddhist should be highly devoted to empirical practice, observing his mind and finding his own problems. 2. What is empirical practice? Empirical practice is more than empty talk. It is a process in which we do experiments with our mind and body to verify Dharma, constantly discovering and solving our problems, and ultimately achieving great freedom of mind and body. For example, when we practice Zazen, we are constantly finding our mental and physical problems and then solving these problems. We could hardly discover problems in our subconsciousness if we do not have empirical research, not to mention solving these problems and making real progress. Dharma instructs us to enter Buddha’s state and gain Buddha’s wisdom. We could never really understand Dharma unless we do experiments with our mind and body. Here are three metaphors in "Hua Yan Sutra". 1) Without empirical practice, you are like a deaf who is playing music to other people. Music is very beautiful, but…

Who are you? You are the one who could know and perceive. In modern language, thought is the thinker himself. Where are you from? You come from Rulai Zang (Tathāgatagarbha) and you are the origin of the world. Where does Chi come from? It is all generated by you, who are much superior than Chi. There are different levels of Chi, and you possess all of them. For example, by making Chi flow in Sushumna, you gain a superior level of Chi. Returning to that state, you could immediately experience that spectacular flow of energy. Empirical practice is a process of going back, not of creation, which is usually involved in chemistry. When we do a chemical experiment, we add a reagent and have a new thing. This is not the case with empirical research, in which we give up or destroy the current conditions. After this, we could return to the flowing state of Sushumna. Remember we originally possess that state, if not, this return is not possible. So while having empirical practice, we are not adding conditions; on the contrary, we are destroying conditions gradually, to the point where only one condition is left, namely, Rulai Zang, the only real and true thing. In the whole process, you may encounter all kinds of states, encompassing the flowing of Chi in meridians and Sushumna. You only need to adjust your mind to that state, not to clear your meridians or create anything to achieve enlightenment.

Many Buddhists today seem to be practicing Buddhism, but they are not really learning from Buddha. Here are several cases of Buddhists who are not truly practicing Buddhism. 1.Enjoy visiting Bodhimaṇḍas (a term used in Buddhism meaning the "place of awakening”). Some Buddhists enjoy visiting Bodhimandas very much. It is originally a good thing that we could visit virtuous people and learn from them. But these Buddhists are departing from this purpose. They often boast about how many famous temples they have visited and how many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas they have worshipped. They even regard these activities as great achievement they have attained in Buddhism, making no effort to improve their mindset. Master Huilv and other respected monks have spoken about this matter many times. Hopefully, these Buddhists go to Bodhimanda for answers to their questions, not for the purpose of travel, nor taking this as the practice of Buddhism or as something to show off to the new believers. 2. Keen on making friends with other Buddhists. We love making friends in this world and consider it as a means of making a living and obtaining pleasure. Many Buddhists still have this habit and seem to believe that more friends bring them better achievement in the practice of Buddhism. In fact, what these Buddhists talk about are mostly worldly troubles, nothing to do with the practice of Buddhism. They only take it as an opportunity to make more friends, hoping these friends could offer them a hand when they are in trouble. Ancient eminent monks told us that we…

By Zhonghua I used to know nothing about the practice of Buddhism. Like most of the practitioners, I had been constantly changing QQ groups, hoping to find mentors who could guide me the real way of Dharma practicing, until I happened to know Mr. Qing Liangyue who woke me up from worldly affairs and told me how to transmit the spirit of Buddha. True Buddhist practitioner must be a true meditation practitioner Many years ago, I heard one of my colleagues chanted “ e mi tuo fo, e mi tuo fo...” . That incident made me start to know what was Buddhism and how to have Buddhist chanting. Also I became a Buddhist. After one year of mantra chanting practice, I could chanted “e mi tuo fo” repeatedly and subconsciously. As my first Buddhism teacher, although my colleague led me to Buddhism, I still felt confused on what I could achieve in Buddhism practice. Because of my busy work, I barely had anytime to have Mantra chanting, even on Sunday. And also I had been searching mentors who could guide me the real way of Dharma practicing. There was one time, on a Buddhist’s gathering, I met another Dharma practitioner. Based on what he told me I started to realize that mantra chanting couldn't represent Dharma training. The real way must be based on Buddhism meditation ability. With this in mind, I started to train myself of “double legs cross positioning meditation”, and that was a pain in the hell. I spent a lot of time on double crossed legs…