眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成

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Dharma Teachings

08 Aug 2019    Thursday     4th Teach Total 1791

How to Rely on the Dharma, Not on Individuals

To rely on the Dharma is to purely depend on the true nature of the Dharma itself and faithfully accept it, enabling one to accurately discern right from wrong in the teachings—following and practicing what is right, while avoiding what is wrong—and to share this understanding with fellow practitioners. If one can distinguish right from wrong in the Dharma, then one should no longer pay undue attention to whether a person is famous or not; disregard the individual, and focus solely on the Dharma teachings. If the teachings are genuinely correct, even if attributed to Mara, you should not be concerned; if the teachings are predominantly heretical views, even if attributed to Sakyamuni Buddha, you should not take interest.

For those who genuinely wish to rely on the Dharma, not on individuals, in their cultivation of the supreme Dharma: if we were to label Buddhist scriptures with Mara’s name, claiming they were authored by Mara, and then label Mara’s teachings with the Buddha’s name, presenting them as Buddhist scriptures, how would you judge the content within? How would you approach these two sets of teachings? If we were to scramble the names of authors for all written texts and articles, or label them all as "Anonymous," how then should you approach the content of these writings?

——Master Sheng-Ru's Teachings
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What Do "Meaning" and "Language" Refer to in the Principle of "Relying on Meaning, Not Language"?

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