Extract from the Seminar “Self-Dedication to Meditation” - Nhẫn Hòa Meditation Center

Lecture by Master Lương Sĩ Hằng – Vĩ Kiên (16 September 1987)

Only by practicing meditation will we have the opportunity to read the True Bible Without Words.      

As you arrived here, you have already undergone many trials and tribulations in the school of life. You have encountered innumerable conflicts! But these conflicts were caused by us, storms and winds are caused by us, all happenings are caused by us! 

Today, what are we learning here? We learn to disentangle ourselves. Then we turn within to examine how much we have detached ourselves. During a conflict, we see that there are people who have been able to detach themselves about 20%, others about 30%, then others about 50%. If we achieve 70%, this is already great news. Then, we will arrive at a full 100% detachment. To achieve 100% detachment truly means being a fool on earth. For those who use smartness and guile to deceive ordinary people, if they look at a person who does not speak up, then this person is certainly a fool on earth. But who is this fool? A truly foolish person is a Buddha. The images of the Buddhas always show a foolish behavior: They sit at one place, without speaking any word, because they know that speaking is useless and will not help in any aspect. Only within serenity will they save both sides. So, a fool accomplishes a task fully, while a smart person only achieves specific results with his guile, but his success will eventually collapse. Therefore, successes on the social path are not permanent, they are not stable. As we are experienced and hard to convince, we choose to return to the spiritual path. Why do we return to the spiritual path? To see a more solid path, i.e., a path of serenity.

Today, you have just learned for a couple of days, but you have already seen the value of serenity. And what brings us serenity? When we face conflicts, chaos, lies, situations being overturned, we will clearly see our abilities. So, you have made progress. But who can initiate you into the spiritual path? The people who cause conflicts are those who test you for the spiritual initiation. The people who disturb you are those who test you for initiation. Certainly not those who only caress you or flatter you!

Therefore, I have repeated that we are grateful for the circumstances as our venerated teacher. Only a venerated teacher has the right to initiate a disciple. When we see this clearly, we realize in our hearts that we have attained 25% or 15% initiation. Even if I only got 5%, I should slowly advance in order to reach 100%. On the other hand, if I already got 25%, it would be silly to abandon now. I must continue to march forward! I must uncover my evil character and abandon my ego. I should be humble, I should practice more patience and resignation in order to harvest more insight and lucidity.

To practice patience and resignation means to abandon one’s ego. In these past few days, you have had to abandon a lot of your ego.  You have practiced a lot of patience and resignation. Why? Because we know that we practice this Vô-Vi method for our own sake. If we do not know how to love ourselves, how to improve ourselves, how can we make progress?  Therefore, you have spent a lot of efforts for your own good in these last few days. During your whole life, you have only spent a little bit of efforts for your own salvation. We regret that we did not do so since our birth, in order to reap a greater happiness today. But we have found our path. We should spend great efforts to pursue the weapon of compassionate love and spiritual virtue. We should embrace this brilliant sword to cut all arrogance and infatuations hidden in our spiritual consciousness. Only this sword is able to cut while a sword made of steel is not capable.

How can we prove that a sword made of steel is incapable of cutting? We come from a place producing metal swords, such as: missiles, grenades, guns. Until today, we are still facing menaces, killings by guns, but we do not participate. We have viewed these scenes, and we know that no one can conquer anyone. Therefore, we return to the weapon of compassionate love and spiritual virtue. Today, we accept to dedicate ourselves to spiritual perfection in order to restore our equilibrium. Our purity and lightness exist since ages, and not only since our birth! We already possess lightness and purity but we abandon it. Now, we need to return to our ravaged home and rebuild a solid and benevolent foundation to offer to the Great Creator. Our human brains are too shallow, so we cannot see the World Above. We call it The Great Creator, God, all kinds of names, but everything must start with our heart. When you return to your spiritual heart, you will see everything. If we do not return to our true spiritual consciousness, you will never see anything. Therefore, to return to our true consciousness means to return to our spiritual root. We must start from our true consciousness to arrive to our spiritual root.

Therefore, a spiritual adept must practice. The spiritual adept must encounter thorns, bitterness, grief, things that never happen to him before. With my past character, I would never resign myself, but with my present character, I know that I am patient and I can resign myself. I know that I am the loser. But in reality, I am both a loser and a winner. I progress on both planes. I am using a two-wheeled vehicle, instead of insisting to run on a one-wheeled vehicle. With one wheel, I will fall, I will stumble. But now, I am using a two-wheeled vehicle, so it is stable, and I should hold to this in order to advance. We should hold on this principle to return to our homeland, our true consciousness. We should live with our true consciousness, not with our house, not with the external circumstances. We live with our true consciousness! You are currently living with your true consciousness. During the seminar here, you are returning to your true consciousness. You can clearly see your true image, which is not this devilish face, not this deceitful face!

To return to true emptiness in your consciousness means good news for everyone. If we do not know how to return to true emptiness, we will only cause destruction and impurities, then we will become infatuated with this destruction and only bury ourselves alive. Now, you have the opportunity to be reunited spiritually, the opportunity to purify yourselves. You can see the miraculous work of The Lord and the Buddhas, how purification is done. When The Lord purifies us, He does not abandon anyone. The belligerent is saved. The serene is saved. Everyone enjoys peace. Eventually, everyone will repent, brothers and sisters all live together on this planet earth. We cannot stay away from this earth, we still have the opportunity to meet each other with openness and love. We should return resentment with gratitude. Thanks to the person who slanders me, I am able to achieve enlightenment. Thanks to the person who disdains me, I pass the exam with the highest grade. Do you see it? These events already happened in life.

Our spiritual path is also similar. On the spiritual journey, we will encounter greater difficulties. We are all deeply immersed in the community way of living, with unending demands and rivalries. When we detach ourselves from these happenings, there will be counteractions, but slowly, we will adapt ourselves. Once all of us are able to march on our own path, we will no longer blindly go down to hell. We will slowly guide each other to return to heaven. If in a crowd of a hundred or a million people, there is one single person successful, then that person will be able to guide the remaining million people to follow his steps.

Therefore, we should spend great efforts to obtain some results, whether big or small, and we will advance spiritually. Our mind and our consciousness are infinite, we are no longer dependent. We must use our true consciousness to practice. We should not use our profane heart to practice. This physical body belongs to God, people can do whatever they want. If they kill this body, they must pay back their debt. We have seen the law of karmic retribution. Many upheavals have occurred during the battles in our own country, Vietnam.  We have clearly seen the lending and borrowing, no one can escape it. However, today, we have awakened our consciousness, so we want to pay back our debts early and no longer borrow new debts. Only then will we be free to leave this earth in a leisurely way.  If we refuse to pay these debts and keep borrowing, we will have great difficulty to depart from this earth. We have to accept to return what we borrow in order to depart from this earth gracefully.

You have clearly seen the path of spiritual progress, so you dedicate yourselves to the practice of meditation. What are we contributing? When we succeed, what are we contributing? A person sitting in meditation, who closes his eyes and seems to be somnolent, how can he contribute? All these questions show that profane eyes are not capable of seeing your contributions. However, you contribute with your spiritual consciousness for all three spheres: Heaven, Earth, Humanity. When they look at your good example, they will awaken their consciousness. They will realize that their heart is filled with agitation and impurities. These actions are noble actions without words, they represent the Bible without words.   

The True Bible Without Words does not contain words, but it has images and proofs for you to see. You will be able to read the true bible in your spiritual consciousness. It is infinitely lively, infinitely open, and it is never hindered. Only when we are able to fully purify and unblock ourselves,  will we prove that we are on the path of return to the shore of enlightenment through our own True Bible Without Words.

Only by practicing meditation will we have the opportunity to read the True Bible Without Words. If we do not practice meditation, how can we learn the True Bible Without Words? If we do not close the portal of the earthly world, how can we open the portal of the spiritual world? With the Vô-Vi method, even our tongue is curled up, we close our heart which is full of agitated stories, we close our eyes, we detach ourselves from our nose, our ears, we close our mouth, so that we can open the True Bible and advance further. Looking at your face and limbs, you realize that they belong to a temporary world. They look clumsy and ugly, so they belong to a temporary realm. If we use a microscope to examine ourselves very carefully, we look like a devil, not alike anyone. Only by returning to our true consciousness, will we resemble a very lively form, which will develop itself infinitely and learn continually. It will be extremely pure and light.

Therefore, we exchange our present value with an infinite value. Therefore, we dedicate ourselves to spiritual perfection through meditation. You are well educated and have intelligent minds, so why do you practice meditation? To exchange with something more noble, something of higher value and more sublime, something that is permanent. You do not worry even about a nuclear bomb. If we speak about shelling and bombing, then it happens everyday in your family. Whether a grenade, whether small or big guns, husband and wife exchange shots continually every day, but they do not know and claim to live peacefully. Shots are fired continually by small and big guns. If they threaten us with a nuclear bomb, what should we do? We must use our serenity to resolve the issue. We should ask, who is creating the nuclear bomb. It is also created by the Lord of Great Serenity. If we perfect ourselves spiritually to return to serenity and become One with the Great Serenity, who else can throw a nuclear bomb on our heads? Therefore, when you encounter guns and shelling, you should return resentment with gratitude. You should love it, accept it, practice patience and resignation. Your soul does not die. You are on the path of returning to your true nature. Your mind and consciousness will evolve tirelessly. You are no longer narrow-minded. You will always open up, purify and unblock yourselves and progress further.