Zen, Quanyin Method, Enlightenment -- Different Methods are Like Different Vehicles
Excerpt from: Supreme Master Ching Hai Lecture, March 31, 1989 (Originally in Chinese), Chiching Temple, Ilan, Formosa
We can reach the second realm by practicing Zen, by asking questions like "Who am I?" "Who are you?" and "Who is chanting holy names?" and by deliberating over Zen enigmas. By practicing yoga, we can also attain the first or second realm, or at the most, the third realm. But that's as far as we can go. We need a more powerful method to go beyond that, and that is the Quan Yin Method, which brings immediate enlightenment. If we want to go to Kaohsiung in southern Formosa, we can go by motorbike or car. To go to the offshore islands of Penghu, we have to go by boat. For distant places like the United States, flying by plane is faster. Therefore, if we want to transcend the three realms, we need some means that can help us to go beyond these realms. We cannot make it by asking questions in worldly language. No matter how efficient our worldly language is, it remains, nonetheless, a language of this world. No matter how fast a car can run, it is a vehicle for the road only; it cannot cross the sea or traverse space.
Similarly, there are many methods of spiritual practice. I introduced some methods to you for practicing at home because I needed to comfort some people who were with us yesterday. There are many other methods, but I could never teach them all to you, even if I wanted to.
I can offer you any method you want, but some are more dangerous while others are safer. The methods that I taught you yesterday are the safest ones. They are safe for those who are not in contact with me. It's better not to practice other methods if you cannot be by my side every day! Otherwise, you may develop mental, physical, or other problems after some time. That is why I don't teach you.
Many Indians are still practicing very complicated methods today because they happen to meet such masters. Perhaps they have a more complicated fate, but that is what they practice. For instance, they may take a clean, soft, narrow strip of cloth about five meters long and roll it up. With the help of a little water, they swallow the cloth, leaving one end outside. Then, they do some abdominal exercises to clean their stomach and intestines before slowly pulling out the cloth. There are many more weird methods that I dare not speak about here because they don't sound very good. For example, they practice on the male and female organs, about which I dare not elaborate for fear that it might send many old ladies rushing home! [Master and everyone laugh] Sometimes they insert a cloth inside the nose and then slowly pull it out. This cleans the nose thoroughly, and they regard it as cleansing their karma. However, I don't think that karma can be cleansed away with cloth. It can only be cleansed thoroughly through merit, virtue, benevolence, and the power derived from spiritual practice. Since karma is intangible and created by the mind, it is only right that we cleanse it also from the mind.
In India today, many people are still practicing in seclusion high in the Himalayas. There are some places in very high altitudes that are extremely cold where humans have never set foot. These people come down only once a month or rely on food brought by other people. They practice seriously and never leave the mountains. To reach these places, they must travel on foot or by levitation. They walk as though they are flying. No one can catch up with them. They cannot bring any luggage. Therefore, they must first practice the trantric warming method to transfer the heat from the solar plexus to other parts of the body. It will keep them warm and they won't have to wear any clothes. Or they may cover themselves with a flimsy piece of cloth and walk all the way up. Since it is a very long journey, they cannot bring many things. There are no motorcycles in the snow-covered mountains. One misstep and they will end up at the bottom of the deep Ganges valley. It won't be necessary to recite the Death Mantra because they will be reduced to dust before they have uttered a single word. They have to practice many different methods in order to survive in those places.
Milarepa, a well-known master of an esoteric sect in Tibet, used to practice many methods so that he could survive in the Himalayas. He practiced levitation so that he could fly. He also practiced the trantric warming method so that he could warm his whole body with abdominal heat. He wore no clothes. When an occasional avalanche cut off the roads, he would starve for three to four months since there were no passersby to offer him food. In ancient times, traffic was inconvenient and life was very simple; therefore, people practiced many of these kinds of methods. We can also practice these methods today, but most modern people are physically weak and mentally exhausted. They do not have the patience to walk that toilsome journey and practice so many complicated methods. Very few people can withstand the Himalayan climate. When I was in the Himalayas, it was very difficult to cook any food. It took a long time for food to get cooked when the air pressure was so low. The food remained cold, however long I cooked it. I stared at it and it stared back at me; it simply would not boil. So, I just ate it raw after washing it in the Ganges. That tasted nice, too. Despite the bitter cold, wild vegetables manage to grow in the Himalayas. I was very surprised. Wild vegetables are edible, but don't eat too much, or you will look like them - greenish and hairy. [Master laughs] That was why Milarepa's body was covered with greenish hair when he lived in the Himalayas. When people saw him, they asked, "Are you a bardoba?" Bardoba is the Tibetan word for "ghost". [Master and everyone laugh] He answered, "No! I am a human!" Then people asked, "If you are a human, why do you look like this? Why do you have green hair all over your body?" Yes! We will become whatever we eat.
This is what happens to our physical body. Mentally, our thoughts make us what we are. We have all heard of this before. But then, why can't we attain the Truth just by thinking that we have achieved it? Wouldn't that be simpler? You can go home and try thinking every day, "I have attained the Truth. I have attained the Truth. I have attained the Truth...." Will you succeed? You don't have to recite this! It is futile. If we do not have an Enlightened Master, recitation is futile. Lots of people recite the name of Amitabha Buddha constantly, but they never become Amitabha Buddha. However, if we meet a Master who has attained the Truth and He/She tells us how to do so, then it is useful.
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