Preface, The Core Sutra —— Essence of the Great Wisdom to Liberation

無上甚深微妙法
'The Dharma of Supreme Profound and Subtlety ——
I Can See Through; Why Can't I Let Go Though?'
Why is there such a rule in Christianity as "working for six days and rest on the seventh"?  
Although it is a classical allusion from the Bible, 
people do live in such a culture no matter what religion they practice.  
In fact, it is a common feeling among human beings —— Although you sleep every night, which means that you rest regularly on a daily basis; 
however, you still feel "tight" after living day after day in the same lifestyle.  
The strain will worsen to the extent where it cannot be balanced off with the sleep at night.  
Thus, we need a greater relaxation every few days .
　

Then, why does living the same life make you increasingly tighter?  
(Because) the so-called routine is operated by many "habits".  
If you observe "habits" as they are, you will find that a "habit" is accumulating a "force".  
That is, once you repeat a habit, it will become an increasingly strong push which will drive you on.  
It is as if the locomotive is heavy and hard to pull along, 
but once you succeed and fuel to push it in the same direction, 
it will run faster but harder to stop.


On the surface, it is we that are living our lives, but after a while, we will be pushed around by the lives.  
Of these habits, many are actually making our body and mind "systematically conflicting" and emotionally unbalanced.  
Therefore, externally life may seem just rountine but internally we will get tighter.　



So, this is why "awareness" is of great importance. 
Without awareness, if you simply yield to the habits, they will form an increasingly “unstoppable” force.  
Then the problems hidden in these habits will accumulate in your body and mind.  
Even relaxation on the seventh day is no way to relieve the "strain".



In fact, this is the portrayal of human beings across the globe no matter which country is involved.  
Therefore, externally human beings seem to be improving materially, but in fact, their mental health and happiness index are "going down."



What is it about "going down"? It is like, you sometimes see out-of-control or insane people on the street. It is not that they become like that all of a sudden. It is that they keep a strain in life and they have no awareness and adaptation about it so that it gets tighter and every aspect of their lives keep going down.



This "strain", in terms of emotions, is a lot of accumulated and indigestible negative emotions.  
In terms of thought, the "strain" consists of much inertia that one is used to "stabbing oneself", and that only deeper and deeper.  
To "stab oneself" is what we commonly describe to be "glass-hearted" (too sensitive and get hurt easily).  
You can recall whether the facial features of a glass-hearted person look tighter than those of average people.  
Accumulation of negative emotions will naturally make you glass-hearted.  
If you cannot reduce them, you will become more and more glass-hearted.  
As your strains get worse from head to toe, 
your ever worsening relationships will become a drag on your health, income and career sooner or later.



No one will intentionally lead their own lives downwards. However, it is these life habits that drag him bit by bit in this direction.  
For example, a person has no emotion previously, but when he comes across something, his emotions arise.  
If his thinking habit is to restrain, then he will bottle up this emotion.  
The more often he restrains his emotions, the more he feels that he "can suppress" them. The scope of his restrain will become wider, and the weight, heavier.  
As a result, he becomes a "very suppressed" person and ends up with cancer.

　

People who tend to lose it have a similar progression, only exactly opposite to the above-mentioned suppression model.  
For example, he comes across a small unpleasant incident.  
At the beginning, he has only a little emotion, but since his thinking habit is "to return emotions to the others", at whom he will get angry and nag immediately.  
Of course, by so doing, the problem remains unsolved and even worse.  
So, he gets more and more irritable as you can see him speaking louder; 
his emotions become catalytic; his "emotional quotient" (EQ) gets lower.



A "lower EQ" means that he will be increasingly unable to restrain his emotions.  
As a result, it is totally impossible for him to control them later.  
Thus, he becomes the protagonist of some "go-ballistic" event in social news.



Therefore, an upward or downward movement in life is determined by the tiny habit of "a different thought" accumulated bit by bit.  
At first, you may not really know the cause and effect in it.  
But after some time, will you know it or not?  
In fact, you will; you yourself will. So, what should you do as you know it already?  
It is that you have to consciously tell yourself, "I need a change."  
You can change by your own efforts, or ask for others' wisdom, but you simply cannot ignore it.  
Unfortunately, even if caught up in life, proportionately fewer will come to the realization that “I must change”.  
Only when there is a major loss in life, such as terminal cancer, marriage betrayal, death of a family member...... 
will he be startled to wonder where and how his life went wrong.


Many, if not going wrong that far, no matter how you advise him and hope that he can control his bad temper etc., 
will not only reject you, but also refute with you.  
This is the reason why it is so difficult to save a drowning person.  
A person playing in the water always thinks that "He can do it", "Nothing will happen to him", and he wants no advice from you. 
If he is drowning, when you go to his rescue, he will grab wildly in ignorance and drag you down as his scapegoat though.
　


So, what should you do?  
For people we care, how can we helplessly look on while they are to take a spill before they can “repent and be saved" ?  
Is there any way to change him bit by bit and day by day before the matter gets worse? There are, indeed, but you need to remember this concept of great importance as follows.



Generally, people will not change their bad behavior.  
However, when they see something good, they will be wanting.  
For this "wanting", he is then willing to change.

　

Thus, if you try to change a person, you need to increase your sense of opulence and your brightness.  
You will need more growth, and that more obviously so that he finds you evolving better. With his awareness and curiosity aroused, you could give him only "a little bit of things" and "a little bit of direction" at those occasions.  
For example, only then can you share with him, "I have done it by this and that ......, and you may give it a try".  
You will find that at those points in time, he is willing to accept.  
That way, this person will be able to accept your "sharing" little by little, day by day, and gradually change his orbit.

　

Many people, when they want to change others, have always "tried every possible way to persuade them".  
But why in vain?  
(Because) you always do it with your "habits" without knowledge of how ”infinitesimal integral" works in terms of changing others.  
It may be alright if the result is ineffective.  
What's worse, they are "dragged into water" by that person in the end, 
and becomes frustrated, irritable, and seriously out of balance themselves.  
(This is an unwise intervention of others' causes and effects.)　



So, "habits" are the most terrible things in this world. When you are in the habit of something, you are asleep.  
Maybe you are sinking, getting worse, or being dragged down ...... but you yourself are simply not aware of it.　



Well, which are the life habits, big or small, that seem to get your life together but constantly cause conflicts in your system and loss of your energy?  
Do you see them?  
If you do not, then you are being obscured by your “Five Aggregates” and you can hardly escape the corresponding suffering.



Some say, 'I see but I just can't change. I can't let go."  
No, it is not true.  
In fact, the problem still lies in "habits".  
You still see only the part you "are used to seeing", so what you see is factually pretty gross.  
You do not really understand those details, so you have no power to change.
　


What are "those details"?  
For example, you find a flower beautiful, 
and your "reflex" is to stare at this single flower to study how its combination brings such a beautiful look.  
In fact, this "reflex" is your "habit of seeing".  
However, you do not know about the flowers and plants as foils around, the vase, the angle of lighting then and there, 
and the color of wall background, 
even your psychological state caused by perfume sprayed in the porch before you enter the living room ...... 
It is the manifold and delicate arrangements overall that make you find this flower very beautiful at this moment

　

If you see these details, you really "see clearly".  
Then, you can wilfully select whichever flower to be the “Apple Daily Girl" (1) today. Besides, you can rearrange various elements to particularly magnify its feature and transform it from rags to riches.  
Great designers are able to do it.  
So, if you really see "these details", you will have the ability to "change" and "create".
　


Many people, in response to others, easily say to themselves, "I see", "And so I know". However, if you have no ability to change others or yourself, 
what you mean by "I see" is just in name only.  
It is not true understanding.　



So, all power lies in details, many of which are beyond the scope of awareness we are used to.  
This is the reason why we should not be complacent and we should keep learning.  
Even if your life is going from bad to worse, you can still go upwards.  
The key is to become aware of these details that you have yet to discover.
　

In Buddhism, there is an "opening hymn".  
Every time you go to a Shi-Fu's lecture on sutras, Shi-Fu will lead the congregation to read it together before he begins in earnest ——

無上甚深微妙法
百千萬劫難遭遇
我今見聞得受持
願解如來真實義

The dharma of supreme profound and subtlety

Is hard to come across in tens of millions of aeons.

Having seen and heard it today, 

I am finally in a position to accept and maintain it.

I vow to realize Tathagata's true intention.

Some have read this "opening hymn" no less than a thousand times and already know it fluently. 

It stands to reason that "You understand it all". However, the true meaning of "learning" is ——
You will see in your "I know it all" what you do not know and again to know deeper.  

Thus, the first sentence in the opening hymn, "The dharma of supreme profound and subtlety" is, 

in fact, something that many do not realize yet.  

And this happens to be the most important.
　

Reading this sentence, many people think the emphasis to be on "supreme" and "profound", which highlight the unparalleled and admirable distinction of the dharma and elicit respect. As for "subtlety"? Just a compliment that follows. It is alright just reading along. In fact, the most important description in this sentence is not "supreme profound" but the word "subtlety".
　

"Supreme profound", in plain English, is something that simply makes you feel "very advanced".  

It is like telling you that you are learning "the most advanced stuff", which then makes you feel honored.  

However, "subtlety" only is the reason why this advanced dharma is advanced.　


Please think carefully about what "subtlety" means.  

Subtlety connotes "fine" (small) and "wonderful" (unexpected).  

It is describing how easy it is that you may misunderstand the dharma you have learned! That "A miss is as good as a mile" occurs easily in very small places!  

This only is the meaning of the "dharma of subtlety".
　


In other words, true profound wisdom lies in tiny little things in everyday life.  

This wisdom will enable you to tell which of your thoughts is leading you to Buddhahood from the one leading to samsara.  

The ability to discriminate is the so-called "awakening".  

However, here is what makes it so difficult —— 

That is, the reason why dharma is esoteric is that most of the time you think you "know it", 

but in some tiny little thing, or for an instant when you raise an eyebrow and blink an eye, you will be caught by your mind!  

You've got it all wrong.



So, in your habits, when you can practice seeing the different futures caused by saying things this way or that way, 

you are learning from Buddha.  

If you can know how different spending mentalities affect your energy cycles and attract different parallel universes, 

then you are practicing this "dharma of supreme profound and subtlety".  

When you are able to distinguish between these differences, seemingly subtle but enormous, 

in the choice of various little things every day, you are like a programmer who can modify computer programming in the backstage.  

You will be able to rewrite any image on computer screen and present whatever you wish. You will know very well that the so-called "real world" staging on the "computer screen" is all "empty".  

The so-called "empty" is not nothingness, but "limitless".


Then, isn't the dharma that makes your life "limitless" the dharma of "supreme profound"? It certainly is.  

If you do not learn in subtlety, then all that you understand about emptiness, Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya, Diamond Sutra ...... 

and any other Buddhist scripture —— Even though you can preach the scriptures very well —— 

will be nothing but a dictionary of "airy and airier" nothingness.  

It will not lead you toward the path to Buddhahood of "infinite mercy, compassion and mahavira power".



Many find Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya ultimate, profound and beautiful.  

But to be honest, it is also very useless if you do not know how to use it.  

So, the most wide-spreading Buddhist scripture today serve best as a wall hanging for beauty of calligraphy.
　


How do you know the application of the Core Sutra?  

(You will never know) unless you start to focus on "subtlety" rather than "supreme profound" in learning Buddhism.
The majority love to focus on perception of "supreme profound", 

which brings dozens of Buddhist practitioners who love debates, loud and empty talks about states of mind in realization, 

and self validation that they "know the extremely ultimate".  

However, their ability to make things turn in real life stands in contrast to their empty talks of freedom and leisure.
　

When you are willing to humbly learn the dharma in areas like everyday troubles or real issues to confront in the ideals of benefitting both self and others, 

regardless of your desire to make money, deal with family problems, or achieve your dreams ...... 

If you can practice in it to open your awareness and can always face up to your "homework", 

you will really succeed in making money, dealing with problems, doing a good job, and realizing the ideal of benefitting self and others.  

Then the wisdom you have accumulated in this process will be true and not empty.  

The accumulated wisdom will also allow you to connect dots into a line, lines into an entire area 

and attain enlightenment of Buddha one day.

　
This journey is the " Path of Bodhisattva".  
The person who walks this path with one step and one footprint is the so-called "Bodhisattva."  
Why can a Bodhisattva achieve something in this journey?  
The reason is that through this process he has elevated his consciousness to the level of "quantum".
　

So it is certain that the whole "Path of Bodhisattva" is to learn this "dharma of subtlety" with the ideal of benefitting self and others.
　

Thus, I pay my sincere obeisances to the presence of the Higher Spirit, 
who is able to voice the "dharma of subtlety", incarnation of Darirulai —— 
Budong Ming Wang.  
Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya is more about telling you a "final conclusion", 
but it does not tell you the path to this conclusion.  
However, what is more important to humans is actually this path, isn't it?
　

In a short span of years, we channel the Higher Spirit's messages, 
and He has turned our lives into a miracle of "benefitting self and others" with full inner peace and external opulence.  
We do realize that the dharma is about a demonstration and realization of the "dharma of subtlety". 
Of the many good results, 
the most rewarding is the ever-increasing assurance and confidence that "everyone can become a Buddha" 
once you penetrate deeper into the "dharma of subtlety".  
Then all kinds of "griefs" about this human world hidden in your heart will be transformed one by one into "compassion" of smile and wait.  
The frame of mind in such clarity, without random thoughts, 
but with infinite creativity has far outstripped the consummation I could imagine when I was a novice at the dharma.
　

M and I have got so much.  
How can we return Buddha's favor?  
I contemplate and find that I can never return enough!  
I can only gratefully witness my own ego melting away by this love.  
So, what we are glad to do is to devote our lives for all future Buddhas, one of whom is you who are reading here and now.  
With a thousand hands and a thousand eyes of the Higher Spirit's “dharma of supreme profound and subtlety”, 
we will awaken you to your heart until you also live out your truly noble self.　

Finally, I'd like to say to everyone, "Thank you. 
It is really due to your presence that we can enjoy such a splendid and prolific life."

　
ZHANG, Cheng
October 31, 2019, Taichung　


(1) “Apple Daily Girl" is a newspaper column which literally means the most beautiful girl today.
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Ensuing "The Omnipresent Treasure Sutra", ZHANG, Cheng, once again through the Higher Spirit's messages, restores Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya as it is, which is regarded as the best-known, the highest and deepest classic in Buddha dharma.


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Orininal Text in Chinese
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