Buddhaland on Earth•Everyone Attains Buddhahood

Dharma Teaching: Grandmaster Wu Chueh Miao-Tien, the 85^th-Generation Grandmaster of Buddhist Zen School

Spiritual cultivation has its methods; there is no need to make it seem overly difficult. Many people do not understand the true purpose of cultivation and practice merely for the sake of practicing. Nor do they know whether the teacher they follow has the ability to guide their spirits back to the Buddha Land, yet this is of the utmost importance.

This is because not every dharma door can lead one back to the Buddha Land, nor can every method enable one’s Buddha nature to attain full enlightenment. Although the World-Honored One taught that “all beings possess Buddha nature,” this does not mean that “sentient beings are equal to the Buddha, and the Buddha is sentient beings.” Some people read this in the Buddhist scriptures and conclude that “spiritual cultivation is unnecessary.” This was never the Buddha’s true intention; sentient beings must practice the orthodox Dharma for attaining Buddhahood in order to truly become Buddhas.

A profound distinction exists between the Buddha and sentient beings. For instance, when Christians make the sign of the cross upon their chests, upward leads to heaven and downward to hell, yet between heaven and hell lie numerous distinct realms. Buddhism, on the other hand, divides the universe into the Ten Realms of Existence: ascending from the lowest realm of hell through hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, human beings, devas, shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas, up to the ultimate state of Buddhahood.

Therefore, practitioners must understand which dharma door can genuinely liberate the body, mind, and spirit, freeing them from the cycle of rebirth so they may return to the Buddha Land—this is the true purpose of spiritual practice.

The genuine Buddhist Dharma is the unconditioned Dharma (asaṃskṛta-dharma), and the unconditioned Dharma is the formless ultimate reality, devoid of any tangible characteristics. Yet, many practices today rely on mind and consciousness with form, using the human mind and voice to recite scriptures and chant the Buddha’s name. Such expedient methods, practiced through mind and consciousness, cannot lead to Buddhahood.

Zen meditation is the same; one must understand why we meditate. Is it merely sitting there in dry, lifeless meditation, or are there methods that allow the body and mind to attain purity and truly enter the Zen meditation for attaining Buddhahood? That is entirely different.

The Vulture Peak Assembly•The Zen Lineage

The Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma of our lineage is the unbroken traditional transmission handed down by the World-Honored One. Beginning at the Vulture Peak Assembly, when the Buddha held up a flower and smiled, passing the Dharma to Venerable Mahākāśyapa through the “Transmission from Buddha-Heart to Heart, Imprint of Buddha-Heart upon Heart,” it has been passed down generation after generation. This is the sole path to Buddhahood of the Zen tradition: “no dependence on words or letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures.”

Back then, at the Vulture Peak Assembly, Brahma King offered a golden lotus to the Buddha. Without speaking a word, the Buddha held up the lotus in the assembly. While the multitude was baffled and understood nothing, Venerable Mahākāśyapa alone broke into a smile.

Why did Venerable Mahākāśyapa smile? Because he knew that through the gesture of holding up the flower, the World-Honored One had transmitted the Dharma to him; hence, he smiled.

What was the Dharma transmitted by the Buddha? It was the Buddha’s true transmission—the Buddha’s purity, wisdom, and all spiritual realizations (adhigama pramāṇa). In other words, the Buddha directly passed it on to Venerable Mahākāśyapa through the method of “Transmission from Buddha-Heart to Heart, Imprint of Buddha-Heart upon Heart.”

When Venerable Mahākāśyapa saw the World-Honored One hold up a flower in the assembly, he instantly understood the Buddha’s true intent. What was that intent? It was that the lotus flower emerges from the muddy mire yet remains unsullied.

Although the lotus is born in a polluted muddy pond, it blooms into a pure and sacred flower. The lotus is a metaphor for the spiritual nature within every person: even though we live in a society contaminated by greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt—subject to countless disturbances and harms—our inner spiritual nature can still preserve its inherent innocence, holiness, and purity, remaining as undefiled and sacred as the lotus.

The sacred lotus represents the holy fruit. At the Vulture Peak Assembly, the Buddha transmitted this pure and sacred lotus to the spiritual nature of every being. Understanding the true meaning of the Buddha’s transmission, Venerable Mahākāśyapa received this sacred lotus into his own spiritual nature, and thus he smiled.

Naturally aware that Venerable Mahākāśyapa had understood, the Buddha declared to the assembly: “I possess the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, the Wondrous Heart of Nirvana, the Formless Reality of Ultimate Truth, the Subtle and Profound Dharma Gate, transcending words and letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures. I entrust this to Mahākāśyapa.” In this way, the World-Honored One passed down the Dharma gate of “Transmission from Buddha-Heart to Heart, Imprint of Buddha-Heart upon Heart” to Venerable Mahākāśyapa, who thereby became the First Grandmaster of the Zen lineage in the true transmission of the Buddha.

Shifu is the eighty-fifth generation in this unbroken lineage of transmission. If counted from the Twenty-Eighth Grandmaster, Bodhidharma, who came to the Shaolin Temple as the First Grandmaster of Chinese Zen, Shifu is the fifty-eighth generation. If counted from Master Linji Yixuan, Shifu is the forty-eighth generation.

Because Shifu carries the true transmission handed down directly from the Buddha to the present day, the True Dharma exists in the world. Only through this can Shifu turn the tide of the cosmos, transforming the age of semblance and the latter age of the Dharma back into an age of the True Dharma, bringing peace to the world and truly turning the Earth into a Buddha Land.

If everyone on Earth could practice the Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma transmitted by the Buddha—genuinely cultivating it through actual verification, liberating their spiritual nature, and returning freely and unfettered to the Buddha Land—we could attain the realm of “Buddhaland on Earth, Everyone becomes a Buddha.” This very vision is the great vow of the Buddha.

The purpose of Shifu in founding the Shakyamuni Buddhist Foundation is to revive the authentic Dharma of the Buddha from 2,500 years ago—the Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma. It aims to elevate all expedient methods that cannot lead to ultimate spiritual achievement, so that everyone, just like us, may practice the true Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma transmitted by the World-Honored One.

No Dependence on Words or Letters•A Special Transmission Outside the Scriptures

The True Dharma transmitted by the World-Honored One is precisely what He revealed: “I possess the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, the Wondrous Heart of Nirvana.” This means I hold the authentic Dharma capable of guiding beings to attain Buddhahood and return to the Buddha Land, elevating the human heart into the Buddha’s heart—the wondrous heart—which is as pure and sacred as a lotus flower, granting true liberation and eternal life in the Buddha’s realm. Nirvana is eternal life. While the human body is subject to birth and death, arising and perishing, the spirit is eternal, unborn and undying.

“The Formless Reality of Ultimate Truth, the Subtle and Profound Dharma Gate” implies that the True Dharma for attaining Buddhahood is formless in its true nature; it is genuinely neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immutable, the most perfect and radiant, neither seen nor touched. Therefore, it requires no conceptual cultivation through language and letters. Instead, through wisdom Zen meditation (Prajna Dhyana), one enters directly into the Buddha’s realm of reality and world of light. This is how true spiritual cultivation ought to be practiced.

This wondrous Dharma gate is so profound that it can transform us from ordinary mortals into Buddhas—elevating the samsaric human heart into the Buddha’s wondrous heart, capable of returning to the pure Buddha Land. How incredible! And this marvelous Dharma gate is precisely “no dependence on words or letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures.”

What does “no dependence on words or letters” mean? Ordinary practitioners typically listen to masters expound the teachings, receiving the Dharma through their ears; yet this is merely an exchange of intellectual knowledge. Most people remain attached to the outward forms of words and language, clinging stubbornly to the myriad phenomena of the secular world. How can such a practice ever lead to true realization?

Reciting the Buddha’s name and chanting sutras can quiet the mind, but they cannot give rise to true wisdom. Wisdom arises only when the heart is free from the interference of brain and mind, which is why Zen meditation (dhyana) is essential. Within Zen meditation, once brain and mind are emptied, supreme wisdom naturally manifests.

The True Dharma of the Buddha•Attaining Buddhahood in a Single Lifetime

The Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma practiced in our lineage transmits the “Imprint of Heart.” Therefore, whatever Shifu speaks transforms instantly into the Buddhadharma—it can purify and transform a person’s heart, reshape their body and thoughts, and bring about a profound spiritual rebirth. In other words, Shifu’s teachings contain “words within words and a Dharma within the Dharma”; special spiritual power and truths reside within Shifu’s words.

Yet ordinary people remain unaware of this. They know only to study Buddhist scriptures and read the Tripitaka, failing to realize that what the Tripitaka truly points to is the inner transformation of one’s own heart. Many practitioners stop at merely reciting and memorizing scriptures without changing their hearts or minds. How can such an approach ever lead to Buddhahood? Because remaining stuck in this conditioned, form-bound mind and consciousness means that, in the end, one’s practice remains forever confined to the realm of form.

The true purpose of spiritual cultivation is to move from the realm of form into the formless, and from there to attain the ultimate reality—the realm of the Buddha.

By now, everyone should understand what true spiritual cultivation entails, how to reach the goal of attaining Buddhahood, and how to fulfill the World-Honored One’s grand vision of a “Buddhaland on Earth, with everyone attaining Buddhahood.”

By that time, the True Dharma “Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma” of Shakyamuni Buddha will surely spread throughout the world. For every being in this world possesses a spirit; when that spirit is purified and awakened to wisdom, it radiates a brilliant light, enabling one to return to the Buddha Land and the heavenly realms.

Conversely, if the spirit remains unpurified, will it descend into hell or other realms lower than that of human beings? That depends entirely on one’s karmic merits and demerits.

Therefore, it is a matter of great felicitation that all of you are able to hear the True Dharma today and practice the authentic Dharma “Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma” together with Shifu in the Zen School directly transmitted from the World-Honored One. As I often say, the Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma can enable a person to attain Buddhahood. If the Dharma you practice cannot lead you to Buddhahood in a single lifetime, will you wait until your next life to practice? Yet where will you be in your next life? And if you still fail to attain Buddhahood in that lifetime, must you wait yet another?

Of course not! Spiritual practice is about the present moment; this very lifetime is the present, and in this very lifetime, we must enable our spirits to return to the Buddha Land on Earth—for the Buddha Land is right here on Earth!

(Excerpts adapted from Volume 1 and the accompanying DVD of 《The Wisdom Dharma Gate of Heart-Imprint Buddhist Dharma》).

English Translation: Chueh Miao Dao-Lian