Entries 31–40

31

Direct your thoughts to dedicate merit toward those suffering beings in the world who at this time have still not received deliverance. Pray that they may soon encounter wholesome conditions and be able to cultivate Dao and realize Dao. Or bless them so that, even if deliverance is not possible in this present life, they may in the next cosmic era attain Dao, realize Dao, and bring their suffering to an end.

32

Do not take the happiness and comfort you presently enjoy as sufficient. Be grateful for your current cultivation environment: even amid adversity and trials, it far surpasses the plight of beings in the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals. How then can you complain or grow despondent? Nor should you become proud or complacent.

33

Throughout cultivation and service, continually elevate yourself and spur yourself onward, so that you may enrich the light of virtue and wisdom and lessen the grip of karmic forces.

34

Read often the classics of the sages and worthies. In reviewing the old to understand the new, you come to grasp the wondrous principle of one thread running through all, and thereby appreciate the painstaking heart behind their teachings.

35

Cultivate and serve Dao with an impartial and public-spirited heart, attributing all merit and achievement to Heavenly Mother and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. In this way you will not fall into the obstacle of following people in cultivation rather than following principle.

36

When perfecting your Dao-kin, be mindful of teaching according to each person's capacity. Guide everyone to bring forth their heavenly heart and heavenly nature, making the recognition of principle the essential focus of cultivation.

37

Ordeals will always come. The great wisdom ordeal of the White Era's final stage is close at hand, and everyone must be prepared. As the saying goes, "Settle into calmness to withstand wind and rain." My disciples, upon this game board of the Dao situation, you must pass through polishing and tempering before you can become great talents.

38

Strengthen the inner fortitude of your Dao-kin. Hold fast to the root of cultivation. Nurture that one spark of brightness within human nature. Even if Dao cannot be fully realized in this present life, preserve good thoughts so they do not dim. In future lives, through non-retrogression, transcendence becomes possible.

39

Cultivate a breadth of mind that sees nowhere that is not Principle-Heaven, nowhere that is not Pure Land. Then the wind of the Bodhi-Way will spread broadly across the human world. What worries would your teacher still have? I hope my disciples will seize every moment that life persists to open this kind of opportunity.

40

Follow the spirit of service that your predecessors embodied, and carry forward the unfolding of wisdom-life. Recognize principle and recognize Dao without diverging; do not follow personalities. Let each person give their utmost to steady the Dao situation.