People who cultivate must actually go ahead and do it. They must apply singleminded effort so they can quickly attain the unsurpassed fruition of Buddhahood. If, while cultivating in the formative period, they don't do things earnestly but are always putting on a false front and doing things that are phony and untrue, then the result won't be true either. It will be crooked, and they will find it very difficult to finish their work in the Way.

The karma we each have created does not begin and end with this one life; it extends back for countless lifetimes. Our killing karma is limitless and boundless, as is our karma from stealing, lust, lying, and taking intoxicants. Our confusion resembles flies buzzing to and fro at random without any sense of direction. We have taken numerous wrong turns and made many mistakes. Yet when the time comes to get our just rewards we still won't admit our mistakes. So it's said,

Plant bad seeds and you will reap bad fruit.

Therefore, we should be very careful in everything we do. Every mouthful of food that we eat and drink is already predetermined. If in this life you find that people are not good to you, it's because in the past you weren't good to them. If someone scolds you for no reason, it's because in the past you scolded others unreasonably. If someone strikes you without any apparent cause, again, it's because in the past, you lashed out at them. We must pay back all our debts-with interest. Therefore, even a single bad cause can result in a disastrous retribution. Common people, however, don't understand the principles of past causes and future effects, so they curse heaven and blame the world for what happens to them. They say God is not fair, that people are unjust.

I often point out to you that this world is totally immersed in fighting: countries fight with countries, families fight with families, people fight with people, and worlds fight with worlds. At the source of all this fighting you'll find killing and hatred. Killing karma fills up the entire universe and because of it, we harm and take one another's lives. Moreover, many strange diseases manifest which no medicine can cure. Every single person's offenses are limitless, boundless a unreckonable. And yet each one thinks he or she is really fine. We do not even have enough light in our hearts to feel ashamed and to truly change. Most people cannot "return the light and look within"; most cannot exercise self-control. Instead, within ourselves we always blame others for our difficulties. Everyone should pay special attention to this.

When we cultivate, we can't be greedy for pleasure. For example, if you eat too much, your desire will increase. Therefore, it's best never to get too full, but to always be a little hungry. Stop eating when you're still only about 70- full. When your desires increase, then you are topsy-turvy. Now people worry about getting enough nourishment, but if you're really cultivating, it's not necessary to bolster your body. Only when you lose too much energy do you have to build yourself up again.

Losing it can come about in many ways. For instance, when your eyes look at forms, you lose energy. When your ears listen to pleasing sounds, you lose energy. When your body enjoys tactile sensations, you lose energy, and when your mind pursues conditioned dharmas, you lose your vital energies. In all these ways you can lose your essence; you have outflows. You don't know enough to look after yourself in these subtle areas, but instead wallow in ignorance and allow yourself to be spun around by afflictions.

Left-home people should be particularly attentive to this point. Is it that you can't take a loss? Can't you put it all down? Can't you take the rigors of cultivation? You shouldn't enjoy pleasures and do things in order to help out your stinking skin-bags. Be aware that when it's your turn to die, your body won't give you so much as a "thank you." It won't be loyal to you. It's just a heap of flesh and bones-a temporary combination of the four elements. It's not real. The intrinsic nature is real. It brightly penetrates and is dazzling in its clarity. It is said of the intrinsic nature:

Originally there's not one thing, So where can the dust alight?

Work hard within. Don't swim about on the surface, always calculating what's good for you. Be without an attachment to self: no perception of self, others, living beings, or a lifespan. Don't always be figuring Out how to avoid hunger and cold.
If you can't see through it and put it all down, then you can not obtain self-mastery. When you hear this, you may not think that it's anything special. But if you can actually go ahead and live this way, then you will enjoy some success. Use an earnest mind to cultivate. You can't be sloppy or casual. Cultivator should always be willing to take a loss, to miss the bargains. Be good to others and do not worry about yourself. You absolutely can never become jealous or be lacking in merit and virtue. If you have the tiniest bit of selfishness or self-seeking, you won't obtain genuine wisdom. If you start out selfish, then you will just end up selfish. When you cultivate you cannot fear suffering, difficulty, or poverty.

I remember when I left Manchuria and went to the inner provinces, I had just a little bit of money with me-just enough to get me to Pu Tou Mountain to receive ordination. At TyanJin I went to pay my respects to Dharma Master Tan Syu and Dharma Master Ding Syi, because they were known as Great, Virtuous Elders in Manchuria. All I wanted to do was bow to them, but when they saw this young novice, they thought I'd come to beg from them. So Dharma Master Ding Syi said, "Whatever you want, go see the Abbot. I don't pay attention to these things." Dharma Master Tan Syu said the same thing, and when I took a look at the Abbot, I could tell he was a person who became even more indifferent when anyone tried to talk to him. This really pained me. Great, Virtuous Ones should take care not to look lightly on those who come to study under them.

Then I heard that Dharma Master TiJing with a following of ten Bhikshus and novices-all of whom studied with him-were going to Hu Bei, so I joined them in their travels. But then Dharma Master TiJing announced, "You have to turn over all your money to me, as I am head of this party. No one is allowed to have any private holdings."

So I gave him my Pu Tou Mountain money and traveled with them to Hu Bei. It was very cold during that time-snowing as a matter of fact-and I was only wearing three layers of clothing which weren't even padded. Although my clothes were tattered, my "state" at that time happened to be extremely fine. I had no thoughts. So every day a rare fragrance permeated and surrounded me. Unlike ordinary incense, it was a fragrance not found in this world. I had a similar experience in Manchuria. It was most likely a response from cultivating asceticism. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were extremely happy and the heavenly maidens would scatter flowers. At that time special experiences like that occurred.

The following year (1947), as I was preparing to leave for Pu
Tou Mountain, I asked Dharma Master TiJing for my Pu Tou
Mountain money back. However, he said to me, "Not a penny!
You can't go! This monastery is transmitting the Precepts. Receive ordination here."

I replied, "My vow is to go to Pu Tou. If I don't go, I'll not fulfill my vow. If you won't give me my money, I'll go without it."
So that's what I did. I got a free boat-ride; the food was free, too, and I slept on the deck. I went from Ning Bwo to Shen Jya Men, then to Pu Tou Mountain to take the Precepts. Pu Tou was very convenient because one didn't need money to become ordained. And when I came down from the mountain, I caught a boat to Shanghai; somehow, my financial situation worked out without my really knowing how. I went to Ling Yan Mountain in SuJou to study the Sutra teachings at the Buddhist

Academy. I had thirty classmates, all of whom thought I was really dumb. They all looked down on me because I didn't talk! I didn't establish relationships or make friends. It continued to be bitter that way for several decades. From there I went to Hong Kong for ten years and then came to America. But I had no plans then, nor do I have any now-no calculations.

Now that there is the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, I still don't make plans. I just don't think about things. Instead, I simply go forward and do the best I can. I'm really a person "whose past mind cannot be got at, whose present mind cannot be got at, and whose future mind cannot be got at." So this confused person came to America. Now there is the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and every day we are building and improving it. I have no scholastic learning and am lacking in wisdom and virtue of the Way and wisdom. I'm just a plain, dumb person, but I am diligent and responsible about what I do. I pay no attention to whether you believe in me or not. I just go forward step-by-step and do what I can for the sake of Buddhism. That is my philosophy. If people who have left home cannot truly cultivate, there's no use in leaving home.

Cultivate yourself to resolve your own birth and death. If you yourself eat, you will get full. Anyone who cultivates can share in this. If you don't cultivate, not only will I not be able to save you, even the Buddhas can't save you. Moreover, if you don't cultivate yourself and just cheat others, you will fall into the hells. So be extremely careful and diligent, not the least bit casual. If Buddhists don't do things truly, then who in this worid will?