The Six Great Principles

Ÿ The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has Six Great Principles which are the goals for cultivation. They are: do not fight, do not be greedy, do not seek, do not be selfish, do not pursue personal advantage, and do not lie. If you can understand the true and actual meaning of the Six Great Principles, then you will not have come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in vain.

Ÿ The Six Great Principles are six bright paths. They are also known as six kinds of wisdom, six kinds of demon-quelling pestles, and six kinds of monster-spotting mirrors.

Ÿ No fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuing personal advantage, and no lying: These are the basis for being a person, the foundation for cultivation, and the standard for government.

Ÿ The Buddhadharma for beginners is no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuing personal advantage, and no lying. If you can remember these six great guidelines, you can become a Buddha and then some.

Ÿ I am speaking these six great guidelines for people who want to become Buddhas, people who want to become Bodhisattvas, and people who want to become Hearers and Arhats. These are the most important principles. If you can put them into practice, you may use them your whole life, but you won't be able to exhaust them! You won't be able to use them up.

Ÿ If you want to be a genuine Buddhist disciple, you must certainly not fight, not be greedy, not seek, not be selfish, not pursue personal advantage, and not lie. Ever since I was little, I have followed these six bright paths of not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. No matter what it is, if others want it, then I don't want it. If others don't want it, then I pick it up. That's the way I am. Can all of you act the same way? If so, then I congratulate you for being good Buddhists.

Ÿ Cultivation consists of not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. If you can hold firmly to these six great principles, you are true disciples of the Buddha. If you don't walk upon these six great paths, then perhaps you cannot be of much benefit to Buddhism.

Ÿ What are the precepts? They are just: not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. That's the precepts. Don't go looking for the precepts in the precept manuals. These things can be done by everyone. Everyone can practice them.

Ÿ What is the most important aspect of the Dharma? Not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. Every day, use these six great guidelines as a yardstick to measure your conduct on that day. If it's not up to standard, then you should immediately rectify it. When you are free of errors and only have merit and virtue, then you can be considered a Buddhist disciple. These are the six great principles of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. I hope everyone can follow them, everyone can become enlightened, and everyone can become a Buddha.

Ÿ If you want to learn to have genuine wisdom, you must first cut off desire. How can you cut off desire? By not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. These six great principles are the Dharma jewel for cutting off desire and obtaining genuine wisdom.

Ÿ What are deviant views? If you fight, that's deviant views. If you're greedy, that's deviant views. If you seek, that's deviant views. If you want to be selfish, that's deviant views. If you want to benefit yourself, that's also deviant views. If you always lie, that's deviant views as well.

Ÿ You have studied and practiced Buddhism for several decades, yet you're still greedy for money! You're still seeking after fame and profit! There you are, ceaselessly fighting and being greedy. That's because you don't understand how to study and practice Buddhism. If you understood how, you wouldn't want these things.

Ÿ In cultivating the Way, you must base yourself on not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying. Only then will you have proper knowledge and proper views and be able to cultivate the Way. If you don't cultivate these six and yet you want to say you're a cultivator, it's impossible.

Ÿ If a person has thoughts of fighting and thoughts of greed, if he seeks fame and profit, if he advertises himself or gets people to worship him, if he is selfish and out for personal advantage, and if he doesn't tell the truth, you should know that such a person has the state of a demon.

Ÿ If you are able to not fight, not be greedy, not seek, not be selfish,