As soon as you hear this, you may be thinking: "Well, I'm not cultivating for the sake of this stinking bag of skin. Where is the sense in refinng this thing so it will not go bad?"

Right you are! There's a lot to what you say. However, the vajra-indestructible body I am talking about is not the stinking skin bag that you are referring to. What is it then? It is the vajra-indestructible self-nature. It is the vajra-indestructible body of your "Dharma-body and your wisdom-life." It is the purity at the source of your self-nature. That's the vajra-indestructible body I'm referring to.

All of you should realize that cultivating the spiritual path is not an easy matter. If you decide to cultivate, then demons will come around. They'll not come from only one direction; they'll come from all directions at once. There are demons of sickness, demons of vexation, demons in the heavens, human demons, and also demonic ghosts. There are demonesses as well. Demons appear, from places you don't expect, to disturb you so that your resolve will waver and your cultivation will falter. They use many tricks to seduce and tempt you. They also threaten you so that you'll retreat in fear. They hope your samadhi-power will vanish and your resolve for the spiritual path will disappear.

Just about the time you've meditated to the point of success, the demons appear to test your resolve and to challenge your work in the spiritual path. They may appear as a very beautiful woman or a handsome man who comes to seduce you. If the sight doesn't disturb you, then you pass your test. But if you're distracted by this illusion, you'll fall. Right there is the critical moment; just that is the test. So I exhort you at all costs, don't fail this test; because once you fall, you'll regret it forever. When states arise to challenge your resolve, you should test the state to see whether or not it's true. What's your method of testing? It's very simple. Just recite the name of Amitabha Buddha. Recite with single-minded, unwavering concen-tration. If it's a false state, then gradually it'll disappear and then vanish. If it's a true state, then the longer you recite, the more clear the state will grow. Chan meditators who don't understand this method will fall into the demons' traps. They'll fall among demons and their work in the spiritual path will be scattered and lost. Some cultivators will lose their opportunity for enlightenment after they join the demons.

When I was young I heard someone say, "As soon as you cultivate the spiritual path, demons will appear." I didn't believe it and arrogantly said, "I'm not afraid of demons at all! Witches, ghosts, and goblins don't frighten me in the least." I thought that it didn't matter what I said. Who could've guessed that soon after my boast, a demon would show up? What kind of demon was it? It was a demon of sickness, which made me so ill that I lost consciousness for seven or eight days; I lapsed into a total coma. Only then did I realize that my skill was far from the mark and that I'd failed my test. Maybe I wasn't afraid of witches, ghosts or goblins, or even celestial demons and heretics. But I was afraid, as it turned out, of sickness demons. I couldn't subdue them; I couldn't handle them; I couldn't endure their attack. So we cultivators of the spiritual path cannot claim proudly that we fear nothing. As soon as we become self-satisfied and arrogant, troubles come seeking for us.

Well, how should cultivators of the spiritual path be, then? We should maintain a humble and circumspect attitude, and be as cautious as if we were treading the brink of a deep abyss, or as if we were standing on thin ice. At all times we should be prudent and careful. We should pay attention and stay alert. Only then can we really cultivate the spiritual path. To sum it up, talk less and meditate more. This is the fundamental requisite of cultivation.

When cultivators of the spiritual path actually gain some accomplishment, they get it with someone's help. Who helps them? Demons bring cultivators to accomplishment. This is just like a knife being honed on a whetstone so that it becomes very sharp. When a cultivator realizes the light of wisdom, it is with the help of the demons. These demons can be regarded as Dharma-protectors. There is a saying:

If we see things and awaken to them, we can
leap out of the mundane world.
If we see things and they confuse us, we'll fall
back on the wheel of transmigration.

If you can awaken to and understand states as they appear, then you can leap out of the world. If you do not awaken and are instead confused by states as they occur, then you may fall right into the hells. So cultivators of the spiritual path shouldn't fear that demons may come forth. Only be afraid that your own concentration power will be insufficient to withstand them. The demons come to help you along. They test you to see whether or not your spiritual skill is genuine, to see whether or not your samadhi-power can endure them. If you have skill and samadhi, then no matter what demon comes, he won't be able to shake you.

A cultivator of the spiritual path should at all times hang this question of birth and death right between the eyebrows. At all times you should seek to liberate yourself from birth and death. You should realize that nothing else is as pressing as the single concern of birth and death. If you haven't resolved this question, then you won't know how you were born, nor will you understand how you're going to die. Right now, before you really understand it, you should work very hard in cultivation. Otherwise you'll be forever bound up in the inexorable rounds of birth and death, and you'll never get free of them.

When we cultivate the spiritual path, as we contemplate this matter of birth and death, we should see all demons as helpers, as our Dharma-protectors. They're coming to help us to cultivate the Path. If somebody scolds you or hits you, he, too, is helping you cultivate. If somebody gossips about you or gives you trouble, he's also helping you cultivate. In general, whatever adversity arises, you should endure it gracefully; you should just flow with it. Regard all such adverse states as friends that aid your cultivation, and then these troubles will soon be gone. When you have no more troubles and afflictions, then you can bring forth wisdom. Once you have real wisdom, the demons will have no way to disturb your mind.

Why are we turned by demonic states? Because our wisdom isn't complete. Before our wisdom is complete, we are confused by anything that comes. We won't recognize situations clearly. The view of self, the view of others, the view of living beings, and the view of a lifespan will all come forth. And afflictions will follow as well. Yet, if we have wisdom, then none of these aspects will trouble us in the least.