Image of Lotus in the Lotus Sutra .VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH. Dharma Flower is an abbreviation of the Lotus Sutra. The original version of the Lotus Sutra written in Sanskrit is Saddharmapundarika-sitra. Mr. La Cross (Kumàrajiva) translates as Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower. The Dharma is the Dharma, and Lotus is an example. The combination of the Dharma and the example becomes the Lotus Sutra, so when we say the Lotus Sutra, we must also understand the Lotus Sutra. "In what beautiful dress with lotus, Green leaves with white flowers and yellow pistil Yellow pistil, white cotton, green leaves, Nearly mud that does not stink of mud" Lotus is a very special flower, its noble nature is more than other flowers. The life of the Buddha from the time he was born until his death was always associated with the lotus flower. Therefore, the lotus is a symbol of liberation in Buddhism (Nine products of golden lotus to liberation). When the Buddha was born, he walked on a lotus flower seven steps. When the Buddha transmitted the Dharma to Venerable Kassapa, he also held a lotus flower. Therefore, the Buddha is always honored to sit on a lotus flower. Once a pagan Dona asked: How should he be understood? He calmly replied: Just like the lotus, I was born in this world, raised in the world without being polluted by the world. Thus I am the Buddha, the Tathagata. That lotus flower is so precious. It rises from the mud, but it doesn't smell like mud. The lotus has flowers that come first, but when there is a chance to meet the sunlight, they all bloom, giving off the same fragrance. When other flowers grow, it takes a while for the flowers to fall to bear fruit; and the lotus flower has just budded, the fruit is wrapped in a lotus mirror. The bigger the lotus, the bigger the lotus fruit and mirror. Fruit at the same time. The special thing about the lotus flower is that butterflies don't land, worms don't eat, people don't take it to decorate their heads. When the Buddha had just attained Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, he immediately thought: "The teachings that I have realized are so transcendental, super logical, super-linguistic, even profound, and wonderful. If you are interested in sex, how can you understand it if you are in love with sex?" So he hesitated, hesitated not wanting to preach. The gods, knowing the Buddha's mind, did not want to preach the Dharma, so they came to ask him to teach the Dharma. The Buddha looked in the middle of the lotus pond and saw lotus flowers, some that have emerged from the mud but have not yet come out of the water, some that have sprouted in the water but have not yet come out of the water, some that have emerged from the water but have not yet bloomed, and others. about to bloom waiting for sunlight to bloom. The Buddha thought: "All beings in this world are like that. There are low-level faculties, medium-level faculties, and high-level faculties, but if those faculties are met with light, meeting the teachings of the Buddha will also be liberated and enlightened." Therefore, he decided to turn the wheel of law and preach the law to save birth. Again, the lotus flower also has a very special character, because of that special character, the Buddha took it as an example for his Wonderful Dharma. So what is that Dharma? That is the Buddha nature, the knowledge of the Buddha. Seeing and knowing is called seeing and knowing Buddha? Seeing and knowing how is seeing and knowing sentient beings? Right and left, is seeing and knowing sentient beings. Seeing the truth is seeing and knowing the Buddha. If you see the truth, you see and know of sentient beings. Seeing the truth is seeing and knowing the Buddha. The impermanence that is seen is permanent, the non-self that is seen is the self, is to see and know sentient beings. On the contrary, impermanence is seen as impermanent, no-self is seen as non-self, is to see and know the Buddha... So try to see and know the Buddha, which is what you see and know the truth, the true nature of things. That is the view that knows to escape from being, not, often, interrupted, and dualistic according to the biases of sentient beings. Seeing and knowing that Buddha, it includes compassion, equanimity, wisdom, and liberation, so that knowing is extremely precious, like a lotus flower in the mud without the foul smell of mud. What is a lotus flower growing in the mud? Buddhism for example that mud is the affliction of sentient beings. That affliction makes the seeing and knowing the Buddha hidden, not appearing and not growing, as well as the mud of the lotus flower. But when that mud is outlined, the sock flower will grow. Flowers grow out of the mud, just as the view of knowing the Buddha grows out of the afflicted minds of sentient beings. So our Vietnamese Zen Master Chan Nguyen described: "The ceiling is close to the Tathagata, Each sentient being has a lotus flower. Flowers are the stationer's nature, Including heaven and earth below the top equal. Do post-schoolers know or not? Heart to mouth, speaking every word" The ceiling close to the Tathagata: The ceiling is close to close... that is, the Buddha realm is infinitely numerous, as endless as the dust that no one can count. The world of sentient beings and the world of Buddha are as many, countless worlds. If we replace the word "ceiling" with countless worlds, then in any world where there are living beings, that world will have Buddhas. So there is a ceiling close to the world, there is a ceiling close to Buddha, and a ceiling closes to living beings. Each sentient being has a lotus flower: Each of us is called a being, whether wise, not wise, rich, poor, intelligent, stupid, even the ferocious, all have lotus flowers. They are fierce today but will not be fierce tomorrow, are they forever fierce without ever having a little compassion? No matter how dark they are, there is a little bit of clarity in them. After all, such people are also compassionate, not outright ferocious. Then in that person, there is also a bright flame or a little lotus flower, that is, each person has a lotus, as the Vietnamese Zen master Ngo An said: "The wonder of emptiness cannot be voted on, Empty without enlightenment, what's difficult? On the burning jade mountain, the color is usually beautiful The lotus is in the wet, not yet dry." Flowers are the nature of stationers: Station is standing still. Tablets are full, fullness. In the lotus flower in sentient beings, even if there is a samsara (reincarnation when being a god, then a human being, an animal, a hungry ghost, etc.), it is generally samsara in the six realms. If you're a human, you'll be in all grades. When they are smart people, stupid people, good people, bad people... no matter what they do, the lotus flower and Buddha's knowledge and understanding never change. It is always quiet, full, without distortion, without disappearing, without adding or subtracting. So if you try to understand and see the Buddha here speaking with the metaphor of a lotus flower, it will be the same in living beings or in the Buddha, no difference. On the surface, each person's appearance and appearance are different, but the Buddha nature in them is the same as the lotus flower, it only differs in its expression. Including heaven and earth below the top is equal to: That lotus flower passed away equally, not more, not losing, not high, not low, all equal. Only when that lotus is buried, by the mud of afflictions, does man become small. When the afflictive self (self) in each sentient being is smaller, then the Buddha-nature lotus flower will bloom and become large. Buddha is a lotus that has fully bloomed, so Buddha is very big. The Buddha was so big that he passed away 2500 years ago, but sentient beings still think of him and still see him every day, everywhere. Buddha is covering heaven and earth below the same level. Therefore, he declared that "Heavenly, the world is only one and only one." He is the transformation of the dharma world (transforming the ten directions). Do post-schoolers know or not? : It is a reminder for us to be still, to give up our love and to find the lotus within ourselves to reach the edge of enlightenment. Heart to mouth, speaking every word: It is our thoughts (flower hearts) that come out of our mouths to speak. Say it right with the flower mind that is the lotus flower in your mind that comes out. When responding, it produces fragrant flowers, not rotten flowers, everyone hates it and doesn't like to hear it. The flower heart, the words must be fragrant, gently smelling like a lotus flower. The Buddha's teachings also have something special and wonderful like the mind of a flower - a lotus in the mind. Buddha nature is the flower mind, flower mind is the knowledge of the Buddha, that is the magic. The miraculous Dharma is in the mud without the smell of the mud, so it is called the wonderful Dharma, that is, the miracle of color. Whoever gets the miraculous appearance is peaceful, so it's called magic All Buddhist teachings from beginning to end take the lotus as a symbol, so Buddhism is also called the Lotus religion: - When the Buddha was born, he also walked on a lotus flower. - When the Buddha was about to preach, he also saw a lotus flower. -When the Buddha imparted the Dharma to him, Maha Kassapa was also in the Linh Son assembly with a lotus flower. In the history of Buddha, it was said that mind transmits mind. When he transmitted the correct Dharma eye organ to the Venerable Maha Ca Diep at the Linh Son Assembly, that day, Shakyamuni Buddha did not preach at all. When they gathered, he looked at the assembly once and then slowly held a lotus flower and held it up in front of everyone. The whole assembly at that time was silent, no one understood anything, only Venerable Ma-ha Kasyapa smiled. (flower seal). Buddha knew that Kashyapa had realized the lotus flower that the Buddha raised. That is the mind seal (centred mind). Even though Venerable Ma-Ha Kassapa didn't hear what the Buddha said, he was given by the Buddha's mind, so he smiled. The Buddha also saw the place where Kashyapa had attained enlightenment, so he said: "A good friend of the Dharma eye, Nirvana, wonderful mind, true form, formless, wonderful Dharma door, golden nun Maha Kassapa" . (We have the treasure of the Tibetan eye, the Dharma eye is Nirvana, the wondrous mind, the true form and appearance. Now entrusting it to Maha Kassapa). Since then, Maha Kassapa received the Buddha's instruction so that later when the Buddha entered Nirvana, he had the first collection of sutras to propagate to this day. The Flower Adornment Sutra says about the world of Flower Stores as follows: "There are seas of incense and water as numerous as the dust of the ten indescribable Buddha lands. From that sea sprang a great lotus flower named Neptune mani king dignified,... This is the lotus world." Those who have read the story Journey to the West must know that: The Tripitaka goes to seek scriptures in Tay Truc. Experiencing many difficulties, dangers and dangers, people later turned into ghost caves and demons on his way to seek the law. When the Tang Dynasty in China unified the country, it was strictly forbidden to enter and exit China. Mr. Huyen Trang along with a few other monks presented to the king for permission to study abroad in India. Waiting for a long time was not allowed, the Venerables together with him bowed their hearts to leave. He patiently prayed day and night to the bodhisattvas for protection. One night in 629, he dreamed that he saw a Linh Son mountain in the middle of the sea, jumped into the water to wade across, just then, a lotus flower appeared, brought to the foot of the mountain. I love it, wake up. From then on, he became more and more convinced that he would succeed anyway, and because of that, he won all the difficulties later. Sixteen years to ask for sutras, nineteen years to silently translate sutras. When his age was about to end, he held his pen and instructed his disciples: "Your life is about to end, if you lie down, don't draw anything! Wrap the teacher in a robe! mat and bury it in a valley, in a deserted, lonely place!" Before he passed away, he seemed to wake up, saying: I see a lotus in front of my eyes, wonderfully beautiful! Thirty-five years ago he saw a lotus flower that took him across the sea to the Buddha mountain, this time the lotus took him to the Buddha realm. It's also a lotus flower." Today, we recite the Buddha's name and pray for rebirth, which is also a lotus (nine products of golden lotus). So the lotus inside it corresponds to the outside. The outside matches the inside. If our mind is pure, then our lotus flower when praying for rebirth will be as large (Superior High.) On the contrary, if our lotus is small, it just floats in the water, even Even if you sit on a lotus to be reborn in the Pure Land, you can only sit on a low-grade lotus, but you cannot ascend to a middle- and high-grade lotus. So, knowing how the lotus is in the mind, it will appear as the lotus outside. As it appears in this life, so will it appear in the Pure Land tomorrow. So recite, copy, speak... Dharma Flower is just to make the lotus flower in our own mind grow more and more lush, get rid of the mud, appear on display, give off a fragrant fragrance. for life. As the Little Saint once prayed in front of the Buddha platform: "Compassionate and meditator of money, Mac was born in the West, he was born in heaven, Best wishes to quote yang only water, Sai agents of the pure truth." Mean: "A few words before the merciful one, Not born in the land Buddha does not ascend to heaven, Please make a small poplar drop. Shine bright lotus flower clean dust of life."END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.31/5/2021.