002. My Discourses on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (Preface)

In this sutra, twelve great bodhisattvas—including Manjusri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva—take turns asking the Buddha about the methods for attaining perfect enlightenment.

I know that I am particularly suited to expounding this sutra, for only one who has attained perfect enlightenment can truly expound a sutra on perfect enlightenment.

Today, there are many Dharma masters who lecture on the sutras. However, I have found that what they do is not truly expounding the sutras. Rather, they merely explain the wording or translate the text literally. Such presentations can only be called "explaining according to the written text." (In truth, anyone with a basic knowledge of Buddhism can accomplish this.)

My exposition of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment is entirely different from that of ordinary Dharma masters.

This is because I have personally entered the perfect and complete Great Luminous Samadhi. There, I fully realized the mind and wisdom of Sakyamuni Buddha. From the depths of my own mind, the Great Light naturally manifested, allowing this magnificent wisdom to illuminate the entire expanse of space.

The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment is not merely a theoretical work.

It is not a treatise of clever arguments or intellectual debate.

Nor is it simply a Buddhist scripture on enlightenment.

Rather, it is the radiant expression of the awakened mind revealed through genuine cultivation and realization. On the surface, it elucidates the perfectly awakened mind; in essence, it conveys the profound flavor of the great Dharma realized through deep meditation.

In my view, it embodies miraculous spiritual power. It is adorned with radiant luminosity. It perfects and permeates the ten directions. It reveals the ultimate, nondual truth.

After my retirement, being able to discuss the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment in the small sitting room of the True Buddha Tantric Quarter has become one of life's simple and joyful pleasures.

Om Mani Padme Hum!

Translated by TBTTs

Edited by DJ Chang