The Thesis, Reason, and Example Are the True Embodiment of Genuine Practice and Realization

The "zong" (purport) refers to the guiding principle, conclusion, and theory; it is a summary of the fruits of practice. Without practice, no conclusion can be drawn, and there would be no theory to provide guidance. It is evident that the guiding principles and theories are summarized, induced, and generalized from the causes that come later; that is to say, only when the later causes exist can the earlier conclusions and theories come into being. Without the later causes, there would be no earlier fruits and no guiding principle, and the theory would not stand—it could not guide practice.

Facts prove that all the Buddhist teachings expounded by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were realized and distilled from their own genuine cultivation experience over countless kalpas—truly cultivated, truly realized, and personally practiced. True knowledge comes from practice; without practice there is no true knowledge and no truth. The Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of the canon are all truths distilled, summarized, and generalized by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from their actual cultivation and realization. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas use these truths to guide sentient beings' cultivation and realization; after sentient beings have cultivated and realized them, they summarize again, verifying once more the correctness and soundness of these truths.

The same is true of those in our community who have achieved preliminary accomplishments in cultivation. Through their own unremitting efforts in cultivation and practice, their body and mind, and their world, have undergone great transformation, and they have personally experienced the wonder and marvel of cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma. When they present their personal experiences, the results of their cultivation and realization emerge, and the causes for establishing the guiding principle are thereby complete. Through distilling, generalizing, and summarizing the phenomena of body and mind, the guiding principle is then established, and the path of cultivation and realization along with its theory is displayed with clear coherence—without the slightest forced contrivance, entirely a natural outcome. It cannot be faked in the least; it is genuine and meticulous, reenacting the legend of the Buddha-dharma. In contrast, some communities, for the sake of worldly self-interest, engage in rampant fabrication: lacking the causes of cultivation and realization, they establish a purport without cause. A purport without cause has no credibility whatsoever; it benefits neither self nor others, and instead becomes a sharp weapon for destroying the purport and annihilating the teaching, causing Buddhism to no longer have genuine cultivation, realization, and authentic transmission. The methods of actual practice can no longer be passed down in continuity, thereby intentionally or unintentionally cutting off the seed of the Buddha-dharma.

Genuine cultivation and realization must have both cause and purport; cause and purport depend on each other, and the fruit naturally appears, so the transmission naturally continues, and the lifeblood of the Buddha-dharma flourishes endlessly, never being cut off. Therefore, exposing fraud and correcting deviations brooks no delay; safeguarding the authentic transmission of the true Dharma of Buddhism is an unshirkable duty; cleansing the cool refreshing pond of the Three Jewels is the most urgent task, and the true Bodhisattvas cannot shirk this responsibility.