■Book 200 - Pages of Enlightenment
■Written by Master Sheng-yen Lu
■Chapter twenty-nine
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I guarantee that this topic will cause a great uproar and commotion in the Buddhist community once it is out. They will declare that “Sheng-yen Lu has lost his mind and gone crazy!!!” “Sheng-yen Lu is subverting Buddha-dharma. He has a lot of nerve. No one else in this world has got more nerve than he does.” “What kind of stunt is Sheng-yen Lu pulling?” “How can you go higher than the highest?” “This is just bullshit!” “Don't believe him!”
Those who have studied Buddhism know that the ten stages of bodhisattvas are:
Stage of Joy [Pramudita].
Stage of Purity [Vimala], liberation from all forms of defilements.
Stage of Luminous Light [Prabhakari], where the radiance of wisdom is generated.
Stage of Flaming Wisdom [Arcismati].
Stage of Overcoming Utmost Difficulties [Sudurjaya].
Stage of Open Way of Wisdom [Abhimukhi].
Stage of Far Reaching [Duramgama].
Stage of Immovability [Acala].
Stage Excellent Wisdom [Sadhumati].
Stage of Dharma Cloud [Dharmamegha].
The next stage is perfect enlightenment, [in which the wise being exhibits] thirty two marks of perfection and a vast amount of merits and virtues. Then, wonderful enlightenment, supreme buddhahood, is the following stage. [A buddha with] perfect enlightenment is an eleventh stage buddha , and [a buddha with] wonderful enlightenment is a twelfth stage buddha.
As far as I know, the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has eleven heads. The topmost head is that of Amitabha Buddha, followed by that of Vajrapani, followed by the remaining heads of the Nine-headed Avalokitesvara (symbolizing the eleventh stage). Hence, the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara is an eleventh stage buddha (The Tathagata Who Clearly Understands the True Law).
Shakyamuni Buddha attained wonderful enlightenment fruition, the four kinds of nirvana, and the perfection of four wisdoms. Hence, he is a twelfth stage buddha. [What about] the Great All-illuminating Sun Tathagata, Mahavairocana Buddha? He attained the perfection of five wisdoms. He is a thirteenth stage buddha (dharmakaya). Last but not least, there is Adi Buddha, who is revered as the Primordial Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism; he is at the sixteenth stage.
Okay, now Sheng-yen Lu has discovered that there are buddhas above the Primordial Buddha, Adi Buddha. Beyond Adi Buddha, there are buddhas of the seventeenth stage. I deem these buddhas' names to be “Nameless Buddhas." All the buddhas of seventeenth stage are all nameless, formless, action-less, accomplishment-less, and nothing can be used to describe them.
The proper name for all the seventeenth stage buddhas collectively are Nameless Buddhas. You can only really be called the enlightened one after you have discovered the seventeenth stage buddha. That is to say [true nature is] not buddha, not heart, nor object.
If you review the Sutra of Buddhas' Names, there are many buddhas' names mentioned. You will find that many buddhas have the same name. There are quadrillions of buddhas named Lamp-burning Buddha. There are also millions of buddhas named Shakyamuni Buddha. As long as a buddha has a name, he is below the sixteenth stage. The buddhas of the seventeenth stage do not have names. Hence, I call them Nameless Buddhas. I am a genuinely enlightened one, so [I know that it is a fact]; there isn't anything more real than this. Only those who discover the seventeenth stage buddhas are supreme enlightened ones.
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's compassion
Manjushri Bodhisattva's wisdom
Vajrapani Bodhisattva's dharma power
Compassion, wisdom, plus dharma power
Equals the genuine reality
