u/Brilliant--Ice

（Translated excerpt of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’ s lecture🙏. 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed）

——Discourse given on November 8, 1980 🙏

The Buddha's body is not formed from the accumulation of the five aggregates （as a contrast, our bodies are temporary combinations of the five aggregates）, nor does it come from the twelve sense bases or the eighteen realms.

Since the Buddha has no fixed form or body, why can us (sentient beings) see the Buddha's 32 marks and 80 physical characteristics?🙏

This is a Buddha’s manifestation to accommodate our discriminating minds. Because we as sentient beings have a mind that distinguishes between good and bad, the Buddha manifests various bodies to increase our Dharma joy and Dharma faith to awaken our Buddha nature within (Bodhicitta). This is a skillful and expedient means of Dharma door.　　　

Because we have discriminating minds, with notions of good and evil, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, black and white, the Buddha manifests in various forms and shapes according to our minds, allowing us to see the Buddha's form.

As the saying goes, “There are a thousand moons (reflections of moon) in a thousand rivers which have water flowing by. Without clouds in the sky, it is vast and clear.”

The Buddha manifests according to the needs of sentient beings. When our minds are pure, just like clear water in a river, the Buddha appears within, like the reflection of the moon on the water's surface. Why haven't we seen the Buddha? It is because our selfish desires and ignorance are too heavy for wisdom to arise. Our minds are turbid, just like murky water, so even if the Buddha is present, the Buddha's body cannot appear, much like a missing reflection of the moon.

Ignorance is darkness, wisdom is light. With ignorance comes afflictions, with afflictions comes delusion, with delusion comes darkness, with darkness comes no light, without light comes no wisdom, and without wisdom we cannot see the Buddha—all these are interconnected.

To see the Buddha body, one must diligently cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom, extinguishing greed, anger, and delusion. Then the Buddha's body will naturally appear, manifesting to teach the Dharma to practitioners. 🙏

http://jxy.book853.com/show.aspx?id=2694&cid=160&page=21

為什麼沒有見到佛？

　　◎一九八Ｏ年十一月八日開示

　　佛這個身，不是由五蘊所積聚成的，也不是從十二處或十八界來的。佛既沒有一個形相，眾生為什麼能見到佛的三十二相、八十種好呢？這是隨順眾生的分別心而示現。因為眾生有分別好或不好的心，佛為了要使眾生發菩提心，所以示現種種不同的身，增加其歡喜心，增加其信仰心。這是善巧方便的法門。

因為眾生有分別心，有善惡，有美醜，有是非，有黑白種種的問題，所以佛隨順眾生的心，而示現種種身，令眾生見到佛的身，所謂「千江有水千江月，萬里無雲萬里天。」佛是隨類而化身，眾生心水淨，佛便現其中。我們為什麼沒有見到佛身？因為我們的私欲太重，無明太重，所以智慧不現前；心水混濁，有佛也不現。　

　　無明就是黑暗，智慧就是光明。有無明就有煩惱，有煩惱就愚癡，有愚癡就是黑暗，有黑暗就無光明，無光明就沒有智慧，沒有智慧就見不到佛，這都有連帶的關係。想要見佛身，必須勤修戒定慧，息滅貪瞋癡，這樣佛身自然現前，來為行者現身說法。

None of my family members have any religious beliefs due to historical social circumstances.

My first visit to an informal temple (a family hall for worshipping Buddha) was in early 1996. At that time, I had been suffering from strange stomach pain for a few years. Despite a series of costly medical examinations, I couldn't find the cause; I just suffered from poor digestion and weight loss.

Then one day, someone introduced my mom to a local lay Buddhist who had set up an altar at home. (My hometown is a rural town with population of around 500,000, and there’s no Buddhism temple nearby)

Frankly speaking, it was such a scary and weird experience that I was deeply frightened and never revisited the Buddhist altar again

That lay Buddhist was very kind, smiling, and warm-hearted. But she gave me a strong chilling feeling that nothing inside me could be hidden from her. She could look through me to read my soul.

The moment I entered the room, she glanced at me and immediately said I was a Buddhist and a student of the Bodhisattva!

I was so scared that I just wanted to escape. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. The vibe in the hall, filled with dozens of Buddha statues, felt incredibly sacred and powerful.

I knew nothing about Buddha or Buddhism at the time, but I had a strong feeling that there was something invisible yet sacred in that room. I was terrified and felt a huge sense of relief when I could finally leave or escape that place.

About 3-5 days later, I had a dream in the middle of the night. In the dream, I was living in a primitive tribe, and my mother took me to see a wizard/shaman. The wizard told me there was an ant’s nest in my stomach, and he suddenly removed it in an instant. Immediately after, I felt fully recovered.

Another 3-5 days later, my mother took me to see a doctor for an appendectomy. It turned out my appendix was inflamed. It was at that moment that inspiration struck us, and we realized the pain might be coming from my appendix. Within an hour of that realization, we had set off for the hospital, and I was already entering the operating room. However, it has taken me decades to truly understand what happened and to begin practicing Buddhism.

That devout lay Buddhist was right about me; she truly saw my fate.

Even so, I didn’t become a Buddhist immediately after that incident. At the time, while standing in her Buddhist Hall, my only thought—and it was a very strong one—was to run away and escape! LOL.    

(By the way, as a dedicated practitioner, she strictly declines any financial support or offerings. Word in the community is that she has extraordinary spiritual healing abilities) .  (At that time, she was probably over 65 to 70 years old. I never saw her again. Now when I think about it, I'm very grateful to her)                           

Almost all my limited supernatural experiences are related to disorder of time and space. I was very confused about that for decades. But when I begin to read Mahayana Sutras, I finally realized that what’s really happening was merely because of the Buddha’s benevolent power and wishes. A lot of lay Buddhists have all kinds of supernatural experiences. I’m grateful to others for sharing their experiences. That’s very helpful, and it is the reason I decided to tell my stories. In case these stories might be useful for others.

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas simultaneously traverse our past, present, and future. Because time is merely an illusion and a rule of this Saha world.  According to physics, if an object travels faster than light, time can move backward.

Buddha-light and brightness are constantly mentioned in all Buddhist sutras, this is the reason why Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can reverse space-time.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the light of Buddha is not merely physical light, but a symbol of limitless wisdom, compassion and absolute reality.  Currently, I firmly believe Buddhism encompasses modern physics.

In less than 2 months after visiting the lay Buddhist's home altar, I had another clear and unimaginable terrible dream.  In that dream, I saw some harsh truth that I’d never believe at that time. But that’s exactly the hidden truth.  Without that revealing dream, I’d be fooled and suffer huge pain, I’d make a serious mistake out of ignorance. 🙏🙏🙏

I’m deeply grateful for the reminding and guidance from Bodhisattvas in my life. 🙏🙏🙏

In sum. 

I’ve started to recognize the ignorance and lack of wisdom in myself and those around me. I now understand that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are there to show us the root of our suffering and the lessons we can gather from our life’s path. It takes me decades to have the opportunity to learn real Buddha Dharma.

I spent nearly 2 hours writing the above content. Maybe it could be useful for some Buddha Dharma practitioners.  Buddha’s teaching is to let us to do the right thing.

Namo Amituofo 🙏

Addition: this post was deleted by 2 other forums for some ridiculous or baseless reasons which I couldn’t understand.  For example: “Your post / comment was removed for violating the rule against low-effort content, including AI generated content and memes.” And all the memes I used is simply 🙏

None of my family members have any religious beliefs due to historical social circumstances.

My first visit to an informal temple (a family hall for worshipping Buddha) was in early 1996. At that time, I had been suffering from strange stomach pain for a few years. Despite a series of costly medical examinations, I couldn't find the cause; I just suffered from poor digestion and weight loss.

Then one day, someone introduced my mom to a local lay Buddhist who had set up an altar at home.

Frankly speaking, it was such a scary and weird experience that I was deeply frightened and never revisited the Buddhist altar again

That lay Buddhist was very kind, smiling, and warm-hearted. But she gave me a strong chilling feeling that nothing inside me could be hidden from her. She could look through me to read my soul.

The moment I entered the room, she glanced at me and immediately said I was a Buddhist and a student of the Bodhisattva!🙏

I was so scared that I just wanted to escape. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. The vibe in the hall, filled with dozens of Buddha statues, felt incredibly sacred and powerful.🙏

I knew nothing about Buddha or Buddhism at the time, but I had a strong feeling that there was something invisible yet sacred in that room. I was terrified and felt a huge sense of relief when I could finally leave or escape that place.

About 3-5 days later, I had a dream in the middle of the night. In the dream, I was living in a primitive tribe, and my mother took me to see a wizard/shaman. The wizard told me there was an ant’s nest in my stomach, and he suddenly removed it in an instant. Immediately after, I felt fully recovered.

Roughly 3-5 days later, my mother took me to see a doctor for an appendectomy. It turned out my appendix was inflamed.

It was at that moment that inspiration struck us, and we realized the pain might be coming from my appendix. Within an hour of that realization, we had set off for the hospital, and I was already entering the operating room. However, it has taken me decades to truly understand what happened and to begin practicing Buddhism.🙏

That devout lay Buddhist was right about me; she truly saw my fate.🙏

Even so, I didn’t become a Buddhist immediately after that incident. At the time, while standing in her Buddhist Hall, my only thought—and it was a very strong one—was to run away and escape! LOL.

(By the way, as a dedicated practitioner, she strictly declines any financial support or offerings. Word in the community is that she has extraordinary spiritual healing abilities🙏)        (At that time, she was probably over 65 to 70 years old. I never saw her again. Now when I think about it, I'm very grateful to her )          🙏          

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas simultaneously traverse our past, present, and future. Because time is merely an illusion and a rule of this Saha world.🙏

According to physics, if an object travels faster than light, time can move backward.🙏

Buddha-light and brightness are constantly mentioned in all Buddhist sutras, this is the reason why Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can reverse space-time.🙏

In Mahayana Buddhism, the light of Buddha is not merely physical light, but a symbol of limitless wisdom, compassion and absolute reality.

• Transcendence: Because Buddhas are free from the limitations of dualistic thought (such as past/future, high/low), they are said to perceive all time as "one moment" and all space as "emptiness."
• The Power of Light: The "light" symbolizes the mind that has realized that all phenomena are interconnected and that time and space are not fixed realities but creations of the mind.

In sum. 

I’ve started to recognize the ignorance and lack of wisdom in myself and those around me. I now understand that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are there to show us the root of our suffering and the lessons we can gather from our life’s path. 🙏

Namo Amituofo🙏🙏🙏

Addition:

My post about real personal experience was banned in Mahayana Forum and was smeared as AI post.

Sigh🙏🙏🙏

Those who claim to believe and practice Dharma don't really believe Dharma🙏🙏🙏