Assignment 4 - Valerie Tseng

Don't come to the mountain of treasures and return empty-handed.

I find this quote very interesting because the language is simple yet deep in meaning and practice. The Venerable Master spoke this in reference to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. CTTB is my abode, my oasis, the place I like going when I have free time, where I run to when I need to find clarity in life, to recharge my spirit under the Venerable Master's light. This quote reminds me not to get attached to my feelings of the bliss of the Dharma, the purity of the place, the harmony of people and animals, all the good vibes around but to think deeply about what I have learned here and start applying them in my daily life. At least to start with one principle, then I wouldn't go back empty-handed.

"Why is it called the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas?" The Venerable Master said,

Everybody who comes here has a chance to become a Buddha. As long as you come here, someday, surely you will be a Buddha. And it is not only ten thousand people, but a hundred thousand, a million, ten million, one hundred million, billions and millions of billions of people here in the City will become Buddhas. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is a generic name.

You may say the number of Buddhas here is as many as the grains of sand in the Ganges River: Why? Because it says in the Flower Adornment Sutra,

"THERE IS NOTHING THAT DOES NOT FLOW FORTH FROM THE DHARMA REALM, AND THERE IS NOTHING THAT DOES NOT RETURN TO THIS DHARMA REALM."

Therefore, anyone who arrives at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas will eventually enter the stream of Sagehood. So! No matter whehter you are wholesome or evil, good or bad, you all have planted the seed of Buddhahood. When you plant such seeds, they will surely bear fruit in the future.

 Source:   The Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas book