Manifestation of a Virtuous Character (Issue 280)

In Buddhism, when one’s morality is perfected, one attains the Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror, the Wisdom of Equal Nature, the Wisdom of Wonderful Contemplation, and the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is Done. If one lacks any of the Three Bodies, Four Wisdoms, Five Eyes, and Six Spiritual Powers, there is no way one can attain that kind of state. Thus, Buddhism is adorned with the ten thousand virtues and encompasses all religions. All other religions are but a part of Buddhism. That’s why I often say Buddhism can be compared to a college curriculum, while Taoism and other advanced religions can be considered high school, and worldly religions such as Confucianism are merely at the elementary school level.

Whether you are in elementary school, high school, or college, you are a student. No matter which religion of the world you belong to, you are still a religious figure. Therefore, you should not categorize and discriminate, praising a religion when you are within it, but criticizing it when you meet up with other religions. This is known as “enslaving yourself to it when you are in it, but denouncing it after you abandon it.” Such concepts are wrong. The right outlook is to see all religions as a part of Buddhism, because the Buddha said, “All living beings have the wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata, and all can become Buddhas.” All living beings have the Buddha-nature. Followers of other religions are also living beings and also have the chance to become Buddhas, so why should they be rejected and left outside the door? Buddhism pervades space and encompasses the Dharma Realm. It has no boundaries and no factional or personal prejudice. Therefore, we who study Buddhism should expand the measure of our minds and not be narrow-minded or petty.

In Taoism, virtuous cultivators have a characteristic look that even ordinary people can recognize: a hoary head with a youthful face. Although their hair is mostly white, their face is smooth and delicate like a child’s. Why? Their moral virtue has induced this change. Although their hair is white, it is very glossy, not at all dry. (But it’s not because they applied hair wax.) The hair on their head can emit light. Those who have skill in cultivation, or who have opened the Five Eyes, can recognize them right away.

Buddhism is a level higher because it includes the state where not only the hair on the head gives off light, but the whole body emits light. The tip of every hair on the body can send out light, and each hair pore is different from ordinary hair pores. Skilled cultivators in Buddhism can cause white hair to turn black again, and new teeth to grow in where the old ones have fallen out. In Taoism, the phenomenon of teeth growing in again also occurs, but they cannot make all the hair pores emit light. That’s one difference. Do you know how to tell if someone is a Good and Wise Advisor? You don’t need to open your Five Eyes. If you’re an expert, you can tell if he’s a Good and Wise Advisor, a virtuous person, just by using your ordinary eyes. If a person has no virtue, his facial muscles will typically be contorted into a very disagreeable expression.