(Editor’s Note: Currently, this number has exceeded four million.)

This number is derived from the number of Certificates of Refuge which I have issued. Every day there are people who come to take refuge in our School. Some of them come in person to the United States to take refuge empowerment. I believe that, in the next few years, the number will increase by tens and hundred fold.

Many followers of the True-Buddha School have asked me what precepts a True-Buddha School disciple must observe. In our Certificate of Refuge, it reads:

"Following the Buddha's decree, with a single mind, I take refuge in Buddhism, pay homage to enlightened masters, and take refuge in Living Buddha Lian-Shen (Grand Master Lu). I vow to follow the Buddhas' will, to do kind deeds with utmost effort throughout my lifetime. I vow to be loyal to my country, filial to my parents, and pay homage and respect to my teachers and my fellow cultivators with utmost effort throughout my lifetime. With a single and unchanged mind, I dedicate myself to observe the above vows. Hereby I draw up this prayer and offer it to the Heavens. May all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the heavens above and earth beneath be my witnesses."

I would now like to address the precepts of the True-Buddha School. One of the vows in the Certificate of Refuge is: I vow to uphold the Dharma and observe the precepts with utmost effort throughout my lifetime. This means one must be willing to use one's time and utmost effort to uphold the [Righteous] Dharma and to [strictly] observe the precepts. The precepts here are the five precepts of Buddhism.

Since the True-Buddha School practice authentic Buddha Dharma, we must observe these five precepts. They are:

1. Refrain from killing- One must be compassionate toward all beings and refrain from killing living beings. A further manifestation of this commitment is to work for the freedom of captive creatures.

2. Refrain from taking intoxicants- This means one must not become drunk or lose one's composure due to intoxicants.

3. Refrain from committing adultery- All sexual relationships are considered illicit except those between husband and wife.

4. Refrain from engaging in double talk or gossip- One must not tattle or make mischief with one's speech. To slander righteous people or the Dharma will result in the accumulation of unwholesome speech karma.

5. Refrain from Stealing- one must not take things that do not belong to oneself.

>These are the five fundamental precepts of the True-Buddha School as well as of Buddhism itself. True-Buddha practitioners are Buddhists, and, hence, must observe these precepts. In addition, practicing the Buddhist Dharma, maintaining filial love to parents, paying homage to teachers, and respecting fellow cultivators are the fundamental elements of being human. If such behavior cannot be adhered to, then one should voluntarily return one's Certificate of Refuge to the Guru. A disciple who doesn't observe these precepts will render the refuge useless and reduce the Certificate of Refuge to no more than a piece of waste paper. For those True-Buddha disciples who observe the five precepts and practice the Ten Wholesome Actions (the ability to forever give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slandering, harsh language, frivolous speech, lust, hate and wrong views), may they be blessed so that:

1. they have no resentful enemies, they be kept from all sicknesses, have long lives, and be happy, peaceful and fortunate;

2. all members of their families are in harmony, without dispute and slander, and that they achieve respect from other people;

3. they will not encounter accidents, disasters, or meet untimely deaths;

4. all gods and deities protect them, guide them to respect and take refuge in the Three Jewels (the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha), and initiate them to vow to practice the Bodhi Way (way to enlightenment);

5. they all have an entire field of blessings and prosperity.

Since not everybody is wise, there will be those who violate the precepts. If these people want to repent, then they need to practice the Repentance Yoga. This entails vowing to confess and repent (from the bottom of one's heart), in front of the Buddhas and Guru, all the transgressions that have been committed.

There are many, almost uncountable, unwholesome karma committed by human beings. For example, there are many people who do not believe in the Laws of Cause and Effect, and do not believe in retribution. They often say, "I don't believe in anything." This sort of statement often reflects an overdeveloped ego. This attitude can easily turn to a laissez-faire attitude, bringing a person to commit unwholesome karma. Many people do not believe in anything because of their perceived pride, their perceived virtue, their perceived wealth, their perceived statues, their perceived longevity, or their lack of encounter with serious personal illness. Buddha Shakyamuni once advised us not be proud because pride will breed laissez faire attitudes, and these attitudes often lead people to commit unwholesome karma.

In this world there are few sages but many unwise people. The behaviors of these unwise people are bound by their ignorance. Once one becomes friends people with bad habits, it is very easy to take on the same bad habits. Therefore, people of the world must be very careful in choosing friends. Avoid the company of those who have bad habits. Because, if we follow them once, the seed of following them again is planted, and we may be unknowingly led into committing further unwholesome karma.

Insatiable desire is also one of the characteristics tendencies of human beings. The seed of insatiable desire is a primary reason that causes people to commit unwholesome karma. For example, the desire for sexual pleasure- everybody loves physical beauty and sometimes one is tempted to do what one is not supposed to do. This seed of insatiable desire is very difficult to deal with. Buddhist practitioners must apply Visualization of Emptiness and Uncleanliness to divert their excessive sexual desire. Without such practices, even old monks and Taoists would still have wet dreams every night. If a person does not give in to sexual indulgence, then he is truly a cultivator of virtue. If a person give in to his insatiable desire for sex, then he really commits great unwholesome karma. Insatiable desire for wealth is equally wrong. As the Chinese proverb says, Men die in the hope of gain, birds perish in the search for food. Greed for wealth exceeding what one deserves is the seed of vexation and worry. Practitioners must learn that a contented mind is a perpetual feast. Having a contented mind will stop one's greed. Without greed one's moral character will be noble.

Also, if one injures others because of jealousy, then one's mind is always in vexation.

Further, the most serious transgressions one can commit are the Five Rebellious Transgressions (patricide, matricide, killing an arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, destroying the harmony of the sangha, or the buddhist community). All of these are included in the most serious Five Rebellious Transgressions.

Those who have committed such transgressions must repent immediately and spread the Dharma to benefit people in the world. They must utilize the Dharma to conquer the Mara of the mind. (Mara symbolizes the passions that overwhelm human beings as well as everything that hinders the arising of the wholesome roots and progress on the path of enlightenment) They must turn the Dharma Wheel and practice the Six Paramitas [Transcendance (Charity, morality, patience, effort, meditative absorption, and wisdom)] to remove the Ten Unwholesome Actions and to subjugate greed, hatred, and delusion. If they do this, then all vexations and suffering will retreat and one's Self Nature will become luminous, resulting in complete Wholeness.

Disciples of the True Buddha School will eventually obtain the great wisdom of knowing all forms of previous existence of self and others. They will be able to recall hundreds and thousands of their previous lives, practice daily the Dharma transmitted by Tathagata (title of a Buddha), perform charity spontaneously, and serve their most Venerable Guru. They will distance themselves from all unwholesome actions, and forever practice the wonderful True Dharma. Consequently, they will feel happy and at ease in their bodies and in their minds. Their appearances will be perfect, and they will be able to employ all kinds of remarkable skills to save and protect living beings, so that the living beings may quickly attain the supreme Buddhahood.

 The 5 Steps of Repentance Yoga

1. Invite the Buddhas to Witness your Repentance

One shall invoke Amitabha Buddha, Victory-Light Buddha, Wonderful Light Buddha, Akshobhya Buddha, Merit Well-Light Buddha, Lion Illuminating Buddha, Sun Illuminating Buddha, Net Illuminating Buddha, Precious Appearance Buddha, Precious Fire Buddha, Fire Bright Buddha, Fire Illuminating Buddha, Auspicious High King Buddha, Profound Sound Buddha, Profound Dignity Buddha, Dharma Treasury Buddha, High Victory Body Buddha, Beloved Body Buddha, Universal Illuminating Buddha, Pure King Buddha, and High Disposition Buddha.

That is: from the West we invoke three Buddhas [the first three Buddhas of the above list], from the East we invoke five Buddhas, from the South we invoke five Buddhas, and from the North we invoke eight Buddhas. These 21 Buddhas are invoked through visualization, to appear and stay in the space before the practitioner acting as witnesses of his or her repentance.

2. Visualize Buddhas Radiating Light and Removing Hindrances

The power of these 21 Buddhas can eliminate one's transgressions and bestow blessing. This is the true merit of invoking these 21 Buddhas. Practitioners visualize in meditation the 21 Buddhas appearing before them in space. Each Buddha radiates boundless colorful light through his pores. The light first emits from Buddha's pores, then increases in intensity. The light rays intersect and mix with each other to generate uncountable colors. The illumination turns the Worlds in the Ten Directions into Pure Lands which the practitioners reside in. All the worlds of five impurities (the impurities of Kalpa, view, affliction, living beings, and life) are illuminated by the Buddha Light.

The Light radiated by the 21 Buddhas first shines on the impure worlds and turns them into Pure Lands. Next it shines on the living beings and removes their transgressions, such as the Ten Unwholesome Actions, the Five Rebellious Transgressions, the slandering of the Three Jewels, disrespecting the Guru, and disrespecting one's parents.

Those who are destined to descend to the realms of hell, hungry ghost, or animal are liberated because of the 21 Buddha's Light. Finally, the light shines on the practitioner to remove his or her own transgressions. Because of the blessing of the Buddhas' Light, the practitioner will be happy, upright, filled with wisdom and fortunes, and have an appearance as dignified as a Buddha. He or she will eventually see all Buddhas of the Ten Directions and Three Times.

3. Recite Name and Mantra

When practitioners sense the lights, they must sincerely recite three times the names of the 21 Buddhas, and then recite 108 times or, up to 1,080 times, the Transgression Removing Mantra of the Seven Buddhas:

Lee-poh-lee-poh-deh, kyo-ho-kyo-ho-deh, to-loh-nee-deh, nee-ah-la-deh, pee-lee-nee-deh, mo-ho-kya-deh, jen-len-chan-deh, so-ha.

4. Mudra

The left hand makes a fist and is placed near the waist line. The right palm is open and all five fingers stretch out horizontally as if the five color light extends out naturally. The right palm is placed before one's chest.

5. Dedicating the Merit

"My unwholesome karma accumulated in my innumerable previous lives should have resulted in rebirth in the realms of hell, animal, hungry ghost, or asura(demon or evil spirits) or even to the Eight Conditions (1. Hells 2. Hungry ghosts 3. Animals 4. In Uttarakuru (the northern continent where all is pleasant) 5. In the long-life heavens (where life is long and easy) 6. As deaf, blind, and dumb 7. As a worldly philosopher 8. In the intermediate period between a Buddha and his successor) where it is difficult to see a Buddha or hear his Dharma. But, through the practice of the Dharma to repent, all my transgressions and hindrances are removed. All undesirable retribution will not occur. Like all past Maha Bodhisattvas who practice Bodhi Way and repent all of my transgressions without concealment. I wish my existing transgressions be removed completely, and vow to never commit any transgressions again in the future. May the 21 Buddhas be my witnesses."

The five steps listed above are the basic practice of the True-Buddha School Repentance Yoga. Those who practice this Yoga, should, at the same time, practice the Four Preliminaries Practice (Great Homage, Mandala Offerings, Fourfold Refuge, and Vajrasattva Yoga). By following step-by-step the liturgy, one shall have one's transgressions removed and obtain immeasurable blessings.