Vajrayana Buddhism Association

An Introduction to “Beyond Words” Series

Translator’s note: Master Tam wrote series of books called Beyond Words (離言叢書) between 2011 and 2021. During this time he published thirteen books of commentary to Buddhist sūtras and treatises using the teaching of Buddha-Within. These books include Saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra, The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, as well as Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment that we are currently serializing on this website.

Perfect Enlightenment: Intro and Table of Contents

By readers’ request, Master Tam decided to present his commentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment as an overview to the Buddhist foundation, practice, and fruition. He posted a weekly column on the VBA website (Chinese) in 2016. In 2020, the column was extended and published as The Secret Meaning of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenmentwhich became the 12th book in the  Beyond Words series, aiming to offer a lay and non-sectarian view on scriptures in the Buddhist Canon.…

Perfect Enlightenment 25: Buddha Teaches 25 Expedient Practices, Part 3

Commentary:

Buddha answered Voice of Discernment, taught the twenty-five expedient practices. Previously we discussed the first three. Among the twenty-five, twenty-one belong to the alternating practice, within which, they can be further divided into three groups. The first group include seven practices with śamatha as the main practice, where the primary practice is cessation; there are seven practices with samāpatti as the main practice, where the primary practice is on the illusion; there are also seven practices with dhyāna as the main practice, where one dwells in neither cessation nor illusion, the primary practice is on the awareness.…

An I-Ching Perspective on China’s Approach to Gaza

Editor’s note: This essay was originally posted on Oct. 15 on Master Tam’s website but the circumstances have changed rapidly. What was written has begun to emerge.

近日世事劇變,以色列與巴勒斯坦交惡,在加沙開戰,這場戰事的影響,對中國來說大於俄烏戰爭,當此之時,恰巧馮公夏前輩著述,筆者補訂的《周易卜筮研究》,由復旦大學出版社出版,筆者因即用這書來占一卦,依世事的變化,中國應如何應對。

The Gaza conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, from the Chinese perspective, its impact is much greater than the conflict between the Russians and the Ukrainians.…

Perfect Enlightenment 25: Buddha Teaches 25 Expedient Practices, Part 2

Commentary:

Buddha answered Voice of Discernment by teaching the twenty-five expedient practices. He called them pure samādhi chakras, “pure” because the practice leads to purity, “samādhi” is the name for all meditation practices, its application is then called “samādhi maṇḍala” for these meditations can be seen as meditations in accordance with the maṇḍala.…