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Truth and the Method of Transmission
The ancient temple resounds with the great bell, inviting us to return to the present moment, breathing in with calm, breathing out with a smile; three sounds of the bell remind us to awaken and transcend all sorrow. Reverently, we pay homage to the World-Honored One, the fully awakened, truly insightful, the moonlight that illuminates, worthy of respect and offering.
- The Wonderful Dharma is the miraculous path, realized right in the present moment, extinguishing afflictions, self-understood by the wise.
- The Sangha consists of four pairs and eight noble beings, the most precious field of merit in life, worthy of offerings, reverence, veneration, and admiration.
- The Precepts preserve the body intact, untainted, leading to fearlessness, right concentration, insight, liberation, and everlasting happiness.
The Kutadanta Sutta tells of the Brahmin Kutadanta questioning about sacrifice, and the World-Honored One skillfully used expedient means:
- telling the story of King Maha Vijita offering vegetarian food instead of killing animals;
- distributing food and medicine to the poor;
- making offerings to the community practicing precepts, concentration, and insight;
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then personally practicing precepts, concentration, and insight for liberation.
Many other sutras emphasize skillful means: - The Mahāli Sutta rejects the pursuit of supernatural powers, directing towards the four noble fruits and the Noble Eightfold Path;
- The Kevatta Sutta enumerates four kinds of supernatural powers but honors the highest miracle of teaching and transformation;
- The Lohicca Sutta distinguishes three kinds of teachers and the principle of relying on the Dharma, not on the person;
- The Tevijja Sutta, through two young Brahmins, gives the example of building a staircase without knowing where the house is, reminding us to practice the Noble Eightfold Path, let go of greed, anger, and ignorance, and cultivate the Four Immeasurable Minds.