Q : You taught that if I tell people words with no understanding of them it is no rihght. Then, in order to be able to tell people your teaching, how much do I have to study the teaching?
A : You tell as much as you know. Hahahaha. As much as you know. When you came here, he called himself a tathagatha. When you read a message here, it has the word of Tathagatha. And he always tells you to learn things in reality. When it comes to materials for learning, he tells you to prefer realistic things to ideal things. He tells you to say that when you listen to a fictional story you get fascinated by it and feel your mind twinkle, but it is useless, no matter how many times you hear it. He says that if you learn what is, a thing in reality, just listening to it once is helpful, though you might get a headache. While he says so, he calls himself a Tathagatha. And he says he knows things of the world which people aren’t aware of, such as a eternal life. He always tells you those things. You haven’t identified his words so far but he has said that if you listen to his words earnestly for one year you become to know the fact that you don’t know anything and if you listen to his words hard for the second year you become to understand what is and if you watch and listen to his words zealously for the next year your conscience comes into being. He says that the best teaching is not to make mistakes and to live righteously for your life. With dignity, you tell people what is and what you listen to as they are.
“I heard like this.” And hence, until you become aware of things, you say, “I heard like this.” And when you become to understanding things fully, you say, “This is like this. This thing comes into being this way. This thing is made from this and that thing is formed from that.” Like this, you can say things obviously. When you don’t know, you say things as you say that you heard like this. When you know, you say this or that with confidence. A single word is important. Through a single word, you become enlightened about a thing that you didn’t know. One by one.
November 02. 1997.