Lastly, regarding certain people’s rejection of claims found in The Inexorable Nether Laws such as “Virgin Mary is a transformation body of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva,” “I beheld the bodily appearance manifested by the Bodhisattva was the merciful form of the Catholic Virgin Mary” and “The Magistrate explained that the Virgin Mary is in truth one of the manifested transformation bodies of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva”. Some dismiss these accounts as “wrong.” In my view, fellow practitioner Shangguan Yuhua was merely recounting events she experienced. She has made no error; rather, it is others who fail to understand. As we read in the Diamond Sutra, “Subhuti, what do you think, can the Tathagata be seen through his bodily appearances?” “No, World Honored One, the Tathagata cannot be seen through his bodily appearances. And why? The bodily appearances spoken of by the Tathagata are precisely not bodily appearances.” The Buddha said to Subhuti, “All appearances are illusory. If one sees all appearances as non-appearances, one sees the Tathagata.” “Subhuti, what do you think, can the Tathagata be seen through the perfection of the form body?” “No, World Honored One, the Tathagata should not be seen through the perfection of the form body. And why? The perfection of the form body spoken of by the Tathagata is precisely non-perfection of the form body; it is only named the perfection of the form body.”; “Subhuti, what do you think, can the Tathagata be seen through the perfection of all appearances?” “No, World Honored One, the Tathagata should not be seen through the perfection of all appearances. And why? The perfection of all appearances spoken of by the Tathagata is precisely non-perfection; it is only named the perfection of all appearances.”; “If one sees me by form and seeks me by sound, one walks a wrong path and cannot see the Tathagata.” Tell me, what appearances should a Buddha manifest, and what appearances should a Buddha not manifest? What appearances constitute authentic manifestations of a Buddha? It is your own mind that harbors views of self and others, and is fettered by attachments to self and others. You grasp at appearances and draw distinctions amid all worldly phenomena, mistaking the illusory for the real, the false for the existent, and thereby giving rise to the extreme view of annihilation. How can you presumptuously judge that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who possess perfect, unconstrained spiritual penetrations and wisdom pertaining to all dharmas, are incapable of manifesting in any given form?
The Universal Door of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva in The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra states: “The Buddha told Inexhaustible Intention Bodhisattva, ‘Good man, if living beings in any land must be saved by means of someone in the body of a Buddha, Guanshiyin Bodhisattva will manifest in the body of a Buddha and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Pratyekabuddha, he will manifest in the body of a Pratyekabuddha and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Hearer, he will manifest in the body of a Hearer and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Brahma King, he will manifest in the body of a Brahma King and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of Shakra, he will manifest in the body of Shakra and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of the God of Sovereignty, he will manifest in the body of the God of Sovereignty and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of the Great God of Sovereignty, he will manifest in the body of the Great God of Sovereignty and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Great Heavenly General, he will manifest in the body of a Great Heavenly General and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of Vaishravana, he will manifest in the body of Vaishravana and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a minor king, he will manifest in the body of a minor king and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of an Elder, he will manifest in the body of an Elder and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a layman, he will manifest in the body of a layman and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a minister of state, he will manifest in the body of a minister of state and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Brahman, he will manifest in the body of a Brahman and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Bhikshu, Bhikshuni, Upasaka, or Upasika, he will manifest in the body of a Bhikshu, Bhikshuni, Upasaka, or Upasika and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of the wife of an Elder, a layman, a minister of state, or a Brahman, he will manifest in a wife’s body and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a pure youth or pure maiden, he will manifest in the body of a pure youth or pure maiden and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a celestial being, dragon, yaksha, gandharva, asura, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga, human or non-human, and so forth, he will manifest in such a body and speak Dharma for them. If they must be saved by someone in the body of a Vajra-wielding Spirit, he will manifest in the body of a Vajra-wielding Spirit and speak Dharma for them.” It is evident that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas manifest and preach the Dharma entirely according to the conditions of sentient beings. As it is said: in whatever form sentient beings are to attain liberation, they manifest in that very form to deliver them. There is no fixed form to cling to! Therefore, if sentient beings are to be saved through the form of the Virgin Mary, they shall manifest in that form and proclaim the Dharma for them. How could the great compassionate and great impartial mind of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas abandon any sentient being? Not to speak of the various realms within the six realms of rebirth, how much less the diverse religions among humanity! With the ultimate, perfect and untrammeled spiritual penetrations and wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, what form could they not manifest in response to the minds of sentient beings? Please reflect carefully! Do not misinterpret the mind of the Buddhas out of your own partiality towards sentient beings! Do not presumptuously interpret the mind of the Buddhas through your own attachment to appearances, craving‑clinging, and discrimination between self and others!
Gratitude to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!
Gratitude to heaven, earth, ghosts and deities!
Gratitude to Teacher Shangguan Yuhua!
Gratitude to Teacher Wenshu Mojie!
Gratitude to all who have contributed to circulating The Inexorable Nether Laws!
Miao‑Sheng
Supplements
(Texts intended for Volume III of The Inexorable Nether Laws)