My teacher, the lay practitioner Wang Xianglu, gave lectures at the Mind-Seal Vihara in Tianjin for a total of seven years. He unfailingly inspired students according to their capacities, and among his fellow disciples many attained the essential point of realizing the mind. In recent years, the number of those taking refuge has increased daily, and, in addition to requesting instruction, they have raised many questions. Fellow practitioners have recorded the essential points and gathered them into one volume, containing material not included in the previously compiled Records of the Yihai Lectures (1935). The lay practitioner Zhang Pingsan of Tianjin has resolved to circulate it for the benefit of fellow practitioners and has asked me to write a preface.

In my humble view, the essential tenet of Mind-Seal concerns but one great matter. Sentient beings suffer distress, and no sorrow is greater than birth and death; no matter is more important than attaining Buddhahood. The key to attaining Buddhahood, moreover, lies in clarifying the essential tenet. I therefore requested that the Master first print this initial collection under the title Questions and Answers on Entering Buddhism and Clarifying Its Essential Tenet, so that those who have newly aroused the resolve may enter the gate of Buddhism, and those who have already entered may find the way to clarify its essential tenet. One must first know whether what is called “Buddha” and what is called the “essential tenet” are ultimately one or two; then one will suddenly understand what is meant by entering and clarifying. That is all.

Alas! As the Buddhadharma declines, its remaining influence endures only in the three traditions of Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism. Because students are unable to clarify the essential tenet, they fear Chan as difficult and avoid it; they regard Pure Land as easy and thus take it lightly; and, as for Esoteric Buddhism, they regard it as mysterious and remain hesitant. Thus they dispute and disparage one another, each establishing its own sectarian boundary. Since the essential tenet is not clear, Buddhism indeed cannot be entered.

They do not know that Chan, Pure Land, and Esoteric Buddhism are all expedient methods prior to clarifying the essential tenet. When one returns to the source, all are relinquished; how then can there be distinctions of difficulty and ease, superiority and inferiority? Yet how could the circumstances of the times remain unchanged for long? The Dharma is precious because it adapts and transforms in accordance with those it encounters, and undertakings too arise in response to the times.

Over the past ten years, the world has undergone momentous changes. At a time when this teaching was nearly lost, an unexpected new force suddenly arose and, with one great stirring, revitalized the tradition. Able to unite the three traditions and open up prajñā, to bestow the Dharma's benefits fully and hasten attainment, it is none other than the Heart-of-Heart Dharma. Is this not a convergence of causes and conditions?

Since our Acharya Dayu founded this tradition, Master Xianglu has continued its work and brought it ever greater flourishing. He broadly embraces the innumerable capacities for Chan and guides them toward the ultimate Pure Land. All of us fellow disciples have come to understand this together. We hope that everyone will rise up to promote it, so that the world's attached views that divide the Buddhadharma into sects may gradually melt away, like gold in a furnace. May all return together to the ocean of true nature and realize bodhi together. With this volume as a compassionate ferry, may we not disappoint Master Xianglu's compassionate heart in entering the world of dust to liberate all beings. This is my preface.

Respectfully prefaced by Cai Zhongju of Jingjiang, in the early spring of the gengchen year, 1940