MAHAYANA SUTRA

The first lecture
The everything about the spiritual stages

Today, I would like to talk about the activities of AUM from now on, and contents of the primitive Buddhist texts which concern with it.

As the basement of the present AUM, organization AUM was founded on this July. Since three months had passed, now I am thinking of making the new system called "Yoruko" which is like a half membership.

In Agama Sutra, there is a teaching about "4 steps and four results". This tells us about the four results which can arise from the four steps. The result of entering the stream of the truth which arises from the step of entering the stream of the truth is the first outof the four steps which indicates four spiritual stages. The order will be:
1. the step to enter the stream of the truth the result of entering the stream of the truth
2. the step to come once the result of coming once
3. the step of non-return the result of not returning
4. the step of Arhat the result of Arhat

There are much more stages over the last stage of these four stages, the result of Arhat. I shall now name them one after another, all right?

After the stage of the result of Arhat comes the process of "Raja Yoga". After the Raja Yoga comes the process of "Kundalini Yoga".

Then the process of "Jnana Yoga". Then comes the stage of the enterance for the Mahayana Buddha ("Mahayana Yoga"), attainment of "Astral Yoga", then the attainment of "Causal Yoga", and Mahayana in the end.

These are everything about the stages of spiritual practice which begins from the stage of the step to enter the stream of the truth in "the 4 steps and 4 results". There is no higher stage than Mahayana. In other words, the step to enter the stream of the truth is the entrance of all stages.

Then what is this "step to enter the stream of the truth"? It means to entrust onself to the holy stream so as to go on tothe next stage. The holy stream means Buddha, law, or the truth, and the people who practice the truth. This practitioners of the law are monks and nuns. They are called, "Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha".

In other words, to enter to the stream of the truth means to take refuge in attainers, the law taught by the attainers, and people who practice the law. This is the first step.

So you who are gathering here is not the stage of entering the stream of the truth any more, because you are already in the process of doing spiritual practice. So you are whether the step to enter the stream of the truth, the result of entering the stream of the truth, the step to come once, the result of coming once, the step of non-return, the result of not returning, the step of Arhat, or the result of Arhat. Do you understand this so far?

The four steps and four results - the path to nirvana

Then let me simply explain the stage from the step to enter the stream of the truth up to Arhat.

As I had mentioned, to enter teh stream of the truth means to take refuge in Buddha, the truth, or the law, which was taught by the Buddha, and people who practice the teaching of the Buddha. And the stage of the result of entering the stream of the truth is when one could completely take refuge into them.

Then what is the stage when one could completely take refuge into them? This doesn't mean that one should always think of Guru, law, or such people all day; it is the stage when one could declare that I took refuge in the truth, or the teaching of Buddha, I could let myself go into the holy stream.

In other words, the result of entering the stream of the truth is when one could put oneself into the holy stream. Naturally, this person who is in the stage of the result of entering the stream of the truth will listen to various lectures. Because of this merit, this person will come down to this phenomenal world (the six realms of desire) once again so as to do spiritual practice. This is the step to come once.

And when there is a result of coming to this world once, he goes on to the step of non-returner. Non-returner means that he would not reincarnate in this phenomenal world any more. He will reincarnate not into this phenomenal world but into so called Astral world which is made out of subtle material. Simple practice in this world can take him to Nirvana. One can attain Arhat if he obtain the result of spiritual practice as the non-returner. This is the qualification to enter Nirvana.