In case you have noted changes in the Learning From Buddha Seminary (LFBS) website, you are not alone. We had a major problem in accessing certain menu items and courses due to changes in the WordPress software. Gongjue fixed that problem, but in so doing the color theme we used was also changed. I have no doubt he will eventually bring us back to the old color scheme, but please be patient.
On December 13, 2025 we continued our discussion of DCB26-“How to Realize Prajna.” We again discussed Lesson 39 on the Dharma to Pass through Barriers. We also heard a reading of Dharma King Zun Sheng’s “Essay on Experiencing Beneficial Effects” and why we receive the effects we do from our three karmas of body, speech, and mind.
You may still join this class (See instructions at bottom of this article along with links to previous lessons.) and do the following homework. Listening to the same material we discussed last year may be helpful.
HOMEWORK-DCB26: Watch videos from May 4, 11, & 25; June 1 & 8, 2024; and December 6, 2025. Those attending previous classes all have specific assignments from these questions, but all should be prepared to discuss questions 112-124 in Lesson 39 during ZOOM Class. You may also submit your answers via course procedures.
The following are brief summaries of our discussion on December 13 with links to previous classes below. The large bold blue quotes are from a preliminary translation of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Please note that in this class we heard the understanding expressed by the various participants, which may or may not be correct. To hear the actual quotes from the Buddha Master you need to listen to the classes held in 2024. Also please remember that we are still working with a preliminary and unauthorized translation of the Buddha Master’s teachings so they can only be used for reference.
What should you do if you discover your mistakes? Is self reflection enough?
“I said [in my last discourse] that if you dare not repent, it would truly be extremely ridiculous to think that you would dare to accept self-examination as your task. Upon discovering your mistakes, you should adopt the Dharma to pass through barriers. . . With the adoption of the eight Dharmas to pass through barriers, you can eradicate your mistakes. Only after you have reached the generation stage of the preliminary practice can you enter the formal practice. Only then can you enter the Dharma practice of carrying out the myriad practices subsumed in the Six Paramitas.”
What does the eight Dharmas to pass through barriers mean?
“The eight Dharmas to pass through barriers means using the Dharma to pass through barriers as explained herein to completely eliminate eight types of evil karma stemming from (1) saying one thing yet meaning something different; (2) killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; (3) sowing discord and speaking harshly; (4) greed and stinginess; (5) anger, hatred, and jealousy; (6) arrogance and disrespect; (7) not having a firm faith; and (8) afflictions from attachment to self.”
What is the method used to pass through these barriers?
“. . . we select the most serious mistake of ours. You first choose the mistake that you are most apt to commit. It may be, for example, your worst habit in your life. For this kind of offense or fault, you make a resolution before Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in which you say that within a certain number of days or within two months you are determined to correct the mistake completely, that you will definitely achieve that goal. You then must achieve that goal within two months. . . After that, you will proceed to overcome the second difficult problem. Once you have overcome major difficult problems, the smaller ones will be easily solved. Your fruits and conduct will naturally be upright. This is called the Dharma to pass through barriers.”
The Buddha Master also told us what would happen if you commit the same mistake again after having made such a resolution and the importance of not deceiving ourselves and thereby wasting time and failing to cultivate ourselves.
We also discussed the “Essay on Experiencing Beneficial Effects” in another article. We decided to start a zoom discussion on class on G36-Dharma that Every Buddhist Must Follow as our next course after finishing DCB26. You should acquire a copy of the text as we will take turns discussing the various questions that have been prepared for the course like we did for P-10. You can purchase books directly from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Cultural and Art Museum (170 E. School St. Covina CA 91723) or pay by credit cad, PayPal. the cost is $36 plus shipping fee. They can ship to your address. Please contact Michelle Chang at (626) 281-6378, (973)337-7539. The museum hours are from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 5:30.
Be sure and enroll in DCB26-Realizing Prajna, if you want to join our long term study of the Heart Sutra or the broader study of C41(A)-the Three Principle Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice. There is an expanded article on C41(A) that explains its scope and content. CLICK for video of that discussion and revised maps of this roadmap to C41(A). DCB26 is one of the Learning from Buddha Seminary (LFBS) courses that are included in C41(A). There is also another article that discusses G03(A) and G03 Evolution of Buddhism, two additional courses that are also part of C41(A).
CLICK for a list of available classes in each of the programs: Auditing, Buddhist Studies, and Xiuxing Seminary. Those with membership in the Xiuxing Seminary Program who are only interested in serious practice and not opening a Dharma Center may also elect to follow the Xiuxing Practice Program and take a seven or thirty-day Solitary Retreat.
Next:
The next class on DCB26 will continue the discussion of Lesson 39 on the Six Paramitas and the matter of “correspondence.” at our December 27, 2025, ZOOM session at 9:00 am.
If you have enrolled in C41(A) DCB26 or DCB25 or DCB24 or DCB23 or DCB22 or DCB21, you may continue to use the same ZOOM link to attend the Saturday morning discussions. However, you will need to enroll in the appropriate course to be able to watch the video recordings of the classes, download study materials, or study the related questions.
LINKS TO DATE: DCB26-How to realize Prajna and C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice.
The recordings of the December 13, 2025 DCB26-Lesson 39B class is now available. All of the recordings and summary of ZOOM discussions for DCB21, DCB22, DCB23, DCB24, and DCB26-Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra are also now available. You must be enrolled in each of these classes in one of the full membership programs at the LFBS to access the course materials, questions covered (in parenthesis), and/or the class recordings. Please note that these links will only work if you are logged into LFBS with your membership identification number AND are enrolled in this class. CLICK for information on LFBS class P10 or CLICK for Hesperia classes on major concepts or principles contained in the title of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
CLICK for article on the entire text of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
CLICK for article with instructions on how to enroll in LFBS classes and how to register for the ZOOM discussions.
December 13, 2025: Lesson 39B-The Dharma to Pass through Barriers, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (108-111) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
December 6, 2025: Lesson 39A–The Dharma to Pass through Barriers, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (108-110) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
December 6, 2025: Lesson 38D–The Preliminary Practices, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (103-107) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 29, 2025: Lesson 38C–The Preliminary Practices, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (95-102) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 29, 2025: Lesson 38B–The Preliminary Practices, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (90-94) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 22, 2025: Lesson 38A–The Preliminary Practices, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (82-89) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 22, 2025: Lesson 37C-Preliminary Practice Dharma, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (79B) and (80-81) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 8, 2025: Lesson 37B–Preliminary Practice Dharma, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (67-79A) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
November 1, 2025: Lesson 37A–Preliminary Practice Dharma, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (53-66) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
September 27, 2025: Lesson 36E–H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Buddha Dharma-Causality and the Rules and Methods of Continual Practice, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (44-46, 47-52) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
September 6, 2025: Lesson 36D-H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Buddha Dharma-Causality and the Rules and Methods of Continual Practice, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (37-43) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
August 30 2025: Lesson 36C-H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Buddha Dharma-Causality and the Rules and Methods of Continual Practice, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (28-36) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
August 23 2025: Lesson 36B-H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Buddha Dharma-Causality and the Rules and Methods of Continual Practice, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (18-28) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
August 9, 2025: Lesson 36A-H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Imparts Buddha Dharma-Causality and the Rules and Methods of Continual Practice, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra-How to Realize Prajna, (1-17) and (HERE) for recordings of the class.
CLICK for article on September 21, 2025 class held at Hesperia on Lessons 5 & 6: Three kinds of Prajna.
CLICK for article on August 17, 2025 class held at Hesperia on Lessons 3 & 4: Introduction to Prajna.
CLICK for article on July 20, 2025 class held at Hesperia on Lessons 1 & 2: Background and Introduction to the Heart Sutra and H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III’s Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
CLICK for article on last class held on DCB26 in 2024 and links to videos of all 8 ZOOM class discussions held on DCB26 held from April 20, 2024 to June 22, 2024.
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB25 and links to all 15 ZOOM class discussions on DCB25 held from April 5, 2025 to August 2, 2025,
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB24 and links to all 13 ZOOM class discussions on DCB24 held from January 4, 2025 to March 29, 2025,
January 4, 2025: Roadmap to C41(A)–Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice. Video of class discussion.
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB23 and links to all 13 ZOOM class discussions on DCB23 held from August 24, 2024 to November 16, 2024,
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB22 and links to videos of all 21 ZOOM class discussions on DCB22 held from February 10, 2024 to April 20, 2024 and from June 29, 2024 to August 3, 2024.
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB21 and links to videos of all 18 ZOOM class discussions on DCB21 held from November 21, 2022 to April 1, 2023. Note: not all of the forwards, notes, and introductions are complete.
CLICK for Background information on Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra and why it is such an important text.
CLICK for information on S01-Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation (SAUMOL) Seminar.
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