Michael Saso

El Cristo Negro de Esquipulas, a Dark Balsam wood statue of Jesus in Santuario de Chimayo, Guatemala; (see the web-site search articles of THE LEGEND OF “NUESTRO SENOR DE ESQUIPULAS” by Lynda La Rocca , and Stephen de Borhegi, for more detailed explanations. The present article is based on oral accounts given by the parishioners of the Immaculate Conception Church, Los Angeles, CA., located on James D Wood-9th street, a block away from the downtown Loyola- Marymount Law School).)

The Santuario de Chimayo — also called the Santuario de Nuestro Senor Milagrosa (Negro) de Esquipulas — was built on a hillside famous from ancient times for the healing powers of a white, clay like substance. A strange light was seen to burst from a hillside above the Santa Cruz river, in 1595, coming from the white clay. Devout Guatemalan natives, after digging in the clay soil with their hands, uncovered a crucifix with a dark figure of Christ, to which they gave the name Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas. Three times the crucifix was taken in procession to the neighboring village and three times it disappeared, only to be found again back in the hillside cave. Deciding that “Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas” wanted to stay in Chimayo, the people built a small chapel on the site of the discovery, which became famous for its healing powers all over Quatemala, as well as Honduras, and El Salvador, and Chiapas (which today is in Mexico).
-The Guatemalan veneration of Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas or El Cristo Negro (the Black Christ) with miraculous healing powers, became famous throughout the entire Spanish colonial territories. Similar statues showing Christ carrying the cross, carved of the same dark Balsam wood, were shipped to the Philippines (now housed in Quuiapo, Manila), and Macao.

-The current Santuario in Chimaya, Guatemala, was rebuilt in 1816 by donations from a private family. In 1929 it was re-purchased by the devout citizens of Chimayo, and turned over to the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The healings in Chimayo were attributed not only to the figure of the Dark Christ on the crucifix, but also to the white clay like sand, which was ‘eaten, dissolved in water and drunk, or made into a paste and smeared on the afflicted part of the body.” Those who attend the annual festival in other parts of the Americas (such as in the Immaculate Conception Church, Los Angeles, pictured here) on January 15th each year, wipe the wounds of Christ in the crucifix with pieces of white cotton, considered to be healing.
-The Guatemalan devotion to Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas and its healing soil derives, (as does Our Lady of Guadalupe), from a Native American Indian legend; the Santuario was in fact a prediction of the coming healing presence of “Nuestro Senor Milagroso (Negro).” The sand pit is the dried remains of what was originally a hot springs with healing powers. The town of Esquipulas in the Chiquimula district, is one of the most significant in Central America, second only in importance to the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe outside Mexico City.

- Esquipulas is also the seat of the Central American Parliament and, given its location just a short distance from the borders with Honduras and El Salvador, it has also been the place where several important peace agreements have been signed. The villages, forests and mountains of Mataquescuintla are home to the Pocomam Indians who produce famously colorful textiles and ceramics.

The Black Christ, in Chimaya Church, Esquipulas, Guatemala, is carved from dark balsam wood. The color “Black” (dark skinned) points to the strong native elements that influenced early Colonial Christianity throughout Meso- and Central America. In 1737 when the Archbishop of Guatemala visited and went away healed of a chronic sickness, the shrine and the devotion to the “Black Christ” was given official Church approval, (as was the shrine to the Black Christ in Quiapo, Manila whose festival is celebrated each year, on Jan. 9). While pilgrims journey to both shrines throughout the year, there are two periods when their numbers multiply greatly. One is for a week up to and culminating on January 15, the other is the week of Easter. During these times, upwards of a hundred thousand pilgrims descend upon the normally quiet mountain valley to adore the Black Christ. Great markets spring up, the hotels are over-filled, and people sleep in the church courtyard and along the city streets. These festivals are said to be the finest displays of native dress in all of the Central Americas.

Daoist Contemplation 道教修行观想法. Lesson #1

Traditional Daoist contemplation, and Daoist ritual are closely related systems.
道教观想和科仪法 有密切的关系; they are taught together by the Daoist master.
Before learning to meditate, or perform 科仪 keyi rites of renewal, however, the Daoist master insists that the disciple first learn and practice Ch. 67 of the Laozi: “Compassion, frugal simplicity, never put self above others;” – that is, never think or say bad things about anyone; live a life of quiet simplicity; never “put down” others, condemn or criticize, or think or say negative things about anyone. Until the disciple is filled with positive good thoughts about others, and has learned to practice Chapter 4 of Zhuangzi “Heart fasting, sitting in forgetfulness” 心齋坐忘, learning Daoist meditation or contemplation is not allowed, by strict Daoist jie 戒 regulation.

Return to the Origin, find one’s roots 回源反根 is the goal of Daoist meditation.
Ch. 42 of Laozi, “Dao gave birth to the One; One gave birth to 2; 2 gave birth to 3; 3 gave birth to the myriad things” 道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物 （自然）
“Dao” means the Transcendent, Wuwei dao 道＝无为之道
1 = the moving Dao, Taiji, primordial breath; 有为之道，太極，元氣，炁，意
2 = yang, 陽 i.e., the male, action oriented, desires of the human heart 心，志，神
3= yin 陰，女，生之元，智, yin, woman, birthing, wisdom 精, (in the belly). Yin
(精), ie, the “3”, gives birth to all of nature, and restores energy to 1 (炁) & 2 (神)

1 = heaven, the head thinking and judging; 2= earth, the heart desiring and willing;
3= the belly, lower cinnabar field 下丹田 alchemical furnace, refining 1 and 2 into wisdom,
精 i.e., the ability to be always aware of Wuwei Dao’s gestating “now” presence.
Daoist contemplation brings all of the mind’s images and desires (“the past”), and all of the heart’s selfish desires (“the future”), into the belly, and refines them into a “now only” awareness of Transcendent Wuwei Dao. The mind uses up “Qi” by thinking negative thoughts and judging; the heart uses up “shen” spirit by selfish desires instead of loving and healing others; when shen and qi are exhausted, death occurs; with belly’s refined jing 精wisdom, longevity is achieved, living to a ripe old age (120 years) is possible, and health is restored.

Dao births the 4 seasons: spring 春／元, summer 夏／亨, autumn 秋／利, winter 冬／貞. The four Yijing (I-ching 易經) mantic words used here, ie, yuan, heng, li, zhen 元亨利貞 have deep spiritual meaning! Yuan means primordial purification; heng means nesting and nourishing sacred images; li means cutting away all images and desires, after which the Dao writes on the heart-mind with a fiery brush zhen 貞, like a heated iron used to draw on an oracle shell 卜＋貝.

Lesson two shows how Dao births the 5 elements, 6 tones, 7 stars, 8 trigrams, etc.
(lesson 2 will be taken from the qingwei mijue ben 清微祕訣本說明.

Daoist Masters in China – Oral and Written Traditions

1) – Finding a Daoist Master 清道教師傅修養科儀法
Daoism as it is practiced and taught in China is like a multi-faceted “jewel,” containing multiple schools, religious orders, and spiritual teachings. Daoist teachers, male as well as women masters, classify themselves as follows:
- “recluse” (yinshi 隱居) , who practice monastic or mountain recluse celibacy,
- “fire dwelling” 火居, who live by the fireside, marry, and pass on the Daoist legacy to their children and disciples
Monastic Daoists belong to the Quan Zhen 全真 school with two major orders, the “Longmen” 龍門 Dragon Gate – celibate monks and nuns who live in monasteries, and Qingjing 清靜 women religious who follow the teachings of Sun Bu-er (a married woman who in her mature years founded a spiritual way for women).
Fire Dwelling Daoists belong to five major orders, and many minor or local systems; the 5 major orders are listed in Daoist “Mijue” manuals as follows: Shang Qing, Zhengyi Mengwei, Lingbao, Beidou, Qingwei, and Shenxiao 上清，正一盟威，靈寶，北斗，清微，神霄；Daoists who belong to one or more of these orders receive at the time of their “ordination,” or empowerment as Daoists, a Lu 籙 “register,” of spirits’ images, names, mantric seed words and mudra hand symbols specific to each school, to summon and command spirits during ritual and contemplation. They also receive a 40 character poem identifying their order, the generation of their master’s ordination, as well as their own entry into a specific order. Daoist masters are not allowed to reveal the content of the poem, or the register, to scholars, and with few exceptions, strictly follow this rule or jie 戒 which they must vow to observe at the time of ordination.
There are in all more than 85 lesser orders, 83 of which are listed, with their identity poems, in the White Cloud Monastery gazetteer 白雲觀志 of Beijing. The Lü Shan order, 閭山派, one of the most popular and widespread forms of popular Daoists in southeast China, though not included in the White Cloud Monastery’s Gazeteer, is listed in one of the Daoist Master’s privately preserved manuals, commonly known as the Daojiao Yuanliu 道教源流本 . Other heterodox sects, such as those who call themselves “Mao Shan daoists,” from HK, and more recently Honolulu, Hawai’i, have no historical or spiritual relationship to the registers or meditations of “Highest Pure” Daoism, of Mao Shan, (near Nanjing in Jiangsu).
Five major “fire-dwelling” orders are listed in the Daojiao Yuanliu, as follows:
1. Yüjing 玉景，（茅山上清派）Daoists with Highest Pure Mao Shan registers, who practice Jiao rites of renewal, Zhai rites of burial, and Yellow Court 黃庭經 meditation
2. Tianshu 天樞 Daoists, a coded name for Qingwei Thunder-Vajra 清微雷法 registers;
3. Beidou 北斗 Daoists, with Pole Star registers shared with Tantric Buddhism;*
4. Yufu 玉府 Daoists with Lingbao and Mengwei registers, who counter and rectify the often harmful magic used by Shenxiao Daoists;
5. Shenxiao 神霄 Daoists, heterodox texts from the mid Song dynasty, “rectified” and brought into the orthodox fold by Bai Yuchan, a Song-Yuan dynasty master.**

Three of the oldest, most prestigious Daoist mountains, Longhu Shan, Gezao Shan, and Mao Shan, preserve and transmit the original registers of Zhengyi, Lingbao, and Shangqing Daoism, respectively. Their meditation manual, known by the title “Sanshan Jilu Yuanke”
三山給籙元科 (Three Mountain, Original Ritual for Transmitting Daoist Registers) is still in use at Longhu Shan and Mao Shan today. Copies of the Daojiao Yuanliu, and Ji lu Yuan ke are in press, and in the process of being restored to the other great mountain monasteries of China, during the spring of 2012.

Both the Ji Lu Yuan Ke ordination manual, as well as the Daojio Yuanliu Daoist Master’s textbook, list nine grades of perfection for each of the five major orders. The highest Grade One ordination is based on knowledge of the Shang Qing Yellow Court Canon. Grade Two is awarded to those who have mastered the Qingwei Thunder-Vavjra method. Grade Three indicates knowledge of the Pole Star Rites, with mudra and mantra shared with Tantric Buddhist masters. Grade 4 and 5 are reserved for those masters who know the Zhengyi Mengwei registers. All Daoists from Grade One through Grade 5 add the words Xian Qing 仙卿 to their titles, when signing document addressed to the world of spirits.

Daoists of the lower ranks, from Grade 6 through Grade 9, must use the lesser title Xian Guan 仙官 to sign ritual documents, for performing Daoist ritual. Grade 6 indicates knowledge of the Ling Bao Sanwu Dugong”靈寶三五都攻 level of Daoist training (the much studied Daoist Chen family of Tainan bears this title). The Du Jiang chief cantor is Grade 7, the Fujiang assistant cantor is Grade 8, and the acolytes, incense bearers, and procession leaders are given grade 9 recognition. The discrimen between the lower xian guan grades 6-9, and the higher xian qing grade 5 and above, the Ji Lu Yuan Ke manual indicates (p 33b) is “purity in mind and body,” ie, those who practice or advocate fangzhong (“sexual hygiene”) are not allowed to learn about the higher Daoist orders. (Daoists and scholars included). However, when a true Daoist Master is asked, by a scholar or would be student what his/her title and grade of ordination is, he or she will always, invariably respond with the words “I am only a lowly Grade Six Daoist.” This is the sign of a true Daoist master, to become a disciple of such a person is indeed a great honor.

Michael Saso 1-5-2012 posted from HNL Hawai’i

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pronounced in Nahuatl (the native language of pre-Hispanic Mexico city) “Tonantzin Guadalupe,” is the most famous sacred image of the Virgin Mary in the Americas. Under this title, she is officially called “Patroness of the Americas,” and “Protectress of Unborn children.”
Tradition says that she appeared on December 9, 1531, to Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec native, on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady asked Juan Diego to tell the Bishop to build a church in her honor, right where they were standing. The local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga asked for proof that she was indeed the Virgin Mary.
So Juan Diego went back to see the lady again, telling her that the bishop wanted proof. She told Juan Diego to go to a nearby mountaintop, and pick Castillian roses, which were native to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga’s hometown in Spain, and did not bloom during winter. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his cloak, and brought them to the bishop, who ordered that the Church be built. The present day image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pregnant with baby Jesus, appeared on cloak of Juan Diego. Today it is still displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.
The Virgin of Guadalupe’s festival is one of the most popular in North and Central America. Attached are unobtrusive jpg photos taken this morning, 4 – 5 AM, at the Immaculate Conception parish of downtown Los Angeles. A Mariaci band introduced the traditional Azteca dancers, who then entered the church, to the beating of drums, and performed a most moving and devout sacred dance in Our Lady of Guadalupe’s honor. The photos are blurred, due to my desire to remain unobtrusive. The effect on the congregation, who filled the Church to “standing room only,” was electrifying. After Mass and communion, on a Monday morning in LA, the majority of the parishioners left in time for early morning work.
Mothers, fathers, children, entire families, brought flowers to place in front of the shrine.
It was deeply moving.

“Heaven Sent Garden” Tian shou an (Tenju An) 天授庵

It is always a great joy to visit Kyoto city, a relic and reminder of the beauty of Tang Dynasty Luoyang, the Eastern Capital of medieval China.

My visit was especially poignant this time, because four wonderful adult students from Macau-Aumen came as well, to enjoy the wonders of Kyoto in Autumn. Autumn maple leaves, the best of Asia’s “Sacred Art” (preserved in museums), and “the world’s most beautiful Starbucks” moved my visitors (Queenie, Billy, Ruby, and Carol) to tears.

“The world’s most beautiful Starbucks” is something of an over-statement. What is really meant is a view from the window inside of Starbucks, as one sips espresso and gazes outward at the 8th century “Rokkaku-do” Six Sided temple dedicated to Guanyin (Kannon, Avalokitesvara) and the myriad statues of Ksitigharbha that grace its gardens.

More and more Chinese visitors are coming each season, to see the wonders of China’s past, preserved in Kyoto. It is as if to say that China self-destructs every 300 years, to begin a new dynasty, from 5000 BC until today. And Kyoto preserves the best of China’s perennial art, as a sacred testimony to the cultural and spiritual center that China represents for all Asia.

Every shrine and every garden in Kyoto has a special message, for all visitors. Our website readers are invited to see pictures from one of the myriad temples, a very special one indeed, called “Heaven’s Gift Garden-temple.”

It’s story is as follows: in 1267 a retired emperor named Kameyama (“Spirit Mountain”) built a beautiful temple garden, in what is now one of Kyoto’s most beautiful Zen temples, “Nanzenji” 南禪寺。But no sooner was the temple garden and meditation room built, than a horrible demon appeared to the emperor, trying to frighten him, and all other guests, away.

The emperor asked for help from the famous, prayerful abbot of the Tofukuji Zen temple, Daiminkokushi. 東富寺，大民國師和尚。The holy abbot came over to the temple garden and meditated for a whole day in the meditation room connected to the garden. The demon never dared appear again. So the temple and garden were named “Heaven’s Gift Garden-temple.”
(天授庵，“Ten Ju An” literally “heaven given garden temple”). Ten Ju An is, until today, one of the most beautiful parts of the Nanzenji temple grounds. Visitors flock here daily, especially during maple leaves in autumn and cherry blossoms in spring. It is just to the right of the Nanzenji temple entrance. I hope to invite pilgrims to go there again in spring, to see cherry blossoms and meditate in the gardens.

Michael Saso Dec. 2011 from “l’ hermitage” de Los Angeles

“Athena visits Hawaii” (1/10).JPG
“Farewell” (unsigned).JPG

“Hope”.JPG

“Prana” (1/1).JPG

“Dark Night” (Apopthatic way, Juan delacruz.JPG
“Hail all Navigators”.JPG

“Times Past” unnamed copy, (1/10).JPG
Child in Jerusalem (1/10) unnamed copy.JPG

Heiau, Oahu (1/27).JPG

Jerusalem visit (unnamed copy).JPG

Kahana, the irresistable bay.JPG

Midnight in Paris (1/12).JPG

Night Marchers (2).JPG
Startled.JPG
The King Returns to his Palace (1-10).JPG

Unnamed.JPG
well-trod paths 1 (unnamed copy).JPG
“Huakahi”.JPG

Lucy at 20.JPG
“Return”.JPG
“Of Land & Sea”, Kane’ahi & Hoku’lea.JPG
“Einstein” (unsigned copy, 1/10).JPG
Maunawila Pohaku Heiau, Oahu.JPG


Nikas Kazantzakis, Crete (unnamed dopy).JPG
unnamed copy (well trod paths 2).JPG
Hale Opapa Heiau, Eva, Oahu.JPG
“The Blue Hole”.JPG
Jewish cemetery in Prague.JPG

“Heart Sutra”.JPG
Zen circle.JPG

Well kept secrets At last, Daoist Master Zhuang’s mijue

One of the best kept secrets of modern Daoism is the content of the Mijue 秘訣 Esoteric manuals which the Daoist Master uses to teach his closest disciples, and children. These manuals may be transmitted, in hand written form, only once during the Daoist master’s lifetime, just before he dies.

Though mijue manuals can still be found in Taiwan and Hong Kong, very few survived in China Mainland proper, due to the devastating years of the Cultural Revolution. Here is a list of 3 such manuals, where they came from, and how readers of this website may obtain copies, for scholarly or Daoist “Inner Alchemy” use.

The Mijue manuals listed here come from a collection preserved in Hsinchu City, north Taiwan. In a final request made by Daoist Master Zhuang (see illustration), just before his death in 1976, I was asked to return them to the sacred mountains from which they originated. This process, begun in 1986, is due to be completed this month, November 2011. The history of the manuals, and how to acquire the first 3 DVD/CD presentations, is as follows:

A Daoist named Lin Rumei brought these 3 sets of Mijue manuals, with seal of the 61st Celestial Master of Longhu Shan on them, to Hsinchu city in 1868. After his untimely death, they were kept in the library of Zhuang’s maternal grandfather Chen Jiesan. When Lin Rumei acquired these manuals, the 61st Celestial Master of Lunghu Shan made a prophetic request. 100 years from 1868, he told Lin Rumei, there would be a great tragedy in China. All of the original hand-written manuals would be burned. Lin Rumei, following the Celestial Master’s request, asked his disciple to have these manuals returned to Longhu Shan, Mao Shan, and the other great centers Daoist centers, when China was safe from the predicted “devastation.”

The preservation, printing in digital format as well as hard copy, and attainment of an ISBN number for each manual (to insure their proper distribution as a “not-for- profit” sacred obligation), has at last come to fruition.

The Mijue manuals in the Zhuang-Lin collection number some 35 hand written documents, preserved in microfilm as well as jpg image format. The three most important sets, preserved in manuscript form and on DVD are as follows:

1. The 25 Volume Zhuanglin Xu Daozang 莊林續道臧. An earlier, incomplete version of these documents was first published by Chengwen Press in Taipei, in 1975. The first edition having sold out, a new, 2nd edition from the original copies of Zhuang is now available in DVD or CD format, here on this website, with a brief English and Chinese printed Index and directions for use. An entire 3 day jiao 醮 liturgy of renewal, a Zhai 齋 rite of burial, the Mijue directions necessary to use them, and samples of the popular Shenxiao and Lv Shan rites 神霄，閭山 小法 make up the 1st DVD/CD set.
2. A rare, never before published manual called 道教源流 “Daojiao Yuanliu” (The Origins of Liturgical Daoism), consisting of 150 pp. of text, with sacred dance steps, lists the Major Daoist schools, each with nine grades (“jiu pin” 九品) of liturgical and meditative perfection (2nd DVD/CD set). The schools include the Shangqing, Qingwei, Beidou, Zhengyi Mengwei, Lingbao Sanwu Dugong, (上清，清微五雷法，北斗法，正一盟威，靈寶三五都攻，among others registers/lists of mijue legerdemain.
3. A unique, precious and widely sought after ordination manual, with the seal of the 61st Generation Celestial Master of Longhu Shan, is the third DVD/CD mijue manual made available for the first time for scholars and Daoist masters to use. The manual, called “Ji Lu Yuan Ke” 給籙元科 is presently used again at Mao Shan, Gezao San, Longhu Shan, and other great Daoist centers of China. (Note that the first character 給, which is usually pronounced “gei” in modern Putong Hua, is given the sound “Ji” when used in Daoist context).

These manuals may soon be purchased for cost-only price either through the University of Hawaii press, or by contacting Professor Michael Saso through the website michaelsaso.org, where images of the texts can be found.

Michael Saso
Los Angeles and Beijing, Nov. 2011

“Sacred and Profane” – a Shinto Shrine in Kyoto
Oct. 8-9-10, 2011

The great French thinker Emile Durkheim, (1858-1917), is called “the father of modern sociology,” because of his ground breaking work The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. First published in 1912, in this work Durkheim coined the phrase “Sacred and Profane,” as a way to describe the primitive festivals and totemic art, found in Australian Aboriginal and Native American rituals.

Durkheim used the term to understand modern, as well as primitive religious practices. “Sacred” defines ideas and values imposed by the society and culture we live in. “Profane” refers to concrete, individual goals and practices, free for the individual to choose, not imposed by outside authority, religious or secular.

Some scholars opposed Durkheim’s choice of words, saying that “sacred” and “profane” were words used only by European-in-origin languages. Such ideas did not exist in Asian or Native American languages and cultures.

Another great and influential scholar, Mircea Eliade, wrote an equally famous work The Sacred and the Profane, defending and expanding on Durkheim’s words. Eliade’s work (summarized on line, see the Wikipedia article), helps immensely in understanding Asian “festive ritual” practice. “Western” religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are based on sacred books, which the adherents must accept and declare belief in. One must choose only one of these belief systems; it is not possible to be Jewish, Christian, and Islamic all at once.

But for Asians, Native Australians, and Native Americans, religion is a festive system, defined by the Rites of Passage, (birth, puberty, marriage, burial), and seasonal festivals. The “Sacred” part of religious practice is festive. The “Profane” part is daily living, work, cooking, eating, and sleeping. Religious festivals in Asia celebrate annual changes in nature, as well as life’s passages. Spring plowing and planting, summer nourishing, autumn harvest, and winter rest, are secular pursuits, made “sacred” by festivals. During the annual seasonal changes, over a twelve month period, Asian societies celebrate the sacredness of family (New Year festival) on 1/1, girl’s day on 3/3, boy’s day (children in general) on 5/5, teenagers on 7/7, and old folks on 9/9. The end of the old year and coming of the new is celebrated during the 11th and 12th months, ending in the solar “Winter Solstice.” Thus Durkheim was correct, Eliade agrees – helping us to understand far more deeply the spiritual aspects of Asian and non-European-in-origin cultures. Festivals, by nature sacred, are for rejoicing and celebration. They need not be constrained or changed when introducing western belief systems.

Illustrations: a Shinto shrine festival in Kyoto, Japan.

1. The people of Kyoto purify themselves with water and prayer, before attending a Shinto shrine festival.

2. The Shinto priests also purify themselves with water before the sacred ritual.

3. Shinto priests “send off” profane petitions in the sacred Agni Hottra fire ritual.

4. A sacred “Noh” masked dance is offered for people and spirits in attendance.

5. Shinto shrine musicians accompany the sacred Noh dance.

By Michael Saso
In the hills of Sonoma,
Amidst sacred pine and redwood forest
Once Sacred to Native Americans

Mahatma Gandhi was asked,
what are the factors that destroy and build a person.

He replied:
Politics without principles, 

Pleasure without obligation, 

Wealth without work, 

Wisdom without character, 

Business without morality, 

Science without humanity
and 
Prayer without charity,
Destroy the person.

Life has taught me that
people are friendly, if I am kind; 

people are sad, if I’m sad; 

they are all bad, if I hate them; 

there are smiling faces, if I were to smile; 

sour faces out there, if I’m bitter. 

The world is happy, if I’m happy; 

people are angry, if I’m grumpy; 

people are grateful, if I am grateful!

Life is like a mirror:
If I smile, the mirror smiles back at me!
Whoever wants to be loved, has to love!!!

The 42 Chapters Sutra ( 四十二章經) is said to have been “translated” (adapted with Daoist undertones) into Chinese by two Yuezhi monks, Kasyapa-Matanga (迦葉摩騰) and Dharmaraksha 竺法蘭), in 67 CE. There is no extant Sanskrit or Prakrit version. It is cited in Daoist works of the 4th-5th century. 10 influential sentences, taken from the Taisho Canon version, are presented below:

Ch. 1. “The 4 noble truths: [suffering is caused by selfishness; eradicate selfishness; practice the way/Dao of compassion]; use the 8 fold path to do this: (good view, good intention, good speech, good action, good livelihood, good effort, empty the judgmental mind, look with compassion] — and become Buddha’s disciple (Arhat)!”

Ch. 7 A foolish person cursed the Buddha. The Buddha did not reply… The cursing stopped. The Buddha asked, “Sir, if someone were to send a present and that person did not receive it, to whom would it go?” The man said, “It would return to the sender.” The Buddha said, “The cursing that you send to me I also do not accept. It returns for you to keep! In the end, anger only hurts one’s self.”

Ch. 11. Providing provisions to ten-billion disciples of Buddha cannot be compared to providing provisions to one Buddha. Providing provisions to one-hundred-billion Buddhas cannot be compared to being without thought, without craving, without cultivation, and without attainment.

Ch 12 (2 of 20) “difficult practices”: Do not speak about the wrongs of others;
when suffering disgrace, do not become angry.

Ch. 13: purify the mind, like rubbing a mirror to remove the dirt, and reveal its brightness. Then you can see the true Way, and know past lives!”

Ch. 18 The Buddha said, “My Dharma consists of thinking without thinking, acting without acting, speaking without speaking, cultivating without cultivating. ..My Way cuts off all spoken words. “

Ch 23 The Buddha said, “People who are (selfishly) attached to wives, children, treasure and home are more unfortunate than those in prison. Prisoners can be pardoned, but there is no reprieve from satisfying the desires of wives and children, like throwing oneself into the maw of a tiger.”

Ch. 29 “If you see an old lady, look on her as mother; If an older woman, regard her as an older sister. If a younger woman, see her as a younger sister; if a young girl, see her as one’s daughter. Give honor to all, with due courtesy.”

Ch. 31 Selfish desires are products of our will, which is activated by thinking and judging. If these two aspects of mind are still and quiet, then selfishness ceases.

Ch. 42 The Buddha said of his kingly origins, “I look upon a prince waiting to assume the throne as only a passing guest. I look upon treasures of gold and jewels as rubble and stones. I look upon sheets of fine white silk as nothing more than cotton rags.”

These spiritually motivated statements (among many others in the 42 Chapter Sutra), were used to attract ordinary Chinese villagers, farmers, scholars, and temple goers to see Buddhism as a complement and companion to the two other great Asian systems, Confucian ethics, and Daoist Yin-yang structured nature, as part of a “One system with three teachings” tradition.
If Judaism, Islam, and Christianity were seen in this light, the world would be a much more preaceful place.