The ability to get things done and accomplish one’s vision is the secret that can bring success to any organization or enterprise. In Chinese, we call this zhixing li (執行力), “the power to execute” One example of zhixing li was, towards the end of 1996, Fo Guang Shan took less than three months to arrange in good order the holding of an international colloquium for Catholic and Buddhist leaders. Cardinal Francis Arinze was surprised, and the impression we made was quite profound. After being informed of this event, the late Pope John Paul II looked forward to later meeting me.

As long as we believe in the power of the mind, we can take each day and look on the bright side, thinking of how each matter will be successful and how we can make it a success. Every day we can open our eyes and feel hopeful. If we work in this way unceasingly, we will surely be successful.

The failure of worldly enterprise often comes from conditions not being right. Success comes from being able to develop the right conditions. That is the greatest secret to success in life. It is commonly said throughout the Buddhist teachings that “all phenomena arise through causes and conditions.” This means that any business undertaking requires the proper conditions of capital, land, markets, planning, publicity, qualified personnel, and so on. If any one of these conditions is lacking, then the undertaking will not easily succeed. For this reason there is no need to play the blame game when difficulties appear. It is important to create connections with others, and remain focused on people. That is the only way to get along well in the world, and only by getting along with others can we create the wide-ranging connections to bring about a better future. When we take the initiative to dedicate our abilities to others, we align ourselves with new and different causes and conditions, allowing us to be successful when we have the right conditions in the future.

It is possible to accomplish many things under difficult circumstances, but in my own life, I’ve never felt I’ve had to face difficult circumstances. What other people did not dare consider I have always been willing to try, and I did not give up when encountering setbacks. Instead I waited for the right conditions, or tried to create the necessary positive conditions. Once I had made a decision to do something, I would then explain the necessity and importance of the undertaking to my disciples, and I was not easily dissuaded by the majority’s opposition.

Before launching the Merit Times in 2000, the senior journalist Lu Keng came to Fo Guang Shan to see me. Some of his friends had told him, “You have to convince the master that trying to launch a Buddhist-run newspaper is impossible. He must not do it under any circumstances.”

As we talked, not only did it turn out that Lu Keng was unable to disabuse me of my plan, but I even talked him into writing his own column for the Merit Times.

When I was young I developed the habit of thinking things out. I would think, “If I had the chance to start a magazine, how would I organize all its content?” or, “If I had the chance to spread the Dharma, what and how would I teach?” I never waited around idly or became hesitant or pessimistic when conditions were not right for action. I listened attentively, and through the process of giving without notions, I learned from everyone I encountered, accumulating experience and wisdom. Once the right conditions were present, I was already well prepared with all the necessary planning, procedures, and details, regardless of whether I was building a temple or founding a school, so naturally these projects were able to progress smoothly.

Whenever the Buddha taught the Dharma, six conditions needed to be present: the right faith, right listening, right time, right teacher, right place, and right audience. These six conditions can be seen in the opening line of the Diamond Sutra: “Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was in the city of Sravasti at the Jeta Grove Monastery with a gathering of monks numbering 1,2so.” The six conditions are as follows:

Thus	Faith: In order to be able to receive the teaching the faith of the assembly should already be established.
have I heard	Listening: The members of the assembly should already possess the necessary merit to hear the teachings.
at one time	Time: The time to deliver the teachings has ripened.
the Buddha	Teacher: The master delivering the teaching joyfully teaches the wondrous Dharma.
city of Sravasti at the Jeta Grove	Location: The venue that the teachings are being delivered in is suitable.
gathering of monks numbering 1,250	Audience: The faithful assembly that is ready to hear the teachings has gathered together.

These six right conditions must be present in order for a Dharma teaching to occur. Even now, our reading of the Diamond Sutra is made possible due to exceptional circumstances. We should all be thankful for the causes and conditions in the world that have enabled our existence, and we should be thankful to others who have contributed to our success. This is something truly worthy of joyous praise. Everything that is or has happened in the universe is a product of causes and conditions.

No Buddhist sutra ever clarifies the date or time that a certain teaching is given, instead simply using the expression yishi (一時), “at one time.” Why are there no clear indications of time given in the sutras? Because what we understand as “time” is merely due to the differences in how living beings experience the effects of their karma. For example, the time in each country on the globe is not the same: When it is 1:00 P.M. in Taiwan it is still the predawn hour in the United States. Our planet has many different regions, which is why we perceive this “time difference.” The expression “at one time” found in the sutras eliminates this limited concept of time and space that living beings have. As long as we are of the same mind as the Buddha, then the phrase” at one time” is like a limitless benefit that is everlasting.

The Dirgha Agama tells the story about blowing a conch shell that can act as a metaphor for how causes and conditions work together. A long time ago there were people living in a village who had never heard the sound made by blowing a conch shell. One day, a young man who knew how to play a conch came to this village. He took out a conch shell, blew into it three times and put it on the ground.

When the villagers heard the sound they were amazed. They rushed towards the man from all directions, and asked, “How did you make such a nice, pleasant sound?” The young man pointed to the conch shell and said, “This is what made the sound.”

The villagers touched the conch shell with their hands and spoke to it saying, “Would you please make that wonderful sound again?”

But the conch shell remained silent. The young man picked up the conch shell again and blew into it three more times. It was only then that the villagers realized what was going on. One of them spoke up and said, “That beautiful, pleasing sound is not the work of the conch shell. That man’s hands, mouth, and breath must work in concert with it before the conch shell makes its sound.”

The highest level of management is the management of the mind. Fo Guang Shan built its massive organization through faith in Humanistic Buddhism. In Buddhism, we commonly use the expression faxin ( 發心 ), “arouse the mind,” which means to generate an aspiration to do something. The formation of Fo Guang Shan’s monastic and lay orders came about through collective creativity in which each individual faxin, generated the aspiration for compassion and dedicated their efforts, physical and mental, to accomplishing the goal. This was not something that any one individual could accomplish alone. Since the faith in Humanistic Buddhism benefits living beings and allows us a joy that is blameless, everyone is willing to participate no matter what hardships must be faced.

Consider Fo Guan Shan’s use of money. There is a saying in Fo Guang Shan that “what comes from the ten directions, goes out to the ten directions;’ meaning that donations from around the world are distributed around the world, not just in a temple’s locality. Every penny comes from the generosity of living beings, so the money must be used in the best possible way for activities or special projects with every attempt being made to come in under budget. Fo Guang Shan’s many volunteers and staff are another example. Given its common sense of purpose, many people are willing to generate the aspiration to commit their physical and mental effort, so long as what they do benefits the needs of the whole. Many private enterprises cannot achieve such a feat. But this is liberation with no notion of self.

The words faxin do not explicitly appear in the Diamond Sutra, so many people think that the importance of generating aspiration is not mentioned in the text. However, the sutra does say:

Of all sentient beings, be they born of eggs, wombs, moisture, or transformation, or whether they have form, or not form, or whether they are able to perceive, or do not perceive, or are neither able to perceive or not perceive, I cause them to enter nirvana without remainder, liberating them.

This certainly describes generating an aspiration. Generating the aspiration to help so many living beings does not mean receiving the merit that comes from giving them food to eat or clothes to wear. Rather, it means enabling living beings to be liberated. Hence the line that follows: “Thus … liberating infinite, immeasurable, limitless sentient beings.”

The Buddha did not think that living beings were liberated by him, because living beings are intrinsically Buddhas. The Buddha was simply granting them liberation in accordance with causes and conditions. The Buddha does not claim any merit, nor does he abide in merit. This indeed is “generating aspiration,” that is, generating expansive aspiration, generating impartial aspiration, generating non-deluded aspiration, generating egalitarian aspiration, and generating universal aspiration. Truly this is a great aspiration without limitation!

When I was seventeen, I contracted malaria. Every day I would shift between fever and chills; it was quite unbearable. The other students at the Buddhist college would entrust their lives to the celestial beings who protect the Dharma, and would simply weather any hardship. I never heard anyone ask to rest, even when they were sick, so I dragged my sick and weakened body through to the work and rest periods along with all the others, and then collapsed into my bed each night. After about a month of this, my teacher, the Venerable Zhikai, had someone bring me a half bowl of pickled vegetables. Holding that bowl of pickled vegetables with both hands, tears streamed down my face. I was grateful to my teacher for caring for me in this way. At the moment I vowed: “For as long as I live, I will dedicate all of my mind and body to Buddhism without fail, so as to repay the kindness of my teacher.”

Soon afterward, my illness was completely cured.

In order to promote Buddhism, I have never refrained from reinventing myself. Even when conditions were not right, I did not simply sit idly by waiting for the right conditions to appear. Sometimes, in order to turn things around, we have to assemble forces from all directions, create momentum, and exert influence. The Buddha did not attempt to change others externally, rather he tried to change himself internally. I have tried to emulate the Buddha’s revolutionary spirit within, so that I could change my own ideas, eliminate bad habits, and renew myself unceasingly.

One must be a sponge: never stop soaking up learning and assimilating new things. Do not be like a plastic bag that even a drop of water cannot penetrate.

Source: Hsing Yun. Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra. Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.