Today, we talk about Mahakatyayana, which translates to “Great Ornate Language”.

Using words to understand reason and attain Arhatshi, among the ten Great disciples he was known as foremost in explaining and discussing the doctrines. This Venerable was extremely eloquent in discoursing the dharma. His whole life was dedicated to discoursing the dharma to deliver sentient beings. His name is  Mahakatyayana.

He had a maternal uncle, who was a very famous sage. When Shakyamuni Buddha was just born, his father, King Suddhodana, invited a sage to divine his future. This sage was Mahakatyayana’s maternal uncle.

Mahakatyayana was the eldest son of an Elder in Brahmanism who specialized in researching the Vedas, and his knowledge was very good. After taking refuge in the Buddha, he was very accomplished in debate, so his achievement was “foremost in explaining and discussing the doctrines“.

Today in Tantric Buddhism, we also discuss two aspects, “practice” and “doctrine.” Practice is what we actually do, while doctrine is the theory. In Tantric Buddhism, practice and doctrine are like the two wheels of a bicycle, neither can be missing.

Now, everyone here is listening to the Dharma, and we all know the daily practice procedures, we carry them out in reality. This is doctrine, the theoretical aspect. In future if someone aspires to be a Guru, not only must they have a complete understanding of practice but also a complete understanding of the entire Tantric doctrine.

So remember! To be a Guru, you must read scriptures and books everyday.

Now I also do the same, I must read scriptures and books everyday. I have noticed that nowadays people read less and less. Some people do not even read a single book. They say, “I barely have enough time to make money, how could I possibly have time to read books?” 

However, I think reading is very important because books are knowledge, they teach you a lot of wisdom. Especially for those of us who study Buddhism and cultivate, we should read books written by past practitioners and also Buddhist scriptures.

Absolutely remember! You must “read scriptures and books everyday!”

You can’t just want to become a guru and not read any books at all, this is also a very important point.

Of course, we can’t expect every disciple to be the best at explaining and discussing the doctrines, but at least they should read a little every day.

Om mani padme hum.