Stories of Sheng Zhen Men
How did the name Sheng Zhen Men arise?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
I saw the three characters Sheng Zhen Men during meditation. I did not understand them at the time. Only through later learning did I gradually connect the different parts of the experience. Our earliest spiritual centre was called Ling Zizai Xiuxinyuan, a name I chose myself to express the wish to cultivate our hearts and aspirations.
In the first year after founding the centre, I first saw the three characters Cixin Guan during meditation. I did not understand them, so I simply remembered them. About five or six years later, I saw Sheng Zhen Men. I thought a deity wanted me to visit a particular place to worship or meet with spirits. I even searched online but could not find any relevant information.
Later, while preparing material on the Three Pure Ones, I read about the sacred, the true and the immortal in a book. I also came across the eight characters ‘Sheng ling xian zhen, ying jie kai yuan’—the sacred spirit manifests truth, responding to trials and opening an era. I had already been using the name Shengyuan before that. Suddenly I noticed that the first and last characters were Sheng and Yuan, and that Sheng and Zhen, corresponding to Sheng Zhen Men, also appeared within the phrase. I found it extraordinary.
Then I read the phrases ‘a true heart enters sacredness, a sincere heart enters truth, and a compassionate heart attains immortality.’ Cixin Guan, the name I had seen many years earlier, suddenly made sense as well. These connections between earlier and later experiences led me to understand that Sheng Zhen Men was the name given to us by the Three Pure Ones. It also taught us to begin with compassion and continue cultivating ourselves further.
‘Men’ means a path of spiritual practice. Coming through this gate means learning these principles and looking back at whether we have a compassionate heart. We are happy ourselves, and we also hope that our family, friends and even people who dislike us can be happy. We begin with ourselves and then extend that heart to others. This is the direction the name continues to remind us of.