Starting Spiritual Practice
Must you read every Buddhist and Taoist scripture when beginning scriptural study?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
You do not need to read them all at the beginning. There are many Buddhist and Taoist scriptures. Start with those relevant to your practice and easier to understand, grasp them properly, and try applying them in life. Continue further if interested.
Sheng Zhen Men particularly values the Heart Sutra, Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, and Dao De Jing. I have said that understanding and realizing their principles in this lifetime would already be very useful. Studying others is certainly possible, but more titles read do not necessarily mean better cultivation.
Some scriptures are recited during ceremonies, while ordinary study gradually explores their principles and divine virtues and aspirations. Classes aid understanding; relationships and activities provide practice applying it. Scripture needs connection with life, not merely a count of books read.
If unsure where to begin, choose something familiar that many people continue studying. This provides a starting point, not exemption from examining every passage's source and meaning because it is popular. Unfamiliar scriptures can be discussed to understand their teaching and reasonableness. Being new does not make them higher than everything already known.