Episode 492 – The Tathagatas are Worthy of Offerings
>> “By taking the Dharma to heart, we will have faith, vows and practice. With deeply rooted faith, our resolve will be firm. With an understanding of True Suchness, that subtle and wondrous Dharma, we realize our part in the Buddha-Dharma and can turn the Dharma-wheel.”
>> “Sariputra, you, in a future lifetime, after a countless, boundless, inconceivable number of kalpas has passed, having made offerings to several” “trillions of Buddhas and upheld the Right Dharma, will fulfill all aspects of the Bodhisattva-path.”
>> “You shall become a Buddha by the name of Flower Light Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, One Who Is Completely Awakened. One Who Is Perfect in Wisdom and Action, the Well-Gone One,” “Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, the Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans, Buddha, the World-Honored One.”
>> So, “a Buddha walks the path of True Suchness, from cause to fruition, therefore, He attains perfect enlightenment.”
>> “One Worthy of Offerings” is one who is a field of blessings. As a pure field of blessings, [a Buddha] deserves to receive material offerings. Thus, He is “One Worthy of Offerings.”
“By taking the Dharma to heart, we will have faith, vows and practice.
With deeply rooted faith, our resolve will be firm.
With an understanding of True Suchness, that subtle and wondrous Dharma,
we realize our part in the Buddha-Dharma and can turn the Dharma-wheel.”
Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings and listen to the Dharma, we must mindfully engage in self-reflection. Have we truly taken the Dharma to heart? If we have, did we establish our faith? If we have firmly established our faith, did we form aspirations and make vows? If we have made vows, did we actually put them into practice? This is very important. If we learn the Dharma but never take it to heart, what are we actually learning? So, we must take the Dharma to heart.
Faith is very important. Our faith must be deeply rooted. If the root of our faith does not grow deeply and extensively, then the Bodhi-tree will not grow tall. Even if the tree does grow, if its roots do not extend outward, it will be very worrisome, for when the wind blows, the tree may topple over. So, the Root of Faith is very important.
If our faith is deeply planted, and our resolve is unwavering, we will not be tempted by various external phenomena. That is because our minds have already gained “an understanding of True Suchness.” The subtle and wondrous Dharma of True Suchness is what we have finally realized. We believe in this subtle and wondrous Dharma. Since we believe in it, we can “realize our part in the Buddha-Dharma and can turn the Dharma-wheel.”
If we “realize our part in the Buddha-Dharma,” the subtle and wondrous principles of the Buddha have truly penetrated our heart. Whether worldly teachings or world-transcending, they can show us how to view worldly matters, objects and principles. All matters have their truth; all objects have their principles. This also applies to people’s minds. With wisdom, we can understand the subtle and wondrous; we understand both tangible and intangible things. This is “realizing our part in the Buddha-Dharma.”
The awakened principles are already in our minds; once the principles enter our hearts, in the future we can turn the Dharma-wheel. When we share the helpful methods and principles we understand with other people, we are also “turning the Dharma-wheel.” When we learn the Dharma, we must take it deeply into our hearts.
The sutra passage we discussed previously states,
“Sariputra, you, in a future lifetime, after a countless, boundless, inconceivable number of kalpas has passed, having made offerings to several” “trillions of Buddhas and upheld the Right Dharma, will fulfill all aspects of the Bodhisattva-path.”
This was the previous sutra passage.
Sariputra had put his mind at ease and could accept the Dharma. Therefore, the Buddha felt confident in passing on the Dharma to Sariputra. The Buddha approached Sariputra and said, “You, in a future lifetime, after a countless, boundless [kalpas].” This will take a long time, so he must be patient. Transmitting this Dharma and Dharma-lineage takes patience.
In “Having made offerings to several trillions of Buddhas, several” is used to mean there is no limit and “trillions” means that this is a very big number. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. If we can always be grateful towards everything in life, always respectful and always serving sentient beings out of genuine love, then everyone is a Buddha to us. We must form many connections with sentient beings. This is how we “uphold the Right Dharma”
and fulfill all aspects of the Bodhisattva-path. Everyone we now interact with is someone we should make offerings to and an opportunity for us to turn the Dharma-wheel to deliver the Right Dharma into everyone’s mind. This is something we can all do immediately. This kind of practice is not difficult. Forming good connections with sentient beings and giving for the sake of sentient beings are things we are able to do right now. This is also how we engage in spiritual practice.
The next sutra passage states,
“You shall become a Buddha by the name of Flower Light Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, One Who Is Completely Awakened. One Who Is Perfect in Wisdom and Action, the Well-Gone One,” “Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, the Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans, Buddha, the World-Honored One.”
Sariputra will attain Buddhahood in the future after passing through countless kalpas, a very long time, He will form perfect karmic connections with all beings. At that time, he will attain Buddhahood. When he becomes a Buddha, his epithet will be “Flower Light Tathagata.” Flower Light Tathagata will be endowed with the ten epithets.
In the past, Sariputra was biased toward emptiness. So, the Dharma he followed was not very perfect; this was the Small Vehicle Dharma. Now, Sariputra had begun to turn from the Small to the Great and was determined to move toward the Great Vehicle, so he will certainly attain Buddhahood. At that time, the Buddha bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood on Sariputra and even told him what his epithet will be. He will be called “Flower Light Tathagata.”
Tathagatas [embody] True Suchness, one who comes on the vehicle of True Suchness is called the “Thus Come One.” We all intrinsically have the Buddha-nature; we are all endowed with it. If we can take the principles of True Suchness to heart and then put them into practice, we will interact with sentient beings with the truths of the Tathagata. Tathagatas embody True Suchness, true principles. When a Buddha unites His intrinsic Buddha-nature with all things in the universe, all true principles will be clear, and then He can return to the Saha World with that perspective. Then He will be the “Thus Come One,” [one who realizes] the principles of True Suchness.
So, “a Buddha walks the path of True Suchness, from cause to fruition, therefore, He attains perfect enlightenment.”
The “cause” is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Over this process, we must engage in spiritual practice; for only then can we perfect [it]. That is how we attain Buddhahood, how we “attain perfect enlightenment.” To realize the true state of the Tathagata, we must start with the cause and move to attainment; this is how to attain perfect enlightenment.
Although the cause, the cause or seed for Buddhahood, is the True Suchness we all intrinsically have, it has to go through a process to achieve fruition. This depends on whether our ignorance is mild or severe, whether our karma is mild or severe. If we have mild karma and a little ignorance, this will not take very long. We must still have faith, vows and practice. If our faith, vows and practice accumulate over many lifetimes, we can [attain Buddhahood] relatively quickly. But, if we repeatedly create serious afflictions and much karma, even when we listen to the Dharma, we will hear it, let it leak out and have to listen to it again. If we form aspirations and vows but allow external conditions to affect us, then we will lose our will to practice. In addition, when ignorance emerges again, we will create more karma. If this happens repeatedly, [attaining Buddhahood] will take a very long time. So, the time it takes to go from cause to fruition depends on whether, after taking the Dharma into our hearts, we form firm spiritual aspirations and diligently advance with faith, vows and practice. Everyone is different,
so we attain Buddhahood at different times. Even if we form aspirations to engage in spiritual practice at the same time, we will attain Buddhahood at different times. You have all heard that. Sakyamuni Buddha and Maitreya Bodhisattva engaged in spiritual practice at the same time. Now, at this time, Sakyamuni has already attained Buddhahood in the human realm, but Maitreya Bodhisattva still has to wait a very long time. This was because Sakyamuni perfected His karmic connections with sentient beings first. This is why He attained Buddhahood earlier.
We can understand what the cause behind spiritual practice is. When our intrinsic nature of True Suchness is awakened, we feel that we must go among people to create good karmic connections with people, relieve their suffering and teach them true principles. We help all people eliminate their afflictions and manifest their intrinsic Buddha-nature and wisdom. This is their spiritual wealth; it is inexhaustible. This is wisdom. When we help resolve people’s afflictions and help everyone be freed from suffering, we are creating connections with sentient beings. This is “True Suchness.”
Next, we talk about “One Worthy of Offerings.”
“One Worthy of Offerings” is one who is a field of blessings. As a pure field of blessings, [a Buddha] deserves to receive material offerings. Thus, He is “One Worthy of Offerings.”
Actually, during the Buddha’s lifetime, in order to help the Sangha to eliminate the pride, arrogance and habitual tendencies from their lay lives, the Buddha guided all of them to beg for alms and create karmic connections. He did this solely to tame their afflictions.
In the Buddha’s Sangha, there were people from all four castes. Some were once nobles, others were once servants. Some also came from other religions, such as the brahmacarins and so on. They all took refuge in the Buddha-Dharma. There were people from all four castes. He wanted everyone to move away from their old spiritual practices that only focused on themselves or eliminate the sense of inferiority which they might have felt as a former servant. The former nobles had to tame their desire for pleasures and their arrogance. People from other religions had to tame their past improper thinking and views. For those of the lowest status, those who were considered slaves and were outcasts, they had to eliminate their feelings of inferiority.
By having impartial compassion, the Buddha nurtured our heart of compassion. Everyone in the Sangha was equal; they all had to purify their minds so they were free of inferiority, free of deviant thinking, free of doubts and arrogance and free of pride and suspicion. Then their minds would be completely pure. This is a field of blessings. In everyone’s mind, there is a field. By engaging in spiritual practice, we each make an effort to cultivate the field in our mind so it will be free of weeds and debris. If we cultivate the field very well, every seed that is sown in this field will yield a harvest. So, monastics are “Blessed-field Sangha.” Over those few decades, the Buddha continuously led everyone to to go among people to beg for alms. People who beg for alms must have pure minds, so they were called “Blessed-field Sangha.”
Those who were well-cultivated were worthy of receiving offerings from others. The ones who made the offerings, seeing the spiritual practice of the monastics, gave rise to happiness and faith. The monastics, or even the Buddha Himself, taught them the Dharma. Thus, the ones who made offerings were blessed. So, monastics were called “Blessed-field Sangha.” People must have a very clear understanding and truly purify their minds to be considered “Blessed-field Sangha.” If our minds are filled with discursive thoughts, which are like weeds in a field, we will be like ordinary people, full of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. If our minds are not on the right course, how can we be “Blessed-field Sangha”? Therefore, we must always increase our diligence in spiritual cultivation.
If we want to go among people or bring them into our spiritual practice center, then the place we engage in spiritual cultivation must have an air of spiritual refinement. When people feel this sense of spiritual refinement from us, they will be happy, have faith and accept the teachings. This is also cultivating a field of blessings. The monastery is also a field of blessings. It can inspire happiness and faith in people so they will engage in spiritual practice. This also inspires respect from people, so they make offerings of reverence.
There are three types of offerings. One type is material offering. One type is the offering of reverence. One type is the offering of conduct. Among these three types of offerings, material offerings are what were given during the Buddha’s lifetime as monastics begged for alms from door to door. These were tangible, material objects. Even in the Lotus Sutra, as we have discussed before, people built stupas and temples to preserve the images of the Buddha-Dharma. This was part of the planning for the future; when the Buddha was no longer in this world, people could see these images and feel a sense of respect. This was the “offering of reverence.” When we enter temples and feel a sense of respect, that is also an offering of reverence.
Most important are “offerings of conduct.” This means that after taking the Dharma to heart, we must manifest it in our actions. When our conduct follows the rules of the Dharma, and we go into the world to turn the Dharma-wheel, it is the “offering of conduct.” This is how we help the Buddha-Dharma, the Right Dharma, to abide in world.
To practice as Blessed-field Sangha, the fields of our minds must be very pure. We must not be tempted by material desires. We do not advance the Buddha-Dharma in order to receive people’s material offerings nor to receive their offerings of reverence. These are not the reasons. Most importantly, we hope sentient beings make offerings of conduct by putting the Dharma into practice. We must take the Right Dharma into our hearts and then deliver it to sentient beings. As they turn the wheels of their minds, if the Right Dharma is in their hearts, it will spread throughout the world.
Monastics are not the only ones who propagate the Dharma, lay practitioners who take the Right Dharma to heart can also transform sentient beings. Vimalakirti had great wisdom; when the Buddha said one thing, he realized ten. Therefore, he could accept the principles taught by the Buddha, and from 1 thing realize 100, and then 1000. Thus His wisdom-life continued to grow. With these principles, “by grasping one truth, he understood all truths.” He was able to understand all of them. Vimalakirti was respected by people for his thorough understanding of the Buddha-Dharma.
However, when we engage in spiritual practice and become monastics, we cannot become arrogant just because we hear and understand the Dharma. Being “worthy of offerings” means these thoughts of pride and egotism, greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt, must all be cleared away. Then we are worthy of offerings. Then we can be Blessed-field Sangha. So, “As a pure field of blessings, we are worthy of receiving material offerings. This is being worthy of offerings.”
I had just discussed “material offerings.” That means, to purify everyone’s minds, the Sangha asked for alms door to door to create karmic connections as part of their daily routine. These material offerings helped sustain their daily living. One worthy of offerings should receive offerings. To be worthy of offerings, our minds must be pure. Otherwise, “If the three minds still exist…”? (We are not worthy of a drop of water). Indeed! So, we must understand that the three minds of greed, anger and ignorance must be completely eliminated. Only then are we worthy of people’s offerings.
There are three types of offerings. At present, the more important offering for this Sangha is for the monastics to help the people that come to this monastery to feel a sense of respect. This is the offering of reverence. We also need to teach the Dharma in a way that people can accept so that they will make offerings of conduct. This is how we can truly provide a worthy place of spiritual cultivation. So, everyone, please always be mindful.