Episode 762 – Clearly Illuminating All Capabilities
>> The enlightened father saw that his lost son had gradually approached his city. The room of the Tathagata’s Dharmakaya is stately and adorned magnificently. In the state of truth and fearlessness, He can clearly illuminate all capabilities. Seeing His disciples settled in the Dharma, He no longer had any worries.
>> “I have constantly yearned for this child yet had no way to see him. Now he has suddenly appeared on his own, which exactly suits my wishes. Though I am already old, I am still unable to pass down my wealth.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “He quickly dispatched attendants to urgently chase and bring him back. At that time, the messengers swiftly went and captured him. Shocked and bewildered, the poor son cried out in complaint, I have done nothing wrong! Why have you seized me?” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> In terms of principles, it is wisdom that dispatches, and the teachings that are dispatched. The sutras are what has been compiled from all of the teachings of the Buddha. Thus it says, He quickly dispatched attendants.
>> The Buddha-Dharma only admonishes and exhorts. Admonishment makes clear that we should refrain from all evil, and exhortations encourage upholding all goodness. Thus the exhortation to practice goodness is expressed as urgently chase and bring him back.
>> Compassion arose in the Buddha so He quickly dispatched and entrusted nearby Bodhisattvas to expound the perfect and immediate teachings. By exhorting people to practice the virtuous Dharma of the Great Vehicle, and admonishing them to uphold the flawless teachings to transform and guide them, they would go among the people to practice the Bodhisattva-path.
“The enlightened father saw that his lost son had gradually approached his city.
The room of the Tathagata’s Dharmakaya is stately and adorned magnificently.
In the state of truth and fearlessness, He can clearly illuminate all capabilities.
Seeing His disciples settled in the Dharma, He no longer had any worries.”
This describes how, when the enlightened father saw that his son was lost, he felt saddened. He clearly saw the figure of his child, but when this child saw his father living in this magnificent house, where everything he used was of high quality, all objects he had were precious and every person serving him was very dignified, stately and awe-inspiring, the lost child became very frightened and quickly left.
From this description, we should be able to see; isn’t this just like spiritual practice? Life after life, over many sequential lifetimes, our roots of goodness may have remained limited. Perhaps there are some who came into contact with the Buddha-Dharma and formed great aspirations and made great vows. But slowly, living in this world, over lifetime after lifetime, they constantly were influenced by external contamination and slowly retreated from the great aspirations that they had formed in that moment.
In this world we frequently see many dedicated Bodhisattva[-volunteers]. The production staff of “Grassroots Bodhi,” one of the shows on Da Ai TV, shared that in producing this show, they were so moved by some elderly recycling volunteers that, years later, they wanted to go back and find those volunteers to see what they are doing now. Have they continued with their recycling work?
They actually went back and looked for them. One of the shows they produced in 2001 featured an elderly couple. That year, the husband was already 76, and the wife was 71. They shared the same resolve. They had heard me say, “Right now, the earth is constantly being damaged by human activity. At this moment in time, we must quickly take good care of the earth, which is only possible if everyone has this concept of environmental protection.” When this couple heard this, they said, “We cannot care for the planet in other ways, but recycling work is something we can do.” So, starting 10 or 20 years ago, this couple devoted themselves to recycling work.
The husband was 76 years old and appeared quite strong. The wife was also in good health. At 71, her movements were still very agile. We saw the husband riding a bicycle to leave the house to do recycling work. We saw the wife pushing a two-wheeled cart, following in her husband’s wake. In this way, they picked up what others discarded. As they did this, they bickered playfully. This was how they did recycling work, and doing this made them very happy
13 years have passed. The wife is now 84 years old, and she looks completely different. More than a decade ago, when she was pushing the two-wheeled cart, she could run with good posture. She could run as she pushed and could go uphill. This is no longer the case. She is pushing the same cart as before, but her hair is all white, and her body is bent over at the waist.
Her husband has already passed away. Now she is single and alone, since her daughter has gotten married. But she is very optimistic. She suffers many aches and pains each day, so when her neighbors see her leave the house, they ask, “Are you going out again? Your body is not in good shape. I’m fine! When I support myself with this cart, my entire body becomes relaxed.” Every day she goes out, pushing this cart.
Furthermore, this old woman, this elderly Bodhisattva, explained, “In my past life, I must have been very wealthy and very wasteful. That is why, in this life. I want to pick up everything I see. In my past life, I was so wasteful. So in this life, I have to cherish everything. Whenever I see something [on the ground], I feel happy and I want to pick it up.”
She even said that she only had one wish now. She said, “I have never seen Master in person. I have never met her. I’ve always wanted to ask her, ‘If I keep doing this work’ ‘until I can’t do it anymore,’ ‘will she let me come to be by her side?’.” When I heard this yesterday, right away I told the people around me, “Write down this elderly Bodhisattva’s name. Help me write it down.” Where does she live? Dongshan District in Tainan. She is now 84 years old. She also said, “I will keep doing this work until my last breath. I hope that once I stop breathing, my body is just dumped in the ground like garbage, so no one has to see it, and no one has to deal with it. This is what I hope for. I don’t want to trouble anyone.” She is this kind of Bodhisattva.
The Da Ai TV staff said, “Her figure looks like that of an elderly monastic bowing to pay respect.” She looked like an elderly monastic bowing and paying respect to the earth. This was how our staff described her. From the back she looked like a spiritual practitioner paying her respects to the earth. Whenever she saw something [on the ground], she bent over to pick it up.
She even went to the recycling station every day. Once she finished collecting recyclables, she would go to the recycling station. First she would go to the market to buy many vegetables; she pays for all of it herself. She said, “I eat lunch there, so I buy lots of vegetables to form good affinities with other volunteers.” See, isn’t her spiritual cultivation on the same level as any of us monastics? Her heart is pure and simple. She is wholehearted in her dedication. Though she had never met me, she loves her teacher so much. She only has one wish. Since she had never met me, she wondered if she could come be with me once she could no longer do recycling work. This is what she is like.
Think about it. This disciple had never met her master, as if she was outside, and I had only just seen her figure. This is the principle. “The enlightened father saw that his lost son had gradually approached his city. The enlightened father,” whether in reference to the father or the Buddha, is someone who understands the principles. “The enlightened father” describes the innate enlightenment in all of us. In every single one of us there is an “enlightened father.” Every single one of us has this innate enlightenment. This innate enlightenment is absolute truth. These true principles exist forever. Look at this elderly Bodhisattva. Although she is in her 80s and is hunched over and frail now, according to the laws of nature, one day she will [pass away] and then return, just as pure and adorable as she is now. Whatever enlightenment she has now and whatever enlightenment she will have in the future is all part of her innate enlightenment. This enlightenment is so simple and pure.
So, we should be very careful. We must earnestly seek to return to our innate enlightenment, a “state of truth and fearlessness.” When we are in that state, we can “clearly illuminate all capabilities.” This is not limited to the Buddha. In fact, we are the same as the Buddha; we have the same wisdom. We can transform sentient beings. We can also teach according to capabilities and seize every opportunity.
So, this is like the enlightened father “seeing His disciples settled in the Dharma.” The enlightened father saw that His children were already abiding in the Dharma. Perhaps they had already formed great aspirations. Perhaps they had retreated from those aspirations and had gone back to having limited capabilities. Regardless, they were still in the Dharma. So, “He no longer had any worries.” As long as they were still in it, a day will come when they would be
able to unlock that innate potential. If people do not listen to the Dharma, how can they be spiritual practitioners? As the Buddha’s disciples, how can we draw near the Buddha-Dharma if we do not listen to it? So, [if we listen] a day will come! This is what we must thoroughly understand. We must know how the Buddha took great pains to look for sentient beings with great capabilities and how much effort He took to transmit the Dharma. He returned life after life for the sake of delivering sentient beings, like a father looking for his son. We ourselves should also look for our nature of True Suchness; we should earnestly look for our innate enlightenment. The children should look for the father, not just wait for the father to find them.
The previous sutra passage states, “I have constantly yearned for this child yet had no way to see him. Now he has suddenly appeared on his own, which exactly suits my wishes. Though I am already old, I am still unable to pass down my wealth.”
This describes how the Buddha looked for sentient beings with [great] capabilities [At the assembly,] He saw that His disciples had slowly begun to form aspirations. Sariputra had received a prediction of Buddhahood, and Subhuti and the others had also begun to form aspirations, in addition to many others. There were many like them at the Lotus Assembly. Everyone should develop this kind of aspiration.
So, the next passage explains that after seeing the child’s figure, “He quickly dispatched attendants to urgently chase and bring him back”
He quickly dispatched attendants to urgently chase and bring him back. At that time, the messengers swiftly went and captured him. Shocked and bewildered, the poor son cried out in complaint, “I have done nothing wrong! Why have you seized me?”
Now that the father had seen the son, he acted quickly, “Do not let him flee too far. Quickly follow him and bring him back.” He had finally seen him, so he had to act quickly.
“Quickly dispatching attendants” is an analogy for “the Buddha’s Great Vehicle teachings.” In the past, His disciples had clung to the Small Vehicle Dharma. So, when He saw that they were beginning to form aspirations, He had to quickly use the Great Vehicle teachings to help them understand.
So, “As the truths of the Great Vehicle were realized by the Buddha Himself, these truths are the master of the Great Vehicle while the methods of teaching are the attendants of the Great Vehicle.” I have frequently described for everyone how, upon His initial enlightenment, the Buddha realized the truths of all things in the universe. The state He was in at that time, those principles, were kept in His heart with the constant hope that everyone could recognize these truths. So, these truths are “the master of the Great Vehicle.” When He discovered these truths, He said, “How amazing! How amazing! All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” This wisdom of the Tathagata-nature is the truth of the Great Vehicle, and it is also the master of our minds. It is like the awakened father sitting in the room. Actually, the master sitting in that room is in each of our minds.
So, “The methods of teaching are the attendants of the Great Vehicle.” We need to apply this Dharma. The Dharma is inherently within us, but we must unlock this Dharma inside. To unlock it, we must apply it. This is why I often tell everyone that we must take the Dharma to heart and manifest it in our actions. The Dharma is for us to make use of. The Buddha also makes use of the Dharma, teaching it to transform sentient beings. And when we accept and take it to heart, we must also make use of it to teach other people. When it comes to the Dharma, “The methods of teaching are the attendants of the Great Vehicle.” This is the meaning behind “to dispatch. Quickly dispatching attendants” is like making use of, or entrusting [the Dharma]. The Dharma is entrusted to people so they can use it to transform others.
In terms of matters, “Bodhisattvas are the attendants of the Buddha.” Bodhisattvas are taught and transformed by the Buddha with the Dharma. They give rise to Bodhicitta and want to walk the Bodhisattva-path. So, Bodhisattvas are carrying on the teachings of the Buddha; that is why they transform sentient beings. In this way, they have been “dispatched. Being dispatched” means they had been entrusted. “Please go.” This means to go with the teachings. People are entrusted with the Dharma, and we use this Dharma to go among people
In terms of principles, it is wisdom that dispatches, and the teachings that are dispatched. The sutras are what has been compiled from all of the teachings of the Buddha. Thus it says, “He quickly dispatched attendants.”
The teachings are that which “are dispatched”; they are the Dharma is used to educate people. Principles are used to teach and transform, and the Dharma is used to teach everyone. They come from the Buddha. “The sutras are what have been compiled from all the teachings of the Buddha.” Right now, we are discussing the sutras. If the sutras had not been compiled, how would we be able to discuss these principles? Everything that has been compiled is to be applied right now in order to go among people to transform them. This is “quickly dispatching attendants”
“to urgently chase and bring him back.” This means to act quickly. The opportunities and conditions are before us, the causes and conditions are almost mature, so how can we just let things be? The father could not let his child run off; the son had finally come close, but he dared not come in. So, the father quickly entrusted people to bring him back right away. The same principles apply here. “The opportunities and conditions were present, so how could he carelessly allow him to flee?” How could he let him go again? So, “Urgently chase and bring him back” means he said to follow him and bring him back. This is an analogy for “immediate teachings of the Great Dharma,” preparing to quickly use “exhortations to teach the virtuous Dharma of the Great Vehicle.” He wanted to quickly help people understand the Great Dharma.
The Buddha-Dharma only admonishes and exhorts. Admonishment makes clear that we should refrain from all evil, and exhortations encourage upholding all goodness. Thus the exhortation to practice goodness is expressed as urgently chase and bring him back.
The Buddha-Dharma only “admonishes and exhorts. Admonishes” means to teach discipline. All of the Dharma that the Buddha taught was for the purpose of teaching us to “refrain from all evil, practice all that is good.” He “admonished” us to refrain from all evil. He “exhorted” us to practice all that is good. With teachings, He exhorted everyone to earnestly do good deeds and to advance diligently. Actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions and passing on the teachings to others are what the Buddha taught us to do
The Buddha was already very advanced in age, so He did not have much time left. Thus He felt a sense of great urgency. “To urgently chase and bring him back” means. He wanted to quickly help everyone understand.
Compassion arose in the Buddha so He quickly dispatched and entrusted nearby Bodhisattvas to expound the perfect and immediate teachings. By exhorting people to practice the virtuous Dharma of the Great Vehicle, and admonishing them to uphold the flawless teachings to transform and guide them, they would go among the people to practice the Bodhisattva-path.
“Compassion arose in the Buddha.” This is because He has universal compassion; it will always be present in Him. Therefore, “He quickly dispatched” means. He quickly entrusted [the Dharma] to Bodhisattvas, those who had already formed aspirations, hoping that they would again actively go among people. This is “expounding the perfect and immediate teachings”. The Buddha could no longer take it slow. He wanted to give the complete teachings, so He combined the Small and Great Vehicles into the One Great Vehicle. He wanted to quickly “exhort people to practice the virtuous Dharma of the Great Vehicle,” It had to be done immediately; it could not wait. He “admonished them to uphold the flawless teachings.” He transformed and guided sentient beings to have discipline and quickly teach others. He admonished everyone to avoid again becoming indolent and falling. They might have listened to the Dharma and let it leak out, or they might have been indolent and refused to accept the Dharma. This was no longer acceptable. So, to transform and guide sentient beings and to “go among people to practice Bodhisattva-path” are very important.
Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners, we must be proactive. We are running out of time. I can only keep walking forward. I cannot keep looking back to see if people are keeping up. If you want to follow someone, you must follow them. People cannot keep looking back to check. So, I hope everyone will be earnest and diligent. We must be careful to not be indolent, and we must not allow ourselves to get lost. If we are lost and do not look for a way back, we have turned our backs on our enlightened father and on our nature of True Suchness. So everyone, we must always be mindful.