Author: Scott Ogata

Become a person more actively involved in aiding their community.

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Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 227 – Hearers Carry Out the Teaching

>> “When the Buddha manifested in this
world, people could draw near to His teachings. The Buddha could teach skillful
means according to capabilities. Moreover, with His original intention, He
kindly waited for the right opportunity to set aside the Three Vehicles for the
One.”

>> So, after the Buddha taught for a long time, “the true and real
had to be spoken.” This passage goes on to state, “He told all
Hearers and those who sought the Solitary Realizer Vehicle, ‘I will enable you
to cast off the bonds of suffering and achieve Nirvana.'”

>> He told all Hearers: The Buddha’s disciples of the Small Vehicle
listen to the Buddha’s teachings and realize the principles of the Four Noble
Truths to eliminate delusions of views and thinking. They have the most limited
capacity on the path to Buddhahood.

>> Hearers: Those of limited capabilities are called such because they
follow the teachings they hear. They listen to and spread the Path. With faith,
they accept and practice the Buddha’s teachings to purify their minds. They
focus only on their own awakening and are attached to the Small, biased toward
emptiness.

“When the Buddha manifested in this world,
people could draw near to His teachings.
The Buddha could teach skillful means according to capabilities.
Moreover, with His original intention, He kindly waited for the right opportunity
to set aside the Three Vehicles for the One.”

When the Buddha manifested in this world, people who lived in that era could approach Him and personally receive His teachings. At that time, the Buddha was still constantly teaching skillful means according to capabilities. He gave them provisional teachings. This was how He “cleverly taught skillful means.”

But the Buddha always kept His original intent. Out of compassion, He waited for the right opportunity to freely express what He originally wanted to teach. When should He expound it and what capabilities would be needed to accept it? Out of His compassion, He never abandoned hope that the moment for teaching it would come. He wanted to universally give the teachings He originally intended to give. But, He had to wait a very long time.

The capabilities of sentient beings were dull, so out of His compassion, He patiently and carefully guided them. He waited for the moment when everyone could understand [His teachings] to teach the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. He waited until this time arrived. Then He set aside the Three Vehicles teachings and instead gave the One Vehicle teachings. He finally began to teach them.

So, after the Buddha taught for a long time, “the true and real had to be spoken.” This passage goes on to state, “He told all Hearers and those who sought the Solitary Realizer Vehicle, ‘I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and achieve Nirvana.'”

This also conveys to us that, at that assembly, the most important thing the Buddha did was enhance the understanding of Hearers. This was because Hearers were those who became monastics with pure mindsets and constantly listened to the Buddha’s teachings. And Solitary Realizers? They were the same. They sincerely sought the path and wanted to examine the truths of all things in the universe. For people of these capabilities, the Buddha wanted to give them the True Dharma He originally intended to teach. Therefore, here it says, “He told all Hearers,”

whereas in the past, “the Buddha told Sariputra.” The Buddha called on the one acknowledged as foremost in wisdom in the Sangha, Sariputra, to receive His teachings. He had already clearly told everyone that. He was about to set aside the skillful means of the past. We should know that as Buddhist practitioners, we must realize the Buddha’s mind, understanding and views. We must know His original intent. To realize His understanding and views, we must be able to see the same world as the Buddha.

The Buddha’s sight is far-reaching, open and broad. Of all things in the universe, there is nothing the Buddha does not understand. So, He also hopes that our understanding will be equal to His, that we will have the same vision as Him so that we can see and understand all things. This is what He hopes for the most. So, the Buddha is truly compassionate and wants everyone to know [His original teaching].

So, the Buddha began to put His heart into giving us this warning, “You must find your intrinsic Buddha-nature as quickly as possible. You cannot simply rely on external teachings to understand the Dharma. This will not last. You must use the pure spring water from your Buddha-nature to cleanse yourself. At the same time, you can also cleanse others.” This is what the Buddha urgently hoped people would quickly [realize].

In the past, He spent a long time alerting us to this. While the Buddha sat in meditation, radiated light and manifested auspicious appearances, Manjusri Bodhisattva [addressed] the doubts that arose during this time. [People wondered], “Why does He look different from the way He did in the past? What great teaching is He about to give?” [This light and the signs] inspired questions in people at the assembly so that they would seek the answers.

After the Buddha emerged from Samadhi, He began expounding the Dharma. Once again, the target of His teachings was Sariputra. This was because. He wanted these Buddhist practitioners, Hearers and Solitary Realizers, to recognize their great responsibilities. The Buddha was about to completely and unreservedly give teachings that. He had originally intended to teach. So, they all need to be mentally prepared to receive this Dharma from the Buddha and pass it on to future generations. This is why, over and over again, before He spoke to Hearers and Solitary Realizers, He first spoke to Sariputra, their representative. Finally, He told them directly that they must give rise to great power of faith.

The Buddha guarded these teachings for so long but was now about to freely speak them. So, now He spoke directly to them. “He told all Hearers” means that. He directly spoke to the Hearers.

He told all Hearers: The Buddha’s disciples of the Small Vehicle listen to the Buddha’s teachings and realize the principles of the Four Noble Truths to eliminate delusions of views and thinking. They have the most limited capacity on the path to Buddhahood.

Now let us we examine the capabilities of. Hearers and Solitary Realizers.

So, He came and “told all Hearers,” disciples who follow Small Vehicle teachings. The Buddha actually gave all His disciples the same teachings, but not everyone could accept them. So, He began by giving Small Vehicle teachings to first help them understand themselves. He told them that among all the beings in the Six Unenlightened and Four Noble Realms, He taught those in the unenlightened realms first. He taught the suffering of cyclic existence. So, people learned about suffering, how they had no control over it because the law of karma meant that life in the Six Realms was filled with unbearable suffering.

Through the Four Noble Truths, they understood the frightening nature of the law of karma and how a single thought could create much karma. These accumulated karmic forces then lead to retribution and suffering. After listening, these people said, “This makes sense. I understand. I must immediately be afraid of and refrain from creating bad karma. I cannot create these [bad] karmic conditions or perpetuate cycles of revenge.” So, they heightened their vigilance and severed their secular relationships by leaving their loved ones to become monastics.

This was the first step. They began by eliminating afflictions caused by entanglements and worries, as well as affection and craving. Only after they eliminate affection and desire can they eliminate vengeance and hatred. So, Small Vehicle practitioners eliminate affection and hatred. This is what Small Vehicle practitioners do.

They let go of [these complicated relationships] starting by becoming monastics. With hearts free of hindrances, they could wholeheartedly listen to the Buddha’s teachings and use this Dharma to cleanse their minds. Then they had no conflicts in this world, over matters or with others. Thus they were not in conflict with principles, which means they understood them. Those who understood were the. Hearers who left home to follow the Buddha. So, the Buddha’s Small Vehicle disciples were called Hearers, meaning those who learned by listening to His teachings.

The Buddha’s wisdom arose from His heart and spread through His voice. This was how He taught those who followed Him in spiritual practice. They were called Hearers. They accepted the Buddha’s teachings, and each time He finished giving teachings, “They happily upheld them, paid their respects and left.” At each assembly, after listening to teachings they were very joyful.

The Buddha’s teachings addressed principles in this world that people did not understand. After the Buddha analyzed them, people understood and accepted those principles and no longer had attachments in their hearts. This is how He overcame their stubbornness.

We humans are unyielding because our greed, anger and ignorance lead us to become proud and arrogant. So, as spiritual practitioners who follow the Buddha, the first thing we must do is to subdue our greed, anger and ignorance. And as we deal with people and matters, we also have to get rid of our tendency to be arrogant and proud. This is how we follow the Buddha’s teachings to attain realizations. This is how we are like Hearers.

At the same time, we also have to realize the principles of the Four Noble Truths. Aside from understanding the truths of suffering, causation, cessation and the path we must also contemplate the body, its feelings, all things, the mind and so on. We must enhance our understanding. Thus, the Buddha first taught His disciples ways to control their minds and analyze principles. After [learning] the Four Noble Truths, they also had to eliminate delusions of views and thinking.

Our views and understanding are very complex. After listening to the Buddha’s teachings, we must quickly adjust our views and understanding. Our “views” must be right views. Our “understanding” must be right understanding, and we must also be understanding of others. Therefore, we really need to develop our views and understanding.

Everyone has different views and understanding. There is also the issue of thinking. We all think differently. These delusions come from ignorant views and understanding and ignorant way of thinking. So, ignorance [leads to] afflictions because of [a lack of understanding]. Therefore, when we engage in spiritual practice, the first step is to understand the Four Noble Truths. Next, we must eliminate delusions of views and thinking. This is [the path for] those with limited capabilities.

There are three levels of capabilities: great, average and limited. Bodhisattvas have great capabilities. Solitary Realizers and Pratyekabuddhas have average capabilities. Hearers have limited capabilities. They only understand after listening; they only practice after understanding. Therefore, they are considered Hearers, those with limited capabilities.

Hearers: Those of limited capabilities are called such because they follow the teachings they hear. They listen to and spread the Path. With faith, they accept and practice the Buddha’s teachings to purify their minds. They focus only on their own awakening and are attached to the Small, biased toward emptiness.

Those of limited capabilities are named [Hearers] “because they follow the teachings they hear.” Because they rely on hearing something to achieve a limited understanding, they are considered people of limited capabilities. “They listen to and spread the Path.” Once they listen to teachings, they know they must pass on what the Buddha taught them. “They faithfully accept and practice the Buddha’s teachings” because they believe the Buddha’s principles. This is what they do as Hearers. Since they want to listen, they must believe, and then practice the teachings. What did they practice?

“Purifying their minds, focusing only on their own awakening, attached to the small and biased toward emptiness.” This is what people of limited capabilities do. They are Hearers. They know, “I must practice the teachings, focus on my awakening and purify my mind.” They only focus on themselves, so they are biased and attached. They cling to the idea that since nothing exists, there is nothing that they need to do, besides engage in self-cultivation to avoid cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is all they believe in, so they have not made [the Four Great Vows]. They follow the Buddha but have not vowed, “There are countless sentient beings, and I vow to deliver them all.” They have not made such vows, so they are “attached to the small” and biased toward emptiness. These people only purify their own minds and focus on their own awakening. They are known as Hearers.

I hope that all of you can understand that as Hearers, they must faithfully accept and practice teachings. Their first step is to purify their minds. This is also very important. If we do not purify our minds, our minds will never be pure. But we must also take the next step. We cannot just focus on our own awakening, and we definitely cannot be attached to the small or biased toward emptiness. Therefore, now the Buddha began to mindfully teach this category of disciples. He hoped they would take another big step forward. As Buddhist practitioners, we must be mindful. We must seize the moment and always be mindful.

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Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 226 – Resonate with the Buddha’s Understanding and Views

>>”With the Dharma, we eliminate delusions
and end illusions. All Buddhas share the same path to open the Three [Vehicles]
to reveal true teachings. This pure ultimate truth [helps us] transcend
mistakes and wrongs and attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see
the True Dharma.”

>> Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In
response to the Dharma expounded by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power
of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time,
the true and real Dharma must be spoken.

>> The Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the
world and is called the World-Honored One. With teachings of impartial wisdom,
He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. He eliminated
the suffering of cyclic existence and attained unsurpassed enlightenment.
Heavenly beings and humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him.
So, His epithet is World-Honored One.

>> Though the Buddha wanted to reveal this Dharma, sentient beings had
dull capabilities. He had to stay silent for a long time and could not
immediately expound it. Therefore, it was guarded by the Buddha. And now, He
was giving this teaching.

“With the Dharma, we eliminate delusions and end illusions.
All Buddhas share the same path to open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal true teachings.
This pure ultimate truth [helps us] transcend mistakes and wrongs
and attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see the True Dharma.”

This is telling everyone that to learn from the Buddha and His Dharma, we must eliminate delusions. Being a Buddhist practitioner is not just a label, it is something to [practice] wholeheartedly. To learn the truths that the Buddha realized, we must be very earnest. After listening to the Dharma, we need to be vigilant every day and avoid being tempted to stray by our surroundings.

After listening to the Dharma, if we are still tempted to go astray by external phenomena, then that is being deluded. So, we must eliminate delusions and cut ourselves off from temptations around us. We cannot allow the phenomena we encounter in our daily living to cause us to give rise to the slightest thoughts. Perhaps when we hear something displeasing, we will give rise to afflictions, and when we face undesirable situations, we will give rise to discursive thoughts. This must not happen. We must always take good care of our minds. This is how we “eliminate delusions and end illusions.” The things around us are as fleeting as clouds. Once they pass, they are no longer an issue. Therefore, we must constantly take good care of our minds, so we can “eliminate delusions and end illusions.”

The Buddha taught in a way that suited every kind of capability. But in the end, He also had to “open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the true teachings.” All Buddhas share this same path. The Three Vehicles are. Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. The Three Vehicle teachings are skillful means. So, the Buddha had already clearly told us that the Lotus Sutra He was about to teach at the Vulture Peak assembly would set aside the Three Vehicle teachings of the past. Now, He was giving the most important teachings, the True Dharma. As we have been discussing every day, all Buddhas share this same path.

When each Buddha comes to this world, [He sees that] sentient beings are lost, thus they are called unenlightened. Unenlightened beings uncontrollably face extensive suffering and difficulties. And when it comes to the Buddha’s state, they cannot understand or realize it just by listening to someone talk about it. Things are not that easy. So, all Buddhas of the past and the present Sakyamuni Buddha had to establish methods to gradually steer us in the right direction.

Then if we keep walking forward, step by step, naturally we will approach the Buddha’s state, the ultimate reality. Only then will the Buddha tell us, “Yes, this is it. In the past, you were only arriving at conjured cities [designed to] let you rest at each stage of the journey. But this has always been your final destination.” This is the place the Buddha guides us to, a state of great awakening and realization of the truths of all things in the universe. This is the Buddha’s original intent.

So, this Dharma is the pure ultimate truth, the very simple one reality. [The Buddha] wanted us to understand that our original, intrinsic awakened nature is pure and [contains] this ultimate truth. Thus, we must transcend mistakes and wrongs. The Three Vehicle teachings of the past were given because people had varying capabilities. Now, He is gradually guiding us to set aside [the teachings of] the past and wholeheartedly pursue the same goal. No matter where we come from, we must quickly focus on the same goal, to walk toward the Buddha’s enlightened state.

Hence, “attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see the true Dharma.” This is what the Buddha really wanted to tell us, and have us internalize. Although He kept giving teachings, it is really up to us to practice them. After listening to the Dharma, do we constantly contemplate it? We must think to ourselves, what is the Buddha really trying to teach us? What did the Buddha want us to comprehend? This is what we must constantly work on.

The Buddha, particularly at the Vulture Peak Assembly, clearly stated that He will “open the Three [Vehicle] to reveal the truth,” This is a path shared by all Buddhas. Therefore, the Buddha’s teaching is “the pure ultimate truth,” He just wanted to tell us one thing, to remind us that in each of our hearts, we intrinsically have Buddha-nature. I hope that we can push aside our past mistakes. We must immediately turn toward the true path, diligently go forward so that we can be attuned with the Buddha’s understanding and views. Then we can attain true teachings. So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must be mindful.

Earlier, we spoke of how “one must give rise to great power of faith,” and “after the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real Dharma must be spoken.”

Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In response to the Dharma expounded by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real Dharma must be spoken.

As the Buddha was about to teach the Dharma, He reminded us that we must give rise to great power of faith. We should know that at this time, His Dharma had been around “for a long time.” He had been teaching for over 40 years. For the first 40-plus years, He taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings. He told them to uphold the Five Precepts and practice the Ten Good Deeds.

By upholding the Five Precepts, we will not lose our human form. So, when we return to this world, we will still be in the human realm. If we do not uphold them, we may end up in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realms. So, to retain our human form, we must uphold the Five Precepts. If we want to live more comfortably, we must practice the Ten Good Deeds and do so earnestly. In addition to the Five Precepts, we must earnestly create blessed karma to be born in heaven. This is the Heavenly Being and Human Vehicle.

[The Buddha] first enticed ordinary people to uphold the Five Precepts and then to take the next step of practicing the Ten Good Deeds. This is the Heavenly Being and Human Vehicle. Some people knew that the Buddha-Dharma was very profound. He described the Six Unenlightened Realms and said that even if we were born in the human or heaven realms, once we exhaust our blessings, we will fall again. All this takes place in the Six Realms. Therefore, some people put their hearts into listening to the Buddha-Dharma, so that they can transcend the Six Realms. This is why they followed the Buddha and became monastics. Those who became monastics focused on listening to the Dharma. This is the Hearer Vehicle. They wholeheartedly listen to and practice the teachings so that

after hearing the Dharma, they can then attain realizations. Aside from listening to the Buddha’s teachings, coming in contact with other conditions can also lead to realizations. What they realize are limited awakenings, such as the impermanence of the world. As they come in contact with external conditions, they can more deeply comprehend that all things in this world are impermanent. Those who can broaden their minds to understand these conditions are called. Solitary Realizers.

Now, the Buddha wanted to help them set aside [these vehicles]. There is more than just the path to the human and heaven realms. He wanted them to know that even those in the human and heaven realms will eventually fall and that it is not right to be Hearers who only awaken themselves. So, after they understand the Dharma, they must thoroughly eliminate their attachments to self-awakening and take bigger steps forward. For Solitary Realizers, the Buddha further encouraged them to gain a deeper realization. After they thoroughly understand the principles of all things in the world, they must devote themselves to transforming sentient beings. So, the Buddha had to set aside these methods to direct everyone toward the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.

The World-Honored One’s Dharma had been around for a long time. When He started teaching over 40 years ago, He established skillful means. Now, after this long period of time, “the true and real Dharma must be spoken.” From that moment on, He was going to bring everyone together on the same path.

Now let us discuss the World-Honored One, the Buddha.

The Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the world and is called the World-Honored One. With teachings of impartial wisdom, He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. He eliminated the suffering of cyclic existence and attained unsurpassed enlightenment. Heavenly beings and humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him. So, His epithet is World-Honored One.

The Buddha is “replete with all virtues and revered by people of the world. Buddha” means “enlightened.” To become enlightened, He also had to be replete with all virtues. In the past, I already mentioned that. He drew near countless Buddhas and upheld each of Their teachings. He diligently and mindfully practiced the teachings of all Buddhas, so He was already replete with all virtues. So, “the Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the world and is called the World-Honored One.” And, “with teachings of impartial wisdom, He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways.” This is how He exercised His wisdom to eliminate greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. The Buddha had already achieved this, so He could teach us to

“eliminate the suffering of cyclic existence and attain unsurpassed enlightenment.” This is a virtue. Because of His virtues, “heavenly beings, humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him. So, His epithet is World-Honored One.” The Buddha was already replete with all virtues and wanted to help everyone understand this teaching, so they could eliminate greed, anger and ignorance to transcend the suffering of cyclic existence. He already attained unsurpassed enlightenment and was revered by heavenly beings, humans, ordinary people and noble beings. Therefore, He was called the World-Honored One.

To reiterate, “When the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time,” this means that the Buddha wanted to share His insight with all of us after He attained enlightenment. He wanted to point directly to our hearts, so we can see our true nature. Though this is what He wanted to teach us, as sentient beings, our capabilities are dull. Therefore, He knew we could not [accept] the truth of this great teaching. So, the Buddha had to “stay silent for a long time.”

Though the Buddha wanted to reveal this Dharma, sentient beings had dull capabilities. He had to stay silent for a long time and could not immediately expound it. Therefore, it was guarded by the Buddha. And now, He was giving this teaching.

For a long time, over 40 years, He could not directly give the true teachings. So, He temporarily kept them in His heart, observed people’s capabilities and waited to give the teachings at the right time. So, He “could not immediately expound it.” He did not teach it very early on because. He recognized that people were not capable of receiving it.

“Therefore, this had been guarded by the Buddha.” What did He guard? “The ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” One Vehicle means there is only one path. That path, that ultimate reality, is the state of the Buddha. We all intrinsically have that Buddha-state. Because we all intrinsically have that state, we can all return to our Buddha-nature. So, the Buddha kept this Dharma in His heart. This was His original [teaching]. Though He stayed silent for a long time, He held it close to His heart, so. He would not forget to teach it. He always remembered, with His every thought, that He had to teach it. Though He constantly thought about teaching it, the capabilities of ordinary people did not allow them to accept it. “Therefore, this had been guarded by the Buddha.”

The Buddha really gave this a lot of thought. Now, “the true and real must be spoken,” so He began to reveal the same path as all Buddhas. The Dharma has been around for a long time, so the World Honored One was now about to teach the Dharma that He had been guarding in His heart. He had originally wanted to share this. He wanted to help everyone understand that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. For over 40 years, He gradually tried to guide us to this realization. And now, “the true and real must be spoken.”

This is the True Dharma. Clearly, the Buddha first concealed what He wanted to teach. Everything He taught suited people’s capabilities and was what they enjoyed hearing. If He did not give teachings people enjoyed, would they willingly come to listen? So, He had to teach according to capabilities. Clearly, His past teachings were not yet the ultimate. But now, at the Vulture Peak Assembly, He intended to lead us to the state of ultimate reality. So everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must always be mindful.

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Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 225 – Faith in the Buddha’s Teachings

>> The power of faith can be great or small,
profound or simple. If we practice based on external conditions, our minds
waver. The root and power of faith increase the power of diligence, of
thoughts, of Samadhi, and the root and power of wisdom.

>> The first is the power of faith, which is also the root of faith. The
power of faith arises when the root of faith grows and naturally destroys all
evil beliefs.

>> The third is the power of thought. Thought refers to the mind. With
the power of thought, “the root of thought can grow and destroy all
deviant thinking.”

>> The fourth is having the power of Samadhi. “The root of Samadhi
grows and can destroy all discursive thinking.”

>> The fifth is the power of wisdom. It can help “the root of wisdom
grow and destroy all delusions in the Three Realms.”

The power of faith can be great or small, profound or simple.
If we practice based on external conditions, our minds waver.
The root and power of faith increase
the power of diligence, of thoughts, of Samadhi, and the root and power of wisdom.

We also need to be very mindful of this.

As I have said, “One must give rise to great power of faith.” The power of faith can be great or small, deep or simple. What is simple faith? What is deep faith? If we practice based on external conditions, our faith can waver. If someone says, “You should do [more good deeds].” [We may say,] “Fine, I’ll try” because [doing good deeds] forms good connections and brings blessings. But we do not know what it means to [do good deeds] to form good connections. We do not understand it. If this is why we act, then “we practice based on external conditions.” This mindset is not firm because we do not seek the Buddha-Dharma out of faith. We are only seeking blessings and merits. With this kind of mindset, forming an aspiration is easy, but sustaining it is hard. What is true faith that will inspire us to delve deep into the Dharma? In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, there are Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers. We must have the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers to be very firm in our faith.

In the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers,

The first is the power of faith, which is also the root of faith. The power of faith arises when the root of faith grows and naturally destroys all evil beliefs.

We must have faith. As I mentioned, we should not do things for merit. Merits and virtues are cultivated inwardly and practiced outwardly. We must cultivate a firm will and put the teachings into practice in order to have merits and virtues. So, as our root of faith grows and we continuously progress in our study of the Buddha-Dharma,

we must seek the Buddha’s knowledge and views, seek His wisdom. [We must learn] His views on everything in the universe and in our world. We must aim to be like the Buddha, accept things and thoroughly understand principles.

We must broaden our hearts and also fully comprehend the true principles of all things in the universe. We need “faith” to believe the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha’s teachings guide us in a direction, and we just need to follow it. So, the power of faith can grow our root of faith. Because of this power, we can be diligent. This power grows our root of faith, so it can naturally destroy all evil beliefs.

What we worry about most is having evil beliefs. If we do whatever others tell us to do, without distinguishing right from wrong, we will easily form evil beliefs.

Second is the power of diligence. Aside from having faith, we must also be very diligent. We cannot just say, “Yes, I believe in the Buddha.” We have faith, but do we have right faith, right understanding and right views? If we have right understanding and right views, then we must diligently move forward. We cannot just march in place or stand there and say, “I believe.” When we do not go forward to seek the Buddha’s true principles and wisdom, it is like we do not have power. So, we must be diligent.

Sometimes we say that taking the first step is very difficult. Indeed, getting started is difficult, but we really need to take that first step. Blessings and wisdom are like a person’s two feet. No matter how far we need to walk, we have to take that first step, whether we begin with worldly good deeds or with the Buddha’s teachings. If we start with the teachings, we develop wisdom. If we start with virtuous deeds, we create blessings. We must be replete in both blessings and wisdom.

Though we seek the Buddha-Dharma, we will not abandon this world and will still create blessings for others. Therefore, blessings and wisdom are cultivated in parallel. So, we must be diligent. If our root of diligence grows, it can eliminate indolence of the body and mind. If we are diligent, naturally we will not be lazy.

Diligent people do not fear hardship. Lazy people fear hardship. They are afraid of the cold, heat, physical exertion and taking on responsibilities. People like this are indolent and passive, not diligent. Therefore, we must be diligent. We have to push aside these obstacles, so we can be diligent. To be diligent, we must practice with our bodies and minds. We must really take action and pursue the Buddha-Dharma with body and mind to be considered diligent.

The third is the power of thought. Thought refers to the mind. With the power of thought, “the root of thought can grow and destroy all deviant thinking.”

Our deviant thinking is the biggest obstacle to our diligence. Therefore, we must use our minds to destroy deviant thinking and thoughts. We must take good care of our minds.

The fourth is having the power of Samadhi. “The root of Samadhi grows and can destroy all discursive thinking.”

We have discursive and false thoughts and keep thinking about the past. We linger on and cannot let go of these thoughts. Perhaps we hold on to old hatreds and resentments, or we pursue the future. We seek to achieve future goals and desires. So when the mind is stuck in the past it is called discursive thinking. Thoughts of the future and flights of fancy are delusions.

We must really take good care of our minds and be focused on what we are doing. Our minds and bodies are here, so our power of thought needs to also be here. We must seize the moment and focus on the present as we interact with people, matters and objects in our surroundings. Our mind must not become distracted. This also depends on our power of Samadhi. We must concentrate on the Buddha’s teachings

because they are worldly and world-transcending teachings. As we deal with things in this world, we must be in harmony with others. How can we deal with people and matters harmoniously? Through principles. Those who understand principles do things and interact with people harmoniously.

We must regularly take the Dharma into our minds to cleanse our defilements, our greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. We must regularly put in effort to wash away the various improprieties of the mind, deviant thinking, actions, karma, livelihood and all the mistakes of the past. We must thoroughly repent them. If we have the power of Samadhi, we will know our wrongdoings. If we have the power of Samadhi, we will know how to correct our faults. So, the power of Samadhi is very important.

The fifth is the power of wisdom. It can help “the root of wisdom grow and destroy all delusions in the Three Realms.”

We need to have wisdom. Mere knowledge and smarts are useless. If our root of wisdom grows, then we can destroy all delusions in the Three Realms. Delusions mean ignorance.

In the Buddhist classics there is a story about a man who constantly sought blessings. He never felt that he had enough wealth, so he kept thinking, “How can I keep the god of wealth with me, so everything I do will be successful?” All he did was try to make money, so someone told him, “If you want to keep accumulating more wealth, pray for it reverently, and all the wealth in the world will be yours.” [The man said,] “Is that possible? Quickly, tell me what I can do to increase my blessings.”

So, the person told him, “That’s easy. Just put your whole heart into it. Buy the best firewood and the best sacrificial offerings and pray to the fire god. Use quality firewood. The better the wood, the bigger the fire. Then throw in the offerings. Conduct this ritual every night and pray to the fire god to bless you with all the wealth in the world. Money will come at you like a blazing fire.”

“Oh, really?” So, he began buying the best firewood available. When he could not buy more, he would cut down trees from the mountains. So, for three years, he burnt firewood. Who knows how many forests he razed? He cut down all the best wood. So, for three years, he continuously prayed to the fire god. He spent a lot of money, but his business did not improve. Not only did it not improve, it kept deteriorating.

So, the person told him again, “If this doesn’t work, you must reverently pray to the sun and moon for wealth to come to you, day and night.” He thought this made sense, so he quickly began to pray. He prepared abundant sacrificial offerings and slaughtered living beings as sacrifices to the sun and the moon. He prepared such abundant offerings and prayed continuously. For the next three years, his business grew worse and worse.

The amount of money he spent was enormous. Because of his deviant thinking and views, he continued to seek blessings until he fell into a state of poverty. By then, his body also weakened because he prayed day and night. So, he was completely worn out. What could he do? He had no money and his health was poor. What could he do? At this time, he thought of how everyone said the Buddha was an enlightened one. So, he went to listen to the Buddha teach.

As he listened to His teachings, upon hearing each principle, he felt, “Why have I never heard this before? Why haven’t I learned this?” He sat there and deeply contemplated this. The Buddha saw this man and called to him. “Faithful believer, what is on your mind?” When he raised his head and saw the Buddha, heard His soft voice, beheld His magnificence, he wailed loudly. [He told Him about] the blessings he desired and how he hoped to expand his business and attain wealth, fame and benefit. Though he expended so much effort and spent so much money, he completely failed.

So, the Buddha said, “Though in the past, you put your heart into reverently seeking blessings, you need to know that you have created a lot of karma by doing that. Do you realize that? Through your sacrificial offerings, you have taken many lives and destroyed the land. Your offerings may be piled up high as a mountain, but the karma you created can fill an ocean.” When the man heard this, he said, “Indeed! Why was I so ignorant in the past? How many living beings have I killed? How much of the land have I destroyed?” He reflected on himself and asked for the Buddha’s teaching.

So, the Buddha said, “From now on, you must remember to be filial to your parents and aspire to do good deeds. At the same time, you must eliminate the greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt in your mind and start over. You must be diligent and believe in right understanding and Right Dharma.” When the man heard this, he felt everything he had done in the past was wrong. So, after listening to the teachings, his mind became open and understanding. The troubles he had in his mind were completely eliminated, and he pulled himself back together. He began to honestly conduct his business and was filial to his parents. He helped those in his family and in society. Because [his belief in] the Buddha-Dharma was of right faith, he made a comeback.

Everyone, this story took place in the Buddha’s lifetime. In ancient times, people were also greedy. Indeed, life is filled with suffering. Why do we keep ourselves so busy? So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must develop right faith and great power of faith. “One must give rise to great power of faith” because the Dharma that the Buddha is about to teach is extremely profound and wondrous. He is “setting aside the skillful for the direct” and teaching the true One Vehicle Dharma. So, we must give rise to great power of faith.

Everyone, the Five Spiritual Roots, Five Powers are what we must diligently cultivate. If we lose faith as we seek the Dharma, we will not find anything. When a thought goes astray, it may lead to a lifetime of mistakes, and then we may become lost for many lifetimes. If we seize the power of right faith, we can form great aspirations and vows. If we seize the present and sustain the moment forever, we will always understand worldly and world-transcending teachings. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0224

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 224 – Take the Dharma as Our Teacher

>>”With faith, vows, practice and
realizations, we connect with and penetrate the principles. The suchnesses of
form, nature, embodiment, power, function, cause, condition, effect,
retribution and ultimate [wholeness] are replete with the Ten Dharma-realms.”

>> Six Unenlightened Realms: Heaven, Human, Asura, Animal, Hell, Hungry
Ghost. Four Noble Realms: Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas.

>> Sariputra, you should know that the words of all Buddhas do not
differ. In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to
great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for
a long time, the true and real must be spoken.

>> In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, faith, diligence, thought,
Samadhi and wisdom are the Five Spiritual Roots that develop [to create] the
power of faith that obstructs all afflictions.

>> So, when it comes to “faith, if the root of faith grows, it can
obstruct all afflictions so we will not be moved by biased teachings or
doubts.”

“With faith, vows, practice and realizations,
we connect with and penetrate the principles.
The suchnesses of form, nature, embodiment,
power, function, cause, condition, effect, retribution
and ultimate [wholeness]
are replete with the Ten Dharma-realms.”

Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits. If we do not have faith when we learn the Buddha’s teachings, how will we learn it? Therefore, when we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must have faith in the Dharma He expounded. But faith is not enough. We must also make vows. We must form great aspirations and vows. But that is not enough, either. We must also practice [the teachings], both inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly, we must cultivate sincerity, uprightness, faith and steadfastness. We must also make the Four Great Vows. “There are countless sentient beings, and I vow to deliver them all. There are inexhaustible amounts of afflictions and I vow to eliminate them all. There are infinite Dharma-doors, and I vow to learn them all. The path to Buddhahood is supreme, and I vow to attain it.”

So, we must have faith and vow to engage in internal cultivation and external practice, so we can attain realizations and comprehend [the teachings]. To “realize” is to comprehend. Our minds and the Buddha-mind can converge. But without faith, vows and actions, that is not possible. If our minds can converge with the Buddha-mind, there is a connection. Then we can “connect with and penetrate the principles.” When the Buddha’s teachings resonate with our capabilities, we can accept the Dharma, and then we can understand the principles it contains.

These principles are extremely profound, infinitely profound. We cannot simply wait for the Buddha to create opportunities [for us to learn]. Our minds must penetrate His principles. So, it is very important to “connect with and penetrate the principles.”

Earlier I spoke of the Ten Suchnesses. These are ways in which, in our daily living, we can constantly connect with our surroundings. All external phenomena teach us the Dharma. So, the Ten Suchnesses are the suchness of form, suchness of nature, suchness of embodiment, suchness of power, suchness of function, suchness of cause, suchness of condition, suchness of effect, suchness of retribution and suchness of ultimate [wholeness] from beginning to end.

Previously, I kept telling you that everything in the world [contains] Dharma. When the Dharma is our teacher, everything in our external conditions, whether something in nature or in the matters we deal with every day, is related to the Ten Suchnesses. In particular, the Six Unenlightened Realms and. Four Noble Realms are also related to the Ten Suchnesses.

Six Unenlightened Realms: Heaven, Human, Asura, Animal, Hell, Hungry Ghost. Four Noble Realms: Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas.

Ordinary people are attached to form and nature. Those who have attachments are in the Six Unenlightened Realms. The Four Noble Realms begin with Hearers, who listen to the Dharma and then understand and practice it. Then come Pratyekabuddhas (Solitary Realizers). Their wisdom is one level above Hearers, so when they look at the natural world, they see impermanence in how day and night alternate and the seasons change, in how all things go through formation, existence, decay and disappearance. This leads to gradual realizations. Then those who form aspirations are Bodhisattvas, who constantly move forward toward Buddhahood. These are the Four Noble Realms.

Beginning with Hearers, followed by Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas and ending with the state of the Buddhas, [these realms] all exist in the Ten Suchnesses. If we mindfully engage in spiritual practice, we eliminate various appearances and natures. The law of karma is something we must be mindful of. The law of karma is what leads to our cyclic existence in the Six Realms. If we want to transcend the suffering of cyclic existence, we must practice cessation. Because [we know the Four Noble Truths,] we know we collected many causes and conditions, which cause our suffering.

Because of the law of karma, in our daily living, these natures and appearances cause our thoughts to stir. Therefore, we must be very mindful. This Dharma is something we come in contact with in our daily living. Will we remain in the Six Unenlightened Realms or advance to the Four Noble Realms? This depends on whether or not we are mindful. All things in the world [teach] the Dharma to spiritual practitioners. The meaning behind seeing the Dharma as a teacher is something we will gradually comprehend. Therefore, we must be mindful.

Previously, the verses stated, “Sariputra, you should know [this].” [We should also know that] the Dharma is in everything we encounter our daily living. Despite this, when we encounter these things, they cause us to give rise to ignorant thoughts. However, when noble beings come in contact with things, those things become their Dharma. They understand the Dharma the Buddha taught, so they can apply it. No matter what issues come up, they can be understanding. Because they are understanding and wise, they clearly know the ins and outs of everything. These are the Ten Suchnesses He taught.

So, regarding the Ten Suchnesses, as I have said earlier, to actually enter the stage of the Buddha is not that easy. It is not that easy because, when it comes to these ten things, we have not realized their True Suchness, which is a completely pure intrinsic nature. Because we gave rise to one ignorant thought, our minds became unenlightened. “Everything is created by the mind.” Now we must turn our minds toward our natures. There is a [thin] boundary between our minds and this nature. If we can cross this boundary, we turn our minds into our nature, turn delusion into awakening.

Even if many wise people gathered together and pooled their minds to try to comprehend the Buddha’s pure intrinsic nature, His wisdom, understanding and views, they would still have a ways to go. So, earlier I kept saying that. Sariputra must know that “the words of all Buddhas do not differ.”

Sariputra, you should know that the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real must be spoken.

“The words of all Buddhas do not differ” because all Buddhas share the same path. The Buddha-mind can only be understood by one in a state equal to the Buddhas.’ If one has not reached the stage of the Buddha, one truly cannot comprehend the Buddha-mind.

In the Lotus Sutra’s preface, the Introductory Chapter, Manjusri Bodhisattva mentioned 20,000 Buddhas, who shared the name. Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha and engaged in the same process of spiritual practice. Ultimately, They all expounded the Lotus Sutra. Before They gave the Lotus teachings, They all established skillful means to transform sentient beings, enabling beings to connect with the Dharma and realize the principles the Buddhas taught. They did so gradually, and in the end, They still had to initiate this opportunity when people’s capabilities had eventually matured. This was when They transformed Their teachings and “set aside the skillful for the direct.”

The present Buddha, Sakyamuni, did this. All past Buddhas, especially the 20,000 Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddhas also did the same. Thus, “the words of all Buddhas do not differ,”

and “in response to the Dharma expounded by Buddhas,” we “must give rise to great power of faith.” This “faith” is very important. When we encounter the Buddha’s Dharma, we must give rise to great faith, which gives rise to great powers. In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers place great emphasis on “faith.”

Now let us examine why we “must give rise to great power of faith” in the right path and practices to enlightenment. We must have faith in the correct principles.

In the past, I kept telling you about the Four Noble Truths. We begin by learning the truth of where suffering comes from, as well as its causation and cessation. We must know how the karmic law of cause and effect leads to the accumulation of suffering for sentient beings. Once we learn these teachings, we must quickly practice the methods to eliminate suffering. This requires practicing the path to the cessation of suffering. To walk the path, we must begin with the 37 Practices to Enlightenment.

Among these 37 Practices of Enlightenment are the three Fours, two Fives, a Seven and an Eight. The two Fives include the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers. So, we must believe in the teachings of the path and begin with the 37 Practices to Enlightenment.

In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, faith, diligence, thought, Samadhi and wisdom are the Five Spiritual Roots that develop [to create] the power of faith that obstructs all afflictions.

The 37 Practices to Enlightenment include the power of faith. If we can strengthen it, we can continuously grow our roots of goodness and root of faith. When wisdom grows, naturally it will overcome many afflictions, so none of the people and matters we encounter can arouse greed, anger or ignorance. We will see through and realize the impermanence of all things. Everything we encounter in our impermanent cyclic existence is filled with suffering.

When has suffering not existed in this world? We ordinary people are confused and do not realize that all we fight and strive for does not amount to anything in the end. This is impermanence and suffering. Even if we are really close to our families, in the end, we experience “the suffering of parting from those we love.” This is the suffering of human life.

We may always live comfortably. We may be part of a harmonious family and have good relationships with our friends and relatives. However, no one can remain together forever. Inevitably, people go their own ways or are separated by death. This is all suffering.

In summary, life is filled with suffering. We must immediately engage in spiritual practice and put in great effort. After we understand, naturally we will become indifferent to objects of desire in this world. Once they lose importance, we will gradually let go of our attachments. Therefore, this can “obstruct all afflictions;” we can quarantine ourselves from afflictions. We just need to keep things simple and accept conditions that arise. Then we will no longer give rise to conflicts or create negative karmic conditions.

So, when it comes to “faith, if the root of faith grows, it can obstruct all afflictions so we will not be moved by biased teachings or doubts.”

We may have bias toward Small Vehicle teachings. Small Vehicle practitioners only practice to awaken themselves. “I must quickly engage in spiritual practice to transcend cyclic existence first. I do not dare return to the Six Realms.” This is the stage. Small Vehicle practitioners remain at. So, they are still slightly doubtful of the Great Vehicle practice of going among people. “If I go among the people again, can I still attain liberation?” This is what Small Vehicle practitioners fear and doubt. So, “biased teachings and doubts” can cause minds to waver.

Therefore, we must grow our roots of faith. If we extend these roots and believe what the Buddha taught, we will eliminate everything, so we can be free from cyclic existence in the Six Realms. Even if we bravely go among people, naturally afflictions will no longer defile our minds. This will happen as long as we can eliminate all afflictions. So, we must have sufficient power of faith. Therefore, we must believe in the Buddha’s teachings. “With faith, vows, practice and realizations,”

“we connect with and penetrate the principles.” We must review the explanation of the Ten Suchnesses. Through these Ten Suchnesses, we can understand all kinds of phenomena in this world, all things in the universe and in our bodies. Once we understand this nature, naturally we will understand its embodiment and power, then the cause, condition, effect, retribution and ultimate [wholeness] from beginning to end. Everything that happens to ordinary people comes from the creation [of karma]. Spiritual cultivation is something we must aspire to practice. This is “the suchness of function.”

“The suchness of function” is cultivating blessed causes or creating negative karma. This happens from “the suchness of function.” So, we must connect with and penetrate principles. We must clearly understand these things. Therefore, we must treat the Dharma as our teacher. Everyone, please always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0223

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 223 – Give Rise to Great Power of Faith

>>”The Buddha speaks truly and honestly.
All He says comes from His Tathagata-garbha. He sets aside the provisional and
directly teaches the One Vehicle Dharma. He transcends faults and eliminates
wrongs to be pure and untainted.”

>>”Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not
differ. In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to
great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for
a long time, the true and real must be spoken.”

>> The words of the Buddhas: All Buddhas teach the Dharma from Their
Tathagata-garbha. All Buddhas teach in this way.

>> As for the Dharma expounded by the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra was the
only one that discussed the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which was personally
realized and attained by Buddhas.

>> One must give rise to great power of faith: Spiritual practitioners
cannot progress without the power of faith. By growing the root of faith, one
can destroy all evil beliefs.

“The Buddha speaks truly and honestly.
All He says comes from His Tathagata-garbha.
He sets aside the provisional and directly teaches the One Vehicle Dharma.
He transcends faults and eliminates wrongs to be pure and untainted.”

The Buddha is one who speaks the truth. He does not exaggerate or lie. Everything He says is True Dharma; He absolutely does not lie. He has always taught from His heart, His Tathagata-garbha.

Although He taught skillful means in the past, it was because He was teaching according to sentient beings’ dull capabilities. The Buddha really wished to speak [directly], but considering that they did not have the capability to accept it, He established skillful means for them. However, they were still true teachings given out of His compassion.

But now, what we are learning is something more important. Previously we were taught how to be good people, how to [apply] the Dharma in this world. This next section helps us by pointing directly to our hearts, so we can realize our nature. Now [the Buddha] wants to tell us about our very pure and clear nature, which is truly wondrous. Therefore, now He must set aside the skillful for the direct, which means He set aside provisional teachings, the skillful means. He hopes we can all instantly attain Buddhahood, understand the mind and realize our true nature. He wishes for nothing more than for us to already have His knowledge and views. In the past,

I have said that His knowledge and views were difficult to understand. Now, He wants to allow us to directly understand His understanding and views. For us to understand the Buddha’s wisdom, He now “teaches the One Vehicle Dharma” and no longer [divides them into] Three Vehicles. If we come together and board the ship of compassion, we can cross from this shore to the opposite one on this very big and stable ship. This is what the One Vehicle Dharma is like. Therefore, “He sets aside the provisional and directly teaches the One Vehicle Dharma.”

After completely understanding the Dharma that has been taught so far, we must “transcend faults and eliminate wrongs” and leave the past behind. We ordinary people have many afflictions, so the Buddha used various methods to help us gradually let go of these afflictions. We should clearly recognize our past transgressions and wrongdoings. Therefore, we must begin transcending faults and completely eliminating wrongdoings. Then we will not commit the same mistakes.

Thus, we will be “pure and untainted.” In the past, He taught various methods, but now He is returning to that which is singular and untainted. In the past, we said sentient beings have both good and evil [tendencies]; they have all kinds of habitual tendencies. Now, we tell sentient beings that they must let go of the negative ones and move toward the virtuous ones. When past afflictions and ignorance are eliminated, their minds will no longer be cluttered and will [return] to their pure nature. So, “He transcends faults and eliminates wrongs to be pure and untainted.” I hope that all of us can follow this example. Starting right now, we need to let go of our cluttered minds. As for the wrongs we have committed, we must immediately eliminate them.

Therefore, this passage in the sutra states,

“Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real must be spoken.”

Now, [the Buddha] was about to give completely focused and pure teachings. So, He called to Sariputra again. Indeed, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom among His disciples. Aside from listening to the Buddha’s teachings, he also shouldered another responsibility, which was traveling to transform sentient beings. Though he still practiced [self-awakening], he also had to pass on the Buddha’s teachings.

For a period of time, the Buddha was in the Kingdom of Varanasi. There were two men there who were originally very enthusiastic about the Buddha-Dharma. But gradually, their views on the Dharma became distorted. How did this problem arise? It turned out they were disciples taught by Sariputra. So, Sariputra taught them methods to help them focus their minds and cultivate their spiritual practice.

But these two men, even after quite some time, still could not thoroughly understand the true essence of the Dharma; their hearts were still confused and distracted. The Buddha immediately summoned them. After He asked about their lifestyle, He found out they had different jobs. One was an artisan specializing in gold ornaments, such as jeweled crowns and precious vessels. He created gold ornaments with skillful precision. The other’s work was related to weaving. Before anything could be woven, the raw material used for fabrics in the past, sisal hemp, had to be broken down and turned it into yarn, which was then washed. He was the person who spooled the yarn, so the sisal hemp could be woven into cloth.

Their jobs were completely different. Sariputra had taught the yarn spooler breath-counting meditation and taught the jewelry maker skeleton meditation, which did not suit the nature of their work. [Sariputra] did not give them teachings that suited them. Regarding their methods of spiritual practice, the Buddha told them, “You are using the wrong approach. There is nothing wrong with these teachings. They just do not suit the capabilities of these people.” So, he switched their methods.

Because breath-counting meditation suited a meticulous mind, the jewelry maker could use it to focus his mind. It was similar to the delicate methods he used to make gold ornaments, so this method of practice suited his work.

As for the yarn spooler, he started his work every day by cutting the sisal. This was a lot like field work, and there were many stages to this process. This was very hard work. Those who do physically demanding work should engage in skeleton meditation. While alive, people have physical strength, the strength of their body, but after they die, only a pile of bones remains. This [method] closely relates to the body and its strength and helps one understand what is left in the end, that all that remains is a pile of bones. After Buddha adjusted their methods of practice, they each went back and practiced diligently, attaining realizations of the Buddha-Dharma soon after.

The Buddha was mindful in matching the teaching to the capability. When this happened, the Buddha told everyone, “Even Sariputra, who is foremost in wisdom, when trying to teach according to capabilities, still makes errors. So, all of you must take the Dharma into your hearts very carefully.” The nature and habitual tendencies of sentient beings, their capabilities and practices, must be closely matched. [Creating this connection] takes wisdom.

The Buddha taught suitable skillful means, so there are wondrous provisional and wondrous true teachings. Even the skillful means came from His heart, His Tathagata-garbha. So, this is skillful wisdom, which contains wondrous provisional teachings that can be given according to capabilities. Sentient beings’ capabilities are too diverse, so He has devised many other methods to help us. This method is effective for some but ineffective for others. The principle is the same.

So, among the Buddha’s disciples, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom. The True Dharma of the One Vehicle the Buddha was about to teach was to help His disciples advance to the next level and return their minds to their [true] nature. The person this teaching suited was Sariputra, so the Buddha called to him again. “Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ.” By calling Sariputra, He was actually telling all His disciples to listen carefully.

The words of the Buddhas: All Buddhas teach the Dharma from Their Tathagata-garbha. All Buddhas teach in this way.

“The words of all Buddhas do not differ.” Sakyamuni Buddha and all the Buddhas He had drawn near to in the past, those countless, infinite Buddhas, all gave the same teachings. Past Buddhas taught what Sakyamuni Buddha was now teaching and what future Buddhas will also teach. They all expound the same Dharma; there is no difference.

As for the Dharma expounded by the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra was the only one that discussed the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which was personally realized and attained by Buddhas.

“In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas” and to what the Buddha was about to say, “one must give rise to great power of faith. Now I am about to speak, so everyone must give rise to the power of faith.” Not only must we believe, we also need strength. With the Root of Faith, we can go beyond limited capabilities and wisdom and develop great capabilities and wisdom. Nor can we have limited roots and powers; we must have great roots and powers. So, as for “faith,” we must have great faith and great power, great power of faith.

What was taught in the past was Dharma that was acceptable to beings of various capabilities. What is now taught can only be accepted by people with great capabilities.

One must give rise to great power of faith: Spiritual practitioners cannot progress without the power of faith. By growing the root of faith, one can destroy all evil beliefs.

So, we need to give rise to great power of faith. Thus, “one must give rise to great power of faith.”

Now that we believe in the Buddha’s teachings, we must give rise to faith, which gives rise to power. This is similar to the embodiment and power described in the Ten Suchnesses. Therefore, we must have faith.

“After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real must be spoken.” The Dharma of the World-Honored One, Sakyamuni Buddha, has [been in His mind] since He realized the true principles of all things in the universe over 40 years ago. He then taught for over 40 years, which was a very long time. In this world, that is considered a very long period of time. Now He had to begin teaching True Dharma. In the past, He taught skillful means. Now He pointed directly to our minds

so we can see our nature. In the past, He pointed out how our minds were filled with discursive thoughts and illusions. Now, He is not just targeting our discursive thoughts and delusions. He is doing more than that. Discursive thoughts and delusions, after so many years, have probably been slowly washed away. The defilements and ignorance in our minds have likely been gradually reduced. Now He wants to directly give true teachings, so we must exercise our great power of faith.

When we understand that “the words of Buddhas do not differ,” we know that “All Buddhas teach the Dharma from Their Tathagata-garbha. All Buddhas teach in this way.” Past Buddhas taught this and the present Buddhas teaches the same thing. This is because all Buddhas share the same path. We must clearly understand that past and present Buddhas do the same thing.

So now, we are in the era of the Lotus Sutra, when the only principles discussed are the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. From now on, we will discuss “the Dharma expounded by the Buddha” and what He wants to teach now, which are the principles of “the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle” because the Buddha is going to expound the Lotus Sutra. And in the Lotus Sutra He discusses “the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” The ultimate reality is not a manifestation of our minds; it is our nature. Our intrinsic Buddha-nature is the ultimate reality. This was realized by the Buddha Himself.

Over 40 years ago, He suddenly saw the morning star in the night sky, which awakened His wisdom and united Him with the universe. This Dharma is what He personally attained. So, “the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power of faith.” We must use our most sincere power of faith to accept the principles of the One Vehicle taught in the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, we must contemplate what kind of great power of faith we should use to receive the teachings that point directly to our minds so that we can see our nature. Thus, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0222

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 222 – Eliminate Afflictions to Be Flawless

>> “The Buddha-mind is vast. His boundless
mind encompasses the universe. His compassion, wisdom and Dharma-essence
nurture the wisdom-life of sentient beings.”

>> “Suppose that non-retreating Bodhisattvas, who numbered as many
as the Ganges’ sands, wholeheartedly sought that wisdom together; they also
would not understand it.”

>> “And what is more, Sariputra, that flawless, inconceivable,
extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is what I have perfectly
obtained. And I alone know its nature, as do all Buddhas of the ten
directions.”

>> Leak is another name for affliction. Afflictions such as greed and
anger [arise] day and night from the six senses, such as eyes, ears and so on,
and [wisdom] leaks out continuously without pause.

>> Next, afflictions will cause us to fall into the Three Evil Realms.
This is also considered a “leak.”

>> Methods for transcending afflictions are called the Flawless Studies.

>> Inconceivable: surpassing our conceptions and language, subtle,
wondrous and extremely profound, it arises from spiritual cultivation and
awakening. It is not something that can be described with the words of this
world. It is said that a Tathagata’s understanding and views can perfectly
accomplish all things and are replete with all Dharma. Hearers,
Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas could not understand the slightest bit.
Therefore, it is inconceivable.

>> Extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is the most supreme
Dharma. Because it is inconceivable, it is called subtle and wondrous Dharma.
With this wondrous Dharma, He helps all beings.

>> He told Sariputra, this “flawless and inconceivable extremely
profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is what I have perfectly obtained.”
Because the Buddha had already attained all Dharma, He “alone knew its
nature, as do all Buddhas of the ten directions.”

“The Buddha-mind is vast.
His boundless mind encompasses the universe.
His compassion, wisdom and Dharma-essence
nurture the wisdom-life of sentient beings.”

Everyone, the Buddha’s original intent is vast, boundless and endless. Because of His compassion and wisdom, “His boundless mind encompasses the universe.” His mind can encompass the universe and embrace everything. Thus, He uses His compassion and wisdom to nurture the wisdom-life of sentient beings. He hopes to transform His wisdom into an essence that nourishes the wisdom-life of sentient beings.

Fellow Bodhisattvas, we must put our hearts into comprehending the Buddha’s compassion and original intent. Only then can we realize how His wisdom converges with the universe. Only then can we sentient beings experience that innate enlightenment of the Buddha’s mind.

So, where do we start looking for the Dharma? Our daily living is inseparable from the Dharma, and our hearts intrinsically have Buddha-nature. If we can put our hearts into realizing the Buddha’s mind and intention, how vast and boundless it is, our minds can mirror His mind. Then our minds can also be broad. If we can open up our mind, it can be spacious enough to embrace everything. We can do this, too, not just the Buddha.

We need to realize that the Dharma-essence of the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom is nurturing us. Our minds are equal to the Buddha’s mind, thus we can accept His Dharma-essence and use it to nourish ourselves. If we do not have faith, then our minds will always be very distant from the Buddha-mind. We must believe that our minds and the Buddha-mind are in sync, are very close. Only then can we be nourished by the Dharma-essence and grow our wisdom-life. This is something we must all believe.

So, previously I kept talking about the Buddha’s understanding and views and the wisdom and wondrous Dharma He realized. But most people have not quite reached [this state]. Everyone from Sariputra and. Pratyekabuddhas to newly-inspired Bodhisattvas are constantly drawing near to His wisdom, but they still cannot thoroughly understand it. So, the previous verse states,

“Suppose that non-retreating Bodhisattvas, who numbered as many as the Ganges’ sands, wholeheartedly sought that wisdom together; they also would not understand it.”

This passage of the sutra is something we must understand even more clearly. Level by level, section by section, He drew these comparisons for us. The noble beings of the Three Vehicles cannot even equal the Buddha’s wisdom, much less us ordinary people. Therefore, we still need to work hard.

The following verses state,

“And what is more, Sariputra, that flawless, inconceivable, extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is what I have perfectly obtained. And I alone know its nature, as do all Buddhas of the ten directions.”

The Buddha, once again, called to Sariputra and talked to him about “flawless and inconceivable.” What does it mean to be flawless, without Leaks?

Another name for affliction is Leak.

Leak is another name for affliction. Afflictions such as greed and anger [arise] day and night from the six senses, such as eyes, ears and so on, and [wisdom] leaks out continuously without pause.

Afflictions allow our [wisdom] to constantly leak out, so we lose our pure intrinsic nature and our original wisdom, which were equal to Buddhas.’ This leads to more afflictions and ignorance. Therefore, we constantly lose [wisdom and purity].

Isn’t this the way life works? Beginning the moment we are born, the habitual tendencies brought from past lives will influence our original pure, intrinsic nature. In our past lives, we have already been permeated by them, so we have brought these causes, conditions and defiled nature into this lifetime.

Though [these tendencies] already permeate us, after we are born to this family, as we grow up and encounter things our natures continue to be influenced. In this lifetime, we bring our past habitual tendencies and are influenced by our present ones. Therefore, our afflictions continuously grow, and our pure intrinsic nature is covered by yet another layer of ignorance. So, our intrinsic nature is pure, and our wisdom is illuminating, but they have been covered by by layers of afflictions. And as our wisdom is covered, it also slowly leaks out.

Thus, our karma increases each year. Every day, thoughts arise and negative thoughts keep accumulating. Think about it, aren’t these afflictions causing our wisdom to leak out? Even the knowledge and physical strength we gained in this lifetime will leak away as we age, let alone what we have accumulated in lifetimes since Beginningless Time. How many afflictions do we actually have covering our minds?

As afflictions and ignorance have caused us to lose much of the radiance of our wisdom, these Leaks are indeed the most poisonous to our wisdom-life. They are the afflictions of greed, anger, ignorance. Day and night, things leak out from the six senses, from our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. When our eyes see something, greed arises. Whether our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind comes in contact with the six sense objects, the door to the mind, which is our consciousness, our eye-, ear-, mind-consciousness and so on, will be opened. When we open this door, our wisdom leaks out.

Whenever we grow in greed, we diminish in wisdom. So, our wisdom flows out through the six senses. It “flows out continuously without pause.” Every day, our wisdom keeps leaking out.

Yesterday, we discussed the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas, from the ground of joy to the ground of blazing wisdom to the ground of Dharma-cloud, which is so beautiful and brilliant. If we do not aspire to practice, our wisdom cannot be radiant or illuminating.

Next, afflictions will cause us to fall into the Three Evil Realms. This is also considered a “leak.”

Leaks also lead to falling. These afflictions will cause our wisdom to keep leaking out until, in the end, we are filled with afflictions, so we create much bad karma. With this bad karma, we cannot help but fall into the Three Evil Realms. This is what happens with Leaks.

Methods for transcending afflictions are called the Flawless Studies.

If we can immediately eliminate afflictions then we can be considered “without Leaks.” So, to eliminate afflictions, we have to work very hard to reach the state of

being “flawless and inconceivable.” We must know that the Buddha’s wisdom cannot be understood by ordinary people. Even Bodhisattvas at the tenth ground still have the slightest afflictions, so they still cannot yet stay in contact with the Buddha-mind. There is still some distance. So, [His wisdom] is “inconceivable.”

To be “flawless” means to be very pure. We must practice this wondrous Dharma in the hopes of reaching a “flawless” state, so when wisdom enters our hearts, we will not allow it to leak out. All kinds of subtle and wondrous Dharma are in our hearts. We must keep it there, not let it leak out. This is a very inconceivable matter.

Inconceivable means it is beyond conception and language.

Inconceivable: surpassing our conceptions and language, subtle, wondrous and extremely profound, it arises from spiritual cultivation and awakening. It is not something that can be described with the words of this world. It is said that a Tathagata’s understanding and views can perfectly accomplish all things and are replete with all Dharma. Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas could not understand the slightest bit. Therefore, it is inconceivable.

When we are in the Six Unenlightened Realms, we definitely cannot realize [His wisdom]. The inconceivable thing the Buddha realized was the understanding and views. He attained upon enlightenment. For us ordinary people in the Six Realms, we are fundamentally very far away from that state. Even if beings in the other noble realms, Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, make the effort to contemplate this together, after they gather to ponder it and try to express it in words, they still find it very difficult. Since this surpasses our conception, we just keep looking for it.

In fact, where should we look? “There is no need to go far to seek the Buddha on Vulture Peak.” But though all of us are trying to return to our intrinsic nature, we still do not know how. So, we keep looking outwards. This surpasses our conception, so we look around us for words [to explain it]. But we still cannot comprehend it. Thus, [the Dharma] is “subtle and wondrous.” It is extremely profound, so we must cultivate it internally. We cannot look for it outside of ourselves. We all need to cultivate our minds, so we can attain this fruit and fully comprehend all these karmic causes. Only then we can attain this fruition.

“It is not something that can be described with the words of this world.” So, when we try to describe it, we have to speak for a long time. What do we compare it to? Something very simple. We cannot just look outside. More importantly, we must reflect on our nature. Because the Buddha contemplated His self-nature, He realized the truths of all things in the universe. This also means that a Tathagata’s understanding and views can perfectly accomplish all things.

Tathagata refers to Sakyamuni Buddha. Since the distant past, He has drawn near countless Buddhas. He spent a very long time continuously searching [for the truth]. In the end, He still had to engage in self-reflection. Then He became perfect, inside and out. This is what it means to “perfectly accomplish all things.” The Buddha’s understanding and views can perfectly accomplish all things and “are replete with all Dharma.” When it comes to this perfect enlightenment, Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas definitely cannot fathom it, even slightly.

This is like how, at the tenth ground of Bodhisattvas, there are still traces of Dharma-clouds. There are none in the Buddha’s state at all. In the Buddha’s state, there is not even the slightest wisp of a cloud; it is already bright and clear. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. This is His understanding and views. Thus, this is the most extremely profound subtle and wondrous Dharma. This wondrous Dharma is “the most supreme Dharma because it is inconceivable.” So, the Buddha’s wisdom is “subtle and wondrous Dharma.”

Extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is the most supreme Dharma. Because it is inconceivable, it is called subtle and wondrous Dharma. With this wondrous Dharma, He helps all beings.

With His wisdom, He had already fully understood the nature of all things in the universe. Thus, this can be called subtle and wondrous. This Dharma was already extremely profound, subtle and wondrous. So, He utilized that wondrous Dharma to help all living beings. He used His wisdom and thinking to extensively help sentient beings. Let us think about this. When such subtle and wondrous Dharma is used to extensively help sentient beings, do they comprehend it? Indeed, the Buddha’s Dharma, for us ordinary sentient beings, is truly difficult to conceive.

Therefore, in this passage of the sutra,

He told Sariputra, this “flawless and inconceivable extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma is what I have perfectly obtained.” Because the Buddha had already attained all Dharma, He “alone knew its nature, as do all Buddhas of the ten directions.”

“I alone know its nature,” this “nature” refers to the Ten Suchnesses we discussed earlier. He completely, thoroughly understood them, “as do all Buddhas of the ten directions.” Only Buddhas of the ten directions can comprehend them,

because the Buddha’s mind is so vast that it can encompass the universe. This was the Buddha’s original intent, to show us that we can have a mind as broad as His. So, we must enter this door. The Buddha has already opened up His mind to [show us] the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which has been stored in there. He opened His mind for us to mindfully enter. Therefore, we must be mindful and not just search outwardly. Very importantly, we must reflect on our nature to see if our minds are also as vast as His. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0221

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 2

Episode 221 – Wear the Armor of Diligence

>> “Rely on the Dharma as a teacher in
everything. Draw near and abide in the Dharma. Remember to be mindful of the
Buddha’s teachings. Draw near and diligently practice unsurpassed Dharma.”

>> “Suppose that non-retreating Bodhisattvas, who numbered as many
as the Ganges’ sands, wholeheartedly sought that wisdom together, they also
would not understand it.”

>> Non-retreating Bodhisattvas: Even those who have reached the tenth
ground find it difficult to fathom the Buddha’s wisdom. If among those who
reached the Tenth Ground, there are some who have not ended all Leaks, they
also would not understand it.

>> The Bodhisattvas’ Ten Grounds: The ground of joy, the ground of
freedom from defilement, the ground of radiating light, the ground of blazing
wisdom, the ground of overcoming difficulties, the ground of manifestation, the
ground of far-reaching practice, the ground of stillness, the ground of
excellent wisdom and the ground of Dharma-cloud.

>> “Bodhisattvas who have reached the tenth ground still have traces
of Leaks and delusions of thinking.”

“Rely on the Dharma as a teacher in everything.
Draw near and abide in the Dharma.
Remember to be mindful of the Buddha’s teachings.
Draw near and diligently practice unsurpassed Dharma.”

This tells us that we must rely on the Dharma as our teacher. In our daily living, [as we face] the laws of nature, we must rely on the Dharma as our teacher.

The laws of nature are also Dharma. Whether there is heavy wind or rain, or intensely cold weather, we must be grateful. These are the laws of nature. No matter how much wind there is, we must always be grateful. After it passes and we are safe, we feel grateful. When we hear the rain, we must also feel grateful because rain is water, which, for the world around us and for our bodies, is the source of life. What would happen to the world, to the mountains, rivers and land, if there was no water? So, when we hear the rain, we must be grateful to rainwater for nourishing sentient beings. When things happen according to natural laws, we must give rise to a sense of gratitude.

Think about when the sun is out. The sun illuminates everything, but in the summertime, it can be very hot. Even so, we should still be grateful to the sunlight it provides to all things in the world. The sun[light] can even disinfect things so that all living things in the universe can be healthy. So, we must also be grateful for this.

Every day, we need to be grateful for each of the four elements. The law of nature is our teacher and helps us live in safety and with gratitude. All this is encompassed in “relying on the Dharma as a teacher.” Phenomena in nature are constantly teaching us.

From morning until nighttime we must be self-aware every day. Time just keeps passing; it is impermanent and never stops. We cannot capture any moment in time, nor abide in it forever. The seconds keep flowing by. Thus, this heightens our vigilance to make good use of our time by staying close to the Dharma, so that our wisdom-life can develop. This is what we must rely on. Our minds must abide in the Dharma [because] our wisdom-life is reliant on the Buddha’s wisdom. We rely on the Dharma to grow our wisdom-life, so our wisdom-life must abide in the Dharma. Thus, we “draw close to and abide in the Dharma.”

“Remember to be mindful of the Buddha’s teachings.” We must be mindful with every thought. That means, with our every thought, we must “remember” it and keep it in our minds. After listening to the Dharma, we cannot just let it pass and forget it. That is not the way. After we listen to the Dharma, we must take it into our minds and always remember it. Other things, such as interpersonal disputes, can be quickly forgotten. The Dharma is something we must definitely remember. It must stay within our minds so that we will never forget the Buddha’s teachings.

During our time in this world, we can draw near the Buddha-Dharma to help us understand “This body is a Buddha.” In this lifetime, in these physical bodies, in our minds, we already intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We must really draw near to it. The Three Treasures of our nature are found in our bodies, minds and daily living. Therefore, we must be diligent and focused. This is the unsurpassed Dharma.

Thus, in our daily living, we must rely on the Dharma as our teacher. No matter what kind of circumstances we are in, we always need to, with utmost reverence, contemplate all things in the world and the Dharma that is hidden within them. If we can thoroughly understand them, inside and out, we will be like the Buddha, who, after attaining enlightenment, could assemble the true principles of all things in the universe within His mind. Indeed, we are just like Him. If we are always mindful, the truth of all things in the universe can also be collected in our minds.

This is why I kept saying earlier that the Buddha is constantly reminding us. He also encourages us to be diligent. Even if those with the wisdom of. Sariputra, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas, came together to try to understand the Buddha, they would only know the least bit of His wisdom. Actually, probably even less than that. This is also to encourage us. Even Sariputra, Pratyekabuddhas and newly-inspired Bodhisattvas could not accomplish this. However, we must not retreat from our spiritual aspiration for this reason. We must know we intrinsically possess Buddha-nature. We must believe that we can draw near to our own enlightened Buddha-nature equal to the Buddha’s. So, we cannot give up. This is also an encouragement for us.

As the next passage of the sutra says,

“Suppose that non-retreating Bodhisattvas, who numbered as many as the Ganges’ sands, wholeheartedly sought that wisdom together, they also would not understand it.”

There are many “non-retreating Bodhisattvas.” If they all pooled their minds to contemplate and seek the Buddha’s knowledge and views, they still would not understand it.

What are “non-retreating Bodhisattvas”? Those are Bodhisattvas of the tenth ground. Bodhisattvas [progress through] the Ten Grounds. Even those who have reached the tenth ground would not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.

Non-retreating Bodhisattvas: Even those who have reached the tenth ground find it difficult to fathom the Buddha’s wisdom. If among those who reached the Tenth Ground, there are some who have not ended all Leaks, they also would not understand it.

They have advanced from the first ground to the tenth ground without retreating. Yet, these Bodhisattvas still have the slightest Leaks. So, there remains a bit they cannot understand.

The Bodhisattvas’ Ten Grounds: The ground of joy, the ground of freedom from defilement, the ground of radiating light, the ground of blazing wisdom, the ground of overcoming difficulties, the ground of manifestation, the ground of far-reaching practice, the ground of stillness, the ground of excellent wisdom and the ground of Dharma-cloud.

What are the Ten Grounds? The first is “the ground of joy.” When we form aspirations and make vows, or after we have listened to teachings, thoughts of joy arise in our minds. We need this joy to develop aspirations and create more blessings with our existing blessings. We must create more good affinities and plant more good causes. So, in this lifetime, we must promptly understand causes, conditions, effects and retributions. Such Dharma helps us when we live in the Four Noble and Six Unenlightened Realms, so that we will remain cautious and safeguard our minds well. Thus, we will not fall into the Six Unenlightened Realms again but will go toward the Four Noble Realms.

Next is “the ground of freedom from defilement.” Again and again, we ordinary people easily form aspirations but find it difficult to persevere. Because we had one ignorant thought, afflictions obscure our minds. We have a tendency to become afflicted. When we become joyful, we know to do good deeds and take advantage of good karmic conditions. But while forming this aspiration is easy, it is also easy for things in our external conditions to shake up our spiritual aspirations so that we stop advancing on the Bodhisattva-path. This is because there are still defilements and afflictions in our minds.

On this ground, we must constantly be vigilant. As we do good deeds, we willingly help others. But we must always be vigilant of people and matters and interpersonal disputes so that we do not allow them to disturb our practice of the Bodhisattva-path. We must stay away from these disputes. So, we call this, “the ground of freedom from defilement.”

Third is “the ground of radiating light.” Our ignorance obscures our minds. If we can remove this ignorance, when our minds are pure, naturally our wisdom will manifest. This is “the ground of radiating light.” We can use our external conditions to reflect on and illuminate ourselves. So, we must rely on the Dharma as our teacher, regardless of whether our surroundings are conditioned or unconditioned. Unconditioned phenomena are natural. Conditioned phenomena are manmade. Whether something is conditioned or unconditioned, on this ground we can remove ourselves from it. Then naturally our wisdom-life will continuously grow.

Indeed, when we clearly separate ourselves from interpersonal disputes, we will remain firm in our spiritual aspirations. If we can discern right from wrong, we are at “the ground of radiating light.”

When there is no darkness in our minds and ignorance has no influence on us, we are at “the ground of radiating light.” Next is the “ground of blazing wisdom.” Beyond just radiating light, [at this stage] it is even brighter. It can help us see the path ahead, so we can keep moving forward. Actually, this path is very broad, and when we form Bodhisattva-aspirations, many people will instantly respond, so together, we can do countless good deeds. When we practice the virtuous Dharma and move forward with body and mind illuminated, we are on “the ground of blazing wisdom.” This light does not just illuminate us, it also illuminates others. If we clearly know our minds, we can guide others. We can be like a lamp that shines inwards and also radiates outwards. This is “the ground of blazing wisdom.”

“The ground of overcoming difficulties” is where we practice what is difficult to practice. Being a Bodhisattva is not that easy. We must overcome many difficulties and achieve our missions. Whatever difficult or negative things there are in our external conditions, we use our steadfast mind against their pull. By exerting more strength, we can win. This is “the ground of overcoming difficulties.” When we overcome difficulties, we are victorious. This is the mindset we must have as we engage in spiritual practice.

The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters states that spiritual practice is like putting on battle armor to enter the battlefield. Our minds are constantly at war with evil and deviant thoughts. Thus, before the Buddha attained enlightenment, He had to vanquish an army of maras. This is the same thing. Thus, on “the ground of overcoming difficulties” we must overcome all difficulties and practice what is difficult to practice.

The sixth of the Ten Grounds is “the ground of manifestation.” After we have overcome difficulties, the road becomes smooth. Then comes “the ground of far-reaching practice.” Since the road is smooth, we must pick up the pace as we walk forward. Once we aim ourselves in the right direction, we must be diligent. As we walk the path, we must not be influenced by the scenery. So, we cannot be lax. We must unwaveringly and diligently move forward. Our spiritual aspirations must not waver, and no matter how difficult things get, we must remain unshaken and overcome them.

Next is the ninth ground, “the ground of excellent wisdom.” We must cultivate blessings and wisdom. Doing good deeds brings blessings. When we earnestly do good deeds, we create blessings for the world. [We also have to cultivate] wisdom. When Bodhisattvas are replete with both blessings and wisdom, they are on “the ground of excellent wisdom.”

Next is “the ground of Dharma-cloud.” When we reach “the ground of Dharma-cloud,” there are no hindrances in our surroundings. If we walk through the cloud, we can pass through it unhindered. But as I just said, even Bodhisattvas on the tenth ground still have a little bit of ignorance. Because a little bit remains, that is also like being covered by a cloud. Though we may walk in it without hindrances, we still cannot see through it to know the color of the sky behind it. Is it blue or gray or some other color? So, there still remains the slightest bit [of ignorance]. Thus, it is said,

“Bodhisattvas who have reached the tenth ground still have traces of Leaks and delusions of thinking.”

They still have slight Leaks and delusions of thinking. They still have delusions of views and thinking. Bodhisattvas have overcome everything, but there are still slight obstacles in their thinking that they have not completely penetrated. This is what non-retreating Bodhisattvas are like. Numbering as many as the sands of the Ganges, they “wholeheartedly sought that wisdom together,” but “they also could not understand it.” This means they are still slightly [obscured].

They want to go from the. Bodhisattva realm in the Four Noble Realms to the Buddha’s realm but still have a slight bit of delusion in thinking. Thus, we must be mindful, form aspirations and contemplate the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas. Since we have formed aspirations, we must advance diligently. After overcoming all difficulties, we can walk the great Bodhi-path in peace, without being affected by challenges. Thus, we cultivate both blessings and wisdom. Even if we reach “the ground of Dharma-cloud,” there are still wisps of fog. Yet, we know that we are slowly getting closer to [our goal]. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0220

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 2

Episode 220 – With Mindful Understanding, Wisdom Appears

>> “Spiritual practice can only be
comprehended by the mind. We must faithfully accept and practice the teachings.
The source of the path is inherently in our minds. Upon awakening, wisdom will
gush forth.”

>> “Wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom, over kalpas as numerous as
the Ganges’ sands, [they] contemplated it together, yet could not fathom the
Buddha’s wisdom.”

>> This term “wholeheartedly” is about one mind. The mind is
replete with the Ten Dharma-realms. [It contains] Buddha-wisdom and is
inconceivable and incomparable.

“Spiritual practice can only be comprehended by the mind.
We must faithfully accept and practice the teachings.
The source of the path is inherently in our minds.
Upon awakening, wisdom will gush forth.”

Everyone, don’t we engage in spiritual practice to reach an awakening? We want to awaken to the principles the Buddha realized. Recently, I have been talking about the mind. With our minds, we can reflect on our self-nature to find our intrinsic Buddha-nature. Only with the mind can we truly comprehend it. If we do not put our hearts into attaining realizations, we cannot truly achieve an awakened state. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Of course, we must begin by “faithfully accepting and practicing teachings.” At the end of every sutra, after the Buddha finished teaching, everyone “faithfully accepted and practiced.” We must have faith in the Buddha’s teachings. “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” Before our minds can give rise to the enlightened Bodhi-path, we must first have faith. This is similar to asking for directions. Once we ask, someone who has walked the path will direct us to the way that will take us to our destination. Similarly, we must have faith. If we do not have faith, we will end up on a side road. Then the farther we go, the more off-track we are, the more lost we become. So, we must have faith in the person who guides us. Therefore, we must “faithfully practice and accept the teachings.”

“The source of the path is inherently in our minds.” Where is the path we are truly seeking? It was originally in our minds. But we unenlightened beings have confused our minds. With one ignorant thought, afflictions arose. Then greed, anger and ignorance gave rise to many afflictions, which caused the inherent path to awakening in our minds to become indistinct, so we do not know where it is. Therefore, we must now return to our intrinsic nature. To return to our intrinsic nature, we need a method to do so. That is why we engage in spiritual practice.

If we faithfully accept and practice teachings, we can return to the source of the Way, to our intrinsic nature. Then “upon awakening, wisdom will gush forth.” If we can awaken, wisdom will gush forth like a spring. Then everything in the world, all people, matters, objects or principles, will be clear to us. We will understand everything. But now we are lost and not self-aware, so we need to really put our hearts into and spend a lot of time on listening, contemplating and practicing teachings. After we listen, we must really contemplate. If we [determine] that it is a true principle, a path, then we must practice it. This is called listening, contemplating and practicing.

Earlier, we already discussed this verse.

“Wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom, over kalpas as numerous as the Ganges’ sands, [they] contemplated it together, yet could not fathom the Buddha’s wisdom.”

How can we understand the Buddha’s wisdom? His wisdom is innate. It has always existed in His mind. After He attained enlightenment, He immediately revealed it to everyone. But when He gave teachings in that state of mind, it seemed like heavenly beings could not comprehend Him at all. This is because heaven is still among the Six Unenlightened Realms. So, they are still a ways from the purity and clarity needed to realize the Buddha-nature.

At that time, Sakyamuni Buddha thought that if even heavenly beings could not understand Him, then how could He share this state of mind with all sentient beings to guide them? So, He felt a bit dismayed. Then among them there was a heavenly lord from Brahma Heaven who sensed that the Buddha’s mind was very pure and undefiled, like a great perfect mirror that illuminated external conditions. This heavenly lord thought to himself, “It is so rare for someone to attain Buddhahood in this world; I will take joy in it and encourage Him.” He appeared and paid obeisance before Him, gave respectful and joyful encouragement.

At this moment, all Buddhas of the ten directions also appeared. These countless Buddhas from all directions of the world manifested around Sakyamuni Buddha to console Him as well. In the sutras, there is also a passage about this.

Therefore, when the Buddha first attained enlightenment, His enlightened state of mind was vast and endless. The Dharma He taught in this universe was indeed very deep and extremely profound. It cannot be thought of nor conceived. We unenlightened beings cannot truly realize the Buddha’s state of mind. We can spend a long time discussing how. His mind is as vast as the universe, endless and boundless. When we hear about a mind this broad, we can only say, “Yes, I’ve heard about it.” But what was the Buddha’s feeling at that time?

kept saying that at that time, the Buddha was feeling this way. If you ask me, “Master, how would you describe the Buddha’s state of mind after He had attained enlightenment?” I can only tell you, “I don’t know either.” Whenever I discuss this passage in the sutras, I also feel very open and joyous, very clear and radiant. That is how I feel.

But as for this feeling, if you were then to ask me, “Master, do you feel this way throughout the day?” I would have to tell you, “I do not.” After I finish discussing it, many worldly worries resurface. I hear things about some places, or that some place needs to discuss something. There is so much of this. We need to know how to build on the past and how to plan for the future, as well as how to deal with things right now. Whether we talk about past, present or future, we give rise to discursive thoughts and worries. These are worries, not afflictions, but they still appear in our minds.

So, we must thoroughly understand the spiritual state of all Buddhas. We can hear one teaching and realize 1000 things. We can, as I often say, “Seize the present and sustain it forever.” I often tell all of you, “Seize the present and sustain it forever.” Now that we have realized this mindset, we must forever remain in this spiritual state. Although I tell you this, are we truly able to sustain the mindset of that moment, the state of great perfect mirror wisdom, which is always very pure, bright and clear? This is truly very difficult.

So, once ignorance arises, it covers this mirror in our minds. This is why we unenlightened beings suffer. We suffer because we cannot remain pure nor keep the mirror in our minds clear and bright. This is what we must work on. We cannot always be constantly hindered by ignorance. We must cultivate ourselves. Our ignorance comes from habitual tendencies. Our habitual tendencies follow us in our present circumstances. Therefore, the way we habitually react to people, matters and objects constantly obscures our minds. Indeed, our minds were intrinsically pure, so we must strive to eliminate our habitual tendencies to constantly reduce the afflictions of this world. So, in Buddhism we always say, “Let it go.” We learn how to let go in order to we can reduce [our afflictions].

Therefore, the only method of spiritual practice is to use our minds to experience and understand these principles. That is the only way.

As I have been constantly saying, whether we gather ordinary Hearers or those with the wisdom of Sariputra, even if their collective wisdom was pooled, they still would not be able to understand the Buddha’s state of mind. Even if those who are wiser than Hearers, such as Pratyekabuddhas, the Solitary Realizers, even if the wisdom of as many people as there are stalks of rice, hemp, bamboo and reeds were pooled together and focused, it would still be impossible to realize.

Earlier, I spoke of newly-inspired Bodhisattvas. These Bodhisattvas now know that they must draw near to the Buddha’s mind. As they draw near to Him, they know to awaken themselves and others, to save themselves and others. They have formed Bodhisattva-aspirations, [but comprehension was not possible] even if their minds were combined “wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom.” These are hearts of newly-inspired Bodhisattvas. They “wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom” awakened themselves and others. “Over kalpas as numerous as the Ganges’ sands,” over such a long period of time, “[they] contemplated it together, yet could not fathom the Buddha’s wisdom.” To understand the Buddha’s state of mind and wisdom, they still have quite a ways to go.

So, we must seek that mindset.

This term “wholeheartedly” is about one mind. The mind is replete with the Ten Dharma-realms. [It contains] Buddha-wisdom and is inconceivable and incomparable.

Each of our minds is “replete with the Ten Dharma-realms.” Previously, I have discussed this. Do you all remember the Ten Dharma-realms? The Six Unenlightened and Four Noble Realms all exist in our minds. If we have faith, our minds can pervade the Ten Dharma-realms. Therefore, if we do not take care of our minds, we will fall into the Six Unenlightened Realms.

There, if we practice the Ten Good Deeds, we ascend to heaven realm; if we uphold the Five Precepts, we remain in the human realm. If an evil thought arises, we face painful retributions in the Three Evil Realms the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. If we do not change our habitual tendencies, we will be in the asura realm. These are the Six Unenlightened Realms. We cannot control where we end up; our karmic retribution determines how we cycle through the Six Realms.

The Buddha came to this world to “open and reveal” [the Dharma] for us, to help us achieve understanding, step by step, and “realize and enter” it. There are Four Noble Realms, Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas start by [eliminating] fragmentary samsara and continue practicing until they [eliminate] transformational samsara and achieve complete transcendence. Then they will truly be the same as Buddhas.

So right now, our minds are in the Ten Dharma-realms. We need to be diligent, so we can transcend the Six Unenlightened Realms and enter the stage of the Four Noble Realms. This is what we must strive for.

Not only has the Buddha already transcended the Six Unenlightened Realms, among the Four Noble Realms He has supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment. When we try to use our unenlightened minds to realize the state of Buddhahood, we find it inconceivable. So, “Buddha-wisdom is inconceivable and incomparable.” How can it be revealed to everyone?

Earlier the sutra text said, “the Dharma cannot be demonstrated.” We can only try to describe the appearance of the Dharma; there is no object we can take out to show. In short, when we learn the Buddha’s teachings, it is very important to put our hearts into realizing [the Dharma]. Only by doing so can we faithfully accept and practice the teachings and diligently make progress.

Indeed, the source of the path is inherently in our minds. Where do we go to find it? “There is no need to seek the Buddha on Vulture Peak; Vulture Peak is already in our own minds. In each person there is a stupa on Vulture Peak. We can practice at the foot of that stupa.” I often remind you that. “The source of the path is inherently in our minds. Upon awakening, wisdom will gush forth.” If we can become awakened, wisdom will gush forth like a spring, and we will never be obstructed by anything. Then we can wholeheartedly try to thoroughly understand the Buddha’s wisdom. Of course, we are still far away from it. As I always say, we must be mindful and diligent.

Ch02-ep0219

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 2

Episode 219 – Returning to Our Self-nature

>> The most valuable thing in learning the
Buddha’s teachings is “cultivating self-awakening. Through the two feet of
blessings and wisdom, we all achieve [realization] together.” We must
“ponder more teachings and contemplate our self-nature. With a broad and
pure heart, we return to True Suchness.”

>> “Newly-inspired Bodhisattvas, who have made offerings to
countless Buddhas, clearly understand the paths to truth and are able to
skillfully expound the Dharma, number as many as the rice, hemp, bamboo and
reed [plants], filling the ksetras in the ten directions.”

>> To clearly understand the paths to truth is to thoroughly penetrate
and realize the principles of all matters. When we penetrate the teachings of
the path, the mind and conditions are one. The clear understanding of all
Dharma is where the paths to truth will lead us.

>> So, “wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom, over kalpas as numerous
as the Ganges’ sands, [they] contemplated it together, yet could not understand
the Buddha’s wisdom.”

The most valuable thing in learning the Buddha’s teachings is
“cultivating self-awakening. Through the two feet of blessings and wisdom,
we all achieve [realization] together.”
We must
“ponder more teachings and contemplate our self-nature.
With a broad and pure heart, we return to True Suchness.”

Is this not the direction we seek?

Learning the Buddha’s teachings takes hard work. This is the course of spiritual practice that we value the most. So, we must internally cultivate self-awakening and really contemplate our self-nature.

Every day, we listen. We hear the sounds in our surroundings. We chant the sutras and prostrate to the Buddha. When we listen to the sounds around us, aren’t we listening to the sounds of the Dharma? When we sit in stillness, we can hear the sounds of the birds speaking to one another. Perhaps they are also gathering to expound the Dharma. What is the sound that we hear now? What kind of bird is this? We cannot tell. But because the Buddha is in our pure hearts, we can also seemingly hear them give teachings.

This is a sound we hear every day, so [their] teachings have entered our minds. We also hear the sounds of all things in the world. In the early morning, we prepare for the day’s work. Over the course of a day’s work, what kind of sounds do we hear? We hear people’s words with our ears and listen to them with our minds. When we see people’s expressions and actions, we also comprehend them with our minds. We hear through our ears and see through our eyes. In our minds, we think about what happened yesterday, the day before yesterday, in the past, a long time ago. We also think about the future and the things we want to pursue. These discursive thoughts and feelings are experienced throughout the day.

Perhaps, as we hear and see, discursive thoughts arise at that same moment. This is the way we ordinary people live. We allow our minds to be tempted and moved by our external conditions. We even allow discursive thoughts to obscure our minds. This is how the minds of ordinary people work.

Since we are learning the Buddha’s teachings, we must cultivate both blessings and wisdom. We must [do good deeds]. Every day when we do things, we must make benefiting others our priority. We must ask ourselves, “What am I cultivating? Am I working for my own benefit or for the benefit of others?” We must think this through. In this lifetime, at this moment, do we choose to spend time on ourselves or to extensively benefit others?

Of course, right now we are constantly talking about the Small and Great Vehicles. In the past, to help people’s minds first accept the teachings, the Buddha started with Small Vehicle methods. He first taught them to comprehend suffering, emptiness, impermanence and no-self. These were the principles that. He wanted people to understand first. Then, He kept guiding them toward this broad, enlightened path, which will take them to the Buddha’s enlightened state.

Even though we may have started with. Small Vehicle teachings, we must internally cultivate self-awakening. To move forward step by step, we know we need to cultivate both blessings and wisdom. This is just like walking with our feet. With one foot, we take one step toward blessings; with the other, we take one step toward wisdom. Therefore, we must cultivate blessings and wisdom together to walk on this path of wisdom for both ourselves and others.

As we walk on this path, at the same time we must also guide others to go in the same direction, take the correct path. When we arrive, so will everyone else. This is how we all achieve [realization] together. We are just like other people. Together, we can walk on this broad, enlightened Bodhi-path. This is how we achieve [realization] together and awaken ourselves and others.

Of course, we must always be mindful so that we do not stray from the path. Therefore, we should “ponder more teachings and contemplate our self-nature.” Aren’t we trying to discover our nature of True Suchness? Recently, I have been trying to help people understand that while spiritual practice is important, we must also look inward and absolutely not neglect our Buddha-nature.

So, we must unearth our Buddha-nature. I just explained that ordinary people, over the course of one day, have many complex, discursive, delusional thoughts. The external phenomena in front of us will also cause disorder in our minds. As each day passes, do we want to remain confused and waste this life? No, we must quickly and more mindfully focus our thinking to truly achieve a thorough understanding. Indeed, [our thoughts] must be pure, transparent and endless. In our contemplation, we must really look closely within to quickly find our self-nature.

So, we need a “broad and pure heart.” We must be broad-minded and pure in heart. If we can achieve this, listen to more teachings and contemplate more intensely, we can look within to find our self-nature. Thus, our minds have to be broad and pure. With a broad and pure mind, we can find and return to our Buddha-nature. Otherwise, our complex thoughts will continuously pollute our thinking, and we will never be able to converge with our true Buddha-nature.

Though we keep listening to teachings from external sources, more importantly, we must also look internally to discover our intrinsic nature. This is a very big task. For spiritual practitioners to look inwardly and reflect on their self-nature takes a lot of skill. To develop such great skills, don’t we always talk about [needing] “the Six Paramitas and Four Infinite Minds”?

Speaking of the Six Paramitas, since we have already aspired to be Bodhisattvas, so we cannot stray from the Six Paramitas. Among the six, there is “patience.” To be patient requires great effort. Only then can we persevere, be loving and have a broad and pure heart. Without patience, how can we practice giving? Giving also requires patience. Upholding precepts requires steadfastness. Giving and upholding precepts cannot be done without patience. So, we must be patient even when it is hard to be. This is a skill we need in order to contemplate our self-nature and find our intrinsic Buddha-nature.

So, we must listen to the Buddha-Dharma more often, and through careful consideration, find our inner True Suchness. We must inwardly contemplate our intrinsic Buddha-nature. This is very important.

Therefore,

“Newly-inspired Bodhisattvas, who have made offerings to countless Buddhas, clearly understand the paths to truth and are able to skillfully expound the Dharma, number as many as the rice, hemp, bamboo and reed [plants], filling the ksetras in the ten directions.”

“Making offerings to countless Buddhas” means that for a very long time, they have been firm in their spiritual aspirations. They continuously make offering to Buddhas with their words, thoughts and actions by following His teachings. This is how they serve the Buddha and uphold His teachings of the Path.

“Countless Buddhas” means that it takes a very long time to “clearly understand the paths to truth.”

To clearly understand the paths to truth is to thoroughly penetrate and realize the principles of all matters. When we penetrate the teachings of the path, the mind and conditions are one. The clear understanding of all Dharma is where the paths to truth will lead us.

“Clearly understanding the paths to truth” means we have already attained realizations. We need to take a very long time to practice according to the teachings with body, speech and mind. This is the best way to make offerings. If we can do so, then we can thoroughly understand and penetrate the principles of all matters. To thoroughly penetrate is to clearly understand. We must really understand matter and principles.

“When we penetrate the teachings of the path, the mind and conditions are one.” We must deeply penetrate the teachings of the path. Earlier, didn’t the Buddha say that the teachings of the path are hard to understand? Indeed, they are hard to understand. But we must contemplate them, put our heads together to really consider them. Therefore, “the mind and conditions are one.” If phenomena in our external conditions can enter our minds and be understood, we can make complex things simple. Then we can completely understand the principles of all matters. This is clearly understanding all Dharma. It is also where the paths to truth will lead us.

[Truth] refers to meanings and principles. “Path” indicates a direction. In the end, where this path will lead us is to thorough understanding. This clear understanding is what we need to work toward.

Then we “can skillfully expound the Dharma.” After we understand, we must earnestly expound the Dharma and share the Buddha’s teachings. Since we have benefited from receiving the Buddha’s teachings, we must constantly be grateful. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to give teachings to sentient beings. Thus we can all receive His teachings and grow our wisdom-life. So, we have benefited from the teachings of the path to Buddhahood.

Every one of us is immersed in the currents of Buddha-Dharma, which nourishes our wisdom-life. Therefore, we must continuously pass on the Dharma and teach sentient beings. Thus, the sutra states, “this Dharma cannot be demonstrated; the appearance of language cannot be used.” Haven’t we discussed this passage before? No language can be used to speak of this; there is no appearance we can speak of because we cannot demonstrate these teachings. There is nothing to take out to show you, no form, no traces left; what can we do? When we encounter the right karmic conditions, we must seize the opportunity to speak, seize the chance to transform sentient beings.

Doing this is like when we, in the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism, go among the people to practice giving with loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. We should all understand that “the Jing Si Dharma-lineage is a path of diligent practice.” For internal cultivation, we make the Four Great Vows and have faith, steadfastness, sincerity and uprightness. What about externally? “The Tzu Chi School of Buddhism is a road of working with people in the world,” which is to practice loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity in the world. These internal and external practices should be cultivated in parallel.

In a spiritual practice center like ours, so many people can be of one heart. In this Dharma-lineage, together we vow to transform sentient beings. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” This is one of the Four Great Vows. Toward others, we must exhibit loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. In this way, we can all be of one mind, filling ksetras of the ten directions.

Earlier, I kept saying that [these people are] as numerous as bamboo in a bamboo grove, as grain, hemp or reed [plants]. There are very many of them. Those in the ksetras of the ten directions are even of one mind. This means, within the monasteries in the lands of the ten directions, all the spiritual practitioners, and even all the believers, share this same mindset. Their minds and bodies are united in contemplating the Buddha’s wisdom, the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. If we can do so, aren’t we applying the Buddha-Dharma in this world?

But for these teachings to truly enter people’s minds, there is still a ways to go. Therefore, we must be mindful. So, “wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom,”

So, “wholeheartedly with wondrous wisdom, over kalpas as numerous as the Ganges’ sands, [they] contemplated it together, yet could not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.”

What a pity that, though everyone shared one mind for as many kalpas as grains of sand in the Ganges, for their combined minds to understand the Buddha’s wisdom, there is still a ways to go. Therefore, we must be mindful. We must diligently take each step and cultivate both blessings and wisdom.

Blessings and wisdom are like our two feet. They move us forward, so we can benefit the world. We must also engage in intense contemplation and use our power to return to our self-nature. Let us contemplate by pooling our minds into one [collective] wisdom. This is the path we can take toward Buddhahood. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0218

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 2

Episode 218 – Awaken Yourself and Others with the Dharma

>> “They formed great aspirations to seek
the unsurpassed Bodhi-path for sentient beings. They joyfully expounded the
Dharma like Purna and practiced and learned as much as Ananda.”

>> Purna: Purna Maitrayani Putra was one of Sakyamuni’s main disciples,
the Arhat foremost in expounding the Dharma. Upon becoming a monastic, he
quickly realized the fruit of Arhatship. Then he had the opportunity to listen
to the Lotus Sutra and turned from the Small to the Great. In the Chapter on
500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, he received a prediction to become a
future Buddha. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity Tathagata.

>> So, “newly-inspired Bodhisattvas, who have made offerings to
countless Buddhas, clearly understand the paths of truth.” In terms of
“newly-inspired Bodhisattvas,”

>> Making offerings to countless Buddhas: Bodhisattvas vow to constantly,
respectfully make offerings to all Buddhas. With deep faith, they take joy in
the teachings of the path and in cultivating the virtues of giving with
equanimity. They tirelessly seek to understand [the Buddha’s] understanding and
views.

“They formed great aspirations to seek
the unsurpassed Bodhi-path for sentient beings.
They joyfully expounded the Dharma like Purna
and practiced and learned as much as Ananda.”

This is saying to everyone that since we wish to engage in spiritual cultivation, we must develop great aspirations. This also means we must make a great vow to understand the Buddha-Dharma, not only to awaken ourselves, but also to awaken others. After we comprehend the teachings, we want to help everyone else do the same.

The Buddha wanted to help us understand. Therefore, He comes to this world for one great cause, to help everyone understand. Some people’s capabilities fall short. Others’ are very sharp, and the moment they hear the Buddha’s teachings, they instantly realize that life is impermanent. Life is filled with suffering, and if we look into it, we see that everything is empty, “just as the Buddha taught. I know that the Buddha teaches emptiness, but how do I discover wondrous existence? If everything is empty, what is there to cultivate?” We need to return to our intrinsic nature. In the beginning, the Buddha said, “All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” All sentient beings have this nature of wisdom; we just have not found it yet. We only know about emptiness, impermanence, suffering and so on. We understand them and believe they exist, but we are still unable to find the true suchness of wondrous existence. So, we must form great aspirations.

As long as we are heading in the right direction, when we receive teachings, we will experience certain realizations. These are our experiences and our realizations. With these realizations, if other people do not understand, we can tell them, “There is a Buddhist teaching that is like this, if you do not understand, then let me share my experiences with you.” This is a great aspiration we form.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to listen to the teachings. The Dharma must be passed on by people. The people who pass it on must develop great aspirations to [practice] for the sake of sentient beings. So, they resolve to practice the Bodhisattva-path. Therefore, we do not aspire only to self-awakening and self-liberation, we must aspire to awaken ourselves and others so that everyone will have the chance to accept Buddhist teachings. For the sake of sentient beings, we seek the unsurpassed Bodhi-path.

Life is impermanent, so we need to seize the day. But some people are still very insistent on practicing the Dharma for their own sake first. We must do many things at the same time. With every step we take, we are really trying to take eight steps at once. These eight steps must be treated like a single step. By the same logic, when we transport ourselves, if we ride a bicycle we can take one passenger, if we ride a motorcycle, it is the same. If we drive a car, we can take four passengers. If we drive a bus, we can take 20, 40 passengers. If we operate a train, then we can take hundreds of people.

When we practice the Ten Paramitas, they come together to form a huge ship. A ship of compassion can take thousands, tens of thousands of people at once from this shore to the opposite shore. The idea is that while crossing the same distance, we may use many different tools to do so. These tools are vehicles of spiritual practice. We can use various methods to transform ourselves and others. So, we “seek the unsurpassed Bodhi-path. This is something we must have a consensus on and develop the same common aspiration.

To whom can this be compared? To those who “joyfully expound” teachings. We must be very joyful. After listening to the Dharma, I attained certain realizations, so I joyfully share the contents of the teachings. If you do not understand it, I will share my experiences with you. This is how we pass on the Dharma.

“They joyfully expounded the Dharma like Purna.” Purna is “Fulfilled, Son of Loving-Kindness,” short for Purna Maitrayani Putra short for Purna Maitrayani Putra, one of Sakyamuni Buddha’s ten main disciples and the foremost in expounding the teachings. He enjoyed expounding the Dharma. After he understood [the teachings,] he shared them with other people.

His capabilities were superior, so after he took refuge with the Buddha, he quickly realized the importance of the Buddha-Dharma for the world. The Buddha’s teachings, the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and so on, were all within his comprehension. He clearly understood how life came to be and how it will pass. Thus Purna Maitrayani Putra, or Purna, upon becoming a monastic, realized the fruit of Arhatship. Then after listening to the teachings at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, he quickly “turned from the Small to the Great.”

[This transformation] was first achieved by Sariputra, then by Purna Maitrayani Putra. They understood why the Buddha said, “In the past, I first helped you to engage in practices that purified your minds. But after completely understanding the principles of true emptiness and becoming free of attachments and hindrances, there is one thing you have not yet understood, which is wondrous existence.”

“The teachings of wondrous existence are to return you to your intrinsic Buddha-nature.” We need to agree with the Buddha’s understanding and views on this point, thus we must first use the One Vehicle to go from this shore to the opposite shore. The One Vehicle Dharma consists of the Path and these teachings, which help us cross from this shore to that shore, from delusion to awakening. In the Lotus Sutra, Purna realized the Buddha’s original intent, so he turned from the Small to the Great. He turned away from the Small Vehicle and started heading toward the Great Vehicle.

In the Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, Purna Maitrayani Putra also received the Buddha’s prediction that he will attain Buddhahood in the future. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity Tathagata.

Purna: Purna Maitrayani Putra was one of Sakyamuni’s main disciples, the Arhat foremost in expounding the Dharma. Upon becoming a monastic, he quickly realized the fruit of Arhatship. Then he had the opportunity to listen to the Lotus Sutra and turned from the Small to the Great. In the Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, he received a prediction to become a future Buddha. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity Tathagata.

He joyfully expounded the Dharma. In the sutras, there is a story about his travels. There was a small town where most people were very violent and negative. They were very unreasonable. People were constantly arguing and fighting and refused to listen to reason.

Purna came to the Buddha one day and said, “Venerable Buddha, there is a place where people are violent and negative, and they have not received Your teachings. I want to go teach and transform them.” Upon hearing this, the Buddha asked, “If you know that everyone there is very vicious, how would they listen to reason?” Purna said, “What they lack are Your teachings, so I want to go to them.” The Buddha asked, “If you went there and they refused to listen and scolded you instead, what would you do?” Purna said, “I would be grateful that they are only verbally scolding me.”

Then the Buddha asked, “What if they struck you with their fists?” Purna then said, “I would still be grateful that they are only striking me with their fists and not beating me with clubs. Therefore, I must be grateful.” Then Buddha asked, “What if they struck you with clubs?” Purna said, “I would still be grateful that they are only striking me with clubs and not killing me with knives.” The Buddha then asked, “What if they killed you with knives?” Purna said, “If so, I would still be grateful. This must be the karmic affinity between me and those people; I created this bad karmic affinity with them. In a past life, I must have harmed them. In this life, if I can repay them then. I can cancel out the debt. Then this negative cause, this bad karmic affinity, will be eliminated. So, I must also be grateful for this.”

After hearing this, the Buddha praised this great vow of. Purna Maitrayani Putra. The Buddha believed that these people had a karmic affinity with Purna, so there was no need to worry about him going there to transform them. So, the Buddha permitted Purna to go and transform those vicious and unreasonable people. Essentially, he went and transformed many of them. This is what Purna did. His full name was Purna Maitrayani Putra. This is a story about him.

At the Lotus Dharma-assembly, he turned from the Small toward the Great. He was able to talk about how he transformed sentient beings and engaged in spiritual practice in this world. He shared with everyone in order to transform sentient beings. This is Purna’s story.

So, “newly-inspired Bodhisattvas, who have made offerings to countless Buddhas, clearly understand the paths of truth.” In terms of “newly-inspired Bodhisattvas,”

“newly-inspired” means they were just developing aspirations. Whether or not their spiritual aspiration is firm is still unclear, but they have already formed great aspirations. They did not seek only to awaken themselves. After they understood the Buddha-Dharma, they turned from the Small to the Great. Because they wanted to move toward Great Vehicle teachings, they had to form Bodhisattva-aspirations.

In the past, they continually made offerings and served all Buddhas. They also engaged in spiritual practice, but in the past they practiced Small Vehicle teachings. They only sought to awaken themselves. Now they turned from the Small to the Great and started to form Bodhisattva-aspirations. So, these people “have made offerings to countless Buddhas and achieved all paths of truth.” These individuals, in the past, had engaged in spiritual practice and made offerings.

Making offerings to countless Buddhas: Bodhisattvas vow to constantly, respectfully make offerings to all Buddhas. With deep faith, they take joy in the teachings of the path and in cultivating the virtues of giving with equanimity. They tirelessly seek to understand [the Buddha’s] understanding and views.

What does it mean to make offerings? Here it says, “Bodhisattvas vow to constantly, respectfully make offerings to all Buddhas.” This means that they have engaged in spiritual practice for a very long time. Through countless kalpas and over many lifetimes, they maintained this same reverence in making offerings to all Buddhas.

After developing faith in the Buddha and accepting His teachings, they are immersed in the stream of Dharma. By engaging in spiritual practice with the Buddha-Dharma in their hearts, they will always be very happy and at ease. So, “because of their deep faith, they take joy in the teachings of the path.” They happily immerse themselves in the path and the teachings.

Thus, they “cultivate the virtues of giving with equanimity.” This is continuous. As they begin to believe in the Buddha’s teachings, they also joyfully practice the teachings of the path. They engage in spiritual cultivation by practicing joyful giving. Their merits and virtues all begin with giving. So, if they aspire to help sentient beings, they must cultivate the virtue of joyful giving.

“They tirelessly seek to understand [the Buddha’s] understanding and views.” When they listen to the Dharma, they put their hearts into understanding it. They do not get tired when listening to teachings. They listen joyfully each day, so they do not grow tired of it. We must focus our thoughts on the teachings. Once the Dharma has entered our minds, we must contemplate and realize it. This is what we mean by understanding.

Therefore, we must cultivate blessings first. In the past, we only thought of cultivating wisdom. Now, we are turning from the Small to the Great; therefore we prioritize creating blessings. “Cultivate the virtues of giving with equanimity.” This is a way to create blessings. Therefore, “blessings are the joy we gain through giving.” We must be very joyful. So, “They tirelessly seek to understand [the Buddha’s] understanding and views. Wisdom is the freedom we gain from being understanding.” Remember this Jing Si aphorism? Therefore, we practice blessings and wisdom in parallel. So, we accept the Dharma and practice giving. Through giving, we understand the Dharma. We can provide material things and share spiritual [teachings] and ideals. If we can do this, we will be joyful every day, as well as understand the Buddha-Dharma. By continuously drinking the milk of Dharma, we can nourish our wisdom-life. This is a way we can make offerings.

The Buddha only had one wish, that we will practice giving. The way sentient beings can repay Him is to help all beings awaken. This is the greatest offering to the Buddha; this is the offering of the Dharma. After accepting His teachings, this is the best way to repay the Buddha. This is what it means to make offerings.

Fellow Bodhisattvas, when we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must develop great aspirations for the sake of sentient beings. We cannot work only for our own awakening, seeking only our own liberation. If we do that, and just liberate ourselves, if everyone around us is suffering while we alone are happy, we will feel very conflicted. We should work for the happiness of all beings so that there will be great happiness. After we awaken ourselves, we want to help everyone achieve awakening too. This is the true goal of our spiritual practice, the one great cause for which the Buddha comes to this world. Therefore everyone, please always be mindful.