Author: Scott Ogata

Become a person more actively involved in aiding their community.

Ch02-ep0231

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 231 – Pure Nirvana Is Perfect and Unhindered

>>”Pure Nirvana is replete with an infinite
number of subtle and wondrous merits. It is non-arising and non-ceasing, as
pure as the endless void. All sentient beings are equal and all have such
intrinsically tranquil nature. This is the state of Nirvana.”

>>”The Buddha used the power of skillful means to reveal the Three
Vehicle teachings so that sentient beings, who are attached to everything, may
be guided and released.”

>> The Buddha used the power of skillful means: He cleverly gave
provisional teachings. The Tathagata said: Those who practice giving attain
great wealth. Those who uphold precepts are reborn in heaven. Those with
patience are freed of anger and hatred. Those who are diligent will be replete
with all merits. Those with Samadhi can eliminate all distractions. Those with
wisdom can let go of all afflictions.

>> Thus, the practice of giving can actually transform the stingy and
greedy. Upholding precepts can transform transgressors. Patience can transform
the angry. Diligence can transform the lazy. Samadhi can transform the
distracted. Prajna, wisdom, can transform the ignorant.

>> Revealing the Three Vehicle teachings: When expounding the Three
Vehicle teachings, He was still giving provisional teachings and had not yet
expounded the True Dharma. Sentient beings linger on small attainments and take
no pleasure in going toward the Great Vehicle. Therefore, the Buddha guides
them with the great Dharma.

“Pure Nirvana is
replete with an infinite number of
subtle and wondrous merits.
It is non-arising and non-ceasing,
as pure as the endless void.
All sentient beings are equal and all have
such intrinsically tranquil nature.
This is the state of Nirvana.”

The Buddha taught us solely because He hoped we could all realize that our intrinsic nature was originally pure. So once again, I want to share the concept of pure Nirvana with everyone. Nirvana is always pure and

“replete with an infinite number” [of wondrous merits]. Those with this pure nature indeed have a broad and spacious [state of mind]. No matter how many of us exist, our individual worlds do not hinder each other’s. Thus, we should understand that within you and me, he and you, within all of us we each have a pure state of mind, an intrinsic Buddha-nature. This comes from subtle and wondrous merits and is “non-arising and non-ceasing, as pure as the endless void.” Our intrinsic nature has always been like this, in a state of non-arising and non-ceasing. How do we attain this state? By engaging in spiritual practice and accumulating an infinite number of merits.

Perhaps all of you still remember that the Buddha Himself once said. He drew near countless Buddhas and diligently practiced, lifetime after lifetime. This creates subtle and wondrous merits. No matter how many Buddhas there are, each one of these infinite Buddhas shares the same path and teaches skillful and suitable means. This is because. Buddhas meet the world’s needs. They come to this world in different time periods and circumstances. Every Buddha, in dealing with different eras, gives sentient beings different skillful means.

Thus, every Buddha [teaches] “skillful means suitable for capabilities.” Their teachings suit that time period and the capabilities of those sentient beings. This comes from Their infinite and countless subtle, wondrous merits. If we can persist in spending such a long period of time being taught by each Buddha, continuously accepting and realizing Their teachings, we will accumulate many merits.

Perhaps you may wonder, “Sakyamuni encountered so many Buddhas, but what about us?” We have no idea whether we have even met one. We also do not know which [Buddha’s] teachings we can practice. If we wonder about such things, then I must tell you to treat every single person as a Buddha.

Truthfully, each person has suitable wondrous Dharma. If we listen mindfully to their perspective and the way they deal with things, they are constantly teaching us. If we treat others with respect, we will certainly encounter Buddhas because every person will be a Buddha to us. Therefore, we must constantly cultivate our sense of respect.

Therefore, to make offerings to countless Buddhas is not very difficult. And to learn the Dharma from these Buddhas is also very simple. This is how we can accumulate infinite, countless subtle and wondrous merits.

In this world, where can we find so many Buddhas to make offerings to? Each of us has the Three Treasures in our nature. Every interaction is an opportunity for us to practice reverence and respect, to engage in spiritual practice. Therefore, our hearts must always remain pure. Having a pure heart is to be in a state of Nirvana. When we are in harmony with people and matters, we are in harmony with [true] principles. This is true, wondrous Dharma. When we deal with external phenomena with a pure heart, we can be in harmony with everything. This is called pure Nirvana, which is also as pure as the endless void.

Our hearts, our Buddha-nature, are indeed as pure as the endless void. All sentient beings are equal; all life forms are equal. This applies to all beings, not just humans. So, [encounters with] all sentient beings are opportunities for spiritual practice, let alone those with other humans. So, we all have the same pure, intrinsic Buddha-nature. All sentient beings are equal because [they have] “an intrinsically tranquil nature, which is called Nirvana.”

Nirvana means harmonious, tranquil and still, pure and unhindered. So, if we clearly understand the principles of Nirvana, we can apply these principles at all times in our daily living. So, if we can always face everything with reverence and a pure mind, we can [practice], life after life, as Sakyamuni Buddha did.

What is meant by life after life is the past, present and future. We can also say that in “life after life,” the past could be a previous life, or yesterday. There is not much difference between the two. This lifetime and today are also the same. Our next life is the same as all future lifetimes. As long as we have a pure heart, we can recognize that because of past causes and conditions, in this lifetime, we are able to form good causes and conditions with the same people again. So, we can joyfully interact with each other and pool our strengths to complete tasks. So, pure causes created in the past led to the pure effects of the present, so now we can create blessed causes together to form good conditions and effects for the future.

If every one of us faces every day and every matter with this mindset, then we have found our intrinsically tranquil nature. We can all attain this nature because we all originally had this pure, tranquil and still Buddha-nature. So, Nirvana is our pure intrinsic nature.

We have to be mindful. Learning the sutras goes beyond just the words. After we understand the meaning behind them, we must apply them to our daily living. This is how the Dharma-marrow can penetrate our wisdom-life. With this marrow, we create the blood cells that sustain our wisdom-life. So, I hope everyone can apply every word of the teachings to their interactions with other people.

Moreover,

“The Buddha used the power of skillful means to reveal the Three Vehicle teachings so that sentient beings, who are attached to everything, may be guided and released.”

The Three Vehicle teachings are for. Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. They have different capabilities so the methods for teaching them must also be different. When it comes to Hearers and Solitary Realizers, the Buddha has said that they “are attached to everything.” Even these spiritual practitioners are attached to many things, biased toward the small and attached to emptiness, not to mention ordinary people who do not engage in spiritual practice. They are even more stubborn.

The Buddha told Hearers and Solitary Realizers, “You must realize this is how sentient beings are. They are attached to everything.” Here, “attached to everything” means at all times and in all places, they form attachments to all things. Thus, “Sentient beings, who are attached to everything, may be guided and released.” The Buddha comes to guide sentient beings solely to eliminate their attachments. This is the reason the Buddha comes to teach skillful means in the world.

So next it says, “The Buddha used the power of skillful means.” Skillful means are easy methods. These are simpler teachings that suit these people’s capabilities and are easier for them to understand. So, they are called skillful means and are how He “cleverly gave provisional teachings.”

The Buddha used the power of skillful means: He cleverly gave provisional teachings. The Tathagata said: Those who practice giving attain great wealth. Those who uphold precepts are reborn in heaven. Those with patience are freed of anger and hatred. Those who are diligent will be replete with all merits. Those with Samadhi can eliminate all distractions. Those with wisdom can let go of all afflictions.

The Buddha preached virtuous, skillful practices to teach according to capabilities. This means the Buddha was telling us, “Those who practice giving attain great fortune” because we sentient beings cling to the idea of wanting everything to be as we wish it. We want to be rich and very wealthy, so if by giving we can attain wealth, we will willingly practice giving.

The Buddha said, “Those who uphold precepts are reborn in heaven.” People who uphold the Five Precepts and do the Ten Good Deeds will certainly be born in the heaven realm. When people hear this, they believe that they must quickly begin upholding precepts. In this world, wealth and life are short-lived, so they want to go to heaven, where life is long and joyful. So, in this lifetime they will make haste to uphold precepts and do the Ten Good Deeds.

The Buddha also said, “Those with patience are freed of anger and hatred.” We all frequently lose our tempers, but that will only bring us suffering. After we lose our tempers, we will feel very unhappy and uneasy. The Buddha then told everyone, “If you want to be broad-minded and happy, you must have patience.” Take a step back to see the big picture. Then patience can overcome anger and rage.

“Those who are diligent will be replete with all merits.” By being diligent, we can create a lot of merits. Then we are like the Buddha, who made offerings to countless Buddhas and practiced Their teachings to accumulate merits. This is a way to demonstrate diligence. Therefore, by being diligent, we can be replete with merits.

He then talked about Samadhi. “Those with Samadhi eliminate all distractions.” Sometimes we want to engage in spiritual practice, but we cannot seem to concentrate; our minds are full of distractions. So, the Buddha taught us to cultivate a state of Samadhi, to practice sitting or breath-counting meditation. By focusing on the nose, we focus our minds. There are many methods.

However, we have to be careful in how we enter Samadhi; it requires a certain method. Indeed, the greatest state of Samadhi is doing everything in a meditative state. This means that, whatever our bodies are doing, our minds are completely focused on it. If we become distracted, who knows what kind of harm we could cause. So, no matter what we are doing, we must be in a state of Samadhi.

“Those with wisdom can let go of all afflictions.” The Buddha taught that, with wisdom, we can shed all afflictions. Therefore, we must learn to practice self-control. When we do things, we must be focused, and we must use wisdom to analyze all situations. This is also a skillful means taught by the Buddha. These are all suitable skillful means that. He established for ordinary people.

For Buddhist practitioners, He opened the Dharma-door of the Six Paramitas. These are six methods, each more profound than the previous, each more beneficial to this world. These are the skillful means of the Buddha. He used various skillful means to teach sentient beings, solely to enable them to transcend this endless cycle of suffering. This is why the Buddha used skillful Dharma to gradually help everyone become more diligent.

With only these Six Paramitas, these six methods, He began with the most unreceptive people, to teach them so they would understand, “Those who practice giving attain great wealth.” Actually, what is wealth? I often say that wealth is a state of mind. But we sentient beings are stubborn, so He has to keep guiding us in this way until we can finally understand His principles. Then He tells us that there are those who are wealthy among the poor, people who happily practice giving even though they do not have much money.

Thus, the practice of giving can actually transform the stingy and greedy. Upholding precepts can transform transgressors. Patience can transform the angry. Diligence can transform the lazy. Samadhi can transform the distracted. Prajna, wisdom, can transform the ignorant.

These are skillful means the Buddha had taught sentient beings according to their capabilities. So, He “revealed the Three Vehicle teachings.” Those were all provisional teachings skillfully given. These cannot help us reach the ultimate, wondrous Dharma of the One Vehicle. This is why the Buddha had to spend so much time bringing those of the Three Vehicle capabilities to the same level. This helps us all realize that we cannot linger on Small Vehicle attainments. We must joyfully move toward the Great Vehicle.

Revealing the Three Vehicle teachings: When expounding the Three Vehicle teachings, He was still giving provisional teachings and had not yet expounded the True Dharma. Sentient beings linger on small attainments and take no pleasure in going toward the Great Vehicle. Therefore, the Buddha guides them with the great Dharma.

This is what the Buddha wants to teach us. He guides us all to enter the great Dharma, the principle of “the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” These teachings are not designed with any specific person in mind. They are not. Right now, we must all share the same perspective. In our hearts, we all have the boundless. Buddha-nature, a broad and open mind. This boundless heart and pure, undefiled Buddha-nature are what we all intrinsically have. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0230

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 230 – Escape Suffering to Attain Jo

>>”Once good or evil actions are committed,
the retributions that come to fruition are hard to escape. With such causes and
conditions come such retributions, and such effects.”

>>”He told the assembly of Hearers and those who seek the Solitary
Realizer Vehicle, ‘I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and
readily achieve Nirvana.'”

>> These three sufferings are the suffering of suffering, the suffering
of decay and the suffering of action.

>> The suffering of suffering: the suffering that arises from mental or
physical pain. The second is the suffering of decay. This suffering of decay is
the suffering that arises from the loss of a temporary state of happiness.

>> It is suffering that arises from the impermanence of all actions,
endless transience and constant change without rest.

>> The desire realm: contains all three sufferings. The form realm:
contains the suffering of decay and of action. The formless realm: only
contains the suffering of action.

>> What is Nirvana? Nirvana means “crossing into extinction,”
as well as “perfect stillness, perfect rest” and “perfect
tranquility.” It is also called an “unconditioned” state or a
state of “peace and joy” or a state of “liberation.” All
these terms can be used to describe Nirvana.

“Once good or evil actions are committed,
the retributions that come to fruition are hard to escape.
With such causes and conditions come such retributions,
and such effects.”

This tells us what happens once good or evil actions are taken. If we committed [evil actions] in the past but more reverently [do good] now, can all our past karma be cancelled? Is this possible?

We reap what we sow. This is a definite principle. So, the Buddha continuously reminds us to be vigilant of the law of karma. The cause we plant will definitely yield a certain kind of effect. After we understand this, we must quickly alert ourselves and willingly accept the retribution of our past karma. For the sake of the future, we must be willing to act quickly so that we will be satisfied with our future and will joyfully accept it. Thus we need to understand the law of karma.

Right now you are very willing to do this because doing this makes you happy, but what about the future? Through the good deeds you have done, you have attained the Dharma, so you are filled with Dharma-joy. This is all there is to the law of karma. So, we must always remain vigilant.

Some people say, “I’ve never done anything bad in my life, so why do I suffer so much? Why do so many things not go my way?” Yes, you did not do [bad things] in this life. You must know that what you are reaping now is due to what you sow in the past. Therefore, “the retributions that come to fruition are hard to escape.” In the past, we acted in this way and created this karma, so the retribution we now face is hard to escape.

So, “with such causes and conditions come such retributions.” This is a definite principle. Once we have planted causes and conditions, we will certainly face retributions. This is definite. So, whatever happens to us in our daily living, we must gratefully accept it. We just need to get through it peacefully.

What if we do not feel at peace? If we are not at peace, we must patiently endure it. No matter how much we usually help others, when things do not go our way, we must exercise patience. We have to find a way to be patient, so we can diligently continue on this path. When we learn the Buddha’s teachings, this is what we must thoroughly understand.

So as the verses below state,

“He told the assembly of Hearers and those who seek the Solitary Realizer Vehicle, ‘I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and readily achieve Nirvana.'”

Earlier, we talked about. Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Now the Buddha stated, “‘I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and readily achieve Nirvana.'” Sakyamuni Buddha was telling. Hearers and Solitary Realizers that, although they are mindfully practicing, they still have not attained the principles of the “ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” They are still in the Six Unenlightened and. Four Noble Realms. Although they eliminated fragmentary samsara, they still experience transformational samsara and have the slightest afflictions. Therefore, they must keep progressing to reach the “ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.”

So, the Buddha Himself said, “‘I will enable you to cast off the bonds.'” Because these disciples were still within the Six Unenlightened and. Four Noble Realms, the next step was to completely transcend that last bit of ignorance. So, they must cast off those bonds of suffering. Therefore, they must mindfully listen to what He was about to say now.

The Buddha began teaching when He expounding the Dharma to the five bhiksus. The first time He gave teachings, He taught the Four Noble Truths, which are about suffering. The first sentence of Dharma He expounded was about suffering. He taught them the principles of suffering.

What kinds of suffering are there? There are generally three kinds.

These three sufferings are the suffering of suffering, the suffering of decay and the suffering of action.

First is the suffering of suffering. We face suffering upon suffering. Being human is already painful enough, but as we live our lives, we create more karma. The karma we create leads us to go through cyclic existence in the Six Realms; we can never escape it. This is the suffering of suffering. We do not know why we became human, and if we do not learn [the right] principles, we will keep creating karma. This leads to suffering of suffering.

The suffering of suffering: the suffering that arises from mental or physical pain. The second is the suffering of decay. This suffering of decay is the suffering that arises from the loss of a temporary state of happiness.

The suffering that comes from loss is the suffering of decay.

First, we lose what we can do as humans. Originally, we could have been touched by the Buddha-Dharma and then practiced it. Once our human form is lost, it may take kalpas to regain it. Once this body decays, regaining that opportunity is not very easy. The human realm is only one among the six, so there is a one in six chance.

Some people think, “Losing human form is not a problem. I can be reborn in heaven. The lifespan in heaven is longer.” Everyone, didn’t I tell you earlier that the seeds you planted led you to be born human? If you did not create any good causes or any blessings, how could you be reborn in heaven? If you do not have the prospect of going to heaven and have [gone against] the principles of being a good person, that also leads to the suffering of decay.

Perhaps in this life we had the opportunity to experience fame, wealth and status. Extreme pleasure brings sorrow. If we suddenly lose all the things that made us happy, that great pleasure brings sorrow. That is also the suffering of decay.

The third is the suffering of action.

It is suffering that arises from the impermanence of all actions, endless transience and constant change without rest.

We often say, “The Five Aggregates are all empty.” Among them is the aggregate of action. I often tell all of you that we are unaware of the aggregate of action. As I just walked out, I looked at the sky. The sun had not come out yet. Then I continued into our main hall and sat down. In front of me, I see that sun has already risen above the rooftop. See, this happened while I was unaware. It is the result of very subtle actions, rotations.

This is how the universe (the macrocosm) works. The Earth revolves and rotates, very smoothly and without pause. It continuously rotates. This is the way the universe works. As humans, we do not feel it. We cannot feel the passing of each second. In the microcosm of our body, we are also unaware of the ceaseless process of birth, aging, illness, death. [This cycle happens] without our awareness. This is the aggregate of action.

So, this is the suffering of action. Therefore, we must comprehend “the suffering that arises from the impermanence of all actions.” Whether we are talking about instability in the planet or in our bodies, all things in the world go through the aggregate of action. Nothing can escape impermanence; everything is in a state of constant flux. Thus it is endlessly transient. Look at the way water keeps flowing; it is also endlessly changing. Because of the aggregate of action in our lives, everything is constantly changing without rest, which leads to suffering.

Some people, when they are young, feel that life would be great if they could always remain young. When they reach middle age, they think staying at middle age would be very satisfactory, too. Can we ever be satisfied? There is no way for this to happen. Middle-aged people eventually grow old. But some people do not live to an old age.

Some may not live to middle age, or even through their teenage years. Some die as a child or as an infant from congenital problems. They never know youth, middle age, old age. This is what life is like. We are born according to our karma; retributions of suffering will make our lives unbearable and retributions of happiness will easily cause us to become lost. Therefore, we must engage in spiritual practice and constantly heighten our vigilance.

The desire realm: contains all three sufferings. The form realm: contains the suffering of decay and of action. The formless realm: only contains the suffering of action.

The desire realm contains all three sufferings. If we are human, we are in the desire realm. Desire is a craving for external phenomena. In society, there has to be desire and hope; this is how society is set up. This is how we live, how we pass our days. Everyone is troubled by their greed. Those with strong desires create a lot of karma. So, the desire realm is replete with the Three Sufferings.

Where do desires come from? When we see something, we crave it. Then we want to grasp it. Following desire and ignorance, we create more karma. This is the desire realm, which is filled with all kinds of tangible things that cause the mind to give rise to thoughts.

When we are in the formless realm, our thoughts may go anywhere, [giving rise to] discursive thoughts and delusions. Because we have not yet eliminated ignorance, there is still the suffering of action in the formless realm.

So at this moment, the Buddha wants us to quickly cast off the bonds of suffering that entangle us. So, the Buddha wants to quickly transcend this suffering. Therefore, He hopes that we can realize the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. Some Hearers and Solitary Realizers believe they are almost the same as the Buddha and have obtained Nirvana.

What is Nirvana? Nirvana means “crossing into extinction,” as well as “perfect stillness, perfect rest” and “perfect tranquility.” It is also called an “unconditioned” state or a state of “peace and joy” or a state of “liberation.” All these terms can be used to describe Nirvana.

This tranquility and clarity is called “perfect stillness.” There is nothing left because after all afflictions have been eliminated, no more karma will be created. Without greed, anger, ignorance, pride and doubt, we will not create more karma. These are all gone, completely eliminated. So, if we can achieve this state, we have completed our spiritual cultivation in this world.

“Perfect tranquility” comes after we enter Parinirvana. A state without arising and ceasing is unconditioned. It cannot be created. It is natural, very natural. What is this natural unconditioned state? It is our pure intrinsic nature. So, if we can return to our pure intrinsic nature, we can clearly understand all principles. Then even when we see a lot of suffering in this world, it will not defile our minds.

Then even if we see many various kinds of objects of desires nothing can cause our minds to waver. Right now, we must cultivate a mind that is unconditioned, free of desires, and liberated, with no more afflictions to defile us again, If our minds are pure, they are instantly unconditioned, peaceful and joyful. No matter what happens in the world, when it reaches our heart, we can be more understanding. Then nothing will affect our minds. This peace and joy is called liberation.

This is what it means to “readily achieve Nirvana. Readily achieve” refers to people who can attain it very quickly. This refers to Hearers and Solitary Realizers because they were already practicing according to the Buddha’s teachings. They had already mindfully, thoroughly observed the world and understood its principles. To be able to transcend time and space to a state of True Suchness is what it means to truly achieve Parinirvana. Those who were just arriving at that stage were. Hearers and Solitary Realizers. So, the Buddha directed teachings at them. He spoke in the hopes that. Hearers and Solitary Realizers could take the next step in their practice and be more diligent. Then they could reach the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.

Fellow Bodhisattvas, what we all want to strive for is the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. If we can comprehend the law of karma, naturally we will realize that if we keep walking according to this Dharma, we will indeed reach a tranquil, still and undefiled state. But how long will it take? We should really start now and see if, in this perfectly tranquil state, we can attain the unconditioned state of peace, joy and liberation. So, we must hurry and work hard. Now, we must quickly and mindfully attain realizations. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0229

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 2

Episode 229 – Recognizing Suffering, We Practice Diligently

>> “Cyclic existence in the Three Realms is
actually a state of great suffering. In transmigrating through the Six
Destinies, there is much suffering and unease. Having recognized suffering and
understood its truths, we are cautious of accumulating causes of karma.”

>> The first is ignorance, the condition that leads to volitional
formation, which then leads to consciousness, which leads to name and form,
which leads to the six entrances, which leads to contact, which leads to
feelings, which leads to cravings, which leads to grasping, which leads to
becoming, which leads to birth. Then birth is the condition that leads to
aging, illness and death. These are the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

“Cyclic existence in the Three Realms is
actually a state of great suffering.
In transmigrating through the Six Destinies,
there is much suffering and unease.
Having recognized suffering
and understood its truths,
we are cautious of accumulating causes of karma.”

This is to tell everyone that we must know that cyclic existence in the Three Realms is essentially a state of great suffering. In the desire, form, and formless realms, the desire realm contains the material things we encounter in our daily living. How we perceive things and what we come in contact with are all affected by the temptations from objects of desire around us. So, we are constantly connecting with them, continuously giving rise to thoughts and always expanding our desires. So, we constantly push forward to strive for them. This leads us to create boundless karma.

Some of us know not to seek ill-gotten wealth. But external phenomena such as fame, wealth and status generate sounds, forms and appearances, so they cause us to give rise to afflictions. When we engage in spiritual cultivation, we see through these things, so there is no need to crave fame and wealth. The ignorance in our minds is intangible, so even in the formless realm, where there are no objects of desire and thus no temptations from external phenomena, there is still a trace [of afflictions]. In addition to fragmentary samsara, we also experience transformational samsara. These afflictions of the mind have not been completely eliminated. So, in the Three Realms, we ordinary people suffer the most.

We remain trapped in cyclic existence in the Six Destinies. We experience much suffering and unease. Though heavenly beings enjoy pleasures, once they deplete their blessings, they will also fall. Asuras have heavenly blessings, but there is still much ignorance, affliction, hatred and suffering in their minds. In the human world, many are born not only without blessings, but with much suffering.

In terms of relationships, there are many children born to test their parents’ patience. There are also couples who are loving and affectionate. But when their affections change, it leads to enmity and resentment, which brings great suffering. We commonly see cases like this in our world. The hell, hungry ghost and animal realms are filled with even greater suffering. So, “in cyclic existence in the Six Destinies, there is much suffering and unease.” It is very painful, This is the truth of suffering; it is the most true and real principle.

For the sake of sentient beings immersed in suffering, the Buddha returns life after life. For this one great cause, He comes to this world. When sentient beings do not recognize suffering, they do not fear or try to avoid it. Because they do not recognize suffering, they are not afraid of it, and thus they [continue to] create much karma. For this reason, the Buddha comes to the world to keep teaching sentient beings the truth of suffering.

So, we must be very cautious of accumulating karmic causes. If we do not know the truth of suffering or its principles, then we do not know to be cautious.

We are still unenlightened beings. [The analogy is that] the Three Realms are like a burning house. There are still children in the house, foolishly playing around because they think it is fun to play with fire. We are those children. We do not know that the Three Realms are completely immersed in the evil world of Five Turbidities, where everything is tattered and dirty. Thus, there are still people chasing after their desires, causing their bodies to catch fire. The Buddha cannot bear to see sentient beings like this, so He continuously returns to the world.

One time, while the Buddha was at the Jeta Grove, the Buddha said to Kasyapa, “Kasyapa, you know that I will continue to give teachings for a long time. I hope you can do the same thing and aspire to also teach and train these bhiksus.”

Kasyapa said, “Venerable Buddha, since this is what You have instructed, I should put it into practice. But I do not know how to give teachings.”

The Buddha then said, “You can go to sparsely populated or rural places to teach people that life is full of suffering and [tell them about the truths of] impermanence, suffering, emptiness and no-self. People must respect one another and remind one another to be vigilant. These are the teachings you must quickly proclaim to everyone.”

Kasyapa followed the Buddha’s directions. Upon seeing people, he would tell all of them that desire for anything in the world is the source of suffering. All interactions among people in the world happen according to karmic affinities. Therefore, people must interact harmoniously and be cautious of the law of karma.

Many people listened to Kasyapa’s teachings and felt that, indeed, life is full of suffering. People go against one another simply for the sake of theire desires. So, they gave up their desires and focused on spiritual cultivation. Many people left their families, status, fame and wealth to engage in ascetic practices.

The Buddha then said to Kasyapa, “Kasyapa, you must know that some who were born to well-off families still enjoy luxuries even after becoming monastics. Others see these fortunate bhiksus and seek to be a part of their luxurious communities. If they keep enjoying pleasures after becoming monastics, that will destroy their spiritual [aspirations]. So Kasyapa, you must make an effort to understand monastics who continue to enjoy pleasures.”

From this story, I sense that in the Buddha’s era, expounding the Dharma was also very difficult. Leading the Sangha was really not that easy. The Buddha also needed to find people to help Him teach the monastic community. But Kasyapa, a senior monastic, did not dare. “The monastics in this Sangha are difficult to train and not receptive.” When I read this passage, I feel it deeply. Things were already like this in the Buddha’s era. When we consider the present, isn’t spiritual cultivation difficult?

Birth and death in the Three Realms ultimately lead to suffering. After becoming monastics, should we still be immersed in the Three Realms? Or, in material goods? Or, in fame, wealth or status? Aren’t we afraid of cyclic existence in the Six Destinies? Perhaps we have not completely understood the principles of suffering, so we do not live cautiously and continue to accumulate causes of suffering.

Sometimes, we wonder why people are still immersed in so much suffering in their lives. The Buddha comes to this world to pull us up. However, are we willing to extend our hands? Are we willing to accept [His help]? This depends on how vigilant we are.

Earlier, we discussed Solitary Realizers. They are the most vigilant, and they observe their surroundings to understand the impermanence of life. The phenomena of nature include the rivers and lands of the world, as well as the human body’s birth, aging, illness and death. There are many phenomena of impermanence, so Solitary Realizers earnestly work hard to fully understand the origins of life and the interactions between causes and conditions. By very mindfully observing [the world], [they realize] the Twelve Links. Through this practice, they gain realizations that are biased toward emptiness.

What are the twelve? In the past, we have discussed them.

The first is ignorance, the condition that leads to volitional formation, which then leads to consciousness, which leads to name and form, which leads to the six entrances, which leads to contact, which leads to feelings, which leads to cravings, which leads to grasping, which leads to becoming, which leads to birth. Then birth is the condition that leads to aging, illness and death. These are the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

All it takes is for one ignorant thought to arise. So, I often say, “An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. External states lead to the Six Coarse Marks.” Once we give rise to greed, we want to pursue things. When we pursue things, eight out of nine times, things do not go our way. When that happens, what arises in our minds? Anger. When we do not get what we want, we get angry. Once desire arises, if we do not get what we seek,

our anger will give rise to interpersonal disputes. On a larger scale, this causes war among countries. On a smaller scale, this causes a disruption in society. On an even smaller scale, this causes disharmony in families. This is all due to one thought of greed, which becomes ever more deeply entrenched. This creates a snowball effect as afflictions continuously multiply. This is delusion.

So, an ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. They continue to extend and grow, leading to actions that create a lot of karma. After we take action, that consciousness becomes a habitual tendency.

We often discuss what kinds of practice to engage in. Indeed, we intrinsically have Buddha-nature. But we have internalized defiled desires, which manifest in our actions and are the conditions that leads to form. Form refers to coming in contact with the Six Sense Objects, which then cause our Six Roots to create [karma]. All this results from delusion. So, when the link of consciousness arises, it is already an ignorant consciousness. That consciousness is the condition for “name and form.” After being lost and confused for an entire lifetime, where do we go when we die? When our consciousness leaves the body, it goes to where our affinities lie. This is not something we can control.

When we go where our affinities lie, we develop a body, or “the Six Roots.” With advancements in modern technology, we can see if the fetus is healthy while it is in the mother’s body. We can constantly [check]. So, at this time, the Six Sense Organs, our Six Roots, head, feet, hands and organs slowly take shape. This is called the six entrances.

Everything becomes completely formed, We were originally in our mother’s womb, but once we are born, we come into contact with the outside world and feel a deep pain down to our bones, all over our body; this is the condition of “feeling.” After we suffer this pain [of birth], we continue to age. Regardless of the condition we are in, every day we experience external phenomena, and our greed continuously multiplies. Since we brought this consciousness with us, we repeat the same habitual tendencies, and

our feelings lead to “cravings.” Cravings lead to our “grasping.” Once we grasp we fight and create karma again. When we create the karma for “becoming,” will this karma lead to sufferings or blessings? At the stage of “becoming,” this is fixed. We have created so much karma, both good and bad. It already exists; it is fixed. Therefore, we are “born,” and then we will experience “aging and death.” These are the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

Fellow Bodhisattvas, we must make Bodhisattva-aspirations and not stagnate at the stage of having limited capabilities and wisdom. The Buddha has already told us this, and. Solitary Realizers are willing to accept it. That is right; the Twelve Links are true principles. The Four Noble Truths, Six Paramitas and. Twelve Links are all principles we must mindfully analyze. We must clearly understand the Four Truths. We must practice the myriad actions of the Six Paramitas. This is the Bodhisattva-path. The Six Paramitas are six ways to transform ourselves and others. We must thoroughly understand the origins of life, so we must understand the Twelve Links.

Though in the past the Buddha taught with skillful means, He was always teaching us to recognize suffering and understand its truths. To understand suffering, we must understand principles and quickly engage in spiritual cultivation.

All in all, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, time keeps passing. We must not waste our time. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence teach us about how we come and go. With the causes we created in the past, we go from ignorance, volitional formation, consciousness, name and form up through to this moment. If we keep living like this, what will become of our next life? In the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, we are reaching the stage of aging and death. How can we not be earnest? How can we not be mindful? So, every one of us must always be mindful.

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Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 2

Episode 228 – Solitary Realizers Contemplate the Twelve Links

>>”The Six Senses are endowed with good
potential. The eyes read Buddhist sutras and the ears listen to the Dharma. One
realizes the truth from connecting with and observing surrounding conditions.
By listening, one understands and approaches the Buddha’s wisdom.”

>> He told Hearers and those who sought the Solitary Realizer Vehicle,
“I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and achieve
Nirvana.”

>> Those who “realize the truth through observing the causes and
conditions in their surroundings.” They are Solitary Realizers, Solitary
Realizer Vehicle: By observing the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they
realize the fruit of true emptiness and Nirvana. They are stubbornly biased
toward emptiness and do not seek the path to Buddhahood. Therefore, they are
called Solitary Realizers.

>> The wisdom of Solitary Realizers: They observe the Twelve Links of
Cyclic Existence, also called Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, which are the
originating conditions for sentient beings to go through the Three Periods and
transmigrate in the Six Realms.

“The Six Senses are endowed with good potential.
The eyes read Buddhist sutras and the ears listen to the Dharma.
One realizes the truth from connecting with and observing surrounding conditions.
By listening, one understands and approaches the Buddha’s wisdom.”

We should all know what the Six Senses are, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. By opening our eyes, we open the gateway to eye-consciousness. What kinds of things do we see? What kinds of thoughts arise in our minds? This is what happens when we open a sense gateway to see what is outside. Based on this principle, can we give rise to wisdom when our eyes connect with external conditions? Or, will our minds give rise to desires when we see external conditions? Of course, we engage in spiritual practice in hopes that we can be more understanding.

No matter what we see with our eyes in our external conditions, we must quickly be understanding of it. Then when we observe people’s facial expressions, they will all look agreeable to us. When we see smiles and friendliness, we are grateful that we have encountered someone we have affinity with. If we see anger and resentment, we are still grateful that we have met this beneficial friend. If we can practice this kind of understanding, as every sense gateway opens, we can practice and attain understanding. If we can do this, then the Six Senses are being used to their full potential.

For example, we read sutras with our eyes. Those in the Buddha’s era were more blessed. They saw the Buddha with their own eyes and their ears took in His Dharma when. He manifested in this world. Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas and the people in India at that time were indeed very blessed to have lived in the same era as the Buddha and personally saw Him and listened to His teachings. In that time, was everyone blessed [to see and hear Him]? Did everyone who listened to His teachings accept and put them into action? Actually, without the right karmic conditions, one could not see the Buddha, even if one wished to. So, even with the Six Senses, it is not easy to encounter the Buddha-Dharma.

What happens in an era without Buddhas? The way Solitary Realizers perceive and understand the world is different from normal people. They have greater wisdom, so they themselves can realize the impermanence and cycles of life. They watch the rising and setting of sun and moon, the waning and the waxing of the moon, so they can comprehend that the conditions of nature are not fixed. By being mindful of natural phenomena, they can realize impermanence. They are more advanced than those who do not know anything until after hearing it from the Buddha. [Then they say,] “Oh yes, I know it now.” Solitary Realizers have higher capabilities than these people.

They connect with external conditions and then intently contemplate the conditions. So, they are very mindful of the principles of the world. And when they do listen to the teachings, they can also become understanding. But to even slowly reach the level of the Buddha’s wisdom is indeed not easy. They are still [just focused on] themselves, encircling themselves with a barrier to protect and benefit only themselves.

So now, the Buddha [addressed] these Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Aside from helping them listen to the Dharma more deeply, He also wanted the Dharma to penetrate their minds and actions. These Solitary Realizers had already been mindfully analyzing everything from the universe to their bodies, and they [realized] the principle of impermanence. However, they were focused on their own practice. They were attached to the small [vehicle] and biased toward emptiness as well as their own awakening. So, the Buddha used these teachings to keep reminding everyone, “You have already realized and understood the principles I have taught and shown you. Now you need to keep moving forward. In the past, you reached conjured cities that were created for you to have somewhere to briefly rest. Now that you have recovered from the fatigue, you must keep moving forward.”

This is how the Buddha-Dharma works. Indeed, it is inseparable from the way we live. In the past, the Buddha only used worldly teachings to guide people to realize the basis of the principles. So, these principles all teach people to refrain from all evils and do all good deeds, practice kindness and form good karmic affinities. In Buddhist teachings, it is said that without forming good affinities with people, there is no chance to attain Buddhahood. So, before attaining Buddhahood, we must first create good affinities. We create them by doing good deeds, which brings joy to others, resolves their troubles and helps them. Only by doing this is it possible to attain Buddhahood. So, the Buddha teaches us to do all good deeds, and at the same time, subdue unwholesome thinking and end all evils.

Through the Six Senses, our eyes see the sufferings of life. Thus, we must activate our loving hearts to quickly help others and tame the greed in our minds. This is what He taught us with skillful means. But these are based on worldly principles. So, He had to carefully guide us and inspire us to act out of love, form good karmic connections, and eliminate all unwholesome behavior to subdue our minds.

Though these skillful means are considered clever and provisional, they are still wondrous and based on true principles. These skillful means are used to treat all sentient beings’ mental ailments.

All things, including sentient beings’ suffering, arise from the deviation of one thought, which spreads negative thoughts in all directions. Don’t greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt all arise from that one thought? In order for each of us to subdue these thoughts, we must eliminate evil. To eliminate evil, we must do good deeds. Therefore, our Six Senses are endowed with good potential. Whether we see something through our eyes, speak it through our mouths or hear it through our ears and so on, everything is a teaching for our bodies and minds. Everything starts with the Six Senses.

So, through these senses, we must listen to wholesome principles, allow them to penetrate our minds and manifest through our actions. Otherwise, even if we live in the Buddha’s era, see Him and listen to His teachings in person, if the Dharma does not penetrate our minds, it is useless.

So, when the Buddha comes to the world, His first vow is to take this love and spread it widely among all sentient beings so that we will recognize that our intrinsic nature is one of compassion and benevolence. This is the Buddha’s wish. If we listen without practicing, it is as if nothing happened. Whether we are Hearers or Solitary Realizers, we must all open up our intrinsic nature to move closer to the Buddha’s wisdom.

He told Hearers and those who sought the Solitary Realizer Vehicle, “I will enable you to cast off the bonds of suffering and achieve Nirvana.”

This next passage says, “He told Hearers.” Hearers are those with limited capacities who followed the Buddha and became monastics. “Those who seek the Solitary Realizer Vehicle.” Solitary Realizers are a step above Hearers in wisdom. When immersed in an environment, they constantly, intensely contemplate all things in the world. People, matters, objects, principles are all subjects of their mindful contemplation. They are Solitary Realizers,

Those who “realize the truth through observing the causes and conditions in their surroundings.” They are Solitary Realizers, Solitary Realizer Vehicle: By observing the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they realize the fruit of true emptiness and Nirvana. They are stubbornly biased toward emptiness and do not seek the path to Buddhahood. Therefore, they are called Solitary Realizers.

The Solitary Realizers observe the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence describe the way we come to and depart from our physical bodies. Those steps are the Twelve Links. So, after realizing and understanding the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they attain the fruits of true emptiness and Nirvana. But they are still biased toward emptiness. Through the true Buddha-Dharma, we realize that everything is empty and all things return to nothingness. But we should know that within this, there are still wondrous principles. Solitary Realizers are not yet at this state, so they have only penetrated the principles of emptiness. Thus, they are “biased toward emptiness.”

They “do not seek the path to Buddhahood. Therefore, they are called Solitary Realizers.” They only know the first part, but not the second. The Buddha is the Two-Footed Honored One. To only [develop] wisdom but not create blessings is an incomplete practice. So, Solitary Realizers are biased toward emptiness.

The wisdom of Solitary Realizers: They observe the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, also called Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, which are the originating conditions for sentient beings to go through the Three Periods and transmigrate in the Six Realms.

The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are also called Twelve Links of Dependent Arising. We should understand how our lives came to be. This is related to the Three Periods of Time. [Our present lives] are affected by our past lives, and the causes and conditions we created, which led us to come to this world. “Understand that the retributions of this life are the results of what we did in previous ones.” Why do we face these retributions in this life? Some people are born to a comfortable life. Others may not be born to good conditions, but they have a karmic affinity with these parents and this family. So, their arrival in the world changes the family’s circumstances, and things go smoothly for them as they grow up. These are good causes and conditions.

How are they so blessed to go through life so smoothly? We often hear stories like this in our society. Such-and-such famous people grew up in such negative conditions. Before they were born, their parents’ circumstances were so poor they had to beg. After the child was born to this family, they became very fortunate and everything went smoothly. Look at those who are among the wealthiest in the world, have very successful businesses and so on. [Their current situation] depends on their past, the blessings they created, the seeds they planted and the affinities they formed. Thus everything in their life is smooth sailing.

This is what happens if we have created blessed causes and conditions. What if we created evil causes and conditions? A person may be born to a distinguished family that is very successful. Then as he grows up, the family experiences impermanence. “Riches do not last longer than three generations” is what the ancients say. He is born to such a family, which then slowly declines and deteriorates. By the time he is a teenager, even attending school regularly is problematic. The environment pressures him into shouldering heavy responsibilities and doing very hard work. This can be attributed to his past life. The karmic retributions he created [led to] the events of this lifetime.

There are also ordinary families. The parents are not bad, but the children refuse to behave. Due to their negative affinities with the parents, they are disobedient and do all sorts of evil deeds. They cause their parents to worry and create disturbances in society. There are people like this, too.

So, this is how sentient beings go through the Three Periods of time. The causes created in past lifetimes result in the retributions in this lifetime through the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, or Twelve Links of Dependent Arising. We all have these originating conditions in our past, present and future. They lead to our cyclic existence through their sequential arising, so this is the teaching of Dependent Arising. Thus, we are very blessed to engage in spiritual cultivation. If we want to know how our bodies came to be, this is tied to the Twelve Links. So, we should all be ready to put our hearts into understanding how we come and go.

The wisdom of Solitary Realizers allows them to intensely contemplate how this life came to be. They can also realize the Buddha’s teachings. So, in addition to listening with our ears, we must also carefully contemplate His teachings. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch02-ep0227

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
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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Posted on by Scott Ogata
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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Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
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.

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Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
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
>
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
>
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.