Author: Scott Ogata

Episode 794 – Gradually Entering the Great Vehicle

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>> The Tathagata spurs us to advance in our practice, to turn to the [great] teachings and awaken. He gradually guides us to True Vehicle Dharma. By only taking joy in the small path, we remain stuck, never leaving the provisional. When the World-Honored One revealed the true, the four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional, but now they knew and understood.

>> “At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “Then after a short time had passed, the father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear; he had formed a great resolve and scorned his former mindset.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> Then after a short time had passed: Right after the Prajna period was the time that He taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path. A short time: No one understands the son better than the father. At that time, the Buddha had already gradually started teaching the Great Dharma, as causes and conditions had already gradually ripened.

>> This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma. As they considered these things, they had gradually become clear; thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle. Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times. This explains the meaning of seeking the carts.

>> He had formed a great resolve: They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was. And scorned his former mindset: They regretted their abiding in the Small Vehicle.

>> And scorned his former mindset: Upon reflection, they relinquished the Small. This reveals the meaning of seeking the carts outside the burning house. As the son’s resolve had grown greater, it became certain that the father would pass the family business on to the son. But the son, in body and mind, was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].

>> [The Buddha] opened and revealed His views and understanding for us to realize and enter. After more than 40 years, He started teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Samadhi and wisdom of the Surangama.

>> With the mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom, we can illuminate ultimate reality and penetrate the Dharma-nature of True Suchness. After the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding, they gradually came to form a great resolve.

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“The Tathagata spurs us to advance in our practice, to turn to the [great] teachings and awaken.
He gradually guides us to True Vehicle Dharma.
By only taking joy in the small path, we remain stuck, never leaving the provisional.
When the World-Honored One revealed the true, the four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional,”

“but now they knew and understood.” From ancient times to the present, the Buddha’s foremost intention has been for everyone to be able to experience their nature of True Suchness, but we are still far from this intrinsic nature. In fact, our nature of True Suchness is within our minds; it can be found in our own minds. As long as we can turn our mindsets around and eliminate ignorance, our pure nature will manifest. But we have not yet mastered this skill. Mastery of this skill is still far from us. Therefore, the Buddha would sometimes use methods to spur us on and motivate us, so we could be sincerely diligent in our practice. We must “turn to the [great] teachings and awaken.” We must not remain in the Small Vehicle Dharma and only benefit ourselves. It is the time for this mindset to be quickly turned around. We must go among people to help others.

The Buddha put His heart into slowly and gradually “guiding us to the True Vehicle Dharma.” He guided us one step at a time to enter the teachings of the True Vehicle. Yet, we sentient beings -cling to our delusions and do not awaken. We are still happy with the Small Vehicle Dharma, still happy with only benefiting ourselves. “We remain stuck, never leaving the provisional.” We have been stuck here for a very long time and are unwilling to advance. Thus, “The World-Honored One revealed the true.” He had to find a way to lay out the True Dharma such that it would help everyone understand what the True Dharma actually is.

So, the “four disciples” were. Subhuti, Katyayana, Mahakasyapa and. Maudgalyayana. These four disciples, since the Buddha had bestowed a prediction of attaining Buddhahood on Sariputra, had already attained deep realizations. So, by the time of the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, they thoroughly believed [in the teachings]. They thus expressed that they had followed the Buddha for a long time, but had continued to remain stuck at the Agama and Vaipulya teachings and even up to the Prajna teachings. After so many years, at the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly, they achieved a deep realization that the purpose of seeking the Dharma is to fulfill the great vow of saving sentient beings. Spiritual practice takes more than one lifetime; we must spend a very long period of time to benefit people and accumulate good affinities, to cultivate both blessings and wisdom.

Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-wisdom; we all have Hearer-wisdom, Bodhisattva-wisdom, Buddha-wisdom and so on. But how many principles do we actually understand? Principles are inherently without substance, form or appearance. Their substance and appearance are found by going among people to earnestly engage in spiritual practice, to benefit others and comprehend all kinds of suffering. In the end, we come back to the beginning, to the truth of suffering. If we do not understand the truth of suffering, how can we realize the great joy of an open and spacious mind? How can we realize this freedom and ease?

So, “The four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional.” They had already regretted remaining stuck in the past, in only benefiting themselves. “But now they knew and understood.” Now they knew and were able to understand.

When the elder was guiding the poor son, he had to take off his magnificent clothes and change into crude clothes. He applied a lot of dirt to himself to appear as a laborer in order to approach, take care of and encourage [his son]. Slowly, he arranged for a chance to converse and from this they came to have heart-to-heart talks. During these heart-to-heart talks, he gradually revealed that he had limitless wealth. He gradually revealed his identity, his dignified demeanor, that he had a storehouse of treasures and so on. He had already led him inside.

This is what fathers of this world do. Of course, for the world-transcending kind father, all beings of the four forms of birth and the Five Realms are kept in His heart. He feels that they are all His children. Again and again, countless times, He comes to seek wisdom and transform all beings; He never gives up on them. Just like with very young children who are confused and cannot walk steadily, as they walk forward and stumble around, their mothers and fathers are behind them, worrying that they will fall, that they will be in danger. So, everyone is the same in the Buddha’s heart. We are young children who have not matured yet. This is how the Buddha treats sentient beings. He used all kinds of methods to spur us on in body and mind to engage in diligent practice and eliminate afflictions from our minds, turning afflicted thoughts into pure thoughts. This is how the Buddha teaches us, helping us to attain realizations. The Buddha kept coming back to guide us

“At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”

As the previous sutra passage says, “At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things.” He already knew there were so many things, “the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses.” There were many things inside. “Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself.” He did not think to desire them or take them. “Thus he remained living where he had before.” He still remained in the provisional and still had not stepped out. Although the doors of his mind were opened, he had not stepped out [of the doors] and did not think of going among people. So, this is an analogy describing how. “He was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.” He had not yet relinquished thoughts of only benefiting himself. These thoughts had still not been relinquished.

The following sutra passage says, “Then after a short time had passed, the father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear; he had formed a great resolve and scorned his former mindset.”

The doors of his child’s mind were opening and he understood that there was such an abundance of treasures. The doors of his mind had been opened. So, it says, “after a short time had passed.” What was that time? It was after the Prajna period. From the Agama and Vaipulya, we have already arrived at the Prajna period. What was after that? That was when the Buddha revealed “wondrous existence” within “emptiness. Wondrous existence” was taught during the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. “A short time” in “after a short time had passed” is referring to the time when. He began to teach the Sutra of Infinite Meanings.

Then after a short time had passed: Right after the Prajna period was the time that He taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path. A short time: No one understands the son better than the father. At that time, the Buddha had already gradually started teaching the Great Dharma, as causes and conditions had already gradually ripened.

It was at this time that He began to help us gradually understand many teachings. Starting with the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, “He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path.” There needs to be “unsummoned teachers” [We can do this] even if our body is ill, as in the analogy of the master boatman. He is not in good health, but he still ferries people to the other shore. It shows that while he too is an ordinary person, he will still help others

“A short time” is an analogy to help us understand the son’s resolve. As the saying goes, “No one understands the son better than the father.” The father understands the son the best. No one understands sentient beings better than the Buddha. The Buddha understands the capabilities of sentient beings and the needs of sentient beings. Even when He was transitioning to begin teaching the Lotus Sutra, He first taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, which includes the Chapter on the Ten Merits. “If you do this, you will earn these merits.” It is the same. Sentient beings’ minds still had expectations, so He had to gradually and slowly teach the Great Dharma, turning from the Small to the Great Vehicle Dharma. “As causes and conditions had already gradually ripened” means. He had to wait for these causes and conditions to ripen.

This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma.

The following passage says, “The father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear.” He already knew his child’s mind was slowly becoming clear. The Dharma was given through gradual teachings, immediate teachings and then perfect teachings. During this process, “Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit gradually entered the Great Vehicle.” They were gradually taught and gradually entered the Great Vehicle. Their minds were clear, moving towards the Great

This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma. As they considered these things, they had gradually become clear; thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle. Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times. This explains the meaning of seeking the carts.

 Listening to the teachings is like this; we enter by slowly moving from the Small to the Great. So, “[Infinite teachings] arise from One Dharma.” In listening to the teachings, we can see how. “Infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma.” The Buddha originally wanted to tell everyone that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Everyone has the ability to attain Buddhahood. It is not just a possibility but a certainty that we can attain Buddhahood. The One Dharma is so simple, but because of [our] dull capabilities, the Buddha had to give a lot of teachings. So, infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings uses many analogies to begin to teach the Dharma.

“They must consider all the infinite teachings.” The Buddha did not just give one teaching; He had to devise many types, like the Nine Divisions of Teachings and the 12 Divisions [of the Tripitaka]. There needed to be many different ways of teaching the Dharma. Whenever one teaching is given, a lot of thinking and consideration must go into adapting it to the capabilities of sentient beings. “The principles must return to the One Dharma.” After many teachings are expounded, all of them must be consolidated again to let everyone know that it is not that complicated. We use various methods to eliminate afflictions, but the goal is to return to our true nature

“As they considered these things,” at this time, the things they considered gradually became clear. These disciples began to understand clearly. After listening to over 40 years of teachings, they had slowly become clear. Their resolve also gradually grew. After practicing for so long, their goal was now to go among people, to be able to truly perfect both blessings and wisdom. “Thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle.” Their capabilities for accepting the Great Vehicle had begun to develop. “Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times.” Finally, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Sariputra asked the Buddha to teach three times. Because the Buddha had constantly praised the state of the Buddha-wisdom, they realized their states and the Buddha’s state were still so far apart, so they hoped the Buddha could describe it.

Sariputra asked three times and the Buddha refused three times, but in the end He taught it. “This sutra assembly” is for the Lotus Sutra. The “three requests” were asking that the Buddha explain; this was their aspiration to seek the Dharma.

This is like in the Chapter on Parables, when outside the burning house the elder set up three carts to tempt them to come out. Then he told them, “Look, there is the great white ox-cart. Look, there are so many treasures inside, and they are so magnificent. They are very fun and filled with abundance”

He had formed a great resolve: They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was. And scorned his former mindset: They regretted their abiding in the Small Vehicle.

“He had formed a great resolve” showed that [the Buddha] encouraged everyone to choose the great white ox-cart. But they “scorned [their] former mindset.” Although they began to admire the cart, there was still hesitation. Their mindset of enjoying the Small Dharma and awakening oneself was not fully relinquished. “They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was.” This was their direction, but they still remained in the Small Vehicle state where they had abided in the past. They were like this in the past, and they had not fully abandoned it. So, they were thinking and considering; they were thinking of letting go

And scorned his former mindset: Upon reflection, they relinquished the Small. This reveals the meaning of seeking the carts outside the burning house. As the son’s resolve had grown greater, it became certain that the father would pass the family business on to the son. But the son, in body and mind, was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].

This is explaining the meaning of the three carts outside the burning house. They were what the children wanted. After they saw them, the children’s resolve gradually grew. It was now certain; he knew that his father’s teachings were to be passed to him to carry on the family business. Though in his heart he wanted to accept them, he was still hesitant. “The family business is so large and heavy. Will I be able to shoulder it?” He was still hesitant. So, “[His mind] was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].”

This was the Buddha’s one great cause in coming to this world, to “open and reveal His views and understanding for us to realize and enter.” Thus, after more than 40 years, He finally began to teach the Lotus Sutra. In the process He also taught the Surangama Sutra

[The Buddha] opened and revealed His views and understanding for us to realize and enter. After more than 40 years, He started teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Samadhi and wisdom of the Surangama.

to help us understand the power of Samadhi in the Buddha’s mind. “The mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom” helps our compassion and gives us a way to go among people. So, “We can illuminate ultimate reality.” How do we express wondrous existence in emptiness, the ultimate reality of True Suchness? By going among people and “penetrating the Dharma-nature of True Suchness.” We can already see very clearly “the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding.”

With the mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom, we can illuminate ultimate reality and penetrate the Dharma-nature of True Suchness. After the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding, they gradually came to form a great resolve.

Prajna wisdom helped us to understand that everything is empty in nature. Now, we return to “wondrous existence.” Everyone intrinsically has this nature. The workings of “wondrous existence” come from our Buddha-nature, with which we go among people to cultivate both blessings and wisdom. Dear Bodhisattvas, learning the Buddha’s Way is indeed for the purpose of guiding us onto the Bodhisattva-path. We must always be mindful.

Episode 793 – Advancing Diligently, Let Nothing Be Lost

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>> In spiritual practice, we advance diligently to achieve realization of the true principles of the One Reality. By following righteousness, truth and our intent, we adapt to the capabilities and conditions of sentient beings. Thus we benefit ourselves while benefiting others. This must not be abandoned or forgotten.

>> “This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent. Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing be lost.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son: This helps us understand that the Mahaprajna taught by the Buddha was to lead those great Arhats to turn to the Bodhisattva teachings. However, they never yearned to form the same aspiration. Thus this analogy was made.

>> Prior to the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Subhuti and the others had grasped the teachings of emptiness and were safeguarding the Great Vehicle. They knew the principles of the Great Vehicle Dharma and could proclaim it in the Buddha’s place to teach and transform Bodhisattvas, yet they had no wish to form Great Vehicle aspirations.

>> Although they had already secretly gained the benefits of the different teachings, since they had no wish to make use of this Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues, it was as if they had been stored away inside a storehouse, where they could not use them. Thus it speaks of everything in the storehouses.

>> Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself: Those practitioners had no wish to take even one meal of the nourishing Dharma of the Great Vehicle.

>> “As for the Bodhisattva Way of playing freely within spiritual powers, purifying Buddha-lands and bringing sentient beings to fruition, we took no joy in these.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> Thus when it came to the supreme Bodhi that the Buddha taught to Bodhisattvas, no joy arose in them. Though Subhuti could skillfully expound the Prajna teachings, he thought of this as the Bodhisattva Way and considered himself to have no part in it, thinking it a matter for others.

>> Question: In the Prajna period, Two Vehicle practitioners had secretly gained the benefits of different teachings. So why does it say they”had no wish to take [them]”?  Answer: They received and understood the infinite different Dharma-doors, thus it says “benefits of different teachings”. However, they had no wish to take them thus it says “secretly gained”. If they were willing to take them, it would have been “openly gained”; then why would it say “secretly gained”?

>> Though the Small had repeatedly been shamed, their minds had not yet turned toward the Great. This was like the poor son. Though he was recognized by the elder as the son, he was still satisfied with being inferior. Thus he quietly remained in his original role as a hired worker.

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“In spiritual practice, we advance diligently
to achieve realization of the true principles of the One Reality.
By following righteousness, truth and our intent,
we adapt to the capabilities and conditions of sentient beings.
Thus we benefit ourselves while benefiting others.
This must not be abandoned or forgotten.”

As spiritual practitioners we must be diligent. We must be earnest and advance diligently. We must know that life is painfully short; just how much time is there for us to continue being indolent? Think about it; in life, understanding principles and unlocking our wisdom is incredibly difficult. On top of that, we are indolent and indulgent, which adds even more difficulty. Finding a way to comprehend and realize principles is truly not an easy feat. We may say we are practicing but are indolent and undisciplined in our living. If we do not cherish our time, we will waste our lives. That would truly be a pity. So it is said, “In spiritual practice, we advance diligently.”

I often say, “Human form is rarely attained, but we have attained it; the Buddha-Dharma is rarely encountered, but we have encountered it.” It turns out that we are living amidst the truth; it is so close to us, yet we do not earnestly make use of it. We do not cherish it or draw near these principles. This is what it seems like. We willingly live like unenlightened beings, neglecting our spiritual cultivation, becoming indolent and regressing. It is a pity to live this kind of life. So, we must find a way to realize the Dharma, uniting the principles with the Path and uniting matters with [ultimate] truth. Only by bringing them together can we truly achieve realization of “the true principles of the One Reality.” If we are not mindful ourselves, no matter how someone explains them, we will still be unable to comprehend.

For instance, in Malaysia, there is an old woman; she had given birth to ten children, yet her husband sold off three sons and two daughters, leaving them with five. However, life is impermanent. One after another, her children unfortunately left before her, that is, they passed away. In the end, her only remaining son would not take care of her. Her only remaining daughter was more filial and did care about her, but her family was not well-off. Out of maternal instinct, this old woman did not want to burden her daughter, so she lived in hardship.

When Tzu Chi volunteers received this case, the house had been severely damaged by a fire. This old woman had been living in those circumstances for a long time. They felt that this was inconceivable; it was so pitiable! Sharing this sense of pity and compassion, everyone pooled their strength and rebuilt her house in just two months.

Then, the Tzu Chi volunteers felt relieved. All the volunteers said, “We have chosen the right path to walk. It allows us to see so much impermanence in life.” Just by looking at this old woman’s life, they could see the sufferings of the world. After hearing the Dharma and understanding it, it turns out that principles are very close to our bodies and minds. After we take action, we can attain realizations. This is “achieving realization of the true principles of the One Reality.”

The principle is really just this simple. Now that you know about that cause, that seed, are you willing to plant it? Are you willing to cultivate it? If we just know about it but refuse to plant it, that is like clearing the weeds from the land but not sowing new seeds. We say we are spiritual practitioners. We say we are eliminating afflictions and engaging in spiritual practice, but if we are unwilling to also benefit others and truly put [the Dharma] into practice, if our spiritual cultivation is just superficial, we have not truly overcome the difficulties in our minds and in our bodies. This means we did not truly put in the work and are not willing to give; this means we have not planted the seeds.

We just continue to let the time pass. How can we waste our lives in this way? So, we must put our efforts into being mindful.

We must go among people “by following righteousness, truth and our intent.” We have to aspire to interact with people while taking abundant true principles to heart. This is how we “follow righteousness and truth. Righteousness and truth” come after we have taken all the principles to heart. Only then will we be able to [meet] the needs of sentient beings and, according to their capabilities, give to help as conditions allow.

By taking principles to heart every day, with an abundance of Dharma-wealth in our hearts, we can adapt to the capabilities of sentient beings. In this way, we benefit ourselves as well as others. This is an opportunity we must seize. It is precious to be born human and to hear the Buddha-Dharma; we should earnestly seize this opportunity. “This must not be abandoned or forgotten.”

Haven’t we been talking about this recently? The poor son was approached by the elder and brought into the household. Gradually, the elder told him that there were many things in the storehouse and and that he could take whatever he wanted, that he could come and go without obstacles. This is an analogy for how, by taking the Dharma to heart, we are filled with a Dharma-wealth of wisdom that we can make use of at any time. Thus we can come and go without obstacles. Furthermore, we are reminded it cannot be lost

“This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent. Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing be lost.”

Yesterday we discussed [how the elder said], “This is what is in my heart” [The elder] has so much. “And you must understand my intent. I am like your father, and you are like my child.” This is what [he told the son] “‘Now you and I are no different’. This is because you and I are no different.” This explains that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. “I have it and so do you. I am just giving you a method [to return to it].” All this goes back to how. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” We just need to “be even more mindful and let nothing be lost.” We cannot let anything be lost.

In the next passage, Subhuti continued with the parable ․”At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”

By this time, the poor son had already received much instruction. He received all this gold, silver and treasure, but he did not take them; he did not want them. He only went in to look. He still did not feel, “These belong to me.” This means he still had inferior resolve.

At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son: This helps us understand that the Mahaprajna taught by the Buddha was to lead those great Arhats to turn to the Bodhisattva teachings. However, they never yearned to form the same aspiration. Thus this analogy was made.

“At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”    

This is “the Mahaprajna taught by the Buddha.” The Buddha had started to expound the Mahaprajna Sutra so that these. Arhats who had attained the fruit of realization could turn to the Bodhisattva teachings. During the Prajna period, He helped everyone understand that principles are in fact without substance, appearance or form. It is because sentient beings give rise to discursive thoughts that many afflictions converge and form. Teachings from the Mahaprajna Sutra are used to instruct and guide us to understanding. Even when we analyze our thoughts, we find that they are ultimately empty. We have a thought of happiness, then perhaps in the space of a thought, we feel, “I am very annoyed, I am very angry” and so on. With a detailed analysis of our consciousnesses, the sixth, seventh, eighth and so on, in the end, this analysis will conclude that everything is empty. There is only the karmic law of cause and effect. Still, if we can eliminate all our afflictions, we can attain liberation.

Let us ask ourselves, “Have we eliminated all of our afflictions? Have we eliminated our dust-like delusions?” We have not. So, the Buddha continues [to teach us], “To eliminate your afflictions, you must go among people to give to them. By forging yourself in the fires of this furnace. You can truly become a refined instrument.” If we want to truly attain this great wisdom, we must go through this process.

Once we understand that. “All phenomena are illusory,” and. “The Five Aggregates are empty,” once we understand all this, we must quickly go among the people to teach the Bodhisattva Way. “However, they never wished to form the same aspiration.” The great Arhats, when asked to go among people to transform them, had no desire to do that.

Prior to the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Subhuti and the others had grasped the teachings of emptiness and were safeguarding the Great Vehicle. They knew the principles of the Great Vehicle Dharma and could proclaim it in the Buddha’s place to teach and transform Bodhisattvas, yet they had no wish to form Great Vehicle aspirations.

This is like how Subhuti and the others said that prior to the Lotus Dharma-assembly, they “had grasped the teachings of emptiness” and could “safeguard the Great Vehicle.” They thought the Prajna teachings were part of the Great Vehicle. They thought all they had to do was guard it. “They knew the principles of the Great Vehicle Dharma” and could proclaim it “in the Buddha’s place to teach and transform Bodhisattvas.” They knew the teachings the Buddha gave; they knew all these principles and were safeguarding them. This is like the elder’s storehouse. The poor son was just safeguarding it; he did not feel these things belonged to him. The disciples were like him. For the Buddha, “They taught and transformed Bodhisattvas, yet they had no wish to form. Great Vehicle aspirations.” They clearly knew that the Buddha was teaching the Bodhisattva Way, but they continued to be stuck at the stage of guarding the principles, unwilling to go beyond that to work in the world.

Although they had already secretly gained the benefits of the different teachings, since they had no wish to make use of this Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues, it was as if they had been stored away inside a storehouse, where they could not use them. Thus it speaks of everything in the storehouses.

That was not what they sought to do [This applies to] “everything in the storehouses,” the Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues. If we have these things, we can make use of them to help people and also achieve merits and virtues. Yet, we continue to just guard them, to hide those things away. They are still in the storehouse, unused. Therefore these things are still locked securely inside the storehouses. This is truly a pity

Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself: Those practitioners had no wish to take even one meal of the nourishing Dharma of the Great Vehicle.

We see that there are these things; so many of them have been pointed out to us. But we do not make use of them. Thus it says, “He had no wish to take even a meal for himself.” Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself: Those practitioners had no wish to take even one meal of the nourishing Dharma of the Great Vehicle. Our storehouses are filled abundantly. After we listen to the teachings, we should quickly open up the storehouse in our minds and check the inventory. “We have this, and we have that.” If anyone needs it, we can quickly give to them.

Why don’t we use these things? Because we have no wish to. We do not wish to take and make use of them. This is like this passage in the sutra “As for the Bodhisattva Way of playing freely within spiritual powers, purifying Buddha-lands and bringing sentient beings to fruition, we took no joy in these.”

With the Buddha-Dharma, [we act] “for Buddha’s teachings and for all sentient beings.” The Buddha-Dharma is so wonderful! We can make use of it and share it with everyone. Some people who receive these seeds will be willing to make use of them and cultivate them in the fields of their minds. Then they too can reap an abundant harvest. This is playing freely within spiritual powers and purifying Buddha-lands.

The Buddha’s teachings are so wonderful; why do so few people in the world know them? Think about the ratio. There are billions of people in the world. The number of people who know about Buddhism is still a very tiny percentage of that. Why are Buddhist disciples so quiet? Because everyone is simply holding it in and guarding the Buddha’s teachings. They are unwilling to promptly make use of this store of treasures. Only by applying them in the world can the Buddha-Dharma be circulated for everyone to understand and apply.

Look at the planet today. The four elements are imbalanced, and natural and manmade disasters constantly press us. If we can all take the Buddha-Dharma to heart, if we can all be disciplined in our living, then the world can be very peaceful and safe. This is “purifying Buddha-lands”

[The chaos we see today] is because we Buddhist practitioners have not carried out our responsibility

Thus when it came to the supreme Bodhi that the Buddha taught to Bodhisattvas, no joy arose in them. Though Subhuti could skillfully expound the Prajna teachings, he thought of this as the Bodhisattva Way and considered himself to have no part in it, thinking it a matter for others.

“Thus when it came to the supreme Bodhi that the Buddha taught to Bodhisattvas,” when we sentient beings [heard it], “no joy arose in [us].” The Buddha clearly taught us to practice the Bodhisattva Way, yet we did not give rise to a sense of joy nor were we willing to give. So, we were only cultivating the Small Vehicle Dharma. Subhuti was skilled in sharing truths of the Prajna teachings and was “foremost in understanding emptiness.” However, he always thought, “The Bodhisattva Way has nothing to do with me.” He felt he did not have the strength to do this. In fact, the Bodhisattva Way is very simple. Once we open the door to our minds, we have an abundance of treasures, and our minds can encompass the universe. There is no difficulty at all. We will go among people to create blessings and to experience the truth. Blessings and wisdom are attained among people.

Question: In the Prajna period, Two Vehicle practitioners had secretly gained the benefits of different teachings. So why does it say they”had no wish to take [them]”?  Answer: They received and understood the infinite different Dharma-doors, thus it says “benefits of different teachings”. However, they had no wish to take them thus it says “secretly gained”. If they were willing to take them, it would have been “openly gained”; then why would it say “secretly gained”?

Some people might ask, “If during the Prajna period, the Two Vehicle practitioners had secretly gained these benefits, why did they not want to take them and put them into practice?” The answer was, “Because they received and understood the infinite different Dharma-doors,” they had the “benefits of different teachings.” They knew and understood them, but “They had no wish to take them”; thus it says “secretly gained. Secretly gained” means they had understood, but were unwilling to give them to others. This is benefiting only oneself. However, “If they had been willing to take them,” it would have said “openly gained.” Then it would not bee “secretly gained.” It would have been very open; after taking it in, they would go and spread it. When it comes in and goes out without difficulty, we have truly [learned] the Dharma.

“Thus he remained living where he had before.” This is when we conceal what we have heard and are unwilling to give. “This is like guarding the fruits and attainments of the Small Vehicle.” If we are still safeguarding the Small Vehicle, then we have stopped where we started, unwilling to take a step forward. In this way, we are “unwilling to relinquish the feeling of inferiority.” If we cultivate Small Vehicle practices, we have not let go of our feelings of inferiority.

Though the Small had repeatedly been shamed, their minds had not yet turned toward the Great. This was like the poor son. Though he was recognized by the elder as the son, he was still satisfied with being inferior. Thus he quietly remained in his original role as a hired worker.

“The Small had been shamed [but had] not yet turned toward the Great.” They had not truly turned from the Small toward the Great. They are just like that poor son, that impoverished child. Although the elder had already recognized him and taken him as his godson, he would rather remain in an inferior state. “Thus he quietly remained” in his original role as a hired worker.

So in life, we have to be mindful. We have this precious human form and this precious Buddha-Dharma. We must quickly share what we know with everyone and not remain guarding an unenlightened state. We clearly know that to learn the Buddha’s Way, we must diligently advance, but unfortunately we remain indolent and cannot raise our spirits. This is a pity. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 792 – You and I Both Have the Buddha-Mind

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>> The Buddha has prajna as His mind and is now at a turning point in His teachings. Our mind must embody the Buddha’s mind and follow the Buddha’s intent. He taught the True Dharma for Bodhisattvas, that ‘You and I are no different’. In accord with the principles and the truth, all Dharma is the Tathagata-garbha nature.

>> “This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent.”      [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing leak away and be lost.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> So, The Buddha’s heart is compassion and prajna; He personally verified that all phenomena are ultimately empty in nature. All conditioned phenomena are ultimately empty in nature.

>> The practices of the Bodhisattvas are for the sake of suffering beings. This is the practice of the great Bodhisattva-path that the Buddha taught, which is to never turn from our initial vow to transform sentient beings. Thus it says, This is what is in my heart.

>> This is what is in my heart: We must comprehend the great path and vow to transform sentient beings We must always be replete with the two dignified virtues of compassion and wisdom.

>> Wisdom is seeking Bodhi; this is considered benefiting oneself. Compassion is transforming sentient beings; this is considered benefiting others. You can teach prajna to people like this, to turn them to the Bodhisattva-path.

>> Now you and I are no different: This has four meanings. First, their liberation is no different. Second, their realization of the principles is no different. Third, their teaching of Dharma is no different. Fourth, the father and the son are no different.

>> First, their liberation is no different, Practitioners of the Three Vehicles sit together upon the bed of liberation; they all eradicate delusions of ignorance. Thus it is said they are no different.

>> Second, their realization of the principles is no different. All Dharma is like this. Thus it is said they are no different.

>> Third, Their teaching of Dharma is no different. After receiving the Buddha’s teachings, they teach and transmit Prajna sutras. Thus their teaching is no different from the Buddha’s.

>> Fourth, the father and the son are no different. At this time, listening to the Dharma has led them to understand. Thus they pass on the Dharma-lineage, knowing the father and son’s intrinsic nature are fundamentally no different.

>> So be even more mindful to let nothing be lost: This has two meanings. The first, in terms of the teachings, is that what was taught to Bodhisattvas must not be lost. The second, in terms of the principles, is that these are things we intrinsically have and thus cannot be lost.

>> Thus, with all the merits and virtues from benefiting both ourselves and others, we must not let them be lost we must not let them be lost.

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“The Buddha has prajna as His mind and is now at a turning point in His teachings.
Our mind must embody the Buddha’s mind and follow the Buddha’s intent.
He taught the True Dharma for Bodhisattvas, that ‘You and I are no different’.
 In accord with the principles and the truth, all Dharma is the Tathagata-garbha nature.”

“The Buddha has prajna as His mind.” From this, we know that His state of mind is very pure, tranquil and clear; this is such a beautiful state. It is pure and undefiled, but it encompasses the true principles of all things in the universe. His mind is an ocean of enlightened wisdom.

Ever since His enlightenment, He has taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings, first during the Avatamsaka period, [sharing] His pure Buddha-nature. Then He went among the people. During the Agama period, He taught the karmic law of cause and effect. Gradually, after 12 years, He turned to the Vaipulya teachings. In the Vaipulya period, He began teaching both the Great and Small Vehicles. From the Small Vehicle, He brought them into the Middle and then the Great Vehicle. After these eight years, He turned to the Prajna teachings. The Prajna sutras contains many teachings analyzing how the truth is without substance or appearance and how [causes and conditions] converge to give rise to collective karma in our world. In fact, all things are without substance or form. After penetrating the principles, the wisdom we attain will help us realize our compassion. By giving without expectations, what we attain is an abundance of Dharma-joy.

So, “Our mind must embody the Buddha’s mind.” In this way, we realize that. “Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature.” We have begun to understand this. This is the Buddha’s great compassion. This is what the Buddha-mind is like; when we pool our strength together, the power of our compassion will likewise be just as great and can relieve sentient beings [from suffering]. This is “following the Buddha’s intent.” The Buddha taught us the Dharma, and we listen, learn and then put it into practice. This is the Buddha-Dharma.

Thus, “He taught the True Dharma for Bodhisattvas, that, ‘You and I are no different’.” The Buddha often taught the Great Vehicle Dharma for Bodhisattvas. So, He often said, “You and I are no different, because the Buddha, sentient beings and the mind are no different [in their nature]. What is the difference between you and me?” We all have the Buddha-mind, and we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, the pure nature of True Suchness. It is just that our awakened nature has been covered by ignorance, afflictions, etc. By now, we have gradually understood that this is how to walk the path of the Dharma.

“In accord with the principles and the truth, all Dharma is the Tathagata-garbha nature.” In accord with the principles, we enter this path and walk on it. Actually, when all of our actions come together with the Dharma we hear, that is our Tathagata-garbha nature. Everyone intrinsically has Tathagata-nature.

As the passage we read yesterday states, “This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent.” Subhuti was describing the Buddha as being like the elder who wanted to approach his child.

The elder gradually approached the poor son; he approached him very slowly over time [until] they could share their thoughts with each other. The elder shared that he has a full storehouse, filled with many treasures. “You can enter and leave freely and use anything you like. I am very open with you; all this belongs to you.” This conveys the Buddha’s selfless heart. “He views sentient beings as His only son.” Having this state of mind, the Buddha continuously found ways to help us understand all Dharma, His abundance of wisdom. From the simple, He gradually came to the profound. From existence and the law of karma, His analyses led to the Prajna teaching that “Everything is empty.” After the Prajna period, He turned to teaching about “wondrous existence,” the pure nature of True Suchness.

“This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent.” Everyone, we must experience the one great cause for which He came to this world, the Buddha’s original intent. He had always wanted to express that original intent. It was just that sentient beings continued to have varying capacities, so He had to teach according to capabilities. By the time He was advanced in age, He could no longer hold back. Thus He began the Lotus-Nirvana teachings, when He started to analyze how the principles He had taught in the past had led them here, how they had steadfastly walked this path step by step.

Time passes by so quickly, but He always continued to hope that everyone could “understand His intent.” We must understand that the Buddha’s mind is our mind. We are able to [be like Him]. The Buddha comes to this world to save all beings. We are also capable of immediately pooling our love together, of uniting our hearts and our efforts to help sentient beings. The Buddha can do this, and so can we. But as for the Buddha’s wisdom, this is something we have to learn. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Next, “Why is this so?” What is going on here? How was it that the Buddha was able to spend so long teaching according to capabilities? Why did He refuse to give up on sentient beings? What was His reason? It was His great compassion

“Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing leak away and be lost.”

After His enlightenment, His first thought was, “How amazing! How amazing! All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” Because of this, He hopes that everyone can return to their intrinsic nature. All beings can be delivered, because they all have a nature of True Suchness. Because of this, “Now you and I are no different.” I have my nature of True Suchness, and you have your nature of True Suchness. You and I are the same, so we are “no different.” There are no differences between us. “So be even more mindful.” We must have faith in this and must be earnestly mindful. “Let nothing leak away and be lost”; we must not lose this. Now that we know this, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must take it to heart. It cannot go in one ear and out the other. We must not take it in and immediately forget. We must truly apply and internalize the Dharma.

So, The Buddha’s heart is compassion and prajna; He personally verified that all phenomena are ultimately empty in nature. All conditioned phenomena are ultimately empty in nature.

Life is truly filled with suffering! So, “The Buddha’s heart is compassion and prajna; He personally verified that all phenomena are ultimately empty in nature.” The Buddha manifested in this world as an example, demonstrating the course of life, of birth, aging, illness and death. He showed us how He views and deals with the inequalities and suffering in this world. To resolve these problems, He wanted everyone to better comprehend that all sentient beings must be [treated] equally. Thus we have been talking about “showing compassion equally to all,” the ways in which we can exercise our compassion in order to treat all people and sentient beings equally. We should not only love other humans, but should love all other animals as well. So, we should not eat the meat of living beings. He wanted everyone to “show compassion equally to all,” to treat sentient beings impartially, because, as the Buddha said, those transmigrating in the Six Realms, or the Five Realms and four forms of birth all have Buddha-nature.

We should really understand this. What the Buddha realized was, “All phenomena are ultimately empty in nature.” They are ultimately empty, yet sentient being keep creating karma. The Buddha realized that. “All conditional phenomena are ultimately empty and still.” So, I often tell everyone that that the Buddha’s state of mind upon His enlightenment was a tranquil and clear state. It is a state that brings freedom and ease; it is a truly wonderful state.

The practices of the Bodhisattvas are for the sake of suffering beings. This is the practice of the great Bodhisattva-path that the Buddha taught, which is to never turn from our initial vow to transform sentient beings. Thus it says, This is what is in my heart.

So, “The practices of the Bodhisattvas are for the sake of suffering beings.” They teach and guide us. If we want to reach the same state of ultimate emptiness as the Buddha and return to our nature of True Suchness, the most important thing is that we earnestly cultivate practices for the sake of suffering beings. This is the Bodhisattva-practice ․All conditioned phenomena are ultimately empty in nature. The practices of the Bodhisattvas are for the sake of suffering beings. This is the practice of the great Bodhisattva-path that the Buddha taught, which is to never turn from our initial vow to transform sentient beings. Thus it says, “This is what is in my heart.”

Every day, I say that we must go among people without being contaminated by them. This is like the lotus flower blossoming from mud. A Bodhisattva’s heart is just like this. So, “[It is all] for the sake of suffering beings. This is the practice of the great Bodhisattva-path that the Buddha taught.” What the Buddha truly wanted to teach us was to to walk the Bodhisattva-path. But we must put it into practice ourselves “[It] is to never turn from our initial vow,” which is to transform sentient beings. Since we have formed these aspirations, we should seize that moment and sustain it forever. The aspirations we formed in that instant are what we should sustain forever and also what we must put into practice. We must practice among suffering beings to relieve them of suffering.

“This is what is in my heart.” This explains the previous passage we spoke of yesterday, “This is what is in my heart.” This mindset was what the Buddha wanted to teach us. Everyone must “understand [His] intent” and comprehend the great path. Isn’t this part of the Three Refuges that we chant every day? “I take refuge in the Buddha. May all sentient beings comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration.” Isn’t this what we chant both morning and evening? “I take refuge in the Dharma. May all sentient beings delve deeply into the sutra treasury and have wisdom as vast as the ocean. I take refuge in the Sangha. May all sentient beings lead the people harmoniously without any obstructions.” Doesn’t this tell us that to deliver all beings we must exercise our wisdom and awaken our compassion?

This is what is in my heart: We must comprehend the great path and vow to transform sentient beings We must always be replete with the two dignified virtues of compassion and wisdom.

So, we must “comprehend the great path.” We must earnestly comprehend the great path and vow to deliver all sentient beings. We must make this kind of vow. This is inseparable from being replete with the two dignified virtues of compassion and wisdom.

As we are Buddhist practitioners, we must practice compassion and go among people. Everyone manifests suffering for us to see, verifying the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. They allow us to witness the suffering of the world. From each person, we learn a different story, a different sutra. From different lives, we can realize much knowledge and wisdom. So, “We must be replete with the two dignified virtues of compassion and wisdom.” The Buddha had already attained Buddhahood; He was replete with the dignity of compassion and wisdom. He had already achieved these two virtues, so this is what we must learn from the Buddha.

Wisdom is seeking Bodhi; this is considered benefiting oneself. Compassion is transforming sentient beings; this is considered benefiting others. You can teach prajna to people like this, to turn them to the Bodhisattva-path.

“Wisdom” is “seeking Bodhi”; it is considered benefiting oneself. We must continuously listen to the Dharma and better understand it; this benefits ourselves. “Compassion” is “transforming sentient beings”; this is considered benefiting others. We must put what we learn into practice; only then are we able to achieve the state of being replete with the two virtues of compassion and wisdom. Thus, we have begun to learn to “exercise both compassion and wisdom. We seek the Buddha’s Way and transform sentient beings.”

“You can teach Prajna sutras to people like this”  Do you still remember that, previously, in the Chapter on Parables, it continuously states that we can only teach this Dharma to certain kinds of people? If people cannot understand it, we should not teach it to them. There are many things like this that we should understand. By “teaching Prajna sutras,” the Buddha turned the principles of emptiness into the Bodhisattva-path. After people understood the principles and achieved wisdom, He helped them awaken their compassion.

Now you and I are no different: This has four meanings. First, their liberation is no different. Second, their realization of the principles is no different. Third, their teaching of Dharma is no different. Fourth, the father and the son are no different.

Thus He said, “Now you and I are no different.” This contains four meanings

First, their liberation is no different, Practitioners of the Three Vehicles sit together upon the bed of liberation; they all eradicate delusions of ignorance. Thus it is said they are no different.

The first is, “Their liberation is no different.” If the Buddha can be liberated and can awaken, we likewise can be liberated and can awaken. If we can have compassion like the Buddha’s, we engage in spiritual practice for the sake of sentient beings. For the sake of relieving the suffering of sentient beings, we engage in spiritual practice and thus awaken. If we are able to do this, then our liberation will be no different from His.

Thus, “Their liberation is no different. Practitioners of the Three Vehicles sit together upon the bed of liberation.” Whether they are Hearers, Solitary Realizers or Bodhisattvas, these practitioners of the Three Vehicles can begin to move forward, step by step. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature; everyone is equal. They “sit together upon the bed of liberation; they all eradicate delusions of ignorance.” To sit on this bed, there is just one requirement. We must eradicate all delusions of ignorance and not give rise to afflictions or to discursive thoughts.

Second, their realization of the principles is no different. All Dharma is like this. Thus it is said they are no different.

Second, “Their realization of the principles is no different.” All principles are the same; they are equal. “All Dharma is thus; therefore it is said they are no different.”

All Dharma is the same, whether it is the law of karma, Prajna teachings, Avatamsaka teachings, Lotus-Nirvana teachings or Vaipulya teachings. The principles are all the same. It depends on how we hear and absorb them. Thus, “All Dharma is thus; therefore it is said they are no different.” Our capabilities determine how we learn and how we practice

․Third, “Their teaching of Dharma is no different.” After “receiving the Buddha’s teachings, they teach and transmit Prajna sutras. Thus their teaching is no different from the Buddha’s.”

We must earnestly accept the Buddha’s teachings. The Dharma has been passed down up till now, for more than 2000 years. This Dharma is not any different, but it depends on people to transmit it. Thus, our mission is to transmit the Dharma, more importantly, to transmit teachings of wisdom. “They teach and transmit Prajna sutras. Thus their teaching is no different from the Buddha’s.” We should therefore be mindful.

Fourth, the father and the son are no different. At this time, listening to the Dharma has led them to understand. Thus they pass on the Dharma-lineage, knowing the father and son’s intrinsic nature are fundamentally no different.

Fourth, “The father and the son are no different.” At this time, when it comes to the Dharma, “listening to Dharma has led them to understand and transmit the Dharma-lineage.” The father and son’s intrinsic nature “are fundamentally no different.”

No matter what era we live in, as long as we can experience the Dharma, if we can take that Dharma to heart, if we can be one with the principles that the Buddha had awakened to, then the Dharma-lineage is being passed down. Spiritual principles are passed down through the Dharma-lineage. This is like how father and son are fundamentally no different. Whether bloodline or Dharma-line, blood-lineage or Dharma-lineage, if they can be passed down through generations, then they will not differ.

Thus, the sutra states, “Be even more mindful to let nothing leak away and be lost.” We should be mindful and let nothing be lost.

So be even more mindful to let nothing be lost: This has two meanings. The first, in terms of the teachings, is that what was taught to Bodhisattvas must not be lost. The second, in terms of the principles, is that these are things we intrinsically have and thus cannot be lost.

This has two meanings. The first is in terms of the teachings. What should be taught? Of course, the Buddha came to teach the Bodhisattva Way and guide everyone to give rise to Bodhicitta and walk the Bodhisattva-path; this must not be lost. Second, in terms of the principles, “There are things we all intrinsically have and thus cannot be lost.” Everyone intrinsically has a pure nature of True Suchness equal to the Buddha’s; we cannot lose it.

He told us that we cannot lose our pure nature of True Suchness. Before, He taught us to walk the Bodhisattva-path. Now, He reminds us that this pure nature of True Suchness is something we all intrinsically have. It is not something people can teach us, nor is it something other people can give us, nor something the Buddha specifically gave. It is something we all intrinsically have.

Thus, with all the merits and virtues from benefiting both ourselves and others, we must not let them be lost we must not let them be lost.

We intrinsically have wisdom equal to His, this pure and undefiled Buddha-nature. This is something everyone intrinsically has. So, we must take good care of our nature of True Suchness and avoid allowing it to be polluted. This is something “that cannot be lost.” We must not attract ignorance that [covers] our pure nature of True Suchness. Thus, “the merits from benefiting both ourselves and others” are what we must always maintain. So , “Let nothing leak away and be lost.”

Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must be mindful. The Buddha-Dharma has always been in our daily living. The awakened Buddha-nature has always been an intrinsic part of everyone’s minds. We must take good care of it to ensure it is pure and does not get lost. Therefore, we should always be mindful.

Episode 791 – Father and Son Do Not Differ in Intrinsic Nature

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>> The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature]. We must take care not to be reckless or unrestrained and warn ourselves not to lose our spiritual aspirations. First, we must not allow the Prajna teachings, the teachings for Bodhisattvas, to leak away. Second, we must practice in accord with the principles and the Dharma.

>> He said to the poor son, “I now have gold, silver and treasures filling my storehouses to overflowing. You already know precisely how much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “My mind is as such, and you must understand my intent. Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing be los.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> My mind is as such: We now begin to realize that father and son are fundamentally no different in nature. The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence. This is the pure mind of our intrinsic nature.

>> The Buddha has prajna as His nature and wondrous existence as His mind. This is great compassion, wisdom and vows. With His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana, and with His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence.

>> The nature of the human mind is the Buddha-nature, also known as the Buddha-mind.

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“The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].
We must take care not to be reckless or unrestrained
and warn ourselves not to lose our spiritual aspirations.
First, we must not allow the Prajna teachings,
the teachings for Bodhisattvas, to leak away.
Second, we must practice in accord with the principles and the Dharma.”

The mind of sentient beings is the Buddha-mind; it is we sentient beings who have allowed this awakened nature to be covered over by ignorance and afflictions. If we can eliminate our ignorance and afflictions, our clear and bright nature will manifest. In this way, we are equal to the Buddha, with a mind as clear as a mirror. So, now that we have this opportunity to listen to the Dharma and learn the Buddha’s Way, every day we must remind ourselves to be vigilant. We must no longer give rise to afflictions. As we interact with people, matters and things, we must always be aware and vigilant of ourselves. We must be vigilant; “We must take care not to be reckless or unrestrained.”

We must constantly work to polish our minds and wipe them clean. We must not let any dust, any affliction, ignorant thought or dust-like delusion build up on the mirror of our mind. As we take the Dharma to heart, it is ourselves whom we must be vigilant of. We must be very careful not to lose our will to practice.

What is most important is the teachings for Bodhisattvas. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause. He manifested an appearance in this world to teach us how to engage in spiritual practice. He had to have so much patience and undertake such taxing work. He had to be willing to live in this way to spend such a long time of traveling to learn and engaging in ascetic practice, etc. Finally, in that instant, His mind became one with the universe. He attained enlightenment. In His mind, the Avatamsaka state manifested, and for 21 days He gave the Avatamsaka teachings, freely sharing His original intent and explaining His inner state. This was a teaching for Bodhisattvas.

But would it be easy for sentient beings to accept these teachings? It would be difficult! In the latter parts of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha began to express over and over that. He was old and about to enter Parinirvana, but His mind was still filled with concerns for sentient beings of the Saha World. In the future, how would the Dharma be passed down? How would the Bodhisattva-path of transforming sentient beings be transmitted? He was concerned.

Not everyone can immediately awaken once they come in contact with the Dharma and right away be able to walk the great Bodhi-path to care for all sentient beings. That was why He devised all kinds of methods. So, after going through the Agama Period and the Vaipulya period, He came to the Prajna period. During the Vaipulya period, He taught both the Great and Small Vehicles. When He came to the Prajna period, He wanted to help us to eliminate afflictions from our minds, to clear away all of our afflictions. So, with the Prajna teachings, we must be very mindful. We must give rise to an aspiration to walk the Bodhisattva-path. But when we go among people, we must not allow their habitual tendencies to contaminate our minds. Therefore, we must be vigilant. We must not allow the Prajna teachings to leak away.

The Prajna teachings are about “emptiness.” So, Subhuti told the Buddha the parable of the poor son. This came from four people, Subhuti, Kasyapa, Maudgalyayana [and Katyayana], who shared their realizations with the Buddha. In fact, Subhuti already realized the principles of the Prajna teachings. “Prajna” is wisdom. With wisdom we can analyze right and wrong. There is “discerning wisdom,” and there is “impartial wisdom.” With discerning wisdom, we discern right from wrong. With impartial wisdom, we view all sentient beings equally. In this way, we have both compassion and wisdom. This is what we must learn as we learn the Buddha’s Way; we must not let this leak away and be lost.

“Second, we must practice in accord with the principles and the Dharma.” Every day, as we listen, we must learn to take the Dharma to heart, manifest it in our actions and live according to it. That is why we often say, “We must live out the Buddha-Dharma and “be Bodhisattvas in this world.” We need to apply the Buddha-Dharma to our living. Our life in this world is not separate from the Buddha-Dharma; in this world, we must constantly form Bodhisattva-aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path. We must be awakened beings on the Bodhi-path. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

We have been discussing the parable of the poor son [The way the elder had to approach] the poor son show what a difficult process this was! The son had been wandering about and had finally returned to the gates of his house, but then he wanted to run away again. The elder quickly devised methods, gradually approaching him and calling him to come back. Engaging in amiable conversation, he was able to bring him in. How much effort did he have to expend to keep him company and teach him?

By now, they could speak openly to each other. So, “He said [this] to the poor son.” This is what He told the poor son, “I now have gold, silver and treasures filling my storehouses to overflowing. You already know precisely how much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out.”

“There is an abundance of things here. You can freely use whatever you want. After all, you are my child. How you use it is up to you. You already understand everything.” This is what we explained before; all of this is talking about the Dharma. The Buddha did all He could to help us understand. His mindfulness [in teaching us]. He was like the elder, the father who had been looking for his son. He had gradually called his son to come back to him.

Next he said, “This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent. Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing be lost.”

“This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent.” The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to teach us that we all have this kind of mind. So, He was like that elder and “regarded sentient beings as [His] son.” The father did everything he could to keep his son from going hungry and give him a stable life; this was from the parable of the poor son. Those passages were Subhuti using the elder’s mindset as analogy. Now, this is still part of the analogy; Subhuti is again using the analogy of the elder having this kind of mindset. He wanted to see that his son was settled, to see to his son’s needs, that he could dress warmly, could eat his fill and had what he needed. This was the elder’s mindset; this was his wish.

So, “You must understand my intent.” This was what the elder wanted for his son. “You must understand that my intent is only for you to be warm, to eat your fill and to live a stable life.” The Buddha wants to help develop our wisdom-life. We need sufficient provisions of Dharma for our wisdom-life to be healthy. All of us need to understand this intent. So, what we need to learn is this, to provide each other’s spiritual nourishment, to help each other succeed. Thus we need to go among people.

“Why is this so?” Why? “Now you and I are no different” [The Buddha told us,] “I am like this. In fact, you are also like this.” We also have the Buddha-mind. We can also go among people to transform sentient beings. We can also go among people to give to them. Of course, the process will be very taxing. But we must not be afraid of hard work; we must do this willingly. “Blessings are the joy we gain through giving.” We really need to benefit everyone. By benefiting people, we will be blessed and have great abundance. So, it is in giving that we attain joy. What kind of joy? Dharma-joy, which comes from developing our wisdom-life.

This is the way [the Buddha] is, and this is the way all of us must be as well. So, “Now you and I are no different. You and I are the same.” We have taken the Buddha-mind as our mind, thus we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. So, “Be even more mindful.” We need to redouble our efforts to be mindful. For this past long period of time, people and matters have been used as analogies for the Dharma and principles. Now, we should know that we need to be even more mindful. What we did not know in the past, we have learned through earnest teaching, parables. Now that we know, we need to be mindful. This is a reminder to “let nothing be lost.” We must not listen to the Dharma and immediately let it leak away and be lost. We must not allow this.

We must always be cautious, heighten our vigilance. We must be careful to let nothing be lost. Once we take the Dharma to heart, we must engrave it on our minds. We must be earnest and constantly be aware. We must heighten our vigilance to avoid allowing afflictions to enter our minds. We must not allow our pure minds to be contaminated again. The habitual tendencies we have must be immediately eliminated. This is what the Buddha continuously reminds us.

My mind is as such: We now begin to realize that father and son are fundamentally no different in nature. The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence. This is the pure mind of our intrinsic nature.

Next, we need to better understand, “This is what is in my heart.” It took such a long time for the elder to approach his son. “We now begin to realize that father and son are fundamentally no different in nature. The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence. This is the pure heart of our intrinsic nature.”

If we are Buddhist practitioners, by now we should know why we chant on a daily basis, “the guiding teacher of the three realms” and “the kind father of the four kinds of beings.” What is this about? The Buddha made a heartfelt effort to patiently guide us for more than 40 years. He did so very earnestly. He always treated sentient beings as His children. He “regarded sentient beings as His only son.”

“Now” refers to the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly. Everyone who was listening, including Sariputra, Subhuti and other leaders of the Sangha, all knew this by that time. They had already comprehended; “realize” means that they could experience this. “Father and son” shows that. He treated all beings as His only son, with that kind of feeling. They “are fundamentally no different in nature.”

Among humans, father and son are of the same bloodline. The father’s sperm and the mother’s egg join together to create the child. This is how people are born. They “are fundamentally no different in nature.” They are the same. Nowadays, when we hear about someone with an illness we wonder, is that hereditary? Is it inherited through the bloodline? This is the same thing; it is passed from generation to generation. This is because we are “fundamentally no different in nature.” This is how it works in terms of bloodlines. Things can be passed down from person to person.

But what about our wisdom-life?Wisdom-life is [passed on through] Dharma-lineage. The Dharma came from Sakyamuni Buddha more than 2000 years ago. He engaged in arduous spiritual practice; then overcoming great difficulties, after enduring many hardships, He finally was able to settle His mind. He cultivated contemplation of all the truths of the universe, and in this way, He finally became one with the universe. Suddenly, everything opened up. The Avatamsaka state, which is tranquil and clear, was truly not easy to achieve. His wisdom-life was completely unified with the universe, so His ocean of enlightened wisdom opened up. The Dharma-lineage of His wisdom-life was what He wanted to pass down to sentient beings.

However, sentient beings have been, since Beginningless Time, continuously replicating ignorance and afflictions so they have become deluded and stubborn. Thus, the Buddha had to “shed His honored status for a humble one” and go among people to teach us with the way He lived. He taught us we can live the same kind of life, follow the precepts as He did and attain wisdom as He did. To do this, we must settle our minds [in Samadhi]. The Three Flawless Studies are what we truly need to learn.

So, “The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence.” This is “what is in my heart. My” refers to the “greater self.” The “greater self” refers to the universe, the awakened nature of true principles. It is the state of Buddhahood. The Buddha’s enlightenment made Him one with the universe. The enlightened nature of “greater self” is just like this, “fundamentally of one essence.” The Buddha attained this kind of enlightenment; we can also attain this kind of enlightenment. “This is the pure heart of our intrinsic nature.” Our minds all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness.

The Buddha has prajna as His nature and wondrous existence as His mind. This is great compassion, wisdom and vows. With His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana, and with His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence.

The Buddha has prajna as His nature and wondrous existence as His mind. This is great compassion, wisdom and vows. With His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana, and with His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence.

“The Buddha has prajna as His nature”; realizing that all things are empty in nature, that principles are without form or substance, He has achieved this completely pure and undefiled state. This is prajna, having wisdom that can both discern and recognize that all sentient beings are equal. So, recognizing “all sentient beings as equal,” in addition to having “prajna as His nature,” He also has “wondrous existence as His mind. Wondrous existence” is great compassion. He sees all sentient beings as His only son, so when they are suffering, how can His mind be at ease? So, [this is] “wondrous existence.” He hopes that everyone can form great aspirations and walk the great, direct path, which is the Bodhisattva-path. So, having “wondrous existence as His mind” is having “great compassion, great wisdom and great vows.”

It is because of. “His compassion and great vows” that “He does not abide in Nirvana.” The Buddha did not have to come back to this world and experience birth, aging, illness and death. But because causes and conditions [matured], He came to manifest the attainment of Buddhahood. He made use of living in the world and undergoing birth, aging, illness and death and made use of His wisdom, all in order to transform sentient beings. So, with. “His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana.”

With His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence. Though born, He has transcended birth; though dead, He is beyond death. His Dharmakaya will live on in our minds. We take the Buddha’s teachings and apply them in our daily living, So, the Buddha is still constantly steering the ship of compassion to this world. He does not abandon sentient beings, so He does not abide in Nirvana, nor is He bound by cyclic existence.

The nature of the human mind is the Buddha-nature, also known as the Buddha-mind.
The nature of the human mind is the Buddha-nature, also known as the Buddha-mind.

Dear Bodhisattvas, “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” There is absolutely no difference. Our mind is no different from the Buddha-mind. We need to always be vigilant, “not to be reckless or unrestrained,” thus allowing ignorance to defile our minds. We must not waste our nature of True Suchness; we must earnestly safeguard it. We must always remind ourselves to be vigilant and always share the Bodhisattva Way [with others]. Moreover, we must abide in prajna and not allow our wisdom to leak away and be lost. In this way, we live out the Buddha-Dharma. This is the course of our spiritual practice. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 790 – An Ocean of Wisdom Comes from Understanding

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>> Entering the Path and upholding the Dharma is not difficult. What is truly difficult is listening to and accepting the Great Vehicle teachings. By first listening to the Small Vehicle that was taught, we gradually advance toward realizing the Great Dharma. Then, we can come and go without doubts or difficulties and transform afflictions into Bodhi.

>> “World-Honored One, at that time the elder became ill and knew that he would die before long.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> He said to the poor son, “I now have gold, silver and treasures filling my storehouses to overflowing. You already know precisely how much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out.”      [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> This is an analogy for the True Dharma of the Middle Way and the principles of the Great Vehicle teachings. After grasping one truth, responding to10,000 teachings will not be considered many. All the different Dharma-doors and teachings in accord with conditions and responding to capacities are said to be many, and all exhort us to learn the Middle Way.

>> This explains that all Dharma-doors are treasures.

>> My storehouses: Samadhi and wisdom. This includes all cultivation of contemplation, Samadhi and wisdom. It lacks nothing.

>> We are filled past the point of overflowing, thus it says, “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

>> The appearances of the 18 Aspects of Emptiness described in the Prajna teachings are replete with the Six Perfections in all actions. When both provisional and true wisdom manifest, we are filled past the point of overflowing. Thus it says: “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

>> The 18 Emptinesses: Internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal and external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of the supreme meaning, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, ultimate emptiness, beginningless emptiness, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of nature, emptiness of self, emptiness of all phenomena, unattainable emptiness, emptiness of non-existence, emptiness of existence and the emptiness of neither non-existence nor existence.

>> In terms of the four categories of teachings, the principles of emptiness of the unique teachings are like gold, the principles of emptiness of the common teachings are like silver and the principles of emptiness of the pitaka teachings are like treasures. The emptiness of the pitaka, common and unique teachings is completely encompassed by the perfect teachings, thus the emptiness of all Dharma is His throne. Hence it says, “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

>> How much or how little of this: This is an analogy for the two doors of prajna, the extensive and the concise. Bodhisattvas practicing prajna must know both the extensive and the concise. The Great Prajnaparamita Sutra is the extensive, while the Heart Sutra is the concise Thus the concise is “how little”, and the extensive is “how much”.

>> Taken in and given out: Cultivating oneself is taking in, and transforming others is giving out. Or, taking in is benefiting oneself, while giving out is benefiting others.

>> You already know precisely: Gold, silver and precious treasures are the merit and virtue intrinsic to our nature. How much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out refers to the function of our nature due to the empty nature of interdependent arising. Understanding the nature of all phenomena is the meaning of “You already know precisely”.

>> The empty nature of interdependent arising: This means that the nature of all phenomena is intrinsically empty. All things arise due to the coming together of causes and conditions. Had these not come together, then this phenomenon would not exist. Thus, the nature of all phenomena is unattainable.

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“Entering the Path and upholding the Dharma is not difficult.
What is truly difficult is listening to and accepting the Great Vehicle teachings.
By first listening to the Small Vehicle that was taught,
we gradually advance toward realizing the Great Dharma.
Then, we can come and go without doubts or difficulties
and transform afflictions into Bodhi.”

As spiritual practitioners, is it difficult to uphold the Dharma? Actually, all it takes is resolve. If we are willing to orient ourselves toward the proper path, the Bodhi-path, and pick up our feet to step forward, it should not be difficult. All difficulty is only in our minds. If we cannot turn our minds around, we cannot take that first step. So, we must be very mindful.

Listening to the Great Vehicle Dharma is indeed difficult. This is because what our minds seek is that which will benefit us. If we want teachings that benefit us and then we are told to benefit other people, those who have absolutely no connection to us, why would we be willing accept that? Thus, for the Buddha to teach according to sentient beings’ capabilities, He gave teachings that were most practical, that people could experience. From the beginning, He helped us understand that [life] is in fact full of suffering. Where does all this suffering comes from? The karmic law of cause and effect. The causes and conditions we created in past lives result in the effects and retributions we face in our current life. If we willingly [accept these consequences], we will be broad-minded.

There is a passage about this in the sutras. In the past, in the kingdom of Kophen, there was a spiritual practitioner who had already attained Arhatship. Though he had a large group of disciples, he lived alone in the mountains. One day, he needed to dye his clothing. Monastic practitioners should wear robes of a faded color [In the past], we also dyed white cloth like this. This monastic boiled an herb in a pot until the water became the color of red soil. Then, he put the robes inside the pot to boil in order to dye the cloth. At this time, there was an ox-herder nearby. As he was about to return home, he began counting the oxen. “How did I lose an ox?” He looked everywhere for the missing ox until he saw a pot of boiling water and what looked like blood in the water. He went to report to the officials and said, “I lost an ox and then I found him in this spiritual practitioner’s pot.”

When the officials came and looked, they arrested the practitioner. They locked him up for 12 years. After 12 years passed, one of his disciples suddenly had a feeling; it seemed to be a kind of spiritual power, telling him that his master was locked in prison. He hurried to the prison to look for him. After the disciple identified his master, the officials rushed to the ox-herder to go over what he saw again. The ox-herder said, “I am sorry. But, when I got home, I saw that my ox was home already. None of them had gone missing.” It turns out the practitioner was wrongly jailed for 12 years. The officials hurriedly apologized to him.

The spiritual practitioner had a smile on his face. Once again he assumed the appearance of a bhiksu. Then he demonstrated his spiritual powers; he exited the cell and floated in mid-air. When the officials saw this, they immediately prostrated before him. The officials then asked him, “Clearly you have spiritual powers; why did you willingly allow yourself to be wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years? Why did you not appeal the sentence?”

Peaceful and at ease, he answered, “In one of my past lifetimes, I was also an ox-herder. At that time, there was a Pratyekabuddha who also engaged in spiritual practice and was also dying his clothes. Similarly, I had also lost an ox. Unable to distinguish right and wrong, when I saw the clothes cooking in the pot, I also thought it was ox-hide, and I also reported him to the officials. I even insulted this spiritual practitioner, this Pratyekabuddha. So, I fell into hell for several lifetimes. Life after life I repented. Life after life I made vows. If only I could leave hell, I was willing to engage in spiritual practice. Finally, after enduring many hardships in hell and so on. I came to this lifetime. To be released after 12 years, I am grateful; I have exhausted the remnants of retribution.”

This conveys to us that when we engage in spiritual practice, we must first understand the law of karma. Though this is Small [Vehicle] Dharma, if we do not understand it, we will be unable to truly realize [the later teachings]. Though we say this is Small [Vehicle] Dharma, the teachings must be realized in sequence. If we gradually realize [the teachings], we will gradually advance. Thus, “We gradually advance toward realizing the Great Dharma.”

Just as those who commit evils face [negative] retributions, people can create blessings by benefiting others. Amongst people, we can see the truths of the Great Vehicle Dharma. This is “gradually advancing.” First we understand the Small [Vehicle] teaching of karmic cause and effect. The karmic law of cause and effect is real. Committing evil brings negative retributions. Benefiting others will definitely bring blessed retributions. So, “We gradually advance toward realizing the Great Dharma. Then, we can come and go without doubts or difficulties.” We enter into and then transcend the Dharma; we enter the Small Vehicle then recognize and understand the Great Vehicle. This is not difficult at all. So, we can “transform afflictions into Bodhi.” With each bit of affliction we eliminate, we develop a bit of wisdom.

World-Honored One, at that time the elder became ill and knew that he would die before long.”     

In the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, we have been using matters to understand the principles in hopes of gaining a better understanding. This is the parable of the poor son. The elder had approached him over a long period of time. They communicated well, so the son began to feel at peace; the poor son’s mind had settled down. At this point of the story, Subhuti called directly to the World-Honored One. “World-Honored One, at that time the elder became ill and knew that he would die before long.” This is what Subhuti told the Buddha. At that time, the elder was advanced in age. He knew that he was ill and did not have much time left.

This was why the elder quickly spoke again to the poor son. The next sutra passage states, “He said to the poor son, ‘I now have gold, silver and treasures’ ‘filling my storehouses to overflowing’ ‘You already know precisely’ ‘how much or how little of this’ ‘is to be taken in or given out’.”

Now the elder revealed his true identity. He told the son, “I have a lot of gold, silver and treasures. You can freely take as much you want.”

This is an analogy for the True Dharma of the Middle Way and the principles of the Great Vehicle teachings. After grasping one truth, responding to10,000 teachings will not be considered many. All the different Dharma-doors and teachings in accord with conditions and responding to capacities are said to be many, and all exhort us to learn the Middle Way.

This is an analogy for the True Dharma of the Middle Way, the principles of the Great Vehicle teachings. “By grasping one truth, we can understand 10,000 truths.” Once we understand this principle, once we understand the Great Vehicle principles, the True Dharma of the Middle Way, then even understanding 10,000 teachings would not be considered many. No matter how many afflictions sentient beings have, there are an equal number of teachings that can treat them. “All the different Dharma-doors and teachings that accord with conditions and respond to capacities are said to be many.” The Buddha explained so many principles for the sole purpose of guiding us to earnestly learn the Middle Way. The Middle Way is not clinging to “existence” nor to “emptiness.” This is the principle of walking the Middle Way.

This explains that all Dharma-doors are treasures.

Thus, “This explains that all Dharma-doors are treasures.” In fact, these are all methods. Whether speaking of existence or emptiness, these are ways the Buddha responds to capacities.

My storehouses: Samadhi and wisdom. This includes all cultivation of contemplation, Samadhi and wisdom. It lacks nothing.

The ocean of our intrinsic wisdom is boundless. It is like the storehouse, which can accommodate many things. The storehouse is also an analogy for. Samadhi and wisdom. It “includes all cultivation of contemplation, Samadhi and wisdom. It lacks nothing.”

We are filled past the point of overflowing, thus it says, “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

We must focus and settle our minds to earnestly engage in contemplation. We must be reverent and earnestly and diligently practice. We must go among people to create blessings. When we interact with people, everyone is a Dharma-door. As long as we can “cultivate contemplation and Samadhi,” naturally we will not be lacking in wisdom; we will be equal to the Buddha. This means that this storehouse is so full, “filling [our] storehouses to overflowing.” We are not lacking anything at all. We are all rich in wisdom; our storehouses are filled to overflowing. We have an ocean of enlightened wisdom; we have an abundance of enlightened wisdom.

This can also refer to emptiness. In talking about the state of emptiness, there are the 18 Emptinesses, the 18 Aspects of Emptiness, etc. In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the principle of emptiness is analyzed in detail. The 18 Emptinesses are include in this. In addition to the Dharma of emptiness, threre is also manifesting “the Six Perfections in all actions.”

The appearances of the 18 Aspects of Emptiness described in the Prajna teachings are replete with the Six Perfections in all actions. When both provisional and true wisdom manifest, we are filled past the point of overflowing. Thus it says: “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

As we always say, “Give without expectations and also express gratitude.” Giving without expectations expresses the principles of emptiness. Giving is also part of the Six Perfections. We practice “the Six Perfections in all actions.” No matter how much we do, the Six Perfections must be shown in all actions. “When both provisional and true wisdom manifest,” that is the 18 Emptinesses. “We are filled past the point of overflowing.” Inside of our minds, we have taken all the Dharma to heart.

What are the 18 Emptinesses? There are many aspects of emptiness. “Internal emptiness, external emptiness, internal and external emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of the supreme meaning, conditioned emptiness, unconditioned emptiness, ultimate emptiness, beginningless emptiness, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of nature, emptiness of self, emptiness of all phenomena, unattainable emptiness, emptiness of non-existence, emptiness of existence and the emptiness of neither non-existence nor existence.”

These are aspects of emptiness. There is so much emptiness. Thus, we must give without expectations and not take issue over anything. Then our minds will naturally be undefiled.

In terms of the four categories of teachings, the principles of emptiness of the unique teachings are like gold, the principles of emptiness of the common teachings are like silver and the principles of emptiness of the pitaka teachings are like treasures. The emptiness of the pitaka, common and unique teachings is completely encompassed by the perfect teachings, thus the emptiness of all Dharma is His throne. Hence it says, “filling my storehouses to overflowing”.

From when we began learning the Buddha-Dharma, the teachings all fall into one of four categories. Buddhist sutras fall under four categories;

there are four categories of teachings. “Unique teachings” on the principles of emptiness are like gold. “Common teachings” on the principles of emptiness are like silver. “Pitaka teachings” on the principles of emptiness are like treasures. “Perfect teachings” encompass them all. Perfect teachings encompass everything, retaining all teachings and capturing all goodness. In the past we have discussed these; “pitaka, common, unique and perfect” are the four categories of teachings.

As the most complete, the Lotus Sutra falls under “perfect teachings.” This is because it explains both emptiness and existence, both the Great and Small Vehicles. As principles of emptiness [are taught through] “pitaka, common, unique, and perfect teachings, the emptiness of all Dharma is His throne.” This is “overflowing”; there is such an abundance of Dharma.

How much or how little of this: This is an analogy for the two doors of prajna, the extensive and the concise. Bodhisattvas practicing prajna must know both the extensive and the concise. The Great Prajnaparamita Sutra is the extensive, while the Heart Sutra is the concise Thus the concise is “how little”, and the extensive is “how much”.

“How much or how little of this” is an analogy for Prajna [teachings] that can be very extensive, or very simple. How much or how little of this: This is an analogy for the two doors of prajna, the extensive and the concise. Bodhisattvas practicing prajna must know both the extensive and the concise. The Great Prajnaparamita Sutra is the extensive, while the Heart Sutra is the concise. Thus the concise is “how little,” and the extensive is “how much. The two doors [are] the extensive and the concise.” The extensive is like the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra. There is so much in the [these teachings]. The concise would be like the Heart Sutra. Every day during evening recitation, we chant the Heart Sutra. If we want to discuss it in a broader sense, there would be infinite [teachings]. But, [the teachings] can be summarized as, “He realized the Five Aggregates are all empty and was thus delivered from all suffering.” In this way, we are free of afflictions, and we will have eliminated all suffering. Therefore, if we can thoroughly understand this principle, by grasping one truth we understand all truths.

Taken in and given out: Cultivating oneself is taking in, and transforming others is giving out. Or, taking in is benefiting oneself, while giving out is benefiting others.

As for “taken in and given out, cultivating oneself is taking in, and transforming others is giving out.” Taken in and given out: Cultivating oneself is taking in, and transforming others is giving out. Or, taking in is benefiting oneself, while giving out is benefiting others. “Cultivating oneself” is self-awakening. We seek to awaken ourselves. We have to do things ourselves in order to truly experience them. After we have experientially understood, we can form great aspirations to share them with others. We do not obtain this Dharma only for ourselves; we should also go out and transform others.

Look at how many countries we provide aid to, how many impoverished people we have helped. After we helped them, we share the principles with them. So after they receive assistance, they may take that rice they received to help people who are more impoverished than they are. Thus, they are the wealthy among the poor. As spiritual practitioners, in terms of the Dharma, we must be “the wealthy among the wealthy” and have an abundance of spiritual wealth. Not only must we seek to take the Dharma to heart, we must take the Dharma already in our hearts and put it into practice to help others. “Having relieved them from suffering, [Bodhisattvas] then expound the Dharma for them.” This means we have understood the Dharma.

You already know precisely: Gold, silver and precious treasures are the merit and virtue intrinsic to our nature. How much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out refers to the function of our nature due to the empty nature of interdependent arising. Understanding the nature of all phenomena is the meaning of “You already know precisely”.

“You already know precisely” means we already understand everything. The “gold, silver and treasures [in] our nature” are merits and virtues. You already know precisely: Gold, silver and precious treasures are the merits and virtues intrinsic to our nature. “You already know precisely how much or how little of this” refers to the function of our nature due to the empty nature of interdependent arising. Understanding the nature of all phenomena is the meaning of “You already know precisely.” Gold, silver and treasures are analogies for the merits and virtues in our intrinsic nature. If we put in the work, the merits and virtues will be ours.

“How much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out.” We already have this; it is “the empty nature of interdependent arising.” This is the function of our nature. When it comes to our nature of True Suchness, once we have experienced it and causes and conditions have matured, we must earnestly make use of it.

We can turn this mirror around. A pure mirror can clearly reflect the mountains, rivers and the land. As we understand that the nature of all phenomena is empty, we also understand we have a wealth of Dharma. This shows how, “You already know precisely.” We already know.

The empty nature of interdependent arising: This means that the nature of all phenomena is intrinsically empty. All things arise due to the coming together of causes and conditions. Had these not come together, then this phenomenon would not exist. Thus, the nature of all phenomena is unattainable.

Thus, the principle of the “empty nature” comes from the intrinsic nature of all phenomena; this is something we all have. The empty nature of interdependent arising: This means that the nature of all phenomena is intrinsically empty. All things arise due to the coming together of causes and conditions. Had these not come together, then this phenomenon would not exist. Thus, the nature of all phenomena is unattainable. This is “empty nature. All things arise due to the coming together of causes and conditions.” Each of us comes to this world because of our causes and conditions. Our karmic affinities with our parents and the causes and conditions we created in past lives are what our karmic forces bring. We all likewise “arise from the coming together of causes and conditions.” Without the coming together of conditions, nothing would exist. Thus, “The nature of all phenomena is unattainable.”

For all things to happen, we need assistance from everyone to bring these causes and conditions together. So, we must always have this sense of gratitude. Immersed in the Dharma, we must diligently practice in order to eliminate our afflictions. “Our empty nature is like a radiant mirror.” We must work to manifest this radiant mirror. Only after we have wiped away our afflictions can our mirror be clear. Looking at this mirror, it is actually empty. When it is wiped clean, it can reflect a wealth of external phenomena. So, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must be truly mindful. Please always be mindful.

Episode 789 – Manifesting According to Conditions

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>> The Buddha used the power of skillful means to manifest being born and entering Parinirvana. He exhibited first becoming a monastic and then continuing until He reached Buddhahood. He demonstrated how to eradicate evil and practice goodness to transform all sentient beings. Through His lifetime of teachings, He completed all and manifested the appearance of birth and death.

>> “By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith, and he came and went without difficulty. But he still remained in the same place as before.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “World-Honored One, at that time the elder became ill and knew that he would die before long.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> At that time: This is a direct reference to the transition period of the Prajna teachings.

>> The previous analogies of sprinkling cold water upon his face and enticing him to return home are meant to lead us to understand how the Buddha used the Small Vehicle to teach and transform, while simultaneously giving the provisional teachings of the Great Vehicle.

>> This lets us understand that when the Buddha gave the Prajna teachings He incorporated the Great Vehicle truth of emptiness. He analyzed the truth for us so we could follow our minds to enter the Dharma-treasure of our nature.

>> As sentient beings fell ill, the Buddha also fell ill. Before entering Parinirvana, He manifested pain in His back. This can be expressed as, “The elder became ill”.

>> When there were karmic conditions, He responded by manifesting being born into the world. When these conditions were exhausted, He entered Parinirvana. Thus, “He would die”.

>> Now, His conditions for transforming others were ending; the conditions for His manifesting in the world were about to be exhausted. He did not have a long time left in the world.

>> The Buddha’s transformation-body had the conditions to transform; thus, He manifested being born in the world and living in the world.

>> All those who could be transformed had already been transformed; those who had not yet been transformed had already attained the karmic conditions that would lead to their transformation. Thus, His transformation-body entered Parinirvana.

>> Now the Buddha’s conditions for transformation were about to come to an end, and He would enter Parinirvana before long. Thus it says, “He would die before long”.

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“The Buddha used the power of skillful means to manifest being born and entering Parinirvana.
He exhibited first becoming a monastic and then continuing until He reached Buddhahood.
He demonstrated how to eradicate evil and practice goodness to transform all sentient beings.
Through His lifetime of teachings, He completed all and manifested the appearance of birth and death.”

Spiritual practice is a very long path. The Buddha did not come to the world to transform sentient beings for only one lifetime. Lifetime after lifetime, He continuously adapted to capacities and to causes and conditions to set an example in this world.

His vow was to guide all beings in the Three Realms, to lead them in the right direction. He viewed all sentient beings as His children. With the suffering sentient beings faced, how could He help them to take the principles to heart? As we have discussed recently, “He shed His honored status for a humble one.” He set aside His dignified, enlightened Dharmakaya and lived like one of us. He went among people to

help everyone understand that. “I have already attained Buddhahood. But I will likewise go through birth, aging, illness and death. I do not have a long time; my lifespan is only 80 years.” When the Buddha was in His old age, His elderly appearance was the same as everyone’s. He was also subject to suffering from illness. In this way, He manifested birth and death so He could be seen as equal to everyone else. This was just the Buddha exercising His wisdom. For more than 40 years, He taught the Dharma and even manifested the kinds of suffering experienced during spiritual cultivation. At the same time, He also manifested the dignified appearance of one who had attained enlightenment. He willingly set aside His dignified Dharmakaya to go into the world.

So, “He exhibited first becoming a monastic and then continuing until He reached Buddhahood.” He began life in the comforts of the palace. Then he renounced it to walk the path of spiritual practice. This was a very taxing and uneven path. The natural environment and the warmth and coldness of people were all experienced by him. He went through many difficult situations before eventually attaining Buddhahood. After He attained Buddhahood, He used all kinds of methods to set an example. He explained the affinities between. His disciples and Himself. He also explained why He was slandered by people and talked about the karma He created in past lives.

In this life, when He was slandered by others, He still remained calm and composed as they slandered Him. When there were conditions that put pressure on and threatened to destroy the Sangha, He still led His disciples with the open and spacious mind of a spiritual practitioner. With an open mind and pure thoughts, He provided guidance to His disciples by setting an example. He demonstrated how to eradicate evil and practice goodness using all kinds of methods. When sentient beings experienced suffering, He shared with everyone what happened to Him in His past lives.

The same was true for His own conditions. “If I had not created this cause in the past, I would not face this effect in the present.” In this way, He used past causes and conditions as analogies. He used what was presently happening to people and the ways they treated each other as analogies. This is all Dharma. These are ways to transform sentient beings.

So, His lifetime of giving teachings was already complete; sentient beings had the blessings for the Buddha to manifest in this world, but with their collective karma, only the Buddha-Dharma could remain in the world, not the Buddha Himself. He “manifested the appearance of birth and death.” This was how the Buddha spent His time in this world.

Before He was advanced in age, He hoped that these children could accept the Dharma, that His disciples could accept His Dharma. He was like the elderly father who had great wealth but whose child was still wandering about. Even when the son came home, he still did not have great aspirations. This is like how the Buddha was surrounded by many disciples, but no one among the disciples expressed a willingness to shoulder the responsibility of transmitting the Dharma in the future. This is because of our karma as sentient beings; we are too unyielding.

The poor son had been wandering about, but the elder already used skillful means to draw him in. He even spoke to him and was very close with him. This went on for a long while 20 years passed, during which [the Buddha] used the Two Vehicles to guide them.

The Small Vehicle is the Hearer and. Pratyekabuddha, or Solitary Realizer, Vehicles. He used these methods to let Hearers gradually listen to the principles and continue listening until they knew what the Dharma really was. Beyond the “existence” of karmic cause and effect, there were also the Vaipulya sutras. We should not only benefit ourselves, but also benefit others. Upon entering the Vaipulya teachings, everyone slowly understands that that truth of the world is that everything ultimately is empty. However, causes and conditions bring us back among people. We have to go among people again to train, create blessings and cultivate wisdom. Only after realizing much Dharma this way can we attain Buddhahood.

This is what the previous passage explained 20 years had passed during which he worked mindfully. “By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith.” He began to understand. “He came and went without difficulty. But he still remained there in the same place as before.”

He learned about how the elder conducts business. As the elder engages in trade, how does he import goods and how does he export things? What are his profits like? As part of the elder’s household, even though the son was doing manual labor, the father could gradually approach him and gradually promote him over time so he could better understand how the business was conducted. But, he was still doing manual labor. Thus it says he was “in the same place as before.” He thought, “I am simply an employee. I will just do my best to fulfill my duties.” And so, he was still stuck at that place.

The next passage states, “World-Honored One, at that time the elder became ill and knew that he would die before long.”

This passage is still part of the parable Subhuti was telling. He spoke of how the son was drawn inside so he could understand how the business worked. Nonetheless, he was still stuck. Although he understood the principles, he was still stuck at that place.

A long time had passed, and the World-Honored One had grown old. The Agama period lasted 12 years, the Vaipulya period for 8. By then, nearly half of His [time] had passed. For 20 years, He had been teaching in this way as He gradually grew older. Then came the Prajna period, and after that the Lotus-Nirvana period. By then, He was nearing 80, was in His 70s.

Thus, “At that time the elder became ill.” His body was already developing illnesses. At the same time, the worries in His mind grew. “Who would transmit the Dharma? Who would accept and pass down the teachings?” The Buddha had more of this kind of worry. Thus it says, “He knew he would die before long.” How much time did He have left? Subhuti was using this parable to convey the Buddha’s state of mind.

The Buddha was already advanced in age. He was also very worried. We know all this by now. This is an analogy for “the transition period of the Prajna teachings.” He had already entered the 20-year Prajna period. Now, after the Prajna period, He was transitioning into the Lotus period.

At that time: This is a direct reference to the transition period of the Prajna teachings.

The Buddha was already in His 70s. From the Agama period, to the Vaipulya period, to the Prajna period, He had constantly been walking this path. Now He was advanced in years.

The previous analogies of sprinkling cold water upon his face and enticing him to return home are meant to lead us to understand how the Buddha used the Small Vehicle to teach and transform, while simultaneously giving the provisional teachings of the Great Vehicle.

This is analogous to how the [poor son] was still befuddled and unaware. The elder was mindful and quickly called for him to come back, but he became so scared that he fainted. The elder had to have water splashed on him to wake him up. Then he found a skillful way of bringing him back by hiring him to do manual labor at the house, clearing away excrement and filth.

This conveys how, during the Prajna period, the Buddha taught that everything was empty, how nothing existed. All things are empty in nature. With this, they could reach a state of “no self.” This is analogous to splashing cold water on the son’s face to quickly wake him up. There is nothing worth being attached to. Thus, they could completely eliminate afflictions and realize all principles [They saw] that as people interact, our thoughts arise in an instant so that we replicate so many afflictions. For the sake of profit, regardless of cost, we ruin mountains, rivers, the land, etc. So, during the Prajna period, [the Buddha] wanted to help everyone awaken. In the Prajna teachings, He spoke of [unions] of the four elements and how, if we keep analyzing a human being, ultimately, there is nothing there. Nothing is left, just a pile of bones; that is all.

Thus, he “enticed him to come home.” How did the father entice the son to come home? After sprinkling cold water upon his face, he gradually persuaded him. “Do not worry. That place is a place where we can make a living.” He slowly enticed and approached him. This “leads us to understand how the Buddha used the Small Vehicle Dharma to teach and transform while simultaneously giving the provisional teachings of the Great Vehicle.” After the Agama period and the Vaipulya period, He began to enter the Prajna period to help them come and go without obstacles.

Haven’t we discussed this previously? After the Prajna period, people could come and go without obstruction. This shows that they have already understood the teachings the Buddha gave during the Prajna period.

This lets us understand that when the Buddha gave the Prajna teachings He incorporated the Great Vehicle truth of emptiness. He analyzed the truth for us so we could follow our minds to enter the Dharma-treasure of our nature.  

He “incorporated the Great Vehicle truth of emptiness. He analyzed the truth for us so we could follow our minds to enter our nature.” The Buddha began to teach the. Great Vehicle Dharma to sentient beings with the “truth of emptiness,” that all is empty in nature. So, we must open up our minds and not take issue with anything. This all comes from the Prajna teachings’ careful and meticulous analysis; if the elements of this or that are separated, there is nothing there. This includes the beginning of each life. Without the father’s sperm or the mother’s egg, a human would not be born. What unites the sperm and the egg is desire. If it were not for desire, the sperm and egg would not come together, and a human being would not be born. The greatest liability in this world, what creates the most trouble, is “human beings.” We realize this from the Buddha’s gradual analysis. With “the Great Vehicle truth of emptiness. He analyzed the truth for us so we could follow our minds to enter our nature.” He analyzed this in detail for us to explain and help us understand how, from the mountains and rivers to the human body, in all things, if the four elements are separated, there is nothing left. This principle sounds very deep, but when we mindfully comprehend it, we realize it has to do with our minds

As sentient beings fell ill, the Buddha also fell ill. Before entering Parinirvana, He manifested pain in His back. This can be expressed as, “The elder became ill”.

[In the line,] “The elder became ill,” the elder is an analogy for the Buddha. He was already old, and He was ill. “Just as sentient beings fall ill, the Buddha also fell ill.” As sentient beings fall ill, the Buddha also fell ill. Before entering Parinirvana, He manifested pain in His back. This can be expressed as, “The elder became ill.” Because sentient beings and the world continued to develop problems, worries arose in the Buddha’s mind. His time here was also at an end. So, sentient beings suffer from illnesses of the mind, and the Buddha also fell ill. This demonstrates that He was interconnected with the world. This was not just due to problems with humans, but to the many problems developing in the world.

“Before entering Parinirvana, He manifested pain in His back.” When the Buddha was walking, He suddenly experienced back pain. He was in discomfort. “Ananda, quickly help me find a flat rock and spread the sitting mat; I need to rest. My back hurts, I cannot keep going.” He could not continue walking, so. He asked Ananda to help Him find a place [to sit]. He “knew that [He] would die before long.” He understood that it was almost time to enter Parinirvana.

When there were karmic conditions, He responded by manifesting being born into the world. When these conditions were exhausted, He entered Parinirvana. Thus, “He would die”.

“When there were karmic conditions, He responded.” This conveys that, when there were karmic conditions between Him and sentient beings, He would manifest by being born into the world. And knew that He would die before long: When there were karmic conditions, He responded by manifesting being born into the world. When these conditions were exhausted, He entered Parinirvana. Thus, “He would die. When these conditions were exhausted, He entered Parinirvana.” The Buddha understood this. When karmic conditions came together, the palace would be the place for His circumstantial retribution. His karmic connections with these parents led to His direct retribution. He grew up in the palace environment. Actually, in experiencing this life of comfort and wealth, he saw the distinct separation of the four castes. The way the suffering slaves lived was in such extreme contrast to his life. Thus he was inspired to start the process of spiritual practice. His entire lifetime was very brief; after 80 years, He was about to enter Parinirvana.

Now, His conditions for transforming others were ending; the conditions for His manifesting in the world were about to be exhausted. He did not have a long time left in the world.

“Now, His conditions for transforming others, for manifesting in the world, were ending.” The conditions for His transformation-body to manifest in the world and transform sentient beings were about to be exhausted. He did not have a long time left in the world. At this time, His back hurt. This was a warning sign that. He did have much time left in this world.

The Buddha’s transformation-body had the conditions to transform; thus, He manifested being born in the world and living in the world.

So, “The Buddha’s transformation-body had the conditions to transform [beings].” When the conditions were there, He came to this world to transform sentient beings. He was born into and lived in this world as long as the causes and conditions were there.

All those who could be transformed had already been transformed; those who had not yet been transformed had already attained the karmic conditions that would lead to their transformation. Thus, His transformation-body entered Parinirvana.

“All those who could be transformed had already been transformed.” Those who had the conditions to be transformed had almost all been transformed. Those without the conditions, those not yet transformed, had already created the conditions for their transformation. “Thus, His transformation-body entered extinction.” For those without the karmic conditions, at least by coming to the world at this time, though they were still without conditions, they had created the conditions to be transformed by Him in a future lifetime. So, they arranged to meet in a future life. Those not yet transformed had already created the conditions for their transformation. “Thus, His transformation-body entered extinction.” His time was almost up. He was about to enter Parinirvana.

Now the Buddha’s conditions for transformation were about to come to an end, and He would enter Parinirvana before long. Thus it says, “He would die before long”.

“Now the Buddha’s conditions for transformation were about to come to an end.” He was approaching the time for Parinirvana; there was not a lot of time left. Thus it says, “He would die before long.”

Everyone, as Buddhist practitioners, we must earnestly seize our causes and conditions. Though the Buddha is not present, the space and time we exist in the present era are the same space and time as in the Buddha’s era. This “space” is between heaven and earth, “under the heavens and on top of the earth.” It is just that the space the Buddha was born in is a bit farther from us. The kingdom of Kapilavastu is presently Nepal, and we are now living in Taiwan, but we are still on the same planet, under the same sky.

The time we live in is far removed from His time, more than 2000 years. In our world, it has been more than 2000 years. But in Trayastrimsa Heaven, it has only been a little more than 20 days. So, seeing this from the state of the Buddha, this is a short time. He is still waiting for the right time to come to the human world again. This is because He has made an arrangement that for those people with the conditions, He will come to transform them in a future lifetime. Thus, we transform each other. As we come and go, we must seize the time to transform each other as we come to the world. In this lifetime, if people are happy to see us and laugh along with us, they will listen to what we say. If there are people who have affinities with us, we can guide people in place of the Buddha,

just like Earth Treasury Bodhisattva, who saves sentient beings in hell. This is why we say, “We have to stop people at the doors of hell.” This means that we transform people in the human realm and prevent them from creating karma so that they will not fall into hell. Thus we can help Earth Treasury Bodhisattva attain. Buddhahood more quickly. “Until hell is empty, I will not attain Buddhahood”; this is the vow of Earth Treasury Bodhisattva. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 788 – Coming and Going without Difficulty

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>> The Buddha concealed the true and gave the provisional and shed His honored status for a humble one. The four disciples confessed that they feared the Great and delighted in the Small. Confused about the true, they remained mired in the provisional unable to accept the Great Vehicle. The Buddha compassionately gave great teachings according to sentient beings’ capabilities.

>> “At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and a lowly worker. Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing manure.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith, and he came and went without difficulty. But he still remained in the same place as before.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith: After the period when the Buddha taught the Agama sutras was over, He saw that those listening to the Dharma had gained resolve and faith. Thus He saw that their capacities were now capable of accepting [the teachings]. Therefore, He taught the Great and Small Vehicles together in the Vaipulya.

>> As He was teaching according to capabilities, He belittled the Small Vehicle while praising the Great, spurring those of lesser capabilities to feel shame for the Small and admire the Great, urging them to advance toward the Great Dharma. Now, He teaches the Great Vehicle Dharma for the sake of the Bodhisattvas. This is certainly not false, so, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith”.

>> Before, in Deer Park, He concealed this, teaching the Small Vehicle Dharma. Practitioners of the Two Vehicles were satisfied with attaining only a little, so they called it the ultimate. Thus, by having the lay disciple Vimalakirti teach through scolding them, He made them feel shame for the Small and admire the Great. This was known as the Vaipulya period.

>> The appearance of his mind came to embody faith: This is an analogy for realizing the emptiness inherent in all arising. This is one of the two kinds of emptiness, also called the emptiness of self, or the emptiness of ego. Sentient beings are temporary unions of the Five Aggregates and are lacking any true essence. This is “emptiness inherent in all arising”. By realizing this, one attains liberation.

>> He came and went without difficulty: An analogy for benefiting both oneself and others. Having already received a day’s wages, he knew it to be true and not false. Coming represents benefiting oneself, going represents benefiting others, and both are without doubts or difficulties. Thus it says, “He came and went without difficulty”.

>> But he still remained there in the same place as before: Abiding in the principle of the emptiness inherent in all arising, they had no aspiration to deliver sentient beings and did not wish to seek great fruits. Thus it says, “He still remained there in the same place as before”.

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“The Buddha concealed the true and gave the provisional and shed His honored status for a humble one.
The four disciples confessed that they feared the Great and delighted in the Small.
Confused about the true, they remained mired in the provisional unable to accept the Great Vehicle.
The Buddha compassionately gave great teachings according to sentient beings’ capabilities.”

The Buddha was so compassionate; in order to teach sentient beings, He maintained such a patient and loving mindset. He concealed the true and gave the provisional. He hid the state that He had awakened to, the great principles that He had realized; He temporarily concealed them in accordance with sentient beings’ capacities. This was how He taught us. He shed His honored status for a humble one. He loved and cared for sentient beings as if they were His only son. With each disciple, he used equal and impartial methods, with teachings that were in accordance with the capabilities of each individual.

We can see from the beginning of the Chapter on Faith and Understanding how four leaders of the Sangha, four great Venerable Ones, with Subhuti as their leader, came before the Buddha to repent and express what was in their hearts, the mindset they had from what they had heard and understood of the Dharma in the past. They thought they understood the Four Noble Truths, that life is filled with unbearable suffering, that afflictive emotions in our relationships entangle us, lifetime after lifetime. And on top of that, there is birth, aging, illness and death. This is so much suffering! So, they did not want to return to the human realm. They continually held these principles close to their hearts. Every day they practiced for their own benefit. They delighted only in the Small Vehicle Dharma, because they feared the Great.

However, when the disciples saw Sariputra, who was foremost in wisdom, receive the Buddha’s prediction of Buddhahood, they then understood the Buddha’s intent. They understood what the Buddha taught was all about forming great aspirations, making great vows and practicing the Bodhisattva-path. So, these four also began to explain themselves and confess that they were “confused about the true [and had] remained mired in the provisional.” They had remained ignorant of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. They had concealed it from themselves, thinking, “This way is already good enough.” Thus, they stopped with the provisional and were “unable to accept the Great Vehicle.” They were not willing to accept the True Dharma of the One Vehicle; they did not accept it.

Fortunately, the Buddha had great patience. He always adapted to sentient beings’ capacities. For those with great roots and capabilities, He used the Great Vehicle Dharma. For those with average capabilities, the Buddha would give them the Dharma that they were capable of accepting. These were Solitary Realizers and Pratyekabuddhas. For those who had just entered through the door, who had more limited capabilities, the Buddha would use His speech, and depending on their capabilities, would give them Dharma they could understand. So, “He gave great teachings according to sentient beings’ capabilities.” The most important thing was that everyone would be able to accept the Dharma. Thus, He taught “according to sentient beings’ capabilities.”

The Buddha’s love was for all sentient beings in the world. He wished that everyone could serve humanity and the earth. Indeed! Looking most recently at the news from Australia, it turns out that not only do the people there love others, everyone also loves the land. Our collegiate volunteers, as well as adult volunteers, more than 40 people in total, rode in a tour bus to travel to a place more than 300km away, where there was a huge ranch. What were the volunteers doing there? Originally, in the past, this area was a forest of towering trees. But due to the greed of humans, for the past 100 years, the land was used for pasture, to raise sheep and cattle. In recent years there has been drought lasting more than a decade. So, on that stretch of land, no new grass would grow. The sheep kept eating the grass, until there was no more grass to eat. They even nibbled away the roots, so even the roots of the grass were gone.

Once previously, we had provided emergency aid for the farmers. They had come to Tzu Chi volunteers, saying, “Besides going hungry ourselves, our livelihood depends on our sheep being able to provide milk. Our ranch raises these sheep for their milk. We will only be able to make a living if we can keep the sheep alive.”

I remember at the time, Tzu Chi volunteers provided them with hay. We could see them hauling hay by truck and spreading the hay out over that vast expanse of land. The entire herd of sheep followed the truck, fighting to get some of the hay. I told them that this was not a solution. With a continual drought, merely continuing to provide those sheep with dry hay would not be a long-term solution. How could we guide them to stop raising sheep and instead begin planting trees to restore the great [forest] that grew there more than 100 years ago? They could even grow fruit trees!

Thus, beginning five or six years ago, Tzu Chi volunteers would go every year in April to help them plant trees. In this way, they planted more than 2000 trees hoping that in several years it will again become an expanse of green forest. This too is done by humans; “All things are created by the mind.” It was humans who destroyed the earth, so when it comes to caring for the earth and replenishing the great trees of the earth so they may flourish, this also must be done by humans. This is what the Buddha taught.

So, the Buddha taught us that whether in our treatment of others, of the earth or in dealing with matters and things, we should open up our loving hearts and not only seek to benefit ourselves.

The Buddha [is likened to] the elder who drew near to the poor son. He used various means to approach him, to guide him and to teach him how to work.

“At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and a lowly worker. Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing excrement.”

As we mentioned previously, he had still not formed any great vows. Therefore, “for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing excrement.” For 20 years he continued working the same job.

These 20 years, as everyone should remember, are the Agama period of twelve years and the Vaipulya period lasting eight years. The two of these taken together amount to 20 years. This was where they remained stuck. This is what the parable refers to; this was how Subhuti expressed that they had spent 20 years this way in the past.

After that time, the Buddha began teaching the Prajna sutras. Over the next 22 years of Prajna teachings, Subhuti gained deep realizations; [he realized,] “All things were empty in nature.” Subhuti was “foremost in understanding emptiness.” He understood the principle of emptiness. He knew all things to be [temporary] unions that come into existence through the law of karma. Once the causes and conditions are separated, all things return to nothing. These positive and negative [conditions] are things that we brought about ourselves; thus we are [taught about] suffering and causation. We accumulate all types of causes and conditions that create the many appearances of suffering in life. Subhuti could truly concur with this; he understood [these teachings]. Thus, he was “foremost in understanding emptiness.”

Then, the next passage says, “By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith, and he came and went without difficulty. But he still remained in the same place as before.”

This was how Subhuti expressed himself. After 20 years had passed, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith.” This means he delved deeply into the Prajna sutras and teachings and understood that all principles are empty. True principles have no substance or appearance. They abide only in the minds of people. When we come in contact with external factors, the mind gives rise to greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. Thus we stir up many thoughts of desire. There is no end to our greed.

Subhuti understood all of these principles, but he was still unable to form great aspirations. That was his past. Now, let us explain the following sutra passage, “By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith.”

By the time that period was over, the appearance of his mind came to embody faith: After the period when the Buddha taught the Agama sutras was over, He saw that those listening to the Dharma had gained resolve and faith. Thus He saw that their capacities were now capable of accepting [the teachings]. Therefore, He taught the Great and Small Vehicles together in the Vaipulya.

This speaks of the time after the Buddha had taught the Agama Sutra. At that time He had seen that those under His guidance in the Sangha had already “gained resolve and faith” through listening to the teachings. So, “He saw that their capabilities” had ripened to the point where they were “capable of accepting”; they were capable of accepting the Vaipulya. When the Buddha taught the Vaipulya, He began teaching experimentally. “Let me try teaching the Great Vehicle to these people with limited capabilities.” He did this for eight years. So, in the Vaipulya, He taught the Great and Small Vehicles together.

As He was teaching according to capabilities, He belittled the Small Vehicle while praising the Great, spurring those of lesser capabilities to feel shame for the Small and admire the Great, urging them to advance toward the Great Dharma. Now, He teaches the Great Vehicle Dharma for the sake of the Bodhisattvas. This is certainly not false, so, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith”.

He taught according to their capabilities. While teaching to capabilities, the Buddha began disparaging the Small Vehicle. He praised, acclaimed the Great Vehicle Dharma to goad the [disciples] to “feel shame for the Small and admire the Great.” As He was teaching according to capabilities, He belittled the Small Vehicle while praising the Great, to lead those of dull capabilities to feel shame for the Small and admire the Great and urge them to advance toward the Great Dharma. Now, He teaches the Great Vehicle Dharma for the sake of the Bodhisattvas. This is certainly not false, hence, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith. Why was I like this before, concerned only with practice for my own benefit?” So, beginning from that time, “They felt shame for the Small and admired the Great. I was wrong. Before I only sought to benefit myself. I now would like to learn how to benefit others at the same time.”

“Urging them to advance toward the Great Dharma,” the Buddha began to teach and encourage them to abandon their concept of the Small Vehicle and to earnestly accept the Great Dharma. “Now, He teaches the Great Vehicle Dharma for the sake of the Bodhisattvas.” Now it was time to teach the Lotus Sutra, the time to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma for the sake of the Bodhisattvas. This is true and [certainly] not false, hence, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith.” The Buddha helped everyone to deeply and thoroughly attain faith and understanding.

Before, in Deer Park, He concealed this, teaching the Small Vehicle Dharma. Practitioners of the Two Vehicles were satisfied with attaining only a little, so they called it the ultimate. Thus, by having the lay disciple Vimalakirti teach through scolding them, He made them feel shame for the Small and admire the Great. This was known as the Vaipulya period.

What is being said here is that previously, while at Deer Park, after the Buddha first attained Buddhahood, He concealed the Great. Concealing the true, He shed his honored status for a humble one. He concealed the true and began to give the provisional.

The giving of provisional teachings began at Deer Park. This was the Small Vehicle Dharma. The practitioners of the Two Vehicles, the Hearers and Solitary Realizers, “were satisfied with attaining only a little.” They were happy to hear these teachings. They were quite satisfied with them. “I will eliminate afflictions. I will not be born again into cyclic existence.” These were the practitioners of the Small Vehicle Dharma who “were satisfied with attaining only a little. So they called it the ultimate.” They thought the Small Vehicle was the ultimate,

“Thus, by having the lay disciple Vimalakirti….” Vimalakirti had [already] accepted the Great Vehicle Dharma, the Dharma taught by the Buddha. He had completely accepted the Great Vehicle Dharma, so his perspectives were different from those of the Sangha. Vimalakirti would certainly goad the Small Vehicle [practitioners] and criticize the Small Vehicle Dharma. This would help everyone understand that practicing only to benefit oneself is too selfish. So, “He made them feel shame for the Small and admire the Great.” These were the kind of teachings that were given during the Vaipulya period. In the Vimalakirti Sutra, He goaded the Small Vehicle [practitioners] and praised the Great Vehicle Dharma.

The appearance of his mind came to embody faith: This is an analogy for realizing the emptiness inherent in all arising. This is one of the two kinds of emptiness, also called the emptiness of self, or the emptiness of ego. Sentient beings are temporary unions of the Five Aggregates and are lacking any true essence. This is “emptiness inherent in all arising”. By realizing this, one attains liberation.

This is what is meant by, “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith.” The appearance of his mind came to embody faith: This is an analogy for realizing the emptiness inherent in all arising, one of the two kinds of emptiness, also called the emptiness of self, or the emptiness of ego. Sentient beings are temporary unions of the Five Aggregates and are lacking any true essence. This is “emptiness inherent in all arising.” By realizing this, one attains liberation. “The appearance of his mind came to embody faith.” This is an analogy for “realizing the emptiness inherent in all arising, one of the two kinds.” In the Vaipulya period and continuing throughout the Prajna period, He began teaching the principle of emptiness. “Emptiness of self” or “emptiness of ego” [talks about how] this body of mine, this “I,” is empty. The “I” of yesterday and the “I” of today, the “I” that just entered this room and the “I” that I will leave soon, which of these “I”s is ultimately me? Inside us, our bodies constantly metabolizes; our bodies [change] with time. “With each passing day, our lives become shorter.” Which period of my life is the “real me”? All sentient beings are the same; we all exist through aggregation, as a temporary union of the Five Aggregates. There is no being that has any true essence. This is the “emptiness inherent in all arising.”

We are born in this world, but is there anything that is truly “you”? Is there anything that is truly “me”? There is nothing that is truly real. “With each passing day, our lives become shorter.” If we understand this principle, then we can come and go without difficulty. When we understand this, then we can accept that this is just what the world is like, so there is nothing to take issue over;

He came and went without difficulty: An analogy for benefiting both oneself and others. Having already received a day’s wages, he knew it to be true and not false. Coming represents benefiting oneself, going represents benefiting others, and both are without doubts or difficulties. Thus it says, “He came and went without difficulty”.

this is “to come and go without difficulty.” This is an analogy for “benefiting both oneself and others.” He came and went without difficulty: An analogy for benefiting both oneself and others. Having already received a day’s wages, he knew it to be true and not false. Coming represents benefiting oneself, going represents benefiting others, and both are without doubts or difficulties. Thus it says, “He came and went without difficulty.”

I am able to cultivate myself and teach others how to cultivate themselves. “Having already received a day’s wages….” Today, I have practiced like this. Today, I have listened to the teachings like this. I have understood everything and have taken the Dharma to heart. This Dharma is true and not false. So, “Coming represents benefiting oneself.” I have listened to the Dharma, understood and awakened to it. “Going represents benefiting others.” After having understood this, having understood this principle completely, I will then go and tell it to others. This is “coming and going without difficulty.”

But he still remained there in the same place as before: Abiding in the principle of the emptiness inherent in all arising, they had no aspiration to deliver sentient beings and did not wish to seek great fruits. Thus it says, “He still remained there in the same place as before”.

“But he still remained there in the same place as before.” But he still remained there in the same place as before: Abiding in the principle of the emptiness inherent in all arising, they had no aspiration to deliver sentient beings and did not wish to seek great fruits. Thus it says, “He still remained there in the same place as before.” However, those who remained stuck in the Small Vehicle Dharma, despite knowing all this, still would not take action themselves. So, they “abided in the principle of the emptiness inherent in all arising.” They completely understood this principle, but “They had no aspiration to deliver sentient beings, and did not wish to seek great fruits.” They continued to practice for their own benefit, to remain Solitary Realizers. They “still remained there. I am still here, and I know all of this. But if you want me to go among people, I still have hesitations about doing that. I still do not have the confidence.” So, when it comes to the Great and Small Vehicles, we come and go in the Dharma with no trouble, but we still remain stuck in this place.

Having formed great aspirations and having made great vows, having taken the Dharma to heart, we must take action. I often tell everyone that after we understand, the Dharma must become a part of our actions. So, we take the Buddha’s mind as our own mind. When we take the Dharma to heart and put the Bodhisattva-Path into practice, then we truly [practice] the Buddha’s teachings and are true spiritual practitioners. So, please always be mindful.

Episode 787 – Wash Away Desires To Purify Defilements

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>> Awakened beings wash away desires to purify their defilements. Their minds return to the unconditioned; with minds quiet, they reach the fundamental. Sramanas diligently cultivate the great fields of blessings. They can then end sentient beings’ anger, ignorance and hunger.

>> “At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker. Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing manure.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> He still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker: This is an analogy for practicing the teachings of the Path, yet still not knowing to shoulder and carry on the great responsibility.

>> Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing manure: Unable to relinquish limited aspirations, they have yet to develop great capabilities. So, from the Agama through the Vaipulya period, they spent 20 years engaging in the practice of the Small Vehicle teachings, realizing the fruit of Arhatship. Thus it says, “He kept him clearing manure”.

>> The 20 years, when speaking of time, can be explained as after attaining Buddhahood, the first 21 days when He taught the Avatamsaka, the following 12 years when He continued by teaching the Agama, and then eight years when He taught the Vaipulya, and then eight years when He taught the Vaipulya, gradually moving into the Great Vehicle teachings.

>> The ancient sages spoke the following verse: The Agama for 12, the Vaipulya for 8, the Prajna for 22 years and the Lotus-Nirvana for 8 years in sum. But first the Avatamsaka for 21 days.

>> When speaking of spiritual practice: [20 years] is the stage of seeing the truth, achieving realization of the true principles. These are Hearers who attained the noble stages of srotaapanna and above through eager and diligent uninterrupted practice

>> In the Agama Sutra, it states: They relinquish grace and affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, nurture and control all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires; With loving-kindness for all, they cause harm to no one. Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. Encountering suffering, they are not sad. They are firm in patience like the earth. Thus, they are called sramanas.

>> Replete with the ten flawless methods of practice: The ten methods to practice and uphold[the sutras] are: Copying the text, making offerings, giving to others, listening, reading, accepting and retaining, giving discourses, chanting, contemplating and practicing the teachings.

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“Awakened beings wash away desires to purify their defilements. Their minds return to the unconditioned; with minds quiet, they reach the fundamental.
Sramanas diligently cultivate the great fields of blessings.
They can then end sentient beings’ anger, ignorance and hunger.”

We must be mindful! As spiritual practitioners, we are learning the Buddha’s Way. “Awakened beings” is a name for practitioners who have formed great aspirations. It means that we ordinary people are troubled, unclear about right and wrong and very confused. We blindly follow what we hear, thus producing afflictions. This makes us unenlightened beings. After we begin to accept the Buddha-Dharma, its principles will slowly wash away the ignorance and defilements in our minds. After we cleanse our minds of ignorance and afflictions, we will naturally return to our nature of True Suchness. Our minds will return to an unconditioned state. Unconditioned means “of the true principles.”

As Buddhist practitioners, the most important thing is to awaken. When we are awakened, we are Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva [is a Sanskrit word]. “Bodhi” means “awakened, sattva” means being. It means “awakened being.” Though we have awakened, we will not give up on this world. Thus, we are willing to go among people. By going among people, we can create blessings. We are able to comprehend why people experience so many conflicts, suffering, manmade tragedies, famines, etc. Thus, we “wash away desires to purify [our] defilements.”

We have seen the impermanence in this world. We have seen misfortune and blessings follow one another in this world. Happiness is [often] followed by misfortune. The Buddhist sutras depict a man who constantly prayed to the god of wealth. He prayed with great reverence. After praying so reverently, a very beautiful woman approached him. “Who are you? I am the one you invited. I am delivering wealth and treasures to you. I am the god of wealth.” After her came another woman, but she was very unattractive, filthy and untidy.

The man then said, “I invited the first woman, I do not want this one who came after. Who is she? The second woman is ‘ruin’. Why is she here? I only invited wealth and treasure into my life. I do not want ‘ruin’.” But the [first] woman said, “We two are sisters. We go everywhere together. Things may exist now, but this state will not last forever. So, my little sister is responsible for the ruin that follows.”

This is the principle that the Buddha spoke of, the workings of formation, existence, decay and disappearance. While they exist, all things are gradually formed over time. Then there is abundance in the world, with all kinds of different things. Then as time passes, the karmic forces created by sentient beings will gradually harm and destroy things. In the [macrocosm of the world], these are the principles at work. What about the microcosm of individuals?

We must not focus on how much we want to do, on how much we want to earn or how big we want our accomplishments to be. Often, we want to be able to do everything. This depends on our blessings. So, our minds must still return to true principles. We must be one with true principles and quiet our minds. Our desires must not be so great. We must be able to live simply. “With minds quiet, [we] reach the fundamental.”

“Sramanas diligently cultivate.” Sramanas are monastics; they must diligently cultivate and understand the principles. Unconditioned Dharma is the source of principles. Once we are clear on this source, we can then delve into the suffering and joy that sentient beings experience. We must understand the source of suffering; where does it come from? So, we must quickly cultivate great fields of blessings among people. The more people there are, the more people we can bring blessings to. This is called a great field of blessings. But we must do more than create blessings. As we interact with people, we must also meticulously and carefully consider why there are these ups and downs in our lives. Why are there so many who are successful? Why are there so many who are disappointed? This is what we can learn among people.

How do we relieve the grief of sentient beings? Learning the Buddha’s Way teaches us. After accepting the Buddha-Dharma, we discover the underlying principles of the world. If sentient beings are receptive, we can turn their mindsets around; with a change of thought, suffering can turn into happiness. This is turning afflictions into Bodhi. As we experience suffering, we are learning. People talk about “working oneself to the bone.” Indeed, to create a statue of a Buddha, we need different kinds of axes, then knives and chisels. With all kinds of tools, we carve, cut and etch. We must be patient! In life, this is what we must do in order to develop a great field of blessings. If we do not, the macrocosm of the world is already so out of balance, and people’s minds are so deluded and lost that this will be very worrisome.

We must earnestly find a way to benefit people and teach them how to earnestly benefit others. Otherwise, if we do not put an end to sentient beings’ anger and delusions, famine will follow closely behind. Because of greed, anger and ignorance, sentient beings create karma without restraint. Without discipline, they will create much karma. Currently, in the macrocosm of the world, the three major and minor calamities have already begun to appear.

In addition, [look at] the earth and the climate. The earth has been damaged, and the climate is in a state of imbalance. This is how the elements of nature, earth, water, fire and air, retaliate against the human world. Added to these are manmade calamities. If society is not harmonious, it results in human tragedies. Manmade calamities include the ravages of war. World War I and World War II are not the only situations considered “wars.” Think about the Syrian refugees. More than a million of them are in Turkey, and they face unbearable suffering!

When Mr. Faisal Hu came back to Taiwan, he described the suffering in that place. He hoped we could do the same as in Jordan and help them overcome this hurdle. Recently, he sent information back to us. They held a distribution in coordination with local people. Professors and religious leaders went to make assessments. When they saw those who suffered most, the most impoverished, those who could not sustain a living, they gave them food. A household of six would receive two portions. Each portion is more than 15 kilograms, so two portions is more than 30 kilograms.

Why are they starving? Because of manmade calamities. They were once part of happy families and had an abundance of assets, but manmade tragedies caused by the discord between people created unrest throughout their country. Many lives and families were ruined as the people fled in all directions. At the same time, they starved because they had nothing to eat. They had lost everything they owned and wandered about in foreign lands. This is truly unbearable suffering. So, we must earnestly create great fields of blessings. We must diligently practice and help everyone understand these principles. Then we can “end sentient beings’ anger, ignorance and hunger.”

“At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker. Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing manure.”

The previous sutra passage explains that the poor son had come to work in this household to do cleaning. The father had set aside his magnificent clothing to approach him and have a heart-to-heart talk. He comforted him, saying, “If you earnestly do your job well, you can rise in the ranks so you will be even more blessed.” Even though the son felt comfortable there, very happy and safe, the following sutra text states, “He still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker” [He felt,] “Even though I can live here forever, this place is not mine.”

“Therefore, for the next 20 years, the elder kept him clearing excrement.” Even after entering this place, he still had to work for 20 years. During these 20 years, he specialized in clearing away excrement and waste. There were reasons behind this as well. “Thinking of himself as an outsider and lowly worker” is an analogy for “practicing the teachings of the Path yet still not knowing to shoulder and carry on the great responsibility.”

He still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker: This is an analogy for practicing the teachings of the Path, yet still not knowing to shoulder and carry on the great responsibility.

Some people engage in spiritual practice like this. These principles, the Dharma of emptiness, suffering and impermanence, are known to them. They understand the Four Noble Truths. They also follow the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are clear to them. However, they feel their responsibility is eliminating afflictions; that is all. They earnestly work on doing that, but still do not know to say, “I will take responsibility because I am one of the masters of this house.” They still do not know this; they do not know to “shoulder” the responsibility. They already have the strength to take on the responsibility for this household; they should be able to carry this burden. However, they still do not know their own strength. So, “He still thought of himself “as an outsider and lowly worker.”

Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing manure: Unable to relinquish limited aspirations, they have yet to develop great capabilities. So, from the Agama through the Vaipulya period, they spent 20 years engaging in the practice of the Small Vehicle teachings, realizing the fruit of Arhatship. Thus it says, “He kept him clearing manure”.

“Therefore, for the next 20 years, [the elder] kept him clearing excrement.” Because he still did not want to shoulder a big responsibility, the elder had to let him continue doing the cleaning in that place. Actually, this is also an analogy; it is like how we spiritual practitioners are “unable to relinquish limited aspirations and have yet to develop great capabilities.”

Because our resolve to benefit ourselves is still in our minds, we focus on taking care of ourselves and ignore what is happening to other people. We have not yet set aside this mindset. The Great Vehicle mindset is focused on benefiting others. We have not yet developed that state of mind, so we “have yet to develop great capabilities.” With great capabilities, we will willingly form aspirations and make vows. Since we have not yet achieved these capabilities, we have yet to form aspirations.

After the Buddha was awakened, His mind was in the Avatamsaka state. For 21 days, He taught the Avatamsaka Sutra. This was the state of the Buddha. In this state, He expressed His original intent. For Dharmakaya Bodhisattvas and heavenly beings, He taught this kind of Dharma. But after 21 days had passed, He contemplated how to go back into the world. Sentient beings would be unable to accept great [teachings] like this. So, He had to remove His magnificent clothing. He formed the Sangha, and in the Sangha He began to promote the Dharma. This was the Agama period, during which He taught the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, etc. These were easier to understand as. He used people, matters, and objects to form analogies. He spent 12 years doing this.

Then, the Buddha felt that in these 12 years, people had slowly begun to comprehend the Dharma. After comprehending this Dharma, understanding the fundamental teachings, they should be able to advance and step up to the next level. Thus, He then spent 8 years expounding the Vaipulya teachings, the Vaipulya sutras. So, out of these 20 years, the Agama period lasted 12 years, followed by the Vaipulya period of 8 years. During the Vaipulya period, He gave both great and limited teachings. Thus, those who clung to the Small Vehicle still practiced according to limited teachings and could only attain Arhatship. They were still at the beginning stages of comprehending the Buddha-Dharma; they stopped at that stage.

The 20 years, when speaking of time, can be explained as after attaining Buddhahood, the first 21 days when He taught the Avatamsaka, the following 12 years when He continued by teaching the Agama, and then 8 years when He taught the Vaipulya, and then the 8 years when He taught the Vaipulya, gradually moving into the Great Vehicle teachings.

These 20 years speak of time spent in spiritual practice. Patriarchs in the past used the following verse to help us easily comprehend. “The Agama for 12, the Vaipulya for 8, the Prajna for 22 years and the Lotus-Nirvana for 8 years in sum. But first the Avatamsaka for 21 days.”

The ancient sages spoke the following verse: The Agama for 12, the Vaipulya for 8, the Prajna for 22 years and the Lotus-Nirvana for 8 years in sum. But first the Avatamsaka for 21 days.
When speaking of spiritual practice: [20 years] is the stage of seeing the truth, achieving realization of the true principles. These are Hearers who attained the noble stages of srotaapanna and above through eager and diligent uninterrupted practice.

“Seeing the truth” means we must know that in spiritual practice, we are able to realize these principles. That is how we “achieve realization.”

In the Agama Sutra, it states: They relinquish grace and affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, nurture and control all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires. With loving-kindness for all, they cause harm to no one. Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. Encountering suffering, they are not sad. They are firm in patience like the earth. Thus, they are called sramanas.

This passage from the Agama Sutra tells us that we must leave our loved ones, renounce the lay life, practice the Path and control our Roots so they do not run wild all over the place. If we can do this, with loving-kindness we cause harm to no one, “Encountering happiness, [we] are not joyous” and “Encountering suffering, [we] are not sad.” We must be patient, be firm in patience like the earth. This is true mastery of spiritual practice. Only then have we attained realizations; we have practiced and realized. The principles are in our minds, and we can resonate with them. So, we must be truly mindful and nurture our loving hearts. We must continue to engage in spiritual practice with “the ten flawless methods of practice.”

Replete with the ten flawless methods of practice: The ten methods of practicing and upholding [sutras] are copying the text, making offerings, giving to others, listening, reading, accepting and retaining, giving discourses, chanting, contemplating and practicing the teachings.

In monasteries of the past, practitioners always upheld these ten methods. First is “copying the text.” People want to read sutras, but printing presses were not prevalent. They had to rely on people copying them by hand. Copying them enabled everyone to read the sutras. As they copied the sutras, they could cultivate their minds, calm their minds; this is copying the text. At the same time, they must form aspirations and constantly make offerings. “Making offerings” includes offerings of respect. There are also offerings of conduct and offerings of wealth. So, we must give of ourselves.

“Giving to others” is not about wanting to acquire things for ourselves. We should give of ourselves to help everyone; this is charitable giving. We must also mindfully listen to the Dharma; this is “listening.” When we listen to the Dharma, we must be mindful. Not only must we mindfully listen, afterwards we must recite the teachings. We must continuously recite them in order to commit them to our hearts so that we will not forget them. Next, we must “accept and retain.” We must go beyond memorizing; we must earnestly accept and retain them. By accepting and retaining, we understand. Then we can expound on and transmit the Dharma. After we hear the Dharma clearly and take it to heart, when people do not understand it, we can transmit it to them. We do this by “giving discourses.”

As for “chanting,” we must chant the sutras morning and night so the sound of teachings will pervade the universe. We must also earnestly contemplate them. If, while earnestly chanting the sutras, we constantly take the teachings to heart, we are “practicing the teachings.” These are the “ten flawless method of practice.”

Dear Bodhisattvas, we must mindfully engage in spiritual practice; only then can we truly become awakened beings. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 786 – With Loving-kindness for All, Cause Harm to None

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>> When we have put an end to and exhausted all evil and eliminated the bondage of afflictions, our nature of True Suchness resonates with the universe, and our innate enlightenment harmonizes with its vastness. When the Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park, all those who took joy in the Small were transformed by the Dharma, like children born from the Buddha’s speech.

>> “When you work, you are not deceitful, idle, angry, hateful nor resentful in speech. I do not see these faults in you like I see in other workers. From today forward, you will be like my own son. The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man his son.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> “At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]

>> This symbolizes realizing the initial fruit, the fruit of srotaapanna. For all sramanas, this is the fruit of initial attainment, the stage of entrance to the practice of the Path. Though he was pleased at the situation: Though one has eliminated delusions of views, delusions of thinking still remain.

>> The Agama Sutra explains: They relinquish loving affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, control and restrain all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires. With loving-kindness for all, they cause harm to no one. Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. Encountering suffering, they are not sad. They are firm in patience like the earth. Thus, they are called sramanas.

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“When we have put an end to and exhausted all evil and eliminated the bondage of afflictions,
our nature of True Suchness resonates with the universe, and our innate enlightenment harmonizes with its vastness.
When the Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park, all those who took joy in the Small
were transformed by the Dharma, like children born from the Buddha’s speech.”

I believe the state of enlightenment is wonderful, but before becoming enlightened, we must first put an end to all evils. Having exhausted all evils, we must eliminate all bondage of affliction. This is the only way for our nature of True Suchness to be one with the universe.

We all intrinsically have this nature of True Suchness, so we should not look down on ourselves. We can also resonate with the universe someday. As long as we earnestly put an end to and exhaust all evil and all afflictions, the delusions of ignorance will no longer be able to disrupt our minds. We will achieve a tranquil and calm state. Eventually, there will come a day when, in an instant, we become one with the universe. At that time, our innate enlightenment will be in harmony with everything. That state is so vast! When I speak of this, I feel very happy. That state is indescribable.

In this kind of environment, the Buddha realized [the truths of] all things in the universe. The workings of life, the mind and material things were all encompassed in. His ocean of enlightened wisdom. There is nothing He does not know, no Dharma He does not understand. Everything is encompassed by His mind. His enlightened state of mind was what He wanted to help everyone understand. However, we were unable to. That was why. He first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park. He began to scale down His understanding of the true principles of all things in this universe and re-collect it. Then He went back among the people and turned the Dharma-wheel at Deer Park. This completed the Three Treasures; Buddha, Dharma and Sangha were now all present. The Sangha then went out into the world to spread the Buddha’s teachings, all starting from this place.

Aside from explaining the suffering in the world, the impermanence of the universe and the kinds of impermanence humans experience, He also explained the workings of material things, the way things in the universe go through formation, existence, decay and disappearance. He also explained that [we do not know] whether we will live out the day or whether impermanence will strike first. Will we be able to make it to tomorrow or will impermanence strike before tomorrow arrives? We do not know; things happen in an instant. Helping us better understand impermanence shows the wisdom of the Buddha.

In the world, we often hear and see [impermanence]. But do we have this awareness? We are not yet aware, so we are still in the bondage of afflictions. When we blindly act on everything we hear, we will cause unrest in society and become entangled in cycles of enmity with others. With these kinds of conflicts and ups and downs, we truly give rise to many afflictions. This is the way life is, but as spiritual practitioners, we understand this. The Buddha continuously advised us and continuously explained this, so we know. Thus, we renounce cyclic existence. We do not want to return to birth and death here because there is much suffering in the world. So, we “take joy in the Small”; we just focus on avoiding rebirth in the world. That is why we eliminate afflictions; we take the Dharma to heart in order to use it to eliminate our afflictions.

The Dharma is like water; it can wash away the defilements of the mind. Those able to hear the Buddha-Dharma and take the principles to heart will not have afflictions flying around their minds like dust. This is what the Buddha taught us. Those who come in contact with the Dharma, though they may “take joy in the Small” and may not form great aspirations to benefit others, they live peacefully and are content. They can see the world very clearly and are free of ignorance; they put an end to all of their ignorance. They “put an end to and exhaust all evil.” They have also eliminated the bondage of afflictions, so they are free of afflictions. However, they only seek to benefit themselves. Even so, this is already remarkable.

So, they were “transformed by the Dharma.” Which Dharma was that? Beginning at Deer Park, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths. Then, it was the 37 Practices to Enlightenment and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Having taken all of this Dharma to heart, they were transformed by it. What was born out of this transformation? Wisdom-life was born. We transform our regular life into wisdom-life.

As life is short and the world impermanent, we do not know if impermanence will strike before tomorrow arrives. But if we take the Dharma to heart, it will follow us when we leave this life for the next. Our wisdom-life will continue to exist. What we bring is our wisdom-life, our wisdom. Then in our future life, we will create blessings rather than commit evils. Thus, in our future life, based on the wisdom-life we have developed and the fact we have now encountered the Dharma, we will understand the principles and be able to clearly discern right and wrong. Therefore, life after life, we will no longer be in a deep state of confusion.

As for our wisdom-life, how does it come into being? “Like children born from the Buddha’s speech.” When we listen to the Dharma with our ears and take it to heart, we engrave it on our minds. Thus, we understand many principles. This is how our wisdom-life comes into being from the speech of the Buddha. The Great Enlightened One, in accord with our capabilities, speaks in a way we can understand and teaches Dharma that we can accept. This nourishes our wisdom-life. So, we are “like children born from the Buddha’s speech”

[After discussing] many sutras, we have reached the parable of the poor son. This analogy of the poor son came from the Buddha’s disciple Subhuti, when he expressed his repentance after his realization. “In the past, I focused only on awakening myself. When the Buddha taught the Great Dharma, I was not interested. We were very afraid to go among people. So, though the Buddha has taught True Dharma for more than 40 years, we remained outside the door and never entered it.” This was what Subhuti and three fellow disciples said in front of the Buddha.

Next, let us look at the previous sutra passage. “When you work, you are not deceitful, idle, angry, hateful nor resentful in speech. I do not see these faults in you like I see in other workers. From today forward, you will be like my own son. The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man his son.”

[The poor son] was already well-mannered. The elder had changed out of his magnificent clothing so he could approach the poor son. They got along so well that they could have a heart to heart talk. By observing his behavior, the elder could tell that he did things earnestly and had good moral character. He did not see any negative character trait in him.

This is a simple summary, as we discussed all this yesterday. This poor son was different from other people. In this passage, “other” refers to those who have strayed in their spiritual cultivation. People who mindfully engage in spiritual practice and those with deviant understanding and views have very different spiritual practices. The son did not have the evils “like [he saw] in other workers,” so his moral character stood out.

“From today forward, you will be like my own son.” His moral character was so wonderful, and he was very well-behaved, so the elder wanted to acknowledge him as his son. At that time, “The elder then promptly gave him a name, calling this man his son.” Thus, they will call each other “father” and “son.”

This is what we discussed yesterday, briefly summarized. The next sutra passage states, “At that time, though the poor son was pleased at the situation, he still thought of himself as an outsider and lowly worker.”

From this passage, we can see that though this man, the poor son, was cherished by the elder, highly praised and even acknowledged by him as a godson, though this made him happy and “pleased with the situation,” though he was very happy, he was still a bit worried. See, this symbolizes “realizing the initial fruit,” which is a fruit of spiritual practice

This symbolizes realizing the initial fruit, the fruit of srotaapanna. For all sramanas, this is the fruit of initial attainment, the stage of entrance to the practice of the Path. Though he was pleased at the situation: Though one has eliminated delusions of views, delusions of thinking still remain.

When the Buddha was at Deer Park, He turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths three times. The first time, Ajnata Kaundinya comprehended them. Upon comprehending them, he had realized the initial fruit. After the second and third turns, all five of them had realized the initial fruit. The initial fruit is also called “the fruit of srotaapanna.” It means we have accepted this Dharma and can continue to advance in our practice. This is “the fruit of srotaapanna.”

“Sramana” means spiritual practitioner. Those who leave the lay life can be called “sramanas.” Bhiksus and bhiksunis can all be called “sramanas.” This refers to how, after they became monastics, they began to take the Dharma to heart and have begun to attain the fruits of practice ․The Agama Sutra explains, “They relinquish loving affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, control and restrain all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires.”

The Agama Sutra explains: They relinquish loving affection, renounce the lay life and practice the Path, control and restrain all Roots and remain undefiled by external desires. With loving-kindness for all, they cause harm to no one. Encountering happiness, they are not joyous. Encountering suffering, they are not sad. They are firm in patience like the earth. Thus, they are called sramanas.

When we engage in spiritual practice and renounce the lay life, we must relinquish loving affection. We must first sever familial relationships. We go beyond limited love in order to embrace great love. We are no longer entangled by our immediate family. Our aspiration is to work for the sake of the greater family of this world. So, [the Chinese characters] [for “everyone” are “greater” and “family”]. Thus, “greater family” is everyone in the world. Everyone is part of this “greater family.” If we do not relinquish our “small family,” how do we do things for our “greater family”? It is for the sake of all beings in this world that we engage in spiritual practice.

As I have said, the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood for the sake of all beings. To manifest the attainment of enlightenment, He also set aside His family, left behind loving affection, renounced the lay life and practiced the Path. This was the only way He could “control and restrain all Roots.” These Roots are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. We connect with external conditions through form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thoughts. When our inner Roots connect with outer states, all of those phenomena, whether sound, form or color, will lead our minds [to follow].

Some people seem to be blind, just acting on whatever they hear. Out of anger, they cannot discern right from wrong. Out of anger, they start to hurl abuse at people, whether or not they are in the right. The people they yell at are confused and then yell back in response. Ignorance in sentient beings come from their Roots. When we go along with external conditions and cannot discern right from wrong, we give rise to desire, so we lack clarity. Then we start to lust after all kinds of things. We want this, we want that and this too, etc. In summary, we should earnestly rein in our Roots and very clearly distinguish between things. Should we do this? Should we get that? Should we say that? Should we yell? We must have wisdom, must apply wisdom.

The Buddha wanted to teach practitioners to pass down the Path. The Dharma must be transmitted. We must find a way to spread the Dharma, so we must earnestly focus on our spiritual cultivation so the Dharma-lineage can passed down. Only by helping everyone understand principles can they eliminate their ignorance and afflictions and turn their ignorance into Bodhi, turn their ignorance into awakening. If people do not awaken, society will be in chaos

“[They] remain undefiled by external desires.” Truly, we must rein in our Roots so we do not just connect with [everything we see]. “With loving-kindness for all, [we] cause harm to no one.” We must exercise compassion, otherwise, with people and things in this world, when we give rise to an ignorant thought, they will be harmed. This is a lack of wisdom, which is ignorance


We must know that, to be able to continue to live well, we must have sufficient resources. If we have sufficient resources, we should be grateful to all things in the world. Thus, we are grateful for the grace of sentient beings. Sentient beings painstakingly work to cultivate the fields. The crops they harvest provide us with food. When we have things to eat, we should make an effort to cherish this blessing; we must not waste it carelessly. The ancients said, “There must be favorable weather in the world in order to have a successful harvest.” And many people must contribute their labor to bring the food to market for everyone in this society to eat. So, we must always be grateful.

It is out of compassion that we cherish things. All the food we eat, all the objects we use are things we must cherish. We must not throw things out for no reason. That is wrong. We should have “loving-kindness for all, cause harm to no one.”

“Encountering happiness, they are not joyous.” If we ordinarily guard our minds so that we do not have strong desires, the objects of desire around us will not affect our minds. “Encountering suffering, they are not sad.” If we are the ones who encounters suffering, we should not become sorrowful, saying, “Right now, everyone is treating me [poorly], so I feel depressed, and things are very hard on me.” When we start to give rise to these afflictions, ignorance will cover our minds. The more we fail to see through things, the more suffering we will experience. When we are sorrowful, that really makes things hard on us. So, the Buddha taught us to be “firm in patience like the earth.” We must earnestly nurture our minds to have patience like the earth.

The earth can endure all the ways we exploit it. It can endure all the ways humans extract resources from it. As you can see, people are continuously damaging the mountains and rivers, but the earth is still patient. What else can it do? The earth is the home we all share, so it must be able to patiently endure what all living beings do to it. We want to live in this place; we want to destroy things in this place. However, the earth remains patient. If the earth fights back, as I have mentioned, that will be the end of this world. That the land is stable and can securely accommodate the way we live is something we must deeply cherish.

As spiritual practitioners, or sramanas, to engage in spiritual cultivation, we should follow this section of the Agama Sutra. We should relinquish limited love for great love. Our love should not be defiled by external desires. We should have “loving-kindness for all, cause harm to no one.” We should not hurt people, objects or matters but instead be patient like the earth, because this is [our] world. Then we will be called “sramanas.” If we are capable of achieving this, then we have attained the initial fruit, “the stage of entrance to the practice of the Path.” Then we must keep advancing, step by step.

“Though pleased with the situation,” though we have “eliminated delusions of views,” though we attained the initial fruit and cut off delusions of views, we still have “delusions of thinking.” Our power of thinking is still insufficient, so we must keep going forward. There is still much Buddha-Dharma, and we must delve deeply into it. Thus, we must always be mindful.