Author: Scott Ogata

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Ch03-ep0588

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 3

Episode 588 – Replacing Suffering with More Suffering

>> “The five desires, wealth and advantage are in essence suffering, but we do not know this. Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play. Greed, attachment and pursuit are fundamentally futile and taxing. Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so they do not fear the accumulation of karma.”

>> “They then face the suffering of the hell, animal and hungry ghost realms. If they ascend to the heaven realm or remain in the human realm, they face the suffering of poverty and hardship, the suffering of parting with those they love and the suffering of meeting with those they hate.”

>> The bodies and minds of sentient beings are immersed in the sea of suffering, but instead of seeing it as suffering they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, they have no desire to be rid of them. By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, they do not seek liberation.

>> As for extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms, no one can take on another’s suffering. Even if born in heaven, one’s longevity and blessings are still limited. One will still fall back to the human realm or the Three Evil Realms. In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship. The human realm is a mix of good and evil, but there is more suffering than joy, more afflictions being reproduced and more karma being created.

>> In our lives, clothing, food and housing are the three things we depend on. Thus we must seek clothing, food and housing, but endless pursuit brings suffering, and the suffering in people’s minds arises from this. From this we replace suffering with suffering. The foolishness of people in the world is that is that they are greedily attached to the five desires and do not let go until death, thus in their next life, they face boundless suffering.

>> “The suffering of not getting what we want comes from pursuing things that are not ours. This gives rise to the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance.” So, we “commit all kinds of transgressions like killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying.”

“The five desires, wealth and advantage are in essence suffering, but we do not know this. Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play. Greed, attachment and pursuit are fundamentally futile and taxing. Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so they do not fear the accumulation of karma.”

I have been talking about how the five desires really are unbearable suffering. In particular, I have previously brought up how the Three Realms are like a great burning house. The fire arose from all four sides. The five desires are like honey on a knife blade. Wealth and advantage are like floating clouds. This is what I told everyone before.

In this world, the Three Realms, especially the Three Realms of our minds, desires, forms and formless [thoughts] are all constantly creating karma in our minds. When a thought of desire arises, our greed for wealth and advantage is insatiable. There is no end to our greed. When a greedy thought arises, think about how much karma it leads us to create! The Three Realms, this entire world, is like a burning house. All kinds of disasters are concentrated here, like fire arising from all sides. This is due to our desire.

Desire is like honey on a knife blade. An innocent child sees the honey and, thinking it must be sweet and and not knowing how sharp the knife is, tries to lick it off with his tongue. This is really dangerous. This is what our desirous thoughts are like. Contained in our greed is [something dangerous], like a knife covered in honey.

We also say that wealth and profit are like floating clouds. Awakened people can understand this; deluded people are not able to understand. These are like clouds floating in the blue sky. We see the clouds as they slowly pass by. If we reach out to touch them, they are fundamentally empty. When we live in a deluded state, we treat empty things as real, solid things and enjoy playing with them. Sentient beings, in the darkness of ignorance, pursue them endlessly. Out of ignorance and delusion, we never stop pursuing them. This causes the world to burn with the fire of the Five Turbidities and the Eight Sufferings. This is a disaster; many disasters are arising on all sides.

We also say that wealth and profit are, in essence, suffering. But sentient beings are unaware of this. We are unaware because of the darkness of ignorance. When we are foolish and deluded, we are in a state of darkness, unaware that on the path ahead of us there are traps beneath every step we take. We are completely unaware. Sentient beings think satisfying their desires will bring them the greatest happiness, so for the sake of enjoying temporary pleasure, they indulge in a life of extravagance. In this world, they do whatever they want. They say this brings them pleasure so they can be happy and continue to play. This kind of pursuit, honestly, is completely futile and taxing. Sentient beings have insatiable greed and are unafraid of the burden this karma brings.

I often say, “Having one, people lack nine.” Is that enough? No. If they keep adding nine’s to get more zeros, would that be enough? It is still not enough. They keep adding zeros until they reach a “trillion.” When the Chinese character for “trillion” has the radical for “go” added to it, we get the character for “flee.” We are waiting until we have enough, but actually, even up to the moment we die, we will still say this is not enough. In the end, things are beyond our control, so we must flee.

What are we fleeing from? From a debt. From what debt? We have already amassed so many material assets in this world, how could there be any debts? There are! In this world, we can build up our family enterprise, a large business, recognition and profit to a great extent only by putting our hearts into fighting over everything and exploiting many natural resources. We constantly expand our development and production. In order to manufacture all those things, won’t we have to exploit natural resources?

Natural resources include everything in the earth and on top of the land. We constantly cut down forests in the mountains, excavate and mine for ores and extract oil from the ground. All things in the world, all tangible things, are [exploited] for the sake of development. If we constantly consume these resources, aren’t we harming the earth and polluting the air? The mountains, rivers and land we harm are part of the macrocosm of the world. The karma of harming the macrocosm of the world is more severe than that of harming the microcosm. In this way we are amassing much karma.

But we sentient beings have insatiable greed, so “We do not fear the accumulation of karma.” With karma, when our current life is at an end, we cannot take anything from this world with us, but our “karma will follow us.” We cannot fully pay off this debt in our next life. We harmed the mountains, rivers and land, everything in this macrocosm of the world. Think of how many disasters we have caused. Doesn’t this create severe karma? “Sentient beings have insatiable greed, so we do not fear the accumulation of karma.” This suffering is truly unbearable.

The previous sutra passage stated that, inside the burning house, the minds of sentient beings are truly foolish and in the darkness of ignorance, so they are in a state of endless pursuit. Sentient beings in the. Three Realms do not understand the principles. In addition to endlessly creating karma, they have not awakened to birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, etc. They do not recognize them. For this reason, sentient beings are forever [trapped] in this suffering.

Next, we read,

“They then face the suffering of the hell, animal and hungry ghost realms. If they ascend to the heaven realm or remain in the human realm, they face the suffering of poverty and hardship, the suffering of parting with those they love and the suffering of meeting with those they hate.”

Everyone, aren’t these sufferings what we constantly discuss? Even if we are born in the heaven realm, when that life ends and we deplete our blessings, we will fall into the human realm again. Once in the human realm, poverty and hardship are unavoidable. After we deplete heavenly blessings and come to this world, will we enjoy blessings here? After heavenly beings deplete their blessings, they will of course experience karmic retribution. When blessings have been depleted, what comes next is poverty and hardship. Moreover, in our interpersonal relationships, we suffer from parting with those we love and meeting those we hate. All these many kinds of suffering

constantly appear in the sutra text. The minds and bodies of sentient beings are immersed in the sea of suffering.

The bodies and minds of sentient beings are immersed in the sea of suffering, but instead of seeing it as suffering they think it is joyful. By not contemplating suffering and causation, they have no desire to be rid of them. By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, they do not seek liberation.

In fact, all sentient beings’ bodies and minds are constantly immersed in the sea of suffering. But they do not recognize it as suffering; they do not feel that this is suffering. As we just mentioned, “Sentient beings believe these bring pleasure, so they happily play.” This world is actually full of suffering, but we continue to believe that everything is happy and fun. “I possess all of this. Since I was born human in this lifetime, if I don’t have fun, won’t I have wasted this life?” Some people think this way, so they endlessly indulge themselves.

This is what sentient beings think and how they act; their thoughts and actions are in concert. They think in this way, so their bodies act in this way. Thus they become submerged in the sea of suffering and keep sinking. “Instead of seeing it as suffering, they think it is joyful.”

“By not contemplating suffering and causation,” we are not being mindful. The Buddha taught us the Four Noble Truths, suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. But in this way, we have not absorbed them at all. We have not taken the Buddha’s teachings into our hearts and have not transformed or awakened ourselves. If we do not transform or awaken ourselves, how can we use the Dharma to transform others? We do not contemplate the principles of the Four Noble Truths, so we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering].”

We ordinary people are like this; we do not earnestly engage in spiritual practice or value the principles and use them to enhance our spiritual refinement. When we “have no desire to be rid of [suffering],” we are willing to remain in the human realm and the Three Evil Realms, the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. We are willing to return to the Three Evil Realms or to the human realm to experience more suffering. This is the state of delusion we are in. So, we do not try to get rid of our suffering in the Three Evil Realms and Five Destinies.

“By not contemplating the Four Noble Truths, [we] do not seek liberation.” If we seek liberation, we must engage in spiritual practice. This is the most fundamental principle. If we cannot even accept this, then how can we find a path to walk? So, we must always be mindful. Otherwise, we will face extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms. No one else can face it on our behalf.

As for extreme suffering in the Three Evil Realms, no one can take on another’s suffering. Even if born in heaven, one’s longevity and blessings are still limited. One will still fall back to the human realm or the Three Evil Realms. In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship. The human realm is a mix of good and evil, but there is more suffering than joy, more afflictions being reproduced and more karma being created.

If we are hungry, even if a loving person says, “That is so sad! He is hungry. I have no way to send him food; but maybe I can eat on his behalf, so he can be full,” is this possible? It is not possible. If a father is sick, and his filial child says, “I will suffer on your behalf,” that is also not possible. Likewise, no matter how loving a mother is, she cannot endure her sick child’s pain for him. This is all the same principle; “No one can take on another’s suffering.”

So, “Even if born in heaven, one’s blessings and longevity are still limited.” One will fall into a lower realm again, whether into this world or the Three Evil Realms. The Three Evil Realms are the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. There is endless suffering in the Five Destinies, in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. In these Five Destinies, only in heaven is there happiness. As humans, we experience so much suffering, and our happiness is limited. We also endlessly create more karma. The karma that leads to the Three Evil Realms is created here. Why do people fall into hell? Because humans, out of their insatiable greed, damage the environment and themselves. This is how humans accumulate karma, leading them to the states of the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. So, it is as humans that we commit those wrongs.

“In the human realm, one faces the suffering of poverty and hardship.” There is both good and evil in this world. Good and evil are evenly matched; however, now there seems to be more evil than good. “There is more suffering than joy.” Because there is less good than evil, and more evil than good, “There is more suffering than joy.” This is the human realm. So, we endlessly reproduce afflictions and create much karma. Because we have afflictions, we are continuously reproducing them and creating and amassing more karma. If we think about this, we will be very worried and frightened because these lead to the Three Evil Realms.

We need food, clothing and shelter to live. In our lives, it is most necessary to wear clothes. As humans, we must wear clothing. No matter how hot it is, we still have to wear some clothes. This is a special characteristic of humans. Of all sentient beings, only humans have a sense of propriety, so we wear clothes. Besides wearing clothing, we also have to eat. If we did not eat anything, think about it, how would we sustain our lives? Hunger and freezing cold cause suffering. We also need a place to live. When a natural or manmade disaster happens, people end up living in tents, which makes for a very harsh life. Then there is the weather. Their tents may be damaged and in a place where the snow is falling and there is water on the ground, so there is both freezing water and mud. The broken tents may be covered in frost and snow. Think about it, don’t people suffer if they have no place to live?

Therefore, we can say that these three things are critical to our lives. They are “the three things we depend on.” We need clothing, food and shelter. These are the things that humans need in order to survive in the world. However, desire knows no bounds, and that brings suffering.

In our lives, clothing, food and housing are the three things we depend on. Thus we must seek clothing, food and housing, but endless pursuit brings suffering, and the suffering in people’s minds arises from this. From this we replace suffering with suffering. The foolishness of people in the world is that is that they are greedily attached to the five desires and do not let go until death, thus in their next life, they face boundless suffering.

When it comes to what we should use, wear and eat and where we should live, we just need what is sufficient. If we can buy a shirt for NT 200, we should not buy a shirt for NT 20,000. That is just because of a label which makes it a designer brand. This is the vanity that people have; we want more than what we need.

We must understand that the suffering in our minds unceasingly arises without end because of this. People want to be fashionable and satisfy their vanity, so they keep pursuing more. For this reason, they “replace suffering with [more] suffering”; they add suffering to their existing suffering.

This is how people are deluded. Our confusion leads to delusion. With delusion comes karma. Because of our delusions, we create karma out of ignorance and are “greedily attached to the five desires.” We do not want to let go even when we die. This is suffering. We pursue the five desires and do not want to let go even when we die. Thus we continue to suffer in our future lives.

Earlier we spoke of the Chinese character for “flee.” After we die, when we return, we must repay our debts. We have created so much karma in this world. As we repay our debts, we face the suffering of parting with those we love, meeting those we hate, etc. We owe karmic debts to each other, so we torment each other.

“The suffering of not getting what we want comes from pursuing things that are not ours. This gives rise to the afflictions of greed, anger and ignorance.” So, we “commit all kinds of transgressions like killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying.”

In this way, we have created so much karma, yet what we have obtained is illusory.

The past is in the past. Once something we enjoyed is in the past, we wonder, “Is there anything left?” The things that we enjoy are also illusory. If our lives are not grounded, we just keep pursuing things and keep saying, “I must have it.” Pursuing these “illusory goals of the five desires, wealth and advantage” becomes the life we live.

Perhaps we have constantly been pursuing things and have obtained the things we want, but in the end, we cannot keep them forever, as karma is the only thing we take with us. “We cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma will follow us to our next life.” We only possess these things temporarily. When we pass from this life, we will lose them. Perhaps we have not lost them yet, but in the end, the result is the same.

We are gone, but the object remains. In this case, we still have to let it go. Even if we do not want to, we have to. We are forced to let go of everything, except “all the bad karma created in the past rooted in greed, anger and ignorance since Beginningless Time.” Isn’t this the case? These things that we do lead us to the Three Evil Realms.

Dear Bodhisattvas, we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. Think about this; all this suffering is caused by afflictions we cannot let go of. Thus, we face unbearable suffering. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0587

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 587 – In Suffering We Purify and Liberate Our Minds

>> “Compassion is the root of giving and transforming others. We cannot bear to let sentient beings in the Five Realms suffer. Great loving-kindness and compassion are without regrets or resentment. Great joy and equanimity are without worry or attachment to expectations.”

>> “Because of birth, aging, illness and death, worry and sorrow, suffering and afflictions, are being burned, how, because of their pursuit of the five desires and wealth and advantage, they face various kinds of suffering and how, because of greed, attachment and pursuit, they now face many kinds of suffering.”

>> “The fire that was seen arose from all four sides. The five desires are like honey on a knife blade. Wealth and advantage are like floating clouds.”

>> In the darkness of ignorance, sentient beings pursue their desires as if there is no day and no night. The flames of the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings burn them day and night. Thus, they face various kinds of suffering.

>> Greed and pursuit bring the suffering of not getting what one wants. In the hell, human and heaven realms, all beings face [the suffering of] the raging Five Skandhas.

>> Unenlightened beings mistakenly think pursuing the pleasures of the five desires will allow them to attain the joy they seek. Thus, they have greed and attachment. When they cannot satisfy their greed, they do everything possible to pursue it. When they cannot obtain it with force, they suffer.

>> People’s deluded thinking stir the desires of their body and mind. When the things they receive are not fully to their satisfaction or, after a while, they get tired of them, they will suffer. We take delight in the new and discard the old. Actually, this still brings suffering, but in our deluded thinking, we think it brings joy.

>> Life is impermanent and a cesspool of various sufferings. And these constantly changing painful matters all resulted from painful pursuit. Thus, as we face each kind of suffering, we continue to add more suffering. Therefore, it says we now face all kinds of sufferings.

“Compassion is the root of giving
and transforming others.
We cannot bear to let sentient beings
in the Five Realms suffer.
Great loving-kindness and compassion
are without regrets or resentment.
Great joy and equanimity
are without worry or attachment to expectations.”

I hope that our spiritual practice will awaken the compassion in our hearts.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have great compassion, so they cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer. This is why they come to save and transform all sentient beings. To do that, they have to be in the Five Realms and have compassion and patience as their foundations. With compassion, they can engage in giving and teach and transform all beings. With the power of patience, they are able to endure the Five Realms and repeatedly come back to this evil world. In transforming others, “Great loving-kindness and compassion are without regrets,”

and the Bodhisattva-path is “without resentment.” This is how Bodhisattvas give and how they tirelessly come and go for the sake of the beings of the Five Realms; they feel no resentment at all.

“Great joy and equanimity are without worry or attachment to expectations.” When they give, they never feel worried, because when they see sentient beings helped and transformed, they feel happy. This is the result of their giving. So, they give without worries and without regard for themselves. They do not have greed and attachments to benefits for themselves. This is how Bodhisattvas are.

In a certain era, there was an elder who was a devout Buddhist. Over a period of time, he discovered that there were two big temples without any spiritual practitioners inside. There were many temples on this mountain, but coincidentally these two temples stood opposite each other. They had been rundown for a long time. No one lived in them, and they were already very dirty. The elder said, “Is there anyone willing to take responsibility for these temples and fix them up so they are like new?”

It happened that there was a group of young men who were very talented at drawing and painting. They approached the elder and told him, “Entrust this temple to us.” The elder was very happy. “If you need anything, just ask.” The group of young men asked for a lot. They asked for all kinds of colors of paint and many tools. The elder always met their needs.

For the other temple, there was also a group of young men, a group of young and accomplished monastics. These practitioners came to tell the elder, “We will take responsibility for this temple.” The elder was very happy that there were monastics willing to take responsibility. “Very good. What do you need? I am willing to give you anything.” This group of young practitioners told him, “The only thing we need are buckets and rags. That’s enough for us.” The elder then gave them what they asked for.

Then, both groups got to work. Three days later, after the young artists painted the temple, it looked like new. It was brightly-colored and beautifully painted. At the other temple, the practitioners filled the buckets with water and then used the rags to clean thoroughly. They repeatedly swept, repeatedly washed and repeatedly scrubbed. Three days later, after the same period of time, this temple had become very clean. With their constant scrubbing, all the glass was clear again. All the wooden surfaces of the structure had been constantly scrubbed and polished. Not only did the dirt disappear, the wood actually became very glossy.

To the elder, it was so beautiful. The brilliant colors at the other temple were indeed painted very well and looked beautiful, but the other temple was simple, clean and bright. Moreover, if a person looked even closer, all the glass and building materials shone brilliantly. All the colors from the other temple were reflected in this one. The glass of this temple mirrored the sight of the temple in front of it so the other one became part of the simple temple. Moreover, there was blue sky and white clouds. In all these mirror-like surfaces on all the building materials, the elder could see a hint of blue sky and white clouds. There was nothing more wondrous than this.

When these two temples were compared, people most appreciated the temple of the spiritual practitioners.

This story tells us that, if our minds are pure and free of dust, the perfect mirror in our minds can reflect the universe. The minds of spiritual practitioners, the place where we engage in spiritual practice, do not need material objects or many colors to adorn them. The place of practice in our minds is where we must make an effort to sweep away our own afflictions so that there is no dust in our minds. Then the perfect mirror [of our minds] will be able to display the universe. The colorful images of all things will be in our minds. The mountains, rivers and land will all be encompassed within it. Thus, “The mind encompasses the universe and embraces the boundless worlds within it.” The place of practice in the mind does not need to be colorful to be magnificent. What is most magnificent is a pure mind.

Compassion is the foundation for giving teachings to sentient beings. Patience is needed to repeatedly come back for the sake of the beings of the Five Realms. With great loving-kindness and compassion, we can definitely walk this Bodhi-path without regrets or resentment. With great joy and equanimity, we will have absolutely no afflictions or worries. We will have eliminated all afflictions. Seeing sentient beings able to be saved and accept the teachings, we are free of attachments and expectations. This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas repeatedly return to this world for the sake of all beings. As Buddhist practitioners, isn’t this what we should emulate?

This is the state of mind of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This undefiled spiritual universe [reflected] in great perfect mirror wisdom is what all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have in their minds. So, every one of us ordinary people has an intrinsic nature equal to the Buddha’s. Therefore, we must work hard. Like that group of spiritual practitioners, we must put in effort; it is that simple. All we need is clean water and a rag. When we put our hearts into constantly scrubbing, constantly sweeping and constantly rinsing, then naturally, our minds will be pure. So, “The Dharma is like water.” It can cleanse the defilements from our minds so the mirror of our minds is clean.

The following sutra passage states that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas “see how all sentient beings,”

“Because of birth, aging, illness and death, worry and sorrow, suffering and afflictions, are being burned, how, because of their pursuit of the five desires and wealth and advantage, they face various kinds of suffering and how, because of greed, attachment and pursuit, they now face many kinds of suffering.”

This passage is still describing the problems in our state of mind. We feel pressed, mentally and physically. Like what it says above,

“The fire that was seen arose from all four sides. The five desires are like honey on a knife blade. Wealth and advantage are like floating clouds.”

In the previous sutra passage, from the outside the elder saw that this house was on fire. In the world all around us, already the four elements have become unbalanced. Now it says that the five desires are like honey on a knife blade, and wealth and advantage are like floating clouds.

If we are greedy, we are as oblivious as children. This knife blade is very sharp, and honey is smeared on it. Greedy children will use their tongue to lick up the honey. Thus, the knife will likely cut their tongue, maybe even cut it off. In this way, worldly fame and fortune and the five desires are like honey on a knife blade. They are very dangerous. Whether we use our hands to grab the honey or use our tongues to lick it off, it is very easy for us to get hurt.

What about wealth and profit? They are like the floating clouds in the sky. As we look at the sky, we see white clouds. In fact, clouds are just vapor. They are not solid at all. Nonetheless, we can see them against the blue sky. Wealth and profit are just like these clouds. In our eyes, they are very attractive. But they are actually far away and do not really exist. So, they disrupt the minds of sentient beings. Sentient beings are in the darkness of ignorance.

․In the darkness of ignorance, sentient beings pursue their desires as if there is no day and no night. The flames of the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings burn them day and night. Thus, they face various kinds of suffering.

Our state of mind is in the darkness of ignorance. The things we greedily pursue are ultimately empty. However, humans continuously pursue them without regard for day or night, creating karma that causes our body and mind to suffer. Then we have no choice but to face much suffering. This is a result of “the flames of the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings.” Desire for material things, recognition, wealth, status and so on, triggers a sense of greed, which leads us to [act out of] ignorance and create all kinds of karma. This causes us to be pressed by the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings. So, day and night, we simply work for these [objects of desire]. Therefore, day and night we face so many difficulties. So, it says that we “face various kinds of suffering.”

When we desire something and cannot get it, we will certainly experience suffering. We may bring this suffering with us to hell; we may be in hell or in the human realm. Even if we are born in heaven, we created that good karma with expectations. So, though we may do many good deeds, once we exhaust our blessings, we will still fall [into an evil realm]. Whether people are in the human, hell or heaven realm, they cannot escape the suffering of the raging Five Skandhas.

Greed and pursuit bring the suffering of not getting what one wants. In the hell, human and heaven realms, all beings face [the suffering of] the raging Five Skandhas.

When we experience something in our external conditions and then try to grasp it, its appearance will be imprinted in our minds. People, matters and objects that are on our minds lead us to give rise to delusion and create karma. We are not consciously aware of this aggregate of tiny changes in our lives. The cycle of birth, aging, illness and death is constantly occurring in our body as it continues to fade way. Thus we create karma.

The suffering we face right now includes suffering from parting with love ones, meeting those we hate, not getting what we want, in addition to the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death. These sufferings have come together. We have to part from people we want to be with. Sadly, we may be separated from our loved ones in life or in death. Sadly, every day we may be with people we dislike; whenever we see them, a sense of rage and anger arises in us. In this way, meeting with enemies causes great suffering. These are the sufferings in our present life. Having created various karma in our past lives, we face various sufferings in this life.

And “because of the five desires,” we “face various kinds of suffering.” The five desires, as previously mentioned, are form, sound, smell, taste and touch. The Five Roots come into contact with the Five Dusts in our surroundings, giving rise to these five desires. Then we cling to those pleasures.

Thus it is said, “Without wealth and advantage, one cannot satisfy oneself with these pleasures.” If we have no wealth or advantage, no matter what sense objects we encounter, we will not feel happy because we want to possess everything we come across. Wealth, profit and the five desires are what everyone wants. When we cannot attain them, we suffer. Unenlightened beings pursue things out of greed, so they “face various kinds of suffering.”

Unenlightened beings mistakenly think pursuing the pleasures of the five desires will allow them to attain the joy they seek. Thus, they have greed and attachment. When they cannot satisfy their greed, they do everything possible to pursue it. When they cannot obtain it with force, they suffer.

In this way, unenlightened beings “mistakenly [plan on] the five desires.” They think the five desires are everlasting. They have the wrong perspective, so they spend a lot of effort calculating, “I want this, I want that, and this is what I need to do to get it.” No matter how carefully we make these plans, in the end, we cannot attain what we crave. So, we deliberately keep pursuing it, which leads us to create karma.

We may know for sure that we will not be able to obtain something, and it is not something we need, but we still greedily pursue it. That is because our minds stir “due to deluded thinking.”

People’s deluded thinking stir the desires of their body and mind. When the things they receive are not fully to their satisfaction or, after a while, they get tired of them, they will suffer. We take delight in the new and discard the old. Actually, this still brings suffering, but in our deluded thinking, we think it brings joy.

Therefore, “Deluded thinking stir the desires of [our] body and mind.” My body needs this. My mind wants that. Thinking this way leads to tremendous suffering. With all the things that we want, even if we obtain them and get to experience them, they may not necessarily satisfy us.

Once we obtain them, we treat them like a damaged straw sandal, something completely worthless. This discarding the old for the new [is often seen in people’s relationships]. It also applies to material objects. People see something and say, “This is very good, I want it.” But after a short period of time, they see something better than what they have, so they like that even better. There is no end to these desires. For this reason, we suffer tremendously in body and mind.

In fact, pursuing and attaining things leads to suffering. However, ordinary beings have distorted thinking. Out of deluded thinking, they pursue things because they think those things lead to pleasure. But everything is illusory. All suffering comes from the impermanence of life.

Life is impermanent and a cesspool of various sufferings. And these constantly changing painful matters all resulted from painful pursuit. Thus, as we face each kind of suffering, we continue to add more suffering. Therefore, it says we now face all kinds of sufferings.

Life is truly impermanent, but we do not recognize that, so we think everything is permanent. When all suffering is gathered together, it is a cesspool of all suffering; it is a complicated mess. Everything we do creates karma, and this karma creates a complicated mix of seeds that are stored in our karmic consciousness. All of these are “constantly changing painful matters.” As our Roots interact with the Dusts, the image of what we want is constantly being replaced. The new replaces the old. The old is phased out and the new takes its place. In this way, we suffer tremendously.

Everyone, this is very taxing. When we talk about suffering, it is also taxing because there are so many kinds of suffering. Actually, things are very simple; it is all about the mind. If our minds are pure and undefiled, they will be free of suffering; it is that simple. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0586

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 3

Episode 586 – Compassion Guides Us Back to True Suchness

>> “With the imbalance of the four elements comes the oppression of old age and illnesses. Ultimately, we part from each other when our karmic conditions for being in this world come to an end. This is all beyond our control and only karma follows us after death. The Enlightened One practices loving-kindness and compassion, teaching by example to guide us back to our nature of True Suchness.”

>> “[He comes] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sadness, suffering and afflictions, all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons and teach them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

>> Greed means “insatiably grasping at all favorable conditions.”

>> Then there is anger. With anger, we easily lose our temper with “all unfavorable conditions.” When things do not go the way we want, we become enraged.

>> With ignorance, we are confused over all matters and principles, thus giving rise to delusion and creating karma.

>> Living in this burning house, we do not recognize it as suffering. This is the darkness of ignorance. Because of ignorance, we give rise to greed. When we cannot satisfy our greed, we get angry. This is greed, anger and ignorance. When the fires of the Three Poisons come together, they create all these disasters.

>> Lack of clarity and understanding leads to all deviant conduct. The Three [Poisons] obstruct all true principles with foolishness, delusion, ignorance, confusion and darkness.

>> They are called poisons because they can harm our world-transcending aspirations. Thus it speaks of the darkness of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons. The sutra previously stated: “A fire broke out.”

>> The Tathagata manifests a body in the Three Realms because He wants to provide relief for all sentient beings and help them escape this burning house to head towards supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. This is the one great cause for which. He appears in the world.

“With the imbalance of the four elements
comes the oppression of old age and illnesses.
Ultimately, we part from each other
when our karmic conditions
for being in this world come to an end.
This is all beyond our control
and only karma follows us after death.
The Enlightened One practices
loving-kindness and compassion,
teaching by example to guide us
back to our nature of True Suchness.”

The four elements of the macrocosm of the world are earth, water, wind and fire. When these four elements are not in balance, then the world is not in a healthy state.

Recently we have seen, everywhere around this world, that the four elements are not in balance. We can see the effect this imbalance has on the climate, constantly causing [natural] disasters, so that people face much suffering. Right now, during the winter, in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere it is snowing because of the cold. When we see poor people suffering in those snowy conditions, we wonder, “How will they survive?” In addition to poor people who are struggling to survive in the cold, there are also people who were caught up in man-made conflicts and even no longer have homes. They take shelter in tattered tents as the snow continues to fall and accumulate. On the ground, aside from patches of snow, there are also spots that are extremely muddy.

We see children living in places that are muddy and cold. When they run outside, there is mud and a mix of water and snow, which has become slush. The land is wet, so after being trampled by people it becomes mud. Thus, there is a lot of mud. The children’s feet, covered either by ragged shoes or nothing at all, are immersed in that icy and slushy water. This is so sad! Their feet are completely caked in mud. You can imagine the snow from the sky falling upon their bodies, and the snow on the ground sticking to their feet. Think about it, what kind of life are they living? It can only be described as a life of suffering.

So, when the four elements are not in balance, it creates unbearable suffering for people. This is in the macrocosm of the world. What about humans? Each of us is a microcosm. We eventually face “the oppression of old age and illnesses.” This is beyond our control.

When we grow old, our bodies become frail. As we said yesterday, in our old age, when we see young people, we think, “How wonderful!” We were young once too; how did we come to look like this? We look different now than when we were young. Though only a few decades have passed, we are already frail and often ill. The onset of illnesses is beyond our control. As we grow old and become ill, in the end we will have to leave this life. This is life’s greatest sorrow. When our karmic retributions for this lifetime have been exhausted, and our karmic connections are at an end, parting is inevitable,

even from the person we love the most. For some people, when a loved one dies, they are [totally devastated]. After the morning volunteer assembly [one day], a group of people met with me, including a well-known media figure in Hualien. More than ten years ago, his child was involved in an extremely serious car accident. Afterwards the child repeatedly went in and out of the hospital for many years. His body was unable to fully recover. He had suffered a brain injury, so his body was paralyzed, and he developed cerebral palsy. But, he was still able to breathe. His parents suffered deep mental anguish as they cared for their child. They had been doing this for more than ten years and had never been able to come to terms with it. The father himself has now even developed depression. He was trapped by his feelings for his son.

Now, I see him in good spirits. He brought a doctor with him and he told me, “This man is a psychologist. He helped me emerge from a dark state of mind. So, I wanted to bring him to meet you.” The psychologist said to me, “Actually, I often read your books and watch Da Ai TV.” He said, “Spiritual guidance is very important and must be relatable to things happening in our current society. The Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from ways of living in this world.” Regarding this kind of spiritual guidance, he asked me if I knew of any other methods. I said, “You have said it. Bringing the Buddha-Dharma together with the way we live in this world provides us with the best spiritual guidance.”

Indeed, affinities ultimately come to an end. The case of this child is like this; as their affinities come to an end, they all experience much suffering. This depends on what kind of affinity they had. Then once it ends, he will be able to find his spiritual direction.

Many things can happen in life. “This is all beyond our control.” So many things are beyond our control. This man was such a good writer that he could help everyone see through his eyes and also speak on their behalf. He could articulate so many things with his pen. But when his child got into this accident, many things were beyond his control. There was nothing he could do to enable his son to walk again. So, it was beyond his control; everything is a result of karma.

This father-son relationship was shaped by their karma. And at the end of life, there is still karma to face. Even if we have many talents and own many possessions, at the very end, can we bring any of that with us? We cannot say, “I love this the most; I will take it with me.” We cannot take anything with us. The only thing we can take is the good and bad karma we have created. Karma is the only thing we bring to our next life, shaping our future relationships and future karmic causes and effects. This is the way life works. In our next life, will our loved ones stay by our side into our final years? Even if they accompany us into our final years, one day we must part.

Yesterday we also talked about the 90-year-old wife with the 86-year-old husband. Living in poverty with no children by their side, they only had each other. One is old; so is the other. One is ill; so is the other. One’s appearance has changed; so has the other’s. How much longer will they continue to live this life? This is what life is like. What will our next life be like? No one knows.

What we do know is what is happening right now. Now, “The Enlightened One practices loving-kindness and compassion.” The Buddha came to this world for one great cause. He came so that He could teach us. What we have learned from the Buddha is to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion. This place that has suffered a major disaster is not connected to us in any way. But we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. So, everyone contributes their own money and efforts to personally go there [to help]. With their own hands, the volunteers helped them up and took care of things for them. They saw the survivors able to eat their fill and able to again exercise both their mental and physical strength. This brought the volunteers great joy. This is the “practice of loving-kindness and compassion.” Those with unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion are awakened sentient beings.

We have accepted the Buddha-Dharma and put it into practice. Not only are we providing them with some help, we also put our hearts into teaching them so that they know that this money should be spent in appropriate ways, that when others are suffering, we should aspire to help them. This is “teaching by example to guide them back to their nature of True Suchness.” The hearts of these people have, one by one, become oriented towards helping others. They have unlocked their spiritual wealth. [They said,] “If I have the ability to help, I will help people who need it.” This is their sense of spiritual wealth, which has transformed their mindset of greed into a mindset of abundance. Thus, they have returned to their human nature, which “is inherently good.” Now it is easy for them to feel satisfied.

So, we must always be mindful. The power of love can help others. If everyone can bring purity to their minds, then there will be fewer natural disasters. So, besides helping others, we must cherish the planet to bring balance to the four elements. Then the world’s weather will be favorable. All this depends on people’s hearts and actions, on our mental and physical behaviors.

The sutra text from yesterday stated,

“[He comes] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sadness, suffering and afflictions, all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons and teach them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

The Buddha came to this world for this purpose. He wanted to help us understand the meaning of human existence. We cannot live in this world forever. With birth comes aging, illness and death. These principles help us to understand the process of birth, illness and death that we go through and the different kinds of behavior we engage in. He came to teach us and to help us understand what we see in the world and the worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction of this existence, which are found in our hearts. How can we help everyone’s hearts to transcend worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, and improve everyone’s attitude and state of mind?

In our minds, thoughts arise one after another. A single thought of greed leads to evil. A single thought of goodness will lead us to benefit everyone. If we understand the Dharma, then we will constantly take good care of every single thought that arises. Practicing the Threefold Kindness means we speak kind words with our mouth, we do kind deeds with our body, and we think kind thoughts with our minds. In this way, the. Threefold Kindness of body, speech and mind will be carried out due to our intentions.

This next sutra passage is about [delivering them] “[from] all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons and teaching them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

Besides birth, aging, illness and death, and worry, sorrow, suffering and afflictions, there are all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons. The burning house that we are talking about is an analogy for the Three Realms. Look, disasters are arising on all sides just as if we are in a burning house. Why is this happening? Because of the Three Poisons in our minds, greed, anger and ignorance.

Greed means “insatiably grasping at all favorable conditions.”

We want more and more. With greed, “Having one, we lack nine.” Having 10,000, we feel we are lacking 90,000. Having one billion, we lack nine billion and so on. If we live this kind of life, when will we ever be satisfied? If we are never satisfied in life, we will be unhappy.

Then there is anger. With anger, we easily lose our temper with “all unfavorable conditions.” When things do not go the way we want, we become enraged.

When people do not get what they want, they may try to get it by any means necessary, committing all kinds of harmful deeds. This is the poison of anger.

The last poison is ignorance.

With ignorance, we are confused over all matters and principles, thus giving rise to delusion and creating karma.

If we are unclear on matters and principles, in this state of confusion and ignorance, we are constantly enticed by external phenomena and thus become more confused. This is why we reproduce more and more bad karma.

[In Tzu Chi,] we have seen that when a person in a family wants to do good deeds, that can make the rest of the family unhappy. “Why are you helping others instead of taking care of your own family? Don’t we need to spend that money on ourselves? Why would you give it to others to spend?”

People who prevent others from doing good deeds do so out of ignorance. This is also part of “all the dark coverings of ignorance.” These are the fires of the Three Poisons.

Here it states again, “Living in this burning house, we do not recognize it as suffering.”

Living in this burning house, we do not recognize it as suffering. This is the darkness of ignorance. Because of ignorance, we give rise to greed. When we cannot satisfy our greed, we get angry. This is greed, anger and ignorance. When the fires of the Three Poisons come together, they create all these disasters.

We are creating karma but we do not know what the consequence of that karma will be. When we are very narrow-minded, it causes resentment in others. But we do not realize that we are not doing the right thing. This is “the darkness of ignorance.”

“Because of ignorance, we give rise to greed.” Because of ignorance, thoughts of greed arise in our minds. When we cannot get what we covet, we lose our temper. Therefore, “Greed, anger and ignorance, are the fires of the Three Poisons.” The Three Poisons truly cause unbearable suffering.

This comes from lack of clarity and understanding.

Lack of clarity and understanding leads to all deviant conduct. The Three [Poisons] obstruct all true principles with foolishness, delusion, ignorance, confusion and darkness.

Ignorance not only leads us to commit evils, it leads us to engage in deviant conduct and stray from the correct path. It leads us to take a side road, to engage in improper practices. So, it is a poison. A “poison” is something that hinders us, that harms our world-transcending aspirations.

They are called poisons because they can harm our world-transcending aspirations. Thus it speaks of the darkness of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons. The sutra previously stated: “A fire broke out.”

We may want to do good deeds, but are hindered by someone, or perhaps the Three Poisons in our own minds are hindering us by covering our wholesome intentions.

Some say, “My conscience was covered.” This means that our conscience was covered up by the Three Poisons. The “darkness of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons” have covered our kind intentions. This is the disaster faced by the great house. These flames continue to burn, hurting us. This is why the Buddha came to this world, “to teach them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

So, this is why the Tathagata manifests a body in the Three Realms. He appears in the Three Realms to provide relief for sentient beings and help them escape this burning house.

The Tathagata manifests a body in the Three Realms because He wants to provide relief for all sentient beings and help them escape this burning house to head towards supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. This is the one great cause for which. He appears in the world.

The Buddha came to dispel the delusion, karma and suffering in our minds. He came to teach sentient beings how to escape this burning house and “head towards supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.” We should move along the correct path, which leads to supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, the wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s. Then we can understand the principles of all things in the universe.

If we clearly understand the principles, we will always be peaceful and at ease. We will not be affected by things such as birth, aging, illness and death, worry, sorrow, suffering, affliction, all of the darkness of ignorance. We will be able to eliminate these sufferings, and be free to come and go with ease. If we are coming to the world to save people, we will not fear birth, aging, illness and death. Similarly, when we went into that disaster area, we went there intentionally with the goal of saving people.

“Having relieved [beings] from suffering, [Bodhisattvas] then expound the Dharma for them” in the hope that they can stabilize their lives. This is what Bodhisattvas, awakened beings, do. These are the actions of awakened sentient beings. We can come and go as we wish. When it is time to go, we go. When it is time to come back, we come back. Giving to others with this kind of great love is unsurpassed.

Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners, this is what we must learn. I believe that everyone has this mission of carrying out this one great cause. But we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0585

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 3

Episode 585 – Realize the Suffering of the Four States

>> “People’s desires are never satisfied. They seek to attain what they do not have and worry about losing what they already possess. Kept in our hearts, this is worry. Expressed outwardly, it is sorrow. Our bodies and minds cannot be at ease. This is what we call distress.”

>> “Great loving-kindness and compassion” so they are “never indolent or tired. [The Buddha] always seeks to do good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

>> “[He comes] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and afflictions, all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons and teach them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

>> [He came] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, We are constantly cycling through the four states of birth, aging, illness and death. We are born from the prison of the womb, we age until we grow weary and decrepit, illness confines us to our beds, and death brings the sorrow of parting. From the time we are born, we each have our talents and abilities. When our time comes and our life is over, it all suddenly returns to nothingness.

>> After we are reborn into a new life, we are without the wisdom to know our past life. We cannot remember it and the good and evil karmic seeds we created are all buried under a covering of ignorance, so we are unaware of them. For a long time we have followed karma to be born, and faced suffering and afflictions. This is the suffering of birth.

>> As we age and grow old, our Six Sense Organs deteriorate. We can no longer move freely. This is the suffering of aging.

>> Not all who get old fall ill, and not all who fall ill are old, but illness and aging are connected to each other. Once the body’s four elements are not in balance, the body changes and malfunctions. This is the suffering of illness.

>> Old age and illness are oppressive, and once the four elements are not in balance, they will eventually disperse. Once the karma for this life has been exhausted, we have no control and pass away. For those who have always cared, seeing this is the most tragic and painful thing. This is the suffering of death.

“People’s desires are never satisfied.
They seek to attain what they do not have
and worry about losing what they already possess.
Kept in our hearts, this is worry.
Expressed outwardly, it is sorrow.
Our bodies and minds cannot be at ease.
This is what we call distress.”

Life is suffering! The Buddha expounded the Dharma with the goal of helping everyone understand that the source of our suffering is that we never feel satisfied. So, we keep pursuing “what we do not have” until we can attain it. Even if we were to attain what we wish, we would remain afflicted

because we would worry about losing it. Worries about gain and loss are all afflictions. If we have these afflictions in our hearts and never verbally express them, they become “worries” that remain on our minds. We sometimes express these worries by crying, which is “sorrow.” Whether we keep afflictions in our hearts or express them outwardly, our body and mind cannot feel at ease. This is what we call “distress.” So many people suffer for so many different reasons. This makes us unenlightened beings. But many of these things are beyond our control.

For instance, in China, we encountered an elderly couple. The wife was already 90 years-old, and in a few days, the husband was to celebrate his 86th birthday. The two of them were dependent on each other. Living in such a remote area, going to other places was very inconvenient. For many days they had been counting down the time until the Tzu Chi volunteers would arrive. They had been counting the days in anticipation.

Finally, the day came. The old couple wore the cotton-padded coats given to them by Tzu Chi and walked together to the entrance of the village. They waited there for the familiar figures [of the Tzu Chi volunteers] to appear in front of them. It was still dark and freezing cold when the couple went to the entrance of the village. Eventually, they saw the familiar blue and white uniforms appear. They were so happy, as if their families had come home to visit them. They quickly led the volunteers to their house. Once there, our Bodhisattva-volunteers treated it as if returning to their own home and quickly tidied up everything. The elderly couple was very happy. The wife said, “I have been waiting for you, and now finally, you have returned.”

The volunteers gave the husband new clothing and helped him to put it on. “In a few days, it will be my 86th birthday, and I want to wear new clothes, so I will wait a few days before wearing them.” The wife saw that these clothes fit him very well and said, “This is great. In your entire life, you’ve never worn anything this nice.” The husband said, “It is good to live a long life. If you live long enough, good things eventually happen.” It sounded like the couple were very optimistic, but seeing that they were so old and frail, that scene was also very bittersweet.

Another care recipient was an old man who was over 70 years-old and still working very hard. Actually, before the 1960s, he had graduated from college. He had moved away to the city for school. After graduating, he got married and had kids. He had two mentally disabled children. They could not talk and could only make cow-like noises all day. They were unable to tell right from wrong, follow directions or speak. They could not manage their most basic needs.

After the birth of the second child, his wife saw that there was no hope for them. So, while the children were still young, she left the family. This man stayed and cared for these two children.

Looking back on this old man’s life, when he was still a college student in the 1960s, how could he know his life would end up like this? Was he suffering? Very much so. But things were beyond his control.

So, as Buddhist practitioners, we need to learn to always be vigilant so that we can create blessings for our future, to benefit ourselves and the world.

In the Philippines, because of Typhoon Haiyan, these cities were, in such a short time, completely devastated. Tzu Chi volunteers gathered together there. To transport supplies and establish communication, they were constantly rushing back and forth. Yet they had no worries, sorrow, suffering or afflictions. Everyone was very happy to do this work. Bodhisattvas must clearly understand principles. Even when they go to places of great suffering to give of themselves, they are very willing and happy to do this. This allows their wisdom-life to grow and increases their experience of the Buddha-Dharma. This is how Bodhisattvas practice in this world. After we understand what the Buddha taught,

when we see others suffer, we know that if we can give to them, that is truly our blessing. When we witness suffering, we recognize our blessings and continue to create more blessings. This is because, with “great loving-kindness and compassion,” we are “never indolent or tired.”

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world with this.

“Great loving-kindness and compassion” so they are “never indolent or tired. [The Buddha] always seeks to do good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

This is the vow of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; they are willing to come to this world.

Take the Philippines for example. All the Bodhisattva[-volunteers] who went there knew that, after being hit by a major disaster, life there would be very inconvenient. There was no water, no electricity. There was debris everywhere, and everything was in chaos. They were willing to sleep on the ground, to be bitten by mosquitos and soaked by the rain. They were willing to stay there and endure the suffering along with the survivors. They have the heart of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who are willing to go into places like the burning house or like hell and give to help the living beings there. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are willing to enter the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms. This is because they have “great loving-kindness and compassion,” and are “never indolent or tired.” They “always seek out good deeds to benefit all.”

The sutra passage goes on to state,

“[He comes] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and afflictions, all the dark coverings of ignorance and the fires of the Three Poisons and teach them to attain. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

Sentient beings are suffering! They experience birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction. No matter how rich you are, how famous you are or how high your status is, in the end, you will still experience illness and death, aging and illness and death. So, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world for the sake of teaching sentient beings so we can understand what to do in life. Since we bring karmic causes and effects with us, what kind of attitude should we have while facing things in the present? From this moment on, what kind of mindset should we have so that we will cautiously accumulate [karmic causes] for our future lifetimes? This is what the Buddha came to teach. He hoped [to save us] from the shore of suffering by using various methods to deliver us to the shore of noble beings. He had to use different methods to help us reach the other shore.

Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. He taught deluded sentient beings to attain great awakening and great realizations to transcend the state of unenlightened beings and reach the state of noble beings. This is very difficult work. So, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas continually enter the burning house of the Three Realms to share the suffering of sentient beings. This is how they teach.

[He came] to deliver sentient beings from birth, aging, illness, death, worry, sorrow, suffering and affliction, We are constantly cycling through the four states of birth, aging, illness and death. We are born from the prison of the womb, we age until we grow weary and decrepit, illness confines us to our beds, and death brings the sorrow of parting. From the time we are born, we each have our talents and abilities. When our time comes and our life is over, it all suddenly returns to nothingness.

Birth, aging, illness and death are suffering. How do they come about? The four states of birth, aging, illness and death are in constant motion and will never stop. This is a continuous process. Birth, aging, illness and death are a series of infinitesimal changes. These infinitesimal changes are beyond our control and time continues to pass like this.

Before we were born into this world, where were we? We have karmic affinities with our parents, so when our mother and father came together and their sperm and egg united, we began to slowly take shape in the womb. Over a period of many months, we remained inside the prison of the womb. Being curled up inside such a small space is truly suffering. Even after our Six Roots and Six Consciousnesses had formed, we still remained in the prison of the womb, all the way until we were born. At that time, the entire family will be very happy. But the baby just cries. This is because, in that moment of birth, our naked body was exposed to the air for the first time, and we felt excruciating pain. The pain stimulated and shocked us, so we began crying. We opened up our mouth and our throats, then this cry came out. The first sound we make is a cry of suffering.

Once we open our throats wide, we never stop eating to satisfy the cravings of our mouth and never stop making sounds and creating the karma of speech. We say false things and stir up conflicts. These are the four types of karma of speech, gossip, harsh speech, lies and flattery. After being born and making our first sound, we opened up our mouth to eat. This goes on for the rest of our lives.

After suffering in the prison of the womb, when we are born we bring this body for creating karma with us. If the first thing we do is cry from suffering, what is there worth pursuing in this kind of life?

After we are reborn into a new life, we are without the wisdom to know our past life. We cannot remember it and the good and evil karmic seeds we created are all buried under a covering of ignorance, so we are unaware of them. For a long time we have followed karma to be born, and faced suffering and afflictions. This is the suffering of birth.

Our ever-changing and unstable life began in the prison of the womb. From that point on, we were destined to age. By the time we reach our old age, we will have created karma for an entire lifetime. We create karma into our old age. However, not everybody lives to be old. Still, by the time we reach our old age, from the moment we are born to the moment [we die], with our mouths, we have consumed so any lives and created so much bad karma.

So much has happened by the time we are old, we begin to grow “weary.” Why is our body so different when compared to the body of a young person? Young people have smooth and delicate skin. When we reach old age, our entire face is wrinkled, and our body is bent over. The way we walk is different from the way young people walk. Young people’s steps are so light and graceful. [They walk] so beautifully. The elderly find it hard to take each step. Even when the path is flat and smooth, our unsteady steps can take us off course.

Think about it. In our old age, our body is completely different. “We age until we grow weary and decrepit.” Like an old bell, our body becomes hunched over. This is why we become weary of our body.

As we age and grow old, our Six Sense Organs deteriorate. We can no longer move freely. This is the suffering of aging.

I often think, “It was so nice to be young. Now in my old age, this is how things are.” It is not just how others see us, but also how we feel within our body, etc. Moreover, we may become ill.

We do not need to be old to fall ill. We might be young or middle-aged. Illness does not only happen to the elderly. Of course, falling ill in our old age is normal. Illness confines us to our beds, which feels like being in the hell where. “One person fills it, as will many.” If we visit the hospital, every patient will say, “I am suffering most. The doctor should treat me first.” Suffering from illness is unbearable. Everyone experiences different illnesses and different pains.

Generally speaking, being bed-ridden and apart from other people is great suffering.

Not all who get old fall ill, and not all who fall ill are old, but illness and aging are connected to each other. Once the body’s four elements are not in balance, the body changes and malfunctions. This is the suffering of illness.

When we are so ill that nothing can be done, we will die. In life, no matter how much people are suffering from their illness, they will say, “Please save me,” even if it requires major surgery and opening up their stomachs and intestines. Why is that? Because they want to keep living. They do not want to die.

So, death is considered most tragic and painful. Why is it tragic and painful? Because we will leave this body, leave our loved ones and leave everything we have been fighting for in life. The suffering of parting is truly unbearable.

Old age and illness are oppressive, and once the four elements are not in balance, they will eventually disperse. Once the karma for this life has been exhausted, we have no control and pass away. For those who have always cared, seeing this is the most tragic and painful thing. This is the suffering of death.

“From the time we are born,” means after we were born from the prison of the womb, “we each have our talents and abilities.” After we were born, eventually we went to school to master skills. Perhaps we study to gain a lot of knowledge and develop our talents. We may have great potential and be very skilled. But one day, our life will end. Then what? “When our time comes and our life is over, it all suddenly returns to nothingness.” Everything disappears. Think about it, isn’t life suffering?

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world for the sake of delivering sentient beings so they can transcend birth, aging, illness and death and the worry, sorrow, suffering and afflictions that they develop. We have been born into this lifetime and are living this life, but what will happen in our next lifetime? We do not know. However, after learning the Buddha-Dharma, we realize principles from the examples Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have set for us. From the suffering in this world, we comprehend these principles. So, we will be mindful and immerse ourselves in the stream of Dharma.

No matter how turbid or defiled life can be, the Dharma is like water. We can bathe in the stream of the Dharma and thus understand the evil world of Five Turbidities. In this world, there are so many impurities from our afflictions and perspectives. How can we get rid of them? There is one method, to practice the Bodhisattva-path.

Dear Bodhisattvas, we must be mindful. As we head down the Bodhisattva-path, we must walk steadily; that is the right thing to do. Everything in the world undergoes infinitesimal changes, which are beyond our control. The only thing we can do is to be mindful. With discipline and reverence we can stabilize our minds. If we can hold on to our aspiration, it will last forever. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0584

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 584 – Always Seek to Do Good to Benefit All

>> “Outwardly practice compassion with skillful means to be dignified with blessings and virtues. Inwardly cultivate pure wisdom to go among people without being defiled in order to attain infinite spiritual wealth.”

>> “Perfects infinite views and understanding powers and fearlessness, great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas.”

>> “He has great loving-kindness and compassion and is never indolent or tired. He always seeks out good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

>> The manifestation-body: Tathagatas manifest the body of a Buddha to teach and transform sentient beings. With compassion, They teach according to situations and relieve sentient beings’ suffering. In the burning house of the Three Realms, They never cease in their efforts.

>> Compassion is the root of transforming others through giving and beneficial conduct. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are constantly benefiting all sentient beings in the Five Realms. With a heart of great joy and equanimity, they are never indolent or tired. They never seek any reward for their good deeds. The only thing they seek is to benefit all sentient beings.

>> “Cultivating oneself brings merits and virtues. Transforming others brings benefit to them.” Those with merits, virtues and beneficial conduct “are cultivating themselves and benefiting others at the same time.” Thus, they “always seek out good deeds to benefit all.”

“Outwardly practice compassion
with skillful means to be dignified
with blessings and virtues.
Inwardly cultivate pure wisdom
to go among people without being defiled
in order to attain infinite spiritual wealth.”

Internal cultivation and external practice are essential. We cannot just say, “I engage in spiritual practice because I’m very compassionate.” The compassion in your heart cannot be seen by others. If people ask you for help and you do not lift a finger to assist them, how can you be considered compassionate?

Feeling compassion but not contributing effort to help does not show true compassion. True compassion is visible to others. When people need help, if we can immediately give to them, help lighten their burdens and relieve their urgent needs, that is true compassion. Compassion requires giving; that is how we “outwardly practice compassion.” There are many ways to compassionately help people.

Because sentient beings suffer in countless ways, when we help others with compassion, we must do so according to their needs. We must consider their needs and their hardships when we give to them. This requires the use of “skillful means.” When we give to others with skillful means, the people who receive our help feel that they have been respected and aided. We, the people who give, also feel very joyful. When we see that the people we have helped have been relieved of their hardship and have been able to resolve their difficulties, we attain a sense of joy. When we give skillfully and others achieve relief, we attain a sense of Dharma-joy.

Between those who give and those who receive, there is a sense of mutual joy and gratitude. When we feel this way, we are very blessed. By benefiting others, we also attain virtue, so everyone involved feels grateful. After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, Tzu Chi volunteers gave to the survivors with respect and love and used skillful means and methods so that those who were being helped could feel that they were actually working to rebuild their own towns. When we gave to them without expectations, the aid recipients felt respected. By rebuilding their homes with their own labor, there was dignity in their hearts and actions. Amidst this wreckage, because of our love we used skillful means to help them, and they used their strength to clean up and restore their homes. The towns began to prosper and signs of vitality have reappeared.

The volunteers who gave were joyful because they created blessings in this place. People from this place were grateful to this group of volunteers from around the world. They saw how Tzu Chi gave to them out of love, so whenever they saw people in Tzu Chi uniforms, they shouted, “Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi! Thank you, Tzu Chi.” This is because we have benefited them. The sense of mutual gratitude and love between us has brought dignity to our interactions and created blessings for that place. This is being “dignified with blessings and virtues.” Everyone felt joyful and grateful, and this place has regained its liveliness. This is how we, by using skillful means, can express our compassion among people in a way that is helpful to them.

Giving without expectations is the mindset the Buddha taught Bodhisattvas. This is how we “inwardly cultivate pure wisdom.” If we apply various skillful means to put our compassion into action, then after we have given to others, there is no impurity in our minds; there is only joy. Helping others in this way brings Dharma-joy. This is how we inwardly cultivate pure wisdom. We are not trying to reap any benefits from the people that we help. That is not our goal. Rather, by going among the people in this place, we are able to unlock our deep wisdom and deepen our faith, our faith in the Buddha’s teachings about “suffering, causation, cessation and the Path.” We completely understand the Four Noble Truths. Life is suffering because everything is impermanent. When we see the fragility of the planet and the impermanence of life, this strengthens our faith in the Buddha-Dharma. So, [helping others in need] is very helpful for our own spiritual practice.

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world for the sake of helping sentient beings return to their pure intrinsic nature. They want everyone to “follow the path.” By following this path of wisdom, we can walk the Bodhi-path as Bodhisattvas. This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to this world without asking anything of sentient beings. They only hope that sentient beings can transcend their afflictions, the ignorance in their minds that is like a burning house. This is the goal of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in coming to this world.

After we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we follow the Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ teaching to practice compassion. Knowing that sentient beings face much suffering, we will make use of skillful means to find a way to help them. By giving to others, we benefit the world and bring dignity to each other. When you show gratitude to me and. I give to you out of love, we are showing mutual gratitude and love. This the purest kind of interaction. It is completely free of greed, anger, ignorance and various other kinds of complicated afflictions. Thus, by exercising pure wisdom we can “go among the people without being defiled.”

By “going among the people without being defiled,” we can develop our wisdom-life, our wisdom. The understanding we gain by going among people can inspire us to engage in very rich contemplation. Actually, this spiritual abundance and wisdom has always been in our minds. From one example, we can realize ten things. After a disaster like this happens, so many people are willing to give, because everyone has the same intentions. By joining their efforts they give rise to an abundance of strength to transform sentient beings.

This is why the Buddha came to inspire us to develop this intention to help. Thus, we must always outwardly practice compassion and inwardly cultivate wisdom. By practicing compassion and cultivating wisdom, by exercising both compassion and wisdom, we can benefit other people’s lives and benefit ourselves by developing our wisdom-life.

As I mentioned earlier, The Tathagata.

“Perfects infinite views and understanding powers and fearlessness, great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas.”

With various kinds of skillful wisdom, the Tathagata devises ways to help sentient beings who are lost and afflicted and are giving rise to delusions and creating karma. How can He transform their ignorant minds? With skillful means, He can deliver them from this shore of afflictions and ignorance to the other shore. To deliver sentient beings in this way, He uses skillful wisdom as His tools, along with great loving-kindness and compassion.

The following sutra passage states,

“He has great loving-kindness and compassion and is never indolent or tired. He always seeks out good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

This sutra passage tells us that the Buddha has constantly engaged in spiritual practice for countless kalpas, walked the Bodhisattva-path for many lifetimes and has already attained enlightenment. He is already a noble being who has transcended the Three Realms. Nevertheless, His vow is to deliver all sentient beings, so He cannot bear for them to constantly reproduce afflictions and create karma in this world. Thus, for many lifetimes, He has manifested in this world in response to our needs.

This is why we often say that we should respect whomever we see. Perhaps the Buddha is among us right now; maybe one of you is the manifestation of the Buddha, because all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have remained in the Saha World and will always be among people. But His manifestation-body does not only appear among humans; He may also go to the Three Evil Realms to teach and transform the beings there. Of course, as I have constantly told everyone, this world is replete with all Five Realms. The Five Realms are the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. The Buddha lives with sentient beings in this place where the Five Destinies coexist.

So, in summary, the Buddha’s teaching that we are discussing now is the wisdom Sakyamuni Buddha left for us. More than 2000 years ago, Prince Siddhartha engaged in spiritual practice and then attained Buddhahood. As the Buddha, He taught sentient beings, and those teachings have been passed down until today. For this Dharma to exist, there had to be a “manifestation-body.”

The manifestation-body: Tathagatas manifest the body of a Buddha to teach and transform sentient beings. With compassion, They teach according to situations and relieve sentient beings’ suffering. In the burning house of the Three Realms, They never cease in their efforts.

This manifestation-body may not appear among humans. It can be among any kind of living beings. So the Buddha says, “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature.” Over successive lifetimes, He manifests in different states to transform sentient beings. In that lifetime, [2000 years ago], He manifested as a Tathagata.

With His nature of True Suchness and by practicing the principles of True Suchness, He taught and transformed sentient beings. Therefore, He was called the Tathagata. “Tathagatas manifest the body of a Buddha.” With Their pure intrinsic nature, They manifest the Buddha-body to teach and transform sentient beings. “With compassion, They teach according to situations.” They teach people with methods that suit them.

After entering Parinirvana in India, who knows how many lives. He has lived all over the world as He continues to teach the Dharma by example and educate sentient beings in this world. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world, repeatedly and without rest. With compassion, they are never indolent or tired.

With compassion, they engage in giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work to transform others. These are the Four All-Embracing Virtues, the foundation of the Bodhisattva-practice. I hope everyone will always keep them in mind.

Compassion is the root of transforming others through giving and beneficial conduct. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are constantly benefiting all sentient beings in the Five Realms. With a heart of great joy and equanimity, they are never indolent or tired. They never seek any reward for their good deeds. The only thing they seek is to benefit all sentient beings.

At all times we are willing to give, and at all times we are working to benefit everyone. The foundation for transforming others is having compassion. The Four All-Embracing virtues are also the foundation of compassion.

“Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are constantly benefiting all beings in the Five Realms.” Buddhas and Bodhisattvas never stop going into the Five Realms “with great joy and equanimity.” They will forever give with great joy and equanimity for the sake of [their fellow] sentient beings in the Five Realms. Without regard for themselves, they give to others in the Five Realms. Moreover, they do so with great joy. This joy is the willingness to repeatedly return to the Five Realms to give to sentient beings. This is why they never “become indolent or tired.”

Because of their compassion, regardless of what kind of place it is, the footprints of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be found there. So, after giving, we do not expect any reward for our good deeds. There are no such expectations. We only seek to give what is suitable. We give out of goodness, without any expectations. This is “to benefit all sentient beings.” When we give for the sake of benefiting all beings without expecting any rewards, we are doing so with the purest of minds.

“The only thing they seek is to benefit all sentient beings.” Those who just want to do good deeds and are not looking for anything in return are called Bodhisattvas.

Spiritual cultivation brings merits and virtues. With internal cultivation and external practice, “The virtuous attain.” When we engage in inner cultivation, we attain realizations. When we express these realizations, that is called virtue.

So, “The virtuous attain.” When we engage in spiritual cultivation and attain realizations, that is a virtue. “Transforming others brings benefit to them.” Cultivating ourselves is for our own benefit. Only after we attain realizations will we be willing to give to others. After we give of ourselves, what we will attain is Dharma-joy. But when we give to others we can transform them. If we share our realizations with others, we can also benefit them by influencing them to do good deeds. This brings benefit to them.

“Cultivating oneself brings merits and virtues. Transforming others brings benefit to them.” Those with merits, virtues and beneficial conduct “are cultivating themselves and benefiting others at the same time.” Thus, they “always seek out good deeds to benefit all.”

On the one hand, we benefit ourselves. When it comes to spiritual cultivation, we attain the benefit of our own practice. Every day, I give teachings. If you can take them in, you will attain [benefits]. If you do not take them in, I myself still attain [benefits], because I am grateful that so many people are willing to listen and for the technology that allows this to happen, and this inspires me to be even more diligent. This is why I say I attain [benefits], and if you listen, you will also attain [benefits]. So, we are mutually engaged in internal cultivation and attaining realizations. Then we can earnestly put these into action; this brings merits and virtues.

We can benefit by applying what we hear to ourselves and then sharing it with others. All this happens among people. When we all attain merits and virtues, we all benefit. This is how we cultivate blessings and wisdom. When we benefit others, we create blessings. When we develop our wisdom-life, we create merits and virtues. With the merits and virtues we have cultivated, we can benefit others. This is cultivating both blessings and wisdom. So, “We are cultivating ourselves and benefiting others at the same time.” We need to spend a long period of time doing this, not just a short period of time. By continuously listening and taking action, we continuously learn and develop our wisdom-life.

With “great loving-kindness and compassion,” we “are never indolent or tired.” We must not stop and should “always seek out good deeds to benefit all.” We “are born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.” This burning house of the Three Realms is filled with afflictions and defilements. So, we give rise to delusion and create karma, thus accumulating various kinds of afflictions. The manifestation-body of the Buddha appears in this burning house of the Three Realms.

To save and transform sentient beings, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live where “the beings of the Five Destinies co-exist” to continue to benefit sentient beings. They live together with them in the burning house of the Three Realms, so they can teach them. Dear Bodhisattvas, the Buddha’s grace is boundless and hard to repay. So, we should continue to diligently practice and always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0583

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 583 – Inheriting the Father’s Virtuous Mission

>> “Noble and unenlightened beings live together in the Five Destinies. The Tathagata responds to all in the Three Realms and serves as a father to all in the world. He treats all in the Three Realms with equal benevolence. He sees all of the four kinds of beings as His only son. As a father, He passes on. His virtuous mission to His children.”

>> “Sariputra, the Tathagata is also like this.”

>> “I serve as a father to all in the world.” The Tathagata is like a parent. “[I] take all fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry, all the dark coverings of ignorance and eliminate them forever, so nothing remains.”

>> “[The Tathagata] perfects infinite views and understanding, powers and fearlessness, great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas. He has great loving-kindness and compassion, and is never indolent or tired. He always seeks out good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

>> He “attained supreme, perfect enlightenment and was replete with unsurpassed, extraordinary wisdom.” Then, “For all sentient beings, He turns the wondrous Dharma-wheel.”

>> The Tathagata “is perfectly at ease. Thus He has the powers and fearlessness.”

>> The powers exercised by the Buddha are inconceivable. They are “spiritual” because they are unfathomable. He inherently treats everyone equally, with compassion and wisdom. The power of His vows is inconceivable. To create favorable assisting conditions, He never ceases in His efforts.

>> With “powers of wisdom” one can “have faith in and accept Right Dharma. With fierce determination, one cultivates purifying practices in body and mind.”

“Noble and unenlightened beings
live together in the Five Destinies.
The Tathagata responds
to all in the Three Realms
and serves as a father to all in the world.
He treats all in the Three Realms
with equal benevolence.
He sees all of the four kinds of beings
as His only son.
As a father, He passes on.
His virtuous mission to His children.”

The Buddha responds to and transforms the world. He is a noble being, a sage, and He comes on the vehicle of True Suchness to the human realm for the sake of the one great cause, which is to deliver sentient beings. This is why He comes to this world and lives among us ordinary people where the beings of the Five Destinies co-exist.

You should all be clear about the Five Destinies, the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These are the Five Realms. The good and bad karma we have created leads us to be reborn in one of the Five Realms. If we regularly practice the Ten Good Deeds, we do many good deeds and create blessings. If we do good deeds and create blessings, if we are replete with the Ten Good Deeds, of course, this will lead us to the highest realm among the Five Destinies, which is heaven, to enjoy the blessings there. Ordinarily, people uphold their fundamental duties and carry out the things that need to be done. They simply go about their normal lives. There are many people like this; they are the ordinary people in this world.

Aside from them, in this world there are people who live very difficult lives. If people are in a family which is poor and are also dealing with illnesses, disabilities, etc., they may feel like they are living in hell. As for those who lack basic life necessities, they are in the state of hungry ghosts. As for those who do not abide by human morals, do not feel gratitude or loyalty, they are like those who live in the animal realm; this can also be in seen in this world. Under the heavens and on top of the earth, all beings of the Five Realms live in the same world. The goal of the Buddha, noble beings and sages in coming to this world is to teach and transform all beings. This is what noble beings do. So, noble beings live together with the beings of the Five Destinies. “Noble and unenlightened beings live together in the Five Destinies.” So, no matter who we encounter, we must approach them with respect.

The Buddha told us that everyone can attain Buddhahood because everyone has an everlasting nature of True Suchness. It is just buried under our ignorance. So, we engage in spiritual practice and learn the Buddha’s teachings to quickly break open one by one those layers of the dark coverings of ignorance. We remove layer after layer, until the layers of ignorance have been cleared up. Then the light of pure wisdom begins to manifest. This is our nature of True Suchness. The nature of True Suchness is pure as crystal, and everyone has it.

The Tathagata comes on the vehicle of True Suchness to transform all beings in this world. So, it is said, “The Tathagata responds to all in the Three Realms.” Everyone has the nature of True Suchness, and the Buddha regularly applies the principles of True Suchness while. He interacts with people. The Three Realms we speak of are the desire, form and formless realms in [the minds of] sentient beings. The formless realm is that of our thinking. If our thinking is pure, no “form” in our surroundings can entice us. Thus we are pure. A pure mind is free of “desire.” So, free of desires, we are pure. This is how we transcend the Three Realms.

The Buddha taught us in the hope that we will be able to transcend the desire realm in our minds, transcend the form realm in our minds and transcend the formless realm in our minds to become completely liberated. This is what the Buddha came to this world to teach us.

Within the Three Realms, the Buddha is known as the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the four kinds of beings. The burning house is an analogy for the Three Realms, and all the sentient beings in the Three Realms are the Buddha’s children, His disciples. The Buddha loves sentient beings equally. So, “He treats all in the Three Realms with equal benevolence.” He does not discriminate between them. All sentient beings of the Three Realms are treated equally by the Buddha, thus He does not discriminate between them.

“He sees all of the four kinds of beings as His only son.” He does not only treat humans equally, but all beings, womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. The Buddha loves all of the four kinds of beings. Therefore, He said, “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature.” Not only does He care for humans, but He also cares for all creatures, down to the smallest living beings. Thus, “He sees all of the four kinds of beings as His only son.” The Buddha cherishes all living beings. “As a father, He passes on. His virtuous mission to His children.” The Buddha hopes we can be like Him and treat all sentient beings the same, with equal benevolence, loving and caring for them in the same way.

From the previous sutra passage, we learned that the elder in this world cared so deeply about his children and other family members that he devised ways to help them escape the burning house. The Buddha is just like him. So, the Buddha said,

“Sariputra, the Tathagata is also like this.”

The Tathagata is just like this elder.

“I serve as a father to all in the world.” The Tathagata is like a parent. “[I] take all fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry, all the dark coverings of ignorance and eliminate them forever, so nothing remains.”

All of sentient beings’ fear, panic, weakness, anxiety and worry about gain and loss, all these dark coverings of ignorance, are completely eliminated [by the Tathagata].

Similarly, when the children stayed in the burning house to enjoy their games, their father used various methods to draw them out, saying, “Do not keep playing in there. Do not remain in that confusion. Leave that place right away and come out now.” The Tathagata, in the same way, uses various methods to draw out the children inside, who are all the sentient beings of the Three Realms. Our fears, weaknesses and worries are like the fire. When the fire starts blazing around the house, the Buddha slowly draws us out to help us escape the burning house of the Three Realms.

The same things are happening in our minds. Our mind is our spiritual home; in everyone’s minds, there is also a great house. In this house in our minds, our spiritual home, these [negative emotions] are like sparks of fire that can start a blaze. If we are able to accept the Buddha-Dharma, that is like acquiring the cart drawn by the great white ox. Then we will be able to travel smoothly and steadily advance on this path as humans in the Three Realms. Not only must we transform ourselves, we must also transform others. This is our goal as Buddhist practitioners. If we can transcend the ignorance in our minds, naturally we will be able to gradually realize the principles of the Buddha and apply them in our daily living. By slowly putting an end to our ignorance forever, it will no longer remain in our minds. This is why we must learn the Buddha’s teachings and comprehend the principles He taught.

The next sutra passage states,

“[The Tathagata] perfects infinite views and understanding, powers and fearlessness, great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas. He has great loving-kindness and compassion, and is never indolent or tired. He always seeks out good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms.”

This house in the Three Realms is already old and decaying. Here, the “Three Realms” refer to the Three Realms that exist in our minds.

For a very long time, our habitual tendencies have been with us. For countless lifetimes these habitual tendencies have already polluted our minds. Thus, this is “the decaying…Three Realms.” The home in our mind is already decaying, like the burning house with fires on all sides. This is because, lifetime after lifetime, we have accumulated layers of habitual tendencies. Having had these habitual tendencies for a long time, we say our mind is “decaying.” It has already deteriorated. All of our minds have reached this point, so we must accept the Dharma right away. The Dharma taught by the Buddha is like water. We must cleanse our minds right away, so we need Dharma-water in our hearts to wash away the impurities within our minds. Then our minds will be pure again. This is what we must immediately do in our minds.

When the Buddha came to this world to teach sentient beings, He needed to exercise His power. So, He manifested a body to exercise this power. This body that exercised the teachings was the legacy of conduct that the Buddha passed down when He came to the world. The way He lived is a teaching for us. This is the way life can truly be lived in the world. Over the course of His life, the Tathagata lived the same way that we do. He was born to parents and grew up in this world. He spent time in the world first enjoying luxury then contemplating [suffering]. Then, for the sake of saving people and in the hope that we can treat everyone equally, he abandoned his life in the palace. In this way, he no longer enjoyed those objects of desire. He had transcended the desires in his mind. With his body, he demonstrated how one can leave the pleasures of the palace. He demonstrated that, to engage in spiritual practice, we must go through an arduous process of delving into the principles of life.

He collected the methods of spiritual cultivation. He thoroughly analyzed how people suffered, how thoughts stirred in their minds, etc. All these principles were accumulated within the Buddha’s ocean of enlightenment. Through spiritual practice, he became awakened and achieved supreme and perfect enlightenment. While interacting with people, everything he learned as a spiritual practitioner was absorbed into his views and understanding. After he grasped the principles of the world, he absorbed them into his ocean of enlightened wisdom. Having understood everything,

He “attained supreme, perfect enlightenment and was replete with unsurpassed, extraordinary wisdom.” Then, “For all sentient beings, He turns the wondrous Dharma-wheel.”

This is what makes Him the Tathagata.

The Tathagata “is perfectly at ease. Thus He has the powers and fearlessness.”

Because of His views and understanding, the Tathagata has powers and fearlessness. He has seen and understood so much. He knows the truths of all things in the universe; nothing was unknown to Him. With His understanding of things, He is at ease. Because the Buddha’s powers, understanding and views are very complete, He has “great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas.” These are “the powers exercised by the Buddha.” His powers and the power of His wisdom are very complete.

The powers exercised by the Buddha are inconceivable. They are “spiritual” because they are unfathomable. He inherently treats everyone equally, with compassion and wisdom. The power of His vows is inconceivable. To create favorable assisting conditions, He never ceases in His efforts.

What was the extent of His wisdom? We have no way of fathoming it. The power of the Buddha’s wisdom is truly inconceivable. He has the wisdom to understand the truths of all things in the universe. So, we call these His “spiritual powers. Spiritual” refers to His spirit and not a strange supernatural power. This power comes from our spirit. The Buddha’s spirit and ideals are unfathomable; we cannot understand them. Not only is His power unfathomable, His spirit and ideals are also hard to fathom.

The Buddha “inherently treats everyone equally.” He applies His spiritual powers equally towards all sentient beings. This shows His compassion. Every single one of the four kinds of beings is equal in the eyes of the Buddha. He cherishes all beings with equal benevolence. I hope we can learn from the Buddha how to treat all living beings with equal benevolence. The Buddha has compassion and wisdom, and when the power of His vows are added to that, of course [His state] is inconceivable. With the kind of spirit and ideals that He has, and the power of His wisdom and compassion, of course [His state] is inconceivable. By adding the power of His vows, He creates favorable assisting conditions for all and never ceases in His efforts or takes a break.

Why is it said that He creates favorable assisting conditions? Because sentient beings inherently have Buddha-nature, the Buddha comes to the world only for the sake of providing them with assisting conditions. By means of His wisdom, compassion and the power of His vows, He comes to this world to live among all beings. Living here together with us, He “opened and revealed” teachings so sentient beings must accept them so we can “realize and enter.” Therefore, He came to this world to create favorable assisting conditions for us to attain Buddhahood. “Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature.” This is what He came to tell us, to “open and reveal” to us, so we can go from the state of ordinary beings to the other shore, the state of noble beings. This is done with wisdom and the paramitas.

By transforming us with skillful wisdom, He creates favorable assisting conditions for us. Thus, He is also our virtuous friend. As both our teacher and father, He guides and teaches us solely in the hope that we will be able to cross from this shore to the other shore. He does this with wisdom, “with the wisdom of skillful means and paramitas.”

With “powers of wisdom” one can “have faith in and accept Right Dharma. With fierce determination, one cultivates purifying practices in body and mind.”

We are also endowed with these powers of wisdom. However, we must have faith in the Buddha’s teachings. We must believe and accept the principles and Right Dharma He taught. “With fierce determination…in body and mind,” when we can accept the Buddha’s teachings, we can eliminate our ignorance, layer by layer. In this way, by reducing each layer of ignorance we can develop our wisdom-life more. Therefore, as we clear away layers of ignorance, our wisdom-life will continue to grow. Our powers of wisdom, vows and compassion will empower our body and mind to

“cultivate purifying practices.” When we give without expectations, our minds become very pure. Purifying practices bring purity. Although we live among people in this evil world of Five Turbidities, by walking the Bodhisattva-path, we purify our minds. So, we must accept the Buddha’s teaching.

To His disciples, the Buddha is like “a father” who “passes on His virtuous mission to His children.” The legacy our father wants to leave us is teaching us how to manage our “mission.” Since our vows are to go into the world, we must remain among the people and love them as the Buddha loves His children. I constantly tell everyone, “We must take the Buddha’s mind as our mind,” for He has passed on His virtuous mission to us.

If the Buddha is in our minds, we will carry on His virtuous actions by doing good deeds and benefiting others while also cultivating purifying practices. This helps our minds constantly remain pure, free of desires, forms and afflictions. If we can achieve this state, we can transcend the Three Realms. We can leave behind the burning house in our minds and all our fears, etc. Our afflictions and dark coverings will all be left behind. So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0582

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 582 – Forever Eliminate the Dark Coverings of Ignorance

>> “Earnestly cultivate good affinities and plant good seeds. When the seeds mature into fruits, we attain liberation. If we have not formed good affinities, we must quickly accomplish good things and diligently plant seeds to obtain good fruits. The Great Enlightened One has compassion and exercises wisdom. He is the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and father of the Four Kinds of Beings.”

>> We often say, “Quickly give rise to goodness that has not yet arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate evil that has already arisen.”

>> “Moreover, this elder knew that his wealth was infinite. He wanted to benefit all of his children by equally giving them great carts.” The Buddha told Sariputra, “Excellent, excellent. It is as you say.”

>> “Sariputra, the Tathagata is also like this.”

>> “I serve as a father to all the world and take all fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry, all the dark coverings of ignorance, and eliminate them forever, so nothing remains.”

>> The title “Tathagata” refers to the nature of True Suchness,

>> “Journeys on the path of True Suchness, and from this cause, He comes to the effect, attaining perfect enlightenment.”

>> “Also, one who journeys on the path of True Suchness to come to the Three Realms in order to transform others is called Tathagata.”
>> So, He “serves as a father to all in the world”

>> “In a certain kingdom’s city or settlement, there was an elder who possessed limitless wealth. His house was spacious and large and had only one door.”

>> So out of compassion, he used kind words to guide them.

>> All fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry: Aging, illness and death are weakness. Suffering and afflictions are vexations. Anxiety exists in our minds, while worries relate to matters.

>> Ignorance: A state of mind that is dark and dull. It cannot reflect the light of the Dharma, matters and principles. It is also called delusion. Those who are ignorant cannot understand the Dharma.

>> All the dark coverings: Because of ignorance, we are covered in darkness. We are in the dark on all matters and principles, hindered from being free of delusion by all kinds of contaminants, which lead us to create karma.

>> All the dark coverings of ignorance [are] eliminated forever, so nothing remains: The roots of delusion, karma and suffering are the dark coverings of ignorance. By eliminating them forever so nothing remains, one has eliminated all evil and accomplished all merits and virtues. This explains the Buddha’s “virtue of ending.”

“Earnestly cultivate good affinities
 and plant good seeds.
When the seeds mature into fruits,
we attain liberation.
If we have not formed good affinities,
we must quickly accomplish good things
and diligently plant seeds to obtain good fruits.
The Great Enlightened One has compassion
and exercises wisdom.
He is the guiding teacher of the Three Realms
and father of the Four Kinds of Beings.”

To practice the Buddha’s teachings, we must first “cultivate good affinities” and regularly “plant good causes. When the seeds mature into fruits,” then “we attain liberation.” This is what we need to constantly say. The karmic law of cause and effect is the fundamental belief of spiritual practitioners; we must understand it very well and always engage in spiritual cultivation. What are we cultivating? Goodness. In our interpersonal relationships, we must form good affinities with everyone. As we form good karmic affinities, we are planting good karmic seeds. Positive causes and conditions will automatically yield positive karmic retributions. When causes and conditions mature, retributions will manifest. So we said, “When the seeds mature into fruits, we attain liberation.”

In our daily lives,

We often say, “Quickly give rise to goodness that has not yet arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate evil that has already arisen.”

Isn’t this what the Four Right Efforts teach?

So, “If we have not formed good affinities, we must quickly accomplish good things.” We must form good affinities with everyone and “diligently plant seeds” in our daily living. Then, whatever situations we encounter, the results will naturally be positive. In our daily living, as we interact with each other, if I express my gratitude towards you, you will also feel very happy. When we show gratitude to each other and both feel happy, this is a cycle of positive karmic conditions and the experience of positive karmic effects.

This is what can happen in our daily living. So, the Buddha, “the Great Enlightened One, has compassion and exercises wisdom.” With His great awakening and His compassion, the Buddha comes to this world and exercises His wisdom to “open and reveal” to sentient beings so they can “realize and enter” [the Dharma]. By realizing the karmic law of cause and effect, they will do good deeds and benefit others; this is how they walk the Bodhisattva-path. Therefore, the Buddha is “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms” and “father of the Four Kinds of Beings.” He loves all sentient beings in the world equally and has the same hope for everyone, that they earnestly accept the Buddha-Dharma. Not only should we accept the Dharma ourselves, we should turn the Dharma-wheel for others. Every day, we should work to understand the Dharma. Every day, we should transmit it with our actions. This is our responsibility. In our modern society, we need to bring purity to people’s hearts and constantly share good things. By sharing good things, we are turning the Dharma-wheel.

“Moreover, this elder knew that his wealth was infinite. He wanted to benefit all of his children by equally giving them great carts.” The Buddha told Sariputra, “Excellent, excellent. It is as you say.”

In the previous sutra passage we discussed, the elder was a very wealthy man, so he gave his children an abundance of things. This is an analogy for benefiting sentient beings. The elder benefited all of his children, and the Buddha benefits all sentient beings.

This “benefit” comes from the Four All-Embracing Virtues, charitable giving, loving words, beneficial conduct and working together. These are the fundamental teachings for us as we walk the Bodhisattva-path. What the elder passed on to his children was a “benefit” to them. What the Buddha passes on to His disciples are “precepts that benefit all sentient beings.”

This is what the Buddha taught. He passes on the wealth of the Dharma to us, so we should open our hearts and minds to accept the wealth of the Buddha-Dharma. Then we can benefit sentient beings every day. Everything we do should benefit sentient beings.

This is like [driving] the great cart, the cart drawn by the great white ox. Sariputra answered the Buddha’s question about the elder setting up the three kinds of carts but only giving them one cart in the end by saying, “[Regardless,] he saved their lives.” By escaping [the burning house] safely, they had already received so much. Furthermore, the elder gave them a great ox-cart. For people in this world, their physical existence is their life; is there anything more valuable than that? Living a healthy life is a great blessing. This is what our biological father can give us. But what the Buddha wants to give us is help with “keeping our wisdom-life intact.” Since we live in safety and have already accepted the Buddha-Dharma, our wisdom-life is naturally growing.

The Buddha does not tell sentient beings anything false. The teachings that He gave are all True Dharma. Sariputra conveyed this idea by saying that the elder did not commit the fault of being false. This made the Buddha happy, so He praised Sariputra. “Your response is very good. It is just as you say.”

He told Sariputra in the following passage,

“Sariputra, the Tathagata is also like this.”

Sariputra said it very well; the Tathagata is also like this.

“I serve as a father to all the world and take all fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry, all the dark coverings of ignorance, and eliminate them forever, so nothing remains.”

This was the Buddha beginning to come back from talking about the elder to how the Tathagata Himself was like this. The Tathagata is “a father to all the world.” The Tathagata is the father of the Four Kinds of Beings and guiding teacher of the Three Realms. He is both a teacher and a father. So in the human realm, [He eliminates] “all fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry.” In the Three Realms, sentient beings may be filled with panic and fear. Perhaps, as they experience birth, aging, illness, death etc., they feel anxiety, sadness, pain and vexation. As they interact with people, matters and objects they are under “the dark coverings of ignorance,” living that kind of life. The Buddha, the Tathagata, wants to help eliminate sentient beings’ “dark coverings of ignorance” completely. He wants to help them completely eliminate their ignorance.

The title “Tathagata” refers to the nature of True Suchness,

the Buddha-nature we all intrinsically have. After the Buddha attained enlightenment and realized the nature of True Suchness, He was completely awakened. The great awakened Tathagata.

“Journeys on the path of True Suchness, and from this cause, He comes to the effect, attaining perfect enlightenment.”

Because we all have the nature of True Suchness, if we regularly create positive karmic causes, we are [practicing the path of] True Suchness. The path of True Suchness is laid out in true principles. When we actualize true principles in our actions, we unceasingly cultivate positive causes and go among people to benefit them and engage in spiritual practice. When we give, we do not seek anything in return nor do we add to our afflictions. When it is the right thing to do, we just do it. “From good causes, we come to good effects.”

Look at the Buddha. For countless kalpas, He has engaged in spiritual practice with countless Buddhas throughout this process. He was practicing to give up His physical life for the sake of sentient beings. He gave of Himself without any expectations. This is how “from this cause, He comes to the effect.” For a long time, He gave to others. For a long time, He has been eliminating His afflictions and ignorance. As a result, He attained perfect enlightenment and is thus called the Tathagata, one who “journeys on the path of True Suchness, and from this cause comes to the effect, attaining perfect enlightenment.” This is the characteristic of a Tathagata. If we want to attain Buddhahood, we must persevere for a long time as we continuously undergo this cycle of positive cause and effect and continuously give to help others.

“Also, one who journeys on the path of True Suchness to come to the Three Realms in order to transform others is called Tathagata.”

One who follows the principles of the Tathagata and returns to the Three Realms to transform others is called Tathagata. One who journeys on the path of True Suchness to come to the human realm and transform sentient beings is called Tathagata. The Tathagata is the pure nature that we all intrinsically have. We often say that we all intrinsically have this; it is just that we have yet to resolve our afflictions, so we remain in the ignorant state of unenlightened beings. Every day, we must earnestly do good deeds and benefit others without asking for anything in return. In daily living, we must be understanding and constantly grateful and content; that is also part of our spiritual practice.

So, He “serves as a father to all in the world.” The Buddha is a father to all beings in the world. All in the world includes all beings in the Three Realms. There is an analogy for this in a previous passage.

“In a certain kingdom’s city or settlement, there was an elder who possessed limitless wealth. His house was spacious and large and had only one door.”

But inside of this door was a group of very ignorant children, who were attached to their games. When he saw fire arising on all sides, the father could not bear to [leave them there],

So out of compassion, he used kind words to guide them.

With these kind words, he tried to lead them out of the house, so they would not stay inside. But the children still were greedily attached to remaining in the house. No matter what the father said to them, they would not leave. So, he used all kinds of methods and set up three carts to entice them. In the previous sutra text, this was explained very clearly.

The Three Realms are analogous to the burning house. The burning house refers to “all in the world.” This world is also called “the world of sentient beings.” It includes time, space and the relationships between sentient beings. On top of this, the emotions of sentient beings create much confusion and afflictions that constantly accumulate. This ignorance covers the mind and gives rise to all kinds of “fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry.”

All fear, weakness, vexation, anxiety and worry: Aging, illness and death are weakness. Suffering and afflictions are vexations. Anxiety exists in our minds, while worries relate to matters.

Since we are in the human realm, we inevitably experience aging, illness and death. These are considered “weakness.” We gradually grow weaker. In our old age, our bodies are frail, and all of our strength gradually disappears.

There will inevitably be a day when we lose what we have. We may lose what we love most, or we may lose our own life. In summary, we live life in “anxiety, worry and fear.” We worry about interpersonal relationships, about manmade calamities and natural disasters. We have many fears. Even when we have things, [they never truly belong to us]. This really worries us. These afflictions in our daily living, the various weaknesses that we naturally suffer and the afflictions of aging, illness and death are all suffering which cause us to be very worried. Afflictions in our minds are “anxiety.” Afflictions arising from matters are “worries.” We are very troubled because birth, aging, illness and death, worries about gain and loss etc. all cause us to be worried. So, “All the dark coverings of ignorance [must be] eliminated forever, so nothing remains.”

Ignorance creates many afflictions. What is ignorance? It is a dark and dull state.

Ignorance: A state of mind that is dark and dull. It cannot reflect the light of the Dharma, matters and principles. It is also called delusion. Those who are ignorant cannot understand the Dharma.

Dark and dull refers to those with relatively limited capacities. Their minds “cannot reflect the light of the Dharma, matters and principles.”

Sometimes, when we are driving in cold weather and there are many people in our car, the body heat from so many people causes the windshield to fog up because of the cold air outside and the warm air inside. We have to immediately wipe the windshield clear so that we can see the road ahead. Our mind is the same. If there is a gap between our minds and things going on around us and we cannot get what we want, our minds will become filled with afflictions. If our minds are not in harmony with our external conditions, then our minds “cannot reflect the light of the Dharma, matters and principles.” Our minds will always be in conflict with our external conditions, causing us to lose the clarity of our radiant mirror. If we do not earnestly polish it, it will lose this “light.”

“It is also called delusion”; this refers to ignorance. Ignorance is a state that is dark and dull. A state that is dark and dull is one of delusion, so this is another name for ignorance. [Those who are deluded] “cannot understand the Dharma.” Because we are ignorant, we cannot understand all Dharma.

The passage continues, “All the dark coverings [are] eliminated forever, so nothing remains.” How can something dark and dull become very clear and sharp? The text explains that “all the dark coverings of ignorance” are things that are obscuring our minds. No matter what, our pure intrinsic nature is still there, but it is covered by ignorance.

All the dark coverings: Because of ignorance, we are covered in darkness. We are in the dark on all matters and principles, hindered from being free of delusion by all kinds of contaminants, which lead us to create karma.

Indeed, inside each of our hearts, our pure and clear nature of True Suchness is still there. It is just that it has been covered by ignorance, so we are in the dark on matters and principles and develop a habitual nature of ignorance. In this way, we are “hindered from being free of delusion by all kinds of contaminants.”

“Being free of delusion,” we would be in a state of clarity. When we are not deluded or lost, our minds are very clear. But when we are hindered by ignorance, we are “hindered from being free of delusion.” It is obstructing us. This causes our undefiled minds to be covered [by darkness].

All the dark coverings of ignorance [are] eliminated forever, so nothing remains: The roots of delusion, karma and suffering are the dark coverings of ignorance. By eliminating them forever so nothing remains, one has eliminated all evil and accomplished all merits and virtues. This explains the Buddha’s “virtue of ending.”

Ignorance is also called delusion. As for “delusion, karma and suffering,” having ignorance means we are deluded. Out of delusion, we create karma. Because we create karma, we suffer. This is the root [ignorance]. Root [ignorance] is the dark coverings. Because we are in a state of delusion, we create karma, which causes us to suffer. In the human realm, the Buddha tells us that all in the world experience suffering. The truth of “suffering” is that it comes from “causation.” We accumulate delusions and karma; delusions lead to karma which leads to suffering. This is root ignorance.

If we can be mindful in accepting the. Buddha-Dharma and using it to cleanse our minds, then [our ignorance] will naturally be “eliminated forever, so nothing remains.” Then we will have “eliminated all evil and accomplished all merit and virtues.” This is the state of Buddhahood. This shows that the Buddha has already eliminated all “delusions and karma.” Therefore, the Buddha has already been freed from the suffering in the human realm. He understands the principle that suffering comes from delusions and the karma we create. He explains this to us so that we can earnestly engage in spiritual practice and earnestly eliminate ignorance and afflictions. Most importantly, if we eliminate ignorance and afflictions, we naturally achieve “the virtue of ending. The virtue of ending” comes from completely eliminating all ignorance, so our minds can be pure and clear.

As Buddhist practitioners, we must be mindful and put in effort. Everything results from ignorance and afflictions covering our minds. That is why we create various karma and must deal with so many complications in the world. Over time, we have created karma in this space, so we end up facing painful retributions as we interact with people. This is why we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0581

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
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Chapter 3

Episode 581 – The Dharma-Children Inherit Great Dharma

>> “In the families of this world, fathers pass on their legacy to sons. This relationship is a conditioned phenomenon. The World-Honored One passes on the Great Dharma to Dharma-children. This is the unconditioned Dharma based on True Suchness.”

>> “World-Honored One, even if this elder. World-Honored One, even if this elder did not give even the smallest carts to the children, there was nothing false in what he said.”

>> “‘Moreover, this elder knew that his wealth was infinite He wanted to benefit all of his children by equally giving them great carts.’ The Buddha told Sariputra, ‘Excellent, excellent It is as you say.'”

>> To benefit: This is describing how Bodhisattva-practitioners, whether through charitable giving or through kind words or through conduct that benefits others or through engaging in the same kind of work lead all sentient beings to attain peace and joy. This is the meaning of “to benefit.”

“In the families of this world,
fathers pass on their legacy to sons.
This relationship is a conditioned phenomenon.
The World-Honored One
passes on the Great Dharma to Dharma-children.
This is the unconditioned Dharma
based on True Suchness.”

Recently, we have been repeatedly studying this sutra passage about the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. The elder of the great house had children who were lost and confused, so he set up three kinds of carts for them, eventually giving them the cart drawn by the great white ox. This story seems so short. How could it contain so many principles?

In fact, the human realm is very vast, and there are so many people! Each person has different views and afflictions. In this world, there are so many complications with people, matters, relationships and principles. We can summarize all this with these words, people, matters, relationships and principles, but from these things are created many complications between people. So, the Buddha manifested in the world solely to help everyone understand the principles of people, relationships, matters and objects.

[In the parable of] the burning house alone, many of our afflictions are described through analogies to the complications in the house, for instance, the children’s stubbornness, attachments, greed etc. The burning house is full of dangers. Similarly, in this world, there are many hazards and traps that have been created by people, layers upon layers of hazards buried beneath us. These are all related to the burning house of the Three Realms and to the dazed and confused state of the children in it. These children’s attachments and these children’s stubbornness are all a part of this. There are many principles behind [the interactions of] all these people in the great house.

In summary, “In the families of this world, fathers pass on their legacy to sons.” Isn’t this very simple? The relationship between father and son is passed down from generation to generation. In this world, is there any father who does not wish to pass his business on to his son? In this world, doesn’t every son [hope to] have a close relationship with his father? The son’s family background and growth can be very simple, but the relationship between father and son can be very complicated. Some fathers love their children dearly and work themselves to death for their sake. Fathers who are wealthy may think, “Because my son will take over this business, I must work harder to build it up. I have a lot, but it’s not enough. I have a big business, but it’s not big enough. I need to lay down a foundation for him which is long, wide, sizable and strong.” However, the son may not be grateful to his father. He feels, “All my father wants to do is make money. He doesn’t even care about having a genuine father-son relationship.” So, the father’s efforts backfire.

Is this kind of life a happy one? Thus, these “conditioned phenomena” give rise to relationships. In this world, there are conditioned phenomena. Father, son, grandson and so on are all labels for “conditioned phenomena.” But they are the basis for our relationships. If propriety is no longer respected in these relationships, parent-children relationships become very complicated. These relationships are affected by [desires]. [Fathers] desire to build up a business. To fulfill expectations and desires, people create many industries in different fields. Producing new material goods requires more than one industry. With all these things, in order to have future advancements, more industries must be created. Everything that has been created is conditioned phenomena.

In this realm of physical existence, we want to make all kinds of things because of our desires. Thus, [we disrupt] our relationships and other conditioned phenomena. Whether people’s feelings towards each other or material objects in the realm of physical existence, all these conditioned phenomena can disrupt our relationships. The desire hidden within each of our minds has no shape or form, but once it is unleashed, it turns everything in the entire universe upside down. Our desires can extend everywhere.

So, if these conditioned phenomena disrupt the propriety of our relationships, think about how complicated and frightening the effects of that will be. Once these desires are unleashed, they turn everything upside down. Think about the Three Realms, this burning house; people cling to this place out of confusion, unaware that the fire will burn them. Think about it, don’t these confused children lead very complicated lives? In the beginning, things were so simple, but when a single thought deviated, it disrupted everything. Conditioned phenomena disrupt so many worldly matters, objects and principles.

The World Honored One was an exception. “The World-Honored One passes on the Great Dharma to Dharma-children. This is the unconditioned Dharma based on True Suchness.” So, the Buddha came to this world to find ways to reestablish these relationships. He explained to us that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and we must take the Buddha-Dharma to heart to return to our nature of True Suchness.

Our intrinsic nature of True Suchness is “unconditioned Dharma;” it is ever-abiding. Thus it contains the principles; these principles are straightforward and orderly. They are not confusing; they are direct. So, the great and direct path is Bodhi, the great and direct Bodhi-path. We have lost this great and direct Bodhi-path, so the Buddha returned to the world to “open and reveal” the way for us. “You are on the wrong path; turn back quickly.” So, He had to teach with various methods to help us clearly recognize that each lifetime is limited and that we have created causes and conditions etc. He helped people clearly see the objects of their desires and their relationships, so they can return to the purest state. He explained relationships, principles and things so that everyone can understand the Dharma and be clear about the principles. Then their feelings can become simple and pure again.

This is the one great cause for which the Buddha came to the world. He brought the Great Dharma to this world to pass it on to His Dharma-children. To receive the Dharma, we also need the right causes and conditions. For instance, an inmate from a US prison donated 21 canisters of coffee. He also wrote a very emotional letter. He said, “I’m in prison, so many things are very inconvenient for me. I sent these [canisters of coffee] hoping you can sell them for charity and use the money for disaster relief in the Philippines.” How would someone in prison know [about this]? He is even in the US, so far away.

A few years ago, there was a pastor in Las Vegas who brought Jing Si Aphorisms with her into the prison. After some inmates read the Jing Si Aphorisms, they wrote to the Tzu Chi Las Vegas service center. From then on, we often received letters from inmates. Each letter is filled with stories.

Tzu Chi USA Headquarters received a package with the canisters of coffee. When this package arrived at the headquarters, one of the volunteers who read the letter said, “This is so moving. Even though he is [in prison], he is still thinking about disasters elsewhere and sent this to us on his own accord. Buying things [in prison] is so difficult. Since he sent this to us, I will buy one.” She bought it for several hundred dollars. Many people bought [the coffee] until there were only a few cans left. When Faith Corps and Honorary Board members learned about this, they said, “I’ll ‘buy’ it for US 3000” but will not take it, “I’ll ‘buy’ it for US 2000” but will not take it, “I’ll ‘buy’ it for US 1000” but will not take it.

I heard that the remaining canisters of coffee being [sold for charity] have raised over US 10,000. People are still making donations. Once someone understands this kind of love, once someone knows the principles, then causes and conditions will develop. Now, inside many prisons in the United States, there are volumes of Jing Si Aphorisms. We are gradually expanding this program so that inmates can encounter these simple principles of how to be a good person. Then they will realize that the way they used to behave was wrong.

With a slight karmic affinity, these people can perhaps be inspired and guided to understand, uphold and act according to the Dharma; in this way, these words are Great Dharma. Similarly, people who have karmic connections with the Buddha can accept the Buddha-Dharma.

Because of the Buddha-Dharma, “Dharma-children are born of the Buddha’s mouth. This is the unconditioned Dharma based on True Suchness.” Indeed, these principles have always been this way. They were not created by anyone. They have always been in place, so after the Buddha unlocked His wisdom, He was able to describe to us this Dharma which has always existed for us to understand it. So, it is said that. “Dharma-children are born of the Buddha’s mouth.” If we can understand and accept the Dharma, we are truly the Dharma-children of the Buddha. If we do not understand, we will never take the Dharma to heart and our wisdom-life will not be nourished by the essence of the Dharma. Then our wisdom-life will not be able to grow.

The beginning of this passage states,

“World-Honored One, even if this elder. World-Honored One, even if this elder did not give even the smallest carts to the children, there was nothing false in what he said.”

This elder and the three kinds of carts outside were analogies. Sariputra answered Sakyamuni Buddha by saying, “There was no falsehood.”

The Buddha spoke the truth, what is real. What He really wanted to give His disciples were the most abundant teachings, the Great Vehicle Dharma which helps everyone return to their pure nature and attain Buddhahood. He had always planned to help everyone return to their intrinsic nature. The Buddha is like the elder in the parable. Although the elder did not give the children sheep-carts and deer-carts, he gave them a cart drawn by a great white ox. This does not count as a falsehood, as he gave them more than what they needed. In the same way, the Buddha taught the Dharma in the human realm in the hope that we can all return to our intrinsic Tathagata-nature and have pure and liberated [minds]. This was the Buddha’s intention.

In the next sutra passage, Sariputra is still speaking.

“‘Moreover, this elder knew that his wealth was infinite He wanted to benefit all of his children by equally giving them great carts.’ The Buddha told Sariputra, ‘Excellent, excellent It is as you say.'”

The “elder” mentioned is “an older person of great virtue and prestige” who is also “cautious and genuine.” It is not an easy matter for a person to be considered an “elder.” An “elder” has to first be old enough. In ancient times, someone had to be over 60 to be called an “elder. An older person of great virtue and prestige” is someone who is known for having virtue. He does everything very cautiously and is very genuine toward others, which means he is very honest. Faith, steadfastness, sincerity and integrity are part of the character of someone considered an elder.

He has to be old enough and behave in a way that is of great virtue and worthy of respect. This kind of person can be considered an “elder.” Earlier, the elder drew his children out of the house by promising them these three kinds of carts. In the end, he only gave them one kind of cart. This was something unexpected. “Originally, I only asked for this much, but I actually received so much more.” They originally wanted [something smaller], but in “seeking something small they got something big,” so they should be pleased beyond expectations. They should be overjoyed.

People in this world say, “I have built up such a big business so. I can leave it to my child.” The child says, “I don’t need this from my father. I don’t want it; I don’t want to rely on him.” If this is the case, it does not matter how wealthy the father is. However wonderful the Buddha-Dharma is, if people are unwilling to accept it, it is of no use. Therefore, this all depends on karmic conditions. Furthermore, when we are doing things, we have to be very cautious. This elder has great virtue and prestige; he does things very cautiously and is a very genuine person. What this elder gave to his children greatly surprised them. “I thought I would only get this much, but actually I got so much more.” This is because this elder gave with great love.

“He wanted to benefit all of his children by equally giving them great carts.” The elder wanted to benefit these children, so he gave them a great cart. “To benefit [others]” is something Bodhisattva practitioners want to do. If we are willing to engage in the Bodhisattva-practice, we must practice “leading all sentient beings whether through giving [or through other means].” What is the Bodhisattva-practice? It is cultivated through “charitable giving, charitable giving” or “kind words.” When we speak, we must use good words, helpful words and educational words. Perhaps we can engage in “conduct that benefits others.” Then everything we do will benefit people. Perhaps we can cultivate through “engaging in the same kind of work,” or working with those who want to do something together. These are the Four All-Embracing Virtues, the foundation for being a Bodhisattva.

To be a Bodhisattva, we must practice the Four All-Embracing Virtues. All sentient beings need us to bring them these “benefits.” This is an essential part of Bodhisattva-practice.

To benefit: This is describing how Bodhisattva-practitioners, whether through charitable giving or through kind words or through conduct that benefits others or through engaging in the same kind of work lead all sentient beings to attain peace and joy. This is the meaning of “to benefit.”

To [benefit] all sentient beings, we must earnestly use the power of love to give to everyone. Then, people can attain peace and joy. Look at the inmates in prison who received books of Jing Si Aphorisms. Though only a few simple sentences, they took those simple principles to heart. Thus they were able to stabilize their minds and change their behavior. After they are released, they will likely change their ways and become a completely different person. This is how we “benefit” them. So, this great cart brings benefits to all sentient beings.

When the Buddha heard what Sariputra said, He was very happy. “Excellent, excellent! It is as you say.” This is a double praise. “Excellent, excellent!” means the Buddha was very happy, praising him for his proper and correct answers. This elder did not say anything false, as his intention was that with his abundant wealth and his love for his children, he would give his children an abundance of things. This is just as the Buddha loves sentient beings as His own children and hopes that every disciple can attain the. Great Dharma, the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. The same principles apply here. So, He was very happy with Sariputra’s answer and praised him twice.

This was because “the Buddha would not say that His own words are not false.” The Buddha would not say, “What I say is very true.” He let others say, “The Buddha spoke the truth, what is real. What the Buddha says is right.” If Sariputra said this, everyone would be more convinced. So, He asked Sariputra to answer His question and was very satisfied with his response. This is the reason everyone will regard the Dharma with more respect, have more confidence in it and find it to be more powerful. Because of this, the Buddha praised him doubly.

When Sariputra, as one who heard the Dharma, understood and realized the principles, then shared what he learned, this proved that there was nothing false in the Buddha’s teachings. As Buddhist practitioners, we must place great importance on this. Though we are discussing the parable of the burning house, if we make an effort to be mindful, then aren’t the people, matters and objects that we face everyday no different from the people, matters and objects of the Three Realms? If we are mindful, the Dharma is right before us. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0580

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 580 – Teaching Principles with Skillful Means

>> “With skillful means, He patiently taught based on the principles. By adapting to conditions, He guided them with provisional teachings. He taught simply according to capabilities, while the meaning within was profound. His language was skillful, and in the end, led them to understand the path.”

>> “What is the reason? He protected their bodies and lives and each attained something that brought them joy. Furthermore, he used skillful means to rescue them from the burning house.”

>> “World-Honored One, even if this elder did not give even the smallest carts to the children, there was nothing false in what He said.”

>> “What is the reason? This elder first had this thought, ‘I will use skillful means to lead my children out.’ These were the causes and conditions, so he spoke no falsehood.”

>> Sariputra respectfully expressed his belief that the World-Honored One had not said anything false. He only wanted His children to escape the fire. By further giving them all great carts equally, he did not commit the fault of speaking a falsehood.

>> In the end he did not give the smaller carts, but equally gave each a great cart; this describes the elder’s original intent. Both the small and great carts were part of his original intent.

>> “What is the reason? This elder first had this thought, ‘I will use skillful means to lead my children out.’ These were the causes and conditions, so he spoke no falsehood.”

>> This an analogy for how the Great Vehicle that the Buddha is formally teaching now does not conflict with the Three Vehicles that were skillfully taught in the past.

“With skillful means,
He patiently taught based on the principles.
By adapting to conditions,
He guided them with provisional teachings.
He taught simply according to capabilities,
while the meaning within was profound.
His language was skillful,
and in the end, led them to understand the path.”

As Buddhist practitioners, we cannot depart from skillful means. With skillful means, we can patiently guide others. We are still adhering to the principles as we use various methods to explain the Dharma.

There are people for whom this Dharma is useful, so we use skillful means to share our understanding with other people in a skillful manner. Thus, “With skillful means, He patiently taught.” Of course, we must take the Dharma to heart and be able to practice it. Only then can we help other people see, listen and understand it.

We must also “adapt to conditions.” After observing people’s capabilities, should we give these teachings as strict rules or as principles that are more harmonious? This is also related to “skillful means.” Thus “[We] guide them with provisional teachings.” We must also devise teachings according to their capabilities so they can take the Dharma to heart. Then, we guide them to move forward in the right direction, with steady and sure steps.

Of course, if the principles are too profound, people cannot understand them or put them into practice. Therefore, we must “teach simply according to capabilities, while the meaning within is profound.” They have to be able to walk this road in order to understand how smooth it actually is. If they have a proper goal, though they are still far away from it, their journey will be steady and enjoyable, so they will keep walking forward.

Therefore, we must use “language that is skillful.” After hearing the Dharma and taking it to heart, if we speak about it with various methods, those who have been listening a long time will eventually be moved. Being moved, they will give rise to faith. Faith will then lead to action, which will also lead them to realize the principles.

So, the Dharma truly must be put into practice. We often talk of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. Previously, we discussed the Four Right Efforts, the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power and the Fourfold Mindfulness. As I have shared with everyone, the foundation for practicing the Lotus teachings is also the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. I often say that for a group study, it is best to use the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. This is what we should be reviewing constantly.

When Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines (in 2013). Tzu Chi volunteers around the world mobilized. They provided emergency relief starting when things seemed the darkest; everything was in ruins and people did not have even a shred of hope. In an instant, they had been plunged into what felt like the dark depths of hell. A group of Living Bodhisattvas went to help them right away. They contributed and helped by raising funds.

This is like what happened in Honduras and the Dominican Republic; you may still remember what happened in 1998 with Hurricane George. A string of seven or eight countries all suffered a great deal of damage. That year, Tzu Chi volunteers in Taiwan mobilized. We gathered all of these material things and meticulously organized everything with love. In addition, we solicited donations. Therefore, it was possible to conduct a series of of relief distributions in many of those countries. The Dominican Republic, Honduras and El Salvador are now all places where the seeds [of Tzu Chi] have been planted. We have seen how in the Dominican Republic, they have begun to mobilize people there.

We understand that education is essential for the local children. When we discovered that the children [we worked with] had no school to attend, we built a school for them right away. The school was built on a mountain of trash. After we cleaned up and removed all the trash, that piece of land was dedicated to education, as part of “Project Hope.”

The teachers and principal are very mindful. In December of every year, Tzu Chi volunteers deliver a Thanksgiving present to them. This year (2013), at the beginning of December, This year, at the beginning of December, which was the beginning of this month, they gave apples as gifts to the children. At the same time, they told the teachers about the major disaster in the Philippines. The teachers then shared this information with the children. They told them, “Those who help others are more blessed than those who are being helped. No one on earth is too poor to help other people. Those with money can give money, those who are able can lend a hand. If you can give even a little bit out of love, you will be helping others.”

This is what the teachers shared. When students in the afternoon classes heard this news, they began to donate the change they had on them. There was a very poor student who brought a bag of corn flour. He told his teacher, “Teacher, I really don’t have anything to give. My family doesn’t have much, but I can give this bag of corn flour. This is not much, but this is all I have.” There was also another student who, after depositing his loose change, said to his teacher, “Teacher, I also have this package of noodles, please send it to the Philippines for me.” Though these children were very poor, no one on earth is too poor to help others, so they did whatever they could. Hearing stories like this is very moving.

Something similar happened in Honduras. In 2011, another major storm struck Honduras. We have been building houses for them since then. These villagers who have received assistance from Tzu Chi have also joined us as volunteers, one by one. After learning of the disaster in the Philippines, everyone there began to call on people to help. They wanted to do a charity sale, so everyone donated whatever they could. Some people had clothing, so they donated clothing. Some had shoes, so they donated shoes. Whatever they had at home, they were willing to give.

Some storeowners also gave in the same way. They collected certain items and then [donated them to] our charity sale. Though we did not have a great many things to sell at this charity sale or things of great value, it was the people’s intentions which made them very valuable. Although Honduras is a poor country, everything people did added up. “Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Quickly give rise to goodness that has not arisen.” Everyone was giving rise to goodness.

But we must also “quickly eliminate the evil that has already arisen” and “prevent evil that has not arisen from arising.” I am not sure what kind of information reached the inside of an American prison, but one of the inmates there learned about the major disaster that struck the Philippines, so he bought coffee from the prison commissary. Then he sent somewhere between 10-20 canisters of coffee in a package to Tzu Chi USA Headquarters. He included a simple message. “I hope you can sell them for me and use that money to support the Philippines disaster relief.”

When we shared this story of what we received, his love created a ripple effect. Some people who saw these coffee canisters bought them out of love, for a few hundred [US] dollars. There was also a man, Mr. Gao, who was very moved by the story of this inmate who had lost his freedom, yet still wanted to donate money to help and sent these coffee canisters in spite of the difficulties. He was very touched and said, “I will buy it out of charity.” He gave US 1000. People “bought” these canisters as a sign of love; no one actually took them home.

It happened that there was a person who had just come back to the US from Manila after helping with the disaster relief. Chi Jue had personally gone to the disaster area and seen the hardship people faced. When he returned to the US and heard about this inmate with such a loving heart, he wanted to help his efforts succeed. So, he donated US 3000 to “buy” this coffee. Another person donated US 2000. All together, by this point, more than US 6000 was raised.

See, this is love. We see cycles of love and ripples of love. What can be considered the Buddha-Dharma? Teachings that awaken the love in people’s hearts. That is what we call the Buddha-Dharma. “Refrain from all evils; do all good deeds.” This is the teaching of the Buddha. So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must not look down on “skillful means,” for they are the True Dharma.

Good words and good deeds will create an endless cycle and “in the end lead them to understand the path.” No matter what methods we use, in the end, we can come together with the path and the true principles. True principles invariably teach people to do good and to eliminate their afflictions. The Buddha’s teachings make Him “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms” and “the kind father of the four kinds of beings.” In His approach to teaching sentient beings, He views them as His children. This is the compassion of the Buddha. He is the same as the elder of the great house who could not bear to see his children burned by a fire and thus used various methods to draw them out. “Come out quickly!”

When all else failed, he came up with a skillful way to do this. He set up three kinds of carts outside to draw them out. By doing this, was he deceiving them? Certainly not. It was to save them that he used various methods to convey to them that they should “leave quickly and not remain in that dangerous place.” After the various things he said to them did not work, he enticed them to come out with material goods.

So, in the previous sutra passage, Sariputra understood the Buddha’s intent, so he replied to His question with great care. “He did this to save people; that was his original intention. These people were able to preserve their lives and be unharmed by the fire. They could emerge safely. This is a benefit they have already received.”

“What is the reason? He protected their bodies and lives and each attained something that brought them joy. Furthermore, he used skillful means to rescue them from the burning house.”

Life is the most valuable thing. Nothing else is as valuable. So, being safe is already like attaining “something that brought them joy.” They had already attained something very valuable. The elder had planned from the beginning to show them a few things that would entice them to come out. He was going to give them all that he had. So, there was nothing false in what He said.

The next sutra passage states,

“World-Honored One, even if this elder did not give even the smallest carts to the children, there was nothing false in what He said.”

“World-Honored One, in order to save the children, the elder said various things to draw them outside. Since they have all emerged safely, even if he did not give them anything, even if he did not give them the smallest cart, what he said would still not be considered false.” He did this to save them and keep them safe, so what he said was not false.

Sariputra emphatically said again,

“What is the reason? This elder first had this thought, ‘I will use skillful means to lead my children out.’ These were the causes and conditions, so he spoke no falsehood.”

This was the elder’s plan from the beginning. Because the children did not want to come out, he had to use skillful means to draw them outside. The elder already “first had this thought.” In his heart, he was already prepared to entice them to come out by various means. Therefore, there was nothing false in what he said.

The way Sariputra answered the question demonstrated his respect. He respected and believed that the World-Honored One had not said anything false. Not only did the children emerge with their lives intact, once they came out, they were all given an ox-cart. He gave them such a great gift; how could that be false or wrong? It could not.

․Sariputra respectfully expressed his belief that the World-Honored One had not said anything false. He only wanted His children to escape the fire. By further giving them all great carts equally, he did not commit the fault of speaking a falsehood.

After they came out, “In the end he did not give the smaller carts, but equally gave each a great cart.”

In the end he did not give the smaller carts, but equally gave each a great cart; this describes the elder’s original intent. Both the small and great carts were part of his original intent.

After they came out, he gave everyone a great cart. This describes how the elder’s original intent was to give them the great cart. Similarly, the Buddha originally wanted to teach us the Great Vehicle Dharma, but we were unable to accept it. Thus, the Buddha had to find a way to get sentient beings to open their minds so they could take in the Dharma.

The burning house was dangerous. Everyone needed to quickly make their escape. However, they had so many afflictions that they could not leave through the door. This shows how we sentient beings cannot accept the teachings because we have limited capabilities and cannot eliminate our afflictions because they are too great. In particular, our greed and attachments are immense. So, we are unwilling to leave. This is why the smaller carts were needed. The sheep-cart and the deer-cart were placed outside for people who had not yet fully eliminated their afflictions.

Sariputra emphatically restated,

“What is the reason? This elder first had this thought, ‘I will use skillful means to lead my children out.’ These were the causes and conditions, so he spoke no falsehood.”

Because the elder had spoken this way, this was what was originally in his heart.

This is an analogy for how “the Great Vehicle that the Buddha is formally teaching now does not conflict with the Three Vehicles that were skillfully taught in the past.” This verifies that the Buddha would, at this Dharma-assembly, begin to “formally teach the Great Vehicle. Setting aside the skillful for the direct, He began to teach the supreme Dharma.” He began to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma.

This an analogy for how the Great Vehicle that the Buddha is formally teaching now does not conflict with the Three Vehicles that were skillfully taught in the past.

“[It] does not conflict with the Three Vehicles that were skillfully taught in the past.” Now He was going to teach the Great Vehicle. We already know that, in the past, the Buddha had established the Three Vehicles for Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. We also know that now the Buddha wanted to teach the Bodhisattva-path. The Bodhisattva-path He was going to teach did not conflict with the teachings for. Hearers and Solitary Realizers. These Hearers and Solitary Realizers should be able to accept the Bodhisattva-path now, for Sariputra was one of them.

This was intended for everyone to see. You see, in the past, Sariputra was among the Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Now, having come to the Lotus Dharma-assembly, he had begun to attain realizations. After gaining understanding, he made great vows, so he was worthy of receiving this prediction that he would attain Buddhahood in the future. It was at the Lotus Dharma-assembly that. Sariputra received this confirmation. So, there is no falsehood in what the Buddha said. We must believe that the Buddha’s teachings are very organized and sequential.

This was why teaching the Lotus Sutra and the Great Vehicle Dharma did not conflict with what He had taught in the past. Now the great could encompass the small; this refers the past provisional teachings and the True Dharma He was now teaching. This is also like why the elder set up the three kinds of carts outside the burning house; it was for the sole purpose of guiding the sentient beings inside the burning house of the Three Realms to transcend these Three Realms and eliminate afflictions; He did this with various methods.

So, “With skillful means, He patiently taught based on the principles. By adapting to conditions, He guided them with provisional teachings. He taught simply according to capabilities, while the meaning within was profound. His language was skillful, and in the end, led them to understand the path.” The Great [Vehicle] Dharma He now taught does not contradict the Small Vehicle Dharma taught before. The Small Vehicle Dharma also leads ultimately to the Great Vehicle Dharma. This was the Buddha’s intention. He hoped everyone would return to their nature of True Suchness and be equal to the Buddha in realizing the true principles of all things in the universe. This was what the Buddha intended, as well as the intent of the elder. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0579

Posted on by Scott Ogata
Wisdom at Dawn
>
Chapter 3

Episode 579 – Free from Dust, Bodhisattvas Play in this World

>> “Bodhisattvas free themselves from dust to play effortlessly in the world. They give willingly, take joy in this and never tire. They develop their wisdom-life among people. On the path of awakened sentient beings, they feel free and at ease.”

>> “What is the reason? He protected their bodies and lives and each attained something that brought them joy. Furthermore, he used skillful means to rescue them from the burning house.”

>> Sariputra understood the Buddha’s intent and thus answered: “The elder only wanted to help all his children to escape the fire. Thus he promised them the three carts in accordance with what they each desired so they each could get what made them happy. Those who had sought the small, instead attained the great and were joyful.”

>> Furthermore, according to their capabilities, the Buddha gave provisional teachings by exercising His skillful wisdom. Understanding the One Vehicle’s True Dharma is true wisdom. Understanding the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles leads all to escape the burning house and be liberated from the suffering of the fire.

“Bodhisattvas free themselves from dust
to play effortlessly in the world.
They give willingly,
take joy in this and never tire.
They develop their wisdom-life among people.
On the path of awakened sentient beings,
they feel free and at ease.”

As Buddhist practitioners, to walk the Bodhisattva-path we must first free ourselves from dust. We must first brush aside our afflictions and let go of them. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to “open and reveal” the Dharma in the hope that we will all understand the principles and keep ourselves from creating karma. So, we must free ourselves from dust, which is the defilements of afflictions.

We have the potential to become Bodhisattvas while we are in this world if we can free our minds from dust and defilement. If we have a pure, selfless and undefiled mind, we can play effortlessly through the world. By hearing the Buddha-Dharma in this world, we can understand the Three Realms. Then when our terrifying desires arise, we can protect ourselves with precepts. When we see things of all shapes and sizes, we must guard against wrongs and stop evil. When something does not belong to us, we must not have improper thoughts about it. Then we will not be tempted [into action] by anything. On top of this, we must purify our hearts. Even if there are many objects of desire and the potential for instant pleasure somewhere, we will not want to linger there.

Look at this passage of the sutra text. We have already spent a very long time talking about this “burning house.” The “burning house” is the human realm. It is not just the human realm, but everything we have created. When the Six Roots (sense organs) connect with the Six Dusts (sense objects), that triggers the Six Consciousnesses. If, before anything reaches the seventh consciousness, we can eliminate any kind of desire, our thinking will naturally be pure. If our thinking is pure, then naturally in everything we do we will be able to live as if we are playing in the world. Everything we do will be done with the understanding that this is how life is. Then we can interact with people with great ease and live with a sense of playfulness.

For instance, recently (in 2013), in the Philippines, our “cash for work” program has come to an end. We have now begun distributing cash assistance and relief aid. We have seen people there experiencing all kinds of hardship. Some of these residents went from having a lot to having nothing, from living harmoniously with their families to being separated from them forever. How have these people managed to get by?

Fortunately, there were Tzu Chi’s. Bodhisattva[-volunteers], who gathered from all over the world to get involved in the efforts there and contribute to these disaster survivors. There was an 80-year-old grandmother who was left all alone with her granddaughter. Their roof had flown off, and everything in the house was scattered about. Their lives were already difficult to begin with, and after this natural disaster, the suffering was unbearable; everything seemed hopeless.

Then Tzu Chi volunteers appeared and gave them the necessities they needed right away. Upon receiving these things, they were so happy. In particular, upon receiving loving comfort from the volunteers, they felt very grateful. Their spirits were raised. The grandmother said to her granddaughter, “You must study hard in school and. I will stay by your side and watch you grow up.” Now they have the strength to start anew.

Yesterday, after they received relief aid from us, upon their return home, they saw that it was 15,000 Philippine pesos. They said to each other, “This must be wrong. There are only two of us, so we should only receive 8000 pesos. They gave us the wrong amount. We should return the extra 7000 pesos right away.” Holding hands, grandmother and granddaughter returned to where we were distributing aid. They said, “Thank you for your monetary assistance, but we received an extra 7000 pesos. There are only two of us, so we want to return it right away.” The Tzu Chi volunteers were very moved and accompanied them back to their home.

Looking up, they saw there was no roof. Looking inside, they saw that everything had been completely damaged. The volunteers could see that the emergency items they received a few of days ago, blankets, rice, oil, grass mats, etc., had already been put to use in their daily living. The grass mats were laid out on the ground, the blankets were being used and the bags of rice had been opened and used in their cooking. The items provided to them by Tzu Chi were what they had immediately needed. The money that Tzu Chi had provided them with could have been used to sustain their lives or to buy corrugated metal sheets for a new roof, but they were not greedy about the extra money that they had received. One of the volunteers asked, “You had the excess money in hand; why did you come back to us to return it?”

The young girl, the granddaughter said, “This is not what we were supposed to receive. Tzu Chi volunteers have told us, ‘We should always be grateful.’ When we feel grateful, we do not feel greedy, so we felt that we should return it.” What we have seen and heard during the time we have spent with the survivors there, giving to help them, shows how the volunteers were constantly teaching.

This was done by putting the Dharma into practice, by opening up their arms to embrace the survivors and comfort them. They consoled and were even able to motivate them. To the survivors, life seemed gloomy and hopeless. The volunteers guided and energized them, helping them regain their hopes and move on with their lives.

The volunteers raised their spirits and helped them become energized. By working hard, the survivors earned money from our “cash for work” program. With their labor and their strength, they cleaned up their own neighborhoods and were able to earn money for doing it. A man who was part of the program said, “The first day I received my wages from the Tzu Chi volunteers they taught me not to waste my money, but to do something for my wife and children.” He said, “With money I received that first day, I immediately bought things that my family could eat and use.” He bought rice and oil so that his children would have food to eat. He said, “In the current situation, though the 500 pesos are gone once spent, but the volunteers’ words will stay with me forever.” This is the effect of Living Bodhisattvas who come from all over the world to give with utmost sincerity.

A few days ago, the president of the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce was on a video conference with me when he said, “On behalf of the Chinese people here, I want to express our tremendous gratitude. Thank you all for being willing to come here. Those few days after the disaster first struck, there was a terrible smell from all the corpses. The animal carcasses also gave off a stench. Yet despite the foul odor so many volunteers have come here to help out. They have also mobilized so many people to join the cleanup efforts. So, we are all very grateful.”

Indeed! Living Bodhisattvas are not afraid of hard work. [The disaster area] was smelly, filthy and very chaotic. But people spent their own money to get there and were undeterred by the difficulty of the journey. Think about it, aren’t they like Bodhisattvas who have freed themselves from dust? They are playing effortlessly through the world!

Those affected had no prior connection with us, and they lived so far away. Yet, Tzu Chi volunteers were willing to go there and do their part. They treated strangers as part of their family and willingly gave of themselves. One of the volunteers who just returned asked me, “Master, can I go back again?” [I asked,] “Isn’t it very tiring to be there? The people there really need our help, and I feel like I have to go.” So, there were volunteers who kept going back. They give willingly, take joy in this and never tire.

In this world of suffering and hardship, when we willingly go into these situations, we take joy in this and never tire. From the bottom of our hearts, with genuine love, we say, “I am willing.” Then we can experience this joy from taking action. Once we have chosen this kind of path, we are willing to go repeatedly to help. “I am willing” implies an eagerness to give and to keep helping others in this world without complaining about being tired or how hard it is. When we take joy in this and never tire, we are indeed growing our wisdom-life. This is how our wisdom-life develops and matures.

This world is filled with impurities, and the turbidity of afflictions creates much suffering in this world. So, Bodhisattvas must go among people. Though people have myriad afflictions, Bodhisattvas do not become defiled by them. They remain uncontaminated, so “Bodhisattvas free themselves from dust.” Their minds are already pure. Bodhisattvas minds are very healthy, as if they have a strong immune system.

If our state of mind is proper and correct, we can go among people without being affected by them. There are so many kinds of people. Every person is a sutra [for us to read]. By learning about their lives, we attain more wisdom. This is why Bodhisattvas go among the people.

When the Buddha taught His disciples, why did He insist that they all walk the Bodhisattva-path in order to attain Buddhahood? This is because by going among people, our wisdom-life will grow.

The Buddha, in the Lotus Sutra, constantly taught with analogies. He constantly mentioned that spiritual practice always takes place in the human realm and always requires us to remain strong in the face of suffering and hardship. By willingly walking the Bodhisattva-path, we can travel in peace and with great ease. This is how the Buddha-Dharma helps us cherish being born as a human. We are grateful for the body our parents gave us. We are grateful to the Buddha for opening up the right path for us. We are grateful to sentient beings for enabling us to sustain our physical life, and we are grateful for the appearances they manifest that help our wisdom-life grow. We are also grateful for the heavens and earth. This is the Fourfold Grace. Because of the Fourfold Grace in our lives, we must cherish the body we have and use it to walk the Bodhisattva-path.

The parable of the burning house contains an abundance of teachings, which constantly remind us to be vigilant. Every one of them is True Dharma. Because we cannot understand True Dharma, the Buddha used the analogy of the burning house.

The previous passage starts with. “Sariputra said.” The elder had set up three kinds of carts outside the house but ended up giving them the great cart. Was he thus being deceptive? The Buddha asked Sariputra to answer this question. He called upon Sariputra to answer, asking him, “By doing this, was the elder being deceptive?” Sariputra answered, “not at all! How could this be considered deceptive?”

“World-Honored One, the elder wanted to quickly get his children out of the burning house in order to preserve their lives, so he used various methods to achieve that. By setting up the three kinds of carts, he saved their lives. How could what he said have been false?”

“Why?” Sariputra responded in an emphatic tone,

“What is the reason? He protected their bodies and lives and each attained something that brought them joy. Furthermore, he used skillful means to rescue them from the burning house.”

This shows that. Sariputra already understood the Buddha’s intent, that He wished to help the listeners develop an even clearer understanding. Therefore, Sariputra answered by saying, “This elder, out of love for his children, skillfully set up the three kinds of carts to entice his children to leave the burning house.”

He was acting according to their needs. Knowing what the children felt they needed and “in accordance with what they each desired,” he gave them the things they wanted. That was why he set up these three kinds of carts. In the end, he gave them the cart that was the best and would make them most happy.

Sariputra understood the Buddha’s intent and thus answered: “The elder only wanted to help all his children to escape the fire. Thus he promised them the three carts in accordance with what they each desired so they each could get what made them happy. Those who had sought the small, instead attained the great and were joyful.”

Actually, what the children wanted were the smaller sheep-carts and deer-carts. That is why they ran outside. However, when they saw the cart drawn by the great white ox, they felt even happier. That was because this ox-cart had already been decorated with priceless treasures. It was particularly beautiful and attractive. Moreover, they could travel with companions. So, of course the ox-cart was the best option. Thus He was able to “keep their bodies intact.” If their bodies were not damaged by the fire, they would still have their lives. This in itself makes them very fortunate and is something they should be grateful for.

Moreover, “the Buddha gave provisional teachings in accord with capabilities.” To get them to come out, He devised skillful means. He used skillful means because even though He wanted to give them so much, their capabilities were limited. So, He said things like, “There are sheep-carts and deer-carts, carts drawn by sheep and carts drawn by deer. Hurry up and come out.” In fact, the elder was already mentally prepared to give them the great ox-cart, not the small carts. He mentioned the small carts because that was what they thought they wanted. This is an analogy for how the Buddha gave provisional teachings in accordance with people’s capabilities. This is an analogy for how the Buddha taught. He originally wanted to guide us to walk the Bodhisattva-path so we could ultimately attain the goal of becoming a Buddha. But beforehand, the Buddha had to devise the Three Vehicles. The Three Vehicles are the Hearer, Solitary Realizer and. Bodhisattva Vehicles. In fact, He ultimately wanted to teach us the. Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva Way.

Furthermore, according to their capabilities, the Buddha gave provisional teachings by exercising His skillful wisdom. Understanding the One Vehicle’s True Dharma is true wisdom. Understanding the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles leads all to escape the burning house and be liberated from the suffering of the fire.

“Understanding the One Vehicle’s True Dharma” means that we already understand in our hearts that what the Buddha used in the past was skillful means and provisional wisdom. This understanding is true wisdom. Out of true wisdom, the Buddha gave provisional teachings; this was why He established the Three Vehicles.

Thus we “understand the provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles.” The Buddha knew [our capabilities], so He used the Three Vehicles as a guide to help us along the way. These skillful means are absolutely essential teachings in this world. We must use these ways of living in this world to enter the Bodhisattva-path. For the sake of those who are suffering, we give of ourselves. By taking on the suffering in this world, we can develop our wisdom. This demonstrates how mindful the Buddha was; He applied His wisdom to transform all beings.

So, Bodhisattva must free themselves from dust and impurities. Playing effortlessly in this world, they see [life] as a game. No matter how others criticize us, we must also treat it as part of the game. When something is the right thing to do, we must do it. Whether we are on the right course depends on whether we are on the path of awakened beings. Are we walking the Bodhisattva-path? Are we willingly giving to others? Are we giving out of genuine sincerity so we take joy in this and never tire? Have we absorbed the Dharma by interacting with other people? Are we walking this road with a sense of peace and great ease? All of this is a part of the Buddha’s goal in giving the Lotus teachings. In this [parable of the] burning house, there is much True Dharma for us to mindfully delve into. So everyone, please always be mindful.