Category: TLS Chapter 2

Episode 326 – Uphold Precepts without Flaws and Leaks

---

>> Practice the [Three] Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Vow to cultivate blessings and wisdom through listening, contemplating and practicing. Deeply plant roots of wisdom to create the power of merits and virtues. With right understanding and views come pure thinking and True Suchness.

>> The Buddha, “wishing to restate His meaning,” spoke in verse, saying. Bhiksus and bhiksunis’ may harbor overbearing arrogance.’ Upasakas may have self-arrogance and’ upasikas may lack faith.’

>> The ones such as these in the fourfold assembly were 5000 in number. They did not see their own faults. Their upholding of the precepts was flawed, but they defended their imperfections. So, those with limited wisdom left.

>> Precepts can guard against wrongs and stop evils. Not only must we avoid doing unwholesome things, we cannot even have unwholesome thoughts. [Precepts] are pure and refreshing because when people stop doing evil and do good deeds, they will feel at peace, with a clear conscience. When the heart is free of burning distress, it becomes pure and refreshed.

>> Precepts are the precious raft that carries us out of the sea of samsara. If there is a leak in the raft, we will sink and drown in the sea of samsara. There are different kinds of precepts, such as precepts without faults and flawless precepts.

---

When we walk outside and feel a breeze, we feel peaceful and refreshed. So, we must be grateful. Though things are currently safe and peaceful, we do not know what the future holds. Regardless, we must always remain grateful and reverent. We must constantly nurture our reverence for people, matters and things. We must always foster a sense of gratitude.

We ordinary people have the habitual tendency to be attached to our own thoughts and feelings, without consideration for other sentient beings. This present era really is the turbid era of Dharma-degeneration. Therefore, all of us are needed; since we have the karmic conditions to encounter the Dharma and have understood it, after we understand the Buddha-Dharma, each of us must really listen to, accept and uphold it.

The Buddha-Dharma is all around us. If we do not reach out, take it in and mindfully persevere [in our practice], if we do not do this, “once our human form is lost it takes kalpas to regain.” Therefore, we must accept and uphold the Dharma. Not only must we accept and uphold it, but we must also practice it flawlessly. “The [Three] Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom” are what we collectively cultivate.

Since we have found the Dharma, we must practice the Flawless Studies [so that] we do not allow it to leak away. Every day, we must take the Dharma to heart. The teachings that enters our hearts are the indispensable practices of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.

Practice the [Three] Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Vow to cultivate blessings and wisdom through listening, contemplating and practicing. Deeply plant roots of wisdom to create the power of merits and virtues. With right understanding and views come pure thinking and True Suchness.

As we engage in spiritual practice, if we do not uphold the precepts and use them to discipline our minds, then we will quickly go astray. When we abandon precepts, we easily make mistakes.

The precepts guard against wrongs and stop evils. We must always guard against ignorant thoughts arising in our minds. Without precepts, ignorance will constantly arise. With greed, we crave pleasures for ourselves. With anger, we always feel that we have been wronged by those around us. Thus, the more we think, the angrier and more resentful we become. This results from not following precepts.

So, precepts can guard against wrongs. Thoughts of killing, stealing and sexual misconduct are not the only things to guard against. No, we need to [watch] our every thought. Precepts are like a rope that marks a boundary. When we reach it, we know not to cross it. They are also like walls that separate the inside from the outside, the right things that we need to do from the wrong things we must not do. So, those who follow the rules will just see the rope without daring to step over.

I often give the following example. In the past, I often visited our building sites. If people were working, they would use a rope to section off that area. When our staff saw me walking by, they would quickly take the rope down and say, “Master, please walk this way.” I said, “No, I cannot.” I still need to go around this area. He said “what for? Please walk this way.” I said, “No, I cannot.” [They asked], “Why? We took it down already.” Although the rope was gone, the boundary was still there, so I could not cross it. Spiritual practitioners must have this sense. Furthermore, we need to treat the precepts as a wall that we erect.

Because we are ordinary sentient beings, if a rope is [our only boundary], those who are not willing to uphold precepts can lower the rope and step over it. Since the majority of people will do this, we probably need to build a wall. A low one is still not sufficient; we must build a tall one. Look at how tall a prison’s walls are. The walls around an ordinary house are relatively low, but prison fences are much taller. The precepts are a boundary that prevents us from making mistakes or transgressing. So, we need precepts.

How can spiritual practitioners do without them? We often say, “organized with the precepts.” When we are in a group, we can be harmonious and orderly [when we all follow] the precepts. Precepts are for organizing ourselves, not for disciplining other people. When everyone in a group upholds the precepts, the group is disciplined and can [work] in harmony. This is what the precepts [are for].

Only with precepts can our minds be in Samadhi. Precepts create a broad and direct Bodhi-path, a very open and expansive road. This is the Bodhi-path. The Bodhi-path is very straight. If we walk on this very direct and broad path, we will not cross the boundaries. This is true mastery in our spiritual practice. Because of this, our minds can be in Samadhi. If our minds are in Samadhi, we will not deviate even slightly. This state is called Samadhi.

We must not succumb to the various phenomena around us that influence our minds. We must continue to firmly uphold the precepts. Those who can do this have the most wisdom. But if we are without wisdom or if we lose it, that means our minds are not in Samadhi. Moreover, [such] instability shows that our minds lack precepts. So, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are most important to spiritual practitioners. Therefore we must “practice the [Three] Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.”

To emulate the Buddha, we must make vows. The Four Great Vows are what everyone in the Jing Si Dharma-lineage must make. “I vow to enlighten countless sentient beings. I vow to eliminate endless afflictions. I vow to learn infinite Dharma-paths. I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” These are vows that we must put into practice.

We must transform sentient beings. Even if they [committed] the. Ten Evils and Five Offenses, we still must do all we can to transform them. We must foster everyone’s spiritual aspirations. When Bodhi-sprouts begin to grow, we must be gardeners. Nurturing a seedling is a gardener’s duty. Whether grasses, trees or flowers, all are part of the gardener’s responsibility. [The plants] we wish to preserve must be earnestly protected. What kind of grass should we plant? What kind of design should we create? We must be very mindful to create a beautiful landscape. So, to engage in spiritual practice,

we must make vows. If we do not have vows, we will have no plan. When we build a house, we need blueprints. To create a landscape, we need to have a site plan. People often talk about blueprints for their lives. To live our lives, we must have a plan. When we learn from the Buddha, we must have goals. So, all of these are “vows.” So, these vows, aside from being blueprints in our minds, must also be put into practice. Once we draw the blueprints, we must use them to begin construction. This is practice.

Our ideals and actions cannot be separated from two things, which are blessings and wisdom. To attain “blessings,” we cultivate practices of loving-kindness. We must have a spacious heart. We must protect sentient beings like Mother Earth, who nurtures all things. We must embrace Mother Earth, just as she embraces all things. This is loving-kindness. [We must] have hearts like those of kind mothers and fathers. The Buddha is the Three Realms’ Guiding Teacher, the Kind Father of the Four Kinds of Beings. Since we want to learn from the Buddha, we must learn “loving-kindness.” So, cultivating loving-kindness [brings] blessings. We must give to sentient beings and benefit humankind.

We must also have “wisdom.” Only with wisdom will we not bring disorder to our lives and the roles we play in society. Since the blueprint for our lives is to engage in spiritual practice, we must have wisdom.

So in learning the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we must listen, contemplate and practice. As for actualizing our vows, since we have made these vows we must cultivate blessings and wisdom. We also must continuously practice while listening and contemplating. We must listen, then consider, Were my behaviors, thoughts and interactions with people and matters in accordance with what I heard today? Have I broadened my heart and embraced everything? So, we must earnestly contemplate whether we made mistakes over the course of the day. If mistakes were made, we must quickly repent. “Repentance brings purity.” To form good karmic connections, we must listen, contemplate and practice. When we promptly take action, we are practicing. This is how we actualize our vows.

Since we have made these vows we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice in accordance with our ideals. Only then can we “deeply plant roots of wisdom to create the power of merits and virtues.” As our roots of goodness grow deeper and extend further, this tree will become stronger and sturdier. Thus, the roots of goodness must be deeply rooted to create “the power of merits and virtues.” If the roots spread deep and wide, this tree will be strong. So if we work hard on this, the practices we cultivate will be very firm. So, we must “deeply plant roots of wisdom to create power of merits and virtues.” This means we must truly and earnestly take care of our minds. Do we have precepts, Samadhi and wisdom? Are we listening, contemplating and practicing? When we engage in [all these practices], we will attain the power of merits and virtues.

Such merits and virtues also require right understanding and right views. We must comprehend the Buddha’s understanding. Moreover, we must penetrate His views. Thus, we must earnestly contemplate all-encompassing wisdom and return to the pure land of our minds, which is the state of the Tathagatas, our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. If we can cultivate and attain these states, then won’t we understand the entire Lotus Sutra? The Buddha-Dharma is that simple. But the Buddha, for the sake of sentient beings, patiently guided us over and over again.

Therefore, as we discussed previously, The Buddha, “wishing to restate His meaning,” spoke in verse, saying. Bhiksus and bhiksunis’ may harbor overbearing arrogance.’ Upasakas may have self-arrogance and’ upasikas may lack faith.’

When the Buddha began to speak, He precisely said what was in that earlier section of prose. When I think of this statement, I really feel a sense of sorrow, a bit of sadness. It is truly hard [to read about]. During the Buddha’s time, He personally gave teachings, but His disciples, the bhiksus and bhiksunis, still “harbor overbearing arrogance.” The Buddha must have felt a sense of sadness, which caused Him to say these words.

The Buddha felt this way, and. I have felt this way too. “[They] may harbor overbearing arrogance.'” How can we subdue our overbearing arrogance? Others cannot help us; only we ourselves can fully understand the Dharma. Among people, [there are] infinite Dharma-doors. Only when we strive to fully understand all Dharma will we be able to develop our wisdom and eliminate “overbearing arrogance.” So, this section of the sutra really breaks my heart and causes me to feel sad. How much longer could He be with His disciples? This made Him very worried,

because other than those bhiksus and bhiksunis who harbored overbearing arrogance even upasakas and upasikas, who were the lay disciples, had self-arrogance and lacked faith. So, even during the Buddha’s lifetime, the [lack] of people who truly had faith in the Buddha was already a problem, not to mention our present era. So, we must constantly be vigilant of ourselves.

When the Buddha began to speak, those who bowed to the Buddha and left “were 5000 in number.” These 5000 people “did not see their own faults.” These overbearingly arrogant people did not know that they had faults. This is what the most pitiful people were like. They did not know that “their upholding of the precepts was flawed.” They did not uphold the precepts, so they had imperfections. The Dharma leaked out as soon as they heard it. Thus, “their upholding of the precepts was flawed.”

The ones such as these in the fourfold assembly were 5000 in number. They did not see their own faults. Their upholding of the precepts was flawed, but they defended their imperfections. So, those with limited wisdom left.

Let us discuss these precepts again. Precepts “guard against wrongs and stop evils.” As we already discussed, not only must we avoid doing unwholesome things, we cannot even have unwholesome thoughts.

Following the precepts can make us pure, so, they “are pure and refreshing.” Precepts are called “pure and refreshing.” When we uphold the precepts, we are streams of purity. An Indonesian Muslim leader explained to me that in their language, [the words “Tzu Chi”] mean clean and pure. Indeed, we must uphold precepts. The words “Tzu Chi,” aside from signifying giving with love, having great universal compassion and being unable to bear sentient beings’ suffering, also means we ourselves must uphold the precepts well. This is how we will be purified. If we adhere to precepts, our minds will be pure and refreshed.

Sometimes when I see people, I say, “You seem so cool and calm.” They say, “By not taking issue, we can remain cool and calm.” So, [the precepts] are pure and refreshing. We must not take issue with others or make mistakes. Then our minds will naturally be pure and undefiled, free of vexation and anger.

Anger is like a burning fire. When we lose our tempers, we feel like we are engulfed in flames. The fire of ignorance can destroy the forest of merits and virtues. So if we uphold precepts, not only will we not create evil, we will not give rise to evil thoughts, then our minds will naturally be pure and refreshed. If we can stop evil and do good deeds, we will be at peace, with a clear conscience. If we can stop all evil and not commit any bad deeds, everything we do will be good. Then our minds will be at peace, since we have abided by the principles. This brings peace and a clear conscience. This is a benefit of our spiritual practice, part of which is upholding precepts. So, “when the heart is free of burning distress, it becomes pure and refreshed.” This comes from upholding precepts.

Precepts can guard against wrongs and stop evils. Not only must we avoid doing unwholesome things, we cannot even have unwholesome thoughts. [Precepts] are pure and refreshing because when people stop doing evil and do good deeds, they will feel at peace, with a clear conscience. When the heart is free of burning distress, it becomes pure and refreshed.

If we do not value precepts, our “upholding of the precepts is flawed.” Precepts are the precious raft used to cross the sea of samsara. In order to cross the sea of samsara, we need to uphold precepts. If we do not, we will surely sink. So, if we want to safely cross from the shore of afflictions, of suffering and hardship, to reach the state of Buddhahood, we must cross the river of afflictions. That requires a boat. Precepts are like a boat; they allow us to remain safe as we cross from this shore to the other shore. If this boat is damaged, it will capsize and we will sink into the sea of samsara.

So, our boat cannot have leaks or holes. If the boat leaks, it will sink; that is certain. If we do not uphold precepts in our practice, we will also degenerate. Therefore, precepts must be upheld without flaws or Leaks; only then are we upholding precepts.

Precepts are the precious raft that carries us out of the sea of samsara. If there is a leak in the raft, we will sink and drown in the sea of samsara. There are different kinds of precepts, such as precepts without faults and flawless precepts.

Everyone, to learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must follow a sequence. First, we cannot lack precepts. [By upholding] precepts, we allow our minds to receive the Dharma without letting it leak away. This helps us to safely and truly penetrate all principles, and make these principles more universal so that everyone can understand them. We must safely cross the river of afflictions ourselves, and also use a spacious heart to teach everyone to cross this river together. This is our aspiration, is it not? So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 325 – Diligently Uphold the Dharma

---

>> Earnestly listen to teachings and diligently uphold and practice them. Single-mindedly sustain vows and listen, contemplate and practice. Do not doubt the teachings and obstruct yourself. Do not be like the 5000 people who left.

>> “Bhiksus and bhiksunis may harbor overbearing arrogance. Upasakas may have self-arrogance and upasikas may lack faith.”

>> The ones such as these in the fourfold assembly were 5000 in number. They did not see their own faults. Their upholding of the precepts was flawed, but they defended their imperfections. So, those with limited wisdom left.

>> 1. Initiators. At the Vulture Peak assembly, Sariputra requested teachings three times, which led the Buddha to freely teach what He originally intended to. This mobilization and response brought the Vulture Peak assembly to fruition. Thus, he was part of the initiators.

>> 2. Adopters. The adopters were people who sat there, such as Hearers, who properly listened to these teachings. They are those who benefited by awakening and attaining realizations.

>> 3. Influencers. Bodhisattvas such as Manjusri and Guanyin came from other places to help the Buddha teach sentient beings in the Saha World. Those who dignify Sakyamuni Buddha’s. Dharma-seat are considered influencers.

>> 4. Associators. Sentient beings lacking in blessings do not currently have the benefit of attaining realizations but they create the causes and conditions for seeing the Buddha and listening to the Dharma. They create the causes and conditions for attaining the Path in the future.

---

Earnestly listen to teachings and diligently uphold and practice them.
Single-mindedly sustain vows and listen, contemplate and practice.
Do not doubt the teachings and obstruct yourself.
Do not be like the 5000 people who left.

This world needs religious teachings. Each religion has its own direction and doctrine, and its own teachings and methods. [To learn] the Buddha’s teachings, we must mindfully listen to the Dharma and diligently uphold and practice it. We cannot just listen briefly [and say,]. “Yes, I have listened.” We listen, but has it penetrated our minds? Did we listen earnestly and mindfully? Or did we listen casually? Human form is hard to attain, and. Right Dharma is difficult to encounter, so when we listen to the Dharma we must be earnest. Afterward, we must diligently make progress and accept and uphold the teachings. Only by doing so can the Dharma we hear be internalized. So, we must be mindful and earnestly accept and uphold it.

We “single-mindedly sustain vows and listen, contemplate and practice.” Since we chose to follow these particular religious teachings, after we listen to the Dharma, we must work to uphold and practice it. We must wholeheartedly “uphold the vows and follow the Way; then the Way is truly great.” This means that if we can be single-minded, if we can focus our minds and thoughts and uphold our vows, then we are really learning from the Buddha and can draw near to His true teachings. So, we must “single-mindedly sustain vows and listen, contemplate and practice.” After listening to the teachings, we must carefully contemplate them. Is this teaching useful to us? If it is useful, we will apply this Dharma in our daily living as we deal with people and matters. This is truly listening to and applying the Dharma. Of course, we have to contemplate it first. If it is Right Dharma, we must apply it to diligently advance [in our practice].

“Do not doubt the teachings and obstruct yourself.” We cannot have doubts. We should not doubt the Dharma as we listen to it because then we will not take it to heart. This would be like splashing water on rocks. When the sun shines, that water dries right away. It will not be absorbed by the rock. So, we must have faith. Every day, I talk about “faith.” We must faithfully accept and practice the Dharma. If we do not have faith in the Dharma, then we will have doubts. This is how we “obstruct ourselves.”

“Do not be like the 5000 people who left.” We should not be like the 5000 people who left the assembly. That would really be a pity, and we would have wasted this lifetime. When we listen to the Dharma, we must listen mindfully and earnestly. Life is impermanent; we do not know how long we will live. Thus, we must seize every moment.

Earlier, after the Buddha finished speaking in prose, to help everyone mindfully listen to the Dharma and to reinforce everyone’s memory of it, after He finished, He repeated the key parts to help them remember. Thus, the Buddha repeated the teachings in verse.

So, earlier it stated,

“Bhiksus and bhiksunis may harbor overbearing arrogance. Upasakas may have self-arrogance and upasikas may lack faith.”

Haven’t we heard about this before? The following verse talks about “the ones such as these in the fourfold assembly.”

The ones such as these in the fourfold assembly were 5000 in number. They did not see their own faults. Their upholding of the precepts was flawed, but they defended their imperfections. So, those with limited wisdom left.

Bhiksus and bhiksunis, and upasakas and upasikas were the Buddha’s disciples in this world. They were known as the fourfold assembly. But in addition to [that], it is then explained that “[they] were 5000 in number.” There were 5000 people who “did not see their own faults.” So, “5000” [is the number] of people who left the assembly. At the moment the Buddha was beginning His teaching, the 5000 people who left were disciples of the fourfold assembly who did “not see their own faults.” They did not know that they had these problems.

First, they did not respect the Buddha and Dharma, and they especially did not respect themselves. Although as spiritual practitioners they aspired to engage in practice, they did not respect themselves. They did not know spiritual practice requires the Dharma taught by the Buddha. When the Buddha began to give teachings, they showed disrespect. Isn’t this not respecting the Buddha, Dharma and themselves? So, “they did not see their own faults.”

The faults of these 5000 people were caused by their “overbearing arrogance.” They had all kinds of excuses like, “I know and understand everything already.” They had all kinds of excuses because they did not realize that by leaving halfway through the teaching they would lose a lot. They had no idea.

So, “their upholding of the precepts was flawed.” These people could not uphold teachings and follow the Path, so they had Leaks and flaws. The true teachings of precepts had already leaked out of their minds. So, “their upholding of the precepts was flawed”

“but they defended their imperfections. So, those with limited wisdom left.” This was saying that people who “defended their imperfections” never recognized their own faults because they covered up their minds. Although they may have felt some embarrassment, they felt justified [in leaving] and found a way to explain themselves. Thus, they covered up [their faults]. People who cover up faults and have no remorse or regrets can be said to “defend their imperfections.”

“So, those with limited wisdom left.” Those with limited wisdom are not very wise people. They are simply clever. [They said], “I know, I know, I understand, I understand,” but they did not fully understand. They said they understood, but their minds were actually still empty. Yet they assumed they had great wisdom. These were people with limited wisdom who claimed to have attained what they had not. These overbearingly arrogant people, this group of 5000, had already left. This once again described the 5000 people who left the assembly.

Now we will talk about the “fourfold assembly.” Besides the one comprised of two groups of monastics and two groups of lay practitioners, it can also refer to the people sitting before the Buddha, ready to listen to His subtle, wondrous Dharma at the Lotus Assembly. This “fourfold assembly” also has four categories. The first was known as the “initiators” 5000 people had left, but among the people who stayed were [members of] the “fourfold assembly.”

With the initiators at the Vulture Peak assembly and Sariputra “pleading three times,” the Buddha was then able to expound and freely carry out His original intent.

Indeed, the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha’s intent carried out. From the moment He attained Buddhahood, He constantly wanted to give this teaching to awaken the love in every person’s heart so that their loving hearts could return to their [intrinsic purity]. Then their pure hearts could unlock the intrinsic Buddha-nature within. So, in His heart, this was what the Buddha had always wanted to say.

When the karmic conditions were finally complete, at the Vulture Peak assembly, the Buddha was about to teach it. But the hearts of those who came to listen to the teachings were not all the same. There were those who would not earnestly listen, those who still had doubts and those who were arrogant and proud. People at the Vulture Peak assembly had many discursive thoughts. Thus, the Buddha hoped [to teach] only those who were more refined and focused. Only those who were wholeheartedly dedicated could accept the teachings of the true and wondrous Dharma. So, the Buddha said “stop” three times.

If after the first “stop,” Sariputra had not pleaded again, the Buddha would not have had the chance to expound the Lotus Sutra. Then the Buddha said the second “stop. Stop, stop; there is no need to speak further,” Fortunately, Sariputra asked again. But the Buddha saw everyone was still in a state of discursive thoughts. So, there was a third “stop.” If Sariputra had not asked the Buddha to give teachings again, if this had not happened, today we would not have the Lotus Sutra.

When there is a cause, there will be conditions. We must seek the Dharma with sincerity, and must be grateful for Sariputra’s wisdom for bringing together the Buddha’s causes and conditions.

The Buddha was very happy about this; otherwise He would not have had the opportunity to expound the Lotus Sutra, to freely carry out His original intent. Think about how joyful and satisfying it is to be able to say what we want to say. So, He “freely carried out His original intent.” He said everything He wanted to say,

so “this mobilization and response” finally led the Buddha to begin this teaching so everyone could hear. This was a very joyful event. It was a very harmonious, happy and joyful moment. So, it was said, “this mobilization and response brought the Vulture Peak assembly to fruition. Thus, they were called the initiators.”

Sariputra was an initiator. With so many [converging] causes and conditions, and for the sake of so many people. [Sariputra served as the initiator]. One person made this request on behalf of others because so many of them wanted to listen. If he had not asked for the many who wanted to listen, but only for himself, Sariputra would not dare to ask again and again. It was because there were so many people who wholeheartedly sought the Buddha’s teachings that Sariputra became their representative. So, he was among the “initiators.”

1. Initiators. At the Vulture Peak assembly, Sariputra requested teachings three times, which led the Buddha to freely teach what He originally intended to. This mobilization and response brought the Vulture Peak assembly to fruition. Thus, he was part of the initiators.

The second group was the “adopters.” At that time, the Buddha had already excluded those who harbored overbearing arrogance 5000 people had already left the assembly. So, those who remained at the Dharma-assembly were the people the Buddha wanted to teach. They were those who wanted to receive the Buddha’s teachings, so they were known as the “adopters.” They were there in person, including the Hearers who properly listened to the teachings, awakened and benefited. After they heard the teachings they attained realizations and understood that

[there is more to the teachings of] suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. There is more than just understanding the karmic conditions that cause suffering. Although everyone works hard to eliminate the source of suffering by engaging in spiritual practice on the Path, they do not stop there. On this Path of spiritual practice, there is a broader and more direct route. So, they must not stop. The road ahead is even broader and more direct; it is the Bodhisattva-path they must walk. Thus, after hearing [the Dharma], if they are able to “realize” and understand it, they know they have to open up and broaden their minds to understand these benefits. Then afterwards, they can walk the direct path, which is the Bodhisattva-path. So, the “adopters” are the people the Buddha wanted to teach. They were those who could accept great Dharma, and after accepting it, develop aspirations and vows. Thus, they were known as the “adopters.”

2. Adopters. The adopters were people who sat there, such as Hearers, who properly listened to these teachings. They are those who benefited by awakening and attaining realizations.

The third group was the “influencers.” In the Lotus Dharma-assembly, there were many who already thoroughly understood the Dharma, such as Manjusri Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva, etc. Many Bodhisattvas had come from other places and had already become Buddhas. When they came to the Saha World at that time, they were known as Bodhisattvas because the Saha World already had a Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha. They were Buddhas from other worlds who came to help Sakyamuni Buddha transform sentient beings. They came to help Him in the role of Bodhisattvas.

So, Manjusri, Samantabhadra and other Bodhisattvas came from other places “to help the Buddha teach sentient beings in the Saha World,” and to dignify Sakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma-seat in His spiritual training ground. If there were more leaders from other places, the Dharma-assembly at Vulture Peak would be even more magnificent. Thus, they were the “influencers.”

3. Influencers. Bodhisattvas such as Manjusri and Guanyin came from other places to help the Buddha teach sentient beings in the Saha World. Those who dignify Sakyamuni Buddha’s. Dharma-seat are considered influencers.

The fourth group was the “associators.” They were sentient beings who lacked blessings, so they did not currently have the benefit of attaining realizations or awakening. Although they listened to the teachings, they did not quite understand them. Yet, they still sat there and obediently listened. These were the “associators.” Although they could not attain realizations in this lifetime, they would benefit in the future because they had created this karmic affinity. So they “created the causes and conditions for seeing the Buddha and listening to the Dharma” and “the causes and conditions for attaining the Path in the future.”

4. Associators. Sentient beings lacking in blessings do not currently have the benefit of attaining realizations but they create the causes and conditions for seeing the Buddha and listening to the Dharma. They create the causes and conditions for attaining the Path in the future.

Now, it does not matter if we understand or not, we should always listen mindfully. If we cannot understand it in this lifetime, we can still create karmic conditions for our future lives. So, listening to the Dharma is always beneficial. Although we currently cannot attain realizations, we still benefit from listening to the Dharma, So, we must be mindful. These are the four types of people in the assembly.

So, dear Bodhisattvas, I hope that once we have formed aspirations, we do not just listen. After we listen, we must accept and apply it. If we do not earnestly listen to the Dharma, then we cannot diligently practice. So, we must earnestly listen to teachings and not let them pass us by in our confusion. We must earnestly and single-mindedly sustain our vows. Really, since we have learned teachings, we must single-mindedly sustain vows and listen, contemplate and practice.

Recently, I keep saying to everyone that we should “not doubt teachings and obstruct ourselves.” We must not obstruct ourselves. More importantly, I want to remind everyone to “not be like the 5000 people who left.” So, we have to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to learning and applying the Dharma. If we can do this, then we are not wasting our lives. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 324 – Eliminate Arrogance to Believe in the Buddha

---

>> “The Buddha created a great opportunity to reveal the great Dharma. But those of limited capabilities and wisdom retained nothing but arrogance. They were attached to listening, but not to seeking the truth. So, the Buddha gave great teachings [to lead them] back to the One Reality.”

>> Sariputra, you and the others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha. In the words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.

>> “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse.”

>> He said, “Bhiksus and bhiksunis may harbor overbearing arrogance. Upasakas may have self-arrogance and upasikas may lack faith.”

>> Those who “may harbor overbearing arrogance” claim to have attained what they have not. We all know about them. Furthermore, though they have not attained the teachings of the supreme vehicle, they believe that they have. They have not realized the principles of the supreme vehicle but claim that they have.

>> Upasakas may have self-arrogance: Those with self-arrogance see themselves as superior to others. They are conceited and egotistical and haughty toward others. Based on their belief in their own abilities, they bully and humiliate others.

>> Upasikas may lack faith: Those with deviant views have many doubts. Thus when they encounter the Right Dharma, they cannot give rise to faith in Right Views. So, they become distressed. This is the affliction of lacking faith.

---

I often think it is clear that true emptiness is unchanging and wondrous existence is ever-abiding, but for the Dharma to instill true emptiness and wondrous existence in people’s minds is not easy.

“The Buddha created a great opportunity to reveal the great Dharma. But those of limited capabilities and wisdom retained nothing but arrogance. They were attached to listening, but not to seeking the truth. So, the Buddha gave great teachings [to lead them] back to the One Reality.”

The Buddha did His best for sentient beings, hoping we can all perfect our spiritual practice. He [taught us] the principles of unchanging emptiness and everlasting existence so we could all experience and understand them. However, we are ordinary people with ordinary minds that constantly fluctuate. We quickly aspire to diligently practice, but soon after, we lose enthusiasm for moving forward and quickly regress. So, we sentient beings remain deluded. In the midst of our confusion, we remain foolish and unwise; we lack wisdom.

We clearly know that impermanence may strike at any time and that we must always feel the urgency we would if there was a fire burning on our head and we had to quickly put it out. However, we ordinary people, though aware that impermanence is all around us, that it is as if our hair were already on fire, still do not know we must do something quickly. If people do not even try to save themselves, what can be done? The Buddha really felt for us, but sadly, we sentient beings remained limited in our spiritual capabilities and wisdom. This means that we have short, temporary roots. Our roots of goodness are superficial and we have very little wisdom.

So, people with neither roots of goodness nor wisdom, “retain nothing but arrogance.” These people had retained nothing. The Buddha-Dharma they heard leaked out; none of it remained in their minds. Yet they were still very conceited. They were people with “overbearing arrogance” who claimed to have attained what they had not. These people had limited capabilities and wisdom. Even if they knew what to do, they could not move forward at all. Moreover, there are many people who do not know and cannot understand. They cannot understand the teachings they hear, but they think that they have attained much.

In the Buddha’s lifetime, one day, Kasyapa, after sitting in meditation, went to the lecture hall pay respect to the Buddha. The Buddha saw Kasyapa [enter] the lecture hall, so He said, “Kasyapa, for a very long time. I have given the Sangha many teachings. Now Kasyapa, you should teach them the Dharma in my place.” Venerable Kasyapa very reverently [faced] the Buddha with his palms together and said to Him, “Venerable Buddha, I cannot to do it.” The Buddha asked him, “Why? You already understand so much of my Dharma. You can take my place and give my teachings to everyone.” Venerable Kasyapa said, “I cannot, because these bhiksus are difficult to teach.”

When I read this story, I was shocked. During the Buddha’s lifetime, He taught the Dharma for a long time. And Kasyapa, was a senior disciple, a leader among the Sangha. But when the Buddha asked him to teach, Kasyapa already had no confidence in them.

When the Buddha asked him why, Venerable Kasyapa said, “Because these people often give rise to a mindset of indolence. When You teach, they may accept it temporarily. But soon after, they give rise to indolence, so they quickly [regress in their practice]. They quickly lose the virtuous Dharma, yet they feel no remorse. These foolish people without wisdom are hindered by sleep. Hindered by sleep” means that everyone is still asleep and cannot be awakened. “They are all asleep and cannot be awakened. Can they really not be awakened?”

When the Buddha heard what Kasyapa said, He then asked, “Why can’t these people be awakened?” Kasyapa replied, “Because they are deeply attached to their view of self.” Each of them sticks to his own understanding. Practitioners must have a common understanding, which is to be mindful of impermanence and diligently move forward. Every person must always be mindful of impermanence and diligently move forward, but these people did neither. What they had in their minds were afflictions and defilements; their minds were full of ignorance and afflictions. The defilements of afflictions covered their minds. Though they stayed asleep and could not awaken and were further covered by afflictions,

the Buddha was still compassionate. So, He asked Kasyapa again, “If this is so, what can we do?” Kasyapa then said, “These people have such unwholesome practices. They do not have any roots of goodness at all.” I feel Venerable Kasyapa was very brave to give this response to the Buddha in front of everyone, saying that since they had no roots of goodness how could they possibly be diligent?

Because they had limited capabilities and wisdom, they retained nothing, yet had a lot of pride. These indolent people had no roots of goodness or faith, so how could they become diligent? Venerable Kasyapa said, “Only after feeling a sense of remorse can they desire to become diligent.” After the Buddha heard this, He replied, “Indeed, indeed.” The Buddha admitted this fact and said, “Indeed, Kasyapa you are not wrong. These people are very indolent, with very little roots of goodness and faith. People easily form aspirations but find it hard to persevere. I agree with your view that these people are unable to nurture their roots of goodness and faith. I agree sentient beings are hard to transform. But those who attained human form are precious, so, Kasyapa, you must still persevere in teaching all sentient beings.” Thus the Buddha taught Kasyapa with compassion.

I often think about why [this is so]. How long will it take for our minds to awaken, for us to become enlightened beings and awaken ourselves and others? If we cannot awaken ourselves, how can we awaken others? The Buddha faced myriad sentient beings and from this story alone, we realize that even in His lifetime, transforming sentient beings was very difficult. Even right before He was to teach the Lotus Sutra, Kasyapa still brought up their indolence and lack of remorse.

As the Buddha was about to enter Parinirvana, Ananda asked, “Venerable Buddha, after You enter Parinirvana, what do we do with the [evil-natured] bhiksus who are so hard to tame?” The Buddha sadly replied, “Be compassionate and counsel them often. If they cannot be taught, give up and let them be.” For those with limited capabilities and wisdom, the Buddha said to let them go. If they cannot accept compassionate teachings, let them be. Otherwise, what can be done? This is very sad.

In the Buddha’s time, there was a limit to how much He could do, to say nothing of what we can do now. So, “those of limited capabilities and wisdom have retained nothing but arrogance.” Everyone, think about this for a moment. “They are attached to listening but not seeking the truth.” Indeed, they listen to the teachings, but they need to listen, contemplate and practice. They have listened, but have they contemplated? Have they diligently put them into practice, or are they merely listening?

So, we must have faith in the Buddha. “The Buddha gave great teachings [to lead them] back to the One Reality.” These great teachings are the Lotus Sutra. He had given many provisional teachings over the past 40-plus years. Now, at this point, He returned to the One Vehicle. So, “The Buddha gave great teachings [to lead them] back to the One Reality.” This is the One True Vehicle.

Everyone, sometimes we may feel helpless and tired. But if we think of how hard the Buddha worked, we cannot feel tired. “For Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings” [means] we still must diligently practice and fulfill our duty to help everyone understand the Dharma.

We already spoke of the previous sutra passage. To remind everyone again, the Buddha called on Sariputra, [saying], “You and others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.” He still very sincerely hoped that everyone could be awakened and “single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.”

Sariputra, you and the others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha. In the words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.

The Buddha said to everyone, “The words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are without any falsehoods.” The words of all past Buddhas were True Dharma. There was nothing false in Their teachings. “There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle,” which teaches everyone the way to Buddhahood. They hoped everyone would return to their pure intrinsic nature. This teaching helped everyone understand that

the Dharma is in everything. It is intrinsic to us, but we are still covered by sleep, so we are indolent, ignorant and remorseless. If we seek understanding and awakening, we must learn to be remorseful. If everyone else is diligent, how can we be indolent? We must all have this sense of vigilance.

We must be earnest and diligent; we must not wish only to stay in bed. “Hearing the bell, afflictions are alleviated, wisdom grows and Bodhi arises.” When we hear the [morning] bell, it is time to awaken our wisdom. We must seek to develop wisdom.

So, in this section of the sutra, the Buddha earnestly hopes that everyone will have faith and understanding. We really must read and recite, accept and uphold, and have faith and understanding that every word He taught is true. Indeed, impermanence is also true. That our lives will come to an end is also true, so why haven’t we all awakened? This is why the Buddha persisted. Not only did He teach the Dharma once in prose, but He also repeated it again in verse. Thus, the sutra again states,

“At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse.”

After the Buddha spoke, He feared that people might forget it or not understand it, so He repeated the teachings in verse form.

He said, “Bhiksus and bhiksunis may harbor overbearing arrogance. Upasakas may have self-arrogance and upasikas may lack faith.”

These are the disciples of the fourfold assembly. These verses restated the teachings He gave earlier about sentient beings who did not know, understand, or have faith; they were overbearingly arrogant and 5000 of them even left [the assembly]. When we read this passage of the sutra, we should recall the meaning of the passage taught earlier.

First, let us read about how.

Those who “may harbor overbearing arrogance” claim to have attained what they have not. We all know about them. Furthermore, though they have not attained the teachings of the supreme vehicle, they believe that they have. They have not realized the principles of the supreme vehicle but claim that they have.

Indeed, when [listening] to the Buddha-Dharma, Hearers and Solitary Realizers stop before they even take a single step on the Bodhisattva-path. They think, “I do not need to go among people. I just want to awaken myself,” so they think they have already accomplished this. They “have not attained the teachings of the supreme vehicle,” have not gone on to the next stage, but they think they have already reached it. So, they “claim to have attained [it]. They have not realized the principles of the supreme vehicle but claim that they have.” They all thought they had realized it.

Some upasakas have self-arrogance. This kind of self-arrogance means that they “believe they have surpassed others.” This arrogance leads people to assume they know more than everyone else. Regarding worldly matters, they also think they are smarter than others. When listening to the Dharma, they think they understand more than anyone else. Believing this, they think they have surpassed others, so they are proud and arrogant. Conceited and egotistic, they are haughty toward others. These people have “self-arrogance.”

Upasakas may have self-arrogance: Those with self-arrogance see themselves as superior to others. They are conceited and egotistical and haughty toward others. Based on their belief in their own abilities, they bully and humiliate others.

These people, “based on their belief” that they can do and understand everything, bully and humiliate others. They think they understand many things, so they bully others. In their mundane lives, they think, “I have money, power and knowledge. I have so much.” People like this believe they possess everything. They think, “The Buddha-Dharma is so simple, I understand it as soon as I hear it.” So, they become more conceited and start pushing around other people.

We all must know that we study the Buddha’s teachings to broaden our minds, not to narrow them. Our minds must be broad and our thoughts must be pure. Then we can be accepting of more people. But lay practitioners are constantly competing with others, so their sense of ownership is very strong. Believing they possess everything, This is “self-arrogance.” [All kinds of] pride and arrogance are due to our ignorance.

“Upasikas may lack faith.” Among the female lay practitioners, [some had] deviant views and many doubts. Initially, during the Buddha’s lifetime, there were many heretical practices. Whatever these teachings were, they were unable to fully understand them, so they had many doubts. When they accepted the Buddha’s teachings, they could not fully forget those other practices so they could not focus on the Right Faith. “Those with deviant views have many doubts. Thus, when they encounter the Right Dharma,” they could not give rise to faith in Right Views. They could not believe in Right Views.

Upasikas may lack faith: Those with deviant views have many doubts. Thus when they encounter the Right Dharma, they cannot give rise to faith in Right Views. So, they become distressed. This is the affliction of lacking faith.

This is like how we are always promoting ways to eliminate superstitions, so people will have proper beliefs and not kill other beings as offerings to spirits or burn joss money as an offering. Some people are wise, so they hear this and think, “Indeed, we do not have to kill living beings.” Isn’t it very contradictory to kill in order to pray [for good fortune]? Is this a good thing to do? As for burning joss money, if doing so can bring blessings and peace, then the person who sells them could just stop selling them to people and burn them himself for great blessings and peace. Is this possible? Some people say, “If I do not burn joss money, I will be uneasy, but I will burn less.” [First burn] less, then later do not burn any. I do not know when people will finally believe that there is no need to burn joss money. If that happens, they have Right Faith. Because they are confused by deluded beliefs, they develop the affliction of lacking faith.

Previously, in the Water Repentance lectures, I mentioned many afflictions, including afflictions that arise from our daily living. Such afflictions are numerous.

Everyone, to truly learn from the Buddha, we must diligently make progress. We cannot be indolent or succumb to the hindrance of sleep again, nor can we lack remorse. We must always be vigilant of ourselves. In this impermanent life, the fragmentary samsara of our lifetimes, who knows how long we have to live. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 323 – Single-mindedly believe and understand

---

>>Safeguard the clear and pure mind and extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets. When the mind is pure, it can correspond to all things. When it is focused and refined, we are single-minded. “Safeguard the clear and pure mind.”

>> “Sariputra, you and the others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha.”

>> “The words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are without any falsehoods. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.”

>> Faith and understanding: When we listen to the Buddha give teachings, first we have faith, then understanding. When it comes to faith and understanding, people who are beginners have faith and those with sharp capabilities have understanding. This is having faith and understanding.

>> Accept and uphold the word of the Buddha: People who accept it take it in. People who uphold it remember to practice it. They make an effort to focus and advance. With the Power of Faith, they accept it. With the Power of Thought, they uphold it.

>> [The Buddha’s words are not] false: The one great work of all Buddhas for sentient beings to realize and enter the ultimate One Vehicle must not contain anything false. All Buddhas are Great Enlightened Ones. They speak the truth. They do not speak falsehoods.

>> Subhuti, the Tathagata is one who speaks the truth, who speaks the actual, who speaks what is such, who does not speak what is false, who does not speak what is not so. The Diamond (Vajra) Sutra.

---

Safeguard the clear and pure mind
and extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets.
When the mind is pure, it can correspond to all things.
When it is focused and refined, we are single-minded.
“Safeguard the clear and pure mind.”

We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature; we all have this truly pure, undefiled and tranquil mind. If we can safeguard this mind that was originally clear and pure, we can “extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets.”

For this, we must go among and develop good karmic affinities with people. We must constantly accumulate blessed conditions and constantly be vigilant of our own minds to avoid the defilements caused by evil thoughts. [These] are greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. These five things alone naturally lead us to give rise to countless ignorant thoughts. So, we must always be mindful and safeguard our pure and clear minds. We must promptly, diligently and “widely accumulate” [blessings and wisdom]. It is often said, “Everything accumulates over time.” In every second, the arising of our thoughts and everything we do continuously accumulates and we may accumulate blessed causes and conditions. If we are not diligently practicing during this time and instead, we give rise to evil thoughts and commit evil actions, those will accumulate as bad karma. So we must aspire to “extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets.”

We must always safeguard our minds. “When the mind is pure, it can correspond to all things. When it is focused, it can be refined.” If the mind is pure, it is mirror-like, much like clear water. If our minds are truly pure and clear, we can clearly understand everything. Then when we deal with things, we will not make any mistakes. So, we must always maintain the clarity of our minds so it can “correspond with all things.”

“Refined” means our minds must be refined and not discursive, focused and not scattered. So our mind must be refined and focused. “When it is refined and focused, we can be single-minded.” Most importantly, we must be very mindful; we cannot let our minds become scattered at all. This is a spiritual training ground.

But we must remember, the mind we are cultivating, our mental training ground, is very important. [Our place of spiritual practice] is not only physical but spiritual too. If we safeguard our mental training ground, naturally our physical place of practice will be well-attended and well-organized. In the Buddha’s time, He also taught His disciples according to the situation.

One time, He traveled and taught with. Ananda and Kasyapa by His side. One day, when it was almost noon, They saw, not too far way, a melon farm. The Buddha said to Ananda, “Ananda, look, there is a melon farm. Please ask them for a melon to quench our thirst and hunger.” Hearing this, Ananda immediately headed for the farm.

In the melon farm was the woman in charge. As Ananda approached the farm, this woman appeared to be very unfriendly. Before Ananda even began to speak, she stared at him with a mean look. [Yet], Ananda was still very friendly to her. With his palms together, he said, “Please give me a melon. The Buddha is over there. It is noon and He is thirsty, so we hope you will give us a melon.” Before Ananda could finish, the woman started to curse at him, and drove him out. “I don’t want to see you here. You must leave now.” She was not willing to give even a single melon and instead, chased him out. Ananda had no choice but to leave immediately

the Buddha smiled and said to Kasyapa, “Kasyapa, you ask.” Kasyapa thought, “Ananda is young and dignified, liked by everyone who meets him. If he was cursed at when asking for a melon, then how can I, an older man, possibly beg for and receive a melon? But if the Buddha specifically asked me to go, there must be a reason behind that.” So, he faithfully accepted and did what the Buddha told him to do.

So, he walked to the melon farm. When this woman saw Venerable Kasyapa coming from afar, naturally, she began walking toward him and met him in front of the melon farm. With palms together, she courteously greeted him. This woman was very happy, she immediately brought out a very big melon, offering it with both hands and with gratitude. After this mutual expression of gratitude, Venerable Kasyapa left the melon farm. He found this inconceivable. “Why was this woman so happy when she saw me that she gave me such a beautiful and large melon?”

He went back to the Buddha and said, “Venerable Buddha, there must be a reason for this.” The Buddha said, “Yes, let me explain the underlying causes and conditions.”

Countless kalpas ago, there were two bhiksus who were walking along one day, one in front of the other. The young bhiksu walking in front smelled a stench, and when he looked he saw a dying cat by the side of the road. Under the blazing sun, [the body] emitted a stench and [attracted] bugs. This bhiksu covered his nose and could not help but say, “The dying cat smells horrible.” After saying this, he pinched his nose and kept walking. As the other spiritual practitioner passed by, he also smelled this stench and saw the cat. He felt great compassion and approached the cat, helping it to take refuge. At the same time, he said to the cat, “Transcend the animal realm and return as a human, in a positive realm.” [When the cat had died], he then dug a hole and buried the cat.

At this point in the story the Buddha said, “Ananda, do you know who the bhiksu was who walked by first?” Ananda understood and lowered his head, “Venerable Buddha, I know that was probably me.” Then, [the Buddha] turned to Kasyapa. “Kasyapa, the one who saw that dead cat and felt sympathy, that compassionate bhiksu was you. In your past life, you helped the cat to take refuge and be born into a virtuous realm, so she could transcend the animal realm and be born human. So upon seeing you, she was happy and wanted to repay you with an offering.”

We must remember this in our daily living. In this world, sentient beings must treat each other well and get along. If our minds are pure, everything we see develops our sense of goodness. If our minds are focused, [then we will attain] the Buddha-mind. So, we must take good care of our minds.

The sutra text states,

“Sariputra, you and the others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha.”

Previously, I also explained that we must sincerely believe and understand because the Buddha [once again called on]. “Sariputra.” Calling on Sariputra is the same as calling on all of us, all of His disciples. [When He called upon] “you and the others,” [He meant that] Sariputra and the others should “single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha.” After listening, we must practice.

“The words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are without any falsehoods. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.”

Everyone needs to know that the Tathagata’s words “are without any falsehoods.” With this, the Buddha guaranteed, “Everything I said is true.” Sometimes when I speak I say, “You have to believe that I am telling you the truth.” Indeed, I say this too sometimes. At that time, when the Buddha was speaking, He was also worried that everyone would think the Dharma He was teaching was only skillful means. He also worried that people would think that since He taught skillful means in the past, He was still teaching skillful means now. The Buddha thought people might be thinking this, so He told everyone again that they should “single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.”

“The words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are without any falsehoods. There are no other vehicles;” They give no other teaching; “there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.” You may think I am repeating a previous teaching. You are right; I am repeating it to help everyone believe and understand it more clearly.

“Faith” is what we begin to give rise to when we hear the Buddha’s teachings. If we listen to the Dharma without faith, after hearing it once, we will not want to listen again because we do not believe in it. So I often say, “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” So, faith is extremely important.

Faith and understanding: When we listen to the Buddha give teachings, first we have faith, then understanding. When it comes to faith and understanding, people who are beginners have faith and those with sharp capabilities have understanding. This is having faith and understanding.

“When we listen to the Buddha give teachings, first we have faith,” Right at the beginning we must establish faith. As for “understanding,” once we have faith, naturally we will want to understand the content of the Dharma. This part is “faith and understanding. First believe, then understand.” First we must believe, then we can understand. After we listen, we mindfully try to understand what we heard. This is “faith and understanding.”

“First” particularly refers to how “people who are beginners have faith.” Beginners are people who just formed aspirations. So, faith is necessary at the beginning. “Those with sharp capabilities have understanding” as beginners develop faith. “Sharp capabilities” are those with more wisdom. They know they must really try to understand this, not just believe in it. They try to deepen their understanding. First we develop faith; if we do not have faith, we will not want to understand. So, those with wisdom will try to understand. This is “faith and understanding.”

The Buddha-Dharma requires both. At the same time, we must go beyond that to “accept and uphold.” We must “accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.” To accept is to receive. To “receive” is to take in. When we faithfully accept what the Buddha says, we receive it and take it in. “This is what the Buddha said, what He taught, so I reverently and directly accept the Dharma He taught.” People who accept it thus receive it and take it in. When we receive the Buddha’s teachings, we must accept them wholeheartedly.

Accept and uphold the word of the Buddha: People who accept it take it in. People who uphold it remember to practice it. They make an effort to focus and advance. With the Power of Faith, they accept it. With the Power of Thought, they uphold it.

To “uphold” is to “remember to practice.” After accepting what the Buddha teaches, we must always keep it in mind and remember it. To uphold it is to always remember it, to keep the Buddha’s teachings in mind. If we can remember and take the Dharma to heart, “making an effort to focus and advance.” If we take the Dharma to heart, naturally we make an “effort to focus and advance.” When we work hard to focus and advance, this is “accepting and upholding.”

“With the Power of Faith, we accept it.” To have the power of faith, we must put the teachings into practice; only then are we keeping faith. If we do not keep faith, we will soon forget that initial [inspiration]. We cannot let this happen. “With the Power of Faith, we focus and advance.” We must persevere.

“With the Power of Thought, we uphold it.” These are among the Five Spiritual Powers. With the Power of Thought, we will persevere. So, faithfully accepting and practicing the Buddha’s teachings is what we practitioners must do.

The Buddha said, “The words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, are without any falsehoods.” This guarantees to everyone that what the Buddha says is correct. All Buddhas come to the world for one great cause. To “open and reveal” so sentient beings can “realize and enter” the One Vehicle Dharma. All Buddhas share this same goal. Since Their one great cause is to teach the Dharma to sentient beings, how can Their words be false? That is impossible.

[The Buddha’s words are not] false: The one great work of all Buddhas for sentient beings to realize and enter the ultimate One Vehicle must not contain anything false. All Buddhas are Great Enlightened Ones. They speak the truth. They do not speak falsehoods.

“All Buddhas are Great Enlightened Ones. They speak the truth. They do not speak falsehoods.” Wasn’t this written in the Diamond Sutra? What about us? We are just ordinary people. We have not attained realizations, so we cannot understand the Buddha’s intent. Therefore, we must work hard [to understand Him]. We must not suspect that when the Buddha comes to this world, He only teaches skillful means. We must not have such doubts.

As I have said before, skillful means are “wondrous provisional teachings.” He utilized these subtle and wondrous means to guide everyone in the same direction. We must be on the same course, which helps us step onto this great Bodhi-path.

So, we must not doubt the methods the Buddha taught us. We must have faith to receive and understand that the Buddha’s. One Buddha Vehicle is the True Dharma. We must faithfully accept and practice the Buddha’s teachings. We must uphold, which is to faithfully accept His words. We must believe that the Buddha’s words are absolutely not false. He “speaks the truth, speaks the actual,” and “does not speak what is false.” So, we must believe in the Buddha’s teachings. This is what He continuously reminds us.

Subhuti, the Tathagata is one who speaks the truth, who speaks the actual, who speaks what is such, who does not speak what is false, who does not speak what is not so. The Diamond (Vajra) Sutra.

Over 2000 years ago, when the Buddha spoke directly to His disciples, He took their minds into consideration. Everyone’s habitual tendencies and thinking were all different. So with great compassion, He continuously reminded them to believe in the wondrous Dharma of the One Vehicle. The wondrous One Vehicle Dharma has always been in our hearts and. He utilized methods to guide us to it. We must believe this, safeguard our clear and pure minds and extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom. Single-mindedly believe and understand in order to realize what the Buddha is saying. The Buddha comes to the world for one great cause. What does He want to teach us? To have clear and pure minds, to extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom.

To walk this path, we must have assets. Consider the Buddha on His travels. When the time came, He also needed to quench His thirst and hunger. So when He traveled, He also needed [assets], not to mention ordinary people like us. To walk this Bodhisattva-path, we must have assets for our wisdom-life. When we earnestly practice the Bodhisattva-path, we extensively accumulate the assets of blessings and wisdom which arise when we work with sentient beings and put [teachings] into practice. Among sentient beings, we must maintain the purity of our minds so it can correspond to all things. Our minds must be refined and focused. When we single-mindedly remain pure, we realize our pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 3 – A Mind Replete with All Dharma is Vigilant

---

>> Our minds are inherently replete with all Dharma. Adapting to different capabilities, the Buddha used infinite skillful means to help us accomplish the [good] things we do. To give us this hope, He taught us the Bodhisattva Way.

>> “Our minds are inherently replete with all Dharma. According to capacities, He used infinite skillful means to to help us accomplish the [good] things we do. To give us this hope, He taught us the Bodhisattva Way.”

>> “Sariputra, you and others should single-mindedly believe, understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.”

>> “For, in the words of all Buddhas, “the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.”

>> Single-mindedly believe and understand: The principles and workings of things originate in the mind. Thus, we must believe in the truth. When we do something single-mindedly, our minds are focused. The nature of the mind is as pervasive as space. It can freely travel throughout the universe. When dispersed, it can respond to all things. When gathered, it can be focused into one thought. Thus, whether it be good or evil, noble or unenlightened, everything comes from this mind.

---

As long as we realize that we intrinsically have a pure, intrinsic nature, as long as we can guard our minds so our spiritual aspirations are not affected by external conditions or led astray, as long as we protect ourselves like this, then everything is virtuous Dharma to us. So, “our minds are inherently replete with all Dharma.”

Our minds are inherently replete with all Dharma. Adapting to different capabilities, the Buddha used infinite skillful means to help us accomplish the [good] things we do. To give us this hope, He taught us the Bodhisattva Way.

The Buddha wanted us to understand that our minds should return to the nature of True Suchness. So, when “adapting to different capabilities, the Buddha used infinite skillful means. Adapting to capabilities” means that whether or not this Dharma was exactly the same as His original [teaching], so long as we are developing our goodness, we are making progress. “Adapting to different capabilities, the Buddha used infinite skillful means.”

For over 40 years, He utilized skillful means to guide sentient beings to “help us accomplish the [good] things we do.” As long as we are developing our goodness and do not deviate from this direction, we will be able to accomplish various things that benefit others. We often say, “There are experts in every trade.” We each have a different ability, and our entire society, our entire world needs people with all kinds of skills to benefit it.

Considering that we all live in different circumstances, of course the realizations we attain will be different. But as long as we have a pure heart at our core, we can diligently cultivate goodness and the Dharma. This has given us a great sense of hope that sentient beings can definitely walk in the same direction toward goodness and the Right Path. [The Buddha] did this “to give us this hope.”

So, “He taught us the Bodhisattva Way.” The potential we all possess is our intrinsic Buddha-nature. No matter what methods we use, as long as we do not go astray, we will still return to our roots and attain the state of the Bodhisattvas.

If we continue to make progress and remind ourselves to be humble, we will [fulfill] our potential and successfully serve our function. We can “accomplish the [good] things we do” and help others in this world. This is our hope.

The following story is from the Buddhist sutras. Once upon a time, there were many spiritual practitioners living on a mountaintop. Not far away from this mountaintop was a place of spiritual practice. In this place, there were two bhiksus who were good friends. One said, “I heard that on the opposite mountain lives an elder named Jeyata. Venerable Jeyata is very advanced in his spiritual cultivation. He is an experienced practitioner, so we should pay him a visit and ask him to share with us his experience of engaging in spiritual practice.” So, these two bhiksus decided to head toward the nearby mountain.

On the way there, they found a tree to sit under and rest. The monastery on that mountaintop, a place with many spiritual practitioners, did not seem far away. However, they did not know exactly where Venerable Jeyata lived among this group of people. At this time, they happened to see an old and frail practitioner. As the two bhiksus saw that he was collecting and bundling firewood to carry it up the hill, they asked him, “Excuse me, sir. We would like to ask if you live on this mountain? Yes I do. Then do you know Venerable Jeyata?” He said, “I do. Where can we find him on this mountain?” He told them, “If you go up the mountain, go to the third cave in the third mountain. He lives in the third cave over there.” Thanking [him], the two bhiksus happily went in that direction.

It turned out to be somewhat far. As they reached the third cave, when they had almost arrived, they saw an old man standing there. He seemed very familiar. When they got closer, the old bhiksu turned around and smiled to greet them. The two bhiksus said, “Aren’t you the spiritual practitioner we saw at the bottom of the mountain?” At that moment, they realized that this man was very advanced in his spiritual practice. He had achieved [great] skill, and being very familiar with the mountain paths, he could swiftly move about. Isn’t that a spiritual power? He had arrived before they did; despite his old age, he was still able to move very swiftly, demonstrating this practitioner’s mastery.

So, with great sincerity and respect, these two bhiksus prostrated before him. They asked, “Sir, are you Venerable Jeyata?” He answered, “Yes, that is me. Why are you looking for me?” These two bhiksus did not ask about anything in particular, saying only, “Venerable One, you are a senior practitioner replete with so many virtues. In this community of bhiksus, why are you the one who goes down the mountain to personally gather firewood?”

He answered, “This simple task of gathering firewood is the offering I make to the Sangha and is helpful to the lives of many monastics. Even if I had to use my arms and legs as firewood for them, I am willing. But why?” these two immediately asked. He said, “Because I constantly recall the suffering of birth and death in my past.” So they asked, “Venerable One, what happened in your past?”

This elder began to explain, “In my past lives, I lived 500 lifetimes as dog. In these 500 lifetimes, I was always starving and lived in run-down places. I never had anything to eat. But in my last life, I had two full meals. One was when someone got drunk. He ate a lot and got drunk, then threw everything up so I ate it all. But as I was eating, I was also beaten and severely injured. Thus I experienced unbearable suffering.”

“Another time, [I encountered] a family where the husband was a farmer who went to work early in the morning. The wife stayed home to prepare lunch. When she finished preparing the meal, she had to run out to take care of something. So, I seized the opportunity to go in the house. When I saw the food on the table, I was happy so I stuck my head inside [the container] to eat the food inside until I was full. But when I tried to pull my head out, I was stuck. I could not pull my head out so I struggled.” The farmer came back then and saw the dog with his head stuck in the neck of the jar. In a fit of rage, he used the handle of his axe to smash the jar, along with the head of the dog. Thus ended his 500th lifetime as a dog.

At this point, he said, “This was very sad and terrifying.” So, Venerable Jeyata told these two bhiksus, “Young men, always walk on the right path. Even though you are still young, remember to ‘remain vigilant even in times of peace.’ You live your lives quite leisurely, but you should heighten your vigilance. Once you deviate and lose your footing, falling into a lower realm will bring unbearable suffering. In thinking about my past life and the lifetimes of suffering I had endured, I have decided to serve the monks. Beyond gathering firewood, I am even willing to use my arms and legs as firewood.” Having heard this, these two bhiksus came to a realization.

This [story] is about practitioners from the past. Actually, this reminds me of when we were building the hospital in Dalin, and we entrusted Dr. Lin with leading the Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital.

People came from all over Taiwan to help to set it up, inside and out, as well as to recruit employees. One day, a young man came to the hospital.

He saw an older gentleman cleaning up the bathroom, so he asked, “Uncle, where is the superintendent’s office?” The older gentleman replied, “What do you need to do [there]? I am here to apply for a job. Go straight down this hallway, then turn into that doorway and you will see the superintendent’s office. Ah, I see!” Thanking him, [the younger man] went on his way.

So, shortly after, that same older gentleman entered the office, but now he was wearing a doctor’s white coat. The doctor came to him and said, “Hello, young man, we just met earlier. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am the person you are looking for. Oh! You are the superintendent! Yes, I am.” You see, the superintendent, to ensure that the hospital would be quickly cleaned and tidied up, personally set an example by cleaning it himself.

I also heard of another instance when over 1000 volunteers of the northern region helped with a major cleaning at our hospital in Xindian, Taipei. Hundreds of hospital employees also helped. This very large group of people split up the responsibility for cleaning different sections of the hospital, both inside and outside. Each was assigned a section. Hospital Superintendent Chao assigned himself to clean the restroom because he wanted to thoroughly understand how to clean the dirtiest of all places so it could smell fresh and free of odors, and be so clean there was no dust or dirt.

This is what leaders must do to, they must “accomplish [good] things” by “adapting to different capabilities” with “infinite skillful means.” These various skillful means all have to do with leading by example.

“Our minds are inherently replete with all Dharma. According to capacities, He used infinite skillful means to to help us accomplish the [good] things we do. To give us this hope, He taught us the Bodhisattva Way.”

Everything arises from a single thought. As a leader, to create the environment we hope for, we must personally bring it about. Isn’t this “teaching the Bodhisattva Way”? Putting [teachings] into practice and leading by example is a part of “humanistic culture.” Humanistic culture refers to our mindset, our morals, virtues, character and so on, and how they manifest in our daily living.

So, the Buddha said in the sutra,

“Sariputra, you and others should single-mindedly believe, understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.”

We must be “single-minded”, [meaning] free of discursive thoughts, a pure mind. Not only do we use our pure minds to believe and to understand, but we must also “accept and uphold the words of the Buddha.” We should listen to everything that the Buddha teaches and put it into practice. To “accept and uphold” means to put into practice. We must accept and apply it to ourselves to earnestly engage in spiritual practice, to cultivate internally and practice externally.

“For, in the words of all Buddhas, “the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.”

This shows that “all Buddhas share the same path.” Each Buddha comes to this world and utilizes various means to teach according to capabilities, but in the end, they have no other [purpose]; They only come to teach the One Buddha Vehicle. “There are no other vehicles.” There is no second or third vehicle, only the One Vehicle. The One Vehicle Dharma is the way to Buddhahood. On the way to Buddhahood we must walk the Bodhisattva-path. Without walking the Bodhisattva-path, we have not accepted and upheld.

So, “single-mindedly believe and understand” refers to “the principles and workings of things.” In the world we are living in right now, in our lives right at this moment, all things and all principles originate in our minds.

Single-mindedly believe and understand: The principles and workings of things originate in the mind. Thus, we must believe in the truth. When we do something single-mindedly, our minds are focused. The nature of the mind is as pervasive as space. It can freely travel throughout the universe. When dispersed, it can respond to all things. When gathered, it can be focused into one thought. Thus, whether it be good or evil, noble or unenlightened, everything comes from this mind.

“Single-mindedly believe and understand” means carefully seeking to believe and understand so we may find the “truth.” The “truth” is the principle. We must single-mindedly realize the principles of Absolute Truth. Thus we “believe in the truth.” Through the true principles, we believe in the Buddha’s teachings.

“Single-mindedly” means our minds are focused and free of discursive thoughts. If we have the Buddha-mind and take refuge in the Dharma, then we see the principles underlying everything all of which originate in our minds. When our minds are in harmony with all things, we have attained “single-mindedness.”

“The nature of the mind is as pervasive as space. It can freely travel throughout the universe.” It is as spacious as the universe. There is nowhere it cannot go. Such is our intrinsic Buddha-nature. Since we possess the Buddha-nature, “when dispersed, it can respond to all things. When gathered, it can be focused into one thought.” Our nature could indeed be described as very broad. When we think about where we want to go, before we move our mind is already there. This is the working of our minds. If we listen intently and gather our thoughts, our minds come back to where we are. This is the working of our minds.

“Thus, whether it be good or evil, noble or unenlightened,” no matter whether it is good or evil, it all exists within this mind. Whether we are noble or unenlightened beings is also determined by this mind. So, “everything comes from this mind.”

Everyone, our minds allow us to become Buddhas but it may also cause torment for 500 lifetimes. If we end up trapped in the animal realm for a long time, that would also be caused by our minds. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 321 – How to Encounter the Buddha and be Transformed

---

>> When delusions of views and thinking and dust-like delusions cover their minds, people conceal their shortcoming and proclaim their virtues without self-reflection. Having Leaks, they lack discipline and remorse. When their turbidities are purified, they manifest their great potential.

>> “[After] the Buddha has crossed into extinction, [there] is no Buddha present.” So. “After the Buddha crosses into extinction, those who accept, uphold, read, recite and understand the meaning of sutras such as this are very rare.”

>> “Encounter other Buddhas, they will then obtain thorough understanding of this Dharma.”

>> If they encounter other Buddhas: When the Tathagata encounter beings of the other nine Dharma-realms, in worlds as numerous as dust, He always teaches this Dharma to tame sentient beings and to enable them to return to the ocean of pure nature.

---

When delusions of views and thinking and dust-like delusions cover their minds,
people conceal their shortcoming and proclaim their virtues without self-reflection.
Having Leaks, they lack discipline and remorse.
When their turbidities are purified, they manifest their great potential.

“When delusions of views and thinking and dust-like delusions cover their minds….” I often think about how we clearly understand that afflictions arise from our views and understanding. So why is it still so difficult to treat just the afflictions that arise from our views and thinking? If we cannot treat and tame these delusions of views and thinking, we will never eliminate our habitual tendencies. Our habitual tendencies are the reason we influence and entangle each other. Those with bad habitual tendencies will be scorned by others, In this way, they hinder themselves and others because their minds are covered by afflicted views and thinking and dust-like [delusions]. This causes the most pain and is also the source of suffering.

So, “we conceal our shortcomings and proclaim our virtues without self-reflection.” We cannot reflect on ourselves, so our minds constantly cover things up. We conceal our faults, we conceal the violations we have committed and the ones we have yet to commit. All these wrongdoings, past, present and future, are covered up by our minds. We just keep talking about our positive aspects. People who are like this refuse to reflect on themselves.

So, this comes out of “having Leaks. Having Leaks, we lack discipline and remorse.” We have allowed our pure intrinsic nature to leak out. We have allowed the rules we must uphold to leak out. We have allowed methods of practice like listening, contemplating, practicing and cultivating precepts, Samadhi and wisdom to leak out. We hear these teachings, but after hearing them, we do not contemplate them carefully. Even if we do contemplate them, we cannot put them into action. All this is due to our Leaks.

We let all these things leak away. The Dharma that we should be retaining is not retained in our minds. [Yet], our habitual tendencies and our dust-like delusions of views and thinking remain in our minds while the pure Dharma has completely leaked out. For this reason, we lack discipline.

So, we all have to remember, in our daily living, if we are self-disciplined people will see our demeanor and feel, “This is a spiritual practitioner!” So, spiritual cultivation is worthwhile because after we engage in this practice, our attitudes and demeanor will be different from those of most people. This is a virtue that is cultivated internally and manifested externally.

We must transform turbidity to purity, and no longer “have Leaks” or “lack discipline and remorse.” We must be remorseful right away and openly repent, so that our minds will be truly be purified. “When our turbidities are purified, we manifest our great potential.” If we can eliminate our turbidities, dust-like delusions of views and thinking, if we can eliminate all of these, our intrinsic nature will naturally manifest its great potential.

Sakyamuni Buddha actualized His potential because He attained enlightenment. He penetrated all truths of the universe, so His nature of True Suchness manifested its potential, and He repeatedly returns to this world. How can sentient beings’ ignorance be eliminated? With His love and compassion. He could not bear to let sentient beings suffer, so He returns to teach the Dharma. How can He stabilize sentient beings’ minds? How can He transform sentient beings and help them transcend this world full of turbidities? How can He help [their minds] be pure again?

As I walk outside every day, when I see the clear sky, my mind opens up as if it has been completely cleared. Yet, sometimes when I see that the clouds are thick and gray, or black, my heart feels heavy. This is how we ordinary people are [affected by] our external conditions. As for the Great Enlightened One, everything is clear and bright to Him. Even if there are clouds covering the sky, the sky’s nature is to be clear and bright. The universe itself is forever pure and clean, non-arising and non-ceasing, very free, much like the Buddha’s enlightened state.

Because of sentient beings’ afflictions and this world’s turbidities, the Buddha [comes here] out of compassion, but His intrinsic nature remains undefiled. Following the same principle, when we engage in spiritual practice we must practice this way; we must have compassion while among people, but not be polluted by their habitual tendencies.

As for wisdom, by learning to be understanding, we will not be polluted by other people’s habitual tendencies. We need to abide by precepts and rules to develop discipline and a dignified demeanor. We must work to [change] our habitual tendencies, so we do not act in ways that force other people to be understanding. “You need to be understanding of me!” If we all eliminate our habitual tendencies, naturally we do not need other people to be understanding of us. This is our fundamental discipline; this is our fundamental spiritual practice. If we can achieve all of this, “when our turbidities are purified, we manifest our great potential.”

In learning the Buddha’s teachings, we must learn to develop a mindset equal to His. If we cannot achieve the same mindset as Him, then we will always be ordinary people, always have delusions of views and thinking and dust-like delusions, hinder ourselves and others, and thus develop many afflictions. So, we must immediately seize the moment to reflect on ourselves, openly repent and quickly change our ways. We must manifest a dignified demeanor to be considered spiritual practitioners.

We often listen to our Commissioners and Faith Corp members share their personal stories with everyone. “In the past, I had these habitual tendencies, I was so bad. When people saw me, they felt strong resentment, hatred and aversion. Now everyone says I have changed a lot; everyone says I am more approachable. Everyone is happy to see me.” Other people will also testify, “He was such a bully in the past. When we saw him, we didn’t even want to come in contact with him. We would take a detour. People didn’t want to even walk where he had walked.” He was so terrible, [but] what about now? “Now he is different, he is very compassionate, always helping people. Now he looks younger and more approachable.” There is proof of this because many Tzu Chi volunteers say the same.

So, appearances arise from our minds. How can we help people get close to us? That depends on whether we can be someone we would not despise. We must not feel an aversion toward ourselves. Sometimes when we are wrong and we know it, [we think], “I hate that I did something wrong again. I really despise myself.” But then we just cover it up. We do not want this to be known and we do not reflect on it. If self-reflection leads to self-loathing, then why don’t we openly repent?

“I’m sorry, in the past, I was like this; I made this kind of error. I have done unforgiveable things toward you. Can you please forgive me?” By openly repenting in this way, we are broadening our own hearts as well. By forgiving ourselves, other people will be able to forgive us. If we are the kind of people we despise, then other people will definitely despise us. Thus, we have to be people who are truly and mindfully accepting of the Dharma and putting it into practice.

As we mentioned earlier, we must learn the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha-Dharma is still in this world, and we must apply it. These days I keep saying that we must apply the Dharma in this world. After we apply it, we must share the good things we learn.

For example, years ago when we built the hospital, many people put in a lot of work. It was very tiring. People, who themselves were not rich, who earned a living through manual labor, found more work in order to support the hospital. Someone even donated his beginning-of-the-year payment from physically doing hard labor. Kind people moved by these acts said, “To help fulfill your goal, I’ll lend you. NT

300,000 right away. I believe you will pay it off through your work. I believe in you. Not only do I believe in you, I will also do the same thing.” This is a mission that benefits others. People who do this beneficial work are Bodhisattvas. In this world, they actively apply the Dharma.

The Buddha teaches us to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity and understand how to transform sentient beings. This Dharma is so simple; how can we apply it to help others? Do we help one person or two people? Will this be a short-term or long-term project? This is what we must contemplate. To help one person, only a few people are needed. To save many people, many people are needed. If it will be a short-term project, [we can] simply tell them, “Here is how I will help resolve your problem.” Just doing that makes us happy. This is for the short-term. If we want to help them long-term, then we need to consider the rest of their lives and their future generations.

When a place experiences a disaster, after providing disaster relief, we help them construct shelters and [reestablish] their livelihood. In this way, the suffering of this generation will be relieved. Then, future generations will also benefit. Generation after generation, they will continue to lead safe and secure lives.

So, we must apply the Buddha’s words to ourselves, so we can continue to pass it on in many ways. The Dharma is infinite; from one arises infinity. One single teaching, one phrase of the Dharma, can be applied in various, infinite ways, so it remains in this world and teaches people. When people collectively apply the Dharma, it is living Dharma.

Yesterday we talked about how,

“[After] the Buddha has crossed into extinction, [there] is no Buddha present.” So. “After the Buddha crosses into extinction, those who accept, uphold, read, recite and understand the meaning of sutras such as this are very rare.”

People like this, who, after the Buddha is no longer in the world, after [He] crosses into extinction, can accept and uphold, read and recite, and understand [this sutra’s] meaning, are truly hard to find.

I constantly discuss how we read the sutras and [chant them] during morning recitations and so on. As we chant the sutras, do we think that by doing so the sutra will protect us? It will not. We chant a sutra in the hope that this sutra will not disappear. If we all continue to accept and uphold, read and recite it, this sutra will remain in this world.

By reading and reciting the text aloud, we strengthen our understanding. The mouth chants, the mind understands. We have to read it until we have memorized it to consider ourselves familiar with it. Once we can recite it from memory, then we can say that we have read and recited it. We must do both. As we read it, we need to recite it, repeating [the text] over and over again.

Sometimes, I see some people reading the sutras, but their lips do not move. Many people just look at the sutras without really reading them. “I do not hear anything. But I am reciting the sutra! How come I do not hear anything? I am reading it.” This is just reading, not reciting. To recite the sutras, we need our eyes to read them and we use our mouths to chant them. Otherwise we are only reading. Looking with our eyes is reading, chanting with our mouths is reciting. We must both read and recite at the same time.

Remembering teachings by just looking at them with our eyes is difficult. If we read until [recitation] becomes natural, that is because after we read it, we recited it, and thus we have memorized it.

So, we must [also] accept and uphold it. To accept and uphold, we need to read and recite. Only then can we accept and uphold. If we accept the Dharma, then we need to apply it to ourselves. This is known as accepting and upholding. If we only read, but do not recite, we are only reading the sutra, we are not accepting and upholding it. If we want to accept and uphold, besides reading and reciting, we also need to understand the meaning within. Yet, are there many people who understand? Probably not that many, so “they are very rare” and are very precious.

Those who truly accept, uphold, read and recite, and truly understand the meaning are hard to find, so they are very precious. When these people.

“Encounter other Buddhas, they will then obtain thorough understanding of this Dharma.”

If we can accept, uphold, read, recite and understand the meaning, even in times without Buddhas, we have sutras to read and recite, and can continuously realize their meaning. There is an old saying, “[He is] well-read from previous lives.” Indeed, many young children only need to read or be told something once to know it right away. We frequently [hear of] such child prodigies.

In summary, we really must believe that we read sutras not to ward off disasters or to protect ourselves, but to take [the principles] into our hearts to reach our nature.

To take them into our hearts and our nature is to accept and uphold them. If we can do this, even if we did not encounter the Buddha this time, “encountering other Buddhas” means we will encounter other Buddhas in future lifetimes, not Sakyamuni Buddha. Other Buddhas will come to this world and if we live at the same time as one of Them, if we can do this, we will “obtain thorough understanding of this Dharma.” We will be able to understand all of it.

Look at how, as Sakyamuni Buddha began to give the Lotus Teachings, 5000 people left the assembly. Many of the remaining people still could not really understand [the Dharma]. That requires having read, recited, accepted, upheld and understood its meaning. Though they had sutras to listen to and read, they were not mindful. So, we must know this and understand as much as we can in this life. Then if we encounter a Buddha in a future life, we will be transformed.

“If they encounter other Buddhas,” refers to how the Tathagata appears in the nine realms, not counting the Buddha-realm. Two days ago, I told everyone that including. Buddhas and sentient beings there are ten realms.

If they encounter other Buddhas: When the Tathagata encounter beings of the other nine Dharma-realms, in worlds as numerous as dust, He always teaches this Dharma to tame sentient beings and to enable them to return to the ocean of pure nature.

Aside from the Buddha realm, there are nine other realms. When He is in the other nine Dharma-realms, He uses His perspective as a Buddha to view these sentient beings. They live in worlds as numerous as dust, so there are myriad sentient beings. For these sentient beings, the Buddha “always teaches this Dharma to tame sentient beings to enable them to return to the ocean of pure nature.”

We all have the nature of ordinary people; dust-like delusions, ignorance and afflictions cover our minds. When the Buddha manifested in this world, sentient beings of the other nine Dharma-realms were in worlds as numerous as dust. Each speck of dust is like an entire world. [Worlds include land and oceans;] on our planet, the ocean is larger than the land mass. It is 60 percent ocean and 40 percent land. That is what I have heard. In summary, there are worlds as numerous as dust. You see, for these many sentient beings, the Buddha constantly comes to teach various Dharma, especially this Dharma. “This” refers to the great Dharma. What was this great Dharma? The One Vehicle Dharma, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way. It is just that simple.

So, [He came to] tame sentient beings. Because they are stubborn and hard to tame, He had to find ways for the Dharma to penetrate their minds, ways to train them. This enables people as numerous as dust to return to their intrinsic purity. We talk of the world of the Avatamsaka-assembly. The Avatamsaka state is already the state of the Buddha.

So, I hope we are all mindful as we learn the Buddha’s teachings. We must not be attached to the text; we must put it into practice in daily living. By understanding old teachings with new insight, everything is Dharma. The Dharma comes from very simple things and very simple teachings can be expanded to transform sentient beings. It can expand from a small to a very big scope. The Dharma can be pervasive in worlds as numerous as dust,

So, we must truly value the Buddha-Dharma and apply it in present times. We must encourage each other. Most importantly, we must eliminate our own delusions of views and thinking so we do not hinder ourselves or others. We must help one another perfect our practice. In the present time, in this era, we must promptly and always be mindful.

Episode 320 – Read and Recite for Understanding

---

>> Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas do not understand the Buddha’s intent. Their blessings and virtues are few, so they cannot accept great teachings. In times without Buddhas, one must diligently read and recite [sutras] and focus on understanding the meaning to extend one’s wisdom-life.

>> “Unless it is after the Buddha has crossed into cessation, when there is no Buddha present. Why is this? After the Buddha crosses into cessation, those who accept and uphold, read and recite, understand the meaning of sutras such as this are very rare.”

>> To read and recite: To read is to look at the text. To recite is to memorize the text. Reading and reciting while cultivating an internal state of still contemplation is like adding wood into the fire. It increases the illumination of the mind.

>> To understand the meaning: To truly understand what the Tathagata taught and the profound meaning of the Dharma in the sutras. From understanding, we establish practices. By engaging in spiritual practice that correspond with principles, we can promote great teachings. This is how we can attain Bodhi and really understand the principles in the sutras.

---

For our unenlightened minds to understand the Buddha’s mind, understanding and views, we still have a ways to go. However, the Buddha said that if we can turn our minds around, we can very quickly draw near the Buddha-mind. Even Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas can transform [their minds] and understand the Buddha-Dharma they encounter. However, after shortening the distance between themselves and the Buddha, they stopped at that point and just stood there, looking at the Buddha in the distance. Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas thought that the capacity of His mind, His understanding and views, His understanding are unique to and can only be attained by Buddhas like Sakyamuni. They thought they could only be recipients of His teachings, so they put a stop to their progress.

Thus in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha used the analogy of a conjured city. Although these disciples had the karmic conditions to receive the Buddha-Dharma, they got tired easily and would stop. So, He gave them a conjured city [to rest in]. However, the conjured city was not real. There was still a farther place that was the real and ultimate destination, a place of True Suchness where everything is clear and empty. We can reach that place from the state of unenlightened beings; as long as we are diligent, by transforming our minds, we can surpass Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas.

Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas do not understand the Buddha’s intent. Their blessings and virtues are few, so they cannot accept great teachings. In times without Buddhas, one must diligently read and recite [sutras] and focus on understanding the meaning to extend one’s wisdom-life.

Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas tend to limit themselves, so they are unable to move forward. Pratyekabuddhas do not understand the Buddha’s intent, thus they limit themselves to that position.

To engage in spiritual practice, we must cultivate both blessings and wisdom. By comprehending the Buddha’s understanding and views, [we attain] wisdom, which we must put into practice. By cultivating both blessings and wisdom, we can transform sentient beings.

Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats only seek to awaken themselves, so “their blessings and virtues are few. Virtue” is attained through interacting with and helping sentient beings without being influenced by them. These are the true merits and virtues cultivated by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who go among the people;

this requires “internal cultivation and external practice.” With internal cultivation, the mind can remain unaffected by external conditions. But our goal is to dedicate ourselves to [working in] those conditions. This will depend on the firmness of our resolve to engage in spiritual practice. The magnitude of the vow we make determines the strength of our aspirations. So, only with firm aspirations and great vows can we protect our minds. When our minds are well-protected, it will be safe to go among people.

So, Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas do not feel secure. They limit themselves and do not progress further. Thus, “their blessings and virtues are few, so they cannot accept great teachings.”

So, when the Buddha came to this world, He used the course of His life as an example for us to show that ordinary people can become Buddhas. We just need to follow His methods, form aspirations, maintain our resolve, engage in spiritual practice and so on. Each stage of His process is very clear, so we can follow in His footsteps.

The Buddha’s enlightenment encompasses the infinite things of the universe. He understands all the inconceivable people, matters and objects. So, we ought to learn the Buddha’s teachings and cultivate great blessings, great merits and great wisdom. Naturally, this is called great Dharma. Cultivating great blessings, merits and wisdom is [cultivating] great Dharma. We need to surpass the self-imposed boundaries of Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas. We must surpass this state by leaving the conjured city and diligently progressing toward ultimate reality.

If the Buddha is not in the world, like now, where can we find Him? Over 2000 years ago, the Buddha lived and entered Parinirvana in India. Though His Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya are no longer in the world, His Dharmakaya is still here. Yesterday, I mentioned that if we are earnest and diligent, the Buddha-Dharma will remain in the world. We must diligently read and recite [sutras] and focus on meticulously understanding the meaning of the sutra’s text. Extending our wisdom-life in this way is our mission as the Buddha’s disciples. If the Dharma is applicable to our times, then there is hope it can continue to be passed on.

The Buddha-Dharma can be constantly adapted to suit the needs of the times. If we mindfully take in the Dharma, it will be alive in our hearts, and we can apply it to the present time.

The Buddha often [referred to] experiences of. His spiritual practice in ancient times and applied them to the time in which He was teaching. For example, during the Buddha’s lifetime, in the Kingdom of Sravasti, there was a man whom we would call a thug, He was disobedient and unfilial. He loafed about, just eating, never holding down a job. He committed all kinds of crimes. So one day, the authorities arrested him. The king sentenced him to be executed.

As he was being taken to his death, causes and conditions came together and the Buddha happened to be leading a group of bhiksus into the city to beg for alms. They saw a group leading the criminal toward execution. When this evil young man saw the group of bhiksus from afar, he yelled loudly, “Oh, Buddha! Buddha, please save me!”

This evil person was named As-Wished. As-Wished saw the Buddha and yelled again, “Oh, Buddha! Save me! If I can be spared from death, I am willing to follow You as a monastic. I will diligently engage in spiritual practice. Oh Buddha, help me!”

The Buddha turned around and told Ananda, “Ananda, tell King [Bimbisara]. I request that he pardon this man and hand him over to me.” Ananda went to the king and explained the Buddha’s intention and His hope that he would pardon this man and let him live.

The king was a very devout Buddhist practitioner, willing to make offerings to the Buddha. Since the Buddha has asked him to spare this man’s life, turning the man over to Him was just like making an offering. [The king] was happy to pardon him. Thus, he could minimize his own killing while also making a respectful offering to the Buddha. If the Buddha could teach him and the world gain another spiritual practitioner, he would be glad to make this happen. Because of His deep devotion, he gave orders to pardon As-Wished.

Thus, As-Wished was set free. He was actually saved as he had wished. The gratitude he felt at that moment was very strong. In this new life, he was definitely going to form great aspirations, make great vows and diligently practice.

So, he followed the Buddha’s Sangha back to the abode and became ordained as a monastic. From then on, he did not waste a single second and diligently listened to the Dharma and earnestly practiced. Whether he was among others or with the Sangha, no matter how other people looked at him, or how they criticized him, he felt profound joy. “This dispels my karma! Thank you for teaching me!” With such humility and gratitude, he accepted the teachings. Within a short period of time, he attained the fruits of realization. Indeed, he eliminated all his afflictions.

Whether he was among others or with the Sangha, whenever people saw him, admiration arose in them, and they sincerely respected him. People intently discussed this. If As-Wished was such a terrible person, how could he aspire to spiritual practice? After changing his ways, initially he was despised by everyone who saw him. But now he was respected by all who saw him. Evidently, his mindset had changed, and he had attained fruits [of realization].

Ananda was among the bhiksus discussing this. So they asked Ananda to ask the Buddha about the kind of practice He had engaged in that allowed His words to be so powerful that a person was who about to be executed could be [pardoned] by the king; with one phrase from the Buddha, he was saved. Then this evil person was able to accept the Buddha’s teachings and change so much so quickly. What practice had the Buddha engaged in that could make this happen?

Ananda really went to ask the Buddha, who told His disciples the following story about how these blessings and virtues came from countless lifetimes ago. When Indradhvaja Buddha was in this world, He traveled and gave teachings. There was also a brahmacarin, who engaged in purifying practices. Although he was not yet a monastic, he engaged in another kind of spiritual practice, which was still a purifying practice. But when he saw Indradhvaja Buddha, he was filled with joy. Thus, he reverently made offerings to Him. He paid his respects with body and mind and made offerings with his body like offering flowers and fruits.

Indradhvaja Buddha saw that the brahmacarin reverently made offerings his with body and mind. Indradhvaja Buddha was joyful and asked him, “You have made offerings so wholeheartedly, do you have any requests?” The brahmacarin then said, “No, I do not. If I have any wish, it is to cultivate purifying practices forever. Pure body, speech and mind are what I hope to perfect in my future spiritual practice. I hope my speech will be virtuous and the Dharma I teach will be helpful to all beings. Transforming people with virtuous speech is what I seek to do. With pure body and mind and virtuous and perfect speech, everyone will happily listen to me and respect [my teaching]. If they respect it, they will diligently apply it to cultivate their body and mind. This is my only wish, to transform people with virtue of speech.”

The Buddha then said to everyone, “Do you know that brahmacarin is now me?” So, when Sakyamuni Buddha spoke, everyone who heard His Dharma-voice, even the king, naturally felt joy, respect and faith. Even such an evil person could also faithfully accept and practice the Dharma. For countless, incalculable lifetimes, life after life the Buddha cultivated virtuous speech by reading and reciting sutras, then putting them into practice. After reading and reciting teachings, putting them into practice is very important.

So, as previously stated in the sutras, the Buddha said,

“Unless it is after the Buddha has crossed into cessation, when there is no Buddha present. Why is this? After the Buddha crosses into cessation, those who accept and uphold, read and recite, understand the meaning of sutras such as this are very rare.”

In eras without Buddhas, people who accept and uphold, read and recite and understand the meaning of [sutras], those who are so mindful, are very rare. When the Buddha is not in the world, we must have faith in and apply the Dharma. We must have great respect for it. Similarly, when I enter the Great Hall, if I hear everyone reciting together, harmoniously and in unison, as if with one voice, that shows that everyone is diligently practicing. When we recite the sutra aloud, our minds are in a state of still contemplation.

To read and recite is to look at the sutra text. We ought to read it out loud. We have to do this repeatedly to take it to heart.

To read and recite: To read is to look at the text. To recite is to memorize the text. Reading and reciting while cultivating an internal state of still contemplation is like adding wood into the fire. It increases the illumination of the mind.

We must repeatedly read a text until we do not need to look at the words to know it. When we memorize something, we take it to heart. So, the benefit of reciting sutras is that they will be imprinted in our minds. Reciting sutras will not eliminate our problems, but it can imprint [teachings] in our minds. If we memorize [the text], we will not commit wrongdoings. When we memorize sutra texts, naturally we will have good character. We do not recite sutras to eliminate our problems, but to enhance our memory and develop our wisdom.

So, looking at and memorizing sutras is called reading and reciting. Meanwhile, we are in a state of still contemplation. When we recite sutras, our minds cannot wander. Our minds need to follow the text and contemplate the Dharma. So, we “cultivate internal still contemplation.” After we finish reciting sutras, we commit them to memory and imprint them in our hearts. This is internal cultivation.

As our minds become still, we recite sutra texts. We use internal stillness and external recitation. Reading and reciting [brings] internal stillness; internal stillness [aids] reading and reciting. This is like boiling water. Before the water boils, we need to add firewood. After adding firewood, the water can boil quickly. This is similar to chanting sutras out loud, so they enter our hearts. “It increases illumination of the mind.”

In a state of stillness, we must recite the sutra loudly. Reciting loudly allows other people to join in, so we can harmonize our voices to theirs. Then we will be of one mind and chant in one voice to show that our minds are focused. With a still mind, I will listen to your chanting, and you will listen to my chanting, so our voices can blend together, and our minds can become more illuminated. As you recite and I recite, our clear voices will resonate in the air to evoke joy in others. With internal cultivation and external practice, we can benefit each other. When our voices are clear, we are truly reading and reciting the sutra. When reading a sutra, we must understand it.

Understanding its meaning is to really understand the Tathagata’s teaching. We must understand the extremely profound meaning of the Dharma; we cannot just read, recite and memorize it. If the Dharma is not in our minds, we cannot put it into practice. Then we do not [really know] the Dharma.

To understand the meaning: To truly understand what the Tathagata taught and the profound meaning of the Dharma in the sutras. From understanding, we establish practices. By engaging in spiritual practice that correspond with principles, we can promote great teachings. This is how we can attain Bodhi and really understand the principles in the sutras.

In learning the Dharma, we also hope to cultivate virtuous speech so that after we comprehend it, when we share it with others, they will faithfully accept and practice it. Dear Bodhisattvas, to learn the Bodhisattva-path, we must not remain in the state of. Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas or have their self-imposed limitations. We must surpass this state and move toward the state of Buddhahood, a state that is non-arising and non-ceasing, tranquil and clear. This is what we must truly seek. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 319 – Eliminating Delusions and Crossing Samsara

---

>> Once awakened, we begin to practice, to cultivate Bodhi. Our spiritual practice takes place in a straightforward mind, leading to the ultimate. With faith, understanding and practice, we realize the Bodhisattva-path.

>> [They] claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before achieving ultimate Nirvana. They do not further resolve to seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. You should know that they are the ones with overbearing arrogance. Why is this so? If a bhiksu has actually attained Arhatship but does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.

>> “Unless it is after the Buddha has crossed into cessation, when there no Buddha is present. Why is this?”

>> After the Buddha crosses into cessation, there is no longer a Buddha in the world. Thus, there are no Buddhas in the world to expound the wondrous Dharma.

>> “It means Nirvana, cessation of delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance.”

>> Crossing into cessation [refers to] “crossing the two kinds of samsara, fragmentary and transformational.”

---

Once awakened, we begin to practice, to cultivate Bodhi.
Our spiritual practice takes place in a straightforward mind, leading to the ultimate.
With faith, understanding and practice, we realize the Bodhisattva-path.

I am always thinking about the Dharma and daily living, about how we can integrate the Dharma into our daily living and manifest it in our actions. This is something we. Buddhist practitioners must do. But, as we learn the Dharma and engage in spiritual practice, will we naturally integrate the teachings into our daily living? Of course, I hope everybody can do this.

Therefore, “once awakened,” we realize that life is impermanent. When we understand the truth of the Dharma and can take it to heart, we can return to our pure intrinsic nature, as long as we have faith. “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” With faith, we can begin to gradually realize that everything in life happens in a state of impermanence.

With faith and realizations, we will naturally “begin to practice.” We begin to believe the Buddha’s teachings and understand how life can change in an instant. Once we realize this, naturally we can cultivate a deep faith. As we deepen our faith, naturally we will attain deeper realizations. When we have faith and realizations, then we “begin to practice.” We move from faith to realization, from realization to practice. To put the teachings into practice, we cultivate the Bodhi.

We internally cultivate and externally practice. Our minds cannot deviate from this path. The Dharma we hear today can be integrated with our external conditions, but isn’t this impermanent? When we integrate it with external conditions, isn’t there still a lot that we do not understand? By interacting with other people, we hear them share their experiences of integrating the Dharma under various conditions.

Take our [media staff] as an example. They came back to report on how they have witnessed that each country has its unique culture and way of life. This is what the Buddha described as the variety and diversity of the world. Based on the law of karma, we are born with circumstantial retribution and direct retribution into different environments and we encounter different causes and conditions. These all vary greatly. Indeed, this is life, which is full of suffering.

We see many places filled with suffering and many suffering people. Who can extend love and care to those suffering and assist them in their recovery? This cannot be achieved by only a few people; it must be done by the majority of people.

Therefore, in our hearts, we must believe that in the world there are all kinds of conditions, not all of which we can see. But in this world, as Tzu Chi staff and volunteers can go to various locations and collect [different stories], we can clearly verify this teaching of the Buddha. So, we move from faith to realization, from realization to practice. This requires external practices and internal cultivation, and faith in the Buddha’s teachings.

With positive affinities, we gather people’s love for the suffering, so they can be saved. On the Bodhi-path, we must cultivate both blessings and wisdom. In doing good deeds, we must cultivate wisdom. As we cultivate wisdom, we must also create blessings. This is the only way to unite so many people.

How can we practice on this Bodhi-path? It should be very easy. Thus, “Our spiritual practice takes place in a straightforward mind.” We must have a “straightforward mind.” Whatever the Buddha says, whatever Dharma [He teaches,] is what we must believe and put in into practice. This is having “a straightforward mind.” We must believe that “our spiritual practice takes place in a straightforward mind.” If we have a straightforward mind, we can be single-mindedly focused on our mission to walk the great, straight Bodhi-path until we reach the ultimate state. The ultimate state is the state of Buddhahood.

Indeed, I always say the Buddha is in our minds. However, this Bodhi-path is also in our minds. If the path to enlightenment exists in our minds, then Bodhi is in us. Most importantly, we must [take good care of] every thought that arises. Whenever we give rise to the slightest thought, it should not deviate from this awakened path.

We ordinary people constantly give rise to greed, anger, ignorance and interpersonal conflict. If we can turn our minds around, we can always think of suffering sentient beings and ways we can relieve their suffering. This requires us to engage in spiritual practice. With spiritual practice comes karmic conditions,

so with “faith, understanding and practice, we realize the Bodhi-path.” If we have faith, we will truly understand that our every thought must remain on the Bodhi-path. Every step we take must be on this straight path. Only with this kind of “faith” can we walk this Bodhi-path, see the beautiful scenery around it and realize the Buddha’s teachings.

[We move through] faith, understanding, practice and realization. “Realization” means as we walk the Bodhi-path, we can really experience the state of the Dharma. The Buddha’s teachings are perfectly applicable to all people, matters and objects in the universe. When we understand how the Dharma relates to people, matters and objects, our state of mind will be peaceful and free. Thus, we will naturally, diligently and earnestly walk the Bodhisattva-path.

On the Bodhisattva-path, we not only know the suffering of the world, we also understand the workings of the law of karma. Thus we must diligently practice the Six Paramitas. If we are mindful of what we hear, we will understand the truth of suffering. Then we are [at the level of] Hearers. If we transcend the state of Hearers, we understand the law of karma and the impermanence of the world. Then we are [at the level of] Solitary Realizers. If we transcend the state of Solitary Realizers and practice the Six Paramitas, we are on the Bodhisattva-path. Immersed in the Buddha-Dharma, we must diligently walk the path without stopping. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

The previous sutra passage discusses this point. Some spiritual practitioners “claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before achieving ultimate Nirvana.” If we think we have attained [the ultimate,] we will not want to move forward. Earlier the sutra mentioned that we must understand that the Buddha comes to the world for one cause, to teach the Bodhisattva Way. He comes to do one thing, to teach us to be Bodhisattvas, not just to be Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Most importantly, His ultimate goal is to teach us to walk the Bodhisattva-path. However, many people stop [before this]. They feel, “This is enough. I am already dwelling in my final body.”

[They] claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before achieving ultimate Nirvana. They do not further resolve to seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. You should know that they are the ones with overbearing arrogance. Why is this so? If a bhiksu has actually attained Arhatship but does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.

We already know about the “final body.” If we believe that after this life, we will not cycle through the Six Realms again, that we have not created more affinities, and that our hearts are already pure, then we are assuming that we are in our “final body,” that we have already attained ultimate Nirvana. If so, we “do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” We are unwilling to walk to the highest place, to the end of the path. We are very content in this conjured city, unaware that it is illusory and that we should keep moving forward to reach the ultimate state of truth. But we have stopped. “They do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” We must all put our hearts into realizing this.

We must recognize “those with overbearing arrogance. Why is this so? If a bhiksu has actually attained Arhatship” but does not believe in this Dharma…. “This Dharma” is the Bodhisattva Way. If we do not faithfully accept that the Buddha comes to the world to teach us that we can all become Bodhisattvas and to teach us to walk the Bodhisattva-path to ultimately attain Buddhahood, if we do not believe this, “[we] have not attained that state.” In this way, we cannot reach that state. We will not reach the ultimate state of Buddhahood because we have stopped at a conjured city, which is not the ultimate place.

Then this sutra passage states,

“Unless it is after the Buddha has crossed into cessation, when there no Buddha is present. Why is this?”

After the Buddha crosses into cessation, there is no longer a Buddha in the world. What happens then? If the Buddha crosses into cessation; there is no Buddha in the world. Didn’t Sakyamuni Buddha also cross into cessation? Over 2000 years ago, He entered Parinirvana. However, the Dharma still remains in this world. If we truly have faith, the Dharmakaya (Dharma-body) will remain here. This depends on our faith. If we have faith in this Dharma, the Dharma continues to live. Left here by the spirit of the Buddha, the Dharma is alive.

After the Buddha crosses into cessation, there is no longer a Buddha in the world. Thus, there are no Buddhas in the world to expound the wondrous Dharma.

If people do not believe the Dharma, [we only have] words on a page, just those things described by “Such I have heard.” Thus, “such was said, such was heard.” Is just knowing what was said and heard effective?

When the Buddha was in this world, everybody listened to Him. After listening, if they did not advance further, He said, “They are not disciples of the Buddha.” Even when the Buddha taught in person, people with “overbearing arrogance” refused to believe Him and faithfully accept and practice the Dharma. So, the Buddha said those with “overbearing arrogance” were not His disciples.

Before the Buddha crossed into cessation over 2000 years ago, He said that when He leaves, “There will be no Buddhas in the world to expound the wondrous Dharma.” With this, He cautioned everyone, “If, at this moment, you do not faithfully accept and practice” and still have overbearing arrogance, once He crosses into Parinirvana, no one will come to explain this wondrous Dharma. If they did not believe in [this Dharma] now, in the future no one would be teaching it.

What does “crossing into cessation” mean? For those who hear this term every day,

“It means Nirvana, cessation of delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance.”

These Three Delusions are very subtle. Delusions of views refers to people’s perspectives.

Changing a person’s views and understanding is not easy. We all know the truth of this principle. Indeed, just speaking of ourselves, is it easy for other people to change our views and understanding? Changing another person’s views and understanding is even more difficult.

Therefore, [the delusion of] “view” is the turbidity of view in the Five Turbidities. This is the turbidity of view; the turbidity of afflictions is [the delusion of thinking]. The turbidity of afflictions is in our understanding and thinking. When we deviate in our perspective, our minds will rise to greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. These all come from our “views” and “thinking.”

“Dust-like” means there are countless subtle afflictions. They are truly subtle, fine and pervasive. I often hear people say, “I just cleaned this morning. I just mopped the floor and wiped the table; why do they feel dusty to the touch again? I shut the windows very tightly; how did dust get in?” Indeed, dust and sand can get into everything. We can see how subtle and fine they are. Very subtle afflictions are dust-like delusions.

These three types of delusions make our spiritual practice very difficult, and they make it hard for the Buddha to transform people in this world. Sentient beings are replete with the difficulties of delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance. These delusions obstruct sentient beings’ minds.

From other people’s perspective, our methods are clearly incorrect. But we stubbornly insist that everything we do is completely correct. This is self-obstruction, or delusion. Other people can see the things we do wrong, but we insist we are not wrong. Therefore, our understandings are different. “I am clearly right; how can you say I am wrong? My method is correct. How can you say I am incorrect?” Thus a conflict arises. “You say my understanding is erroneous. I say your thinking is erroneous.” In this way, we obstruct one another. We obstruct ourselves as well as others. This mutual obstruction comes from delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance. These are three subtle kinds of delusions. Delusions are obstructions. To cross into cessation, we must extinguish delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance. We must eliminate them. This is the meaning of “cessation;” our afflictions are thoroughly eliminated. Ignorance deludes sentient beings, so we must quickly eliminate it.

Crossing into cessation [refers to] “crossing the two kinds of samsara, fragmentary and transformational.”

Ordinary people go through “fragmentary samsara.” After our karmic conditions in this life end, we still have conditions that lead to future lives. Then, without any control, we will be led by the law of karmic cause and effect. Each lifetime is a fragment. If spiritual practitioners have not eliminated their afflictions, they will be led by their karmic causes and conditions. This is “fragmentary samsara.”

There is also “transformational samsara. [They] claim to have attain Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies.” These people have ended their “fragmentary samsara” but they still experience “transformational samsara.” These people only care about themselves, do not want to open up their minds and do not want to thoroughly understand the principles of all things in the universe. They just close themselves off in their own bodies, saying, “I don’t want to form bad affinities.” Thus, they are unwilling to interact with people, to broaden their hearts and comprehend further worldly and world-transcending teachings.

Though they no longer experience “fragmentary samsara” and do not create negative causes and conditions, they still go through “transformational samsara,” and their viewpoint is still selfish. They still only care about themselves, without any regard for sentient beings. If this is the case, this is not the ultimate;

they have not really crossed into cessation. Attaining that state is called crossing into cessation. The crossing of the Buddha into cessation is Parinirvana. But His Parinirvana ends “transformational samsara,” so He can freely come and go. With a spacious heart, He freely comes and goes. So, He is still the founder of [Buddhism], the kind father of the Four Forms of Birth and the guiding teacher of sentient beings. He is still here because His Dharma is still in the world. As long as we all put the Dharma into practice, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya will still be here.

As for the Dharma, if we only have “such have I said, such have I heard” and after hearing it, we do not apply it, then the Dharma is not alive. If we do not have faith and if we do not truly understand the Dharma, no matter how much of it we read or chant, it will not be helpful to us at all. Therefore, when we listen to the Dharma, we must take it to heart and integrate it into our daily living. Only by doing this are we faithfully accepting the Dharma. So as we are on this Bodhi-path, we must advance diligently, and we must always be mindful.

Episode 318 – Faith Gives Rise to Practice

---

>> Those with limited capabilities are lost and confused. The obstruction of delusions of ignorance is their mind’s hidden flaw. They proclaim their own virtues without reflecting on themselves. Thus, they lack remorse and shame.>> “[They] are not disciples of the Buddha, nor are they Arhats, nor are they Pratyekabuddhas.”

>> As for bhiksus, “those bhiksus and bhiksunis who claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before achieving ultimate Nirvana….”

>> They do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. You should know that they are the ones with overbearing arrogance.

>> “Why is this? If a bhiksu has actually attained Arhatship but does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.”

>> If a bhiksu had actually attained Arhatship: Regarding the Buddha Vehicle, whether they have turned from the Small [Vehicle] to the Great, or have not yet begun to do so, they must strongly believe in the meaning of the Great Vehicle.

>> “[If he] does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.” This means “he did not truly attain the fruits of the Two Vehicles and is a person with overbearing arrogance.”

>> Here, it is said that the Buddha gives teachings based on principles and capabilities. Presently, those with overbearing arrogance do not believe in or listen to the Right Dharma. They are lacking karmic conditions, so they cannot be transformed by the Buddha. Yet, the World-Honored One still tirelessly adapts teachings according to conditions.

---

I often think of how a human’s four limbs and five senses work in a very simple way, yet the mind is always very complicated. Some people are straightforward; their minds are calm and still. Some people’s minds waver frequently; their thoughts surge like waves in the sea. Things are clearly so simple; how can people have such complicated thoughts? We are all human, but some of us have complicated [thoughts], and some have simple [thoughts].

So, the Buddha said that sentient beings with limited capabilities are lost and confused. Our minds have been covered and obscured. Our originally pure and bright Buddha-nature has been covered by delusion. Take our eyes for example. We can naturally see very clearly, but if we tie a piece of cloth around our eyes with a rope, we cannot see the world around us. If we cannot see our surroundings, walking will be very dangerous. Thus, [those with] limited capabilities are lost and confused. Their minds are covered by ignorance and delusions.

Those with limited capabilities are lost and confused. The obstruction of delusions of ignorance is their mind’s hidden flaw. They proclaim their own virtues without reflecting on themselves. Thus, they lack remorse and shame.

“The obstruction of delusions of ignorance is their mind’s hidden flaw.” We all have faults, which are our habitual tendencies. These habitual tendencies are influenced by our delusions of ignorance, which obstruct our nature of True Suchness. It is precisely this slight obstruction of delusion, this flaw in our minds, that prevents us from seeing clearly. We often “proclaim [our] own virtues without reflecting on ourselves.”

We all want to tell other people about our strong points and demonstrate that we are talented. We all have this fault. If we do something wrong, we cover it up to prevent people from knowing about it. Clearly, we have done something wrong, but we are unwilling to admit it. We make illogical arguments to prove that we did not do anything wrong. “I am very capable, and I want everyone to know that.” Meanwhile, we are always trying to cover up our shortcomings. This is our problem of “[not] reflecting on ourselves.”

As ordinary people, who among us has never committed wrongs? Who has never deviated in their thinking? We have all held erroneous views; we have all committed wrongs. Wrongdoings are commonplace; the only difference is whether they were major or minor wrongs, large or small deviations. But all of us have this problem of “proclaiming our own virtues without reflecting on ourselves.” Those with more severe [faults] are people who lack remorse and shame. If we are without remorse, then we will never be able to change.

[Those with] limited capabilities [think], “I am fine the way I am. I already know a lot. This is just how I am.” They are unwilling to advance [in their practice]. These sentient beings with limited capabilities are lost and confused. They are still obstructed by ignorance; their minds are still closed.

We are all the same, all obstructed by the delusions of ignorance. We always obstruct ourselves. Yesterday, I said that we are obstructing ourselves. Who is obstructing us? It is ourselves; we are obstructing ourselves.

We may know someone who is very talented, but sadly the person has a very [bad] temperament and is very stubborn and attached. Though they are talented, this is a pity. It is a pity that in their minds, they still have mental ailments and have not changed their habitual tendencies. Though they are talented and others admire them, their habitual tendencies keep others away. No one dares to bare their hearts and speak truthfully to them.

If we have great talent and are very arrogant and proud, we may often marginalize others and say only we are correct. Because of this flaw in our hearts, no one will be willing to trust or work with us. This is also a problem. To “proclaim our own virtues without reflecting on ourselves” is very problematic. Talented? Yes we are! But if we focus too much on that, we will always think less of others. If we are unwilling to reflect on ourselves, then we will never be successful. When we have a talent, we want to everyone to know about it. But though everyone may know about our talents, we still have a shortcoming, which is our lack of virtue. Because we have not reflected on ourselves, we do not detect [this shortcoming]. Indeed, we [promote ourselves] shamelessly.

I hope that we spiritual practitioners will be even more diligent in our practice, simplify our thoughts and move forward. Since we know what the Buddha-Dharma is, we must quickly simplify things. A simplified mind is like a crystal, truly clear and free of flaws. We must not retain defilements in our minds. Our minds must be pure so that we do not obstruct ourselves and others. We must earnestly, constantly reflect on ourselves so that we do not harm ourselves. Harming ourselves will also not benefit others.

We must always be remorseful and repentant. Being remorseful, we will correct our faults. Being repentant, we can work well with others. If we are not remorseful or repentant, we will forever be lonely and find it hard to interact with other people.

So, the previous sutra passage stated,

“[They] are not disciples of the Buddha, nor are they Arhats, nor are they Pratyekabuddhas.” The Buddha then reasserted in particular that,

As for bhiksus, “those bhiksus and bhiksunis who claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before achieving ultimate Nirvana….”

They believed that they were “dwelling in their final bodies” and had understood the Buddha-Dharma clearly. They thought once they left that body, they would enter Great Nirvana. Great Nirvana meant that they would not go through cyclic existence again, that their current body was their final one.

Indeed, when our current bodies grow old, we will pass away, and that is the end of this life. Are we actually confident that we will not return to cyclic existence in the Six Realms? If so, we are claiming to have attained and realized what we have not. We may believe we are “in our final bodies.” We may believe we have reached ultimate Nirvana. [We think] we understand everything clearly and that our minds are at peace, but is that so?

Earlier, I mentioned that many afflictions and problems are still hidden in and obscuring our minds. If we have not reflected on ourselves, nor earnestly contemplated our nature, if we have not even done this, we cannot say we have attained Arhatship or have become Pratyekabuddhas. We have not yet attained that purity.

So, “they do not resolve to further seek.” If we are so arrogant as to think we have attained it all, we will not want to move ahead and will stop at the conjured city because we think we have found the treasure. The Lotus Sutra addresses this later.

They do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. You should know that they are the ones with overbearing arrogance.

“They do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” Only now are we starting to walk on the path to supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment, because only now has the Buddha begun to “set aside the provisional for the true teachings.” He announced that the Small Vehicle, the provisional teachings, were skillful means, and He was only now about to teach the true path.

This tells us that we must now work hard to eliminate the obstructions that have been covering our minds. As for the problems hidden in our minds, we must always reflect on ourselves to promptly be aware of them. We must not think that we have attained and understood everything. We must not think this way. We are just beginning [our practice]. We must not [be the ones who] “do not resolve to further seek.” We now must “resolve to seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

The Buddha said that those who “do not resolve to further seek” are unwilling to advance further and want to stop at their current location, which is only a conjured city. The Buddha has begun to reveal that we are in a conjured city and must keep walking to reach the true treasure. So, we ourselves must earnestly reflect on ourselves. Do we want to simply stop here and no longer advance diligently?

Supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. I have discussed this before. The Buddha said that those who think they are in their final bodies and have reached ultimate Nirvana, are people with “overbearing arrogance. Why is this?” The next passage in the sutra states,

“Why is this? If a bhiksu has actually attained Arhatship but does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.”

If we say, “I have already attained [Arhatship],” we believe we have really attained it. “If a bhiksu” refers to bhiksus who have truly attained Arhatship. But some of them did not believe in “this Dharma,” the true One Vehicle Dharma that was about to be taught. The Buddha had already spent a long time praising all Buddhas’ understanding and views and the One Vehicle Dharma. If a person is unwilling to believe it, “he has not attained that state.” He is not a real Arhat.

A real Arhat would certainly have faith, would believe in provisional teachings of the past and true teachings of the future. As this is now being taught, people must believe in this True Dharma. If they refuse to believe it, they are conceited and overbearingly arrogant, stopping at the stage they are in. Thus, they are not disciples of the Buddha.

․If a bhiksu had actually attained Arhatship: Regarding the Buddha Vehicle, whether they have turned from the Small [Vehicle] to the Great, or have not yet begun to do so, they must strongly believe in the meaning of the Great Vehicle.

“If a bhiksu had actually attained Arhatship….” These lines of the sutra have to do with teaching the Buddha Vehicle. Now [these practitioners] had to turn from the Small [Vehicle] to the Great. Originally, they practiced the Small Vehicle, seeking only to awaken themselves. After the Buddha gave the Great Vehicle teachings, they believed in it, so they turned around to head toward the Great Vehicle. [They may have] “turned from the Small [Vehicle] to the Great.”

“[Some] had not yet begun to do so.” Some knew of the Great Vehicle Dharma but had not yet begun to practice, had not yet put the teachings into practice. But now “they must strongly believe in the meaning of the Great Vehicle.” They had to believe it. They must go beyond, “I know, I understand” and carefully consider it; they must seriously contemplate it. They must realize that before stepping out and taking action, their direction must be correct. So, their faith must be deep and correct, and they must put themselves on the right course to put the teachings into practice.

“[If he] does not believe in this Dharma, he has not attained that state.” This means “he did not truly attain the fruits of the Two Vehicles and is a person with overbearing arrogance.”

If people do not believe in this Dharma, they have not truly attained the fruits of the Two Vehicles,

Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas. Arhats, those who have truly attained the fruit of Arhatship, have already purified themselves and eliminated all afflictions. After they eliminated afflictions and focused on their own awakening, their minds were very pure, so surely they would believe the Buddha’s teachings. But if they gave rise to self-arrogance or overbearing arrogance, which are afflictions, would such Arhats have pure minds? They still have overbearing arrogance, so they do not believe. How could they be true Arhats? True Arhats have eliminated afflictions, have no obstructions. So, how can they have “overbearing arrogance”? The aforementioned ones who “did not believe in this Dharma” are all overbearingly arrogant people.

Next, we discuss Pratyekabuddhas, who have surpassed Arhats. Arhats are Hearers. When the Buddha speaks, they listen, believe and practice. This is what Arhats do. But when Pratyekabuddhas observe the world, they can naturally realize the impermanence of all things and how things go through infinitesimal changes. They can even clearly understand the law of karma. If they had not eliminated afflictions, how could they have such a clear understanding? Since they had eliminated afflictions, how could they be “overbearingly arrogant”?

Therefore, if someone claims to be a real Arhat, but does not believe in this Dharma, whether he says he is an Arhat or Pratyekabuddha “he has not attained that state.” He is still “overbearingly arrogant” and has not attained the fruits of the Two Vehicles. The Buddha disavowed people like them,

saying, “These are not disciples of the Buddha.” They were not His disciples because they had not really eliminated the ignorance and afflictions in their hearts. Those who claim to be Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, those overbearingly arrogant people, were not taught by Him and were not His disciples.

The Buddha has spoken so seriously, how can we not awaken? So, we must have deep faith in [this Dharma].

Here, it is said that the Buddha gives teachings based on principles and capabilities. Presently, those with overbearing arrogance do not believe in or listen to the Right Dharma. They are lacking karmic conditions, so they cannot be transformed by the Buddha. Yet, the World-Honored One still tirelessly adapts teachings according to conditions.

“The Buddha gives teachings based on principles and capabilities.” We must have faith in the Buddha’s teachings, for they are “based on principles.” Indeed, they are true! People, matters and objects all contain principles. The Buddha’s teachings, whether about people or objects, are all based on true principles. When He teaches based on capabilities to people of various and limited capacities, the Buddha gives simple teachings to [illustrate these principles]. Thus, He established skillful means. But teachings based on capabilities do not deviate from principles; they are based on principles and capabilities.

Those with “overbearing arrogance” do not hear and have faith in Right Dharma. The Buddha cannot transform those who lack karmic conditions, those who have weak karmic connections with Him. They clearly encountered the Buddha-Dharma, heard the Buddha-Dharma themselves, but their conditions were insufficient, so they held on to their attachments. Sentient beings are stubborn, and they obstruct themselves. People who do not believe in or do not hear. Right Dharma and are lacking karmic conditions cannot be taught or transformed by the Buddha.

But the World-Honored One is patient and earnest. He does not abandon any sentient beings. Anyone can make mistakes, so He is forgiving of everyone. He still wants to guide and transform them. He awaits the opportune time to come and transform people; he has to teach in accord with the changing causes and conditions.

Sometimes I think about how hard the Buddha had to work. Though He was enlightened, He was still concerned because sentient beings still had afflictions. Afflictions come from ignorance, but concern [is different]. So, when beings are ignorant and afflicted, the Buddha is concerned about them. So, He constantly comes to the world to find opportunities to transform them according to the time and to their problems. The Buddha frequently comes and works hard. Thus we, His disciples, must vow to seek supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment and not stop at our current stage. Nor can we be conceited or arrogant.

We cannot lack faith; we must believe. Without faith in the Great Vehicle Dharma, we will not believe that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and will not believe that walking the Bodhisattva-path to transform sentient beings is the way to attain Buddhahood. If we do not believe [in this Dharma,] we have not thoroughly understood these principles. So, we must always be mindful to completely comprehend these principles. Everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 317 – Our Final Incarnation in Samsara

---

>> Among the fourfold assembly are those with overbearing arrogance and without faith. Monastics who are cultivating the path may believe they attained something they have not. Thus, they give rise to overbearing arrogance.

>> “Sariputra, it should be known that those bhiksus and bhiksunis who claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before attaining ultimate Nirvana, and thus do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, are those with overbearing arrogance.”

>> Dwelling in their final bodies: The final incarnation in samsara. Arhats and Bodhisattvas of the highest level are in their final bodies, which is the final incarnation before attaining Buddhahood.

>> Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi used to be translated as: unsurpassed and perfect omniscience, unsurpassed, perfect and omniscient awakening, true and perfect omniscience, the unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles. New translation: Unsurpassed, perfect and universal enlightenment. True, universal, perfect enlightened knowledge is unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles.

>> “They claimed to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies.” This body is their final incarnation in samsara thus it is called their “final body.”

---

From sunrise to sunset, day becomes night. We rest at night, but soon it is day again. For those of us who wake up early, if we pay close attention, we will know the times of sunrise and sunset, and we can understand the workings of the universe.

I was standing outside, and as I turned around slowly, before I walked through the door, I saw the bamboo-shaped custom windows of the staircase and through them. I saw out onto the long corridor. As I looked to the end of the corridor, I thought, “No matter how much time we have, compared to the universe, it is nothing.” As I look down the corridor, no matter how far it extends, there is still an end to it. Our life is so insignificant, especially since we can only see things on the surface, things close to us. We cannot see very far. How can we not take advantage of waking up early the morning to practice diligently?

We must cherish the time we have. Compared to the universe, indeed, our lives are quite short, When we think of this, we should always promptly subdue our minds, because our minds can easily give rise to overbearing arrogance. Overbearing arrogance is an obstruction for us spiritual practitioners. If we have overbearing arrogance, we cannot move forward.

Among the fourfold assembly are those with overbearing arrogance and without faith. Monastics who are cultivating the path may believe they attained something they have not. Thus, they give rise to overbearing arrogance.

Ordinary people also have overbearing arrogance. And spiritual practitioners have overbearing arrogance and lack of faith. They do not thoroughly apply Right Dharma. We are fortunate enough to encounter the subtle and wondrous Dharma, which is “difficult to encounter in millions of kalpas.” So, once we have encountered the Right Dharma, we must have faith in it. Yet instead we have overbearing arrogance, so we obstruct ourselves. We do not continue to progress, and we are not mindful to faithfully accept and practice [Dharma]. This is where we fall short; it is our biggest obstacle and arose from overbearing arrogance and lack of faith.

This is prevalent “among the fourfold assembly.” The fourfold assembly of Buddhist practitioners include the two groups of lay people and two groups of monastics. Most of them have overbearing arrogance and lack of faith. This kind of self-obstructing mindset is found to some degree in the entire assembly.

Monastics are those “cultivating the path.” What path are they cultivating? The Bodhi-path. Since we aspire to engage in spiritual practice, we must step onto the Bodhi-path. Those who continue to learn the Buddha-Dharma must continue to walk this path. But with their first step, they begin to feel self-important, and overbearing arrogance arises; then they “believe they attained something they have not.” They have the false belief that they have already attained everything, so they give rise to overbearing arrogance. We must always guard against this feeling and be vigilant.

We may listen to similar teachings every day, but after we listen to them, do we commit them to memory? Do we inscribe them on our hearts? Do our hearts and minds remember what we have heard? Do we understand and remember every sentence of every teaching we hear? Just yesterday and today, how much have we heard? And how much have we retained? Furthermore, how much have we understood? And how much of that have we practiced?

If we can reflect upon ourselves, how much of the teachings remain and have not leaked out of our minds? How much have we actually retained? If we constantly reflect on ourselves and carefully contemplate, although the Bodhi-path we walk on stretches into the distance and seems to be endless, as long as we move forward step by step without stopping, eventually we will reach its end.

As long as we take care of our minds, despite the Leaks and our forgetfulness, we will remain on the right path, and we will not easily develop overbearing arrogance,

Overbearing arrogance is the greatest obstacle to our progress. As the Buddha said, “they are not disciples of the Buddha.” If spiritual practitioners obstruct themselves and “claim to have attained something they have not,” then the Buddha would say that they are “not disciples of the Buddha.” We should take these words very seriously and

truly feel the weight of these words. When I read this sutra text, I felt remorseful and repentant. Am I really qualified to be the Buddha’s disciple? Have I reach the state of Arhats or Pratyekabuddhas? And, am I still willing to continue forward? If not, I am not a disciple of the Buddha, let alone an Arhat or Pratyekabuddha.

We in the fourfold assembly must be cautious because “among the fourfold assembly are those with overbearing arrogance and without faith.” Therefore, we must guard our minds well and prevent overbearing arrogance from arising in our minds. We must not allow it to enter our views and understanding either. We must quickly eliminate any of it that is already in our views and understanding.

So the Buddha said,

“Sariputra, it should be known that those bhiksus and bhiksunis who claim to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies before attaining ultimate Nirvana, and thus do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, are those with overbearing arrogance.”

These people were not disciples of the Buddha. These so-called bhiksus and bhiksunis claimed to have attained. Arhatship or to have become Pratyekabuddhas. They believed that they were dwelling in their “final bodies.”

The “final body” is the end of our spiritual cultivation. They believed that they had reached the state of ultimate Nirvana through their spiritual practice in that lifetime, “So, they do not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” They believed that they had attained everything, so they did not need to go any further. Actually, going forward, Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is the state we must really seek to attain, the state we must realize. But these bhiksus and bhiksunis believed that they had gone far enough, so they did not further aspire to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

We should know that “they are those with overbearing arrogance.” These kinds of people are those with “overbearing arrogance.” We must reflect on ourselves and contemplate whether we have truly aspired to and are willing to continue going forward. Have we ever thought that we already understand so much? That we no longer need to listen or learn? Or, that we do not need to know any more because we already know everything we need to? Have we asked ourselves if these thoughts ever crossed our minds?

If people ask, “Why didn’t you listen to teachings this morning? Why weren’t you at morning recitation?” You may say, “I did not sleep last night.” Why didn’t you sleep last night? Because your mind was filled with afflictions. This is also a form of self-obstruction. If they ask, “Why didn’t you listen to teachings?” You may say, “I pretty much understand it all. I understood this passage as soon as I read it.” If you say this, you will affect others too. “If you understood it when you read it, I can also just read it and understand it. So, if you can stop going, so can I.” Thus, you obstruct yourself and others. If we [think] in this way, aren’t we overbearingly arrogant?

So, what is the “final body”? It is “the final incarnation in samsara.” Samsara is transmigration within the Six Realms, even the Nine or Ten Realms. The Nine Realms are the Hearer, Solitary Realizer and Bodhisattva realms, the heaven, asura, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These combine to make a total of nine realms but including the realm of Buddhas, there are Ten Realms. Only by attaining the stage of Buddhahood, and can we reach the state of ultimate Nirvana.

Dwelling in their final bodies: The final incarnation in samsara. Arhats and Bodhisattvas of the highest level are in their final bodies, which is the final incarnation before attaining Buddhahood.

In the process of our spiritual practice, if all we do is listen, like those who listened to the Buddha for over 40 years, can we be liberated? In samsara, can this body really be our final incarnation? Our final bodies will still go through birth, aging, illness and death. When this body reaches the end of its cycle, we will die. For Buddhist practitioners, death may bring the state of Nirvana. When we attain Nirvana, we are actually in a pure and undefiled state. This tranquil and clear state is “the land of calm illumination” because it is pure and undefiled.

As we engage in spiritual practice, we may think we will complete it in this lifetime and will leave behind this body to enter the state of Nirvana. Is it really that easy? We still do not have control over this. After we leave this body behind, where will our karmic connections lead us? We still do not know. During the Buddha’s lifetime, those with overbearing arrogance “claimed to have attained what they had not.” Those who believed they had attained Arhatship and were in their “final bodies” probably still did not know where they would go in their future lives. But they already had that mindset, which was one of “overbearing arrogance.”

“Arhats and Bodhisattvas of the highest level.” Although Arhats had transcended samsara, their Nirvana remained incomplete. Great Nirvana is the state of Buddhahood. Only the Buddha can comprehend all things in the universe and know when He will come back to the world according to the timing, place, people and capabilities. Arhats practiced to benefit only themselves. They did not aspire to come to this world in response to timing and capabilities. Rather, they held on to their imperfect Nirvana. “Bodhisattvas of the highest level” have not reached the perfect state either.

Those who have not attained Buddhahood, have not realized the highest level, cannot claim to have attained their “final body.” The final body is the one they will cast off when they have attained perfect enlightenment. It is their last body before attaining Buddhahood. After this, they become Buddhas.

In Sakyamuni Buddha’s previous life, He had a “final body,” then when He returned to this world again, He had already attained Buddhahood, so He could come and go at will. So, if we believe that we have attained the “final body,” we will not resolve to further seek. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.

What is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi? This is an old Sanskrit term. Its meaning is very profound and hard to translate so its pronunciation was transliterated. Its actual meaning is “unsurpassed and perfect omniscience. Unsurpassed” means there is no higher state of awakening than this; it is the Buddha’s enlightened state. There is no higher state than His enlightenment. He also has “perfect omniscience,” which is correct and ubiquitous because. He knows all things and is always right. So, “true and perfect omniscience” is. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, “unsurpassed, perfect, universal enlightenment” the “unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles.” Of all true principles, there is no wisdom more penetrating. This is the old translation.

Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi used to be translated as: unsurpassed and perfect omniscience, unsurpassed, perfect and omniscient awakening, true and perfect omniscience, the unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles. New translation: Unsurpassed, perfect and universal enlightenment. True, universal, perfect enlightened knowledge is unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles.

The new explanation is similar to the old one. As we have frequently said, it is “unsurpassed, perfect, universal enlightenment” and means “true and universal enlightened knowledge” or “unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles.” It means that “unsurpassed, perfect, universal enlightenment” is always right and impartial. This definition has a sense of equality, which has been added to the new explanation.

Sentient beings are equal in that “all living beings have Buddha-nature.” Not just humans, but all life-forms, even animals, have this universal quality. Thus, the Buddha said that all sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature. The new explanation includes this idea. The mind, Buddha and sentient beings have the same nature. So, the new explanation states that “true and universal enlightened knowledge” is “unsurpassed wisdom of all true principles.” This is “unsurpassed, perfect, universal enlightenment.” This is what all of us must seek.

So, we now know of those with overbearing arrogance. Why does this term keep appearing in the sutra? Those with overbearing arrogance have not attained the One Vehicle Dharma. Although they have not attained it, they believe they have attained and realized it.

“They claimed to have attained Arhatship, to be dwelling in their final bodies.” This body is their final incarnation in samsara thus it is called their “final body.”

Have we attained this? No, we have not.

This does not only apply right now. We cannot say, “I have already attained it. This body is my final incarnation.” There are still countless future lives to come. How can we know which one of future bodies will be our final body? “Once lost, it takes eons to regain human form.” Is this body the final body? If we lose our human form, where will we end up?

The human realm is just one of the Six Realms. If we are heavenly beings, there is no Buddha-Dharma for us to practice. If we are born in the asura realm, we have heavenly blessings but not heavenly virtues. If we are born in hell, we suffer unbearably. If we are hungry ghosts, we will not want to live. What if we are born in the animal realm? What will be our “final body”? After we lose this body, do we want to end up in a realm other than the human realm? We do not.

Thus, we must carefully protect our body and always return to this world in human form to walk the Bodhisattva-path, life after life. Only in the human realm can we hear the Dharma. Only in the human realm can we walk the path to Buddhahood. So, we must aspire to protect our human form. But most importantly, we must protect our minds. Even if we come to this world with human bodies, if we do not hear Right Dharma or walk the right path, then we will lose our bodies and transmigrate to suffer in other realms.

So, all of us must constantly take good care of our minds and cherish the bodies and minds we have in this life. Thus, we must always be mindful.