Category: TLS Chapter 2

Episode 296 – The Extensive Proclamation of All Dharma

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>> “The path of spiritual practice has a starting point. The goal must be correct, and the course must not deviate. The Buddha compassionately opens and reveals. His understanding and views. The Buddha-mind is inside us, so we must look within.”

>> “With various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions, [He] proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings. These teachings were all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.”

>> [He] proclaimed all Dharma: [He] extensively proclaimed all Dharma and its profound meanings to reveal the One Buddha Vehicle. With such true teachings, according to their capabilities, He skillfully and patiently uses virtuous Dharma to gradually guide them on the path to Buddhahood.

>> These teachings are all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle: The Buddha manifests in the world for the sake of the one great cause, to teach sentient beings to return to their intrinsic Buddha-nature. This is the way to Buddhahood. The One Vehicle Dharma is the teaching that enables all of us to attain Buddhahood. So the One Buddha Vehicle was taught as three.

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“The path of spiritual practice has a starting point.
The goal must be correct, and the course must not deviate.
The Buddha compassionately opens and reveals. His understanding and views.
The Buddha-mind is inside us, so we must look within.”

How exactly do we walk the path of spiritual practice? I often say, “If we maintain our initial aspiration, we will surely attain Buddhahood.” That inspiration to engage in spiritual practice is our starting point. Are we heading towards the correct goal? I often say, “A slight deviation causes a great divergence.” If we deviate from the course in the slightest, we will end up thousands of miles away from [our goal]. Thus, we must carefully sustain our spiritual aspirations.

The Buddha is compassionate and will not abandon sentient beings. He returns to the world over and over for one great cause, to open and reveal His understanding and views, so sentient beings can realize and enter them. The Buddha opens and reveals with compassion. After listening to His teachings, we must contemplate them carefully to realize that within the Dharma, there are true, subtle and wondrous principles. Actually, “the Buddha-mind is inside us, so we must look within.” To realize the Buddha’s understanding and views, we must draw near the Buddha-mind. But understanding His understanding and views is really about understanding ourselves. If we cannot understand ourselves, how can we understand the Buddha’s understanding and views? Realizing and entering them depends on us because we intrinsically have Buddha-nature.

So, we must “look within.” The Dharma can only guide us so far; we must walk the path ourselves and take steps with our own two feet. I often speak of “the two feet of blessings and wisdom.” With these two feet, after we take the first step of creating blessings for people, we must take the next step, which is developing wisdom. By doing good deeds, we create blessings; with wisdom, we contemplate worldly matters. This is how we exercise both compassion and wisdom. The Buddha exercises His compassion and wisdom to come to this world. Out of compassion, He will not abandon us; with His wisdom, He gives suitable teachings. We must emulate the Buddha’s mindset and cultivate both blessings and wisdom. We cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, so we create blessings for humanity. We will not abandon any of them and must patiently guide them. The methods we use to direct them are very important.

So, these few days, the passage we have discussed says that the Buddha uses various skillful means.

“With various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions, [He] proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings. These teachings were all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.”

These repeated verses help us understand how the Buddha targeted different sentient beings’ capabilities. Every day we talk about various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions. Are there really that many causes and conditions? Can the Buddha find so many worldly matters to draw analogies from? There are indeed very many. From worldly matters alone, there are many things that can become analogies. The stories of people’s lives can be teachings.

For example, last year (2012), a senior executive came to join Tzu Chi and get involved in our missions. He was brimming with ideals and goals. After he joined us, he put his heart into understanding how to get involved and how to lead. After a period of time, he came to the Abode and said to me, “I have been here for some time and. I have been very mindful and worked very hard, but I still find it very different from the typical workplace. I feel like I don’t know how to lead people, how to work together with them as one.” He was feeling a bit helpless.

I said, “No matter what, as long as you are truly inspired and your starting point, direction and goals are all correct, nothing will be difficult for you. Avoid overcomplicating things by thinking too much.”

Then I told him a story about a monastery that existed over 1000 years ago. This monastery was in the mountains and housed a group of novices led by an elderly monk. Based on their capabilities, he assigned them certain tasks.

Among them, there was a 12-year-old novice, to whom the elderly monk said, “Every day, you must leave the monastery to travel from here to the market by hiking over those two mountains. You must walk that road to buy rice and oil. You must buy these two things every day.” The young novice followed these directions. Early every morning, he happily left the mountains. By noon, he would already have returned with his purchases, with this heavy load.

Day after day, month after month, year after year, he continued until almost ten years had gone by. One day, when he came back at noon as usual, the elderly monk saw him at the entrance. The elderly monk smiled and said gently, “Follow me, let’s walk around outside the monastery.” So, the novice followed him. Once they were outside, [the elderly monk] said, “Let’s sit here.” The two of them sat down, one behind the other. They watched the sun slowly set and heard sounds of laughter from below the mountain, coming closer and closer. A group of flighty young bhiksus, talking and laughing, were walking in their direction.

As they came closer, they saw the [elderly] monk sitting there and quickly settled down. The [elderly] monk asked them, “To make your purchases, you took a very easy path to a nearby market. So why, for the past ten years, have you always left early in the morning but not returned until dusk?” They answered, “Every day, we enjoy the scenery as we go down the mountain. As we [climb] back up, we take frequent breaks to admire our surroundings and the scenery.”

The [elderly] monk turned the [young] monk and asked, “What about you? For almost ten years, you have carried very heavy objects, oil and rice, up the mountain. How are you able to return to the monastery before noon? The young novice said, “Every day I feel. I need to uphold this heavy responsibility. So, I am very focused. My only goal is to go down the mountain to purchase the things I need to buy.”

The elderly monk asked, “How do you feel as you travel down and then back up the mountain?” He happily answered, “Every morning, I feel relaxed as I go down because I carry nothing with me. So, with a relaxed and grateful heart, I walk this road to the market. And coming up the mountain? Coming up the mountain, though I am carrying very heavy things, I feel happy because. I am accomplishing my task. Although my burden is heavy, I really feel at ease. My only wish is to quickly bring this heavy load to its destination. So every day, I feel grateful when I leave and at ease when I return.” The elderly monk said, “Do you think about anything else? No, just my responsibility.”

He was the same age as the others, but was single-mindedly focused on his mission. With gratitude and great ease, he traversed the mountains over 3000 times so the people at the monastery never had to worry about having food and warm clothing and could focus on their spiritual practice.

I told this story to the senior executive who had recently joined us. After hearing the story, the senior executive said, “That’s right, we must be grateful for our responsibilities. As we fulfill our mission, naturally we will feel at ease.” I said, “To reach your ideal goal, you still must make adjustments to your course. Remember to emulate the Buddha’s mind, to take the Buddha’s mind as your own. All Buddhas care for sentient beings, so the Buddha comes to this world to teach sentient beings. This is the Buddha’s mindset.” Then, he told me, “I understand now.”

“The idea behind the Buddha’s teaching is the same.” Based on various capabilities and various causes and conditions, He utilizes certain methods and analogies to enhance people’s understanding. Thus, it is inevitable that we see similar texts again and again in the sutra. He wants people to truly understand His meaning. This is the purpose of the prose, as well as the verses. As we listen to teachings, we must patiently and carefully consider the meaning of the Dharma. The Buddha proclaims all Dharma for sentient beings’ sake, so. He utilizes various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions to give teachings. “These teachings are all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.” Though He proclaimed many different teachings, they are all to teach the One Buddha Vehicle.

[He] proclaimed all Dharma: [He] extensively proclaimed all Dharma and its profound meanings to reveal the One Buddha Vehicle. With such true teachings, according to their capabilities, He skillfully and patiently uses virtuous Dharma to gradually guide them on the path to Buddhahood.

We know that to “proclaim all Dharma” means to “extensively proclaim all Dharma” by using expansive and numerous principles. For different people and environments, He utilized different methods. So, [the Dharma] is very expansive. The Buddha used very wide and open methods to expound the One Dharma through analogies and expressions. To “proclaim” may signify a large [audience], teachings given at large assemblies, or it may be teachings to individuals who are suffering, troubled or lacking understanding. These are all proclamations of the Dharma.

The Dharma that is taught to one person is still very profound Dharma. For a large crowd, He also analyzes very profound principles, all of which comes from the One Buddha Vehicle. The principles of the One Buddha Vehicle are all teachings of the true nature of things. He hopes all sentient beings can hear this and return to their intrinsic nature. This is the One Buddha Vehicle, the True Dharma.

“According to their capabilities, He skillfully and patiently uses virtuous Dharma to gradually guide them on the path to Buddhahood.” According to sentient beings’ capabilities, He gave One Vehicle teachings; He gave them according to sentient beings’ capabilities. So, we can see how. “For the true, He gave provisional teachings and opened the provisional to reveal the true.”

These teachings are all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle: The Buddha manifests in the world for the sake of the one great cause, to teach sentient beings to return to their intrinsic Buddha-nature. This is the way to Buddhahood. The One Vehicle Dharma is the teaching that enables all of us to attain Buddhahood. So the One Buddha Vehicle was taught as three.

“These teachings are all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.” The Buddha manifests in the world solely for the sake of this one great cause, teaching sentient beings to return to their nature of True Suchness, which is the way to Buddhahood. Every day we hear these same teachings, the One Vehicle Dharma that enables all of us to attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s goal, so He still teaches the One Vehicle as three.

Everyone, to learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must listen to the same principles every day though we deal with different people and matters. The Buddha spoke of previous Buddhas and how people from Their eras requested teachings and gave Them opportunities to give specific teachings and personal guidance. He taught people methods to develop a perspective on their suffering and to resolve their problems. The Buddha utilizes universal teachings, which everyone, whether with limited or great capabilities, can accept and happily put into practice. This is the mark of True Dharma. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 295 – Delusion Hides Suchness Like Ore Conceals Gold

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>> “Sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have had two kinds of obstructions, afflictions and ignorance. Delusion covers all-encompassing wisdom the way ore conceals gold.”

>> “Sariputra when all Buddhas of the future come into the world, they shall also [teach] with infinite, countless skillful means.”

>> The future is one of the Three Periods. The present, this instant, is the center. After this instant, we enter the next, which is the future. At any given time, there are the Three Periods. After this lifetime, we enter the next, which is the future.

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When we hear birds singing outside, we know that today’s weather must be very tranquil and clear, different from yesterday and the day before. Though the weather may change, as long as the world remains at peace and the four elements are in harmony, then every day, at this same time, our minds will be at peace. If the four elements are not in harmony when the seasons change, we will feel oppressed by the environment around us. So in this world, this is one source of suffering.

The Buddha tells us that life is impermanent and ever-changing. This is one appearance of suffering in the world, that afflictions arise as conditions change.

“Sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have had two kinds of obstructions, afflictions and ignorance. Delusion covers all-encompassing wisdom the way ore conceals gold.”

This is saying that sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have been in the state of samsara. We have been immersed in affliction and ignorance, which build upon one another. Afflictions are what arises in our minds when we give in to temptations in our external conditions. “An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties.” This is how the source becomes polluted and afflictions such as greed, anger and delusion begin to multiply and proliferate until our desires are countless and boundless. This is what happens in our minds. Once our minds have been tempted and [defiled by] external conditions, we remain continuously ignorant.

Being ignorant, when we encounter some external condition, we will connect with it and take it into our minds to create even more ignorance. Then we outwardly manifest that ignorance and go on to create a lot of karma, a lot of defiled karma. So, afflictions and ignorance are the two types of obstacles we create. With ignorance and afflictions, we obstruct our own minds and allow external conditions to entice us. These two things are both considered obstructions, keeping us from reaching our spiritual goals and from accepting the Buddha-Dharma.

Fundamentally, [everything] is very clear; the Buddha-Dharma is all around us and in our minds. When the Dharma is in our minds, as we look at our surroundings, everything is real and exquisite Dharma, everything is a subtle and wondrous teaching. All things in the world, all objects, are extremely subtle and detailed teachings. As I often say, when the Buddha is in our minds, everyone we see is a Buddha. But when our minds have been defiled and obstructed, when we look at the things around us, everything will trouble us, everything will afflict us and cause us to give rise to ignorance.

So, afflictions and ignorance are always obstructing our wisdom. Our minds and our wisdom are constantly being obstructed. [They have] obstructed our Buddha-mind and our pure wisdom. So, “delusion covers all-encompassing wisdom. Delusion” is ignorance; ignorance is delusion. External conditions delude our minds and awaken our ignorance; we call this delusion.

Delusion is the subtlest form of ignorance; it is extremely fine and subtle, so we cannot recognize it nor understand it. Such [is the nature of] delusions, which cover all-encompassing wisdom. All of us originally have the same wisdom as the Buddha, but [our minds] have been obscured just as ore conceals gold.

In the past, people panned for gold in Jiufen; in the rocks and sand from an old ore vein there was still some gold. Someone had opened a gold mine and dug into the mountains and rocks. Then, from piles of sand, they slowly sifted out the gold. Thus, something of great value was hidden in such rugged mountains and in piles of rock and sand. Such a valuable material [was extracted] from within these very [ordinary] things.

But we unenlightened beings are like the piles of sand, like the ore. We know ore contains gold, but we do not realize that we ourselves have a subtle and wondrous, pure and undefiled intrinsic nature that has also been enclosed by such coarse things. This is what the Buddha wants us to understand.

So in the sutra, the Buddha says,

“Sariputra when all Buddhas of the future come into the world, they shall also [teach] with infinite, countless skillful means.”

Once again, the Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, called out to Sariputra, “Sariputra, not only did past Buddhas [do this]. The present Buddha and the many Buddhas of the future will continue to pass on [the Dharma] and teach sentient beings.” The meaning behind His words tells us that sentient beings are indeed very stubborn.

Only after 40 years did the Buddha begin to point directly into their hearts to show them their nature. He hoped that everyone who saw Him and listened to the Dharma could understand the teachings. But was this enough to awaken the disciples at His side? The Buddha was very [realistic]. He said that between previous Buddhas and now Himself, Sakyamuni Buddha, the teaching was still not enough. So, this will need to continue. In the future, Buddhas will continue to manifest.

In this era, in His lifetime, He wanted to take the most essential Dharma which points directly to people’s minds and open and reveal [it] to sentient beings, hoping sentient beings could realize and enter it. However, things are not so easy. Yet by giving these teachings then, He was preparing people to be mindful and to transmit this Dharma-lineage, so people in the future can [attain enlightenment]. Future Buddhas can, through these teachings, continue to utilize these skillful means to teach future sentient beings.

Present sentient beings and disciples have the responsibility of sustaining this Dharma on into the future. So, “when all Buddhas of the future come into the world” means this Dharma must continue to be passed on and taught so that it can allow all future Buddhas to appear in the world and attain Buddhahood. This is our Dharma-lineage. If we do not pass on the Buddha-Dharma, people will not know that every single one of us has the potential to attain Buddhahood and that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. The Dharma must be continuously transmitted and passed down. So at this time, we must be exceptionally mindful.

The Buddha-nature is intrinsic to all of us. But the two obstructions, ignorance and afflictions, have covered our minds. Thus many things around us will elicit our afflictions and ignorance, leading us to create karma. It was this way in the past, it is this way now and it will be the same in the future. So, past, present and future Buddhas must continuously transmit these teachings to treat the minds of sentient beings. Otherwise, the ignorance in our minds will draw in external conditions, and our minds will in turn be tempted by them; this creates mutual entanglements.

So, we must be mindful of our current external conditions and the tiniest, subtlest thoughts in our minds. The thoughts in our minds are very tiny and subtle and they arise at all times.

The future is one of the Three Periods. The Three Periods are the past, present and future. When we hear about “the Three Periods,” they seem to refer to long periods of time, as if only future lifetimes are considered the future.

The future is one of the Three Periods. The present, this instant, is the center. After this instant, we enter the next, which is the future. At any given time, there are the Three Periods. After this lifetime, we enter the next, which is the future.

Actually, often when I talk about the past, present and future, I am talking about how they endlessly happen, one instant after another. This instant is the present. The next is the future. So, this present instant is the center. Is this instant something we can hold on to? The “present.” How many times have I said “present”? How many “present” moments have already passed? The “present” is continuously passing. The previous instant is the past. The current instant is the present. The next instant is the future.

Indeed, these “periods” pass by very quickly. So, our minds must be focused on each instant. We must pay attention to our minds. So, “the present, this instant, is the center. The next instant is the future.” What comes after the past is called the future. Just while I am sitting here, who knows how many past, present and future moments [have gone by]. Every moment of every day we are going through the past, present and future.

Futures are often determined in one instant. As I always say, “Seize the present, sustain the moment forever.” In an instant, our minds can make a vow. Then we [need to] sustain it. Second by second, in every instant, we must sustain that mindset. If we take good care of our minds, [this inspiration] will be part of our ever-lasting, unceasing intrinsic nature, the ever-lasting, unceasing Buddha-Dharma, which remains in the world. This depends on all of our minds.

So, we need to clearly understand that. “At any given time there are the Three Periods.” Indeed, they all exist in each present moment. So, “after this lifetime we enter the next, which is the future.” After this lifetime we enter the next. In terms of longer periods of time, the lifetime after this current one is a future lifetime. Regarding our minds, we must immerse ourselves in the Dharma and make sure to seize every instant. In terms of longer periods of time, we must seize this lifetime [to practice]. It is rare to be human and to hear the Dharma. In this lifetime, we have been born human and have been able to listen to the Dharma, so we must take advantage of this lifetime.

“If we do not transform ourselves in this life, when will we do so?” If we do not make good use of this life, when will we ever start? If we are not mindful of our every thought now, when will we be? When this moment passes, it is gone. It will never come back. If we lose our focus in this moment, if we do not take the Dharma to heart in this moment, the opportunity will be gone forever. So, we must always be mindful of each moment.

Everyone, the Buddha came to this world and used many methods solely to open and reveal [for us to] realize and enter. All He hoped for was that our minds can penetrate [the Dharma]. When we are immersed in the Dharma, all the things we see are replete with subtle and wondrous teachings. Everything from the sky, to the land, to everything on the land and below the sky, is all replete with the Dharma. Everything from dawn to dusk to the cycle of seasons to wind and rain and so on is replete with the teachings of the law of karma. The Dharma is very subtly and wondrously embedded within them.

But, [recognizing] that all things in the world contain such wondrously profound, subtle Dharma depends on our minds. Take gold and ore for example; gold is embedded within the ore. We all intrinsically have it but need to figure out how to exercise this pure and undefiled intrinsic nature. Then when we look at the things in the world, everything is wondrous Dharma. Therefore, we need to always be mindful.

Episode 294 – Hearing the Dharma from All Buddhas

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>> “Based on the principles of One Reality, He proclaims the True Dharma.”

>> So, “All things arise from the convergence of causes and conditions.”

>> “Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means,”

>> “With various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

>> “These teachings were all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.”

>> “All these sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, ultimately attained all-encompassing wisdom.”

>> So, the One Buddha Vehicle is the only teaching for attaining Buddhahood.

>> “In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions, there is only the One Vehicle Dharma.”

>> Hearing the teachings from all Buddhas: This refers to how sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, can give rise to right faith. They contemplate the meanings and practice according to these teachings. These people are rare, like precious treasures in this world.

>> The ultimate: This refers to how the Buddha’s realization is the utmost pure and wondrous enlightenment, which is unsurpassed. Therefore, it is the ultimate stage.

>> All-encompassing wisdom: the Buddha fully understands all things, their universal and specific characteristics. The wisdom of knowing the path to transformation and eliminating delusions is the combination of wisdom of Hearers and wisdom of Bodhisattvas. So, this is all-encompassing wisdom.

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“Based on the principles of One Reality,
He proclaims the True Dharma.”

The Buddha came to this world and awakened to the truths of the universe. So, when He speaks of principles of the world, they are all based on the principles of One Reality. He comes to the world and gives teachings in the hope that everyone can understand and accept them, then put them into practice.

So, “All things arise from the convergence of causes and conditions.”

In our daily living, we must live with this kind of awareness. We must realize that all things arise through the convergence of causes and conditions. Causes and conditions likewise all originate in our minds. We must always have the Dharma in our hearts and manifest it in our actions. When we are in line with the Dharma and principles, we are one with the Buddha. If we can do this, everything will be in harmony. The minds of the Buddha and sentient beings are no different. This is our “convergent understanding.” If our minds can converge with the Buddha’s understanding and views, we will be able to understand the world’s true principles of the One Reality. This is the Buddha’s goal in teaching the Dharma.

Previously, the Buddha said to Sariputra,

“Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means,”

that is, with many different methods,

“With various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

I have already repeated this several times for all of you. Buddhist sutras do the same thing; they are always repeating concepts, so we can better understand them.

The next passage of the text continues to explain that.

“These teachings were all for the sake of the One Buddha Vehicle.”

These methods all teach the One Buddha Vehicle.

“All these sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, ultimately attained all-encompassing wisdom.”

We must listen well to the teachings of all Buddhas, “hear the teachings from all Buddhas.” We sentient beings hear the Dharma from all Buddhas. Where did these Buddhas come from? They were also once sentient beings who diligently studied and practiced to attain Buddhahood, then in turn came back to teach sentient beings. This is so They could help everyone “ultimately attain all-encompassing wisdom.”

At one time, Ananda was thinking about something the Buddha had always said, that for countless billions of kalpas, He had listened to the teachings from countless Buddhas at Their practice centers and then diligently practiced them. This was what the Buddha said about Himself. Countless billions of kalpas translates into countless billions of lifetimes. Life after life, He diligently practiced at the practice centers of all Buddhas.

So one day, Ananda asked the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha, when exactly did you form your initial aspiration?” This was a good question. Though the Buddha said that. He diligently practiced at the countless practice centers of all Buddhas, His aspiration must have arisen at some point in time.

So, the Buddha began to talk about the past. He could not say exactly how long ago, but in one of His lifetimes He was born in hell. Even the Buddha has experienced hell. As He was suffering in hell, He saw yaksas punishing wrongdoers. Since they had committed wrongdoings, they were subject to extreme torment in hell. The cruelest [punishment] He saw was a fiery, hot iron cart used to punish two wrongdoers. The jailor, a yaksa, flayed their skin and stretched it out while a part of it was still attached to their bodies. One end remained stuck to their bodies and the other end was tied to the flaming iron cart. Then these two people had to drag the cart.

Their bodies were bloodied and in pain. The agony of having the skin still on their bodies used to pull the flaming iron cart was extremely painful. That excruciating pain was unbearable, hurting down to the bones; they wailed in pain. They did not have the strength to pull the cart, so the yaksa kept whipping them. One of them could not bear it anymore and fainted. For the other to pull the cart all by himself was impossible because the pain was unbearable.

Then one person, who was facing his own punishment, saw this situation and went up to the jailor and asked, “Can you let this person, who is being punished, rest a while? I am willing to take his place and pull this flaming iron cart.” The jailor was extremely enraged and said, “You yourself are being punished. You can’t even take care of yourself; how can you take care of anyone else?” So, he lifted his whip and struck him until he died and vanished from hell. In an instant, he was born in heaven.

In heaven, he enjoyed heavenly pleasures, but his heart was sad, and he felt sorry for the sentient beings in hell. He calmly thought, “Is hell the only place with suffering? There is also suffering in the hungry ghost and animal realms, as well as the human realm.” The source of all suffering is the various karma they created due to the workings of their minds. Thus, they must experience various suffering. At that moment, he developed an aspiration. He wanted to begin by teaching sentient beings and help them realize this principle in their hearts. Only by avoiding suffering can people attain peace and stability.

The Buddha stopped at this point and said, “Ananda, you wanted to know the moment I first developed my aspiration? I was that person in hell who could not bear to let sentient beings suffer. After my compassion was awakened, from then on, I aspired and vowed to work for all sentient beings, to take on their suffering until all sentient beings can accept [the Dharma] and return to their intrinsic, pure Buddha-nature.”

So, He practiced for the sake of sentient beings. We must be grateful to Ananda for asking the Buddha about His initial aspiration and where that state of mind came from. It came from a place of the worst suffering. If He had not seen those sentient beings endure extreme suffering in hell, how would his compassion have been awakened? So, with His great compassion came inexhaustible strength of will. So, everything requires the convergence of causes and conditions, including the Buddha-Dharma.

We have been listening to teachings for so long, but the basics are found here. The Buddha uses various causes and conditions, analogies and [expressions] to continuously teach the One Reality, the Buddha Vehicle. He uses many methods to give this teaching. Just how much can we understand? The Buddha hopes we can realize and “ultimately attain all-encompassing wisdom.” If we attain ultimate, full understanding, we will no longer have habitual tendencies.

We are always transmigrating in the Six Realms. The habitual tendency of heavenly beings is to enjoy pleasures. The habitual tendency of asuras is to be quick tempered and arrogant. For humans, it is having many desires. The habitual tendency of animals is losing morality. The habitual tendency of hungry ghosts is to be hungry and in pain. The tendency of those in hell is to face unbearable suffering. Under such constant torment, they are very frightened. They do not dare to have faith in anything for fear that it will lead to suffering and so on. These are the reasons we sentient beings cannot attain ultimate all-encompassing wisdom.

The Buddha’s hope is that after we listen to the Dharma, we can understand it. Then after we understand it, He hopes we will have faith in it and put it into practice.

So, the One Buddha Vehicle is the only teaching for attaining Buddhahood.

Because the Buddha wants everyone to attain Buddhahood, He always teaches the One Buddha Vehicle. We hope everyone can accept the One Buddha Vehicle. In the Lotus Sutra, [later] in the Chapter on Skillful Means, it also states,

“In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions, there is only the One Vehicle Dharma.”

This comes from the Buddha’s vow, His hope that sentient beings can be His equal and awaken to the truths of the universe, “ultimately attaining all-encompassing wisdom.”

Hearing the teachings from all Buddhas: This refers to how sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, can give rise to right faith. They contemplate the meanings and practice according to these teachings. These people are rare, like precious treasures in this world.

“Hearing the teachings from all Buddhas.” This portion of the sutra states, “These sentient beings [have] heard the teachings from all Buddhas.” So, we have already listened to teachings from all Buddhas, not just Sakyamuni Buddha. It is likely that we have drawn near to Buddhas who were around long before Sakyamuni Buddha. In our previous lifetimes, we also listened to all Buddhas teach the Dharma.

So, here it states, “Sentient beings [have] heard the teachings from all Buddhas.” There were many sentient beings who listened to all Buddhas expound the Dharma. Those who have better capabilities “can give rise to right faith” after listening to teachings. Then “they contemplate the meanings.” We often say to “listen, contemplate and practice.” After listening to teachings, we must contemplate, then “practice according to these teachings. These people are rare.” There are so many sentient beings on Earth; exactly how many, after listening to the Buddha’s teachings, can give rise to right faith? How many? Furthermore, after listening to it, how many can contemplate it and then put it into practice? Very few, indeed. Indeed, this is very rare; they are “like precious [treasures] in this world.” So, spiritual practitioners are valuable. Their value comes from [their desire to] hear the Dharma, to diligently engage in listening, contemplating and practicing. This is what truly earns the respect of others.

The ultimate: This refers to how the Buddha’s realization is the utmost pure and wondrous enlightenment, which is unsurpassed. Therefore, it is the ultimate stage.

In “ultimately attain all-encompassing wisdom, ultimately” describes how “the Buddha’s realization is the utmost pure and wondrous enlightenment.” This is “the ultimate.” We engage in practice to reach the ultimate state. This “ultimate state” [is reached] after hearing the Dharma and diligently listening and actualizing it to experience it and thus attain realizations. This awakening comes when we put the Dharma into practice and attain realizations. This “utmost pure and wondrous enlightenment” is the nature of True Suchness, “which is unsurpassed.” There is no higher Dharma; this is the One Buddha Vehicle. Our goal is to [reach this state], “which is unsurpassed. Therefore, it is the ultimate stage.”

All-encompassing wisdom: the Buddha fully understands all things, their universal and specific characteristics. The wisdom of knowing the path to transformation and eliminating delusions is the combination of wisdom of Hearers and wisdom of Bodhisattvas. So, this is all-encompassing wisdom.

With all-encompassing wisdom, the Buddha fully understands all things, their universal and specific characteristics and the path to transformation, which can eliminate delusions. We already understand that this “path” is about awakening ourselves and others. We must have the wisdom to eliminate our various delusions and ignorance and enable others to do the same. The kind of wisdom that can awaken the self and others is “all-encompassing wisdom. It is the combination of [wisdom of Hearers] and [wisdom of Bodhisattvas].” The two combined are “all-encompassing wisdom.”

Everyone, as Buddhist practitioners we really must be mindful. Aspirations come from extreme suffering. When we understand suffering, a path appears. This path of true principles leads us to dissolve suffering and turn it into supreme bliss; we can go from extreme suffering to supreme bliss. With supreme bliss, we abide steadily in the state I mentioned earlier, one of “ultimate, pure and wondrous enlightenment.” Every one of us can return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. That wisdom of wondrous enlightenment is the “ultimate all-encompassing wisdom.”

Everyone, as Buddhist practitioners, we must be mindful. Upon hearing the Dharma, we must listen, contemplate and practice it; we must put it into action. We must, with utmost reverence, always take the Dharma to heart and manifest it in our actions. This must be the goal we advance toward each day. Everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 293 – All Things Arise from Causes and Conditions

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>> “Analogies and expressions use one thing to refer to another, use the simple to help people see the profound, use the moving tree to help people see the wind, use the shape of a fan to depict the moon. These are expressions and analogies.”

>> “Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means, with various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

>> Suitable means are skillful means. He applied various methods and used ultimate wisdom of suitable principles to skillfully draw analogies to the truth. These means are like water and “take the shape of their container to conveniently benefit and guide people.” This describes skillful means. To proclaim all teachings is to explain the appearance of all things according to the principles of the One Reality. All things arise through the convergence of causes and conditions. To proclaim all teachings is to “explain the appearance of all things according to the principles of the One Reality.”

>> “These teachings are all for the sake of the Buddha’s One Vehicle. All these sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, ultimately attained all-encompassing wisdom.”

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“Analogies and expressions
use one thing to refer to another,
use the simple to help people see the profound,
use the moving tree to help people see the wind,
use the shape of a fan to depict the moon.
These are expressions and analogies.”

I may use various methods to explain a particular matter or teaching, but do you understand what I am saying? No? Then let me make a comparison for you. I will explain a teaching and some matter, then use this matter as an analogy for the Dharma. So, we “use one thing,” make use of something, to help others understand the underlying principle

of some other matter. Based on this example, we can actually understand all kinds of different matters because their underlying principles are the same. Sometimes, the principle is so profound that the more analogies we hear, the more confusing it becomes. What should we do with such profound principles? “Use the simple to help people see the profound.” Simple things can be used to explain profound principles. Out of His compassion, the Buddha uses analogies to explain principles and gives us simple examples to teach us the very profound, ultimate truths of the One Vehicle. So, He gives profound or simple [teachings] depending on our capabilities.

If we can see the trees swaying, we can infer that the wind is blowing. If the wind is blowing lightly, the trees will sway gently. If the wind is blowing strongly, the trees will bend; an even stronger wind will uproot the tree. So, we “use the moving tree to help people see the wind.” [Moving trees] enable us to determine the power of the wind. [Wind] is something we cannot see. Exactly how powerful is this force? We do not know. We always need to use another object to measure its strength.

How does this apply to the moon? What does the moon look like? “Use the shape of a fan to depict the moon.” The moon is round like two fully opened hand fans joined together. This describes roundness. After the 15th day of the lunar month, the moon gradually wanes and may take the shape of just one fan. So, we “use the shape of a fan to depict the moon” to help people know whether the moon is full, half, crescent-shaped or so on.

Again, making analogies is one of the various methods used by the Buddha to explain principles with matters or objects. Therefore, we must be very grateful and respect Him deeply. We have the potential to understand the Buddha’s teachings, so we must be mindful.

In the previous passage of the sutra text, the Buddha called to Sariputra and said,

“Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means, with various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

The Buddha uses various methods to draw analogies with various causes and conditions. Sometimes we talk about causes and conditions; in our daily living, our every action [creates] causes and conditions.

During the time of the Buddha, there was a group of merchants in the Kingdom of Sravasti who stockpiled food to trade. As they took a break on their journey, a hungry dog saw these merchants resting. They were all tired and soundly fell asleep. When he saw the baskets of food on the ground, he bit down on something and pulled it out. It turned out to be a piece of meat. As he took the meat and began to eat it, suddenly one of the merchants woke up and saw something they worked so hard to acquire, this meat they were going to sell, being chewed up and eaten by this dog. He got really angry, picked up a bamboo pole and beat this dog until his legs were broken, and he lay on the ground, whining.

That day, Sariputra just happened to pass by with his alms bowel in hand. At that moment, he felt very sad, so he gave the dog the rice from his alms bowl. The dog ate the food, and afterwards, he looked at Sariputra with gratitude. He seemed to be very grateful, then he passed away.

Then over a year passed, nearly two, and Sariputra went to a certain village for alms. An elder opened the door in one of the houses, and when he saw Sariputra, he respectfully prostrated and greeted him. The elder asked Sariputra, “Honorable Sariputra, on your journeys, is there no young novice to accompany you?” Sariputra said, “No, but I hope there is a young novice that has such karmic affinity with me.” The elder said, “I have only one child, who is not even a year old.” Sariputra said, “If this is the case, when this young child is older, can you grant him to me?” The elder said, “When my child is older, I am willing to give him to you to follow you and become your novice.”

After another seven years passed, Sariputra passed through this place again. The elder opened the door, and when he saw Sariputra again, he very happily told him, “Venerable one, I still remember what I said seven years ago. Since I made that promise to you, I am willing to grant you my child. He is now over seven years old. If you are willing, I will give this child to you.” Sariputra happily accepted.

This child was very adorable, smart and with sharp capabilities. He followed Sariputra to [enter] the Sangha and engage in spiritual practice with everyone else. He attained realizations easily. One day, he suddenly wondered, “How did I come to be this blessed? How was I able to come with Sariputra to this Sangha to follow the Buddha and engage in spiritual practice?” He sat down to contemplate this carefully. He saw, in his past life, a dog who was about to pass away and the rice Sariputra offered him from his alms bowl. Based on this memory, he realized, “I was that dog. It turns out that Venerable Sariputra, at the moment of my greatest pain, comforted me and showed me kindness. I should aspire and vow to follow him for the rest of my life.”

Therefore, when he grew up, he told everyone, “I do not want to be ordained. I want to forever remain a novice and stay by Sariputra’s side.” When Ananda heard this, he found this strange. So, he asked the Buddha, “What exactly is the karmic affinity between this novice, Kunti, and Sariputra?” The Buddha then explained the karmic affinity between Kunti and Sariputra.

He said that during Kasyapa Buddha’s time, among a group of spiritual practitioners, there was an elderly bhiksu who was virtuous and esteemed and advanced in his spiritual practice. But because he was old, his voice was hoarse. A young bhiksu was very mischievous and loved to play pranks, so he often spoke carelessly. Every time he heard this elderly bhiksu chanting, he would laugh and say, “That sounds like a dog barking.” The elderly bhiksu was very compassionate, so he said to this young bhiksu, “Young bhiksu, your mocking does not anger me; on the contrary, I will always protect you.”

The Buddha explained at this point that the elderly bhiksu was now Sariputra and the young bhiksu back then was later the dog and was Kunti today. This was the karmic connection between them.

Though becoming a monastic at an early age, [that bhiksu] refused to refrain from committing karma of speech, mind and body. Thus, he was later born as a dog. Sariputra compassionately relieved his suffering, so it makes sense that he vowed to remain his novice forever and did not want to be ordained. This way, he could stay by Sariputra’s side.

This is an example of various causes, conditions. There are many kinds of causes and conditions. In our daily living, we are constantly either speaking or being silent, moving or being still. All interpersonal conflicts are created by the words we say, so we must constantly take good care of our minds.

Yet, we sentient beings are foolish and dull, so we cannot realize this. Even if we practiced in the past, we may not realize what happened back then, let alone understand the things happening now. So, the Buddha utilizes various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions. In all Dharma, in His many varied teachings, [the Buddha] employs analogies to help us understand.

Thus, “skillful” is another way of saying suitable.

Suitable means are skillful means. He applied various methods and used ultimate wisdom of suitable principles to skillfully draw analogies to the truth. These means are like water and “take the shape of their container to conveniently benefit and guide people.” This describes skillful means. To proclaim all teachings is to explain the appearance of all things according to the principles of the One Reality. All things arise through the convergence of causes and conditions. To proclaim all teachings is to “explain the appearance of all things according to the principles of the One Reality.”

The Buddha utilizes various causes and conditions as analogies and utilizes various expressions to teach the Dharma. All these [examples] must be based on something, on a core principle, the true principle of the One Vehicle. At the center of all things is the principle of the One Reality.

To “proclaim all teachings,” [the Buddha] utilizes very solid principles that will never change. But sentient beings have various capabilities, so He utilizes various methods to draw analogies, Originally, it is about the “one. All” means there are many. The Buddha utilizes many causes and conditions and various analogies to teach the One Reality.

So, “all things arise through the convergence of causes and conditions.” All things and objects etc. arise through the convergence of causes and conditions. In our daily living, no matter what environment we are in, everything arises from the convergence of causes and conditions. So, we must always cherish causes and conditions. I always say that we have to treat those around us with gratitude, respect and love because it is all of our causes and conditions converging that allow things to arise.

So, the following section of the text reiterates,

“These teachings are all for the sake of the Buddha’s One Vehicle. All these sentient beings, having heard the teachings from all Buddhas, ultimately attained all-encompassing wisdom.”

All things arise from the convergence of causes and conditions. The convergence of many factors gives rise to many matters, objects and principles. All these principles are combined into the true principle of the One Vehicle to help us all understand how we can return to the One Buddha Vehicle. This also depends on whether we are mindful. In our daily living, do we pay attention to the convergence of causes and conditions? Do we cherish the inconceivable convergence of these causes and conditions? Do we feel gratitude, respect and love?

Everyone, we must be mindful. It does not matter if the causes and conditions are positive or negative. When people around us create negative causes or create negative conditions, we must also be grateful to them and even respect them and respect the convergence of causes and conditions.

Thus, we must develop even greater respect. Regardless of how much certain people distress us, we must still respect them for honing our spiritual aspirations and [pushing us to be] broad-minded. If we can broaden our minds, we can still face those who pressure us with respect. The goal of having respect is to love. No matter what, we must love others.

We just heard about the karmic connection between Sariputra and Kunti during the time of Kasyapa Buddha. The elderly bhiksu was experienced in his practice. The young man did not show him respect. With comment after comment, he constantly mocked him. But the elderly bhiksu continued to have gratitude, respect and love for him. “Young man, though you behave this way, I still forgive you. You have created karma of speech, but I will always care for you.” Doesn’t this show gratitude, respect and love? Because of the law of karma, all of us really must be mindful and respect the various causes and conditions that guide us to the Buddha-Dharma of the One Vehicle. Everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 292 – Skillful Means Given According to Capabilities

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>> The Dharma-nature of all Buddhas is intrinsically perfect and harmonious. In the instant our minds open, we awaken. By entering the Buddha’s understanding and views, we can use all Dharma in wondrous ways.

>> “Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”

>> “Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means, with various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

>> Infinite, countless skillful means: The Great, Middle and Small Vehicles, all forms of the Buddha-Dharma, are countless in number. They are all considered skillful means.

>> “Means” are appropriate methods, and their “usage resonates with the capabilities of all sentient beings.”

>> “Skillful” can also mean convenient. [Buddhas] “use skillful expressions and analogies to suit all kinds of capabilities.” They utilize many proper principles,

>> “Skillful is another way of saying suitable. Suitable principles are applied with ultimate wisdom; they take the shape of their container to conveniently benefit and guide people.”

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Indeed, we all intrinsically have a Buddha-nature that is equivalent to that of all Buddhas. “The Dharma-nature of all Buddhas is intrinsically perfect and harmonious.” The Buddha comes to the world to point out that we have the same intrinsic nature as the Buddha, the pure Tathagata-nature. The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature] so our Dharma-nature is intrinsically perfect and harmonious.

The Dharma-nature of all Buddhas is intrinsically perfect and harmonious. In the instant our minds open, we awaken. By entering the Buddha’s understanding and views, we can use all Dharma in wondrous ways.

All of us are the same, equal to the Buddha, but many discursive thoughts cover our minds. We must eliminate these discursive thoughts, one at a time. What exactly is the use of having these thoughts? If these afflictions remain in our minds, will they benefit us in any way? They are of absolutely no benefit. They are of absolutely no use. So, why do we need to retain these discursive thoughts in our minds? We can let go of them. If we can, in our daily living, find ways to eliminate these discursive thoughts as they arise, with the afflictions we eliminate, bit by bit, our Dharma-nature will grow, bit by bit.

Our Dharma-nature is intrinsically perfect and harmonious. “In the instant our minds open, we awaken.” Once we brush aside our afflictions, we can attain an awakening. “By entering the Buddha’s understanding and views we can use all Dharma in wondrous ways.” If we can take the Buddha’s teachings to heart, if our understanding and views match the Buddha’s, will there be any difficulty in this world that can hinder us? There will be none.

In the previous passage, the Buddha states,

“Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”

Sakyamuni Buddha is not the only one who comes to the world to “open and reveal” His understanding and views so sentient beings can “realize and enter” them. He comes to the world for this one great cause. He is not the only one; all past Buddhas of the ten directions likewise came to the world for this one great cause. This one great cause, as I keep saying every day, is His hope that we will return to our pure, intrinsic Tathagata-nature. This is the expectation He has for us. Because of His compassion, He hopes that we can reach [such a state]. Therefore, He worked very hard, as all Buddhas did.

The next passage states,

“Sariputra, all Buddhas of the past, with infinite, countless skillful means, with various causes and conditions, with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.”

This passage also [mentions that] all Buddhas of the past taught by utilizing infinite, countless skillful means. “Skillful means” are provisional teachings. Provisional skillful means were given through various analogies and expressions as teachings for sentient beings. For young children, we use more basic words. For teens, we use words that appeal to them. For more mature young adults, we need to teach them in a more mature manner. For elders, we bring up stories of the past so that they can draw on their memories of those events. So, [as we talk with people,] we must teach them with skillful, virtuous Dharma.

Remember the kindergarten teacher in Malaysia who taught her students about conserving water? She taught them how important water is for life and how they should cherish water because without it, we will all suffer greatly. How did such young children understand the concept of conservation? The teacher exercised her wisdom. “Ok children, there is no water today.” She turned off the water that day. When the children used the restroom and tried to wash their hands, there was no water. “Now what? If you don’t wash your hands, you can’t eat. But I want to eat; I’m hungry. Then you have to fetch some water yourself.”

Where do they go to fetch water? To a faraway place. How will they bring it back? In buckets. One of the children, who was very small, carried two buckets of water using a shoulder pole. His shoulders hurt, and he could not walk straight. The teacher attentively watched the child to make sure he did not fall or bruise his shoulder. Once he carried the water back, he carefully poured it out. [She said,] “This water is not for you alone. You need to care for those younger than you; share it with everyone.” So, then this child understood how hard water is to come by and learned to happily share it with others.

After everyone washed hands, the teacher said, “The grass and the flowers are also thirsty. Without water, they can’t grow; so what will you do? Give them the water you used to wash.” The same water was used to meet multiple needs. In this way, she taught them to cherish water and other resources as well. The teacher took great care to help them learn to [cherish all resources]. As for living things, she meticulously taught them, “Living beings bleed. If you harm them, pierce their skin, they will bleed. Do you think that hurts? Yes, it does. Do you want to hurt them? No.” This is how she taught them to adopt a vegetarian diet, to not eat the flesh of living beings.

Once these young children learned this, they would go home and teach their parents. “We must conserve water. Without water, we will be in trouble.” The children taught their parents in the same meticulous way. They also taught them to cherish everything and how to adopt a vegetarian diet. This is an example of how a teacher used many suitable analogies and words to teach children the virtuous Dharma in a way they can understand. This principle is the same. The Buddha, all Buddhas, taught in the same way. All past Buddhas also taught with countless skillful means. These skillful means can be applied in our daily living; we must choose to apply the suitable ones.

This is like how we are holding short-term spiritual retreats. For seven or eight days, [people] come to the Abode to live the same way as the monastics here. They wake up and start their day at the same time and then do their assigned chores together. As they do these chores, they learn that monastic practice is not easy. Every day begins before four in the morning. From then on, their day is packed; not a second is wasted. As they pull weeds outdoors, the teachings they each learn fill their hearts.

A Faith Corps member said that he saw a tall plastic pipe. This tall pipe was stuck in the ground like this. Amazingly, a weed happened to find its way into this pipe and grew so tall that it was taller than the pipe and came out the top. He said, “Because this weed found its way into the pipe, it has not been removed.” Even weeds are subject to causes and conditions. This one developed incredible resilience by finding its way into the pipe. He then said that this reminded him of my teaching about the piece of wood with a hole in it floating on the sea and the odds of a turtle swimming in the sea suddenly lifting its head and coincidentally sticking his head into that hole. He said, “When I saw this pipe with the weed growing out of it, I thought of what you said about how rare it is to encounter [the Dharma] in billions of kalpas. That I am able to join Tzu Chi and return to the Abode for this retreat is a [precious] affinity.”

Everyone, these incredible causes and conditions are also “skillful means” and can also be wisdom. As long as we are mindful, everything from sand to dirt to flowers to grass is speaking the Dharma to us. So, if we are always mindful in our daily living, is there any moment that we are not living according to the Dharma? Thus, it is said that in. ․the instant our minds open, we awaken. We can converse with the earth. As we weed, our heart is conversing with the grass and trees.

If we enter the Buddha’s understanding and views, we can use all Dharma in wondrous ways. There are many teachings we can realize in our daily living that can help us comprehend the Buddha-Dharma. This is why we must be mindful. Sometimes the Buddha has to teach the Dharma with various causes and conditions and analogies before we can understand how to use these methods to interact with nature.

So all Buddhas, “with analogies and expressions, have proclaimed all Dharma to sentient beings.” All Buddhas in the past and. Sakyamuni Buddha in the present all teach in this way. Even future Buddhas are also the same, present at all times and in all places. So, the Buddha-Dharma pervades the universe and [all] Dharma-realms because of past, present and future Buddhas. Future Buddhas are creating good affinities now. The teachings we faithfully accept and practice come from past Buddhas. We must cherish all teachings, respect the world and collectively amass good karma. If so, the Dharma is everywhere.

Next, we will talk about “infinite, countless skillful means.”

Infinite, countless skillful means: The Great, Middle and Small Vehicles, all forms of the Buddha-Dharma, are countless in number. They are all considered skillful means.

What are “infinite, countless skillful means”? When we review the Buddha’s teachings, the Great, Middle and Small Vehicles, “all forms of the Buddha-Dharma, are countless in number.” There are so many of them. All things in the world are teaching us the Dharma. [What we receive] depends on whether we have great, average or small capabilities. Those with great capabilities of the One Vehicle can immediately see the perfect and harmonious. Dharma-nature of all things in the world. A small seed will grow into a great tree. When Great Vehicle practitioners see a seed, they recognize that it will grow into a great tree in the future.

A mung bean soaked in water will germinate the next day. Those who have limited capabilities only have a limited view of the teachings. The greater their capabilities, the farther they can extrapolate the teachings. They can even think back to how this seed originated from the fruits of another great tree. This is the wisdom of Great Vehicle practitioners. Small and Middle Vehicle practitioners must use limited teachings to help them quickly learn.

The Buddha’s teachings are countless. There are many teachings encompassed in the One Vehicle Dharma, and those are all called “skillful means.” For the sake of the One Vehicle Dharma, the Buddha established skillful means. For the sake of the One Vehicle, He revealed the Three Vehicles.

“Means” are appropriate methods, and their “usage resonates with the capabilities of all sentient beings.”

[The Buddha] observes the [capabilities] of sentient beings and then gives them great or limited teachings.

“Means” are appropriate methods. Whichever skillful means [Buddhas] use must be suitable. For example, we must not trick kindergarteners; we must teach them in a way that helps them clearly understand consequences. Therefore, skillful means are still proper principles.

“Skillful” can also mean convenient. [Buddhas] “use skillful expressions and analogies to suit all kinds of capabilities.” They utilize many proper principles,

many correct principles. Even if the students are very young, we must still teach them with proper principles. Teaching with suitable expressions and analogies is using skillful means.

“Skillful is another way of saying suitable. Suitable principles are applied with ultimate wisdom; they take the shape of their container to conveniently benefit and guide people.”

Skillful means are convenient and proper principles for benefiting and guiding others. This is why we must be very grateful that the Buddha came to the world and utilized many expressions and analogies to guide us sentient beings. This helps all of us understand the principles and mindfully apply them in our daily living. Thus we can return to our intrinsic, pure Buddha-nature. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 291 – Teaching the Provisional before the True

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>> “The present Buddha described past Buddhas. Sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas. To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.”

>> “Sariputra, the Tathagata gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings. There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”

>> “Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”

>> The Buddha’s light illuminates 18,000 lands for the sake of teaching the truth through provisional means. Then the provisional is brought back to the true. Thus, Buddhas of the ten directions who come to the world all first teach the provisional, then the true. They all give teachings in the same way.

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“The present Buddha described past Buddhas.
Sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas.
To attain the fruit of Buddhahood,
they have to reach enlightenment through
focused, sincere and diligent practice.”

When the Buddha teaches, He frequently refers to past Buddhas and how They each had the karmic affinities to encounter Buddhas, life after life. In particular, before expounding the Lotus Sutra, He emerged from Samadhi and continuously praised practices He learned from countless past Buddhas. Thus, He cited His experiences prior to attaining Buddhahood. He had drawn near many Buddhas and, over many successive lifetimes, continuously practiced Their teachings.

So, “sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas.” That is to say, many sentient beings had listened to the teachings of past Buddhas. The sentient beings we speak of are all past Buddhas; They each also lived as sentient beings, as ordinary people, and as ordinary people received the teachings of previous Buddhas. Sakyamuni Buddha was one of these; He also began at the state of an ordinary person. Then as He learned from all Buddhas, He mindfully engaged in spiritual practice.

“To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.” He was able to attain Buddhahood through that same process of starting as a sentient being. This meant He started as an ordinary person and had been focused since He formed aspirations. He diligently practiced with great reverence. As He sincerely practiced the Way, He accepted and acted according to the teachings of past Buddhas. Lifetime after lifetime, He diligently practiced at the practice centers of all Buddhas. He was not the only one. All Buddhas went through the same process, repeatedly learning from past Buddhas and, life after life, engaging in spiritual practice to attain enlightenment.

Now, we know and understand that the Buddha mindfully guided us sentient beings. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. Through countless kalpas, who knows how many Buddhas we have met and in how many places we have listened to Their teachings. In this lifetime, we have a special affinity with Sakyamuni Buddha, so we are born on the same planet, Earth, and in particular, at a time when. He is the founder of Buddhism in the Saha World, in the era of His teaching.

Therefore, the Buddha is very compassionate in telling us that He had not always been a Buddha. He tells us all that He used to be just like us, an ordinary person who had also experienced the teachings of infinite Buddhas. Actually, infinite Buddhas have also experienced the teachings of previous Buddhas. So, the continuous cycle of engaging in spiritual practice, attaining Buddhahood and teaching is the state of a Buddha. This is also the state of the Tathagata in each of our hearts; we intrinsically have this pure intrinsic nature.

The Buddha hopes that the state of infinite Buddhas can help perfect the spiritual state of all sentient beings. He hopes that we sentient beings can immediately awaken. So based on the teachings all Buddhas have given us, we must follow His rules and set out on this path to rediscover the Tathagata-nature that we have had since Beginningless Time. This shows the Buddha’s compassion.

So, in the previous sutra passage, Sakyamuni Buddha called out,

“Sariputra, the Tathagata gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings. There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”

The Buddha utilizes the One Buddha Vehicle to get straight to the point, to directly point to our hearts, so we can understand our minds and realize our true nature. His goals are this simple; He comes only for this purpose, to teach sentient beings the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. Due to sentient beings’ different capabilities, the Buddha had to teach the truth through provisional means. He did this to help us eliminate these ignorant thoughts from our ordinary minds, layer by layer, so we can gradually return to our pure intrinsic nature. This is the teaching of the One Reality. However, we cannot understand it immediately, so He has to teach the Small and Middle Vehicles. In truth, the Small and Middle Vehicles can help us eliminate layer after layer of ignorance. Once we have completely eliminated ignorance, the only thing left is our true essence, our great perfect mirror wisdom.

Take many of our Tzu Chi volunteers as examples. These Living Bodhisattvas frequently go to homes of the elderly that have accumulated many old and dirty things. ․Within this mess, there may be many living beings. Within this mess, there may be many living beings such as bugs, roaches, rats and even snakes. These creatures live under the same roof as these people who suffer physically and mentally. Tzu Chi volunteers form great aspirations and work together to clean these homes.

Look at all this trash. Before becoming so dirty, each item had once been new. As time passed, after being used by others, they were thrown out and retrieved by these people. Perhaps these people used the items themselves, then threw them aside after a while. So, new things become old and ragged. Thrown into piles, they become trash.

Then Tzu Chi volunteers come to carefully remove [the trash] piece by piece. They carefully sort out these things; they recycle what can be recycled and dispose of the things that cannot be recycled. As for the things that can still be used, they wash them clean. They also clean the entire house so that it looks brand new. Next, they clean up [the care recipients], giving haircuts to those who need them and shaves those with beards. After these people are bathed and dressed, after the beds are made, [volunteers] help them get situated. Even if [the care recipients] are physically ill, upon seeing the house cleaned up so well and restored so beautifully, they feel very happy as well. Then they realize that there are still many people who care about them.

This is an example to show all of you that, regardless of how old people are, whether they are healthy or ill, we should counsel all of them with the same kind of love to help them take the Buddha-Dharma to heart. Whether we encounter old people or people who are near the end of their lives, we should share pure teachings with all of them. Moreover, we ourselves are very blessed to now be receiving the Buddha-Dharma while we are healthy in body and mind. We must clean out the house in our hearts and not wait until we are ridden with illness or are facing our karmic retributions, already at the point where we cannot do anything and do not have much time left.

We must not wait until that moment. As we hear [these teachings] right now, we must immediately begin to clean that great perfect mirror in our minds. We must immediately clean, wash and wipe away our ignorance, layer by layer. Our basic essence is that perfect mirror, so this wisdom will be revealed. The Buddha comes to this world to guide us so we will work hard and return to our [intrinsic nature] by quickly cleaning out the house of our hearts.

The Buddha taught the One Buddha Vehicle to help us quickly eliminate our ignorance. Our most important goal is to purify our minds until they are clear and radiant. Once our Tathagata-nature manifests, we will not need the Two or Three Vehicles, only the One Buddha Vehicle. This is what I mentioned earlier.

Now let us examine this passage in the sutra. The Buddha said,

“Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”

In truth, the Dharma of all Buddhas is the same. They “open and reveal” [teachings] to sentient beings with the One Buddha Vehicle. To help all of us attain Buddhahood, They utilize this method. So, “The Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”

Recall the beginning of the Introductory Chapter. When the Buddha sat in meditation and entered the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings, the light between His brows continuously radiated and illuminated 18,000 Buddha-lands. You probably still remember that passage. Before He gave the Lotus teachings, the Buddha manifested this ultimate reality.

In fact, our minds are equal to the Buddha-mind, so we have the same spiritual powers as Him. However, with His spiritual powers, the Buddha radiates light that is illuminating, whereas our [lesser] spiritual power [causes us to give rise to] discursive thoughts. With our spiritual power, we also travel quickly [but land on thoughts such as,]. “Oh, I remember. Yesterday someone hurt me by saying this, so I am very angry.” The power does not just lead us to yesterday, but last year, or perhaps ten years ago. [It leads us to] a certain place, a certain time, a certain space. Exercising our spiritual powers does not take very long.

The Buddha’s radiance, the light that the Buddha radiates, [illuminates] 18,000 Buddha-lands. The worlds of many Buddhas are pure and bright. These worlds are what the Buddha sees in the hearts of sentient beings, because each of us have that pure Buddha-nature. So, He gave provisional teachings for the sake of the One Vehicle, for the sake of sentient beings. In the Introductory Chapter:

The Buddha’s light illuminates 18,000 lands for the sake of teaching the truth through provisional means. Then the provisional is brought back to the true. Thus, Buddhas of the ten directions who come to the world all first teach the provisional, then the true. They all give teachings in the same way.

“Provisional” teachings are skillful means. For the sake of true teachings, He gave provisional teachings. “Then the provisional is brought back to the true.” During the time that He radiated light, He was [highlighting the provisional] to lead us to the truth. By doing this, He was telling everyone that in the past, He adapted to sentient beings’ capabilities. But now that He saw that their capabilities were almost mature, He gathered those provisional teachings and told everyone that this was not all there was. Within the provisional teachings is a true, supreme, perfect and universal wondrous Dharma. This was what the Buddha stated at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra.

“Buddhas of the ten directions who come to the world all first teach the provisional then the true.” All Buddhas do the same thing, “They all give teachings in the same way.” This was why the Buddha told Sariputra, “The Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.” They all did the same things as Him because sentient beings, lifetime after lifetime, have always been the same. One aberrant thought led to millions of erroneous thoughts. An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. Now let me explain that the Three [Evil] Destinies and Six Realms were all created because of that single subtle, ignorant thought. So, how do we now draw in and gather up these ignorant thoughts? We must utilize the Three Vehicle teachings. To teach the One Vehicle, the Buddha utilized the Three Vehicle teachings that suited various capabilities.

Similarly, our land needs the nourishment of rain. With just the right amount of rain, the land can produce a bountiful harvest. But if there is heavy rain, it over-saturates the land and may cause landslides and rockslides. This is because the amount is unsuitable. With His wisdom, the Buddha can perceive the suitable amount. So, in the past, I have discussed “ultimate wisdom” and “relative wisdom.” These help sentient beings gradually accept, understand and even aspire to engage in spiritual practice. These are the Buddha’s skillful means. All Buddhas of the ten directions first gave provisional, then true teachings. They all give teachings in the same way that Sakyamuni Buddha did. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 290 – Abide in the One Vehicle

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>> The Lotus Sutra is all about “the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. The Tathagata gives these teachings to help bring all roots of goodness to maturity. As for Bodhisattvas, this enables them to understand the intent behind the Buddha’s understanding and views. So, this is called teaching the Bodhisattva-path.”

>> Revealed for sentient beings to realize: [The Buddha] opens and reveals teachings to enable them to awaken and attain realizations. The Lotus Sutra states, “[All is to] reveal the Buddha’s understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”

>> “Sariputra, the Tathagata gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings. There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”

>> The Buddha gives only the One Buddha Vehicle: He only wanted to use the Buddha’s understanding and views to awaken sentient beings. This is the only teaching that can enable people to attain Buddhahood.

>> Next the sutra states, “[He] gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings.”

>> There are no other vehicles [to Buddhahood], not two or three. There is only the One Buddha Vehicle. There are no two or three [Buddha] vehicles, just the singular pure, undefiled One Vehicle.

>> But the Buddha purely came to teach the One Buddha Vehicle. He did not originally intend to give the Two or Three Vehicle teachings.

>> [He comes] solely to help us abide in the One Vehicle. All Buddhas, for the sake of this great cause, teach the Bodhisattva-path.

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The Lotus Sutra is all about
“the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.
The Tathagata gives these teachings
to help bring all roots of goodness to maturity.
As for Bodhisattvas,
this enables them to understand
the intent behind the Buddha’s understanding and views.
So, this is called teaching the Bodhisattva-path.”

This tells us that the Lotus Sutra, in its entirety, explains the principles behind the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. The Tathagata uses these principles to teach and transform all sentient beings and bring their roots of goodness to maturity. Thus they can manifest the Bodhisattva-spirit. The entire Lotus Sutra, all seven volumes and 28 chapters, is meant to teach us sentient beings to return to our pure intrinsic nature. Then we can go among people, remain undefiled by their afflictions and come and go freely.

The Buddha comes to the world for one great cause. He comes to teach the Bodhisattva-path. This should be clear to us by now. He teaches and reveals the Bodhisattva-path to help everyone awaken. Without being on the Bodhisattva-path, we cannot awaken.

The Buddha’s enlightened [mind] is as broad as the universe; it is so broad and boundless. Thus, our hearts must encompass the universe, so that we may embrace everything. This is the extent of the Buddha’s views and understanding. The views and understanding of ordinary people are narrow and limited to just those we come into contact with, those we love and those we do not. As for those we love, we become attached to them. This attachment leads to suffering when we are apart in life or separated by death. As for those we do not love, those we hate, meeting with them always brings suffering. We become filled with afflictions because our minds are closed.

The Buddha’s one great cause can be summed up with four words, open, reveal, realize and enter. The first of these words is “open,” which is to open our minds, to open our views, to open our thinking, to open everything.

We have previously discussed “ultimate wisdom,” which we all intrinsically have. Because we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, the wisdom of True Suchness is something we all have, we just do not realize it. We ordinary people are covered by our ignorance, which has closed off our minds. So, the Buddha must find ways to open our minds and clear away this layer of ignorance. So, “open” means. He wishes that our minds, views and understanding can be broad and expansive. Attaining this state of mind is attaining the state of Bodhisattvas.

Thus, the Buddha came to this world for one great cause, to open and reveal one principle after another and clearly explain them to us. So, He used “relative wisdom” to evaluate sentient beings and determine our capabilities, so He could give us suitable teachings. “In the end, there is only one path.” Returning to the Bodhisattva-path is something the Buddha taught us with “relative wisdom.” The Buddha’s understanding and views lie here. Are we capable of understanding them?

During the Buddha’s time, there was a young man named Uttara, whose family was very poor. He had neither property nor money, and his parents were very old and both were in very poor health. To take care of them, he begged for alms. Three times a day he begged for food to feed them.

He saw how the Buddha taught sentient beings and how people listened to His teachings and learned to practice giving and to engage in spiritual practice. One day he came before the Buddha, bowed respectfully and asked for His advice. He told the Buddha of his circumstances. He said, “I really only have time to take care of my parents. Their health is poor, so I must tend to their nourishment. I only have time to beg for food for my parents, to sustain their lives. Venerable Buddha, I have no time for spiritual cultivation. Venerable Buddha, moreover, I do not have anything extra to give. So, how can I create blessings?”

The Buddha then gave him a teaching. He said, “You are already creating blessings. You have been begging for food. You have devoted all your time to your parents. By serving them, respecting them and being filial, you are already engaging in spiritual practice. By not abandoning your parents, you are already accumulating virtue. Similarly, as you beg for food at each door to feed your parents, people help you fulfill your filial piety so you are also making good connections. You will receive great blessings in the next life because you are filial to your parents and, by begging door to door, you let people know of your filial piety, which inspires them to give joyfully. In this way, you are forming great affinities. So in your next life, you will be affluent. With the same dedication you show your parents, you will help many others. This is one way of walking the Bodhisattva-path. In your next life, you will still walk this broad and expansive Bodhisattva-path. With your filial piety, you are now paving your future Bodhisattva-path.”

This story came from the Buddha’s time. Consider how the Buddha’s teaching affirmed the young man’s filial piety and helped him understand. This is how He opened and revealed teachings. This is “relative wisdom.” The Buddha evaluated this person’s ability, and based on that, He found the young man’s heart very precious. So, He highlighted his strengths to bring him peace of mind, so he would continue to do the right thing. In teaching this way, He brought about an awakening. Even such minor matters can be opportunities for teaching.

Revealed for sentient beings to realize: [The Buddha] opens and reveals teachings to enable them to awaken and attain realizations. The Lotus Sutra states, “[All is to] reveal the Buddha’s understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”

The Buddha’s only purpose is to, with His wisdom, understanding and views, awaken us sentient beings. Before officially teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha told everyone He [only wanted to] open and reveal. His understanding and views so that sentient beings could realize and enter [them].

The Buddha’s understanding and views and those of sentient beings are in fact equal. But sentient beings have layers of afflictions that cover their understanding and views. The Buddha is here to open and brush away the ignorance of sentient beings, so their understanding and views can be equal to the Buddha’s.

The following section of the sutra states,

“Sariputra, the Tathagata gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings. There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”

The Buddha only utilizes the One Buddha Vehicle, the true principle of ultimate reality. This is also ultimate wisdom and relative wisdom, which are both part of all-encompassing wisdom. Knowledge of all paths, knowledge of all causes and all-encompassing wisdom, are all part of the Buddha’s intrinsic wisdom and can penetrate [His] understanding and views. The Buddha sees everything with this all-encompassing wisdom. Then there is also ultimate reality, the principle of the One Buddha Vehicle. This is what the Buddha “gives as teachings to sentient beings.” For this sole reason, He comes to teach sentient beings. “There are no other vehicles, not two or three.” There is only One Buddha Vehicle, not two or three.

Ordinarily, we speak of the Small Vehicle, Middle Vehicle and Great Vehicle, Hearer-, Pratyekabuddha- and Bodhisattva-vehicle. These are the Three Vehicles. But actually, the Buddha is only teaching the Bodhisattva-path, which is the One Vehicle. Bodhisattvas are already close to [the level of] the Buddha’s wisdom. So, if we are to become Buddhas, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path.

As in the story I just told, a mindset of being filial to one’s parents can eventually be applied to all sentient beings. So, [when a young man] has more time and wealth, he can exercise that same level of respect by giving charitably to all sentient beings. This is the Bodhisattva-path. In the case of Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, they only focus on cultivating themselves. Though they have already eliminated love, craving, passion and animosity, they have limited the scope of their cultivation because they only practice for their own sake. The suffering in the Three Realms and Six Realms is unbearable; if we are not careful, we will keep falling into [them]. So, these people are scared and simply remain Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas. Thus, the Buddha told us we must take the next step and walk the Bodhisattva-path.

Buddhist teachings use the lotus as an analogy. The Lotus Sutra also uses the lotus as an analogy for the wondrous Dharma lotus flower. The significance of the lotus flower is that it arises from mud yet remains undefiled. In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, among the multitudes of sentient beings, [we must] be like the lotus flower, untainted by the mud. The Buddha’s intent is for all of us to not only eliminate our own afflictions but also to dedicate ourselves among people and teach them as well. So, He taught only the One Buddha Vehicle. Before, it spoke of teaching the Bodhisattva Way. This section talks about the One Buddha Vehicle, which is to walk the Bodhisattva-path. There are not two or three vehicles, but only the One Buddha Vehicle. So, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path.

The Buddha gives only the One Buddha Vehicle: He only wanted to use the Buddha’s understanding and views to awaken sentient beings. This is the only teaching that can enable people to attain Buddhahood.

“The Buddha gives only the One Buddha Vehicle” means. “He only wanted to use the Buddha’s understanding and views to awaken sentient beings.” This is the Buddha’s intention. We seem to hear these words every day. Indeed, every day we hear this phrase. He has opened and revealed, but have we realized and entered? Every day [the teachings] are opened and revealed, but have we realized and entered them? If we have not, then we must keep putting our hearts into contemplating these teachings. So, “He only wanted to use the Buddha’s understanding and views to awaken sentient beings.” This is the only teaching that can enable people to attain Buddhahood. It is the One Buddha Vehicle.

Next the sutra states, “[He] gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings.”

Therefore, the Buddha, just to teach the One Buddha Vehicle, gives many discourses and teachings, all of which can be summed up as [this ultimate teaching]. The One Buddha Vehicle [means].

There are no other vehicles [to Buddhahood], not two or three. There is only the One Buddha Vehicle. There are no two or three [Buddha] vehicles, just the singular pure, undefiled One Vehicle.

This is a simple and uncomplicated matter.

So, I tell you every day that the Buddha-Dharma is actually quite simple. But, we sentient beings have many afflictions and many discursive thoughts. Sentient beings have 84,000 afflictions, so the Buddha had to create 84,000 teachings to meet this need and teach according to their capabilities. Therefore, it seems complicated.

But the Buddha purely came to teach the One Buddha Vehicle. He did not originally intend to give the Two or Three Vehicle teachings.

The Buddha does not only want us to stop at the Small or Middle Vehicle. We must not simply listen to or understand the Dharma, we must also put it into practice. What He emphasizes most is putting the Dharma into practice. After we understand it, we must actualize it. So, we cannot just listen. The Buddha does not speak only so that people can hear and understand the teachings. This is not His original intent.

[He comes] solely to help us abide in the One Vehicle. All Buddhas, for the sake of this great cause, teach the Bodhisattva-path.

Most importantly, He “solely enables people to abide in the One Vehicle.” I hope everyone’s heart abides in the One Vehicle, in the Buddha Vehicle. This means that we can return to our pure intrinsic Buddha-nature. This is the only requirement. “[He comes] solely to help us abide in the One Vehicle.” We must return to our intrinsic Tathagata-nature. This is not complicated; there is nothing else; we must simply return to and abide in the One Vehicle.

In conclusion, we must learn from the Buddha with a deep and strong faith to understand His purpose for coming to the world. He clearly tells us that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We must not only seek it externally, we must actually return to our intrinsic nature and remain in the One Vehicle. Only then are we truly Buddhist practitioners. So everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 289 – With the Buddha’s Understanding and Views

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>> Sentient Beings Can Awaken. “We all have the same Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya. Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate. Though they know that. Buddha-wisdom is supreme, they feel that only Buddhas can have it. So, they remain limited, disinclined to [learn] great Dharma.”

>> The Buddha told Sariputra, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Their actions are always for the one cause, to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”

>> “Come only [to teach] the unsurpassed meaning. With all-encompassing wisdom, they always know all paths and know all causes. This is called all-encompassing wisdom.”

>> They come for nothing else: Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle. They do not realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.

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Sentient Beings Can Awaken.
“We all have the same Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya.
Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate.
Though they know that. Buddha-wisdom is supreme,
they feel that only Buddhas can have it.
So, they remain limited, disinclined to [learn] great Dharma.”

This is telling everyone that we all know Buddha-nature is equal [in everyone]. After such a long period of time, we should believe this. Our destination in learning the Buddha’s teachings is the attainment of Buddhahood. ․Otherwise, why do we engage in spiritual practice? We should believe in what the Buddha tells us, that. “We all have the same. Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya.”

However, Two Vehicle practitioners who lived in the Buddha’s time, who followed Him into monastic life and stayed by His side to learn from Him, could not realize the ultimate Dharma. The Buddha constantly expounded the Dharma according to capabilities, so they thought that was the extent of the Dharma. Though they all knew that the wisdom of the Buddha is unsurpassed, Two Vehicle practitioners did not know about the ultimate Dharma within themselves. Therefore, they all had the same kind of thinking, that since the Buddha is supreme, unsurpassed, His intrinsic Buddha-nature is something exclusively Buddhas have. [Buddha-nature] seems very distant to us.

When we consider ourselves, it seems like only a Buddha could attain enlightenment and only one such as Sakyamuni Buddha could have intrinsic Buddha-nature; it seems completely unrelated to us. Thus, these practitioners stayed with the Small Vehicle and were not inclined toward Great Vehicle teachings. By deciding to stay in that state, they hindered themselves. They did not understand that the Buddha was teaching that everybody can become a Buddha. They believed there is ever only one Buddha, and no one else can [aspire to that]. So in the beginning, Two Vehicle practitioners did not dare believe they could attain Buddhahood.

Sometimes I wonder, since they had been at Buddha’s side, constantly listening to Him teach for a long time, how could they not have faith? They still hesitated at the threshold. Clearly, the Buddha had opened a door for them, all they had to do was walk in and look. These people had been taught by the Buddha, so they knew that the Six Destinies and. Three Realms are unbearable suffering. They also knew that the Six Destinies are filled with endless torment and the Three Realms are not long-lasting. Knowing these facts, they aspired to follow the Buddha and become monastics in hopes of ending their cyclic existence. They stopped at that stage, as Two Vehicle practitioners.

Do you remember what the two are? Hearers entered [the Dharma] through the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, learning the truth of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Pratyekabuddhas were a stage above them. Through the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence, they understood causes, conditions, effects and retributions. Therefore, Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats were afraid of seeking karmic affinities because they were afraid of creating bad causes or forming negative karmic connections. Thus, they remained Two Vehicle practitioners, afraid of moving forward [in their practice]. This was because they did not know the ultimate; they did not know that, at this point, they needed to take another step forward. They could not just stay within themselves, they had to open the door to their hearts and walk outside.

If we always guard ourselves and only look after ourselves, the evil world of the Five Turbidities around us, the burning house of the Three Realms, will still be very unstable. So, we must quickly open our hearts and interact with others to purify their minds too. In this way, we can put out the fire in the burning house of the Three Realms. This is something we should all do. This was the Buddha’s hope, that we could all walk the Bodhisattva-path.

By entering [teachings], we can walk the Bodhisattva-path of working with others while guarding our minds. By understanding the Four Noble Truths, the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence and the ultimate Buddha-nature of True Suchness, by reaching this level, we can freely go among people without being defiled by the world’s turbidity and still be able to leave safely. At the same time, we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, so we will aspire to go into the world again. When we can freely go in and out of this world, we have truly attained the Buddha’s Dharmakaya and the nature of True Suchness. What the Buddha wanted to do was to teach us, so we can reach this level.

Therefore, the following passage states that.

The Buddha told Sariputra, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Their actions are always for the one cause, to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”

From this passage, we can understand that the Buddha wants sentient beings to realize that Buddha-nature is the same in us all. The Buddha comes to the world for one great cause, to teach the Bodhisattva-path. So, it says, “All Buddhas, Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way.” All Buddhas refers not just to Sakyamuni Buddha, but all Buddhas of the ten directions. Past and present Buddhas are the same; They all teach sentient beings to walk the Bodhisattva-path.

Therefore, “all Their actions are always for the one cause.” Everything all Buddhas do is for Their one great cause in this world, which is “to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.” They taught the Buddha’s understanding and views to help sentient beings to awaken.

So, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas,”

“Come only [to teach] the unsurpassed meaning. With all-encompassing wisdom, they always know all paths and know all causes. This is called all-encompassing wisdom.”

Something unsurpassed is supreme. The goal of the Buddha in coming to this world is to guide sentient beings by teaching “the unsurpassed meaning.” This “unsurpassed meaning” is supreme Dharma; there is no teaching beyond this one. From here on, in the sutra we often see the term. “Annutara-samyak-sambodhi.”

Annutara-samyak-sambodhi means supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment. The Buddha comes to the world to teach sentient beings to reach the state of supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment. This is the great teaching He gave in this world.

With “all-encompassing wisdom,” He knows all paths. The Buddha has the wisdom to know how we should walk this road. He knows the fundamental principles behind why we transmigrate in the Six Realms and cannot escape. This passage is saying that the actions of sentient beings lead them down certain paths to end up in certain realms. So, “[He] knows all paths.” He knows the causes and conditions that each of us have created. As humans, we all have problems with our families. We have problems getting along with other people and problems with society. We each face different problems, and the Buddha always knows what causes we planted and what affinities we formed that led to such retributions in this life. This knowledge comes from His pure and clear.

Tathagata-nature, which is also all-encompassing wisdom also known as great perfect mirror wisdom. He also “knows all causes,” all the causes and karma we created. “All causes” can fall into many categories. Humans are a category. Animals fall into many categories, [as do] beings in hell, and so on. As for the difficulties and suffering we all face, we only understand our own. We cannot understand others’ suffering. Because of the Buddha’s compassion, He can truly feel the suffering of sentient beings as if it is His own. “When others hurt, we hurt; when they suffer, we suffer.” This is the heart of a Buddha.

All-encompassing wisdom is the combination of knowing all paths and all causes. Together these are all-encompassing wisdom. This is Buddha-wisdom.

In the end, the Buddha comes to this world solely to teach the Bodhisattva-path, so Bodhisattvas must first learn these [methods]. He comes to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Buddhas come to this world to do one thing. All they do is “always for the one cause.” They are always, constantly working for one thing, “to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”

They come for nothing else: Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle. They do not realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.

“They come for nothing else.” Buddhas come to do only one thing, no other. So, They are “not here for any other matter. Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle.” The Two Vehicles are Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas.

Hearers start with the Four Noble Truths. Pratyekabuddhas start with the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. [However], they stopped after learning the Four Noble Truths or the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. [They only know] these principles. So Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, “which is only possible through the One Vehicle.” They do not know that the ultimate Dharma is to return to the One Buddha Vehicle.

Understanding the Four Noble Truths is only part of the process. This helps us realize that we cannot stop there and linger in this world. Everything in this world is suffering. No matter how much we love someone, our inevitable parting will cause us suffering. We cannot be obsessed with worldly pleasures. To obtain these worldly pleasures we create karma, but in the end nothing remains. [So, the Buddha] guides us through this door to help us clearly understand. After we are clear, we need to return to ultimate principles. We can transcend this suffering forever. We will not be confused again by sensual pleasures of wealth, lust and intoxicants, so we can transcend our desires. The Buddha wants to help us come and go with ease, never hindered by karmic retributions. This is the ultimate Dharma. But Two Vehicle practitioners do not know this, so they cannot realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.

The Buddha wants to reveal this to help us understand that. His understanding and views are like this. He is doing everything He can to help us realize what He knows and understands. He holds back nothing. However, we still cannot completely understand. We need to realize that the Buddha [is here to] teach the Bodhisattva Way. His understanding and views [are revealed] only to teach the Bodhisattva Way and to teach that Bodhisattvas’ and Buddhas’ understanding and views are at the same [level]. “[He] solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way” to explain that this is the Buddha’s intention; Bodhisattvas must live among people and teach and guide sentient beings.

Because of sentient beings’ capabilities, the Buddha has to exercise “relative wisdom” to come up with teachings they can accept. He may teach the path to human and heavenly birth, so people first create good causes and affinities to avoid the suffering of creating karma. Perhaps everyone has thought more deeply and realized that though we enjoy a longer life and many pleasures in heaven, once we deplete our blessings, we will still fall. This is not the ultimate. We need to understand that everything is suffering and the causation of suffering. He may teach the path for Hearers. Some people have higher capabilities and know that to follow the Four Noble Truths, to [eliminate] suffering and walk this Path, we must also understand the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. These are teachings for Pratyekabuddhas.

“All for the sake of teaching and enabling sentient beings to complete the Bodhisattva-path.” From teachings for the human and heaven realm to teachings for Hearers to teachings for Pratyekabuddhas, all are given according to their capabilities. They are taught to plant roots of goodness. During this period, the Buddha told them they had not attained the ultimate and needed to go up another level and let go of [teachings] they were attached to. They had to start over and pave the Bodhisattva-path with roots of goodness. So, ultimately these are all part of the same Bodhisattva-path. This is the Buddha’s compassionate teaching. Everything He does is “always for the one cause.” Always, this work is the cause and condition for Him to manifest in the world to teach sentient beings.

Dear Bodhisattvas, Buddhas have the ability to become enlightened, and so do we. We simply must take the next step; we must not stop here. So everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 288 – Putting Aspirations into Practice

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>> “All Buddhas come to the world to manifest and teach the same path. For the one great cause, for true principles, they gave provisional teachings. Using relative wisdom, they teach according to capabilities. Using ultimate wisdom, they awaken others to supremely wondrous truths.”

>> For the causes and conditions of. His one great work: The Buddha manifests in this world to expound the Dharma. This is due to the causes and conditions of the one great cause. Why is it called the one great cause? Basically, it turns people from delusions to realizations.

>> The Buddha manifests in this world, not due to karmic retributions from past lives, but because His compassion and vows lead Him to reveal the meaning of. His understanding and views. This is how the Buddha’s understanding and views can lead to aspirations and practice and the personal realization of ultimate reality.

>> “Wanting to enable sentient beings to realize the Buddha’s understanding and views” is to enable everyone to awaken.

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“All Buddhas come to the world to manifest and teach the same path.
For the one great cause, for true principles, they gave provisional teachings.
Using relative wisdom, they teach according to capabilities.
Using ultimate wisdom, they awaken others to supremely wondrous truths.”

This is telling everyone that all Buddhas, from the present Sakyamuni Buddha to past Buddhas of infinite worlds, come to “manifest and teach.” So, when They manifest in this world, Their experiences and teachings are very similar.

For example, Sakyamuni Buddha was born and grew to adulthood in the palace. The way He developed His views on this world and. His determination to become a monastic, the process of His spiritual practice, His attainment of Buddhahood and transformation of sentient beings, etc. were like all Buddhas who come to this world. So, it is said, “All Buddhas share the same path.”

Every Buddha has the same hope for sentient beings. They came to teach and help them understand that they themselves have a wisdom equal to all Buddhas. Tathagata-nature. This was each Buddha’s hope for sentient beings. However, sentient beings are ignorant and [slow]. So, each Buddha gave sentient beings provisional teachings to teach true principles. This was because each Buddha came to the world for the one great cause,

but if They [directly] taught true principles, many people could not accept them, could not understand or realize them. Thus, in order to give everyone time to adjust, the Buddha slowly guided them toward realizations. So, the Buddha had to apply “relative wisdom. Relative wisdom” adapts to sentient beings’ capabilities. Based on their capabilities, the Buddha gave them methods that suited them. He did this for everyone. For example, when kindergarten teachers talk to the kids, they use language suitable for young children. In elementary school, middle school, high school, college and graduate school, the language each teacher uses is different. This is known as “relative wisdom.”

Then what is “ultimate wisdom”? “Ultimate wisdom” helps us understand our minds and see our true nature. It is something we intrinsically have. It is the Buddha’s understanding and views, the Buddha’s pure and undefiled wondrous wisdom of True Suchness, which “awakens others to supremely wondrous truths.” [The Buddha] came to help us awaken to the fact that we intrinsically have the same [nature as the Buddha]. This is the one great cause for which the Buddha comes to this world. He wants to tell everyone that. “The Buddha, the mind and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” We all have the same nature of True Suchness as the Buddha. The one great cause for which the Buddha comes to this world is this simple.

For the causes and conditions of. His one great work: The Buddha manifests in this world to expound the Dharma. This is due to the causes and conditions of the one great cause. Why is it called the one great cause? Basically, it turns people from delusions to realizations.

These are “the causes and conditions of. His one great work.” So, “the Buddha manifests in this world to expound the Dharma.” Because of this one great cause, the Buddha manifested in this world. He gave teachings for sentient beings because of “the causes and conditions of the one great cause.”

What are these causes and conditions? Why is it called the one great cause? Basically, it turns people from delusions to realizations.

Because we live in a world lacking in clarity, [He gave] various teachings for our daily living. But we left the path laid out by the Dharma, so we are lost. We are like mountain climbers who go to the mountain and decide to stray far off the clearly marked paths. This is how we get lost and cannot find the path again.

I have told you about the time. I hiked Tulan Mountain and passed by a big banyan tree. In this indigenous forest, which is thousands of years old, we can no longer find the original banyan tree because the forest has become densely packed with its thick roots. So at that time, after I went into that forest, I became lost in the mountains. Where was the road? I was still on the same mountain, and I saw one tree trunk after another, but I could not find my way out of them. I also could not tell where the original tree was. Have you seen this kind of tree before?

Sometimes I think, “Isn’t this what sentient beings do?” When I talk about turning from delusions to realizations, I always think about being on Tulan Mountain. Being lost was very terrifying, I really did not know where the path was.

How can we be safe? By returning to our intrinsic nature. Then we will be very safe and can be like the Buddha, who thoroughly understands the true principles of all things in the universe. Once we do this, will we get lost again? So, this was the Buddha’s one great cause. He hoped we could return to our Tathagata-nature and never get lost again. The karmic conditions of His one great cause were to guide sentient beings to turn from delusions to realizations. This shows the Buddha’s compassion.

The Buddha manifests in this world, not due to karmic retributions from past lives, but because His compassion and vows lead Him to reveal the meaning of. His understanding and views. This is how the Buddha’s understanding and views can lead to aspirations and practice and the personal realization of ultimate reality.

“The Buddha manifests in this world, not because of karmic retributions from His past lives.” That is definitely not the case. We ordinary people, because of the law of karma, are guided by our causes and conditions to experience cyclic existence in the Six Realms. If we created good karma in a past life, naturally, we will be born to [kind] parents and grow up in a wholesome environment where we live a good life and enjoy all the blessings and wisdom of the world. But some people’s lives are not like this. They suffer from the moment they are born. They are born to poor families, live in poverty and try hard to escape it.

Do you remember this story? One day, in Dalin [Tzu Chi Hospital], a volunteer told a story about an old woman who was born in a very poor place. She lived in a village deep in the mountains and had a hard life, never having much to eat. When she was in her teens, she had just one wish, to quickly escape this poverty and relieve the suffering her family faced. So, when someone came to arrange a marriage when she was 17 or 18 years old, she did not care who she was marrying, she just wanted to escape the poverty. This was how she got married.

After she married, even though she no longer lived in the mountains and was close to the city, she was still poor. On top of that, she came to an unfamiliar family, and she did not have a good relationship with her mother-in-law. She had to take care of the family, deal with their economic difficulties and put up with their [bad attitudes] every day. All she heard were unpleasant comments. Her relationship with her mother-in-law was very bad. Her husband was a laborer, and he drank and gambled. This suffering was worse than what she

experienced before she got married. Therefore, when she reached middle age, she could not take this suffering anymore and asked for a divorce. After her divorce, she left with her daughter and had to find a way to make a living. She had to work very hard to support them both. [Once she met someone else], she got married again. The widower she married had a son. So, in this case, she had to learn to accommodate this child. Life in this family was not smooth, either. Shortly after that, her husband passed away, so then she struggled to support her own child along with someone else’s child.

When she was in her 80s, she got sick. She was hospitalized in our Dalin Hospital. Every day she lamented her suffering and how no one could fully understand it. There was no one to take care of her. Her stepson did not have a good relationship with her. Though her daughter was filial, she lived far away. So, the old woman suffered [alone]. One day, her daughter came to see her and told [volunteers] about all the suffering in her mother’s life.

Her daughter then contacted her stepbrother. When her stepbrother came, Tzu Chi volunteers spoke to him and his wife. They told the couple about the law of karma, so her daughter-in-law became terrified and immediately decided to visit her more regularly. So, finally, the old woman had someone to take care of her. Later, people asked her, “Grandma, do you want to tell us what to do about your funeral arrangements?” The old woman said, “I really want to go to my child’s home.” She said, “Wherever I came from, please let me go back there.” So, where did she really want to go? Her stepson did not want to acknowledge her. Her own child, from her first husband, had already left. So, in the end, where did she go? No one wanted her. So in the end, the hospital made arrangements to send her ashes to a columbarium.

Consider this elderly person, this old woman. She lived for over 80 years. Since she was born, she struggled to escape suffering. See, established karma cannot be changed. This kind of karmic retribution, for us ordinary people, is something we bring with us from past lives.

Hadn’t the Buddha already transcended the Six Realms? [The reason He returns] is because. He cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. This suffering began with a single deluded thought. Once immersed in delusion, we cannot awaken, and thus we continuously multiply our afflictions, ignorance and karmic retributions. This is why we keep being tormented by suffering. The Buddha could not bear this, so He manifested in this world. He did not come here because of karmic retributions from past lives, but because of His great compassion and vows.

To transform and save sentient beings, He manifested in this world. These are His understanding and views. He knew about the karmic retributions they faced because of His understanding and views. He saw through this world and understood the Six Realms because of His understanding and views. Thus, the Buddha wanted everyone to awaken. Awakening is Bodhi. So, He wanted to guide us to walk on the Bodhi-path.

So, we must form aspirations. We all have to awaken, so we can have the same mind as the Buddha and be unable to bear letting sentient beings suffer. Thus, we form aspirations. After the Buddha has inspired us, we must take action. We have to put [the Dharma] into practice.

So, we constantly discuss the Three Flawless Studies, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Also, we must listen, contemplate and practice. We must sincerely listen, contemplate and practice. In our daily living, we must uphold precepts and remain in Samadhi to awaken our wisdom. This is part of the spiritual practice of forming aspirations and taking action. If we form aspirations and practice, we can have. ․a “personal realization of ultimate reality.” If we can do this, then we can realize the nature of True Suchness. As long as we can start walking, we can be like Buddhas, who cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer.

We are already deluded, which brings great suffering. But we can practice the Buddha’s teachings to understand the path. At the same time, we must also lead other people to walk this same path.

“Wanting to enable sentient beings to realize the Buddha’s understanding and views” is to enable everyone to awaken.

To awaken, we must realize that we all intrinsically have intrinsic Buddha-nature. This was the Buddha’s intention, hoping all of us would understand that our Buddha-nature is always there, so we can always be equal to the Buddha. Unfortunately, we are in the state of ordinary people right now. We are still lost. Someone is guiding us by saying, “Come, come, this is the right path to take,” yet some people are still indecisive. They cannot move forward wholeheartedly. This is because we sentient beings have accumulated much karma, which holds us back.

So, we have to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly and begin to take action. When the Buddha teaches, we must sincerely accept His teachings. If we can do this, we can move up, step by step, and transcend that state. Only then can we see this more broad and expansive state. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 287 – Ultimate Wisdom and Relative Wisdom

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>> “Realize and enter Buddha-understanding and views to understand and illuminate all things. The ultimate reality of the Buddha’s wisdom is the path to all-encompassing wisdom.”

>> “A path leads somewhere. This is a path through samsara.”

>> There are two paths through samsara: Good karma leads us toward good places. Bad karma leads us toward bad places. Therefore, good and bad karma are paths. These paths lead to different destinies, such as hell and the rest of the Six Realms.

>> Ultimate wisdom: This refers to how all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, with their true wisdom, can thoroughly see the principles of reality. It is wondrous, extremely tranquil and still, neither increasing nor diminishing.

>> Relative wisdom: All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas thoroughly understand all phenomena. They see that if sentient beings go against their ultimate wisdom, they will be [trapped] in samsara. They see that if sentient beings go along with their ultimate wisdom, they will reach the ultimate pure land of calm illumination.

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“Realize and enter Buddha-understanding and views
to understand and illuminate all things.
The ultimate reality of the Buddha’s wisdom
is the path to all-encompassing wisdom.”

For the past few days, we have been delving into a very important Dharma, the karmic conditions of the one great cause for which the Buddha comes to the world. [He comes to] “open, reveal, realize and enter.” He is responding to sentient beings’ conditions. Out of compassion, He does not abandon them. So by exercising both compassion and wisdom, He “opens and reveals” according to capabilities. However, our capability to “realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views” depends on whether we are mindful, whether we are using a pure heart to develop respect and faith in the Buddha-Dharma so that we will accept and practice it.

Recently, I have been telling everyone that we must better understand the Buddha’s mind and intentions. This is the direction of our spiritual practice. Whichever way the Buddha guides us is the direction we must move toward. This is the right thing to do. If we can do this, we will “realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views” and be able to “understand and illuminate all things,”

Then we can clearly understand and penetrate the Buddha’s teachings, and even enable our minds to be open and understanding so naturally, the light of wisdom can shine in. So, once we “understand,” we know we must open the door of our minds. Then we can see the radiant world outside and bring the light into our minds. This is how we “understand and illuminate.” This light, the light of the Buddha’s wisdom, is naturally illuminating [and allows] us to understand all things. The ultimate reality of all things is the Buddha’s wisdom, which is actually intrinsic to all of us. We must believe this, as the Buddha told us this is so.

The Buddha’s wisdom, in fact, is also called “all-encompassing wisdom.” [There is] Bodhisattva-wisdom, Hearer-wisdom, followed by all-encompassing wisdom, and finally complete wisdom. All of these are contained within pure and undefiled wisdom, which is the Buddha’s wisdom.

Indeed, the Buddha had to work hard in this world. His compassion is such that. He will never abandon sentient beings, so He continuously comes to this world. “[He] wants to help all beings enter the path of the Buddha’s understanding and views. Thus, [He] manifests in this world.” This is the Buddha’s goal; [it is to help all of us] enter the path of His understanding and views.

What is a path?

“A path leads somewhere. This is a path through samsara.”

This path allows us to arrive somewhere. Thus, an unobstructed road we can walk on is called a “path.”

However, for unenlightened beings, there are two paths through samsara.

There are two paths through samsara: Good karma leads us toward good places. Bad karma leads us toward bad places. Therefore, good and bad karma are paths. These paths lead to different destinies, such as hell and the rest of the Six Realms.

One kind of path is good karma. If the path of good karma is unobstructed, it will lead everyone to a better [destiny]. A good path leads to a good [destiny]. This is like when we understand the principles, we will “refrain from all evil and do all good deeds.” We know we must walk on this good path.

The Tzu Chi School of Buddhism, a road in this world, has certainly been paved, inch by inch, with everyone’s love as they walked it. This is a good path. When the good path is unobstructed, we create good karma, which will lead us to very good places.

There is [the other path], which is bad. Bad karma leads us toward bad destinies. Once we open the door to bad karma, we will not be able to extricate ourselves. If our negative karmic affinities are strong, although we clearly should walk a good path, we are pulled away by negative friends and will easily end up on an evil path.

For example, there was an abandoned child who was adopted by a couple. They raised him with love and always cherished him. But this child never repaid their kindness and did whatever he pleased. [As an adult], he began to visit prostitutes, gamble and drink, and eventually he racked up a debt of several million NTD, so creditors tried to collect from his parents. If [he asked for money] and they would not give, if his parents were eating, he would take the food on the table and feed it to dogs. He was really disobedient to his parents;

he would even beat them and so on. Eventually, his parents became afraid whenever they heard him coming. They would shut their door, but he would pound on it till it broke, saying, “If you don’t open up, we can all die together.” He was going to use gas to kill them all. This is what people are like nowadays. His parents were scared and called the police. When the police came, he was still the same; he had no remorse. This is bad karma. If this [path of] bad karma is unimpeded, he will continue down this road and persist in his delusions, never awakening. He will become more immersed [in ignorance]. This is also a road, an evil path. If the path of bad karma is unimpeded, he will continue to degenerate.

So, the two kinds of karma, good and bad, are both “paths,” which are roads. If we choose to walk on a good road, we will create blessings for everyone. If we [choose] an evil path, we will sink ever lower, lash out at everyone and repay kindness with hatred. This creates more bad karma. Good and bad karma are both “paths.”

The places they lead to are called “destinies.” So, we talk about the Six Destinies. The heaven realm, human realm, asura realm, hell realm, hungry ghost realm and animal realm are sometimes referred to as destinies.

So, the Buddha comes to this world to guide sentient beings to “enter the path of His understanding and views,” so we can “realize and enter” the Buddha’s truth. This is the road that we must walk; it is the path to Buddhahood.

Previously, we mentioned “complete wisdom.” This “complete wisdom,” or “the path to all-encompassing wisdom,” is the direction the Buddha wanted to guide us in. Therefore, we must be mindful of the Buddha’s principles, understanding and views. What are “the Buddha’s understanding and views”? [His] understanding and views are the principles of “all-encompassing wisdom.” This is divided into two categories; the first is called “ultimate wisdom.”

Ultimate wisdom: This refers to how all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, with their true wisdom, can thoroughly see the principles of reality. It is wondrous, extremely tranquil and still, neither increasing nor diminishing.

This is telling everyone, “All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, [with] their true wisdom, can thoroughly see the principles of reality.” The teachings [the Buddha] gave us are all verified principles. By teaching sentient beings, He hopes everyone can thoroughly see the principles of reality. This is ultimate wisdom, the principles of True Suchness. “It is wondrous, extremely tranquil and still, neither increasing nor diminishing. This is ultimate wisdom.” It helps us learn how we can truly return to our Tathagata-nature. That state is “wondrous, extremely tranquil and still.” When we return to our nature, [our minds will] be “wondrous, extremely tranquil and still” and naturally, non-increasing and non-decreasing. “[This nature] does not decrease in sentient beings, nor increase in Buddhas.” It is called ultimate wisdom. Sentient beings are all equal; everyone must understand there are no distinctions between us.

The other kind of wisdom is “relative wisdom.”

Relative wisdom: All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas thoroughly understand all phenomena. They see that if sentient beings go against their ultimate wisdom, they will be [trapped] in samsara. They see that if sentient beings go along with their ultimate wisdom, they will reach the ultimate pure land of calm illumination.

Though [wisdom] is no less and no greater, non-increasing and non-decreasing, though it is a tranquil and still state, since the Buddha wanted to transform sentient beings in the world, He had to also exercise “relative wisdom.” After all, sentient beings’ capabilities vary, so He must teach according to them.

“All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas thoroughly understand all phenomena.” In seeing various phenomena, they see that if “sentient beings go against their ultimate wisdom, they will be [trapped] in samsara.” We have already gone against [ultimate wisdom]. To “go against” is to turn away from. If we turn our backs on ultimate wisdom, we experience arising and ceasing, or samsara. Good and bad in samsara depends on the causes and conditions, and the good and bad karma that we create.

The disobedient son I just mentioned has gone against his ultimate wisdom. Though his parents loved him very much, he felt no gratitude toward them and instead ruined the family by using up all their assets. He was incredibly disobedient to his parents. This is an example of going against ultimate wisdom. This is why we cannot control our transmigration in the Six Realms. This is why all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas observe the way sentient beings live.

“They see that when sentient beings follow their ultimate wisdom, they can reach the ultimate, pure, land of calm illumination.” If sentient beings can live according to truths, earnestly listen to the Dharma and engage in spiritual practice, then they will return to their intrinsic nature and also reach “the ultimate, pure, land of calm illumination.”

The Tathagata’s pure intrinsic nature is one of calm illumination, which is Nirvana. The state of Nirvana is a land of calm illumination, which means the mind is truly pure and radiant, in a state of tranquility and clarity. We all have this beautiful state of mind within us. But when a single thought goes astray, it leads us a thousand miles off course. Then the distance between sentient beings and the Buddha is so far; He is so removed [from us]. This is why the Buddha comes to this world to teach sentient beings.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must be replete with relative wisdom to teach according to capabilities. If sentient beings have dull capabilities, They will use limited teachings to draw in and transform them. For those with sharp capabilities, They use immediate teachings to transform them. This is how the Buddha, to transform all beings, [awakens] their intrinsic ultimate wisdom. Based on their capabilities, He exercises relative wisdom to give suitable teachings. This is the wisdom of all Buddhas and all Bodhisattvas.

So, we sentient beings must understand [we have] “ultimate wisdom.” We ourselves must realize this state of mind. As we are interacting with people, we must also exercise “relative wisdom” to observe others’ habitual tendencies. So, if they have a bad temper, we can step back a little and let them be until their anger subsides. Then we can tirelessly persist in approaching and transforming them.

So, we must “expand and spread great love far and wide.” The Buddha never abandoned us, so how can we [abandon] our fellow humans, especially our fellow practitioners and our spiritual community? We must have broader minds. [Everyone] has habitual tendencies. We must often observe others’ habitual tendencies to constantly heighten our vigilance of our own. If someone has a certain habitual tendency, we must take a look at ourselves and ask, do we have this same habitual tendency? If we also have this habitual tendency, we must not allow this it to affect the way we treat others.

So, we must always be grateful to those with bad habitual tendencies because of what they are teaching us. If we are grateful and accept [the lesson], then we must avoid making the same mistakes. If someone is very open-minded, has a broad mind and pure thoughts and does not take issue with others no matter what, we should respect and admire him. We should also strive to be someone who is respected by others. So, we should learn from this person. As Confucius once said, “In a group of three, I will find my teacher.” This is [how we apply] ultimate wisdom and relative wisdom. We must all be mindful of this.

The “path” can be good or bad. Good and bad paths for ordinary people are called “paths of samsara.” If we are on the path of samsara, we are still in the state of ordinary people. Our minds are not yet settled, So, if the chance to create good karma appears, we must quickly seize [the opportunity] and create more blessed karma on this good path. As for the evil path, we must be vigilant of what we do and avoid degenerating. [Whether good or bad], both are called “paths.” What we now must learn is neither increasing nor diminishing, the state of the land of calm illumination. That state of mind is “tranquil and clear.” Then we can have “vows as vast as the universe,” and “remain unwavering for countless eons.” Isn’t this the Jing Si Dharma-lineage that all of us must practice and uphold? So, we must always be mindful.