Category: TLS Chapter 3

Episode 573 – The Realization of Unlimited Truths

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>> “Our minds must be as broad as the universe. Then wondrous and subtle consciousness can contain the universe. By understanding all Dharma, we fulfill wondrous practices. By letting go of the Small and seeking the Great we can steadily practice the path.”

>>”I have unlimited wealth, I should not give inferior, small carts”

>> This is like teaching the One Vehicle Dharma, the way to walk on the smooth and straight Middle Way. This is same as the way the elder fulfilled his wish as a father to give his children what they really want.

>> The movement of the mind flows through the Three Periods. This is called a thought, such as a thought before, a thought after, thought after thought, etc. When our thoughts reach the unlimited truth and transcend the world’s wondrous existence, we will naturally receive the ultimate essence of true emptiness.

>> Practicing the Small Vehicle is only seeking to transcend the desire realm. It lacks the teachings about the dust-like delusions of the form or formless realms. It is not great, thus it is called inferior. The Buddha compassionately gave the great carts equally to all.

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“Our minds must be as broad as the universe.
Then wondrous and subtle consciousness
can contain the universe.
By understanding all Dharma,
we fulfill wondrous practices.
By letting go of the Small and seeking the Great
we can steadily practice the path.”

Spiritual practice is not just about only benefiting ourselves; we must expand and broaden our minds. Our minds must be broad and spacious; they must be as vast as the universe. This is truly a boundless and limitless state. So, I often tell everyone that our minds must be broad and our thoughts pure. If our minds are broad and pure, when we interact with people, matters and objects, we can always be accommodating. In this way, aren’t our minds open and spacious? If we do not engage in spiritual practice with an open and spacious mind, we have no way to achieve the one great cause for which the Buddha came and opened and revealed [the Dharma]. If our minds are not open and spacious, we cannot realize and enter [the Dharma]. So, as the Buddha “opened and revealed,” we sentient beings need to “realize and enter.” We must realize how to return our minds to a state that is as spacious as the universe. This is what we need to learn.

We should not choose the sheep-cart or deer-cart, but the cart drawn by the great white ox, the ox-cart. We do not want to walk the great, smooth Bodhi-path by ourselves. We want to guide other people to follow the same path so we can all reach the state of Buddhahood at the same time. This is why, when we have listened to the Dharma, we must then continue to pass it on. By turning the Dharma-wheel, we can transform sentient beings.

When we deliver sentient beings, our minds must not only be open and spacious, but also very meticulous. We can apply various methods to teach according to sentient beings’ capacities. To do so we must enter the teachings with subtle, meticulous wisdom. “Then wondrous and subtle consciousness can contain the universe.” We must exercise our wondrous, subtle and very meticulous wisdom.

We often mention the Six Sense Organs along with the Six Sense Objects and Six Consciousnesses. The Six Sense Organs are very subtle and wondrous. Look at how the human body is endowed with Six Sense Organs. The eyes are such a small part of the body, but our gaze can take in so much of the world. When I am outside, the external conditions I take in with my eyesight are immensely open and spacious. This is very wondrous! If our eyes are healthy, our optical nerves will work with our eyes to connect with our external conditions. The eye-consciousness alone is very subtle and wondrous. What does the optical nerve look like? It is very tiny. It is wondrous how incredibly small it is! In our daily living, for us to connect with the environment, there are countless tiny things and many wonderful and delicate processes. Aren’t the Six Sense Organs of the body just like this?

Take our nose for example. Something that cannot be seen can still be smelled by our nose. These things we cannot see may smell fragrant or foul. Of course both fragrant and foul smells are sense objects in our surroundings, while each of us, in our body, has different sense organs and consciousness has different sense organs and consciousnesses. With our sense organs and consciousnesses, external conditions enter our minds in very intangible ways. Due to our consciousnesses, we may want everything we see and initiate action to seize it, which creates [karma]. In this case, this desire arises from the mind-consciousness. As our desires grow in number, our minds will begin to scheme up ways to take possession of those objects of desire. This will create negative karma.

As Buddhist practitioners, if we transform evil into goodness, then when our same sense organs and consciousness encounter the same external conditions, our minds will think of ways to help others. Recently, in the Philippines (2013), there was such a tremendous disaster. Look at how many people were mobilized! Tzu Chi volunteers dedicated themselves and utilized “wondrous and subtle consciousness.” Everyone was united harmoniously in mutual love and concerted effort. They could not bear for sentient beings to suffer. In less than 30 days, they worked nonstop to clear the streets one by one, section by section.

These volunteers motivated them, body and mind, to clean the damaged areas, section by section, and clear the streets one by one. This required a lot of time; it took more than 20 days to transform this space from a place that was filthy and foul-smelling into one that was clean. Gradually, a sense of life returns and the economy began to be revived. Stores opened, and vendors are back on the streets forming little markets.

Look at Project Hope, in particular. Developing those simple prefabricated classrooms took a lot of hard work. In Taiwan, we spent a very long time researching a way to quickly erect temporary [structures] that would be safe and very comfortable. They could be used to settle people and ease their minds. After many years of effort, this year (2013), we were finally successful. We developed a structure that could withstand wind and rain, and though simple could be used for several years. After researching and developing them here, we could pack them into shipping containers so many could be shipped at the same time. They can be compressed for shipping and then expanded when they arrive at their destination to immediately become sturdy classrooms. Finally, we have finished developing them.

Each classroom is about 820 square feet, and each container can hold 12 classrooms. By the time the shipping containers arrived, our volunteers had traveled by air, or by land and then by ship; their journey was arduous. Once the shipping containers arrived, they opened them up and erected the classrooms immediately. In just one day, they erected two classrooms. Though the sun was blazing hot and sweat poured out of them, there were also moments of rain. Were they covered in rain or sweat? They were simply wet. It was hot, but the rain cooled them down. Why did these people go there to do this? They had no prior connection with that place and did not personally know the people. Why did they exert so much effort on their behalf? This is truly an example of how “wondrous and subtle consciousness can contain the universe.” With love in their hearts, they could not bear for sentient beings to suffer. This is the heart of a Bodhisattva. Their hearts are as encompassing as the universe.

Time, space and everything in this world are all part of the universe. The universe contains the entirety of the physical world. That is what we call the universe. Our minds can also be one with the entirety of the universe. As long as we have this mindset and are inspired to “realize and enter” what the Buddha “opened and revealed,” we can actually turn consciousness into wisdom. As ordinary people, we act from our consciousness. Our consciousnesses interact with our environment when our sense organs connect to sense objects. So, most people respond to external conditions by giving rise to desires and creating afflictions. Their conflicts with each other make things unsafe and contaminate everything in this world. All this arises from our mind-consciousness.

But as Buddhist practitioners, when we take the Dharma to heart, we can turn consciousness into wisdom. Thus we develop wisdom. We use “wondrous and subtle consciousness” that “can contain the universe.” When we unlock our wisdom, “By understanding all Dharma, we fulfill wondrous practices.” By turning consciousness into wisdom, we can save all suffering sentient beings. From this rough and uneven path, we can pave a road that is smooth and flat. Recently, I have been telling everyone that we must work on smoothing out and flattening the ground within our minds. Then, if we can pave a smooth path in this world, it will automatically connect with the Bodhisattva-path.

As we engage in spiritual practice, “By letting go of the Small and seeking the Great we can steadily practice the path.” With feet planted firmly upon the ground, we must earnestly put the Dharma into practice. Spiritual practice is not just about reading sutras and understanding the Dharma. If we understand the Dharma but do not put it into practice we will always remain at our starting point, just walking in place. The Buddha did not want us to awaken only ourselves. We must also benefit others. That is why, in the Lotus Sutra, there is the parable of the three carts. The three carts are analogies. The sheep-cart, the deer-cart and the ox-cart were used to entice everyone to come out.

So, the next sutra passage states, “Thus he had this thought.” Because the great elder was so wealthy and had so many treasures, he had this thought. “I have unlimited wealth, I should not give inferior, small carts”

“to all my children.” As there were three carts, why did the elder encourage his children to pick the great cart? This is an analogy for teaching the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.

This is like teaching the One Vehicle Dharma, the way to walk on the smooth and straight Middle Way. This is same as the way the elder fulfilled his wish as a father to give his children what they really want.

Out of these three carts, why did he want them to choose the great cart? It is because the great cart enables them to “walk on the smooth and straight Middle Way.” The ox-cart can travel upon this very smooth and level road. As for the ox, he is powerful and sturdy. When the ox draws this cart along this broad and open road, he can walk down the center without being obstructed.

This elder is wealthy and rich with treasures, so he wanted to give his children what was the best and the safest. This parable is about how the elder is fulfilling his wish as a father. As a father, he wants to grant the wishes of his children and satisfy them. He wants everyone to enjoy themselves and have what they seek. Fathers in this world have this hope to fulfill the wishes of their children.

This is what fathers in this world do. The world-transcending Enlightened One, Sakyamuni Buddha, treats all sentient beings as His only son. He likewise hopes everyone can come in contact with the Buddha-Dharma’s path to enlightenment, and in thought after thought, remain on the Middle Way of the Great Vehicle to benefit themselves and others and to awaken themselves and others to thus have perfect awakened conduct. So, this is the thought that the Buddha had, “My wealth is infinite.” This refers to His wealth of teachings.

The movement of the mind flows through the Three Periods. This is called a thought, such as a thought before, a thought after, thought after thought, etc. When our thoughts reach the unlimited truth and transcend the world’s wondrous existence, we will naturally receive the ultimate essence of true emptiness.

So, a thought is the “movement of the mind.” Thoughts arise from our minds and then begin to flow. After being initiated by the mind, they “flow through the Three Periods.” Thoughts in our minds unceasingly arise and endlessly flow through the Three Periods, the past, present and future. The previous second, the current second and the coming second all follow one another; this is how time works. Our thoughts work in the same way; they never stop arising and are constantly flowing. What was present is now in the past and what was the future is now our present. This never stops. So, we need to comprehend this. This is the working of our “thoughts,” such as a thought before, a thought after, thought after thought, etc. This is what our thoughts are like. As Buddhist practitioners, we must keep thought after thought on the present. This means we must be focused and pay attention to our every thought. This is why I continually tell everyone, “Always be mindful.” Only by always being mindful and in a state of concentration with all our thoughts can our thoughts reach the unlimited truth. This is how we reach and experience the ultimate.

This unlimited state is boundless and transcends the truths of wondrous existence. These unlimited truths transcend the principles of wondrous existence. This is the state of the Buddha’s mind. The spiritual state of the Buddha has already transcended the entirety of the universe. It has gone far beyond it. All Dharma is encompassed in the Buddha’s ocean of enlightened wisdom, so He has completely transcended all of this. Thus He “naturally receives the ultimate essence of true emptiness.” There is true emptiness, but within that is wondrous existence.

With true emptiness, is there any moment in our lives that is real? Everything is illusory. The past has already passed. How we deal with the past depends on our minds, on whether we have wholesome thoughts. Take the Philippines for example. The city of Tacloban was originally a peaceful port. The day before this terrible disaster struck, the city was flourishing and vibrant. Then limitless [atmospheric] forces converged. Together, those atmospheric forces gave rise to powerful, unparalleled winds. These natural forces could not be withstood, and they destroyed the whole city. Now everything depends on the people and their wondrous and subtle consciousness. They must exercise both compassion and wisdom to give them the strength to come together, rebuild and start over.

This strength comes from love. The power of love is not flimsy. Neither the sheep-cart or deer-cart enable us to exercise our strength, so we need the cart drawn by the great white ox. The ox-cart can transport many people because the ox is so sturdy and strong. People with subtle and wondrous wisdom and compassion came together there. They put aside their own work and brought together this great love, which they manifested through their actions. This was how it was possible for so many people who had lost hope to become hopeful again and begin to smile. Look at those children! See, isn’t this an example of the wondrous existence in true emptiness? This [power] is unlimited. It is impossible for us to measure it. This power comes from our minds; it is the power that comes from working together. So, with our minds, thought after thought, we can gather all this love together. Thus “Our thoughts reach the unlimited truth.”

“Practicing the Small Vehicle is only seeking to transcend the desire realm.” This is about awakening oneself only and disregarding what happens in the form and formless realms. Because we did not form those aspirations, we could not reach that state. The Buddha wanted to awaken this subtle and wondrous love in us, unlock it and expand it so that it can encompass all of heaven and earth. So in His compassion, the Buddha gave us the cart drawn by the great white ox.

Practicing the Small Vehicle is only seeking to transcend the desire realm. It lacks the teachings about the dust-like delusions of the form or formless realms. It is not great, thus it is called inferior. The Buddha compassionately gave the great carts equally to all.

This is the mindset of both the elder and the Enlightened One. We must mindfully experience the truths of all things in the universe. We should mindfully become one with them and our minds must be as spacious as the universe. Then this wondrous and subtle consciousness can contain the universe. We must clearly understand all Dharma in order to fulfill wondrous practices. We must let go of the Small and seek the Great. This is the only way to truly put the Dharma into practice. So everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 572 – Transforming Others with Perfect Wisdom

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>> “With the Six Perfections and relative wisdom, we can accomplish wondrous practices. If we do not understand this principle, it is futile to engage in myriad practices. To walk on this path and realize the truth is to be full. To perfect true wisdom and transform others is to be overflowing.”

>> “Why was this so? This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing.”

>> “Thus he had this thought.”

>> “I have unlimited wealth, I should not give inferior and small carts to all my children.”

>> Provisional wisdom is applied according to intent; thus it is full and overflowing; the many storehouses were full and overflowing. There is no Dharma which is not the True Dharma of the Great Vehicle. Thus it says: All his storehouses were full and overflowing with infinite kinds [of treasures].

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“With the Six Perfections and relative wisdom,
we can accomplish wondrous practices.
If we do not understand this principle,
it is futile to engage in myriad practices.
To walk on this path
and realize the truth is to be full.
To perfect true wisdom and transform others
is to be overflowing.”

“The Six Perfections and relative wisdom” is the foundation of our spiritual practice. We need to first understand the suffering in life. After we understand it, we will know how to eliminate the sources of suffering, which is by engaging in spiritual practice. Our spiritual practice must follow the Path. We have the conditions to encounter the Dharma, so we must earnestly seize this opportunity.

How do we practice the Dharma? With the Six Perfections. These are six methods we use. We can expand the Six Perfections to cover and respond to the countless suffering of all beings. What kinds of methods can we use in response to the suffering of sentient beings to one by one relieve their sufferings and resolve their difficulties? How can we help them reach peace and safety? This takes “relative wisdom.” We must observe what sentient beings need and how much they need in order to alleviate their suffering. Based on the size and depth of their capabilities, we will give to them accordingly.

For instance, the Buddha assessed the capabilities of sentient beings and then applied methods that allowed anyone who received the Buddha-Dharma to comprehend it and awaken. Whether they had the capabilities of Hearers, Solitary Realizers or Bodhisattvas, He established the Three Vehicles [for them]. This was done with “relative wisdom.” With “the Six Perfections and relative wisdom, we can accomplish wondrous practices.” When we understand all the principles, then our practice will be sound.

“If we do not understand this principle, it is futile to engage in myriad practices.” If we cannot connect to this principle, this road, and just continue practicing the Six Perfections without having relative wisdom, sometimes we can end up going in circles around this principle and cannot find our way. We spend a lot of time and exert a lot of effort, but we still cannot connect to this path. We must understand and penetrate this principle to be able to get somewhere on this path.

“To walk on this path and realize the truth is to be full.” When we walk this path, if we know the course of this road and put the teachings into practice, we are like the white ox pulling the very big and well-decorated cart, who can keep moving forward without getting lost and can also proceed smoothly and steadily as he is full of strength.

Here, “walking this path” means that as we walk this road we will be safe and have enough strength. The same principles apply. So, “To perfect true wisdom and transform others is to be overflowing.” We must perfect true wisdom. When we “perfect true wisdom,” we will have a solid understanding of the Dharma, not illusory, but real. Then naturally we will perfectly cultivate blessings and wisdom. Once we awaken ourselves, we must go awaken other people. This is to be “overflowing.” Not only do we truly have enough for ourselves, we also have enough to transform others.

We must fully understand the principles the same way we must fill a car tire with air until the tire is sufficiently full. If the tire is fully inflated, the car can travel smoothly on the road. If air is leaking or there is not enough air, the car will not move. Therefore, if we want to walk this path, we need to have vitality, to be full of vitality. Thus, to “realize the truth is to be full.” When we “perfect true wisdom,” not only will we be full of vitality, we can also assist other people by helping them understand how to be full of vitality for walking the path. This means transforming them. Thus, “To transform others is to be overflowing.”

The Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links and actualizing the Six Perfections in all actions are applied with relative wisdom. Based on the timing, we must do certain things and use certain methods. For people like this with certain capabilities, we must use certain examples and teachings to attract and guide them. All this is done according to the people, location and time. Knowing what kind of method we need to use for a certain person at a certain place and a certain time is called “relative wisdom.”

For instance, in the Philippines (2013), there was just a typhoon called Haiyan. A typhoon so strong is very rarely seen in this world. On November 8, this typhoon made landfall in the central part of the Philippines. As a result, the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban, these two places, were hit one after another. This typhoon left behind a wide swath of villages, towns and cities that were completely destroyed. Many people died. So far, the death toll is over 6000. Reportedly, some are still buried under the ruins. It happened in an instant. With this impermanence, at that time, in that place, so many people died. The residents on those islands lost their homes and their loved ones. From the survivors came cries of deep sorrow.

But at this moment, Living Bodhisattvas practiced “the Six Perfections and relative wisdom.” Local Tzu Chi volunteers in the Philippines immediately gathered and prepared to set out from Manila and thus arrived in these cities on the 13th. As the roads were damaged, travel was very difficult. But they were not afraid of the difficulty or the danger. In response to the time, the place and those people’s needs, they made their preparations and departed from Manila. After arriving, they saw devastation everywhere. Thus they began their disaster relief work. They have [accomplished] many things; a month has already gone by.

Think about it, for this disaster relief effort, in just the city of Ormoc alone, [it took so much] for cash assistance to arrive on November 23. Think about this. Disaster struck on November 8; air and ground travel were disrupted. On November 13, our Bodhisattva[-volunteers] set foot on this land. We arrived on that day and began figuring out how to hold a free clinic and how to help these people, by putting together a name list, and so on. By the day of November 23rd, the money was prepared and loaded on a boat. What followed next was a risky and dangerous journey. But “we can accomplish wondrous practices.” We successfully provided disaster relief. On the 24th we started disbursing cash. We continually completed our ongoing missions.

After providing assistance to this place, volunteers travelled to the most hard hit areas. Their path took them through many disaster zones. By the time they reached the hardest-hit areas, the roads were completely blocked. It took seven to eight hours by car to get there. In those seven to eight hours, all they saw were disaster areas. Think about this; how big was the scope of this disaster? From this point on, in the city of Tacloban we implemented the “cash for work” program. It has been a full month since we started this.

[To clean up the city] through the “cash for work” program, human hands were not enough. Again, across the ocean waters we borrowed and transported from far away large trucks, gravel trucks, bulldozers and excavators. There were causes and conditions behind this, too. Many causes and conditions had to be met. With this extreme suffering, the Four Noble Truths and the teaching of karmic cause and effect were continually put into practice. With the wondrous practice of relative wisdom, we realize the Dharma has always been here. Everything we do in the human realm is in accord with the workings of the Dharma.

This is what Bodhisattvas are like. They take the Dharma to heart and manifest it in their actions. Thus they transform sentient beings in response to their suffering. To accomplish this, they need relative wisdom; they must apply both compassion and wisdom. To meet the needs of sentient beings promptly, regardless of time, space and relationships, we need to exercise the wondrous practices of. Bodhisattvas’ relative wisdom. Thus, in learning the Buddha-Dharma, we must learn to apply it in a timely manner.

If we do not comprehend the principles, “It is futile to engage in myriad practices.” If all we do is say, “I’m walking the Bodhisattva-path. I’m learning the Six Perfections,” if we keep learning but do not practice, then this road is just a line on a map. We must actually walk this road in order to firmly plant our feet on the ground and reach the state of relative wisdom to assess the right things to give to others. So, these myriad practices require us to reach a level of understanding. We must walk the path ourselves in order to realize the truth and be full of strength. By “perfecting true wisdom” we can help all beings.

Everyone in the disaster area is working hard. I ask them, “Are you tired? You must very tired; this is tiring work.” [They said,] “We are very happy, and we want to keep going. Don’t you want to go home and rest? We want to stay here until the end and finish what we started. We need to feel that we have completed our work.” See, aren’t they full of strength? Not only do they have enough, they have a surplus. Not only are they providing emergency relief work, after that phase is complete, they started making mid- and long-range plans. Isn’t this how. “To perfect true wisdom and transform others is to be overflowing”? To realize the truth is to be full; to transform others is to be overflowing. This is to be “full and overflowing.” We must walk this path ourselves to perfect our true wisdom. So, putting the Dharma into practice is very important.

In the previous sutra passage we also discussed, “Why was this so?” He provided three carts, the last of which was the cart drawn by the great white ox.

“Why was this so? This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing.”

If we want give people something, we need to give them enough to meet their needs. If we want to help someone, we should do a thorough job so that we can help them get back on their feet and stand on their own. This requires supplying them with great strength. That great strength comes from many people giving rise to aspirations. So, doing good deeds in this world takes more than just one person; it takes a group of Living Bodhisattvas uniting. Therefore, when we understand the Dharma, we need to frequently turn the Dharma-wheel so that more people can join us and contribute. When we go from one hand, to one hundred, to a thousand, to tens of thousands, when we reach out, our power will be great.

So, “all his storehouses” refers to how the elder has various methods and strengths; he is full and overflowing with them.

“Thus he had this thought.”

Because he had considerable power, he wondered how to distribute it to all. So, he had to always be mindful. The elder thought,

“I have unlimited wealth, I should not give inferior and small carts to all my children.”

Though he enticed them with three kinds of carts, the sheep-cart and deer-cart could only transport one person. So, he wanted to provide them with a cart drawn by a great white ox. Not only did he give them an ox of great strength, he also gave them a well-decorated cart. They could use it to transport people, transforming themselves and others. This was the elder’s thinking and the wisdom of Sakyamuni Buddha, the world-transcending awakened one.

So, “Provisional wisdom is applied according to intent; thus it is full and overflowing.”

Provisional wisdom is applied according to intent; thus it is full and overflowing; the many storehouses were full and overflowing. There is no Dharma which is not the True Dharma of the Great Vehicle. Thus it says: All his storehouses were full and overflowing with infinite kinds [of treasures].

The Buddha wanted to share His state of mind with everyone, but sentient beings could not accept it, so He exercised skillful means, applied according to His intent. The kind of sentient being, the time and the state of things determined the kind of teaching He gave them. This is provisional wisdom. An awakened being can apply this according to his intent. With this wondrous Dharma, when sentient beings are suffering, we will exercise wisdom and find the means to save and transform them. This comes from provisional wisdom. When we are full of wisdom, we can apply it according to our intent. This is to be full and overflowing.

Moreover, “The many storehouses were full and overflowing.” To use something, we must already have something inside. If there is nothing inside, how would we have anything to make use of? So, we learn the Buddha’s teaching so we can absorb ample teachings into our minds. The Buddha understood, after His enlightenment, the true principles of all things in the universe. So, the Buddha’s ocean of enlightened wisdom is very, very full. Because He has these teachings and a full ocean of enlightenment, He can exercise provisional wisdom according to His intent. This is possible because there is a wealth of Dharma within Him.

Out of all these teachings, “There is no Dharma which is not the Great Vehicle Dharma.” All teachings are part of the Great Vehicle Dharma. When we speak of the Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, aren’t we speaking of provisional teachings? Aren’t they skillful means? They are called skillful means, but without them it is not possible to guide sentient beings into True Dharma.

This is like how, to help people, we must first establish a “cash for work” program. Because we are unable to clean up all the debris, we ask the local residents to quickly get themselves up. “Clean up all of this and we will pay you. This is your home, and we will pay you to do this. Quickly devote your strength and energy to rebuilding your hometown and restoring your lives to their former abundance.” We help them understand that they are filled with vitality. If they can get their bodies moving, as well as their minds, they will be full of strength in body and mind. Then they can participate in the clean up. This opportunity gave them a chance to restore their vitality. Their shops have already reopened, and the streets are lively again. Their surroundings are also clean. This was all possible because we had ways of guiding their strength and vitality.

The Dharma is not inherently great or small. It is just that we sentient beings have different capabilities. The Dharma itself is the same. So, if we have wisdom, “There is no Dharma which is not the True Dharma of the Great Vehicle.” All Dharma is Great Vehicle Dharma. We must walk the Bodhisattva-path. If we do not understand the Four Noble Truths or the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, we cannot actualize the myriad actions of the Six Perfections. So, all Dharma is Great Vehicle Dharma. “All his storehouses were full and overflowing with infinite kinds [of treasures].” This is how the Buddha-Dharma should be applied in the human realm. We who learn the Dharma must put it into practice. Then the Dharma in our minds can be full and overflowing. When we purify the impurities in our eighth consciousness, we can return to our pure Buddha-nature. By exercising our wisdom and awakened nature, we can guide sentient beings; this is what we Buddhist practitioners must do. So everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 571 – See the Buddha-nature in the Fourfold Mindfulness

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>> “The Fourfold Mindfulness teaches four methods of contemplation. Its essence is wondrous and subtle wisdom. With the strength that comes from contemplating the mind with wisdom, we enable our minds to abide on the path. This spiritual wealth is the seed. True emptiness and wondrous existence is the ocean of fruits.”

>> Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figures pleasing, their bodies powerful. They walked straight and smoothly, swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.

>> “Why was this so? This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing.”

>> That which is valuable is that which can meet all of humanity’s needs. This is like the fruition of Buddhahood. The myriad practices we form are the causes and the myriad virtues these result in are the effects. This is the perfection of blessings and wisdom.

>> This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing: The Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links and actualizing the Six Perfections in all actions are the practices that reveal the Tathagata-garbha. No phenomena exist outside of the Five Skandhas, 18 Realms and so on; this is the principle that reveals the Tathagata-garbha.

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“The Fourfold Mindfulness
teaches four methods of contemplation.
Its essence is wondrous and subtle wisdom.
With the strength that comes
from contemplating the mind with wisdom,
we enable our minds to abide on the path.
This spiritual wealth is the seed.
True emptiness and wondrous existence
is the ocean of fruits.”

You all know the Fourfold Mindfulness, We must “contemplate the body as impure, contemplate all feelings as suffering, contemplate the mind as impermanent” and “contemplate all things as being without a self.” We should constantly engage in these four types of contemplation. The body is a most unclean object. Furthermore, if our skin, flesh or bones are damaged anywhere, the wound may give off a foul odor. Therefore, the body is very unclean and filled with many impurities. However, to satisfy the cravings and desires that arise from this body, people take many actions that result in family tragedies.

We need to carefully think about how the body is an impure vessel. With our minds, we should “contemplate the body as impure” and “contemplate all feelings as suffering.” When we pursue the things we see and cannot get what we want, it is very painful. When things do not go the way we want in our daily living, we also experience suffering. When we clearly want things to go a certain way but what happens is the opposite of what we intended, it is very hard to deal with.

We must also contemplate the mind as impermanent; thoughts arise, abide, change and cease. We can be very happy right now, but if something suddenly changes, our state of mind will change. We constantly say, “Forming aspirations is easy, persevering in them is hard.” Our minds cannot always abide in the same state and always remain peaceful. This is because the minds of we ordinary people are constantly changing. Due to their impermanent nature, our minds cannot abide peacefully at all times.

Moreover, all things are impermanent, but we ordinary people are confused, mistaking impermanence for permanence. We may not realize that in the universe and in this world, everything is impermanent. So, we must clearly understand the. Three Principles and Four States; that is part of spiritual practice. We constantly mention these to everybody. So, “The Fourfold Mindfulness teaches four methods of contemplation.” We need to earnestly reflect upon ourselves. We must constantly cultivate our minds.

The mind is very subtle and wondrous. “Its essence is wondrous and subtle wisdom.” The essence of our wisdom is our nature of True Suchness, which abides permanently; it does not arise or cease and is always present. Unfortunately, we ordinary people have not yet returned to our essence, our nature of True Suchness. Therefore, we must make use of the. “Fourfold Mindfulness, [which] teaches four methods of contemplation.” Our every thought must be on what we are doing. So, we must “contemplate the mind with wisdom.” Only by using wisdom to contemplate our minds will we have the strength to pave a smooth road in this world that connects with the Bodhi-path. We must use the strength of our minds to put the teachings into practice. When the Dharma is in our hearts and there is Dharma in our actions, contemplating our minds with wisdom gives us this strength.

We need to be mindful so that “we enable our minds to abide on the path,” on the Bodhi-path we are practicing. Indeed, in every one of us, “This spiritual wealth is the seed. True emptiness and wondrous existence is the ocean of fruits.” Recently (2013), in the Philippines, after Tacloban suffered a tremendous disaster, Tzu Chi volunteers rushed there right away and exercised the power of their intrinsic compassion and wisdom. There was a young man who wrote a letter to us, expressing his gratitude to all the Tzu Chi volunteers for helping to stabilize their lives. Not only did the Tzu Chi volunteers help clean up the disaster areas in such a short period of time, they had also inspired hope and love in the survivors.

There was a school there called. Leyte Progressive High School. This was the first site we had helped clean up. Through the “cash for work” program, we mobilized the local population. During this process, there were nine teachers who, though they were preparing to start school again, put all of their spare change into bamboo banks. One of the teachers was named Anna. She represented all these teachers in presenting the bamboo banks to Tzu Chi. In addition to bringing the donation, Anna also picked up the microphone and, over the loud speaker, shared with everyone the spirit of the bamboo banks. This teacher, on her own initiative, introduced the origins of Tzu Chi, how it started with donations of 50 cents. After she told this story to the townspeople,

she vowed to get involved in Tzu Chi and be a person who spreads the Dharma. She did not say she would become a volunteer, but “a person who spreads the Dharma” to share this spirit of the bamboo banks and the story about the 50 cents, which now allows us today to be able to provide relief and assistance to countries all over the world. See, isn’t this spiritual wealth? This cause is a “seed.” The cause is a “seed.” As for “true emptiness and wondrous existence,” this life is impermanent and the four elements are out of balance. No one knows when disasters or blessings may appear; everything is constantly changing. The Philippines suffered this tremendous disaster but it brought everyone’s love together and mobilized their strength. From this cause we can understand that even things that are destroyed can give rise to “wondrous existence,” which is the power of love.

Love is the essence of True Suchness. Our pure intrinsic nature is radiant, wise and everlasting. It is not impermanent; it is everlasting. For a long time it has contained infinite and countless fruits. These fruits were born from the seeds of causes. We always say, “a seed contains an ocean of fruits.” A thick-trunked tree starts as a tiny seed. Isn’t a giant tree heavy-laden with fruits such an incredible thing? A giant tree, after 1000 years, can still continue to bear many fruits, though the seed that gave rise to it was so small. Despite being small, it unleashed a boundless, infinite and inconceivable strength. This is why, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must always be mindful.

The previous sutra passage discussed how the cart drawn by the great white ox was magnificent and could carry many people. Many people also followed the cart as guards.

Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figures pleasing, their bodies powerful. They walked straight and smoothly, swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.

As we discussed yesterday, if we can mindfully learn the Buddha-Dharma, then when we accept the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel, we will naturally be able to transform many beings. When people in front practice, the people in the back will pass it on. This requires us to shoulder the responsibility for transmitting the Dharma. So, we must turn the Dharma-wheel.

The next sutra passage states,

“Why was this so? This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing.”

Because this elder had infinite wealth, how could he just give his children a tiny bit of his wealth? No, he wanted to give them everything. So, he is like the Buddha, who wanted to teach sentient beings that they are all equal to the Buddha. He wanted them to experience their awakened nature, to awaken to the true principles of the universe and to be able to live lives of freedom and peace in this world.

However, sentient beings are deluded, so they still continue to flounder in the sea of cyclic existence. They still continue to replicate their ignorance and create karma. This ignorance has covered their pure wisdom. Though the Buddha wanted to explain His state of mind to everyone, their capabilities were so limited that they could not understand at all. This is why the Buddha taught the Three Vehicles. People who only seek to awaken themselves and transcend cyclic existence must also understand why they would want to transcend cyclic existence. They should understand the principles behind it.

These are Hearers and Solitary Realizers, who choose the sheep-carts and deer-carts according to the needs of their capabilities and based on what they could pull with their strength. So, to [emphasize] the Buddha’s wisdom, He is compared to an elder of this world.

[This elder] had so many valuable things that would meets people’s needs, so the wealth of this elder could rival that of an entire country. He had everything that people need, everything that was valuable. Moreover, his wealth was so abundant, so full and overflowing, that he had enough to meet the needs of everyone in this world. The fruition of Buddhahood, the state the Buddha attained, is the state He reached after His enlightenment. This “fruit” also had its “seed.” The causal ground where He engaged in spiritual practice is the seed. A seed like that is very exquisite and wondrous, and there are so many of them; these seeds must come from fruit. You can see that within every fruit is the cause for a great tree to form. The process of the Buddha’s spiritual practice over many lifetimes involved accumulating many seeds. Across those many lifetimes, the causes created by His spiritual practice were very ample.

That which is valuable is that which can meet all of humanity’s needs. This is like the fruition of Buddhahood. The myriad practices we form are the causes and the myriad virtues these result in are the effects. This is the perfection of blessings and wisdom.

We can engage in spiritual practice in this life because of our karmic conditions. In a past life, we also had this cause. Those causes led to this effect in this lifetime. To be born human, we must have the right karmic conditions. With effects come conditions and with conditions come causes.

With the seeds we cultivated in previous lives, will we be able to bring our practice in this life to fruition? Not yet, we need to do this, life after life. The Buddha had engaged in spiritual practice [in the presence of] 20,000 Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddhas. Lifetime after lifetime, He never stopped following Buddhas to engage in spiritual practice. There were countless Buddhas before Him. At the beginning of teaching the Lotus sutra, the Buddha had already explained [how] “a seed contains an ocean of fruits,” that it takes lifetime after lifetime of accumulating the causes for learning and practice and lifetime after lifetime of accumulating their effects. These causes and effects must be endlessly accumulated over a long time.

So, “the fruition of Buddhahood” is a fruit that has ripened. The state of Buddhahood is a fruit and a stage that has already [been attained]. In the past we have discussed the stages of the Bodhisattva’s Ten Grounds. In order to attain Buddhahood, we must go through each of the Ten Grounds. Only then can we reach the fruition of Buddhahood. Because he had what was valuable, that which could meet all of humanity’s needs, this elder was like the Buddha. The Buddha was already completely mature and had reached the fruition of Buddhahood. So, “The myriad practices we form are the causes.” In order to reach this state of fruition, we must engage in myriad practices. These are the causes.

To engage in myriad practices, we must first know the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links and the Six Perfections. We must thoroughly understand them over many lifetimes. “The myriad practices…are the causes.” To reach the state of fruition, first we need to have “the myriad practices [as] the causes.” We must find a way to give to others and understand the suffering in life, then understand how we came into this world and where we will go after we die. Just how did we write the script for this life in our past lives? And in this life, what do we want to do? How we want to [deal with what we] feel, etc.? If we can understand these principles, we will be willing to go among the people to practice the Six Perfections. In our daily living, our actions must be in accord with the Dharma. Therefore, we need to first have “myriad practices as causes” in order to have “myriad virtues as effects.” Then we can perfect our cultivation of both blessings and wisdom. This is symbolized by wealth.

This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing: The Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links and actualizing the Six Perfections in all actions are the practices that reveal the Tathagata-garbha. No phenomena exist outside of the Five Skandhas, 18 Realms and so on; this is the principle that reveals the Tathagata-garbha.

So, “This great elder had infinite wealth. All his storehouses were full and overflowing.” This refers to “the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links and actualizing the Six Perfections in all actions.” We just talked about these.

“No phenomenon exists outside of the. Five Skandhas, 18 Realms and so on.” These phenomena we are talking about are all unconditioned Dharma and all conditioned phenomena. All conditioned and unconditioned Dharma are within the Five Skandhas and 18 Realms.

Everybody should know the Five Skandhas. The Five Skandhas are the Five Aggregates. We always chant that. “The Five Aggregates are all empty in nature. Thus we transcend confusion and delusions.” The Five Aggregates are also called the Five Skandhas. Form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness are the Five Aggregates. This is what we experience in our daily living. The 18 Realms are the combination of the Six Roots, Six Dusts, the Six Consciousnesses. Three times six equals eighteen. This gives us the 18 Realms. These are principles.

We have mentioned actualizing “the Six Perfections in all actions.” We must unceasingly put them into practice to return to our storehouse consciousness and purify our eighth consciousness. Then we can enter the ninth consciousness, which is the Tathagata-consciousness. Then we will be inside our pure and undefiled Tathagata-garbha.

All Dharma is inseparable from our daily living. We [need] to live in accord with principles. If we do not follow the principles and deviate from them, we will give rise to afflictions. With afflictions, the actions we take will be evil deeds. This means we have degenerated and have created karma that leads to unbearable suffering.

Everyone, to learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must learn how to give to others in our daily living and how to reach the ultimate goal of our spiritual practice. We must constantly practice the Fourfold Mindfulness, the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power and the Four Right Efforts and so on. We must clearly understand the. Three Principles and Four States so that we can develop exquisite and wondrous wisdom, which is the essence of our true nature. With our every thought, we must contemplate with wisdom and give out of the strength of our hearts. We must mindfully abide in our spiritual aspirations so we can unlock our spiritual wealth. Only with this seed, this cause, can we thoroughly understand true emptiness and wondrous existence, which is the ocean of fruits.

Everyone, learning the Buddha-Dharma is simple. However, it requires this correct mindset. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 570 – Smoothly Walk the Path with the Four Right Efforts

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>> With the Four Right Efforts, we will be powerful and steady. With diligent effort, we cultivate all virtuous Dharma. The actions of body, speech and mind must be engaged in proper spiritual practice. With smooth and steady steps, we follow these four teachings of the Path.

>> The Four Right Efforts: Quickly give rise to goodness that has not arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate the evil that has already arisen.

>> The Four Right Efforts are to. “Quickly give rise to goodness that has not arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate evil that has already arisen.”

>> Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figures pleasing, their bodies powerful. They walked straight and smoothly and swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.

>> There were white oxen, their bodies powerful: This is an analogy for how, with great wisdom leading the way, we can accomplish all virtuous Dharma and eliminate all evil practices.

>> They walked straight and smoothly: This is like overcoming afflictions by being replete with the wisdom of emptiness and of existence. Then we will not get slowed down or veer off to one side. Thus, it says “They walked straight and smoothly.”

>> Swiftly like the wind: This is an analogy for how Right Wisdom directly expedites the attainment of Buddhahood. This is analogous to the great white oxen that walked straight and smoothly, swiftly like the wind.

>> And there were many attendants guarding each: With the truths of the Dharma-realm, the Buddha fully understands cause and effect. Outwardly, He deals with all conditioned Dharma, pure and impure. Inwardly, He possesses all the countless virtues of His nature. This is the treasury of the Dharma-realm.

>> The treasury of the Dharma-realm has inexhaustible merits; this is fundamental wisdom. It stores good and evil seeds and gives rise to all pure and impure phenomena. This is the fundamental mind, also known as relative wisdom.

>> The Buddha gives rise to great compassion to save sentient beings. With all the merits of His wisdom, He transforms all afflictions into Bodhi. These inexhaustible merits and virtues are like the attendants of the carts.

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The great white ox is courageous and strong, with powerful muscles and a steady gait. This is like the [steadiness which comes from] practicing the Four Right Efforts. With diligent effort, we cultivate all virtuous Dharma.

With the Four Right Efforts, we will be powerful and steady. With diligent effort, we cultivate all virtuous Dharma. The actions of body, speech and mind must be engaged in proper spiritual practice. With smooth and steady steps, we follow these four teachings of the Path.

We must endeavor to cultivate virtuous teachings. Where do these virtuous teachings come from? We bring them into being through the behavior of our body, speech and mind. So, “The actions of our body, speech and mind” must always remain “engaged in proper spiritual practice.” Then, “With smooth and steady steps we follow these four teachings of the Path.” The road spiritual practitioners walk must not deviate from these four teachings of the Path, which are the Four Right Efforts.

The Four Right Efforts: Quickly give rise to goodness that has not arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate the evil that has already arisen.

If our every thought is about helping others, if we can be understanding as we deal with people, matters and things, those are thoughts of goodness. If we are not understanding as we deal with people, matters and things, and conversely, take everything personally, those are thoughts of evil. Therefore, we must constantly reflect on ourselves. If we have thoughts of evil and cannot be understanding, then even if we do not like this person, we should quickly think of some way to be more understanding of their situation. “This person is hard to teach! This person has such bad habitual tendencies!” If this is the case, what should we do? Let us think of his good points! Even if he is not understanding, we still can be.

If we are understanding of everyone, we will be grateful for everything that happens. If we encounter these kinds of people and matters, we must be understanding of and grateful for them; then naturally we give rise to thoughts of goodness.

If goodness has already arisen, we must nurture it so it will grow. We may be full of thoughts of goodness, but are we making a diligent effort to act on them? If all you do is say, “Yes, I’m very loving,” if that love does not lead you to act, to give to others, then it is not doing anything. So, we must diligently make the right effort. “Goodness that has already arisen” means we already have thoughts of goodness. We must nurture them so they will quickly grow. This take diligence and effort; we must truly put our efforts into this.

Recently (2013), we heard that, after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, one of our doctors here in Taiwan was asked by the hospital, “Do you want to participate in the free clinic?” His reply was, “I’ll think about it.” This doctor is very a good doctor. Though he had a good heart, he did not think much of the way Tzu Chi volunteers took action. He thought, “It’s enough to just be a good person. Why bother having everyone dress the same way and follow a whole bunch of rules? Having a good heart is enough, why all the fuss?”

Then, when he went to the Philippines, he wore our blue and white uniform. Every single person who wore that uniform, no matter where they went, was respected by the [local] people. This is because they were recognized as people who were there to help, as Tzu Chi volunteers. So, everyone they encountered put their palms together and bowed to them.

He saw for himself what the conditions there were and what kind of lives people led. Moreover, in that place, he was respected by everyone. So after he came back, I heard him share, “In the past, I thought [negatively of the way we did things]. Now, I have changed my view and am filled with gratitude. I am just going to follow Master now.” Indeed, this is why, even if we have thoughts of goodness, we must act on them by giving to others. This is diligent effort and also the [Four] Right Efforts.

As for “evil that has not yet arisen,” we must work hard to not give rise to any thoughts of evil, none at all. If an unwholesome thought arises, suppressing it is not an easy matter. So, we must always pay attention to our minds. These kinds of thoughts are very dangerous. When these thoughts of evil arise, we will do many things which are harmful to others and not beneficial to us. This is why we must make the right efforts and diligently cultivate our mind so that it will not give rise to thoughts of evil. Thus we “prevent evil that has not arisen from arising.” To do this, we must take good care of our hearts.

“Quickly eliminating evil that has arisen” requires diligent effort and practice. We must make sure our past mistaken behavior, the actions, speech and thoughts that went astray, are now quickly eliminated; we must put an end to them. We must not let more thoughts of evil arise. It is imperative that we not initiate any kind of evil behavior. So, from our minds to our behavior, we must put in diligent effort into all areas. These are the Four Right Efforts.

The Four Right Efforts are to. “Quickly give rise to goodness that has not arisen. Nurture any goodness that has already arisen. Prevent evil that has not arisen from arising. Quickly eliminate evil that has already arisen.”

Then our mind will be pure and white and clean, like the great white ox drawing the cart.

Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figures pleasing, their bodies powerful. They walked straight and smoothly and swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.

These carts were being pulled by great white oxen. Their “skin [was] completely clean, their figures pleasing.” They were very dignified and magnificent, from their skin to the steadiness of their limbs. By practicing the Four Right Efforts, we can have the strength of an ox, with powerful and sturdy legs. Not only were the oxen’s figures “pleasing,” their “bodies [were] powerful.” It is because their bodies were very powerful that their “steps were smooth and steady.” They walked extremely smoothly and steadily. So, they walked “swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.” If our legs are powerful, we can walk smooth and steadily, in a very pleasing manner. We can also walk “swiftly like the wind.” We can walk very fast and in a pleasing manner. The oxen were also followed by many people. “There were many attendants guarding each.” Many people followed them to serve and protect them. There were many of these Dharma-protectors. If we earnestly engage in spiritual practice, we will automatically be supported by visible and invisible Dharma-protectors.

These great white oxen, “their bodies powerful,” are analogies for great wisdom leading the way.

There were white oxen, their bodies powerful: This is an analogy for how, with great wisdom leading the way, we can accomplish all virtuous Dharma and eliminate all evil practices.

The oxen that pulled these carts not only had powerful legs and strong limbs, they were also very wise. Because the oxen had great wisdom, they were guiding these carts, ensuring they followed the right and proper course. This helped not only the carts themselves, but all the people following behind as well. If the cart in the lead is going the wrong way, those behind will follow down the wrong path.

Because oxen with great wisdom lead the way, we “can accomplish all virtuous Dharma.” The oxen have truly great and virtuous teachings, with which we can “eliminate all evil practices.” This is wisdom. With wisdom, we will constantly grow in goodness. With wisdom, we will prevent evil from arising. Even if it has already arisen, we can quickly eliminate it.

Thus we can “walk straight and smoothly.” This is an analogy for overcoming afflictions, for being able to overcome all our afflictions.

They walked straight and smoothly: This is like overcoming afflictions by being replete with the wisdom of emptiness and of existence. Then we will not get slowed down or veer off to one side. Thus, it says “They walked straight and smoothly.”

This kind of wisdom is replete with both the wisdom of emptiness and of existence. “Emptiness” is true emptiness. By understanding all the principles of life, we will not take issue over anything. People argue over the tiniest things, but aren’t they ultimately empty in nature? This is true emptiness. But to truly have wisdom, we must understand the karmic law of cause and effect. We cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma follows us to our next life. Karma is created by the actions of our body, speech and mind. So, in this “existence,” what is it that has “existence”?

Our pure intrinsic Buddha-nature. We all have it; this is “wondrous existence.” This is wisdom. We must avoid taking issue over worldly matters, and we must be very careful of the Buddha-nature we all intrinsically have. We cannot allow this nature of True Suchness to be defiled. So, we must carefully safeguard our nature of True Suchness so that it may remain as pure as the great white ox. If we have this kind of wisdom, then naturally we “will not get slowed down or veer off to one side.” The path we travel will be the correct one, and afflictions and ignorance will not keep our thoughts of goodness, those heading in the right direction, from being stopped.

Since we are on the right course and since we are walking the Bodhi-path, we should not be stopped by obstacles, not at all. We will advance forward smoothly along this path of goodness, without deviating in the slightest. This road, the great and direct Bodhi-path, is very straight, so we can walk forward steadily. Thus we walk “straight and smoothly.”

“Swiftly like the wind” means they moved quickly and their steps were very smooth.

Swiftly like the wind: This is an analogy for how Right Wisdom directly expedites the attainment of Buddhahood. This is analogous to the great white oxen that walked straight and smoothly, swiftly like the wind.

This is an analogy for how. “Right Wisdom directly expedites the attainment of Buddhahood.” Once we know which direction to go in, and our minds are pure and undefiled, when we walk straight down the right course we will quickly reach a state that is unhindered by afflictions or worldly matters. This is also analogous to the “great white oxen who walk straight and smoothly swiftly like the wind.”

So, “There were many attendants guarding each.” If we earnestly walk, with the Dharma in our hearts, we will “comprehend the great path.” Only by comprehending the great path can we awaken our wisdom. Once we awaken our wisdom and are on the correct path, then wisdom will be our guide, and we can naturally “lead people harmoniously.” Many people will follow us. We take the Buddha’s teachings into our hearts, then we turn the Dharma-wheel and use this Dharma to guide other people.

And there were many attendants guarding each: With the truths of the Dharma-realm, the Buddha fully understands cause and effect. Outwardly, He deals with all conditioned Dharma, pure and impure. Inwardly, He possesses all the countless virtues of His nature. This is the treasury of the Dharma-realm.

This is also an analogy for the “truths of the Dharma-realm”, all the principles of the Dharma-realm. What are the truths of the Dharma-realm? The “full understanding of cause and effect.” The Buddha-Dharma is “the treasury of the Dharma-realm.” Hidden in the Dharma-realm are the principles of karmic causes, conditions and effects. Therefore, “With the truth of the Dharma-realm the Buddha fully understands cause and effect,” especially regarding external phenomena. “Outwardly, He deals with all conditioned Dharma, impure and pure.” For a time, we often discussed “unconditioned Dharma.” Internally there is “unconditioned Dharma,” and externally there is “conditioned Dharma.”

Unconditioned Dharma is true principles. They are unseen, yet they are always there. Everything external, people, matters and objects, are all conditioned Dharma. Conditioned Dharma may be impure or pure. Anything that may be impure or pure is known as “conditioned Dharma.” Since Beginningless Time, we unenlightened beings have allowed our nature of True Suchness to be covered by ignorance and afflictions. These are impure phenomena. We have many afflictions. Since we are engaging in spiritual practice, we understand this and will eradicate afflictions as soon as they arise.

Thus, with conditioned Dharma, we must return to the truth of our unconditioned wondrous existence. So, we speak of inwardly and outwardly. “Outwardly He deals with all conditioned Dharma, impure and pure.” And on the inside? “Inwardly, He possesses all the countless virtues of His nature. This is the treasury of the Dharma-realm.” Amidst all this Dharma, to turn the Dharma-wheel to transform all beings, we must be replete with that kind of wisdom. We use wisdom to guide the way forward, while transforming those following, the countless people behind us. This is something everyone can naturally do. “Inwardly, He possesses all the countless virtues of His nature.” This is the “treasury of the Dharma-realm,”

the Dharma contains infinite and boundless merits. As long we take the Dharma to heart and apply it, we can use it to benefit sentient beings and widely transform them. This is called fundamental wisdom. The treasury of the Dharma-realm is also fundamental wisdom, which contains both good and evil seeds. Good and evil seeds mean that if we commit evils, we create evil seeds, which are stored in the storehouse consciousness. If we are able to purify these seeds, we will return to a pure and undefiled ninth consciousness.

The treasury of the Dharma-realm has inexhaustible merits; this is fundamental wisdom. It stores good and evil seeds and gives rise to all pure and impure phenomena. This is the fundamental mind, also known as relative wisdom.

Therefore, “fundamental wisdom” contains both good and evil seeds and “gives rise to all impure and pure phenomena.” Impurity comes from the workings of ignorance. If we are defiled by ignorance, we will likewise commit evils. Our intrinsic nature is pure, it is just that these basic afflictions have covered our pure and undefiled Buddha-nature. So, there is both good and evil in this place; if evil is more powerful, it will cover and obscure our goodness.

Spiritual practice helps us regain our strength so we can be like a great white ox. We must purify our body and mind, be guided by our wisdom and strengthen our limbs so they are sturdy. If we can do this, then we return to our fundamental mind, to our Buddha-wisdom. We will return to our “relative wisdom. Relative wisdom” is the wisdom of the Buddha.

The Buddha, with His wisdom, came into this world for one great cause. Out of great compassion, He wanted to save sentient beings. This great compassion is also contained within the Dharma-realm, within the “treasury of the Dharma-realm.”

The Buddha gives rise to great compassion to save sentient beings. With all the merits of His wisdom, He transforms all afflictions into Bodhi. These inexhaustible merits and virtues are like the attendants of the carts.

So, this is “all the merits and virtues of His wisdom.” We should always be mindful to keep moving in the direction of goodness and should keep accumulating merits and virtues. “He transforms all afflictions into Bodhi,” which brings infinite merits and virtues. These will be like “attendants.” If we can elevate our wisdom and walk the right course, “seek the path to Buddhahood and transform sentient beings,” many people will want to follow us.

This was why the Buddha used the ox-cart [as an analogy]. Because this cart is drawn by a great white ox, it can proceed steadily on the Bodhi-path. This is much better than the sheep- or deer-cart. If we only seek to awaken ourselves, [this benefits] only one person. This was not the objective of Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha wanted to teach us so that we can benefit ourselves as well as others. If we are able to walk along a smooth road, then we can lead others to this smooth road, too. The cause will lead to an effect, and we will attain the state of Buddhahood. To achieve this, we must always be mindful.

Episode 569 – The Virtues of the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power

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>> The Four Bases of Fulfilling Power: The power of aspiration. The power of thought. The power of diligence. The power of wisdom.

>> “Practice the path to obtain the fruits and advance according to our aspirations.”

>> Next is the power of thought. “In every thought we are single-mindedly focused and abide in the true principles.”

>> The power of diligence: We continue to diligently advance and put in ceaseless effort.

>> We will have the power of wisdom, that is, “We use the truth to illuminate and transcend delusions so our minds will never be scattered.”

>> And on top of each a canopy was erected, which was also decorated with various precious jewels. They were crisscrossed with jeweled ropes, draped with flower garlands, spread with elegant mats and set with scarlet pillows.

>> “Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figure pleasing, their body powerful. They walked straight and smoothly and swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.”

>> Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean: White is the fundamental color. It corresponds to our intrinsic nature, pure, with no leaks of afflictions. It is essentially replete with myriad virtues, undefiled by afflictions and can lead people to all-encompassing wisdom. It is likened to a white ox with perfect skin.

>> Their figures pleasing: This is an analogy for the essence of all matters, objects and principles. The fundamental essence of compassion is fundamental wisdom. Dharma-joy arises when we rely on principles. With the Dharma, we can achieve all flawless merits and virtues. This is like having a figure that is pleasing.

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Everyone makes wishes, and everyone’s wishes are different. If we did not wish for anything, we would not choose to learn the Buddha-Dharma. So, learning the Buddha’s teachings is a wish. The 37 Practices to Enlightenment help Buddhist practitioners step onto the Bodhi-path. Among them are the Four Bases of Fulfilling Power.

The Four Bases of Fulfilling Power: The power of aspiration. The power of thought. The power of diligence. The power of wisdom.

The power of aspiration comes from our wishes. We wish to learn the Buddha’s teachings, and I hope that wish will come true and that things will happen the way we want. So, we must.

“Practice the path to obtain the fruits and advance according to our aspirations.”

We must earnestly follow the Bodhi-path. If our first steps are correct, we will arrive precisely at our destination. So, we must practice the path by advancing toward our goal. This is “practicing the path to obtain the fruits.” I hope that we can be diligent and continue to strengthen our spiritual aspirations. We must be focused on always moving forward in order to fulfill our hopes.

This is our aspiration. If we want to develop the power of aspiration, we must “practice the path to obtain the fruits and advance according to our aspirations.”

Next is the power of thought. “In every thought we are single-mindedly focused and abide in the true principles.”

We must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. When we do, all our thoughts, thought after thought, will be the same. Our mind must be abiding. It must abide in the true and correct principles.

We must also be diligent in focusing our minds in one place. Then our every thought will be consistent. At the same time we must focus on advancing and

develop the power of diligence. We need to have this power of diligence; we cannot deviate from our course at all. So, everything we do must be focused and precise, and move us forward toward our goal. We “put in ceaseless effort.” We must work very hard and not stop even for a moment.

The power of diligence: We continue to diligently advance and put in ceaseless effort.

Our hope is that as we practice the Bodhi-path, our every thought will carry us forward so we can “abide in the true principles.” We must unceasingly advance and never stop our hard work. This is most important for learning the Buddha’s teachings. If we can achieve this,

We will have the power of wisdom, that is, “We use the truth to illuminate and transcend delusions so our minds will never be scattered.”

If we can follow this sequence, we can fulfill our wish. We must cultivate the path in order to reach our goal. In this way, with our wish, we will continue to practice diligently and our wisdom-life will sprout and grow.

This is like the light of. True Suchness in our hearts; this ray of light can illuminate and shatter our delusions so that our minds will no longer give rise to delusions and afflictions. When we let our delusions depart, our minds will naturally be focused, not scattered. This is wisdom.

Recently we have been talking about applying the Dharma and being mindful. In discussing the Lotus Sutra, we have spent quite a bit of time describing the burning house of the Three Realms. In order to save the children, the elder used various methods to tell them that. “This house is already deteriorating. It has not been maintained for a long time. It is dangerous to stay inside the house. A fire has begun to burn on all four sides. Everyone, you must leave immediately! Come! Get out!” But the children were still confused, indulging in and attached to their playthings inside the house.

The elder could only tell everyone, “Come out, there are three kinds of cart outside. You can choose whichever one you like. So, come out quickly! If you do not come out right now, you will not get your share.” So, they all rushed outside.

Once outside, they saw the three kinds of carts. Their father allowed them to choose, while encouraging them [to choose a certain one] by the way that he described them. “This is a sheep-cart, this is a deer-cart, and this is an ox-cart, drawn by an ox. Sheep and deer are not very strong. At most they can transport one person. These ox-carts are decorated magnificently.”

And on top of each a canopy was erected, which was also decorated with various precious jewels. They were crisscrossed with jeweled ropes, draped with flower garlands, spread with elegant mats and set with scarlet pillows.

According to this passage, on top of each ox-cart “a canopy [could be] erected”; it could be put up to cover the entire cart. A canopy, drapes, etc. could be made to look beautiful and magnificent. Not only were the drapes, windows, etc. constructed quite beautifully, there were many other precious treasures as well. These ornaments would make lovely sounds. All of these things were treasures.

And, carts were “crisscrossed with jeweled ropes.” Ropes were hung up, very beautiful ropes, that were made out of treasures. They were hung as decorations in many different ways. The carts were also “draped with flower garlands.” Many extravagant decorations were draped [over] the carts. Furthermore, they were “spread with elegant mats.” Coverings were placed on the floor, the chairs and so on, so people could rest. They were “set with scarlet pillows,” which allowed people to rest comfortably. [The elder explained that] such a magnificent cart does not only transport one person, but can carry many people. When you have company, things are more lively.

The next sutra passage explains that,

“Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean, their figure pleasing, their body powerful. They walked straight and smoothly and swiftly like the wind. And there were many attendants guarding each.”

See, these carts were decorated so wonderfully and pulling each of them was an ox. The ox had glistening skin that was clean and pure and was full of strength. His coat was so bright, so clean and white. Then “their figure pleasing” means the shape of the ox was very beautiful. Furthermore, he was very strong. See, his legs were powerful and his tendons and muscles well-formed. The ox could walk so steadily. “They walked straight and smoothly.” Not only did he walk straight and smoothly, but also very quickly, “swiftly like the wind.” This cart traveled so steadily and quickly as well. Moreover, this cart did not travel alone, but with a procession of many followers, surrounding the vehicle to guard and protect it. This is the cart drawn by a great white ox.

Pulling these carts were white oxen, their skin completely clean: White is the fundamental color. It corresponds to our intrinsic nature, pure, with no leaks of afflictions. It is essentially replete with myriad virtues, undefiled by afflictions and can lead people to all-encompassing wisdom. It is likened to a white ox with perfect skin.

This cart is drawn by a great white ox. White is the fundamental color of all colors. If we start with white [paper], we can put any color we want on top of it. This is why we say that white is the foundation for all colors; it is the fundamental color. “It corresponds to our intrinsic nature, pure, with no leaks of afflictions.” What are leaks of afflictions? Afflictions are ignorance. Leaks are when a layer of afflictions prevent the Dharma from entering [the mind]. If we can eliminate our afflictions and be free of ignorance, then the appearance of our pure intrinsic nature will manifest. It will be seen as completely clean and pure, so it is “white.” This is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.

“It is essentially replete with myriad virtues.” The essence of our intrinsic nature is that it contains myriad virtues. Sentient beings are complicated, filled with afflictions and impurities. What methods can we use to wash away the impurities and afflictions from their minds? To do this, we must exercise our wisdom. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” However many afflictions they have, we need the corresponding amount of wisdom to deliver them according to conditions. Think about it, isn’t this having myriad virtues?

Bodhisattvas can turn sentient beings’ afflictions into wisdom so that their wisdom-life becomes healthier and stronger. This is because afflictions do not defile them. Because the afflictions [of others] do not contaminate their pure intrinsic nature, with the wisdom of their intrinsic nature, they can guide others to all-encompassing wisdom. This great cart is also an analogy. The skin of the ox [pulling it] was very white, and the cart was also very clean. These are analogies for our nature of True Suchness. This cart was very magnificent and clean, and had everything needed. It was decorated beautifully in all respects. This cart, in particular, could move very steadily. This is because the ox was very sturdy, “[his] figure pleasing.” He was full of health and vigor. The whiteness of his coat was clean and radiant.

“Their figures pleasing” is an analogy for the essence of all matters, objects and principles. The physical appearance of the ox is exceptional. He has a beautiful and pleasing form. When this cart is paired with the oxen, they look wonderful and beautiful together. This is an analogy for the essence of all matters, objects and principles.

Their figures pleasing: This is an analogy for the essence of all matters, objects and principles. The fundamental essence of compassion is fundamental wisdom. Dharma-joy arises when we rely on principles. With the Dharma, we can achieve all flawless merits and virtues. This is like having a figure that is pleasing.

Originally, all matters, objects and principles were one and shared the same essence. However, we need to make use of our fundamental essence of compassion. Material goods are essential to our lives. We must give people these essential goods. If we are able to give exactly what they need, so they lack nothing, just the right amount, that is wisdom.

In life, it is sufficient to have enough to eat. The right amount of fruits, vegetables and grains will satisfy our nutritional requirements. If we are picky about what we eat, disregarding everything to satisfy our cravings and harming [nature] or killing living beings, our actions go against true principles.

If we are able to exercise the fundamental essence of compassion, we will know we are inherently one with all things. If we are wise, we will cherish all things, and not just tangible objects. [Indeed,] all living beings, humans and animals, are one. [This understanding] comes from great compassion. Treasuring and loving everything is fundamental wisdom. The “fundamental essence of compassion” is also called “fundamental wisdom.” The most fundamental wisdom of our nature of True Suchness is to “rely on principles.” When we follow the principles, “Dharma-joy will arise.” Then we will naturally be very happy.

Now (2013), in the Philippines after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. Volunteers were able to overcome many difficulties to quickly come to this disaster-stricken land. A group, including [Alfredo] Li and [Manuel] Siao and many others, went to provide disaster relief and to comfort the survivors, [especially] those who had lost their loved ones. Many people faced tremendous suffering, and this group of Bodhisattvas were there to comfort, help and inspire hope in them. They also helped to renew their physical and mental vitality.

[Some] volunteers were from the Philippines, [with] others from eight countries in all, running an endless relay of love to that place. Every day, both by phone and by video, I asked them, “Is it tiring work?” Or I would say, “You must be tired! No, we aren’t. Our bodies are weary, but our hearts are happy. This is because we can see their smiles and their vitality emerge and then grow day by day.”

See, this comes from relying on the principles. Following the principles, Bodhisattvas have arisen because of suffering sentient beings. When we see that their suffering is relieved, no matter how hard we have worked to help them, we feel happy.

When we do these things, we feel happy; this is fundamental wisdom. Fundamental wisdom comes from our nature of True Suchness, free of afflictions and discursive thoughts. If we advance with the Bodhisattva-mind, which is pure and undefiled, and give to others without expectations, that is the fundamental essence of compassion. We are one with the heavens and the earth.

When Tzu Chi volunteers in Malaysia heard about the disaster in the Philippines, they truly mobilized everyone. Everyone stood there the whole day, in the morning markets, on the street, at schools, in the night markets, etc. Seeing all this, if you asked them, “Are you tired?” with a smile, they would say, “I’m grateful.” And why were they doing this? Because they wanted to give everyone a chance to manifest their goodness.

Indeed, they are remarkable! They use the fundamental essence of compassion, which means they exercise fundamental wisdom, while at the same time relying on the principles to give rise to Dharma-joy; this Dharma-joy can only be found among people. “And with the Dharma, we can achieve all flawless merits and virtues.” No matter what kind of people we encounter, we must be grateful to them. When we meet people who are suffering, we must be grateful for the opportunity to give. In asking for donations, when we meet those who not only refuse to give, but also treat us coldly, we should still feel grateful. Whether people are warm or cold, kind or vicious, they are our Bodhisattva training ground. “And with the Dharma, we can achieve all flawless merits and virtues.”

“Flawless” means without afflictions. We use the various things we see, the ways matters, objects and principles manifest, to develop flawless merits and virtues. When we take all the Dharma to heart, we must not let any of it leak out. Then afflictions will not enter our minds to disturb our nature of True Suchness.

This is like having a figure that is pleasing, a thoroughly beautiful cart drawn by a white ox. Because of his flawless body, this white ox is very beautiful. The cart is also decorated magnificently. The whole effect is wonderful, very beautiful. This is the function of the cart drawn by a great white ox; it represents the Bodhisattva-path and the state of our body and mind.

So, we must seize every moment; time is continuously passing. We must find a way to live out and practice the Bodhisattva-path among people in this world. Everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 568 – Cultivate Purity and Goodness

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>> “With a life of abundance, we must cherish our blessings. When we have blessings and share with others, we earn respect. We kindle the lamp of wisdom to illuminate Bodhi. The true and wondrous Dharma is incomparable.”

>> Sariputra, at that time, the elder gave each child a great cart of equal size. These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung on all four sides with bells.

>> “And on top of each a canopy was erected, which was also decorated with various precious jewels, crisscrossed with jeweled ropes, draped with flower garlands, spread with elegant mats and set with scarlet pillows.”

>> So, the canopy is an analogy for loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, the Four Infinite Minds, which cover everything.

>> Crisscrossed with jeweled ropes: Jeweled ropes are an analogy for the Four Great Vows. Because those with these vows cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer, they must cultivate non-arising patience. Internally cultivating purifying practices and eliminating all evil brings merits. Externally practicing all good deeds brings virtues. Thus, the virtuous attain. What we attain through our spiritual cultivation are called merits and virtues. Not letting them be scattered is the meaning behind being “crisscrossed with ropes.”

>> Next, we talk about “draped with flower garlands. Flower garlands” is an analogy for charitable giving, loving speech, collaborative work and beneficial conduct, the Four All-Embracing Virtues.

>> 1. The virtue of charitable giving. If sentient beings want wealth, give them wealth. If they want Dharma, give them Dharma. This will give rise to the path to pure love.

>> 2. The virtue of loving speech. Based on the capabilities of sentient beings, use kind and comforting speech so that they give rise to the path to great love.

>> 3. The virtue of beneficial conduct. With good practices in body, speech and mind, benefit sentient beings and help them give rise to the path to great love 4. The virtue of collaborative work. With Dharma-eyes, observe sentient beings’ capabilities. According to what they like, manifest an appropriate form to lead them to do beneficial work and thus accept the path.

>> Set with scarlet pillows: Scarlet pillows are a place to rest. This is like using sincerity to eliminate feeling and perception and attain Samadhi. It also refers to all meditation. With the purity of the Threefold Karma, by following precepts we give rise to Samadhi and thus to all meditation. All of this is explaning the great cart.

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“With a life of abundance,
we must cherish our blessings.
When we have blessings and share with others,
we earn respect.
We kindle the lamp of wisdom to illuminate Bodhi.
The true and wondrous Dharma is incomparable.”

If we are content with our lives, then we are living [with] great abundance. With this sense of abundance and contentment, we feel like we have enough to give to others. It is because we can help other people and create blessings for this world that we feel like we lead a life of great wealth. If we always feel, “I do not have enough! If I want to help other people, I need to wait until I have enough to spare,” when will we ever feel that we have enough? If we do not immediately do good deeds and benefit others, but instead only focus on making money, we will never feel we have enough. Then, day after day, we will be wasting our lives. If every day, we do good deeds and create blessings, we will reap the benefits of our actions.

We must share our blessings with others. If I am the only person who is rich, if I am the only person who is blessed, and everyone around me is poor, then I will not be happy either. We must [carefully choose] where we live, “Not choosing to be among the benevolent, how can we attain wisdom?” When we chose where we live, we want to be in a community of abundance, a society of abundance, a country of abundance. If we were born into a country, a society and a family of abundance, that is truly a blessing. What must they be abundant in? In virtue. “Virtue enriches the body as wealth enriches the house.” Wealth can enrich our surroundings and make them more comfortable. If we live in a place where everyone is doing good deeds and everyone is benefiting others, then we are living in a place of great abundance; such a country is richest and most powerful. Everyone will be creating blessings, and everyone will be rich and virtuous. This is how we can live a most blessed life. So, “When we have blessings and share [them], we earn respect.” When there is love and respect between all of us, aren’t we living a most happy life?

In addition to blessings, we also need wisdom. “We kindle the lamp of wisdom to illuminate Bodhi.” The wisdom inside each of us is like a lamp. With our spiritual wealth, we can bring light to the world. So, we kindle the lamp of wisdom by using our wisdom and our hearts to observe the world. It is as if there is one lamp which we all use to light our own lamps so that our hearts and minds can be illuminated. Millions of people can light their lamps from this one. When the lamps in the hearts of millions of people have been kindled, won’t everyone in our society, in our world, be virtuous and act in ways that create blessings? The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to guide all sentient beings onto this road, which is the Bodhi-path.

When we kindle this flame within our hearts, we will automatically be able to see this road. So, we said, “We kindle the lamp of wisdom to illuminate Bodhi.” We do not illuminate this road so that only we can walk on it; we want to help everyone following this Bodhi-path to walk very safely on this brightly lit and very safe road. Therefore, we must aspire to pave a smooth road.

This means we must learn to be a good person, to uphold the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds and listen to the Dharma often. After we understand, we must constantly orient our minds toward the Right Path. We must prevent our minds from becoming defiled. Once desires arise, our afflictions multiply. If our minds are pure and we have understood the principles, the Buddha will then teach us how to practice the Six Paramitas.

We benefit ourselves when our minds have been awakened and we understand. When the principles are clear to us, we must immediately step onto this Bodhi-path, which is very direct, and guide others to walk this path to enlightenment. With our wisdom, we can guide everyone onto the Right Path. The “true and wondrous Dharma” helps us to walk this broad path safely and steadily. Thus, it is most wondrous; it is “incomparable.”

It allows everyone to experience what we have, the joy of coming in contact with the Dharma. “The true and wondrous Dharma is incomparable.” It makes us incredibly happy. So, we need to be mindful of it every day.

For the past few days, we have been describing the elder [of the house] and Sakyamuni Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha is also called the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the four kinds of beings. The beings of the Three Realms completely rely on the Dharma that Sakyamuni Buddha taught after His awakening, with which He hoped to preserve the true nature in everyone’s minds. He used various methods. “Whether you like a small cart, a medium-sized cart or a big cart, just come outside and I will give it to you.” Once they were outside, he gave them guidance. “Look, this great cart is so large. It is not just an empty cart; it is ornately and beautifully decorated. Inside are so many rare and unusual objects, along with many fun things. Look at them! What cart would you like?” He hoped that everyone would choose to have the grand and ornate cart.

Sariputra, at that time, the elder gave each child a great cart of equal size. These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung on all four sides with bells.

The following sutra passage continues, saying,

“And on top of each a canopy was erected, which was also decorated with various precious jewels, crisscrossed with jeweled ropes, draped with flower garlands, spread with elegant mats and set with scarlet pillows.”

From this sutra passage, we learn about the top of the cart. In addition to the decorated interior, the outside was the same. On top of this cart, “a canopy was erected.” It seemed to cover the entire cart. This covering over the cart hung down like a mosquito tent which protected people from their surroundings, by preventing flies and mosquitoes from entering. But this is an analogy. The canopy being referred to was very magnificent.

So, the canopy is an analogy for loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, the Four Infinite Minds, which cover everything.

If we want to be safe, that is like wanting to be protected, not wanting to be bitten by bugs. The meaning is similar, so the “canopy” is that which protects us and keeps our minds healthy. A healthy mind is most beautiful and wonderful. It contains loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. These are the Four Infinite Minds.

If we have loving-kindness and compassion, we will love everyone we see. Out of compassion, we hope for everyone to be happy, peaceful and safe. If people suffer or face difficulties, we cannot bear it. Having universal compassion, we feel the pain of others as our own. Similarly, we feel their happiness as our own as well. Therefore, if other people’s happiness brings us happiness, we should create happiness for everyone. This comes out of great loving-kindness. If we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, if we cannot bear for a single being to suffer, if we feel their pain as our own, we will immediately want to help them to eliminate their suffering. By relieving them of their suffering, we are relieving our own suffering. This comes from our compassion.

Joy comes from feeling happy when we see that other people are happy. If we see that people need something, we immediately give to them out of equanimity so that they can be satisfied and not be lacking. This is what it means to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.

Moreover, with the Four Infinite Minds, we have great loving-kindness without regrets, so when we give of ourselves, we feel no sense of regret at all. We have great compassion without resentment, so when we give to sentient beings we do not feel any kind of complaint. We have great joy without worries, so we give for the sake of others, not for ourselves. We do not think, “I am bringing others happiness, and as for me….” We do not think in this way; we just want everyone to be happy. With equanimity, we are willing to let go and give without expecting anything in return. We give unconditionally. This comes from having loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. These are the Four Infinite Minds,

When we give, from the bottom of our hearts a feeling gushes forth, as if from a spring. The more we give, the more abundant we feel. The canopy is an analogy for this. It covers everything and protects everything. To protect all sentient beings, we must have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, and a broad, open and boundless mind.

This is symbolized by the canopy. The cart is also “crisscrossed with jeweled ropes. Crisscrossed with jeweled ropes” is an analogy for the Four Great Vows. We make the Four Great Vows because we cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer. These are the Four Great Vows.

Crisscrossed with jeweled ropes: Jeweled ropes are an analogy for the Four Great Vows. Because those with these vows cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer, they must cultivate non-arising patience. Internally cultivating purifying practices and eliminating all evil brings merits. Externally practicing all good deeds brings virtues. Thus, the virtuous attain. What we attain through our spiritual cultivation are called merits and virtues. Not letting them be scattered is the meaning behind being “crisscrossed with ropes.”

“I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” We want to deliver sentient beings. “I vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” When we interact with sentient beings, we cannot have afflictions in our mind. We must protect our mind and keep it pure. When we are among suffering sentient beings, we witness suffering to recognize our blessings. We should become happier the more we are able to help. That comes from being unable to bear for sentient beings to suffer. So, we must engage in spiritual practice and cultivate our “non-arising patience.”

In the world around us, or in our relationships, etc., if we face something that is difficult to bear, we have to be patient to endure. We must be patient with everything, from the imbalance of the four elements in the macrocosm of the world to the lack of harmony in the microcosm, in our minds and our interpersonal relationships. No matter what people say to us or what kinds of looks they give us, we must be patient. We must cultivate “non-arising patience” so that as we face suffering and afflictions, our minds will not go through arising or ceasing, increasing or decreasing. We must maintain our [calm] minds. This is the meaning of “non-arising patience.” Internally cultivating purifying practices, engaging in practice to purify our minds and putting an end to all evils brings “merits.”

External practice is about perfecting all good deeds. There are many kinds of good deeds. By doing all good deeds and creating all blessings, we can perfect all virtuous practices. This brings “virtues.” This is how we interact harmoniously with others. I often say that if we are successful in conducting ourselves properly, we will be successful in whatever we do and be in harmony with the principles. So, if we are in harmony with people, we will be in harmony with what we do. If we do things harmoniously, we are in harmony with the principles. [The result] is the same, giving rise to “virtue.” When our character is harmonious, we are virtuous.

Internally, we are cultivating our minds. Externally, we are behaving in this manner. If we do not let [virtues] be scattered, but gather them together, everything will be perfect. We will not lose any of them. With internal cultivation and external practice, we will not lose our merits and virtues. This is the meaning of “crisscrossed. Crisscrossed with jeweled ropes” symbolizes how all these things cross and overlap. We must work on ourselves inside and out and put the teachings into practice so our bodies and minds are united. Then we will not lose anything. This is to be “crisscrossed with jeweled ropes.”

Next, we talk about “draped with flower garlands. Flower garlands” is an analogy for charitable giving, loving speech, collaborative work and beneficial conduct, the Four All-Embracing Virtues.

When we practice charitable giving, we feel that we have enough to spare. Therefore, we should give to others.

1. The virtue of charitable giving. If sentient beings want wealth, give them wealth. If they want Dharma, give them Dharma. This will give rise to the path to pure love.

Giving can be giving of wealth or giving of the Dharma. The giving of wealth is being willing to give other people material things. We can also give fearlessness. “If you cannot finish this work, it is fine. I will help you finish your work. This area is so big, you cannot sweep it all. I will help you sweep.” These are small and simple things. If we are willing to give in this way, to help people in all kinds of matters, this is known as charitable giving.

As for loving speech, because we are always willing to help others, and the things we say make sense, when people are afflicted, we immediately go to comfort them. This is loving speech. If others do not understand something, we should immediately guide them. We do this with loving speech.

2. The virtue of loving speech. Based on the capabilities of sentient beings, use kind and comforting speech so that they give rise to the path to great love.

Next is collaborative work. Not only do we live together in this world, we all share the same mission, and we all work to accomplish the same things. All of this is part of collaborative work. We have the affinity to be together, so inevitably, [conflicts] will arise. If we have enough to spare, we can help others and guide them. Once we realize teachings, we should share them widely. By doing this, we can transform others through collaborative work.

Last is beneficial conduct. We want everything we do to benefit sentient beings. This is the direction of our spiritual practice.

3. The virtue of beneficial conduct. With good practices in body, speech and mind, benefit sentient beings and help them give rise to the path to great love 4. The virtue of collaborative work. With Dharma-eyes, observe sentient beings’ capabilities. According to what they like, manifest an appropriate form to lead them to do beneficial work and thus accept the path.

Charitable giving, loving speech collaborative work and beneficial conduct form the path that we must walk. This is the Bodhisattva-path.

[The cart is also] “spread with elegant mats.” This is a beautiful and elegant decoration. “Mats” are a covering for the floor. Not only is the top of the cart well-decorated, its floor is very smooth and comfortable. It moves stably and is comfortable for sitting. This is symbolized by “spread with elegant mats.” [The floor] is covered very smoothly and evenly. The Buddha put His heart into this

because He could not abandon sentient beings. He wanted to give them a safe place where they could be at peace. “Set with scarlet pillows” symbolizes how everything that we do is not only to provide a place for people to rest, but also comes out of our deep sincerity.

Set with scarlet pillows: Scarlet pillows are a place to rest. This is like using sincerity to eliminate feeling and perception and attain Samadhi. It also refers to all meditation. With the purity of the Threefold Karma, by following precepts we give rise to Samadhi and thus to all meditation. All of this is explaning the great cart.

Like a practitioner who wants to eliminate feeling and perception and attain Samadhi, if we eliminate afflictions from our hearts then no matter what we sense or how we perceive it, we will remain steady and calm. We will not be enticed by external conditions to give rise to the slightest thought. When we are steady and calm, we are in a state of Samadhi. So, Right Thinking and Right View [lead to] the Right Path. We must eliminate the evils of Threefold Karma to give rise to precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Thus we give rise to meditation.

This sutra passage is conveying the Buddha’s hope that we will all be in the great carts, practicing the Great Vehicle Dharma. They are so magnificent and peaceful and steady; this is such a wonderful state of mind. When we transform ourselves and others, we are practicing the Great Vehicle Dharma. This house can be beautiful once it has been remodeled, just like this great cart. We must travel on the Bodhisattva-path,

so dear Bodhisattvas, the Dharma is very intricate and wondrous. We must make an effort to be mindful and to diligently practice every day, always with one mindset, to always be mindful.

Episode 567 – Teaching the One Vehicle with Eloquence

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>> “The Buddha has equal compassion for all and adapts to sentient beings’ capabilities. Though He gave wondrous provisional teachings, in the end He taught the Dharma of the One Reality.”

>> Sariputra, at that time, the elder equally gave each child a great cart. These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung with bells. This is explaining that the great cart that was drawn by a great white ox was broad and tall and was exquisitely and wonderfully magnificent. He equally gave each child a great cart that could carry many people. This is an analogy for the only teaching that can lead people to attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s only teaching.

>> These carts were tall and broad: Tall and broad is an analogy for its essence, appearance and function. It extends throughout the three periods of time and pervades the ten directions. Our essence is True Suchness, and we are replete with wisdom, compassion and so on. Our appearance is of infinite merits and virtues. Our essence and appearance are unfixed, so we can act in response to conditions to manifest our function.

>> [It is] decorated with all kinds of treasures: With wisdom of all Dharma, we initiate myriad actions. Myriad actions give rise to myriad virtues. This is the meaning of “decorated with all kinds of treasures.”

>> Thus, “The evil outside cannot enter, and the good inside will not be lost.”

>> Is the meaning of “surrounded by railings.”

>> Hung with bells: The bells on all four sides are an analogy for the Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence. Bells are an analogy for a rousing teaching. The Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence: Unobstructed Dharma. Unobstructed Meaning. Unobstructed Language. Unobstructed Joy in Speaking.

>> So first, we must have Unobstructed Dharma. Then we can teach smoothly without interruption;

>> Second is Unobstructed Meaning.

>> Third is Unobstructed Language, when our words are understood clearly.

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“The Buddha has equal compassion for all
and adapts to sentient beings’ capabilities.
Though He gave wondrous provisional teachings,
in the end He taught
the Dharma of the One Reality.”

The Buddha treats all sentient beings equally because all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. Having Buddha-nature, they all have the potential to attain Buddhahood. Sadly, because we sentient beings have ignorance, [it] has covered our intrinsic Buddha-nature.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, He often traveled around to teach sentient beings. One time, He came to the kingdom of Gautami to teach the Dharma to the fourfold assembly and transform sentient beings. At this time, there was a man who had heard the Dharma, but was very full of himself. He thought, “When I listen to the Dharma, I understand so much, but I see many people who have listened to the Dharma but cannot understand the principles.” This man was a Brahmacarin. He believed he had learned [and] understood so much, and he thought everyone else was foolish and unable to understand the principles. So, during the day, under the blazing sun, he lit a torch and carried it around. As he walked down the road, he held up this torch. He said, “Everyone in this world is foolish and unable to understand the principles.”

At that moment, the Buddha arrived there, and hearing everyone talking, [He] came over to them. When the Brahmacarin saw the Buddha, he lifted his head and puffed out his chest and continued to shout, “People in this world cannot see. Even during the daytime, they still cannot see the road. So, I am holding up this torch to light the way for everyone.”

The Buddha stopped in front of him and said, “Since you understand the principles so well, let me ask you, have you heard of the Four Understandings?” When the Brahmacarin was asked about the Four Understandings, he instead asked the Buddha in return, “What are the Four Understandings? I have never heard of them.” The Buddha said, “First, let me ask you, do you understand astronomy and geography? Do you understand the workings of the heavens and the earth? No, I do not. Second, let me ask you about the sun, moon and stars. Why are there so many stars in the sky? Do you understand the different kinds of stars? No, I do not. Third, let me ask you, do you understand how to govern a country? I do not know that either.”

This man who held the torch during the daytime, this Brahmacarin, hung his head low. He put down the torch and reverently prostrated to the Buddha. He told the Buddha, “I admit that I am ignorant. There are still many things I do not know. Please, Buddha, have the compassion to forgive me and teach me.” The Buddha told him, “You only understand a small bit of the Dharma. It is wrong to think, ‘I know so much already.’ That is egotism. If you do not understand but think you do, though you are holding the torch, you are the one who cannot see. The torch you hold only illuminates others. You cannot see yourself; you are blind.” The more this Brahmacarin heard, the more he felt remorseful and repentant. So, he decided to follow the Buddha and become a monastic to accept the Buddha’s teachings. This is how the Buddha worked with sentient beings.

The Buddha taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings, so He gave various teachings such as the Five Vehicles and the Three Vehicles. For the first 42 years, He taught with various skillful means. After 42 years, He began to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma.

So, [before that,] the Buddha had “given wondrous provisional teachings. Wondrous” means that all the principles the Buddha taught contained the True Dharma, even when He was just teaching us how to be good people. In fact, if we can succeed at being a good person, then we can attain Buddhahood. Even the teachings of the Human Vehicle contain subtle and wondrous principles.

The Heavenly Being Vehicle is also about developing a love that is complete, selfless and unconditional. This is not just a way to be reborn in heaven; it also contains the Bodhisattva Way. But to practice the Bodhisattva Way, in addition to doing good deeds, we must also cultivate wisdom. Wisdom comes from interacting with people, doing good deeds while remaining free of attachments. Moreover, we must also patiently withstand the various turbidities that are found among people as well as their mental impurities. People who practice the Bodhisattva-path must guard the purity of their minds. So, even while the Buddha “gave wondrous provisional teachings,” they still contained the Dharma of the One Reality. The Dharma of the One Reality is the One Vehicle.

In the past we have talked about how the Buddha challenged His disciples. Some were biased toward emptiness, others were biased toward everlasting existence and thought that being human in this lifetime meant they would be human in their next; so if they did not have the chance to practice in this lifetime, they would do it in the next. Even if people know there will be a next life, they may not know that the causes they create in this life will bear fruit in their next.

With the karma you have created, will you have the chance to be human again in your next life? To have the chance to be human again, we must uphold the Five Precepts. To have blessed retributions in our next life, we must practice the Ten Good Deeds. If, in this lifetime, we do not perform our basic duties as a person and do not even understand basic morals, in our next life, we may be in the animal realm. If a person does not practice the Ten Good Deeds and instead commits the Ten Evils, in his next life he will be in the hell or hungry ghost realm. Whether we end up in the Three Evil Realms or not depends on how we have acted in this life. This is why the Buddha helped all sentient beings to first understand these principles, so that He could more easily guide them.

But some people that accept the Dharma, become biased; if one thought goes astray, they lose sight of the principles and end up far off course. So, we must always remind ourselves to be vigilant. We sentient beings remain in a state of ignorance. [Trapped] in the Three Realms, we endlessly create karma and afflictions. With these afflictions, it is as if we are in a burning house. The Buddha hoped for us all to eliminate these afflictions brought on by desires so that our minds can be pure. This is why. He told the parable of the burning house.

As we discussed earlier, the Buddha, the great elder, set up three kinds of carts outside the house. “Everyone, hurry up and come out! Do you want a sheep-cart, deer-cart or a cart pulled by a great ox? Come out quickly!” Then the children came out.

Sariputra, at that time, the elder equally gave each child a great cart. These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung with bells. This is explaining that the great cart that was drawn by a great white ox was broad and tall and was exquisitely and wonderfully magnificent. He equally gave each child a great cart that could carry many people. This is an analogy for the only teaching that can lead people to attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s only teaching.

This large cart is the cart that everyone should use. See, “This cart is tall and broad.” This was such a large cart and the inside of this cart was especially well-decorated. All kinds of jewels and treasures were used to adorn it. Its exterior was beautifully decorated as well. It was “hung with bells.” Whenever the cart started moving, the sound of the bells could be heard. Moreover, it was exquisitely and wonderfully magnificent, and filled with rare treasures.

When the elder saw that all the children were out, he said, “I do not want to only give you a sheep-cart or a deer-cart; I want you to have this great cart. Because of its size, it can transport many people. You can put as many things in it as you want.” This is an analogy for the “only teaching that can lead people to attain Buddhahood.” This is the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, the teachings that can help us attain Buddhahood. This is what the Buddha wanted to teach us, hoping that we can all attain Buddhahood. In order to become Buddhas, we need a cart that can carry a lot. This is an analogy.

These carts were tall and broad: Tall and broad is an analogy for its essence, appearance and function. It extends throughout the three periods of time and pervades the ten directions. Our essence is True Suchness, and we are replete with wisdom, compassion and so on. Our appearance is of infinite merits and virtues. Our essence and appearance are unfixed, so we can act in response to conditions to manifest our function.

“Essence, appearance and function. Essence” refers to the body of this cart, which is very large. We can see that the sheep-cart and the deer-cart are very small in size. When we see this great cart, that is the ox-cart, it is very well-decorated. You see, that kind of cart can carry many people! This is due to the large body of the cart. We can say it is great [or] that it is magnificent. We can say it contain many treasures. This is its “appearance.” The function of this great cart is to transport people. It can carry many and is well-decorated. This is its “function.”

These are its essence, appearance and function. This is analogy for how. “Our essence is True Suchness.” We all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness, a nature equal to that of the Buddha’s. We are all replete with wisdom and compassion, so we can all give to others and practice according to what the Buddha taught. Thus our appearance is one of merits and virtues. When we act out of a pure heart and diligently go among people to help them, we are replete with wisdom, compassion and a sense of equality. We will treat all sentient beings equally. We will open up our hearts so that we can embrace all things in this world and treat them equally. When we give without expectations, our appearance is one of merits and virtues.

Everything we cultivate within, manifests without. This is our “essence and appearance. Essence and appearance” arise in response to various capabilities. For those with limited capabilities, the Buddha gave limited teachings of limited scope. For those with great capabilities, the Buddha gave great teachings of a great scope. Everyone He sees is different, so He makes use of what is appropriate.

The interior of this cart is “decorated with all kinds of treasures.” This symbolizes the “wisdom of all Dharma. Wisdom of all Dharma can initiate myriad actions.” When it comes to wisdom, we must be replete with “wisdom of all Dharma.” As we just discussed, we must give teachings according to capability. People of different capabilities need to be taught in different ways. This requires that “With wisdom of all Dharma, we initiate myriad actions.”

[It is] decorated with all kinds of treasures: With wisdom of all Dharma, we initiate myriad actions. Myriad actions give rise to myriad virtues. This is the meaning of “decorated with all kinds of treasures.”

We constantly say, “Actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions.” Giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom can be utilized in all situations. All sentient beings are different and their surroundings are also different. Taking environment and capabilities into account, we give to others with various methods; we give them teachings, material things, etc. Only with all these “myriad actions” can we give rise to “myriad virtues.”

We need the Dharma, and have received it, so once we attain the Dharma, we can then use various methods to give charitably. We want to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. We must feel a sense of abundance in order to be happy and feel that we can give to others. We must have an abundance of wisdom in order to have an abundance of Dharma to share. This is the “virtue” that we cultivate. So, “Myriad actions give rise to myriad virtues.” This is the meaning of “decorated with all kinds of treasures.”

So, inside of this large cart there is an abundance of decorations. This symbolizes how we also have an abundance of Dharma. When we hear one teaching, we realize ten, or we may hear one and realize 100, or 1000. By learning one teaching, we are able to understand many things. This is because we have internalized the Dharma we have heard. Thus, we can give according to various capabilities.

“Surrounded by railings” means that it is enclosed on all sides. This protects the people in the cart so that no external objects will be able to hurt them.

Thus, “The evil outside cannot enter, and the good inside will not be lost.”

Taking good care of what is inside and preventing outside evil from entering.

Is the meaning of “surrounded by railings.”

Then “hung with bells” represents the. Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence. We need four kinds of wisdom to teach according to sentient beings’ capabilities.

Hung with bells: The bells on all four sides are an analogy for the Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence. Bells are an analogy for a rousing teaching. The Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence: Unobstructed Dharma. Unobstructed Meaning. Unobstructed Language. Unobstructed Joy in Speaking.

First is Unobstructed Dharma. When we speak, what we say must contain the truth of the Dharma. Then we will not face obstacles as we teach. Thus, we must first understand all kinds of Dharma so that we can find a way to influence others and teach them the principles of being a good person.

So first, we must have Unobstructed Dharma. Then we can teach smoothly without interruption;

the Dharma will be able to endlessly flow into the minds of sentient beings. Second is Unobstructed Meaning.

The meaning in what we say must be complete. We need a complete understanding of the Dharma so people will be able to accept these principles.

Third is Unobstructed Language, when our words are understood clearly.

We may clearly understand the principles but still be unable to use language in such a way that we write or speak [beautifully]. The words we say and the words we write should be very beautiful. So, if we can be unobstructed in our language, that is one of the wisdoms.

The fourth is Unobstructed Joy in Speaking. This means we must share; I must share what I understand. If I do not share what I understand, I feel like I would be doing everyone a disservice.

The Buddha always said that to expound the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel, we must have these four kinds of wisdom. First is Unobstructed Dharma. Second is Unobstructed Meaning. Third is Unobstructed Language. Fourth is Unobstructed Joy in Speaking. We truly must listen to many teachings and take them in, so that we are then able to transmit the Dharma to whomever we encounter.

When we teach the Dharma in this era, in the present, people, matters and objects will confirm it, for the principles are in all these things. We are not telling people to do the impossible; we tell them about a path, a road for them to follow. [But] for them to be able to take that path, we must explain teachings clearly. We must speak of people, matters and objects in a very harmonious manner. Then, when we have such wonderful principles, such wonderful language and such an abundance of Dharma, we must share them joyfully. This is the Unobstructed Joy in Speaking. We need to share constantly; thus we are turning the Dharma-wheel.

Dear Bodhisattvas, as we learn the Buddha Dharma, we must make an effort to be mindful and to compassionately treat all as equals and adapt to sentient beings’ capabilities, whether their capabilities are great or limited. We must try to understand everything in the world; although the Buddha taught the Dharma for living in this world, it is actually the path to Buddhahood. We cannot say, “This is [just] Small Vehicle Dharma.” In fact, the Small Vehicle Dharma was used by the Buddha as a way of guiding us onto the course laid out by the Great Vehicle. In the end, it is the path to Buddhahood. So, the True Dharma of the One Vehicle is what the Buddha put His heart into. Therefore, we must always be grateful and always be mindful.

Episode 566 – The Penetrating Gaze of Dharma-eyes

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>> “The natural order of the world fosters the growth of all living things. After dry days, the dew that forms at night allows seeds to sprout. The gentle breeze brings relief and eliminates fiery afflictions. With the Dharma-water and the cool breeze, we eliminate ignorance.”

>> Awakened sentient beings: These are Bodhisattvas. By deeply contemplating the Two Truths, absolute and worldly, they further eliminate habitual tendencies of views and thinking and dust-like delusions. They attain pure Dharma-eyes and Bodhisattva-wisdom. Thus they have reached the state of Bodhisattvas.

>> Pure Dharma-eyes: The Small Vehicle Dharma-eye is the initial fruit. It can see the teachings of the Four Noble Truths. The Great Vehicle Dharma-eye is the initial ground. It perceives true non-arising Dharma. These are Dharma-eyes.

>> “Sariputra, at that time the elder….”

>> Equally gave each child a great cart.

>> “These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung with bells.”

>> Those noble practitioners who turn from the Small to the Great are able to be called Bodhisattvas. Though they have yet to attain the Dharmakaya, as they have made Great Vehicle aspirations, they will practice the Great Vehicle teachings and will not retreat back to the Small Vehicle.

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“The natural order of the world
fosters the growth of all living things.
After dry days, the dew that forms at night
allows seeds to sprout.
The gentle breeze brings relief
and eliminates fiery afflictions.
With the Dharma-water and the cool breeze,
we eliminate ignorance.”

The natural order of the world automatically supports the growth of all things. Therefore, we must always be grateful that all things in the world, in accordance with the laws of nature, provide humankind with everything we need in order to live. See, with the turning of the four seasons, all things on Earth grow according to the climate and the time [of year]. But because humans act out of ignorance, the macrocosm of this world has [fallen out of] harmony.

In some places, though the climate is such that the days are quite dry, dew still forms at night. Small grasses and flowers can grow as long as there is dew, which can sustain their seeds in the soil. Growing crops in these places is still difficult, but there are many kinds of seeds that can grow. As long as there is dew, it can keep them alive.

I still remember that many years ago, I heard about a place in Chile where no rain had fallen in many years. However, in that small village, people had the wisdom to use netting to collect the dew. During the day, they quickly pull down the nets with the dew on it and collect the dew in buckets. This provides them with enough water for a day.

The world is indeed an amazing place! We cannot feel the dew and often do not notice it. But when we get up early in the morning, But when we get up early, even if it has not rained the night before, if we look outside in the morning, just as the sun is about to rise, and carefully examine the leaves and especially the tips of the grasses, we can see how the dew has condensed and collected [there]. If we keep watching carefully, those dew drops will fall. So, the earth can absorb the dew thanks to the flowers and grasses. This dew collects, then fall onto and moistens the earth, nourishing the roots of the grasses and flowers. This is a natural cycle of the world. So, “After dry days, the dew that forms at night allows seeds to sprout.” If the seeds planted in the earth are nourished by this moisture from the dew, they will be sustained and will be able to sprout. This is the natural order of things.

This is an analogy for how, if each of our minds is nourished by Dharma-water, the seed in our minds, this nature of True Suchness, will naturally sprout. If the pure mirror in our minds is cleansed with Dharma-water, its surface will be clear and bright.

On those days when it is very hot, “the gentle breeze brings relief”; we need a gentle breeze to blow. When it is hot and stuffy, it feels miserable. If the air in a place is not really circulating, it feels suffocating, because there is no [fresh] air. There is no fresh air because there is no breeze. [Openings for] air would allow a breeze to come in. If everything is closed off, if everything is sealed off, no air can get in. That makes everything stuffy. The same thing happens to us when we have not taken the Right Dharma to heart.

If we are able to open the door to our minds, we can allow a breeze to enter so that we can come in contact with the fresh air. This relieves the stuffiness and makes it easier to breathe. With fresh air, we can breathe more smoothly. The same principle applies to our minds. Thus, “The gentle breeze brings relief”; it helps to dispel our dreariness. This is the Dharma eliminating our ignorance. So, it “eliminates fiery afflictions.”

A slight breeze can bring complete relief from our ignorance and afflictions. When we listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we can eliminate our afflictions. We may be worried about having a lot of work. But instead of just sitting there worrying about all the things that have not been done, giving rise to afflictions, why don’t we get up and [use] the time and the strength we have to do as many things as we can? Just do it!

If all we do is continue sitting there, looking at how much there is to do, we will just throw up our hands [in defeat]. Sitting there, we only worry about how things will never get done. The same applies to a space. So many things have been stockpiled in there and need to be organized. As time steadily slips away, if we just stand there and continue to stockpile afflictions, we will never be able to deal with them and will never feel relief. There is only one thing to do; we realize that we need to get up and take action. With the strength and time we have, we do as much as we can. Won’t this help us reduce the number of things that are causing us afflictions? If we make use of the time we have and our diligent practice to sweep away our afflictions, we can purify our minds.

The Dharma-water is an important part of this. With the Dharma-water and a cool breeze, we can take the Dharma to heart and have the help of assisting conditions around us. Then, naturally our ignorance can be eliminated. Our afflictions and ignorance will naturally be eliminated. We can reduce our afflictions and even completely purify our minds.

․Awakened sentient beings: These are Bodhisattvas. By deeply contemplating the Two Truths, absolute and worldly, they further eliminate habitual tendencies of views and thinking and dust-like delusions. They attain pure Dharma-eyes and Bodhisattva-wisdom. Thus they have reached the state of Bodhisattvas.

The Buddha comes into this world for the sole purpose of awakening sentient beings. The Buddha used various methods, such as the Five Vehicles and Three Vehicles. He taught people how to live in this world and how to be born in the heaven realm. He also explained how we can purify our minds, the teachings for Hearers that lead to the path of awakening. He also explained the laws of nature and the principles of true emptiness and wondrous existence. Solitary Realizers can realize how everything is ultimately empty in nature. Others can understand this principle and also help other people understand true emptiness, and how sentient beings have attachments. Therefore, they go among the people to help. By keeping “true emptiness” in their minds, they realize “wondrous existence” among people.

By witnessing suffering, causation, cessation, the Path and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, realizing all the ways suffering can come about, they can share these principles with everyone. Since they witness various kinds of suffering, tangible and intangible, whether material or arising from the mind, etc., they dedicate themselves to helping others; this is the Bodhisattva-path. Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings. After being taught and transformed by the Buddha, Bodhisattvas always deeply contemplate the. Two Truths, absolute and worldly. The Buddha wanted to help everyone understand this. Bodhisattvas have already accepted this teaching. So, true emptiness and wondrous existence

are absolute truth and worldly truth. So, absolute truth is true emptiness. Worldly truth is the way this world works. It is truly incredible! Why is your mind the way it is? Why do we act the way we do? Why do we have trouble changing our tendencies? Why…? There are so many questions. This is why the Buddha devised methods to open up our minds and awaken our wisdom so we can understand the principles and practice according to them. If we can do this, we will be on a moral and virtuous path. This is what He taught to sentient beings, so that we have a way to eliminate our afflictions.

First, habitual tendencies of views and thinking must be eliminated. If our perspectives and thinking are on the right track, naturally our dust-like delusions, all those subtle bits of ignorance, will disappear along with deluded views and thinking. By staying on course, our dust-like afflictions will be eliminated.

Nowadays, we often hear about a place that is stricken by a dust-storm. They must cancel flights and halt all air traffic. People must also be more vigilant as they drive because they cannot see very far. See, human actions have already caused this pollution in the air and the environment around us. This is similar to our dust-like delusions. All of this is created by sentient beings, causing great suffering for everyone. But awakened sentient beings, Bodhisattvas, have already brushed away their afflictions and even their dust-like ignorance has been cleansed away. Because they have attained pure Dharma-eyes, they can see everything clearly and distinguish right from wrong, so they no longer give rise to afflictions and ignorance as they interact with other people. Thus they are Bodhisattvas.

Pure Dharma-eyes: The Small Vehicle Dharma-eye is the initial fruit. It can see the teachings of the Four Noble Truths. The Great Vehicle Dharma-eye is the initial ground. It perceives true non-arising Dharma. These are Dharma-eyes.

Bodhisattvas start with the first ground and may have advanced all the way to the tenth, which is close to the state of Buddhahood. These awakened sentient beings have accepted the Buddha-Dharma in the world and have penetrated the wisdom of true emptiness and wondrous existence. Therefore, they can see all things very clearly. It is as if their surroundings are clear, free of haze and pollution, so they can see very far and all states are clear to them. Seeing everything in the world in this way is called seeing with Dharma-eyes, which are penetrating and can see very clearly. This helps develop Bodhisattva-wisdom, so all principles are distinct and uncontaminated. This is the state of Bodhisattvas.

The previous sutra passage mentioned how the Buddha lined up three carts outside the burning house and then watched all the children come out. At this point in the teachings, the Buddha said,

“Sariputra, at that time the elder….”

He called to Sariputra again and told him how the elder.

Equally gave each child a great cart.

“Sariputra, you should know that after the children left the house, they asked their father for the things he had promised them.” At this moment, what the elder gave these children was, in the end, not just the sheep- or deer-cart. In the end, he gave them all the same thing, a cart drawn by a large white ox. He was like a father dividing up an inheritance among his children. Each child received the same portion. Each child received an equal amount and ended up with the same thing. So, this great cart was given to all equally. They all received the same thing, a very large cart with an abundance of wealth.

The next passage states,

“These carts were tall and broad, decorated with all kinds of treasures, surrounded by railings and hung with bells.”

This we can all understand. What we read here can be easily understood. How large were these carts? These carts were tall and broad, and adorned with many treasures. They were decorated all over, “surrounded by railings.” All around the carts were beautiful decorations; the ox-carts had railings all around them. “[They were] hung with bells.” The cart was tall and hung with bells. The ringing of bells was also a way to decorate and beautify the cart. As the cart moved, sounds could be heard. The tinkling of the bells was very soothing for the people in the cart, and wherever the cart went, people would hear this and know an affluent person was passing by. The sounds of the bells were beautiful. All this created a sense of magnificence.

The Dharma-eyes I mentioned earlier [come from] the Great Vehicle. As Buddhist practitioners, if we learn the Great Vehicle Dharma, we will have a great cart like this which has already been wonderfully decorated. The great cart is tall, so we can sit up high. Our vantage point is broad and far-reaching; that is like having Dharma-eyes and being able to see far and wide. If we are sitting at a lower vantage point, wherever we look, our vision is obstructed. But if we can sit up high and look down, we can see very far away. This is like having Dharma-eyes. Our perspective, the scope of what we can see from high up, is [very expansive].

Those with the Dharma-eyes are Bodhisattvas. Their perspective is on a higher level than /that of Solitary Realizers. They are at the first Bodhisattva ground and have attained non-arising patience. They are at the state of non-arising patience. Hearers and Solitary Realizers focus on their own awakening and are afraid to come in contact with others aspirations make the Four Great Vows, [such as]. “I vow to deliver the countless sentient beings.” They have decided to go among people. But if we want to go among people, patience is a necessity. We must practice the Six Perfections. In addition to giving and upholding precepts, the Six Perfections include patience. Only with patience can we develop diligence, Samadhi and wisdom.

We need to give to others and so on. We must also preserve the purity of our minds. When we go among people to give them material things, the Dharma, etc., we need to have patience, the strength and virtue that comes from patience. Among the multitude of sentient beings, many have severe afflictions and an unwholesome character. Not only will they not repay kindness, they will respond with resentment and hatred. If we do not have patience, patience arising from Dharma, how can we continue walking this path?

So, with the Great Vehicle Dharma-eye, Bodhisattvas can see through and clearly understand that sentient beings tend to be filled with afflictions and ignorance. They understand that this is very normal. Equipped with patience arising from the Dharma, they will not allow sentient beings’ afflictions to affect their spiritual aspirations. This is the “Great Vehicle Dharma-eye.”

Those noble practitioners who turn from the Small to the Great are able to be called Bodhisattvas. Though they have yet to attain the Dharmakaya, as they have made Great Vehicle aspirations, they will practice the Great Vehicle teachings and will not retreat back to the Small Vehicle.

People like this can see through things. They are able to withstand torment. They are able to withstand jealousy. They are able to withstand insults and abuse. They can withstand all of these because they have the Great Vehicle Dharma-Eye. They have already attained non-arising patience. This is the Dharma-eye. They have turned from the Small to the Great.

In the past, they were Small Vehicle practitioners, Hearers and Solitary Realizers, who wanted sheep-carts and deer-carts. However, the Buddha wanted them to turn from the Small to the Great. He did not want them to stop with the sheep-carts and deer-carts. He did not want Hearers and Solitary Realizers to stop there because they have always had this magnificent, powerful, tall and broad cart. The Buddha exercised His wisdom to draw everyone out of the burning house to a place that was open and safe. Then He gave everyone such great carts, which are the Great Vehicle Dharma.

Therefore, we Buddhist practitioners must open up and broaden our minds. The Dharma that we must seek is the Great Vehicle Dharma. We cannot stop with the sheep- and deer-carts. We all have cart a drawn by a great white ox. This is the Great Vehicle that the Buddha hoped all of us would attain. So, I hope everyone will always be mindful.

Episode 565 – Enter the Door of Bodhisattva Practice Together

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>> “Through teachings, practice and realization, we enter the Dharma-nature of the Great Vehicle. This is the door to the. Bodhisattva-practice of the One Vehicle. Upholding precepts and goodness brings blessings in the human and heaven realms. Heretical teachings and deviant views are not the door to the True Dharma.”

>> The children each said to their father, “You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.”

>> “Sariputra, at that time, the elder equally gave each child a great cart.”

>> The father gave all his children treasures in equal amounts and ultimately gave them a great cart. This means that only the one Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva teachings, can encompass the nine Dharma realms.

>> In terms of the Bodhisattva grounds, those from the first ground and above, who have realized the non-retreating state, are called true Bodhisattvas. Before this, those who are newly-inspired are called seeming Bodhisattvas.

>> Awakened sentient beings: This is what Bodhisattvas are. By deeply contemplating the Two Truths, absolute and worldly, they further eliminate habitual tendencies of views and thinking and dust-like delusions. They attain pure Dharma-eyes and Bodhisattva-wisdom. Thus they have reached the state of Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas deeply contemplate the Two Truths, the absolute and the worldly.

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“Through teachings, practice and realization,
we enter the Dharma-nature of the Great Vehicle.
This is the door
to the Bodhisattva-practice of the One Vehicle.
Upholding precepts and goodness
brings blessings in the human and heaven realms.
Heretical teachings and deviant views
are not the door to the True Dharma.”

This is telling us all that, as we learn the Buddha Dharma, we must accept it through teachings, practice and realization.

We must learn all the teachings that have been given. After learning them, we must teach them to others. Once we have teachings, we must have a practice. If we do not practice what was taught, wouldn’t that be the same as not having been taught at all? So, we must put the Dharma into practice. This is the only way to truly integrate what we have learned. Once we have taken it to heart, the skills we have mastered will be a part of us.

When we clearly understand the methods we have learned, we can take the skills we have mastered and teach them to others. Both the person learning and the person teaching are inspired from deep in their hearts; thus the teachings are passed on. This is what we do as Buddhist practitioners. Take teaching children, for example. How do children grow up? From the time they are born, they live with people. They can learn simply by watching the way their parents behave.

In their childhood, they copy the way their parents treat each other. When they begin to attend school, what the teacher teaches, the atmosphere, etc., endlessly gives rise to certain feelings and realizations in them, causing them to endlessly develop certain habitual tendencies. Therefore, our environment is also very important, whether we are talking about spiritual practice or mundane life. All different environments have something to teach us.

There was a news report from the state of Maryland in the United States about a man who was more than 50 years old, who had been seriously injured in a car crash. After he was treated, the doctor announced that the man would only have the speech capabilities of a two-year-old child. The doctor said that his language skills might be stuck in this stage for the rest of his life.

When this man was very young, he had begun to raise a pair of parrots. Following his accident and after his treatment, these two birds took turns keeping him company. Furthermore, they would talk to him constantly. They never stopped chattering; this was a regular occurrence. When the time came, the birds would switch shifts. After some period of time passed, the man suddenly uttered a sentence. Although his enunciation was not clear, he began to speak two or three sentences, constantly working on his pronunciation. Gradually, his words became clear. From this beginning, 14 years later, he could speak clearly again.

After all this happened, the man made a vow. He was grateful to these birds for helping him regain his power of speech, so he made a vow to raise parrots. If parrots were abandoned by their owners, he adopted them. He also came across stray parrots; who knows who had raised them? There were also parrots who were ill or injured. He cared for them all. He said that this was a way of paying them back.

See, aren’t humans just like all other living beings? The Buddha spoke of the four kinds of beings womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. The four kinds of beings are all different, but their intrinsic nature is the same. So, from the Buddha’s teachings, we must learn to show compassion to all equally. All living beings are equal, [deserving of] respect, gratitude and love; this is our intrinsic nature.

The Buddha taught us in the hope that we can return to our pure, intrinsic nature. So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must put them into practice. If we learn but do not practice, it will not be possible for us to experience The ultimate reality of our environment is the true principles. The Buddha-Dharma teaches us the principles of all things and living beings in the world. We need to thoroughly understand them, so after we are taught, we must put our hearts into experiencing them. To do so, we must put them into practice, feel them for ourselves and attain our own realization. This is [the cycle of] teachings, principles, practice and realization. These are the four steps. As Buddhist practitioners, if we lack teachings, we cannot understand the principles. If we understand the principles, we must put them into practice. That is the only way to attain realizations and take the Dharma to heart.

This is the Dharma-nature of the Great Vehicle. Where must we enter? Through the Great Vehicle Dharma. The One Great Vehicle is the door to the Bodhisattva-practice.

This is the goal of Bodhisattvas, and the Six Perfections are their tools. The Six Perfections allow us to transcend our ignorance and the state of ordinary people to ascend to a pure and undefiled state. The Six Perfections are cultivated among people. This is why Bodhisattvas must interact with people. There are all kinds of people in the world, and if we can realize the Buddha-Dharma, naturally we can interact with them without being defiled by them. If we can give to others without being hindered by our environment, we can cross the river of afflictions and reach the opposite shore. This is accomplished with the Great Vehicle Dharma. This is the only door to the Bodhisattva Way, and only by passing through this door can we truly return to our intrinsic nature.

For our spiritual cultivation, the Buddha opened this Dharma-door. Sentient beings are in a state between delusion and awakening. How then, can we fully awaken? The Buddha had to give us many methods. Aside from the Three Vehicles we have discussed, there is in fact a fourth and a fifth vehicle. In addition to the Hearer, Solitary Realizer and Bodhisattva Vehicles, there are the Human and Heavenly Being Vehicles.

The Human Vehicle teaches us how to be a good person. How do we behave properly? By upholding the Five Precepts. If we are able to uphold the Five Precepts, we will not lose human form. If we can abide by them, we can be reborn in the human realm.

Among the Five Precepts, aside from not killing, stealing, committing sexual misconduct or lying, we cannot drink alcohol.

If we think about it, not lying is very difficult. Cultivating virtuous speech is not that easy. Moreover, this world is so complicated; sometimes we cannot share the truth and we need to tell white lies. When we hear one person speak ill of another, saying very negative and hurtful things, and the target of those words ask us, “Was that person badmouthing me to you?” we would say, “Not at all. He was not speaking ill of you. Furthermore, he was very complimentary of you, saying how lucky he was to have you teach him.” To help preserve harmony, we may skillfully tell lies.

Then there is not killing. Even if we do not directly kill, can we indirectly kill? This is what most people do. Even if you do not personally kill what you eat, you have asked or helped others to do so. This also creates the karma of killing and thus breaks this precept. This is not abiding by the precept of “not killing.”

There is also stealing. “Can you avoid stealing from another person? Yes, I won’t be a thief; I will keep my hands clean.” However, we may have ill-gotten wealth. Out of our desire to make money, even if you are clearly making a nice profit, you may lower the quality of your item and sell it at a higher price to make more money. If our profit is unreasonably high, that is ill-gotten wealth. Therefore, stealing is not just about robbing another person. Obtaining wealth by unjust means is also considered stealing.

Refraining from killing and stealing are not easy, not to mention sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct can lead to all kinds of misfortune. As for drinking alcohol, Is it easy to quit drinking? It is very difficult. Abstaining from alcohol is also very hard. So, upholding the Five Precepts cannot be considered an easy matter. However, if we can uphold them, we can be reborn as a human in our future lifetime.

To reach the heaven realm we need to practice and teach others to practice the Ten Good Deeds. The Ten Good Deeds include three of the mind, four of speech and three of the body. These are the Ten Precepts or Ten Good Deeds.

So, these are the Human and Heavenly Being Vehicles. The Buddha did not only teach the Three Vehicles. There are the Five Vehicles. Thus, “Upholding precepts and goodness brings [blessings] in the human and heaven realms.” To uphold precepts is to learn and practice the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds. Then naturally we will reach the state of. Hearers and Solitary Realizers, eventually aspiring to walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is why I always tell everyone, “We must pave a smooth road through this world in order to connect with the Bodhi-path.” This is accomplished through the Five Vehicles.

“Heretical teachings and deviant views are not the door to the True Dharma.” As we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must develop Right Understanding, Right View and cultivate Right Dharma. We must not deviate at all. In our spiritual practice, the smallest deviation will lead us far off course. I hope that as we learn the Buddha’s Dharma, we will learn Right Understanding, Right View and perfect awakening. That is the only way to attain Buddhahood. “Buddha” means “enlightened.” So, we must learn the path to enlightenment. Moreover, it must be the Dharma of perfect enlightenment; there cannot be the slightest deviation.

Earlier, we talked about the burning house. How could the children be drawn out? If they are mixed up and are mistaken about the door to the Dharma, or if they deviate toward a heretical path, then they will not be able to escape the burning house. If they do not follow the Right Dharma, they would not find the door that leads outside.

The children each said to their father, “You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.”

The previous passage mentioned that once the children all escaped the burning house, they began to plead with their father. “Father, you should give us what we want right now.” He said, “All this is for you. Choose whatever you want.”

The next passage states,

“Sariputra, at that time, the elder equally gave each child a great cart.”

Giving this “great cart” equally shows that when he gave things to the children, when a father gives his children things, he gives them treasures in equal amounts. He gave each child the same thing, the biggest thing he could give them, a “great cart.”

The father gave all his children treasures in equal amounts and ultimately gave them a great cart. This means that only the one Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva teachings, can encompass the nine Dharma realms.

He told them, “The sheep-cart and deer-cart are very small. Let me tell you, the great cart will be most helpful to you. Ultimately, it will benefit you the most.” This father actually gave his children so many things. He did not give them just a few things, but a great number of things. This is an analogy for the Great Vehicle Dharma, which is the Bodhisattva Way.

The Buddha encouraged everyone to quickly practice according to the teachings. He had [safeguarded] the One Reality Vehicle in His mind. The One Vehicle Dharma is truly the Great Dharma. This shows the mindfulness of the Buddha. More than 40 years ago, because sentient beings had varying capabilities, He had to devise the Five Vehicles and the Three Vehicles in order to teach them. Most importantly, they converge in the One Vehicle. The One Vehicle is the Bodhisattva Vehicle, the state of Bodhisattvas.

․In terms of the Bodhisattva grounds, those from the first ground and above, who have realized the non-retreating state, are called true Bodhisattvas. Before this, those who are newly-inspired are called seeming Bodhisattvas.

Haven’t I said this to everyone before? We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, but we cannot yet return to it. Where is this intrinsic Buddha-nature? At the beginning, we must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. To cultivate the Bodhisattva-path, we start with the first ground. Previously, we have discussed the. Ten Grounds of the Bodhisattvas. The first state is about being joyous. When we learn the Buddha-Dharma, we must do so very happily. Then when we listen to the Dharma, we will be filled with Dharma-joy. We start with being joyful; this is the first ground. Bodhisattvas all start with the first ground, then through diligent practice, they will naturally reach the tenth ground and realize the non-retreating state.

Before this, they are newly-inspired. By their appearance, it is apparent that they have formed Bodhisattva-aspirations. But carrying them out requires mastery. How can those skills be mastered? Though they are happy to listen to the Dharma, they also have to put it into practice. From this first ground, they take their initial steps. Where do they go? They go among the people. This makes them “awakened sentient beings.”

When we accept the Dharma, we feel happy and thus take the Dharma to heart. The Buddha taught us to have unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion. We must understand the teachings and take them to heart. But how do we apply unconditional loving-kindness to help everyone live a blessed life? We must practice universal compassion until our mind is one with everything in the world and we become one with the four kinds of beings. The love we equally have for everyone is universal compassion. In this world of sentient beings, we will understand how they experience suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Not only must we love other humans, we must love the four kinds of beings equally. This is what makes us awakened sentient beings.

Awakened sentient beings: This is what Bodhisattvas are. By deeply contemplating the Two Truths, absolute and worldly, they further eliminate habitual tendencies of views and thinking and dust-like delusions. They attain pure Dharma-eyes and Bodhisattva-wisdom. Thus they have reached the state of Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas deeply contemplate the Two Truths, the absolute and the worldly.

They must clearly penetrate all universal truths as well as the principles of living in the world. Their next step is to eliminate the afflictions of views, the afflictions of thinking and the afflictions which arise from delusions. There are countless, dust-like afflictions. As awakened sentient beings, we must constantly eliminate these afflictions. By interacting with sentient beings, we can experience many principles. This is how we eliminate dust-like afflictions and dust-like delusions. This is how we will obtain pure Dharma-eyes. Then we will look at everything in a completely different way from ordinary people.

Ordinary people have greedy, clinging love, but after we awaken we instead cherish [all things]. Whatever our eyes see, we will cherish but will not crave as our own. Instead, we will try to protect these things. This comes from having “pure Dharma-eyes.” If we clearly comprehend the principles of everything we see, naturally we will love and protect them. This is how we develop Bodhisattva-wisdom. We must learn how to walk this path, then we can walk without obstacles.

This is what the Buddha gives to all beings. The great cart is the Bodhisattva-path, the path of awakened beings. The Buddha taught us to walk this path, so we must mindfully accept this teaching. If we can, our way will be smooth and unobstructed and we will reach our destination. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 564 – Enter the Truth With Provisional Wisdom

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>> “With compassion, we harmonize with all things and respond accordingly. By not being in conflict with anything,” we achieve “harmony. Realizing the ultimate reality of all things” is the Tathagata’s true wisdom. “Realizing the differences in all things” is the Tathagata’s provisional wisdom.

>> The children each said to their father, “You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.”

>> “[You have] sheep-carts, deer-carts, and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.” The Three Carts: The Three Vehicles are skillful means devised to be taught according to capability. This enabled sentient beings to accept and apply them based on what they like. The One Vehicle, the ultimate reality of all things, can only be comprehended with the mind, not expressed with language.

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“With compassion, we harmonize with all things and respond accordingly.
By not being in conflict with anything,
we achieve “harmony.
Realizing the ultimate reality of all things
is the Tathagata’s true wisdom.
Realizing the differences in all things
is the Tathagata’s provisional wisdom.”

If we can all use various methods to understand the ultimate reality of this world, we will realize the Tathagata’s true wisdom. We learn the Buddha’s teachings in hopes of returning to our intrinsic nature, our essence of True Suchness. That is “true wisdom,” the ultimate reality of all things. If we can experience this truth, [we can grasp] the essence of the Buddha-Dharma.

Where is the essence of the Buddha-Dharma? It can be found in our original state of mind, that Buddha-nature we intrinsically have. We know this, but in order to discover it, we need the harmony I mentioned earlier. In this world, the principles of all things are in total harmony. However, our minds have become deluded. So when a desire arises, we act out of ignorance, upsetting the workings of things in the world, the natural ways of life and their principles. Thus, there is no harmony.

The workings of all things in the world have been disrupted, preventing our nature of True Suchness from manifesting in our minds. The disorder in our external conditions arises from the things we do out of ignorance. This is why returning to our Tathagata-wisdom is difficult. But, the Buddha came to this world for one great cause, in the hope that despite the ignorance and afflictions in our minds, we can begin to understand the principles and be able to eliminate our ignorance and afflictions.

What methods did He use? Out of His compassion, the Buddha taught according to capabilities. So, starting with all things in the world and the true principles of nature, He used various methods to help us understand the principles of the Dharma. However, we sentient beings are very ignorant. Even though the Buddha did everything He could to teach the Dharma and transform sentient beings, our minds are deluded. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha had to use various means to give provisional teachings, solely to help everyone understand the differences in all things. This is the Tathagata’s provisional wisdom.

The Buddha established various teachings that were drawn from His wisdom to help us analyze things, which can then help us understand how to return to our natural state. Once we return to that state, not only can we thoroughly understand the principles of all things in the world, we will love and care for the heavens and earth and respect everything in nature. Our minds must return to our intrinsic Tathagata-nature. I have also spent some time telling all of you that we must pave a smooth path of working with people in this world so that we can connect with the Bodhi-path. This means that first, the Buddha taught us how to be good people. Only by conducting ourselves properly can we teach others how to walk the Bodhisattva-path.

This is why the Buddha established the Three Vehicles, the Small Vehicle, Middle Vehicle, Great Vehicle. These three kinds of Dharma are all used to teach sentient beings. By the means of the Small Vehicle, people encounter the Buddha-Dharma, and through the karmic law of cause and effect, they understand the Four Noble Truths. The “suffering” in this world is a karmic effect, and the cause of this effect is what we accumulated in the past. The negative causes and conditions we created in our past lives determine the negative retributions we face now.

Now that we understand the law of karma, we know, “As are the causes, so are the effects.” Everything in life happens due to the causes and conditions we have created. Causes, conditions, effects and retributions are always intermingled and indistinguishable. This is why we sentient beings are deluded.

The Buddha saw how deluded we are, and knew that if He were to directly share His enlightened state with us, we would not be able to understand it. So, He began by teaching the law of karma. What we experience is “suffering,” which originates in “causation.” The effects of our past lives extend into this one. Then we are entangled again in our present life, trapped in love, hate, passion and animosity, thus affecting our next life. These are the Three Periods of Cause and Effect. The Three Periods of Cause and Effect are inseparable from the Four Noble Truths. At this point, everyone understands that the law of karma is frightening. Those with limited capacities just stop here.

For practitioners with average capabilities, in addition to the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha deeply delved into the question, “How did you come to this world?” None of us had any control over how we came into this life, nor do we know where we will go after this one. Thus the Buddha explained the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence again to help us understand how we formed an affinity with our parents and came to be born in this family. As for the affinities we formed with this family, are they good karmic affinities? Or bad ones? When there are good affinities between children and their parents and siblings, this family will be happy and harmonious. This is because good karmic conditions result in wonderful karmic effects, allowing everyone to live together happily.

But within a family, siblings can have good or bad affinities. Certain siblings may have a good relationship, while other siblings may have a poor relationship. Siblings may argue and fight with one another. This goes against the principles of morality.

The Buddha came to teach us and awaken our compassion. “With compassion, we harmonize with all things and respond accordingly.” How can we avoid being in conflict with things? The Buddha tells us to cherish all things. We must understand their natural state. We must respect and love the heavens and earth, as well as the workings of all things. This is what the Buddha has taught us. In this way we can harmonize with the heavens, the earth and other people. This brings harmony.

When there is harmony among people, our minds will be in harmony, and we can harmonize with all things in the world. When the way that we feel about things is closer to the way that we feel about people, there will be harmony; this starts with us humans. Only in this way can we “realize the ultimate reality of all things.” The Dharma is the principles of all things. The ultimate reality refers to principles, to very natural principles. The Buddha says that the principles of the ultimate reality of all things in the world are the Tathagata’s “wisdom of suchness.” This is also the nature of True Suchness we all intrinsically have. The authentic nature of humans is the intrinsic nature of True Suchness, which is the principles of all things.

Since this is so, the Buddha hopes that everyone can “realize the differences in all things.” When we come to the human realm, we must clearly understand principles and clearly define our generational relationships. Our father is our father. Our mother is our mother. The parents of our parents are our grandfather and grandmother. If we clearly understand these relationships we will naturally express our respect and love.

We cannot think, “Who cares if he’s my father? Who cares if he’s my grandfather?” Our grandfather is our grandfather. He is the father of our father. To our father, we are children. Children must respect their father. Following these moral principles in life depends on making these distinctions. If we can do this in our family relationships, then naturally our friendships will be harmonious. If we have harmonious friendships, then in the society and in the world, we will be able to follow the same principles. In summary, the Buddha comes to this world solely to teach us all to return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. The Buddha has to spend a long time to patiently guide us.

But sentient beings are lost, clinging to their delusion without awakening. This is why the Buddha sighed. So, the sutra text we read before states, “The elder was…shocked and afraid.” He was very afraid, very worried, very fearful. He could only watch as the earth became an evil world of Five Turbidities. People’s minds are in great chaos, so they constantly create much negative karma. The planet may be on the verge of destruction, thus it is compared to a burning house.

The fire, the disasters, are arising on all sides. So, the father is very frightened, very worried. He continuously called out to them. Then he set up sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts outside to give these children what they wanted, what they would delight in. The elder treated these children the same way the Buddha treats sentient beings.

The children each said to their father, “You said that you had many fun toys, such as sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.”

Worldly things can be used as analogies for the Buddha-Dharma. People in this world always pursue the material objects they desire. Spiritual practitioners are the same way. They likewise are attached to the Dharma they feel they need to cultivate to quickly attain liberation. Some people seek blessings. Other people seek other things. They do not understand the principles very well; they just follow whatever teachings they hear. If they learn the Dharma this way, their minds will be in chaos. Some people look for things to believe in and end up on deviant paths.

A group visited me; one was the father of a well-to-do family. He brought his son along with him. This child had always seemed to be a little slow. So, his parents consulted spirits and prayed to the Buddha and so on. They reached the point where they brought the child to see me.

When I saw the child, I asked, “How is he?” His father said, “He’s much better now.” I asked, “What brought about the improvement?” He said, “I bring him when I do recycling work.” So, I asked the child, “When you do recycling work, are you happy? Yes, I feel happy. Can you sit still when you do the work? I like doing it, so I can sit still.” I said, “He answered me very well. Why do you think there is something wrong?” His father said, “He has improved since he started doing recycling. But, he still seems kind of slow.” I said, “Being slow is better than doing bad things. I give him my blessings.”

See, they sought help [from spirits]. The child was born this way; no matter what they tried, things stayed the same. The important thing was his environment and how to help him develop an interest. Although he may have limited abilities, there is also wisdom within him. Again, I asked him, “Why do you want to do recycling work? I want to save the Earth.” He understands that we must save the Earth. He answered me very smoothly. Why would they think he is slow? It is just because his family is very wealthy and they had placed their hopes on him. But this was their karmic condition.

The Buddha came to give us many teachings, to help us achieve a natural understanding that all these things are beyond our control. However, we must be our own master. We cannot control the causes and conditions we created in our past lives. We must make use of the effects we face in this lifetime to create our future. With the right karmic causes and conditions, we have the opportunity to be transformed. If we sever our roots of goodness, even if the Buddha-Dharma was right before us, “There is no way we could be transformed.”

This is why we must find a way to do good deeds. In our present lifetime, we control our own direction. Why can’t we take action ourselves? The Buddha-Dharma is right before us; why can’t we earnestly accept the Right Dharma?

We must live in the world as it is. We must not live in an illusion, seeking help from things we cannot see. We must stay grounded and focus on interacting with people. When we give of ourselves and help others, they receive help and we attain happiness. Aren’t these very solid and practical things? This is what the Buddha taught us to do. We must understand the Dharma ourselves, and we must walk the path ourselves.

The sheep-cart, deer-cart and ox-cart are analogies for the Three Vehicles. Small Vehicle practitioners hear the Buddha’s teachings, but they only know them; they cannot form great aspirations. Middle Vehicle practitioners understand principles but they focus on protecting themselves. Only Great Vehicle practitioners can transform themselves and others. Those who awaken themselves and others attain perfect awakened conduct.

So, the Buddha gave the analogies of the sheep-cart and deer-cart. Consider sheep and deer. Their legs are so thin, how could they possibly pull a cart? See how sturdy the ox-cart is! An ox pulling a cart can carry a heavy load. His four legs are very powerful, so he can steadily move forward step by step. When the ox arrives, so does the cart. This is like transforming oneself and others.

The three carts are analogies for the Three Vehicles, based on people’s capabilities. The Buddha observed what sentient beings sought. If people did not have the strength, He gave them the deer-cart or sheep-cart. But if they had the aspiration and the strength, the Buddha taught them the Great Vehicle Dharma. Those who learned the Great Vehicle Dharma and made great vows walk the great and direct path. This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. Based on their capabilities and inclinations, the Buddha gave them teachings accordingly. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. “This enabled sentient beings to accept and apply them based on what they like.” Depending on what they needed and the extent of their abilities and strengths, the Buddha gave them teachings that they could take and apply.

Of the Three Vehicle [practitioners], those with higher capabilities would pick the ox-cart because they were willing to lead that big cart. Those with more limited capabilities think, “I just want to lead a sheep-cart.” Their choice depends on their capabilities; what they accept is based on what they like. These are all methods of spiritual cultivation. “The One Vehicle is the ultimate reality of all things.” In fact, the Buddha’s goal in coming to the world was to do one thing, to teach the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle so we can return to the truth of nature, our intrinsic Tathagata-nature. This can only be done by those who achieve comprehension with the mind.

“[You have] sheep-carts, deer-carts, and ox-carts. Please give them to us now.” The Three Carts: The Three Vehicles are skillful means devised to be taught according to capability. This enabled sentient beings to accept and apply them based on what they like. The One Vehicle, the ultimate reality of all things, can only be comprehended with the mind, not expressed with language.

Those with greater capabilities can realize the Buddha-mind.

When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, He opened up His mind to freely express what He wanted to say. This was the Buddha’s wisdom. But, this just means that He spoke it, not that the listeners have the capability and wisdom to accept it. Just because the teachings are spoken does not mean they will be able to accept them. After a teaching is given, and they listen, “Did you understand? Yes. Do you understand this Dharma? I will gradually comprehend it.” Saying “gradually” means that they heard the Dharma but did not take it to heart. This applies to many people who hear the Dharma.

In summary, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, what we need to do most is awaken our compassion. Only when our compassion has been awakened can we become one with all sentient beings. Then we will respect and love nature and live in harmony with all sentient beings. Only then will there be harmony in this world and balance among the four elements. This is returning to our intrinsic nature.

The Buddha is compassionate. Because we have different capabilities, He made use of different methods, the Small, the Middle and the Great Vehicles. He taught the Dharma in this sequence to help teach and guide us. This comes from His provisional wisdom. Now, we also need to use provisional and skillful means to devise various teachings to help everyone come together. Then we can be guided by the True Dharma to go among and give to others. In conclusion, as we learn the Buddha-Dharma, we must seize the moment and always be mindful.