TLS Chapter 3 – Page 6 – Dharma As Water

Ch03-ep0606

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Scott Ogata

Episode 606 – Peacefully and Patiently Transport Heavy Burdens

>> “We seek the teachings to benefit ourselves and at the same time to benefit others. This is the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas. A Bodhisattva uses compassion and wisdom to transform sentient beings, like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports heavy burdens. Thus the ox-cart is an analogy for Bodhisattvas.”

>> “Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings. They benefit heavenly beings and humans and liberate all. This is the Great Vehicle.”

>> Bodhisattvas who seek this Vehicle are called Mahasattvas. They are like those children who left the burning house to seek the ox-cart.

>> With wisdom, they seek Bodhi. With compassion, they transform sentient beings. Thus they form great aspirations. When speaking of the causal practice, it is called the Bodhisattva Vehicle. When speaking of the fruits attained, it is called the Buddha Vehicle.

>> The practice of benefiting oneself and others is called the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas. Bodhisattvas transform beings with compassion; they are like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports his burden. Thus those who left the burning house for the sake of the ox-cart are an analogy for Bodhisattvas.

>> The ox-cart is an analogy for the Buddha’s teaching of the Bodhisattva Way and the practice of the Six Perfections. They only seek to deliver all people from the Three Realms and do not seek their own escape. They are like an ox who shoulders the burden to peacefully and patiently deliver all. Thus the ox-cart is used as an analogy.

“We seek the teachings to benefit ourselves
and at the same time to benefit others.
This is the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas.
A Bodhisattva uses compassion and wisdom
to transform sentient beings,
like the ox who peacefully
and patiently transports heavy burdens.
Thus the ox-cart is an analogy for Bodhisattvas.”

I want to share with everyone that we learn the Buddha’s teachings in the hope of attaining Buddhahood. Will we attain it by continuously praying, “Venerable Buddha, please help me attain Buddhahood”? Is this how we attain Buddhahood? No. We need to put the Dharma into practice.

We must vow to seek the teachings. To be like the Buddha, of course we need to learn from the Buddha. So, seeking the teachings depends on our own efforts, on whether we are willing to elevate the aim of our aspirations. We must learn to be like the Buddha and attain His level of compassion and wisdom. Since we are learning, we must practice according to the teachings and listen to the Buddha-Dharma.

In the Buddha’s mind, He hoped that after everyone understood, they would then go among people and put the teachings into practice. Then the Buddha-Dharma can be spread widely and sentient beings can actually be saved. This is not illusory; people are truly saved. This was the Buddha’s intention.

Therefore, we should now understand that we must “seek the teachings to benefit ourselves.” We must look to the Buddha. We must follow the Buddha’s spiritual practice and what He manifested in this world to teach us. We need to realize that. His goal in attaining Buddhahood was to save people. If we understand this goal, we must immediately aspire to be like Him. This is what it means to “seek the teachings.” We should have the same mission as the Buddha. We are not seeking only our own understanding, to simply hear and understand. No, what we must understand is how to put these teachings into practice. “[Seeking] the teachings to benefit ourselves” is what we can do for ourselves. If we attain realizations, then benefit others, we are truly benefiting ourselves and others.

We benefit ourselves by developing our wisdom-life. To develop our wisdom-life, we must go among people. By interacting with people, we gain a lot of information about the world, we learn about many ways of living and about suffering, causation, cessation and the Path in the world. These many principles can be learned by going among people. So, this is also how we “benefit ourselves.” When we go among people and gain something, naturally we will want to give to others. This is called “benefiting others.”

We always wonder, when we help people, are we benefiting ourselves? If we have the ability to help others, do we benefit as well? When we help others, while they are helped, we have also attained happiness and joy, which help our wisdom-life grow. So, when we give, we actually reap the benefits. When we are able to give something tangible, it is the work of many people coming together to be able to give. In the end, we actually reap the benefits. We attain joy and a sense of peace. This happens when we seek the teachings and enable our wisdom-life to grow. It is because we help others at the same time. We benefit ourselves and others. This is what it means to “seek the teachings.” By understanding and practicing [the teachings], we attain a sense of Dharma-joy and a deeper understanding of the world around us. This is how we develop our wisdom-life.

If we do not give to others, and just say, “I know, I know,” then how much do we really understand? If we do not give of ourselves at all, we do not actually understand anything. If we do not have the experience, we will not attain any realization, so we will not understand anything. Therefore, to benefit ourselves, we need to benefit others at the same time. To benefit others, we go among people and gather everyone’s strength to give to others. This is how we reap the greatest benefit.

For our wisdom-life, helping others is indeed very beneficial. So, “We seek the teachings to benefit ourselves and at the same time benefit others. This is the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas.” This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. “Maha” means great, “sattvas” refer to Bodhisattvas, to [awakened] sentient beings. So, Mahasattvas means “great sentient beings.” They follow the Great Vehicle Dharma.

“A Bodhisattva uses compassion and wisdom to transform sentient beings.” Mahasattvas are great Bodhisattvas. Great Bodhisattvas exercise their compassion and their wisdom “to transform sentient beings.” This is their vow. All Bodhisattvas have made a vow to learn from the Buddha’s mind and go among people to transform them all.

They are peaceful and patient like an ox. There is so much suffering in this world. So, we need to be peaceful and patient to stay in this world of endurance. If we have the patience, we can get through things safely, “like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports heavy burdens.” Not only is an ox patient, he can also transport heavy burdens; he can shoulder heavy responsibilities. This is his virtue of being peaceful and patient. The ox has virtues, too. He is able to patiently endure this kind of life. Because he had created the karma to be born as an ox, he accepted his fate and patiently endured this.

“Thus the ox-cart is an analogy for Bodhisattvas.” There were three kinds of carts, the sheep-cart, deer-cart and ox-cart. When sheep eat grass, they do not care about anything else, but just focus on eating the grass before them. As for the deer, when they are eating grass, they pay attention to their surroundings. What about the ox? They not only eat the grass, they also have a sense of mission, which is to help humans; they have this sense of responsibility.

So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, “We seek the teachings to benefit ourselves and at the same time to benefit others.” When we give to other people, we are actually seeing the suffering in the world. The Buddha talked about “suffering,” but “suffering” comes from “causation.” How did we accumulate this “causation”? When we go among people and see how they suffer in this world, amidst this suffering we will naturally realize the principles behind “causation.” Thus we will be more committed to our aspirations. By comprehending “suffering” and “causation,” we can develop our wisdom-life. We will know how to walk “the Path” and achieve the “cessation” of afflictions.

By going among people, we understand this. The world is filled with suffering; to avoid triggering this “suffering,” we must guard against wrongdoings and stop evil to close the door to “causation.” Thus, we cultivate precepts, Samadhi and wisdom because we know how suffering is accumulated. With precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we can protect ourselves from being affected by negative causes and conditions.

This is what we must understand. When we go among people, we must be grateful. This is how we can be great Bodhisattvas. This is how we practice the Great Vehicle Dharma. Great Bodhisattvas exercise both compassion and wisdom to transform sentient beings. They are like the ox, who is peaceful and patient and is able to transport heavy burdens. So, the ox is an analogy for Bodhisattvas. If everyone understands this, our spiritual practice will not be difficult.

The previous sutra passage states,

“Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings. They benefit heavenly beings and humans and liberate all. This is the Great Vehicle.”

If we clearly understand the previous passage, we understand that Bodhisattvas are not only peaceful and patient, they also have sympathy for sentient beings.

“Bodhisattvas who seek this Vehicle….” Bodhisattvas seek the power of these great vows. They “seek the Buddha’s teachings” and “transform sentient beings,” so “They are called Mahasattvas.” This was the aspiration they formed. “They are like those children who left the burning house to seek the ox-cart.”

Bodhisattvas who seek this Vehicle are called Mahasattvas. They are like those children who left the burning house to seek the ox-cart.

This sutra passage is about wisdom. “With wisdom, they seek Bodhi.” Learning the Buddha’s teachings, is “seeking the teachings,” meaning we seek the Bodhi-path to awakening. We must use wisdom to choose the path that we are going to walk. “With compassion, they transform sentient beings.” With our compassion, we help and transform sentient beings. So, Bodhisattvas must constantly “seek and transform. To seek” requires wisdom and “to transform” requires compassion.

“Thus they form great aspirations [and engage in] causal practice.” When we form aspirations, they must be great. To plant these seeds in our minds, we must earnestly form aspirations. These aspirations are causes. We start to think about helping others, instead of just saving ourselves. As we help ourselves, we must also help others. This is our first thought of forming great aspirations. This is the cause. We must then act on this cause. Putting it into action means we “seek the Buddha’s teachings and transform sentient beings.” Speaking of it this way, it is the Bodhisattva Vehicle. We are willing to make aspirations so we then put them into action. This is the Bodhisattva Vehicle. When speaking of the fruits attained, it is called the Buddha Vehicle.

With wisdom, they seek Bodhi. With compassion, they transform sentient beings. Thus they form great aspirations. When speaking of the causal practice, it is called the Bodhisattva Vehicle. When speaking of the fruits attained, it is called the Buddha Vehicle.

We start with the “cause.” If we want to attain Buddhahood, we must form great aspirations and practice the Bodhisattva-path. This is called the causal ground. If we engage in spiritual practice and attain the state of Buddhahood, we have attained the “fruit.” Sakyamuni Buddha had already attained this fruit. As for us, we are forming aspirations. We aspire to attain Buddhahood. We are now at the state of “causes.” At the causal ground, we start to engage in spiritual practice. The process of our spiritual practice is to walk the Bodhisattva-path. This takes us to the state of Buddhahood, which is the fruit we attain. Thus, walking the Bodhisattva-path is the cause and attaining Buddhahood is the fruit. So, both the cause and the fruit are part of the Great Vehicle. If not for these causes, how could we attain these fruits?

Bodhisattvas are “sentient beings.” They are “enlightened sentient beings. Maha” means “great,” so Mahasattvas are great sentient beings. Bodhisattvas are also called great sentient beings.

“The practice of benefiting oneself and others is called the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas.” This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. Bodhisattvas “transform beings with compassion”; they are like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports his burden. Even if the load is heavy, the ox is still willing. He walks forward with steady steps, uncomplaining. No matter how heavy, he willingly transports it. Thus those who left the burning house for the ox-cart are an analogy for Bodhisattvas. In order to obtain the ox-cart, they left the burning house; these are Bodhisattvas.

The practice of benefiting oneself and others is called the Great Vehicle of the Mahasattvas. Bodhisattvas transform beings with compassion; they are like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports his burden. Thus those who left the burning house for the sake of the ox-cart are an analogy for Bodhisattvas.

We understand the world is filled with suffering. So, we must mindfully seek the true principles of the Buddha-Dharma. We must not think of spiritual practice as just cultivating ourselves. No, we must also benefit others. From the beginning I talked about the practice of benefiting oneself and others. In fact, as we give to others, we are also reaping great benefits. Every day, we feel that we are very busy. What we are busy doing? Understanding. We try to understand how the world works, because in the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism, we have to understand the affairs of the world. We must know what is happening in the world, then our outlook will extend further and broader, and we will be able to realize the ways that people live around the world.

Without the ways of practice laid out by Tzu Chi, we might just focus on our own spiritual practice and only awaken ourselves. How would we know about what is happening around the world? Many people have vowed to me, “Wherever there is a disaster, Master, give me a chance to help. I want to sign up to go.” No matter how far it is or how difficult it is, they are willing to go. Travelling 10,000 miles benefits a person more than reading 10,000 books. The feelings they experienced by going there lead them to further exercise their great love. Because they have already developed their wisdom-life, they will utilize their strengths.

See, so many people are giving unconditionally and shouldering heavy responsibilities. They are taking on responsibility for the world. This is the aspiration to walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is why we researched how, after a disaster strikes and homes are destroyed, we can quickly provide the survivors with a safe refuge to protect them from wind and rain where they temporarily rest their bodies and minds. We researched how to immediately ship shelters to disaster areas and right away provide the people with simple shelters to rest their bodies and minds. We call them prefabricated shelters.

For a few years, we have been developing ways to provide people safe refuge that can [last] at least a few years so that they will have time to focus on building new lives and restoring their homes. Our emergency disaster relief does not only provide them with food so they do not go hungry, we also give them a few years to rest their body and mind. Our Bodhisattvas work earnestly and in healthy competition to develop and implement construction methods and materials that can be easily transported right away to build a large number of units in a short time. Every time I see a prototype, I am very moved.

So, once Bodhisattvas form aspirations, they begin to take action accordingly. We understand worldly matters, understand the suffering in the world and how the causes of suffering are accumulated. Suffering is caused by accumulation, but actually, to attain Buddhahood, we also need to accumulate various causes and conditions in order to complete the Bodhisattva-path and relieve the suffering in the world.

So, the ox-cart is an analogy for “the Buddha’s teaching of the Bodhisattva Way and the practice of the Six Perfections. They only seek to deliver all people from the Three Realms.” The Buddha has one goal, to deliver everyone from the Three Realms. He “does not seek His own escape”; it is not enough if He is the only one who escapes. He also calls on everyone to escape. He is like an ox who shoulders a heavy burden. The ox must be peaceful and patient and endure the challenges in this world in order to deliver so many things. So, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must feel a sense of responsibility like the ox. Even when he is pulling a very heavy cart, he is willing to continue walking forward. We have been discussing this previous passage, “They are like those children who left the burning house to seek the ox-cart.” This is the Great Vehicle, the great ox-cart.

The ox-cart is an analogy for the Buddha’s teaching of the Bodhisattva Way and the practice of the Six Perfections. They only seek to deliver all people from the Three Realms and do not seek their own escape. They are like an ox who shoulders the burden to peacefully and patiently deliver all. Thus the ox-cart is used as an analogy.

Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners, we cannot only seek the Small Vehicle Dharma. We must “seek the Buddha’s teachings” and “transform sentient beings.” To “seek the Buddha’s teachings” is to benefit ourselves and others. What we must seek is the Great Vehicle Dharma. What we must apply in the world is both compassion and wisdom. To deliver all sentient beings, we must be like the ox who peacefully and patiently transports heavy burdens. So, these are the Three Vehicles that the Buddha talked about. Even when the Buddha was entering Parinirvana, He still taught the Four Noble Truths. He still had to remind them to return to suffering, causation, cessation and the Path so that all His disciples would remember. In conclusion, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0605

Posted on January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 by Scott Ogata

Wisdom at Dawn

Chapter 3

Episode 605 – Compassionate Wisdom brings Joy and Liberation

>> “Sentient beings possess a deeply hidden nature. We can apply the hidden potential of this natural wisdom. Forgetting the inner, deluded by the outer, whatever we seek we cannot attain, just as we cannot grasp the reflection in a great perfect mirror. Bodhisattvas at the first ground have an experience from listening to the Dharma so they apply it and obtain the Dharma-joy of their nature.”

>> “[They] seek all-encompassing wisdom, Buddha-wisdom, natural-wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.”

>> “Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings. They benefit heavenly beings and humans and liberate all. This is the Great Vehicle.”

>> Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings: Bringing others joy out of sympathy is great loving-kindness. Benefiting all and relieving their suffering is great compassion.

>> They seek the Tathagata’s wisdom and virtues to nourish themselves and develop wisdom-life. They also use the Four Infinite Minds to bring peace and joy to all sentient beings so all can transcend suffering and attain joy. They seek the Buddha’s wisdom and. His merits of fearlessness, powers and so on to transform themselves and others.

>> They benefit heavenly beings, humans and others in order to transform them. With this kind of aspiration, they go among the people according to conditions to engage in practice and attain the fruits. Thus they all attain the unsurpassed [fruits]. This is the Great Vehicle.

>> They help them become peaceful and joyful. This “benefits heavenly beings and humans.

“Sentient beings possess a deeply hidden nature.
We can apply the hidden potential
of this natural wisdom.
Forgetting the inner, deluded by the outer,
whatever we seek we cannot attain,
just as we cannot grasp the reflection
in a great perfect mirror.
Bodhisattvas at the first ground
have an experience from listening to the Dharma
so they apply it and obtain
the Dharma-joy of their nature.”

We must all be mindful. “Sentient beings possess a deeply hidden nature.” We all have this nature. Our intrinsic nature of True Suchness has always been inside of us; it is just that ignorance has deeply buried our nature of True Suchness.

In fact, we all inherently have it. So, natural wisdom is [the hidden potential we can apply]. Natural wisdom is Buddha-wisdom, so this natural wisdom has always been a “hidden potential” we can make use of. However, we end up “forgetting the inner and [being] deluded by the outer.” We have forgotten our pure intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Instead, we are confused by what is around us and constantly pursue knowledge from external sources. Actually, we all intrinsically have this hidden potential of natural wisdom in us that we can make use of.

Hence, “a great perfect mirror”; this is like the example of a mirror. Its surface clearly reflects the world around it. We can also see ourselves in it. But we are constantly trying to grasp the “reflection” from out of the mirror, while in truth, “We cannot grasp the reflection.” This means to tell us that we all have an intrinsic nature of True Suchness. All the things around us are simply external appearaces that we see. To be able to reach a state of True Suchness, we must put what we hear into practice,

just as “Bodhisattvas at the first ground have an experience from listening to the Dharma.” There are Hearers and Solitary Realizers, too, but Hearers and Solitary Realizers only listen. They listen to the [directions], but they do not progress. So, despite their thorough understanding, they have stopped at awakening themselves and developing their own understanding. They seem to have stopped there to admire the reflections in a great perfect mirror. As for “Bodhisattvas at the first ground,” a newly-inspired Bodhisattva will naturally “have an experience from listening to the Dharma.” They hear it, understand that state of mind and are deeply moved; it has touched their hearts. They find the Dharma deeply applicable. So, they “apply it.” They are moved, so they accept the Dharma and also begin to apply it in their living.

To apply it means to put it into practice. The Dharma is meant to be heard and applied. It is not enough just to listen and know about it. We must make use of it. So, we must “apply it.” We explain the Dharma to help everyone accept it and feel how exceptional it is. When we understand it, we apply it in order to truly attain “the Dharma-joy of our nature.” If we do not make use of it, we will not experience that feeling.

A couple of months ago (2014), there was a major flood in Indonesia. In addition to the floods, a volcano had erupted. Then in Jakarta itself, there was even more flooding. Tzu Chi volunteers organized themselves into teams to provide disaster relief. They boarded a military plane to go to the northernmost part of Indonesia. When they arrived, they saw scenes of utter destruction. Tzu Chi volunteers in Indonesia had seen how the “cash-for-work” program we used in the Philippines had helped the disaster area quickly recover, so they implemented a “cash-for-work” program there. They mobilized the people, and within a few days, recovery was well underway.

After completing this phase of the relief work and simultaneously conducting a distribution of aid, they returned to Jakarta. A few days later, heavy rain brought disaster once again. Having been notified, they went back once again to the same place. When they got there, these survivors who encountered Tzu Chi before had heard that Tzu Chi volunteers were returning and would run the “cash-for-work” program again. So, the local residents were prepared. When volunteers arrived, this time the process was well-established and things went smoothly. In five or six days, things were back to normal again. By the end of their efforts, the condition of the place was more comfortable and orderly than before.

So, the Tzu Chi volunteers wanted to hold a concluding prayer service there so that everyone could express their mutual gratitude. One of our Bodhisattva-volunteers, Rudi, decided to choose a song to sing to express our mutual gratitude. Because of the lyrics, he chose to sing. “The Most Beautiful Smile.” One of the local village leaders, out of the many village leaders in this big area, borrowed an organ from a church and invited a singer from among the villagers to practice this song with Tzu Chi volunteers. They practiced for half a day; everyone was very happy and moved. The lyrics of this song were truly moving.

As this was happening, there was another volunteer who had composed a song to express his gratitude to Tzu Chi. This song described how he felt. He started by singing about his bamboo chair to describe his feelings [of loss]. Perhaps he was not very rich to begin with and that bamboo chair was a cherished possession. He had gotten this brand new chair and had been very happy to own it. Yet when the rain came, and the water rose, it swept away his chair, it swept away his clothes and it swept away all his material possessions. In his heart, he felt tremendous distress and pain because he had lost everything he had. Then the Tzu Chi volunteers came. They comforted him and soothed his suffering. The consolation Tzu Chi volunteers provided helped him to feel at peace and motivated him [to start anew]. So, he described how this love and care from the Tzu Chi volunteers soothed his distress, afflictions and so on. He expressed his feelings through the song lyrics as he sang the song for us. His song expressed the afflictions the disaster survivors felt when they lost everything and how Tzu Chi volunteers came and helped to make up for what they had lost. He described how they have recovered from that sense of loss.

Another [local volunteer] also wrote a song. When inspiration struck him, he wrote about his gratitude for the Tzu Chi volunteers. He said that the inspiration [for the song] came from his two younger sisters. They had been arguing over a small matter, and the argument became heated. When he saw his two sisters arguing like this, he said to them quietly, “Let’s be like Tzu Chi volunteers. Look at how genuine and sincere they are.” These sisters were arguing loudly, and the argument had become heated, but once they heard him say, “Let’s be like Tzu Chi volunteers,” they calmed down. So, the lyrics of his song said, “This is not a dream; this is the truth.” He said, “The Manado that we love and revere is in a state of complete devastation. But at this time, Tzu Chi volunteers came to help us. When it was time for these volunteers to leave, we all cried. We are all very grateful. We are grateful to Tzu Chi.” The lyrics of this song were written for the disaster survivors to sing.

Then someone else said, “If not for the Tzu Chi volunteers, what would our lives be like today?” The children said, “If not for the Tzu Chi volunteers, how would we be able to go to school?” In the end, Tzu Chi volunteers had travelled so far to the disaster area to help the local residents restore their lives and to comfort the residents’ hearts. At the same time, they inspired everyone there to feel grateful. When Tzu Chi volunteers were leaving, they felt reluctant to part ways; everyone cried. This is such a touching story.

So we said, “Bodhisattvas at the first ground have an experience from listening to the Dharma, so they apply it.” These volunteers are all Bodhisattvas. Because of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism, with the spirit of this Dharma and the direction provided by this school, the volunteers put the teachings into practice. They go to such faraway places to mindfully and sincerely devote themselves to helping people. Look at how well the teachings were applied.

These Tzu Chi volunteers are Living Bodhisattvas. They made use of the [potential] in their nature, so they were very happy. I believe that when these Bodhisattvas went among those people and helped relieve their suffering, the gratitude that everyone felt brought them great Dharma-joy. This is the “Dharma-joy of their nature.”

The previous sutra passage states,

“[They] seek all-encompassing wisdom, Buddha-wisdom, natural-wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.”

See, we are listening to the Buddha’s teachings so we have entered this school of Buddhism. When Tzu Chi volunteers apply the teachings, they will put their efforts toward providing what is needed in that environment. This is called “untaught wisdom.” This happens after we have taken the Dharma to heart and applied it to our minds, then act out of what we learned. This is Buddha-wisdom, natural wisdom and untaught wisdom. Actually, the Dharma the Buddha taught can be used in every part of our daily living. Every teaching is very useful.

As for “the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness,” we should know that as long as we have courage, the selfless love of True Suchness in us can be applied and brought forth. Then we are indeed fearless and unafraid. Whichever country they go to, once at the disaster area, Bodhisattvas all have the power of fearlessness. This comes from love.

The following sutra passage states,

“Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings. They benefit heavenly beings and humans and liberate all. This is the Great Vehicle.”

Out of sympathy, they bring joy to sentient beings. Because they sympathize with sentient beings, they hope that sentient beings can be at peace, that sentient beings can be joyful. This is great loving-kindness.

“Benefiting all and relieving their suffering” means we must benefit sentient beings, not only bring them joy. We need to bring them benefit as well. When sentient beings are suffering, by comforting their hearts and relieving their suffering, we are “benefiting all and relieving their suffering.” This is great compassion. “We feel other people’s pain as our own.” With great loving-kindness and great compassion, we see ourselves and all sentient beings as one. This is called universal compassion.

Out of sympathy they bring peace and joy to countless sentient beings: Bringing others joy out of sympathy is great loving-kindness. Benefiting all and relieving their suffering is great compassion.

Bodhisattvas seek the Tathagata’s wisdom and virtues. This is how we nourish ourselves so that our wisdom-life can grow. We must continuously seek the Buddha’s wisdom and virtues. Wisdom is Buddha-wisdom, virtue is compassion. We must learn both. So, as we seek to learn and attain the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion, we nourish ourselves and develop our wisdom-life.

They seek the Tathagata’s wisdom and virtues to nourish themselves and develop wisdom-life. They also use the Four Infinite Minds to bring peace and joy to all sentient beings so all can transcend suffering and attain joy. They seek the Buddha’s wisdom and. His merits of fearlessness, powers and so on to transform themselves and others.

Developing our wisdom-life requires compassion and wisdom to be united; they are like our two feet. This is the Buddha’s wisdom and virtue. We must be replete with wisdom and compassion.

So, we must learn and nourish our wisdom-life so it develops. We must cultivate the Four Infinite Minds. When sentient beings are suffering, we must apply loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. With the Four Infinite Minds we can bring peace and joy to all sentient beings, help them live in safety and help them transcend suffering. This requires exercising both loving-kindness and compassion.

When sentient beings receive aid, we feel joy. Our joy brings us back to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. We are not looking for some kind of repayment from the outside world. Not at all. After doing something, we let go of the “view of self and others.” We do not see ourselves as people who help or others as people who are being helped by us. If we can do this, then our “mind is without hindrances.” With the equanimity to let go of all afflictions we do not discriminate between self and others. Loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, when practiced, can lead us back to our nature of True Suchness, untainted by the “view of self and others.” We “bring peace and joy to all sentient beings so all can transcend suffering and attain joy.” We “seek the Buddha’s wisdom and. His merits of fearlessness, powers and so on, to transform ourselves and others.” This is our vow.

So, we “benefit heavenly beings and humans and liberate all.” This is the Great Vehicle.

They benefit heavenly beings, humans and others in order to transform them. With this kind of aspiration, they go among the people according to conditions to engage in practice and attain the fruits. Thus they all attain the unsurpassed [fruits]. This is the Great Vehicle.

The Buddha-Dharma is needed in the heaven and human realms, as well as the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. However, those in the heaven realm are too happy to aspire to learn the [Dharma]. Those in the human realm experience both suffering and joy. Seeing people’s suffering reminds us to earnestly be mindful and to diligently engage in spiritual practice. So, this is a “benefit.” We benefit heavenly beings, humans and others in order to transform them.

Furthermore, we aspire to “go among the people according to conditions.” Bodhisattvas must “go among the people according to conditions.” No matter the conditions, we must be able to adapt to them to transform sentient beings. “They go among people according to conditions to engage in practice and attain the fruits, unsurpassed [fruits]; this is the Great Vehicle.”

“The countless sentient beings,” the many, many sentient beings, include all those in the Six Realms. With “loving-kindness, they benefit, bring joy” to and enrich humans, heavenly beings and so on.

They help them become peaceful and joyful. This “benefits heavenly beings and humans.

With compassion they liberate all beings in the Three Evil Realms” and relieve their suffering.

We help those of high status to give to others so they become the wealthy among the wealthy. We help those who are suffering to transcend great difficulties and hardship. This is how we relieve their suffering. Thus, we “liberate all.”

Dear Bodhisattvas, this is how we learn the Buddha’s teachings. We must listen to the Great and Small Vehicles, experience them in our hearts, put them into practice and give with both body and mind. In this way, we are true Buddhist practitioners. So, we must always be mindful.

Ch03-ep0604

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Scott Ogata

Wisdom at Dawn

Chapter 3

Episode 604 – The Fruit of Practice is Great Vehicle Wisdom

>> “In stillness, the Buddha realized and entered the truths of the universe. His natural wisdom resonated with the essence of True Suchness. With the vastness of time and space, He awakened to the ocean of wisdom. He opened and revealed to the world. His realizations of the truth.”

>> “[Some] sentient beings hear the Dharma from the World-Honored One and faithfully accept it, then earnestly practice with diligence.”

>> “[They] seek wisdom of all Dharma, Buddha-wisdom, natural wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.”

>> They seek the Buddha’s wisdom. Those with the wisdom of all Dharma can realize the ultimate reality of all phenomena. Seeking to realize ultimate reality is inseparable from realizing the nature of all phenomena. Seeking to realize the nature of all phenomena is inseparable from realizing ultimate reality.

>> The teachings, principles, practice and fruits, also known as teachings, understanding, practice and realization. We must be replete with all four.

>> Two Vehicle practitioners listen to the Buddha’s teachings, but Great Vehicle practitioners focus on seeking the Buddha’s wisdom. The essence of the Buddha’s wisdom is the Dharma-nature possessed equally by all. This equally possessed Dharma-nature is not something that must be sought externally, but is something we all intrinsically possess. Thus those who seek it attain the virtue of the Buddha’s wisdom.

“In stillness, the Buddha realized
and entered the truths of the universe.
His natural wisdom resonated
with the essence of True Suchness.
With the vastness of time and space,
He awakened to the ocean of wisdom.
He opened and revealed to the world.
His realizations of the truth.”

I want to share with everyone that the truths of the universe are realized in stillness, which is a very natural state. When the Buddha attained enlightenment, it actually occurred in an instant. That instant encompassed the vastness of time and space. Time and space are very expansive. But while this time is very long, our minds have usually been filled with so many discursive thoughts. Not a second goes by without such thoughts. Because of this, we have so many discursive thoughts. Our pure and awakened intrinsic nature has been contaminated by discursive thoughts. Therefore, the Buddha manifested in this world to help us understand that spiritual practice is meant to help us return from our discursive thinking to our pure intrinsic nature.

The Buddha lived for 80 years. He was born in the palace and when he became an adolescent, he began to show concern for the affairs of this world.

The region of India, at that time, placed people into four distinct castes. There had always been a great disparity between the rich and poor. The poor and low class were known as untouchables and were considered slaves. He saw a big difference between the lives of nobles and of the lower class. In the face of these circumstances, he showed us that humans should be treated equally. Why did these distinctions exist in the world? In seeking to bring about equality, he left the palace and began his search for the true principles behind the equality of humans.

He traveled throughout India to visit many spiritual practice centers. He listened to 96 kinds of religious teachings to learn the methods they taught. This was a way of teaching us that we must look carefully when we engage in spiritual practice. We must clearly distinguish between deviant and proper teachings. We must clearly comprehend whether this teaching is right or wrong.

Over a period of five years, He realized that none of these 96 methods of spiritual practice were quite right. So, he began six years of ascetic practice. This took a long time, 11 years from start to finish. He did this to make it clear to us that spiritual practice is not a simple matter.

First, from this state of unenlightened beings. we must pave a road through the world until we completely understand it. Then we must resolve to cultivate our minds and find a way to connect our intrinsic nature with the matters, objects and principles around us so they resonate with each other. This requires that we undergo the great furnace that is the human realm. We take the matters, objects and principles of this world into our minds. Then when our minds are no longer influenced by these matters, objects and people, and our conflicts and ignorance have been completely eliminated, we return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. The repeated tempering [the Buddha] underwent taught us that this was how we must engage in spiritual practice.

So, His causes and conditions came to fruition, and He manifested the attainment of enlightenment. It was said, in that vast region of India, he gazed at the morning star. This means that this took place before dawn, while it was still dark outside; it was still night. The sun had not risen, so it was still very early [in the morning]. Thus, to engage in spiritual practice, we must rise early to hear the teachings and pay respect to the Buddha. When we rise early, that is truly our time for this.

For people living in today’s society, life is very busy. If we ask them to engage in spiritual practice, when do they have time for it? If we ask them to listen to the teachings, how will they find the time? So, we must take advantage of that time in the early morning. For example, in Singapore, there is a group of busy entrepreneurs. They aspire to listen to the Dharma, so nowadays, they motivate and encourage each other. When they returned to the Abode, they said, “Whenever we see each other, we ask, ‘Have you [let the Dharma] permeate you today?'” Seeing each other, they ask, “Have you been permeated?” This means “Have you heard the teachings today?”

When I heard this, I was truly joyful! That is because a group of people told me, “We all do this. When we see each other, we ask ‘Have you been permeated? What did you learn from the teachings today? This is what I took away from it.'” They discuss the Dharma with each other. They reason things out with each other and motivate each other to apply their realizations to the way they conduct their daily business. “When my client acted in this way, I thought of this phrase. Then I try to use this teaching to control my mind so that [afflictions] do not arise.” This is most likely how they mutually apply the Dharma to their business.

One of them said, “In the beginning, when asked to rise early to hear the Dharma, I thought, ‘That’s impossible!’ I’m so busy.” But his friends had invited him. They were his fellow entrepreneurs, and they all had a good relationship with each other. So he said, “Fine.” He went to bed two hours earlier and got up two hours earlier. He said that he was busy every day, but after work, he would spend two hours watching television, then read a book or magazine. He said that he cleared out that period of time and went to bed two hours earlier, so he was able to get up two hours earlier. Since then, he has realized how he used to waste those two hours before bed. “By getting up two hours earlier, all the Dharma I hear can be applied in dealing with people and things. So, by getting up early, I am truly growing my wisdom-life.”

“This is the reason that I get up early.” When the Buddha saw the morning star in the dark, He had also woken up early. When His mind’s eye connected with the star, in that instant, suddenly the entire universe unfolded within His mind. His mind became completely in accord with the whole universe. So, “In stillness, the Buddha realized and entered the truth of the universe. His natural wisdom resonated with the essence of True Suchness.” The principles of the universe and the essence of His nature of True Suchness, were united in that instant. At that time, He suddenly achieved a great awakening. “With the vastness of time and space, He awakened to the ocean of wisdom.” Thus He was completely awakened. From that point on, He contemplated what methods to use to re-enter the human realm and help people progress in their practice from the Small to the Middle to the Great Vehicle.

Small Vehicle practitioners are Hearers. When the sound of teachings enters their ears, they contemplate it to comprehend the principles, which slowly guide them to the truth of how the world, the universe, and all things are ultimately empty. These principles gradually permeate them, until no matter what they see, with a single glance they can understand the principles and appearances of all things, the principles behind these appearances and the principles behind living things. They can completely understand everything with a single glance. This is natural wisdom.

Therefore, we must be grateful to the Buddha for taking great care to do this for us. [He] hoped that all of us would be very meticulous and not waste even one second, one instant. We must be very cautious and mindful with even the tiniest thought over the smallest instant.

As we discussed before,

“[Some] sentient beings hear the Dharma from the World-Honored One and faithfully accept it, then earnestly practice with diligence.”

This means that after we listen to the Dharma, at all times, even if it is only for an instant, a second or a minute, we must be mindful of the workings of people, matters, objects, nature, etc. We must be meticulous and thorough.

Because we listen to the Buddha-Dharma with deep faith, we can be in a state of contemplation to consider the subtleties of all things and meticulously experience them. From the principles of the vast external world to the principles of the subtlest and most detailed workings of our minds, we must be mindful and precise. “Focus” means we shed anything extraneous. As we just discussed, we must enter the furnace to refine ourselves, so that in this extremely complicated world with so many crude and negative [afflictions] from people, matters and objects, we can experientially understand these things, and after thoroughly understanding them, we will find a way to completely eliminate these unrefined and negative afflictions. So, we must “earnestly practice with diligence.”

This earnest practice that we often talk about seems so simple and can be easily described in general terms. Actually this phrase, “earnestly practice with diligence,” includes the characters for “focus” and “constant,” which means we must take what is unrefined and negative and constantly temper it to turn that into refined and exquisite principles. Thus we “earnestly practice with diligence.”

The next sutra passage states,

“[They] seek wisdom of all Dharma, Buddha-wisdom, natural wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.”

There are so many kinds [of wisdom]. We begin by using our thinking to penetrate the Buddha’s understanding and views. We must delve into them in increasing detail, so we must be very mindful.

This clearly tells us “to seek Buddha-wisdom.” As we have said, “to seek Buddha-wisdom,” it is not enough to simply listen or to rely on external phenomena as assisting conditions. “To seek Buddha-wisdom,” we must also seek “the wisdom of all Dharma.”

They seek the Buddha’s wisdom. Those with the wisdom of all Dharma can realize the ultimate reality of all phenomena. Seeking to realize ultimate reality is inseparable from realizing the nature of all phenomena. Seeking to realize the nature of all phenomena is inseparable from realizing ultimate reality.

We seek the whole of the Buddha’s wisdom. We all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness. As we engage in spiritual practice, we seek the “wisdom of all Dharma” so we can “realize the ultimate reality of all phenomena.” We start with the phenomena of the world, where the “wisdom of all Dharma” helps us to understand the workings of everything. There are all kinds of phenomena in the world that we must understand in order to realize the ultimate reality of all phenomena.

To seek this ultimate reality we speak of, we must understand all phenomena. Thus, the wisdom of all Dharma helps us understand all phenomena, so we can realize the ultimate reality of all things. Do all of you understand this? To realize the ultimate reality of all things is to realize all phenomena of the world.

All phenomena and all appearances, with True Suchness, become the wisdom of all Dharma. This wisdom is the wisdom of the Buddha. However, we keep seeking [the wisdom] of all phenomena in external sources. I tell you that this is ultimate reality, [but you say,]. “I’m going to go find ultimate reality.” Ultimate reality is in all phenomena, but we ordinary people cannot comprehend that all appearances are inseparable from the underlying principles.

So, this is part of the analogy that we talked about before, of the burning house. Many people are immersed in that place, wandering about in all directions. But when they are asked to leave quickly, they do not want to leave because they feel they are having fun inside. So, the elder had to come up with various methods to draw them out. With the three carts, the sheep-cart, deer-cart and the ox-cart, he enticed them to come out.

Some people may choose the sheep-cart or the deer-cart, but some understand that the great ox-cart is magnificently decorated, bountifully equipped and can also transport companions on the journey. It is so wonderful, so they choose the cart drawn by the great white ox.

In order to get on this cart, we must be replete with.

The teachings, principles, practice and fruits, also known as teachings, understanding, practice and realization. We must be replete with all four.

Right now you are listening to the teachings. If you want to understand them, you must first hear them, then after hearing them, you must understand them. Then after you understand, you must put them into practice. So, “Listen to teachings, understand principles, engage in practice and realize the fruits.” When we do all four, we are “replete” with them. These four things must all happen, side by side, for us to be “replete.” After listening, in order to truly unite with the principles, we must put them into practice to experience them.

If we do not go among people, how can we possibly experience the workings of the human realm? If we cannot realize the principles of this world, how can we transcend it to enter the state of Buddhahood? So, we must attain the teachings, principles, practice and fruits. We must bring these four together. This is very important for our spiritual practice and our learning the Dharma. This is why we “seek the wisdom of all Dharma, Buddha-wisdom, natural-wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.” Everything begins with “teachings.”

The Two Vehicle practitioners refer to Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas. They “listen to the Buddha’s teachings.”

Two Vehicle practitioners listen to the Buddha’s teachings, but Great Vehicle practitioners focus on seeking the Buddha’s wisdom. The essence of the Buddha’s wisdom is the Dharma-nature possessed equally by all. This equally possessed Dharma-nature is not something that must be sought externally, but is something we all intrinsically possess. Thus those who seek it attain the virtue of the Buddha’s wisdom.

“The Great Vehicle practitioners focus on seeking the Buddha’s wisdom.”

The essence of Buddha-wisdom is “the Dharma-nature possessed equally by all.” We constantly talk about loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity and about showing compassion to all equally. Likewise, when Bodhisattvas begin their practice, they form great aspirations. By constantly cultivating the Four Infinite Minds, they go from being Three Vehicle practitioners to the state of Buddhahood. They [cultivate everything] simultaneously. When we go from the sheep-cart and deer-cart to the cart pulled by a great white ox, the three kinds of wisdom can be united as one. This refers to the wisdom of all Dharma, natural wisdom and untaught wisdom. When these are combined, this is considered “Buddha-wisdom.”

If we can attain Buddha-wisdom, we will also have untaught wisdom. If you only hear the Dharma, but do not take it to heart or put it into practice, it will be useless.

“This equally possessed Dharma-nature” is not to be sought outside of ourselves; it is within us inherently. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. Our surroundings are assisting conditions, but we must engage in diligent practice. We need external causes and conditions to come together, but most important is that we must recognize our own intrinsic Buddha-wisdom. It is “something we all intrinsically possess.” So, we seek “the virtue of the Buddha’s wisdom.”

In our environment there are so many opportunities for spiritual practice. Through engaging with various external conditions, we can [work on cultivating] our minds. This is how we can, using our environment, eliminate our afflictions, strengthen our spiritual aspirations and realize our Buddha-nature. So, every day we must constantly be mindful and meticulously take the Dharma to heart. Only then can we go among the people to experience everything mindfully.

Ch03-ep0603

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Scott Ogata

Wisdom at Dawn

Chapter 3

Episode 603 – Practice with Deep Faith to Seek Buddha-wisdom

>> “Listen to the Dharma and faithfully accept it, so that you may carefully contemplate wisdom. Uphold diligence to earnestly engage in spiritual practice. Realize the Buddha’s intention and seek the Great Vehicle. The nature of True Suchness intrinsically has natural wisdom.”

>> If sentient beings hear the Dharma from the World-Honored One and faithfully accept it, are diligent, seek natural wisdom, take joy in solitude and tranquility and deeply understand the interdependent arising of all phenomena, they are following the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle. They are like those children who left the burning house to seek the deer cart.

>> “[Some] sentient beings hear the Dharma from the World-Honored One and faithfully accept it, earnestly practice with diligence and seek Hearer-wisdom, Buddha-wisdom natural-wisdom, untaught wisdom and the Tathagata’s understanding and views, His powers and His fearlessness.”

>> “The Buddha used His own realization as a guarantee that by upholding the Flawless [Studies], escaping the suffering of the Three Realms and attaining the joy that exists outside the Three Realms is not an illusion. He freely expresses His original intent and speaks in accord with His own mind. He guarantees that the path to Buddhahood is true.”

>> Thus, I said this, “You must not happily remain in the burning house of the Three Realms. Do not be greedy for these coarse and worthless forms, sounds, smells, tastes and sensations. If you are greedy and give rise to cravings, you will be burned.”

>> “If you quickly leave the Three Realms, you can attain the Three Vehicles, the Hearer, Pratyekabuddha and Buddha Vehicles. I now guarantee to you that this matter is ultimately not false.”

>> “If we can keep our minds free of greed, we can quickly escape the Three Realms and attain [the fruits of] the Three Vehicles.”

>> I now guarantee to you that this matter is ultimately not false: The Buddha used His own realization, His awakening to the truths of the universe and. His unlocking of the ocean of enlightened wisdom as a guarantee that this was clearly not false.

“The Buddha used His own realization
as a guarantee that
by upholding the Flawless [Studies],
escaping the suffering of the Three Realms
and attaining the joy that exists
outside the Three Realms is not an illusion.
He freely expresses His original intent
and speaks in accord with His own mind.
He guarantees that the path
to Buddhahood is true.”

The Buddha is the Great Enlightened One. He already has a complete realization and understanding of the universe, the world, all things within it and all the various kinds of principles in this world. So, the Buddha took responsibility for the Dharma He taught. Taking responsibility means He could guarantee it. He “[used His realization] as a guarantee.” He had already attained realizations, so He guaranteed to sentient beings that. “The Dharma I teach is absolutely not false.” The Buddha said this to sentient beings, hoping they would have faith in the teachings.

So, “By upholding the Flawless [Studies], [we] escape the suffering of the Three Realms.” The Buddha taught us this in the hope that we will listen, believe and put these teachings into practice. “Upholding the Flawless [Studies]” refers to the Three Flawless Studies which are precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.

We must uphold precepts, Samadhi and wisdom and also listen, contemplate and practice. We have heard the Buddha’s teaching that. “As are the causes and conditions, so are the effects and retributions.” Because of the karmic law of cause and effect, those creating evil will face negative retributions, and those who do good enjoy positive retributions. Goodness and evil are clearly different. Therefore, we must uphold precepts; we must be vigilant of our conduct and be content with what we have. Then we will do nothing that violates the teachings. So, precepts are for stopping evil and guarding against wrongs. We must accept and uphold the precepts flawlessly so we do not lose any of their essence.

With precepts, we will naturally be able to stabilize our minds. When our minds are calm, we can observe our conditions and clearly discern right from wrong. This is wisdom. We treat all sentient beings with equal compassion and show respect and love to all. You and I are the same. I do not distinguish between our abilities, and. I do not distinguish between our intelligence. I do not draw any of these distinctions because I know that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.

Where do the Three Flawless Studies come from? From listening, contemplating and practicing. We should listen to the Dharma and then earnestly contemplate it. We must think carefully. We cannot just say, “Yes, I’m listening. I listen to the teachings every morning. Not only am I listening, I’m taking notes.” After listening and taking notes, have we applied the teachings to our lives? Are we putting them into practice? Are we living according to the Dharma? We must live out the Dharma in our lives. The Buddha-Dharma is meant to be applied, not to be used as decoration when we say, “I have listened to many teachings.” It is not like a flower vase, but like a water dipper. Thus, it is something to use in our daily living.

So, we need precepts, Samadhi and wisdom and must listen, contemplate and practice. “By upholding the Flawless [Studies], [we] escape the suffering of the Three Realms.” If we can cultivate the Flawless Studies, we can take the Dharma to heart and put it into practice through our actions. After we listen to the Dharma, if we do not allow it to leak out, we can put it into practice. By engaging in spiritual practice, naturally we will be able to realize that this world is like the burning house of the Three Realms. The fire is approaching, so we should be afraid; we must make preparations to transcend the Three Realms.

Then “[We] attain the joy that exists outside the Three Realms [and] is not an illusion.” We will comprehend the suffering that arises from the desire, form and formless realms and the complications in our thinking and so on. If we cultivate the Three Flawless Studies, then we recognize this is suffering, emptiness, impermanence and no-self. We understand this completely, so we can “attain [the joy that] exists outside the Three Realms”; we can escape and be free of the Three Realms, free of these afflictions and become very happy.

Take the Buddha’s cousin as an example. After he became a monastic, he shouted every day, “What joy! What joy! I’m very happy!” A bhiksu came to the Buddha and said, “Venerable Buddha, every day Mahanama still clings to the pleasures of the royal palace.” The Buddha asked “Why do you say that?” The bhiksu said, “Every day, I hear him shouting, ‘What joy! What joy!'” The Buddha said, “Tell Mahanama to come see me.” So, the bhiksu sent for Mahanama.

The Buddha asked, “Mahanama, is your mind still greedily clinging to the pleasures you enjoyed in the royal palace?” Mahanama said, “Venerable Buddha, status is like a floating cloud. I do not cling to it at all. Then why are you shouting every day that you are so happy?” Mahanama replied, “Venerable Buddha, I have let go of all worldly things such as recognition, wealth and being right. I have let go of all of that; therefore, I am very happy. I feel peaceful and at ease all the time. I have already transcended the Three Realms, the afflictions in the formless realm and the desires in the form realm. I have eliminated all my desires so I am constantly happy. I feel peaceful, at ease and happy!” As the Buddha asked questions, the other bhiksus listened. They were no longer suspicious of Mahanama. This is how one “attains the joy that exists outside the Three Realms and is not an illusion.”

So, “He freely expressed His original intent and spoke in accord with His own mind.” The Buddha wanted to help everybody understand that since we intrinsically have Buddha-nature, we must not remain attached to worldly things like recognition, wealth, status and various desires; we must quickly free ourselves. This is what the Buddha wanted to tell us, that we must eliminate our ignorance. Only after we completely eliminate our ignorance can our nature of True Suchness become one with the universe. Then true principles will become apparent. If we can understand how the Buddha “freely expressed His original intent” and “spoke in accord with His own mind,” if we can experience and comprehend what it was that He wanted to say, we can see that it is the path to Buddhahood. The Buddha guaranteed to us that it is not false.

So, the previous sutra passage states, “You must not happily remain in the burning house of the Three Realms.” We must not remain in here anymore. “Do not be greedy for coarse and worthless forms, sounds, smells, tastes and sensations.” We must not be greedy anymore. All worldly desires, pleasures, wealth and fame are deceptive, not true.

Thus, I said this, “You must not happily remain in the burning house of the Three Realms. Do not be greedy for these coarse and worthless forms, sounds, smells, tastes and sensations. If you are greedy and give rise to cravings, you will be burned.”

How long will our lifetime last? In the end, everything is ultimately empty. We must understand the truth of this illusion. We must not be attached these coarse things that have no value at all. If we still greedily cling to these things, we will give rise to cravings, and “we will be burned.” In the Three Realms, we will be burned by the fires of ignorance and afflictions. Ignorance and afflictions are like fires. As we are being burned, we feel truly tormented.

The following sutra passage states,

“If you quickly leave the Three Realms, you can attain the Three Vehicles, the Hearer, Pratyekabuddha and Buddha Vehicles. I now guarantee to you that this matter is ultimately not false.”

The Buddha had hoped to freely express. His original intent to everyone. “If you can turn from ignorance to True Suchness, you will attain Buddhahood.” But we were unable to comprehend this, so the Buddha had to teach us with the principles of the Three Vehicles to help us achieve realization through listening.

Hearers understand principles through listening. They still rely on continual listening to achieve realization. But Pratyekabuddhas hear one thing and realize 1000. When we speak of impermanence, just from the word “impermanence” alone. Pratyekabuddhas can realize the principles of all things in the world. They can analyze the phenomena they encounter and break them down from existence to non-existence. Thus they understand the principle of “emptiness. Emptiness” can be found in impermanence. We must seek to experience this. This is the state of Pratyekabuddhas. Buddhahood is achieved through the Great Vehicle. To attain Buddhahood, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path; that is the Great Vehicle Dharma.

So, there are the. “Hearer, Pratyekabuddha and Buddha Vehicles.” Because He was teaching spiritual practitioners, He skipped over the Bodhisattva-path. Pratyekabuddhas only benefit themselves, while Buddhas also benefit others. These were teachings He gave to. His monastic disciples. Spiritual practitioners, other than Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, must vow to attain Buddhahood.

These are the Three Vehicles. “I now guarantee to you. I now guarantee to you that this is ultimately not false.” This means that from now on and into the future, this teaching is the True Dharma. The Buddha set aside the provisional teachings, the past skillful means. Now He was teaching everyone the True Dharma, “which is ultimately not false.” In the end, this Dharma is definitely not false.

So, the Buddha, “kindly and earnestly called on us.” The Buddha earnestly called on everyone, “Your spiritual practice is very good, but you must be even more diligent, because but you must be even more diligent, because, in the burning house of the Three Realms, the fire is approaching from all sides. In particular, life is painfully short, so while we have this body, we should seize this opportunity.” If we do not transform ourselves in this life, in which lifetime will we do so?

So, as the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, He more and more earnestly called on us to uphold our mission and follow the path.

“If we can keep our minds free of greed, we can quickly escape the Three Realms and attain [the fruits of] the Three Vehicles.”

This we should be able to understand. If everyone can earnestly uphold their resolve, hold firm to their mission and be free of greed, we can “quickly escape the Three Realms.”

The Three Realms are in our minds. As long as our minds do not give rise to the desire for more and more money, more and more wealth, as long as we are free of this greed, naturally we can transcend these realms and be free of all afflictions in our minds. Not only will we be free of afflictions, we can also eliminate delusions and ignorance so that our minds will be pure. In this way, during this lifetime, we can “quickly escape the Three Realms” and be peaceful and at ease.

“I now guarantee to you that this matter is ultimately not false.” This is what the Buddha guaranteed to us. This is because He had already attained this.

I now guarantee to you that this matter is ultimately not false: The Buddha used His own realization, His awakening to the truths of the universe and. His unlocking of the ocean of enlightened wisdom as a guarantee that this was clearly not false.

His intrinsic nature of True Suchness was already one with the true principles of the universe. Of all the things in this world between heaven and earth, is there anything the Buddha does not understand? He had already completely “awakened to the truths of the universe and unlocked the ocean of enlightened wisdom.” Although He was still in the human realm, His wisdom was already one with the true principles of the universe. This ocean of enlightened wisdom is the state of the Buddha’s mind. The Buddha “guaranteed that this is clearly not false.” What He has helped us understand is clearly not false.

I recall sharing this story with you once before. One time, the Buddha, Ananda and other bhiksus were out asking for alms. When they walked into a side street, a group of people suddenly rushed forward and stopped the Buddha and the bhiksus. They would not allow them to pass through.

This group of people was quite menacing. One of the men said to the Buddha, “Give us 500 taels.” His disciples stepped forward and said, “The Buddha does not owe you any money, why are you asking Him to give you 500 taels?” The man responded, “I don’t care, I must collect this debt from Him today.” The Buddha did not say anything. These people still blocked the way and would not let Him pass.

This news quickly spread and when the government officials heard, they were confused. They rushed over there and said, “Can I give you this money in place of the Buddha?” The man said, “I want 500 taels from the Buddha, not from you, So no, I don’t want your money.” The official then said, “What if I give you 1000 taels then?” The man still refused. “What about 5000 taels?” Again the man refused. “What about five large carts of treasures? No.” They remained in a deadlock.

When Elder Anathapindada heard the news, he also rushed over and said, “In this case, can I repay the debt for Him? If it is from you, then yes.” With that, the people happily left.

When everyone got back to Jeta Grove, they felt that this was odd, so they asked the Buddha to explain the causes and conditions behind this. The Buddha told the following story. Countless kalpas ago, the son of a government official was very good friends with the crown prince. The son was fond of entertainment and pleasures, as well as gambling. As a result, he accrued a debt of 500 taels. Eventually, his creditor found him and said, “You haven’t repaid the debt that you owe me. I want you to repay this debt right now.”

But at that moment, the official’s son did not have any money on him. Just then, the crown prince was passing by. He said, “Can I pay you back on his behalf?” The creditor said, “If you want to pay the debt on his behalf, I will accept that.” Then the crown prince said, “I don’t have that much money on me either but. I will guarantee this debt and you can collect the money from me.” Since that day, the debt has remained unpaid.

At this part of the story, the Buddha said, “I was the crown prince and that official’s son is Elder Anathapindada. I guaranteed the repayment of this debt. Therefore, when the creditor saw me, he wanted to collect the debt only from me. The official did not owe him the money, so the creditor didn’t want any of his money.” These were the causes and effects.

So, we should realize and understand that the Buddha had already verified for Himself that the Dharma He taught was all true. We must understand this. Since the Buddha guaranteed to us that “by upholding the Flawless [Studies], [we can] escape the Three Realms,” as long as we cultivate the Flawless [Studies], the Dharma will enter through our ears and go into our hearts and minds. Then we must listen, contemplate and practice with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. If we can do so, we will be able to promptly let go of all our afflictions. Then we will no longer give rise to delusions and create karma. In this state, our minds will be peaceful and at ease. “We will attain the joy that exists outside the Three Realms and is not an illusion.” Then we will always be very happy. Like Mahanama, we will be joyful every day. This is a state of being peaceful and at ease.

The Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra to freely carry out His original intent. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra was taught “according to the Buddha’s intent.” The Buddha wanted to share His state of mind and express His original intent so that everyone would have the chance to attain Buddhahood. Thus He guaranteed to us that “It is not false.”

So, dear Bodhisattvas, as we aspire to learn from the Buddha, we must think carefully. As I have said before, we must contemplate very carefully, and we must be careful in our daily living. After listening to the teachings, we must carefully contemplate them and always be mindful.