Category: TLS Chapter 7

Episode 1055 – The Buddha Entering Samadhi Led to Affinities

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>> “The Buddha entered His meditation room and sat in stillness. The thousands, millions, billions of people had doubts and confusion, but had no one they could ask. Therefore, the 16 novices repeated the sutra on behalf of [the Buddha]. This was the reason that they formed affinities at the Lotus Dharma-assembly.”

>> “Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding. The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds, all gave rise to doubt and confusion.” We have just said that, “The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Having taught this sutra, He then entered His meditation room and abided in Samadhi for 84,000 kalpas. He abided in Samadhi for 84,000 kalpas.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> Having taught this sutra, He then entered His meditation room: He had taught the Lotus Sutra, and the sutra explained the study of Samadhi. He urged all sentient beings, in free moments, to engage in tranquil practice and collect their minds. The Buddha appeared in this world to set an example for people. Therefore, having taught the sutra, He then entered the meditation room.    

>> He abided in Samadhi: In Sanskrit, [meditation] is dhyana. This means tranquil extinction, skillful Samadhi. One can enter, abide or exit it. Earlier it spoke of the “meditation room,” which was entering Samadhi. Now it says He abided in Samadhi.

>> For 84,000 kalpas: In Samadhi, His body passed through many kalpas. In expressing the Dharma, this means we must want to collect the mind and calm the 84,000 defilements and afflictions.

>> “The Buddha taught the sutra for 8000 kalpas. He then entered His meditation room and abided for 84,000 kalpas.” He entered His meditation room also for 84,000 kalpas. This shows that. “The Buddha entered the meditation room and did not get up from His seat, thus passing a total of so many kalpas.”

>> In all, the time of His teaching the sutra and abiding in Samadhi was very long. This further explains that the Buddha’s lifespan was very long.

>> The meditation room is a place to enter Samadhi. He was in Samadhi for a period of over 80,000 [kalpas]. Wisdom Buddha entering Samadhi was the recent cause of forming affinities. By entering Samadhi and not exiting it, the billions of beings in doubt and confusion had no one to ask. Therefore, the 16 novices repeated the Lotus teachings for them.

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“The Buddha entered His meditation room and sat in stillness. The thousands, millions, billions of people had doubts and confusion, but had no one they could ask. Therefore, the 16 novices repeated the sutra on behalf of [the Buddha]. This was the reason that they formed affinities at the Lotus Dharma-assembly.”

Do you still remember the previous sutra passage? In the previous passage, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, because causes and conditions had already matured. For a long period of time, He had been teaching according to capabilities, until causes and conditions had matured. The 16 novices requested the Great Dharma, and it was then that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha began teaching the Great Dharma, the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. The 16 novices all faithfully accepted it, and there were those among the Hearers who also had faith and understanding. “The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds, all gave rise to doubt and confusion.” This was in the previous passage; we have already understood this.

After the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, He entered His meditation room and sat in stillness. Sakyamuni Buddha was like this too. After teaching the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, He also became tranquil and calm and, while in Samadhi, radiated light from His brow. He did not move for a very long time, and everyone began to have doubts. We should still remember this section from the Introductory Chapter. Before the Lotus Sutra, [the Buddha taught] the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. We see how, after teaching the Great Dharma, [the Buddha] must settle Himself like this and earnestly contemplate. The profound meaning of the Dharma is something we must understand very well.

Yet at the time He settled Himself, some who had heard opened up their minds and completely understood. They all rejoiced. Some had heard and understood, “It seems as if the Dharma is like this.” They had faith, but their understanding was still not mature. Then there were also those who still had doubts. With sentient beings’ capabilities, though the Buddha felt that causes and conditions had matured, sentient beings’ capabilities were still not even. Those with mature capabilities had already matured. Those who had not yet matured were still not ready.

This is like how in the world time is everlasting. The river of time is so long, space is so vast and sentient beings are always present. There are always virtuous people who accept the virtuous ways and put them into practice. Then there are those of undefined nature, who cannot tell right from wrong, whose nature is neither good nor evil. Upon seeing virtuous people, they follow them. Upon hearing evil people, they follow them as well. It has been this way from Beginningless Time. Sentient beings’ capabilities are like this.

In the time of a Buddha, even Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s era dust-inked kalpas ago, in Beginningless Time, human nature is like this. From dust-inked kalpas ago, from Beginningless Time up till now, sentient beings’ capabilities have always been like this. There are those with faith who believe, and there are also those without faith who doubt. This is life. When Buddhas teach the Dharma, all Buddhas share the same path. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was like this in the past, too. After teaching the Great Dharma, He entered His meditation room to sit in stillness. While He sat in meditation, there were still thousands, millions, billions of people who had doubts and confusion.

We spoke of this yesterday; some people will understand and some will not. Some speak the same language while some do not. People’s natures are all different. When we speak of sentient beings, “sentient beings” include all living beings. Humans are one type of sentient being. There are other types of sentient beings as well, of many types. So, it talks about the thousands, millions billions of kinds of sentient beings; these were the ones with doubts. In the past, present and future, there are many of these sentient beings.

In the Buddha’s compassion, for those sentient beings who doubted in the past, He taught them again in that life. For those sentient beings in that life who still had doubts, He planted a seed in them so that. He might again guide them in future lives. Sentient beings of the past, present and future, those who presently had affinities and those who did not, are all included in this. So, there were thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings, those who doubted with evil intentions, those who doubted with virtuous intentions, or those who doubted due to lack of understanding. All these were included in the thousands, millions, billions of kinds. So, among these, there were those with virtuous intentions, yet who still did not understand. After listening in the Dharma-assembly, those who had not thoroughly understood still had questions, but the Buddha was already in Samadhi.

Remember the Introductory Chapter. When the Buddha had finished teaching the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, was the Dharma-assembly now finished? He had finished teaching; could they now disperse? So, everyone sat there looking at each other, questioning one another. Only at this time did Maitreya Bodhisattva and. Manjusri Bodhisattva begin to have a dialogue. It was a similar situation; the Buddha had entered His meditation room and entered Samadhi, so who was there for them to ask questions? At this time, the 16 novices began teaching the sutra again on [the Buddha’s] behalf.

This is like when Maitreya had questions and asked Manjusri Bodhisattva. Manjusri Bodhisattva then explained to him. But in Great Unhindered Buddha’s time, who were they to ask? The 16 novices already had deep faith, faith and understanding. Their faith was deep, they understood; they accepted the Dharma and put it into practice. Because the 16 novices faithfully accepted and put the teachings into practice, they understood the Dharma very well. Since no one there had anyone they could ask, the 16 novices began going everywhere to teach the Lotus Sutra again.

At the the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the 16 novices began to teach it again. So, there were many sentient beings at the Lotus Dharma-assembly who formed affinities with the 16 novices. The 16 novices, by repeating the teaching, dispelled the doubts of those thousands, millions and billions of sentient beings. Those with doubts listened to each of the 16 novices expound upon what they had gained from listening to the Dharma. Whatever they had understood, they explained it to these people, so each of these people mutually formed an affinity with one of the novices. Thus, these were the “associators.”

Sakyamuni Buddha was among the 16 novices, was one of those 16 novices. In the Lotus Assembly of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, He thoroughly understood what He had heard. For those who did not understand, He similarly taught them again until they too reached faith and understanding. These people were those who formed affinities with Sakyamuni Buddha, then one of the 16 princes and now the present Sakyamuni Buddha. They were the associators. They formed these affinities at. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s assembly. As we now have these causes and conditions that enable us to listen to the Dharma, to listen to the Lotus Sutra, I believe we must have been present in. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time. We were among the thousands, millions with doubts, those in the assembly with doubts and confusion. Later, through one of the 16 novices, our present Sakyamuni Buddha, explaining it for us again, [these were resolved]. We were among those who formed affinities with Him at that Lotus Dharma-assembly.

Actually, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha entered His meditation room in order to help the 16 novices succeed. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha understood the 16 novices’ realizations of the Great Vehicle Dharma, that they could faithfully accept and practice it, that with their understanding, for the sake of those who still doubted, those 16 novices undoubtedly had the power to explain things for them. So, this was the reason they could form affinities at the Lotus Dharma-assembly. Had Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha not entered His meditation room, those thousands, millions and billions of beings who had doubts and confusion would undoubtedly have brought them to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, so the 16 novices would never have had a chance. Thus, He did so to give the 16 novices a chance. This was Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha creating causes and conditions to help the 16 novices succeed. With these causes and conditions, the 16 novices were able to form Dharma-affinities with the sentient beings whom they would deliver and transform in the future.

We often say that perhaps we were associators at the assembly of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha who formed affinities with one of the 16 novices. For countless kalpas, for lifetime after lifetime, [the last] of those 16 novices followed those who had affinities with him. He continually sought the Dharma and transformed sentient beings, continually went among people and continually created blessed affinities and cultivated blessed causes. Causes and conditions eventually matured, and in a time 2000-plus years removed from us, in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, Prince Siddhartha engaged in spiritual practice and attained perfect enlightenment. He attained Buddhahood and transformed sentient beings, so the Buddha-Dharma has been passed down till now, over 2000 years later. We must again pass down the Buddha-Dharma so it continues on into the future. Then when another Buddha appears in the world, we can continue.

This Buddha of the future is someone now who must continue to carry on the teachings for a very long time, still continuously being transformed by the Buddha’s teaching. As one of the sentient beings who, with the Buddha-Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha, will reach attainment in the future, perhaps this is someone in our society now. Lifetime after lifetime they must carry on the Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha. They must continually accept the Buddha-Dharma as they go among people. Constantly going among people similarly takes a very long time. So, we must be mindful. In our treatment of every single person, we must be trusting and patient. In the past, haven’t we spoken of the Four Practices? The Four Practices mean we must engage in extended practice, practice with nothing further, uninterrupted practice and practice with reverence.

That is correct; we must continually engage in spiritual practice and, over the course of our spiritual practice, whomever we meet, we should always treat them with reverence and respect, for everyone has the possibility of attaining Buddhahood in the future. In the future, it will be the same. Those who listen to the Dharma now, who teach and spread the Dharma now are just like those 16 novices. When the Buddha entered His meditation room and everyone began to have doubts, those who had already heard and understood could use their understanding to resolve the doubts of those with doubts and confusion. By resolving doubts, the Dharma can continue to be passed down.

We should also be like this now, with uninterrupted practice and practice with nothing further. We should not waste time. Practice with nothing further means we have no further time to waste. Time is truly running out, so we must not waste any free time we may have. We need to have practice with nothing further and extended practice. So, our practice should be uninterrupted, extended, with nothing further. This is how we keep seizing the moment. We treat everyone with reverence and respect. This is one of our spiritual practices.

The 16 novices practiced in this way, and each in his own world attained Buddhahood. Sakyamuni Buddha was one of those novices. We were among those who formed affinities then. Each of us was one among them, so we should all thoroughly respect ourselves and practice with reverence. We respect that others too have the possibility of becoming a Buddha in the future. So, we must be mindful and seek to understand this [sutra] passage. For such a long time, we have formed affinities at these places of practice.

Now let us look at the previous passage. “Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding. The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds, all gave rise to doubt and confusion.” We have just said that, “The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.”

The Buddha continually expounded this sutra. He never stopped teaching it. The 16 novices similarly engaged in spiritual practice without interruption. After He taught the Great Dharma, just like after [Sakyamuni Buddha] taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, He entered Samadhi. Sakyamuni Buddha first entered Samadhi; only later did He begin teaching the Lotus Sutra. Sakyamuni Buddha taught the Great Vehicle Dharma for seven or eight years, but Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior taught for 8000 kalpas without resting or stopping, continually practicing the Great Vehicle Dharma and expounding the Great Vehicle teachings.

He did this “without ever resting or stopping.” In this way, He “had taught this sutra.” The next passage says,
“Having taught this sutra, He then entered His meditation room and abided in Samadhi for 84,000 kalpas. He abided in Samadhi for 84,000 kalpas.”

He spent a very long time to explain it; He put it into practice for seven or eight years. Sakyamuni Buddha did this for seven or eight years. He taught the sutra, and at the same time put it into practice, without ever resting or stopping. He did it without resting or wasting time, “without ever resting or stopping.” When He finished teaching, He entered His meditation room to rest, but He was not taking a break to rest; He entered His meditation room “and abided in Samadhi for 84,000 kalpas.” He went into His meditation room to enter Samadhi.

Having taught this sutra, He then entered His meditation room: He had taught the Lotus Sutra, and the sutra explained the study of Samadhi. He urged all sentient beings, in free moments, to engage in tranquil practice and collect their minds. The Buddha appeared in this world to set an example for people. Therefore, having taught the sutra, He then entered the meditation room.

This shows how, after He finished teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha wanted us to know Samadhi, the importance of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. After we listen to the sutras, we must earnestly accept and uphold them in our minds and not engage in mistaken behavior. We must guard against wrongs and stop evil. Furthermore, with the faith and understanding we have upon listening to the Dharma, we must remain firm in our aspirations. So, He clearly wanted us to understand Samadhi, not simply listen to the Dharma then afterwards lose focus, engage in pointless chatter. We are so mindful in listening to the sutras; if, at the times we are not listening, we lose our focus and engage in pointless chatter, talking about whatever kind of useless nonsense, this is not right. After hearing the sutras, we must settle our minds. We must remain in Samadhi, even in our daily living. Our daily living too should be within Samadhi. So, we must train in the study of Samadhi.

Of course, when we have time we can regulate our breathing and settle ourselves a little. In our daily living, our minds should also remain in Samadhi. This is something we must learn, how to keep our minds from becoming scattered and our speech from being pointless. We should not lose focus and engage in pointless chatter. Every time we have a meal, why do we all put our palms together? We do so to not lose focus and engage in pointless chatter. The principle is the same. Our daily living should also be like this, with our minds in Samadhi, not losing focus.

So, “He urged all sentient beings, in free moments, to engage in tranquil practice and collect their minds.” He advised and guided us to collect our minds whenever we are free. This is how the Buddha, by appearing in the world, set an example for people with His actions. While in this world, He showed everyone how we should never waste time, never let time pass us by. If we remain unfocused, with a wavering mind, unresolute in our faith, that is a waste. So, after the Buddha finished teaching the sutra, He still spent a long time in Samadhi. The Buddha was setting an example for others. So, because of this, He manifested this appearance. After finishing the sutra, He entered His meditation room. He did not waste time after finishing the sutra. Great Enlightened Ones who have already attained Buddhahood still never waste any time, so what about us spiritual practitioners who are still pursuing the Buddha-Dharma? We must work even harder.

He abided in Samadhi: In Sanskrit, [meditation] is dhyana. This means tranquil extinction, skillful Samadhi. One can enter, abide or exit it. Earlier it spoke of the “meditation room,” which was entering Samadhi. Now it says He abided in Samadhi.

“He abided in Samadhi.” The ancient Zen masters said, “Chopping wood, carrying water, all is meditation.” In our daily living, everything is Samadhi. So, “meditation” is to be settled in Samadhi. In Sanskrit, this is called “dhyana.” When we translate this word, it means “tranquil extinction, skillful Samadhi.” When our mind is always tranquil and clear, when we have eliminated all kinds of afflictions, this is “tranquil extinction, skillful Samadhi.” Our mind is totally pure, tranquil and clear, without discursive thoughts or afflictions; this is extinction.

So, this is called, “tranquil extinction, skilled Samadhi.” It is part of the course of our spiritual practice. This is known as “Nirvana with remainder. Nirvana with remainder” means we are still practicing. What we must learn is Samadhi. So, we must sit in stillness, regulate our breath and not allow our minds to become scattered. This is also good for physical and mental health. Or, with sitting meditation, we can regulate our bodies and minds. But we spend most of our time each day away from sitting meditation, so it is most important to train ourselves so that our minds, whether we are still or moving, never leave that state of tranquility and clarity where we eliminate all thoughts of affliction. This is something we must train ourselves in over the course of our spiritual practice.

So, the sutra passage we just mentioned speaks of the “meditation room.” This means “entering Samadhi.” Entering the meditation room means entering Samadhi. He entered Samadhi in this tranquil place and stayed there for 84,000 kalpas, which was a very long time.

For 84,000 kalpas: In Samadhi, His body passed through many kalpas. In expressing the Dharma, this means we must want to collect the mind and calm the 84,000 defilements and afflictions.

“In Samadhi, His body” was what could be seen; His body sat there, for a very long time, remaining in Samadhi.

He “passed through so many kalpas.” He remained there for such a long time in order to demonstrate this teaching. I often tell you all not to waste time. How much time is there in a day, do you know? There are 86,400 seconds, such a long time. Are we able to sit all day long?

When He entered the meditation room like this, His mind never wavered for even a second. Look at us ordinary beings; over the course of a day, over the whole day, all 86,400 seconds, are our minds always this tranquil and clear, without any afflictions? Are we able to do this? Yet the Buddha, for 84,000 kalpas, remained in Samadhi with body and mind. This very long time was to express the Dharma. This means we must collect our minds and calm the 84,000 defilements and afflictions.

We run around so busily throughout the entire day, those 80,000-plus seconds. During those 86,400 seconds, no one knows how much ignorance and affliction flashes through our minds. Can we collect our minds, collect and focus them in a single thought? There are 84,000 afflictions; are we able to collect them all within a single pure and undefiled mindset? Can we capture and collect them like this?

The Buddha taught the sutra for 8000 kalpas. He then entered His meditation room and abided for 84,000 kalpas. This shows that. The Buddha entered the meditation room and did not get up from His seat, thus passing a total of so many kalpas.

“The Buddha taught the sutra for 8000 kalpas. He then entered His meditation room and abided for 84,000 kalpas.” He entered His meditation room also for 84,000 kalpas. This shows that. “The Buddha entered the meditation room and did not get up from His seat, thus passing a total of so many kalpas.”

What power of Samadhi He must have had to be able to sit for so long! Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the sutra for 8000 kalpas, after which He entered the meditation room for 84,000 kalpas. This was to show, “in all, the time of His teaching the sutra.”

In all, the time of His teaching the sutra and abiding in Samadhi was very long. This further explains that the Buddha’s lifespan was very long.

In any case, we should understand that after Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha finished teaching the sutra, all His time was spent abiding in Samadhi. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the sutra for 8000 kalpas. But our Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, spent seven to eight years teaching the sutra. In the time that passed, He was in Samadhi. He never neglected His power of Samadhi. This was how He used Himself as an example.

These long periods of time included daily life as well. When it was time to teach, He taught; when it was time for daily living, He lived. He always remained in Samadhi. This was a very long period of time.

“This further explains that the Buddha’s lifespan was very long.” Great Unhindered Buddha’s time was long, while our present Sakyamuni Buddha’s time was very short. Great Unhindered Buddha’s long life and Sakyamuni Buddha’s short time are both due to our karma as sentient beings. Life in the human realm is painfully short. Our lifespan is very short. Not only is it short, there are also [accidents] and so on. So, this is more reason for us to not rest or stop. We must not stop along the way to rest or waste time. We must mindfully seek to experience the truth.

So, “The meditation room is a place to enter Samadhi.” The meditation room is the place to enter Samadhi.
The meditation room is a place to enter Samadhi. He was in Samadhi for a period of over 80,000 [kalpas]. Wisdom Buddha entering Samadhi was the recent cause of forming affinities. By entering Samadhi and not exiting it, the billions of beings in doubt and confusion had no one to ask. Therefore, the 16 novices repeated the Lotus teachings for them.

He was in Samadhi for a period of over 80,000 [kalpas]. He spent 84,000 kalpas abiding in Samadhi, His mind collected in Samadhi. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha entering. Samadhi was the recent cause of forming affinities. It was to give the 16 novices an opportunity. During the time He spent in Samadhi, the many who had doubts about the Great Vehicle Dharma could have the 16 novices clear up their confusion and explain things to them, help them eliminate their confusion and establish their faith. These were the ones who formed affinities.

When the 16 novices taught the Dharma, perhaps we were there at the time. But did we thoroughly understand? I am sure we were of average capacities back then, not those listening with great capabilities. We had average capabilities when listening, only reaching a partial understanding. Upon hearing it, we might have even taken it in and believed in it, but after a while we forgot it. This is what those of average capacities are like. But we heard it and thus formed affinities. Or, perhaps we were of only limited capabilities. We might have heard, but did not understand.

No matter which, all of the three capabilities are always found among people and within communities of spiritual practitioners. There will always be those of great, average and limited capabilities. The world has always been this way. If everyone had great capabilities, this world would have no turbidities or filth. The world would then be a pure land. The reason the world is still so complicated, with such severe turbidities, is because our capabilities are not equal. Those of great, average and limited capabilities all listen to the Dharma. Though some can faithfully accept the Dharma, comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration, most people, the thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings, still have doubts and confusion. If Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era was like this, then what about Sakyamuni Buddha’s era? What about our own present era? These people of great, average or limited capabilities are just like this; they are very different.

Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha entered Samadhi to allow those listeners of the Dharma to have a chance to become teachers of the Dharma, to become transmitters of the Dharma. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha did this as a method to help His disciples succeed. His entering Samadhi was the recent cause for them to form affinities. In His era, in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, these were the causes at that time.

Though these causes and conditions had begun, they would continue on for a very long time. How long? For dust-inked kalpas, like the period from Beginningless Time till now. So, “recent” refers to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s connection with the 16 novices. This was very close, as it began then and would continue for a long time in the future, for dust-inked kalpas. So, the Parable of the Conjured City began by speaking of dust-inked kalpas, dust-inked kalpas upon dust-inked kalpas, the time before Beginningless Time. This means a very long period of time. This would be the future from that starting point.

So, “by entering Samadhi and not exiting it,” He was giving His disciples the chance to succeed.

“The billions of beings in doubt and confusion had no one to ask.” There were so many people who had listened to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha teach. Although He taught for such a long time, there were still countless numbers of people, thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings, still in doubt and confusion. So, as “they had no one to ask,” naturally the novices could teach the Dharma to them. This was in. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time. Actually, this has continued until now, into the era of Sakyamuni Buddha. Over 2000 years ago there were still many with great, average and limited capabilities. After becoming monastics, they still had doubt and confusion in their minds. Even by the Buddha’s side there were also bhiksus like this.

There was once a young bhiksu begging for alms who saw a very beautiful girl. His affinity for her was such that it entered deep into his heart and he was continually entangled by it. His mind became so entangled by that girl’s beautiful looks that her appearance was always in his mind. Desire for her arose in his every thought, and he became deluded and lost in his lust.

He fell ill, and His fellow practitioners, the others in the Sangha, saw how, just because of this matter, for such a long period of time, this bhiksu was unable to eat or sleep. Everyone took turns counseling him. But how could they counsel him? He said to them, “I know all the principles you speak of, but my mind is continually entangled. I cannot free myself. Why is this? She is so pretty; if she were in my embrace, it would be so wonderful!” There was nothing that his fellow practitioners could do, so they went to ask the Buddha, “What should be done? He is mentally becoming sicker.” The Buddha said, “Tell him to come and I will fulfill his wish.”

He was very happy and rushed before the Buddha. The Buddha said, “Everyone, come with me to grant this bhiksu’s wish.” He was very happy, but his fellow practitioners had their doubts. “Isn’t spiritual practice about purity? The mind of this young bhiksu is so severely defiled. Why would the Buddha want to fulfill his wish?” So, everyone was also very curious as they followed the Buddha.

They arrived at that girl’s house. Why was this family preparing for a funeral? What had happened? It turned out that this girl had suddenly passed away several days ago. “And now where is she?” Her parents said, “We cannot let go. We cannot bear to cremate her. She is still here in the house.” The Buddha led him in and said, “I want to take a look at her.” The bhiksu went inside. Before the Buddha and the practitioners went in, they could already smell the stench. When they went before the corpse, it was all bloated and fluids were seeping from it, so it smelled very bad. Her face was completely bloated; it was a terrifying corpse.

The Buddha then spoke to the young bhiksu saying, “Come, draw near. I do not want to, I do not dare. Isn’t she the one you like?” He quickly repented to the Buddha. “Venerable Buddha! I had a moment of confusion. I was blinded by desire. I forgot how the Buddha taught us to contemplate the body as impure. Now I understand. Venerable Buddha, I repent.” This was the method used by the Buddha to teach His disciple.

So, what should we do to release ourselves from delusion? As you practice in this environment, if your desire is so great that you are unable to do anything else, but only focus on lust, then this is an illness. Look, is this sexual desire something that is real, that is clean? We must contemplate the body as impure! Otherwise this is an interruption of our spiritual aspirations. Our practice needs to be uninterrupted practice. The Buddha taught us to “contemplate the body as impure.” What lustful desire is worth clinging to? We must engage earnestly in spiritual practice for an extended time. We cannot waste any of our time. Time is painfully short.

A few days prior, she was so pretty on the streets. A few days later she had passed away and had become a corpse like that. Life is impermanent! This is how the Buddha taught the Dharma. In our daily living, we must go among people to experience and understand. When walking the Bodhisattva-path, we gain experience by [interacting] with others and thus strengthen our will to practice. So, over a long period of time, let us collect our thoughts into one mind, take our 84,000 discursive thoughts and collect them into a single mind of Samadhi. If we can do this, we are true spiritual practitioners. Therefore, let us always be mindful!

Episode 1054 – The Buddha Taught the Sutras Without Resting

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>> “Those of great capabilities hear of the Path and diligently practice it. Those of average capabilities hear of the Path and sometimes remember but sometimes forget it. Those of limited capabilities hear of the Path and simply laugh at it. The people who do not understand have doubts and confusion in their minds.”

>> “After He taught this sutra, the 16 novices, in order to achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, all accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together. When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding. The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds, all gave rise to doubt and confusion. The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping ”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding: Despite being Hearers, when they encountered the Lotus teachings, there were also some among them who gave rise to faith and understanding.

>> The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds: In the ordinary course, we only speak of the sentient beings of the Ten Dharma-realms. Now in the sutra, it says: “thousands, millions, billions of kinds.” As a group they are one, but their capabilities and natures differ, so they are of different kinds.

>> [They] all gave rise to doubt and confusion: Since those people had immature capabilities and the strength of their roots was shallow, upon hearing profound and wondrous teachings, they were unable to understand. So, they doubted, “Is this Mara talking to disturb and confuse us?” This is like those at the present. Vulture Peak Assembly who retreated.

>> The novices who faithfully accepted it were Bodhisattvas of immediate enlightenment. They were those of great capabilities. Hearers who had faith and understanding were Bodhisattvas of gradual enlightenment. They were those of average capabilities. The remaining people needed to awaken because of doubt. They were those of limited capabilities.

>> These thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings either stayed at the stage of Hearers or stayed at the stage of Pratyekabuddhas or remained at the stage of unenlightened beings. They intrinsically possessed roots of goodness but these had not yet matured. So, they still needed the Tathagata to transform them with parables. Therefore, it says those of the three kinds of roots attain realizations.

>> Those of great capabilities: They hear of the Path and diligently practice, such as the 16 princes.
Those of average capabilities: They hear of the Path and sometimes remember but sometimes forget it. Among Hearers, some had faith while some did not.
Those of limited capabilities: They hear of the Path and simply laugh at it. These people who did not understand gave rise to doubt and confusion.

>> “The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.”: In the era of Great Unhindered Buddha, humans had great longevity. He taught the Lotus Sutra for a full 8000 kalpas. Meanwhile, He never enjoyed any time to rest.

>> So, in the era of Sakyamuni Buddha, “The human lifespan was pressingly short. He taught this wondrous Dharma for only eight years. His practice was short, in accordance with conditions, but the flavor of the Dharma was no different.”

>> The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping: This indicates that the time period over which He taught the sutra was very long. He was like Lamp Radiance Buddha, who taught for 60 small kalpas without getting up from His seat.

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“Those of great capabilities hear of the Path and diligently practice it.
Those of average capabilities hear of the Path and sometimes remember but sometimes forget it.
Those of limited capabilities hear of the Path and simply laugh at it. The people who do not understand have doubts and confusion in their minds.”

When we listen to the Dharma, are we those of great, average or limited capabilities? When we listen to the Dharma, do we actually take it into our hearts? Are we being mindful? Do we actually make use of it? This will depend on our capabilities; here, all the different capabilities have been clearly distinguished. Are we ones with wisdom? Or are we those with very average capabilities? Or are we lost in mundane matters with our limited capabilities? Here, we can analyze this for ourselves. Here, we analyze this for ourselves.

“Those of great capabilities” have wisdom; they are those with sharp capabilities. If they listen to the Dharma, afterwards they give rise to joy and earnestly practice it. The Buddha-Dharma is unsurpassed and rarely encountered. They understand that this is very precious, subtle and wondrous teachings that are rarely encountered even in billions of kalpas. In our past lives, did we have the conditions to listen to these teachings? If we did have these conditions, in this lifetime when we listen to the Buddha-Dharma again, we give rise to joy from the bottom of our hearts. We must earnestly seize this opportunity and earnestly put the teachings into practice. We cannot bear to abandon these teachings; we take the Dharma to heart and transform it into something we use in our daily living. Then we are “those of great capabilities,” those with great capabilities and wisdom. After listening to the teachings, we “diligently practice it”; we are very earnest.

“The Dharma is rarely encountered, and now I have encountered it. I can make use of the Dharma. This Dharma [benefits] my wisdom-life. In my daily living, as I interact with people and matters, the Dharma I understand has all been internalized. I can handle everything with ease. I am able to move people, transform people and persuade people to help everyone accept the teachings, give rise to joy and faithfully accept and practice the Dharma.” This is someone of great capabilities.

As for those with ordinary capacities, we say they are “of average capabilities.” With average capabilities, when they listen to the teachings, they feel happy and can understand, but they very quickly forget. Or, they may think that they understand. “I understand, but I also seem to not fully understand.” Do they understand or not? Those who understand are happy, however they forget very quickly. These are people with average capabilities. Though they are able to take in the teachings, they do not keep them in their hearts. They are average; they listen happily and are deeply moved, but they do not keep it in their hearts and do not connect it at all to their daily living. These are people with average capabilities.

What about “those with limited capabilities”? These people with limited capabilities “hear of the Path and simply laugh at it. Those people say these things a lot, and others listen very attentively, but it has nothing to do with me.” So, they simply laugh at it.

For those with even weaker affinities than the people with limited capabilities, although they hear the teachings and know that this person is teaching the Dharma and everyone is listening to the Dharma, they have no interest in it at all. Not only do they have no interest, they harbor very deep doubts in their minds. Thus, “The people who do not understand have doubts and confusion in their mind.” They cannot understand, and they refuse to ask. They refuse to listen and refuse to understand, but instead harbor doubts in their minds. These people cannot even match those with limited capabilities, let alone those of average or great capabilities. People who reject the Dharma are unwilling to listen to or accept it and do not want to understand. They simply harbor doubts in their minds. With doubts, they give rise to slander. This is foolishness and delusion!

It is rare to hear the Buddha-Dharma and rare to be born human. Since we are born human and have heard the Dharma, will we use great capabilities to accept the Buddha-Dharma? Or will we listen with average capabilities? Or will we be like those of limited capabilities, asking, “Why do these people need to listen? Why do these people need to teach it? No matter how they say it, it is still the same; even if they listen, it is still the same.” Those of limited capabilities simply laugh at it; that is all they do. They only partially understand the Buddha-Dharma. With only a partial understanding, they ask, “Do I need to listen? No matter how much I listen, it is the same; I will forget it soon after. So, it does not seem like something I can apply.” Though they listen, they do not change even in the slightest. These are people of limited capabilities.

As Buddhist practitioners, we must seize our lives. Life is painfully short; the time we have is very short. It is rare to be born human, so we must take advantage of it. We must learn the principles extensively. If we are unwilling to listen, one day, when impermanence strikes, things will be beyond our control. Which realm will we end up in? We do not know. Will we be born human again? Or will we, without any control, end up in another realm? We do not know this either. We do not know what will happen in the future, so we must quickly seize the present. We should quickly listen now while we can. The Buddha-Dharma is rarely encountered even in billions of kalpas. So, we must be mindful.

Within these long sutra passages, if we are mindful and experience the truth of it, that is something very rare and precious. If we are unable to comprehend all of it, but we have listened to a little and taken some of it to heart, we can at least make some small changes and improve our lives a little. If we can improve our lives just a little, we take the Dharma to heart, and this is a seed that will allow us to have the karmic conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma in our next life. If we can do this, it is also a very good thing. For those with limited capabilities, after they listen to the Dharma, although they laugh at it and do not take the Dharma to heart, they at least made a connection [with the Dharma]. We must not have evil thoughts toward the Dharma.

Those who do not understand have doubts in their minds; this is very dangerous. Though they know that the Buddha-Dharma exists, they are unable to understand it. Not only are they unable to understand it, they also have doubts about it. Not only do they have doubts, with doubt they give rise to confusion, and from confusion they give rise to ignorance. With the slightest bit of criticism, with “one person’s lie,” people will truly believe this falsehood. They become attached; this is very dangerous. They do not understand, do not know, so they have doubts and slander [the Dharma]. This damages the Buddha-Dharma and the true principles [in the eyes of others]. This creates very severe karma.

The Buddha warned us that for people who are unwilling to understand and have doubts in their minds, we can use the Small [Vehicle] Dharma to patiently guide them. If we give them the Great Dharma right away, not only are they unwilling to accept it, if we ask them to benefit others, [they say,]. “I need to take care of myself. Why should I also benefit others?” They have fear in their minds, or, since spiritual practice takes a very long time, instead of advancing step by step, they would rather find a shortcut. They want to attain without giving; this is a deviant understanding and view. If this is the case, they will constantly give rise to doubt and confusion. These people cannot listen to the Dharma.

In conclusion, to listen to the Dharma in life, accept it and put it into practice is not an easy matter. We already have these causes and conditions. When causes and conditions come together, we must earnestly seize the opportunity. Listening, contemplating and practicing is what we must put our hearts into.

The previous sutra passage states, “After He taught this sutra, the 16 novices, in order to achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, all accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together. When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.”

Yesterday we said when we listen to the Dharma, we want to seek the supreme, unsurpassed Dharma. The 16 princes felt very joyful when they listened to the Dharma. They thought about how there was still supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, the understanding and views equal to the Buddha’s. So, the 16 princes asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to expound the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. This is the Buddha’s understanding and views, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. As He began to teach, these novices earnestly accepted it. They are those of great capabilities, so they earnestly and sincerely took it in. They also accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it. After they listened, this was what they did. They recited again the Dharma expounded by the Buddha. After they took it in, they kept it in their heart and frequently recited it.

This means we do not read the sutras only once; we must constantly read the sutras. So, this encourages everyone to chant the sutras. While doing so, we are reminding ourselves. Once a sutra has been taught, we must chant it again and again. This is like how every morning we are either prostrating to the Lotus Sutra or chanting the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is the opening for the Lotus Sutra. Before the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, He first expounded the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. Once He expounded the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, was He done? Not yet. This is because the principles in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings are “very profound, very profound, truly very profound.” All of you should have read this before. In what way was it “truly very profound”? “The bright light from between His brows illuminated 18,000 lands” as He sat in Samadhi.

So, the Lotus Sutra is to explain principles that are “very profound, very profound, truly very profound.” That is in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, so we must constantly recite these verses. Not only should we recite them, we must also experience and understand them. Once we understand them, we must [apply them] to our daily living. This is reciting its verses and keenly comprehending it. Not only do we chant to take it to heart, we must apply it with ease as we deal with people, matters and things to benefit sentient beings. This is something we must be mindful of.

“When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.” All of them not only recited and keenly comprehended it, they also took the entire sutra and absorbed the teachings down to the cellular level. Thus they developed their wisdom-life. This is to “faithfully accept it.”

“Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” Moreover, we must uphold it in our daily living. People, matters and objects are all within the Dharma. Our interactions and responses are all Dharma. Thus we accept, uphold, recite, faithfully accept and practice it. How important this is! So, we must use the state of mind of those with great capabilities to earnestly seize the opportunity to listen to the teachings. When we listen to and take the Dharma to heart, we nourish our wisdom-life.

Now, the following sutra passage talks not only about the 16 princes but also the Hearers.

“Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding. The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds, all gave rise to doubt and confusion.”

These Hearers in the assembly heard the supremely profound and wondrous Dharma. This is the Buddha’s understanding and views, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.

Among the Hearers in the assembly, there were also those with faith and understanding: Despite being Hearers, when they encountered the Lotus teachings, there were also some among them who gave rise to faith and understanding.

When the Hearers listened to the Dharma, some of them developed faith and understanding. The 16 princes had completely accepted the teachings with faith. Among the Hearers, some of them also had faith and understanding.

Though Hearers take in the Dharma through sound, “when they encountered the Lotus teachings,” when they heard the Lotus Sutra taught, there were also some among them who gave rise to faith and understanding. This was very rare; in their spiritual practice, these Hearers were able to encounter the Lotus teachings.

India is very large in size. In the Buddha’s time, when He taught, He expounded these sutras at Vulture Peak. The Buddha had traveled to many places, and many followed Him in becoming monastics. However, it was impossible for all His monastics followers to always be with Him. When the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, not everyone could gather at Vulture Peak. So, some people were able to meet the Buddha, be by His side and listen to the Lotus teachings, thus giving rise to faith and understanding. How blessed these people were!

It was the same in. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era. He spent a very long time likewise transforming sentient beings everywhere. He also spent a long time expounding the teachings and waiting for causes and conditions to mature. When He taught the Lotus Sutra, He only did it at one Dharma-assembly. Though many wanted to come listen to the Dharma, it truly would take a very long time. From [this chapter’s] beginning, we heard and read these kinds of sutra passages. The Brahma kings traveled from all ten directions. Each one who came traveled a very long way. They must have had a very reverent mind to reach their destination. [The Dharma] is so rarely encountered!

The 16 princes became monastics and engaged in spiritual practice, and their wisdom surpassed all the Hearers. What they sought was the Buddha’s understanding and views, so when they requested the Dharma, it was to turn the Great Vehicle Dharma-wheel. Thus, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha finally began to expound the Lotus teachings. So, not everyone can listen to the Dharma so easily. This depends on causes and conditions. Even if they encounter causes and conditions and receive the Buddha-Dharma, for them to accept it earnestly and sincerely is still not a simple matter.

In addition to those who accepted it and had faith and understanding, there were the “remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds.” These remaining sentient beings were the sentient beings of the Ten Dharma-realms.

The remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds: In the ordinary course, we only speak of the sentient beings of the Ten Dharma-realms. Now in the sutra, it says: “thousands, millions, billions of kinds.” As a group they are one, but their capabilities and natures differ, so they are of different kinds.

In this process, we only speak of the sentient beings in the Ten Dharma-realms. There are so many sentient beings in the Ten Dharma-realms.

In the Ten Dharma-realms, just look at the desire realm alone, at our world, the world of ordinary people. How many different kinds of sentient beings are there in this world? Just talking about the ones we can see, about the animals that we know, how many different kinds are there? They are also sentient beings. Just talking about human beings, we know that there are more than seven billion people in the world. Among these seven billion people, how many people have heard the Buddha-Dharma? Some can hear the Buddha-Dharma, but people’s languages are not the same. To be able to listen to the Dharma, it must be translated into first one language then another.

Look at Tzu Chi in South Africa, Some Bodhisattva-volunteers speak [a different] language. They really want to listen to the Dharma, but I am speaking Taiwanese. If they want to understand, my words must be translated into English. But not many people there speak English, so it must then be translated again into Zulu. There are also different dialects of Zulu. This is just like how in Taiwan, not everyone understands Taiwanese. In Taiwan, there are Taiwanese and Hakka people. The Hakka language also has different dialects. The language of each group is different. So, even just for human beings to listen to the teachings and thoroughly understand them is truly not easy. So, these are “the remaining sentient beings, those thousands, millions, billions of kinds.” There are so many kinds. For human beings alone, there are many different peoples and ethnicities, not to mention we human beings are also classified as a species in the animal kingdom. There are many other kinds of beings in the world. So, when the Buddha usually talked about this, He included all sentient beings from the Ten Dharma-realms; these are “thousands, millions, billions of kinds.”

Even just talking about human beings, the capabilities and natures of human beings are also different. This is like what we talked about yesterday. That six-year-old girl said, “My mind is something special; everyone’s mind is something special, and they are all different.” This is what I am saying. Everyone’s mind is something special; everyone has different habitual tendencies. Though we are one of this large group of all sentient beings, even if we are just one kind, among human beings alone there are already many different ethnicities. Besides there being so many ethnicies, the minds of human beings are all something unique. They are all different; everyone’s habitual tendencies are different. Thus, “Their capabilities and natures differ, so they are of different kinds.” People’s capabilities and habitual natures are all different. So, there are thousands, millions, billions of kinds.

These are the remaining sentient beings. Other than Hearers, Solitary Realizers, the people who were listening to the Dharma at that assembly, all the other people, these thousands, millions and billions of beings “gave rise to doubts and confusion.” These sentient beings all had doubts and confusion. They did not understand, did not want to listen, and after listening, they had many doubts. Or they may not have even listened. There were many people who had given rise to doubts in this way. Think about it; listening to the Dharma here is such a precious thing! Among humans alone, there are so many kinds, thousands, millions, even billions of kinds who all have different capabilities. They do not have many opportunities to draw near to and listen to the Dharma. So, shouldn’t we cherish these [opportunities]? So here, many sentient beings had given rise to doubt and confusion.

[They] all gave rise to doubt and confusion: Since those people had immature capabilities and the strength of their roots was shallow, upon hearing profound and wondrous teachings, they were unable to understand. So, they doubted, “Is this Mara talking to disturb and confuse us?” This is like those at the present. Vulture Peak Assembly who retreated.

So, “Those people had immature capabilities.” The Hearers and those who were listening to the Dharma there “had immature capabilities, and the strength of their roots was shallow.” Their capacities and the power of their faith and acceptance, of their understanding, were truly very shallow. “Upon hearing profound and wondrous teachings, they were unable to understand.” Their root of faith were still shallow, and their power of mindfulness was weak; they were still weak in this power of wisdom. So, upon hearing profound and wondrous teachings, they were unable to thoroughly understand them.

Thus, doubts arose in their minds. “They doubted, ‘Is this Mara talking?'” In the past, we said that in the sutras, some people doubted and wondered whether this was actually Mara talking. They harbored thoughts of doubt. There were many religions in India. When people heard the Buddha-Dharma, they were unable to immediately give rise to faith. They wondered, “Is Mara acting as the Buddha?” When the Buddha taught such profound Dharma, they also had doubts.

In this place, at the Dharma-assembly of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, there were also people with limited capacities. When He began to expound the Lotus Sutra, many people had doubts in their minds. “What kind of Dharma is this? Is this Right Dharma, or is it something that is not Right Dharma?” They had this kind of doubt. Was it Mara teaching the Dharma to disturb and confuse them? They had these kind of doubts. This is like the present Vulture Peak Assembly, when many people left. When Sakyamuni Buddha began to consent and was about to teach, 5000 people left. Everyone should remember this. Because there were doubts in their minds, they were unable to truly faithfully accept [the teachings].

The novices who faithfully accepted it were Bodhisattvas of immediate enlightenment. They were those of great capabilities. Hearers who had faith and understanding were Bodhisattvas of gradual enlightenment. They were those of average capabilities. The remaining people needed to awaken because of doubt. They were those of limited capabilities.

So, in that assembly, the 16 novices could faithfully accept [the teachings]. With their capacities, they could listen to the Dharma as those with great capabilities. Those who diligently practice are those of great capacities. They requested the Dharma, faithfully accepted it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it. They did not have the slightest doubt. Their root of faith and power of mindfulness were strong. So, “The novices who faithfully accepted it” could reach immediate enlightenment upon hearing. Thus, they understood that [to practice] the Great Vehicle Dharma is to benefit themselves as well as others. They completely understood the Bodhisattva-path. These are people with great capabilities, people with great capabilities listening to Dharma. Having listened, they could practice diligently.

As for those with average capabilities, they were Bodhisattvas of gradual enlightenment. This refers to those with average capabilities. The remaining people were those who needed to awaken because of their doubts. These were the people with limited capabilities. They understood half of it. They seem to understand, but also not understand. Still, we must be mindful and slowly nurture them. At least they have planted the seeds and created these causes. Although they half-believed and half-doubted, if they slowly advance, one day they too will be awakened.

These thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings either stayed at the stage of Hearers or stayed at the stage of Pratyekabuddhas or remained at the stage of unenlightened beings. They intrinsically possessed roots of goodness but these had not yet matured. So, they still needed the Tathagata to transform them with parables. Therefore, it says those of the three kinds of roots attain realizations.

These were the “thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings.” These thousands, millions, billions of kinds of sentient beings “stayed at the stage of Hearers.” Among Hearers who listened to the Dharma, some people half-believed and half-doubted. Though they were listening to the Dharma and followed the Buddha in becoming monastics, their roots of faith were not deep. Their power of mindfulness was weak, so when they heard the Dharma it was the same; they still had doubts. Mixed in among these thousands, millions and billions of sentient beings, there were also Hearers

and Pratyekabuddhas. Pratyekabuddhas awakened by themselves, but they had not thoroughly understood the Dharma. They were still only benefiting themselves. Though they understood the subtle and wondrous teachings and enjoyed their own spiritual practice, they were unwilling to also benefit others. They had doubts and worries. They worried they would be affected by others and were afraid they did not have enough strength. So, they “stayed at the stage of Pratyekabuddhas.” They had reached the stage of Pratyekabuddhas, however they hesitated and did not dare to accept the Great Dharma.

Some “remained at the stage of unenlightened beings,” What of those who remained at the stage of unenlightened beings? “They intrinsically possessed roots of goodness.” At the stage of unenlightened beings, they intrinsically possess roots of goodness. However, these roots are still immature, so they still need the Tathagata to transform them with parables, to use all kinds of analogies and expressions to teach them.

The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is “very profound, very profound, truly very profound.” What is so profound about it? To relieve [the suffering of] sentient beings, we must use all kinds of methods to draw analogies to explain why they need to walk the Bodhisattva-path, why they need to benefit all sentient beings and so on. All kinds of matters and appearances, such as karmic causes and effects, must be used to guide them. The Buddha must expound the Dharma for people with all these different capabilities. He must teach according to their capabilities.

Thus, “Those of the three kinds of roots attain realizations.” People with these three kinds of capabilities are all people who have the aspirations to engage in spiritual practice, to listen to the Dharma and learn the teachings. There are those of great, average and limited capabilities.

Those of great capabilities: They hear of the Path and diligently practice, such as the 16 princes.

Those of average capabilities: They hear of the Path and sometimes remember but sometimes forget it. Among Hearers, some had faith while some did not.

Those of limited capabilities: They hear of the Path and simply laugh at it. These people who did not understand gave rise to doubt and confusion.

If those of great capabilities hear the Dharma, they diligently practice. If those of average capabilities hear of the Path, they sometimes remember but sometimes forget. If those of limited capabilities hear of the Path, they simply laugh at it. This is like us ordinary beings. We have roots of goodness, but were not earnest when it comes to the Dharma. Thus, they have not yet matured. We intrinsically have roots of goodness, but our roots of goodness have not yet matured. The Buddha has to work harder on people like this. He has to adapt to the three capabilities.

We must be mindful of this. Do we want to be like those with limited capacities, who hear of the Path and simply laugh at it? Or should we work harder to be like those with average capabilities who hear the Path and sometimes remember and sometimes forget? Do we really only want to have a partial understanding of the Dharma? We must work even harder to be like those of great capabilities, who hear of the Path and practice it diligently. We must put the teachings into practice. These are the three capabilities. We must be thoroughly mindful of this.

The next sutra passage states, “The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.”

After the Buddha gave those earlier teachings, He did not rest. He unceasingly taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings. He did this to cover all of the three capabilities. Those who are mature have already matured. For those who are about to mature, He must continue to expound the teachings. For those who have not matured, He must work hard to teach and transform them. So, after the Buddha taught the sutra, He continued “for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.” He did not rest for a very long time.

“The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.”: In the era of Great Unhindered Buddha, humans had great longevity. He taught the Lotus Sutra for a full 8000 kalpas. Meanwhile, He never enjoyed any time to rest.

In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, humans had very long lifespans. He taught the Lotus Sutra for a full 8000 kalpas. During these 8000 kalpas, “He never enjoyed any time to rest.”

For the Lotus Sutra alone, setting all other sutras aside, just teaching this one sutra took 8000 kalpas. During this period of 8000 kalpas, “He never enjoyed any time to rest.” He did not just expound the Dharma. Since people did not understand many parts, He had to address all questions that were asked. Thus in daily living. He taught according to capabilities. He did not just teach at certain times; He also had to adapt to sentient beings and teach according to people, matters and things.

So, in the era of Sakyamuni Buddha, “The human lifespan was pressingly short. He taught this wondrous Dharma for only eight years. His practice was short, in accordance with conditions, but the flavor of the Dharma was no different.”

He taught the Lotus Sutra for seven years before He entered Parinirvana. Including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, this was a total of eight years. The Buddha entered Parinirvana when He was 80. He waited 42 years [after His enlightenment] before He began to teach the Lotus Sutra. He taught the Lotus Sutra for seven years, and right before He entered Parinirvana, He then taught the Mahaparinirvana Sutra. When He expounded the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, He again taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. At the end, these were taught once again.

This was what the Buddha did in this world. His lifespan was 80 years, but He taught the Dharma for 49 years. So, “His practice was short, in accordance with conditions.” His time for spiritual practice was short. Compared to Great Unhindered Buddha, He had a much shorter period of time for giving sentient beings suitable teachings. So, “The flavor of the Dharma was no different.” From the time He first turned the Dharma-wheel until the very end, before He entered Parinirvana, the Dharma He taught was all the same. This was what Sakyamuni Buddha did. Though He taught the Three Vehicles, there was actually just one flavor and one Vehicle.

The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping: This indicates that the time period over which He taught the sutra was very long. He was like Lamp Radiance Buddha, who taught for 60 small kalpas without getting up from His seat.

“The Buddha taught this sutra for 8000 kalpas without ever resting or stopping.” This shows that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Supreme Buddha taught the sutra for a very long time. Sakyamuni Buddha taught for a very short time, but Great Unhindered Buddha had much more time, like Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha, who had 60 small kalpas to likewise give teachings. Once He sat down to teach, He had to have 60 small kalpas, to say nothing of the 8000 kalpas. Great Unhindered Buddha spent on teaching. This is to help us better understand that. [They truly took] a very long time.

So, we must have faith in the Buddha’s teachings. With His wisdom, the Buddha taught us all the ways of life in the universe and in all worlds; across time, space or interpersonal relationships, there are different ways of living. So, toward the Buddha, we must give rise to great reverence. His wisdom encompasses the universe. If we want to understand the Dharma, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1053 – The True Wisdom of the One Vehicle

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>> “With the true wisdom of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle, [the Buddha] uses provisional and skillful means to teach according to capacities. He knows that everyone intrinsically possesses the wondrous root of goodness, so He gradually uses skillful means to teach the Great Dharma. He awakened to [the truth of] the universe, which pervades all Dharma-realms. He awakened to the Path and taught the Dharma to reveal His original intent.”

>> “At that time, that Buddha accepted the novices’ request 20,000 kalpas having already passed, He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “After He taught this sutra, the 16 novices, in order to achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, all accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together. When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> All accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together: Their power of faith was deep, so they could accept it. Their power of mindfulness was firm, so they could uphold it. Reading slowly and clearly is called “reciting.” Reading straightforwardly and loudly is “chanting.” Reciting verses is the wisdom of listening. Having keen comprehension is the wisdom of contemplation. Accepting and upholding are the wisdom of practice. These were the realizations of the 16 novices.

>> They taught the Six Paramitas, the ultimate great practice of benefiting the self and others: The Vaipulya teachings speak of the principle of the Middle Way. These are the proper principles of the equality of sentient beings and the Buddha. Therefore, they knew to teach the Vaipulya. The Six Perfections are the Bodhisattva-practice. Therefore, they knew to teach the Prajna. Accepting and upholding and so on mean they [accepted] the teachings completely and never lost them in their minds. All these things above were what they practiced and learned together.

>> When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, the novices had taken the Ten Precepts. They were originally Small Vehicle practitioners. Now they sought the path to Buddhahood and cultivated the Great Vehicle practice. Therefore, they were called Bodhisattva-novices. From listening to the Vaipulya and the Prajna across 20,000 kalpas, they practiced the Six Perfections. So, they are worthy of being called Bodhisattvas.

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“With the true wisdom of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle, [the Buddha] uses provisional and skillful means to teach according to capacities.
He knows that everyone intrinsically possesses the wondrous root of goodness, so He gradually uses skillful means to teach the Great Dharma.
He awakened to [the truth of] the universe, which pervades all Dharma-realms. He awakened to the Path and taught the Dharma to reveal His original intent.”

We must be mindful! We have listened to the Dharma for so long, but have we taken it to heart? If we have taken it to heart, then with our wisdom, our pure intrinsic nature, we should be able to experience the truth of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.

In learning the Dharma, [we must know] the Buddha taught sentient beings according to sentient beings’ capacities and thus used the teachings of the Three Vehicles. In fact, the Buddha came to our world solely to teach the One Vehicle Dharma; but He had to turn it into the Three Vehicles in order to be in accord with our capacities. This required a lot of effort! This is because sentient beings’ capacities are all different. Our thoughts and intellects are also all different. This is why the Buddha had to use all kinds of methods. He had to use many methods and spend a very long time. If it were not for this, the Dharma would be so simple. There is only the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. However, the capacities of sentient beings are all different, so they are not yet able to listen to and accept the Great Dharma. So, He had to spend a very long period of time.

He originally taught us with true wisdom of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle; this was the Dharma that He taught us. The differences in sentient beings’ capacities required Him to use provisional and skillful means to teach the Dharma according to our capacities; this required even more effort.

So, “He knows that everyone intrinsically possesses the wondrous roots of goodness.” The Buddha knew that all sentient beings have an intrinsic nature of True Suchness and have subtle and wondrous roots of goodness. Everyone intrinsically has these. However, we have lost our clarity and purity. The mind is as clear as a mirror, but because there is so much contaminating dust, layer upon layer of defiling dust stuck to it, our bright and magnificent nature of True Suchness is not able to shine forth. It is because of the contaminating dust, layer upon layer of defiling dust, that the quality of our light is slowly diminished. All sentient beings innately possess this bright quality and intrinsic nature. It is because of this [dust] that this bright and clear illumination has lost its brilliance.

So, the Buddha had to think of ways to gradually help us remove the dust. He spent a very long time doing this. So, with gradual teachings, He slowly drew near to us and educated us. This is like our commissioners and. Faith Corps members who, in order to draw near to certain care recipients, must sometimes spend a very long time keeping them company and developing a relationship. Only then are they willing to accept us. Only then will they be receptive to what we say. Only then will they be receptive to what we say. If their house is very messy, only then will they allow us to clean and organize the house so that it can become a very neat and livable place.

Bodhisattvas in this world must draw near suffering sentient beings because their perspectives and thinking have gone astray. Bodhisattvas in this world need to use these kinds of skillful means to slowly approach people and gradually help them so that in the end they can have stability and something to rely on. They will not have afflictions in their lives and will not need to worry; there will be people to accompany them. This is how “He gradually uses skillful means to teach the Great Dharma.” This is what we often see in the world. All around us, our fellow Bodhisattvas, no matter where they are, all use this kind of method to draw near to suffering people,

to say nothing of how the Buddha treated all of us multitudes of sentient beings. Since our thoughts and ideas have gone astray, He had to deal with so much in order to find ways for everyone to understand this Dharma and connect their hearts to the Dharma and then slowly cultivate [new] habits. They could act in this way, take the Dharma to heart in this way and practice the teachings in this way, until in all their thoughts and all they said, this became their habit. Then they would return to seeing mountains as mountains and water as water; they would see the nature of reality very clearly. Being able to do this is why the Buddha wanted us to wipe the mirror of our hearts and awaken our great perfect mirror wisdom so nad awaken our great perfect mirror wisdom so the wisdom of this great perfect mirror could shine clearly again. Therefore, He needed to spend a long time.

The Buddha “awakened to [the truth of] the universe, which pervades all Dharma-realms.” We often say that what we understand is only what is around us. We understand the few people living around us, We understand the few people living around us, but do we have a thorough understanding? Do we understand their minds? Everyone has their own mind; how are we able to understand other people’s thoughts? We only know that they can do this task and that their expertise is in this area. So, whatever they are able to do, we let them accomplish it; whatever their expertise or specialty, we allow them to use it. But what are they thinking in their minds? We do not know. The scope of ordinary people’s understanding can only go so far. For things further away, or broader in scope, or involving more people, how much can we really understand?

With the Buddha’s awakening, He can understand everything in the universe; His understanding pervades all Dharma-realms. The principles of people, matters and things are all clear to Him. This is the Great Enlightened One who has awakened to [the truth of] the universe. Therefore, after He awakened, He understood everything and knew all principles clearly. So, He thoroughly understands everything. Since He comprehends, the source of sentient beings’ suffering, the imbalance of the macrocosm of the world and the conflict and ignorance that cause so much suffering in the world are all understood by the Buddha. So, “He awakened to the Path and taught the Dharma to reveal His original intent.” He understands sentient beings. After He awakened, He revealed His original intent and the state to which He had awakened. As for the source of afflictions and the starting point of our imbalance, how did these come to be? He wanted to explain these to us one by one,

but this is difficult! It is so difficult. Just talking about ourselves, how long have we listened to the sutras and how much can we comprehend? Have we changed? Have we gotten rid of our past attitudes and habitual tendencies? If we have short tempers and are easily angered, have we really changed these habitual tendencies?

If we have not improved at all, then we have not taken the Dharma to heart. If we have improved and changed, this means that the Dharma is in our hearts and we are advancing. This does not depend on our age or how long we have been listening to the Dharma. Some just have sharp capabilities and are able to respond very quickly. This like a six-year-old child who spoke to her parents because her parents always have short tempers. These two married because they loved each other. After they got married, they had this child. Before long, because both of them had short tempers and neither one would yield to the other, they would often speak to each other with harsh words.

Their child, this little girl, is very adorable. She lives in Canada. This little girl’s parents, because they both have short tempers, decided to separate. This girl was only six years old when her parents separated. Although they are divorced, they still see each other often because… it seemed that they still lived together.

One day, the mother was driving and was about to enter her garage, but there was a shoe rack in the way. It was possible that the father had moved it out slightly. The mother was driving fast and this little girl, who was sitting in the car, quickly said to her mother, “Stop! Stop!” She wanted her to stop the car because there was a shoe rack in front of them. But in the middle of her saying, “Stop,” they already knocked over the rack with the car. At this, the mother got out of her car and the two parents, who were already divorced, began arguing. They were arguing very loudly, so the girl pulled her mom off to the side. Thus this very moving story unfolded.

She pulled her mother to the stairs and sat on one of the steps. She really seemed like an adult. She said to her mother, “Mom, are you willing to be his friend?” She did not say her father; she just said, “Are you willing to be friends with him again?” because they still lived together. The mother’s reply was. “Yes, I am willing.” This little girl then replied, “I hope that you are able to take your bad tempers that are high and bring them down to be this low. Can you bring your tempers down. Can you bring your tempers down” “to have a more gentle?”

After saying this, she continued, “My heart is something special. Other people’s hearts are something special; everyone’s hearts are something special. If we live in a terrible world, then everyone will become a monster. Because everyone’s heart is something special, if we live in a terrible world, won’t everyone turn into a monster? If in this world there are only a few good people left, then all of us will [eat] these good people. The good people will be devoured by the monsters. Then what will we do? In the end there will only be monsters left in this world.” She said this to her mother.

Then she went on to say, “I want you and my dad to really be good friends. I’m not trying to be mean.” She reminded her, “I’m not trying to be mean. I just hope that everyone can be friends. If everyone can be kind, I believe that we can all do this. Being nice is something that we can all do. I want mom and dad and everyone to be good friends. I want everyone to be happy and smile. This is what I hope for, for mom, dad and I, for everyone, to be able to be happy and smile.”

This little girl said this to her mom. She also said, “I hope that I, too, can be a good child. I hope that grandma, mom and dad, everyone, can be happy every day and be good people with good tempers. I hope everyone can be happy and smiling people.”

This is how this child was. Although she used the words of a child, she is able to speak to her mother with such wisdom.

So, this is our nature as human beings; by nature we are pure and innocent and wise. Our wisdom surpasses all other animals. We are all similarly sentient beings, but humans are very special. In particular, within all people is the ability to express their true nature. But everyone is also something special; all people have their own temperaments and views. So, it is easy for the world to transform into a world that is no longer a human world. It would seem like a world of animals or a world of monsters. If it becomes like this, as the little girl said, when there are many monsters and only a few good people left, they will all be swallowed by the monsters.

Think about these principles; should we not always be mindful in seeking to comprehend this? If we bury our human nature, then with our animal nature, as soon as we give rise to thoughts of evil, we will become animals and be in the animal realm. All people’s minds will be like those of animals. In this case, won’t all of us good people be swallowed by these animals? This is a very worrying matter. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this.

So, the Buddha came to the world in the hope that we all will return to our intrinsic nature. If we have bad habitual tendencies, the same habitual tendencies as monsters, then we must quickly change them and return to our true intrinsic nature, must quickly cultivate our intrinsic human nature until we can return to our. Buddha-nature, which is equal to the Buddha’s. If we are able to do this, then this world will be able to be saved. Otherwise, there will be more and more disasters.

The previous verse states, “At that time, that Buddha accepted the novices’ request 20,000 kalpas having already passed, He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.”

This is when He taught the Bodhisattva Way. This was the Buddha’s greatest aspiration, that we all listen to the Buddha-Dharma and experience the truth of the Buddha’s principles. This was His aspiration. He came to our world to teach the Bodhisattva Way, hoping we can comprehend the Buddha’s aspiration. This was the Buddha’s intent in teaching the Lotus Sutra. He opened up His heart to teach the Lotus Sutra, hoping people could comprehend [the teachings].

The next sutra passage states, “After He taught this sutra, the 16 novices, in order to achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, all accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together. When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.”

Now the 16 novices had received what they sought, the Buddha teaching them the Great Vehicle Dharma. The Great Vehicle Dharma is supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment; Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had consented and begun teaching this. He taught the Lotus Sutra, which is the Great Vehicle Dharma. He had already taught it, and the 16 novices all mindfully accepted and upheld it. The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra “was taught for those who wished to achieve universal and perfect enlightenment.” Having heard the Lotus Sutra and taken it in, their purpose in seeking the Dharma was to achieve universal and perfect enlightenment. This was their aim in seeking the Dharma.

“All accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together.”
All accepted and upheld it, recited its verses and keenly comprehended it together: Their power of faith was deep, so they could accept it. Their power of mindfulness was firm, so they could uphold it. Reading slowly and clearly is called “reciting.” Reading straightforwardly and loudly is “chanting.” Reciting verses is the wisdom of listening. Having keen comprehension is the wisdom of contemplation. Accepting and upholding are the wisdom of practice. These were the realizations of the 16 novices.

What does it mean to accept and uphold? To accept and uphold, they needed to have a “power of faith [that] was deep.” This is called “accepting.” Since we are listening to the Dharma, we must first have a deep root of faith for the. Buddha-Dharma to be able to be carved deeply into our minds; we must faithfully accept and practice it. This requires our faith to be deep; we must faithfully accept and practice. With firm power of mindfulness, we can “uphold.” We must accept and uphold. When we take the Dharma to heart, it becomes ours. In the past, our intrinsic nature of True Suchness was already obscured by ignorance and afflictions. We have wiped away some of that ignorance, so now there is some clarity.

We must be determined and put our efforts into understanding. We must put effort into spiritual practice and put effort into removing our ignorance bit by bit. If we know to practice this way, naturally the defilements will be eliminated. Our bright innate nature, the mirror of our mind, will be clear. So, because we now understand this, we must make effort to accept and uphold it. Thus, “Their power of mindfulness was firm, so they could uphold it.” Our every thought must be on how we can eliminate ignorance. We must be very firm; this is how we accept and uphold. We must maintain our firm resolve. Since we want to engage in spiritual practice, regardless of what kind of difficulties we face, we must still firmly persevere. This is firm power of mindfulness.

“Reading slowly and clearly is reciting.” When reciting the sutras, we must do it aloud; we must constantly recite and chant. The sound of this reciting is not very rushed; they must be read slowly. We must earnestly and slowly recite them, very clearly, word by word, projecting our voice. So, we recite slowly and clearly. Each word must be clearly recited.

“Reading straightforwardly and loudly is chanting.” We must loudly project our voice, and each phrase must be clear; this is said to be loud and clear. The sounds must be loud and each word clear; this is reciting its verses. Our power of faith must be firm, and our power of mindfulness must be maintained. This is to “accept and uphold, recite its verses.” The sound of our reciting should be loud and clear. Each phrase must be clear; this is “reciting its verses.”

Every morning as we do our morning recitation, we must similarly chant out loud. When we listen to sutras, we must be clear about each word and phrase and take them to heart. We must exercise our ability to firmly accept and uphold [the Dharma]. We absolutely must take the Dharma to heart. If we know that we have done something wrong, we must correct it right away; we must put effort into upholding [the Dharma] and correcting our past faults. With our negative habitual tendencies, we must quickly correct them one by one.

Reciting verses also means that after we have listened, we must recite them again. After listening, we take the Dharma to heart. We listen with our ears, but we must take it into our heart. Then we recite it again phrase by phrase.

“Keen comprehension” is wisdom of contemplating. After we have listened, we must earnestly contemplate it deep in our mind. This is called “having keen comprehension.”

“Accepting and upholding” is wisdom of practice. After listening to it, we contemplate it. With firm faith, we earnestly practice according to the teachings. This is how we engage in practice.

So, we need the wisdoms of listening, contemplation and practice. We must listen and internalize it, then continually recite it so that it can be imprinted deep in our minds. Each word must be heard deep in our mind so that when we encounter matters we thoroughly understand everything. This comes from our perspectives and thoughts. When we encounter situations, people, matters or things and have to handle various tasks, we will have keen comprehension of all of them. This requires us to put effort into accepting and upholding the Buddha-Dharma. Otherwise, speaking very honestly, when we listen to the sutras, it would just go in one ear and out the other. Or we would only hear half of it and take things out of context with only a partial understanding. We must earnestly be mindful and read and recite with keen comprehension. In accepting and upholding, reciting its verses and having keen comprehension, we must be mindful to accept and uphold.

This is how the 16 novices were able to comprehend the Great Vehicle Dharma. They were still very young and were still novices. They were not adults yet and had only received the novice precepts. But when the Buddha taught the Great Dharma, they were able to accept and uphold it, recite its verses and have keen comprehension. This is very special. They were able to “teach the Six Paramitas, the ultimate great practice of benefiting the self and others.” They were able to have keen comprehension and understand the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, they could use all kinds of methods and teach the Six Paramitas, the methods of the Six Perfections.

They taught the Six Paramitas, the ultimate great practice of benefiting the self and others: The Vaipulya teachings speak of the principle of the Middle Way. These are the proper principles of the equality of sentient beings and the Buddha. Therefore, they knew to teach the Vaipulya. The Six Perfections are the Bodhisattva-practice. Therefore, they knew to teach the Prajna. Accepting and upholding and so on mean they [accepted] the teachings completely and never lost them in their minds. All these things above were what they practiced and learned together.

Isn’t this like the six-year-old we mentioned? She was able to say to her mother, “Can’t you both take your [high] tempers and bring them down low, even lower? Can’t you do this?” That is right; we all have bad habitual tendencies. With such bad habits, aren’t we capable of changing them? If we are able to change them, then naturally in the end we will be able to have the ultimate great practice of benefiting ourselves and others.

These teachings given before the Lotus Sutra include the Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna. What the Vaipulya discusses is the principles of the Middle Way. The meaning of Vaipulya is “proper.” It is the principles of the equality of the mind, the Buddha and sentient beings. This is what is contained in the Vaipulya sutras. There are many principles, all of which are proper. [The Buddha] taught everyone that. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are all equal.” These principles had already been taught by the Buddha during the Vaipulya period. In the process required to teach the Lotus Sutra, He had to teach the Vaipulya sutras. So, “They knew to teach the Vaipulya.” The novices were able to teach the Six Paramitas because they had already gone through the Agama and the Vaipulya and reached the Prajna. Thus, when it came to actualizing the Six Perfections in all actions, the Bodhisattva Way that the Buddha taught, they were able to understand it. They recited its verses and had keen comprehension. They understood it all. “Therefore, they knew to teach the Prajna.” They accepted and upheld and so on, earnestly and diligently following the teachings. With every period of the Buddha’s teachings, such as the Agama period, they understood. Sentient beings’ capacities are limited, so Hearers follow the Agama teachings, the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. All of these things were taught one by one. Next was the Vaipulya, teaching the Great Vehicle Dharma that all sentient beings are equal. After that was the Prajna, the principles of analyzing how everything is ultimately empty. All this is the process of accepting and upholding and following the teachings. They remembered all of this deep in their minds. The 16 novices listened to the Dharma in this way, so they let none of it leak away. “[All this] was what they practiced and learned together.” They had practiced and learned all of this.

This is how the 16 novices earnestly practiced each teaching they attained. Every teaching was kept in their hearts. So, we must put effort into comprehending all this. How did the Buddha come to this life? What was the purpose of His life here? It was for the sake of all of us sentient beings. We have so much ignorance and so many afflictions, So, He taught continuously and laboriously in the hopes that everyone could accept the Bodhisattva-path and go among people to transform themselves and others. He hoped there would not only be a few good people. He did not want there to be many evil people who are all like fierce animals. If that happened, what could we do?

There must be more good people so that evil people can be tamed. Among the Buddha’s ten epithets, one of them is the Tamer. This is like what the six-year-old girl said. If people have bad tempers, then everyone in this world will turn into monsters. If there are a lot of monsters, then what are we to do? So, with monsters, there must be a tamer to train them. See, isn’t what this little girl said also the Buddha-Dharma? It is in the words of a child. The 16 novices were the same; the Buddha had taught Dharma for so long and they all listened. They accepted and upheld the teachings one by one, reciting them and having keen comprehension. So, we must be mindful.

The next passage states, “When this sutra was taught, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices all faithfully accepted it.”

“Bodhisattva-novices” is talking about when Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. Those who are called “novices” have only accepted the Ten Precepts. They originally followed the Small Vehicle, but these very young novices knew to seek the path to Buddhahood. Although they took the Ten Precepts, their aspirations were much greater. After the Buddha spoke of the Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna, these 16 novices again requested that the Buddha teach the Great Vehicle Dharma of supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They asked Him to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma. Everyone wanted to pursue the understanding and views equal to the Buddha’s. This was the 16 novices’ request for teachings.

Clearly, the Agama, Vaipulya and. Prajna of the past were all teachings they had heard before. They now sought the Buddha’s views and understanding and the path to Buddhahood. This was what they were seeking now. So, now their intention was to cultivate practices of the Great Vehicle. Thus they were called Bodhisattva-novices.

They had heard the Vaipulya and Prajna sutras, and 20,000 kalpas had already passed. This is a long time; that Buddha’s lifespan was very long. It is like how on our world, on our planet, in one year we have 365 days, while if we were on another planet, the years would be different. Take Pluto for instance. For it to circle the Sun one time, one of its years, is 160 years on our planet! Both planets are in the same solar system. Our year is 365 days. For Pluto to make a full orbit takes more than 160 of our years. So, the time is different. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s lifespan was also very long, so it was [the same] when He taught the Dharma. All Buddhas share the same path. In whichever world They teach the Dharma, the order is always the same. After 42 years, [Sakyamuni] Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra; after 20,000 kalpas, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha began to teach the Lotus Sutra.

So over the Vaipulya, Prajna and Agama periods, 20,000 kalpas had passed. He took 20,000 kalpas to expound the Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna. Thus, they had comprehended everything and practiced the Six Perfections. So, they were called “Bodhisattva-novices,” as they were worthy of being called “Bodhisattvas.”

When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, the novices had taken the Ten Precepts. They were originally Small Vehicle practitioners. Now they sought the path to Buddhahood and cultivated the Great Vehicle practice. Therefore, they were called Bodhisattva-novices. From listening to the Vaipulya and the Prajna across 20,000 kalpas, they practiced the Six Perfections. So, they are worthy of being called Bodhisattvas.

We are all able to be called Bodhisattvas as long as we have great aspirations and vows, walk the Bodhisattva-path and practice according to the teachings. The Buddha taught us in this way. If we practice in this way, benefiting ourselves and others, cultivating blessings for ouselves, then creating blessings for others, this is called the Bodhisattva-path. So, we must earnestly exercise true wisdom. “The true wisdom of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle” is the direction in which we must practice. We hope we can achieve wisdom equal to the Buddha, the understanding and views of the Buddha. So, the true wisdom of the True Dharma of the One Vehicle is what we must put into practice.

Although the Buddha had previously used provisional skillful means to teach according to capacities and had taught many skillful means, these were actually our foundation and allow us to understand the Dharma of the world. If we do not know the Dharma of the world, how can we have a way of understanding world-transcending Dharma? So, we still must value these skillful means. When it comes to the Agama’s Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, if we are unclear about them, how will we be able to diligently move toward the state of Buddhahood?

So, we must know that we need to cultivate roots of goodness. If we lack roots of goodness, how can we take the Dharma into our hearts? So, we must be earnest and mindful to persevere. Our power of faith must be deep and our power of mindfulness firm. We must constantly recite the Dharma in our minds so that we will be able to mindfully listen to, practice and contemplate each teaching. If we are able to do this, then after we listen to it, after we thoroughly contemplate it, we will put it into practice. If we cannot do this, then we will not be able to experience the true principles of the universe.

So, we must put effort into being mindful. We truly have been lost for too long. Our habitual tendencies are truly very deep. Now we must truly be mindful and put in our efforts to persevere. We must earnestly listen, contemplate and practice. So, we must always be mindful!

Episode 1052 – Accepting and Comprehending the Great Vehicle

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>> “The princes accepted and followed the Buddha’s instructions. They went along with the others who cultivate and uphold the Small [Vehicle] Fruit. They had comprehended the Great Vehicle teachings and principles. All the Dharma-doors accord with capabilities. In accord with capabilities, He turned the teachings to the Bodhisattva Way. He spoke of the principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.”

>> “Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together. World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views. As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts, the Buddha already confirms and knows them. At that time, the assembly led by the wheel-turning sage king of eight trillion people, upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, also requested to become monastics. The king heard this and gave his consent.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, that Buddha accepted the novices’ request 20,000 kalpas having already passed, He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> 20,000 kalpas having already passed: In these 20,000 kalpas, He first taught the Two Vehicle practitioners the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and so on. Later He accepted the princes’ request to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, we know that in the meantime, He could not have been silent, but must have taught the Vaipulya and Prajna.

>> It explains that He waited for the opportunity to be ripe to teach the Dharma. It also indicates that the Buddha’s lifespan was very long. So, the 20,000 kalpas He delayed, in terms of that Buddha’s years, did not appear to be a very long time. He must have taught the Vaipulya and Prajna and how to actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. These mostly explain the inconceivable matters of Bodhisattvas.

>> He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra: The Buddha sat among the assembly upon the lion’s throne to teach the Great Vehicle. This is to distinguish it from the Small Vehicle.>> The Great Vehicle sutra: The Great Vehicle Dharma. It means that those who have heard this sutra will all attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s distinctive Dharma. Thus, it is called the Great Vehicle, that teaches the Bodhisattva Way.

>> [It is] called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha: This sutra entirely teaches the True Dharma and states entirely the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, it is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.

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“The princes accepted and followed the Buddha’s instructions. They went along with the others who cultivate and uphold the Small [Vehicle] Fruit.
They had comprehended the Great Vehicle teachings and principles.
All the Dharma-doors accord with capabilities.
In accord with capabilities, He turned the teachings to the Bodhisattva Way.
He spoke of the principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.”

We should be able to connect this to the previous sutra passage. It should still have a deep imprint in our memory. Previously, we talked about how the 16 princes had feelings of utmost sincerity. Everyone came together and with one mind sincerely requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel and expound the Great Vehicle Dharma. The 16 princes became monastics with their childlike innocence. Their minds were very pure, undefiled and simple; they wholeheartedly sought the Dharma. Now the causes and conditions had matured at this assembly. The Brahma kings had all arrived, and everyone else was present. The wheel-turning sage king and his eight trillion followers were also present at the assembly.

The princes renouncing the lay life was one cause, a great cause, and in particular, they were already so innocent, with pure and undefiled minds. From their sincerity in seeking the Dharma, we can tell that this assembly must have been very dignified. With that atmosphere of seeking the Dharma, there was a strong spiritual feeling there. This state must have been very beautiful, with the heavens, the earth and people in a mental state of truth, goodness and beauty. Truly, when will we be able to have a state of mind that can be one with this kind of Dharma-assembly?

The princes accepted and followed the Buddha’s instructions. Ever since renouncing the lay life, they had reverently accepted the teachings. They engaged in spiritual practice among people and lived like the rest of the monastics. So, this is called “accepting and following” “the Buddha’s instructions.” They received no special [treatment]. Even though they were princes, when they became novices, they did not have a special way of life. They engaged in spiritual practice in the same way as everyone else. They worked and lived together and followed the assembly of seekers of the Small Fruits and practiced that way. Their lifestyle was the same; the way they practiced and listened to the Dharma was also the same, was equal to everyone else. As they did this, they awakened to the Great Vehicle teachings and principles. Though they were among [the other practitioners], they had truly awakened to this. Though there were still many people who had not thoroughly understood the Dharma, these novices had already realized them. So, they had awakened to the Great Vehicle teachings and principles.

In fact, when the Buddha taught the Dharma, He made no distinctions between the the Great and Small Vehicles. But because we have limited capabilities, the Buddha taught according to our capabilities. The teachings are all the same, but our capabilities are different. For those with great capabilities, the Dharma that they awaken to will naturally be the Great Dharma. This is like a large tree; when rain falls, the tree will absorb large amounts of water while small plants only absorb small amounts of water. The water is the same, but the amount they absorb is different. The Buddha said that the Dharma is like clouds and water. In the Chapter on Medicinal Plants, weren’t many of these analogies given? Though the 16 novices were among people, the Buddha taught according to their capabilities. With the capacities of the novices, the same Dharma was taught, thought what they awakened to were the teachings and principles of the Great Vehicle. So, “All the Dharma-doors accord with capabilities.” When the Buddha teaches the Dharma, He teaches according to our capabilities. The teachings are the same, but people have different capacities to accept them.

So, “In accord with capabilities, He turned the teachings to the Bodhisattva Way.” He observed everyone’s capabilities; if they had all reached the same level, then He could change how He taught to capacities. In the past, everyone practiced in that way. This was very good;

when Hearers listened to the Dharma, they understood the world is full of suffering. Hearers could understand that suffering comes from the accumulation of all kinds of causes and conditions; this creates suffering. Once they understood the principles, they became determined to eliminate the origin of suffering and earnestly engage in spiritual practice. They engage in practice for only one thing, to find ways to eliminate the origin of suffering. According to the same principle, when those with Great Vehicle [capabilities] hear, they know sentient beings face much suffering and that suffering is accumulated from the imbalance in sentient beings’ minds. Sentient beings face suffering from each other, suffer torment from each other, feel love, hate, passion and animosity for each other and in this way, they become entangled. Lifetime after lifetime, they experience unbearable suffering. “Once I understand this, I should also help others to understand this principle.” With the same teachings of the Four Noble Truths, those with limited capabilities only seek to end cyclic existence for themselves, while those with great capabilities comprehend the suffering of sentient beings. So, they benefit themselves and understand, then quickly work to benefit others. It is the same Dharma, but what [they realized] was different, in accord with their capabilities. When those with great capabilities accept limited teachings, they are also taken as Bodhisattva teachings.

So, the teachings taught by the Buddha in the past were well-accepted by everyone, by the Hearers and Solitary Realizers. [The Buddha] praised the Solitary Realizers for hearing one thing and realizing ten. They understood the impermanence of the world. From one thought of ignorance in the mind we give rise to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and thus remain in cyclic existence. Life in the world is like this, constantly changing and impermanent. They thoroughly understood these principles, but it was still the same. Though they had a deeper understanding of the Dharma and principles compared to the Hearers, and though from the weather and natural world they could realize the [principles], they were unable to give rise [to the thought], “I am suffering, and so is everyone else. I need to eliminate suffering and attain a state of stillness and tranquility, so everyone also needs to eliminate suffering and thoroughly understand the principles. Everyone is able to liberate themselves and reach a tranquil and still state of mind. This is not only for ourselves. Everyone should be able to achieve this state.” They lacked this kind of aspiration, so they were called Solitary Realizers. They were able to understand the principles, but they were unwilling to give of themselves.

Bodhisattvas are different. With the same teachings, the Bodhisattvas believed that they must advance to a higher level and gain a clearer view. Life is impermanent, and the Five Aggregates are empty. Within the teachings of “emptiness,” there is “wondrous existence”; this is extremely profound, wondrous and subtle. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, and everyone can attain Buddhahood. “Since everyone can attain Buddhahood, I can also attain Buddhahood. Everyone can attain Buddhahood, yet one thought of ignorance leads us astray. We must quickly go among people and practice together with everyone else, transforming suffering beings together.” This is to transform others through “collaborative work.” We willingly serve with charitable giving, with loving speech and beneficial conduct. We are willing to go among the people and live in the same way as everyone else while being able to use all kinds of methods to transform people in the world. This is [the work of] the Bodhisattvas.

So, “In accord with capabilities, He turned the teachings to the Bodhisattva Way.” In accord with these principles, [Bodhisattvas] were willing to go among people and pass on the teachings. They could likewise “speak of the principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” After we realize these principles, we must take whatever we understand and quickly share it with others. To be one who listens to the Dharma, teaches the Dharma and transmits the Dharma is something that everyone can do. So, we must put effort into being mindful and put the teachings into practice to serve others. When we benefit sentient beings, time constantly passes like this. If we only benefit ourselves, time still passes in the same way. If we benefit both ourselves and others, we will not have any less time. If we only focus on cultivating ourselves, we will not have any more time. In the same amount of time, we can benefit ourselves as well as others. This is just like Living Bodhisattvas. We often see and hear about their experiences and the way they serve others. We see how they are joyful, and we can also rejoice with them. We should all remember these many stories. Actually, these are not stories; these are true matters and appearances of the world.

Between August and September of 2013, a series of disasters struck the Philippines. In September, there was a manmade calamity and great turmoil in Zamboanga. Because of the imbalance in people’s minds, a conflict erupted and a fire was set, burning down an entire village. Around 10,000 to 20,000 households were affected. This was a very large manmade calamity, spreading from the village to the downtown of the city. The rebel fighters and police opposed each other. Every day, the noise of guns and bombs could be heard. This calamity caused 10,000 to 20,000 families to lose their homes and lasted for more than a month. Before this calamity had ended, also in the Philippines, an earthquake struck the island of Bohol. The buildings there were originally very simple. There were also many historic churches that were built more than 300 to 400 years ago. [When the quake struck], they all collapsed. This happened in October. Then in November, Typhoon Haiyan struck. In the province of Leyte, in Tacloban, Ormoc and many other villages, this [strong typhoon hit them] like a monster ripping up a piece of paper, as if completely destroying something. How tragic it was! This was the series of great disasters that hit the Philippines in 2013.

With all three calamities that had occurred, Tzu Chi volunteers got involved to help. During the fighting, Mr. Yang from Zamboanga led the local volunteers to help the people whose homes were destroyed by the fire and who were staying at the shelter. During the day, the fighting continued. How could they provide for these people who were suffering during this manmade calamity? During that time, no one dared open their shops. Some of the people who sold food provided food for Tzu Chi [to distribute]. Tzu Chi volunteers also gathered together to organize the food. They packed and categorized the food, then quickly distributed it at night. Outside, the fighting was still going on. They had to avoid the shelling to bring food to the disaster survivors who had no food to eat. This way, the people were be able to get what they needed to resolve their difficulties. For over a month, the volunteers constantly helped them. These were local volunteers; if they were not Bodhisattvas, how would they be able to do this?

They lived in the same place as everyone else. In that place, people’s minds were out of balance and thus they faced such disasters. So, those who were safe had to quickly go among the disaster survivors to help them. This was in Zamboanga. What about on the island of Bohol? There were no Tzu Chi volunteers there. What could be done? The volunteers from Manila moved as fast as they could, waiting for roads to clear and flights to resume. Once the roads were clear and flights resumed, they quickly went there to assess the disaster.

There was rubble everywhere they looked, and many of the houses had completely collapsed. I mentioned earlier about the churches. There were many churches on that island, but many of them had completely collapsed. Once the volunteers understood the conditions, they came back to Taiwan with information, pictures, videos and so on. Seeing what they brought back, it was truly suffering! What could be done? “If we can, we are able to help them; there is time and the roads are safe. We can now go and understand their situation and determine how to do the distributions based on the population. Then, based on their needs, for households facing difficulties, we can find ways to help them rebuild and find ways to ensure they are safe and find ways to stabilize their lives. You should wait until the road is safe, then spend some time to observe the situation.” “Yes, we will go back and quickly check on them.”

Once they understood [the conditions], they communicated their report back here. They felt that under those conditions, we should prepare for distributions. After the distributions, we would know how many people needed assistance in rebuilding their houses. But after a short while, the next month, November, Typhoon Haiyan hit. So, most of our efforts were dedicated to helping Tacloban and Ormoc.

What about the island of Bohol? Its disaster also required swift assistance. The children needed to go to school, but the schools had collapsed. These were our thoughts. In Zamboanga, so many buildings had burned. We also thought that we must quickly rebuild the schools. So in Taiwan, from mid-August, we began to manufacture prefabricated classrooms. But the fighting was still going on. Even though the prefabricated classrooms and the materials were all ready, we were still unable to ship these materials to Zamboanga. Because of this, the thoughts occurred that since Bohol needed schools right then, we should bring them to Bohol first.

So, we quickly got in touch with them again. “For the schools, is it alright to first use prefabricated classrooms?” The local people were very happy. They were very earnest in how they did things. A piece of land needed to be quickly cleared, and before [the classrooms] arrived, they had to first lay the tile flooring. I told them that, “From our experience in Thailand, tiles made from bamboo and cement will not break easily. In the future, when we move the classrooms, these tiles can be recycled.” We administered a “cash for work” program for the people there after the earthquake. In Tacloban, we had also already held a “cash for work” program. Then, we did the same on the island of Bohol. “You should also use a ‘cash for work’ program. For these prefabricated classrooms, we need to transport them by boat and so on. You should quickly mobilize the people through a ‘cash for work’ program. They should start to cut bamboo into slices and make floor tiles from that. Once the tiles are made, when the [classrooms] arrive, you will be able to start the process.”

They were very mindful and thorough in teaching. They explained the spirit of Tzu Chi to the residents and families of Bohol; [the volunteers] repeatedly talked about the spirit of Tzu Chi. They brought along movies so they could hold class at night and share with them. During the day, they taught them how to [make the tiles]. Everyone participated to the point that they felt, “We do not need the ‘cash for work’ program. You gave us so many things already. Our children will be able to study [in school]. We will do our best. As long as it is possible for us to get by, we do not need the ‘cash for work’ program. We will just do it.” I have not shared with all of you about Bohol. Although its area is very small, it covers the entire island.

So, in that place, we [taught] them as if giving volunteer training. Naturally, the residents on the island of Bohol became just like our Tzu Chi volunteers. Now, the classrooms have been set up very neatly. Moreover, none of the land there was wasted. We taught them how to grow vegetables and how to make a living. This process was truly very touching. Tzu Chi volunteers went among the people to truly bring the Dharma [to them] when they were suffering from this disaster. We spread the Dharma there to help put their minds at ease, help them in their daily living, teach them how to grow vegetables and build houses etc. This is all in their daily living. We were able to listen, then get involved and help. We gave to others with love. Those who received it felt gratitude from the bottom of their hearts. This interaction filled with love and gratitude, this method of transforming others, is truly very heartwarming.

In 2013, in the Philippines, consecutively through. September, October and November, there were these earth-shattering disasters. Tzu Chi volunteers were constantly giving to help. In 2014, the president of the Philippines summoned us. Although those who were serving were not the ones who went to see the president, we had to send representatives to be the ones who went in to see the president. However, they had not been involved [in the work]. Still, they accepted the president’s summons. The president asked that we send representatives, so our volunteers went to accept [the award]. Those who were doing the very laborious relief work to benefit others were also very happy. They thought, “This was very worthwhile for us. We helped the people here work together well. It was definitely worth it.”

They were filled with joy. They did not think, “We have done so much; why weren’t we the ones sent to answer the president’s summons?” They were not petty at all in this way. They had already fully integrated with the locals there. As soon as they stepped on the island, everyone there recognized them, respected them and was grateful for them. This comes from giving of oneself and creating good connections with sentient beings. They went among the people to benefit them. Comparing this feeling with visiting the president to receive an award, which do you think is better? This feeling of working among people continuously for a long time, I believe, is the most joyful feeling.

When I think of the work that they did, just this feeling alone makes me happy. In summary, this is the Dharma of the One Vehicle. This is the Bodhisattva-path. Bodhisattvas accept [the Dharma] through the Great Vehicle teachings and principles through the Great Vehicle teachings and principles. Though they accept and uphold the teachings among those who seek the Small [Vehicle] Fruit, in their minds, they have already accepted all the Buddha taught. “I take the Buddha’s mind directly into mine; I am willing to directly get involved and go among the people.” In this way, the Dharma has no distinctions of the Small or Great Vehicle; it is just people’s capabilities that differ. So, we must mindfully seek to experience this. This is how the Buddha-Dharma is, so we must be mindful.

The previous sutra passage states, “Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together. World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views. As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts, the Buddha already confirms and knows them. At that time, the assembly led by the wheel-turning sage king of eight trillion people, upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, also requested to become monastics. The king heard this and gave his consent.”

We talked about this passage before. Before this, it was describing the 16 novices. They accepted teachings from the Buddha and wanted Him to turn the Great Vehicle Dharma-wheel. They wanted to express that everyone’s resolve was firm and all were diligent in seeking the Dharma. We can comprehend the firm resolve of the 16 princes. During that time, the eight trillion followers of the wheel-turning sage king also saw their virtues and hoped to emulate them. They saw that the princes had renounced the lay life at such a young age. They did not cling to the family that binds them and were willing to dedicate themselves to the family of the Dharma. If young children can do this, what about adults?

So, they understood life is full of suffering, the suffering of impermanence and transmigrating in cyclic existence, which are beyond their control. They had realized this, so accordingly they requested to become monastics. To become monastics, they had to first request permission from the wheel-turning sage king because they were his followers. This was in line with basic principles. The wheel-turning sage king was already engaged in spreading the Dharma, so he let his 16 grandchildren become monastics. Now these followers were willing to renounce the lay life, so of course he rejoiced for them. Under such conditions, the Dharma flourished.

The next sutra passage states, “At that time, that Buddha accepted the novices’ request 20,000 kalpas having already passed, He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.”

We should understand their request for the Buddha to expound the Dharma now. From the time. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Buddhahood and began to turn the Dharma-wheel and expound the Dharma, it had already been a long time. Now at this point, it was finally the right time. So, what everyone was seeking was the Great Vehicle Dharma.

Thus, “At that time, that Buddha accepted the novices’ request.” This time was after. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had already expounded the Dharma. But now, the Dharma that they requested and sought was the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, now everyone was once again requesting the Buddha to expound the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, “that Buddha” refers to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. He was willing to accept the request from the 16 novices for the Great Vehicle Dharma,

20,000 kalpas having already passed: In these 20,000 kalpas, He first taught the Two Vehicle practitioners the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and so on. Later He accepted the princes’ request to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, we know that in the meantime, He could not have been silent, but must have taught the Vaipulya and Prajna.

“20,000 kalpas having already passed.” This was a very long period of time. In these preceding 20,000 kalpas, “He first taught the Two Vehicle practitioners.” He had already spent such a long time teaching Hearers and Solitary Realizers the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. This was just like Sakyamuni Buddha. In His lifespan of 80 years, He engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood, but it took Him 42 years to expound the Dharma for. Two Vehicle practitioners. The principle is the same; it took a very long period of time. All of the many teachings that He gave were ones that Two Vehicle practitioners could accept; they were suitable for. Two Vehicle practitioners’ capacities. So, from the Four Noble Truths and. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, though we say this very simply, in fact it took 20,000 kalpas before He was about to expound the Great Dharma. During this long period of time, He could not have been silent. How could He have been silent, just silently consenting the whole time? It must have been that during that time, before He expounded the Great Dharma, He taught the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and at the same time the Agama teachings. The Four Noble Truths and. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence were in the Agama Period. Next, He taught the Vaipulya and Prajna. These were all taught during the 20,000 kalpas.

In the past, we talked about the Five Periods. At the moment the Buddha attained Buddhahood, He entered the Avatamsaka state, the state of Buddhahood. His mind and the entire universe became one. This is the state of Buddhahood. After He attained enlightenment, He wanted to quickly share this with everyone. However, He considered that most sentient beings would not be able to accept [these teachings]. So, He thought further. He then went to Deer Park and gave the Three Turnings of the Four Noble Truths. Everyone should be familiar with this process. This was the Agama Period

12 years later, He began to expound the Vaipulya, the Vaipulya sutras. The Vaipulya sutras were a level above the Agama, when people were more willing to accept the Great Vehicle. After that came the Prajna, which is the Dharma of “emptiness.” However, everyone was still unable to awaken their great capabilities. The causes and conditions had not yet matured. This continued until the Lotus Dharma-assembly, when Sariputra requested the Dharma three times. Everyone should be familiar with this process.

So, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Agama during those 20,000 kalpas, then the Vaipulya and the Prajna, also in that period. The order is always like this. This shows that waiting for the causes and conditions and capabilities to teach the Great Dharma took a very long time. To truly explain the path to Buddhahood takes a long time. He gave so many teachings as He waited for people’s capabilities to mature.

It explains that He waited for the opportunity to be ripe to teach the Dharma. It also indicates that the Buddha’s lifespan was very long. So, the 20,000 kalpas He delayed, in terms of that Buddha’s years, did not appear to be a very long time. He must have taught the Vaipulya and Prajna and how to actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. These mostly explain the inconceivable matters of Bodhisattvas.

In particular, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s lifespan was very long. Wheel-turning sage kings only appear when the human lifespan is very long, when it is 80,000 years. Clearly, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had such a long lifespan. So, 20,000 kalpas was not a very long time for Him. It is our lifespan in the world that is very short.

In the world, our lifespan is less than 100 years 100 years in the world is just one day in Trayastrimsa Heaven. So, using this as a comparison, the lifespan of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was very long 20,000 kalpas should be similar to Sakyamuni Buddha’s 42 years. In terms of that Buddha’s Buddha-age, which means the time after He attained Buddhahood, He likewise used the 20,000 kalpas to teach the. Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna. The timing for this is reasonable because lifespans then were very long.

So, after the Agama, He had to teach the Vaipulya and Prajna. Without going through the process of the Vaipulya and Prajna, people would always be attached to the Small Vehicle Agama teachings. To pave a path for the future Great Vehicle, He had to go through the Vaipulya and Prajna. Only after these could He teach the Six Paramitas in all actions. These are the “inconceivable matters of Bodhisattvas.” With actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions, He could fully explain the Bodhisattvas’ coming and going in the world, all these inconceivable matters in this world.

He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra: The Buddha sat among the assembly upon the lion’s throne to teach the Great Vehicle. This is to distinguish it from the Small Vehicle.

“He then, before the fourfold assembly, taught the Great Vehicle sutra.” He patiently waited for the right time. He went through the process of the Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna, because He had to wait for the time when sentient beings’ capabilities were mature

and He could expound the Great Vehicle sutra. So, “The Buddha sat among the assembly” upon the lion throne. He taught the Dharma sitting on the lion throne. He was also waiting for the right time. So, we speak of the Great Vehicle to distinguish it from the Small Vehicle. He likewise sat upon the lion throne to expound the Dharma, but people’s capabilities were different. So, He had to wait for the right time, for those in the Small Vehicle, those with Small Vehicle capabilities, to form great aspirations. Only then could they accept the Great Vehicle. So, the Great and Small Vehicles are different because He had to give limited teachings to. Small Vehicle [practitioners] so that they could understand.

“The Great Vehicle sutra” refers to the Great Vehicle Dharma, the Great Vehicle teachings.
The Great Vehicle sutra: The Great Vehicle Dharma. It means that those who have heard this sutra will all attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s distinctive Dharma. Thus, it is called the Great Vehicle, that teaches the Bodhisattva Way.

By listening to the Great Vehicle sutra, everyone would be able to understand that, “It turns out it is like this! Now I have thoroughly understood the Dharma, and afflictions will not defile my mind. I now have this strength and this faith, so I am willing to go among people. I am not afraid of cyclic existence. I am clear about all these principles and am able to come and go freely.” After listening to the Great Vehicle sutra, their strength increased; they formed aspirations. So, they knew they could walk on the path to attaining Buddhahood.

Thus, “This is the Buddha’s distinctive Dharma.” This is telling us that we must walk on the Bodhisattva-path, which is different from the path of the Small Vehicle. This is the Great Vehicle, the direct Bodhi-path. It is different from the path of the Small Vehicle. So, this is the distinctive Dharma. The path to attaining Buddhahood is called the Bodhisattva-path, which is the Great Vehicle. It is not the Small Vehicle, but the Great Vehicle. Those who form great aspirations are able to accept the Great Vehicle Dharma. This teaches them the Bodhisattva Way.

“[It is] called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.”

[It is] called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra, which teaches the Bodhisattva Way and is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha: This sutra entirely teaches the True Dharma and states entirely the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, it is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.

In this way, all Buddhas share the same path. When any Buddha attains Buddhahood, they hope that all sentient beings can also attain Buddhahood. Thus, the Buddha must teach them in this way. So, “This sutra entirely teaches the True Dharma.” This sutra teaches the True Dharma and states entirely the Buddha’s original intent. He said everything that He needed to say. Though expounded in the past, He would verify this now. Previously, He taught the law of karma, the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Now He would likewise bring these in here and use analogies and verbal teachings. In the past, we explained the Chapter on Parables. This is how [He taught]. Every sentence entirely expresses the Buddha’s original intent.

“Thus, it is in the thoughts and under the protection of the Buddha.” This Dharma is what the Buddha wanted to teach. This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. The Great Vehicle is a path to Buddhahood. This is not the same as most paths. Undergraduate students study in universities, while graduate students study in research labs. The classrooms and the teaching methods are different. Kindergartners are in kindergartens. They are for young children to learn. In summary, there is the Small and the Great Vehicle Dharma. In fact, the Dharma is the same, but the difference lies in our capabilities. So, we say the rain nourishes all things, but we take it in based on our capacities. This is the only [difference].

So, the principles are very simple, but they can also be very profound. If we mindfully seek to comprehend the teachings, naturally there is no difficulty. So, we must “follow the Buddha’s instructions” and take the Buddha’s mind as our own. This way, we can freely discuss the principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. We can do this as long as we can always be mindful.

Episode 1051 – The Buddha Knows Our Deepest Thoughts

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>> “A wheel-turning sage king always uses Right Dharma to govern and transform the world, enabling his people not to kill, steal or commit any transgressions or evil. All receive his grace and each lives harmoniously, joyfully, happily and without strife. Due to these causes and conditions, he is one all people make offerings to.”

>> “All these countless thousands and millions of. Hearers of great virtue have already achieved attainment. World-Honored One, You must also teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together. World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views. As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts, the Buddha already confirms and knows them.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> They are saying, “Since we have the aspirations and have long formed this resolve, which is also very deep, now, from the depths of our hearts, we constantly think of the Tathagata’s understanding and views. With the Tathagata’s wisdom of observing capabilities, this must be something He confirms and knows.”  

>> Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together: If we can hear this teaching, all of us will practice and learn it together.

>> World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views: We princes have made vows and formed aspirations to seek the Tathagata’s supreme understanding and views.

>> As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts: They aspire to attain Buddhahood. This is in the depths of their hearts. Their every thought was of the Buddha, and they sought no other Vehicle.

>> As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts: With their deep aspirations, they took joy in gathering all virtuous teachings, and they returned to True Suchness with a straightforward mind and right mindfulness. This is seeking Bodhi.

>> The Buddha already confirms and knows them: The Buddha, through His spiritual powers, already knows our hearts and confirms for us that delivering all sentient beings with a mind of great compassion is encompassed by our vows. As for our resolve to seek the Dharma and transform others, the Buddha already confirms and knows it.

>> “At that time, the wheel-turning sage king’ assembly of eight trillion people, upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, also requested to become monastics. The king heard this and gave his consent.”

>> At that time, the wheel-turning sage king’ assembly of eight trillion people: The king, grandfather of the princes, the father of Great Unhindered Buddha, went to where that Buddha was. The assembly that he led of eight trillion people: This is the assembly led by the wheel-turning king.

>> Upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, [they] also requested to become monastics: Seeing the princes become monastics, they immediately gave rise to the thought of doing the same. So, they deeply admired the noble path of transcending a worldly, entangling family and entering the family of the Dharma-nature.

>> The king heard this and gave his consent: The sage king transformed the world through the Ten Good Deeds, so when his followers were to become monastics, he immediately gave his consent.

>> Question: What is the meaning behind his servants and followers becoming monastics? Answer: Precisely to set up the opportunity for the princes to reiterate the teachings. Since they were the assembly who doubted Wisdom Buddha, they were thus the assembly whom the princes formed affinities with.

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“A wheel-turning sage king always uses Right Dharma to govern and transform the world,
enabling his people not to kill, steal or commit any transgressions or evil.
All receive his grace and each lives harmoniously, joyfully, happily and without strife.
Due to these causes and conditions, he is one all people make offerings to.”

Our ideal world would be a world like this. In the circumstantial and direct retributions of our lives in the world, we hope to be born in a place where “government follows the Way.” For people living in a country like this, in a country where the rule of law prevails, the country will follow a Way that is right. People there can live harmoniously and joyfully, without hardships. This is their circumstantial retribution in life. This is what people in this world ask for, favorable weather, peace and prosperity. This is what most people hope for. This requires “a wheel-turning sage king” who “always uses Right Dharma to govern and transform the world.”

Being born in the land of a wheel-turning sage king is to be born into an era of the greatest peace and harmony. When the ruler is a wheel-turning sage king, he can govern the world. He can govern with Right Dharma and effortlessly lead people to peace. In that country, not many laws would be needed. The people would naturally enjoy a favorable balance in the world and could live harmoniously and joyfully, in peace and working happily. With things like this, what need is there for laws to govern? This is due to the wheel-turning sage king’s blessings as a leader; he is blessed from his past lifetimes of leadership, engaging in spiritual practice and forming blessed affinities. He practiced the supreme good deeds, so he created infinite blessings. He upheld the supreme precepts, so his blessings were complete and abundant. His blessed affinities resulted in circumstantial retributions in a country like this. On top of that is his virtues; with blessings and virtues, naturally there is peace in his land.

In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, His father the king was a wheel-turning sage king. Everyone there truly lived in peace; it was a happy place where people’s lives were long. This was because of Right Dharma. Right Dharma allows one to govern and transform the world. If there was no Buddha in such a world, the Buddha’s teaching would still flourish and people’s attitudes would still be harmonious.

Actually, the Right Dharma does not have so many teachings; it is just the principles for being a good person, just human morality. It is as simple as that. So it says, he “enables his people not to kill, steal or commit any transgressions or evil.” This is how Right Dharma. This is how Right Dharma is used to govern and transform the world. When such simple teachings are used to govern the world, people naturally do not want to kill or steal and have no evil thoughts or mistakes. None of these are present.

Think about it; people would live in peace and work happily. What a harmonious world it would be! This is what we seek, a world full of genuine and fruitful interactions, without any kind of pettiness stemming from ignorance and afflictions. Society would naturally govern itself. There would be no need for laws. The Dharma would be in everyone’s heart, and people would interact harmoniously and joyfully. So, “All receive his grace and each lives harmoniously, joyfully, happily and without strife.” If people could live like this, it would be a very ideal world indeed. It would a pure land on earth.

So, “Due to these causes and conditions, he is one all people make offerings to.” In a world led by a wheel-turning sage king, people all uphold the Dharma and society’s rules, so their days pass in peace. The Buddha, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, also taught the Dharma in His world. His was a very harmonious and happy world. To live in a wealthy society and also have the Buddha-Dharma, have the principles to listen to, is adding riches on top of riches. With causes and conditions like these, the people lived very good lives. They also understood how to mutually create blessings for one another and make offerings to one another. It was a world where nothing was lacking, where everyone gave to one another. They gave their love. It was an extremely harmonious and joyful world. This is the world we are all seeking. This was in the time of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha.

Actually, the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior is the era of our mind as well. We are all equal to the Buddha. All of us, since Beginningless Time, have had a Great Unhindered Buddha; this is our nature of True Suchness. It is just that dust-inked kalpas ago, that Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had already accomplished everything; His wisdom was superior to all. So, He was called Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior due to His wondrous application of True Suchness. He manifested the wondrous application of True Suchness, while our nature of True Suchness merely exists. Our wondrous application has been defiled by ignorance. So as unenlightened beings, we can have a lifespan as long as His, as our nature of True Suchness has remained unchanging since Beginningless Time. It neither increases nor decreases, never changes. So, the lifespan of our nature is also that long. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s lifespan was very long. The lifespan of our nature of True Suchness is in fact also that long. Our nature of True Suchness is also like this, so broad and open, in such accord with the principles. This is like a society or a world governed by Right Dharma.

It is the same idea. This is to give everyone better understanding of how Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha is the nature of True Suchness within us all. There is also a wheel-turning sage king in our mind. Each of us can govern our own thoughts. When we govern our own minds well, Right Dharma will be within us; Right Dharma will be in our minds. If we could do this, what ignorance and afflictions would we have? The wheel of Right Dharma is in our mind too; we just do not know how to turn it. If we cannot turn the Dharma-wheel, If the Dharma-wheel in our own minds won’t turn, how can we find ways to ask the Buddha to turn it?

So, in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s time, we can see what a grand occasion it was. A wheel-turning sage king had come to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The Brahma kings had come to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The Brahma kings themselves had undergone constant spiritual practice during their past lives, cultivating supreme practices and upholding the supreme precepts. They already understood these principles; they just still had subtle amounts of afflictions that they could not yet see through. Actually, we are also like this. Like the Brahma kings, in the span of a thought, we can also practice the supreme good deeds and uphold the supreme precepts. The ground of our mind can also be pure and undefiled like the Brahma kings.’ When we are like this, we can ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s father was a wheel-turning sage king. He accompanied the 16 princes to the place of enlightenment to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The wheel-turning sage king was already replete with both blessings and wisdom. These 16 novices had, since Beginningless Time, even before the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, also already engaged in spiritual practice at the places of practice of other Buddhas and had maintained their innocent intrinsic nature. This had all happened countless kalpas in the past. Actually, these are all descriptions of the ground of our mind, of our mind. Our mind can be that of a Brahma king, a wheel-turning sage king or the intrinsic nature of the 16 princes. So, the place of enlightenment of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha is actually the spiritual training ground that is intrinsic to each and every one of us.

Since there were so many people in that scene, heavenly beings and benevolent kings who came to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s assembly to ask Him to turn the Dharma-wheel, these were such auspicious causes and conditions! Where are these superior causes and conditions? This depends on us, upon our willingness to make the best use of superior causes and conditions.

To be able to hear the Dharma is very difficult! Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha lived many dust-inked kalpas ago; the source of the Dharma is what we take refuge in. But as unenlightened beings, a single slip of the mind can lead us into ignorance. So, “An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. External states lead to the Six Coarse Marks.” I often tell everyone this. Moreover, a single thought of ignorance will lead to action, and when there is action, the Six Course Marks from external states arises. The source of the Dharma is the same; good or evil phenomena, the source is the same. Evil also arises in the span of a thought and thus produces ignorance. The source of these negative phenomena is a single thought of ignorance. For Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, the source of the Dharma is likewise in a single thought. With a single thought we become Brahma kings. With a single thought we become a wheel-turning sage king. With a single thought we become. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. All of this depends on our thoughts, whether that thought turns toward good or evil. Toward evil is to continue on in ignorance. Toward good is to return to our nature of True Suchness.

Going toward good brings good effects. Going toward evil results in evil retributions. There are also indeterminate actions. If one is not extremely evil, he will not necessarily descend into hell. Although he did not do good in the human realm, he will not necessarily fall into hell. Though he may be very good, he may still not practice supreme good deeds, and so may remain in the human realm instead of being born in heaven. Perhaps due to a single thought going astray, he may enter the Three Evil Destinies, the animal, hungry ghost or hell realm. Whether extremely evil or indeterminate [karma], it all depends upon the mind. So, if our minds can earnestly return to our nature of True Suchness, if we exercise our intrinsic wisdom-nature and express our wisdom, we will not fall into cyclic existence. We will return to our nature of True Suchness, the source of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha.

In summary, everything depends on our minds. I hope we earnestly use our minds. We must see if we can follow the Dharma to correct our minds and adjust them correctly so they do not deviate again.

Thus, the previous sutra passage says, “All these countless thousands and millions of. Hearers of great virtue have already achieved attainment. World-Honored One, You must also teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

Do you remember who spoke these passages? It was the 16 princes. The 16 princes had already begun to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, not just for their own sakes, but for the sake of Hearers with great virtue. They wished to be able reach. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, the wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s. This is what the 16 princes hoped for.

The sutra next says, “Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together. World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views. As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts, the Buddha already confirms and knows them.”

 “Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together.” If the World-Honored One were to turn the Dharma-wheel and teach them, after hearing it, they would definitely faithfully practice it.

“World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views. As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts, the Buddha already confirms and knows them.” [They said,]. “World-Honored One, our aspiration is to have the same understanding and views as you. Our resolve and our faith are deep. With the utmost reverence, we formed aspirations and made great vows; the Buddha should be able to verify this. The Buddha should know our sincerity in asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel and teach us. What we hope for is to have wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s.”

This was what the 16 princes said in unison. They spoke not only for themselves, but for the sake of everyone else there as well. They were expressing their utmost reverence. So, they said, “We have the aspirations. We, the 16 princes, and all of the. Hearers of great virtue had these aspirations.”

They are saying, “Since we have the aspirations and have long formed this resolve, which is also very deep, now, from the depths of our hearts, we constantly think of the Tathagata’s understanding and views. With the Tathagata’s wisdom of observing capabilities, this must be something He confirms and knows.”

[They said,] “‘We have long formed this resolve,’ which is also very deep.” They formed aspirations a long time ago and have looked forward to this for a very long time. Furthermore, their root of faith was also very deep. They were able to understand the Dharma they heard, so they asked the Buddha to not worry. “We constantly think of the Tathagata’s understanding and views.” Their every thought is about having the Tathagata’s understanding and views, to have the same ones as the Tathagata. The Buddha, the World-Honored One, should be able to understand this. “With the Tathagata’s wisdom of observing capabilities, this must be something He confirms and knows.” Through His wisdom of capabilities, through observing with His wisdom of capabilities, the Tathagata should to be able to understand us, how deep our resolve is in seeking the Buddha’s understanding and views.

We might remember that before, when the Buddha first agreed and began to speak, He explained to everyone how if someone’s capabilities were insufficient or they were not replete with faith, or they had deviant views, one should not teach them [the Lotus Sutra]. Do you remember? We spoke about this before. All Buddhas share the same path. Now the 16 princes had come to tell Him, “Our root of faith is correct. We already possess this wisdom to enable us to accept it. What we wish to hear and understand with true sincerity is the Great Vehicle Dharma. We absolutely will not deviate from it.” This was their response. When Sakyamuni Buddha was about to teach the Lotus Sutra, He took a very long time to explain what kinds of people could not listen to the Great Dharma, those without roots of faith, those whose wisdom had not been unlocked, etc., those with deviant faith. With people like these, He could not teach the Great Dharma.

So, this sutra passage says “with the Tathagata’s wisdom of observing capabilities.” The Tathagata had the wisdom to observe their capabilities, so the Tathagata should be able to confirm that they had reached such capacities and that it was time they receive the Great Dharma. The 16 novices expressed their intentions so sincerely on behalf of the great many Hearers. We can also feel their respect for the Buddha. The Buddha, the World-Honored One, in His wisdom, could certainly observe everyone’s aspirations. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. This expresses that so many people understood the Buddha’s wisdom is one with the universe; it is as vast as the whole universe and can clearly reflect sentient beings’ capacities.

Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together: If we can hear this teaching, all of us will practice and learn it together.

“Once we have heard it, we will practice and learn it together.” After they hear it, they will all diligently practice and learn it. They will treasure hearing it and mindfully accept this Dharma and take it to heart. “All of us” will earnestly engage in spiritual practice with this Dharma. If only the Buddha would teach us, we would greatly cherish it and practice according to this Dharma.

World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views: We princes have made vows and formed aspirations to seek the Tathagata’s supreme understanding and views.

“World-Honored One, we aspire toward the Tathagata’s understanding and views.” What they all aspired to was the understanding and views of the Tathagata. The Tathagata had awakened to the principles of the universe; there were none that He did not understand. “We also look forward to becoming like the Buddha, so that with all the principles in the universe, we can have a very penetrating perspective and completely understand everything.” This was their hope, what they hoped for, what they sought. They aspired to reach the Buddha’s understanding and views.

When it says “we,” it means the 16 princes who had “made vows and formed aspirations” to seek the Tathagata’s understanding and views. When I speak of their earnestness in seeking the Dharma, I am also quite moved. This is earnestly seeking the Dharma. As we listen to the Dharma now, are we that sincere? In listening to the Dharma, are we without Leaks? Or after hearing it, do we allow it to leak away? Do we listen and let it leak away simultaneously? A mind without Leaks is a very reverent mind, one that is earnest and sincere. We should not listen in a perfunctory manner or just to be able to get through listening. It should not be like this. We must be earnest and very sincere.

So, [we] “seek the Tathagata’s supreme understanding and views.” This was the Dharma they sought. They were so sincere and heartfelt; this sincerity came from the depths of their hearts. It came from their hearts; it was so sincere.

As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts: They aspire to attain Buddhahood. This is in the depths of their hearts. Their every thought was of the Buddha, and they sought no other Vehicle.

Their vow was to engage in spiritual practice. So, “as for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts” means. “They aspire to attain Buddhahood. This is in the depths of their hearts.” In seeking the Dharma, one must engage in practice with the Dharma. Their determination was of utmost sincerity. “Their every thought was of the Buddha.” In every second of their daily living, their minds were never apart from the Buddha; the Buddha was inseparable from their mind. Thus, “Their every thought was of the Buddha, and they sought no other Vehicle.” They did not need to seek anything else. They only sought to take the Buddha’s mind as their own, to take the Buddha’s perspectives as their perspectives. They sought to have the Buddha’s mind and perspectives.

As for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts: With their deep aspirations, they took joy in gathering all virtuous teachings, and they returned to True Suchness with a straightforward mind and right mindfulness. This is seeking Bodhi.

So, “as for the thoughts in the depths of our hearts,” means “With their deep aspirations, they took joy in gathering all virtuous teachings.” Since we want to seek the Dharma, we should seek it from the depths of our hearts. The Dharma we seek is the virtuous teachings. “They took joy” means it was joyful for them to listen to Dharma. It was virtuous Dharma, so they took joy in gathering all virtuous teachings. So, that is why they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, because they sought to have perspectives that were equal to the Buddha’s. The Buddha’s perspective was one of gathering all virtuous teachings into one mind. Thus the Buddha was already very clear. He eliminated ignorance and was completely pure. He had gathered together all virtuous teachings.

We need all virtuous teachings to directly enter into our minds. This is “a straightforward mind, right mindfulness.” Through virtuous teachings, with a straightforward mind and right mindfulness, they could return to their nature of True Suchness. This is the resolve to seek Bodhi, the resolve to seek this path. How do we return to our nature of True Suchness, back to a straightforward mind and right mindfulness? We must take this path, the Bodhi-path; with its enlightened nature, we must be very mindful and put the teachings into practice.

The Buddha already confirms and knows them: The Buddha, through His spiritual powers, already knows our hearts and confirms for us that delivering all sentient beings with a mind of great compassion is encompassed by our vows. As for our resolve to seek the Dharma and transform others, the Buddha already confirms and knows it.

“The Buddha already confirms and knows them.” Only the Buddha knows what is in our hearts. Only the Buddha can understand our hearts. Who else can know our hearts and the depths of our sincerity? “The Buddha, through His spiritual powers, already knows our hearts.” The Buddha’s “power of knowing others’ minds” enables Him to understand what is in our hearts. He “confirms for us.” Only the Buddha can understand how sincere we are in seeking the Dharma. What we seek is for all virtuous teachings to directly enter our minds. What we need the most is to directly enter into our nature of True Suchness. Only the Buddha can confirm this path for all of us. We are definitely those for whom the Buddha can be at ease in teaching the Great Dharma.

We often say, “This teaching is of no use to that person.” So, we naturally do not want to teach him. “I’ve already lost my faith in this person. It’s no use teaching him.” When an ox drinks water, it increases his strength. When a snake drinks water, it increases his venom. In the same way, if someone with sincerity and faith who wants to seek the Dharma comes to hear this teaching, it will increase his wisdom-life. If his mind is off-track and improper, then it will only increase his intelligence. Intelligence can easily mislead us. Those who are intelligent have a very high rate of creating evil karma. So, what we want is to increase our wisdom-life, not to increase our intelligence. Thus, in seeking to learn the Buddha-Dharma, we must go about it very sincerely. This is the only way we will increase our wisdom. Only the Dharma can do this. The Buddha can understand us,

so in the past as we constantly listened, the Buddha kept telling us, “You cannot teach to these kinds of people. You cannot teach it to people like this. You cannot teach it…” and so on. Now, at this point in the sutra, we can deeply understand that this is true. Only those who are genuine in seeking the Buddha’s understanding and views, who take the Buddha’s mind as their own and are truly sincere, are those who we can teach. They are those who truly know their teacher’s heart.

“Delivering sentient beings out of great compassion” is the great aspiration we have all already formed. The aspiration we have formed comes from what we have realized; it is the same as the Buddha’s, the aspiration to transform sentient beings. We all have already given rise to great Bodhicitta and seek the Great Vehicle Dharma in order to broaden our great compassion so we can transform all sentient beings. “This is encompassed within our vows.” The Great Vehicle and great compassion are part of our vows. So, “As for our resolve to seek the Dharma and transform others,” the Buddha can confirm and know this. He can understand us, that all of us have made this great vow and wish to practice the Great Vehicle Dharma. The Great Vehicle Dharma requires us to go among others to transform sentient beings. This is our aspiration. We are willing to seek the Dharma, willing to transform others. Our resolve to do this is very strong; the Buddha should be able to understand this. Time and again, they hoped the Buddha would confirm that they had formed great aspirations and made great vows. They hoped the Buddha would have faith in them and would teach them the Great Dharma, as they truly knew His heart.

Let us look; the next passage says,

“At that time, the wheel-turning sage king’ assembly of eight trillion people, upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, also requested to become monastics. The king heard this and gave his consent.”

Not only did the 16 princes become monastics, they went before the Buddha and requested that He turn the Dharma-wheel, expressing their sincerity. Even the wheel-turning sage king did this. He had accompanied the princes to the place of enlightenment of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. The wheel-turning sage king came, and even his ministers and family also followed along to this auspicious assembly. They saw the Brahma kings request the turning of the Dharma-wheel and saw the princes express their desire to become monastics and ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. There were eight trillion people at that place. As this was happening, these eight trillion were also willing to ask the Buddha if they could become monastics. Those who followed the wheel-turning sage king also asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior to grant them permission to become monastics. Clearly this Dharma-assembly was an extremely grand occasion. The Great Dharma was about to be revealed, and everyone’s heart found its direction at this time.

At that time, the wheel-turning sage king’ assembly of eight trillion people: The king, grandfather of the princes, the father of Great Unhindered Buddha, went to where that Buddha was. The assembly that he led of eight trillion people: This is the assembly led by the wheel-turning king.

So, “the king, grandfather of the princes,” was “the father of Great Unhindered Buddha.” Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s father, the grandfather of the 16 princes, was the wheel-turning sage king. He “went to where that Buddha was.” He too came to the place of enlightenment of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. “Led by” means there were eight trillion in his retinue, in the assembly led by the wheel-turning sage king. This was a lot of people.

Upon seeing the 16 princes become monastics, [they] also requested to become monastics: Seeing the princes become monastics, they immediately gave rise to the thought of doing the same. So, they deeply admired the noble path of transcending a worldly, entangling family and entering the family of the Dharma-nature.

Seeing how the 16 princes had become monastics and sought the Dharma, they too wished to become monastics and seek the Dharma. Upon seeing this, all rejoiced. They “immediately gave rise to the thought of doing the same.” [They felt,] “The princes are royalty and have such high positions, yet they are willing to give up everything in order to become monastics. What about us?” They wished to emulate the princes’ virtue. Seeing the princes willingly become monastics, they too formed the same aspirations, wishing to transcend the world. They were very admiring; they admired the noble path of “transcending a worldly, entangling family,” because they were entangled, bound by family. If one has a family, then think about it; don’t we often hear, “My parents are getting old now. I must care for my parents. My children are still young. They have so many problems at school. My business is still not yet running the way I would like it to run. I don’t have the time to help with anything.” Think about the responsibilities one takes on in having a family, the bonds it creates. Thus, they wished to “transcend a worldly, entangling family.” They wanted to escape the entanglements of family and “enter the family of the Dharma-nature.” They wished to transcend family entanglements and enter the family of the Dharma-nature. This is why those who came following the wheel-turning sage king were willing to become monastics.

The king heard this and gave his consent: The sage king transformed the world through the Ten Good Deeds, so when his followers were to become monastics, he immediately gave his consent.

“The king heard this and gave his consent.” They first asked the sage king, “Can I leave my family? Can I give up my position and concentrate on becoming a monastic?” They had to first ask the wheel-turning sage king. So, “A sage king transforms the world through the Ten Good Deeds, so when his followers were to become monastics, he immediately gave his consent.” The wheel-turning sage king had always safeguarded the Buddha-Dharma. Even before the Buddha appeared in the world, the wheel-turning sage king had always upheld and preserved Right Dharma. Now that the Buddha had appeared in the world and everyone was willing to learn the. Buddha’s teachings and become monastics, of course he rejoiced. Since he was happy, he agreed to them becoming monastics.

Question: What is the meaning behind his servants and followers becoming monastics? Answer: Precisely to set up the opportunity for the princes to reiterate the teachings. Since they were the assembly who doubted Wisdom Buddha, they were thus the assembly whom the princes formed affinities with.

At this point in the sutra some people ask about “his servants and followers becoming monastics.” What is the significance of this? Since these people were all those whom the wheel-turning sage king could order around, those who were governed by him, what did their wanting to become monastics mean? What does this signify? The answer is that it is “precisely to set up the opportunity for the princes to reiterate the teachings.” We already mentioned how the Brahma kings had all arrived. Now they, along with these many other people, would become the assembly the 16 princes would form affinities with.

Remember King Suddhodana? When the crown prince renounced the lay life, he sent people to accompany him. After the Buddha attained enlightenment and returned to the palace, King Suddhodana announced that if a family had more than one son, then one of them could become a monastic. This is the heart of a Dharma-protector. It was like this for. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior in the past and the same for Sakyamuni Buddha now. His family and His father, the king, were also Dharma-protectors. Only if the Sangha flourished would the Buddha-Dharma prosper. This is probably the same concept.

So, in the future, after the 16 princes listen to the teachings, the 16 princes would again teach and pass on the Dharma. This would be in the future. However, he would first allow the princes to listen to the Dharma from. Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha and grow. This would also allow the Sangha of spiritual practitioners to flourish. So, this was the opportunity.

There were also those with doubts and confusion in. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s assembly. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, there were also those who had doubts and confusion. They wondered if the Buddha-Dharma was correct or a deviant teaching. The wheel-turning sage king wanted the people of that era to have a correct perspective. For so many people to want to become monastics, it definitely had to be Right Dharma. The world is always like this. There were those in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era who also had doubts and confusion. In order for those who had doubts and confusion to eliminate them, the wheel-turning sage king allowed those by his side to also renounce the lay life. He was protecting the Dharma and assisting at the assembly. “They were thus the assembly whom the princes formed affinities with.” These people were those the princes would form affinities with and teach the Dharma to in the future. Since this great retinue had come, since these eight trillion people had appeared, it was these many people whom the 16 princes would form affinities with in the future. This was an opportunity; it was the causes and conditions. This is how they paved the path.

Everyone, learning the Buddha’s teachings is always like this. That past Buddha’s Dharma-assembly was like this. The present Buddha’s Dharma-assembly was also like this. They were much the same. For the present Buddha, Sakyamuni, His world of more than 2000 years ago and. Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha’s world were greatly different. From what we just heard, they were very different. There were eight trillion followers. How could there be so many? But our present Sakyamuni Buddha’s followers only numbered 1250 people. Those who truly left the palace and accompanied the Buddha by His side were only the five bhiksus in the beginning. When He returned to transform others, there were only so many followers who stayed by the Buddha’s side. So, this is saying that the eras were different. What about we who also learn the Buddha’s teaching? How many people will we be able to transform? We should completely dedicate our whole bodies and lives to taking the Dharma to heart and walking the Bodhisattva-path. This depends on whether we are always mindful.

Episode 1050 – Practice Diligently With Innocence and Purity

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>> “Since dust-inked kalpas ago, all have had the initial enlightenment of True Suchness. With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently. Over many lifetimes, they cultivated the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle. They formed Great Vehicle aspirations and made the Four Great Vows.”

>> “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas, purely cultivated Brahma-conduct and sought Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They all addressed the Buddha, saying, “‘World-Honored One.'” They asked the Buddha to teach the Dharma “‘All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great virtue have already achieved attainment World-Honored One, You must also teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great virtue: They were so numerous that they were countless These Hearers of awe-inspiring virtue are many.

>> [They] have already achieved attainment: This refers to the previous 600 trillion and others who were unaffected by all phenomena of Leaks and had attained Arhatship. They engaged in spiritual practice with courageous diligence, and their minds were never self-indulgent. Thus they were called Arhats. With the strength of focused diligence, they were said to have achieved attainment.

>> [They] have already achieved attainment: This indicates that they had already eliminated the turbidities of hindrances. Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated. The children’s merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete. They also had compassion for all Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate, so they again entreated Him to reveal it.

>> World-Honored One, You must also teach us: We pray the Buddha will also teach us. This was said by the 16 princes.

>> Teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: The Dharma of practicing supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is the Bodhisattvas’ practice of actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions.

>> You previously turned the Dharma-wheel of the Small Vehicle to benefit the Hearers. They all achieved attainment. Now You must open and reveal the Great Vehicle in line with our aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views. This expresses their intent in entreating Him to teach the Dharma.

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“Since dust-inked kalpas ago, all have had the initial enlightenment of True Suchness.
With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently.
Over many lifetimes, they cultivated the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle.
They formed Great Vehicle aspirations and made the Four Great Vows.”

We should be very clear about this. The 16 novices lived in. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha lived dust-inked kalpas ago. We must still remember that dust-inked kalpas are very long; they are incalculable. This is a time beginningless kalpas ago. We clearly explained this in the previous passages. From Beginningless Time, we have all had our initial enlightenment of True Suchness. This was what the Buddha said to us. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” All sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have intrinsically had the. True Suchness of initial enlightenment. The initial enlightenment of True Suchness is in everyone’s intrinsic nature.

But we unenlightened beings let a single thought go astray and lost our initial enlightenment of True Suchness. We say we lost it, but actually, it has not been lost; it is merely covered by ignorance. So now, as Buddhist practitioners, we want to return to our intrinsic nature. We make use of the Buddha-Dharma to guide us on the path to return to our intrinsic nature. The Lotus Sutra is a guide to lead us in returning to our nature of True Suchness. Every chapter has its profound, hidden meanings. We must earnestly be mindful of this.

At the beginning of the. Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of dust-inked kalpas ago, of beginningless kalpas ago in Beginningless Time. At that time, there were many Brahma kings who had cultivated supreme virtues, upheld supreme precepts and returned to the purity of their mind. This is called Brahma-conduct. With this Brahma-conduct, they were born in the Brahma heavens. So, when Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha first sat in the Bodhimanda and attained perfect enlightenment, the Brahma kings came from the ten directions. The Brahma kings came from every direction and were all so dignified. They scattered flowers along the way 500 trillions, countless Brahma kings, journeyed all this way, and to express their utmost sincerity, they even offered their Brahma palaces to the Buddha. This was the scene. The scattered flowers were like Mt. Sumeru, dignifying the place of enlightenment. All shared the same purpose, which was to request that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel.

Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha needed to wait for causes and conditions to mature. When they asked Him to turn the Dharma-wheel, He silently consented. We should again think back and remember this; we must think back to that state. Only after the Brahma kings from above arrived and all from the ten directions were there requesting the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel did the Buddha finally use the. Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence to teach. These were what everyone could understand. They learned that cyclic existence starts from one thought of ignorance. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation, then each Link gives rise to the next until giving rise to the worries, sadness and distress of aging, illnesse and death. Starting in this way, we transmigrate endlessly, creating ignorance and karmic forces and facing the suffering in life without any control.

We understand this; we know this, but how do we put an end to it? The 16 novices then began to request the turning of the Dharma-wheel. As for the 16 novices, “With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently. Over many lifetimes, they cultivated the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle.” They had the heart of a child, very pure. They not only had pure minds, but also pure bodies. Because they kept their childlike innocence, their bodies remained pure and undefiled. With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently.

Since Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha lived before beginningless kalpas ago, of course, in Beginningless Time, there were Buddhas appearing in the world. So, the [novices] always had a child’s innocence. Before Beginningless Time, they had started upholding precepts and engaging in spiritual practices. Over countless kalpas of time, whenever Buddhas manifested in the world, they would be at each Buddha’s assemblies, receiving the teachings and engaging in practice. They could maintain their original childlike purity, the initial enlightenment of True Suchness, a child’s innocent and pure mind. Thus, they continuously maintained diligence. Over many lifetimes, they kept practicing earnestly in this way.

All they practiced was the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle, and they formed Great Vehicle aspirations. They had already accepted the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, over many lifetimes, they formed Great Vehicle aspirations and even made the Four Great Vows in every lifetime. This is their initial enlightenment of. True Suchness from dust-inked kalpas ago. They continuously maintained their innocence and purity, practicing earnestly and diligently. They manifested in many lifetimes, practicing the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle. The Great Vehicle is walking the Bodhisattva-path with the power of great vows. As for these great vows, all Buddhas share the same path and the Four Great Vows.

The Four Great Vows and the Four Infinite Minds are all Buddhas’ universal vows. Every Buddha has the Four Great Vows and. Four Infinite Minds. Apart from the universal vows, each Buddha has His specific vows.

The 16 Princes all had great capabilities. We must mindfully understand that the Buddha-Dharma comes from Beginningless Time. We all share the same [nature]. It is just that we have been defiled. We must not look down on the young, thinking that they do not understand worldly matters. Actually, when children enter the Path, their spiritual practice also reaches a high level

100 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, back then in ancient India was a period called “Peacock Dynasty” (Mauryas). In the time of the Peacock Dynasty, King Asoka ruled over ancient India. During that period, he was a great patron of the Buddha-Dharma. He supported and protected the Buddha-Dharma and made offerings to the Sangha. Toward the Buddha-Dharma and the monastic community, he had great reverence. One time, a city in his kingdom, in India, was struck with a plague, a contagion that started from within the kingdom.

King Asoka was worried that this plague, this contagious disease, would spread to the palace, so he blocked all travel to prevent the plague from spreading into his palace. He even sent someone to the Sangha’s abode to invite them to send someone, a monastic, to come to the palace to teach the Dharma to the king’s concubines so everyone’s minds would be put at ease. He could even teach them how to prevent this contagious disease.

At that time, the Sangha sent a young novice who was only eight years old but had already attained the fruit of Arhatship. His name was Miao Yan. Miao Yan was sent to the palace. Because the eight-year-old novice was very adorable, the queen, concubines, princesses and the palace maids, seeing that such a small novice had come, [remarked,] “How adorable!” King Asoka’s wife, with a joyful heart, opened her arms to hug the young novice. Novice Miao Yan quickly took a step back and, with a strict tone, told the lady that he refused to be hugged.

The lady said, “You are so young, just like my child. When I see that you are so small, just like my child, my motherly love moved me to hug you. Is this wrong?”

The young novice, Miao Yan, answered her by saying, “Madam, the attachment of love and desire starts from a very subtle thought in the mind. It is just like a hot ember. A tiny ember as big as a chestnut can destroy thousands of miles of forest. The whole forest, thousands of miles of it, will go up in smoke from a chestnut-sized flame. Such a small flame can destroy miles of forest. Or, it is like a drop of water the size of your fingertip. If it keeps dripping over time, it can penetrate solid rock. This is all an accumulation of something small, which then becomes something big. So, we must not look down on the smallest thought. Each of us needs wisdom. Only with wisdom can we understand profound principles. When it comes to love and desire, we must keep our distance to not cause others to have suspicions. Even though I am very young in age, I am male. Although you are old enough to be my mother, we must still avoid suspicion. A small [display of] affection, whatever kind of affection it is, has the attachment of love; it is tainted love. In this way, just like a tiny flame, when it grows it becomes a great tainted desire.”

Since the novice Miao Yan was using such a stern and righteous tone and very serious language, as he spoke in an increasingly loud voice, his voice spread to the main hall. King Asoka was in his meeting hall. When he heard such a clear, pure voice, he asked his attendants, “What Dharma is being taught in the inner chambers with such a clear, pure voice?” The servant said, “Novice Miao Yan has come to the palace.” Hearing this, King Asoka quickly went to the inner chambers. He saw his wife and Novice Miao Yan seemingly engaged in a little argument. The lady insisted on hugging him, while the novice spoke in a righteous, stern tone. King Asoka quickly went in and said, “What is happening? Why are you so agitated and speaking with such stern and serious tone? What exactly happened?”

Again, Novice Miao Yan explained from the start. “Such affection needs to be avoided to prevent suspicions from others. This is a preventative action. With all matters, we must take preventative measures. It is like a disease. A small germ can infect many people, so it also requires prevention. Prevention must be done at the source of a small infection. It is the same for our human affections. With desire and love, starting from very little, it can be like a flame that destroys forests or like drops of water that penetrate rocks.” He repeated himself again like this.

But the king said, “The queen is so old. The affection between a mother and son, is that also not allowed?” The novice again said, “Everything starts from such small thoughts. We believe them to be harmless, therefore, we lack preventative measures. If you think it is harmless, you feel that it does not need to be prevented and become overly relaxed, which can easily lead to more trouble.”

Novice Miao Yan also said, “In Buddha’s time, there were such precepts in order to help the disciples avoid violating the precepts. Once the precepts are violated, various maladies will occur. To prevent such maladies, we must be very cautious and prevent them. For example, in the etiquette of the world, girls older than seven years old should not be hugged by their fathers and should not play in the father’s study room. If one is a male, once he is older than eight years old, he cannot sit on his mother’s bed. These are rules. In particular, there are rules like, under lush fruit trees bearing much fruit, we must not adjust our head coverings or hats. Under trees covered with fruits, we must not arrange our head covering. If we are in a field of gourds, we cannot bend down to tie our shoelaces. This is to avoid raising suspicion, because if we are under trees with many fruits and take off our hats, others may wonder if we are preparing to steal fruits and hide them in our hat. So, under trees with many fruits, we should not adjust our hats. In fields of gourds, we cannot bend down; this is to avoid others saying that we want to steal the gourds. Even such rules as these must be upheld. These are our precepts, discipline and etiquette that prevent suspicion and maladies from arising.” This was what Novice Miao Yan said.

This was the wisdom of that novice. Then Novice Miao Yan further said, “I have already eliminated all afflictions, like a lotus flower emerging from the mud. Like a lotus untainted by the mud, I am bright and clear. I have no fear of being defiled, like a lotus flower emerging from mud. Madam, your loving affection is like a mother’s for her child. But for unenlightened beings who have not yet eliminated the Three Poisons, such a gesture can easily lead to afflictions and ignorance, so I hope you will not hug me.”

“Although I will not be tainted, ignorant unenlightened beings could be defiled by you acting in this way.”

Hearing this, King Asoka was very moved, and his wife was very embarrassed, so on the spot she repented and apologized to the young novice. At the same time, she gained more reverence for the Buddha-Dharma.

This was 100 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana. The precepts were still strictly upheld. Even this young novice had such power of spiritual cultivation. Think about this childlike innocence and purity; actually he must have also cultivated this over dust-inked kalpas. That is the only way that, at such a young age, he could be so mature, could take the Buddha-Dharma to heart and could uphold the precepts so well.

King Asoka knew that there was a plague outside the city, so for the sake of prevention, he knew to prevent travel. So, he invited someone to the palace to teach and inform everyone about the disease. He did not expect that the novice he invited would not only know how to prevent diseases from a very small source of contagion, but also how to purify minds.

This was in King Asoka’s time. With a child’s innocent purity, practicing earnestly and diligently, this novice, over lifetimes, must have cultivated the Great Vehicle Dharma and formed Great Vehicle aspirations. So, he made the Four Great Vows. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” Even a young child could do this, so we must put our hearts into learning the Buddha-Dharma.

The preceding passage said, “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas, purely cultivated Brahma-conduct and sought Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

“They” are the 16 novices. They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas and purely cultivated Brahma-conduct. Clearly, dust-inked kalpas ago, before Beginningless Time, they had already begun to engage in spiritual practice. This is describing the 16 novices and the process of their cultivation. In their process, they engaged in spiritual practice in the era of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. They were still children when they became monastics and engaged in spiritual practice.

So, they likewise requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel.

“They all addressed the Buddha, saying, “‘World-Honored One.'” They asked the Buddha to teach the Dharma “‘All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great virtue have already achieved attainment World-Honored One, You must also teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”
The Dharma sought by these young novices was supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They not only sought this for themselves but also for the countless thousands and millions of Hearers; they requested it on their behalf. They themselves needed to understand it, and those Hearers needed the Dharma even more, so they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great virtue: They were so numerous that they were countless These Hearers of awe-inspiring virtue are many.

“All these countless thousands and millions of. Hearers of great virtue” means there were so many of them, and these Hearers were all great Hearers with awe-inspiring virtue. There were thousands and millions of people who needed the Buddha to teach them the Dharma.

[They] have already achieved attainment: This refers to the previous 600 trillion and others who were unaffected by all phenomena of Leaks and had attained Arhatship. They engaged in spiritual practice with courageous diligence, and their minds were never self-indulgent. Thus they were called Arhats. With the strength of focused diligence, they were said to have achieved attainment.

These people “have already achieved attainment.” The previous 600 trillion and others “have already achieved attainment.”

How many people were like this? The number of those who came to the place of enlightenment had reached 600 trillion. These people were already “unaffected by all phenomena of Leaks,” meaning that they were unaffected by afflictions. As for “all phenomena of Leaks,” we must remember that this refers to ignorance. The negative phenomena of ignorance or afflictions did not affect them; they were not tainted by it. Everyone had already attained Arhatship,

so they engaged in spiritual practice with courageous diligence, and their minds were never self-indulgent. These were very earnest and diligent people. Their minds were not self-indulgent; they were very diligent and conscientious. Thus they were called Arhats. They had the strength of focused diligence and single-minded resolve. With the Seven Factors of Bodhi and the Eightfold Noble Path, their power of diligence was very vigorous and they had achieved attainment, had attained the fruit of Arhatship.

There were so many of them who had “already achieved attainment.”

[They] have already achieved attainment: This indicates that they had already eliminated the turbidities of hindrances. Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated. The children’s merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete. They also had compassion for all Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate, so they again entreated Him to reveal it.

This indicates that they “had already eliminated the turbidities of hindrances.” This is to tell us that at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s. Dharma-assembly, these 600 trillions, countless Hearers, listened to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s teaching and had completely eliminated ignorance. As their ignorance was eliminated, they were unaffected by negative phenomena. Naturally, their hindrance of turbidity was also gone.

All our hindrances are created from our ignorance. This is why we are often obstructed. People in the world often say, “Nine out of ten things go against our wishes.” This is because we have many expectations. Expectations are ignorance. We pursue so many matters of ignorance, therefore we have many hindrances. So, all this begins from a thought of ignorance. If our ignorance and turbidities are eliminated, then there will be no more hindrances.

“Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” Their Great Vehicle capabilities had begun to be activated. So many Hearers had eliminated their turbidities and ignorance. Now, they began to seek the Great Vehicle Dharma. “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” These great capabilities began to be activated. So, “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” It already resonated with their capabilities, so with great capabilities, they had already started to realize that they must quickly extend their roots so this tree could grow strong. The small tree was about to turn into a big tree. If they wanted to have great roots, trunks, branches and leaves, then they must start extending themselves.

“The children’s merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete.” The “children” were the 16 prince and also included those Hearers. They were all the Buddha’s children. “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” As we mentioned before, the children of the Dharma-king are those born from the Buddha’s mouth. They had engaged in spiritual cultivation and took the Buddha-Dharma they heard to heart. They already understood the Great Vehicle Dharma. Now, their minds were activated, so they could be called “children. The children” included the 16 princes. Their “merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete.” They had formed Great Vehicle aspirations, and these merits and virtues were abundant. Their resolve to pursue the Dharma was sincere, so they diligently sought the Dharma.

“They also had compassion for all Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate.” The 16 princes themselves were very sincere and also had compassion for those Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate. So, the 16 princes, on behalf of these Hearers, likewise asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. These Hearers were also already the same; they had eliminated turbidities, and their great capabilities had begun to be activated. In addition, the 16 princes’ request for the Dharma was to complete their own attainment while also hoping that these Hearers would be able to attain the ultimate principles. Thus, they again requested the Dharma.

World-Honored One, You must also teach us: We pray the Buddha will also teach us. This was said by the 16 princes.

“World-Honored One, You must also teach us. Us” refers to the 16 princes because these 16 princes spoke with one voice in the Dharma-assembly. With one voice, they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. This is what the 16 princes did. So, “You must teach us” means that they requested that the Buddha teach them so they could understand teach everyone so they could understand. At the same time, there were many Hearers and such. So, they asked the Buddha to teach with compassion.

Teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: The Dharma of practicing supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is the Bodhisattvas’ practice of actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions.

Thus, it was “the Dharma of the spiritual practice of supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.” This supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” The method for practicing this supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is the Bodhisattva-practice of “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions.”

The Bodhisattva-practice is actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions. Just these Six Paramitas alone can branch out into thousands of actions, because when they are spread out, they respond to all sentient beings’ capabilities. However many desires sentient beings have, however much ignorance they have, however much suffering they have, Bodhisattvas will respond to their suffering, to their ignorance and to their capabilities. So, they must make use of all phenomena and of all kinds of methods. There are 84,000 types of ignorance that need 84,000 teachings of Bodhi to treat them. The principle is the same. So, this is actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions.

You previously turned the Dharma-wheel of the Small Vehicle to benefit the Hearers. They all achieved attainment. Now You must open and reveal the Great Vehicle in line with our aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views. This expresses their intent in entreating Him to teach the Dharma.

“You previously turned the Dharma-wheel of the Small Vehicle to benefit the Hearers. They all achieved attainment.” The present Sakyamuni Buddha did the same. He had taught the Dharma for 42 years, but the people listening to him were still stuck as Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Their capabilities were yet to be activated, and they had not formed great aspirations. In the past era of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, that Buddha was the same. For a very long period of time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha observed sentient beings’ capabilities. He taught the Small Vehicle for a long time, which was teaching with skillful means. Similarly, He benefitted those with limited capabilities. So, all Buddhas share the same path. This was so in the era of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and was the same in Sakyamuni Buddha’s present era. They patiently and kindly guide in this manner. After 42 years, the present Buddha, Sakyamuni, began to teach the Great Dharma. He only started teaching the Lotus Sutra after teaching the Dharma for 42 years.

In the same way, Sariputra, on behalf of everyone, asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. He also requested that the Buddha teach the Dharma. Similarly, he was refused three times. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, the Brahma kings of the ten directions came to request the Dharma, and Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was silent each time. Only when all causes and conditions had ripened did He begin to turn the Great Dharma-wheel. The novices again requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel. This is how it was. The Dharma-assemblies of past and present Buddhas are all very similar, and they use more or less the same methods. So we say, “All Buddhas share the same path.” This is how things accumulate, so with the Dharma that everyone had heard, they already started to understand. “They all achieved attainment.” What attainment? They attained Great Vehicle capabilities.

So, “Now You must open and reveal the Great Vehicle in line with our aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views.” They hoped that since all these people’s capabilities were already ripe, the World-Honored One could now open and reveal the Great Vehicle to all. Weren’t everyone’s aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views understood by the World-Honored One, the Buddha? As He could understand, He would teach, teach them this Dharma.

So, “This expresses their intent in entreating Him to teach the Dharma.” This indicates that everyone was earnest and diligent and clearly expressed their intent to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Not only did the 16 princes’ capabilities mature, all these countless 600 trillion people present shared the same aspirations and the same intentions to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views. This expressed everyone’s intent.

In Sakyamuni Buddha’s time, it was Sariputra who expressed everyone’s intent. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time, the 16 princes represented everyone’s intent, their willingness to accept Great Vehicle Dharma. If we can all understand this sutra passage, then [we know] our minds must return to. Beginningless Time ago, to the intrinsic Buddha-nature that we all have. Everyone has the pure, innocent mind of a child. This requires us to have very pure minds, so we must continuously practice diligently.

In previous lives, we also listened to the Dharma, but we became distracted and indolent. With this indolence and distraction, we were affected by negative phenomena and, following the turbid environment in the world, we created much ignorance that covered our pure, childlike innocence and our pure intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Although we listened to the Dharma in the past, one thought of ignorance arose, and in this world of turbidities, what we encounter is all negative phenomena, which tempts us to make mistakes. These actions [will] accumulate and replicate so much ignorance. Now we must go back and earnestly form Great Vehicle aspirations, make the Four Noble Vows and widely transform sentient beings.

This is not impossible. Even drops of water can penetrate rocks, and small flames can destroy great areas of forest. In the same way, when flames of ignorance arise, they can burn for thousands of miles. If we have a determined mind, even small drops of water can penetrate rocks, so it is not impossible. We just need to always be mindful.

Episode 1049 – Acting in Accord with Our Undefiled Nature

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>> “Acting in accord with our nature to be undefiled is overall called Brahma-conduct. Practicing to realize the perfect and complete direct Bodhi-path, Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Perfections in all actions with the noble practices of right mindfulness and pure precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.”

>> “They also remained unaffected by all phenomena and could attain liberation from all Leaks. From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras), all had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas, purely cultivated Brahma-conduct and sought Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. All addressed the Buddha, saying, ‘World-Honored One.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas: They had already made offerings to many Buddhas in the past, had widely cultivated blessings, deeply planted virtues and resolved to seek the fruit of Buddhahood. In worldly affairs they were filial and respectful to their parents.

>> [They] purely cultivated Brahma-conduct: With pure hearts, they cultivated and learned Brahma-conduct. Brahma means “pure.” The teachings for eliminating lustful desires are known as Brahma-conduct. These are the teachings cultivated in the Brahma heavens. By cultivating Brahma-conduct, one is reborn in the Brahma heavens.

>> Brahma-conduct: Bodhisattvas are not defiled by craving for or attachment to the two extremes of emptiness and existence. Therefore, they are called pure. With this pure mind, they exercise compassion, giving sentient beings joy and relieving sentient beings from suffering. This is called Brahma-conduct.

>> Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: By making offerings to the Buddha and engaging in spiritual practice, they deeply plant roots of goodness. They resolve to seek Bodhi and attain universal, perfect enlightenment. >> Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: This is Buddha-wisdom. It is translated as supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. This is true non-discriminating supreme wisdom that brings enlightened understanding of all true principles.

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“Acting in accord with our nature to be undefiled is overall called Brahma-conduct.
Practicing to realize the perfect and complete direct Bodhi-path, Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Perfections in all actions
with the noble practices of right mindfulness and pure precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.”

Just what is it exactly that is in accord with our nature? It is the true Dharma. Every day, don’t we often talk about sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness? These are the principles for being human that we all should uphold. In particular, as Tzu Chi volunteers, we internally cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness and externally practice loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. This is what we ought to cultivate and uphold. This is to act in accord with our nature. We need to completely be mindful and highly value sincerity and steadfastness. This is our intrinsic nature. So, if we can be genuine and sincere and have a pure mind, we act in accord with our nature to be undefiled. This overall is called Brahma-conduct.

If our mind is not defiled, then we will be cultivating the same practices as the Brahma kings, [upholding] the supreme good precepts and not being defiled by the ignorance in the world. This is called Brahma-conduct. At the same time, we must cultivate the supreme good deeds. We need to cultivate good deeds and uphold the precepts so that our mind is undefiled. This is the intrinsic nature we all have, our pure intrinsic nature. This requires us to cultivate and uphold what is called Brahma-conduct. If we do not put effort into cultivating and upholding this mindset, then we will become defiled very easily. To maintain our purity, we need to be very mindful. We should practice such that our body and mind are pure and undefiled. This is what we ought to cultivate. We practice to realize the perfect and complete direct Bodhi-path.

This is our direction. We practice our Brahma-conduct so that we can realize the perfect and complete direct Bodhi-path. Engaging in spiritual practice is eliminating ignorance and defilements to seek awakening. This path of awakening is called the Bodhi-path. This Bodhi-path is very simple; as long as our direction is accurate and we can maintain our direction without any deviation, we will naturally be on this path to awakening. In addition, it is a very straightforward, direct path. When we say it like this, spiritual practice is truly not difficult. We just need to tame and straighten [our mind], just need to train our minds well, to be free defilements. When we walk the path with a straightforward mind, this is the direct Bodhi-path. What we cultivate and hope to perfect is this kind of practice.

This practice is not only to cultivate ourselves or only to benefit ourselves. We also need to benefit others as well. So, “Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Perfections in all actions.” This is the aspiration and vow we make, to cultivate ourselves and benefit others at the same time. We must walk the Bodhisattva-path; the path we follow is not the Small Vehicle. We need to open our hearts and minds and transform ourselves and others, so as Bodhisattvas we need to actualize the Six Perfections in all actions. We must go among the people, among the multitudes of sentient beings, Sentient beings each have different habitual tendencies. The practice we cultivate is to adapt to sentient beings, adapt to their afflictions and ignorance, while not allowing ourselves to be affected. We persist in our resolve to transform them.

The Buddha views sentient beings as His own child. He does not give up on any sentient being. He comes and goes among the four kinds of beings and the Five Realms all in order to transform all sentient beings. But sentient beings’ capabilities are not equal; they each have different habitual tendencies. The Buddha, in His great enlightenment, is willing to continuously come back. According to the suffering sentient beings face, He goes among people and their hardships to save and transform [them]. As sentient beings’ minds become more complicated, the Buddha hopes more people will form aspirations and make vows so more people can transform others [with Him]. Thus, He hopes we will not only benefit ourselves but also benefit others. So, the Buddha opened the Dharma-door of the Great Vehicle of One Reality, hoping our awakening would not be only for ourselves. We also need to awaken our aspirations to transform all sentient beings. This is practicing the Six Perfections in all actions. We need many people to go among the people together while using all kinds of methods [to transform them].

These are “noble practices of right mindfulness and pure precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.” What we need to practice is to be equal to the Buddha. We must practice what the Buddha taught. However the Buddha taught us, we need to honestly follow the Buddha’s teachings to put the principles into action. We must practice right mindfulness. When our thoughts are proper, our actions will be proper. With right conduct, we maintain the purity of our intrinsic nature and will not be defiled by sentient beings. Sentient beings, unenlightened beings, have very complicated capabilities. We clearly know that sentient beings’ capabilities are so complicated, which is why we need to go among people.

To transform others, we ourselves must properly maintain and uphold [the precepts]. We must not “try to transform sentient beings and instead be transformed by them.” We need to bring purity to sentient beings, not allow sentient beings to defile us. So, we must uphold the pure precepts. If we can uphold the pure precepts properly, our minds will remain firm and settled. When our minds are settled, the outside world will not be able to affect us. Then we can attain wisdom. Otherwise, in our daily living, [we may think,] “I already know.” We may know many things; this is intellectual knowledge. Everyone talks about intellectuals. They know many things. If you say something, they reply, “I know this!” They know all these things, but they are unable to discern the principles and the difference between right and wrong. If we cannot distinguish between right and wrong, then very easily, when our minds connect with people, matters and things in our daily living, they will constantly fluctuate and be unable to settle down. So, our minds must settle down and be still.

In this world, human nature is complicated. In the world, matters and things are all traps for us; everything is a source of temptation. The source of our temptation is actually the contamination of our human nature. We are ourselves enticed by external states, so our own thoughts of ignorance allow external defilements of matters and things to lead us astray. This means our power of Samadhi is insufficient so our wisdom has not manifested. We only know the outside of things; we do not know the principles contained within. We do not know their workings. So, often, if we are intelligent, it is intelligence that leads us to make mistakes.

This is what people say. We are learning the Bodhisattva-path of the world. To learn the Buddha’s way, we must start by practicing the Bodhisattva-path in the world. In our large organization, there are many Bodhisattvas who move people. Their minds are settled, and they uphold the precepts well. The husband and wife, the whole family, all get involved. For decades they have kept their initial resolve. Bodhisattvas like these are quite numerous. One of these married couples has even been involved Tzu Chi for over 35 years already. From when I began saying that. I wanted to build a hospital in Hualien, when I first went to Taipei, there was a group of Bodhisattvas. They heard how Hualien lacked medical care and how difficult it was to receive treatment. They knew that building a hospital in Hualien was very necessary to help those in Hualien living in very rural areas have the chance for medical treatment. At that time, these Bodhisattvas made a vow.

Of that group, I often talk about Gao’ai. Back then, her family situation was not good, but the love in her heart was great; on hearing about the hospital, with reverence and perseverance, she overcome her family situation and also wanted to be a Tzu Chi [commissioner]. She not only asked for donations from others, she exhausted her own efforts. She even used the time for sleep [to work]. At 2 am in the morning, she would go clean. The money she earned from cleaning was donated for me to build the hospital.

Her story is a long one to tell, but what I am most grateful for is that she continued to transform people. She would often bring people back to the Abode. One time, it was a husband and wife, Li Jiahua and her husband, whom she brought back to the Abode. Li Jiahua and her husband were very pure-hearted. When they saw our lifestyle at the Abode, they understood that I wanted to build a hospital. They were very dedicated and formed aspirations to support us. Husband and wife made this vow together.

At the time, Jiahua’s husband, Liao Dingxing, was still working as a police officer. But whatever his wife said, he saw it as the right thing and supported her. Not only did he support her, he put this vow into action. When there were activities, if he was off-duty, he would absolutely be there. This was a very diligent married couple walking the same path. No matter how many times Tzu Chi met difficulties, they put their utmost effort into helping.

After retiring, he joined the Faith Corps. He joined first as part of the security team. His Faith Corp ID number was 18. His number is so low; we can see that he started very early. Later, when Da Ai TV station started, at that time, we needed media volunteers; we needed volunteers to help film, so he also helped with filming and photography. Think about it; whatever Tzu Chi was doing, as a Faith Corp volunteer, he joined early on. When we needed help at Da Ai TV to do documentation and filming, he dedicated himself in the same way; he picked up a camera and learned how to use it. Once Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital finished construction, he volunteered in the hospital. He was able to accomplish all these things. Whatever volunteer tasks there were, he was involved in all of them.

However, he still always felt, “I am not doing enough. What more can I do to help Master?” In addition to collecting donations, he thought, “My house still has some things that can be given to Master to help build what society needs in our medical and education missions.” The education mission also need to build, as well as media such as Da Ai TV. “People spread the Way; it cannot spread itself.” We need to let people know about good deeds; this is also very important. With all these construction projects, they continued to contribute like this. They recalled that they had land somewhere and immediately went to find the deed and tell me, “Master, my family still has this land deed. I would like to ask Master to accept this and see whether it can be used or whether it can be sold in exchange for money to build what we need.”

I told them, “If we cannot make use of this, you should still hold onto this.” He said, “No, [Tzu Chi] can certainly can make use of this, otherwise I will take care of [selling] it. Master, with your blessings, I can sell it and donate the proceeds.” In this way, with each piece of land, when they remembered they had land somewhere, they would donate it. The husband and wife had the same aspirations and gave of themselves joyfully. They would think, “Where else do I have a house rented out? I can take back this house and sell it so Master will be able to build more.”

“No,” I told them. “You need to keep this for the children. They don’t need it, Master. The children have grown up already. They all have their own families now. It is just us two elderly ones. And we two are both in Tzu Chi. When we die, our bodies have no need of money; we can become Silent Mentors. What is [the value of] time? So, we want to make use of our time and do as much as possible. We will do as much as we possibly can.”

Thus, time passed in this way. More than 30 years passed like the first day; I never heard that they had any afflictions or that they complained about other people. They did not have these kinds of ignorance or these kinds of complicated matters. Every time I think of people who have open hearts and pure thoughts, I think of this elderly couple. For more than 35 years, they did not have even the slightest complicated discursive thoughts or afflictions.

A couple of days ago, she returned with an Honorary Board member. She saw me and kept on crying. I asked, “What is the matter? I am heartbroken, Master, because I love you very much. Master, people talk about you like that, and when I hear them, I cannot bear it. I am going to become depressed!” I patted her and said, “Silly disciple, why are you like this? We need to ask ourselves whether or not our minds have deviated. One person says something false, and others spread it as truth. This creates a net of ignorance in society now. Why should you be trapped in it?” She laughed and said, “That’s right! How did I get trapped in the net of ignorance? Now I can be at ease.”

See, this was the only time that I had seen her trapped by society’s net of ignorance. Being trapped in this net, she said she could not bear to see me and. Tzu Chi [criticized] after doing so much for the society and the world. This was the only [time] I saw her like this, becoming afflicted because of society. Otherwise, I have not seen her with afflictions. Everyone in her family is an Honorary Board member and have offered all of their resources. Even now she still says, “I keep on thinking about what else is in my home.” This is how this couple is.

Her husband is now 90 years old, and after a couple years he will be over 90. His body is healthy, and we can still see him at events, with his straight figure among the crowds, doing what Tzu Chi volunteers do. He never misses a Faith Corp shift. He and his wife are Living Bodhisattvas. Their story is also very long. Their daughter is also a volunteer; everyone in their family is a Tzu Chi volunteer.

All in all, “Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Perfections in all actions. With the noble practices of right mindfulness,” they are very reverent and take the Buddha-Dharma into the innermost parts of their minds. They put the principles into practice with right mindfulness, right views, right thinking and right actions. All that they do is right. They can achieve all of the Eightfold Right Path. They can also practice the Seven Factors of Bodhi. The 37 Practices to Enlightenment, these 37 teachings, have all been accomplished by them. They possess pure precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Seeing this couple, I am truly moved.

“Acting in accord with our nature to be undefiled is overall called Brahma-conduct.” So, we must put effort into the supreme good deeds and uphold the supreme precepts. After we understand, we must put them into practice. The Bodhi-path is a very direct path. With the right starting point, as we walk forward, we will not be affected by other people. This is what it means to be a Bodhisattva, one who benefits oneself and others. This is a practitioner of the Six Perfections, a Bodhisattva. So, with noble practices, we must be very mindful. These are not something impossible. Pure precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are not far from us. They are all around us and in our own actions. So, if others can accomplish something, we ought to learn from them.

“They also remained unaffected by all phenomena and could attain liberation from all Leaks. From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.”    

The previous sutra passage says, “They remained unaffected by all phenomena.” Just like Mr. and Mrs. Liao, whatever people are doing in the world outside, whatever they are saying, they will not be affected. They choose the right action and just do it. Regardless of the people around them and their surroundings, they are not affected. They are without ignorance, discursive thoughts or defilements. They are not affected by ignorance or negative phenomena. So because of this, they “could attain liberation from all Leaks.” These “Leaks” were all gone. Having eliminate Leaks, their minds could attain liberation and not be affected by defilements.

So, “From then onward, all Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.” If, by hearing the Dharma, we can all eliminate our afflictions and Leaks, our minds can attain liberation. From taking in the sound [of the Dharma], the Dharma we attain allows us to achieve this. After hearing and taking the sound in, after understanding the Dharma, the [Hearers] naturally attained liberation. There were many of these people, beyond count.

“At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras), all had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.”    

When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha expounded the Dharma and turned the Dharma-wheel, at that time, “The 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras), all had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.”

They had practiced for a very long time to be able to attain such pure minds and pure Roots. All had sharp capabilities, If their Six Roots were not so pure, the external Six Dusts would easily entice them. Their Roots were pure and undefiled by the external Six Dusts. So, their Roots were very pure. Pure means their capabilities are sharp. They are like a mirror that is polished cleanly; when there are mountains, mountains are reflected when there is water, water is reflected. They could understand all phenomena in the world. Complete understanding of matters and principles is called wisdom. Their wisdom brought complete understanding, and they had no obstructions.

The next passage states, “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas, purely cultivated Brahma-conduct and sought Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. All addressed the Buddha, saying, ‘World-Honored One.'”

These 16 princes were also at the assembly. They thoroughly understood everything with their sharp capabilities. Previously, the Brahma kings asked for the Dharma. Now the 16 princes also requested the Dharma. They all had sharp capabilities because in the past, they had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas. So, they had sharp capabilities. This was their process; they spent a very long time to cultivate Brahma-conduct. Not only did they give offerings, they also put purifying practices into action, practicing the supreme good deeds and precepts. They practiced like this for a long period of time. Within the Buddha-Dharma, they practiced in this way. What they sought was Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, the highest level of awakening. This was what they sought. So, together the 16 princes addressed the Buddha and asked Him for the Dharma.

They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas: They had already made offerings to many Buddhas in the past, had widely cultivated blessings, deeply planted virtues and resolved to seek the fruit of Buddhahood. In worldly affairs they were filial and respectful to their parents.
Let us look at “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas.” This means that they had spent a long time seeking out the Buddha-Dharma.

To encounter a Buddha in the world is not easy. Over the course of [meeting] 100 trillion Buddhas, with every Buddha, they would follow Him in spiritual practice and make offerings. Clearly this took a long time. These 16 princes, over many lifetimes, had followed 100 trillion Buddhas, engaging in spiritual practice and making offerings to Them. Thus, they made offerings to many Buddhas. They made offerings to many Buddhas, so they “had widely cultivated blessings.” Making offerings is benefiting people. What did they use to give offerings to the Buddha? They created blessings by benefiting people. They planted [seeds of] blessings and wisdom, cultivated both blessings and wisdom. Cultivating both blessings and wisdom is called “widely cultivating blessings” and “deeply planting virtues.” These virtues that they planted were deep.

I often say that we need to spread the seeds [of love]. “One gives rise to infinity,” which means that to transform sentient beings, we must take in the Buddha-Dharma. With the Buddha-Dharma, we create good affinities and benefit people. We externally cultivate blessings and internally cultivate virtues. Thus it says they “had widely cultivated blessings, deeply planted virtues and resolved to seek the fruit of Buddhahood.” They engaged in spiritual practice life after life. This was not only to seek their own awakening. Actually, in terms of our human character, “Filial piety is the foremost of all good deeds.” Not only should we give offerings to the Buddha and do good deeds, we also need to be filial to our parents.

“Filial piety is the foremost of all good deeds.” We need to know that in the era of Confucius, it was considered very important to be filial to one’s parents. One time, Ziyou asked about filial piety. Ziyou was one of the 72 disciples of Confucius. One day, this disciple asked Confucius, “Filial piety, what is filial piety?” Confucius replied to him by saying,

“In terms of filial piety, everyone says providing for our parents is called filial piety. But is it? We provide for dogs and horses. Without respect, what is the difference?” This was Confucius’s reply. When it comes to filial piety, everyone may provide for their parents, but is this what it means to be filial? We also provide for our dogs and horses by making sure they have enough to eat, that their stomachs are full. We provide for these animals by making sure their stomachs are full. We provide for them in this manner. But is providing for our parents just making sure their stomachs are full? Is it enough to make sure they are not hungry? No. We need to be filial and also listen to them. This is how we practice filial piety. This is what we have to put our effort into as one of the fundamental duties of being human.

So, the Buddha taught and guided sentient beings. He also guided us to perfect our character as humans. We are all born from our mother and father, so we must be grateful for them. We must be grateful, respectful and filial, so we must remember the Fourfold Grace, the grace of our parents, of sentient beings, of teachers and of all Heaven and Earth. This is the Fourfold Grace. So, our parents’ grace is very great. We also need to understand how to give offerings to our parents as if they are living Buddhas. This is fundamental to being human.

So in the Buddhist scriptures, we often read about giving offerings. They are not only giving offerings to the Buddha. Giving offerings means to give of ourselves. We need to repay our parents’ love with gratefulness and respect. This is filial piety. Toward other people, we need to have compassionate love. Whatever they need, we should provide for them, while at the same time having respect for them, because all people are equal to the Buddha. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” Some have attained Buddhahood, some will attain it. Among the people, all have the chance to attain Buddhahood. This is to say, toward all people, we need to apply this spirit of making offerings.

So, these 16 princes had practiced making offerings universally to all, lifetime after lifetime. At the assemblies of all Buddhas, they learned the Dharma. They widely cultivated blessings for a long time. Life after life, they continued creating blessings and cultivating wisdom among the people. So, their virtues were deep. Everything they did, whether for the people or for their family, everything they did, was to give of themselves with reverence. Making offerings is giving of ourselves, continuously giving of ourselves. In the presence of 100 trillion Buddhas, they continuously gave of themselves in this way to create good affinities and cultivate good conduct.

They] purely cultivated Brahma-conduct: With pure hearts, they cultivated and learned Brahma-conduct. Brahma means “pure.” The teachings for eliminating lustful desires are known as Brahma-conduct. These are the teachings cultivated in the Brahma heavens. By cultivating Brahma-conduct, one is reborn in the Brahma heavens.

So, “[They] purely cultivated Brahma-conduct. With pure hearts, they cultivated and learned Brahma-conduct.” With the purest of hearts, they were unaffected and undefiled by interpersonal conflicts. Since they had vowed to do [good deeds] and were wholehearted in their resolve, they gave of themselves and just did it. Like the husband and wife I spoke about earlier, they had no conflicts or issues among people. Since they had formed these aspirations, they just did it. They cultivated their pure hearts by cultivating and learning pure Brahma-conduct.

“Brahma” means pure and undefiled; these are teachings for eliminating lustful desire. So, if we wish to engage in spiritual practice, it is best to start with a child’s mind, or a pure mind. Before we start a family, we need to form this aspiration. This is called eliminating lustful desire and having a pure mind. This is the Dharma. These teachings of completely pure Brahma-conduct are to eliminate all lustful desires.

Brahma-conduct is “the teachings cultivated in the Brahma heavens.” We have previously spoken about Brahma heavens. The teachings that they practice are supreme good deeds and precepts. These are actions practiced by those in the Brahma heavens. They can transcend the desire realm. In a world of tangible form, their minds can be so pure. Those who cultivated Brahma-conduct are born into the Brahma heavens. They engaged in spiritual practice and gave of themselves purely.

Brahma-conduct: Bodhisattvas are not defiled by craving for or attachment to the two extremes of emptiness and existence. Therefore, they are called pure. With this pure mind, they exercise compassion, giving sentient beings joy and relieving sentient beings from suffering. This is called Brahma-conduct.

So, Brahma-conduct is “not being defiled by craving for or attachment to the two extremes of emptiness and existence.” Brahma-conduct is not separate from our world. Those in the Brahma heavens we just mentioned have left the human realm. They are born in the Brahma heavens and enjoy heavenly blessings. However, those who form great aspirations do not leave the human realm. They are called Bodhisattvas. “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.” They go among the multitudes of sentient beings, among the heavy turbidity; however, with the practice Bodhisattvas cultivate, they “are not defiled by craving for or attachment of the two extremes of emptiness and existence.” They are not attached to emptiness. Although amidst this turbidity, they already cultivated all undefiled [practices]. Everything is empty in nature. However, there is wondrous existence in emptiness. So, in this world of existence, they could remain undefiled yet in this world of existence, they transformed sentient beings. They were not defiled by sentient beings. This have no “craving for or attachment to the two extremes of emptiness and existence.” They engaged in spiritual practice among people and benefited them. Therefore, they were called pure.

Though there is so much contamination, what we need to practice is understanding the emptiness of things. But we should not cling to emptiness; we still cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer so we still get involved, without being affected by the defilements of all things in the world. Thus, this is not being affected by the two extremes of emptiness and existence. This is called purity.

“With this pure mind, they exercise compassion, giving sentient beings joy.” With pure minds, they go among the people and, while among them, use their compassion, “giving sentient beings joy.” To give sentient beings all joy, they must of course eliminate their suffering. Sentient beings have different kinds of suffering of body and mind. There is suffering from the imbalance of the world and suffering from the impermanence of the world. There is so much suffering, so the Dharma is needed to relieve their suffering. With tangible suffering, we can help relieve them. With the intangible suffering of the mind, we can use wisdom to guide them and help them attain peace and stability so their minds can be happy. Meanwhile, we are not contaminated by these things. This is Brahma-conduct.

Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: By making offerings to the Buddha and engaging in spiritual practice, they deeply plant roots of goodness. They resolve to seek Bodhi and attain universal, perfect enlightenment.

So, they “seek Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” For such a long time life after life, they all went among people without being attached to existence or emptiness or desires. They all continued to come and go and engage in spiritual practice in the presence of 100 trillion Buddhas. This is what these 16 princes did. What was it that they sought? They only sought “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. By making offerings to the Buddha and engaging in spiritual practice,” they had deep roots of goodness. “They resolved to seek Bodhi,” supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.

This is “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi,” which is also called Buddha-wisdom. It is translated as “supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.” This is true, non-discriminating supreme wisdom that brings enlightened understanding of all true principles.

We need to understand that everything is equal. So I often say, we need to cultivate “equal compassion for all.” Our compassion needs to be non-discriminating. We should not have greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. We must eliminate all these so we can be completely pure among the people. This is truly supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. Having understood all true principles is having supreme wisdom. This is called “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

With reverence, the 16 princes requested teachings from the Buddha; they requested the Dharma. What mindset did they have when the 16 princes requested the Dharma together? So, we must all be mindful. We are not just learning the Buddha’s teachings. These 16 princes have already attained Buddhahood, so we are similarly learning from the 16 princes. What kind of resolve did they [sustain] for such a long period of time, from the era of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha up until the present Sakyamuni Buddha. This process, the way the 16 princes cultivated blessings and wisdom, is what we need to mindfully understand and experience. This of course requires that we always be mindful.

Episode 1048 – Cultivate Positive Conditions and Right Causes

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>> “Deeply cultivate positive conditions and the right causes of Dharma. When the causes have ripened into fruits, we attain liberation. If we have not yet formed good affinities, we should hasten to do good. By plowing and seeding, we will attain the fruit.”

>> The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. By abandoning attachments to the pure five desires, they give rise to flawless wisdom. By eliminating delusions of views and thinking in the Three Realms, they abandon ignorance and realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.

>> “[They attained] the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and all Eight Liberations. The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma, as many sentient beings as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand in the Ganges….”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They also remained unaffected by all phenomena and could attain liberation from all Leaks. From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> They also remained unaffected by all phenomena: Like those at the start of the assembly, they remained unaffected by all defiled phenomena. Their minds remained tranquil and clear.

>> [They] could attain liberation from all Leaks: They have freed themselves from the phenomena of leaks in the Three Realms. Thus their minds attained freedom, and they were liberated from samsara.

>> From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count: This was from the time He began teaching the Dharma right up until the end. All the Hearers in the assembly: These were all of the Hearers in the assembly who had attained the truth.

>> “At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras), all had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.”

>> At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children: Before that Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 sons who, while still innocent children, followed their father in becoming monastics.

>> [They] were thus sramaneras (novices): Sramanera has a meaning of ceasing and kindness, ceasing evil and practicing loving-kindness. When one initially aspires to become a monastic, one will cease all evil and diligently practice loving-kindness.

>> A sramanera is also said to be a seeker of stillness. It is one who makes vows to become a monastic and resolves to seek Nirvana. Sramaneras take the Ten Precepts and follow the rules and etiquette bhiksus practice. This is a name for those who have just become monastics.

>> All had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding: With their six sense organs, their understanding was sharp and penetrating. They had great wisdom, and their minds were completely clear.

>> All had sharp capabilities: Their sharp capabilities and great wisdom all resulted from their having long made offerings to Buddhas and from having formed great aspirations. This explains the virtues of those princes. >> All had sharp capabilities: Their six senses organs were pure and their capabilities clear and sharp, so they could understand many things without hindrances. Because they were sharp, they took no joy in provisional vehicles.

>> Their wisdom brought complete understanding: “Understanding” means that they understood all matters and principles. “Complete” means they did not stop halfway. They could understand all inner causes without obstruction

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“Deeply cultivate positive conditions and the right causes of Dharma.
When the causes have ripened into fruits, we attain liberation.
If we have not yet formed good affinities, we should hasten to do good.
By plowing and seeding, we will attain the fruit.”

“Deeply cultivate positive conditions and the right causes of Dharma.” We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. In our spiritual practice, we need deep faith. If our root of faith is not very deep, this tree will be very afraid of the wind. If the wind is strong, the tree will be easily blown over. Because this tree does not have deep and extensive roots, a gust of wind can easily knock it down. Thus, our faith is like the tree’s roots; we must have faith, and this root of faith must be deep and extensive so this tree can stand firm.

Spiritual practice is the same as this. We begin with the seed being planted in the ground. With wind and air and enough water, the tree gradually grows. This is to say that when we have the cause, we also need conditions. If there is a seed, but there is no earth, no air in the environment and no water, then these conditions will not be fulfilled. There will only be a seed; it will not grow into a tree. It simply remains a seed. So, this seed requires many causes to help it come into being.

These causes are similar to how when we engage in spiritual practice, we form aspirations to do good deeds. Without people, matters and things surrounding us, without afflictions and ignorance, how would we have opportunities to engage in spiritual practice? In our surrounding environments, with people, matters and objects, nine out of ten things will not go the way we want. These eight or nine disappointments out of ten things are called conditions. Many people, matters and objects are here to test us. Our seeds, these seeds of virtuous causes, must be able to withstand the many conditions around us which come to challenge us. Therefore, this seed must inherently be the seed of a great tree, a tree that can withstand challenges. So, this is why we must “deeply cultivate positive conditions.”

When nine out of ten things do not go as we wish, it means we do not have positive conditions. Therefore, we must be able to withstand these negative conditions. We must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. Since we had formed this aspiration, we must overcome many negative causes and conditions. In past lives, we somehow formed negative causes and negative conditions with someone. Now in this lifetime, we have understood this. The Dharma clearly tells us that this lifetime, with our circumstantial and direct retributions, we came to this place. Since we were born here, we must have affinities with this place. What kind of affinities? We have both positive and negative affinities. In this place where the Five Destinies coexist, many causes and conditions are mixed together here.

Among the Five Destinies, heavenly beings represent goodness. There are also good humans too. For most people in the world, if there is good, people will follow it. If there is evil, people will go in that direction. This is what the human world is like. Our good aspirations are not firm, but our evil thoughts are not that big either. This state of neither good nor evil is how we in the human world are, lost and deluded sentient beings who follow causes and conditions. In this place where the Five Destinies coexist, under all different causes and conditions, we must have a clear understanding. In our past lives, if we formed negative conditions with someone, when we meet them in this lifetime, they will be like the yaksas and evil ghosts from hell, using all kinds of methods to break our spiritual aspirations. Or they may be as if from the animal realm, not understanding the principles and causing disturbances and so on.

Among the Three Evil Realms, the human realm and even the heaven realm, in this complicated place of the Five Destinies, we followed our conditions to come here. We may give rise to a good aspiration of wanting to transform evil beings like yaksas while not being influenced by them, so we use virtuous Dharma to form good affinities with them. For those who are foolish, like animals, we must exercise certain kinds of wisdom to transform them. If people are like hungry ghosts, they are in extreme scarcity. On their path of life, they are deficient in everything. How can we satisfy them? It depends on how we engage in spiritual practice. By cultivating deeply, we can turn negative conditions into positive ones. These are our right causes.

Our minds have a pure intrinsic nature. With these right causes, we return to Right Dharma, “the right causes of Dharma.” From our hearts, we give rise to this aspiration and use all kinds of methods to transform others. This requires deep cultivation. Otherwise, this complicated place where the Five Destinies coexist is our circumstantial retribution. Since we aspired to engage in spiritual practice to follow the Dharma, the principles of goodness, on this Bodhi-path we must earnestly walk in the right direction.

If we can do this, with the right causes of Dharma, by cultivating right causes and conditions, when the causes are complete and effects mature, we will naturally be liberated. The liberation spoken of here is to be able to come and go freely, to understand that our purpose in coming to this world is to give rise to Bodhicitta and walk the Bodhisattva-path. It is to come with freedom and go with freedom. Coming and going freely is called liberation. Yesterday, we talked about the Eight Abandonments. These are processes of spiritual practice. We must completely turn away from evil, turn from evil towards goodness. By abandoning our past evil, naturally, through spiritual practice, “The causes have ripened into fruits.” Naturally we will attain liberation. Being liberated, we can come and go at ease.

So, “If we have not yet formed good affinities, we should hasten to do good.” If we have not formed good affinities with others, we must quickly make use of our time in this evil world of Five Turbidities to find opportunities to form good affinities with everyone. Perhaps, in the past, we formed unwholesome affinities with others, so things do not go the way we want. We should not complain; we should improve ourselves to form good affinities with others. We should seize the present

and never let these good affinities get lost. So, “If we have not yet formed good affinities, we should hasten to do good.” We must quickly seize the causes and conditions to form good affinities with everyone, seize the opportunities to do good deeds. This is how we seize the present. We are just like someone who plows and plants seeds, like a farmer who plows and plants seeds. The seeds that are sown now will become fruits later. The harvest later will bring many fruits. By working hard to sow now, we can have an abundant harvest next season. This is the same principle; it all begins with a single seed. The right causes of Dharma begin with a single seed. We must put our hearts into cultivating it. We must cherish our surrounding conditions. No matter what the conditions are, we simply must be very pure-hearted and form good affinities, form good affinities with others. Only then will we be able to attain the Eight Abandonments and be liberated.

The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. By abandoning attachments to the pure five desires, they give rise to flawless wisdom. By eliminating delusions of views and thinking in the Three Realms, they abandon ignorance and realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.

This is the process of spiritual practice. We must often remind ourselves to not be pulled by unwholesome affinities, leading us to again act out of ignorance and through volitional action give rise to discursive thoughts, thus reproducing karmic forces and ignorance. When we reach the end, isn’t there aging, illness, death and all worries and sufferings? In this way we endlessly transmigrate lifetime after lifetime. This suffering is unbearable! Therefore, we should be mindful and always remember the methods of the Eight Abandonments. We must remember the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Only in this way can we truly attain the. Three Insights, the Six Spiritual Powers and the Eight Liberations. This is the direction of our cultivation.

“[They attained] the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and all Eight Liberations. The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma, as many sentient beings as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand in the Ganges….”    

The previous sutra passage states, “[They attained] the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and all Eight Liberations.” This means that we must spend a very long time. Once the seed of our aspiration is formed, for lifetime after lifetime, for kalpas as incalculable as dust particles, we must persist. This is just like when the Brahma kings came from the ten directions to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s place of enlightenment to request the Dharma and the turning of the Dharma-wheel. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had remained silent since the beginning. Then when causes and conditions matured, He began to respond and first turned the Dharma-wheel. This one turn led to infinite turns. From the first to the second, third, fourth turns, there was an infinite time of teaching the Dharma. The sentient beings transformed were as numerous “as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand of the Ganges.” This is the sutra text we talked about yesterday. This took a very long time.

The Dharma, the Dharma-wheel, had already turned. [From] countless kalpas ago, dust-inked kalpas previously, the Dharma-wheel has been continuously turned, because spiritual practitioners such as Sakyamuni Buddha have been teaching the Dharma from then until now. The Dharma that we have now is the Dharma taught by Sakyamuni Buddha, and if we trace back from Sakyamuni Buddha, we find Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, from dust-inked kalpas ago. Clearly, this Dharma-wheel keeps on turning. From His spiritual practice of that time, as one of the 16 princes, all the way to 2500 years ago, when, as Prince Siddhartha of Kapilavastu, He was born, engaged in spiritual practice, attained Buddhahood and turned the Dharma-wheel, all the way until now, we are still inheriting this Dharma. Clearly the Dharma has, since beginningless dust-inked kalpas ago, remained forever unchanging.

The Dharma in Great Unhindered Buddha’s era was like this; the Dharma in Sakyamuni Buddha’s era was also like this. Therefore all Dharma is unchanging; the Dharma is forever present. It is just that we ordinary people are deluded. Our ignorant thoughts connect to external states so that we uncontrollably take action and accumulate much ignorance and afflictions. We are always coming into contact in this way, and then begin to have feeling, craving, grasping and becoming. Thus, we are always in the process of “becoming.” What is becoming? The coming into existence of ignorance. Thus, worries, sadness and distress are always present and never eliminated.

Therefore, only by engaging in spiritual practice can we eliminate our ignorance, layer by layer. If we can do this, “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” Since the time of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, many have attained Buddhahood. Many spiritual practitioners attained Buddhahood. This has continued up to the present; we can also do the same. By engaging in spiritual practice like this, we can also return to our pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature, our innate awakened nature. Then we will be Buddhas; “Buddha” means awakening. Everyone can awaken and understand the principles.

How do we understand the principles and accept the Buddha-Dharma? The next sutra passage states,

“They also remained unaffected by all phenomena and could attain liberation from all Leaks. From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.

“They all started in this way. After they heard the Dharma and understood it, all negative phenomena and ignorance in the world were understood by them. “They also remained unaffected by all phenomena.”

They also remained unaffected by all phenomena: Like those at the start of the assembly, they remained unaffected by all defiled phenomena. Their minds remained tranquil and clear.

This began from the start, when the Dharma-wheel was first turned at the start of the assembly. In this assembly, the Brahma kings had come to request the Dharma. Before the Buddha began to teach, starting from the east, then the south, southeast and other directions, all of the eight directions plus above and below, all Brahma kings from the ten directions arrived. Before the Buddha started teaching, the Brahma kings of ten directions reverently requested the Dharma together then Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha opened His mouth and turned the Dharma-wheel. This was the start of the assembly,

when the Dharma-wheel began to turn. “They remained unaffected by all defiled phenomena.” Just like that, everyone took the Right Dharma into their hearts. “Unaffected by all defiled phenomena….” This is called “abandoning.” Negative phenomena are defiled phenomena. Defiled phenomena are negative phenomena. So, when we completely abandon defiled phenomena, we will no longer be defiled. Thus, the mind is tranquil and clear. At first, when the Dharma-wheel was first turned, when they started listening to the Dharma, their minds began to completely eliminate these defiled phenomena of the past. They understood more and more that their mistakes must be fixed.

Ordinary people keep on making the same mistakes. Our habit is to constantly make these mistakes. Now, after we have heard the Dharma, we should constantly be vigilant of ourselves. If there are mistakes, we must immediately correct them and repent. We must cultivate for the future and repent the past. This is like at the start of the assembly, when they first heard the Dharma. They formed the firm aspirations to acccept the Buddha-Dharma and immediately correct themselves. This way, “They remained unaffected by all defiled phenomena.” So, “They also remained unaffected by all phenomena,” which means they were unaffected by all defiled phenomena. Their minds were completely pure, so they were already tranquil and clear.

[They] could attain liberation from all Leaks: They have freed themselves from the phenomena of leaks in the Three Realms. Thus their minds attained freedom, and they were liberated from samsara.

“[They] could attain liberation from all Leaks.” These Leaks are in the Three Realms, the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. All Leaks of afflictions in these realms had been completely eliminated. The phenomena of Leaks in the Three Realms all could not affect them and had been eliminated. “Thus their minds attained freedom, and they were liberated from samsara.”

The Brahma kings had come to request the Dharma. Brahma kings in the form realm still had subtle afflictions that were not eliminated and still had some teachings they did not understand. So, they again requested the Dharma for the sake of all sentient beings in the world. Thus, “They have freed themselves from the phenomena of Leaks in the Three Realms.” This included not only the sentient beings of the desire realm but also the form realm and formless realm. There were still small amounts of Dharma that these Brahma kings did not completely understand. So, they again requested the Dharma for the sake all sentient beings in the world.

Thus, their minds were completely without Leaks. The phenomena of Leaks had been extinguished. They were pure, so their minds were at ease. They were at peace, at ease and liberated, no longer needing to transmigrate in the world due to birth and death, without any control. They no longer needed to do this. They no longer needed to [transmigrate] in the Five Realms and four forms of birth. They had eliminated [cyclic existence]. This is what spiritual practitioners must put their hearts into.

From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count: This was from the time He began teaching the Dharma right up until the end. All the Hearers in the assembly: These were all of the Hearers in the assembly who had attained the truth.

So, “From then onward, all the Hearers in the assembly were immeasurable, boundless and beyond count.” Since Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel, there had been this assembly of Hearers. The Hearers and Solitary Realizers who had already come in contact with much Buddha-Dharma were “beyond count”; there were many of them. After the Dharma was first expounded, from the first time, to the second, third, fourth, and so on in this way, it continued on like this until the end, until the Buddha’s final moment.

In fact, there is no end. The Dharma will continue on unendingly. When it says “until the end,” this refers to matters and appearances. The time when Great Unhindered Buddha started teaching the Dharma until His Parinirvana is [at the level of] matters and appearances. The true principles continued on, because the 16 princes still continued to turn the Dharma-wheel, engage in spiritual practice, attain Buddhahood and transform sentient beings. Therefore, once the Dharma-wheel turns, it does not stop. “All the Hearers in the assembly” are Hearers who attained the truth; they had already attained the truth. Those who heard and already understood the Dharma were many in number; they were beyond count. Many people have heard the Dharma and much time has passed.

The sutra then continues, “At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras), all had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.”

When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha began turning the Dharma-wheel and expounding the Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, at that time, the 16 princes were also present at the Dharma-assembly where He first turned the Dharma-wheel. They also heard the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They realized and understood, so, “They had all become monastics as children and were thus novices (sramaneras).”

At that time, the 16 princes, who had all become monastics as children: Before that Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 sons who, while still innocent children, followed their father in becoming monastics.

So, “All had sharp capabilities.” They all had wisdom and sharp capabilities. They all understood clearly. So, before the Buddha left home, He fathered 16 princes, who all had the pure bodies of children. They followed their father to become monastics

“and were thus novices (sramaneras).”

[They] were thus sramaneras (novices): Sramanera has a meaning of ceasing and kindness, ceasing evil and practicing loving-kindness. When one initially aspires to become a monastic, one will cease all evil and diligently practice loving-kindness.

“Sramanera” means “ceasing and kindness. Ceasing” means to eliminate evil. They also practice loving-kindness. Thus, they have abandoned and eliminated all evil. However, “kindness” means they practice all compassionate deeds in the world. So, this is “ceasing and kindness.” That is an abbreviation. “Ceasing” is to cease evil. “Kindness” is loving-kindness and compassion. This is “ceasing and kindness.”

“When one initially aspires to become a monastic,” it means that “One will cease all evil.” With this initial aspiration, they renounced the lay life. So, they eliminated all kinds of evils. By doing no evil and doing all that is good, they are “sramaneras,” which means “ceasing and kindness.” They eliminate many evils and abandon ignorance to begin heading in the direction of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. This is their diligence. This is called “ceasing and kindness.” This is the meaning of “sramanera.” When they became monastics as children, they were very pure-hearted. They upheld that simple mindset. This was their initial aspiration, how they began. It also means “seeker of stillness.”

A sramanera is also said to be a seeker of stillness. It is one who makes vows to become a monastic and resolves to seek Nirvana. Sramaneras take the Ten Precepts and follow the rules and etiquette bhiksus practice. This is a name for those who have just become monastics.

Sramanera means, in addition to “ceasing and kindness, seeker of stillness,” That is, after they become monastics, they begin to make vows and resolve to seek Nirvana, hoping to become tranquil and clear. In this way, their minds will no longer be contaminated by ignorance and negative phenomena. Thus they maintain a tranquil and clear mind. This is the purpose of becoming a monastic. Thus, “Sramaneras take the Ten Precepts.” What sramaneras take are the Ten Precepts. Everyone knows the Ten Precepts. “[They] follow the rules bhiksus practice.” Their rules of daily living are like a monastic’s, like the regulations and rules of bhiksus. From childhood, they begin to uphold the Ten Precepts. However, they have the same lifestyle as monastics. The rules, regulations and precepts are the same.

After the initial aspiration to become a monastic, one is called a sramanera. Sramaneras are very pure-hearted. They are the purest and most undefiled. They are able to maintain this undefiled mind. This is their initial aspiration. Even if they are adults, if they have not yet taken the full precepts they are still called sramaneras. So, the first aspiration of renouncing lay life is the purest mindset. We often say, “Maintain your initial monastic aspirations, and you will surely attain Buddhahood.”

All had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding: With their six sense organs, their understanding was sharp and penetrating. They had great wisdom, and their minds were completely clear.

These 16 princes already “had sharp capabilities, and their wisdom brought complete understanding.” These capabilities refer to the six senses. The doors of the Six Roots, their six senses, are shut tightly against evil and opened wide for good. Therefore, they could understand many principles. “Their understanding was sharp and penetrating.” It was penetrating and not muddled at all. It was already very sharp. This is called having sharp capabilities. They had a mindset of great wisdom, which is complete understanding. “Their wisdom brought complete understanding.” They have understood everything.

All had sharp capabilities: Their sharp capabilities and great wisdom all resulted from their having long made offerings to Buddhas and from having formed great aspirations. This explains the virtues of those princes.

They had sharp capabilities and much wisdom. Not only were their capabilities sharp, very keen and discriminating, they understood everything. They could hear one thing and understand 100, 1000 or 10,000; hearing a little, they had complete understanding. They had these sharp capabilities and much wisdom. Their wisdom was like the ocean; they had so much wisdom. All had sharp capabilities: Their sharp capabilities and great wisdom all resulted from their having long made offerings to Buddhas and from having formed great aspirations. This explains the virtues of those princes. “All resulted from their having long made offerings to Buddhas.” These numerous accumulated, sharp capabilities all came from their past lifetimes. Since infinite kalpas ago, they had continued to engage in spiritual practice and make offerings. In their spiritual practice, they made offerings to the Buddha. So, they formed great aspirations. This means that the 16 princes, in past lifetimes, had continuously engaged in spiritual practice and made offerings to the Buddha. So, they continuously formed great aspirations and had already accumulated many virtues. These were the 16 princes’ virtues.

All had sharp capabilities: Their six senses organs were pure and their capabilities clear and sharp, so they could understand many things without hindrances. Because they were sharp, they took no joy in provisional vehicles.

So, “All had sharp capabilities” means that. “Their Six Senses Organs were pure.” They were undefiled by what they saw, so their capabilities were clear and sharp. They could thoroughly understand many things without hindrances. The various principles and workings of the world did not obstruct their minds, because their minds were already pure and undefiled, They were just like mirrors; very clear, with no defilements. [In this mirror] one can see external states so clearly and purely, totally indistinguishable from the outside world. These are called sharp capabilities. “Because they were sharp, they took no joy in provisional vehicles.” With such sharp capabilities, they did not cultivate the Small Vehicle practice. When they first formed aspirations, they formed great aspirations. They took no joy in skillful means and Small [Vehicle] Dharma. They began by taking joy in the Great Dharma. The aspirations they formed were great aspirations.

Their wisdom brought complete understanding: “Understanding” means that they understood all matters and principles. “Complete” means they did not stop halfway. They could understand all inner causes without obstruction

So, “Their wisdom brought complete understanding.” That “understanding” means that. “They understood all matters and principles.” All matters and principles could be completely understood without obstruction. “‘Complete’ means they did not stop halfway.” They did not stop along the way. They could reach full understanding. Since they engaged in spiritual practice, they would not become obstructed. No matter how many difficulties were in the world, no matter how complicated it is, for them, their minds will not be defiled or obstructed. Without being defiled, they will not become obstructed.

As for greed, anger and ignorance, these are not the only things that obstruct us, Even arrogance and doubt can be greater obstructions. So, their minds did not have these obstructions. Thus, “They could understand all inner causes without obstruction.” Inner causes encompass all matters and principles. When our inner minds have a complete understanding of of ourselves and external circumstances, we will be completely without obstruction. As Buddhist practitioners, we must use this kind of mindset to practice.

Our initial aspiration is very important. We must deeply cultivate this aspiration from the time we formed it. Otherwise, if we just constantly say that we are engaging in spiritual practice, exactly what practice are we cultivating? Spiritual practice is not just reciting sutras. Spiritual practice is not just meditation. The most important thing in our spiritual practice is our surrounding environment, the people, matters and things. How should we treat others and form positive affinities? We must form positive affinities and create blessed causes. We need to go among people to benefit others; this is called creating blessed causes. As we interact with others and deal with matters, we should have a heart of joy. We must form positive affinities with others and joyfully accept [adversities]. When we accept adversities with ease, regardless of what others do to us, we can treat adversity as a beneficial condition. These are called “beneficial adverse conditions.” This person may have done something to us that goes against our wishes, but even if it is against our wishes, we should also accept it with a joyful heart and resolve it with wisdom to transform evil into goodness; we use gratitude so when adversity tests us, we can accept it. This is our spiritual training ground. Beneficial adverse conditions are our spiritual training ground. So, we must deeply cultivate positive conditions and the right causes of Dharma; this is very important.

The most important thing in our spiritual practice is to begin with our own mind. Therefore, we must be mindful to experience the external states of people, matters and objects. We must be careful and accept adversities calmly. We must be grateful for these right causes in our spiritual practice, through which we transform evil into goodness. We must cultivate the field of our mind well. In cultivating the field of our mind, if we cultivate it patiently and plant the seeds of goodness, then naturally, the karmic effects will mature. When these karmic effects mature, naturally we will attain liberation. With the Eight Abandonments, our ignorance will be eliminated. With favorable conditions, facing good causes and conditions, we must hurry to benefit others and form good affinities. In the future we will not have obstructions, and we will attain great liberation.

This is very important. Spiritual practice must be done promptly. If we have not formed good affinities, we must form them quickly. At this time, we must not miss even one person. At this time, we mist not miss even one person. When adverse conditions come, we must use wisdom to quickly resolve them and transform them into positive conditions. We must be mindful in cultivating; having sown our seeds of goodness, naturally we will reap the fruit. “One gives rise to infinity, and infinity arises from one.” In this lifetime, we can form many positive affinities and can accept many adversities, which will resolve past issues and allow us to abandon all afflictions. We must walk toward the virtuous door of liberation. To do so, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must put in effort. Therefore, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1047 – The Three Insights and Eight Liberations

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>> “The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. With the pure five desires, we abandon defiled and attached mindsets and uphold the Eight Abandonments. We cultivate dwelling on and contemplating them and give rise to flawless wisdom. We eliminate the Three Realms’ afflictions of delusions of views and thinking. We abandon ignorance to realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.”

>> “When the Buddha taught this Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings, 600 trillion nayutas of people, they could remain unaffected by all phenomena and thus attain liberation from all Leaks . They all attained profound and wondrous Samadhi .”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The insight into previous lives, the insight of the heavenly eye and the insight into ending all Leaks, these three in Arhats are called the Three Insights and in Buddhas the Three Understandings.

>> The Six Spiritual Powers: These are the spiritual powers attained by the noble ones of the Three Vehicles. The power of the heavenly eye,  the power of the heavenly ear, the power of knowing others’ minds, the power of knowing past lives, the power of transporting oneself and the power of ending all Leaks.

>> The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. By abandoning the attachments to the pure five desires, they give rise to flawless wisdom. By eliminating delusions of views and thinking in the Three Realms, they realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.

>> The pure five desires: In the desire realm, form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the coarse five desires These desires are impure. In the form and formless realms, form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the pure five desires

>> Flawless wisdom: Practitioners of the Two Vehicles and so on eliminate deluded karma through this wisdom, preventing their descent into samsara.

>> The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma, as many sentient beings as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand of the Ganges: This is an enormous number, as numerous as the thousands, millions, billions of grains of sand of the Ganges. This was the assembly listening to the Dharma.

>> When He first taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, 600 trillion nayutas [of sentient beings] attained the truth. As He taught this Dharma, the number of those who attained awakening by listening to the Dharma was many times greater than before.

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“The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. With the pure five desires, we abandon defiled and attached mindsets
and uphold the Eight Abandonments. We cultivate dwelling on and contemplating them
and give rise to flawless wisdom. We eliminate the Three Realms’ afflictions of delusions of views and thinking.
We abandon ignorance to realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.”

For some time we have been discussing the. Four Noble Truths and 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. We must understand the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence even more clearly. Starting from one thought of ignorance, the 12 Links continue to give rise to each other, up until the worry, sadness and distress of aging and death. We continue through cyclic existence like this, continually in a state of ignorance, in a state of worries, sadness and distress.

With birth, aging, illness and death, one lifetime in the world passes like this, as do countless, immeasurable kalpas. For countless, immeasurable kalpas, this is how we have continued to transmigrate. Is this suffering? It is unbearable suffering!

Since Beginningless Time, life has always continued in this cyclic existence. The Buddha, with His wisdom, clearly understood this samsara and came to tell us how we can be liberated from cyclic existence so we can go from being dragged uncontrollably by karma to moving back through returning to cessation. We can be the master of everything in our lives. Being the master means we are in control, no longer led uncontrollably by karmic forces. When we come here in control, it is like how Bodhisattvas come to the world to transform sentient beings. Due to their enlightened nature, they cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer. They come here in order to save transform sentient beings.

If we want to transform sentient beings, we must return to our awakened nature. If we still have ignorance [in our minds], then we will never be able to return to our pure enlightened nature. So, the Buddha’s one great cause for coming to this world was to teach us how to return and attain liberation. In this state of ignorance, we have no control, so we need to be liberated from the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. This is the method of returning to cessation, to go back the other way. In the past, we were led by ignorance. Now, we must eliminate it; we must eliminate these Links. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation.

In our daily lives, we are in a state of ignorance. Under conditions of ignorance we take action. Since we act according to ignorance, eight or nine out of ten actions is mistaken. Our ideas and thoughts are mostly in error. This is how our lives are. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation; then all of our actions are mistaken.

How do we return to cessation? From worries, sadness and distress, how do we work backwards to eliminate it all? We must eliminate “becoming.” Becoming must be eliminated because we have cravings. That is “craving.” Craving arises because of our feelings. We must go back and remove these one by one until we reach ignorance, the source. Only if we are able to eliminate our ignorance will we be able to return to our pure intrinsic nature. Only then can we be said to be liberated.

“The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments.” In our daily living, we follow the five desires, Roots and Dusts. Our Roots are our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, and these senses are directed outwards to connect with form, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomenon, etc. When we give rise to thoughts, [our minds] will be contaminated, defiled and become attached. We are sentient beings of the desire realm. Everything that we encounter in our daily lives is a defiled attachment. So, we must now experience the way to eliminate this defiled contact. When our Roots come into contact with the Dusts, this contact leads to feelings. Carrying these defiled cravings, we create all kinds of karmic forces of “becoming.” In this way, we have come to be born and then die. With such defilement and attachment, [rebirth] is beyond our control.

We understand that in spiritual practice, we should not be affected by these things. Spiritual practice is very simple, and this way of life is also very simple. The Buddha had three sets of robes and one bowl. This was enough to get Him through His whole life. We must earnestly engage in practice in this life and not allow external objects to contaminate us. This is already a practice in itself. So, we understand the Three Realms. In the Three Realms, in the desire realm, we must eliminate all kinds of desire. In the form realm and formless realm, we must let go of our attachments to things. So, this is called “the pure five desires.” The five desires are all purified.

This will be explained later in more detail. “We abandon defiled and attached mindsets and uphold the Eight Abandonments.” We have to abandon this defiled attachment. We possess ignorance from the moment we are born. Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are all of the habitual tendencies which are beyond our control in this life. We must abandon all of these, abandon all attachments of habitual tendencies. We must be mindful and uphold the Eight Liberations. With the Eight Liberations, we have already, one by one, eliminated these habitual tendencies of ordinary people. We have turned from them and left them behind.

This is like how we often explain “taking refuge.” In the Buddha’s teachings, taking refuge is like turning from the darkness to the light. Most ordinary people turn toward desires. Now we already understand. This is ordinary people’s greed, anger, ignorance. With all of their desires, they give rise to the habitual tendencies of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, etc. Now we must turn away from them. This is called abandoning. We must abandon these ignorance and afflictions. We must no longer follow and pursue our ignorance and afflictions. We should turn our backs to them and not follow our ignorance or afflictions. We should abandon them and turn to face the light, this bright and clear path. We must uphold this. When we abandon our mind of defiled attachments and uphold the Eight Abandonments, this is called “The Eight Liberations.”

We should earnestly practice and uphold them, “cultivate dwelling on and contemplating them.” We must uphold the things that are right. As for past mistakes and habitual tendencies, we should abandon them. We must constantly “give rise to flawless wisdom.” If we are able to do this, then we will give rise to flawless wisdom. It is often said that with each measure of ignorance we eliminate, we increase our wisdom by the same measure. Our wisdom-life must come from the Dharma that we cultivate and take in without Leaks; we must not allow it to leak out again. When we always keep in mind all the Dharma we have heard, this is how we “cultivate dwelling on and contemplating them.” We must always keep this in mind and contemplate it; it should not leave our minds. This way, amidst the five desires, we will not give rise to thoughts of greed, thoughts of anger, thoughts of ignorance, arrogance and doubt. We must abandon all of these one by one and earnestly dwell on [the Dharma]. Then we can attain flawless wisdom. We must form aspirations to cultivate wisdom without Leaks. Only in this way can we be be liberated from the Three Realms.

The Three Realms consist of the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. Previously, there was a period when we kept discussing the Three Realms, so we should remember them. Thus, “We eliminate the Three Realms’ afflictions of delusions of views and thinking.” In the Three Realms, the worst is the desire realm. In the form realm, one’s desires will have diminished, but there are still cravings in one’s thoughts. They are merely in our thoughts. When one reaches the formless realm, there are only small remnants of afflictions that have not been completely eliminated.

“We eliminate the Three Realms’ afflictions of delusions of views and thinking. We abandon ignorance to realize the fruits of Arhatship.” Hearers and Solitary Realizers must go through this process, and spiritual practitioners must practice these teachings. If we do not practice these teachings, we will follow the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence and thus forever be dragged uncontrollably by our karma. This kind of cyclic existence is so painful and will continue like this ceaselessly. So, with these methods of practice for liberation we must put our effort into being mindful. Thus, “We abandon ignorance to realize the fruits of Arhatship.”

The Eight Liberations are also the Eight Abandonments. We need to extinguish ignorance and afflictions, which is why we call them the Eight Liberations. This is also how we practice.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, there was a bhiksu called Kappa. One day he asked the Buddha a question. “The Buddha always hopes that sentient beings’ minds will be able to reach liberation. World-Honored One! How can a bhiksu’s mind be liberated? Just what has to be done in order for liberation to be attained?” He asked the Buddha, and the Buddha was very joyful. Kappa had taken the Dharma to heart. He was unsure, so he knew to ask. This means that the Dharma was in his mind. It was unclear to him, thus he knew to ask. So, the Buddha was very joyful and said, “It is so good that you know to ask. I will quickly tell you.”

“Kappa, you must earnestly reflect on yourself, ceaselessly contemplate and carefully look upon your own mind, must observe your mind. When your Six Roots are facing external things of all kinds, all of these things are what you must put effort into mindfully observing. You must even reflect on your past, or future, or present, or on your mind and body. You must mindfully observe and reflect.”

“If you are able to earnestly reflect, understand and experience this, then you will discover, in your daily life, [the effects of] feeling, perception, action and consciousness. If you observe outwardly and inwardly and keep reflecting on your mind, you will know to contemplate the body as impure. Then, with all that you make contact with, you will again be able to understand impermanence. With this perspective of impermanence, you can seek to understand consciousness, our mind-consciousness. Within impermanence, we should observe everything inwardly and outwardly, from the smallest to the largest, from the prettiest to the ugliest of things. With your mind constantly linked to these, we then know that in the past, present and future, there is much impermanence. Our mind is also impermanent. It constantly connects to the external states, whether inwardly or outwardly. As for the big, small, beautiful, ugly, etc., are they not all impermanent? When you return to your consciousness, cravings for form, along with feeling, perception, action and consciousness, will all be comprehended. To be able to realize these things is called ‘liberation of the mind.’ Do you understand?”

The Buddha said all of this to him. In our daily life, we must keep observing everything from our external states all the way down to our own mental and physical states and so on, even to our consciousness and the feelings and cravings, etc. that we experience. If we understand these things, that all things are impermanent, then that is how we take things in. If we are able to understand everything we create, then this is “liberation of the mind.”

Everyone, are our minds liberated? The Eight Liberations are only eight things. Have we fully understood them? As for attachments to the external five desires, have we eliminated them? And the delusions of views and thinking in the Three Realms, do we have a clear understanding of them? These are all very simple; are we able to understand them? The Buddha told Kappa about all the various objects in the world and about our bodies and minds. They are all the same; it is always in our daily living where we connect to these states. So, we must earnestly be mindful. If we can understand this, then there is a way to return to cessation. There is a way to end these Links. From ignorance, we continue to follow the Links to the worries, sadness and distress of aging, illness and death. Then without any control, we bring karma to be born again. The links in this chain continue on this way. How can we move back through returning to cessation to totally eliminate all ignorance and affliction? We must very mindfully contemplate this.

The previous verse states,

“The Buddha taught this Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings, 600 trillion nayutas of people.” This is a lot of people. “By remaining unaffected by all phenomena,” having already abandoned all ignorance, all desires of defiled attachments, “[they] attained liberation from all Leaks and all attained profound and wondrous Samadhi.”

They attained liberation from all Leaks. They had achieved liberation from all Leaks, from afflictions and ignorance. “They all attained profound and wondrous Samadhi.” When we read this verse, we will be more clear about the Eight Liberations.

The next verse reads,

“[They attained] the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and all Eight Liberations.” The Eight Liberations are the Eight Abandonments. The verses further state, “The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma, as many sentient beings as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand of the Ganges….”

“[They attained] the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and all Eight Liberations.” The Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers are the virtues that Arhats possess. This is because they have already practiced everything in the past, including the. Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers. Do we still remember the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers? The Three Insights are the insight into previous lives, the insight of the heavenly eye and the insight into ending all Leaks. Everyone should remember these. In the past we talked about and explained them. “The insight of the heavenly eye” is when we can understand future matters, whether for ourselves or others. This is “the insight of the heavenly eye.” We are already very clear, having listened to the Buddha-Dharma for so long. We should be able to understand our own or other people’s future matters.

As for the insight into previous lives, because we know what our past karma was, when we come to this lifetime, we should clearly understand that there is no need to complain. In the past, we created this kind of karma and formed these kinds of affinities. So, with what we bring to this lifetime, whether our lives are good or bad, whether our lives are happy and free or filled with endless afflictions, is all caused by the causes and conditions we created in our past lives. We know that in our past lives we did this, so we should not complain about our current lives. In this life, we are able to meet the Buddha and have the Buddha-Dharma enter our minds. We have understood all our past karma, so we should eliminate it completely.

“I vow to eliminate the. Three Obstructions and all afflictions.” Everything that we created in the past has become our obstructions in this lifetime. We must be very mindful to pay back the debts that we owe. When people obstruct us, what kind of demeanor of spiritual practice should we display to pay them back? If someone treats us like this, can we still act proud? With the Buddha-Dharma by our side, can we still act doubtful? We know clearly that we should not harbor greed, anger or ignorance. If we have an arrogant mindset, can we still allow it to exist? When others are not satisfied with us, it is because we are too arrogant; we are too proud. We must earnestly let go of our ego and make good connections with others.

We often speak about greed, anger and ignorance. We know these, but when it comes to arrogance, we are not often aware of it. Sometimes we are not polite when talking to people. We use harsh words and language. In our spiritual practice, don’t we want to use gentle words and kind language? But we often do not pay attention to this. So, often our attitude or tone will offend people, So, often our attitude or tone will offend people, which will give rise to negative affinities. This all happens without our awareness. This is because our minds’ eye is unclear; we still have ignorance in us.

The insight of the heavenly eye is our mind’s eye. When it comes to our mind’s eye, our perspectives, we are still unclear about ourselves and others. Others have habitual tendencies, and we have habitual tendencies as well. Others can choose not to practice, but we still must practice. So, we must know ourselves and know others. We are spiritual practitioners, so we must clearly understand ourselves.

We must also clearly understand others. Other people have these habitual tendencies. We are spiritual practitioners, shouldn’t we first find ways to change our own habitual tendencies in order to be able to change others? This is how we understand future events. In this life, if we do not have good affinities with someone, then the future will be the same. So, we must engage in spiritual practice, and thus we need “the insight into ending all Leaks.” We must cultivate the insight of ending all Leaks so that we may approach the Bodhisattvas and follow the Bodhisattva-path. By following the Bodhisattva-path, we can return to our intrinsic Tathagata-nature and eliminate all afflictions. Thus we truly walk the path to enlightenment. We eliminate all afflictions in order to approach the [state of] Bodhisattvas and get closer to the teachings of the Buddha. We must put this into action so that we are able to to eliminate [afflictions]. With this insight of ending all Leaks, we eliminate all Leaks.

So, these are “the insight into previous lives, the insight of the heavenly eye and the insight into ending all Leaks.” Only with these does one attain Arhatship. “In Arhats they are called the Three Insights and in Buddhas the Three Understandings.”

The Six Spiritual Powers and the Three Understandings are the state of the Buddha. If you are an Arhat, then you understand, but you have not yet reached total comprehension. When you arrive at the state of Buddhahood, you will have unhindered comprehension.

The Six Spiritual Powers: These are the spiritual powers attained by the noble ones of the Three Vehicles. The power of the heavenly eye,  the power of the heavenly ear, the power of knowing others’ minds, the power of knowing past lives, the power of transporting oneself and the power of ending all Leaks.

We have already explained this in detail before; these teachings were explained over this period. What about the Six Spiritual Powers? Those are spiritual powers attained by the noble beings of the Three Vehicles, which are the power of the heavenly eye, the same as the insight of the heavenly eye, and the power of the heavenly ear, “the power of knowing others’ minds, the power of knowing past lives, the power of transporting oneself and the power of ending all Leaks.”

To have the power of the heavenly ear is easy. By relying on technology we have a way to transmit what is said here to the rest of Taiwan, to the entire world, without a second’s delay; this is the power of the heavenly ear.

In the Buddha’s time, He had already realized the Three Principles and Four States, the principles of matter, life and the mind. He understood these well, how the world and its matters came to be and how they break apart. Breaking apart, everything is empty; coming together, all things are formed. This is the Buddha’s awakening, what He realized about the universe.

The power of knowing others’ minds is specific to the state of Buddhahood, or else it requires great spiritual practice to the point of truly obtaining wisdom and thus being able to understand what another is thinking. But we ordinary people are unable to do this now. Still, medical technology is capable of this. There is a type of hypnosis that puts you in a trance so you say out loud whatever your mind is thinking. Technology right now is approaching this.

Next is the power of knowing past lives, also known as the insight into previous lives. We know the past, present and future; we can understand them. As for the power of transporting oneself, right now, do you come here or do I go there? For a period of time, I had video conferences with Nepal everyday. They would “come” or I would “go.” This all relies on modern technology. I could see them and hear their voices; isn’t this the power of transporting oneself? From thousands of miles away, they can come and go in a flash. This is how the Buddha’s enlightened nature is able to reach everything. The power of ending all Leaks is also called the insight into ending all Leaks. These are all called the Six Spiritual Powers, the Three Insights and Six Spiritual Powers.

The Eight Liberations are also called the Eight Abandonments. By abandoning the attachments to the pure five desires, they give rise to flawless wisdom. By eliminating delusions of views and thinking in the Three Realms, they realize the fruits of Arhatship. To do this is to attain the Eight Liberations.

As for “the Eight Liberations,” we just mentioned them briefly. They are also called the Eight Abandonments. “Abandoning the attachments to the pure five desires….” We ordinary people still have the five desires defiling us and seek to claim things as our own. But now we must abandon this. Not only should we not have the possessiveness of desire, we should not even think of wanting these things. Even in our thinking, we must not give rise to thoughts of craving, those feelings which lead us to grasp and cling. If you give rise to craving from feelings, then you will try to grasp, causing “becoming.” Once there is feeling, then there is craving, followed by grasping and becoming. This continues unceasingly. So, this contact, feeling, craving, grasping and becoming should not even exist as a thought. This is “attachment to the pure five desires.”

We must not be attached to the five desires; they must be completely abandoned. We abandon attachment to the pure five desires. This is in the form realm. Although there are these matters and forms, our minds are not attached to them. There is nothing; they are all abandoned. So, we already “gave rise to flawless wisdom.” In our mind, this flawless wisdom has already started to grow. Naturally, we will be able to “eliminate the Three Realms’ delusions of views and thinking.” Once we eliminate all the delusions of views and thinking, we are without Leaks; we have flawless wisdom. With flawless wisdom, naturally we will be able to eliminate the. Three Realms’ delusions of views and thinking. We will eliminate them completely. Naturally, we will realize Arhatship. The fruits of Hearers and Solitary Realizers are called the Eight Liberations. Once we have abandoned ignorance, we will be liberated.

The pure five desires: In the desire realm, form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the coarse five desires These desires are impure. In the form and formless realms, form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the pure five desires.

Let us again explain “the pure five desires.” These is saying that the form, sound, smell, taste and touch of the desire realm are called the coarse five desires; they are obvious. Once I mention them, you know. With greed for form, once you see something, you want to obtain it. If you smell something good, you crave its taste and want to eat it. These are very obvious things. This is the desire realm of ordinary people. These desires are very coarse.

We have spoken of the poor son analogy before. The elder took off his lavish clothing and put on some dirty clothes to approach his son. This means that in the state of Buddhahood, [the Buddha] still returned to the world to live the same life as [everyone else]. This world, similarly, has the five desires. This poor son was greedy for the five desires. The father wanted to find his son, so he had to walk on the same path in order to bring him back. The principle is the same. Thus, the five desires of form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the coarse five desires. So, “These desires are impure.” In the world, these five desires are impure.

In the form realm, in the form realm or formless realm, form, sound, smell, taste and touch are the pure five desires, because these are things that they do not need anymore. The desires between man and woman are no longer needed at all; this is called purity. But in spiritual practice, even the pure five desires are abandoned. Even the thoughts are completely eliminated. So, this is called purity. We abandon all attachment to the pure five desires.

Flawless wisdom: Practitioners of the Two Vehicles and so on eliminate deluded karma through this wisdom, preventing their descent into samsara.

“Flawless wisdom” is that of the “practitioners of the Two Vehicles.” The Two Vehicles, Hearers and Solitary Realizers, with this wisdom, “eliminate deluded karma, preventing their descent into samsara.” Because they have this wisdom, they eliminated delusions of views and thinking. They do not let their wisdom leak away; naturally their wisdom does not leak away. Leaks refer to all afflictions. Without these afflictions, naturally we will not fall into the cycle of birth and death; there will be no ignorance to make us fall into this cycle of birth and death. We will not be pulled into this cycle of birth and death because of ignorance. So, the Three Realms are the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. Everyone is very clear on this.

The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma, as many sentient beings as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand of the Ganges: This is an enormous number, as numerous as the thousands, millions, billions of grains of sand of the Ganges. This was the assembly listening to the Dharma.

“The second, third and fourth time He taught the Dharma….”  This is saying that when. Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha turned the Dharma-wheel for the first time, there were already thousands, millions, billions of people. Moreover, this was done countless times. First, second, third and fourth represent countless times. After the Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel, He then expounded the Dharma countless times. So, “This is an enormous number,” as “numerous as the thousands, millions, billions of grains of sand of the Ganges.” These are the people listening to Dharma; there were more and more people listening. As He expounded the Dharma countless times, there were more and more people listening. So, it says the second, third and fourth times, meaning many times. When He started endlessly expounding the Dharma, the people who listened were “as many as the thousands, millions, billions, nayutas of grains of sand of the Ganges.” There were countless sentient beings.

When He first taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, 600 trillion nayutas [of sentient beings] attained the truth. As He taught this Dharma, the number of those who attained awakening by listening to the Dharma was many times greater than before.

So, “When He first taught the Four Noble Truths and the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence,” there were already “600 trillion nayutas [who attained the truth].” As He taught this Dharma, “the number of those who attained awakening by listening to the Dharma” increased more and more.

The first time He expounded the Dharma, there were 600 trillion nayutas [of sentient beings]. Furthermore, He expounded the Dharma countless times. It is like when I began teaching the Lotus Sutra. From the day we began with “Such I have heard” until now, I have been teaching this way every day. I teach and people listen every day. Every day the number of people increases. The meaning is the same; there were more and more people listening to the Dharma.

As Buddhist practitioners, the Dharma we teach came from the Buddha. The teachings of the Buddha come from countless kalpas ago. How long ago was this? It was during the time of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. How long ago was this? Dust-inked kalpas ago. The “dust” in dust-inked kalpas is just like the sands of the Ganges River.

Before, an elderly Dharma Master went to India. When he arrived, of course he walked on the sands of the Ganges. As he walked by the Ganges, he brought some of the sand back he used a small jar to gather some of these sands from the Ganges River. He told me, “I went to India, to the Buddha’s birthplace. I walked around the Ganges river, and I brought this sand back. I will give you this jar of sand.” As I held the jar, I thought that though this jar is so small, if I wanted to count the grains one by one, it would not be possible. The sand is so fine, how would I count it? Even if I were to stick my finger in it so some stuck to my finger, the sand on my finger would be uncountable. How would I count all the sand in this small jar?

But the Buddha’s analogy was of dust-inked kalpas. In the sutras, “dust-inked kalpas” refers to a time of as many kalpas as dust [in the universe]. One dust particle is such a tiny particle of sand or dust. It is even finer than sand; it is just dust, like what collects on our tables and chairs. After days without cleaning, if we use our hands to wipe it, the table will have a layer of dust on it. This is called dust. Sand is coarser than this dust. So, we when use dust particles as an analogy for the number, there is truly no way to calculate it. So we say, “Even a mathematician and his disciples” are unable to count them.

This is what the Buddha wanted to tell us. We all have had the intrinsic Buddha-nature for kalpas as incalculable as dust particles. We all intrinsically have the Buddha-nature of. Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha. We are connected to Great Unhindered Buddha. He can connect to us as ordinary beings, and we can connect to Great Unhindered Buddha. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” There is so much Dharma; where should we begin to learn it? For instance, there are the Eight Liberations. If we are able to understand the Eight Abandonments and abandon all ignorance, then this is the method of returning to cessation; we will be able to return to our intrinsic nature. If we can put effort into being mindful, spiritual practice is in our daily living. It is not difficult at all, as long as we are always mindful!

Episode 1046 – Liberation From Bonds Brings the Mind Freedom

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>> “It has been many nayutas, trillions, countless numbers of kalpas, such a long time it is difficult to calculate. He remained in Samadhi and did not cling to affinities or states. He practiced supreme good deeds and upheld the rules and precepts. He widely made offerings and planted blessings and always deeply cultivated Samadhi and wisdom.”

>> “When contact ceases, feeling thus ceases. When feeling ceases, craving thus ceases. When craving ceases, grasping thus ceases. When grasping ceases, becoming thus ceases. When becoming ceases, birth thus ceases. When birth ceases the worries, sadness and distress of aging and death thus cease.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “When the Buddha taught the Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings, 600 nayutas of beings, by remaining unaffected by all phenomena, attained liberation from all Leaks and all realized profound and wondrous Samadhi .”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> When the Buddha taught the Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings: When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata formally turned the Dharma-wheel to teach the Four Noble Truths and the. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence for the first time, the number of Hearers in the assembly was incalculable. Those benefited were everyone in the assembly. It only mentions the multitude of Hearers because He had not yet taught the Great Vehicle, hence there were no Bodhisattvas.

>> 600 trillion nayutas of people: Those who realized the Two Vehicles and attained the fruit of liberation were already as many as 600 trillion nayutas.

>> They remain unaffected by all phenomena: Remaining unaffected by all phenomena means that amongst all feelings from external states and internal retributions, they have no feelings of enjoyment. Without feeling, they have no craving. Without craving, there is no grasping. Without grasping, there is no becoming; then there will be no worries, sadness and distress of birth, aging and death. Thus, they attain the realization of Nirvana with remainder.

>> They remain unaffected by all phenomena: They awakened to the [Four] Truths and. [Twelve] Links, that all is empty. They eradicated all bonds and completely eliminated the consciousness that connects the Roots and states. Thus, they had no attachments.

>> And thus attain liberation from all Leaks: They were disentangled and liberated from flawed states in the world. Their minds were free and at ease. All Leaks: This refers to the afflictions of views and thinking. Our fundamentally liberated mind is covered and burdened due to feeling. Our fundamentally clear and pure nature is confused due to attachment. By not giving rise to feeling or attachment over any phenomena, we therefore attain the fruit of liberation.

>> Their minds were liberated: They were free from the two bonds of seeds and fruits, had completely cut off the delusions of thinking and attained the stage beyond learning. With complete wisdom they ended delusions, and with non-arising wisdom they realized the principles. Their causes and effects both ended, and they realized the principle of emptiness. Their minds were free and at ease. Therefore, they were said to be liberated.>> They all attained profound and wondrous Samadhi: Having attained liberation, they were able to transcend the world and attain profound and wondrous Samadhi that resonated with wisdom.

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“It has been many nayutas, trillions, countless numbers of kalpas, such a long time it is difficult to calculate.
He remained in Samadhi and did not cling to affinities or states.
He practiced supreme good deeds and upheld the rules and precepts.
He widely made offerings and planted blessings
and always deeply cultivated Samadhi and wisdom.”

“It has been many nayutas” means it has been an immeasurably long period of time, a period of time so long that it is in fact incalculable. This is “many nayutas.” How long is that? Trillions, incalculable trillions, “countless numbers of kalpas.” It is so long that it is impossible to calculate. This is a very, very long time ago.

Do we still remember. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha? How long ago did. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha exist? Dust-inked kalpas ago. For that Buddha, His past process of spiritual practice was very long. His mind remained in Samadhi, and throughout His spiritual practice, He never clung to affinities or states. This is spiritual practice, not clinging to affinities and not allowing external states to cause one’s spiritual aspirations to waver. What He practiced was supreme good deeds and upholding the precepts. He had many virtuous thoughts. This is like the Brahma kings who came from the ten directions. They similarly practiced supreme good deeds, also upheld the supreme precepts. We have spoken of all of this before. The one who taught the Dharma was like this, and those listening to the Dharma were like this, too. Clearly that assembly must have been magnificent, with so many people of supreme virtue all gathered there together. They came from the ten directions to invite Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

That place of enlightenment is very far away from us now. “It has been many nayutas, trillions [of kalpas].” It was countless kalpas, so long ago, that the Brahma kings of the ten directions came to that place of enlightenment to request the Dharma. So, these were all those who constantly deeply cultivated Samadhi and wisdom.

Spiritual practice takes a very long time. With time, we accumulate all things needed to fulfill one’s spiritual aspirations. This is how it is now and how it was long ago in the past, countless dust-inked kalpas ago, during the time of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. All of us are equal to the Buddha in our. Buddha-nature, which has been intrinsic in us since Beginningless time. As long as we maintain our intrinsic Buddha-nature and remain uninfluenced by our environment, then our state of mind will be the same as the spiritual state of the place of enlightenment during. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time.

What a pity it is that, due to a single thought of ignorance, we constantly connect with external states and are enticed by external conditions, thus becoming ignorant. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation, then all the karma that we create is stored away in our consciousness. It is this ignorance that is multiplied there which causes us to reborn again and again. This is beyond our control; we follow our causes and conditions and are dragged along by karmic forces. In any place we find ourselves, we follow our circumstantial and direct retributions. The cycle of karmic cause and effect never stops. This depends on our minds. If our minds are like this, then over such a long time,

how can we safeguard our mind? We must go back to the real world. It is in the real world where we must earnestly go among people to engage in spiritual practice while not letting the environment disturb our minds. By going among people, we can see so many different kinds of lives.

There is a home in Chiayi with only one person living in it. This person is mentally impaired; their brain does not work so well. He has a father but the father does not live in the house with him. Every day the father comes by and gives him NTD 100 so that he can eat.

But this young man was living in the house; while I say that he is young, he looks like he is in his 30s or 40s. Yet he is mentally impaired. He is always playing with fire, setting things on fire. Sometimes he frightens others by threatening them with knives, so the neighbors do not dare to approach him. Even more troublesome is that he likes to pick up trash. He brings this garbage back to his house. So, he lives by himself in a traditional courtyard compound, a house from former times, with a main building and several outlying wings that all surround a courtyard. Inside it was completely filled with trash.

Everyone who lives nearby was worried, worried about this person who often sets things on fire. If he were to set his own house on fire, that fire would spread to other houses. Nobody dared to approach him, scared he might threaten them with a knife. Because of this, everyone in the village was worried. The village head begged his father saying, “Please, can you talk to your son?” The father told him, “He is not well mentally; how can I communicate with him?”

“What can we do? It is so filthy inside.” The village head said, “I have already invited Tzu Chi volunteers to come help clean. Can you tell your son we are having people come to clean the house? It’s impossible! There’s nothing more to say.” Although the village head had failed, Tzu Chi volunteers stepped in to help. They communicated with the father for a very long time until the father finally told them, “Fine, if you want to clean, you can do so.” With that, the father left and did not appear again.

We then mobilized 50 Tzu Chi volunteers 50 people had come, but the care recipient stood outside blocking the door, looking fierce, not allowing anyone to enter. The village head called his uncle, and the uncle came. His father would not come, so the uncle was called. The uncle was touched by these Tzu Chi volunteers, so the uncle went to speak with him. He still lost his temper; this care recipient lost his temper. When the Tzu Chi volunteers went there together with the uncle, the uncle gave them a secret signal meaning, “You can go in through the side.” He was blocking the entrance to the main house, so the uncle told the volunteers, “You can go in to clean through the kitchen.” The uncle and the Tzu Chi volunteers continued speaking with him until the man finally discovered that the volunteers had entered his house from the side. Then he began shouting, “You are all robbers! Robbers! Robbers have come in to rob me!”

The Tzu Chi Faith Corps, the uncle and the village head were all talking outside until a Faith Corps member quickly changed the topic. He said, “A’yi. You have so many amulets hanging from your neck. Won’t all those spirits fight one another?” He said, “No, why would the spirits want to fight? Look,” he said, as he reached for his amulets on his chest, “This is a Wang Ye and this is Guanyin. Why ever would they wish to fight?”

A Tzu Chi volunteer then began, “That’s right! Our group was sent here by Guanyin Bodhisattva. We were sent here to help you. Won’t you welcome us?” He smiled and asked, “Guanyin sent you?” With that, he began lightening up. The volunteers inside hurriedly kept cleaning. Do you know how dirty it was? It was almost as if he were living inside a mountain of garbage. That is how you could describe that entire house. It was like what we see in Indonesia, or in the Philippines, or in other countries, those mountainous landfills.

For a very long time, for more than ten years, this man had never really slept in a bed. Where had he slept? He slept upon the garbage, since the bed was nowhere to be found amidst the garbage filling the room. More than 50 Tzu Chi volunteers, as well as many members of a charity group from that village, all raced against the clock to hurriedly move everything out of the house.

There was money among the garbage, many paper bills. Quickly, they called out to him, “A’yi, you have money!” Upon seeing money, he knew enough to come take it. Meanwhile, he again began making a fuss. “You’ve moved out all my things! What are you trying to do? You are robbing me!” They told him, “Relax, relax!” Tzu Chi volunteers comforted him by telling him, “We can sell these for money. Then we will bring you back the money.” He calmed down when he heard about the money. They kept talking to him like this while cleaning, some outside the house, some inside.

Can you imagine the extent of the filth? For 10 or 20 years it had never been cleaned, while he had been bringing in all sorts of garbage. Those were the conditions [they experienced]. However, this group of volunteers truly had been sent by Guanyin Bodhisattva; hundreds of hands were cleaning there, all cleaning and scrubbing. When they had moved out all the garbage and had begun cleaning, he came in as well and started to help them clean, pulling the hose around to help them spray. Tzu Chi volunteers kept praising him, saying, “You are so wonderful! That’s great!” He was very happy; while cleaning the floors and scrubbing the walls, he began to reveal a friendlier smile. Tzu Chi volunteers brought a bed over, a table and a bed. They asked him, “Where do you want to sleep? Where should the bed go?” He told them, “Over there.”

Our volunteers told him, “Maybe it would be better if we helped to move the table here and the bed there. Then you can sleep comfortably. Isn’t this a beautiful bed?” He touched it. “Come and help us move it.” He helped them to move the bed inside the house. “We’ll put it like this for you. After you’ve laid out the mattress board, you can wipe it down.” The volunteers invited him to help wipe it down. As he wiped it down with the volunteers, they taught him, saying, “It won’t get clean wiping like that. Come, I’ll teach you, wipe it this way, a little more lightly. Wipe lighter like this.” So, he could follow instructions after all! When they told him to wipe more lightly, he wiped more lightly. With that, this lightly used secondhand bed was set up and after being wiped down was like new. The whole place looked like new.

These are Living Bodhisattvas. Through going among people, they discovered this person in the prime of life, a strong middle-aged man. He was physically strong, yet mentally impaired. They took the time to teach him not to play with fire. There were also more than 40 knives inside which the Tzu Chi volunteers quickly put away so he would not see them. They put all those knives away. Right now it is like this; there is a bed and a table in the clean main room of that traditional house where he can live free of filth. While the volunteers helped clean for him, they also awakened to truths of life.

I speak about circumstantial and direct retributions in life, how a person come to be born in a certain family. How were all the people in this family ultimately connected to each other? All we knew was that he had a father who would give him NTD 100 every day; that was all we knew.

When cleaning the house, there was the uncle. Was it really his uncle, or just someone whom he called uncle? We are still not sure. All we know is that he was a very lonely person who was mentally impaired. Upon seeing this, we can think of ourselves; in witnessing suffering, we recognize blessings. We have healthy bodies, sound minds and correct thinking. Because our thinking is correct, we can give to others like this. Being able to do this makes us happy and fills us with gratitude.

Including this child, everyone has Buddha-nature. The way volunteers formed good affinities with him, didn’t they “remain in Samadhi and not cling to affinities or states”? In going among people, trying to help such a family, we had no other intentions. We just cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. Even in such conditions, we did not allow the external states to hinder our good intentions. We went in to help him, to help clean, making no judgment about the stench or filth, not clinging to any conditions. We were not seeking anything. We just wanted to give him a clean environment; that was all.

Isn’t this practicing supreme goodness? Upon finding money, everyone hurried to tell him, “Come A’yi, we have found some money!” Then they quickly gave it to him. Abiding by the rules and coveting nothing is how we engage in spiritual practice. There is nothing difficult about engaging in spiritual practice. It is really this simple; we cultivate supreme good deeds and uphold the precepts. We give to help others; since all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, we “widely make offerings and plant blessings.” For countless kalpas we have gone among people, using the Dharma to make offerings to Buddhas. When the Buddha taught sentient beings, He was not seeking anything. The [true] offerings He attained were sentient beings following His teachings. Following the Buddha’s teachings and practicing according to them is the greatest offering we can make,

so we “always deeply cultivate Samadhi and wisdom.” Because our spiritual practice is deeply rooted, seeing a situation like that we would never say, “Wow, what a pile of garbage! There’s nothing I can do about it” and then just walk away. We would never do that. We will get involved to help him clean it out. We are single-minded in our resolve, not seeking fame or fortune. We want nothing but to benefit sentient beings. This is what we should normally practice.

Following this same principle, when we save people, it influences the entire society. By cleaning this home, by cleaning that environment, it [affects] not just that one family or that one person. We discovered this person and formed a friendship with him. Those Tzu Chi volunteers told him, “Starting now, we will come often to visit you.” In this way he began to accept them. A mentally impaired individual needs to be counseled through friendship. Otherwise, he might have been like a ticking time bomb, able to start a fire at any time that might get out of hand. Or he might have taken one of those 40 knives he had in the house and used it to hurt somebody. This is [unpredictable]. So, for the safety of the community, volunteers give of themselves in this way. These are Bodhisattvas in the world. Spiritual practice takes place in community, so let us be very mindful.

The teaching of the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence talks about how all of our thoughts, everything we say and everything we do, all the actions we take, all arise from the mind. A single thought of “ignorance” gives rise to “volitional formation”; we take action and so on, until gradually arriving at “contact,” contact with the environment, resulting in “feeling.” If we make an effort to bring these to cessation, to eliminate all improper behavior, all mistaken actions, all misguided thinking, we will naturally eliminate [all of the Links].

The previous passage says, “When contact ceases, feeling thus ceases. When feeling ceases, craving thus ceases. When craving ceases, grasping thus ceases. When grasping ceases, becoming thus ceases. When becoming ceases, birth thus ceases. When birth ceases the worries, sadness and distress of aging and death thus cease.”

How do we eliminate our worries, sadness and distress? We must do it like this, layer by layer, beginning with the elimination of ignorance, right up until the very end when worries, sadness and distress cease as well.

We should mindfully seek to comprehend this cycle of life. In the same span of a single thought, one thought can be of our nature of True Suchness, while the next can be of ignorance. If we are not careful, our nature of True Suchness will be covered by ignorance. So, between Bodhi and ignorance, do we want to walk the Bodhisattva-path, the Bodhi-path, or do we want to journey on the ignorance covering us, that confusion, and continue this [cycle] of the Links? This all depends upon us. Now that we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, we must put effort into mindfully experiencing it.

So next, the passage continues to say, “When the Buddha taught the Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings, 600 nayutas of beings, by remaining unaffected by all phenomena, attained liberation from all Leaks and all realized profound and wondrous Samadhi.”  

So, here when it says, “When the Buddha taught this Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings, this Dharma” means the Four Noble Truths and the teaching of the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. During this time, “600 trillion nayutas of people, by remaining unaffected by all phenomena, attained liberation from all Leaks and all realized profound and wondrous Samadhi.”

When the Buddha began turning the Dharma-wheel, there were “600 trillion nayutas” of beings. These “600 trillion nayutas” had not come from just any one direction; 600 trillion beings came from all ten directions. A “nayuta” is a great many, a countless number of people. There were so many just from the Brahma heavens, along with those from the human realm as well as the 16 princes; all were present at this assembly. “They could remain unaffected by all phenomena.” Remaining unaffected by ignorance and so on, by the phenomena of ignorance, they could “attain liberation from all Leaks.” By totally transcending all internal afflictions, they would have no more “Leaks.” In the past, we constantly talked about Leaks. “Leaks” are afflictions, ignorance. So, they remained unaffected by Leaks and afflictions, the afflictions that resulted from ignorance. Those thoughts of affliction due to ignorance were completely eliminated. They would have no more Leaks from afflictions. Having gotten rid of all of these, they would thereby “attain liberation.” When our Leaks are exhausted, our minds naturally attain liberation. “All realized profound and wondrous Samadhi.” We naturally attain profound and wondrous Samadhi since our root of faith is very strong.

When the Buddha taught the Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings: When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata formally turned the Dharma-wheel to teach the Four Noble Truths and the. Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence for the first time, the number of Hearers in the assembly was incalculable. Those benefited were everyone in the assembly. It only mentions the multitude of Hearers because He had not yet taught the Great Vehicle, hence there were no Bodhisattvas.

“When the Buddha taught this Dharma to the assembly of humans and heavenly beings….” This was when Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior formally turned the Dharma-wheel; He had formally begun turning the Dharma-wheel. As we mentioned, He taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.

When He taught the Dharma the first time, the only ones there were. Hearers and Solitary Realizers, but there were already very many of them. They were incalculable in number, so many people. There were “600 trillion nayutas” of them, countless numbers of them, so they were incalculable. “Those benefited were everyone in the assembly.” There were many who benefited. Having accepted the Buddha-Dharma, everyone had already completely gotten rid of their afflictions, ignorance and their Leaks. Their minds had attained liberation, so they obtained benefit. This is only talking about the Hearers, the Hearers as well as the Solitary Realizers. This was only “the first time.” There were Hearers and Solitary Realizers, but still no Bodhisattvas. At that point there were only. Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Even those from the Brahma heavens still had teachings they had not pentreated fully. So, they again came to request that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel. These were only Hearers and Solitary Realizers. The Bodhisattvas had not yet appeared, since the Buddha was only teaching the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. He had not yet entered the Great Vehicle Dharma,

600 trillion nayutas of people: Those who realized the Two Vehicles and attained the fruit of liberation were already as many as 600 trillion nayutas.

so the Bodhisattvas had not yet appeared “600 trillion nayutas of people” refers to “those who realized the Two Vehicles and attained the fruit of liberation.” They had already realized the Two Vehicles. The Two Vehicles are the Hearer and Solitary Realizer Vehicles. Those whose fruit of liberation was deeply rooted, whose faith was firm, “were already as many as 600 trillion nayutas.” There were so many of them.

They remain unaffected by all phenomena: Remaining unaffected by all phenomena means that amongst all feelings from external states and internal retributions, they have no feelings of enjoyment. Without feeling, they have no craving. Without craving, there is no grasping. Without grasping, there is no becoming; then there will be no worries, sadness and distress of birth, aging and death. Thus, they attain the realization of Nirvana with remainder.

So, “They remain unaffected by all phenomena.” Remaining unaffected by all phenomena means they were [unaffected by] any external states, by the temptations of external states. The temptations of external states are why we often say that we must go among people. Being with others is having external conditions. With these conditions, there are all kinds of afflictions and ignorance. Amidst these external states, amongst all kinds of afflictions and ignorance, these “external states and internal retributions, they have no feelings of enjoyment.” So many afflictions come from external states. If we keep them in our minds, we have feelings of displeasure, of dislike. If we are unaffected, if we do not take them in, then even amidst external states, our minds remain unmoved.

We know there is no joy in them, that they are not joyful things, because they are all states of suffering. These external states are all ones of suffering. Having understood this, we know that it begins with a thought of ignorance, which gives rise to volitional formation, consciousness, name and form, the six entrances, contact and feeling. We know all this, and since we know, we remain unaffected, unaffected by external states. Although we can go amidst these external states, inside we remain undefiled. We already know that these states are things that attract suffering.

This is like those 50-plus volunteers who went to that place to clean. Though those conditions were [so filthy], those Bodhisattvas did not keep that garbage in their minds. They cleared it out of the house so that it was clean. Knowing it was suffering, they cleared it out and did not keep it in their hearts. In the same way, when we understand, “Without feeling, we have no craving.” We know that when a thought of ignorance arises, if we do not take in external states, then we will not act upon this ignorance and create karma.

So, with this mindset, upon seeing external states, we will not think or try to take them in. By remaining unaffected by external states and not clinging to conditions, we will naturally be without craving. Without craving, we will not have feelings like, “I want this, I don’t want that.” In any case, it does not belong to me, and I also do not need it, so naturally there is no “craving,” nor any wish to “grasp” it. “Without craving, there is no grasping. Without grasping, there is no becoming.” We do not take things and bring them inside, like A’yi, who would pick things up and bring them inside, thereby creating so much garbage. This is “becoming.” So, without grasping, if he had never picked them up, there would not have been so much trash inside. Then, “Without grasping, there is no becoming.” There would not have been so much trash; there would not have been so many afflictions.

“Then there will be no worries, sadness and distress of birth, aging and death.” There naturally is no birth, aging, illness and death or worries, sadness or distress from them. Many are like this. If we watch Da Ai TV, we can often see some elderly people who are so liberated. “I’m so old now that if I don’t quickly take action. I will soon be out of time! I don’t think too much. Why should I think about pain or sickness? I can forget about it by just taking action! My last day? Oh, I never think about it. I just do what is right. I still have time, so I hurry to do these things. Master tells us to seize the present moment.” They have no worries, sadness or distress. They are content and satisfied. While there is still time, we should just do it. Then we will have no worries, sadness or distress.

“Thus, they attain the realization of Nirvana with remainder.” This is Nirvana with remainder because they had only practiced the Two Vehicles, the Hearer and Solitary Realizer Vehicles. So, they attained “Nirvana with remainder.” They had not yet arrived at “Nirvana without remainder.” They knew how we came to be in cyclic existence, and knowing this, they knew not to create more karma, or allow “ignorance” to give rise to “volitional formation” and so on. They only understood up to this point, so they wished to maintain their purity of mind, for when the home of the mind is clean, it is free of afflictions.

They remain unaffected by all phenomena: They awakened to the [Four] Truths and. [Twelve] Links, that all is empty. They eradicated all bonds and completely eliminated the consciousness that connects the Roots and states. Thus, they had no attachments.

So, “They remain unaffected by all phenomena. They awakened to the [Four] Truths and. [Twelve] Links, that all is empty.” This is how we can naturally awaken and and understand that this is actually how we come and go in life.

They understood life’s suffering, how it is beyond one’s control, how circumstantial and direct retribution are beyond one’s control. This suffering [is caused] because we are confused in the world. With no thorough understanding of anything, one again creates karma, becoming incessantly entangled. Now that they were listening to the Dharma and could understand, they would remain unaffected by all of this ignorance and afflictions. Naturally, they realized the principles of the. Four Truths and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, how everything is fundamentally empty, yet by creating karma, we go through “becoming.” When all the garbage was cleared out of that house, it was extremely empty. The only necessary thing was a bed, and when that was brought in, he had all he needed; it is this simple.

So, “They eradicated all bonds.” The ignorance and filth, those ropes that bound us, have all been released. They “completely eliminated the consciousness that connects the Roots and states.” The Roots are our Six Roots. Then there are the external Six Dusts. When we connect to these states, we create karma. Our consciousness is already very clear. The mirror has been wiped clean, for we know there is no relation between those external states and our mirror. The mirror remains undefiled. The mirror reflects external states very clearly, but the external states have nothing to do with the mirror. This is “completely eliminating the consciousness that connects the Roots and states.” We know the garbage is in front of us. It is not inside the mirror. It is outside the mirror, not inside the mirror. So, “the consciousness that connects the Roots and states” has been completely eliminated. Thus, “They have no attachments.” Having completely understood, their minds have no attachments. Everything has been cleared out, it is all clean, so they do not want to bring things in again. Once it has been cleared out, if he again picks things up and brings them in, it will again become dirty. So, they must have no attachments at all.

And thus attain liberation from all Leaks: They were disentangled and liberated from flawed states in the world. Their minds were free and at ease. All Leaks: This refers to the afflictions of views and thinking. Our fundamentally liberated mind is covered and burdened due to feeling. Our fundamentally clear and pure nature is confused due to attachment. By not giving rise to feeling or attachment over any phenomena, we therefore attain the fruit of liberation.

“And thus attain liberation from all Leaks.” These afflictions and ignorance have all been eliminated, have all been exhausted, so they had attained liberation. “[They escaped] from flawed states in the world.” These bonds had been completely eliminated. “Their minds were free and at ease.” They naturally were at ease. “All Leaks” refer to afflictions and ignorance, which cause delusional views and thinking. These are called “Leaks.”

“Our fundamentally liberated mind is covered.” This is talking about those filthy things that cover our nature of True Suchness; the afflictions and ignorance covering our minds. These are called “Leaks.” When these things are all eliminated, we naturally become liberated. So, “burdened due to feeling” is again going back to talk about “feeling.” After there is “contact,” we have feeling, the feeling of “I want this.” So, we think about how to get it. This feeling leads to “craving” and with craving there is naturally attachment. Actually, our mind is inherently bright and pure. It is like that courtyard compound. The house itself was still very good. The house was originally clean, but he picked up trash and brought it in, and it continuously accumulated that way. Actually, after clearing the trash out, the house returned to its original cleanliness. We become “confused due to attachment.” It is due to attachments, those dirty things we bring inside, that the entire house becomes dark and filled with trash. Then we cannot see inside the house to what was originally there. It is now all filled with trash.

So, “By not giving rise to feeling or attachment over any phenomena, we therefore attain the fruit of liberation.” In regard to these phenomena, once we understand that [we know] this is the phenomena of ignorance, so we must not be attached to it. This is the pure teaching, so we must diligently accept and uphold it. By accepting and upholding this teaching, wisdom is attained. Each measure of ignorance we eliminate increases our wisdom by the same measure. When we understand the principles, naturally our minds become liberated.

Their minds were liberated: They were free from the two bonds of seeds and fruits, had completely cut off the delusions of thinking and attained the stage beyond learning. With complete wisdom they ended delusions, and with non-arising wisdom they realized the principles. Their causes and effects both ended, and they realized the principle of emptiness. Their minds were free and at ease. Therefore, they were said to be liberated.

“Their minds were liberated. Liberated” means “free from the two bonds of seeds and fruits.” This is talking about our “fruit.” Actually, with fruit, if allowed to have the right conditions, it will have seeds, these genes; this karma will exist within the fruit. When fruit is separated from external conditions, naturally the fruit’s genes will not propagate. Seeds must have earth, water and air for them to be able to sprout and grow. If we separate the seeds from these conditions, they naturally will not grow. So, this is how to “completely cut off the delusions of thinking.” Then naturally the roots of our afflictions will be eliminated; when cut off, naturally our ignorance and delusions become totally eliminated. When delusions of views and thinking are ended, we “attain the stage beyond learning.” Naturally, through diligence, we go beyond the stage of Hearers and Solitary Realizers. This is the stage beyond learning.

When we first started discussing the Lotus Sutra, we talked about “learning” and “beyond learning.” Hearers and Solitary Realizers have not completely eradicated afflictions. Having not completely understood the teachings, they are still at the stage of “learning.” They must still learn. We can “attain the stage beyond learning,” and “with complete wisdom we end delusions.” All wisdom has already manifested, and all delusions have completely ended. “With non-arising wisdom we realize principles.” Having attained “non-arising wisdom,” we can naturally realize the principles. So, “Their causes and effects both ended.” There were no more causes and effects and such that entangled them. “They realized the principle of emptiness,” and “their minds were free and at ease. Therefore, they were said to be liberated.”

They all attained profound and wondrous Samadhi: Having attained liberation, they were able to transcend the world and attain profound and wondrous Samadhi that resonated with wisdom.

So, “All realized profound and wondrous Samadhi. Having attained liberation,” they were able to transcend the world. “[The Samadhi attained] resonated with wisdom.” It was very deep, so they could naturally transcend the world. Because it resonated with our pure wisdom, it is called “profound and wondrous Samadhi.” This is the highest and most supreme liberation.

So many phenomena are created by a single thought, thus there are so many that we could never finish talking about them all. In fact, everything comes back to our daily living in the present. We must go among people and benefit others. This is the right thing to do, so let us always be mindful.