Category: TLS Chapter 7

Episode 1025 – Bodhisattvas Bestow Happiness and Benefit

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>> “Loving-kindness is thoughts of love, which is the resolve to bring happiness. It is Bodhisattvas’ great love for all sentient beings. They always seek out joyful matters to meet whatever those beings need. Bestowing happiness and benefit is called great loving-kindness.”

>> “A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions 130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one. All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain. We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “He is like the udumbara flower. Only today were we able to encounter Him. All of our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance. World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> He is like the udumbara flower. Only today were we able to encounter Him: It means auspicious response. The Nirvana Sutra states, “In Jambudvipa there is a great king of trees called the udumbara. It bears fruits but no flowers.” When the udumbara tree grows golden flowers, a Buddha appears in the world. A Buddha is as rare to see as this flower of auspicious response. Beginning on this day, they were able to encounter one.

>> All our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance: The Brahma kings sought out the source of the radiance. They saw the favorable omen of the rare auspicious sign and relinquished these as offerings

>> World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them: Great loving-kindness is thoughts of love. It means with love, joy and the wondrous Dharma, they are able to give others Dharma-joy. Great compassion is thoughts of sympathy. Sentient beings have delusions and ignorance. To free them is called great loving-kindness. They asked the Buddha to accept the [offerings], for they wished to grow their blessings.

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“Loving-kindness is thoughts of love, which is the resolve to bring happiness.
 It is Bodhisattvas’ great love for all sentient beings.
They always seek out joyful matters to meet whatever those beings need.
Bestowing happiness and benefit is called great loving-kindness.”

Recently, we have been reading about Brahma kings. Whether they were from the east, southeast or south, all the Brahma kings followed the light they saw and went in the same direction to seek it out. They wanted to know the source of the light. This is similar to how we humans long to attain the light of glory. Actually, the light is the principles; the true principles are the light. If we are on the path going toward the light, we are on the path to attaining the truth.

What is this path to the true principles? It is everything that the Buddha taught. Everything He taught was to help us understand that if it is the wrong thing to do, we must be sure to not do it. If it is the right thing to do, that path will be wide open and bright. He encouraged us to advance forward on this bright and smooth path. This is what we often say, “The Bodhi-path is direct.” The principles of attaining enlightenment are a broad and open path that is furthermore very direct. If we walk in this direction, we will be very safe and secure. If we deviate from this direction, from amidst the darkness, we continue to walk toward the darkness. Thus we continue to remain in darkness and furthermore are on a path filled with traps. This is very dangerous.

For Buddhas who came to this world, whether the present Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, who is our fundamental teacher, or those of the past, from beginningless dust-inked kalpas ago, such as Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, all Buddhas share the same path, and the principles are the same. So, the path They teach is this great and direct Bodhi-path. What is this great and direct Bodhi-path? It is inseparable from loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. This great and direct path is just that simple.

So, “Loving-kindness is thoughts of love.” These thoughts of loving-kindness are truly inherent in everyone’s mind, because we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We all have this heart of loving-kindness and goodness. Loving-kindness is the hope for all sentient beings to be happy, for them to transcend ignorance and afflictions so that they can be free of suffering and worries. This is how the Buddha and all Buddhas of the past, present and future are the same; Their nature of True Suchness is nothing but kindness, love and protecting sentient beings, so they can all attain happiness and transcend afflictions and ignorance, so all they create are the seeds of happiness and all they attain is the fruition of happiness. Thus, this is “the resolve to bring happiness,” the hope that everyone is able to attain everlasting happiness. This is loving-kindness.

Loving-kindness is called love, sincere love; it is selfless and undefiled great love. So, the word “loving-kindness” is the thought of undefiled great love. He never, in any thought, forgets about the sentient beings of the Five Realms; this is the Buddha-mind; He cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. He hopes for everyone to transcend suffering and attain joy. This is thoughts of love; it is loving-kindness, the love for all sentient beings in the world, not just those in the human realm. It includes all in the four forms of birth and the Five Realms. So, “Loving-kindness is thoughts of love,” which is the “resolve to bring happiness,”

in other words, the great love of Bodhisattvas the love for all sentient beings. The Bodhisattva-mind is a mind of great love, the love for all sentient beings. So, “They always seek out joyful matters.” How do they help all sentient beings attain joy and a state of peace and freedom? This is what all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas intend to do for sentient beings and is everything that they teach. They find ways to help them attain happiness, to make sure their needs are met, so those who seek longevity attain longevity, those who seek wealth attain wealth. In the [Lotus Sutra’s] chapter on Guanyin, or in the Medicine Buddha Sutra, isn’t this what it says? Whatever sentient beings need and ask for, these [great beings] are willing to give it.

They do everything for sentient beings, in the hopes that sentient beings can attain peace and freedom. This is how they “always seek out joyful matters to meet whatever those beings need.” We hope to respond to sentient beings’ needs and give what is needed accordingly. Sentient beings are lacking many things, so all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are like compassionate parents, hoping sentient beings have what they need. However, tangible materials are limited, so they need to use principles and education to teach them how to attain abundance. It is not just, “Whatever you ask for, I will keep on giving it to you. Actually, you all already possess it. You fundamentally have countless treasures.” Doesn’t the Chapter on Faith and Understanding explain this?

The wealthy elder recognized his own son, brought him into the house and slowly taught him, beginning with household chores. Whether hard labor or tedious tasks, he earnestly and carefully taught him and guided him until he had an understanding of the place where the wealth and treasures were. He also helped him understand the content of this treasury, the ways they were arranged and so on. He did so until this poor son, under the guidance of his wealthy father, opened his mind and said, “Ah, if only I had these things….” The elder said to him, “During this time, I saw your hard work. So, you are just like my son, and I am just like your father. Everything that I have is yours. Let me show you how these things are also yours.”

In the same way, we all originally had this infinite treasure. But, because of one thought of ignorance, we created many defilements. So, with layers of defilements, layers of turbidity and ignorance, the door to our treasury is locked tightly. We are unable to open it. If we do not clear away the defilements and ignorance, if they are not cleaned up, we will be unable to unlock our pure and undefiled intrinsic nature.

Everyone inherently has this intrinsic nature. In the United States, for instance, a newspaper reported about a man who was raising a dog. This dog would always be beside him, whether he was on top of a mountain or on a beach. He would follow him everywhere. This dog was his very best companion.

One day, the man got stuck in a lake. He tried to walk out of it, to climb up the bank, but with every step, the bed of the lake turned out to be soft. It was a quagmire; there was no real ground. So, the more he walked, the more deeply he sank into the quagmire. At that time, he tried to pull his feet up, but it was already too late. He sank deeper and deeper into the thick mud. In that place, he could not free his body. So, one or two hours [passed], and the temperature was five degrees, five degrees below zero. Being in this kind of weather, in the quagmire of this lake, he became colder and colder. His whole body was becoming stiff. Suddenly, he remembered that he had his phone. From his phone he called 911; in the United States it is 911, so he called the emergency number, 911.

The first responders arrived, but when they went down to try to save him, the boats could not reach him. Since it was very shallow there, the boats could not be driven over. Because it was full of mud there, the boat was unable to go through the quagmire. What could be done? The man was already becoming stiff from the cold, so what was to be done? They saw a dog there that was very anxious. The firefighters came up with an idea. They took the rescue rope and tied it around the dog. This dog was quite smart. With the rope that was tied around him, he went down to the quagmire. He kept pulling the rope to where his master was.

Dogs have this kind of ability; they can swim and do not fear the mud. He could run and swim with his four legs. Although it was half mud and half water, the dog was able to get the rope close to his master’s body. The man was able to get the escape rope and tie it around his own body. Then step by step, the rescuers on the shore pulled hard, and he himself took step after step forward. The dog had saved his master. This news was published in the newspaper, and everyone felt that, indeed, dogs are man’s best and most loyal friend. The photos and articles were also published.

So, we often say that. “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature.” Animals are the same; they have that innate, latent potential, the intrinsic Buddha-nature. So, we cannot look down on them, cannot take the lives of sentient beings lightly. We must have respect for all. Sentient beings cannot help themselves as they follow karma they created in past lives. Among the Five Realms, other than heaven realm and the human realm, there are also the hell, animal and hungry ghost realms. The animal realm can be seen in this world; it coexists with us. We are able to see all of them.

There are many animals who truly become people’s treasured pets. Actually, their masters’ adoration, for the animals, is the same as being trapped and controlled. The master loves the bird, but uses a small birdcage to keep him enclosed, so he is unable to be free. Birds are most happy when in the open sky, where they can be carefree and unfettered. In the sky, they can fly wherever they want. So, for them to be happy, we must allow them to have their way of life. This should be the love we humans have for them. We must not hurt them, as they have their own world.

Because we love our dogs and cats, we should not place restrictions on them. Some people love their dogs and cats so much that, though these animals do not require clothing, they make clothing for them to wear. Actually, we must know, under their fur [is skin]. If we cover them, it would be the same as if our skin was sealed by a plastic film. Their lives used to be so natural, but humans created something unnatural that does not match their way of life. This is all conditioned phenomena. According to our liking, we add to the suffering of others, those who cannot express themselves to us.

This is the same principle. This is how deluded we sentient beings are. We want to express our love, but it is not love that accords with nature. This kind of love causes other beings to be troubled and confused. We create difficulties for them, while they do not know what it is we want to do or why we restrict them in such small spaces. So, we sentient beings ought to open our minds and understand the states of all living beings and what all these living beings need.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas explain these kinds of principles for us to hear. We wish to seek liberation, but actually, all living things also want to seek liberation. We wish to seek happiness; all living beings hope to attain happiness. Yet, we do not know any of these principles. So, we must earnestly be mindful and seek these principles ourselves. It is as if our minds are in darkness, but then we discover a beam of light. These are ultimate principles, so we must immediately seek the origin of these principles.

The principles are inseparable from loving-kindness and compassion. So, “Bestowing happiness and benefit is called great loving-kindness. If we can understand the principles, we will “always seek out joyful matters.” We know what sentient beings want, so we can “meet whatever those beings need.” We [give] according to what it is they need; a natural environment is what they like best, is what makes them happy. This is the meaning of “Bestowing happiness and benefit is called great loving-kindness.” If sentient beings are suffering and in need, we can put effort into eliminating their suffering. If they are at peace, we find ways to, “having relieved them from suffering, then expound the Dharma for them.” We hope to spread the Dharma more universally to allow everyone to understand the Dharma. When they can think clearly, their minds will not be bound by many afflictions and ignorance.

Life has always been full of suffering. Who can avoid birth, aging, illness and death? This is the natural state of the world. In daily life, we respect each other with love. When we suffer from pain and illness, we must ask for treatment from doctors. When the doctors have done their best, then we must be grateful. In the same way, when we are healthy, we need to know how to protect our health. When we are sick, we have to find doctors and follow their prescriptions. If we can get better, we must be grateful. When our time is up, our affinities are exhausted and karma is set, then we can only follow our karma and affinities. This is a principle that we need to understand.

Life has always been this way, to say nothing of parting from loved ones, meeting those we hate, not getting what we want and the suffering of the raging Five Aggregates. All these are suffering. These are the principles. When we do not understand the principles, naturally we will be entangled by “birth, aging, illness and death.” We will continue to be entangled. Because we do not understand the Five Aggregates, even with just birth, aging, illness and death we are helplessly entangled. So, we must seek the Dharma in order to gain thorough understanding.

The previous sutra passage reads,

“A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions 130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one. All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain. We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom.”

This is when the Brahma kings had already arrived from the south. At the place of enlightenment, they finally understood. They saw this assembly, with the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Heavenly beings expressed their reverence for Him, saying how rare it is to encounter a Buddha in the world. They also expressed that sentient beings had lacked the nourishment of Dharma-water, as if they were very thirsty and hungry. Since the Buddha had manifested in the world, they “[were] filled with the Dharma-rain,”

He had been able to bring the Dharma that those in the world sought. He brought to a world in the darkness of ignorance a ray of light. So, in the same way, this light was “never before seen,” because for such a long time in the past, 130 kalpas, they had not seen that ray of light. Now they had seen it. They saw the Buddha sitting at His place of enlightenment, turning the Dharma-wheel. He is the one with infinite wisdom. They had already found this assembly; this was the source of the light. The light meant that this was the time that He was about to turn the Great Dharma-wheel.

The next sutra passage states,

“He is like the udumbara flower. Only today were we able to encounter Him. All of our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance. World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them.”

“He is like the udumbara flower,” and an udumbara flower is difficult to encounter, but now they had encountered it. An udumbara flower, as we should call it here, means “an auspicious response.” In the Nirvana Sutra, it says, “In Jambudvipa there is a great king of trees called the udumbara.’ It bears fruits but no flowers.” This is to say, in the Saha World there is this kind of rare king of trees, a very valuable and noble tree. The name of this tree is udumbara. This tree will bears fruit, but it usually does not blossom.

He is like the udumbara flower. Only today were we able to encounter Him: It means auspicious response. The Nirvana Sutra states, “In Jambudvipa there is a great king of trees called the udumbara. It bears fruits but no flowers.” When the udumbara tree grows golden flowers, a Buddha appears in the world. A Buddha is as rare to see as this flower of auspicious response. Beginning on this day, they were able to encounter one.

The udumbara tree has golden flowers, that is, if it blooms. Normally, it does not flower. But if this tree does flower, the flowers are the color of gold. When these flowers bloom, it is when a Buddha appears in the world. It is when a Buddha or a spiritual practitioner has attained enlightenment that the udumbara flower will bloom. Its flowers are golden. Normally, it has fruit but not flowers. It will be like this for a long time. But if a Buddha is in the world, it blooms. When one reaches enlightenment, it will flower. When the Dharma-wheel is turned, it will bloom. This is the udumbara flower that blooms for the Buddha. It means “an auspicious response.” So, “A Buddha is as rare to see as this flower of auspicious response.” As “He is like the udumbara flower, only today were we able to encounter Him.” This udumbara flower is normally so rare to encounter. They had not seen it for 130 kalpas. But now they had seen the Buddha and the blooming of the udumbara flower.

All our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance: The Brahma kings sought out the source of the radiance. They saw the favorable omen of the rare auspicious sign and relinquished these as offerings.

“All our palaces were magnificently adorned by the radiance.” All the Brahma kings had reverence for the Buddha. After making offerings, they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then they spoke in verse, saying, “All our palaces, because of this light, were magnificently adorned.” Brahma kings’ palaces are already magnificent, but with the radiance of this light, the entire palace would have this gentle and auspicious sign of radiance. This was different from normal. So, they were “magnificently adorned by the radiance,” and that adornment made them even more magnificent.

Now, when people are decorating their houses, they do not only decorate with woodwork and designs, they also look at how the lighting will illuminate. For the whole furnishing to be magnificent, the lights need to be just right. This radiance had brightened up these palaces, their treasures and the furnishing. This radiance allowed them all to be even brighter. Because of this, the Brahma kings sought the light. They investigated, tried to seek out this light. Which direction did it come from? They went to find the source of the light, the origin of this appearance of radiance.

So, “They saw the favorable omen of the rare auspicious sign.” They saw this very auspicious sign. This light was not the blinding light of the sun. It was a very gentle and auspicious light. So, “The favorable omen of the rare auspicious sign” made them joyful. They were willing to give up their most beloved and adorned palaces. They brought all the things in their palaces, these many treasures, to the Dharma-assembly and offered them to the Buddha. So, they “relinquished these as offerings.” This was to show their reverence.

World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them: Great loving-kindness is thoughts of love. It means with love, joy and the wondrous Dharma, they are able to give others Dharma-joy. Great compassion is thoughts of sympathy. Sentient beings have delusions and ignorance. To free them is called great loving-kindness. They asked the Buddha to accept the [offerings], for they wished to grow their blessings.

So, “World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray You honor us by accepting them.” They gave offerings but were worried that the Buddha would not accept. So, they used their utmost reverence to pray, “World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, if You accept these; we will be happy. If you accept them, we will be very joyful.” So, “World-Honored One of great loving-kindness, we only pray that You honor us by accepting them.” They hoped that, out of loving-kindness, He would accept the palaces which they had offered.

This is similar to how a couple came and expressed to me that they wished to offer an education foundation [to Tzu Chi]. This was Mr. and Mrs. Wu. Their business is very successful. When I lightly mention something, they listen carefully. For many years, I have been promoting environmentalism and caring for Earth. One day, he said to me, “Although I was silent and did not speak, now I have achieved something. I would like to let you know about this. For the sake of Earth, I’ve done research on many kinds of garbage, and I’ve been able to develop building materials from garbage.” He had a group dedicated to researching this. I said, “What kind of building materials?” He said, “When you are travelling around Taiwan, I will take you there to see.” I said, “You do not have to take me there, because I do not have the time. I hope that when we meet again, you can show me the finished product.” He said, “Yes, I will take videos to show you how an entire mountain of landfill can be transformed into materials that can really be used for construction.” When I heard this, I was very happy. He said, “I did this quietly.”

Furthermore he said, “Master, did you forget that I told you that all that I have now will be yours in the future?” [I said,] “Is that so?” He said, “Yes. Now, this foundation is something that. I have already waited a long time to offer to you, Master. I have waited many years, and now you have finally agreed [to accept] it. I am very grateful.” He came with his lawyer, Mr. Lin, to offer this foundation to Tzu Chi as a foundation for community education.

He also said, “As for me, Master, please give me your blessing.” I said, “What for?” He said, “My big house that my wife and I live in is 400 to 500 ping in space, and it is hard to clean and maintain. I am going to buy a house that is 100 ping, and I wish to sell my current house.” I said, “What will you do after selling it?” He said, “I do not know. Master, you can tell me. After all, it is also yours.” I felt that he was truly very sincere. Then I told him, “I would have no use for it.” He said, “No, Master, with your spirit, there are many things you want to accomplish. How could you not have use for it? Everything that I donate is for your use.” This is true. Although I cannot make use of it, it is still useful to sentient beings of the world.

The people beside me said, “Isn’t this like what you said in the morning, how the Brahma kings made offerings?” Indeed, in this world, there are things like that. He is also doing so to seek principles. As he took the principles to heart, he had been quietly taking action and constantly doing research. He has dedicated researchers for environmentalism. When he heard that I was worried about the environmental problems of this world, he quietly gathered a team of people. This group of people continued researching and have gradually been making progress. This is all very helpful for our Earth.

He had the same thought, that in the future, this would be of benefit to Tzu Chi. I am truly grateful. Those by my side reminded me saying, “Oh Master, isn’t he like the. Brahma kings making offerings that you spoke of?” Indeed! In this world, he is wealthy, one of the rich among the rich, willing to give everything completely. His body, mind, efforts and tangible things, he is willing to give them all.

Now that he has retired, he said to me, “Master, I come here less frequently than before. Do you know that I went to China?” I asked, “Why did you go to China again?” He said, “To help Tzu Chi and help pass on the Jing Si Dharma-lineage. The Dharma-lineage must be extended. Now, I’m very engaged in promoting. Jing Si [publications]. I went to Dalian City and Mongolia. To what places did you go? I went to book fairs.” He said, “Right now, what makes me most happy is for the Jing Si Dharma-lineage to be extended.”

Only then did I know that, truly, he has been quietly working. I am very grateful. But he said, “I am the one who is grateful, as now, ‘My mind is without hindrances, therefore there are no hindrances.’ My wife and I are free and at ease. We are able to do what we enjoy doing. If it were not for you opening this path, I would be, as in the past, running around lost. Now everything is clear to me regarding what I should do. So I am grateful.”

In conclusion, this great loving-kindness is something we all intrinsically have. It is “thoughts of love”; it is love, selfless great love. “It means with love, joy and the wondrous Dharma.” He takes joy in the Buddha-Dharma, so he is willing to give to others in this way. The Brahma kings also did this because they took joy in the Buddha-Dharma. Thus, from such a great distance, they were willing to seek this light. So, “They were able to give others Dharma-joy.” They applied the Dharma to bring others joy. This is loving-kindness. How about great compassion? It is “thoughts of empathy for sentient beings with delusions and ignorance.” Along with great loving-kindness, we also need great compassion. Sentient beings have delusions and ignorance; they have ignorance and delusions which are as subtle as dust. So, if we help them brush off this ignorance bit by bit,

then, just like what Mr. Wu said, “The mind is without hindrances, therefore there are no hindrances.” For he and his wife, traveling the world to promote and extend the Jing Si Dharma-lineage is what they enjoy most. In this way, their minds have no obstructions or afflictions. In the past, they were running around in delusion. Now, they already have a path that they walk joyfully. So, these are the principles. The principles themselves are “great loving-kindness.” These are the principles. “They asked the Buddha to accept the [offerings],” hoping they could attain these kinds of principles. “I give up all that I love. I am willing to give. But I pray that the Buddha gives me an abundance of principles. To attain Dharma-joy is more fulfilling than worldly joy to me.” This is the power of love.


So, for love to [spread] in this world, people must mindfully listen to the Dharma. After listening, we need to mindfully pave a path. If we pave this path with love, everyone can walk on it groundedly and steadfastly. The Dharma is not something abstract; the Dharma is an actual, true path. So, “The sutras are a path; this path is a road to follow.” This path, this road, is one that we can take to our destination. Take Mr. Wu for example. He and his wife practice together and share the same resolve and vows. He regards people around the world who listened to my teachings as his children. So, he was willing to take all that he had and offer it to those whom he could trust. Then love can continue to be spread with education, and with this love people can continue to give, extending the Dharma on into the future. This is a path we can all walk on; it is not a dead end. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1024 – The Dharma-Rain Nourishes the Hungry and Weak

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>> “We practice rigorously with a diligent mind to destroy all afflictions. We uphold patience to cultivate virtuous Dharma and listen to the Dharma to receive benefit. Those learning the Dharma increase, and those in the evil realms diminish. The wondrous Dharma is like rain and dew that nourishes sentient beings.”

>> “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha and said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions 130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one. All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain. We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions: A long time must pass before encountering one; They are extremely rare to see and are able to destroy all afflictions and karma.

>> He teaches the Dharma to destroy all sentient beings’ obstacles of delusion and allows them to attain the supreme fruit. He also uses the wondrous Dharma that is in accord with capabilities to destroy afflictions.

>> Thus, it says, “extremely rare to see”. It means that a very long time has passed, and only now can they see one.

>> 130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one: This means the number of kalpas that had passed was as many as 130, and only now were they able to meet one.

>> All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain: He teaches the Dharma to nourish the hungry and thirsty sentient beings. With the Great Dharma-rain, He enables them to have what they need.

>> “When sentient beings do not taste the flavor of the Dharma, it is like they are hungry and thirsty,” as if they are starving. “When the Tathagata teaches the Dharma and sentient beings listen to it, it is like when the hungry have food and the thirsty have drink. It immediately removes their hunger and weakness across kalpas.”

>> Sentient beings who are not moistened by the Noble One’s grace are like grass and trees withering. Upon hearing the wondrous Dharma, they will be able to form aspirations, cultivate the causes and attain the fruits. This is like when grass and trees attain rain; the withered will again flourish, bloom and bear fruits. All unexpectedly came to be.

>> We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom: They had never before seen one of infinite and extremely profound wisdom.

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“We practice rigorously with a diligent mind to destroy all afflictions.
We uphold patience to cultivate virtuous Dharma and listen to the Dharma to receive benefit.
Those learning the Dharma increase, and those in the evil realms diminish. The wondrous Dharma is like rain and dew that nourishes sentient beings.”

This is something everyone should be clear on. We must practice rigorously with a diligent mind. If our practice lacks diligence, we will certainly fall into indolence. This is a certainty. Only with diligence and rigor can we advance. A practitioner’s daily living follows a routine; their life follows a set of rules. This helps them maintain their diligent mindset. In this way, we will naturally advance step by step, inch by inch. If we do not have a diligent mind, if we do not want to practice rigorously, then with this mindset of indolence we will regress with every step; we will not advance. We will forever be stuck in the same place. How long is our life? Not long enough for us to stop and be indolent every day and waste away our life. In spiritual practice, we must cultivate a mindset that can overcome our indolence. Only then can we constantly advance and rigorously practice in all matters. Only in this way will we be able to destroy all afflictions.

Afflictions are very subtle and intricate. If we lack diligence and rigorous practice, we will be the same as any regular person, without the distinctions that makes us spiritual practitioners. Practitioners must differ from regular people. Only through rigorous practice can we constantly heighten our vigilance to guard against wrongs and stop evil. Then when we encounter people, matters and things that do not go as we wish naturally we will not be shaken by them nor give rise to ignorance and afflictions. From the perspective of spiritual practitioners, we are clear on right and wrong, so we are not troubled by any kind of affliction. When we are clear on right and wrong, what is there that can trouble us? What is there that can cause us afflictions?

So, every day that we can eliminate afflictions between people, there is a little bit less affliction. To maintain a diligent mindset, we must practice rigorously and earnestly so that in our daily living, our interactions with people and matters will not add to our afflictions. There will be no new ones, and as for old ones, through the practice of patience and cultivation of virtuous Dharma, we will gradually see through them. All the gratitude and grudges from the past, everything that has happened in the past, we can gradually see through and let go of them. By practicing understanding, accommodation and gratitude at the same time, we uphold patience to practice virtuous [Dharma].

No matter what happened in the past, we must start each day anew. Today, we have a fresh and new mindset. Because yesterday we were not troubled by afflictions, afflictions did not accumulate in our minds. Even if there were afflictions and unpleasantness yesterday, today, with a fresh mind, we can forget and let go of yesterday. Then there is nothing [on our minds] today. When we start every day fresh and anew, this way, every day we start with a pure mind. Then we use this pure mind to face today and the future. Thus we can always “uphold patience to cultivate virtuous Dharma.” Old resentments do not accumulate in our mind, and new afflictions do not enter it. This way, our mind will always be fresh and new, without new and old afflictions. This comes from engaging in spiritual practice. We gradually eliminate old afflictions, and we refuse to take in new afflictions. This is guarding against wrongs and stopping evil.

“Listen to the Dharma to receive benefit.” We must be very diligent and rigorous every single day, whether it is winter or summer. In the summer, “I didn’t sleep well last night, so I need to sleep in in the morning.” In the winter? “It is so cold. Getting out from under the covers is very painful! I want to pull up the covers, keep warm longer.” We are always indolent, wasting time. This is the afflictions of sleep. Wasting time in this way, we hear less Dharma. In daily living, this can happen very easily. With a mind of indolence, we remain in a state of slumber and vacancy; we are lax and we regress.

If we can uphold patience, then we will not waste any time. Even in the cold winter, some people are very diligent. Recently we hear a lot about volunteers in China. In China, it is very cold in the winter. They listen to the Dharma the same time we do. Before dawn, even if it is sleeting or snowing, they still wake up before 4 am like we do. On very cold days, no matter how freezing cold it is, they still get up this early and quickly get ready to leave the house. This is how diligent they are. Some volunteers in the US have to drive for 40, 50 minutes, even an hour. Whether it is rain or a hurricane, they are still diligent in their practice. This is to say nothing of those of us who are in this wonderful environment. We are all at the same spiritual training ground; how can we let this time go to waste? We can uphold patience, cultivate virtuous Dharma and listen to the Dharma during this time. Can we let it go to waste? If we waste it, that is indolence. If we do not cultivate virtuous Dharma, we will not attain benefit. This is certain.

So, during the Buddha’s lifetime, when He was at the Jetavana abode, King Prasenajit came to request the Dharma from the Buddha. He said to the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha, a thought suddenly occurred to me. For those of us with great riches, if we are wealthy in this life, if we are Ksatriyas, in the next lifetime will we be just as wealthy and have the same abundance? of power and riches? Will my next life be the same? For Brahmins, if they practice in this life, in their next life will they be Brahmins and be born into a noble caste? Venerable Buddha, please reveal this to me. Will we be in the same caste life after life?”

The Buddha said, “No, that is not how it is. There are four different kinds of rebirth. As a Ksatriya in this life, you are a person of wealth and power. If you do not earnestly practice goodness, when you die and are reborn, without any control you will be born into poverty and suffering.” It is like a person in the light who keeps walking toward the darkness and falls into the darkness. Some people start in darkness and then step onto a path of light. This is an analogy for wealthy people. If we cultivate blessings, naturally in the future we will be reborn in a place better than where we are now. If in this life we cultivate blessings and are diligent in our practice, we will be like people in the light who end up in an even brighter place. Those in the human realm who are reborn in the heaven realm enjoy more blessings than the rich and powerful in the human realm. This is going from a place of light to an even brighter place. This means we must cultivate blessings now.

Even if we have power and authority now, if we think of disparaging anyone, if we disrespect the Dharma and Sangha, in the future, we will fall into a lower realm! This is going from light into darkness. Some who are already in the darkness are heading into deeper darkness. That is like people who are already experiencing poverty and suffering in this life, have some kind of physical disability and lack the mental ability to discern right from wrong. There are people who are foolish, deluded and mad. Although they are impoverished in this lifetime, they still give rise to evil, to greed, anger and ignorance. Or they may create karma of killing. People like this experience much suffering in this lifetime and also create much negative karma in the world. In this life, they are physically challenged, with illnesses in body and mind and are poor. In addition, they give rise to negative thoughts and do not show people respect. In this way, they start in darkness and will fall into an even darker evil realm.

Also, there is another kind of people. Even though they are impoverished, they can see goodness and rejoice. Although they are poor and suffering, they have a kind heart and are always praising those who do good deeds. They willingly offer their physical and painstaking labor willing give to others, help others. People like this, even though they are in darkness, even if they are in a state of darkness, are slowly heading toward the path of light and will be reborn in the human realm or the heaven realm in their next life. These are the four kinds of rebirth. There are the rich among the rich. There are also regular people who take joy in doing good deeds. “Although I am not very wealthy, when I see goodness I take joy in it. As long as I have the strength, I can do good deeds.” Humans like this can also be reborn in heaven.

Or, there are those who are living in poverty now. Even though they are impoverished they have an abundance of spiritual wealth. Although life is difficult for them, they can overcome their difficulties in order to help others. They find all kind of ways to help others. These are the rich among the poor. Though poor, they have spiritual wealth and believe in the Buddha-Dharma. By cultivating their body and mind, in the future they will have more than just wealth in the human realm. If they continue to cultivate virtuous Dharma and good affinities, they will also be reborn in heaven.

There are some who are poor and suffering and do not have even a bit of goodness in their hearts. Seeing spiritual practitioners, they slander them. They do not give rise to faith in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. They do not have any kind of faith. Living in poverty in this way and lacking in wholeness of body and mind, they cannot give rise to thoughts of goodness. As such, in the future they will fall into an even [lower] state. These are the four kinds of rebirth. Right now, this is the way we live. In the future, how will we die? After we die, what direction will we head in? This is the way life works.

So, how do we find a way to practice rigorously with a diligent mind? How do we destroy our afflictions? How do we eliminate suffering in this lifetime? We must learn to endure all kinds of afflictions. We must cultivate goodness, listen to the Dharma. After listening, we must put it into practice. We must do this so we can be free of afflictions. The [afflictions] people caused us in the past, suffering from meeting those we hate, we must eliminate all of them completely. We must be free of resentment and hatred. Now we are listening to and learning the Dharma. Naturally, as more people are learning the Dharma, as more people are listening to and learning it, those in the evil realms will diminish.

This took place when the Buddha was in the world. Back then, even kings came to ask the Buddha, “Will our lives be the same in every lifetime?” In India, there was a strict caste system. So, the king came to ask this question. The Buddha responded in this way. “In this lifetime, we see the wealthy, the religious the ordinary people and the untouchables. The way they are living right now has already been [determined]. But what you do in this life will affect your next life. It all depends on what you do in this life.” This was the Buddha analyzed for the king.

The principle is the same. In summary, when more people learn the Dharma, naturally, those in the evil realms diminish. The Buddha-Dharma, from the past to the present, have always been the same principles. “The wondrous Dharma is like rain and dew that nourishes sentient beings.” If we earnestly listen to the Dharma and take every drop of it into our hearts, every bit of it will nourish us. Naturally, we will have a diligent mind and will rigorously practice. Naturally, our afflictions will decrease, and we will grow in wisdom. Thus we attain Dharma-benefit, the benefit from the Dharma.

So, the Dharma is like rain and dew. It enters our minds drop by drop. We must take the Dharma we hear every day and constantly recall it and cherish it. What did we talk about this morning? In the things we do and encounter today, are we being understanding? Are we being accommodating? By being grateful to everyone, we can dissolve all kinds of old conflicts. If we can do this, we are listening to the Dharma and applying it in daily living. This is receiving benefit from the Dharma. We must be mindful!

The previous sutra passage states, “And they saw the 16 princes.” The Brahma kings have come to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s place of enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree. In addition to the Buddha and the assembly, they also saw the 16 princes who came to ask Him to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then the Brahma kings came, it happened to be the moment when the 16 princes asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. So, “Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”

“And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”    

The princes were requesting the Dharma. When the heavenly beings arrived, they were very respectful in the way they prostrated to the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered flowers to make offerings to Him.

“The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru.” They fell from above, [piling high] like Mt. Sumeru. “They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.” Because the flowers fell from the sky, even though the Bodhi-tree was very tall, the flowers piled up and covered the tree. So, “Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha and said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.'”

“The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha and said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.'”    

In the same way, after Brahma kings made offerings, they still asked the Buddha to teach. This is because they still had subtle delusions they have not eliminated. Once their blessings are depleted, they will fall. Every day I have been talking about this. Because of this mindset of the Brahma kings, they asked for his mercy. “As for the palaces that we offer, may you honor us by accepting them. With everything we are offering, Venerable Buddha, please accept it all.”

“At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”  

Everyone made this request of the Buddha. They asked Him to accept their offerings, their expression of reverence. Afterwards, all the Brahma kings in the Buddha’s presence respectfully spoke with one mind and one voice. These many Brahma kings shared one mind, so with one voice they spoke in verse to praise Buddha.

The sutra passage says, “A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions 130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one. All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain. We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom.”
So, “A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see.” This is because it takes a very long time for a Buddha to appear in the human realm. This is extremely rare. When a Buddha appears, He teaches the Dharma. Teaching the Dharma helps people eliminate all afflictions. Humans and heavenly beings have afflictions, and when a Buddha manifests, naturally they can eradicate their afflictions.

A World-Honored One is extremely rare to see. He is able to destroy all afflictions: A long time must pass before encountering one; They are extremely rare to see and are able to destroy all afflictions and karma.

This is a very good opportunity, as it is rare for a Buddha to appear. “A long time must pass before encountering one; They are extremely rare to see.” It is not easy for a Buddha to appear in the world. He is “able to destroy all afflictions and karma.” Only the Buddha can do this. The Buddha is born and attains enlightenment. Regarding all things in the universe, after He penetrates their true principles, He can reveal them to humans and heavenly beings. He enables those who have severe afflictions to eliminate them one by one, to eradicate the obstructions of afflictions.

He teaches the Dharma to destroy all sentient beings’ obstacles of delusion and allows them to attain the supreme fruit. He also uses the wondrous Dharma that is in accord with capabilities to destroy afflictions.

So, by teaching the Dharma one helps to destroy obstructions of delusion. Some have already awakened. Once they have awakened, they teach the Dharma. By teaching the Dharma, they can help eliminate sentient beings’ obstructions of ignorance, afflictions and delusions. Sentient beings have ignorance, dust-like delusions. They have so many afflictions, as many as dust. They are subtle and fine like dust. These delusions continuously obstruct our path toward the Dharma. So, some of our virtuous [practices] have been obstructed by these afflictions and ignorance.

So, after the Buddha appears in this world, naturally He can give teachings to eliminate obstructions of afflictions and delusions. Delusions cause doubt. Doubt creates many obstructions. Along with doubts naturally comes superstition. Having doubts shows a lack of faith or a confused faith. All these are delusions the Buddha had to break through delusions. He needed to expound the Dharma in order to eliminate sentient beings’ afflictions, ignorance and confusion that come from delusions.

So, this “allows them to attain the supreme fruit. He also uses the wondrous Dharma that is in accord with capabilities to destroy afflictions.” With delusions and confusion, we are unable to go in the right direction. There are many kinds of such delusions. Some cling to delusion and do not awaken. With greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt some cling to delusion and do not awaken from deviant views and deviant paths. These are all obstacles. When one with perfect enlightenment manifests, naturally the Dharma He expounds can resolve sentient beings’ delusions and allows them to attain the supreme fruit. “He also uses the wondrous Dharma that is in accord with capabilities to destroy afflictions.”

Thus, it says, “extremely rare to see”. It means that a very long time has passed, and only now can they see one.

So, it is “extremely rare to see.” One who attains Buddhahood, a World-Honored One who attain Buddhahood, a person of great awakening and great realizations is very rare to see. After attaining Buddhahood, teaching according to sentient beings’ capabilities is very hard too. This is because sentient beings, even if a Buddha has appeared in the world, still remain deluded. Some are selfish and only think of themselves. They do not know how to benefit others. So, Sakyamuni Buddha, in His 49 years of expounding the Dharma, had to spend 42 years teaching in accord with sentient beings’ capabilities, adapting to their capabilities. Just imagine how difficult this was. So, it is “extremely rare to see.” To destroy the ignorance and afflictions of sentient beings is indeed very difficult.

So, destroying afflictions is very difficult. For a Buddha to manifest in the human realm and teach the wondrous Dharma in accord with their capabilities is also very difficult. In summary, among these myriad sentient beings, those in the evil realms increase while those in the heaven and human realms diminish. Because of this, the World-Honored one appeared. If everyone can accept the Buddha-Dharma, as those who listen to the Dharma increase, naturally those in the evil realms will diminish. So, for a Buddha to appear in the world is very precious; it is very rarely seen.

“A very long time has passed” refers to a very long period of time. “Across kalpas” is a very long time. Whether in regard to time or space, it is very rare to encounter a Buddha. “Only now can they see one.” Now they have already seen Him

130 kalpas have passed, and only now do we encounter one: This means the number of kalpas that had passed was as many as 130, and only now were they able to meet one.

“130 kalpas have passed”; such a very long time has passed, “Only now can they see one.” Now the Brahma kings said that only after 130 kalpas had passed have they finally encountered a Buddha. The number of kalpas that have passed means it takes a very long time to see a Buddha.

Truly, to engage in spiritual practice and attain Buddhahood is not an easy matter. One also needs to wait for causes and conditions. This took Sakyamuni Buddha many lifetimes. For how long did He engage in spiritual practice? From dust-inked kalpas ago until now. Then more than 2000 years ago, Prince Siddhartha attained perfect enlightenment, which is attaining Buddhahood. We can see that the time between seeing a Buddha is truly very long. Even the Brahma kings have said that it is hard to see a Buddha, let alone those of us in the human realm.

All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain: He teaches the Dharma to nourish the hungry and thirsty sentient beings. With the Great Dharma-rain, He enables them to have what they need.

So, “All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain.” This is like teaching the Dharma. The Dharma can nourish hungry and thirsty sentient beings. The Great Dharma-rain can replenish all. Didn’t the Chapter on Medicinal Plants? explain this very clearly? The land is dried up. As for withered plants, when the rain falls, naturally the plants and the seeds in the land will be able to thrive. In the same way, if we humans do not have water to drink, our body cannot survive. It is just like a land without rain; everything on the land has withered. So, “All hungry and thirsty sentient beings are filled with the Dharma-rain.” Only with the Dharma-rain will we sentient beings no longer starve or thirst.

“When sentient beings do not taste the flavor of the Dharma, it is like they are hungry and thirsty,” as if they are starving. “When the Tathagata teaches the Dharma and sentient beings listen to it, it is like when the hungry have food and the thirsty have drink. It immediately removes their hunger and weakness across kalpas.”

This is analogous to “when sentient beings do not taste the flavor of the Dharma.” If we do not take the Dharma to heart, we cannot taste the flavor of the Dharma. If we have not listened to the Buddha-Dharma or have listened to the Buddha-Dharma but do not believe in it, we know nothing at all about the Dharma. After listening to the Buddha-Dharma, if we do not earnestly experience it, it is like eating something without mindfully tasting it. Then we do not know if it is sweet or salty.

So, we must be mindful. When we have food to eat, we must earnestly and mindfully taste it and pay attention to this thing. What is it that we are eating? Similarly, when listening to the Dharma, we must listen mindfully. The Dharma is very profound, and it makes use of many analogies. Consider all the Dharma in the world. How does all this Dharma encompass all the ignorance and afflictions in the world and explain them? This requires us to mindfully experience it.

So, we are “like the hungry and thirsty.” These sentient beings have the Dharma but do not taste it. This is like having food but not eating it or eating it but not mindfully experiencing it. In this case, we only care about eating our fill. Thus we do not know the flavor of the Dharma. This is what our lives are like.

The Tathagata teaches the Dharma to sentient beings. When people with feelings listen, if they can take the Dharma to heart, it is like putting food into an empty stomach.

Humans are sentient beings too. If we listen but do not change our ways, that is the same as not listening at all. Animals are sentient beings, too. In the past, we have discussed animals. Birds can listen to the Dharma and be reborn in heaven too. Everyone should still remember this story. The birds listened to the Four Noble Truths, and after they died, they were reborn as heavenly beings and came to express their gratitude. These are sentient beings. As long as they have life and feelings, these sentient beings can take the Dharma to heart. “It is like when the hungry have food.” It is like when a hungry person obtains food. He tastes it and is nourished by it. “The thirsty have drink.” This is like when a thirsty person has tea or soup to drink.

If we can understand the Buddha-Dharma, we can develop wisdom-life. Otherwise, listening is the same as not listening. If, in our behavior, listening to the Dharma has made no difference, it is as if we have eaten without tasting the food. When it comes to sentient beings, even animals, after listening, can understand. “It immediately removes their hunger and weakness across kalpas.” If we can listen to and take in the Dharma, if we can truly take it to heart, even if we have not heard it for a very long time, now that we hear it, we can hear one thing and realize 1000. We can understand upon hearing it.

Sentient beings who are not moistened by the Noble One’s grace are like grass and trees withering. Upon hearing the wondrous Dharma, they will be able to form aspirations, cultivate the causes and attain the fruits. This is like when grass and trees attain rain; the withered will again flourish, bloom and bear fruits. All unexpectedly came to be.

So, “Sentient beings who are not moistened by the Noble One’s grace are like grass and trees withering.” If sentient beings do not want to listen to the Dharma, it is like grass and trees withering.  “Upon hearing the wondrous Dharma, they will be able to form aspirations.” Some people, upon hearing the wondrous Dharma, start to form aspirations and “cultivate the causes and attain the fruits. This like when grass and trees attain rain.” It is just like when plants and trees obtain rain. When trees are dry and withering, once there is moisture on the ground, once the rain brings moisture, naturally these trees can be revived. These plants’ roots absorb water from the ground, and naturally, these plants can slowly come back to life. “The withered will again flourish, bloom and bear fruits.” Naturally, their seeds will again sprout from the ground. When plants and trees encounter spring, whe they attain rain and dew, they can flourish again. This is why we must always be mindful.

We have never before seen one with infinite wisdom: They had never before seen one of infinite and extremely profound wisdom.

“We have never seen before” means that from the past till now, they had never seen this. “One with infinite wisdom,” such profound and great wisdom, is something they had never seen before. From the past till the present, they had never seen it. So, “130 kalpas have passed.” Across kalpas, for such a very long time, they had never seen one with such infinite wisdom. So, this person of infinite and profound wisdom was truly very difficult to encounter.

If we are mindful of the Dharma, the Dharma will always nourish our minds. So, we must always be diligent, diligently practice in our daily living and in dealing with people, matters, appearances. In our life every day, if we can be diligent and rigorously practice, naturally people, matters, objects and appearances will not trouble our minds. The pure will remain pure in their practice, and we will not have any afflictions. By practicing patience and diligence, we will receive the Dharma-benefit. So, we each benefit from our own practice; nobody can give theirs to us. But with the benefit we receive, we can share it with everyone. Those who listen to, learn and teach the Dharma can share as much as they have heard and attained. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1023 – Requesting the Turning of the Dharma-Wheel

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>> “The Buddha’s Dharma-wheel is turned to transform, deliver and enter sentient beings’ hearts. This is called turning the Dharma-wheel. The pure flow of the Dharma-water perfectly reaches everything. The Dharma transforms and nourishes, and not just humans. As carts and ships have wheels that turn, and there is the turning of the four seasons, we thus use the analogy of the Dharma-wheel.”

>> “In all of our palaces, the brilliant illumination is powerfully radiant. This is not without causes and conditions. We had better investigate this appearance. Hundreds and thousands of kalpas have passed without us ever seeing such a sign. It must be a Virtuous One born in heaven or a Buddha manifesting in the world.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers and together went to the north to seek out this sign.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> They saw Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree. He sat on the lion’s throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel: The sons of a king are called princes. As Dharma is taught from the Buddha’s mouth, it gives birth to Dharma-children and nurtures their wisdom-life. They ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

>> Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha [and] circumambulated Him thousands of times: To express a standard of respect and etiquette, with utmost sincerity, they prostrated out of respect and circumambulated Him thousands of times.

>> And [they] scattered celestial flowers upon Him: The most sincere and respectful flowers of the heart are reverently presented as wondrous offerings.

>> “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha and said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree: [The flowers] were piled high to request Him to turn the Dharma-wheel beneath the Bodhi-tree.

>> “Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” This way, “What they used [for themselves] was given for the Buddha to use.”

>> “[They] said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.’ They prayed the Buddha would embrace them for they sought blessed retribution.”

>> “As for the palaces that we offer, may you honor us by accepting them.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

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“The Buddha’s Dharma-wheel is turned to transform, deliver and enter sentient beings’ hearts. This is called turning the Dharma-wheel.
The pure flow of the Dharma-water perfectly reaches everything. The Dharma transforms and nourishes, and not just humans.
As carts and ships have wheels that turn, and there is the turning of the four seasons, we thus use the analogy of the Dharma-wheel.”

This is turning the Dharma-wheel. We must very mindfully seek to comprehend what it means to turn the Dharma-wheel. When it comes to the Dharma-wheel, the Dharma is in the Buddha’s mind. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause. He had already returned His nature of True Suchness to its state of [oneness with] the universe. The universe and all the things within it were encompassed by the Buddha’s ocean of enlightenment. The Buddha hoped to transmit this Dharma into the minds of sentient beings. This is like saying, “I know about this matter, and I understand these principles. This is my first-hand experience. I want everyone to know this method so that they too can experience this.”

This basin of water is hot. Soaking in it in the winter is very comfortable. I have experienced this, so I know. Thus I want to tell everyone that when it is freezing cold, we should quickly soak our feet in hot water. This stimulates our circulation, so we will feel very comfortable. I want to tell you this method so you will know. But if all I do is tell you and all you do is listen, then you will remain cold. You have to make the effort to heat the water, boil it until it is at this temperature, and then soak your feet in it. Then naturally you will experience this feeling. Naturally your mind and your body will feel very comfortable.

This is how the principles work. The Buddha had already become one with the universe and all Dharma-realms. This came from His compassion. In His compassion, He could not bear for sentient beings to continue transmigrating in the Five Realms; that is suffering! In particular, in the Five Realms, in the human realm, ignorance and afflictions are reproduced. The human world is in chaos, and the suffering is unbearable. The Buddha, in His compassion, wanted to help people to purify their minds, to thoroughly understand the principles. So, He was mindful and worked hard. He continuously put in this effort, and eventually His mind’s nature of True Suchness became one with the universe and all Dharma-realms. There was nothing He did not know, no appearance He did not understand, and no principle He did not comprehend.

He wanted to teach us the method for this, to help us understand people, matters, objects and appearances. Then we could open our minds and understand and no longer replicate our afflictions. Only then would the world become harmonious; only then could we be free from cyclic existence. This is the Buddha’s compassion. We should mindfully accept the Dharma that the Buddha used to transform us by delivering it into sentient beings’ minds. From the Buddha’s mind, the Dharma He attained was turned [like a wheel] to transform sentient beings and be delivered into sentient beings’ minds. So, this is called turning the Dharma-wheel. He took what He understood and [turned it] like a wheel. The Dharma needs a vehicle, needs a wheel, so that from the Buddha’s mind, the Dharma, like a cart’s wheel, can be delivered into everyone’s minds. This is the Dharma-wheel.

So, “The pure flow of the Dharma-water perfectly reaches everything. The Dharma transforms and nourishes, and not just humans.” This means that the Dharma-water is pure. The Dharma-water can nourish our wisdom-life. If we want our wisdom-life to grow, then we need this pure Dharma-water. This is like the land; when all things have water, have moisture, they will grow. Without moisture they will wither, they will dry out. For example, right now in front of me, there are these dried branches. These branches have already dried up. There is no moisture in them. The moisture has been lost, sucked out. Or, they have naturally dried up. This means there is no more moisture. So, after a while, they become dry branches. Once branches have already become dry, even if they are soaked in water, it is impossible for them to sprout and grow. There is no way that will happen. This means that by that time, their causes and conditions have come to an end. So, it will be impossible for them to recover their vitality.

It is the same for all of us. We need to immediately be nourished by the Dharma-water. We have [healthy] seeds and a field in our mind. Our seeds have always been in the fields of our minds, but at this time we are lacking Dharma-water. With Dharma-water, the ground will become moist. When seeds have soil and moisture, naturally they will sprout. The causes and conditions of the air will help, will assist this phenomenon. Naturally when causes and conditions come together with the seeds, the seeds will develop roots and sprout. Their vitality will be so exuberant.

This is like everyone’s nature of True Suchness; we have allowed afflictions and ignorance to continually cover it. It is already dirty and lacking clean water. The Dharma is like water; the Dharma is the same as water, so “the pure flow of the Dharma-water” means we need the pure Dharma-water to perfectly reach everything. Water takes the shape of its container; so long as there is water, whether the container is square, rectangular, or even round, it will always follow that shape. When the water is poured into a square container, it will be square. If there is a tube, then the water will follow this tube, this pipe, and continue flowing through it. Whether the pipe is thick or thin, the water will likewise flow through it.

Dharma-water follows sentient beings’ capabilities; water follows the shapes of all things. So, with sentient beings’ different capabilities, we need the Dharma; the Dharma adapts to sentient beings’ capabilities. Water adapts to the shapes of all things and, according to what they need, nourishes them in this way. So, the pure flow of the Dharma-water can adapt to any shape; this is what is meant by “perfectly reaches everything.” There is nothing it cannot reach. As long as we have the Dharma and are willing to apply it, naturally the Dharma adapts to capabilities to deliver and transform sentient beings. It is like water; regardless of the shape, as long as there is water it will be able to flow to every part.

So, the Dharma transforms and nourishes. The Dharma is for transforming and delivering all beings, for saving all beings. Everyone is clear on this Dharma. Look at this current chapter, the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City. In addition to Sakyamuni Buddha, it describes Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior from dust-inked kalpas before. Even long ago, before Beginningless Time, this has always been there. It is just that over a very long time our nature of True Suchness has been affected; as thoughts continually go astray, our every step is mistaken. So, we have long been in this state of afflictions and ignorance where we continue to let pure water leak away, and our defilements continue to pile up. Thus we become unenlightened beings in the Five Realms and four forms of birth. The pure Dharma has leaked out, so we have fallen into the Five Realms.

But this Dharma still exists; it is still there. The wheel of goodness is still turning; the principles have not disappeared. So, spiritual practitioners’ intrinsic nature still exists, thus they form aspirations and continue to follow the Dharma, true principles, as it continually turns and as they continue to transmigrate life after life. In the sutras, in the Buddha’s Jataka Sutra, before the beginning of beginningless kalpas ago, there are many stories. The Buddha’s Jataka Sutra tells how He began to engage in spiritual practice beginningless kalpas ago. He too accepted the Buddha-Dharma and followed the Dharma in His practice. He cultivated teachings of goodness and upheld virtuous precepts. By following teachings of goodness and precepts, some are reborn in the heaven realm, in different kinds of heavens. There are great and small [good deeds], so people create great or small blessings. Depending on the great and small good deeds, their blessings and precepts, they will transform and be reborn in different heavens,

such as the Brahma heavens; the Brahma heavens include Akanishtha Heaven (the highest heaven). Though they enjoy heavenly blessings there, they still have a small amount of dust-like afflictions they have not eliminated. There are still a few principles they are unable to understand. So, they still need to seek the Dharma and need to be more diligent. The Lotus Sutra, the Great Vehicle Dharma, not only transforms sentient beings in the human realm, but also those in the heaven realms, including Akanishtha Heaven. Brahma kings would also receive the light, receive the radiance of the light. When the Buddha practiced in the human realm and attained Buddhahood, there was this ray of light.

Heavenly beings in the desire realm then came to protect the Dharma. So, heavenly beings, Dharma-protectors, from the desire realm, [stayed there] as the Buddha sat for ten kalpas. Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha sat for ten kalpas in His place of enlightenment, a very long time. To thoroughly understand the original principles requires a very long time. So, all heavenly beings in the desire realm came to protect the Dharma. Only after sitting for ten small kalpas in His place of enlightenment did He begin to awaken compassion and wisdom. After ten kalpas of spiritual practice, in the end He awakened compassion and wisdom. This means He had to have universal compassion for sentient beings, to work for the sake of sentient beings. As this thought arose within Him, He exercised His wisdom. So in the span of a thought, He became enlightened.

After ten kalpas, He became enlightened in an instant. In that instant, He had universal compassion. This is the practice of compassion. Though is it very good to have unconditional loving-kindness, in the end we need to have universal compassion. We hope for everyone to be happy and at peace. This is the Buddha’s loving-kindness. But when sentient beings suffer hardship, we must feel their suffering as our own suffering. Feeling sentient beings’ suffering as our own is universal compassion, thus we exercise both compassion and wisdom. So, bringing everything together and exercising compassion and wisdom, in that instant He attained enlightenment.

Then, all heavenly beings began scattering flowers as an offering. With this ray of light, the light of awakening, the principles immediately reached the Brahma heavens. The Brahma heavens quaked and were illuminated by the radiance. This began in the east. I hope everyone can recall that the Brahma kings of the east were represented by Saving All. From the very beginning, what this representative of the Brahma kings hoped for most was for the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. He had also passed through 500 trillion lands, from a remote and faraway place, to come to the place of enlightenment of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. He scattered flowers and made offerings with the goal of asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. This was because he wanted to “save all.” This was his aspiration.

He still had slight traces of afflictions. He hoped that in the future. He could turn the Dharma-wheel like the Buddha. How did the Buddha attain Buddhahood? How was He able to deliver sentient beings? “[He] liberated suffering sentient beings by opening the path to Nirvana.” This is why when Brahma King Saving All [asked the Buddha] to turn the Dharma-wheel, his goal, his hope, was through “power of great compassion, to deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings.” This was Brahma King Saving All’s goal in asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

And the Brahma kings of the southeast? Their representative was called Great Compassion. Great Compassion also used the same method to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. As Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha had remained silent, he asked Him once more. Only by His revealing matters and appearances would there be a way to transform sentient beings. Because evil realms were full of sentient beings and those in the heaven realms had diminished, he asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, to reveal matters and appearances. Because sentient beings right now have dull capabilities and many afflictions, matters and appearances need to be used to help everyone more clearly understand. So, he hoped for the Buddha to use simple and obvious principles to teach and transform sentient beings.

This is how the previous. Brahma kings from the east and from the southeast wanted to save all; they hoped everyone could forever be in a tranquil and still state of Nirvana, where all would be pure and free of afflictions. This is loving-kindness. What about Great Compassion? He had universal compassion for sentient beings and felt sentient beings’ suffering as his own. He knew those in the evil realms were increasing and those in virtuous realms were diminishing. As sentient beings’ capabilities were dull, they needed matters and appearances [to understand]. So, the Brahma king of the southeast had this mindset when he asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

After these, now it is the south. The Brahma kings of the south are represented by Wondrous Dharma. Now we will go on to discuss just how Wondrous Dharma came to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Similarly, because of an illuminating radiance, he came from the south to the north. He went north in his search. Previously, those in the east went west toward the source. Now, those in the south went toward the north. It was the same; the source of the radiance [was viewed] from different directions. As they looked toward the origin of the light, these terms, east, south, west and north, appeared.

So, of the Dharma, we say “the pure flow of the Dharma-water” must adapt to these kinds of terms. Whether it is something we term “square,” whether the water basin is a square container, or whether it is a round, circular container, there is no shape, no container, that water cannot enter. So, with Dharma-water, “The Dharma transforms and nourishes.” The Dharma has always existed, and when it comes to water, there has always been water on this planet. It is only because water has been here that there are living things. If there had been no water, then there would be no living things. So, there has always been water. Similarly, since before Beginningless Time [the Dharma] has been here. But we are like those tree [branches] that have dried out and been broken off. There is no moisture in them. This way, we are unable to absorb the Dharma; it is impossible for us to be revived. We have been completely cut off from the Dharma.

So, the Dharma transforms and nourishes, and not just humans. It is not just given to the human realm. Actually, those in the heaven realm need the Dharma too. “As carts and ships have wheels that turn….” This applies to both carts and ships; ships also have wheels; the ones with wheels are called ferry boats. Ferry boats are powered by a wheel. Only when this wheel turns can it move. Airplanes also need wheels. In conclusion, anything that transports things needs to have wheels. Even machinery that manufacture things also needs to have wheels. So, our teachings also need to have wheels. We need the Dharma-wheel.

To transmit [the Dharma] from the Buddha’s mind into the minds of unenlightened sentient beings, it is necessary to use a Dharma-wheel; this wheel is an analogy for the Dharma. The Dharma has always been there; it is just that we do not know how to apply it. So, [the Buddha] turns this wheel into sentient beings’ minds. This is like the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. These periods of time, also turn like a wheel. Every year, we have the four seasons. After spring, summer, autumn and winter, another year has passed. The principle is the same. This is a wheel that is continually turning. Things that can turn are called wheels. The earth does the same. In the void of space, it turns as it follows its orbit. So, we experience light and darkness every day. It unceasingly revolves and rotates; even now it is turning. So, the Dharma-wheel is turned in hopes that everyone can thoroughly understand. So, we must be earnestly mindful of the Dharma.

The Buddha-Dharma has always existed. It is like the water on Earth. There has to be water on the planet in order for plants and other living things to arise. Living things and plants and so on all exist because of water. For us humans to nurture our wisdom-life, we must also have Dharma-water.

This is what the previous passage says. These passages are very similar, and we have continuously discussed them. “In all of our palaces, the brilliant illumination is powerfully radiant. This is not without causes and conditions. We had better investigate this appearance. Hundreds and thousands of kalpas have passed without us ever seeing such a sign. It must be a Virtuous One born in heaven or a Buddha manifesting in the world.”
Let us go over this again. This was the light seen by the Brahma kings of the south.

“At that time, 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers and together went to the north to seek out this sign.”

Because they were in the south, they went north to search for the source of the light.

The next passage says, “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras mahoragas humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”
In addition to heavenly beings, there were the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. This includes all of the sentient beings in the Three Realms. It includes the heavenly beings of the Brahma heavens; they are also sentient beings. It includes all deities, humans and animals. The Five Realms are all included here. The four forms of birth and the Five Realms are all included in this. They have all gathered together at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s place of enlightenment.

The next sutra passage says, “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated Him thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”
At the place of enlightenment, the 16 princes were already present; they were present at this assembly. The 16 princes were the ones who had asked the Buddha to turn the Great Dharma-wheel.

And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel: The sons of a king are called princes. As Dharma is taught from the Buddha’s mouth, it gives birth to Dharma-children and nurtures their wisdom-life. They ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

“The sons of a king are called princes.” And the Buddha? “As Dharma is taught from the Buddha’s mouth, it gives birth to Dharma-children and nurtures their wisdom-life.” So, they were called Buddha-children. They asked [the Buddha] to turn the Dharma-wheel.

It was the 16 princes who had asked the Buddha to turn the Great Dharma-wheel. Upon hearing the Dharma, they were very happy, and they understood; the sounds entered their ears as Hearers. Then they awakened to the impermanence of all things in the world, so they wanted to know how to end cyclic existence. How could they deliver all sentient beings? Thus, the 16 princes asked the Buddha to again turn [the wheel of] the subtle and wondrous Great Dharma. This Dharma is very subtle and wondrous, but it was the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. This is what the princes asked the Buddha to teach. When the Buddha consented to teach the Dharma, this light began radiating outwards. The Buddha had consented to teach the subtle and wondrous Great Vehicle Dharma, so this light radiated.

Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha [and] circumambulated Him thousands of times: To express a standard of respect and etiquette, with utmost sincerity, they prostrated out of respect and circumambulated Him thousands of times.

“Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha [and] circumambulated Him thousands of times.” This was in accord with etiquette and propriety. As each arrived, each acted in accordance with this etiquette to express their respect. This is setting an example. So, “With utmost sincerity, they prostrated out of respect.” They prostrated this way, with their heads and faces touching the ground. This was an expression of utmost reverence. In India, this was the etiquette practiced. Their circumambulating the Buddha was also an expression of respect.

And [they] scattered celestial flowers upon Him: The most sincere and respectful flowers of the heart are reverently presented as wondrous offerings.

They did not only fall upon the Buddha’s head; they were also scattered upon the tree. They scattered flowers as offerings. Filling the sky, falling from the sky, the flowers dignified the place of enlightenment. “The most sincere and respectful flowers of the heart” are also an expression of reverence. Hearts blooming like flowers symbolize great joy. This etiquette, presenting flowers in this way, expresses joy. In this way, they reverently presented wondrous offerings.

“The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha and said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.'”

The scattered flowers were like Mt. Sumeru. They scattered them not only on the Buddha’s head, but made offerings to the Bodhi-tree too. Not only did they show respect to the Buddha, they also scattered flowers on the Bodhi-tree, because the Buddha had sat beneath the Bodhi-tree. So, clearly the flowers rained down from high up. With the flowers they scattered, the Bodhi-tree also became covered in celestial flowers. This demonstrated respect for the Bodhi-tree.

“Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” This demonstrated that they made offerings with everything they had. Starting with “each of their palaces,” they made offerings with everything they had. This reverence was in the hope that the Buddha would benefit them,

The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree: [The flowers] were piled high to request Him to turn the Dharma-wheel beneath the Bodhi-tree.

So, they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel with supreme, unsurpassed reverence. [The flowers] were like Mt. Sumeru, coming down from high above. With this kind of reverence, they made offerings to the Buddha and asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

“Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” This way, “What they used [for themselves] was given for the Buddha to use.”

Their mindset was intangible, but their offerings were tangible. This is “what they used.” What was inside the mind is truly intangible, yet they wanted to express it. Whether they were respectful or not would not matter to the Buddha anyway, but they still wished to express it through their etiquette toward the Buddha. To the Buddha, what use were these things? They just represented heavenly beings’ giving, showing “I am the most reverent. I am willing to give everything I have.” These were things “they used.”

“[They] said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.’ They prayed the Buddha would embrace them for they sought blessed retribution.”

With this kind of reverence, they began speaking to the Buddha. “Please look upon us” was an expression of utmost reverence. In their minds, they hoped for only one thing. “Please” indicated their thinking, that the only thing they hoped for was, “Venerable Buddha! Look upon us with compassion and mercy. Please benefit us!” There is a limit to heavenly blessings. How could they put an end to cyclic existence? They had to ask the Buddha to teach them out of compassion. They still had slight traces of subtle delusions they had not yet eliminated. There were still a few principles they could not understand. “Venerable Buddha, please be merciful and give us teachings to help us understand.” So, “They prayed the Buddha would embrace them, for they sought blessed retribution.” They were still seeking, because their heavenly blessings would soon end. If they fell again, what could they do? So, they still asked the Buddha to embrace them.

The next passage then says, “As for the palaces that we offer, may you honor us by accepting them.”
“My reverence is such that. I want to make offerings with everything I have.”

We often hear people say this. “I want to make all the money I can, do all the business I can. But all that I do, Master, is in preparation to [donate] all of it.” This is the mindset some people have. The minds of humans and heavenly beings are the same; all are seeking blessings!

But the blessings sought by the Brahma kings were both blessings and wisdom. As I mentioned previously, they sought benefit for all sentient beings, not only for themselves. When they offered all their palaces, they hoped He would “honor us by accepting them.” They were below Him; those making offerings were below, and the Buddha was sitting high above. So, to make offerings with respect, they had to raise them high up, while Buddha had to reach down to accept them. Actually, this was all intangible, but this way of showing respect was their attitude, their expression. Their intent was to ask something of the Buddha. “Venerable Buddha, you know our intent. Please accept these things.”

So, “At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”

“May the Buddha please accept the things we have offered.” This is how the heavenly beings felt when they made their offerings. Such was their reverence. Yes, we must be reverent. As we are learning the Buddha’s teachings, if we are lacking this reverence when we interact with each other, we will unable to be of one mind. I often talk about “unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort.” Last is “concerted effort.” Only when we act in concert will the world and all societies be at peace. To act with concerted effort, we must have mutual love. We must love one another, and with mutual love we can focus our efforts to lift any burden. If something is very heavy, one can say, “Everyone, I will also offer my strength so I can take some of the burden off of you.” If we all give of our strength, we can help relieve the burden on one another.

With this kind of thought, our strength will be in concert. Without this kind of thought we may say, “You take the heavier end; give me the lighter end.” However, we may not even carry the lighter part and instead pull it the wrong way. Then no one can move. “I will hold on; you help to pull.” If I just hold on to this heavy object, the person in front is carrying the burden, as I pull the other way. Not only are we not helping to lift up the back, we are pulling it the wrong way. If this is the case, how can society be harmonious? If we do not understand, if we have no empathy, how can there be mutual love? So, we must have mutual love.

Mutual love comes from harmony. We must love everyone we can see. For those we cannot see, we may say, “Yes, I do love them.” But most important are those we can see. We must be in harmony with them. When we listen to them talking to each other, we know their speech is harmonious. They are very supportive in their speech, offering mutual support and mutual praise. We can hear this in people’s voices. From their expression, we can tell they are kind. As people speak to one another, [others wonder,] “How are they so kind?” This can be seen and heard; this is harmony.

Only with harmony is unity possible. Unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort is utmost reverence. As people interact with each other, they need to treat one another with reverence, because everyone is a Buddha.

Dear Bodhisattvas, truly, we must respect one another and turn the Dharma-wheel for each other. The young Bodhisattvas always say, “Grandmaster, we want to make a vow to be your little Dharma-protectors, to be those who spread the Dharma.” Indeed! They protect and transmit the Dharma. Even these very young children aspire to this; similarly, all of us should spread and protect the Dharma. For the Dharma to be in the world, we must have unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort. Let us always be mindful!

Episode 1022 – Purifying the Mind to Seek the Dharma

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>> “We intrinsically possess the pure Buddha-mind of True Suchness, which is like our home. The seeds of mental karma are kept in the storehouse consciousness; when conditions mature, the retributions form. We must diligently sow good seeds, cultivate goodness and uphold precepts. From the ancient past until now, we have had the. Great Unhindered intrinsic nature.”

>> “‘As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those patient and good will increase.’ At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Then, bhiksus in the 500 trillion lands to the south, all the Brahma kings each saw their palaces illuminated by a great radiance, which had never happened before. They jumped with joy and gave rise to a rare and precious aspiration.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They immediately went to visit one another to discuss this matter ‘What are the causes and conditions behind all our palaces having such a radiant light?’Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Wondrous Dharma spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “In all of our palaces, the brilliant illumination is powerfully radiant. This is not without causes and conditions. We had better investigate this appearance.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Hundreds and thousands of kalpas have passed without us ever seeing such a sign. It must be a Virtuous One born in heaven or a Buddha manifesting in the world.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to” “hold all kinds of celestial flowers and together went to the north to seek out this sign.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

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“We intrinsically possess the pure Buddha-mind of True Suchness, which is like our home.
The seeds of mental karma are kept in the storehouse consciousness; when conditions mature, the retributions form.
We must diligently sow good seeds, cultivate goodness and uphold precepts.
From the ancient past until now, we have had the. Great Unhindered intrinsic nature.”

I constantly tell everyone that we intrinsically have the pure Buddha-nature of True Suchness; it is in the home of our mind. So, after we hear or acquire the Dharma from outside of ourselves, we should take it and put it in our mind. Over the course of. Sakyamuni Buddha’s spiritual practice, across all lifetimes, His resolve never changed. He was mindful, reverent and diligent, unafraid of hardship and unsparingly dedicated His life, all for the sake of seeking the Dharma. Why did He seek the Dharma? For the sake of benefiting sentient beings. If He did not know the methods, He would not be able to benefit sentient beings. So, He definitely had to seek the Dharma. Even if He had to peel off His skin for paper, pool His blood for ink and extract His bones for a pen to write down each and every word of the Dharma,

He would use His skin as paper, His bones as a pen and. His blood as ink. He would copy down the true principles, the Dharma He sought. Think about it; He was carving these words into His mind, into His bones. We truly must take the Dharma to heart.

In fact, He went through such hardship to seek the Dharma. The Dharma, the pure nature of True Suchness, intrinsically exists in everyone. Everyone has this Buddha-mind inside them. It is in the home of our mind, yet we continue to seek it outside ourselves. But when we seek it [outside], for every three teachings we gain, four leak out. In our minds, afflictions continuously increase, and thoughts of goodness continue to leak away. Think about this; isn’t this a pity? So, we must put effort into being mindful. When we hear the Dharma from outside ourselves, we should carve it even more deeply into our mind. Within our mind, the pagoda on Vulture Peak will always be there. The Lotus Dharma-assembly, this spiritual training ground, will also forever be in our mind. So, we must put effort into being mindful.

“The seeds of mental karma are kept in the storehouse consciousness; when conditions mature, the retributions form.” The seeds of mental karma are all stored in our storehouse consciousness. It all depends on the kinds of causes and conditions we create; when retributions mature, the results are likewise. In our storehouse consciousness is defiled consciousness, so we always remain in the eighth consciousness. If every thought can be filtered to become pure, that state of purity is our pure nature of True Suchness, which is our ninth consciousness. It never grows or diminishes, but sadly we do not make use of it. What we always make use of are our Roots, Dusts and other Consciousnesses. With the sixth consciousness we take action, with the seventh consciousness we contemplate, with the eighth consciousness we take it all in. Thus every thought that we give rise to is an affliction.

With afflictions, the 18 Realms, the Six Roots, Six Dusts and Six Consciousnesses, continually creates the seeds of mental karma. After these seeds are created, they are placed in the storehouse consciousness. When causes and conditions ripen, karmic retributions then begin to manifest. Without any control, we leave this life and enter the next. The karma we create in this lifetime in the end returns to our storehouse consciousness. Once fully in our storehouse consciousness, we carry that karma with us when we pass on. In our next life, where will our direct and circumstantial retributions take us? That depends on the seeds of mental karma we created in the past. However and wherever they are stored, we will follow these karmic seeds to receive our retributions. This is beyond our control.

We know all of this now, but are we mindful in everything we do? We must filter out all ignorance and afflictions so we can return to our pure intrinsic nature of True Suchness, to our Buddha-mind, to the home of True Suchness. This is something we can accomplish now. We can do it now; we have the environment for it. We all have this common understanding, so this is a great place for spiritual practice. We should be mindful.

Take the Tzu Chi volunteers from the Philippines as an example. They came back in a large group to express their gratitude. Among the seeds of Tzu Chi in the Philippines, [most are] Chinese. The Chinese people there are well-off. It is said, “It is difficult for the wealthy to learn the Way.” In the Philippines, there have been many severe floods, so Tzu Chi volunteers started implementing “cash for work” programs there, calling on the local people [to get involved], hoping that this could sow seeds in the local soil and cultivate local (Filipino) volunteers. They hoped these seeds could take root there. Then the local people would get to know Tzu Chi, would develop a common understanding with the Chinese there to take on this responsibility.

During Typhoon Haiyan, we were fortunate to have local volunteers who spoke the language. To help with the severe disaster in Tacloban, we needed many people to join in. So, we needed to communicate in their language to guide them in the heavy work of the clean-up by mobilizing them with a “cash for work” program. Thus, a group [of local volunteers] from Marikina worked together with Chinese Tzu Chi volunteers.

Of course, as this was a large scale disaster, Tzu Chi volunteers from many countries all gathered together there to join these efforts. However, the leaders had to be local volunteers. If they relied solely on the Chinese volunteers, completing this project would have been difficult. Fortunately, many years had been spent on cultivating these seeds, continuously helping them understand and implement the [Tzu Chi] spirit. I am very grateful to this group of Bodhisattvas who have mindfully nurtured them.

Each year, those who can come back to Taiwan for advanced training, retreats and so on are mostly Chinese, because the cost of each trip, the plane ticket and other travel expenses, is a financial burden. The local volunteers are more limited in means, so it is impossible for them to come here.

For a recent [training], two of our Dharma Masters went there. Of course, some of our staff went too, but when volunteers gathered to share they said, “What the Dharma Masters told us was perfect. What the Dharma Masters said to us and the way they taught us made us very happy.” There were 500 to 600 local volunteers, most of whom believed in other religions. But this training, since it was led by Dharma Masters, they were able to explain things like why we do the Lotus Sutra bowing ceremony, why we chant the Incense Chant, how we express our respect and how our reverence can resonate with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Before the bowing ceremony, Master De Mai explained all this to them.

Among the Chinese, there were many senior Tzu Chi volunteers. They shared that, “In the past, although we had returned for spiritual retreats and were very happy, we did wonder why we have to chant the Incense Chant for so long. We followed along and bowed, but we never really knew what it meant; we were just following everyone else. But we did not know the meaning behind it because we didn’t understand the words.” They were Chinese, and they regularly returned for training, usually once or twice a year. But their Chinese was not that good. So, they followed the others in bowing, but in their hearts they wondered, “Why do we have to chant for so long?”

They said it was different this time; they were very happy, because it was explained. The feeling they had now in this place was that this was their place; this was their space. The Dharma Masters had come from afar, so they listened mindfully to the explanation and took it to heart. How did they communicate with the locals? We actually used Taiwanese to speak with them, not Mandarin. They said even though they were Chinese, if they came here and we spoke Mandarin to them, they actually could not understand. They needed to hear things in Taiwanese. So, when we went there this time, everyone used Taiwanese to speak to them. This gave the Chinese there a sense of intimacy. For the locals, they provided simultaneous interpretation. Although they were Catholics or Protestants, those 500-600 people could understand and recognize the principles of the Buddha’s teachings

and why the [senior volunteers] had been so strict in training them, why they wanted them to be so neat and orderly. Actually, they had always thought it was just because the organization required orderliness. They did not know the meaning behind it until now, that the principles of the Buddha-Dharma are all about the mind, having the right mindset and the right path. They shared all this with me, then they requested, “Master, after this experience please keeping sending Dharma Masters over there to lead us. Then we are confident that in the Philippines the Buddha-Dharma will flourish.” Not only those from Manila,

but also those from Cebu made this request. I replied to them, “Don’t the staff from the Dept. of Religious Affairs go there often?” They said, “It isn’t the same! We need the Dharma Masters.” I said that for the monastics, it seems their appearance is an advantage. When monastics go, they feel I have sent them directly, as if I am there myself. This way, they have such respect for the Dharma and accept the teachings.

So, when we learn the Buddha’s teachings, the principles are already within us. This is why previously, when the Brahma kings entreated the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha silently consented. Then they repeated themselves in verse, hoping, “As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase.” They hoped He would again use matters and appearances so everyone would have something they could see, some kind of appearance, like our monastic appearance. By explaining these principles and these matters, the volunteers were finally able to understand. This is why we say that with the principles, there must be matters and appearances, such as proper etiquette. This is very important!

So, we should know that the principles are without form, yet we use matters and appearances. Isn’t everything that is created made by people doing things? When people do things, don’t we remain on the level of forms and appearances? Our minds give rise to discrimination. With the Six Consciousnesses, the Six Roots and the Six Dusts, our mind-consciousness allows our eye-root to come into contact with external conditions; this gives rise to discrimination, stirs up thoughts and so forth. This is all around forms and appearances, people and matters. Thus we give rise to discursive thoughts. Where is the origin of these arising thoughts? In our intrinsic nature. Our mind-consciousness contains principles, and these principles become conditioned phenomena.

Our nature of true Suchness contains the principles of everything. The principles of everything allow the creation of conditioned phenomena, things with appearances. So, these things with appearances entice our mind, which is without form, to connect with external condition and give rise to attachment to people, matters and objects. These attachments are afflictions. By transforming these afflictions and getting rid of attachments, we return to True Suchness, to the principles. Everything is inseparable from matters and appearances. Matters and appearances lead our minds to act and to create karma, thus creating karmic seeds. These karmic seeds become causes and conditions, so without any control, we continue to transmigrate. It seems that I talk about this a lot, yet everyone continues to let it leak away. So, with this sutra passage, no matter what, I hope that as you all go through it repeatedly, you will definitely contemplate it. Regarding intangible principles and tangible matters and appearances, we must truly be very careful.

So, “We must diligently sow good seeds.” We must earnestly sow seeds, our seeds of goodness. This is why we always say that we must go among people and earnestly create good affinities with sentient beings, earnestly go among people to understand their problems and their afflictions and thus nurture our wisdom-life. This is because by seeing others, we come to understand ourselves. This is why we need to “cultivate goodness and uphold precepts.” Only by seeing others can we become even more vigilant of ourselves in cultivating goodness and upholding precepts. This is because “From the ancient past until now, we have had the. Great Unhindered intrinsic nature.” Ever since dust-inked kalpas ago, there has been. “Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior,” which is our intrinsic nature. We have infinite wisdom; there is no principle we cannot understand. Our original intrinsic nature of True Suchness is something that we should cherish. I hope we put our hearts into experiencing this.

The previous sutra passage was very long. “‘As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those patient and good will increase.’ At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented.”
Brahma King Great Compassion, in his great compassion, came from the southeast seeking the light, searching for the source of the light. When they saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, they reverently made offerings, then requested that He turn the Dharma-wheel. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior remained silent, so [Great Compassion] repeated himself in verse, hoping Great Unhindered would, as the previous sutra passage talked about, manifest matters and appearances. Manifesting matters and appearances means revealing the principles through matters and appearances. Otherwise, those in evil realms would continually increase and those who are good, the heavenly beings, would diminish.

Now he asked again, hoping the Buddha would teach through matters and appearances so sentient beings listening to this Dharma could “attain the Path or be born in heaven.” He hoped that, through matters and appearances, everyone would come to understand. This is like how in the Philippines, the monastics, the Dharma Masters, went there and everything they taught was the Dharma. So, everyone could understand. They cited examples of the many disasters in the world and the many Living Bodhisattvas who formed aspirations. In this way, they could understand. They were able to see these people’s appearances and hear so many true stories of what has happened in the world. The past has become stories; this is what people have been doing. They understand now. So, everyone rejoiced and began to diligently practice.

Advancing in this way, they attain the Path. Attaining the Path means understanding the principles. If we can earnestly cultivate virtuous Dharma, in the future we can be born in heaven. Then, if we can brush away ignorance, naturally we will not fall into the evil realms. So, those in the evil realms diminish, “and those patient and good will increase.” They understood that these are the principles. “When among people, interpersonal conflicts are not important; we should seize the time to do good deeds.” Then naturally. “Those patient and good will increase”; they will attain benefits. At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented; He agreed.

Let us go on to the next sutra passage. The previous one has concluded. The Brahma kings from the southeast had requested the Dharma. That is now followed by another passage. “Then, bhiksus in the 500 trillion lands to the south, all the Brahma kings each saw their palaces illuminated by a great radiance, which had never happened before. They jumped with joy and gave rise to a rare and precious aspiration.”    

“Then, bhiksus….”, Sakyamuni Buddha was speaking to those at the Vulture Peak Assembly who were listening to the Dharma. He called to them again, telling them to pay attention, for now He was talking about another direction. The section about the southeast had ended. The next section was about the south.

This is the same as before. The Brahma kings’ palaces had suddenly become illuminated by the radiance. This had never happened before. They could not help but rejoice. Happiness arose in them all.

Then it says,  “They immediately went to visit one another to discuss this matter ‘What are the causes and conditions behind all our palaces having such a radiant light?’Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Wondrous Dharma spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”

This Great Brahma King was named Wondrous Dharma. The previous one was Great Compassion. This one was Wondrous Dharma. And the one before that from the east? That one was called Saving All. This is because each [direction] had a representative Brahma king. The representative Brahma king from the south was called Wondrous Dharma; he “spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”

The next sutra passage states, “In all of our palaces, the brilliant illumination is powerfully radiant. This is not without causes and conditions. We had better investigate this appearance.”

This auspicious sign of radiance, the brilliance of this awe-inspiring virtue, this ray of light, was different than normal. Though it was radiant, it was very gentle. Though it was very gentle, it could capture people’s hearts. The brilliance of this awe-insipiring virtue was able to capture people’s hearts. They were illuminated by this kind of light. A light like this cannot arise without causes and conditions; it did not arise for no reason. So, [he said] all those in the Brahma heavens should with one heart, gather and search together, investigate this light, its source.

So, the sutra then says, “Hundreds and thousands of kalpas have passed without us ever seeing such a sign. It must be a Virtuous One born in heaven or a Buddha manifesting in the world.”

A very long time had already passed, hundreds of thousands of kalpas, a very long time, and they had never seen any sign like this. They had never seen anything like it. This was a very rare occurrence, so everyone has to treasure it, has to value that light. They must truly place importance on it. Had a Virtuous One been born in heaven? That was likely; or perhaps a Tathagata had manifested in the world.

The sutra then says, “At that time, 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to” “hold all kinds of celestial flowers and together went to the north to seek out this sign.”

All the Brahma kings began to search, for that light was unusual. They knew that this radiance, aside from being gentle, could also captivate people’s hearts. So, they put in effort to mindfully search for it. “The Brahma kings together went to the north.” Earlier, the Brahma kings from the east and the southeast wanted to find where the light was coming from. The light came from the west to shine on the east. So, those from the east and the southeast went toward the west [and northwest] to look. One direction was those in the east going toward the west. And those in the south? They went toward the north.

The source of the light never moved; it is just that the direction the light illuminated was different, so the terms are different. Directions are also just terms. When the direction is different, the term for it is different. Otherwise, since it radiated from the same source, why talk about those in the east going west, and those in the south going north? These were matters and appearances, the appearances of the directions. Actually, the source was unmoving. Like our nature of True Suchness, it was unmoving. But the principles can be sent forth throughout the universe, throughout all things in the world. These were the principles. The radiance of the principles is sent forth.

So, all the Brahma kings went together to the north to seek the radiance. They went in the direction of the light, as it appeared to come from the north to illuminate the south. So, those in the south went north. They went searching in that direction. In this way, they found the place of the Buddha. They were very respectful in praising and making offerings to Him. So, “At that time, 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces.” There were many Brahma kings, and all of them together did the same thing, which was “[going] along with their palaces.” With their sincerity, they did not just come by themselves; they brought along everything they owned, and in their great sincerity, this included their palaces. They all “each journeyed on their palaces.” In this way, they came with their palaces. They “came from the heavens.” Why does it say they “came from the heavens”? Because when a Buddha is born, He is always born in the human realm; this was just in the world of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. This period of time was a time long before times long ago, in a world before Beginningless time. Of course, the Brahma kings had to descend from the heavens to come in this direction.

So, “They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers and together went to the north to seek out this sign.” They did not only come with their palaces, but with many celestial flowers as well. In this way they came north together. They were filled with faith that a Buddha must have manifested in the world. This radiance was very unusual. If a Virtuous One had not been born in heaven, it certainly was a Buddha, an Enlightened One, a spiritual practitioner who had awakened. He had the great cause of turning the Great Dharma-wheel. This is why they came with such reverence. So, they “together went to the north to seek out this sign. From south to north” they came to investigate. Moreover, they descended from the heavens.

The sutra then continues, “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”

They had all already arrived. So, what they saw was that indeed Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was the source of that radiance. The source of the light was Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. They saw the Tathagata in His place of enlightenment, sitting beneath the Bodhi-tree. So, having already seen the Buddha, having already come to this Bodhimanda, they all made offerings with utmost respect. It was not just the Brahma kings who came. In addition to the Brahma kings, the Brahma kings of the 500 trillion [lands], there were also naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on. All of them came with utmost reverence.

This respect was the one heart shared by humans and heavenly beings. What they expressed was utmost sincerity. We should know that the most important thing for spiritual practice is a heart of reverence. Only with a reverent heart can we return to our nature of True Suchness. Everyone has this intrinsic nature, not just the Brahma kings. Everyone similarly possesses the intrinsic Tathagata-nature of True Suchness. But, in the distant past, beginningless dust-inked kalpas before, these beings, like us, were lost. And like us, they discovered true principles, the Buddha-Dharma. They too worked hard to mindfully engage in spiritual practice.

If lay Bodhisattva uphold precepts well and continuously accumulate virtuous [deeds], they can journey on this goodness and thus be born into a certain heaven accordingly. Will they be born in a heaven in the desire realm? Or will they be born in the form realm? Or will they be born in Akanishtha Heaven? There are material things there, but no thoughts of desire. A pure state is what characterizes Brahma heavens.

The Brahma heavens are filled with many pleasures and also very pure. Their minds are undefiled, free of desires. However, they have one regret; they have not ended the cycle of birth and death. Because there are still a few principles they have not thoroughly understood, their nature of True Suchness has not completely manifested. Right now they are still enjoying the pleasures of the heaven realm, but they understand that once they have depleted their heavenly blessings, they will again fall [into the lower realms]. Because of this, they still must seek the Dharma. To reach the ultimate state, even the most minute and subtle delusions must be eliminated. So, they begin to engage in spiritual practice and walk the Bodhisattva-path again. They go among people without becoming defiled and train their minds so they are pure. By awakening compassion and exercising wisdom, they thus go among people and exercise both compassion and wisdom without ever becoming defiled. Replete in both blessings and wisdom, they are able to attain Buddhahood. They are just a small step away right now, but we are still very far off. We still have multitudes of afflictions.

It is not just that the Brahma kings are only a small step away, they are also still seeking. As long as a tiny amount of dust-like delusions still remain, they will still seek the true principles. Then there are the naga kings and gandharvas. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors include the naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on, those who are of this world and those who are not. These are the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. They are all the same; they are seeking the true principles, so what of us humans? This is why we should exercise utmost reverence in seeking the true principles. If we do not put effort into being mindful and do not diligently sow seeds, seeds of goodness, if we do not earnestly practice goodness and uphold precepts, then where will we end up in the future? We truly do not know, so we must be mindful.

We are in the best place for spiritual practice. We can see that in the world there is so much impermanence, suffering and emptiness. When these principles manifest, we observe them and can go even deeper into them to help others. The Bodhisattva-path is in the world. As we continue to practice it, we encourage one another. We have all the conditions we need, so we should make the best use of them. Let us always be mindful!

Episode 1021 – Seeking Out the Ultimate Principle of Light

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>> “Even over 180 kalpas, it is difficult to manifest the awakened nature. It is deeply buried under layer after layer of the realms of Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses. From afar, we come to seek mindfully and sincerely. Seeking out the ultimate principle of the light, we listen to the Great Vehicle Dharma.”

>> “At that time, all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse, each spoke these words: ‘We only pray that the World-Honored One will have mercy on all and turn the Dharma-wheel to transform and liberate sentient beings.’ Then the Brahma kings, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma and deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, enabling them to attain great joy.”          [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “‘As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase.’ At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven,” So, “Due to sentient beings listening to this perfect and great teaching of the Great Vehicle, they will either attain the noble path or be born in the heavens.”

>> Those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase: Those beings in the evil realms will gradually decrease. Those practicing and upholding gentle persistence and patience as well as cultivating virtuous Dharma will increase and benefit.

>> “Those who attain the Path become sages and noble beings of the Three Vehicles. Those who receive blessings go to all the heavens in the Three Realms.” Therefore, those in the evil realms diminish.

>> Patient and good: Being able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, they encourage each other to do good.

>> So, “At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented. The Buddha heard their request and did not refuse.” He expressed consent by silence.

>> “Then, Bhiksus, in the 500 trillion lands to the south, all the Brahma kings each saw their palaces illuminated by a great radiance, which had never happened before. They jumped with joy and gave rise to a rare and precious aspiration.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> And, “In each of their minds, they gave rise to a rare and precious thought. These Brahma kings from the south, because of the light, asked in astonishment, and Brahma King Wondrous Dharma” brought the discussion together to explore this.

>> “They immediately went to visit one another to discuss this matter ‘What are the causes and conditions behind all our palaces having such a radiant light?’ Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Wondrous Dharma spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The Brahma King from the south named Wondrous Dharma could skillfully expound wondrous Dharma for all heavenly beings, thus he had this name.

>> [He] spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens: This Brahma king with wondrous tone spoke in verse for the Brahma assembly.

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“Even over 180 kalpas, it is difficult to manifest the awakened nature.
It is deeply buried under layer after layer of the realms of Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses.
From afar, we come to seek mindfully and sincerely.
Seeking out the ultimate principle of the light, we listen to the Great Vehicle Dharma.”

Previously, from what we have heard in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, we have already comprehended this. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was a Buddha from dust-inked kalpas ago, in Beginningless Time. This represents the intrinsic Buddha-nature we all have. Ever since Beginningless Time, that is, for a very long period of time, due to a single thought of ignorance, we have incessantly reproduced afflictions. The result of this is that now, with everything we face in our lives, we have so many afflictions we cannot resolve. We are not clear where the principles come from, so wherever we go to look for these principles, that seems to be very difficult.

Where should we look for these principles? Actually, they have been around for a long time. The principles have existed since the distant time of countless dust-inked kalpas ago. This is to say nothing of the Brahma kings who [had to travel] to find the source of the light. When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Buddhahood, His light shone on the Brahma heavens in the east, the southeast and so on. All the Brahma kings saw the light and felt that this light had to have its causes and conditions. This light had to have come from a Great Enlightened One. The Great Enlightened One’s wisdom was about to radiate light; by propagating the Dharma light would then be radiated in this way to shine universally throughout so many worlds.

The Brahma kings had the conviction to follow this light to seek out and find its origin. In going to seek out this light, their minds were very determined. This represents their respect and reverence, So, they had come from afar in this way.

Once they met the Buddha, they recounted how for such a long time, the beings in the evil realms had increased while humans and heavenly beings were decreasing. This was described earlier in these long sutra passages. They contain this kind of meaning. The Brahma kings came to ask the Buddha to expound the Dharma. They expressed their wishes because, over this very long period of time, the number of heavenly beings had decreased while those in the evil realms increased. This period had lasted 180 kalpas.

We spoke of this a few days ago “180 kalpas” is an analogy for the 18 Realms. What are the “18 Realms”? They are all in our daily living. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are the Six Roots. Form, sound, smell, taste, touch and phenomena are the Six Dusts. Then there is our mind-consciousness and so on. In this way we connect to external conditions, thus creating a lot of ignorance and afflictions. Because ignorance and afflictions cover our nature of True Suchness, we say, “It is deeply buried under layer after layer of the realms of Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses.”

It is hard for our awakened nature to manifest because of our afflictions and ignorance; our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses are burying us layer by layer in this way. Actually, our nature of True Suchness still exists. It has always been there; it is just covered by ignorance and afflictions. It became covered by ignorance and afflictions in fact due to our own actions. With our Roots and Dusts, the Six Roots connect to the external Six Dusts. As they converge, our consciousness accordingly gives rise to thoughts, reproducing [ignorance]. Thus, with each instance of this reproduction, our afflictions increase, and layer after layer they bury us. So, where should we look? “From afar, we come to seek mindfully and sincerely.” Most important is that we have sincerity. No matter how far we go to search, if we are not mindful and sincere, we truly cannot find what we seek. However hard we look, we will not find it, as we will have lost our direction.

The Brahma kings knew to to go from the east to search in the west, from the southeast to search in the northwest. They knew the light’s origin came from a certain direction, so they were able to find the ultimate principles. This direction can only be attained by listening to the Dharma. If we do not listen to the Dharma, we will not know the direction at all. So, we must “listen to the Great Vehicle Dharma.” When we listen to teachings, we also need to find the right teachings. “A slight deviation takes us far off course.” If our wisdom deviates by even a little bit, then our “five chronic afflictions” and “five acute afflictions” can very easily arise. So, “A slight deviation takes us far off course.” We need to look in the correct direction to find where the principles are.

Actually, where do we go to look? We need to shine the light back on ourselves. In fact, these principles are within ourselves. The problem starts with us, not with others. So, there is a passage of a Bodhisattva asking, “Just how we do find the principles of the true Bodhisattva-practice?” Sakyamuni Buddha was in deep contemplation and began to reply to this Bodhisattva. Countless kalpas ago, a very long time ago, there was a sage. He was born in an era without a Buddha, but he had continually searched for principles and ways to engage in spiritual practice. Since ancient times, spiritual practice has been for the sake of benefiting sentient beings, but what methods should be used to awaken compassion and benefit sentient beings?

He thought to himself that, other than compassion, he would need wisdom. Wisdom would require [the teachings given by] Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the enlightened ones, those who first awakened. With teachings They gave after becoming enlightened, he could then practice according to principles. Only then could he truly benefit sentient beings. To save sentient beings, there had to be a method. But where would he find this method? It would have to be from those who were already awakened, from the principles They comprehended and the teachings They gave. But where would he find them?

So, he had this thought and prayed to find enlightened ones or for the opportunity for someone who had heard the teachings of enlightened ones to pass on to him the Dharma that the enlightened ones had taught. Then he would be able to understand the principles taught by enlightened ones of the past and could follow these principles to engage in spiritual practice. This was because there was no Buddha at that time. It was a time without the Buddha-Dharma. He hoped that there might be correct teachings that had been handed down, that someone who had heard and knew the teachings could transmit them. If this were the case, then he would be willing to use his body to give unconditionally. If the one with the Dharma asked him to do something with his body, he would definitely be able to do it. During the time he had these thoughts,

King Mara, who liked to play tricks on people, wanted to give him a hard time. King Mara appeared and said to him, “I have heard [the teachings] before. I can teach this Dharma for you, but are you able to do what I ask?” This sage said, “I have said before that if someone is able to recount the right teachings of perfect enlightenment, I am willing to meet any conditions.” [King Mara] said, “If you are able to peel off the skin of your body to use as paper, take the blood of your body to use as ink and use the bones of your body as a pen, then whatever I say, using your skin as paper, your bone as a pen and your blood as ink, you will write it down. If you are willing to do so, then you can use this method to record my words.”

This sage heard this and felt, “I am willing, because in my past lives, I have gone through countless lifetimes, in an unknown number of different bodies, and I believe I have not attained the teachings. In this lifetime, I was again born in a time without a Buddha in the world. The teachings are so difficult to hear. Today, I am able to meet someone who is willing to teach me the Buddha-Dharma. Even if you want me to use my skin as paper, my blood as ink and bones to write, this is a precious opportunity, so I am willing.” So, he truly peeled his skin off for paper. The blood began to flow, so he used the blood; he gathered and collected it. Then, he pulled out his bones as well. King Mara saw this and was shocked. These conditions were just to give him a hard time; he did not expect this spiritual practitioner to be so earnest. Actually, King Mara did not have any Dharma, so he was scared and disappeared.

However, this spiritual practitioner felt, “Even though the one that was going to teach me the Dharma is gone, my resolve is the same and has not changed.” He prayed, “Is there someone somewhere who has heard the Buddha-Dharma and is willing to expound it for me? Even if I have to peel off all my skin, use up all my blood or take out all my bones, I am willing.” At that time, he moved [a Buddha] who was 32 realms away from that world. That is, He was 32 lands away. From that distance, this Buddha was touched, so He manifested in front of this spiritual practitioner

and taught the Dharma for him. He told him the methods of cultivating blessings, virtues and Samadhi. He taught him how to engage in spiritual practice and benefit others and how to walk the Bodhisattva-path. He taught him how to go among the people to attain the Buddha-Dharma and comprehend the suffering of the human realm. He began to tell him the teachings of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. He taught all this to this spiritual practitioner and explained the teachings to him in great detail. He even healed his bleeding body and regrew his skin and bones. Very soon, he recovered. From this point on, this spiritual practitioner followed the principles of the Four Noble Truths to seek out the Dharma of causes and conditions. At the same time, he went among the people to truly benefit sentient beings. This is how he began to engage in spiritual practice life after life according to this Dharma.

When He reached the end of this story, Sakyamuni Buddha said to this Bodhisattva, “I was that sage in the past. Countless kalpas ago, to seek the Buddha-Dharma, I let go of my life, peeled my skin for paper, used my blood as ink and took my bone as a pen. With that kind of diligence, in this lifetime, I was able to attain Buddhahood. The amount of time it took was so long.” This is to say, if spiritual practitioners truly wish to engage in spiritual practice, then we must have patience and diligence. To actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions, we must be able to withstand practices like this.

So, we just said, “Even over 180 kalpas, it is difficult to manifest the awakened nature.” Indeed, because our awakened nature has been covered by our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses, with layers and layers of afflictions and ignorance deeply burying us, what kind of methods can we use to eliminate our ignorance and afflictions? This requires us to find the principles. To find these principles, we must put our hearts into it and be very mindful. We need a long period of time and great reverence to seek out this origin of light. Because the light was shining from very far away, the Brahma kings went to seek the light. By following the direction of the light, they went to seek these ultimate principles. This was all to learn the Great Vehicle teachings. They wanted to hear the Great Vehicle Dharma.

We need to know that if principles can be truly comprehended, taken to heart and put into practice, if they can be truly realized; only then are they the true principles. If we hear them [and say], “I know, I know,” we only know, but we have not realized them. Or after realizing them, we still do not put the principles into practice. We need to absorb the Dharma as our own, just like the cells in our bodies that can create nutrients for us. So, we often speak of Dharma-marrow, which is like the bone marrow in our bodies. When our bone marrow is healthy, it has the ability to produce blood.

The principle is the same; the Dharma is also like this. It must become our own and, in our own bodies, create the nutrients we need. We need to absorb the Dharma into our heart and have it become our own. So, we must use wisdom and contemplation in order to truly allow our consciousness to experience and understand. To awaken to the Buddha-Dharma, we must work from the outside inward and from the inside truly put in effort. If we [are trapped by] our Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses, even if we may already know these principles, our Roots will still be entangled and defiled by external Dusts. Then our Consciousnesses will naturally be covered by layers of ignorance. So, we must be very mindful.

The previous sutra passage states, “At that time, all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse, each spoke these words: ‘We only pray that the World-Honored One will have mercy on all and turn the Dharma-wheel to transform and liberate sentient beings.’ Then the Brahma kings, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”
Previously, the Brahma kings had come seeking this light and saw Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. They sincerely made offerings to Him, scattered flowers and circumambulated Him and asked Him to turn the Dharma-wheel. We have already explained this previously. Everyone then repeated themselves in verse to show their sincerity. This was in hopes that the Buddha would teach the principles through matters and appearances.

“The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma and deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, enabling them to attain great joy.”        

“The Great Noble One turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma” and deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, enabling them to attain great joy. The principles are intangible, so they hoped that the Buddha would explain these principles through matters and appearances. Only then could they understand. Sentient beings are afflicted and deluded and always suffering. So, to transform suffering sentient beings, [they must be freed from their] constant entanglement in matters and appearances. Now the teachings they were asking for were the principles for how they could resolve the afflictions and ignorance over the matters and appearances of the world. If people could be clear about the afflictions and ignorance over matters and appearances, it would “enable them to attain great joy.”

The next sutra passage states, “‘As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase.’ At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented.”

If sentient beings could [listen] to the Buddha using matters and appearances to explain [the Dharma], then these suffering sentient beings could eliminate their afflictions and attain joy. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha joyfully and silently consented. He was to begin speaking soon, but it was not time yet. So, He was silent.

“‘As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven, so those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase.’ At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented.”    

Sentient beings who hear the Dharma can attain joy and be born in the heaven realm. “They attain the Path or are born in heaven,” Only with the Dharma can one attain the Path.

“As sentient beings listen to this Dharma, they attain the Path or are born in heaven,” So, “Due to sentient beings listening to this perfect and great teaching of the Great Vehicle, they will either attain the noble path or be born in the heavens.”

We want to listen to the Great Vehicle teachings. After we have heard them, we are then able to understand the principles, know how to walk and in what direction we should go. The human realm is vast and hazy, and it is hard to know how to walk our path. With regard to the path, the Buddha taught, “The sutras are a path” and. “This path is a road to walk on.” How should we walk on this path so that we can walk it correctly, so that we can truly attain the teachings? With the ultimate principles, we eliminate delusion to work toward awakening; we turn delusion into awakening, turn knowledge into wisdom. To turn our ordinary knowledge into wisdom, we will need the Buddha to use many different methods to teach us. As for the people who hear it, if their capabilities are greater, then they can attain the noble path. If their capabilities are lesser, they can cultivate the virtuous Dharma of the Ten Good Deeds to be born in the heaven realm. In this way, many people will engage in spiritual practice and attain the Path; and those who are patient and good will increase. All this must be attained from the Buddha-Dharma.

Those in all evil realms will diminish, and those who are patient and good will increase: Those beings in the evil realms will gradually decrease. Those practicing and upholding gentle persistence and patience as well as cultivating virtuous Dharma will increase and benefit.

After hearing the Dharma, “Those beings in the evil realms will gradually decrease. Those who practice and uphold gentle persistence and patience as well as cultivate virtuous Dharma will increase and benefit.” After hearing the Dharma, if we can uphold it, we will be firm, gentle and patient. If we want to engage in spiritual practice, we must have strong spiritual aspirations; we must be firm in our will to practice. I often say, “Being a monastic is the work of a great person.” If we engage in spiritual practice but are not determined and courageous, we cannot renounce the lay life to become a monastic and engage in spiritual practice. So, we must have a resolute will and be firm in our practice.

However, our hearts need to be very gentle. When we go among people, there are inevitably many things that do not happen as we would have liked. When we are among people, nine times out of ten we feel that things are not going our way. What should we do? We need to endure. Among people, we need to have patience. When matters and appearances manifest, we need to use our skills. Whatever kind of difficulty we face, we must overcome it. When we are entangled by appearances, we need to have gentle forbearance; we need to be gentle and patient. We must be firm, gentle and patient; only then are we able to make things harmonious. When things are not going our way, what should we do? We need to be firm, gentle and patient. Then we are able to make things harmonious.

So, “[Those] cultivating virtuous Dharma will increase and benefit.” People who cultivate good Dharma will gradually increase in number. When we are among the people, if we can persist in being firm, gentle and patient, with the teachings, we can form many good affinities with people. In dealing with matters and appearances, we can be in harmony with all principles in life and form good affinities with people.

In interacting with others, we can gain much wisdom because everyone has different habitual tendencies. Each person has different afflictions. If we “have Dharma to transform them,” from amidst ignorance and afflictions we can turn them around. This will increase our own wisdom. The people around us will benefit, and we ourselves will benefit too. So, improving people’s views will increase our wisdom and wisdom-life. So, we must be very mindful to comprehend these principles.

“Those who attain the Path become sages and noble beings of the Three Vehicles. Those who receive blessings go to all the heavens in the Three Realms.” Therefore, those in the evil realms diminish.

We should try to understand this. Hearers understand from listening to the Dharma. Solitary Realizers use external states to comprehend the principles and awaken. Bodhisattvas go among people without being defiled and can benefit sentient beings. These are the Three Vehicles. If we can practice all the Three Vehicles, we will approach the state of sages, noble beings.

So, “Those who receive blessings go to all the heavens in the Three Realms.” If we walk the path of the Ten Good Deeds, we can also attain heavenly blessings. In the past, we spoke about heavenly beings and their karma of the Ten Good Deeds, how they earnestly implemented the Ten Good Deeds. Not only must we practice the Ten Good Deeds, we must also uphold precepts. Then naturally, in the Three Realms, the desire, form and formless realms, we [can be born in] the heavens, like Brahma heavens. We have been speaking about the Brahma kings coming to hear the Dharma. So, in their past lives, they had practiced the Ten Good Deeds and upheld the Five Precepts. These people who cultivated purity enjoy blessings and were born in the heavens.

Therefore, those in the evil realms diminished. For those who are already practicing, if they were not born in the heavens, they were born as sages or noble beings. So, beings in the evil realms, in hell, naturally diminished.

Patient and good: Being able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, they encourage each other to do good.

Thus, “patient and good” refers to those who are “able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma; they are spurred on to do good.” We need very firm aspirations and are spurred to serve others. This does not mean we are forced to do this. We encourage ourselves and continuously encourage each other to create this power to do good. This is the meaning of “patient and good.”

So, “At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata silently consented. The Buddha heard their request and did not refuse.” He expressed consent by silence.

At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha heard heavenly beings ask for the teachings. They hoped for those in good realms to increase and those in evil realms to decrease. They asked the Buddha to use matters and appearances to explain the principles to help everyone attain a clearer understanding. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior understood. He had already understood this, so Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha “silently consented.” This was the listeners’ request for the teachings. Though the Buddha remained silent, He had not given up; He would still explain again, So, “The Buddha heard their request and did not refuse.” With His silence He indicated consent; this is how all Buddhas share the same path. He wanted to teach; once the time was right, He would definitely teach and not decline. However, the time was not right. He had to wait until everyone had arrived. Because not everyone had arrived, He only silently consented.

The next sutra passage states, “Then, Bhiksus, in the 500 trillion lands to the south, all the Brahma kings each saw their palaces illuminated by a great radiance, which had never happened before. They jumped with joy and gave rise to a rare and precious aspiration.”

The Brahma kings I had mentioned before were those seeking the light from the southeast. Now there were others, those from the 500 trillion lands to the south. This is to say that, again, the other Brahma kings, from the south, had also discovered their palaces were illuminated. This meant the same thing as it did for those from the southeast. Everyone was very joyful.

And, “In each of their minds, they gave rise to a rare and precious thought. These Brahma kings from the south, because of the light, asked in astonishment, and Brahma King Wondrous Dharma” brought the discussion together to explore this.

Each one of these Brahma kings, from deep in their hearts, gave rise to this wondrous joy. “They gave rise to a rare and precious thought.” Brahma kings, these heavenly beings, are joyful every day. Every day, they are joyful. But when they saw the light this time, when it suddenly radiated and shone, every person in their hearts similarly gave rise to this indescribable joy.

So, “These Brahma kings from the south, because of the light, asked in astonishment, ‘Why is it that today when I see this light I am so joyous?'” They asked each other this. “I don’t know why today I am so joyous.” The other replied, “Indeed, I also don’t know why I am so joyous.” All of them were in the same state of mind. Each person gave rise to this joy. It was a kind of surprise, as this was a joy that they had never felt before. [In the south it was] Brahma King Wondrous Dharma. At this time, Brahma King Wondrous Dharma gathered them together to explore this matter. This was because at that place, among all the Brahma kings, there was a Brahma king named Wondrous Dharma. This Brahma King Wondrous Dharma gathered everyone together, saying, “Everyone, let us together find the origin of this light.”

The next sutra passage states, “They immediately went to visit one another to discuss this matter ‘What are the causes and conditions behind all our palaces having such a radiant light?’ Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Wondrous Dharma spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”

This individual, Brahma King Wondrous Dharma, Brahma King Wondrous Dharma, began to seek the light. So, he began to investigate this together with everyone. The Brahma king from the south was named “Wondrous Dharma.” The previous one was “Great Compassion,” but now this one is named Wondrous Dharma. The Brahma King from the southeast is called “Great Compassion.” Now, the Brahma King from the south is called “Wondrous Dharma.” He “could skillfully expound wondrous Dharma for all heavenly beings.”

The Brahma King from the south named Wondrous Dharma could skillfully expound wondrous Dharma for all heavenly beings, thus he had this name.

This Brahma King often gathered those in the Brahma heavens. They were all very diligent. They were very diligent in [seeking] the Dharma. They had already practiced the Ten Good Deeds and upheld the Five Precepts. They practiced goodness, upheld the Five Precepts, so they placed great importance on the Dharma. Therefore, he gathered everyone together and “spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.” Brahma King Wondrous Dharma, with his wondrous Dharma and wondrous tone, expounded the Dharma for everyone. He repeated himself in verse.

[He] spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens: This Brahma king with wondrous tone spoke in verse for the Brahma assembly.

As he expounded the Dharma, he placed great importance on it. Where did the light come from? This Brahma king from the start placed great importance on and wanted to find ways to seek the Dharma.

Indeed, how was the Dharma to be found? Everyone in the Brahma heavens practiced good deeds and upheld the precepts. But even as they enjoyed heavenly blessings and long heavenly lifespans, their lifespans would still come to an end. People in the world today talk about auspicious ages. Some have lived for well over 100 years. One day, they too will reach the end of their lifespans and pass away. Brahma King Wondrous Dharma also had this kind of thinking. Blessings will end, lifespans will end, and they will still be trapped in cyclic existence. So, in regards to the Dharma, he sought the ultimate wondrous Dharma. He valued it greatly. Thus, he is called Wondrous Dharma. He gathered all the heavenly beings together to find the origin of this light. He thought of how they should find it. He spoke in verse to repeat himself.

This is someone who showed respect for the Dharma. He wanted to find the fundamental answer as to how one could engage in spiritual practice to ultimately end cyclic existence. This is the true ultimate Dharma. We Buddhist practitioners must always be like this. We must be very mindful. Every day and every moment, we should be mindful. In each minute and second, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1020 – Understand History to Transform Sentient Beings

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>> “Seeing the pure light of great compassion, we must investigate and seek out the truth of its origin. The distant past is also right now; in a flash, that first moment in history appears. If all dust was ground into ink, taking up a pen, one still could not completely describe the lasting compassion of Bodhisattvas. They exercise both compassion and wisdom and went from east to west to deliver what is urgently needed.”

>> “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all. You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us. We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse, each spoke these words ‘We only pray that the World-Honored One will have mercy on all and turn the Dharma-wheel to transform and liberate sentient beings.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Then the Brahma Kings, with one mind and one voice, spoke in verse ‘The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma and deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, enabling them to attain great joy.'”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma: The Dharma can be applied inexhaustibly, just like the turning of a wheel. It reveals all good and evil appearances.

>> The great noble one is the one who expounds the Dharma. The Dharma-wheel is the Dharma He expounds. The teachings have a nature and appearance that can be gradual or immediate. He taught according to capabilities to deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings so they can be free from suffering and attain joy.

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“Seeing the pure light of great compassion, we must investigate and seek out the truth of its origin.
The distant past is also right now; in a flash, that first moment in history appears.
If all dust was ground into ink, taking up a pen, one still could not completely describe the lasting compassion of Bodhisattvas.
They exercise both compassion and wisdom and went from east to west to deliver what is urgently needed.”

Let us listen and then mindfully think back. The Buddha-Dharma is just like this. No matter how much time has passed, we must believe; we must have faith. With all the principles described in the sutras from ancient times until now, if we are able to have faith, then we are able to apply them. How do we seek out, investigate, examine and find the origin of all the principles? We must have faith. Nowadays, people have become so confused about the principles confused about the principles they can no longer see them clearly. Now, we hope to seek them out and find them again. Long ago, these principles already existed. How can we find them again?

“The distant past is also right now.” Where can we find them? Right in the present moment! Everything happens in an instant. What about right now? As we listen to the Dharma now, every line of the Dharma is spoken in an instant. Every word is heard in an instant and then passes by; this is also in an instant. Just what kind of time is an instant that the principles spoken in an instant can be everlasting? This is something we must mindfully understand. This is that first moment in history;

from ancient times to now, in this world, every country has had its own history. Even for us ourselves, there are things in our lives that happened that we will never forget. Those instants are also history, a part of the history of our lives. These are true events. It is like this for individuals, for our organization, for our society and for our nation. The things that happened in those instants are things that we will never forget.

Take the 921 Earthquake as an example. Does everyone still remember? The 921 Earthquake was an event that has already become a part of the history of our society. It happened in the year 1999, right? This earthquake struck on September 21, early in the morning at 1:47. Most people call this time midnight, while for us it is very early in the morning. All of a sudden, everyone was roused from their dreams. Everyone quickly ran outside. This is something that we all should remember. During this time, everyone was scared. Some asked, “Where is the door?” Some people were unable to get out, because the power went out during the earthquake. People lost their sense of direction; everyone was panicking.

Right after the earthquake, we all went out of the Abode. Was everyone safe? Everyone at the Abode was safe. Since we were safe, the people around us should also have been safe. But, the power had gone out. Where was the origin of the earthquake. Where was the epicenter? If Hualien was like this, what about other places in Taiwan? We were safe, but what about other places in Hualien? The TV had no power, so we quickly turned to radio. We quickly located a radio and began to listen for [the news report]. The news reported that Taichung was greatly impacted by the earthquake. As we listened, the power returned, so we quickly turned to the TV. As we watched, the reports kept coming. The epicenter of this earthquake was located between Taichung and Nantou. Both suffered greatly from the disaster. We continued listening to the news until the next morning.

We quickly made calls. Before sunrise, we heard that a highrise building in Taipei had collapsed. We quickly called Tzu Chi volunteers from Taipei. “Is everyone safe?” Many people called on my behalf and found out that the [volunteers] were safe. However, near Songshan Station, a building had collapsed. I asked, “What are the conditions in Xinyi District like?” [They said,] “We have arrived at this building, Tunghsing Building. What are the conditions there? The entire building has collapsed. What about the people inside?” He said, “We do not know yet, but as they were [evacuated] from the building everyone was very scared.”

“What about our [Tzu Chi volunteers]? Everyone is safe and are gathering here. At first, when we had our meetings we had them standing on the spot. Right now, everyone should split up to assess [the disaster]. We need to see if there are more people who are wounded. If people are hospitalized, we must go and care for them. We must quickly prepare hot meals for tomorrow morning.”

One of our honorary board members took the phone and said to me, “Master, I have already ordered the soymilk and steamed buns.” I said to him, “You are very fast. Is there anyone else working on this?” He replied, “Yes, the person making the soymilk. Now that the earthquake has passed, there is this person I know who is famous here; I asked him to help us prepare [the meals].”

I was very grateful! This was in the northern part of Taiwan. Everyone was safe, except for the people living in this building. We had not yet gotten information about the areas outside of the city. Those we had heard from were safe. When we bring up now the events of that instant, I believe that everyone who is listening [can recall] the nervousness at that time, the way we mobilized [our volunteers] and the panic that was experienced. These are all part of our history. This is all related to our life. It is also related to this place and the land. This was that first moment in history.

When we asked about Taichung, it was a completely different story. People in Taichung said, “It is very severe. In the city, many houses have collapsed. On this street, this many houses have collapsed. Tzu Chi volunteers are safe. Many people have called the branch office. We have received phone calls from several disaster areas. In Nantou, Puli, it is even more severe.” This is how it began. That first moment in history began like this in an instant.

By the time dawn came, throughout the whole night, from early in the morning until first light, we had been constantly collecting [information]. Once we understood the situation, [Tzu Chi volunteers] went to Puli and Nantou. Volunteers from Taichung and central Taiwan gathered there and began to request supplies. It was very early in the morning, about seven or eight am, when the list of materials needed for relief was reported back to us. They hoped that [Tzu Chi] Hospital could provide them with body bags to store the corpses. In the beginning, they asked for 500 [body bags]. “Do we have that many in stock?” We quickly turned to the hospital for help and asked the hospital to contact the manufacturer.

After the call with the hospital ended, I received another phone call from the disaster area. “Master, can we add another 1000?” I was in deep shock, “Really? It is really that bad? Yes, it will be necessary.” I quickly contacted the hospital and requested that they order more. Less than ten minutes later, another phone call came in. “Master, can we add another 1000 again? Is it that bad? Yes it is.” So, we quickly phoned in the request. That would be 2500 body bags in total. The hospital contacted their manufacturer, and [the body bags] were sent to Puli directly. This is history that we will not forget.

Starting this way, we began to prepare for the relief distribution. I think of how everyone rushed out with only the clothes on their backs. They might not have had a chance to bring any of their daily necessities. Even if they had wanted to buy things, they did not have the money to do so. Some may have run out with only their underwear on. So, the first thing we thought of was money. We had to quickly distribute money. So, we contacted the Taichung branch office and asked them to quickly withdraw money from the bank. They returned our call and said the door of the bank could not be opened due to the power outage. The bank was unable to operate. When we asked the Taipei office, we received the same answer. The power had not yet returned for the banks to operate; this was truly difficult! We were unable to get money.

We could only do it from [the bank in] Hualien. We took out NT  20,000,000 in cash and had two people, each carrying NT 10,000,000 in cash, go from eastern Taiwan to the central and western parts of Taiwan. This had to be done very urgently; we had to find a way to distribute it right away so the disaster victims could get what they needed on the same day. So, in this short time, many people were mobilized. When we reflect on what happened, we can collect stories from many people. Even when we talk about it now, when everyone hears it, I am sure this memory is still in our hearts.

In everyone’s memories, there were so many people giving to help. If we wanted to write down everything that people did to help others, it would truly be like this, “If all dust was ground into ink, taking up a pen one still could not completely describe them.” How many people did we mobilize? From central, southern and northern Taiwan, all Tzu Chi volunteers mobilized and gathered in central Taiwan. The missions that they accepted were not things people would be able to do. For example, so many body bags had been requested; this means there must have been so many corpses. These corpses had to be put into the body bags. Tzu Chi volunteers had to help out with this.

On the same day, a phone call came in asking, “Master, can we get some freezer containers? What do we need freezer containers for? We need them for the corpses; the sun is out. When it is around noon, the corpses in the body bags will not remain preserved for long. All the corpses must be preserved so that they can be identified later. After we put them in [the body bags], they will not be able to bear such warm weather. Master, can we look around and see if we can find any freezer containers?”

This was Chunzhi’s voice. In my mind, I can still recall our conversation over the phone in that instant. This was what Chunzhi said to me. “Where can we get freezer containers that can be delivered the same day to the disaster site?” If the freezer containers were not delivered on that day, then the corpses could not be preserved. What could we do? We had a benefactor, Lee Tsung-chi. Mr. Lee was in the marine shipping business. He shipped food and other items in freezer containers. I thought of Mr. Lee’s profession, so I called him and asked, “Mr. Lee, I have one thing to ask you, I do not know if this would be difficult. Do you think you would be able to help us?” He said, “How can I help? Master, what is there that cannot be done? As long as it is within my ability.”

“Do you have two freezer containers that you can send [to the disaster site]? Yes, I do. In my business how could I not? Can they be sent to the disaster site in time? Of course, I will make the arrangements now.” [The containers] were delivered right away, arriving in the afternoon. Tzu Chi volunteers then, one by one, put the corpses into the freezer containers.

I also heard that this year (2015), a Faith Corps Bodhisattva [who was there] came back in April or May. I was telling everyone that. “There are many disasters in this world. Tzu Chi volunteers have done a lot for Taiwan. In any disaster that occurred in Taiwan, Tzu Chi volunteers have never been absent. Wherever a disaster hits, Tzu Chi volunteers will be there to help.” I thought of the 921 Earthquake as I spoke.

At this time, this Bodhisattva-volunteer was sitting in the audience. He said, “Master, I remember that well.” I said, “Please describe it [for us].” He said, “One mother came to us and knelt down. She held on to me and said, ‘Brother, Please help me I know you go into the freezer container to move the corpses.'” As the corpses were piled on top of one another, every 40 to 50 minutes volunteers had to go in and rotate the corpses. Otherwise, since the corpses were stacked on top of one another all the way to the top, though the corpses had been frozen, without rotating them, there would still be heat.

This mother knew about this process; she had seen volunteers moving the corpses. So, she asked us, “Please, when you go in there, my child was one of the first to be moved in. Brother, my child is crushed under many people. When you go in there, as he was one of the first to be moved in, can you please move him up a little?”

When I heard this, I said, “This is truly heartbreaking to hear, but this is our history. You should still share it with everyone.” In life, all it takes is for a net of ignorance to be cast, and it is easy for people to forget this history. Those times, our memories of the 921 Earthquake, should be revisited again to remind everyone to be vigilant of the impermanence in life. In this world, in our society, so many Bodhisattvas give for the sake of society. In this world full of impermanence, these are true stories of Bodhisattvas giving. These are the memories we create. We must not forget them. This is our history, our treasury of teachings.

I constantly encouraged him, “Mr. Lin, please, if you have the opportunity, share this with others. Some young people do not know what happened during the 921 Earthquake.” Some people have forgotten about it. So, you must share all about the way that you helped others during that disaster. This was not something ordinary people could do, but you did it.

“The distant past is also right now; in a flash, that first moment in history appears.” That instant happened a very long time ago. Whether it was as long ago as. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, or in this era we are in now, in those moments right after the incident, it all happened in a flash. In that instant, these things truly happened. This is history; it is true. These are not legends. With these very real events, if we want to use ink to write them down, truly, “even if all dust was ground into ink,” even if we were to use so much ink, so many pens, how could we write it all down? This is truly what we call “putting down one, losing ten thousand.” For every ten thousand things, we can only write down one. If we truly want to write all of it down, it will be very difficult. “One could not completely describe it.”

Even if it is spoken out loud, we are still unable to write it all down. We are unable to write down the long-lasting compassion of the Bodhisattvas. If we think about that time, how can we share each story in detail? So many people dedicated themselves and gave to help others. It can only be stored in people’s minds. When we think back, this history surfaces in our minds instantly. These things from long ago will surface. Our memories are still very deep. This is Bodhisattvas’ long-lasting compassion, So, we must have faith in it.

In order to give of ourselves for the sake of the world, we must exercise both compassion and wisdom. Our hearts were very pained and saddened as we felt others’ pain and suffering as our own. Where would the money come from? In northern, western and central Taiwan, the banks could not operate for days. What could we do? We could only start from places that were safe, places where banks were able to operate. We withdrew cash, then had people personally deliver it. So from eastern Taiwan, we went west to central Taiwan to provide emergency relief. This is our history.

Regarding the Parable of the Conjured City, everything is illusory, but we should not treat it as illusory. It is true. But it is in the past, so it is like a dream or a flash of lightning. Even if we try to take something out to show it, we cannot. But this thing happened. Now, if we look at Nantou County, all the houses that collapsed and all the schools that collapsed have been rebuilt 50 schools crumbled in an instant. When we look at these 50 schools now, they are very strong. Their designs are beautiful, and they can stand the test of time. They have the same color, but different designs.

If we want to see what was there in the past, nothing is left. If we look at it now, everything is brand new. So, this is history. No matter how much ink and pens we use, we are unable to write out all the long-lasting compassion of Bodhisattvas. In that place, everyone exercised their compassion and wisdom. These Bodhisattvas came from north, south, east and west and gathered in central Taiwan. This is truly a very long story.

So, what is the origin of principles? It is the great compassion in everyone’s minds. So, “Seeing the pure light of great compassion, we must investigate and seek out the truth of its origin.” We do this using the principles. So, in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, this sutra passage states that. “There was [a Great] Brahma King named Great Compassion.” When I think of Brahma King Great Compassion looking for [the origin of] the radiance, I could not help thinking [of this earthquake]. So, the distant past is also the present instant. In this instant, we must constantly and earnestly look back.

That is all history; it is all principles. For everyone to live in peace and at ease, what methods must we use to help them? These are all principles. As we walk on this path, we must be very mindful. There is too much to share. So, I have one purpose, which is to tell everyone that in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City. Bodhisattvas have great compassion. I hope that everyone can be a Bodhisattva with long-lasting compassion and great love, great loving-kindness and great compassion. From their origin until now, Bodhisattvas have this mindset. For countless kalpas it has been like this; everyone intrinsically has it.

So, we often say that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha is everyone’s nature of True Suchness. Everyone intrinsically has this. When His radiance shone forth, Brahma kings from the east, south, west and north came back to seek out its origin. They asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. We must place great importance on this. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City is very important. Though these passages are very repetitive, this shows that the principles are very profound.

The previous sutra passage states, “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all. You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us. We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.”

This was what Brahma King Great Compassion and the other Brahma kings [said]. They asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel, then used verses to repeat themselves and say it again. The number of those doing evil had increased, so the Three Evil Realms were filled. It is the same in our world; if more people commit crimes, then more people will be in prison. The principles are the same. The heavenly beings have diminished, meaning the number of those who do good deeds decreased, and the number of people in hell increased.

So, the Buddha, the Enlightened One, appeared in the world. All the Brahma kings hoped that the Buddha would open His eyes on behalf of sentient beings. Sentient beings’ mind’s eyes were already deluded. So, the Buddha is whom the world takes refuge in. The Enlightened One is a shelter for the deluded. He is the one we hope will lead the way, who can save and protect all. He is the father of sentient beings. The Buddha is fundamentally “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and kind father of the four kinds of beings.” So, they hoped that the Buddha could take mercy on and benefit sentient beings.

“We celebrate our past blessings” means the Brahma kings had created great blessings in their past lives, so they were born into the Brahma heavens. “Today [they] encounter the World-Honored One.” The radiance of the World-Honored One had shone very far. It has passed through 500 trillion lands. The radiance shining from so far away had illuminated them, so they came to seek the light. This is the meaning of the previous passage.

The next sutra passage states, “At that time, all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse, each spoke these words ‘We only pray that the World-Honored One will have mercy on all and turn the Dharma-wheel to transform and liberate sentient beings.'”

At that time, all the Brahma kings, not just Brahma King Great Compassion, but also many other heavenly beings, spoke in unison. Do we still remember? They spoke in unison to request that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel and thus spoke this verse. So, it says that, “all the Brahma kings, having praised the Buddha in verse,” then went on to say, “We only pray that the World-Honored One will have mercy on all.” They requested that the Buddha have mercy and turn the Dharma-wheel for them. Though they were enjoying pleasures, their blessings and lifespan would come to an end. They hoped to be liberated from samsara and attain the ultimate principles in order to be liberated from birth and death. So, they requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel and transform and liberate all sentient beings. If they were able to understand this, if they could be liberated from samsara, they could then also transform sentient beings.

For Great Compassion and the other Brahma kings, these words were from their hearts. All of them were willing to attain Buddhahood; all were willing to transform sentient beings. This shows their reverence, their sincerity in seeking the Buddha-Dharma. This shows that the Brahma kings of the southeast and the heavenly beings led by. Brahma King Great Compassion had come before Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior “and requested that Great Unhindered. Wisdom Superior Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel.” At that time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha “silently consented.” The Buddha agreed; however, the time had not yet arrived, so the Buddha remained silent.

The following sutra passage states, “Then the Brahma Kings, with one mind and one voice, spoke in verse ‘The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma and deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, enabling them to attain great joy.'”

The Brahma kings saw that the Buddha, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, had remained silently, and in His silence consented. So, with one mind and with one voice, they spoke this verse. They hoped the Buddha could quickly expound the Dharma. “The great noble one” is the Buddha. He came to turn the Dharma-wheel and manifest the appearance of all Dharma. The Buddha silently consented. Everyone hoped that the Buddha would express. His willingness to begin to turn the Dharma-wheel.

The great noble one turns the Dharma-wheel to manifest the appearance of all Dharma: The Dharma can be applied inexhaustibly, just like the turning of a wheel. It reveals all good and evil appearances.

So, “The Dharma can be applied inexhaustibly, just like the turning of a wheel.” The Dharma is applied not only in one direction, but in every direction all around. Since the Dharma-wheel was about to be turned, not only should it be set in motion, but it must be turned all the way around. So, “The Dharma can be applied inexhaustibly, just like the turning of a wheel.” It is like the turning of a wheel. So, “It reveals all good and evil appearances.” They hoped the Buddha would turn the Dharma-wheel so that everyone would be able to understand what is good and what is evil. The principles are revealed by matters, and matters are revealed by appearances. This was the Buddha’s goal as. He taught the Dharma.

The principles are intangible, without appearance. If these intangible principles were taught, people still could not clearly understand them. So, the Buddha has to use all kinds of worldly matters as analogies. If the principles were expressed by [worldly] matters, and matters were expressed by appearances, then with matters and appearances, the principles could be manifested. This is the Dharma-wheel that must be turned. No matter what appearances were taught or what principles were within these appearances, they were to help everyone understand. These are matters, appearances and principles. To deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings, the Buddha had to use His wisdom to seize the moment. The appearances of this world, the matters and objects in this world, were used to explain these principles for everyone to understand,

thus to “transform and liberate afflicted beings.” These afflictions that sentient beings have are inseparable from matters and appearance. Sentient beings give rise to infinite afflictions amidst matters and appearances. This is the origin of cyclic existence; it is inseparable from matters and appearance. They do not understand the principles, so sentient beings give rise to afflictions due to matters and appearances. Thus they create many karmic forces. So, He hoped everyone could realize the principles through matters and appearances, thus “enabling them to attain great joy.” This is to “liberate afflicted beings.”

The great noble one is the one who expounds the Dharma. The Dharma-wheel is the Dharma He expounds. The teachings have a nature and appearance that can be gradual or immediate. He taught according to capabilities to deliver suffering, afflicted sentient beings so they can be free from suffering and attain joy.

So, the “great noble one” is someone who can expound the Dharma. “The teachings have a nature and appearance that can be gradual or immediate.” It can be either “gradual” or “immediate. Immediate” is for someone with sharp capabilities. They understand immediately. Once the principles are taught, they are able to understand immediately. This is “immediate,” an immediate awakening. There is also “gradual.” They listen to the Dharma patiently. They take in the teachings more slowly, but they are willing to put their hearts into comprehending them. So, the teaching must match their capabilities. People with “immediate” capabilities are able to quickly comprehend and awaken. They can walk the Bodhisattva-path immediately. The people who take things slowly are the Hearers and Solitary Realizers. So, these are their “natures and appearances.” Everyone has different capabilities. So, the Buddha had to “teach according to capabilities to deliver suffering, afflicted beings.” He hoped everyone could be free from suffering.


This sutra passage states that all Brahma kings once again sincerely asked the great noble one to turn the Dharma-wheel. They once again requested it in verse. So, this Great Brahma King had great compassion. His name was Great Compassion. Though the Buddha had silently consented, he asked the Buddha once again for the great noble one to turn the Dharma-wheel. [He did this] because the minds of sentient beings were troubled by matters and appearances. Sentient beings had given rise to many afflictions and many people had created bad karma. So, [the number of] sentient beings in the Three Evil Realms had increased, and the number of heavenly beings had decreased. They requested that the Buddha quickly reveal these matters and appearances for everyone to clearly discern right from wrong and thus open their minds and understand.

When we listen to the Dharma, we must open our minds and be understanding. We have said this earlier. Although it has been a very long time, the distant past is also right now. With the events that have happened before, whether for individuals, society or even an entire country, everyone has those first moments in history. We must put in effort record it, to write it down. Truly, taking up a pen, one still cannot completely describe it. In summary, these are all within our memories and within the field of our eighth consciousness. In our eighth consciousness, do we have good or evil [seeds]? Regardless, the good we have done by saving people and giving of ourselves is also within our eighth consciousness. These are the seeds, our causes and conditions, that we will bring with us to the future. So, the most important thing we must do is to seize the present moment and always be mindful.

Episode 1019 – The Buddha Appears to Be Sentient Beings’ Eyes

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>> “The places where those with evil karma go are called the Three Evil Realms.” The Three Evil Realms are: “One, the hell realm. Those who create the greatest karma of the Ten Evils go to this place. Two, the hungry ghost realm. Those who create average karma of the Ten Evils go to this place. Three, the animal realm. Those who create the least karma of the Ten Evils go to this place.”

>> “Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings, one with the sound of kalavinka, who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished: There are more evil people and fewer good ones. According to the cause, they receive the effect. Those who do not encounter the Buddha’s teaching will create more karma. The evil destinies are packed full. By not cultivating goodness, they fall when their blessings are depleted. Thus heavenly beings have diminished.

>> Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings: Not being able to tell right from wrong is like having no eyes. The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind. Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views. They do not know how to escape, so the Buddha instructs them, guiding them to be free. Hence it says, “He serve as the eyes for sentient beings.”

>> “You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us. We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us: Fathers in the world can give life to our physical body. The Buddha is the Dharma-father, and our pure Dharma-body is transformation-born from the Dharma. He is one who takes mercy on and benefits the world.

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“The places where those with evil karma go are called the Three Evil Realms.” The Three Evil Realms are:
“One, the hell realm. Those who create the greatest karma of the Ten Evils go to this place.
Two, the hungry ghost realm. Those who create average karma of the Ten Evils go to this place.
Three, the animal realm. Those who create the least karma of the Ten Evils go to this place.”

This is telling us about what we often speak of, the Three Evil Realms. The Three Evil Realms, as we all already know, are the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These are called the Three Evil Realms. What kind of karma do people create that will lead them to go to the hell realm? In the Three Evil Realms, the place with the greatest suffering is the hell realm. If a person enters the hell realm, they will face unspeakable suffering. Such suffering is uninterrupted, so in hell, there is a place known as Unremitting Hell. This Unremitting Hell is a place for people who have accumulated all kinds of suffering, so they face constant, unremitting suffering. It is extreme suffering. Why would someone fall into this hell with its constant suffering? They have created the greatest karma of the Ten Evils. Such people will naturally be born in the hell realm.

Evil karma can be categorized as greatest, average or least. For those who commit the most extreme evils, their retribution is to fall into the extreme suffering of. Unremitting Hell; this is extreme suffering. When speaking of the names of hell and the suffering there, they are truly unbearable to describe; it is impossible to describe such suffering. In any case, if we take a look at this world, some families are not only impoverished, but in the whole family, from parents to children and grandchildren, across three generations, all are collectively suffering. If not poverty, then disability. It is not just one or two of them, but sometimes the whole family; for some, the whole family relies upon one person. But even that person can experience a misfortune or a major injury or great torment and so on. We can see that in this world there are families like this.

Speaking of suffering, there is suffering that lasts for a lifetime and suffering that lasts for two or three generations. In one family, three generations may suffer from layers of illness, disability and misfortune. How many cases like this have we already seen? In our world, we can already see this kind of unremitting, constant suffering. Living Bodhisattvas interact with such families to save and transform sentient beings. We help renovate or repair their broken-down homes and turn them into beautiful places. We clear away the feces, dirt and garbage for them until it is very clean. For each person who is suffering, we use different methods to help them settle down, perhaps in a shelter, a senior home or so on. If it is severe, we will properly resettle them. If it is less severe, over the long term we keep them company and educate them.

In our world, there are such families that face hell-like suffering, so there are also Living Bodhisattvas who manifest. This depends on causes and conditions. If there is an opportunity, we can save them. If there is none, we cannot do anything. Then, there is truly “no Dharma to transform them.” For those with the causes and conditions, those who in a past lifetime had already created causes and conditions, in this lifetime, when they are suffering, there is a group of people who have the causes and conditions to help them. If in their past lifetimes there was no Dharma and no causes or conditions, then in this lifetime, it will still be hard to break free from this unremitting suffering. It will continue on this way. This is how it is in our world.

Then if we want to speak of hell, of a state that is completely in the hell realm, this state of hell is like a family where a person may think, “This is my whole world. My whole world is filled with such suffering.” As mentioned in the Earth Treasury Sutra, in Unremitting Hell, “One person will fill it, as will many.” Nowadays, in the hospital, in Acute Care wards, everyone is suffering from the pain of illness. All they think of is, “I am suffering the most.” For them, it is all about “me. My pain and suffering fill up this space.” They do not think of the bed next to theirs, where there is someone in more pain; thus it says, “One person will fill it, as will many” [when describing] Unremitting Hell. Lying on the [hospital] bed, they think, “I am suffering the worst!

 I have many complaints. Why do the doctors and nurses go to the bed next to mine? Why haven’t they come to me yet? My wait time has been so long. This is very upsetting.” Their hearts have resentment, worries and fear. Their bodies and minds are tormented with pain and suffering. This is called “Unremitting Hell.” If a person is in pain and suffering, he thinks he himself is the one suffering most. There are causes, effects and retributions to this.

If something [happens] to their health, [we think]. “He is a very good person; how can this happen?” As they are good, some karma has already matured, so they can enjoy good fruitions in this world. If people have blessings to enjoy, will they be free from illness and pain? They will not; in the past they did not realize they were committing evils, but they are still replete with evil karma. For example, nowadays there are many who practice good deeds, but still unconsciously sacrifice many lives because of their craving for taste. They do not realize how many lives they have harmed or swallowed. They do not know how many beings have suffered and been tormented for their sake before their bones and flesh were consumed. For these people, even though they are kind and do good deeds, they are still not aware. They do not know how many lives they have eaten just because of their cravings for taste. Thus, once sickness befalls them, their bodies and minds will suffer; this also happens. Those who suffer severe illness will be in hell, facing unbearable suffering.

For those who create average evil karma, they go to the hungry ghost realm. Apart from poverty, they are also born into circumstantial retributions where they lack water, lack clean water. Without clean water or a sufficient food supply, they are also suffering unbearably. Now, when we watch international news, how many countries are suffering from warfare? How many countries are suffering drought? How many countries have impoverished people who are suffering from sickness and hunger? How many people live in the hungry ghost realm in this world? Such suffering is truly hard to describe. It is very difficult to save them, to reach them. Being in the hungry ghost realm and suffering from hunger like this, though those people are living in this world, it is still truly unbearable suffering!

In the Three Evil realms, there is such suffering. For instance, some people have diseases where they just cannot eat. Although they want to eat, they cannot swallow. They really want to eat, but they cannot swallow, so they are unable to eat. Among the diseases in the world, there are such sicknesses. There is also something called anorexia, which is a nervous system disorder. Though the patient wants to swallow, they cannot. The mechanism for swallowing suddenly goes awry. The nerves for swallowing have a disorder, and the patient cannot swallow food. There is obviously food for them to eat, but they have such a disorder; this happens, too. What about suffering from both direct and circumstantial retributions? Those who suffer in the hungry ghost realm are those who created average evil karma. It is not as extreme as the greatest evil karma of the Ten Evils of Unremitting Hell. Those who have created a little bit less evil will fall into the hungry ghost realm.

Third is the animal realm. The animal realm can also be found in this world. We see various kinds of animals, be it very large animals or very miniscule insects and so on. They are all in the animal realm. Animals also have consciousness.

Early this morning, while I was browsing through what our global Tzu Chi volunteers are doing, I found a news report that really moved me. It was about Tzu Chi volunteers in Brazil. [In 2015,] at the end of July, they held a distribution. They distributed aid in a village. There were Chinese and Brazilians in that village. Both the Chinese and the locals were living in poverty, so we provided a free medical clinic and aid. During the free clinic service and distribution, we discovered that many were near-sighted, so the volunteers measured their visual clarity.

On August 1st, they gathered everyone to give them glasses. There were Chinese and Brazilians amongst them. One volunteer introduced Tzu Chi in Mandarin, while another used Portuguese when introducing Tzu Chi to them. One spoke Chinese, another spoke Portuguese, translating what the other said. As they were introducing Tzu Chi, they promoted the love behind our charity work, which is the mutual love between human beings. Apart from mutual love between human beings, humans should also love and cherish animals. They shared a story with the audience.

This story happened in 1976 during the Tangshan Earthquake. This was a great earthquake in Tangshan, China. Before this earthquake, there was a kindhearted man. He saw a fox entering his home and stealing food from his kitchen. In the kitchen, there was a cooked fish covered on the table. The fox lifted the lid and stealthily ate the fish. The owner came in and witnessed the whole thing. Although he was furious, a thought of compassion arose in him. Even though someone yelled, “Beat the fox!” this thought of compassion arose in this man. He protected this fox and spoke on his behalf, defending him, and then released him into the wild.

This happened a few days before the earthquake. Just fifteen minutes prior to the earthquake, this fox appeared again and came before the man who had released him. In that place, the fox used all kinds of methods to tempt him out. The man who released the fox continued to [follow] this fox. This fox was very adorable in his attitude and thus enticed and led the man out of his house to a spot that was a safe distance away. Suddenly, the earth shook all of Tangshan; the great Tangshan Earthquake had struck. His whole house was leveled. Some of his family members were buried, but the man who released the fox was unharmed.

This is a story. After telling the story, the volunteer said, “Master told us that we humans are greedy in our craving for taste and consume all kinds of living beings. Sentient beings kill and give life to each other, bringing mutual retributions upon each other. For instance, this fox came to repay the man’s grace; this was in response to his goodness. This fox came to repay his grace.” The volunteer said, “Master often says that all living beings have Buddha-nature. If you kill and eat an animal, there will be hatred and resentment in his heart. So, without you knowing it, in some life they may be your family member, while in another they may be your enemy.” They told this story, which touched many people.

This happened in Brazil. The volunteers regularly held distributions and also free medical clinics, which included optometry and dentistry. When they saw those who could not see clearly, they helped by giving them prescription glasses. For those who had rotten teeth, they helped by making dentures for them. In summary, they mindfully and lovingly explained the Tzu Chi spirit and Jing Si Dharma-lineage. Even though they are half a globe apart from us, our hearts are so close in distance. They are so close; “Our natures are similar.” In that place, they likewise listen to the Dharma, so every sentence they spoke was. “Master says this; Master teaches us this.” See, with the same words, they applied the same spirit and ideals there; they applied the same spiritual ideology there.

They also spoke of the law of karma in regards to the animal realm. Indeed, good and evil each have their retributions. The hell realm, the suffering from creating greatest evil karma, is unspeakable suffering, unremitting, constant suffering. When it comes to the hungry ghost realm, even in our world we can experience and observe those places of poverty, those states, or those wealthy places where there is such suffering of sickness. This is the same as the hungry ghost realm. The animal realm is everywhere. There are animals that fly, such as birds we now hear chirping. There are animals that run on the ground, such as the cats and dogs that we often see, as well as all kinds of tiny living beings. There are so many we could never list them all. They are all in a karmic cycle of good and evil. There are so many forms and kinds of suffering in life; it is truly unspeakable.

So, we must believe in the Three Evil Realms and the four forms of birth, which are womb-born, egg-born, transformation-born and moisture-born. This is all truly suffering! Even in the human and heaven realms, there is the suffering of impermanence. In the human realm, life is painfully short. Although heavenly beings have long lifespans and enjoy great blessings and pleasures, when their lives end, they also fall into the Five Realms and undergo cyclic existence. So, this sutra passage, which is the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, covers a very large area. Brahma kings continued to come from the east and southeast, seeking the light and investigating the principles. They sought the source of light and principles. Wasn’t this for the purpose of escaping their transmigration in cyclic existence?

The previous passage of the sutra says, “Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings, one with the sound of kalavinka, who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.”
We should have gained a greater understanding of this passage.

The Three Evil Realms are unspeakable suffering. The passage continues on to say, “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.”

This sutra passage is very clear. The Three Evil Realms, as we described previously, are truly filled with unbearable suffering. More and more sentient beings are going there. It is the same in our world; the human population continually increases. He said, “The heavenly beings have diminished.” Clearly, when lifespans in heaven are over, they again fall into our world, the human realm. So it says, “The heavenly beings have diminished” because “The Three Evil Realms are filled.” In the human realm we give rise to ignorance, and once a single thought of ignorance arises, we create different amounts of evil karma. Then we will fall into the Three Evil Realms, so “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished.”

“Now a Buddha is born to this world.” Now a Buddha has manifested in this world “to serve as the eyes for sentient beings.” Only the Buddha is one who truly has bright, clear eyes, because the Buddha has already seen the Path. He has awakened and His mind is open. Thus, He sees all principles in the whole universe. “Of all I have seen in the world,” this phrase, is seen in the sutras. So, we hope the Buddha can serve as the eyes for sentient beings, because sentient beings are already blind. They lost their sight and are now in darkness. Now we need the Buddha to serve as the eyes for sentient beings, so we must ask for the Buddha’s teachings.

“You are the refuge of the world.” A place of refuge for the world means that we hope the Buddha is whom sentient beings rely on. Only the Buddha can “save and protect all.”

Indeed, we need this. Look at the Tzu Chi volunteers in Brazil who held distributions as well as free clinics. The optometrists, if some could not see clearly, quickly took their measurements and prescribed glasses for them so they could see more clearly. This loving mind is the Buddha-mind. With the Buddha-mind and Buddha-eye, the Buddha serves as the eyes for sentient beings. Isn’t this so?

“The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.”   

So, the Three Evil Realms are all within the karmic law of cause and effect. Thus, when evil people increase in number, good people decrease in number. “According to the cause, they receive the effect.” This is all due to causes from the past. How we behaved, how we treated sentient beings, how we ate them and how we created karma out of ignorance are causes. What we are experiencing now are all the karmic effects.

If we “do not encounter the Buddha’s teaching,” if we do not encounter the Buddha teaching and revealing the principles to us, we will create more and more karma. The Evil Destinies will be broader and broader. Now, in our world, we often hear about overpopulated prisons, which means many people committed crimes. It is the same in hell. Increasingly, more people are suffering punishment in the Evil Destinies. With a cause, we face the effect. According to the cause, they receive the effect. When we continue to create such evil causes, what we experience is many retributions of suffering; this is “not cultivating goodness.” If we are in the human realm, and are now enjoying ourselves, when our blessings are depleted, we still fall. We cannot help but follow our karma. All it takes is for us to commit evils; all it takes is to lack goodness in our heart. All we do [will be evil] and cause afflictions.

When we have afflictions, even without committing evil, such ignorance will still accumulate. In future lifetimes, we cannot guarantee we will understand principles. Similarly, evil karma will accumulate over time. Even if we do no evil in this lifetime, because of accumulated ignorance, our next life will still be beyond our control. As long as we have ignorance in this life, we cannot form good affinities. As long as we have afflictions, we have already formed conflicts with others. Then in our next life there will still be negative effects.

So, “They fall when their blessings are depleted.” We should not think, “In this lifetime, I am so talented and have material wealth, What does everyone else’s suffering have to do with me?” If so, in coming lifetimes, “They fall when their blessings are depleted.” Heavenly beings will naturally diminish in number. Those enjoying pleasures and blessings in the human realm will decrease, while the people in suffering will increase. This is not only here; even after this realm, those with the greatest evil karma will be reborn in the hell realm. Average evil karma leads us to the hungry ghost realm. The least evil karma leads us to the animal realm. So, those the Three Evil Realms grow in number.

Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings: Not being able to tell right from wrong is like having no eyes. The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind. Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views. They do not know how to escape, so the Buddha instructs them, guiding them to be free. Hence it says, “He serve as the eyes for sentient beings.”

“Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. Not being able to tell right from wrong is like having no eyes.” When we are not able to tell right from wrong, we are like a person who has eyes but who cannot see the principles clearly. Isn’t this the same as not having eyes? If our mind’s eye is not yet opened, we only have our physical eyes. Our mind’s eye is covered by ignorance. Thus, “Not being able to tell right from wrong,” we are unable to tell right from wrong, like a person who has no eyes. Our mind is like this. Though our physical eyes may be clear, the mind’s eye is still unopened, so we are not clear about the principles.

“The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind.” The Buddha manifested in our world and started by telling us the principles. He turned the Dharma-wheel and taught the principles so we can understand them, so we can know what is good, what is evil and how to do things in a very comprehensive and harmonious way. Our considerations must be very meticulous, not careless and confused. Some say, “It is enough that I do good deeds,” but they do things in a state of confusion. When it comes to doing good, we must be meticulous and detailed in analyzing how to do things in a thorough and harmonious way. This requires great mindfulness and a clear understanding of the principles.

This was how the Buddha carefully and meticulously analyzed [the principles] for us. He was very thorough in His analysis. He let the Hearers listen to the Dharma, let Solitary Realizers experience the Dharma and guided Bodhisattvas to go among people and, with the Dharma, engage in spiritual practice. On the Bodhi-path, they could draw near to the state of Buddhahood. This was how Buddha used various methods to guide us. “The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind.” If we can accept the Buddha’s teaching, our mind’s eye will be open, and we will clearly understand the principles.

So, “Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views.” We sentient beings are already blind, and our eyes have lost sight. Even if we can see, our vision is blurry. Such lack of clarity is like being in the dark. All we can see are shadows; the [details] are not clear. So, “Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views.” This is how we humans are; we have lost right views. If we lose right views, we also lose right thinking. Without right thinking, we have no right action, right mindfulness and so on. We will lose all of it. The Eightfold Noble Path will all be lost. This “loss of right views” means we will not be able to walk the path. These eight correct ways are already blurred; we cannot see them, so “[We] do not know how to escape.” We do not know how to escape cyclic existence. As for how to escape this karma and ignorance, we do not know the method. “[We] do not know how to escape.”

Only when a Buddha appears in our world can we be guided and instructed. When a Buddha “opens” and “reveals” the Dharma, we should accept it to “realize” and “enter.”

This is how He guides us, “guides [us] to be free.” If we do not realize and enter, how will we have a way to escape the suffering in the Three Realms? How can we escape the suffering in the Three Evil Destinies? There is suffering in the Three Realms, the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. Even in the form realm, the Brahma heavens’ highest states, which are pure and filled with great enjoyment, they are still worried that when their life is over, “They will not know how to escape.” How could they put an end to cyclic existence? This was what they worried about.

Therefore, they wanted to find this light, the source of the ultimate principles. Thus, they had to search in this way, seeking out this most important path of escaping the Three Realms. Only the Buddha can help, turning the Dharma-wheel to guide, open and reveal to them. He “guided them to be free. Hence it says, ‘He serves as the eyes for sentient beings.'” He hopes everyone will open their mind’s eye. Only when they see the principles clearly will they have a correct path to walk on.

So, “You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.” The Buddha is whom the world relies and depends on. He is the refuge of the world. When we take refuge in the Buddha we comprehend the great path and must form the supreme aspiration. We take refuge in the Dharma and delve deeply into the sutra treasury. Only then can we gain wisdom as vast as the ocean. When we take refuge in the Sangha, we must lead the people harmoniously. If we want to take refuge in the Sangha and lead people harmoniously, but do not take the Dharma to heart and lack wisdom, how can we lead sentient beings? So, the Buddha and Dharma “open” and “reveal,” and we must “realize” and “enter.” Only then can we unlock our wisdom, so our wisdom can be as vast as the ocean. Then the ocean of enlightened wisdom will manifest. Otherwise, if we do not want to connect with [the Dharma] the Buddha opened and revealed, if we do not want it to enter our heart, we will be unable to experience and realize it. So, we must be mindful.

“You are the refuge of the world.” This refers to the Buddha’s teachings, which we can rely on. So, we must form the supreme aspiration. We must form aspirations, take the Dharma to heart and mindfully investigate it, seek to understand it. So, I hope that when we all can obtain the Buddha’s teachings, we will earnestly take refuge around the Buddha and Buddha-Dharma, never leaving them. So, the Buddha can deliver and transform us, can shelter us. The Buddha-Dharma helps us to never depart from the principles.

Next, the sutra passage says, “You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us. We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.”

As for “fathers in the world,” after reading the Chapter on Parables and the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, we should be very clear about this. Fathers in the world can “give life to our physical body.” Our body comes from our father and mother, but the Buddha through His speech gives birth to our Dharma-body. So, “The Buddha is the Dharma-father.” He expounds the Dharma for us, and we are “transformation-born from the Dharma.” We all are children born of the Dharma from the Buddha’s mouth. The Buddha-Dharma transforms and delivers us so we can be reborn and go among people with a pure mind. As for the “pure Dharma-body,” this shows that those in the Brahma heavens asked the Buddha to give them a pure Dharma-body. This requires that we first purify our hearts so we can go among the people to benefit all in the world.

You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us: Fathers in the world can give life to our physical body. The Buddha is the Dharma-father, and our pure Dharma-body is transformation-born from the Dharma. He is one who takes mercy on and benefits the world.

So, “For those who have entered an evil destiny, He saves them by freeing them.” Because we are inspired by noble beings, afterwards we must also purify our minds. Then we can also go into evil realms to deliver sentient beings. This was the Bodhisattva-path taught by the Buddha; we must go among people, into places of suffering. It is these places where we are needed. So, when Bodhisattvas form aspirations to go among people and deliver sentient beings, they give of themselves in such a manner. For those who have entered the evil destinies, we must deliver and transform them. “For those yet to enter an evil destiny, He protects them by not letting them enter.” For those who have yet to create evil karma and have not yet entered the evil destinies, we must quickly save them. They must quickly change any negative habitual tendencies and stop committing evil actions. We must inspire them in this way.

“We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.” All of us are very fortunate and blessed. So, we rejoice that the World-Honored One was born in our time and turned the Dharma-wheel for us. Thus, all of us should seize this moment and ask the Buddha to protect us by opening and revealing [the Dharma] for us.

Yes, we must always take the Dharma to heart. Although it has been more than 2000 years, the Buddha’s Dharma-body is still here; we must cherish the Dharma. So, we must have the mindset that it is rare and precious to encounter [the Dharma]. Once we hear Dharma, we should be mindful of it. The Dharma can verify the suffering in the world and, amidst suffering, bear witness to the devotion and service of Living Bodhisattvas. After providing aid and relief, our hearts will be pure and filled with Dharma-joy. As long as all of us are mindful, we can experience this. So everyone, please always be mindful.

Episode 1018 – A World-Honored One Rarely Appears

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>> “With great loving-kindness and compassion, He shines the light of the principle of Suchness. He gives the Dharma-medicine to save sentient beings. With His goodness of body, speech and mind that permeates the universe, He teaches the Tathagata’s. Dharma of the One Vehicle. They scattered flowers out of respect for the One Vehicle teaching and to dignify the ritual of the Dharma-assembly.”

>> “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him. The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru, They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha. They said these words.” After making offerings, they again said, “Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us. As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “At that time, all the Brahma kings, in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.” They began speaking in verse to again ask the Buddha to teach the Dharma. They began by praising the Buddha with these verses. “Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings, one with the sound of kalavinka, who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings: Lord of the sages: This is praising Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior. King of heavenly beings: This means that this Buddha was originally the highest being among heavenly beings. He is the king who pervades the universe and and penetrates all principles of Suchness.

>> One who is respected by all sages is called lord of the sages. One who is revered by all heavenly beings is called king. As a noble being who has attained the ultimate fruit. He rules over ten realms.

>> 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha: For 180 kalpas, there has been no Buddha manifesting or born in the world. This means that throughout the 18 Realms Buddha-nature had been hidden and buried.

>> The 18 Realms: Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, the Six Roots. Form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought, the Six Dusts. The eye-, ear-, nose- tongue-, body- and mind-consciousness, the Six Consciousnesses.

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“With great loving-kindness and compassion, He shines the light of the principle of Suchness. He gives the Dharma-medicine to save sentient beings.
With His goodness of body, speech and mind that permeates the universe, He teaches the Tathagata’s. Dharma of the One Vehicle. They scattered flowers out of respect for the One Vehicle teaching and to dignify the ritual of the Dharma-assembly.”

When the Buddha came to this world, what He had in His heart was great loving-kindness and compassion. With His great loving-kindness, He hoped that all sentient beings would thoroughly understand the principles and resolve the delusions in their minds. If everyone can understand the principles, their minds will be free of afflictions, and they can become happy and full of Dharma-joy. This was the Buddha’s greatest wish, that everyone in the world would be empathetic and understanding. When we really understand all principles, we can all become awakened sentient beings.

But because one of our thoughts goes astray, that slight deviation [takes us far off course]. With just that one thought going astray, we create so much ignorance and afflictions, causing trouble for ourselves. Thus begins the cycle of negative causes, conditions, effects, retributions. The Buddha felt for us, so His one great cause was to return to this world to teach the principles of Suchness, the principles of True Suchness. This ultimate truth, the principles of True Suchness, which encompasses the universe and pervades all Dharma-Realms, was what He wanted us to understand. It is like a ray of light shining through the darkness. Among those who are ill, this is the medicine they need to be treated. This is how the Buddha came to the human realm in response to sentient beings’ illness; it was a ray of light in the darkness. His sole purpose was to help everyone thoroughly understand the principle of True Suchness in the hope that everyone can escape this state of ignorance and delusion. This was the Buddha’s compassion.

So He used. “His goodness of body, speech and mind that permeates the universe” to “teach the Tathagata’s. Dharma of the One Vehicle.” He manifested in this world, was born and grew up in this world. In this world, He put the principles into action and engaged in spiritual practice. After His enlightenment, He had taken the principles of Suchness to heart. So, He taught the Dharma through speech; He turned the Great Dharma-wheel. He taught the Three Vehicles and the principles of True Suchness to deliver and transform sentient beings. With His wisdom, He pervades the universe and all Dharma-realms. He responded to the Dharma of Suchness and came to this world to teach the principles of Suchness, the Dharma of the One Vehicle. This was how the Buddha responded to this world.

So, “They scattered flowers out of respect for the One Vehicle teaching and to dignify the ritual of the Dharma-assembly.” This was [the Buddha of] the Saha World. Sakyamuni Buddha, describing this; He used His speech to explain what happened dust-inked kalpas ago, in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s process of attaining Buddhahood and [the scene] at His place of enlightenment afterwards. After He attained Buddhahood, all heavenly beings gathered together and came in search of this light that shone forth. Where was this ray of light coming from? It must be that a Great Enlightened One had been born into the human realm and was about to turn the Great Dharma-wheel. This was the source of the unusual light all the heavenly beings saw. This was what everyone reasoned, what they discussed together.

I hope that everyone can thoroughly understand the meaning of this light. The light represents the original principles, the principles that have always been there. The principles originated dust-inked kalpas ago; they have been there since Beginningless Time. If we can walk toward this principle, we can save ourselves and others, because samsara is filled with suffering. We see how the Brahma kings understood that when they depleted their heavenly blessings, they would continue to transmigrate. Only with ultimate understanding of the principles could they be free from the suffering of samsara.

Speaking of the sufferings of samsara, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital’s deputy superintendent, Chen Jin-Cherng, told this story about a patient. This patient was from southern Taiwan. He was originally a businessman. At age 60, he retired and began to farm. In his fields he grew vegetables and so on.

Suddenly, his body experienced some changes. For no reason at all, he kept falling down when he walked. He became really scared. “What kind of illness do I have?” He went to all the major hospitals in the south. Pretty much all the doctors told him, “You probably have bone spurs on your spine.” They checked for bone spurs. “If it isn’t bone spurs, it could be cancer, bone cancer.” No matter how they examined him, they could not provide a concrete diagnosis. They could not figure it out. He sought help, but was unable to improve his health, unable to learn what illness he was suffering from. He kept undergoing tests, but they could not figure out his illness. So, he decided to rely on the gods.

He began to consult the gods. He went to three temples that were known for their effectiveness. All three temples pointed him toward Dalin [Hospital]. The gods directed him to Dalin to find answers. So, he actually went to Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital and found Deputy Superintendent Chen Jin-Cherng. They ran tests and diagnosed him, telling him very precisely, “You don’t have bone spurs or cancer. You have a spinal dural arteriovenous fistula. This condition is found in only about five people in every one million. It is fairly rare. You are one of those five.”

“So, what can we do about it? Doctor, what should I do?” The deputy superintendent told him, “Have surgery.” He said, “I’m scared; I don’t dare have surgery. If you don’t have surgery, you will need an embolization. Is that dangerous? Of course I cannot give you a 100 percent guarantee. Why don’t you go to hospitals in northern Taiwan to see if they can do the embolization or the surgery. These are your only two options. If you’re afraid to have surgery here, why don’t you find a doctor in northern Taiwan, someone you trust?” So, he actually went to northern Taiwan, visiting every famous medical center and large hospital for a consultation. The doctors all told him, “Yes, you indeed have this disease. But this is a dangerous and difficult surgery. An embolization would be dangerous too.” Several hospitals refused to attempt this surgery or to do the embolization, because this was a very rare disease, and no one had performed this surgery. So, he eventually returned to Dalin Hospital.

He said, “Everyone confirmed this diagnosis. Though none of the hospitals in the south could diagnose this, you discovered it. The three gods I consulted told me to come here, and as no one in the north dared to operate, I’m probably meant to have the surgery here. So, I’ve decided to go ahead with the surgery. Otherwise, for a healthy and strong man like me to keep falling down unexpectedly is a very embarrassing matter. So, I’ve decided to have the surgery here.”

From the start, Deputy Superintendent Chen was a wondrous doctor with wondrous skills and methods. Since he helped him discover the source of his illness, the origin of his problems, even though it was risky, he put his heart [into the surgery]. Since the man was strong and healthy, he would not die from this illness, but the surgery was very risky, and there was the danger of paralysis. But if he did not take this risk, over time the man would gradually have a harder and harder time walking.

So, out of great compassion, Deputy Supt. Chen performed the surgery. The surgery took seven or eight hours, and then the man had to go through physical therapy. When the time came for him to be discharged, he walked to the clinic and said to the doctor, “Deputy Superintendent Chen, I’m grateful to you. I’m about to be discharged; I have completed the formalities. You saved my body, saved my life.” He had come to the hospital in a wheelchair. He was unable to walk; his condition was that serious. Now he could actually walk well and go home.

Think about it; isn’t this just like exploring and searching for the origins of the principles of life, like seeking out the truths of life? These are principles of life, or of illness. Both kinds of principles will manifest in us; we just do not know when. We do not know, so we must be mindful. This is what the principles are like [in us], let alone in regards to the whole world.

Our physical bodies will suffer from illness. Illness occurs through the principles of life. If a certain organ has a problem, it can lead to illness and death. Illnesses take many forms and appearances. There are rare illnesses that the average person will never encounter. Out of one million people, only five people might have this condition. It is a rare kind of illness. Our bodies can develop this kind of illness, but many people are not aware of this. Helping this man recover his health would not be possible without knowing his illness. If that had not happened…. Think about it; there are many big hospitals in southern Taiwan, and they could not diagnose the problem. Later, they said it could be bone spurs. Even later, they said it could be bone cancer, which made him very scared. This is the [nature of] illness. Some illnesses create such fear that no one dares touch them. This was one of those. It was so rare. Even if the doctors felt he should have surgery, they were afraid to do it. They feared it would result in his paralysis.

I also heard Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital’s. Deputy Superintendent, Tsai Hsien-Yang, share the story of a young woman. She was HIV positive and, unfortunately, developed problems with her corneas. Her cornea grew to cover her entire eyeball. Her cornea grew to cover her entire eyeball. When she came to our hospital, her mother came with her, hoping that since she was so young, her eyesight could recover. However, she was gradually losing her sight. While seeking treatment, everyone knew that she was HIV positive, so no one dared to perform surgery on her. For HIV positive patients, having surgery was tricky, in regard to the equipment and so on. But at Tzu Chi Hospital, Deputy Superintendent Tsai felt that for such a young person, if no one did the surgery, what would happen to her? [She] would live in darkness all her life. He agreed to perform the surgery. It truly took a very long time as well. He slowly cut into her corneas and very meticulously and carefully, removed those layers of membrane. He removed them completely. Then she was able to see again. Once the membranes were lifted, her world was bright again.

On such a small person’s body, the only organ with problems was her eyes; her eyes were both covered by this membrane. Moreover, she is HIV positive. How did she come to contract this illness? Then her eyes became shrouded in total darkness. As long as someone could find the reason and, with great loving-kindness and compassion, hope to lift this darkness, remove the membranes for her, light would be restored to her life, and she could connect with the world around her again.

Think about it; isn’t light like the principles? There are many principles in the world. There are many just in the human body alone. They are incalculable, as countless as dust particles, to say nothing of all the principles of the world. The Buddha had awakened to the true principles of all things in the universe, including the principles of life in humans. He understood the source of life’s principles, understood the original principles of life, not to mention the principles of all things in the world.

The only way the Buddha could teach so many principles was through speech, by giving many teachings of the Dharma. The Dharma already existed in His mind, in His great ocean of wisdom. Once it was in His mind, He had to express it verbally, through the mouth, which is a part of the body. So, “With His goodness of body, speech and mind that permeates the universe, He teaches the Tathagata’s. Dharma of the One Vehicle.” The Dharma is taught through speech. What the Buddha described was how dust-inked kalpas ago, when Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Buddhahood, even the Brahma kings from the east and the southeast all came seeking the light, one by one. They sought this Virtuous One, the Great Enlightened One who had manifested in the world. Even heavenly beings came to the human realm to seek the Dharma. Thus, with respectful hearts, they came from very faraway places. In addition to seeing all the heavenly beings, [the Brahma kings] also saw the 16 princes starting to request the Great Dharma.

Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s great radiance shone in all directions. We have spent a lot of time explaining this so that everyone can understand that many of the matters in this world are inseparable from the original principles of dust-inked kalpas ago. The Buddha has explained them to us one by one.

“And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him. The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru, They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.”   

So, the previous sutra passage says, “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him. The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru, They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. “

Upon arrival, they prostrated with great respect. After prostrating, they began to circumambulate the Buddha and scatter flowers. “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru.” The flowers they scattered along the way formed tall piles. “They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.” They not only paid respect and made offerings to the Buddha, they even scattered flowers on the Bodhi-tree. The Bodhi-tree was very tall, and the flowers they scattered also fell on the Bodhi-tree. This shows the respect they had for the Bodhi-tree. The Bodhi-tree was the place where. He attained Buddhahood and taught the Dharma.

“Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha. They said these words.” After making offerings, they again said, “Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us. As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them.”

“Venerable Buddha, please be compassionate and have mercy on us by accepting our offerings.” They came to listen to the Dharma with reverence, with a reverence of body and mind that extended from their external appearance to the depths of their hearts. So, they used everything to make offerings; this demonstrated their reverence.

“At that time, all the Brahma kings, in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.” They began speaking in verse to again ask the Buddha to teach the Dharma. They began by praising the Buddha with these verses. “Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings, one with the sound of kalavinka, who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.”

Clearly Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had to go through a long period of time before attaining Buddhahood dust-inked kalpas ago. This was the Brahma kings praising how the Buddha attained Buddhahood and awakened. They expressed the thoughts in their hearts and their respect. As to the matter of putting an end to samsara, they were still very hopeful. They did not just want to enjoy material things; most importantly they wanted to end samsara. So, they continuously said, “Take mercy on sentient beings.” This was because sentient beings had not escaped the Six Realms.

The Buddha was able to manifest in the world, so in the heaven or human realm [they could benefit]. This Great Brahma King was named. Great Compassion, because he had mercy for the four forms of birth and the Five Realms. So, he came to make a request of the Buddha. With a mind of utmost respect, he came before the Buddha and paid his respects, hoping the World-Honored One [would teach]. It was precious and rare for a person to attain Buddhahood in this world; this was very rarely encountered. It had been a very long time since this happened, and now that it had, they did not want to miss this opportunity. No matter how far they had to travel, they willingly came to seek the Dharma.

Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings: Lord of the sages: This is praising Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior. King of heavenly beings: This means that this Buddha was originally the highest being among heavenly beings. He is the king who pervades the universe and and penetrates all principles of Suchness.

“Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings,” means that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha is the king of heavenly beings. He is the king of all heavenly beings, which “means that this Buddha was originally the highest being among heavenly beings. He is the king who pervades the universe and penetrates all principles of Suchness.”

This was the Brahma kings praising. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha for already penetrating the true principles; throughout the universe, He was the king of all principles of Suchness. All true principles of all Dharma-realms were clear to Him. He had thoroughly penetrated all Dharma.

One who is respected by all sages is called lord of the sages. One who is revered by all heavenly beings is called king. As a noble being who has attained the ultimate fruit. He rules over ten realms.

“One who is respected by all sages is called lord of the sages.” The one who is respected by all the sages is also called lord of the sages. So, one who is respected by all heavenly beings is called king. “As a noble being who has attained the ultimate fruit,” He is the leader, so He is the king. He leads the Ten Dharma-realms. This is the Buddha, with these principles. He had already ultimately penetrated the principles of Suchness that pervade the universe. Thus, He can lead the Ten Dharma-realms.

We have spoken of the Ten Dharma-realms before. In the Three Realms, people come in ten types, including Bodhisattvas, all led by the Buddha. In the Six Unenlightened and Four Noble Realms, all are taught and transformed by the Buddha. So, He is called the king.

“The sound of kalavinka” is a wondrous sound. Among the sounds made by all the birds, the kalavinka is a kind of bird that makes the most subtle and wondrous sound. Of all the various bird calls and all of the sounds made by humans, none can surpass the sound of this kind of bird. It is a beautiful sound. Before he has even hatched, he begins making this subtle and wondrous sound. This is a very special bird call.

The kalavinka’s call is often mentioned in the sutras, but we have never seen one. We do not know what a kalavinka looks like. I cannot draw an analogy for you to describe how subtle and wondrous this bird’s call is. However, only the Buddha’s voice can surpasses the sound of the kalavinka’s call. This is an analogy for the Buddha’s kind and wondrous voice when giving teachings.

So, “[You] who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. Take mercy on sentient beings” means that only the Great Enlightened Noble One can teach the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel to help people’s minds thoroughly understand how they can be liberated from the suffering of cyclic existence. This was how this Brahma king came to ask the Buddha, the Great Enlightened Noble One, to teach them the Dharma. “Today we respectfully prostrate to You.” Today, they came with such great respect. Their only wish was that the Buddha would help them resolve the ignorance that is the source of samsara.

“The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time.” As for the World-Honored One, it takes a long time for a Buddha to manifest in this world. In the Brahma heavens, they do not know when their blessings will be depleted. So, they were very worried. A Buddha does not often manifest in the world; it takes a long period of time, so encountering a Buddha is not easy. “Only appearing after a long period of time” means that encountering a Buddha is not that easy. Therefore, everyone must, with a mind of utmost reverence, sincerely ask the Buddha to teach the Dharma

“180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.” They had already been waiting such a long time. For 180 kalpas, no Buddha had appeared in the world. They had waited for a very long time. Those in the Brahma heavens rarely encounter a Buddha born in this world, to say nothing of us and our short human lifespans. In which lifetime will we encounter a Buddha manifesting in this world? For us, over 2000 years have passed between the Buddha’s lifetime and when we were born into this life. At the time the Buddha was in the world, where were we? Did we also listen to Him teach the Dharma? That would have been a precious [opportunity]! Although there is no Buddha in this world now, at least the Buddha-Dharma is still here. Now at this time, we lament we are in an era of Dharma-degeneration, in this evil world of Dharma degeneration.

The era we are living in right now is a time when the Dharma is deteriorating and the world is evil and filled with turbidities. So, evil forces are very strong right now, causing us to wonder how things can be this way. How could life be like this? But nothing can be done. The Buddha has explained this to us. The Lotus Sutra talks about this as well. “This evil world of Dharma degeneration” refers to the evil world of Five Turbidities. The Buddha-Dharma is still here at this time; we can still listen to the teachings. So, we must cherish the Dharma even more. We must cherish it. While the Dharma is “still here,” we must not become so lost in enjoyment that we forget, and therefore lose, the true principles, our nature of True Suchness. We are continually covered by so much ignorance in this evil, turbid world. What we originally had has been covered. We also do not cherish the opportunity we have now to eliminate this evil.

We are like the HIV-positive girl. Fortunately, her doctor was able to operate on her eyes and peel away the membrane, layer by layer, enabling her to see light again. We are like the man who was one of the five out of one million. His doctor, with dexterous hands and great skill, was able to remove the cause of his illnesses. A body that had been nearly paralyzed can now already stand up and walk. This is something we must cherish. So, when it comes to the principles of life, we must know to cherish them. Only a Buddha who manifests in this world can pass down the principles. Now, we are in an era of Dharma-degeneration, and people’s minds are evil and impure, but the principles still exist, so we must cherish them.

180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha: For 180 kalpas, there has been no Buddha manifesting or born in the world. This means that throughout the 18 Realms Buddha-nature had been hidden and buried.

So, it says, “For 180 kalpas, there has been no Buddha manifesting or born in the world.” This means that in the 18 Realms, the Buddha-nature has been hidden and buried. What are the 18 Realms? Everyone should be clear on them, as we have listened to teachings for so long. What are the 18 Realms? The Six Roots, Six Dusts and Six Consciousnesses. Correct, these exist in our body. If we do not understand the principles, the truths of all things in the world will all be buried. So, we have to be clear on life’s principles. Our external conditions are the Six Dusts. These conditions simply exist, but with the principles of the Six Dusts, we connect with them through the Six Roots, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, We come in contact with the Six Dusts, however, we are deluded by ignorance so we do not recognize the principles. We are constantly being defiled by the Six Dusts. Confused by delusion, our Six Roots constantly lead us to create karma and add to our ignorance. The Six Roots and Six Dusts return to the Six Consciousnesses.

The [sixth] consciousness gives rise to ignorance and afflictions. Upon seeing external matters and things, upon taking them in, our [sixth] consciousness leads us to act. “Because I like this thing, I want to find a way to obtain it. I will do anything to get what I want.” This is the [sixth] consciousness at work. It all goes back to the [sixth] consciousness, which directs the actions of our body, speech and mind. This is because we are confused; this confusion is in the 18 Realms. So, it says, “For 180 kalpas, there has been no Buddha manifesting or being born in the world.” This is an analogy. The 180 kalpas are an analogy for the 18 realms. In the 18 realms, our intrinsic nature, our nature of True Suchness, has been buried. It has already been hidden, covered by our ignorance and afflictions, hidden by them. This is why we go through lifetime after lifetime of unbearable suffering.

The 18 Realms: Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, the Six Roots. Form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought, the Six Dusts. The eye-, ear-, nose- tongue-, body- and mind-consciousness, the Six Consciousnesses.

Dear Bodhisattvas, we truly must find the principles again. In the 18 realms, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind encounter external objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought and return to the Six Consciousnesses. We connect to the Six Dusts in external conditions and take them in, causing our [sixth] consciousness to take action. This buries our nature of True Suchness and creates ignorance and karmic forces, which are stored in the eighth consciousness. Without any control, we bring our karma with us. Think about it; the principles are so simple. It is just that we are not mindful in daily living. I still want to remind everyone, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1017 – Make The Four Great Vows To Deliver All Beings

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>> “When the Buddha first aspired to be a monastic, He made the Four Great Vows, vowing to relieve sentient beings from hardship, vowing to rid sentient beings of their obstruction of delusions, vowing to eliminate sentient beings’ deviant views and vowing to deliver sentient beings from the cycle of suffering.”

>> “We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together. It is most likely that a Buddha manifested in the world to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings. At that time, these 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the northwest to seek out this sign.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment, beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma Kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> Previously, in kalpas more numerous than the dust of the trichiliocosm, there was a. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Before this Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 princes. After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained enlightenment, all these 16 princes left the lay life and became novices. From that Buddha, they heard the teaching of the Three Vehicles and began to form Great Vehicle aspirations. Then they further asked Him to teach the wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle and listened to this Buddha expound the Lotus Sutra.

>> The Buddha, for 8000 kalpas, taught the Lotus Sutra, then entered His meditation room. For a period of 84,000 kalpas, He silently remained in Samadhi. During this time, the 16 princes each ascended to the Dharma-throne. For a period of 84,000 kalpas, for the fourfold assembly, they repeatedly taught the Lotus Sutra. Now, each has attained Buddhahood and are Tathagatas in the eight directions.

>> Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha [and] circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times: All the Brahma kings saw the Buddha; they paid respect to and circumambulated Him.

>> “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.”     [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree: The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru, meaning many were accumulated. They made offerings to the tree as if to the Buddha. This is the forest of branches of enlightenment.

>> “Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” This means that. “They relinquished the palaces of heavenly treasures that they journeyed on to offer them to the World-Honored One. This is their practice of great giving.”

>> “They said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them.’ At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”    [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> They said these words, “Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us”: We pray the Buddha looks on us and gives rise to compassion and benefits us with merits and virtues.

>> As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them: As for the palaces of heavenly treasures that we all offer, we hope the Buddha has compassion and especially honors us by accepting them.

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“When the Buddha first aspired to be a monastic, He made the Four Great Vows,
 vowing to relieve sentient beings from hardship,
vowing to rid sentient beings of their obstruction of delusions, vowing to eliminate sentient beings’ deviant views
and vowing to deliver sentient beings from the cycle of suffering.”

We know that in the Buddha’s great compassion, He could not bear to let sentient beings suffer. For sentient beings’ sake He became a monastic and for their sake engaged in spiritual practice. We should understand very clearly that the Buddha came to this world only as a manifestation, just demonstrating He had come to the human realm. As it is, the Buddha, since Beginningless Time, dust-inked kalpas ago, had already been continuously engaging in spiritual practice, attaining enlightenment and transforming sentient beings in the world.

This time, more than 2000 years ago, He was born in the kingdom of Kapilavastu as Sakyamuni Buddha. When He first began to form the aspiration to become a monastic, it was because He had seen sentient beings’ many states of suffering, in particular, the abundance of ignorance and afflictions in sentient beings’ minds. Furthermore, during that time, there were many different religious beliefs. Which was the true path to enlightenment? No one was sure. So, the Buddha began by becoming a monastic, then engaged in spiritual practice, attained Buddhahood and in the end manifested the state of Parinirvana. This was to let everyone know that. Buddhahood is attained in the human realm. This was the Buddha’s manifestation. He manifested this appearance of coming to the human realm, becoming a monastic. This is called manifesting the appearance of becoming a monastic.

When He manifested coming to the world, even at the beginning, in His youth, His views on life were already different from that of an ordinary person. He greatly enjoyed investigating the truth of life. Although He lived in the palace and enjoyed all kinds of worldly pleasures, what He always investigated was suffering. Why was there so much suffering in life? There is suffering from birth, aging, illness and death, parting from those we love, meeting those we hate and not getting what we want. In our life, we also have physical suffering and the suffering of afflictions in our minds, etc. He began to contemplate all of these. Why were there such differences between the four castes? They were all humans; why were there differences? He had many questions.

So, He wanted to investigate. Thus, He made the Four Great Vows, hoping to truly free sentient beings from their delusion. Why is there so much suffering in life? Why were there so many religions that were in such conflict with each other? Just what was the true path to follow? He hoped for everyone to understand the path of the truths underlying life. So, He hoped to eliminate sentient beings’ deviant views.

Since birth, sentient beings are constantly affected by delusions and obstructions. The division of the four castes was an obstruction due to delusions. Everyone was human, so why was there this kind of discrimination? Why were some called nobles? Why were some called untouchables? Why would a road walked by untouchables never be trodden on by the noble caste? They had such aversion for the lower castes; they called them the untouchables. But they were also human! Why were some considered nobles? From the moment of birth they were called nobles. Why? They also went through birth, aging, illness and death. They also had many afflictions and ignorance due to desire. They also experienced suffering. So, why were they called nobles? When people die, they all similarly become a pile of bones. In the process between death and becoming bones, everyone’s body rots and smells, so doesn’t this mean our bodies are all the same? Then why was there this discrimination?

So, sentient beings faced hardships; they were affected by ignorance and deviant views which troubled them. This meant that all sentient beings, regardless of social status, will suffer. So, the Buddha made the Four Great Vows, “vowing to relieve sentient beings from hardship.” Sentient beings were trapped. They were unable to escape this caste system. They were unable to free themselves of birth, aging, illness and death. They were unable to resolve their desires and various afflictions, unable to break through their deviant views to find the right path. So, He had these vows; He had made this resolve that He absolutely would seek the true principles.

Thus, He made the Four Great Vows. Everyone ought to understand. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings” means that there were countless sentient beings. Even though this world is so big, nobody can escape the hardship of being trapped by delusion. Thus, “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.”

Next it speaks of “vowing to rid sentient beings of their obstruction of delusions.” In the Four Great Vows, it also says, “I vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” For us to transform sentient beings and relieve sentient beings from hardship, we must first free ourselves and break through [our own afflictions]. If we have not freed ourselves and broken through, we will similarly be troubled, be trapped by the world and things like the caste system. Thus, afflictions and ignorance still ensnare us, so we must first break through [our afflictions] before we are able to transform sentient beings. Hence, “I vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” In order to transform sentient beings, we ourselves need to show that our afflictions have been eliminated. Only when we eliminate our own afflictions

are we able to teach sentient beings how to eliminate afflictions. What methods can we use to eliminate afflictions? We must “vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors.” Because there were so many religions in India, there was no way these religions could be brought back to a clear path of enlightenment. The Buddha hoped all could walk a correct path. So, this is “vowing to eliminate sentient beings’ deviant views.” It is necessary for us to first vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors. [To find] true and expansive principles, we need to put in the effort into investigate and comprehend them. Once we understand all kinds of religions, we can choose a correct path, which is the path of enlightenment, the Bodhisattva-path. So, it talks of “vowing to eliminate sentient beings’ deviant views.” We ourselves need to “vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors.” We need to earnestly investigate them.

Next is “vowing to deliver sentient beings from the cycle of suffering.” In this cycle of suffering, transmigration through the Six Realms, sentient beings cannot help themselves. They follow their karma through the Six Realms, or through the Five Realms and four kinds of birth in this kind of cycle. The Buddha wanted to save all sentient beings so they can escape this cycle of suffering, cyclic existence in the. Five Realms and four kinds of birth.

Before the Buddha attained Buddhahood, He formed this resolve, which is called a vow. “I must accomplish this!” Giving rise to this aspiration is called making the Four Great Vows. These vows are very great! They encompass the universe and pervade all Dharma-realms. These are the great vows; they have great power. He would not stop until He attained Buddhahood. So, these are the Four Great Vows.

To engage in spiritual practice, we each must make vows; we must make these great vows. We are absolutely not doing this for ourselves. So, we leave our families and loved ones; we want to carry on the Buddha’s mission for the sake of all sentient beings. The Buddha’s mission is to take responsibility for all sentient beings. This is the work of a great person. One of the ten epithets of the Buddha was “Tamer,” which refers to a great person. For every kind of sentient being, He was able to use the true principles to tame sentient beings’ countless afflictions and ignorance. This is a great person, also known as a “Tamer.” This was the vow that the Buddha made for the sake of sentient beings.

As we are Buddhist practitioners, naturally, we must learn to emulate the Buddha’s vows. We must learn the Buddha’s determination in remaining unwavering from start to finish. From dust-inked kalpas ago, in Beginningless Time, His resolve has remained to the present, when He manifested an appearance in the world, when He was born in the world. Then He manifested attaining Buddhahood here. This was the Buddha’s great vow. He attained Buddhahood and entered Parinirvana. Was this the end? Not yet, because the myriad sentient beings have not been completely transformed. Ever since beginningless dust-inked kalpas ago, life after life, He has been the same. So, the Four Great Vows are the shared vows of all Buddhas. I have said this many times before. When Buddhas come to the human realm, They all share vows, the “Four Great Vows.” Of course, each Buddha also has His specific vows. Amitabha Buddha has His 48 vows. Sakyamuni Buddha has the Four Great Vows along with the Four Infinite Minds, loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. He used these to teach and guide sentient beings.

So, from before Beginningless Time, the 16 princes who studied under. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had continued up to the present. Now the princes had all attained Buddhahood. Not only had they attained Buddhahood, but likewise for dust-inked kalpas, they had been transforming sentient beings. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City has so many [large numbers]. “Over countless billions and trillions of kalpas,” or “trillions of lands.” Across this countless time and countless lands, these vows are shared by all Buddhas.

Let us look at the previous sutra passage. “We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together. It is most likely that a Buddha manifested in the world to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings. At that time, these 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the northwest to seek out this sign.”

Does everyone still remember which direction these Brahma kings came from? From the southeast, isn’t that right? They were from the southeast. So, they went northwest to seek this ray of light. This was because they had already confirmed that it must be that a Buddha appeared in the world and was about to turn the Great Dharma-wheel. So, they did not begrudge the hardship; across such long distances of time and space, they came to the place where the Buddha was radiating light. The origin of the light turned out to be the place of enlightenment where. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha sat; He radiated light at that place.

So the sutra passage reads, “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment, beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”

From the southeast, the Brahma kings had arrived. Already, there were many heavenly beings, naga kings and all the other eight classes of Dharma-protectors surrounding Him at this place. These were the Brahma kings from the southeast. When they arrived, the scene was so magnificent.

Then in the next sutra passage it says, “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Then all the Brahma Kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”

Other than seeing heavenly beings, naga kings and the other Dharma-protectors surrounding. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, the Brahma kings also saw at the same time the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.

With this passage, we need to recall again.

Previously, in kalpas more numerous than the dust of the trichiliocosm, there was a. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Before this Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 princes. After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained enlightenment, all these 16 princes left the lay life and became novices. From that Buddha, they heard the teaching of the Three Vehicles and began to form Great Vehicle aspirations. Then they further asked Him to teach the wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle and listened to this Buddha expound the Lotus Sutra.

“Previously, in kalpas more numerous than the dust of the trichiliocosm, there was a. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha.” Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha is a Buddha from before Beginningless Time. “Before this Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 princes. After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained enlightenment,” all these 16 princes also became monastics. Because they were not yet adults, they were called novices, the 16 novices.

Previously, in kalpas more numerous than the dust of the trichiliocosm, there was a. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Before this Buddha became a monastic, He fathered 16 princes. After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained enlightenment, all these 16 princes left the lay life and became novices. From that Buddha, they heard the teaching of the Three Vehicles and began to form Great Vehicle aspirations. Then they further asked Him to teach the wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle and listened to this Buddha expound the Lotus Sutra.

“From that Buddha, they heard the teachings of the Three Vehicles and began to form Great Vehicle aspirations.” These 16 novices, after renouncing the lay life, also listened [to the teachings]. With the Three Vehicles the Buddha taught, along with the Hearer Vehicle and Solitary Realizer Vehicle, they felt that [most importantly] there was also the Bodhisattva Vehicle, the original principles of the Bodhisattvas. What was the origin of these principles? How could they walk the Bodhisattva-path? So, these 16 novices asked the Buddha to turn the Great Dharma-wheel, which is the wondrous Great Vehicle teachings, the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

The 16 novices asked for these teachings, so the Buddha began to teach them, and they listened mindfully. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra. How much time did He spend? 8000 kalpas! Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra for seven years. But Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra for 8000 kalpas. This was a very long time. After finishing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, He entered His meditation room.

The Buddha, for 8000 kalpas, taught the Lotus Sutra, then entered His meditation room. For a period of 84,000 kalpas, He silently remained in Samadhi. During this time, the 16 princes each ascended to the Dharma-throne. For a period of 84,000 kalpas, for the fourfold assembly, they repeatedly taught the Lotus Sutra. Now, each has attained Buddhahood and are Tathagatas in the eight directions.

Once He had finished expounding the Dharma, after 8000 kalpas passed and He finished teaching, He began to settle His mind. This was just like Sakyamuni Buddha after He finished the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. He began to meditate and radiate light. This was the Saha World’s Sakyamuni Buddha.

But now, the sutra passage is about Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha recalled back to the time of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. After 8000 kalpas, He finished His teachings of the Lotus Sutra and entered His meditation room to sit in meditation. For how long? For 84,000 kalpas. In this way, “He silently remained in Samadhi.” He spent such a long time in Samadhi; 84,000 kalpas is such a long time. During that time, “The 16 princes each ascended to the Dharma-throne.” These 16 princes went in eight directions to teach the Dharma; each went to expound the Dharma. This was for the long period of 84,000 kalpas. “For the fourfold assembly, they repeatedly taught the Lotus Sutra.” The fourfold assembly included the two groups of monastics and the two groups of lay practitioners. So, for the fourfold assembly, they again taught the Lotus Sutra.

Now these 16 princes had each attained Buddhahood and, in all eight directions, had become Buddhas. They journeyed on the Dharma of Suchness to attain Buddhahood. From dust-inked kalpas ago, the 16 princes had gone through such a long period of time of listening to the Lotus Sutra. Then for an even longer time, they taught the Lotus Sutra again. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha spoke for 8000 kalpas. The 16 princes had to speak for a timespan of 84,000 kalpas.

So, to express the principles of the Dharma, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught for 8000 kalpas. The 16 princes spent a timespan of 84,000 kalpas in teaching the Lotus Sutra. Clearly, if our Buddha taught it for seven years, for us ordinary beings to help Him explain in a way that everyone can understand and take it into their hearts, how long of a time will that take? The Buddha dust-inked kalpas ago was like this. When Sakyamuni Buddha was born in this world, the human lifespan was short. He took seven years to teach the Lotus Sutra, which is still a long time. This is how all Buddhas share the same path. Every Buddha teaches in a different world, at different times and places.

So, in our Saha World, Sakyamuni Buddha recalled the past, back to the time of the 16 princes and how the Brahma kings came seeking the light. Actually, the source of the light represents the true principles. The source of the true principles was. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Those who transmitted the true principles were the 16 princes. They took their father’s mission as their own. We also must inherit the mission of our teacher. The Buddha is like our father and our teacher. He is like a great elder; the Great Enlightened One is the great elder. In the Chapter on Parables, we already explained this clearly. From the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, we also clearly understood that the Buddha is like our father and teacher. So, the teachings are passed on this way.

The next passage states, “Then all the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha [and] circumambulated Him thousands of times.” At the place of enlightenment, they saw that the 16 princes were already there, asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. At the same time, the Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha. They paid respect to and circumambulated Him. These are rituals of paying respect to the Buddha. They circumambulated the Buddha

“and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.” They had scattered celestial flowers along the way until they reached the place of enlightenment. They scattered them from the highest places to dignify this assembly. Scattering flowers as an offering to the Buddha showed [how they viewed] the state of Buddhahood; truly, everyone had such reverent and kind thoughts. These kind thoughts influenced everyone to to give rise to respectful, kind thoughts and delve into the Buddha’s Right Dharma, to listen to the Buddha’s Right Dharma. This was the mindset that everybody shared.

The next sutra passage reads, “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.”

The scene of their arrival was the same as the previously mentioned Brahma kings from the east. The scattered flowers were also like Mr. Sumeru. They also made offerings to the Bodhi-tree. The rituals that were done were the same.

The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree: The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru, meaning many were accumulated. They made offerings to the tree as if to the Buddha. This is the forest of branches of enlightenment.

So, “Many were accumulated.” When flowers were scattered this way, it showed that good causes and thoughts were accumulating more and more. So, they “made offerings to the tree as if to the Buddha.” They made offerings to the tree as if making offerings to the Buddha, because the Buddha was abiding under the tree when He engaged in spiritual practice, attained enlightenment and expounded the Dharma. So, under the tree was where the Buddha abided. Thus, making offerings to the tree was the same as making offerings to the Buddha. In making offerings to the Buddha, they also made offerings to the tree. This represents the forest of branches of enlightenment. After one comprehends, every tree is analogous to the true principles. The tree leaves, branches, roots and trunk are all connected with the earth, representing the deep roots of enlightenment. This is a way of expression.

“Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” This means that. “They relinquished the palaces of heavenly treasures that they journeyed on to offer them to the World-Honored One. This is their practice of great giving.”

Every one of the things they brought with them were all offered to the Buddha to represent their sincerity.

Many people tell me, “Master, right now, I am working very earnestly. The money I earn can help Master accomplish more good deeds.” This is also true. Everyone has such aspirations. If this aspiration is firm, wealthy people will help the poor in this world. Wasn’t this the Buddha’s idea of. “Teaching the rich to help the poor?” The Buddha constantly taught about good deeds, how practicing the Ten Good Deeds will lead one to be reborn in heaven. The Buddha taught the wealthy to earnestly cultivate goodness, practice the Ten Good Deeds and uphold pure precepts. In this way, they would naturally be born in the Brahma heavens. Their dignified Brahma palaces could then be offered to the Buddha. This describes a cycle of goodness. The is a description, an analogy; it represents the “practice of great giving.”

The next sutra passage then reads, “They said these words, ‘Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them.’ At that time, all the Brahma kings in the presence of the Buddha, with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.”

After making offerings to the Buddha, all of them spoke in one voice to ask of the Buddha, “Please look upon us with mercy.” Though they were all Brahma kings, high above all others, they came before the Buddha to pay respects as well as request the Dharma. They made offerings to the Buddha and also asked the Buddha for His mercy. Why did they need His mercy? Because these Brahma kings were still in cyclic existence. Once they depleted their heavenly blessings, they would once again fall [into lower realms]. So, their aspirations were not to seek pleasure; they hoped to end cyclic existence. They had to ask the Buddha for this Dharma. So, they asked the Buddha for mercy.

They said these words, “Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us”: We pray the Buddha looks on us and gives rise to compassion and benefits us with merits and virtues.

“Please look upon us with mercy and benefit all of us.” To benefit all of us is to help us to end cyclic existence, understand the principles of matters and eliminate afflictions. The thoughts of samsara in our minds and all our future rebirths in cyclic existence must all be eliminated; we must eradicate afflictions and ignorance, the thoughts of samsara. Thus, we must thoroughly understand the principles.

So it says, “We pray the Buddha looks on us and gives rise to compassion.” They hoped for the Buddha to look upon them, have mercy on them and teach them the Great Dharma, which is the method to end cyclic existence. “And benefit us with merits and virtues” means they hoped He could tell them how to practice inner cultivation. Inner cultivation creates merits; external practice creates virtues. In our minds, how do we eliminate ignorance and afflictions? Outwardly, what should we do to create merits and virtue? They hoped He would have mercy and teach them, teach them with His merits and virtue how they should engage in inner cultivation, how they should engage in external practice. They hoped He would benefit them in this way. This is how He teaches.

So, it is often said, “If the husband practices, he attains. If the wife practices, she attains.” This is to tell everyone that if you do [good deeds] and give to help others, you create your own merits and virtues. We cannot create them for someone else. Material goods are given to those in need, but the merits and virtue only benefit us. This is the benefit of listening to the Dharma.

As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them: As for the palaces of heavenly treasures that we all offer, we hope the Buddha has compassion and especially honors us by accepting them.

“As for the palaces that we offer, may You honor us by taking them.” As for the palaces of heavenly treasures that they all offer is like how all of us are willing to donate. With this kind of giving, “[They] hope the Buddha has compassion and especially honors [them] by accepting them.” They hoped that He, from high up, could accept this.

“At that time,” after they had said this, the Brahma kings, in front of the Buddha, “with one mind and in one voice, spoke in verse.” They began to repeat themselves another time to show that their minds and voice were united. With one mind and one voice, they all wanted to chant in verse together to show their sincerity.

I hope that we all are truly being mindful. The Dharma has been here from Beginningless Time; the principles fundamentally exist. They need to be transmitted by people. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior showed us that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, the true principles of everything in the universe. I am constantly telling everyone this. These true principles are still unclear to us. So, we need people to transmit them, to expound them for us to hear.

For instance, Sakyamuni Buddha, in the time of the 16 princes, had begun to transmit the Dharma. In the same way, whether Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha or other Buddhas, all began before Beginningless Time to pass down these true principles. Similarly, in Their minds, They also have the nature of True Suchness. They have already understood and become enlightened. We also have our nature of True Suchness, but we have not yet attained enlightenment. So, we need to rely on enlightened ones to patiently guide us. How long will it take us? It will also take a long time.

From this sutra passage, we can see that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha took 8000 kalpas just to expound the Lotus Sutra. The 16 novices then taught it again for 84,000 kalpas. They spent such a long time at that time, to say nothing of the time from then until now. How long will it take us before we can finish expounding it? How long do we need to listen to take it into our hearts and awaken? This depends on us, on whether we are always mindful.

Episode 1016 – Passing Countless Lands Without Ever Leaving

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>> They sought the causes and conditions of the auspicious radiance. There must be an extraordinary cause. From this they deduced it was surely not due to someone being born in heaven, but must be a Buddha manifesting in the world. One must know that, though passing over countless lands, they never left the place they were.

>> “Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Great Compassion spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”
[Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “What are the causes and conditions behind the appearance of such a sign? In all our palaces there is a great radiance like never before. Has a Virtuous One been born in heaven or has a Buddha manifested in the world? We have never seen such a sign before, so we should seek this together with one heart.”
[Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together. It is most likely that a Buddha manifested to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings.

>> We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together: They had to pass over distant lands, following the radiance, investigating together. With reverence, they came from afar to seek the radiance of these true principles, passing over trillions of [lands]. This says that the radiance is not in this land; they had to pass over trillions of lands to seek it. One must know that, though they passed over trillions of lands, they never left the place they were.

>> It is most likely that a Buddha manifested to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings: The most likely possibility was that a Buddha had manifested in the world, to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings. There must be an extraordinary person, and then there must be extraordinary signs. From this they determined that this was not from one born in the heavens. It was most likely a Buddha manifesting in the world.

>> “At that time, these 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the northwest to seek out this sign.”
[Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

>> “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment, beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”
[Lotus Sutra, Chapter 7 – On the Conjured City]

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“They sought the causes and conditions of the auspicious radiance. There must be an extraordinary cause.
From this they deduced it was surely not due to someone being born in heaven, but must be a Buddha manifesting in the world.
One must know that, though passing over countless lands, they never left the place they were.”

Does everyone still remember the previous sutra passage? The Brahma kings from the southeast and the other heavenly beings saw the radiance; its illumination was unusual, something that they had never seen before. It was different from what was usual in the past. Where did the light come from? The ray of light came from the northwest, so, in the southeast, all the heavenly beings gathered to discuss it. They deduced that it could not be due to a person with blessings being born in heaven. It must be a Buddha manifesting in the world.

When a Buddha appears in the world, it is a matter of great importance. When He is about to teach the Great Dharma, that is a matter of even greater importance. The reason a Buddha manifests in the world is of course for the sake of sentient beings. But sentient beings’ capabilities were dull and inferior, so how would it be easy for them to understand the profound, subtle and wondrous principles? Even if they understood the principles, to put them into practice would be adding difficulty on top of difficulty. However, in every Buddha’s heart, each knows the Dharma must be spread, and sentient beings must be taught. Even if sentient beings are stubborn, Buddhas still wish to make good use of causes and conditions. When causes and conditions do mature, They will definitely appear in the world. This is every Buddha’s aspiration. So, it is not easy for a Buddha to manifest in the world; the causes and conditions are extraordinary. These are not ordinary causes, not easily [attained].

The Brahma kings deduced that the birth of an ordinary heavenly being could not emit such radiance. Only the appearance of a Great Enlightened One in the world could cause such an unusual light to shine forth. This is what the group of Brahma kings gathered together to discuss. They determined that the light was coming from the northwest. So, they decided to start out from the southeast and go toward the northwest to investigate the source of this ray of light.

Thus, we know that they had to travel for a very long time. You should all still remember this. The source of the radiance was so far away that for the Brahma kings to reach its source, they had to cross trillions of Buddha-lands. This light was so far away. Yet, no one begrudged that hardship and went to search for the light’s source anyway.

I always tell everyone that this radiance is the principles. In regards to the principles, there are two explanations of this. First, the principles have existed since Beginningless Time, for a time impossible to calculate, since before Beginningless Time. So, at the beginning of the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, Sakyamuni Buddha tells of how kalpas more numerous than all the dust in the great trichiliocosm had already passed, a trichiliocosm’s worth of dust-inked kalpas. Everyone must think back to this principle and try to remember. This is saying that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha represents the principles, how the principles are beginningless. The principles have always existed. As the principles have always existed, it is impossible to calculate how long ago they began to exist.

“Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom” represents the truth, the principles, and also the nature of True Suchness that is inherent in all of us. This is telling us that in regards to our nature of True Suchness now, since it is intrinsic to us all, shouldn’t it be close by? How could it be so far? But we continue to separate ourselves from this principle. We are very far from it, because it is difficult for us to comprehend the principles. We know that each individual has Buddha-nature, that clearly we are inseparable from our nature of True Suchness, but unfortunately our ignorance separates us farther and farther from our nature of True Suchness, from this principle. This is because our ignorance multiplies and grows greater and greater.

We are all like this. When we first form aspirations and make vows, we are filled with confidence in ourselves. “I can definitely achieve this. I am certain that having made vows in this direction, I can achieve them.” However, we gradually distance ourselves from the resolve and power to achieve these vows that we thought we were able to achieve and have already become lax. When we listen to the principles, do we take them in? In the past, when we first began to listen to and discover the teachings, we were full of passion and self-confidence, but after a while, as time passes and we encounter people, matters and things, our ignorance increases more and more. Was it others who created this ignorance for us? Or was this ignorance something that we gave rise to ourselves? This is due to causes and conditions; the conditions of other people’s ignorance can lead to the ignorance in our own minds being stirred up. So, there is ignorance on both sides. Ignorance is like the coming together of atmospheric conditions; in our minds these fierce storms arise and the winds of ignorance blow away and demolish that initial aspiration we had formed.

Look at Typhoon Soudelor. Meteorological bureaus around the world tell us that a typhoon like this is rarely seen. Thus, many have been carefully observing; when this typhoon came to Taiwan, what kind of impact would it have? This impact, from landfall until it had passed, lasted nearly 30 hours before Taiwan escaped these fierce winds.

Taiwan is very small and such a large typhoon had completely covered Taiwan. Looking down from the satellite, you could not see Taiwan at all. All you can see is an immense typhoon. But underneath this typhoon, on the ground, we experienced strong winds and heavy rain. Fortunately, however, when it hit the Central Mountain Range, its strength weakened. But perhaps since the wind was at a high altitude, it quickly passed the Central Mountain Range.

We kept calling everywhere to ask whether everyone was safe. All safe! However, in some places roofs were torn off, and there was flooding in others. Though we experienced such a strong typhoon, we should still be grateful, for the damage has so far been minimal for such a large typhoon. In the past, people always used to say, “Man can conquer nature.” When I went to Jing Si Hall, Lin Da-Chin of the Humanities Center told me, “Our news reporters thought it was safe to go outside to assess the damage that the typhoon caused to the surroundings. There was one sight in particular; by the seaside there was a large stone with ‘Man can conquer nature’ written upon it.” I asked, “What happened?” He said, “In an instant, the wind blew over that ‘Man can conquer nature’ rock, and the road was destroyed as well. Our news reporters are going there to take pictures of this sight.”

When I heard this, I thought to myself, “Is that true? Can man conquer nature?” Our Taiwan is such a small place, yet it holds so many people. With such a large population, when even the land cannot withstand the typhoon’s destruction, since it has passed, we should be grateful, for the disaster has been minimal this time.

However, this shows how arrogant people can be; we dare to say man can conquer nature. The human mind is like this; it cannot withstand wind and waves. When some people heard that a typhoon was coming and that the waves would be huge, they instead became arrogant and and went to stand at a place near the ocean to see how big the waves would be. One of the waves grabbed both adults and children and swept them out to sea. Many braved the danger to search for them, but could not find them. Although they tried to save them, there was nothing that could be done.

The human mind is lamentable! People do not know how to be humble. They think they can conquer the might of nature. They knew the wind and rain would be strong but still chose to stand against the might of nature to show off how they could conquer it. This is how the ignorance of sentient beings drags us away from the true principles.

This is an example. So, it says, “In seeking the principles, they came from the Brahma heavens so far away.” They did not begrudge the distance, for they wished to find the true principles, the source of that ray of light. In contrast, when we humans [seek] our source, which is our aspiration, the power of our vows, we have vows but not enough power. If we wish to find the principles, the principles are within our minds. But we are unable to exercise the power of the vows inside us. We cannot maintain our initial aspirations. Our initial aspiration, our earliest aspiration, that power of our vows, is so weak that we cannot withstand interacting with others or facing ignorance. So, we are easily affected by the causes and conditions of ignorance, which lead us to produce even more ignorance ourselves. This obstructs our nature of True Suchness and pulls us away from the true principles. Now we have become quite distant from them.

Even if we chant the sutras every day, we are just moving our mouths, not being mindful. Even if we are mindful, it is only for a moment and then it passes; we do not take it deeply into our hearts. This is lamentable! When will people ever comprehend the principles? This typhoon just passed us on August 8. This August 8, (2015) typhoon lasted for over 28 hours, not just 24 hours, but close to 30 hours. This wind and heavy rain caused certain places to experience landslides and mudslides.

We were very lucky; when we compare this typhoon with others, we were very lucky and should be grateful. However, there are still those who are suffering due to effects of the disaster. Some people’s houses were swept away; some people lost their loved ones. The disastrous winds and rains left them suffering. Suffering was what was left in their wake. Can we still say that “Man can conquer nature”? In fact, only if we walk our path in life steadily can we truly walk upon the Bodhisattva-path for a long time.

So, we also saw a group of Bodhisattvas who served as “unsummoned teachers.” At the time of the disaster, some called the village heads and asked, “Does your village need our help?” When one village head heard this, he said, “Yes we do; we need Tzu Chi volunteers here! We need them now! We need Tzu Chi volunteers to help out.” And, like that, Tzu Chi volunteers in blue and white uniforms became their “unsummoned teachers.” They began mobilizing; they cleaned up the road. Some soldiers were moving the mud from the road, while Tzu Chi volunteers went into homes to help them clean. Whether working in the roads or in people’s houses, they volunteered out of their own initiative. It is at times like these that people think, “We need Tzu Chi volunteers.”

The principles are so close to us. When people are in difficulty, they discover that Tzu Chi volunteers are the ones who can help others; they are the ones who people in this world need. This is a true principle. When we help give the world what it needs, the principles are all around us. The principles are [found] among people. When people mutually help each other, then we are truly one family on earth; why worry about blood ties? The entire world is one family. This is a true principle, not a slogan. So, in searching for the principles, heavenly beings did not begrudge the hardship, though it took a long time to pursue them. Unenlightened beings go against the path. We may ordinarily turn our backs on the path, but when we are in need, the principles are all around us. We should understand that the Buddha-Dharma must be applied in our daily living.

The previous passage says,

“Then, from amidst that assembly, a Great Brahma King named Great Compassion spoke in verse for those in the Brahma heavens.”

The name of the Brahma king was “Great Compassion.” He had “universal compassion.” Isn’t that so? During this time when the world is full of suffering, don’t Bodhisattvas with “universal compassion” appear in the world? Everyone in the world is interconnected. The Brahma kings also appeared at this time. When this Brahma king from the southeast saw this radiance, he told everyone, “This radiance is surely not due to someone being born in heaven. It must be a Great Enlightened One, a Buddha, manifesting in the world.”

So, this verse is repeated once again.

“What are the causes and conditions behind the appearance of such a sign? In all our palaces there is a great radiance like never before. Has a Virtuous One been born in heaven or has a Buddha manifested in the world? We have never seen such a sign before, so we should seek this together with one heart.”

It was hard for them to understand the principles. Since a Buddha had appeared in the world, this radiance must be the principles, which were hard for them to understand in the past . This had never happened before. Now that it had appeared, they quickly went to search for the ray of light. They all shared the heart to search for it. So, Brahma King Great Compassion had universal compassion. Universal compassion is sharing one heart; everyone shares this same heart. When everyone’s hearts are unified, of course we have the power to conquer nature. As long as we are reverent, as long as everyone understands the principles, naturally, in accordance with principles, disasters will be reduced. Everyone must universally unite as one, uniting body and mind with the great principles. Only when everyone is united together can man then conquer nature. With a reverent heart, [our prayers] reach the ears of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This requires many people together, so we must have universal compassion, and everyone must share the same heart. This is how we must respond to the present times. So, let us earnestly be mindful of this.

The next sutra passage says,

“We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together. It is most likely that a Buddha manifested to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings.”

After such a long time, the principles, the conscience we originally had, must be found again. This is our original undefiled nature; though it may be very far away, we should quickly recover this pure mind. The Brahma kings’ minds were pure. We should hurry to be just like those Brahma kings who earnestly sought out the ultimate principles. With pure minds, they still hoped to find the ultimate principles of ending cyclic existence. So, “We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together.”

We must pass over trillions of lands to seek out this radiance and investigate together: They had to pass over distant lands, following the radiance, investigating together. With reverence, they came from afar to seek the radiance of these true principles, passing over trillions of [lands]. This says that the radiance is not in this land; they had to pass over trillions of lands to seek it. One must know that, though they passed over trillions of lands, they never left the place they were.

“They had to pass over distant lands.” Those lands covered a great distance. They were trillions of lands away; the distance was measured in light-years. Still, they wished to search for the ray of light, even though it was very far away. They “followed the radiance, investigating together.” It required great reverence for them to travel so far away to seek “the radiance of these true principles.”

These past few days, a group of Bodhisattvas came back from the US. Adult Bodhisattvas returned with little Bodhisattvas, returning thousands of miles to seek their roots. The birthplace of Tzu Chi is in Taiwan, and this group came back from the US, bringing the next generation of Bodhisattvas. They returned here to seek their roots. In the same way, when the Brahma kings with their pure minds discovered the principles, discovered that a Great Enlightened One had appeared in the world and was about to turn the great Dharma-wheel, they “passed over trillions of lands” to seek that ray of light. It was not in their own land. It must have been in a very distant land. They did not begrudge the very long distance, the long journey. They passed over trillions of lands to seek it.

We should know that. “Though they passed over trillions of lands, they never left the place they were.” Although we say that they passed over trillions of lands, in reality, they really never left the place they were. Actually, the principles are within our hearts. Where else can we go to find them? Although they are described as traveling a great distance through many lands, they fundamentally never left where they were. Indeed, the principles abide in our mind. They are nowhere else but in our mind. Where are we going to go to find our mind? Our mind is within us. Where else would we go to find our mind? The principles have always been there.

So, “It is most likely a Buddha manifested to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings.”

It is most likely that a Buddha manifested to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings: The most likely possibility was that a Buddha had manifested in the world, to deliver and liberate suffering sentient beings. There must be an extraordinary person, and then there must be extraordinary signs. From this they determined that this was not from one born in the heavens. It was most likely a Buddha manifesting in the world.
This is saying it was “most likely”; the greatest likelihood was that a Buddha had manifested in the world, for only then would the principles radiate the way they did. Only through the principles can suffering sentient beings be delivered. Since our own minds are deluded, we must seek teachings from the Buddha. Thus, no matter how far it was, they wanted to go to where the Buddha was to ask Him to teach.

So, “There must be an extraordinary person. Extraordinary” means one who is not average. He is the Great Awakened One. “And then there must be extraordinary signs.” This radiance was not that of an ordinary person. The principles were not those of an ordinary person. They were certain that those principles did not come from one born into the heavens, but from a Buddha manifesting in the world. Because of these principles, it had to be a Great Enlightened One who had manifested in the world and was about to turn the Great Dharma-wheel.

The passage following this then states,

“At that time, these 500 trillion Brahma kings went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the northwest to seek out this sign.”

They were in the southeast, so they set out toward the northwest in their search for [the source] of the light. They set out from there and followed the radiance to investigate. These are the Brahma kings of the southeast. Brahma King Great Compassion had such reverence and respect. He gathered the 500 trillion Brahma kings and set out together to the northwest to search for the source of the light, to praise, pay respect to and make offerings to the Buddha. They knew a Buddha had manifested in the world. They were sure of it and wanted to go express their respect. So, they hurried to meet Him.

“At that time, these 500 trillion Brahma kings” brought along with them all of their palaces. They brought all of these with them. This shows their sincerity. Upon arrival, they scattered flowers in the air. They continuously scattered flowers to express their joy that they would soon meet a Great Enlightened One and request that He turn the Dharma-wheel. They were getting closer and closer, scattering flowers all along the way. “Together they went to the northwest.” This expresses the reverence they felt; they only sought the source of the ray of light.

Next, it says, “They saw. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata in the place of enlightenment, beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”

There were already many people there before the Brahma kings of the southeast arrived. The Brahma kings of the east were there, and Sovereign Sakra who was even closer. There were Dharma-protectors and heavenly beings who were already there protecting Him. As He sat for ten small kalpas, many heavenly beings were there protecting Him. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors were all there in that place, protecting that spiritual practitioner, that spiritual practitioner who was soon to attain Buddhahood. They had all already arrived there earlier. So, when Brahma kings of the southeast arrived, they saw that. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had indeed already attained Buddhahood. As He sat under the Bodhi-tree, there were already heavenly beings and naga kings who had arrived there and were surrounding [the Buddha]. This is as we explained before. Heavenly beings, naga kings and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors were all there surrounding the Buddha.

We should know that we are not the first to discover the principles. Actually, many came before us who early on had already discovered the principles. Sakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, but there were actually countless Buddhas before Him who had already attained Buddhahood. If we can infer about the time from this, there are dust-inked kalpas to come. If we think back on the past, we will realize it has been a very long time. The principles, existing since Beginningless Time, have been followed by countless others who have engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood.

When the Brahma kings of the southeast arrived, there were already many people who surrounded Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior on His Dharma-throne. Not only that, as we mentioned before, the 16 princes had already asked the Buddha to turn the great Dharma-wheel. So, the heavenly beings from the southeast had arrived. This occasion was when the Buddha was about to turn the Great Dharma-wheel.

So, we know that we must be mindful as we listen to the Dharma. The Dharma has always been there, it is just that we awaken to it later. Therefore, if we do not quickly search for them, then how will we be able to come together with the principles? We are still very far off from the principles, so I ask everyone to truly be mindful.

Don’t we feel the world is filled with suffering? Don’t we feel that life is impermanent? Don’t we feel that interpersonal relationships are wondrous and profound? When we become entangled with one another, isn’t it painful? So, we must thoroughly understand the principles. When we go among people, we should not allow ourselves to be influenced by their ignorance and afflictions to bring out our own ignorance and afflictions, thus multiplying our ignorance and leading us farther away from our nature of True Suchness. So, I hope that everyone can be mindful. The principles exist naturally within our minds. Therefore, let us always be mindful!