Category: TLS Chapter 8

Episode 1143 – Ending All Leaks and Cultivating Purifying Dharma

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>> “Those who have eliminated all afflictions are called Arhats who end all Leaks. They cultivate purifying Dharma and are replete with Brahma-conduct. They hear the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths and comprehend the great path of the True Dharma. They are liberated and abide in tranquility, and all realize the Dharma of Infinite Meanings, attain peace and stability and a pure and joyful land.”

>> “In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya, will make offerings to 62 trillions of Buddhas. Then he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

>> “The Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans, and Buddha, the World-Honored One.”

>> “Those 500 Arhats, Uruvilva Kasyapa, Gaya Kasyapa, Nadi Kasyapa, Kaludayi, Udayin, Aniruddha. Revada, Kapphina….”

>> Those 500 Arhats: Arhat: This is the ultimate fruit of the Small Vehicle. It has three meanings: One, thief-destroyer: This means eliminating the thief of afflictions. Two, worthy of offerings: It means they cultivate purifying practices, so they are worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings. Three, one not to be reborn: They will enter Nirvana forever, no longer subject to the cause and effect of cyclic existence.

>> Uruvilva Kasyapa: [Translated as] “Papaya Grove.” He practiced the Path in this grove mong the Sangha, in protecting the fourfold assembly and providing them with the Four Offerings so they would never lack anything, he was foremost.

>> Gaya Kasyapa: Gaya here means “river.” His parents prayed to a river god and then had this child. Nadi Kasayapa: Nadi here means “city.” His parents prayed to a city god and then had this child.

>> Kaludayi: This means “dark radiance” or also coarse and dark, since his skin color was dark and shining.

>> Udayin: This means “appearing,” because he was born when the sun rises.

>> Aniruddha: He was also called Anuruddha. This means “no poverty.” Because he had offered barnyard millet to a Pratyekabuddha, for 91 kalpas he had rewards of abundance. Aniruddha is Sanskrit and can be translated to “As One Wishes.” It refers to how, in his past lifetimes, by offering one meal to a Pratyekabuddha, in response, for 91 kalpas he received the joy of having everything as he wished.

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“Those who have eliminated all afflictions
are called Arhats who end all Leaks.
They cultivate purifying Dharma and are replete with Brahma-conduct.
They hear the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths
and comprehend the great path of the True Dharma.
They are liberated and abide in tranquility,
and all realize the Dharma of Infinite Meanings,
attain peace and stability and a pure and joyful land.”

“Those who have eliminated all afflictions are called Arhats who end all Leaks.” In spiritual practice, all of us must cultivate the methods of destroying our afflictions. Just what is it that we can all use directly to eliminate our afflictions? Nothing of form or substance can do this. Only the principles can do it. We have already spoken of many methods, used many principles to explain, make analogies or give descriptions etc. Although we listen to these things, are we really hearing them? Have we taken them to heart? When we encounter a situation, can we apply them? Our spiritual practice depends on us. What do we do when we encounter matters, when we run into situations, or encounter people, matters or objects? If we can handle things well, without letting the afflictions caused by people, matters and objects disturb our minds, that is mastery. This is how we eliminate afflictions. In dealing with worldly affairs, if it cannot be resolved or does not go our way, when we can deal with it calmly so that our minds are not shaken, then once it has passed, our bodies and minds will be at ease. We will feel peaceful and at ease. This means we have gotten rid of our afflictions.

In our daily living, with regard to this most fundamental [ability], we must take stock of ourselves. When we encounter situations, can we remain peaceful and at ease? Then, after we have handled them, we do not keep them in our hearts, so that, from our afflictions, we can quickly recover and get back on the right track in daily living. This is getting rid of afflictions. The cure for these afflictions, in the terminology of the Dharma, is precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Ordinarily, if we follow the way the Buddha-Dharma leads us, the precepts allow us to guard against wrongs and stop evil. When you hear this, you should all remember that these guard against wrongs and stop evil.

If we do not understand the principles, we listen. Having listened, we really need to understand these principles, so that in the event something happens, we will know which methods to use to guard ourselves through those principles. We always hear about drills, about training and exercises. These guard us in event of contingencies. We now also often hear about how, in schools, or in hospitals, or in other public places, the government is always telling us how we should put effort into being mindful, how to implement safety measures and run drills from time to time. This is like “guarding against wrongs.” It is preparing for contingencies.

Exercises are tangible. What about the intangible? This is where we must heighten our vigilance. It is the same for everyone’s spiritual practice. On the chance that external challenges appear, if we always have heightened vigilance, we can ensure our safety so that our wisdom-life is never harmed. These are the precepts. Only through the precepts can our minds become settled. Our minds and spiritual aspirations must be firm. Only when we are firm in our spiritual aspirations can we then gain wisdom, develop our wisdom. This is called “ending Leaks.” Our afflictions have all been eliminated; our ignorance ever regenerates within our minds.

“I now understand my past mistakes in life, and I’ve changed. I’m no longer tempted by outside circumstances. I’m concentrating on turning my life around.” We see many Bodhisattvas who are like this in Tzu Chi, Bodhisattvas who have turned their lives around, who have already made up their minds. Outside circumstance will no longer tempt them into making mistakes. This is the power of Samadhi, of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. This is because with wisdom, we can discern things clearly. We have already reached this stage of spiritual practice.

This is the process of practice for an Arhat, starting as an ordinary person who knows nothing, someone who is unclear on everything, whose mind is filled with ignorance, who does not understand the principles. So, if we are like that, we will have many afflictions. Our wisdom-life will be constantly blocked off by our afflictions, and it will be impossible to return to the nature of True Suchness we all have. If we do not develop our wisdom-life, we can become overwhelmed by external states. This is why we engage in spiritual practice, to sweep away ignorance and afflictions and allow our wisdom-life to begin growing so that we can begin to discover our nature of True Suchness. This is the most important thing in our practice.

So, “They cultivate purifying Dharma and are replete with Brahma-conduct. They hear the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths.” Those Arhats wanted to be like this. They constantly accepted the Buddha’s teachings. After accepting them, they had to engage in spiritual practice. “We must practice. However the Buddha taught us, that is how we must live.” This was the way they lived; when the Buddha was in the world, He wanted His disciples to go out and beg for alms. This is how they sustained themselves; they had to go out and beg for alms to create conditions for transformation. They did not just stay amongst the Sangha, remaining separated from the outside world, no.

The Buddha wanted everyone to go out every day to the villages and the cities, to go out among the people and create conditions for transformation through alms. To go transform people through begging for alms, they would meet many different kinds of people. Some made respectful offerings to them, while other’s attitudes were very negative. Not only were some people’s attitudes bad, they would even curse at them. People had all sorts of attitudes and all types of expressions. In facing the matters and objects of the world, we must learn to train our minds so that we remain unaffected. In this way we preserve the purity of our minds. So, we must always preserve our minds’ purity, not allow all these kinds of external forms to contaminate our minds. This is engaging in Brahma-conduct.

“They cultivate purifying Dharma and are replete with Brahma-conduct.” Their minds were very pure. They would not be tempted by external states, would not allow their minds to be enraged, would not have ignorance and afflictions arising. They would not be enticed by the desires for external things. This is all purifying Dharma. This is Brahma-conduct. If we uphold the principles, we will be able to do this. If we do not uphold the principles, then we will not have the methods or the tools to be able to repair our minds. To “repair” our minds, we need to engage in spiritual practice and seek understanding. The Dharma enables us to understand and helps us to earnestly cultivate our minds.

“They hear the Buddha teach the Four Noble Truths.” In the Sangha, by listening to the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, they came to understand the truth of the world. There are many principles in the world. Actually, the principles of the Four Noble Truths are all found in our daily living. Is there ever time we are apart from the Dharma? Is there anything that does not contain its own principles? Is there anything, person, matter or object, that does not cause us trouble? Is there anything that does not make us feel that things have not gone our way? However, we ourselves must know to summon the resolve to engage in spiritual practice.

Spiritual practice lies in having a very simple, very pure and very broad mindset; with what we face in life, if something comes up, we must deal with it quickly with a very broad and open heart; how do we use the principles to be able to yield, to be able to be more diligent? This is what we need to practice. The Four Noble Truths are a path; how do we cultivate this path to experience the truth of the world’s suffering? How do we eliminate this suffering? This all happens in our daily living! In the True Dharma of comprehending the great path the teachings given are all one, the One True Dharma, the great path. This is the great, direct Bodhi-path, the One True Dharma.

“They are liberated and abide in tranquility.” Our minds and the many affliction we spoke of are actually all encompassed by the Buddha’s teachings. They help us to comprehend and to put the teachings into practice. We must experience them; if we only listen, then we remain as Hearers, just listening, listening, listening. We should get involved and go among the people, for only by going among people can we truly experience the connection between our bodies and matters and objects. Only then can we begin to understand, “Oh! It turns out the principles are like this! It turns out that we can resolve these matters on his behalf by helping him work things out!” All of this is the great path. The Bodhisattva-path is learning to benefit others, learning to become one with others. This is comprehending the great path, the Bodhisattva Way.

As we go among others, we constantly liberate ourselves. We never let ourselves become dragged into others’ affairs. “When mediators become personally involved,” that will be very troublesome. Mediators must be totally impartial and harmonious to both sides. For everyone to get along like they did before is the mediator’s goal. If a mediator becomes personally involved, will he lean toward one side, or lean toward the other? This will merely cause more conflict with others, cause many further complications and only serve to increase people’s afflictions. We engage in spiritual practice to become “liberated and abide in tranquility.” Our minds should be tranquil and still. Amidst the tumult of the world, we must still preserve our mind’s tranquility. This is a very important principle; we must be clear about it.

So, “All realize the Dharma of Infinite Meanings.” We should clearly understand the teachings in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings and utilize them constantly. We must constantly make use of these teachings. So, we naturally “attain peace and stability and a pure and joyful land.” If our bodies and minds can remain in the Dharma and we always take what we hear and apply it to our own behavior, the Dharma will always be in our hearts. Naturally we eliminate all our afflictions; we naturally “end Leaks.” Only by “ending Leaks” can we progress from the stage of being unenlightened beings to the stage of Arhatship. Arhats are already liberated. Amidst this chaotic world, those who eliminated their coarser afflictions are called Arhats. In this way, we will naturally always cultivate purifying Dharma.

Furthermore, we can constantly apply the. Four Noble Truths in our daily living; these are inseparable from our bodies and minds. By seeing, understanding and comprehending the principles, when we go among others we can benefit ourselves and deliver them. This is the Dharma. Though the world may be in turmoil, our minds remain tranquil and clear. This is the state of the Bodhisattva. This is how Bodhisattvas enter the path of infinite meanings, the great Bodhi-path. On the great Bodhi-path, when surrounded by the turbulence of society, our minds still remain peaceful and stable. We can still give unconditionally, and our bodies and minds are at peace. So, this is a “pure and joyful land.” We can only experience this if we are very mindful. This is the Dharma.

Let us take a look at a previous sutra passage.

“In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya, will make offerings to 62 trillions of Buddhas. Then he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

The Buddha had started bestowing predictions one by one. He began by pointing out Ajnata Kaundinya, the bhiksu Kaundinya. It was Kaundinya who, when the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, was the first one to understand them. So, when the Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel, he was the first to accept the Dharma. By this point, those more exceptional disciples had already received their predictions. Sariputra had received a prediction, as had Mahakasyapa, Katyayana, Maudgalyayana and so on. There was also Purna Maitrayaniputra; he too had already received his prediction. These were those of great and average capabilities. The Buddha had singled them out first. Now, Purna was leading a group whose capabilities were more limited. The Buddha praised Purna in front of them, Next He would bestow predictions upon these 500 disciples.

However, these 500 disciples were [the reason why] when the Buddha began teaching the Great Dharma, it took Him a very long time. It took seven years to teach the Lotus Sutra and later He continued with the Nirvana Sutra. So, for the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra, it took a total of eight years to teach these, and every time He would teach, the number of people there listening would differ. At times, there would be 1200 disciples there. At others, there were only several hundred. At some times, many would be there, at others, only a few. So, the name of this chapter is the 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, but in this sutra passage, it says “1200” disciples gave rise to this thought. The numbers differ because at the time He was teaching this sutra, the number of disciples present would fundamentally differ [at each assembly]. However, at this place the Buddha first began by bestowing a prediction on Kaundinya.

Though there were 1200 disciples who had this thought in their minds, in fact there were always [different numbers] listening to the teachings at each assembly. Kaundinya was the first to obtain the Buddha’s teachings, the first to understand the Four Noble Truths. So, this time the Buddha [bestowed a prediction] on Kaundinya. He, among all those other disciples, was the first to receive the Buddha’s prediction. The Buddha began the prediction by first saying how he would make offerings, that in the future he would go on to make offerings to 62 trillions of Buddhas. As we just mentioned, the sutra says “will make offerings to 62 trillions of Buddhas.” This means he has to eliminate 62 trillion afflictions.

This is because to increase our awakening, we must decrease our ignorance. A Buddha is an awakened person. If we can engage in spiritual practice and, in this matter, get rid of our ignorance and afflictions, then, “I have awakened! I understand!” We may awaken at any time. At anytime we may attain Buddhahood! This is [the spirit] with which we must face people, matters and objects every day. Our ignorance and afflictions must be eliminated at any and all times. We can eliminate our afflictions at any time; we can attain the Buddha’s awakening at any time. When I say this, I worry you may think it all too profound. However, when it comes to the actual practice, the Buddha said that he would have to make offerings to 62 trillions of Buddhas.

Making offerings means “following the teachings.” However the Buddha taught us, that is how we must engage in spiritual practice. However we engage in spiritual practice, that is how we awaken to the principles of the Buddha-Dharma. As we awaken to the Buddha-Dharma’s principles, we will naturally eliminate the afflictions that come from ordinary people’s ignorance. The Buddha used such a large number because in fact all of us have so much ignorance, so many dust-like delusions. So, “62 trillions of Buddhas” means eliminating “62 trillion afflictions.” This means that in our daily living, with all of the afflictions that we face, whenever we encounter them, we will be able to handle them. We immediately get rid of our afflictions and ignorance so our minds return to a state of purity. This is how we must engage in spiritual practice. Thus, when we listen to the sutras, every word and phrase is teaching us the Dharma.

So, he will be endowed with the Ten Epithets.

“The Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans, and Buddha, the World-Honored One.”

We are always chanting these. Every epithet reflects a virtue of the Buddha. So, we must also always be mindful. These ten epithets show the Buddha’s virtue had to be cultivated like this. Only by cultivating until attaining this virtue could He thereby attain such an epithet. So, having become accomplished in merit and virtue. He was given these epithets.

The next passage goes on to say,

“Those 500 Arhats, Uruvilva Kasyapa, Gaya Kasyapa, Nadi Kasyapa, Kaludayi, Udayin, Aniruddha. Revada, Kapphina….”

Now He was naming [some of] the 500 Arhats. At this point, as the Buddha began to speak this section of the sutra, there were these 500 Arhats seated there so He first listed out these people’s names. As for the 500 Arhats, an Arhat is one who has attained the “ultimate fruit of the Small Vehicle.” As we just said, in our spiritual practice, we must eliminate our many afflictions. Only when these afflictions have been eliminated are we able to attain this fruit. This is the Small Vehicle; Small Vehicle practitioners are Hearers. Arhat has three meanings.

Those 500 Arhats: Arhat: This is the ultimate fruit of the Small Vehicle. It has three meanings: One, thief-destroyer: This means eliminating the thief of afflictions. Two, worthy of offerings: It means they cultivate purifying practices, so they are worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings. Three, one not to be reborn: They will enter Nirvana forever, no longer subject to the cause and effect of cyclic existence.

While the Buddha has ten epithets, Arhats have three. There are three names for them.

The first is “thief-destroyer.” Thief-destroyer means destroying the thief of afflictions. It is not about truly destroying people, no. It is talking about our mind. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, everyone has wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s. Unfortunately, we have afflictions like thieves. The thieves of afflictions have entrenched themselves in our mind, continually wearing down our wisdom. They constantly take the treasures of our wisdom and run off with them. So, they are likened to thieves. Some say, “There is a thief in the house,” or “There is a thief in the company.” This means things somehow keep going missing. The principle is the same. There is this thief in everyone’s mind; the thief of ignorance, the thief of afflictions. How do we deal with these thieves? We must put in the effort.

We put in the effort to eliminate the thieves of afflictions and guard against them. So, we must abide by the precepts, not allow external afflictions to enter our minds, nor allow the thief inside of us to betray us from within. With outer circumstances and inner ignorance, when we come together with external states, they cause disturbances in our minds. In spiritual practice we need to have the resolve to destroy these thieves, to always abide by the precepts as prevention, not allow the thieves in us to cause chaos. We should not react to the outside and thus be attacked both within and without. We must earnestly persevere in our spiritual aspirations. So, “thief-destroyer” means “eliminating the thief of afflictions.”

The second name is “worthy of offerings.” The Buddha is also worthy of offerings. The Arhats are also worthy of offerings, for they too engage in spiritual practice. Those worthy of offerings “cultivate purifying practices”; this is why they can “receive offerings from humans and heavenly beings.” So, first is being a “thief-destroyer”; we need to abide by precepts. The second is being “worthy of offerings.” With precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we have already settled our minds in Samadhi. Our bodies and minds are pure, so we can attain offerings from humans and heavenly beings. Then we are “worthy of offerings.” If we do not engage in spiritual practice and just want others to make offerings to us, we are not worthy of them. So, we must rely on our own efforts. To be “worthy of offerings,” we must engage in purifying practices. Only then can we receive offerings from humans and heavenly beings.

The third is “one not to be reborn. Not to be reborn” means they will enter Nirvana forever. They will “no longer be subject to the cause and effect of cyclic existence.” Nirvana means the mind has arrived at a tranquil and still state, where there is no longer arising or ceasing. It is extremely tranquil; we are no longer subject to external temptations. No discursive thoughts arises in our minds either. This is the ultimate fruit; this state of mind is what.

Arhats are capable of reaching through practice. “Thief-destroyer, worthy of offerings” and “one not to be reborn” are their virtues. They have these kinds of abilities and these kinds of virtues.

After Kaundinya finished receiving predictions, the next was Uruvilva Kasyapa.

Uruvilva Kasyapa: [Translated as] “Papaya Grove.” He practiced the Path in this grove mong the Sangha, in protecting the fourfold assembly and providing them with the Four Offerings so they would never lack anything, he was foremost.

Uruvilva Kasyapa was one of three Kasyapa brothers. Mahakasyapa, mentioned earlier, was unrelated. Among the monastic assembly, there were several who went by the name Kasyapa. Uruvilva was the eldest of the three brothers. He engaged in spiritual practice in a papaya grove. Because he practiced in a papaya grove, he was called Uruvilva. His surname was Kasyapa, and his name was taken from the place where he engaged in spiritual practice. So, his full name was Uruvilva Kasyapa. In the Sangha, he protected the fourfold assembly, providing them with the Four Offerings. Ordinarily, the monastics had to go out and beg for their own food, but if someone in the Sangha were to become ill, he would provide them with food, medicine etc., any necessities that they needed to live.

In the literature, as was mentioned earlier, he had originally been a leader in another religious order. We said before that when the king and his ministers came to visit the Buddha, Uruvilva Kasyapa was sitting there as well. They all wondered, “Is it Uruvilva Kasyapa who is the teacher? Or is it Sakyamuni?” We spoke of this passage before. Does everyone still remember? This means he was advanced in spiritual practice and led 500 disciples in spiritual cultivation, but they engaged in ascetic practices with fire. He was transformed by the Buddha and led his 500 disciples to take refuge under the Buddha. He began taking on the responsibility of protecting the monastic assembly. He became responsibile for taking care of [daily needs] in the assembly. So, within the Sangha, he protected the fourfold assembly, providing them with the Four Offerings. “The Sangha’s fourfold assembly” are the bhiksus, bhiksunis, sramaneras and sramaneris. He took care of the daily needs of the fourfold assembly “so they would never lack anything.” He was also well-respected by everyone.

“Gaya Kasyapa” is translated as “river. Nadi Kasyapa” means “city.”

Gaya Kasyapa: Gaya here means “river.” His parents prayed to a river god and then had this child. Nadi Kasayapa: Nadi here means “city.” His parents prayed to a city god and then had this child.

Gaya Kasyapa and Nadi Kasyapa were the younger brothers of Uruvilva Kasyapa, the second and third younger brothers. These were the three brothers. The three brothers between them had a total of 1000 disciples. They all came to take refuge with the Buddha, causing the assembly’s numbers to quickly increase. These three truly helped the Sangha to grow large.

Besides the 1000 disciples that the three brothers had brought between them, Maudgalyayana and Sariputra had also brought 200 disciples, which made for a total of 1200 disciples. There was still another, named Yasa, who brought 50 friends together with him to take refuge with the Buddha. So, it is often said of the Buddha’s Sangha that there was a “total of 1250 followers.” This is written often in the sutras. It was because of these few people who had led their own groups to take refuge under the Buddha. This group was the Buddha’s regular followers, known as His retinue.

Some of those people would sometimes go out, so sometimes they were not with the Sangha. Sometimes the Buddha would lead others outside, out to other places to spread the Dharma. Sometimes they would all be in different places, so sometimes the numbers differed. [The teaching] took place over a long time, so whether it was 500 or 1200, it was inevitable that over seven or eight years, the numbers would fluctuate. So, those three, the three mentioned before, had brought an assembly of 1000 disciples to take refuge with the Buddha.

Next there was “Kaludayi. This means ‘dark radiance’ or also ‘coarse and dark.'” His skin was very dark, so dark that it shone.

Kaludayi: This means “dark radiance” or also coarse and dark, since his skin color was dark and shining.

We have told the story of Kaludayi before. His skin was completely black. He was a dark-skinned Indian, with skin as dark as an African. His skin was so dark that truly it shone.

One day, Kaludayi had gone begging around dusk, when he ran into a big rainstorm. He arrived in front of someone’s home when it began raining heavily. There was even thunder and lightning. A pregnant woman opened the door. When she opened the door, there was a flash of lightning and he was so black. The lightning flashed when she opened the door, and before her was a man with teeth so white and skin so dark that with that flash of lightning, the woman received a fright. She was scared so badly that she had a miscarriage.

This news quickly spread. Everybody blamed the Sangha. With the weather as it was and with his appearance, he had frightened the woman. This was a disciple of the Buddha! Because of this it was discussed widely among everyone and the news eventually reached the Buddha. It was when the Buddha found out about this that He set the rule to not eat after noon, to just have one meal per day.

“One meal per day” meant they would go out begging before noon, not wait until dark to go begging. When it was dark and raining like that, with a flash of lightning like that, it could scare people. So, they would not knock on doors in the evening, would not go begging. Therefore, they would no longer eat dinner; they would only eat lunch. They no longer ate after noon. There was no other reason, just simply to not have anyone begging after dark. So, this is why He instituted the precept of “not eating after noon.” This was how that policy had come about.

Kaludayi was evidently very dark and rough-looking, so this kind of thing happened to him. This was Kaludayi. Nevertheless, he engaged in spiritual practice, so he was among those who received the Buddha’s predictions. Those whose names we are hearing about now are all those who will receive predictions.

There was also Udayin. Udayin is translated as “appearing.” He was born when the sun was rising, so he was named “appearing.”

Udayin: This means “appearing,” because he was born when the sun rises.

There was also one named Aniruddha, also called Anuruddha; do you remember? He was blind, so the Buddha helped thread a needle and patch his clothes. That was Aniruddha. Why had he become blind? Aniruddha was also one of the Buddha’s disciples, and he was also a cousin of the Buddha, a cousin who had become a monk. He had become a monk, yet he was somewhat indolent, so the Buddha spurred him on. We will talk about this later; so, let us first understand him.

Aniruddha: He was also called Anuruddha. This means “no poverty.” Because he had offered barnyard millet to a Pratyekabuddha, for 91 kalpas he had rewards of abundance. Aniruddha is Sanskrit and can be translated to “As One Wishes.” It refers to how, in his past lifetimes, by offering one meal to a Pratyekabuddha, in response, for 91 kalpas he received the joy of having everything as he wished.

Anuruddha is translated as “no poverty.” This is because he had the blessed retribution of not being poor for 91 kalpas. There was once a time of famine, and though no one had enough to eat at the time, there was a Pratyekabuddha in the world who Aniruddha had made offerings to. This is why he had the blessed retribution of not being poor for 91 kalpas. He was born rich in every lifetime. So, Aniruddha was also known as “As One Wishes.” He made offerings to a Pratyekabuddha in the past, so that is why he had such blessed retributions.

In the Ekotarra Agama Sutra, when the Buddha was teaching to the assembly at Jetavana, Aniruddha became sleepy and nodded off, so the Buddha chastised him. “Tsk, tsk, why are you sleeping? Snails, clams and toads sleep for a thousand years without hearing the name of the Buddha.” When the Buddha taught, he would nod off, so the Buddha called out his name from among the assembly. Starting at that time, Aniruddha began to rouse his spirit. He kept his eyes open for several months on end, unwilling to shut his eyes. That was how determined he had become. He did not sleep for several months, so he later lost his sight and became blind. After becoming blind, he became very diligent. The Buddha praised his heavenly eye as foremost. Since he could not see with his eyes, the Buddha told him, “You need to train your mind’s eye. Learn to use your mind’s eye to experience the outside world.” This was the skill that he learned.

So, even if we are blind, we can thread a needle. This is not impossible. As I told you before, there was a family that we helped previously where both the husband and wife could not see. I went personally to visit them and when I went, the entire room was pitch black. When I entered the room, I asked them, “Why is it so dark in here?” They replied, “Master, It makes no difference if it’s dark to us. Oh I see! What are you doing now?” He told me, “I’m threading a needle.” After I was there for a while, I went forward, approached his bed and stood there looking at him. He really was threading a needle! By the light of the window, I watched him trying to thread the needle. He was trying to thread the needle and finally he got it. Even an ordinary person can master this kind of skill through practice, to say nothing of the Buddha’s disciples! So, by acquiring the power of the heavenly eye, he could “observe 3000 worlds.” This is the spiritual [power] of the mind’s eye. So, among the Buddha’s disciples, he was foremost in the heavenly eye.

Everyone, learning the Buddha’s teachings depends upon the mind. If we do not take good care of our minds, things may always be hazy for us, as if our eyes cannot see. So, let us make the best use of our time. We must all always be mindful.

Episode 1142 – Practicing to Purify All Dust-like Delusions

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>> “Kaundinya respectfully practiced according to the teachings. With the provisional teachings, he engaged in uninterrupted practice and extended practice. When he first heard [the teaching], he awakened and remained a senior disciple. Kaundinya at first formed small affinities, thus he was first to awaken at Deer Park. Son of Body at first formed great affinities, thus he was first to awaken in the cycle of teaching the Dharma. This is how small and great affinities each have their differences.”

>> “The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their minds. He told Mahakasyapa, ‘For these 1200 Arhats I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”

>> “In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya, will make offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas. Then he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

>> In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya: It means in this assembly, of the five people who were first transformed at Deer Park, Kaundinya was first. He had a great intellect.

>> He will make offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas: 62 trillion refers to eliminating the 62 trillion afflictions of ignorance. He will follow one Buddha after another to purify all his dust-like delusions. This is making offerings to the Buddha.

>> Then, he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance: Undergoing this accumulation for long kalpas, through causes and conditions, he will be able to be liberated. He will thoroughly comprehend all Dharma and clearly understand its origin. The merits and virtues that he cultivated will be fulfilled. Thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance.

>> “the Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings. Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action. Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans and. Buddha, the World-Honored One.”

>> Ten epithets of a Buddha: 1. Tathagata: He journeys on the path of True Suchness and comes to achieve perfect enlightenment 2. One Worthy of Offerings: He is worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings 3. Completely Awakened One: He is completely awakened to all Dharma 4. One Perfect in Wisdom and Action: He is perfectly replete with the practice of the Three Insights 5. The Well-Gone One: With the wisdom of all Dharma as His great cart, He travels the Eightfold Path to enter Nirvana.

>> Ten epithets of a Buddha: 6. Knower of the World: He can comprehend the matters of all sentient beings and non-sentient things.

>> Ten epithets of a Buddha: 7. Unsurpassed Guide: Just as Nirvana is supreme among all Dharma, the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.

>> The Ten Epithets of a Buddha: 8. The Tamer: The Buddha sometimes uses soft and gentle words and sometimes uses harsh and urgent words so He can tame all people and guide them onto a good path.

>> Ten epithets of a Buddha: 9. Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans: The Buddha is the guiding teacher of humans and heavenly beings. He can teach and demonstrate what they should and should not do.

>> Ten epithets of a Buddha: 10. Buddha, the World-Honored One: The Buddha means Wise One or Enlightened One. The World-Honored One means He is honored by all the world.

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“Kaundinya respectfully practiced according to the teachings.
With the provisional teachings, he engaged in uninterrupted practice and extended practice.
When he first heard [the teaching], he awakened and remained a senior disciple.
Kaundinya at first formed small affinities,
thus he was first to awaken at Deer Park.
Son of Body at first formed great affinities,
thus he was first to awaken in the cycle of teaching the Dharma.
This is how small and great affinities each have their differences.”

This is saying that. Venerable Ajnata Kaundinya, at the start, listened to the Buddha expound on suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. With a heart of respect, he accepted the Buddha’s teachings. From this beginning, he practiced according to the teachings. This means that Kaundinya, when he encountered the Dharma, his heart was one of respect. He respected the prince’s achieving initial enlightenment and His returning to Deer Park to expound the Dharma for those [first disciples]. It was with a heart of utmost respect that he accepted the Dharma. So, he could practice according to the teachings.

At Deer Park, the Buddha initiated the provisional teachings. He had to use a method that would let all people take the first step and accept the Dharma that the Buddha wanted to expound. Because He wanted to open up the teachings, this initial turning of the Dharma-wheel was to have people be able to accept it immediately upon hearing it. He considered that people’s capabilities were still very far from [the ultimate], so He began by giving provisional teachings. Provisional teachings are skillful means. Though they are skillful means, they are actually true principles of the world. If we do not understand these truths of the world, how can we possibly experience what has been intrinsic in all people since Beginningless Time? Every person, all sentient beings, have this pure intrinsic nature equal to the Tathagata’s. If we cannot understand the principles which we are experiencing every day, how could we possibly experience, amidst all the discursive thoughts, that intrinsic nature of True Suchness that has been in the deepest places [of our minds] since Beginningless Time. How could we possibly understand this? So, He had to establish provisional teachings. Initiating the provisional teachings meant opening up the teachings of skillful means, using what all people come into contact with. So, this “suffering” comes from “causation.”

Kaundinya had deep faith and respect. When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, no matter how it was taught, Kaundinya had deep faith and no doubts. He listened to the Dharma with respect like this and practiced according to the teachings. So, he had uninterrupted practice, extended practice and practice with nothing further. That means, for a long period of time, he constantly engaged in spiritual practice. This all began with respect. From respecting the Dharma, very naturally, over an extended period of time, without stopping, uninterruptedly, with nothing further, seizing every instant with nothing left over, he continuously took the Dharma to heart. No matter how short the time, he seized on everything that the Buddha taught, without letting any of it leak away. This was Kaundinya. He was so meticulous and wholeheartedly respectful. He faithfully accepted the Buddha’s teachings, so over an extended time, with nothing further, uninterruptedly, he constantly practiced them. Thus, when he “first heard [the teaching], he awakened and remained a senior disciple.” Of the five [disciples], he was the first to accept the Dharma that the Buddha expounded and thoroughly understand it. Out of the five, he was the first. So, he remained a senior disciple; he was the first.

Kaundinya was the first to form small affinities. In the past, he had practiced for a long time, over an extended period of many kalpas. Lifetime after lifetime, he likewise practiced and went among people. He did not have a great awakening, nor enthusiastically go among people; He was not like Purna, who comprehended what was in the Buddha’s heart and was able to practice the Dharma that the Buddha practiced. Though he did not see the big picture like that, he still had deep faith and respect. Among people, he practiced all that was good and did nothing that was evil. So, with such a pure mind, no matter what kind of small matters, he was able to uphold them without leaks. When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, he was the first to accept the provisional; the first time the Dharma was taught, he awakened. At Deer Park, he was the first to comprehend the Buddha’s teachings. “Thus he was first to awaken in the cycle of teaching the Dharma.”

“Son of Body at first formed great affinities. Son of Body” refers to Sariputra. Sariputra had formed great affinities. So, when the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, at the beginning, he was the first; he was foremost in wisdom. He heard and understood how the Buddha praised the Buddha’s wisdom as profound and wondrous. He understood where His wisdom came from and even realized all people intrinsically have it. This profound and pure Buddha-nature is something everyone intrinsically has. These great principles, the one ultimate truth, were what Sariputra, starting with the Chapter on Skillful Means, was beginning to awaken to. He requested the Dharma on behalf of the assembly; Sariputra asked the Buddha three times, and the Buddha stopped him, saying there was no need to speak further, because this was a very profound teaching. If, after people heard it, they were unable to put the teaching into practice, they might give rise to slander and doubt. With this kind of doubt and slander, they would harm the Dharma and for they themselves, for those who committed slander, this would also not be beneficial.

The Buddha wished for everyone to know that the Dharma was fundamentally very profound. The Dharma is fundamentally a response to all the appearances of the world, so when the Buddha gave teachings, [He explained] the appearances of suffering in the world. The Buddha’s wisdom lets Him use the Dharma to explain people, matters and things in the world. The kinds of afflictions people give rise to, the kinds of karma they create, the kind of [karmic] effects this lead to, all this was encompassed within the Great Dharma. For everyone to completely comprehend this was not an easy task. So, when Sariputra made the request, the Buddha stopped him and said again and again, “Stop, there is no need to speak further.” However, Sariputra was still able to understand the Buddha’s intentions. Since this Dharma was such a great teaching, it would not be such a simple matter; the Buddha could not just carelessly expound it. He had to be very cautious, extremely cautious.

The first time, the Buddha did not teach. [He did the same] the second and third time. [Sariputra] expressed to the Buddha that everyone who listened should be able to understand. All who sought the Dharma were earnest. He was not casually asking for the Dharma. He was very careful in asking for the teachings. He wanted everyone at the assembly to know this. This was the dialogue between the Buddha and Sariputra. He wanted to request the Dharma, but the Buddha kept stopping him, as it was not something all could easily accept. Sariputra asked again, but the Buddha stopped him again, because not everyone was able to hear and willingly put the teachings into action. Sariputra asked once more, and the Buddha replied, “You have already asked three times. How can I not expound it?” This was to let everyone know that listening to the Dharma should be done carefully; it should be done with faith, with the willingness to accept it and put it into practice. These were the Buddha’s intentions.

So, “Son of Body” is Sariputra. He was foremost in wisdom. In the Sangha, during the Lotus Sutra, he was the initiator. In the beginning, if it were not for Sariputra being able to understand the Buddha’s intentions and persevere in his requests, how would we have this Lotus Sutra to teach and to listen to? Son of Body, Sariputra, formed great affinities at the very beginning. It was a great affinity to request the Dharma on behalf of so many people. This was also because he had abundant wisdom and understood that the Great Dharma must be spoken from the Buddha’s mouth. He hoped that the Buddha could, for the assembly, for all of these many people, expound the Dharma. This was a great affinity.

At that Dharma-assembly, wasn’t this forming a great affinity? Furthermore, in the future, in our present 2000 years later, we must also be grateful to Sariputra, for he persevered at that time in asking the Buddha to expound the Dharma and praise the great principles of the. True Dharma of the One Vehicle. [Without him,] how would the Wondrous Lotus Sutra even exist for us today? So, he formed great affinities. If it were not for Sariputra, we would not have what we have today.

“Thus he was first to awaken in the cycle of teaching the Dharma.” This was the first cycle of teaching the Dharma, which was in the Chapter on Skillful Means, the Chapter on Parables and other chapters; this was the first cycle of teachings. In the first cycle of teaching the Dharma, he was the first to become awakened. He was the first one to whom the Buddha gave a prediction of Buddhahood. Everyone must always remember this. The Lotus Sutra is such a large sutra. After chanting it, we forget. The same goes for listening to it. Because we have spoken about it for so long, over this long time, we may forget. So, we must keep on reviewing and digging up the memories of what we have heard; we need to promptly contemplate them again. We must contemplate the sequence of what we heard. Sariputra was the first bestowed with a prediction of Buddhahood.

“This is how small and great affinities each have their differences.” Kaundinya was, when the Buddha expounded the small teachings, the first one to become awakened. Sariputra was, when the Buddha expounded the great teachings, the first to be bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood. So, one of them began by forming small affinities, becoming a senior disciple. The other one, at the very end, when the One Vehicle’s True Dharma was opened up, was first to receive a prediction of Buddhahood. This was “first forming great affinities.” So, “This is how small and great affinities each have their difference.” One of them started from the very beginning, when skillful means were taught, to understand. In the end, he awakened to the One Vehicle Dharma.

Come, let us look at the previous passage.

“The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their minds. He told Mahakasyapa, ‘For these 1200 Arhats I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”

The Buddha, in bestowing a prediction of Buddhahood on him, explained Purna Maitrayaniputra’s accumulated merits and virtues. He explained that Purna Maitrayaniputra would attain Buddhahood in a land that everyone would admire greatly. Purna Maitrayaniputra was able to receive a prediction of Buddhahood, so everyone felt that they also had a part in this. Before, it was Sariputra; next were the four great disciples. After that came Purna, so everyone believed that they should also have a part in this. 

These people were led by Mahakasyapa. Mahakasyapa was the leader in the Sangha. So, the Buddha spoke to Mahakasyapa, called on Mahakasyapa, and said to him, “For these 1200 Arhats…. Kasyapa! You ought to know that for this group of 1200 Arhats, I will bestow predictions of Buddhahood.” This is something everyone had a part in. Thus Buddha spoke to Mahakasyapa, which was to speak to all of those in the Sangha who were led by Mahakasyapa, announcing that everyone had a part in this. This was to put everyone at ease, because what everyone was thinking was, “Will I be able to attain it?” They would all be able to attain it. “How long will it take for me?” This is always how people think. The Buddha first calmed people’s minds. “Don’t worry, everyone has a part in this.” He used this kind of method to allow everyone to first calm their minds.

Next it says,

“In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya, will make offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas. Then he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

Now, in front of 1200 people, in this assembly, He first bestowed a prediction on the bhiksu Kaundinya. The Buddha first indicated Kaundinya by saying “in this assembly.” Of the first five, those transformed at Deer Park, Kaundinya was the first, because he was the first to realize the Four Noble Truths.

In this assembly, my great disciple, the bhiksu Kaundinya: It means in this assembly, of the five people who were first transformed at Deer Park, Kaundinya was first. He had a great intellect.

Everyone needs to remember the Three Turnings [of the Dharma-wheel]. During the first turning, only Kaundinya [awakened]. Due to his reverence, respect and mindfulness in listening to the Dharma, he was able to comprehend. He could experience the truth of what the Buddha spoke of, the world’s suffering. It is truly suffering. “I understand this; I know it. The accumulation of all kinds of afflictions and ignorance causes the creation of all kinds of negative karma. I understand the retributions that accumulate. The suffering and retributions are frightening. I should eliminate it, eliminate this suffering. I understand how suffering comes from causation, so I should eliminate it. I am determined; I know I must practice the Path.”

This was Kaundinya, the very first one who decided to completely take refuge in the Buddha. He comprehended the great path and was willing to delve deeply into the sutra treasury to understand the Dharma the Buddha expounded. This was Kaundinya, the first one awakened by the Buddha’s teachings. So, Kaundinya was first. “He was a great practitioner.” He was the one who, when the Buddha taught, when he encountered the Buddha-Dharma, was the first one to awaken.

He had these causes and conditions, so “He will make offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas.”

He will make offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas: 62 trillion refers to eliminating the 62 trillion afflictions of ignorance. He will follow one Buddha after another to purify all his dust-like delusions. This is making offerings to the Buddha.

Kaundinya had accumulated merits and virtues in the past and attained achievements in this lifetime. However, in the future, there would still be a long time of engaging in spiritual practice. How long would this take? He still had to go through 62 trillion Buddhas. This time period is very long. If we just hear this number, we already feel like it is a long [time]. How long would we have to practice?

How long does it take for one Buddha to appear in the world? If we need to go through 62 trillion Buddhas, wouldn’t this be a long time? It would. When we engage in our practice, we need patience. Since it has already been dust-inked kalpas, the time in the future, as it can be counted, will be much shorter than dust-inked kalpas. Right now, we have a number, that of 62 trillion Buddhas. This is referring “to eliminating 62 trillion thoughts of ignorance and afflictions.”

Actually, we need to have this kind of patience. How many afflictions do we have? We have 62 trillion afflictions. These are very subtle afflictions, dust-like afflictions. These dust-like afflictions must be eliminated completely, not just the coarse and obvious afflictions. Even the very subtle ones, the subtle dust-like afflictions, need to be completely eliminated. This means that we need to have, at all times, uninterrupted practice, with nothing further. This means to constantly remind ourselves to put effort into our spiritual practice.

We must eliminate so many ignorance and afflictions. Next, “He will follow one Buddha after another to purify all his dust-like delusions.” He has to follow many, many Buddhas. When each Buddha manifests in our world, we must practice according to the teachings. We must respect the Buddha’s teachings and practice according to teachings. So, for every single Buddha, all Buddhas share the same path; They are always teaching us how to eliminate all of our afflictions. This is the same for every Buddha.

How do we eliminate [ignorance and afflictions]? We begin by doing all that is good and refraining from all that is evil. We eliminate greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt and all manner of afflictions. Also, in our minds we must eliminate both the acute and chronic afflictions. These are all afflictions. Every Buddha teaches us in this way. So, “He followed one Buddha after another.” He followed each Buddha to “purify all his dust-like delusions.” All dust-like delusions must be eliminated. This is “making offerings to the Buddha.” This is called making offerings through action. Listening, being reverent and accepting teachings are all ways of making offerings.

“Then, he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

Then, he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Universal Radiance: Undergoing this accumulation for long kalpas, through causes and conditions, he will be able to be liberated. He will thoroughly comprehend all Dharma and clearly understand its origin. The merits and virtues that he cultivated will be fulfilled. Thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance.

Having already followed and made offerings to 62 trillion Buddhas in this way, his ignorance and afflictions will gradually be eliminated. With these 62 trillion Buddhas, we all must accept each Buddha’s teachings. Then, naturally, we “will attain Buddhahood.”

This requires one to go through “this accumulation for long kalpas. Through the causes and conditions [accumulated], he will be able to be liberated.” He must constantly engage in spiritual practice, constantly go among people and constantly absorb [wisdom from] people’s afflictions and ignorance in the world. What methods must we use to eliminate these afflictions and ignorance? “Afflictions are Bodhi.” When afflictions arise, naturally we will find ways to eliminate them. So we say, “Afflictions are Bodhi.” We must go among people and over a long period of time accumulate [wisdom] to reach understanding with causes and conditions. This requires that we actually practice and actually train ourselves and not just listen. A professor teaches us [the principles,] but the research and experience must be accumulated through our own hard work. We must seize our causes and conditions in order to understand.

“He will thoroughly comprehend all Dharma and clearly understand its origin.” The origin of the Dharma comes from the causes and conditions created by the world’s many kinds of ignorance. If we are able to understand this origin, we return to our nature of True Suchness, because we “thoroughly comprehended all Dharma and clearly understood its origin.” The karma from ignorance and afflictions comes from one thought of ignorance arising. Yet if we flip this thought of ignorance around, the other side is our nature of True Suchness.

We fundamentally have the ninth consciousness, our pure nature of True Suchness. However, because of one thought of ignorance that arose in our mind, we use our eighth consciousness, through the first five consciousnesses, to experience and make contact with external states. When we take these in, our sixth consciousness discriminates and our seventh consciousness contemplates and begins to create [karma]. The result is taken into our eighth consciousness, according to the law of cause and effect. This [karma] cannot go deeper to enter our ninth consciousness because our ninth consciousness is always pure and unmoving; it is just that because of causes and conditions, that one thought of ignorance allows [the teachings] to leak away. This has happened since Beginningless Time and will continue on in this way.

So, if all the world’s ignorance and afflictions can be thoroughly understood, we can once more return to and comprehend the Dharma’s origins. We understand our mind’s nature of True Suchness and go back to it. This is how “the merits and virtues that he cultivated will be fulfilled.” We need to put in effort. We work hard inwardly and externally, we must practice, to gain experience and accumulate virtue. “With virtue comes attainment.” When we give to help and seek to experience this, what we attain is that within our minds, we eliminate a little ignorance and attain a little more purity. I often say, “Without experience, we cannot grow in wisdom.” We must go among people and accumulate this over long kalpas; through experience, we grow in wisdom. We experience many matters and things, then we continuously develop our wisdom. This all depends on our resolve; is it firm? So, “The merits and virtues that he cultivated will be fulfilled.” With effort, we strengthen our will to practice. We put effort into moving forward. This way, naturally, we can attain Buddhahood. So, “The merits and virtues that he cultivated will be fulfilled. Thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance.”

Next, when Kaundinya attains Buddhahood in the future, his epithet will be “Universal Radiance,” and he will be replete with the Ten Epithets,

Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans and. Buddha, the World-Honored One.

Everyone often chants this. Do you still remember this?

“Tathagata” is one who “journeys on the path of True Suchness and comes to achieve perfect enlightenment.”

Second is “One Worthy of Offerings. He is worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings,” because in the process of spiritual practice, he will accumulate the virtues that allow him to accept offerings from humans and heavenly beings.

Third is “Completely Awakened One.” The Right Dharma was understood completely by him. He will not allow his mind to go astray. With right understanding and views, practicing the Right Dharma on the right path, that refers to the “Completely Awakened One.”

“One Perfect in Wisdom and Action” is one who is perfectly replete in the practice of the Three Insights. This requires putting the principles into action.

Ten epithets of a Buddha: 1. Tathagata: He journeys on the path of True Suchness and comes to achieve perfect enlightenment 2. One Worthy of Offerings: He is worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings 3. Completely Awakened One: He is completely awakened to all Dharma 4. One Perfect in Wisdom and Action: He is perfectly replete with the practice of the Three Insights 5. The Well-Gone One: With the wisdom of all Dharma as His great cart, He travels the Eightfold Path to enter Nirvana.

Fifth is the “Well-Gone One. With the wisdom of all Dharma as His great cart, He travels the Eightfold Path to enter Nirvana.”

In the Lotus Sutra, in the Chapter on Parables, there are small carts, the sheep- and deer-carts. These are carts pulled by sheep or by deer. Can the sheep-carts and deer-carts carry people? Though they can, they can only take one person, people who seek to benefit only themselves. But will this help them attain Buddhahood? No. We must attain the wisdom of all Dharma, not just know that all things are suffering and then cultivate for our own benefit. Benefiting only oneself and ending samsara is easier said than done. So, we need to face the Great Vehicle; that is the great white ox-cart. It is a large-scale vehicle that allows us to deliver ourselves and also others, while simultaneously practicing the Eightfold Path.

In the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, there is the Eightfold Path. We cannot take this lightly. We cannot think the 37 Practices to Enlightenment are Small Vehicle teachings. In fact, they are the way for us to take action in body and mind, the most fundamental of teachings. So, everyone must take them seriously. In walking the Eightfold Path and [practicing] the Great Vehicle Dharma, our bodies and minds must be like this. We must not go astray. This is called “The Well-Gone One,” one who can practice in the world without ever deviating or straying from the Path is called “The Well-Gone One.”

The sixth is “Knower of the World. He can comprehend the matters of all sentient beings and non-sentient beings.” That is, of the world’s matters and things, whether matters or things or the principles behind people’s minds, He comprehends them all.

Ten epithets of a Buddha: 6. Knower of the World: He can comprehend the matters of all sentient beings and non-sentient things.

Seventh is “Unsurpassed Guide. Just as Nirvana is supreme among all Dharma, the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.”

Ten epithets of a Buddha: 7. Unsurpassed Guide: Just as Nirvana is supreme among all Dharma, the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.

This is very important. An “Unsurpassed Guide” is above Bodhisattvas. People with [supreme], perfect enlightenment are called Unsurpassed Guides. They are Buddhas.

“Just as Nirvana is supreme among all Dharma, the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.” We need to understand that we can attain Nirvana. Actually, Nirvana is a tranquil and still state. It is tranquil and clear, a tranquil and clear state. When we go among people, how can we attain this tranquil and clear state? This must be trained by going among people. Everyone must mindfully seek to experience the principles of this explanation for “the Unsurpassed Guide.” When it comes to Nirvana, we use “tranquil and clear” to explain Nirvana. Beyond arising or ceasing is Nirvana, this tranquil and clear state. This is the purity in our minds that does not arise nor cease. This must be [trained] among people. “The Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.” The Buddha is like this, an Unsurpassed Guide.

Eighth is “the Tamer.”

The Ten Epithets of a Buddha: 8. The Tamer: The Buddha sometimes uses soft and gentle words and sometimes uses harsh and urgent words so He can tame all people and guide them onto a good path.

No matter the time, the Buddha is able to use soft and gentle speech, and no matter the time, He is able to use harsh and urgent truths and words to guide sentient beings and subdue their minds. So, He is called the Tamer; He hopes that all people can enter a good path.

Ninth is “Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans.” The Buddha is not just the guiding teacher for the human world, He is also the guiding teacher of heavenly beings, “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings.” So, “He can teach and demonstrate what they should and should not do.”

Ten epithets of a Buddha: 9. Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans: The Buddha is the guiding teacher of humans and heavenly beings. He can teach and demonstrate what they should and should not do.

There are things we should and should not do. For what we should do, we should proactively do it. If it is right, we should just do it. If it is something we should not do, we must absolutely not do it. This is a very simple principle, but among people, it is very difficult. So, we need to be very mindful in teaching others.

Tenth is “the World-Honored One.” The Buddha means “Wise One,” as there is nothing He does not know, or “Enlightened One,” as He is enlightened about all things in the world. He is “the World-Honored One. The World-Honored One” means He is honored by all the world.

Ten epithets of a Buddha: 10. Buddha, the World-Honored One: The Buddha means Wise One or Enlightened One. The World-Honored One means He is honored by all the world.

This is the Buddha’s achievement. When all Buddhas achieve this, they are replete in these ten epithets. They must be perfect in these ten virtues; then they have attained Buddhahood. It is the same for Kaundinya, he still has a long time to go before attaining Buddhahood. He must still work very hard for a long time, [making offerings] to 62 trillion Buddhas and eliminate 62 trillion kinds of afflictions and ignorance. What every Buddha teaches is what he needs to accept and uphold for a long time. So, in the end, he will attain Buddhahood. However, he must be replete in these ten epithets in order to truly to have attained Buddhahood. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1141 – The Conditions for Receiving Predictions

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>> “The Great Enlightened One, the Buddha, praised His great disciple Kaundinya, who over dust-inked kalpas had followed his teacher’s provisional transformation. So, his roots were deep, his conditions mature. He followed the Buddha’s responding to the world at Deer Park. After listening to the Dharma, he was the first to comprehend and awaken. Now he is bestowed with a prediction of attaining Buddhahood.”

>> “At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease gave rise to this thought ‘We all felt joy as we never had before.’ If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!”

>> “The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their mind. He told Mahakasyapa, ‘For these 1200 Arhats, I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”

>> The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their minds. The Buddha knew what these many people were thinking in their minds. They desired and sought to receive predictions.

>> He told Mahakasyapa: Venerable Kasyapa had already received predictions earlier. Now, the reason that the Buddha told Mahakasyapa is because he was the leader of the Sangha.

>> Mahakasyapa: It means “great drinker of light.” It refers to how he had practiced. Samadhi of complete cessation and was able to understand all Dharma.

>> For these 1200 Arhats: These 1200 Arhats refer to the 1000 disciples of the three Kasyapas, plus Maudgalyayana’s and Sariputra’s disciples, which totaled 200.

>> I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: He said “presently,” meaning He would presently bestow predictions. He said “in sequence,” meaning the sequence of the past, the present and the future.

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“The Great Enlightened One, the Buddha,
praised His great disciple Kaundinya,
who over dust-inked kalpas had followed his teacher’s provisional transformation.
So, his roots were deep, his conditions mature.
He followed the Buddha’s responding to the world at Deer Park.
After listening to the Dharma, he was the first to comprehend and awaken.
Now he is bestowed with a prediction of attaining Buddhahood.”

The Great Enlightened One, the Buddha, praised. His great disciple Kaundinya. Kaundinya is someone most of us should recognize. We should know that Kaundinya was there right after the Buddha’s enlightenment and in. Deer Park, when He first turned the Dharma-wheel to teach the Four Noble Truths. Kaundinya was the first to awaken to the suffering of the world. Among the Buddha’s disciples, he was first to awaken after hearing the Dharma and comprehend the truth of suffering. He was a great disciple.

Kaundinya was also royalty. When Prince Siddhartha left the palace, his father was worried. So, he asked five royal relatives, some older and some of his generation, to quickly look for [Siddhartha]. They found the prince, but not only were they unable to persuade him to return to the palace, they were actually moved by his determination to engage in spiritual practice. So, Kaundinya followed Prince Siddhartha and joined him in engaging in spiritual practice. The process of their practice was very arduous; they engaged in ascetic practice. However, Prince Siddhartha, after a very long time, came to believe that this ascetic practice was not the ultimate. Therefore, he left Uruvilva Forest and washed off the years of dirt from his body in the Niranjan River. When he emerged from the river, because of his long years of ascetic practice, he was physically weak from his bath. So, he fainted by the river. Then he received a shepherdess’s offering [of milk] to recover his strength. Under a great tree in the Bodhi-forest, he began to sit in meditation and contemplate.

At that place, for 21 days, he engaged again in calm reflection on his travels seeking answers, his ascetic practice and his journey of engaging in spiritual practice. The universe is so vast and spacious, and the world is full of suffering. He took all of his many experiences in the process of his spiritual practice and brought them all together. Then he gradually organized them into a path. This path of thinking was the path toward awakening. Suddenly, He had a great realization and became one with everything in the universe. His intrinsic ocean of enlightenment opened wide; He completed the great, direct Bodhi-path. His spiritual state was completely enlightened, and He could comprehend all without obstruction.

This state of mind is so hard to describe. As He sat in meditation, He began to clear His mind. All of the many things from the past were passed through the filter [of contemplation]. His mind became tranquil and clear. His awakened nature, His ocean of enlightenment, opened up, and the great Bodhi-path manifested. With that tranquil and clear mind, He entered a completely still and silent state. In this still and silent state, He became one with everything in the universe. With slow contemplation, He understood the principles. This was such a great principle; it turns out everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, and not just humans. All sentient beings, all living, moving beings, have Buddha-nature. So, the first thing He said was, “Amazing! Amazing! All sentient beings possess the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom.” It is just that one thought of ignorance led us to fall into the Three Realms, into the Five Destinies and Four Forms of Birth. This is how suffering in life starts. This is what He understood.

But how could He help everyone experience this? He thought and thought. After 21 days of great contemplation, He wondered, “Can sentient beings really do this? Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, but how can I help everyone to believe this?” Once they believe it and take it to heart, they must start finding ways to eradicate all the ignorance, afflictions and dust-like delusions. This is difficult! Once He thought of the difficulty involved, at that moment, from all directions, the four intermediate directions, above and below, from the worlds of the ten directions, all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and heavenly beings appeared. In this great state, they comforted Sakyamuni. They started telling Him, “It is not easy for each Buddha to appear in the human realm.” Much time has to pass for just one Buddha to manifest in the human realm. Once He has thoroughly penetrated the principles of the universe, He must quickly, right away, find the way to seize the time and deliver and transform sentient beings.

How did he deliver and transform them? All Buddhas share the same path. Sentient beings are foolish, so He had to use all kinds of skillful means as teachings. He opened these doors of skillful means for them. Every Buddha does this same thing. After earnest contemplation, He reached a decision. He would start from the most fundamental thing which people can realize in their life, the most objectively existent, easy-to-experience thing; this was suffering. So, the Dharma the Buddha taught at Deer Park was the Four Noble Truths, suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. There were only four concepts, yet out of the five people there, [Kaundinya] was the first to experience and understand the truth of suffering, to understand that suffering comes from people’s desires. When we give rise to ignorance and afflictions, we draw external phenomena to us. As external phenomena and mental states converge, the body takes action, resulting in the creation of karma.

Once we have created karma, we continue to replicate it in this way. Causes, conditions, effects and retributions will keep coming. [Kaundinya] now knew that it was one thought of ignorance that led them to replicate these many afflictions, causing them to fall into the Three Realms and transmigrate in the Six Destinies, unable to liberate themselves. Kaundinya had already realized and understood this. What about the rest? They still did not know. No matter, the Buddha repeated it again. The second time He taught, there were still some who did not understand. That was fine, as the Buddha repeated it again. So, this was called the Three Turnings of the Four Noble Truths. This was when the Buddha first became enlightened and taught at Deer Park. He turned the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths three times.

Kaundinya was the first to awaken. The Buddha also praised Kaundinya as a great disciple. In the royal palace, he was [Siddhartha’s] elder. But when the Buddha became a monastic, Kaundinya followed Him. After the Buddha’s enlightenment, Kaundinya was also considered the first to awaken to the Buddha-Dharma, so he was called a great disciple.

The world is truly full of suffering! Chi Hui has come back from Jordan. Yesterday, he brought up the situation there. Such suffering! In every word I heard, everything he brought up, there was suffering. These refugees have already left their hometowns and are now gathered in that refugee camp. Cumulatively, they have been [in Jordan] for five years. But at the Zaatari refugee camp in particular, which was where they could settle down, they have been there for three years. These refugees escaped [in 2011] to. Jordan; it has been five years altogether. Now, in this location that was set aside for them, they have already spent more than three years. It has already become a new town.

Every thought in the minds of the refugees is on returning home. This is because the place they live now is a vast, boundless desert. Right now, an area of about six to seven [square] kilometers has been set aside for them to gather. I heard there were tens of thousands of refugees living in that place. It is the second largest refugee camp in the world. Nearly 70,000 to 80,000 refugees are gathered there. Some of them live in tents, and some live in temporary houses. These quarters are simple and crude, and furthermore tightly packed together. They lack water; there is no grass or water. It is a very dry and arid place. When the wind blows, the sandstorms are very severe.

Yesterday, Chi Hui took out a towel [to show us]. It was stored in a plastic bag. This towel was from another refugee camp, a new one. It was about 400 or 500 kilometers from the capital. It was on the border, even farther away. There were very many refugees there. Some of them came from Afghanistan, some from Iraq and some from Syria. This was another group that had come to the borders but were not yet allowed to cross Jordan’s boundaries.

Chi Hui and others went to assess the place. This was because the United Nations High Commission for Refugees requested that Tzu Chi go visit them. Sure enough, they went to see them. The borders were hard to pass through. However, with help from Prince Hassan, they successfully crossed into that area, right outside the borders, to visit these refugees. The wind blew the sand everywhere. They used a towel to wipe their faces, and the entire towel was covered with a layer of sand. He took this towel, a pure white towel, which was now covered with a thick layer of sand, and placed it in a plastic bag. This was to help us understand what life in that region was like. The wind blew the sand everywhere. The people in that place who face this end up with their entire head, entire face and entire body covered with sand; from this we can tell [how much] they have suffered.

They were born in one country, grew up in that country and established a family and career in that country. But once war broke out there, they were forced to leave their homeland. To save their lives, they had to leave their homes. The course of their flight was tragic and full of suffering! Could their entire family remain safe as they fled on this road [to safety]? The process of reaching the borders of Jordan and Syria, as we often heard these past four, five years, was tragic and heartbreaking! These journeys were covered in bloodstains. We have heard all this before. So, we can imagine how the survivors simply hope to survive. They only seek to live. But in the life they are now living, in the desert with all its blowing sand, they lack water and food. Every day their entire bodies are covered in sand. Thinks about it; isn’t this suffering?

Tzu Chi volunteers gave them water and provisions. How much longer will the children there have their schooling put on hold? We do not know. In that place, there are problems with more than just adults and children. There are also babies that have yet to be born. How will they be born? Can they be born safely? Will there be complications? It is very dangerous. Chi Hui and the volunteers placed great importance on this aspect. Even if the babies were born safely, the children face great suffering, as do the adults. What happens if there are complications? They said they need Tzu Chi to help them. Yesterday, they discussed this too. In such a faraway place, if this happened, how would they handle complications in childbirth? This is all suffering. This kind of suffering truly cannot be described in words. This is truly unbearable suffering!

By now, these Syrian refugees have been fleeing for more than five years. The civil war has gone on for five years. The refugees who fled and left their country behind number more than four million. About a third of them are in Jordan. Clearly Jordan has taken in over 1 million people, which is truly a very large number. They were scattered [around the country]. The largest of the refugee camps accommodated more than 85,000 people. This is a huge number; it has become the fourth largest city in Jordan and the second largest refugee camp in the world. We saw how densely packed in they are. There is not even a single blade of grass, let alone a tree. When it rains, they walk on mud, whether inside the tent or out. As it rains outside, there is water inside too. If the weather is clear, the wind stirs up all the sand. How can they live in this way?

In particular, on March 1 (2016), we saw the [refugee hospital’s] celebration. They were celebrating the birth of the 5000th baby. Their lives are already very harsh. Will these children who were born be able to grow up happily? Among these children, some are already ill. Yesterday, we heard that there is a four-month-old baby girl from Syria born with umbilical hernia, which means her intestines by her belly button are protruding through her umbilical opening. When we went to distribute aid during our regular aid distribution, her mother carried this child to us to ask Tzu Chi volunteers for help.

How could we help them? Still, Chi Hui quickly accepted the case. Tzu Ai and Tzu Li immediately looked for a doctor. They found a doctor in Amman. There was a urologist willing to take on this case. However, the medical fee, in Jordanian currency, was more than 500 dinars 500 dinars is equivalent to 23,000 NTD. This was a heavy financial burden. But to save the child, we knew we had to take it on. So, Chi Hui said that that night when he went home to sleep, he dreamt that I told him, “You have the doctor.”

He was so shocked he woke up. “I have the doctor? Where is the doctor?” Then it came to him. After he woke up, he recalled, “Yes! I do have a doctor. I have a Syrian doctor named Mohnad.” This doctor helped Tzu Chi before; he saved a five-year-old boy injured by a bomb. This doctor saved his life, and he happened to be an urologist. So, Chi Hui quickly went to find him. This doctor was very kind and was willing to only charge 275 dinars. This was half the cost. Therefore, when they look for doctors there, I helped too! However, this is how inconceivable causes and conditions are. This is the power of love.

This child has already undergone surgery. On March 10 (2016), she went back for another doctor’s visit. Her wound was healing nicely. This child is beautiful; truly, this man is a precious benefactor in her life. That is because when this child was brought to this doctor for surgery, the doctor mentioned to Chi Hui that there are children like her in the Zaatari refugee camp right now. In that refugee camp, there were a total of 56 children like her. They ranged from one month old to four years old 56 children suffered from umbilical hernia and thus required surgery. So, yesterday they came back to ask, “Do we want to accept these cases?” If we do not accept them, what will happen to these children? If we do, it will be a huge burden.

Indeed, this will be a huge burden. But for these children, the lives of 50-60 children, exactly how much are they worth? They are priceless! Since they have come to the world, we cannot calculate how much their life is worth. Moreover, among these 50-plus children, there are 15 children with complicated illnesses. They cannot afford any delay. So, we had to quickly make a decision for [Chi Hui]. Of course, saving lives is the top priority. Though born into these circumstances, though these one- to four-year-olds were all born in the refugee camps, I always ask myself if karma is created from a single thought.

A few days ago, we discussed how. Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s land is free of thoughts of sexual desire. So, everyone is pure, and everyone takes the Dharma to heart. In Jordan, when I see these refugees, I truly feel helpless. There are still so many!

Isn’t this suffering? [Suffering’s causes] are accumulated. The disasters created in the past are being faced by the adults. Now the suffering extends to the next generation, and it will continue. This is truly suffering!

However, spiritual practice requires a long time. “Kaundinya, over dust-inked kalpas, had followed his teacher’s provisional transformation. So, his roots were deep, his conditions mature.” As Kaundinya engaged in spiritual practice, he was the first to realize the Four Noble Truths. Actually, he had been following Sakyamuni Buddha for dust-inked kalpas just like Purna Maitrayaniputra, since Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and the 16 princes’ time all the way up until now. So, their roots were deep and their conditions were already mature. Now, they could receive predictions of Buddhahood. “He followed the Buddha’s responding to the world at Deer Park.” At Deer Park, among those hearing the Dharma, he was the first to attain realization; he was the very first. At this time, Ajnata Kaundinya was the next person to receive predictions of Buddhahood. This means we should be happy for him.

The previous sutra passage says,

“At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease gave rise to this thought ‘We all felt joy as we never had before.’ If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!”

Everyone was very happy. Now, one by one, their names were being called to receive predictions of Buddhahood. “Maybe I will be next!” It might be very soon. This is why everyone was very happy.

The next sutra passage states,

“The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their mind. He told Mahakasyapa, ‘For these 1200 Arhats, I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.'”

The Buddha already knew the hopes in these people’s hearts. The hopes in the minds of these 1200 people were all known to the Buddha. So, as for the thoughts in these people’s minds, their hopes, “The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their minds.” They sought to receive predictions; they hoped the Buddha would bestow predictions of Buddhahood upon them.

The Buddha knew the thoughts these disciples had in their minds. The Buddha knew what these many people were thinking in their minds. They desired and sought to receive predictions.

In the past, they dared not accept this, because receiving predictions of Buddhahood meant they had walked the Bodhisattva-path. To walk the Bodhisattva-path, they had to first go among people. Among people, their causes and conditions ripen; then they can attain Buddhahood. In the past, they did not dare. By now, Sariputra, Mahakasyapa and the others, such as Purna Maitrayaniputra, had predictions bestowed upon them by the Buddha. So, everybody’s confidence grew; they were very happy. They had faith in themselves and were willing to form great aspirations, willing to complete the path to Buddhahood; They sought the path to Buddhahood, so, they rejoiced.

The Buddha understood these people’s mentality. “He told Mahakasyapa….” Venerable Kasyapa had already received predictions. The Chapter on Bestowing Predictions shows how, with his comprehension in the Chapter on Parables, in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, they all expressed their thoughts in this way for the Buddha to understand. The Buddha also said that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Everyone has a dignified house in their minds. Inside it, there are many treasures. Everyone understands this. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. They had all comprehended this as well. Then, in the Chapter on Medicinal Plants etc., we see that this field of the mind has already been nourished by the water of Dharma. It has already been nourished, so the Dharma has been taken to heart. Thus the Buddha started to bestow predictions. In the Chapter on Bestowing Predictions, they received predictions. This was when Venerable Kasyapa and rest of the four great disciples received predictions. After this span of four chapters, they had received predictions of Buddhahood.

He told Mahakasyapa: Venerable Kasyapa had already received predictions earlier. Now, the reason that the Buddha told Mahakasyapa is because he was the leader of the Sangha.

Now the Buddha “told Mahakasyapa.” This is because. Kasyapa would lead the Sangha in the future. So, he already received predictions of Buddhahood. At this moment, Mahakasyapa was the focus. Therefore, “He told Mahakasyapa.” After Venerable Kasyapa received a prediction, the Buddha called out his name, hoping that everyone would affirm that. Kasyapa would lead the assembly in the future. So, Mahakasyapa’s story is pretty much known to everyone. His name is translated as “Great Light-drinker” because his body radiated light. His body was very luminous. He cultivated the “Samadhi of complete cessation”; his mind was in Samadhi, Moreover, he “was able to understand all Dharma.”

Mahakasyapa: It means “great drinker of light.” It refers to how he had practiced. Samadhi of complete cessation and was able to understand all Dharma.

“For these 1200 Arhats” refers to the 1200 Arhats in the Buddha’s Sangha. There were always 1250 people. It was always roughly this number of people.

For these 1200 Arhats: These 1200 Arhats refer to the 1000 disciples of the three Kasyapas, plus Maudgalyayana’s and Sariputra’s disciples, which totaled 200.

Where did these 1200 Arhats come from? [Most] were from the Three Kasyapas. You have heard the story of the Three Kasyapas. There were three brothers. The oldest brother had 500 disciples. The two younger brothers had 250 disciples each. Between the two of them, they had 500 disciples. The oldest brother had 500 disciples. So, in total they had 1000 disciples. The three brothers led a total of 1000 disciples, and each had their own place of practice. After being moved and transformed by the Buddha, they brought their disciples to take refuge under the Buddha. These were the Kasyapas; the Three Kasyapas had 1000 disciples.

Maudgalyayana and Sariputra had two hundred disciples combined. So, all these added together was 1200 people. They were those always following the Buddha. Their teachers became a monastic, so they followed them to become monastics. These disciples truly practiced in the Sangha. Did they all properly abide by the rules? Truly, this is not an easy matter. As part of their spiritual practice, they lived as part of the Sangha.

So, the Buddha said, “I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.”

I now will presently bestow in sequence predictions of. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: He said “presently,” meaning He would presently bestow predictions. He said “in sequence,” meaning the sequence of the past, the present and the future.

This is saying that “presently” means right now. “There are 1200 people at this place of practice, I will bestow predictions upon them because of their spiritual practice in the past.” He saw their past spiritual practice; He saw the aspirations they formed. Now, in front of Him they had already expressed that they were willing to form great aspirations. They had a “tacit understanding,” meaning they accepted the Dharma in their minds. The Buddha understood all this.

Yesterday, we discussed “tacit understanding.” Though the previous text was explained, they would be unable to speak it aloud. Maybe they could not immediately draw on unobstructed eloquence. Although they were still unable to do this, with the Dharma they comprehended in their minds, they started to form aspirations. They knew their past process of spiritual practice. Did they have the qualifications to receive predictions of Buddhahood one by one? So, the Buddha began “presently and in sequence” to call their names one by one and bestow predictions upon them.

The spiritual practice they engaged in previously is apparent in the results revealed in the present. I have faith that in the future, they will continue this way for a very long time. All this depends on our spiritual practice and the causes and conditions behind our past aspirations. Have we continued to uphold our past aspirations? If we are doing a good job in the present, that means in the future, we can lead people; we can go among people and can do great things for humankind. Doing the work of the Great Vehicle depends on what [the disciples] can express now. How did they form aspirations in the past? How are they expressing this now in the present? Will they be able to take on the responsibility for the work of the Great Vehicle in the future? This is what the Buddha is observing now.

“I now will presently” means He started to earnestly observe presently. “In sequence” means to earnestly observe their past, their present performance and the responsibility they can shoulder in the future. The Buddha earnestly sought to understand this. Then, according to their virtues, He bestowed predictions of Buddhahood on them, predictions of attaining Buddhahood in the future.

Indeed! The Buddha appeared in the world for one great cause. The world is full of suffering! In the Lotus Sutra, this is dissected completely. Come, let us open this up like we are dissecting it. We dissect the key source of suffering in the world. This is like asking, for any person, what is the source of their illness? What kind of illness is this that they will surely die? This is the research we do through gross anatomy. The Buddha [broke down] what sentient beings in the macrocosm have accumulated, the karmic forces, painful retributions etc. that they faced. Precisely how did these come about? The Lotus Sutra speaks of so many people’s stories in the world; this is very practical. People’s stories in the present day are like what Chi Hui brought back from Jordan. Jordan is a real country. Five-plus years ago, we first came in contact with these blood-stained refugees on the run. Their situation is tragic and harsh. What they have connected with, what they have seen, heard and described, is the True Dharma. It is the true appearance of suffering in the world.

So, as we continue discussing the Lotus Sutra, we must talk about modern-day people and their modern-day lives. Even if they are very far away, they are still within our sight and hearing. In particular, with advanced, modern technology and convenient transportation, to witness and understand is not difficult. So, we must mindfully comprehend this. [Shouldering] the work of the Great Vehicle is the Buddha’s hope for everyone. So, we must always be mindful!

Episode 1140 – Silently Keeping Causes and Conditions in Mind

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>> “Those who have attained the small fruit are not afflicted by views and thinking. Their minds are at ease. As they had heard the three cycles of teachings and seen those disciples receive predictions, their hearts gave rise to joy as never before. Solely thinking of being bestowed a prediction, their own minds had a tacit understanding of causes and conditions, yet they only silently kept it in their minds.”

>> “When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues, he will attain this pure land with a great assembly of noble beings and sages. Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly.”

>> “At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease gave rise to this thought ‘We all felt joy as we never had before If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!'”

>> Arhats: Those who have exhausted all Leaks, who are replete with purifying practices and who appear in the world to expound the Four Noble Truths, enabling all sentient beings to escape from samsara and attain the benefit, peace and joy of infinite meanings. They are teachers and models for sentient beings.

>> Bodhisattvas: With wisdom and skillful means, they tame their own mind, enter infinite states of Great Samadhi and play freely within spiritual powers, without obstructions. This is called having a “mind at ease.”

>> At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease: These 1200 people had all realized the stage beyond learning and attained the small fruit. As they had eliminated their afflictions, they were not afflicted by views and thinking. They are called those who “were at ease.”

>> [They] gave rise to this thought. “We all felt joy as we never had before”: They gave rise to this thought, “We and the others have heard. Pur receive a prediction of Buddhahood. We also have a part in this.” Therefore they felt joyous and praised what they never had before.

>> [They] gave rise to this thought: They had realized this in their minds but could not yet say it. They only silently kept it in their minds. Speaking of their tacit understanding of causes and conditions, they were not inferior to Born of Emptiness. In truly believing they could become Buddhas, they were worthy of being equal to Son of Body. However, those disciples had supreme abilities and great wisdom, spoke with eloquence and dared to trade words face to face, while these disciples, though they may have excelled in their inner cultivation, were still lacking in their outer eloquence. They had difficulties in speaking, thus they silently expressed their aspirations.

>> If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!: If the World-Honored One would see the original vows in the depths of our hearts and bestow predictions on us, like He did previously to all those disciples, how could it not make us happy?

>> Would it not be joyous!: It means that the Buddha has said that 1200 [disciples] will attain Buddhahood. Why not now bestow predictions on those He sees? If we are able to be bestowed with a prediction, we would be happy and content. Moreover, we all question if, since those people have received predictions, it is also fitting for us to receive predictions.

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“Those who have attained the small fruit are not afflicted by views and thinking.
Their minds are at ease.
As they had heard the three cycles of teachings
and seen those disciples receive predictions,
their hearts gave rise to joy as never before.
Solely thinking of being bestowed a prediction,
their own minds had a tacit understanding of causes and conditions,
yet they only silently kept it in their minds.”

Remember, yesterday we talked about the three cycles of teachings. The Buddha taught His disciples according to their capabilities. Regardless of what their capabilities were like, the Buddha has only one heartfelt wish, which is for everyone to attain Buddhahood. He hopes that everyone will be able to understand their intrinsic Buddha-nature. Whether we have limited capabilities and wisdom or great capabilities and wisdom, the Buddha hopes that those with great, average and limited capabilities will all be able to experience their nature of True Suchness. He hopes that everyone can plant seeds one by one, one by one becoming a great Bodhi-forest. This is the Buddha’s heartfelt wish!

So, He continuously awaits this. He spent a long time using skillful teachings, teaching according to people’s capabilities. For over 40 years, [He] hoped that everyone would be able to have an overall understanding. He had those with great capabilities manifest to help those with limited capabilities to experience and understand. This was the order of the Buddha’s teachings. Over those 40-plus years, there were actually many who understood the Buddha’s intent. They knew this deep in their hearts, but they still lived among the Hearers along with everyone else. This is just like Purna Maitrayaniputra. In the Sangha, there were many like this.

Sometimes the Buddha used Small Vehicle Dharma to help everyone understand that life is filled with suffering. The disciples who were close to the Buddha had to constantly be awakened. They had to understand the origins of the suffering in life. They themselves had to earnestly comprehend and prevent it. In their lives, they had to understand “suffering” and “causation.” Then they had to earnestly work hard. There are many matters in the world and an unlimited amount of afflictions. In a moment of carelessness, if we accumulate the causes of suffering, we will certainly face the karmic retributions of suffering.

This is to help everyone understand that they must, in their daily living, give rise to continuous thoughts of “cessation,” to bring all afflictions to cessation. He wanted to help everyone remind each other that they must engage in practice on “the Path.” On this road in our daily living, we must always alert ourselves to be vigilant. Though we all know the great, direct Bodhi-path, the Four Noble Truths are inseparable from our daily living. This means that, to eliminate afflictions, we cannot depart from the Four Noble Truths. So, the Four Noble Truths help us to eliminate all dust-like ignorance, afflictions, delusion etc., totally and completely. This is the most fundamental teaching, so we must spend a very long time on it.

Even in our daily living, even if we hear and understand that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, everyone must walk the Bodhi-path. Though we know all of this, we still live our lives in this Sangha. This is inseparable from “the Path” in daily life. It is inseparable from having constant thoughts of affliction that must be brought to cessation, inseparable from our vigilance of “causation.” With one careless [thought or act], ignorance and afflictions will accumulate. We must always increase our vigilance; we fear to experience suffering again. So, in our daily living, as we engage in spiritual practice, we should not have even the slightest, tiniest [thought] of giving up. The Buddha has been doing this, leading us laboriously for over 2000 years. Thus this Dharma has been continually passed down until today. To attain Buddhahood, we must engage in spiritual practice. We must purify our afflictions and ignorance. Purifying our afflictions and ignorance must be done in our daily living. This is cultivating the fruit of the Small Vehicle.

It may appear we are cultivating limited fruits. Those who had just become monastics as well as those who were experienced in following the Buddha in spiritual practice were all together in the Sangha. So, the Sangha had to have rules like this, the foundation for their daily living. It seemed that all of them were cultivating the small fruits. In the Sangha, they “are not afflicted by views or thinking.” The experienced practitioners likewise practiced, but they were not obstructed by afflictions, not at all. This is how spiritual practitioners should be.

It was like this for Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, two friends who also practiced together. “I care for the disciples you have transformed. You also care for the disciples I transformed.” They both cared for each other’s [disciples]. One day, when Maudgalyayana and Sariputra were in their place of spiritual practice and had nothing to do, they began talking to each other about the Dharma. Sariputra, to check in on Maudgalyayana, asked him, “Recently, you led two disciples to come and engage in spiritual practice. How are these two disciples doing? What method do you use to teach and guide them?”

Maudgalyayana replied to Sariputra, “Though these two disciples are very diligent, for some reason, I do not know how to get through to them. They have already engaged in spiritual practice for some time, but they seem not to have gained many insights. They do not seem to have awakened at all.” Sariputra then asked with concern, “What teachings are you having them practice?” Maudgalyayana answered, “I taught one of them to meditate by counting the breath. For the other one, I taught him to contemplate the body as impure. But while they both practice very earnestly, it seems that they have not yet been able to experience the truth of the Dharma.” Sariputra asked him, “What kind of work do these two usually do?” Maudgalyayana answered him, “One of them was an ironsmith, and the other used to wash people’s clothes; he would wash clothes at the riverside.”

Sariputra asked Maudgalyayana, “If that is the case, for the ironsmith, what method did you ask him to practice?” He said, “I taught him to contemplate the body as impure. For the one who washes clothes, I taught him to meditate by counting the breath.” After Sariputra heard this, he said to Maudgalyayana, “You used very good methods for both, but you used them on the wrong people. For the ironsmith, have him meditate by counting the breath.” Maudgalyayana asked, “Why is that?” Sariputra said, “He was an ironsmith. Iron must be heated with fire. The fire must frequently be fanned for it to be a raging heat, so a bellows is used to fan it.” In the past, ironsmiths did not use a fan, they used bellows to blow air into [the fire]. They pull out [the bellows] and then push them in again.

Sariputra said, “Because when he works, he has to constantly push the bellows in, then pull it out, then push it in again so the fire can be very hot and the flames will increase. If you have him meditate by counting the breath, teach him to pull the bellows out for ‘one’, push it in and pull it out to count ‘two,’ Thus he constantly counts from one to ten, focusing single-mindedly on that number. Then his mind will remain concentrated on that. For the person who used to wash clothes, all of the clothing came to him dirty. The clothing was so dirty and filthy that, when he washed them at the river, to remove the dirt and filth, he had to scrub them very hard and focus on making them clean. After he washed these dirty things, they were placed under the sun to dry. By the time he gathered them up, they were very clean.”

“If you pass on this [meditative] skill to him, he will understand that our minds are like that cloth, just like that clothing. Having been defiled by many dirty things, it must be washed by water and dried by the sun to return to being a clean piece of clothing. If you help him understand this principle, it will help him focus his mind as he washes. As he faces the river and takes the dirty clothes in his hands, he can focus on contemplating the body as impure. With these unclean things, he will know to eliminate unclean thoughts, helping him focus his mind.”

Hearing this, Maudgalyayana happily accepted it. He then quickly had these two disciples exchange their methods of cultivation. The two disciples took to it like a fish to water; they were very joyful. The one who was an ironsmith focused on counting his breaths. He counted one as he exhaled and one as he inhaled, just as if he was pulling the bellows. His exhaling and inhaling were like the bellows. After iron is refined in the furnace, it is beaten. It is hammered into whatever shape is needed; it can be worked until it becomes a very sharp and refined tool.

Once he understood this principle, in this way, he would count the breath. He would count his breath. He used this method to sit and focus his mind on counting. “As I exhale and then inhale, that is one count. Exhaling and inhaling again is the second count.” He continued like this to ten, then returned back to one again. He focused on meditating by counting the breath. Thus his mind was free and at ease, he eliminated afflictions and he did not have any discursive thoughts.

With the same principle, by contemplating the body as impure, the person who washed clothes could do the same. He would use the principle of washing clothes in his daily living, so he understood that the human body, this body, is really impure. We start by contemplating what is inside the body as impure, as well as the filthy things our bodies create. With our craving for taste, we eat things, digest and pass them out as waste. The body is also very dirty, with sweat and such. As for things outside of the body, new things become garbage and rot. After we die, doesn’t our body also rot? All that is left is a pile of white bones. Those white bones are originally from our body. In life, what is worth taking issue over? There is no need. When we have eliminated afflictions, our minds will be free and at ease.

In the Buddha’s Sangha, these great disciples also worked to transform those who were newly-aspired, those who came to engage in spiritual practice. They taught and guided them with these methods. If they were taught with the right method, these people with limited capabilities, would receive the teachings and eliminate the afflictions in their minds. They could understand the principles of the Four Noble Truths. At the same time, they also gradually attained understanding of the impermanence of all things in the world as well as the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. This was how they taught one another in the Sangha. This was how they lived their daily lives.

If they understood, “They heard the three cycles of teachings.” The Buddha had already begun teaching at the Lotus Dharma-assembly.

Now we are on the. Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, which begins with Purna Maitrayaniputra; he could lead so many people, 500 people. He could help these 500 people to experience the truth, understand and attain predictions of Buddhahood. This required someone of great capabilities. The Buddha wanted all 500 people to comprehend, so He especially praised Purna Maitrayaniputra so He especially praised Purna Maitrayaniputra, from how he engaged in practice in the past, to the length of his practice, the places he went to and the people he connected with. He engaged in practice and transformed sentient beings without interruption. This way even more people could listen earnestly, understand thoroughly and mindfully make vows to emulate Purna Maitrayaniputra. This was for those with limited capabilities, with small capacities. By using the methods of practice of those with great capabilities, the Buddha helped them understand even better.

So, helping those of limited capabilities was in the third cycle of teaching the Dharma. They saw those four disciples previously receiving predictions of Buddhahood, and before that, they saw Sariputra be the first to receive a prediction of Buddhahood. This was to awaken the aspiration in everyone that took joy in seeking the Great [Vehicle], that of giving up the Small to seek the Great. This helped everyone to have this mindset. So, he presented many ways to help everyone have faith in attaining Buddhahood. But, to form great aspirations, we need patient minds. We must be patient over a long time to make great aspirations. Purna Maitrayaniputra was used as an example to teach everyone. When everyone saw others receive predictions, they would believe that they themselves could also one day attain Buddhahood, could also receive predictions of Buddhahood.

So “their hearts gave rise to joy” as never before. Everyone knew that they could also attain Buddhahood in the future. So, every person gave rise to joy that they had never experienced before. They had never been this joyful before, because they never had faith in themselves. Now, they believed in themselves, so they rejoiced. In their mind they were “solely thinking of being bestowed a prediction.” With one heart and one mind, they went in the direction of being able to receive predictions in the future. They were focused on this.

“Their own minds had a tacit understanding of causes and conditions.” They knew themselves that they must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. “Tacit understanding” means “I understand. Though I have not spoken this out loud, I have understood it all.” Everything is determined by causes and conditions. We must give rise to good causes. When we plant good causes, we attain good effects. When we form [conditions of] good affinities, we attain good retributions. These are all definite laws. So, they only “silently kept it in their minds.” These people all knew this in their minds. Although they did not speak it out loud, “They silently kept it in their mind.” They kept it in their mind, understanding it all. These were the three cycles of teachings.

The Buddha continually praised. Purna Maitrayaniputra. That was for the sake of these 500 people; it was about time for them receive predictions of Buddhahood. Purna concealed the Great and revealed the Small to resonate with those of limited capabilities to whom the Buddha wanted to begin giving predictions for kalpas in the distant future. These 500 would receive predictions in the future. So, Purna Maitrayaniputra and the Buddha’s mind were in such accord with one another; no wonder the Buddha praised Purna so much!

Now let us take a look at the previous passage.

“When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues, he will attain this pure land with a great assembly of noble beings and sages. Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly.”

In the past, Purna was like this; he accumulated so much merits and virtues. Thus he was able to attain this kind of pure land. In the future, everyone in his land will be a Bodhisattva, a Solitary Realizer or a Hearer. Many of them will speak only for the Dharma’s sake. They will speak nothing but Dharma, speak nothing but words of encouragement. This is just like Sariputra and Maudgalyayana; they checked on each other when they had time. “How about your disciples and my disciples and their ways of engaging in spiritual practice?” things like this. But among Purna’s future disciples, there will be even more who form great aspirations and vows.

After this, the next sutra passage says,

“At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease gave rise to this thought ‘We all felt joy as we never had before If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!'”

Now, in this Dharma-assembly, there should have been close to 500 people there, and some people had spread out outside. But the sutra says “1200 Arhats.” This refers to those who followed the Buddha. These 500 people would receive predictions from the Buddha, so in the future, everyone would also be like this. In another place, at another time, they would also receive predictions of Buddhahood. Some would go out, while others would stay, but this is the. Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions. So, there should have been 500 people present. However, after these people received predictions, once everyone else got this news, they all joyfully awaited the same. These are the “1200” that are often mentioned in the sutras.

The “Arhats” are these 1200 Arhats.

Arhats: Those who have exhausted all Leaks, who are replete with purifying practices and who appear in the world to expound the Four Noble Truths, enabling all sentient beings to escape from samsara and attain the benefit, peace and joy of infinite meanings. They are teachers and models for sentient beings.

Arhats are those “who have exhausted all Leaks and who appear in the world to expound the Four Noble Truths.” They have already exhausted all Leaks; thus, they have attained the fruit of the Arhats. They already attained the stage of Arhatship. To attain the stage of an Arhat, all Leaks, all afflictions, must already be exhausted. They are replete with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are in our daily life. When we have these three in our daily living, naturally we will have no afflictions. So, once their afflictions are all exhausted, they “enable all sentient beings to escape from samsara.” Likewise, they “appear in the world to expound the Four Noble Truths.” Within the Sangha, those who extinguished Leaks and also had precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, listening, contemplation and practice, those who were replete with these things, would then go among people and teach the Dharma to everyone. They could teach about life’s sufferings, that suffering is accumulated through causation. Everyone must work hard to bring the sources of suffering to cessation. All must earnestly engage in spiritual practice.

In this Sangha, there were people who were already Arhats, so they should all be going among people, enabling all beings to escape from samsara. They must lead all sentient beings to escape from samsara. It is not about attaining self-realization. Arhats seek only to benefit themselves. Now, the Buddha wanted to bestow predictions on everyone. He wanted everyone to make great aspirations so they would be able to attain Buddhahood. If they do not form great aspirations to walk the Bodhisattva-path, then they will never be able to attain Buddhahood. So, these Arhats who had eliminated all Leaks and understood the Buddha-Dharma had to quickly go among the people to lead these sentient beings to listen to the Dharma and escape from samsara. They had to use all kinds of methods, “infinite meanings,” to benefit sentient beings and help them feel peace and joy. Sentient beings’ lives are full of great suffering. They needed to help all sentient beings have the realization that they can transcend all this in the future. This would stabilize everyone’s minds. This is the sense of responsibility that all spiritual practitioners should have. So, “They are teachers and models for sentient beings.” Everyone who is a monastic should be a model for people in society, should be a teacher and role model.

The Buddha began to step by step make it clear that He wanted everyone to begin forming great aspirations. Since Arhats had already eliminated afflictions, they started walking on the Bodhisattva-path. Bodhisattvas need wisdom and skillful means. On reaching the level of Bodhisattvas, they must exercise the Buddha’s wisdom to know how to go among people. There are all kinds of people, each with different kinds of afflictions. Thus, Bodhisattvas must use all kinds of infinite skillful means to transform them. So, however many afflictions of ignorance we have, we must use the same number of methods to treat and tame them. If we want to help others, we must first tame ourselves. So, we must work hard to tame [our own minds].

Bodhisattvas: With wisdom and skillful means, they tame their own mind, enter infinite states of Great Samadhi and play freely within spiritual powers, without obstructions. This is called having a “mind at ease.”

Bodhisattvas can “enter infinite states of Great Samadhi.” Bodhisattvas not only eliminate all Leaks but also go among people. They see how people’s suffering is also a provision for spiritual cultivation. So, they are not contaminated when among people and remain free and at ease. This is because they tamed themselves. Going among people is our spiritual training ground. As we go among people, we tame our own minds. There are so many afflictions among people, so we must use many methods to give to them, all without affecting our own minds. This is how we tame our minds.

When we go among people, we must work hard to tame our minds so we can “enter infinite states of Great Samadhi.” Our minds must be settled; Samadhi is having right understanding and views. Our thinking will always be right, and our minds will not be influenced. Yet we can “play freely with spiritual powers,” play freely in this world. We go among people with skillful means, yet we know that everything is illusory. Everything is inherently empty and illusory, so when we go among people and [are] criticized, or slandered or so on, why must we take it so seriously? We should just let it go. All of these things are nothing but a play, a dream; they are empty and illusory. It is as if we are in a play or a dream. It is like the morning dew. This principle that everything is empty is very clear to us, so we have no obstructions. We do not let sentient beings’ various kinds of ignorance and afflictions influence our will to practice. This is what Bodhisattvas are like.

So, in our mind, our will to practice is not obstructed by people. We do the work of the Great Vehicle for the sake of sentient beings, yet they do not influence our mind. This is having a mind that is at ease. Our mind is at ease. Our afflictions are eliminated, while our mind is at ease. These are the “1200 Arhats.” Everyone understood that the 500 Arhats would receive predictions, and the rest of them understood equally that they must quickly form great aspirations and have a mind that is at ease. This way, they need not fear going among people. They must learn the Bodhisattva-path so their mind will be at ease.

At that time, 1200 Arhats whose minds were at ease: These 1200 people had all realized the stage beyond learning and attained the small fruit. As they had eliminated their afflictions, they were not afflicted by views and thinking. They are called those who “were at ease.”

At that time, these 1200 Arhats’ minds were at ease, and they already had no affliction at all.

“These 1200 people had all realized the stage beyond learning.” For those beyond the stage of learning, the Buddha had already taught the Dharma that He needed to teach them. He made sure they all understood the methods; they all understood how to eliminate afflictions. They were already at the stage beyond learning. So, “They attained the small fruit.” The small fruit is Arhatship. “They had eliminated their afflictions.” All afflictions had been eliminated. “They were not affected by views and thinking.” As they went among people, they did not give rise to afflictions over anything that they saw or heard. They did not feel any afflictions in their mind, so, “They were not affected by views and thinking.” They were now able to see through life and understand the principles. They already understood what they had realized. The Buddha had already taught all that He had to, so “they all realized the stage beyond learning.” They were already at the stage beyond learning, thus their minds could be at ease.

These people “gave rise to this thought, ‘We all felt joy as we never had before.'” They were all joyful. Those 500 people would receive predictions; among the 1200 people, 500 of these could receive predictions [now]. Because they were always at the Buddha’s side, the Dharma [the 500] had understood was the same as the Dharma the rest understood. So, when they saw them receiving predictions, they rejoiced for them. “Because I have the same state of mind, the prediction they will receive is like my own; they should be equal.” Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature; everyone has a part in this, so they rejoiced in their hearts. That was why they “gave rise to this thought, ‘We all felt joy as we never had before.'” Seeing them receive predictions, they all became very joyful, feeling what they never had before.

“They gave rise to this thought, ‘We and the others have heard Purna received a prediction of Buddhahood We also have a part in this.’ Therefore, they felt joyous and praised what they never had before.”

[They] gave rise to this thought. “We all felt joy as we never had before”: They gave rise to this thought, “We and the others have heard. Pur receive a prediction of Buddhahood. We also have a part in this.” Therefore, they felt joyous and praised what they never had before.

In the previous passage, the Buddha had already bestowed on Purna a prediction of Buddhahood. Everyone was already very joyful, especially as the land he will attain will be so pure. All of those he will teach will be people of great capabilities. This land is peaceful and free. So, “They gave rise to this thought.” This means that. “They had realized this in their minds but could not yet say it. They only silently kept it in their minds.”

[They] gave rise to this thought: They had realized this in their minds but could not yet say it. They only silently kept it in their minds. Speaking of their tacit understanding of causes and conditions, they were not inferior to Born of Emptiness. In truly believing they could become Buddhas, they were worthy of being equal to Son of Body. However, those disciples had supreme abilities and great wisdom, spoke with eloquence and dared to trade words face to face, while these disciples, though they may have excelled in their inner cultivation, were still lacking in their outer eloquence. They had difficulties in speaking, thus they silently expressed their aspirations.

“We already understand everything. Though we do not speak it out loud, we all understand and remember it in our minds. We can likewise keep pace with Purna; if Purna was able to do it, we can also do it. If Purna intrinsically has Buddha-nature, all of us also intrinsically have Buddha-nature.” So, they knew this in their minds, but did not speak it out loud.

So, in “speaking of their tacit understanding,” a “tacit understanding” means to keep what is understood in the mind. In their mind, they understood the law of karma. They completely penetrated karmic cause and effect. “They were not inferior to Born of Emptiness.” Every one of them not only needed to emulate Purna but also to emulate Subhuti. “Born from Emptiness” is Subhuti. Subhuti was foremost in comprehending emptiness. They not only kept up with Purna Maitrayaniputra, but also with Subhuti. They had this absolute faith, since after the Chapter on Faith and Understanding the Buddha bestowed predictions on [those four]. So, it speaks of “truly believing they could become Buddhas.” They had already penetrated the true principles, had faith that everyone could attain Buddhahood. “They were worthy of being equal to Son of Body.” If they compared themselves with Sariputra, they were the same. Sariputra was considered foremost in wisdom. “Actually, we have nothing to be ashamed of. With what I hear the Buddha teaching now, I can also be like Son of Body and the others.”

So, whether it was Purna, Subhuti or Sariputra, [who were] foremost in wisdom, foremost in understanding emptiness or foremost in sharing the Dharma, compared to these people, actually they have silently reached an awakening. They understood it all. Their understanding was more or less the same. However, though they rejoiced and were more or less the same when compared to them, “Those disciples had supreme abilities and great wisdom, speaking with eloquence.” They usually spoke with eloquence and “dared to trade words face to face.” They were able to reply quickly.

This was Sariputra, Purna and Subhuti. But these people, those who just rejoiced for Sariputra and the others, were more or less the same as [the great disciples]. They were “these disciples”; “those disciples” were Sariputra, Purna, Subhuti and the rest of the ten great disciples. “Those disciples had supreme abilities and great wisdom, spoke with eloquence” and “dared to trade words face to face. Trade words” means they could quickly reply, had unobstructed eloquence. But what about “these disciples”? These people, “while they may have excelled in inner cultivation, were still lacking in their outer eloquence.” They knew the principles, but if someone asked a difficult question, they did not dare answer. I think there are many people like this. “I know, but I do not dare respond.”

“When I heard things from the ‘web of ignorance,’ I did not dare say anything. I did not dare face them.” These ignorant [rumors] were spreading everywhere, but no one dared to clear them up. This is “excelling in inner cultivation while still lacking in their outer eloquence.” So, “They had difficulties in speaking, thus they silently expressed their aspirations.” They knew, but were unable to express it. “I know all of it. I am just unable to express it.” So, this is being silent. Everyone was willing to understand but was still unable to debate it by quickly using unobstructed eloquence to reply. They were still unable to do this. Most of these 1200 people were like this.

“If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!”

If the World-Honored One would bestow predictions on all those He sees, like He did for those other great disciples, would it not be joyous!: If the World-Honored One would see the original vows in the depths of our hearts and bestow predictions on us, like He did previously to all those disciples, how could it not make us happy?

“If the Buddha would begin to bestow predictions on everyone, World-Honored One, we are all ready to receive predictions. [He could see] the original vows in the depths of our hearts and bestow predictions on us.” The only wish in their hearts was to be like Sariputra and Subhuti, to be like Mahakasyapa, Katyayana, Maudgalyayana and Purna. Every one of them looked forward to the day when they too could receive predictions like this. If this were to happen, wouldn’t it be a great joy?

This is saying that the Buddha said that the 1200, those 1200 people who often followed the Buddha, would become Buddhas in the future.

Would it not be joyous!: It means that the Buddha has said that 1200 [disciples] will attain Buddhahood. Why not now bestow predictions on those He sees? If we are able to be bestowed with a prediction, we would be happy and content. Moreover, we all question if, since those people have received predictions, it is also fitting for us to receive predictions.

500 received predictions. In fact, there were 1200 [people]. Were there only 1200 people? In fact, everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. As long we earnestly engage in practice, would there only be 1200? All of us will become Buddhas in the future. So, we are certain to receive predictions. We have not attained yet, but everyone is fixed on this.

“If we are able to be bestowed with a prediction we would be happy and content.” Everyone was very happy. We are all very happy, but can all of us attain [Buddhahood]? At that time, the Buddha was doing this to bestow predictions of Buddhahood on us. This is what everyone awaited and rejoiced over. They also still hold slight doubts within. “Venerable Buddha, at this moment, are we qualified to receive predictions?” They all awaited this, hoping that they could also receive a prediction.

That is right! We must have faith in ourselves. In the future, if we earnestly engage in practice, we will understand the value of life and how to go out and serve without being defiled by people’s ignorance and afflictions thus maintaining the purity in our minds, then, after a long time, eventually we will likewise attain Buddhahood. We will encounter the Buddha in the world and receive predictions directly from the Buddha. We must have faith in ourselves. Therefore, we must always be mindful!

Episode 1139 – Developing the Work of the Great Vehicle

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>> “The meritorious are able to inwardly cultivate themselves. Upholding virtuous practices is called ‘merit.’ The virtuous attain. Upholding beneficial Dharma to nurture blessings is called ‘virtue.’ We must spread the seeds of goodness, grow the sprout of Bodhi and develop the work of the Great Vehicle.”

>> “The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born to dignified bodies replete with the Marks. Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thought of food. There will be no women or any evil realms.”

>> When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues, he will attain this pure land with a great assembly of nobles and sages. Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly.

>> When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues: The distance of his road of spiritual practice is difficult to measure. Over many lifetimes he will cultivate all merits and virtues until achieving perfection.

>> He will attain this pure land with a great assembly of nobles and sages: He will have such people living together in the pure land. That assembly of Bodhisattvas, Hearers, humans and heavenly beings is incalculable in number.

>> Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly: Briefly refers to what was described previously; how in so many ways he helped to promote and protect the teachings of all Buddhas. Fearing those who heard it would have doubts, [the Buddha] dared not mention them all.

>> When a Buddha teaches the Lotus Sutra, He delivers Hearers with the method of manifestation. This is divided into the four segments of teaching the Dharma, comprehending it, recounting achievement and bestowing predictions. This is considered one cycle. For the Hearers with their superior, average or limited capabilities, there were three cycles from beginning to end. These are the three cycles of teachings: First, the cycle of teaching the Dharma. Second, the cycle of analogies. Third, the cycle of causes and conditions.

>> The three cycles of teachings. First, the cycle of teaching the Dharma. This is when Sariputra, the only one with superior capabilities, was directly taught the true principles of the wondrous Dharma, enabling him to realize and enter the One Vehicle. It is included in the Chapter on Skillful Means and the Chapter on Parables.

>> The three cycles of teachings. Second, the cycle of analogies: This is when Mahakasyapa and the others, the four people of average capabilities, were taught the analogy of the three carts, enabling them to realize and enter the One Vehicle. It includes four chapters: Parables, Faith and Understanding, Medicinal Plants and. Bestowing Predictions.

>> The three cycles of teachings. Third, the cycle of causes and conditions: This is when all the other. Hearers, those of limited capabilities, were taught the past causes and conditions of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, enabling them to realize and enter the One Vehicle. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions and Chapter on Those at and Beyond Learning belong to this cycle. These three stages of teaching in sequence deliver those of superior, average and limited capabilities, forming a complete cycle.

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“The meritorious
are able to inwardly cultivate themselves.
Upholding virtuous practices is called ‘merit.’
The virtuous attain.
Upholding beneficial Dharma to nurture blessings
is called ‘virtue.’
We must spread the seeds of goodness,
grow the sprout of Bodhi
and develop the work of the Great Vehicle.”

To learn and practice the Buddha-Dharma, we need to be determined and must always be mindful. In spiritual cultivation, we need to know how to engage in practice so that we attain merits and virtues. We often speak of giving without expectations, and the Three Spheres of Emptiness are the true goal of our spiritual practice, yet in spiritual practice, very naturally, we are accumulating merits and virtues. This has gone on for dust-inked kalpas, from the time when the 16 princes were at. Great Unhindered Buddha’s place of enlightenment. They began to request the Dharma, listen to it, then repeat the Dharma that the Buddha taught, so naturally they had [affinities with] many who came to be their assembly of associators, each with their own causes and conditions. This way, over the course of many lifetimes and over countless kalpas, the 16 novices, in different places, all attained Buddhahood.

The 16 novices’ past was like this; for a very long time, they were determined in their mission and vows, which meant listening to the Dharma. Very naturally, over the course of many lifetimes, they sought the Buddha-Dharma; they sought the true principles. Naturally, as they attained the true principles, they would go among the people and help them. As they went among the people and gave to help, of course, without their even knowing it, they naturally formed affinities with sentient beings. The blessings they created accumulated and became virtues. This was a very natural process. It was never forced. It begins with our forming aspirations and making vows. How should we be engaging in spiritual practice? These are affinities we formed with sentient beings over the course of many lifetimes.

In yesterday’s video conference with Serbia, we saw a group of Tzu Chi volunteers there. Besides those from Taiwan, they each had their own causes and conditions to be overseas developing their businesses. They were in different countries, yet of all the world’s five great continents, they all ended up going to the European countries. Europe has many countries, and each had gone to a different country in order to develop their businesses. But the workings of karma are inconceivable; surprisingly they ended up with the same teacher, the same path and the same mission. Their karma brought them together, so all are there together in Serbia now helping the Syrian refugees.

I saw them all yesterday during a video conference. They were in a hotel when they told me, “This hotel owner really approves of Tzu Chi. He really likes Tzu Chi volunteers. So, he took one of the hotel’s very large conference rooms, one that others wanted to rent, and without any rental charge gave it to us Tzu Chi volunteers to use. Moreover, in their kitchen he was able to clear out a very large space which he lets Tzu Chi volunteers use freely. The boss and his wife are even joining in. They are just like family to the volunteers.”

Besides seeing our Tzu Chi volunteers, like Mr. Pfaff and Mr. Yang, there were many others there. We also saw our volunteers from Bosnia, and they too said a few words. These young people are very happy. They said that being with Tzu Chi volunteers and doing good deeds together made them feel so happy and touched as well as grateful. They said that during their time there, they have been very happy. There was also another person, who is also a refugee, a young Syrian man. The youth originally got involved in Turkey, where he had helped us as a volunteer. He knew the language and had translated for us. When he found out that we were now going to Serbia, he joined in right at the beginning and has been with us right up until now. Yesterday, in front of the camera, he also told us how grateful and happy he was. It was also very moving for me to see this youth.

Mr. Yang brought up again how moved he had been by a certain refugee who was stuck there with his family in Serbia. The man had told him of how all that remained on him was 205 euros. He said he saw how Tzu Chi volunteers had given and that he was a chef. He had eaten our Jing Si rice, and it had made him very happy. He learned of the origin of Jing Si rice, how it had been created for international disaster relief. He also heard how Tzu Chi started 50 years ago, with the spirit of the bamboo banks. He was so moved that he could not help but want to donate money as well.

He passionately hoped that he too would be able to donate some money. This money, no matter how small, can accomplish great good deeds. He believed that he could form affinities with a great many suffering people, so he donated five euros. With those five euros he demonstrated both his sincerity as well as the joy he took in Tzu Chi.

He said that now, because of this manmade calamity, he has unfortunately become a refugee. His future is unclear. Although all he had remaining on him was a total of 205 euros, he also felt very joyful. He had an intense wish to donate, so he donated five euros. For Mr. Yang, taking those five euros. For Mr. Yang, receiving those five euros made him feel truly touched. When I heard this, I too was very moved. The man knew that, with five euros, though it was very little, he would be able to help many people. That is right! Small drops enter the great ocean, providing for the ship of compassion that delivers sentient beings as it comes and goes. This can inspire love in the hearts of many.

After listening to them share yesterday one by one. I felt very moved, especially because now they are planning how to help those locals affected by the flooding in Serbia’s central region. They have gone and assessed the damage there and have seen how disastrous the flooding has been. Many people have had to move out of the area, and things have not yet returned to normal. But there are more than 800 households who are still living in the area. In many cases, the water is up to their roofs! Of course, much of their furniture is gone. Their lives now are so difficult! How can we help them? Yesterday I said to the volunteers, “Take what you have seen and heard there and everyone discuss it on site. Afterwards, you can propose a direction.”

This was yesterday’s meeting. Everyone has different causes and conditions; these people never knew each other in Taiwan. Each had gone off pursuing their own careers, yet they surprisingly all ended up in Europe. There are so many countries in Europe, yet they had all come together with the same mission and same path and had all gone to the same country. Think about it, isn’t this their karmic conditions? These are the causes and conditions. They all gathered together in that country for the purpose of aiding those refugees who are fleeing from suffering. Truly, the workings of karma are inconceivable. Inwardly cultivating ourselves is virtue. They are willing to give and help in these ways. This willingness comes from deep in their hearts. Yesterday I asked them, “There are now more than 800 refugees who are now stuck there in Serbia, who can neither advance nor retreat. Have you, as part of our large group there, began considering how you are going to finish up the first stage?”

When they heard this, everyone exclaimed, “We can’t bear to [end now]! Master, all of us have been thinking about how to establish ourselves here in this place, of how we can continue to accompany them. Everyone here is saying that the refugees need Tzu Chi and that they hope Tzu Chi will stay!” How can they be expected to stay longer there? The refugees can neither advance nor retreat. If we stayed there as well…. All of the volunteers have businesses back home and need to get back to their jobs! What could they do? Of course, when they asked me a question, I came back at them with a question, so we could all consider these things further.

No one was forcing them to be there, saying, “You have to be there.” Yet, all had formed these aspirations from deep in their hearts. They are “able to inwardly cultivate themselves.” Each had given rise to this aspiration for goodness. “With unselfish great love, they uphold good deeds.” These are merits. And virtue? “The virtuous attain.” This is what I always tell everyone. Their virtue is their willingness to give and give. They have given so much that the local people and the other foreigners there, the Bosnians, the Syrians and the Serbians, all look upon this group of Living Bodhisattvas with such respect, approval and trust from the bottom of their hearts. They keep asking them to stay. “If you do not remain here, what will become of the refugees?”

They asked on behalf of the refugees. They said the refugees were happy every day that. Tzu Chi volunteers were there. You see? Isn’t this “attainment”? They have attained people’s respect, have attained their approval. So, with virtue comes attainment. Everyone there upholds these beneficial teachings to nurture and create blessings for others. This is virtue.

So, merit and virtue are just this natural; when we give from the depths of our hearts, that is what we attain. This is merit and virtue. Merit and virtue means we must regularly be able to “spread the seeds of goodness.” With our seeds, if we have the causes and conditions and the soil, we must quickly plant them. When causes and conditions come together for these seeds, naturally, they will have the opportunity to be planted in the ground. With the conditions of being planted in the soil, in addition to having water, air and so on, the seeds will grow sprouts. This shows causes and conditions have ripened.

This is how, as spiritual practitioners, we “develop the work of the Great Vehicle.” The work of the Great Vehicle is accomplished by responding to the world’s needs. When we recite the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, don’t we [recite the words], “They develop the work of the Great Vehicle”? This is talking about Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas must regularly practice in this way, by internally cultivating this state of mind, which is our nature of True Suchness. From deep in our hearts, we have the willingness to give. By inwardly cultivating ourselves, we can persist with the faith in our minds. Being able to persist in doing good deeds is called merit.

Our virtue comes from actual service to others; with this, we attain others’ sincere affirmation. If we want to benefit others, we must constantly earn the affirmation of others. Through our internal merit and external actions, people will [recognize and] begin to assist us. This is how we “nurture [blessings].” With these blessings, we can create even more and save even more people. No matter how much strength one individual has, he cannot accomplish great things on his own. Many are needed to accomplish things together. This is how “beneficial Dharma nurtures blessings.” These beneficial teachings can be used to call on the love inside of everyone. When everyone comes together, this creates virtue. So, I truly feel very grateful.

Yesterday, Mr. Rudi Pfaff used his standing to talk to everyone about vegetarianism. He told the local people that Tzu Chi as an organization is vegetarian and that vegetarianism is about respect, protecting the environment and loving the earth. He used his standing to speak to them. So, whether to the refugees, or to the local people, he expressed this kind of respect. This is “nurturing blessings,” nurturing these blessings and virtues. Naturally these seeds of goodness will be constantly scattered on the earth, and we help to fulfill their causes and conditions so sprouts of Bodhi can then emerge and become great trees. Great trees bear abundant amounts of fruit.

I believe it is the same there in that land, that the seeds planted there have already begun to sprout. The work of the Great Vehicle in that place will soon have people ready to pick it up and continue to pass it down. Tzu Chi volunteers can only go there rarely, so in this way we will be able to have this work continue over the long term and our Great Vehicle work of saving others can continue on. We must be mindful about this. In our practice, the Lotus Sutra is teaching us the work of the Great Vehicle; it teaches us the way to Buddhahood.

Come, let us look at the previous passage.

“The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born to dignified bodies replete with the Marks. Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thought of food. There will be no women or any evil realms.”

This describes Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s land

in the future when he attains Buddhahood. That land will be very pure. The minds and bodies of the sentient beings there will be very pure. They will be without lustful or evil thoughts. People say, “Sexual misconduct is foremost among all evils.” So much evil karma results from sexual misconduct. This lust can also be explained as greed. That is what it is. Whether it is sexual craving or craving for romantic love, [craving for] any and all material things, or for fame, profit or status, this craving and desire and ignorance can all be explained as this word “lust.” It all begins with this word. Greed, anger and ignorance then continuously developed from this. 
So, it says,

in the future Dharma Clarity Tathagata will attain Buddhahood in this land. In the future, in his land, the sentient beings “will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born.” By that time, our world here will have been remade. At the beginning of a kalpa, things form and abide. This is the time of formation. After everything is completely destroyed, everything then begins anew. Thus they will “all be purely transformation-born to dignified bodies replete with the Marks. Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food.” Everyone’s bodies will be very pure and dignified. They have Dharma-joy; everything they speak of with each other is matters that benefit other people. Everything they talk about is the Dharma, Dharma that can help and nurture everyone. They form aspirations with joy, have Dharma-joy and meditative joy. They have correct and beneficial contemplation, never disturbing people’s minds. So, “They have no other thought of food.” Everyone there will be like this without exception.

They will have no craving or attachment. There will be no women there. They will not have appearances of men or women; there will be no craving or desire between them. Everyone there will be impartial and very pure. There will be no evil realms there. In our world, some are in heaven; they enjoy wealth as if they were heavenly beings. In the human world, among ordinary people there are both rich and poor, noble and lowly. There are also those who are suffering. They suffer so much it is as if they are in hell. There are also those like that in the world! We also see animals, those in the animal realm, and we see those so poor they suffer from hunger. There are many countries now that lack provisions, lack food, lack water. There are many who are suffering from starvation. There are so many [different kinds] all gathered together in this world. We can see them with our own eyes. So, this is just like the Five Realms, or the Six Realms. If you count the asura realm, then that is the Six Realms. In the human realm, asuras cause disturbances in the world; this causes truly unbearable suffering! The next passage says,

When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues, he will attain this pure land with a great assembly of nobles and sages. Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly.

We are coming to the end of the passage now.

The bhiksu Purna had so many merits and virtues like this. “He had perfected them all.” He had perfected his many merits and virtues.

When the bhiksu Purna has perfected all his merits and virtues: The distance of his road of spiritual practice is difficult to measure. Over many lifetimes he will cultivate all merits and virtues until achieving perfection.

Actually, in the past,

we spoke of so many merits and virtues. He had so often helped to promote the spiritual teachings of all Buddhas. The distance of his spiritual path was so great it was difficult to measure. To measure his road of practice would be very hard. He had been doing this for dust-inked kalpas, over such long periods of time and throughout such vast distances of space. Purna had been coming and going in the world for times so long and distances so vast that they are difficult to measure. This is because, “Over many lifetimes he will cultivate all merits and virtues.” Lifetime after lifetime he cultivates all merits and virtues, until, as they have all accumulated together, he will truly be complete. He has come and gone many times, and he will not stop here either, because in an earlier passage, the Buddha stated he would do this for countless kalpas in the future. He will likewise help Buddhas spread the Dharma in their places of spiritual practice.

So, he did this so much in the past and will continue for a long time in the future until he reaches perfect attainment. That is the attainment of his pure land. His world, his land, will be very pure. So, “He will attain this pure land.” This is how it will be, in that pure land, there will be mostly “a great assembly of noble beings and sages.” Everyone will be noble beings and sages there. 

He will attain this pure land with a great assembly of nobles and sages: He will have such people living together in the pure land. That assembly of Bodhisattvas, Hearers, humans and heavenly beings is incalculable in number.

“He will have such people living together in this pure land.” They will all be noble beings and sages, Bodhisattvas, Hearers, humans and heavenly beings. People like this will fill that land. There will be wealthy people, people who engage in spiritual practice, people who practice the Bodhisattva-path. Nobles beings and sages will fill that land. They were all living together in that pure land. Everyone there will be Bodhisattvas and Hearers, humans and heavenly beings; they will be impossible to count. 

There will be noble beings and sages there.

“A noble being’s actions are good and righteous.” These are the noble beings. They always gather together to do good deeds. These are noble beings. Sages “merge with the righteous true principles.” In the hearts of these sages and in their external actions they always come together with the true principles and the Right Dharma. These are the noble beings and sages. As we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must also learn to do this. 

“Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly.” 

Of such infinite matters, today I only speak briefly: Briefly refers to what was described previously; how in so many ways he helped to promote and protect the teachings of all Buddhas. Fearing those who heard it would have doubts, [the Buddha] dared not mention them all.

Purna Maitrayaniputra had actually done so many things in the past. In the future, he will remain in the Dharma; there will still be many more Buddhas who will appear in the world. He will also help those Buddhas to spread the Buddha-Dharma. In our world in the future, as turbidities grow stronger and stronger, noble beings, sages and Buddhas will repeatedly and continuously appear in the world. He will likewise continue to help them, help those who have already awakened, help them spread the Right Dharma in the world. This is what was described above; it described how he will help promote and protect the teachings of all Buddhas. 

He will truly do so much. There was so much, yet in fact, there was much more to tell. The Buddha feared that people would begin to doubt. There was actually much more in the past than what the Buddha had said, and there would be even more in the future. If He were to continue to speak, He feared that the more that He told, the more people would begin to doubt. So, the Buddha, at that point said, “Thus I can only speak briefly.” He could only speak of it briefly and simply. There was already so much, yet He had only spoken of it briefly. Clearly, the Buddha greatly admired Purna. 

When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra,

He used the method of manifestation, [speaking of] the marks people leave on the world. This is the method of manifestation. It is bringing the Dharma together with the world. He spoke of worldly matters and of the world-transcending mission. This is what He taught us in the Lotus Sutra. We must exercise a world-transcending spirit while carrying out our mission in the world. When we go into the world, everything in this world is a manifestation, nothing more than a footprint. People cannot remain in the world forever. When the Buddha appeared in the world, He was also only a manifestation and likewise has already gone. We are now separated from the Buddha by more than 2000 years. Where is the Buddha today? But the Dharmakaya (Dharma-body) is eternal. The Buddha’s teachings, His Dharmakaya, is eternal; it is the intrinsic. The intrinsic is the nature of the True Suchness everyone has. When He manifests a form in the world, it is always according to natural laws. So in the end, this is a manifestation; it is just a footprint left behind. This is called the method of manifestation. Although the Buddha appeared in the world and did many things for the sake of the world, He has already entered Parinirvana. However, the Dharma remains in the world.

This method, the method of manifestation, is like how we speak of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism. The way for us to continue walking the Tzu Chi path is the method of our “school.” The Jing Si Dharma-lineage is our spirit, the spirit we are determined to uphold. Spirit is intangible, but the school is how we put it into practice. Whether in the north, south, east or west, the four intermediate directions or up or down, we can always describe it. Whatever the direction, it can always be described through the use of language. No matter the language or the country, it can likewise be translated. In the past in India, what the Buddha spoke, the ancient language of India, is actually a language we also do not understand. It is only through the efforts of noble beings and sages who formed aspirations to retrieve and translate the sutras that the Dharma has survived until now.

Right now, we have our school. From our Dharma-lineage, the school was established. Now that our school has been established, in every place in the world we can go and sow seeds of goodness. We have our rules, and we have our methods. This is a Dharma for the world. Some people listen and and can take in the teachings from the sound. With these teachings, they know they must cultivate themselves, correct their faults and start anew. Some, after correcting their faults, wish to then go and transform others. We hope to practice this Dharma for the world through world-transcending spiritual practice. Using worldly teachings, we cultivate a world-transcending practice. So, our “mind is without hindrances; there are no hindrances.” We always give without expectations; we just do it. Yet, we naturally will attain. Didn’t Purna Maitrayaniputra attain?

His conduct earned the Buddha’s approval. He attained the Buddha’s praise. Even more than 2000 years later, we are still able recognize this disciple from among all the Buddha’s disciples. So, this too is the method of manifestation; it is the footprint that was left behind. This is also how He delivered others, using this Dharma to deliver them to the teachings. As the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra,

“He delivered Hearers. This is divided into the four segments of teaching the Dharma, comprehending it, recounting achievement and bestowing predictions.” This is one cycle. 

When a Buddha teaches the Lotus Sutra, He delivers Hearers with the method of manifestation. This is divided into the four segments of teaching the Dharma, comprehending it, recounting achievement and bestowing predictions. This is considered one cycle. For the Hearers with their superior, average or limited capabilities, there were three cycles from beginning to end. These are the three cycles of teachings: First, the cycle of teaching the Dharma. Second, the cycle of analogies. Third, the cycle of causes and conditions. 

The first segment is “teaching the Dharma” from the Introductory Chapter where He began by manifesting a certain state, to the Chapter on Skillful Means, when He began directly teaching the Dharma. He directly wanted to set aside skillful means to begin expounding the One Vehicle Dharma. He began “teaching the Dharma.” However, they had to “comprehend” it. This segment started when Sariputra began to comprehend this truth and understand. “Recounting achievement” means continually and repeatedly teaching. Just for one teaching, He had to teach repeatedly so that everyone would understand. Once the teaching was complete, He began to “bestow predictions.” These four segments make up one cycle. 

Hearers are of three types, those of superior, average and limited capabilities. Because there are three kinds of capabilities, there are altogether three cycles of teachings. Those of superior capabilities, upon hearing once, are able to understand. This was like Sariputra. 

The three cycles of teachings. First, the cycle of teaching the Dharma. This is when Sariputra, the only one with superior capabilities, was directly taught the true principles of the wondrous Dharma, enabling him to realize and enter the One Vehicle. It is included in the Chapter on Skillful Means and the Chapter on Parables.

Only one person, Sariputra, was able, when the Buddha taught the Chapter on Skillful Means, to begin to understand the Dharma and take it to heart. It was him alone who was able to comprehend the true principles of the wondrous Dharma. He understood this, which “enabled him to realize and enter the path of the One Vehicle.” This was Sariputra. He was the first to understand

starting in the Chapter on Skillful Means and then leading into the Chapter on Parables. In the Chapter on Parables, with the analogy of the three carts, the second cycle began.

The three cycles of teachings. Second, the cycle of analogies: This is when Mahakasyapa and the others, the four people of average capabilities, were taught the analogy of the three carts, enabling them to realize and enter the One Vehicle. It includes four chapters: Parables, Faith and Understanding, Medicinal Plants and. Bestowing Predictions.

Starting with Sariputra, once he understood, in the Chapter on Parables, the Buddha praised Sariputra and bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood on him. Next came Mahakasyapa, Subhuti, Katyayana and Maudgalyayana, the four Hearers, whose capabilities were considered average. Having seen Sariputra awaken and receive predictions from the Buddha, they too began, in the Chapter on Parables, to gradually come to absorb and understand it. Through the analogy of the three carts, the sheep-cart, deer-cart and great white ox-cart, they were enabled to profoundly awaken to the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. Those four, in the Chapter on Parables, saw Sariputra receive the Buddha’s prediction. Then with the analogy of the three carts, they were able to gain a profound realization. Because in the Chapter on Parables they understood, these four great disciples started the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. Everyone still remembers this. In the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, the four came before the Buddha to repent for their past, telling Him of how they had wasted their time by only seeking to awaken themselves. This was all described in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding.

Next came the Chapter on Medicinal Plants. Since they had already come to understand, the Buddha began to teach the Chapter on Medicinal Plants. No living thing can do without water. We humans cannot do without the Buddha-Dharma. The Dharma is like water. With water to nourish them, all living things naturally flourish. This is like humans with the Dharma-water; our wisdom-life will grow. The principle is the same. The Chapter on Medicinal Plants can be used to treat the illnesses in the mind. When the body or mind has illness, we use medicine to treat it. So, in the Chapter on Medicinal Plants, everyone came to an even deeper understanding. Next came the Chapter on Bestowing Predictions, where those four also received predictions. This was the second cycle, when those with average capabilities, the four Hearers, received predictions.

Third is the cycle of causes and conditions. This was for all the other Hearers, those of limited capabilities. So, the Buddha continued by telling of. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, of the causes and conditions from long long ago. So many people came in contact with the Dharma during Great Unhindered Buddha’s time. The 16 princes experienced the truth, then for a long period of time taught the Dharma to those who had affinities with them. This was in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City.

The three cycles of teachings. Third, the cycle of causes and conditions: This is when all the other. Hearers, those of limited capabilities, were taught the past causes and conditions of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, enabling them to realize and enter the One Vehicle. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions and Chapter on Those at and Beyond Learning belong to this cycle. These three stages of teaching in sequence deliver those of superior, average and limited capabilities, forming a complete cycle.

He used the predictions for 500 disciples. Next came the. Chapter on 500 Disciples Receiving Predictions, where the Buddha began by praising. Purna Maitrayaniputra. In this chapter, He bestows predictions on even more people. So, these causes and conditions are sequential. “These three stages of teaching in sequence deliver those of superior, average and limited capabilities, forming a complete cycle.” That is called the three cycles of teachings.

Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners we must be patient. We need extended practice, uninterrupted practice, practice with nothing further and with reverence. We should always value the Dharma and be firm in our faith. Let us always be mindful!

Episode 1138 – Distancing Ourselves from Craving and Desire

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>> “In the Five Realms and Four Forms of Birth, all kinds of living beings, whether egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born or transformation-born, all come into existence due to lustful desire. When the mind is bound by this in every thought, “it becomes a great transgression. Sexual misconduct all come from improper sexual desires.”

>> In the Sutra of 42 Chapters it says, “A person with desire” “is like one holding a torch” “and walking against the wind;” “his hands will certainly be burned.

>> In the ways we conduct ourselves, we must be upright in our thoughts, uphold the Path, maintain our purity and distance ourselves from the defilements of desire. Only then can we succeed in walking the Path.

>> “ All of them have been delivered and possess great spiritual powers, replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill His land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they will attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.

>> “The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born to dignified bodies replete with the Marks. Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thoughts of food. There will be no women or any evil realms.”

>> The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born: There will be no evil realms in that land nor thoughts of sexual desire between men and women. Having eliminated these states of lustful desire, they do not develop as a fetus in the womb, but instead are born instantly. They are all purely transformation-born.

>> Dignified bodies replete with the Marks: Over many kalpas they have long practiced Brahma-conduct and accumulated merits and virtues. Thus they attain bodies purple-gold in color with the 32 Marks. They are replete with all virtue, thus dignifying themselves.

>> Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thoughts of food: Dharma-joy inspires wisdom, and meditative joy eases the mind. This means they take Samadhi and wisdom as their Dharma-food and have no other thoughts of ordinary eating.

>> Those who engage in world-transcending practice, having attained the power of Samadhi, nurture wisdom-life with their own provisions. Their practices are perfect and radiant, so their hearts are always joyful. This is the food of meditative joy.

>> There will be no women or any evil realms: There will be no women: All are transformation-born. Or any evil realms: There is not even the term “evil,” let alone the actual existence

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“In the Five Realms and Four Forms of Birth,
all kinds of living beings,
whether egg-born, womb-born,
moisture-born or transformation-born,
all come into existence due to lustful desire.
When the mind is bound by this in every thought, “it becomes a great transgression.
Sexual misconduct all come from improper sexual desires.”

Where does all life in the Five Realms and the Four Forms of Birth come from? In the Five Realms and Four Forms of Birth, how many different kinds of life are there? The Buddha told us that some living beings are egg-born. This is something we are able to see ourselves. Some living beings are hatched from eggs. Baby chicks, birds etc. are incubated in the egg until they are born. Womb-born beings are born directly into the world. Moisture-born beings are born and nurtured in moist places. Then there are transformation-born beings; they are [seemingly] born out of nothing. Each has its own causes and conditions. Causes and conditions come together to form living beings. With these causes and conditions, all life comes into existence because of lustful desires.

These lustful desires arise when “the mind is bound in every thought.” In our minds, whether the previous thought or the next thought, this continues in each and every thought. With these afflictions and ignorance, lustful desires entangle our minds. So, when regular people are bound by lustful desires like this, “It becomes a great transgression.” When the mind is bound by this, living beings continuously reproduce themselves, continuously give birth to all kinds of life in the Five Realms. This is all due to sexual desire, all due to the interactions of men and women. The causes and conditions this creates will converge; this is also a kind of karmic condition.

People are always deluded! This delusion appears in the span of a thought. In the Sutra of 42 Sections, there is also a passage about this. It admonishes us,

In the Sutra of 42 Chapters it says, “A person with desire” “is like one holding a torch” “and walking against the wind;” “his hands will certainly be burned.”

Although this sutra passage is short, it is giving us a major warning. It warns us that if we have these thoughts of desire and craving, if they are in our each and every thought, then we are drowning in greed, anger, ignorance, lustful desire and so on. If we are like this, then we are like a man holding a torch while walking into the wind. As the wind blows toward us, the flames will definitely burn our hand. Ordinary people should be able to understand too. The Buddha used such a simple analogy in order to teach us. This is a commonly understood principle; we should understand it.

In the ways we conduct ourselves, we must be upright in our thoughts, uphold the Path, maintain our purity and distance ourselves from the defilements of desire. Only then can we succeed in walking the Path.

This warns us about the ways we conduct ourselves. Since we have come to this world, we must put effort into being a good person. It is also because of causes and conditions

that we have been born human, heard the Buddha-Dharma and can understand the principles. Making use of this human form, we can seek and learn the teachings of the Path. It is precious to be born human, so we should earnestly uphold the Path and our purity. We should be very upright in our thoughts and uphold the Path with purity. We must distance ourselves from craving and desire. The desire in the love between men and women is a type of defilement. Since ancient times, so many people have, because of lustful desires, ruined their lives and reputations. There are many stories like this. This all depends on the mind. We must engage in practice. We need to understand that the source of evil and transgressions is the mind. This is why we must make our thoughts upright. Being upright, we must be pure in the way we uphold the Path and distance ourselves from the defilements of craving and desire. Only then will our spiritual practice go smoothly. Only when our mind and body are pure can we complete our spiritual cultivation.

This is how the Buddha taught and admonished us. Furthermore, He has done this since ancient times. During the Buddha’s lifetime 2000-plus years ago, the Buddha constantly used everyday situations as a way of teaching us. He drew on our common knowledge from daily living to make his analogies. Can we all, through these [analogies] connecting principles and the matters in our relationships, comprehend the profound principles that the Buddha taught? It is very difficult! Even in a time close to the Buddha’s lifetime, more than 2000 years ago [it was hard]. Probably about 100 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, there lived a king. This king also had religious beliefs, but what he believed in was sacrificing animals to reap blessings. Every month he slaughtered hundreds of sheep, pigs, cows etc. as sacrifice.

During these rituals, he would enjoy the pleasure of many women. This expressed that his kingship was a divine gift. He enjoyed abundant desires, objects and women, so the king showed his gratitude to the heavens by showing off his material possessions with wine and women. He had many women by his side. These were the offerings he made at the altar of pleasure. So, his chef had to slaughter many animals every day. Later, when this chef became older and was no longer able to fulfill his duties, he began to look for and eventually found a young man to be the chef.

This young man was a Buddhist practitioner. He upheld the precepts purely. He had one aspiration, which was to become a monk and follow the Path. However, his parents were getting on in years, and he needed to take care of them. So, he had to earn money to support his family. Since the king was in need of staff, he applied for the job. But he found it hard to take charge of the kitchen. The king had these misguided beliefs. Moreover, killing living beings every day and being a part of that place of pleasure, with beautiful women and alcohol was not something he felt up to. So, there was no way he could take responsibility for the kitchen’s duties. When the person overseeing the kitchen found out, he was very harsh with him. “When we hired you, you came to accept the job. Why is it that after you entered the palace you have hesitated in carrying out your duties?”

He told the kitchen overseer, “I am a practitioner of purifying practices. You want me to slaughter animals here; that is not something I can do.” The overseer reported this to the king, explaining that this young man was unwilling to do the job. The king became very angry. He called the young man before him, telling him, “Since you have come to this place, you must devote your life to me in service. Why are you unwilling to do this? If you are unwilling, I will sentence you to death!” The [young] chef said, “I cannot kill living beings. I uphold the precepts and practice the Path. If I were to break the precepts, then in the future I would descend into hell for endless lifetimes and countless kalpas. It would be impossible to be born human again and continue to engage in spiritual practice. By the time I return to the human realm, I might be lost in confusion again. I would rather accept your majesty’s punishment. If I die to uphold the precepts, if I die as a result of your punishment, I will be reborn in heaven. By upholding precepts, I can be reborn in heaven. I will be able to enjoy many blessings. So, I would prefer to accept your majesty’s sentence and die than to harm or kill any living being, thus falling into hell and experiencing endless lifetimes of suffering.”

After the king listened to him, he said, “Fine, I will give you seven days to reconsider. If you still insist on being so stubborn, I will have 100 elephants trample you. If you do not die, I will follow the Buddha-Dharma like you.” With that this chef, this young man, this pure practitioner, remained very reverent for those seven days.

He prepared himself to face the king’s punishment after those seven days ended. He accepted that he would be trampled by 100 elephants. Still, his mind remained very tranquil and still. We know that from a young age, he had always cherished life and loved animals. He often saw herds of elephants. He used to play with and really adored those elephants. However, “Seven days later, it will be 100 elephants who will trample me.” He thought about it, “Even if this happens, it is part of my karmic retributions from past lives.” Thus he remained reverent. 
After the seven days were up, he still maintained this mindset. As expected, the 100 elephants had already been prepared at that place. The young pure practitioner was also escorted to that plaza. In that place, he was made to lie upon the ground so the elephants could trample him. As this happened, as he lay upon the ground, the elephants began gathering around him. He raised his head to look at these elephants. He made a gesture toward them, as if he was greeting them. When he spent time with elephants previously, sometimes he rode upon them, sometimes he lied on the ground. From childhood to adulthood, he had grown up together with the elephants as well as all the other animals. So, when he saw this herd of elephants, although he was lying on the ground, he raised his head and lifted both of his arms as if he were greeting them.

The elephants came right in front of him and then stopped. It seemed as if they recognized him. At that moment, they raised their trunks to the sky all together and made a trumpeting sound. Having trumpeting their call, that herd then all laid upon the ground. Like that pure practitioner, they too laid upon the ground; they seemed to be prostrating to him. When the king saw this, he thought, “This is inconceivable! How could this be possible?” Upon seeing this, the king was deeply moved and also felt very remorseful. He immediately rose from his throne, stood up, and told everyone, “Invite this pure practitioner to come over here.”

With that, the pure practitioner came before him. The king then asked him, “What method did you use to subdue these 100 elephants?” He replied, “I did nothing. I wasn’t using any method. It is just that I have upheld the Buddha’s precepts since I was young. My parents taught me to love everything in the world. My parents believed in the Buddha-Dharma and told me that I should love all living beings. I aspire to engage in spiritual practice, but my parents are getting on in years, so I have been unable to fulfill this wish. Thus, I am still unable to become a monastic. Your Majesty, please forgive me!” Then king then said, “I am very moved. You aspire to engage in practice, but you are not yet able to fulfill that wish. Now I understand the merits and virtues that come from upholding precepts. By upholding the precepts purely, your body and mind are pure; I can testify to this. So, I fulfill your wish to become a monastic. Your parents shall be cared for by the kingdom, so they can live without worries. You can leave the lay life now.”

The pure practitioner achieved his wish. He truly became a monastic and earnestly engaged in spiritual practice. Several years later, he returned to this kingdom. The king saw that the youth had successfully completed his spiritual practice. Since the kingdom needed the Buddha-Dharma in order to be purified, the king made him the royal teacher. This is how the Buddha-Dharma came to flourish in that country. This was 100 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana. From this we recognize, “If we uphold our percepts and follow the Path, the Path will be great.”

The precepts cover sexual desire. The mind must remain pure. For living beings in the Five Realms and and Four Forms of Birth, everything is beyond their control. By giving rise to a single thought, they extend this endless [cycle of] life, these endless lifetimes in the Five Realms, including the human realm, the animal realm, the hell realm and the hungry ghost realm. Even in the heaven and human realms, they are continually reborn. This is all because of the ignorance in the mind. So, they are continually reborn.

Those who create blessings are reborn in heaven. In the Brahma heavens, they had upheld heavenly precepts. They upheld the supreme precepts and cultivated the supreme good deeds, so they were pure and could be reborn in the Brahma heavens. By upholding purifying precepts, their lifespans were incalculably long and they could enjoy [many] material things. In the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City we discussed this at length. In the other heavens, there are still both men and women, but it depends on what kind of heaven it is. There may be men and women, but they uphold the precept forbidding sexual misconduct. Some, upon departing this life for the next, come into existence out of nothing. They are transformation-born in heaven. Many are transformation-born in heaven. So, this is the way in which they are reborn. Among the Four Forms of Birth, in the heaven realm we see the transformation-born. This is how they are born into the heaven realm. So, the Four Forms of Birth and the Five Realms are all different forms of life. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this and understand.

The origin of life, of our living, is all because people have these desires. It is through desire that we come into the world, influenced by so much in the world to create so many karmic forces.

Now let us look at the previous sutra passage,

“All of them have been delivered and possess great spiritual powers, replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill His land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they will attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.”

In the past, Dharma Clarity Tathagata was. Purna Maitrayaniputra. He accumulated so many merits and virtues that his land will have many spiritual practitioners with great spiritual powers. Moreover, they will be replete with the power of might and virtue. These spiritual practitioners will deliver and transform one another. With each other, they are “gentle but stern, imposing but not forceful.” They have this kind of might and virtue. We discussed this yesterday. They are all replete with virtue, so they inspire respect in all who see. But people will not be afraid of them. Some say, “That person is so awe-inspiring; I am afraid.” They are awe-inspiring, yet they elicit respect. This is might and virtue. It is from creating blessings.

The sentient beings he teaches there are sure to be transformed. The sentient beings there will respect him, so they engage in spiritual practice together and mutually respect one another, mutually serve one another; they are mutually grateful. This is what they do in their spiritual practice. The land will be replete with an atmosphere like this. “They will fill his land.” There will be none who really suffer in that land. Rather, everyone will respect one another there. They will mutually love and respect one another and share the Dharma with each other there. “The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and Eight Liberations, they attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms.” This was all explained previously.

They will still appear as monastics there, monastics who engage in spiritual practice and whose minds are very pure. During spiritual practice, one must uphold the pure precepts. This demonstrates that if we want to return to our Tathagata-nature, we must uphold the pure precepts. It is not just the Five Precepts or the Ten Good Deeds; we must uphold all precepts in all their purity. We must be without lustful desire; this is included within. This is how they manifest as members of the Sangha. This is spiritual practice.

The next sutra passage says,

“The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born to dignified bodies replete with the Marks. Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thoughts of food. There will be no women or any evil realms.”

We have been discussing this [long] passage. Since everyone will be so accomplished in their spiritual practice, won’t it be as we said earlier, where everyone will be replete with might and virtue? All spiritual practitioners in that land had “the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations and will attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms.” Since everyone will have these there, why must there still be a Sangha? Because everyone there needs to be very pure. So, it says, “The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires.” Correct, all desires will be eliminated, including sexual desire; all will be eliminated.

Everyone will be “purely transformation-born.” By what means will people continue to be born there? They will be transformation-born. In that heaven realm, they will be transformation-born. There will be no need for parents, for when the causes and conditions of their spiritual practice naturally become replete, when they have become completely without desire, naturally they will be transformation-born there. “Purely” means that, of the Four Forms of Birth, the only one there will be “transformation-born.” When that land is at its purest, there will be no desire between men and women. All there will be “purely transformation-born.”

Those who are transformation-born there will have “dignified bodies replete with the Marks.” They will all be replete with these. Their appearance will be one of great dignity. Furthermore, “Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food.” They are always very joyful, “so they have no other thoughts of food.” They will need nothing besides their Dharma-joy and meditative joy; these bring them happiness. They will have no other discursive thoughts, afflictions, ignorance or dust-like delusions; these have all been completely eliminated. So, “There will be no women or any evil realms.” Women can greatly disrupt people’s minds. This is why the ancients used to say that a woman’s karma is severe karma. In the Buddha-Dharma, it speaks a lot of this also. Where does karma come from? From the lust between men and women. Why doesn’t it specifically speak about men? Because men have the appearance of a practitioner. When a man can change his thoughts, he has much power to deliver sentient beings, as well as to come and go freely. Women are prone to making trouble. In the mornings alone, they take so much time to dress up, to gradually put on their makeup. They are slow at everything. This is a woman’s karma. A woman’s mind is always much more complicated.

So, we as women should repent deeply for our past. Why were we born as women? Why was this beyond our control? Yet, do not be too proud of being born a man, for it is men who create the most severe karma. They are the ones who cause all natural and manmade calamities. Actually, the men are the ambitious ones. The things that they do can result in either great virtue or great evil. Humankind is like this. Both men and women have their weaknesses.

Let us review again where it says, “The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born.”

The sentient beings in that land will have eliminated all lustful desires and will all be purely transformation-born: There will be no evil realms in that land nor thoughts of sexual desire between men and women. Having eliminated these states of lustful desire, they do not develop as a fetus in the womb, but instead are born instantly. They are all purely transformation-born.

“There will be no evil realms in that land.” In the land of Dharma Clarity Tathagata, everything will be pure. All lustful desires will have been eliminated. “There will be no evil realms in that land.” There will be no evil realms in that land, no thoughts of sexual desire between men and women. There will no intimate moments, no more constant entanglements. They will no longer have such thoughts, for all of them will be pure. So, “States of lustful desire will be eliminated.” Everyone will have eliminated those states of lustful desire. So, there will no longer be any thoughts like that. As they have eliminated lustful desires, problems between men and women will not appear.

“They do not develop as a fetus in the womb, but instead are born instantly.” People will no longer be born by becoming fetuses in their mother’s wombs, taking months before being fully developed, suffering unbearably in the hell of the womb, undergoing the pain of birth that is so difficult. This is life. All life is like this. Because of desires between men and women, there are many families who suffer, and it goes on and on like this.

So, in Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s land, “[They] will all be purely transformation-born.” They will purely be transformation-born. Everyone will be transformation-born there. This is in that land in the future. However, if we look at the sutras, Sakyamuni Buddha told us that in the future, Dharma Clarity Tathagata will be in this land. This land referred to our world now, but by that time, it will be totally different. The duration of a kalpa spans “formation, existence, decay and disappearance.” Actually, we too are living in the heavens; we too are on one of the planets in the universe. So, we too follow the earth as it spins through the universe. It is just that now upon this earth, we have already manifested as human beings and have created so many afflictions, so much ignorance and karmic forces. So, we are continually undergoing “formation, existence, decay and disappearance.” Right now is an era of decay, for the four elements are imbalanced and so on. People’s minds are not like in the past. Now, there are constant natural and manmade calamities. This is how the world is now.

It will be a long time before that future. It will be a period of incalculable kalpas. With what can be accomplished over time, by then, the land will already have become pure. This is accomplished through many people’s spiritual practice. “Over many kalpas they have long practiced Brahma-conduct.”

Dignified bodies replete with the Marks: Over many kalpas they have long practiced Brahma-conduct and accumulated merits and virtues. Thus they attain bodies purple-gold in color with the 32 Marks. They are replete with all virtue, thus dignifying themselves.

So, we must continually pass on the Buddha-Dharma. We must quickly and mindfully engage in practice and thus gradually advance. If we have unwholesome habitual tendencies, we must quickly eliminate them. Because we now have human form and can listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we should quickly rid ourselves of any unwholesome habitual tendencies. We should cultivate good resolve, good thoughts and good contemplation. We should still our minds and engage in tranquil contemplation. We must always maintain a meditative state where the mind does not give rise to discursive thoughts nor to afflictions. We need a long time to engage in practice, practice with nothing further, extended practice, uninterrupted practice and practice with reverence. We should always be accumulating these.

So, “Over many kalpas they have long practiced Brahma-conduct and accumulated merits and virtues. Thus they attain bodies purple-gold in color.” Their bodies are magnificent, purple-gold in hue. The Buddha was born in India; this describes Indian people’s bodies, the hue of their skin. When they scrub themselves clean, their bodies take on a sheen. I often tell everyone that our “Black Pearls” are so black that they shine. It is true! When we maintain the purity of the mind, the body can take on a “purple-gold” hue. This is a sign of purity [and one of] the “32 Marks of the Buddha.” Furthermore, “They are replete with all virtue.” We now must quickly seek to accumulate virtuous actions. We must find ways to go among people and give, thus completing our mission. If something is of benefit to sentient beings, if it relieves sentient beings from suffering, then we have completed one virtuous [act]. When we continually accumulate virtues like this, “we dignify ourselves.” Every day we praise that group of Bodhisattvas who are so far away, who are out helping other suffering beings. Right now they are creating blessings for others and accumulating virtues. They are now accumulating virtues. This is their spiritual practice; they must constantly cultivate this.

“Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thoughts of food.”

Dharma-joy and meditative joy are their food, so they have no other thoughts of food: Dharma-joy inspires wisdom, and meditative joy eases the mind. This means they take Samadhi and wisdom as their Dharma-food and have no other thoughts of ordinary eating.

Dharma-joy is happiness. Happiness arises when they listen to the Dharma. In this land, as we have been saying these past few days, when people interact with each other there, everything they say is the Dharma, everything is mutual praise, everything is mutual encouragement. There are no conflicts, no afflictions. All that they say is praise; all that they say is the Dharma. They are like this with each other, so they have Dharma-joy and meditative joy in their lives.

“They have no other thoughts of food.” They do not think about what they want to eat, what will satisfy their craving for taste, etc. How many living beings have we devoured in order to satisfy our craving for taste? How many times has our craving for taste caused disturbances in our thinking? Some people care so much about some specialty from one country or another that, just to eat that one dish, that rare delicacy, they will get on a plane to go eat. No matter how far, they still go. They go harm living beings, devour living beings. Think about it; aren’t they creating karma? From morning to night, all that some think about is what they will eat. All they want is to eat well.

In fact, if our practice reaches that purity, the Dharma becomes our food. Since we rejoice in listening to the Dharma, it does not matter if we do not eat. Listening becomes more important to us, because by listening we attain joy. So, “They have no other thoughts of food.” The Dharma nourishes their wisdom-life. In this way, “Dharma-joy inspires wisdom and meditative joy eases the mind. This means they take Samadhi and wisdom as their Dharma-food.” Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are our Dharma-food. We are so joyful every day and thus nourish our wisdom-life. We “have no other thoughts of ordinary eating.” We do not think about when or what we will eat. These are not problems for us.

“Those who engage in world-transcending practice have attained the power of Samadhi.”

Those who engage in world-transcending practice, having attained the power of Samadhi, nurture wisdom-life with their own provisions. Their practices are perfect and radiant, so their hearts are always joyful. This is the food of meditative joy.

We must cultivate world-transcending [Dharma]. The Saha World is filled with unbearable suffering. So, how do we go about transforming it? In the future, we can be like Dharma Clarity Tathagata and create a world of great purity, a place where everyone lives upon the Dharma, where everything is the Dharma. This is the meaning of wisdom-life. So, “Having attained the power of Samadhi, they nurture wisdom-life with their own provisions.” We continually give ourselves many provisions. We take many teachings as our provisions in order to nourish our wisdom-life. This means we absorb so much Dharma,

just like that pure practitioner who said, “I prefer to die, that way I will be reborn in heaven. I am not willing to save my present life by killing so many sentient beings. In my next life, I would descend into hell and would suffer there for countless kalpas.” This is wisdom. This is the Dharma he had that nourished his wisdom-life. So, “They nurture wisdom-life with their own provisions.” As we ourselves take action, the things we experience are what complete our wisdom-life. “Their practices are perfect and radiant,” so “their hearts are always joyful.” Their hearts are always joyful. This is the food of meditative joy.

“There will be no women or any evil realms.”

There will be no women or any evil realms: There will be no women: All are transformation-born. Or any evil realms: There is not even the term “evil,” let alone the actual existence.

There are naturally no women there. All thoughts of lust between men and women have been eliminated. “There will be [no] evil realms.” Since everyone there will be transformation-born, there is nothing called “evil.” Without even the term, how would the actual thing exist?

So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must truly be mindful. In the Five Realms and Four Forms of Birth, all living beings come from these form types, egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. Presently, this is all due to sexual reproduction; this karma is beyond our control, so it has created so much suffering in life. Thus, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must practice until our minds are very pure, until we are no longer bound by afflictions. Then, naturally we will gradually head in the direction of the great, direct, pure Bodhi-path. This depends on our spiritual practice; are our minds focused? If we want our minds to be focused, with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, then we must always be mindful!

Episode 1137 – Dignified with Might, Virtue and Samadhi

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>> “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues. To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue. Then we will be at ease and dignified with might, virtue and Samadhi.”

>> “Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be named Pure Kindness, composed of the Seven Treasures. His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright. The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”

>> All of them have been delivered, possess great spiritual powers and are replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.

>> All of them have been delivered and possess great spiritual powers, replete with the power of might and virtue: They all have been delivered and liberated, have attained great spiritual powers and are replete with might and virtue. They employ both might and virtue and utilize both grace and virtue. They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.

>> They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless: [The Bodhisattvas] are found throughout his land. The assembly of Hearers will also be countless.

>> They are replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom and give rise to vast and wondrous applications. Throughout the world, there is nothing they do not illuminate. Hence it says: They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.

>> With the Three Insights and Eight Liberations: The Three Insights: These are the virtues that Arhats possess. The Eight Liberations: These are eight kinds of meditation to abandon the entanglements of the defiled phenomena in the Three Realms.

>> The Three Insights: Insight into previous lives. Insight of the heavenly eye. Insight into ending all Leaks. Insight into previous lives: The insight of knowing one’s own or others’ causes and conditions in all previous lifetimes. Insight of the heavenly eye: The insight of knowing what happens to oneself or others in all past, present and future lifetimes. Insight into ending all Leaks: The insight of using the wisdom of noble beings to completely eliminate all afflictions.

>> The Eight Liberations: Also called the Eight Abandonments. These are the eight kinds of meditation to abandon the entanglement of afflictions in the Three Realms.

>> They attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: They clearly understand all kinds of Dharma-nature and realize the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom of eloquence.

>> The Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: First, the wisdom of unobstructed Dharma: This is thoroughly understanding all Dharma and differentiating it without obstruction. Second, the wisdom of unobstructed meaning: This is understanding all Dharma and thoroughly comprehending it without obstruction. Third, the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric: This is understanding all kinds of language and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will. Fourth, the wisdom of joyful eloquence: This is teaching sentient beings joyfully and freely.

>> “These people and more will be the Sangha. These and people like them are those who linger and abide in the Small Vehicle teaching to learn and practice the flawless Dharma. They are called the Sangha.”

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“We must be imposing but not forceful;
thus, humility and respect are our virtues.
We must be gentle, generous and diligent;
thus, honesty and love are our virtues.
To subdue [afflictions] is our might.
To captivate others is our virtue.
Then we will be at ease and dignified
with might, virtue and Samadhi.”

Confucius was “gentle but stern, imposing but not forceful.” These were the virtues of Confucius. What Sakyamuni Buddha now teaches us is also the same. He teaches us how to interact with people and deal with matters, how we can cultivate our own conduct and mind. Whether we speak of Buddhas, sages or saints, they must all be replete with these [virtues]. “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent;” This is what we must learn.

We must know that in order to lead people, we must have virtue. Then people will respect us on sight and will accept what we say. After listening, they can take it to heart and reflect on themselves. If they have made any mistakes, they will quickly reflect and then awaken. Mistakes made in the past must be corrected; once we know, we must quickly change. If we live our lives this way, there is still time. We must not wait until the end of life when our time has run out. By then it will be too late.

We have now encountered good causes and conditions. There are good people with whom we have affinities. These people have virtue, and this virtue comes from their self-cultivation. When we have the opportunity to come together with people who are well-cultivated, they can point out our mistakes to us, so we must quickly accept this. They are not blaming us, but motivating us. In this way, we are willing to accept [guidance]. Even if they are blaming us, we must think, “I am so grateful that someone saw my mistake, that someone saw where I went astray and pointed it out for me. This is my mistake; I must repent and awaken right away.” This is what we must learn; there are truly many things we must learn. Only when we learn can we be well-cultivated.

What is it that we are cultivating? What kind of mastery? After cultivating ourselves, when interacting with people, what will the results be? It is like we just said earlier; people will be willing to listen to us. When we tell them, “You have made this kind of mistake. You should change in this way,” they will be willing to accept what we say. This shows we have a kind of might and virtue. This might and virtue does not mean being harsh to others. It is being gentle and generous. We will be gentle and generous, or will be very humble; we will be very humble as we interact with people. We will also have respect for everybody. Even though we are humble and respectful, when we see mistakes in others, we can be direct with them. When speaking with them, we never stop being humble and respectful. In this way, we have an “imposing but not forceful” attitude.

This is because with a mighty, imposing demeanor, we still remain very humble with everyone; we are respectful to everyone. Thus, people are very happy when they see us and respect arises in their hearts. This is the meaning of “imposing but not forceful.” On seeing this person, [they think,] “I’ve done something wrong. When I see that person, I feel so remorseful. I have lost face. He explained it to me in that way and was able to do it himself. So, after he did it, he also told me how, but I was not able to do it. So, when I see him, I feel a sense of remorse.” Then naturally they will correct themselves. This is [the ability] of people with virtue. “Humility and respect are virtues.” We should be humble when interacting with people and be reverent and respectful.

Isn’t Never-Slighting Bodhisattva just like this? “I dare not look down on you because you will attain Buddhahood in the future as well.” He maintained this mindset of seeing the Buddha-nature in everyone, seeing the equality in everyone. So, we should be respectful toward everyone. This kind of humble respect is an important step for our spiritual practice. If we can be like this, we are “imposing but not forceful.” The feeling we bring to others is not fear, but the feeling that we have this might and virtue in us. This gives people a feeling of “imposing but not forceful,” because “humility and respect are our virtues.” In spiritual practice, what we truly cultivate is this kind of humility and this respect toward people. These are our virtues. As spiritual practitioners, we should have such virtues.

We must also be “gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues.” We must treat people gently and harmoniously, very kindly.

“Thus, honesty and love are our virtues. Honesty” means being sincere and genuine. We must engage in practice with a sincere and genuine heart. Loving others, loving things and loving ourselves with sincere and genuine love is the meaning of. “Honesty and love are our virtues.” This is also what we need to cultivate. It is the same for spiritual practice; we must cultivate an open and spacious mind, must cultivate humility and respect in the way that we treat others,

must cultivate having honesty and love when facing the people and matters of the world. If we can do this, that is the fundamental duty of a spiritual practitioner. We seek to cultivate world-transcending Dharma, the virtuous teachings that transcend the world, so how can we, when we enter the world to help, be lacking in these [worldly] virtues? This is what we must put effort into cultivating. “We must be gentle, generous and diligent”; we must persist in this. When we know something is right, we just do it. In our physical conduct, we must “uphold our mission and follow the Path, then the Path is great.” As we seek the Dharma and learn the Path, this is truly most important. So, “Honesty and love are our virtues.”

If we can engage in spiritual practice like this, then naturally, “To subdue [afflictions] is our might.” We will be able to subdue all afflictions. If we can do as the previous passage said and “be imposing but not forceful, humility and respect are our virtues.” If we can “be gentle, generous and diligent, honesty and love are our virtues.” If we have these virtues, no matter what afflictions there are externally, naturally they will not be able to invade our mind. Naturally, we will also be able to subdue the afflictions already in our mind.

If we can always be humble and give with love, then honesty and love are our virtues. If we treat people with love, how can ignorance or afflictions still remain in our mind? Love is giving, giving without expectations. If we give with unconditional love, we will naturally be free of afflictions. Afflictions originate from greed, from the desire to possess everything, from wanting everything, being unwilling to let anything go. This will lead us to have many afflictions.

Because of one thought of greed, we are unwilling to let go and thus create so much karma and so many afflictions! These are all afflictions which we created and brought upon ourselves. If we can turn this greed into giving and love, if, with honesty and love, we are willing to give without expectations, isn’t this a very joyful thing? We are not only happy ourselves, but also, “To captivate others is our virtue.”

“To subdue [afflictions] is our might.” With the cultivation we mentioned earlier, naturally we can subdue all kinds of afflictions. These afflictions will not be able to approach us. This is called subduing all afflictions. They will not come into our hearts. If we do not contend or fight with others, then we have no afflictions from conflicts. If we are willing to step back and yield, “With a step back, our whole world opens up.” We have no enemies. With honesty and love, we have no enemies. In this way, our minds will be very at ease. Although we say we do not contend with others, we still have that imposing might and virtue. This is how spiritual practitioners are.

When people with integrity talk with others in society, interact with people or deal with things, they have great power. So we say, “To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue.” Because of this, what we say inspires faith in others. Because we are “gentle, generous and diligent,” we inspire thoughts of sincere faith in everyone. When we speak, everyone will be able to accept what we say. So, “To captivate others is our virtue. Then we will be at ease and dignified with might, virtue and Samadhi.” This is the “might, virtue and Samadhi” that the Buddha taught.

How should we learn to have “might, virtue and Samadhi”? We need to do what was mentioned. “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues. To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue.” If we learn these three virtues completely and take them to heart, then naturally, “We will be at ease and dignified.” We will be at ease. Because there will be no deception in our hearts and no greed or attachments in our minds, we will be truly at ease. This state of being at ease is a kind of dignity; it is also might and virtue. It is “might, virtue and Samadhi.”

In the Buddha’s time, He taught us this way, taught us how we should act. In the times of the Buddha and Confucius, there were many sages who appeared in the world and used many different methods to teach us. We should accept [these teachings]. Although it has been over 2000 years since the era of the Buddha, now is the time; now is the time for us to exercise and apply these teachings in our present era. In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, sentient beings’ lives are filled with suffering. Now is when they need the teachings of the sages. These teachings have been transmitted so that we can apply them right now.

At this time, we can see many events happening in this world. Many Living Bodhisattvas have mobilized. Whenever a place is struck by disaster, wherever there is suffering, they all form aspirations and begin to work in concert with unity, harmony and love to help others. We saw the images from Serbia. They have already been broadcast by Da Ai TV. The images are quite heartwarming. People seemed to be very happy as they sang a song together. “We are all one family.” They were not only singing, but also performing [the sign language]. Using body language, they expressed how. “We are all one family.”

These volunteers from different countries who had come to help took charge of leading them. The people receiving the help accepted this and also learned and sang along. They were really in sync, and the melody was so harmonious. By arousing everyone’s love, with the power of love, smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces. Although they were of different ethnicities, they had the same beautiful smiles.

Our Jing Si instant rice [arrived] on March 18 (2016), local time. Zusong and Mr. Yang both began the testing process. In that place, they began preparing the Jing Si instant rice. People surrounded them to learn and watch. After ten or so minutes of stirring the rice, they covered the two large pots and left them there. Then they came out and began interacting with people, talking with them. Zusong started meeting everyone and sharing with everyone. Tzu Chi started 50 years ago with 50 cents. Small good deeds have accumulated until today to become great love.

They explained that this rice came from a group of spiritual practitioners in Taiwan. We knew that people there also liked eating rice. Rice was their staple. So, people immediately put love and sincerity into preparing this instant rice. Moreover, aside from this group of spiritual practitioners, there was also another group of loving people. They too worked together harmoniously as a team to prepare everything. These two tons of [instant] rice were sent from Hualien to Taipei and then from Taipei to Serbia.

This is a group of loving people in the world. The principle that small contributions can accomplish great deeds was shared with the people at that site. Mr. Rubi Willi Pfaff was also there. He is from Germany; he is Shuwei’s husband. He is German, but he is very dedicated to the spirit and the ideals of Tzu Chi. He knows the Four Missions and Eight Footprints so well that he can recite them backwards. He spoke to people over there explaining that in the Four Missions of Tzu Chi, there is no discrimination over nationality or ethnicity. We do not discuss religion and politics. The only goal is to help suffering sentient beings. This is a very pure and sincere spirit of great love.

This volunteer from Germany talked about Tzu Chi and the Four Missions and Eight Footprints, so the refugees all circled around to listen to him. What he said made everyone feel so touched. He even said, “Master told us to take care of the earth and pay attention to environmental protection, education and vegetarianism.” He talked about these things with the people there. He said, “Master taught us these ideals, to love Earth, to value environmental protection and to adopt a vegetarian diet.”

In that place, he took the opportunity to speak to them like this. Everybody was very quiet and listened carefully to this German man. He has high social standing in Germany. What is more, his physical condition was not well. He visited Serbia two times in a row. He was in the first group [of volunteers]. After ten days, due to his physical condition, he had to go back [home] to receive an injection. He was not willing to take the time to rest. After the injection for chemotherapy, he was supposed to rest for a while. However, in his heart, he could not let go of the refugees and the Bodhisattva-volunteers who were still there. After three or four days, he went back to Serbia.

When he went back the second time, Zusong had already sent supplies to the site. Volunteers were also coming. With the arrival of great amounts of instant rice, they could prepare it so easily. While the food was soaking and cooking, they came out to talk with people. He could not help standing up and telling people about Tzu Chi’s Four Missions and the spirit and ideals behind them, about how we do not discriminate over religion, nationality or ethnicity. He also talked about loving Earth and the concept of environmental protection.

Zusong even told people that every grain of rice is precious. It comes from kind people all over the world. These small amounts of strength are joined together to become great love and help people all over the world. He also told them that this rice they were eating was not just paid for by rich people; even poor people also gave donations. In short, he described the spirit of Tzu Chi very well, in the hopes that these people would cherish their blessings. He told them to take only what they could eat and absolutely not waste anything.

Afterwards, Zusong introduced the process of making Jing Si instant rice, how each grain of rice is processed and so on. He played the video for people, showing them that each grain of rice does not come easily. Every action is done with such reverence; everything is given with such love. After this description, they roused everyone; the Tzu Chi volunteers led everyone [in the song]. “We are one family.” The activities were well-planned, starting with the introduction of instant rice, an explanation of Tzu Chi’s Four Missions, then the process of making Jing Si instant rice and how it was packaged and delivered. In this way, after the video was played, people understood the sincere love [put into this] and thus sang. “We are one family” together. They were very joyful.

Once we finished speaking, some time might have passed, then they started to eat; a couple of hours later, they started to eat. People were asked to try the food. All those present, whether they were refugees from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, ate together like this, and everyone was very happy. A young man said, “It reminds me of the food in my hometown, my mother’s home cooking; I’m so happy.”

This was on March 19 (2016). They were so happy there; all of them were so happy to eat this.

So, every day has a story behind it. Historically, on today’s date, March 20, 2003, war erupted between the United States and Iraq. In that same year, we also had the SARS virus, which had begun spreading in Taiwan. So, starting from that year, I always worried whenever I saw the three major or minor calamities. Thus, I began to promote the Threefold Goodness. The [Threefold Goodness] is speaking good words, doing good deeds and thinking good thoughts. We have constantly been promoting this. These kinds of “compassionate vows, good thoughts, peace, love” were all promoted that year by all Tzu Chi volunteers. “Compassionate vows, good thoughts, “peace and love” have been promoted ever since. Even in our society, in Taiwan, the Threefold Goodness of saying good words, doing good deeds and thinking good thoughts has spread from families to schools. This has continued since we began promoting it.

We should always do this, not only when there is some disaster that year. However, starting from that year, we also began holding activities frequently. Because of the suffering in the world, we need people with loving hearts. Or, when people who are lost wish to awaken, they require everyone’s mindful support. Only in this way can society be harmonious. For everyone in society to say good words, do good deeds and bring purity to people’s hearts is what we hope for every day. We hope the Dharma can spread to the whole world. Moral principles and ethics, even the teachings of Confucius, should be promoted in the world. Whether the Buddha or Confucius, their ideals are all precious teachings for our world. We should be mindful [to understand them].

The previous sutra passage states,

“Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be named Pure Kindness, composed of the Seven Treasures. His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright. The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”

After Purna attains Buddhahood, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be dignified. Everyone there will do good deeds, and every word they say is the Dharma. Their minds will have already been purified. As they have already purified their minds, their world will be joyous and blessed. Thus, there will be treasures everywhere. Working in concert with unity, harmony and love in this kind of world today is truly something to admire. If we look forward to the arrival of such an era, we must put the teachings into practice.

The next sutra passage continues with, “All have been delivered, possess great powers, are replete with the power of might and virtue.” It was because of this sentence that we spent so much time explaining this. “[This is] replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.”

All of them have been delivered, possess great spiritual powers and are replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.

Those Bodhisattvas, at the beginning, because of their past spiritual practice, will already have great spiritual powers. Everybody will engage in spiritual practice and will be “replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill his land.” People like this will be seen everywhere. There will be many Hearers. People will have virtues of the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations. They even attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people are all in the Sangha of the future Dharma Clarity Tathagata. The spiritual practitioners there are like this.

“All have been delivered, possess great powers, are replete with the power of might and virtue.” They have been delivered; all these people are already like this. They engaged in practice, were liberated and “possess great powers.” They are all “replete with the power of might and virtue.” So, “They employ both might and virtue and utilize both grace and virtue. They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.”

All of them have been delivered and possess great spiritual powers, replete with the power of might and virtue: They all have been delivered and liberated, have attained great spiritual powers and are replete with might and virtue. They employ both might and virtue and utilize both grace and virtue. They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.

They have might and virtue. Might means being imposing and dignified. The practices they cultivated lead others to feel reverence on sight, to have respect for them on sight. These are the virtues they regularly accumulate. This is cultivated by “being gentle, generous and diligent; honesty and love are their virtues.” This is how they attained these virtues. Or, “Humility and respect are their virtues”; this is what they have cultivated. So, “They employ both might and virtue.” With the practices that they have cultivated, they are already replete in all of this; they exercise both might and virtue.

So, “[They] utilize both grace and virtue.” They have the virtue of might and the grace of giving to sentient beings, giving without expectations, giving constantly. Self-cultivation is called “might and virtue.” Giving is called “grace and virtue.” In cultivating ourselves, there are so many things we must pay attention to, how to be humble and respectful, how to be gentle, generous and diligent. We should be mindful about all of this. After listening to the teachings, we should put them into practice. So, this is “utilizing both grace and virtue.”

“They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.” If all of these virtues are accumulated, they will be the root of our spiritual practice. This is the foundation of virtue. The root of our luminous virtue is our nature of True Suchness. Returning to the nature of True Suchness is what we attain at the end of our spiritual practice.

People like this “will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.”

They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless: [The Bodhisattvas] are found throughout his land. The assembly of Hearers will also be countless.

Such Bodhisattvas will be found throughout his land. There will be many Hearers; it will be impossible to calculate their number. They are already “replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom.” If the Tathagata had not engaged in practicing precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, how would He have been able to attain Buddhahood? Therefore, these spiritual practitioners practice what the Buddha taught; they practice according to teachings. They also learn the Tathagata’s precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.

They are replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom and give rise to vast and wondrous applications. Throughout the world, there is nothing they do not illuminate. Hence it says: They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.

Therefore, they are “replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom and give rise to vast and wondrous applications. Throughout the world, there is nothing they do not illuminate. Hence it says, ‘They will fill his land The Hearers there will also be countless.'” These Hearers are all like this. When all of them come together, with the light of virtue they can illuminate each other. Everybody teaches the Dharma to each other, spurs each other on and encourages each other to succeed. With the power of love, they mutually help each other succeed.

Next is “the Three Insights and Eight Liberations. The Three Insights are the virtues that Arhats possess. The Eight Liberations are eight kinds of meditation for abandoning the entanglements of the defiled phenomena in the Three Realms.”

With the Three Insights and Eight Liberations: The Three Insights: These are the virtues that Arhats possess. The Eight Liberations: These are eight kinds of meditation to abandon the entanglements of the defiled phenomena in the Three Realms.

This is our ignorance. In the desire realm, form realm and formless realm, all kinds of contamination and ignorance are eliminated. Dust-like ignorance is also eliminated. On entering Samadhi, we have Samadhi and wisdom. This is called “Abandonment.” We give up and abandon all past afflictions and return to pure meditation.

This is cultivating contemplation and purity. The Three insights are the insight into previous lives, of the heavenly eye and of ending all Leaks. We should all more or less know all of this.

The Three Insights: Insight into previous lives. Insight of the heavenly eye. Insight into ending all Leaks. Insight into previous lives: The insight of knowing one’s own or others’ causes and conditions in all previous lifetimes. Insight of the heavenly eye: The insight of knowing what happens to oneself or others in all past, present and future lifetimes. Insight into ending all Leaks: The insight of using the wisdom of noble beings to completely eliminate all afflictions.

“Insight into previous lives” is “knowing one’s own or others’ causes and conditions in all previous lifetimes.” This is called “insight into previous lives. Insight of the heavenly eye” means knowing one’s own and others’ [lives] in the past, present and future. This includes knowing what our past was like and what kind of karma we bring with us. We are very clear about the present life, regarding what we must do and must not do. Now, everything about interpersonal relationships is clear to us. As for the future, ours and others’, we know this very well too. “Insight into ending all Leaks” is “using the wisdom of noble beings to completely eliminate all afflictions.” One has reached the wisdom of noble beings and completely eliminated all afflictions. This is the “insight into ending all Leaks.” This is flawless precepts, Samadhi and wisdom; all afflictions have been eliminated, and all Leaks have been ended. This is called “insight into ending all Leaks.”

The Eight Liberations are “also called the Eight Abandonments.” With these eight types of abandonments, all afflictions and so on in the Three Realms will all be eliminated.

With the Three Insights and Eight Liberations: The Three Insights: These are the virtues that Arhats possess. The Eight Liberations: These are eight kinds of meditation to abandon the entanglements of the defiled phenomena in the Three Realms.

“They attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. They clearly understand all kinds of Dharma-nature and realize the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom of eloquence.”

They attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: They clearly understand all kinds of Dharma-nature and realize the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom of eloquence.

Let us review the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms again. I hope everyone is familiar with these.

The first one is “wisdom of unobstructed Dharma.” This is “thoroughly understanding all Dharma and differentiating it without obstruction.” We are able to completely understand all Dharma and have no obstructions in differentiating it. Second is “the wisdom of unobstructed meaning. This is understanding all Dharma and thoroughly comprehending it without obstruction.” We understand all Dharma, and we thoroughly comprehend it without any obstructions.

Third is “the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric. This is understanding all kinds of languages and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will.” This is just like the “foreign language team.” Dozens of them come to practice diligently. Even though they speak various languages, people from northern, central and southern [Taiwan] all come back to the Abode to learn more about the Dharma. They come back to the Abode for diligent practice. Over the three days, [we saw] they can “understand all kinds of languages and freely expound [the Dharma] at will.” No matter what terminology it is, they are always able to explain it.

Fourth is “the wisdom of joyful eloquence. This is teaching sentient beings joyfully and freely.” I hope the Buddha’s teachings are always promoted and that the these good teachings are spread around the world. This way, everybody can awaken themselves and understand the mistakes they have made. We must not keep contaminating people’s minds, disrupting people’s minds. We should earnestly [seek to be] like Dharma Clarity Tathagata. In His world, everybody says good words and performs good deeds. This is our ideal world and how we engage in practice.

The Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: First, the wisdom of unobstructed Dharma: This is thoroughly understanding all Dharma and differentiating it without obstruction. Second, the wisdom of unobstructed meaning: This is understanding all Dharma and thoroughly comprehending it without obstruction. Third, the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric: This is understanding all kinds of language and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will. Fourth, the wisdom of joyful eloquence: This is teaching sentient beings joyfully and freely.

“These people and more will be the Sangha.” This is the world of Dharma Clarity Tathagata. This is what his Sangha will be like. Those with the “Three Insights, Eight Liberations and the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms,” people like that, are all in His Sangha. This land is filled with spiritual practitioners like this.

“These people and more will be the Sangha. These and people like them are those who linger and abide in the Small Vehicle teaching to learn and practice the flawless Dharma. They are called the Sangha.”

Although they have aspirations, they are still at the stage of learning. They are still stuck at the stage of learning. They are those learning very earnestly.

However, the teachings [they learn] move in the direction of the Great Vehicle Dharma. They already have removed Leaks from their mind; without Leaks, the Dharma that they learn will not leak away. They have precepts, Samadhi and wisdom; they listen, contemplate and practice. They are all without Leaks. This is the Sangha of the future Dharma Clarity Tathagata. In this way, they are good students. They take every word of the teachings to heart and put it into practice. This is. Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s world in the future.

We hope that our world can be like this. As we all engage in spiritual practice, “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues.” Only with these can we subdue so many afflictions and captivate others so they “follow the path to rectify themselves.” This is what we should put our heart into. So, we must always be mindful.

Episode 1136 – Attaining the Pure Land through Diligent Practice

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>> “For dust-inked kalpas, he practiced diligently, helped to promote the Dharma and protected it. He sought the wisdom of the fruit of Buddhahood and taught without fear. He constantly expounded the purifying Dharma and transformed all sentient beings, enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle, the supreme Dharma of the one reality.”

>> In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas, protect and help to promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well. He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear, will transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, will give offerings to all Tathagatas and will protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.

>> “Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be named Pure Kindness, composed of the Seven Treasures. His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright. The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”

>> Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity: After manifesting and attaining Buddhahood, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. He comprehends with clarity the Dharma’s meaning and expounds the Dharma to break through the darkness and foolishness in the world. Thus he will be named Dharma Clarity. This is that Buddha’s distinctive epithet.

>> His land will be called Pure Kindness: With kindness he transforms sentient beings and enables their minds to be pure, hence his land will be pure. In that land there is no evil of lust; all beings will be transformation-born. Thus it is called Pure Kindness.

>> Composed of the Seven Treasures: The Seven Treasures: gold, silver, crystal, mother-of-pearl, chalcedony, pearl and rose stone. Because he has achieved the merits and virtues of the seven roots of goodness, in his fruitions, his reward-land will be dignified with the Seven Treasures.

>> His kalpa’s name is Treasure Bright and there “with kindness He expounds all Dharma. The Dharma-treasures manifest brightly. Virtuous people will increase, and their bodies will all be golden in color. Thus, it will be called Treasure Bright.”

>> The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions: This is because he had transformed many people.

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“For dust-inked kalpas,
he practiced diligently, helped to promote the Dharma and protected it.
He sought the wisdom of the fruit of Buddhahood
and taught without fear.
He constantly expounded the purifying Dharma
and transformed all sentient beings,
enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle,
the supreme Dharma of the one reality.”

Dust-inked kalpas are a very long period of time. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City starts by telling us about this. This is an incalculable amount of time. We probably have a deep impression of this. At that time, we repeated it over and over so that everyone would thoroughly understand. Spiritual practice takes a very long time. Actually, we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We have always had it, so in what way do we need to practice? All we can do is work on our habitual tendencies. This is what I continuously emphasize. This is what I teach you.

We have always intrinsically had Buddha-nature. It is just that our minds, as soon as we are not careful, will go off track so we are influenced by desire for external things. When thoughts of desire, thoughts of enjoyment, enter the mind, it causes craving and attachment. Starting in this way, we are unable to turn back. This is also how we end up transmigrating in the Six Realms for a very long time. Though we have suffered terribly, we still do not recognize our inherently pure intrinsic nature. For the sake of craving and attachment, we become lost and do not know that we must return. We do not know how to find our way back, so we remain lost. Even if we wish to return, it is not easy at all!

It will take us a very long time, relying on the directions of a guiding teacher. Can we take his methods of guidance to heart? Can we hold fast to our aspirations when our minds have already run away from us? Our minds have already connected to so many objects of desire; they have already been contaminated by so many external conditions. These unwholesome affinities, unwholesome friends, ignorance, afflictions, delusions and so on, dust-like ignorance, afflictions and delusions, are already in our minds, so it is impossible for us to control ourselves. This is like how people now take drugs and cannot stop taking them. They may have only been curious at first. Once they tried them, they drifted away into such a pleasant state. They feel so wonderful, so they try them again. “Maybe it won’t be a problem.” They clearly know these substances are harmful, but when they tried it the first time, after taking it into their system, they wanted to try it a second and third time, until they found it impossible to get away from this state of drug use.

This is a mistake! We know we must abstain, or there will be unbearable suffering! It affects body and mind and our [life] situation. In the opinions of the people around, no one is willing to trust this person. He himself will undergo unbearable suffering. He may decide to quit, but is it easy? It is difficult. If he is arrested and locked up, he will be forced to quit while inside. He will have cut himself off from the drugs. A few years later he is released, but there will be the same external conditions, his old drug-user friends, At the slightest invitation, he will be unable to control himself and will start again. I have heard that if someone wants to quit drugs, during the time they undergo withdrawal, their entire body becomes very uncomfortable. It is painful! It is like ants are crawling all over you, like they are biting you, like insects are gnawing away at you. These are drug users. If they become addicted, it becomes very difficult for them to quit.

As ordinary people, we start off physically and mentally healthy, with our inherent nature of True Suchness. It is intrinsic to us all; since Beginningless Time we have inherently had this nature of True Suchness. It is just that a single thought of ignorance causes our minds to go off the rails, to be tainted with worldly desires and pleasures. This is just like people with a drug addiction, who continue taking them. “I know, I know it is a mistake. I am determined to quit.” However, quitting is very painful, so although they try to quit many times, they repeatedly fall back into their addiction.

There is nothing they can do. We sentient beings have been like this for a while. So, now it is the time to bring ourselves back and return to our nature of True Suchness. Of course, we still need dust-inked kalpas, still need a very long period of time to train ourselves by going among people, to constantly cultivate our nature, to get rid of negative habitual tendencies. Though ignorance and afflictions are all around, we do not let them contaminate us. We not only remain uncontaminated, we can even become liberated. Not only can we become liberated, we can even go among the people to teach, to influence others, to help others free themselves from these kinds of suffering.

Look at the prisons, at the large group of those in prison for drugs. Because they used drugs, they committed crimes. Now there are these people in prison, and a group of Bodhisattva-[volunteers] outside who cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. They carry the Dharma into the prisons, first approaching them through friendship. Through being loving, through diligent effort, through sincerity, they are able to get close. They keep them company as they read and talk to them about the outside world. They talk about how, in the outside world, there are many Bodhisattvas, many people exercising love in local areas or or going abroad for disaster relief, relieving others from suffering and difficulty.

They gradually draw close to [the inmates], gradually help them recognize, help them to understand that their imprisonment had caused so much suffering in the past! Their parents, their families, society, friends, so many people, [were affected] because of their addiction to drugs. Under the influence of these drugs, they became confused and made so many mistakes. “I know. I am clear-headed now. I want to change.”

Then with the sutra [adaptations] they start to mobilize them right away, teaching them how good deeds and filial piety cannot wait. The musical adaptation of the Sutra of Profound Gratitude Toward Parents, with its music, its passages from the sutra, its sign language and body language, was all brought into the prisons to help these addicts and offenders to engage in continual self-reflection and help the Dharma enter their minds bit by bit. With self-reflection, by taking the Dharma to heart, they make up their minds. Thus they will purify their bodies and minds. After going through such a long period of time, they eventually [change] their behavior completely. These people in prison have clearly already completely changed, so they can be paroled early and can leave the prison. They can be paroled early, so they are said to be “rehabilitated.” They have changed and started anew.

After being released, they have this aspiration, so they quickly seek out this group who woke them up, this group who drop by drop gave them the ambrosial dew of the Dharma-water to nourish their wisdom-life and help it grow. They look for this group of Bodhisattvas. Starting in this way, our Tzu Chi volunteers seize the opportunity to bring them in to help in recycling work.

When they see the elderly recycling volunteers, they learn to treat them with the same respect they do their own parents. Though they did not have any relationship with these seniors, they learn to cherish them and also devote themselves to the recycling work. On one hand they learn to respect the elderly, to respect them like they would their own parents. As for the recyclables, this great mess of many things, didn’t they do just this in the past, creating so much garbage? They used to throw away things like this, ruin things like this. It turns out this group had been collecting them. So, this environmental consciousness was continually absorbed by them. They learn to cherish the earth, cherish mankind and respect the elderly. This is how they are continually trained at the recycling stations. Being in this kind of good environment, together with good people, serves to stabilize their minds. So, gradually they will have the opportunity to join the introductory volunteer training.

They begin their introductory training. In the introductory training, they join in visits to the poor and in many other things. They see all kinds of people in society, families in impoverished and difficult conditions, all the different ways suffering manifests. Those at the end of their lives face indescribable suffering. They experience this with sincerity. They understand, so they begin becoming even more mindful. After introductory training is advanced training. After advanced training, they also can begin to go and transform others. We see so many families where the child, or the husband, or any family member for that matter, had caused trouble for the family in the past. They were cast aside by their parents, estranged from their siblings and so on. Now they are trying to reestablish these relationships, to revive the parental affection, restore their parents’ trust in them and revive the brotherly and sisterly affections with their siblings. How hard must they try?

Every time I go to Pingtung, the volunteers will always do the same thing and arrange time for rehabilitated former inmates. These people are already completely liberated; they are no longer looked upon as “rehabilitated,” but have become free members of society and members of this group of Bodhisattvas who go into prisons again to transform others. Every time I go there, they always bring former inmates like these to meet me. They even bring their family members, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, their wives and children to accompany them, to testify and express their gratitude. They are grateful for all of our volunteers, grateful that Tzu Chi could help their most beloved relative who had lost his way, who, in his time of confusion, had been cut off from society in prison. He had felt so hopeless and had experienced so much pain, but now he had been released from prison and their family had become complete again.

When the head of the household returns, the wife are very happy and children are also proud to have their father home. In particular, when they had made mistakes before, their children had felt a sense of aversion for them and had even begun misbehaving themselves. Seeing their fathers turn their lives around, not only did they change their view of their fathers, they were now alerted to be careful of themselves so as not to follow in their father’s footsteps. “My father was like that, and I had such aversion for him in my heart. I was heading that way. What would have become of me in the future?”

There is a child in Pingtung who has now started middle school. When his father was released from prison, the child was still in primary school. When his father was released from prison, the child was not even willing to see him. It is not like this anymore. When I went to Pingtung [in 2015], he came with his father, his grandfather and his grandmother [to see me]. Every day he went with his father early in the morning to offer his grandparents tea. Then each evening he again went with his father and would kneel and offer tea to his grandparents.

I asked this child, “Your father serves tea to your grandparents, and you serve it together with him. Do you serve tea to your father?” He told me, “Father wants me to serve tea to my grandparents.” I said, “Now it is time for you to serve tea to your father. Can you do that?” He looked at his father and said, “Father, now I will begin serving you tea.” His father was very happy. His grandparents too were also happy and said, “That is how it should be. Learn from how your father is now! You should be filial.” That is right! Now this family is joyful and harmonious. Truly, he had made mistakes in the past. How did the family get through those times? Now that he has reformed, what is that family like now?

It is the same with our spiritual practice. We must also spend a very long time in order to transform ourselves. If we wish to conquer our minds, train them until we completely get rid of ignorance, afflictions and dust-like delusions, then of course this will take a long time. We have recently seen, in the prisons of Taiwan so many moving stories like this. It is the same in faraway places as well. There are many Bodhisattvas who go abroad in order to save others. The world’s four elements are out of balance. There are disasters, floods and droughts. With long-term disasters like these, the local people are not able to save everyone by themselves; they need the help of many from abroad to get involved and go there to help. We all must wholeheartedly work together.

This is like our African “Black Pearls.” Though their languages all differ from ours, they have taken the Dharma to heart more than anyone else. They even actualize the Four Great Vows, widely transforming sentient beings. Financially speaking, they endure great difficulty. In the way they physically get around, compared to all of us, it is actually much more difficult for them, as they are much more heavyset than we are. Their travel routes are all very far and take a long time. They need to climb great mountains and walk for long distances. Their environment is so much poorer than ours.

Yet, they have taken the Dharma to heart. They bring the Dharma with them wherever they go. Wherever they are, they wake up on time to listen to the Dharma. They get up every morning, even when on the road. They get up on time every morning, wash themselves and put themselves together, then all of them gather, turn on the computer and when the time arrives, when the Da Ai TV channel comes up on the screen, they pay respect to their teacher as if their teacher were there. They are very reverent, placing their palms together, bowing and so on. They follow all of the practices properly.

As they learn like this, they respectfully take this Dharma to heart. Having respectfully taken the Dharma to heart, they make vows. Because they have vows, their strength can manifest. They have the Four Great Vows. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” They are in South Africa, yet in fact they cover seven countries. Swaziland is the closest to them, but that is still 500 or 600 kilometers before they reach that border. From Durban, it is 500 or 600 kilometers before they can reach that border. Then how large is Swaziland? They must still get to that place where they will promote the Dharma. They still do this with utmost sincerity.

After the New Year, in mid-February (2016), they began making plans for several different trips to these countries. In just a four-year period, they have gone to Swaziland 43 times alone. It is clear that their spirit in transforming others is so fervent. They persisted and would not give up. This is especially true of their spirit and ideals in transforming people. They must always start with themselves. They must first start by transforming themselves. Then people feel respect for them on sight. All of them dress so neatly.

In that place, there are many poor people, but when they wear the blue and white uniform, even with the environment and the transportation the way it is, the white skirts they wear are always kept very clean. They always keep that set of clothes very clean. Even if they are met with a downpour of rain, even if the ground turns to mud, they still can cross that muddy water, and cross those muddy roads, while keeping their appearance very clean. They keep themselves clean and spotless. Just keeping themselves as neat as they do is not that easy at all.

There are no Chinese commissioners in Swaziland. There are no Tzu Chi volunteers there, no Chinese volunteers. Moreover, we had no local seeds there, and everything there was unfamiliar. This is how it was in the beginning. Fortunately, there was a company there called Tex-Ray that provided a place for us to use. The manager was very cooperative with Tzu Chi, very inspired and willing to provide an even larger place for volunteers to hold meetings, or provide them with an even more suitable place where they could rest. These were the blessings they created.

They are very disciplined; every day they listen to the sutras. They watch the “Wisdom at Dawn” program, with the translated English subtitles. They mindfully watch the images and read the translated English subtitles. When they watch this way, they understand and take the Dharma to heart. [The videos] had reached the story of the poor son from the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. Those passages about the poor son started while they were actually there in Swaziland. When they arrived there, everyone invited them to share, invited them to hold trainings. In the trainings they held, they told the people that when we receive a case of someone in difficulty, we must make a home visit in this way, must write reports in this way, must do other things and so on. This is what they were meticulously teaching them.

Among them was one who seemed very impatient, whose face seemed filled with worry. You could see her impatience; she felt very afflicted. Nevertheless, in that place they all tried to comfort her. They asked her to listen and watch carefully. As it turned out, it was this story, the analogy of the poor son from the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. As she watched and listened, she took it in. Then afterwards, beaming with a great smile, she reverently repented to everyone. She told them, “[I am sorry that] at first, I was giving everyone such terrible looks. I am very grateful to have watched this program.” She was so grateful for what I had said. “It was so fortunate you are here!” she said, pointing to the South African volunteers. “They have brought the Dharma here so all of us can understand it.” So, she was very grateful.

Starting in this way, this seed very joyfully came to join us. She seems like a very promising local seed there. She took the Dharma to heart right away. She had turned to everyone and bravely said, “Thank you so much! I am so sorry for the negative expression I gave everyone!” and things like that. She spoke from her heart of how she was moved. She told them, “How wonderful of you to bring the Dharma here!” Clearly this woman is a very good seed. She has much wisdom. So, Swaziland should have hope for the future.

Thus, it says, “For dust-inked kalpas, he practiced diligently, helped to promote the Dharma and protected it.” This is what Purna Maitrayaniputra had done. “He sought the wisdom of the fruit of Buddhahood and taught without fear.” No matter how negative the environment, he was fearless; he would still go. Whatever the difficulty of questions asked of him, he could resolve them all one by one. He could use his methods to help everyone open up their minds and understand. He was without fear, so “He constantly expounded the purifying Dharma and transformed all sentient beings.” This was what Purna had done; he “enabled them to abide in the Great Vehicle, the supreme Dharma of the one reality.” By helping everyone listen to this Dharma, by helping them abide in the Dharma, the Dharma would never retreat from their hearts and they could always abide in the Dharma. This was Purna Maitrayaniputra’s contribution to the Dharma, so the Buddha praised him greatly.

Thus, the previous passage says, “In the future, he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas.”

In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas, protect and help to promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well. He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear, will transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, will give offerings to all Tathagatas and will protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.

In the past he was like this and in the future will also be like this. He transformed sentient beings in the past and will in the future similarly use the Dharma to make offerings to infinite Buddhas. He made offerings by protecting the Dharma, by helping those Buddhas promote Right Dharma. This is how he purified his own Buddha-land. This is the goal of spiritual practice, to arrive at the state of Buddhahood. This is spiritual practice.

So, “He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear.” He always used many kinds of skillful means in order to teach the Dharma. He taught “without fear”; he was very calm, because he was well-versed in the Dharma. No matter what kind of challenge was posed to him, he could always explain each one. Thus he will “transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, give offerings to all Tathagatas and protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.” This is Purna Maitrayaniputra and what he had done in his spiritual practice from dust-inked kalpas ago until today.

“Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood.” The passage continues like this,

“Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be named Pure Kindness, composed of the Seven Treasures. His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright. The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”

This is telling us the name of. His reward-body after attaining Buddhahood. This is Maitrayaniputra, in the future, after a very long time. He will always form affinities with others and always help Buddhas promote the teachings, until, in the future, he will also attain Buddhahood. When a Buddha manifests in the world, that is called His reward-body. In response to sufficient causes and conditions, he will manifest in the world. After attaining Buddhahood, his name will be Dharma Clarity. This means that. “He comprehends with clarity the Dharma’s meaning.” Why will he be called Dharma Clarity? It is because of his clarity, because of his clear understanding of the Dharma.

Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity: After manifesting and attaining Buddhahood, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. He comprehends with clarity the Dharma’s meaning and expounds the Dharma to break through the darkness and foolishness in the world. Thus he will be named Dharma Clarity. This is that Buddha’s distinctive epithet.

It is the same as with Sakyamuni Buddha. After He attained enlightenment, He thoroughly understood all of the true principles of the universe. So, it will be the same for Dharma Clarity Tathagata in the future. All of the principles of the universe will become clear in his mind; all will be very clear. So, “He comprehends with clarity the Dharma’s meaning.” When he teaches everyone in the future, he will clearly comprehend the Dharma’s meaning. He will “expound the Dharma to break through the darkness and foolishness in the world.” He will give many teachings that can [eliminate] all the ignorance, affliction and darkness inside sentient beings. By completely attaining the Buddha’s teaching, they will be able to eliminate all of this. Because of this, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity.

“This is that Buddha’s distinctive epithet.” The Buddha has ten epithets all together. The distinctive epithet for our current Buddha is Sakyamuni Buddha. The future Buddha will be called Maitreya Buddha, and then again in the future, another Buddha, many kalpas later, will be called Dharma Clarity Tathagata. Every one has a different name. All of us are called people. We are commonly called people, but we all have distinctive epithets, our names. Your name and my name are different. Everyone has different names. So in the future, Dharma Clarity Tathagata will be his name.

“His land will be called Pure Kindness.”

His land will be called Pure Kindness: With kindness he transforms sentient beings and enables their minds to be pure, hence his land will be pure. In that land there is no evil of lust; all beings will be transformation-born. Thus it is called Pure Kindness.

It is called Pure Kindness because “with kindness he transforms sentient beings and enables their minds to be pure, hence his land will be pure.” If people’s minds are pure, then the land will be pure. There will be no evil of lust in the people of that land. Everyone born in that country will be pure and innocent. There will be no sexual misconduct or evil of lust. The people of that country will all follow the teachings and the rules very purely. So, “All beings will be transformation-born. Thus, it is called Pure Kindness.” This is what that land will be like. It will be so pure.

In particular, it is “composed of the Seven Treasures.”

Composed of the Seven Treasures: The Seven Treasures: gold, silver, crystal, mother-of-pearl, chalcedony, pearl and rose stone. Because he has achieved the merits and virtues of the seven roots of goodness, in his fruitions, his reward-land will be dignified with the Seven Treasures.

The Seven Treasures are gold, silver, crystal, mother-of-pearl, chalcedony, pearl, rose stone and so on. These are the Seven Treasures; there will be so many of them. This is “because he has achieved the merits and virtues of the seven roots of goodness.” We have the 37 Practices to Enlightenment, “the three Fours, two Fives, Seven and Eight.” These all are the foundation of the Dharma. These all are the roots of goodness, all beneficial teachings. Because of these, he will have accomplished many merits and virtues. This is the place where he will attain Buddhahood in the future. It “will be dignified with the Seven Treasures.”

“His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright.”

His kalpa’s name is Treasure Bright and there “with kindness He expounds all Dharma. The Dharma-treasures manifest brightly. Virtuous people will increase, and their bodies will all be golden in color. Thus, it will be called Treasure Bright.”

That will be his era. A kalpa is an era. During that time, a very long time from now, everything around will be like this. “With kindness He will expound all Dharma.” Anything anyone says there will be an interaction through the Dharma. They will teach the True Dharma to each other. They will only have good words, and everyone will only encourage one another. This is what it will be like in that era. That is not like the world now. People nowadays must be cautious when they speak and guard against [misunderstandings]. “If I say this, how will others take it?” We are always frightened.

In Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s future land, everyone’s minds will all be very calm. All they will talk about will be true principles; all will be the Dharma. This will be the state that they will live in in the future. “The Dharma-treasures manifest brightly.” Every word will be the Dharma, and all will be treasures. This is like that woman in Swaziland. Her face was full of worry at the start; her mind was full of afflictions. She was very impatient. After hearing the Dharma, she broke out in a smile and began to repent, began expressing her gratitude to so many people for having brought the Dharma there. It helped resolve her afflictions and ignorance and put a smile on her face. This was not such a simple matter. To enable her to express her repentance that way was not an easy thing to do. This was the Dharma suiting her capabilities.

In the future era of Dharma Clarity Tathagata, the “Dharma Treasures manifest brightly.” Anything anyone says there will always bring joy to others and, on hearing it, they open their mind and understand. So, “Virtuous people will increase” there. There will be more and more virtuous people, and “Their bodies will all be golden in color.” They will have no afflictions and everyone there will appear very dignified. The kalpa will be called Treasure Bright.

“The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”

The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions: This is because he had transformed many people.

In that future place, in that land and in that era, everyone will live together so happily. They will encourage each other there and work to benefit one another and strengthen their spiritual aspirations. They mutually benefit each other. It will be such a wonderful state!

Dear Bodhisattvas, we should all know that learning the Buddha’s teachings takes a long time. We must diligently practice for dust-inked kalpas. We must mindfully promote the Buddha-Dharma so that everyone can accept the Buddha-Dharma, change from the past and practice for the future. We must quickly change our past mistaken views and quickly take the Dharma to heart. We must constantly seek the Buddha-Dharma while transforming sentient beings, for only then will our world be one of peace and joy. This depends on whether or not we are being mindful. I just have one thing to say; we must still always be mindful!

Episode 1135 – Blessings and Wisdom in Offering and Teaching

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>> “Bodhisattvas, to transform sentient beings, use this clear and pure Dharma-eye to universally observe all phenomena. They are able to know and practice this Dharma to be able to realize this path. They also know all kinds of skillful means.”

>> “He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people, enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus He purifies his own Buddha-land.”

>> “In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas, protect and help to promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well.”

>> In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas: This means a Bodhisattva gives offerings to not just one Buddha, in one land, but to all Buddhas, as numerous as dust. He will be able to use his body, life, wealth and all kinds of devotional items to make offerings to all Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

>> [He will] protect and help promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well: He outwardly manifested the appearance of a Hearer of the Small Vehicle to help to promote the Right Dharma. Inwardly he secretly had the true mind of a Bodhisattva of the Great Vehicle and purified His own Buddha-land.

>> “He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear, will transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, will make offerings to all Tathagatas and will protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.”

>> He will often apply all skillful means to expound the Dharma without fear: He will often apply many clever skillful means to expound the wondrous Dharma without any fear in his mind.

>> He will transform countless people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma: The sentient beings that he transforms will be incalculable in number. He will enable them all to attain the wisdom of all Dharma.

>> [He] will give offerings to all Tathagatas and protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma: Making offerings is cultivating blessings; expounding the Dharma is cultivating wisdom.

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“Bodhisattvas, to transform sentient beings,
use this clear and pure Dharma-eye
to universally observe all phenomena.
They are able to know and practice this Dharma
to be able to realize this path.
They also know all kinds of skillful means.”

We have been talking every day. We have also been listening every day. The Dharma is inseparable from the way we cultivate our minds. In the external world, how can we dedicate ourselves to helping others? In this human world of ours there are all types, in different environments, with different experiences and different types of suffering. How can we discover all this suffering? After we discover this suffering, what feelings do we have in our minds? Do we hear but not see? Or do we see but not hear? Or do we hear but not feel anything? We may feel, “These people are far away from us; all these people have nothing to do with us. It is enough that we heard about it. We just take a look and move on. Those people have nothing to do with us at all.” Do we use this kind of mindset to look at life in this world?

If the answer is yes, then no matter how many teachings we have heard, we merely understand the teachings; we understand but do not practice them. We are unable to accomplish this. In that case, have the principles truly entered our hearts? There is still a long way to go. As we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must learn to understand and apply them. With the Dharma, we must benefit people; we must apply the Dharma to benefit all life. Then we are truly learning the Buddha’s teachings.

“Bodhisattvas, to transform sentient beings, use this clear and pure Dharma-eye.” This clear and pure Dharma-eye is the pure Buddha-nature that everyone intrinsically has. With our pure Buddha-nature, we observe the suffering of sentient beings. We cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, so we will naturally go to relieve their suffering. If we can go among people to relieve suffering without being contaminated, maintaining the purity of our hearts, then we are Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas are enlightened sentient beings. Bodhisattvas share in sentient beings’ suffering. It is because there are sentient beings that there are Bodhisattvas. These worldly terms are in contrast to each other. So, suffering sentient beings are the spiritual training ground for Bodhisattvas. Recently, I have shared with everybody that this is truly the training ground and these are truly Bodhisattvas.

There is much suffering in the world nowadays. Now, modern technology and transportation are all very advanced. With advanced technology, no matter from how far, we can access the information right away. Some things happen in remote places, as far as 10,000 kilometers away. Whatever happened there, the messages can be sent back to us right away. This advanced technology can transmit the information without any hindrance. What about transportation? We must quickly go there to help the people. It is very far, more than 10,000 kilometers away. Are we able to reach there? Yes, we can. We quickly pack our luggage and carry them on our backs. First, we just need to complete the paperwork, so we can travel there without any obstacles. It all happens quickly; they leave in the morning and arrive in the evening. They then send the information back to us, what they saw and heard.

This is how we rely on modern technology. With all the suffering in the world, this allows us to have pure eyes and ears, so we can hear it and can see it and understand what it is they need over there. Then, we must quickly make up for [what they lack]. Shortly thereafter, those things will be sent and arrive. Whether volunteers or material aid, both arrive quickly. So, we must be grateful.

2000-plus years before this modern era, the Buddha taught the Dharma to His disciples. In that era, He lived in this world. This was precisely the time for Hearers and Solitary Realizers to receive the state of mind that the Buddha had awakened to and wished to share. He wanted them to eliminate ignorance and wanted to help them understand cyclic existence in the Six Realms, sentient beings’ Four Forms of Birth, the suffering in the world and so on. He wanted everyone to recognize suffering and thus engage in practice. That should have been enough for that era. But in that era, the Buddha was also preparing for the future, for our present era. He wanted to open up this path for us. He hoped that everyone would realize that the future world would be an evil world of the Five Turbidities. In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, sentient beings will be surrounded by danger. In this world, there will be much suffering. So, He encouraged everyone to awaken their love. “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.”

If spiritual practice is only done internally, with our unenlightened habitual tendencies, we easily will waver [in our resolve]. Sometimes, we feel a burst of eagerness and will be very earnest and diligent. But with our habitual tendencies, when the slightest external disturbance arises, our spiritual aspirations are easily shaken. Because of this, it is easy for us to become indolent and regress. This is just like the story of a man who was suffering in hell. After a long time, he had finally caught sight of a thread of spider’s silk dropping from above. So, he quickly grabbed the silk and, with great effort, steadily and carefully climbed up. He clung to the silk and kept climbing up. But suddenly, he heard a noise from below. When he looked down, his mind became disturbed. He was afraid those below would weigh him down, so he thought to shake the silk, not wanting those below to follow him up. Because of this shaking motion, the silk broke at the top, and he fell back down again.

Aren’t sentient beings’ hearts just like this? The karma from the afflictions we create is so heavy. We have so many [afflictions] and such deep and heavy karma; it is difficult to extricate ourselves. Now, after much difficulty we have an opportunity, a chance for us to seize. There is a thread of spider silk for us to follow that will allow us to find our intrinsic nature. This is not easy at all. With just a little bit of disturbance, our [path] becomes obscured and falls back into total darkness again. Once again everything is covered by ignorance. This is what we unenlightened beings are like. If we only listen to the Dharma but never encounter the right circumstances, if we have never been trained through experience, we will not know or understand. We will not understand the suffering we hear about because we have never experienced it ourselves. We do not know what suffering looks like.

When sentient beings suffer, that is precisely when. Bodhisattvas go among them. They go to explore the causation of suffering, to understand the karmic law of cause and effect. From the different environments people live in, we can understand different kinds of suffering. This is something that must be trained through experience. Then we know, “This is called suffering; this is how suffering comes together. I am willing to give of myself to help them, to relieve them from their suffering.” This is how Bodhisattvas go among people, which is the way the Buddha wanted to teach us. That is why He told us to turn from the. Small Vehicle to the Great Vehicle Dharma. He hoped we could all form Bodhisattva-aspirations to transform sentient beings. He hoped that we would all protect our clear and pure minds. This clear and pure mind, the Dharma-eye, is the Buddha-mind. It is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. We must maintain it well. We form aspirations to go among people to “universally observe all phenomena.”

Where is the source of the truth of suffering? What is it that creates this suffering? After we understand all these questions, we find out that the teachings of suffering, the principles of the truth of suffering, are actually found among the people. “I know, I know.” When we truly know this, this is the truth of suffering the Buddha taught, the true principles of suffering. After we understand it, we must put it in action. We mobilize our minds and begin putting the Dharma into practice. We go among people to apply the teachings we have learned. This wisdom has already entered our minds, so no matter what kind of suffering we encounter, we can give with the appropriate method to help them. Is it tangible, like [material] scarcity? Or is it intangible, like afflictions and troubles? No matter what, we can give to them in time. “They are able to know and practice this Dharma.” Whatever Dharma is needed by sentient beings, we “have Dharma to transform them.” We have the methods to help them, so we say we “have Dharma to transform them.”

Because of this, after we help others, “We are able to realize this path.” We realize the teachings and we put them in action. Our mission will be complete; we will have finished the job. We are very happy to give like this. So, we are “able to realize this path.” In whatever we give every day, we always do it according to the teachings. Thus, everything we accomplish is something we “realize.” This means we applied this method successfully and it was very suitable for everyone to use, so our hearts are filled with joy; we can call this a small realization.

So we have said that since dust-inked kalpas ago, we have continuously gone among people to help. Whatever sentient beings need, we give it to them at the right time. So, “They also know all kinds of skillful means.” What kind of skillful means should we use to help others? We must always be mindful of this.

Yesterday, Mr. Huang came back to Hualien to tell me that he had just returned from Serbia. He stayed in Serbia for almost ten days. He told me whom he met, what he saw and everything he encountered. He had two observations. One is that sentient beings suffer so much! When he spoke of the refugees there, they had so many different kinds of sufferings! Of course, he told me a lot about it. What about the other observation? He was touched. He was very touched by the. Tzu Chi volunteers who came from different nations. They came from different countries, and all were very successful in their careers, but because they all have the same love in them, from their different countries, they came and gathered in this place.

He said, at the beginning, that everybody had their own way of doing things. However, they continued to adjust to each other, to find ways to use the right methods so that everyone could reach their goal in coming there. Very quickly, they began to have mutual respect and started praising each other. With this method of unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort, everyone was quickly able to interact with each other very joyfully. This was what I heard yesterday. He arrived yesterday in the morning, and he continued to share again in the afternoon. He talked about many things so we could understand that, living in that place, everyone had to overcome many difficulties.

But, for the sake of those suffering, we had to find ways to approach them, had to find ways for the locals to be able to cooperate in unity with us, to lend us their strength. This required that every day, everyone mindfully adapt to each other and mindfully give. This was what he said yesterday. Sometime in the afternoon, we received a phone call from Serbia. They were on the way to catch a train around 3pm when we happened to receive the call. They saw that Mr. [Rubi] Pfaff, who had gone back to Germany for a couple of days, had now quickly returned to Serbia.

I saw him [in the video conference]. I also saw Mr. Cheng from France, Mr. Yang, Shu-wei and others; several of them were there. With a smartphone, I could see all those volunteers there. Everybody spoke with one voice. “We are grateful, Master. We are all safe here, see? Yes, I am grateful to you all for doing this.” I could hear their voices and see them.

In fact, at this time yesterday morning as I was giving the teaching, they were also there listening to it, listening to the Dharma. When it is the morning here, it is a little past 10 there, 10pm. So, as I am talking right now, they are also listening over there. I heard that local time, yesterday very early in the morning, they went out at a little past 4 am to the refugee camp in the south, where 700-800 refugees reside.

They went out before dawn, and the trip, including breaks, took them seven hours. They left at around 4 in the morning, and by the time they arrived the southern town Presevo it was already 11 am. They began to go into nonstop action, quickly entering the refugee camp. Fortunately, over there, everything went smoothly because of the very good communication they had [with the camp]. So, we could enter the camp as soon as we arrived. Those refugees were stuck there, unable to move forward. There were more than 800 people stopped there.

This old abandoned factory was being used for the refugees to settle down temporarily. There were more tents outside the factory. Of course, in this place, the Serbian [government] also hoped for a solution. They knew that these refugees’ forward progress would be very slow. This is because many European countries had already closed their borders. It would be very hard for them to move forward. So, there were several camps for refugees. The camp they had just arrived at held more than 800 people. 
When we began to distribute the winter clothes, we asked them to neatly [form a line] so they could receive aid in sequence. We saw in the pictures how they all lined up very neatly. The winter clothes for the refugees were of various sizes, so with each piece of clothing, they had the refugees try it on right away. As soon as they got their clothes, they would go outside and quickly put them on to see if they fit. Then we saw those outside the tent. Some volunteers were interacting with them, and some were taking care of the children, giving out charms with “peace and safety” on them.

Every one of them, both the adults and the children, were very happy to receive these “peace and safety” charms. Right now, these refugees ask for nothing other than peace and safety. So, when they got these peace and safety charms, they were all very joyful. There were a total of 22 Tzu Chi volunteers there. After they finished the distribution, it was already past noon. I am very grateful to the manager of the local refugee committee. He knew that our volunteers were all vegetarians, so they prepared some delicious vegetarian food to treat them. This means we had already formed good affinities.

By the time they returned to meet with everybody, it was already very late. I believe that everyone was very happy to participate in the distribution. In yesterday’s call, I looked at everyone and asked them, “Have you all recovered from your colds?” They answered me with a big smile and told me, “Master, our colds have gone!” Were they just trying to comfort me? However, they all looked healthy again. I hope that they all stay healthy. This how Bodhisattvas, enlightened beings, transform sentient beings with the clear and pure Dharma-eye, which is the Buddha-mind. They go among people to understand a place, how the people have endured suffering and what things we need to help them. There are many local charity organizations; how should we establish connections so that, in the future, we can help those refugees in transition again?

We saw how Serbia was very mindful of the refugees. Take the refugee camp in the south, for example. They had set up an education station to let the children draw pictures. When we saw the pictures they drew, we could see that some of them are very talented, but when we saw them our hearts went out to them. They drew hearts with arrows that went through the hearts. From this, we could see what was really going on in the children’s minds. So, the refugee camp was also very mindful. They let children draw and taught them. If anybody caught a cold or got sick, there was also a medical station. We saw that Serbia has already been preparing to help refugees to settle down temporarily. This is what Serbia is currently putting in place.

I saw all those Bodhisattva-volunteers there. They did not care about themselves even though they were very tired. They all left their businesses behind and dedicated themselves to helping these refugees. For instance, yesterday Mr. Huang told me that he wanted to go back there soon. After he quickly checked up on his company, he would rush back to the refugee camp to work together with everyone there to help [the refugees]. These are Living Bodhisattvas. They seize every second; their schedules are packed. I hope that, at this moment, in that place, those diligent volunteers are listening now. You must all be very mindful and pay attention to your safety in all things. This is just like the “peace and safety” charms we gave them, which they were so happy to receive. We also want to be safe and at peace and filled with Dharma-joy.

So, it is the same for us. The Dharma is not something that only mattered 2000-plus years ago. The Dharma is found in the present. In particular, in each minute and each second, we can live our lives in the Dharma. The Dharma is for us to apply. So, “They also know all kinds of skillful means.” Since we know we are facing the world, what method should we use to face the world so that we are able to give? The teachings of the Buddha were given in anticipation of us sentient beings in the evil world of the Five Turbidities, for when we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations. Suffering sentient beings are the. Bodhisattvas’ spiritual training grounds. We must understand this thoroughly.

Here, let us look at the previous passage.

“He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people, enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus He purifies his own Buddha-land.”

In the Buddha’s time, He praised Purna Maitrayaniputra. This was his process; he comprehended the Buddha’s mind and understood what the Buddha had taught, then put the teachings into practice life after life, not just for one lifetime. He had gone among people for many lifetimes. So, “He knew all capabilities, sharp or dull.” He was always going among the people, so he knew all their habitual tendencies. In listening to the Dharma, did they have sharp or dull capabilities? Could they accept the teachings as soon as they heard them? Or did they need to hear it many times before they could understand it? This was how Purna Maitrayaniputra used his wisdom to observe things.

He could observe sentient beings and teach them according to their capabilities. So, he “constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. He freely expounds the meaning of suchness.” He taught so many teachings that the Buddha taught. Because of this, for a long time he never a let a moment go to waste. Thus, he was able to teach so many people; he “teaches billions of people.” This was accumulated over time. So, he “enables them to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma.” He guides them patiently so not only could they hear the Buddha-Dharma and know to engage in spiritual practice, they could also form great aspirations, Great Vehicle aspirations. So, this is called the Great Vehicle Dharma. In fact, when we help others and practice the Great Vehicle, we are purifying our own Buddha-land and forming good affinities with sentient beings. Suffering sentient beings are the spiritual training ground for Bodhisattvas, so Bodhisattvas will teach and transform sentient beings.

Next, [the sutra] continues,

“In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas, protect and help to promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well.”

Purna not only taught and transformed sentient beings, he also continued to give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas. Moreover, he made his offerings through actions, expounding the Buddha’s teachings to transform sentient beings. He practiced what the Buddha practiced to save and transform sentient beings. This is to “protect and help to promote the Right Dharma,” which is to do what the Buddha wanted to do. This accumulated over a very long period of time.

So, “This means a Bodhisattva gives offerings to not just one Buddha, in one land. In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas.”

In the future he will further give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas: This means a Bodhisattva gives offerings to not just one Buddha, in one land, but to all Buddhas, as numerous as dust. He will be able to use his body, life, wealth and all kinds of devotional items to make offerings to all Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

This was not only for the infinite, countless Buddhas from the past. Under Sakyamuni Buddha, he also made offerings. He made offerings of his actions; he constantly made offerings to the Buddha and walked the path the Buddha walked. This was all an offering to the Buddha.

There was also the future. After Sakyamuni Buddha’s time, Purna will still be in this world. Life after life, he will still engage in spiritual practice. He will also give offerings to infinite, countless Buddhas. He will treat all sentient beings as Buddhas to make offerings. Isn’t Never-Slighting Bodhisattva like this? “I dare not look down on you, because all of you are future Buddhas.” Purna Maitrayaniputra was likely the same. Now, in Serbia, we have a group of Bodhisattvas who are helping those refugees there with such reverence. This is also like making offerings to the Buddha, to infinite, countless Buddhas. The principle is the same. So, it is “not just one Buddha” and not just in one land. Look at our Bodhisattva-volunteers who came from different countries and are gradually joining in the effort. Some from Malaysia, some from Singapore, some from Netherland and so on. The volunteers are from many different places, including Italy and other countries. They have already begun going there again. We see these volunteers from different countries. In the refugee camps, aside from Syrian refugees, there are also Iraqi and Afghan refugees. So, in this place, we have Bodhisattvas who come from many countries and also refugees from many different countries. In order for us to give like this, we must seize this opportunity [to serve].

So, “To all Buddhas, as numerous as dust….” In any case, we have many opportunities to give. “He will be able to use his body, life, wealth and all kinds of devotional items to make offerings throughout the ten directions.” These volunteers are all willing to give. They left their businesses behind and just focused on doing good deeds. There are some like this! There were some who had caught the flu, but they did not take a break. They kept moving forward bravely. They are all able to give universally, while spending their own money and strength. Yesterday I also asked Mr. Huang, “How much will it cost you each trip?” Just for himself alone, each trip takes 50,000 to 60,000 NTD, not to mention the other costs. It depends on how long they stay there, the accommodations and the meals. No matter how much more, or how much longer, they just continuously give of themselves. This is giving with the power of love.

So, “protect and help to promote the Right Dharma” means “He outwardly manifested the appearance of a Hearer of the Small Vehicle to help to promote the Right Dharma.”

[He will] protect and help promote the Right Dharma and purify his own Buddha-land as well: He outwardly manifested the appearance of a Hearer of the Small Vehicle to help to promote the Right Dharma. Inwardly he secretly had the true mind of a Bodhisattva of the Great Vehicle and purified His own Buddha-land.

He had a bhiksu’s appearance, that of a monastic, and lived the same kind of life as the Buddha. The Buddha lived the same life as His disciples in a place of spiritual practice. A spiritual training ground like that is where we can realize many teachings. Then we can go out to teach, and people can believe us. These are disciples taught by the World-Honored One, teaching people through their lives in the world. They know the Buddha’s teachings look like this, that Buddhist spiritual practice is like this.

This is like our group of Bodhisattva-volunteers, those lay practitioners. They held the distribution in that place. In the local refugee committee, the staff knew our volunteers were vegetarian. So, they prepared vegetarian food for the 20-plus volunteers who came from different countries [to help]. These compassionate people sat together at one table. This is the appearance they manifested in public to show people [who we are].

For instance, when Zusong (Sean Tan) arrived and went to the refugee camp, as soon as the refugees in the camp saw him, they shouted, “Taiwan Tzu Chi.” Those [people] in the refugee camp recognized the uniform on this young man. He looked like he was from Taiwan, so they shouted, “Taiwan Tzu Chi” and put their palms together. This was from his appearance. So, we say that we “protect and help to promote the Right Dharma and purify our own Buddha-land as well.”

When we go out in public, our appearance can truly show where we came from. [Purna] “outwardly manifested the appearance of a Hearer of the Small Vehicle to help to promote the Right Dharma.” This is also helping the Right Dharma. “Inwardly he secretly had the true mind of a Bodhisattva of the Great Vehicle.” He was a monastic with the mind of a Bodhisattva. These lay practitioners also have the same resolve for spiritual cultivation. So, our aspirations are all the same, the true aspirations of Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas. It does not matter what our appearances are; we have the same aspiration. “Inwardly secretly practicing as a Bodhisattva” is “the true mind of Great Vehicle Bodhisattva.” This is “purifying his own Buddha-land.”

Next, [the sutra] continues to state,

“He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear, will transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, will make offerings to all Tathagatas and will protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.”

This is Purna Maitrayaniputra’s causal practice to attain Buddhahood. Before he can attain Buddhahood, he needs to accomplish so many things. This is because of the “infinite time and space.” It has been a long time, dust-inked kalpas. So, “[He will] apply all kinds of skillful means and manifest all kinds of appearances.” Across his many lifetimes, in different eras, he will manifest a different appearance among people. “[He will] manifest all kinds of appearances to expound all kinds of teachings.” All this must be in accord with both principles and capabilities. It is in harmony with the principles and also in accord with capabilities.

“He will often apply all skillful means to expound the Dharma without fear.”

He will often apply all skillful means to expound the Dharma without fear: He will often apply many clever skillful means to expound the wondrous Dharma without any fear in his mind.

He will apply all kinds of skillful means to expound the Dharma without fear: We mentioned this previously. He had the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms, and the Fourfold Fearlessness. We explained these before. Therefore, he had no fear. “He will often apply many clever skillful means to expound the wondrous Dharma.” He applied all kinds of skillful means to expound many wondrous teachings for everyone to apply. With all the kinds of appearances and suffering in this world, we need different kinds of skillful means to enter sentient beings’ hearts. This is called wondrous Dharma, or skillful wondrous Dharma. “Without any fear in his mind” means he still expounded the Dharma for sentient beings with ease.

So, “He will transform countless people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma.” The sentient beings that he transforms will be incalculable in number. He spent many lifetimes to achieve one goal, which was to “enable them all to attain the wisdom of all Dharma.”

He will constantly apply all skillful means to teach the Dharma without fear, will transform incalculable numbers of people, enabling them to attain wisdom of all Dharma, will give offerings to all Tathagatas and will protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.
This was how Purna Maitrayaniputra put his heart into helping others. Over a long time, in the boundless universe, these things have accumulated.

“[He] will make offerings to all Tathagatas to protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma.” This will take such a long time, with extended practice, practice with nothing further, uninterrupted practice and practice with reverence. It actually will take such a long time, lifetime after lifetime, putting the Four Practices together and cultivating them in this way.

[He] will give offerings to all Tathagatas and protect and uphold the treasures of the Dharma: Making offerings is cultivating blessings; expounding the Dharma is cultivating wisdom.

We can make offerings to all Buddhas; all these sentient beings before us are Buddhas. Sentient beings are the spiritual training grounds for Bodhisattvas, so we must treat all sentient beings as Buddhas. Thus, Tzu Chi volunteers conduct relief work with respect. We are grateful and respectful. Giving without expectation is gratitude and respect. It is the same as making offerings; it is also cultivating blessings. The Dharma we heard must be verified among people. So, we need to expound the Dharma to them. Expounding the Dharma is also cultivating wisdom.

Dear Bodhisattvas, we must mindfully listen to the Dharma and put it into practice with a heart of gratitude and respect. If Bodhisattvas can put the Dharma into practice, we should give them our blessings and also express our gratitude! Let us always be mindful.

Episode 1134 – Expounding Pure Dharma to Both Sharp and Dull

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>> ” The Buddha realized the true principles and the pure Dharma-eye. The Small Vehicle practitioners heard the Dharma, saw the Path and observed the Four Noble Truths. Great Vehicle practitioners of the first ground attain the principles and wisdom of observing the Twofold Emptiness. The Buddha has realized pure wisdom of true enlightenment. There is nothing He does not know.

>> ” He teaches without fear and enables people to take joy in it. He has never been weary before, and with this assists in the Buddha’s work. He has already attained great spiritual powers and possesses the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms.

>> “He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people, enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, he purifies his own Buddha-land”.

>> He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. In learning, some are sharp and some are dull. In comprehending, some are nimble, some slow. He knew whether sentient beings’ capabilities and natures were dull or sharp, so he constantly taught the purifying, supreme and wondrous Dharma.

>> The Five Acute Agents (Afflictions): The agent of view of self. The agent of extreme views. The agent of deviant views. The agent of stubborn views. The agent of views of deviant precepts.

>> The first of the five acute agents is the agent of view of self. It is the afflictive view of sentient beings as they deludedly cling to name and form, the Five Skandhas, the Twelve Entrances and the Eighteen Realms as their “self”. Because this view of self drives and orders the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

>> The second of the five acute agents is the agent of extreme views. This is when sentient beings, regarding the previous view of self, either cling to nihilism or cling to eternalism. Because these extreme views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore, this is called an agent.

>> The third of the five acute agents is the agent of deviant views. This is when sentient beings take in principles with a deviant mindset, deny the law of karma and cut off all roots of goodness. Because these deviant views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly Therefore this is called an agent.

>> The fourth of the five acute agents is the agent of stubborn views. This is the mindset sentient beings give rise to when, with what is not true superior Dharma, they erroneously cling to Nirvana. They take and cling to deviant views, stubbornly believing them to be right views. Because stubborn views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

>> The fifth of the five acute agents is the agent of views of deviant precepts. This is when all heretical practitioners mistake what are not precepts for precepts, such as taking and implementing the deviant precept of [acting as] a rooster or dog. Because this view of deviant precepts drives and orders the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

>> The Buddha teaches His disciples precepts, Samadhi and wisdom for humans. When we practice and uphold purifying Dharma, we will comprehend the great path and realize true enlightened wisdom, and there will be nothing that we do not know.

>> He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people. He spreads and freely expounds the meaning of suchness, teaching countless billions of people.

>> [He] enables them to abide in Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus he purifies his own Buddha-land. He enables everyone to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Though he manifested as a Hearer, his mind was always purifying his Buddha-land.

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>> ” The Buddha realized the true principles and the pure Dharma-eye. The Small Vehicle practitioners heard the Dharma, saw the Path and observed the Four Noble Truths. Great Vehicle practitioners of the first ground attain the principles and wisdom of observing the Twofold Emptiness. The Buddha has realized pure wisdom of true enlightenment. There is nothing He does not know.

“The true principles the Buddha realized” are the pure Dharma-eye. As we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must learn to purify our mind’s eye, so that we can thoroughly and clearly see all the matters, objects and principles of all things in the universe. Everything we see is the Dharma, is the true principles. This is having a pure mind’s eye. It is also being able to thoroughly understand the true principles we encounter. This state is that of the true principles that the Buddha realized. These true principles are what Sakyamuni Buddha realized. He is not the only one who can realize them. Sakyamuni Buddha told us all that everyone can achieve the same realization; it is just that our minds have been covered by ignorance and afflictions. We just need to put in the effort, just need to take our minds and our nature of True Suchness and completely purify them. By eradicating ignorance and afflictions, naturally our nature of True Suchness will be purified. This is the pure Dharma-eye.

The pure Dharma-eye is what the Buddha realized. If everyone relies on this Dharma, as we engage in spiritual practice we can likewise realize it too. Our mirror will likewise be pure. Everyone has this mirror in their minds; it is just that some make an effort to polish it, while others do not make any effort to keep it clean. This mirror is intrinsic to everyone, and the Dharma-eye is just like this mirror. So, when Small Vehicle practitioners listen to the Dharma, they can see the Path. They understand the Dharma the Buddha taught; they understand the Four Noble Truths. Suffering stems from causation, from the accumulation of all kinds of past karma, the accumulation of afflictions and ignorance. These drive us to become [trapped], unable to free ourselves in our lives. This is suffering! When we are unable to break free of our ignorance and afflictions, this truly is suffering. In life we [feel that we] lack many things. Often we suffer from not getting what we want. This also results in much suffering. There are many things we want but cannot attain. We also often [suffer from] parting with loved ones. All kinds of things result in suffering.

So, when Small Vehicle practitioners listened to the Buddha expound the Dharma, they understood. Whether the Buddha explained the principles or used people, matters and things as analogies to verify those principles, they understood. Small Vehicle practitioners understood that the world was truly filled with suffering. So, having observed the Four Noble Truths, they thoroughly understood. These Small Vehicle practitioners, these Hearers, after having heard this Dharma, could achieve realizations, could understand. As for. Great Vehicle practitioners of the first ground, they observed the principles and wisdom of the Twofold Emptiness. They formed great aspirations. Forming great aspirations means that after they understood the Buddha-Dharma they began to feel inspired. With this first inspiration, they were already forming. Great Vehicle aspirations. This was when they began to learn, began to make vows to be one who would walk the Bodhisattva-path. This was what their minds could observe. After listening to the Dharma, they recognized that all things are empty; they are empty! This is true emptiness! As for wondrous existence, indeed they believed that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, that everyone could attain Buddhahood. So, they formed great aspirations, made great vows and were willing to seek the Dharma and transform sentient beings.

These are Great Vehicle practitioners. They formed great aspirations and have already reached the first ground. The first ground is the ground of joy. They are very happy and very willing to go among the people. Working for the sake of sentient beings, they remain joyful no matter how taxing the work is. Having entered the ground of joy, they could observe the Twofold Emptiness, the principle of wondrous existence. When this kind of wisdom is unlocked, they form aspirations. Don’t we also know that what we are saying now about giving rise to joy means we willingly go among the people. Regardless of how many afflictions and difficulties we may encounter, we willingly and joyfully overcome all of them. This is all for the sake of sentient beings. We believe that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Sentient beings are the spiritual training ground for Bodhisattvas, so. Bodhisattvas joyfully dedicate themselves to them.

Right now in Serbia, the volunteers have not taken a break yet. Their busy day is already over, and it is nighttime now. Those Bodhisattvas from Europe, those many volunteers, gathered together there. Everything posed difficulties, yet they overcame all of these. After they overcame these difficulties, they completed their mission. So, every day they were joyful.

We can imagine what their days were like. I believe it is around this time that they begin sending the day’s work journal to us. Every morning at 6 am our time, we receive it precisely on time. Where they are now, it is sometime after 10 pm when they begin to send their information back to us. They send it here, and when we receive it, it is 6 am. Every day this lets us understand the situation of the Bodhisattvas from [12] countries who have gathered there. Every one of them has such rich stories, filled with many touching things.

Yesterday, our Da Ai TV reporter returned to Taiwan from Serbia. She arrived in Hualien around noon. She brought some news with her. We could see from her pictures the true suffering of the refugees. Those images of suffering were unbearably tragic. My heart goes out to them. In every scene we saw, every person, whether child or adult, looked so [tragic]. If this had never happened to them, I believe that in their country their standard of living would have been better-than-average.

When it comes to actually escaping, the impoverished and suffering are not able. Every step of the way is difficult. Only those with the strength are able to flee successfully. It takes such a long time to pass through one country after another. Every single country poses its own set of hurdles. This makes things very difficult. It has already been a very long time. Now, they have nothing at all; the only things they carry are very old and the very young. They are a handsome people; all these men and women appear to be people of good character. Yet these people have been living the lives of refugees.

We saw women who were about to give birth stuck in a tent city in Macedonia. Recently it has been raining continuously. They are in these tiny, thin and tattered tents. The area inside of each is only a little more than three square meters, and they are set up on wet and muddy ground. When they step outside the tent, there is enough water to reflect their image. This whole tent city was reflected in the water. We could see how they were completely drenched.

Yesterday, our media staff told us, “It is so sad. They are sleeping on the ground, soaking wet. You can see how their backs and their headscarves are all soaking wet. Everything is wet”. Because our Da Ai TV staff are very dutiful, during those few days they spent in Serbia, they seized every opportunity [to document]. They traveled 10-plus hours to reach Macedonia to see how the refugees there lived, to see the conditions there.

So, when our reporter went into that tent city, she saw women holding their children, soaking wet and sitting on the ground inside the tents. This was their life.

When it came to food, some were starving, with nothing to eat, but others had received dry provisions for relief. They ate dry provisions daily, washed down with cold bottled water. This was how they lived. Our reporter said this made her very sad and that she had left her heart there. She was pleading on their behalf for us to return. She herself was willing to go. She hoped to have the chance to return to that refugee camp, to see those refugees and find ways to help them. This is a Bodhisattva’s heart. This is a heart of love. They were there for more than ten days, almost half a month. Over that time, they had gone through so much amidst that suffering and had only just returned. Yet they were already trying to find an opportunity to go back. Every day she saw many people like this. Every day she was with those refugees; she was by their side.

She described how hard Tzu Chi volunteers worked. Moreover, among the refugees, many had developed colds; quite a few had gotten sick. Everyone was coughing. When Tzu Chi volunteers arrived, they wanted to share the love in their hearts, to demonstrate respect. The custom there is to embrace one another, so even though the refugees were sick, the volunteers still gave them an embrace. This expressed their care and respect for them. This is what she described to me yesterday. “Those brothers and sisters are all so exhausted, and everyone has caught colds”.

She told me about the things they had done. She mentioned a Bodhisattva, a lay practitioner, and the way in which he dedicated himself and the kind of spirit he had. I told them, “Please! Write those people’s stories down during the few days you are here. All the people you told me about are truly Living Bodhisattvas; the average person cannot do these things”. She even told me about Mr. Yang. “Uncle Yang” is what she called him. She said, “He owns a restaurant, “so the first time we approached the refugee committee, we talked to them about buying packaged food, then heating and serving it to the refugees. When they agreed, he was very happy and went right out and bought some. They were very happy to cooperate with Tzu Chi. They even opened up their kitchen to us, a fully outfitted kitchen for Tzu Chi to use”.

“Then Mr. Yang quickly displayed his skills; this brought him great joy. The refugee committee placed a restriction upon us, that we were only allowed to heat up packaged foods. That is all we could serve. So, we heated up this food and served it to the refugees, which made them very happy”.

Everyone was very happy to have vegetarian food. This is another way that we demonstrated our compassion and our respect for life. We not only have love for humankind; we cannot bear for any animal to suffer either. Introducing this vegetarian mindset to them also brought great joy.

Mr. Yang’s visa was expiring, so he had to leave. But, he could not bear to leave the refugees. Still, he had no choice but to leave. He had to depart. Although his restaurant was doing very well, he had set it aside to fully devote himself in Serbia for nearly half a month. But now he had no choice but to leave. So, he left the country for one day and went to a neighboring country. He left for a day and then returned. He said, “I can’t bear to leave them!”. So, he went back again. He only left for a day. He went out, then came right back. The way he interacted with everyone there, he showed an attitude of love and care for them. This was in his actions and his intent. Although he had also caught a cold, he never stopped for a moment. Every volunteer there is like this. It is so touching. They are truly Living Bodhisattvas!

He was happy and willing to be there. He set aside a successful restaurant. Earning money is not that important. What is important was going to help suffering sentient beings who are in difficulty. He had seen the emptiness of wealth. It is empty; everything is empty. “What good will come from earning more money in this life? Everything is empty. Yet, when I help suffering sentient beings, I feel at peace. I feel free and at ease. I am happy that they have received help. I can see that they have eaten these hot meals that enable them to maintain their health. By helping them maintain their health, “it will help them to get to their destination”. This is a mindset of wondrous existence.

Those people had nothing to do with him, had no kind of karmic connection with him. But he seized this [opportunity]. They were not related to him in any way, yet they shared an affinity like that of. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with sentient beings. He seized these causes and conditions in order to benefit people and help sentient beings. This was the vow of a Great Vehicle practitioner of the first ground. The first ground is the ground of joy. “I am happy to go and help others. I am very willing to give”. This results from thoroughly understanding the principle of “true emptiness and wondrous existence”. He had comprehended this; thus, he was willing to set aside his business and take action to help suffering sentient beings. He is like a. Great Vehicle practitioner of the first ground, who observes the true principles of the Twofold Emptiness.

At the start, the Buddha had this kind of vow. Lifetime after lifetime He set aside everything. Lifetime after lifetime He went among the people to give of Himself like this, accumulating merits and virtues. “He ultimately perfected His merit and virtue”. We talked about this previously. Didn’t Purna Maitrayaniputra do the same thing? Yes, this was what he did. So, “The Buddha has realized pure wisdom of true enlightenment”. We do not need a prior connection with someone in order to help them. Even if there is no connection, I am willing to give to all sentient beings in the world. This is the “pure wisdom of true enlightenment”. This is what truly enlightened people do lifetime after lifetime.

They have penetrated the principles of the world; that is why they can do this. If they had not penetrated the true principles of all things in the world, they would not be able to do this; they would be unwilling. Why would they go so far away? They pay out of pocket, get on a plane, set aside their businesses and willingly help suffering people this way. This is because they have already thoroughly understood the principles. With the true principles they realized, they have a pure mind’s eye with which they see the world’s sentient beings. So, the way they express this leads people to have great admiration for them. This is truly “practicing with reverence”! He has reverence for everyone, so he is willing to help them. Because of his willingness to give, everyone who sees him respects him. This is certain. This is “practicing with reverence”.

Come, let us look at the previous passage.

>> ” He teaches without fear and enables people to take joy in it. He has never been weary before, and with this assists in the Buddha’s work. He has already attained great spiritual powers and possesses the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms.

In fact, “He could teach without fear” also applies to the Bodhisattvas in South Africa. They are just like this. They constantly travel to other countries, seven in all. In a span of four or five years, they have made close to 50 trips abroad. This is in order to spread the Tzu Chi spirit, to spread these seeds of love. When I see the details they send back to me, I am genuinely moved. Each time I hear this phrase, “He could teach without fear and enable people to take joy in it.” The image that comes to my mind is that group of “Black Pearls”. Every one of them is luminous. Indeed, people can achieve this now, let alone during the Buddha’s lifetime.

The Buddha explained to everyone the principles of the past, even if they were the principles of a time dust-inked kalpas ago. Even though these disciples were before Him now, He verified that this is what they had done in the past, across a long time and vast expanses of space. They had accumulated this wisdom and this understanding of the true principles of all things in the world. Thus, they could teach the Dharma without fear.

We too must listen to many teachings and store them up in our minds. Then we will be able to answer any question that people may ask and help them open their minds and understand. We have to continually accumulate [the Dharma] in this way; we must not only listen but also get involved among the people. Only then would their mental states truly connect and interact with this Path. This kind of living Dharma is not just something we have heard, but something we have truly experienced. This is the only way we can persuade others, so that when they hear us speak they will be happy and convinced. When what they hear makes them happy, there is nothing for them to argue over. This is something that must be accumulated. So, we say, “Thus have I heard; thus do I act”. We have to both hear and act in order to realize all these principles. Thus, “He could teach without fear and enable people to take joy in it”.

“He has never been weary before”. He needed to be very earnest, very diligent. “With this he assists in the Buddha’s work”. Over the course of many lifetimes, at the training ground of each Buddha, he always helped those Buddhas teach the Dharma and deliver and transform sentient beings. “He has already attained great spiritual powers and possesses the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms”. We spoke about this yesterday.

The next passage in the sutra says,

>> “He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people, enabling them to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, he purifies his own Buddha-land”.

“He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma”. Since he understands sentient beings’ capacities, whatever kind of capabilities they have, he will use that kind of Dharma to teach them.

>> He knows all capabilities, sharp or dull, and constantly teaches the purifying Dharma. In learning, some are sharp and some are dull. In comprehending, some are nimble, some slow. He knew whether sentient beings’ capabilities and natures were dull or sharp, so he constantly taught the purifying, supreme and wondrous Dharma.

Thus, the Dharma that he teaches will always purify people’s minds. He helps them get rid of their afflictions and ignorance. By eliminating ignorance, they grow in wisdom. This requires observing capabilities in order to give teachings. Some disciples had dull capabilities, some sharp. Some had afflictions; they had the Ten Agents (afflictions), the five acute and the five chronic agents. All of these are considered ignorance. I have explained these in the past, and in a moment, I will review them again.

“In comprehending, some are nimble, some slow”. When it comes to comprehension,. “How much do you understand? Well, I understand a little. Are you able to comprehend all of it? Can you put it into practice? I’m taking it slowly”. These are people of duller capabilities. Some say, “I understand it all. I am very happy that I have received this Dharma and taken it to heart. Having heard this Dharma, at any time, no matter what situation I encounter, it is like it is speaking directly to me!”. Some are nimble and some are slow. The nimble know enough to go deeper; they know to accept the Dharma. The slow have duller capabilities. “I’m just taking it slowly!”. Some have sharper capabilities, while others’ have duller capabilities.

So, “He knew whether sentient beings’ capabilities and natures were dull or sharp”. Those who formed Great Vehicle aspirations have already undergone training. This is like Purna Maitrayaniputra. Whenever he talked to anyone, he also had to understand their capabilities in order to teach the Dharma. I have mentioned previously how when he went to difficult places, he had to first humble himself. When someone was sick, he gave them medicine. When someone was poor, he gave them food. When people had afflictions, he used the Dharma to approach them. Because he understood people’s capabilities, he gave them what they needed. This is from “knowing whether sentient beings’ capabilities and natures were dull or sharp”.

So, “He constantly taught the purifying supreme and wondrous Dharma”. No matter what, the things he gave to sentient beings always suited their needs, what they needed most. He would awaken the gratitude and joy in them. Once they eradicated their ignorance and afflictions, anger and hatred, a pure heart of joy and gratitude would arise. This is purifying Dharma. This is wondrous Dharma.

What are the “five acute agents”? They are “the agent of view of self, the agent of extreme views, the agent of deviant views, the agent of stubborn views and the agent of views of deviant precepts”.

>> The Five Acute Agents (Afflictions): The agent of view of self. The agent of extreme views. The agent of deviant views. The agent of stubborn views. The agent of views of deviant precepts.

The first is the agent of view of self, of this body. Our great liability in life comes from having a body. We also continually multiply our ignorance because we have this body.

>> The first of the five acute agents is the agent of view of self. It is the afflictive view of sentient beings as they deludedly cling to name and form, the Five Skandhas, the Twelve Entrances and the Eighteen Realms as their “self”. Because this view of self drives and orders the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

We have this body in this world. It is because we have this body that we come in contact with everything. So, it says, “Sentient beings cling to name and form”. Once we have a body, there will be names and various appearances, things of all kinds of shapes and colors. Then there are the Five Skandhas. In life, everyone likewise has form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness. When we see external conditions, when we take them in, we feel that we must find a way to help or find a way to oppose something and so on. It is because we have this body that we have so many feelings that leads us to create negative karma. In the end, the karma we create is stored in our consciousness. These are the Five Skandhas.

There are also the Twelve Entrances. The Roots come in contact with the Dusts. We have the Six Roots and there are the Six Dusts. These make up the Twelve Entrances and then the Eighteen Realms. When the mind connects to the Six Dusts, [giving rise to Six Consciousnesses,] three times six gives us eighteen. These are the Eighteen Realms. It is because of the body that there are the Eighteen Realms. This is the affliction of “deludedly clinging to ‘self'”. This is talking about our body. We are always taking issue because of our body. The thinking that arises when the body comes in contact with external conditions leads us to create karma. So, this is called “the agent of view of self”. Upon contact, [a reaction] happens quickly. It is “acute”; it is quick. I hear these words, and I immediately become unhappy. I see this thing happen, and I immediately get angry.

This happens very quickly. So, many things then happen like this. It happens quickly, so it is called “acute”. Upon contact, it quickly goes into effect. This is how karma is created. The reason there are so many refugees is also because of this. With this view of self, people create so much karma. A single thought that arises in the mind can cause so many disasters. This is the agent of the view of self.

This view of self drives our minds, so they “will cycle incessantly”. Therefore, this is called an agent”. Our minds are driven by this. The reason we see things in this way and experience things this way is because we have this body. Thus, we go and do so many things.

The second is “the agent of extreme views”.

>> The second of the five acute agents is the agent of extreme views. This is when sentient beings, regarding the previous view of self, either cling to nihilism or cling to eternalism. Because these extreme views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore, this is called an agent.

“Extreme views” are “when sentient beings, regarding the previous view of self, either cling to nihilism or cling to eternalism”. We previously spoke of the view of self. When we see something, we will be so adamant that things are like this and go no further, that there are no future lives. This is nihilism. Some cling to nihilism. Some cling to eternalism. Clinging to either nihilism or eternalism is an “extreme view”.

So, clinging to nihilism is not right. Clinging to eternalism, we think, “I am human, so I will be born human again in my next life. If I do not practice well in this life, in my next life I will be human again and can practice some more”. Is this really how it works? Some commit all kinds of crimes [and think], “I am human in this life, and I will be human again in the next”. They do not know that there is transmigration in the Six Realms or that the Five Destinies coexist. They do not know any of these principles. So, they “cling to eternalism”. Or they “cling to nihilism. When life ends, it ends. After it is over, there is nothing”. So, they deny the law of karma. This is “clinging to nihilism”. Clinging to either nihilism or eternalism is incorrect. “Because these extreme views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore, this is called an agent”. This is clinging to an extreme. They have not understood the principles within.

The third is “the agent of deviant views”.

>> The third of the five acute agents is the agent of deviant views. This is when sentient beings take in principles with a deviant mindset, deny the law of karma and cut off all roots of goodness. Because these deviant views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly Therefore this is called an agent.

This is when we sentient beings “take in principles with a deviant mindset” and “deny the law of karma”. Thus, we “cut off all roots of goodness”. If we deny the law of karma, if we have no concept of cause and effect, then because of this, we will not fear karma and will commit all kinds of crimes and continue on in this way. We will cut off all roots of goodness. If this is what drives and orders the mind, then with all our actions, we will continuously do bad deeds, will continuously be covered by afflictions and will continuously multiply our afflictions. This is “the agent of deviant views”.

The fourth is “the agent of stubborn views”.

>> The fourth of the five acute agents is the agent of stubborn views. This is the mindset sentient beings give rise to when, with what is not true superior Dharma, they erroneously cling to Nirvana. They take and cling to deviant views, stubbornly believing them to be right views. Because stubborn views drive and order the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

This is saying, “With what is not true superior Dharma, we erroneously cling to Nirvana”. The method of spiritual practice that people use can deviate. In India at that time, there were many heretical teachings. Their methods of practice were mistaken. However, people still clung to them. They clung to their deviant views as right views. Clearly, their views were deviant, but they clung to them as if they were right. This happened to the Three Kasyapas. In the past, they had practiced like this. Although everyone respected them, they still had not resolved their own afflictions. This is the same principle. But transformed by the Buddha’s teachings, they returned to practicing the Right Dharma. So, in our spiritual practice, sometimes we deviate without knowing it. This causes us to cycle incessantly. This is very painful.

The fifth is “the agent of views of deviant precepts”.

>> The fifth of the five acute agents is the agent of views of deviant precepts. This is when all heretical practitioners mistake what are not precepts for precepts, such as taking and implementing the deviant precept of [acting as] a rooster or dog. Because this view of deviant precepts drives and orders the mind, it will cycle incessantly. Therefore this is called an agent.

“The agent of views of deviant precepts” means to “mistake what are not precepts for precepts”. In their spiritual practice, they say they cultivate ascetic practices. This meant living like chickens or dogs…. Anyways, they used ascetic practices of all kinds. They said, “Our ancestors’ legends say chickens will be born in heaven”. So, they looked at the chickens to see the manner in which they lived. Or they observed how pigs or dogs lived, and then followed that as a spiritual practice. This is incredible. For ascetic practice, some may live just like dogs or whatever other kind of animal. They say they want to be liberated from this life’s suffering, and this would liberate them. These are “views of deviant precepts”. They also order and drive the mind so that we deviate from proper spiritual practice and likewise transmigrate in the Five Realms and the Four Forms of Birth.

The Buddha’s teachings are not like this. The Buddha’s teachings teach us about our own human nature, how as humans we should live according to our human nature. What the Buddha taught us was precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.

>> The Buddha teaches His disciples precepts, Samadhi and wisdom for humans. When we practice and uphold purifying Dharma, we will comprehend the great path and realize true enlightened wisdom, and there will be nothing that we do not know.

Upholding the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds, or the Ten precepts, is a very reasonable thing to do. Living in this world, we must earnestly uphold these. Then we can purify our body, speech and mind; we must cultivate them well. When we practice and uphold purifying Dharma, naturally, “We will comprehend the great path and realize true enlightened wisdom. There will be nothing that we do not know”. This is the Dharma that we ought to learn. What the Buddha taught us was not to cultivate deviant or evil practices. The five acute agents easily lead us astray.

And the five chronic agents? These are greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. These are the five chronic agents. The afflictions that accumulate in our mind, that we accumulate unconsciously in daily living, are considered “chronic”. So, greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are the five chronic agents. Thus, the five chronic and five acute agents all cause afflictions to continually and incessantly multiply.

Because of this, the Buddha and His disciples were very mindful. How could they go about purifying the world? So, He “freely expounded the meaning of suchness”. He freely expounded this, helping everyone to understand how the five acute agents and the five chronic agents cause us to continually cycle in our afflictions. So, the Buddha had to constantly clarify and explain these one by one for us. He “freely expounded the meaning of suchness”.

>> He freely expounds the meaning of suchness and teaches billions of people. He spreads and freely expounds the meaning of suchness, teaching countless billions of people.

Purna Maitrayaniputra took the Buddha’s teachings and continually imparted them to the world’s sentient beings. In this way, he freely expounded the meaning of suchness, teaching countless billions of sentient beings, “enabling them to abide in. Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus, he purifies his own Buddha-land”.

>> [He] enables them to abide in Great Vehicle Dharma. Thus he purifies his own Buddha-land. He enables everyone to abide in the Great Vehicle Dharma. Though he manifested as a Hearer, his mind was always purifying his Buddha-land.

Actually, while accumulating and forming affinities with many people over many lifetimes, he had actually been purifying his own Buddha-land. He helped everyone attain the Great Vehicle Dharma, to go from being unclear on the principles to being able to understand the principles and realize the great path and enter the Great Vehicle Dharma. This is using the Great Vehicle Dharma to teach. It is a teaching suitable for our human world, not one of deviant understanding and views. Everything he did was to teach everyone to enter the Great Vehicle Dharma and benefit sentient beings. Though he manifested as a Hearer now, his mind was actually very pure.

As he engaged in practice now, his mind was actually very pure. This is the Buddha describing. Purna Maitrayaniputra. He had already, for dust-inked kalpas, been helping the Buddha promote the teachings. Actually, he was helping himself reach fruition. He was developing his own wisdom. He was also purifying his own Buddha-land. In the future, he would attain Buddhahood; the Buddha already bestowed a prediction on him. As Dharma Clarity Tathagata, his future Buddha-land will be very pure. So, in our spiritual practice, we say that we are helping others, but in fact we are helping ourselves develop our own wisdom-life. So everyone, we must always be mindful.