Episode 3 – Wholeheartedly Seek and Pass on the Dharma
>> Prostrating to the sutra is like making a pilgrimage to Vulture Peak. Reverently obtain the sutras, diligently seek the Dharma. Each word of Dharma-essence nourishes wisdom-life. Every prostration is like taking a step forward. Visualize that you are approaching the Dharma-assembly.
The eighth day of the second lunar month is the day Sakyamuni Buddha left home and became a monastic. We are very grateful for this day. We are thankful that Prince Siddhartha gave rise to that thought of not wanting to let sentient beings suffer. The suffering of sentient beings is found in their minds and in the reality of their lives. At that time people lived in four distinct castes. They suffered from these unfair circumstances. [The Buddha] saw the profound mystery of life, that all humans go through the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death. So, why are humans born into such inequality? Then He saw and understood that sufferings are deeply-embedded. Whether one is wealthy or poor, even if one is as wealthy and noble as a king, one will still experience birth, aging, illness and death. The Buddha had been a prince Himself and His father was a king. As He grew from childhood to adulthood, He also saw His fathers gradual aging. He saw how people outside of the palace, who lived in poverty and suffering, looked old and decrepit. They were poor, sick, and old. In the end, don’t they eventually die? This is the path for the poor. But isn’t the path the same for the rich too? True, His father was wealthy and noble but he still would get old and sick, and would die one day, too. Since everyone goes through the same cycle of aging, illness and death, why were there caste distinctions? These are spiritual afflictions; everyone has them. The Buddha hoped to break through the profound mystery of these afflictions and discover the principles behind them. Therefore, He left the palace and became a monastic. He searched for a belief system that would bring true liberation from the cycle of life and death, bring true equality to people’s lives and be the most profound. How can one even begin to understand the causes of birth, aging, illness, and death? Because of this question, the Buddha left the palace on that day and never returned to secular life. He was able to transcend the secular world because His will was extremely firm. And because of this, we can all sit here today, learn together and help each other succeed. Every time a sutra is spoken, the Six Fulfillments are required. The Six Fulfillments refers to the fulfillment of time and place, and of those who speak and listen etc. There are six in total. Here today, we have the fulfillment of time. This time every day is the most appropriate time [to speak], because right now no one is looking for me nor interrupting me. So the time I have right now is the perfect time. This is also our time together. This is the time for us to fulfill our duty and be diligent, hardworking and reverent. So, this moment is the fulfillment of time. Your timing is perfect. My timing is perfect. Along with this perfect timing, our location is also perfect. This is called the fulfillment of place. I am at the Abode in Hualien. Because we have this location, the Abode, we are able to have this period of time for me to speak to you today. So there is this place, and you, and me, and this time. There needs to be a speaker and listeners etc. to complete this fulfillment. And this fulfillment is possible because, over 2000 years ago, the Buddha left the palace in the middle of the night, before dawn. So the Buddha-Dharma can now spread throughout the world. As ordinary beings who came to this world, we should really cherish the opportunity we have to come in contact with the Buddhas teachings. Now that we are in this training ground for spiritual practice, we must sincerely and reverently visualize that all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the trichiliocosm have gathered here. What is our training ground like? We can visualize it as Vulture Peak. Isn’t there a verse saying, there is no need to go far to seek the Buddha on Vulture Peak. Vulture Peak is already in our own minds. In each person there is a stupa on Vulture Peak. We can practice at the foot of that stupa. Isn’t that just so? There is a stupa on the Vulture Peak within each of our minds. How far away is Vulture Peak? It exists in this very time and place. So, we must practice with the utmost reverence. As we prostrate, we visualize Buddhas and Bodhisattvas descending to the assembly on Vulture Peak. Of course, we also need to practice diligently and with utmost reverence. As we prostrate to the text of the Lotus Sutra Preface, every word is a treasure, so we prostrate to every word. I remember when I was young, living in the small wooden cabin, I prostrated to the entire Lotus Sutra, word by word. Because the sutra is a path, and this path is a road to walk on, we must pay respect and prostrate to the sutra with utmost reverence. It is as if with each word we recite and each word we prostrate to we are taking one step forward. We must be diligent every step of the way. Every character is imbued with meaning, and each one has the ability to enter our hearts. Every prostration we do is like taking another step forward, as if we are walking to the assembly on Vulture Peak. As we prostrate to the sutra, with every prostration we take one step closer toward the assembly at Vulture Peak. We need to visualize it in that way.
Prostrating to the sutra is like making a pilgrimage to Vulture Peak. Reverently obtain the sutras, diligently seek the Dharma. Each word of Dharma-essence nourishes wisdom-life. Every prostration is like taking a step forward. Visualize that you are approaching the Dharma-assembly.
This is like making a pilgrimage to obtain sutras. Consider Dharma Master Xuan Zangs pilgrimage to the West. India is west of China, so it is called the West, or the western heavens. The Buddha was born to the west of China. That place was very far away; going there was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. It was extremely difficult. Back then, he relied on his own two legs and a horse. Traveling like this was very arduous. Only with utmost reverence and resolve could he bring the Buddhas teachings from India back to China. This is the reverence and diligence required to obtain the sutras and seek the Dharma. See, had it not been for Dharma Master Xuan Zangs reverence and diligence in seeking the Dharma, today we would not have so many Sutras to discuss and to study. Actually, the Lotus Sutra was translated by Venerable Master Kumarajiva. Master Kumarajiva came to China from Kucha to pass on and translate the sutras. This is also something we need to be grateful for. This was possible because of their reverence. Whether they brought the sutras to China or traveled from China to acquire the sutras, they were always reverent. Seeking the Dharma and spreading the Dharma require a diligent mindset. Every day that we prostrate to the sutra, we are moving forward step by step. Our minds continue to get closer to being at the Vulture Peak Assembly. We want to participate in the Buddhas Dharma-assembly. We want to acquire the sutras. Therefore, we must be reverent. Sutras are tapestries of words woven into Dharma. Words are woven together and sentences combined to make up the Dharma. That is why we need to cherish every single word. Every word is a treasure. Every word is the Dharma. Thus, every word is the essence of the Dharma that can nurture our wisdom-life. So we should cherish and treasure every single word because each is the essence, the marrow of the Dharma that will nurture our wisdom-life. If we do not take every word and every sentence to heart, how can our wisdom-life grow? Therefore, if our wisdom-life is to grow, we need to treat every word as the marrow of the Dharma. For our physical body, the function of bone marrow is to make blood. Similarly, our wisdom-life helps us give rise to the infinite wisdom of the Dharma. As I just mentioned, the Buddha wanted to investigate the mysteries of life and the key to Truth. But if we do not have sufficient wisdom it is difficult for us to comprehend His teachings. During His life, the Buddha spent 42 years trying to help people understand the true essence of the Dharma. So, He used various analogies and discussed many limited teachings to suit the needs of those of limited capabilities. That way, people with limited capabilities would be willing to accept His teachings. Bringing people closer so that they could accept the teachings was just the first step. But it took 42 years just to initiate these preliminary steps. Did the Buddha come in contact with everyone in India? Not yet. We must know that although 42 years seems long, it is still relatively a short time 42 years does not even amount to one day in the Heavens of the Four Heavenly Kings. So it is considered short. Even though the Buddha was born on Earth, into the Saha World, He was only one person, born in India. Do you know how big India is? It is huge. It is a big piece of land, very big. But how much land can one person cover? Can one person even cover just the places along the two banks of the Ganges River? No. At that time, India consisted of many nations. Each city was a state, was its own kingdom, so there were many places to cover. Once, the Buddha arrived at a certain country. In that country’s capital, there were 90,000 people in total. Out of those 90,000 people, only one-third had the opportunity to see the Buddha in person and hear His teachings. The other one-third had heard the Buddhas name but did not see Him in person. The remaining third did not even have the chance to hear His name. It was a small city, with only a population of 90,000. Based on this, how many people could have been be reached by the Buddha-Dharma in those 40-plus years? The number was limited. So in a sense we should count ourselves as blessed to receive the Dharma-essence. It is already over 2000 years since the Buddhas time 2000-plus years seem long in our world. But let me tell you, it is still quite short, not even equivalent to a month in Trayastrimsa Heaven. One day there is 100 years for us 1000 years here is merely 10 days there. It has been merely 2000-plus years since the Buddha came to this world. Is this time long or short? This period is very short in the heavens, especially because there are many heavens above the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings and Trayastrimsa Heaven. In other words, our lives in the world are short and fleeting. Nevertheless, only in this world can we hear the Buddhas teachings, so this life is essential and important. So even though this life is temporary, we can encounter the Buddha-Dharma, we can receive His teachings. So we must take very good care of our wisdom-life. For our wisdom-life to grow, we must grow in wisdom. Once we have wisdom, we can truly be nourished by the teachings. Only when we are nourished by the Buddha-Dharma can our wisdom-life grow. Therefore, we must treat every single word as the marrow of our Dharma. Each word is very essential. Each word nourishes our wisdom-life. Therefore, we need to cherish the Dharma. Each word is a treasure and is the Dharma, thus we prostrate and pay respect to every word. With every prostration we are getting closer to the Dharma-assembly at Vulture Peak. We must have this mindset. So, as we come across such auspicious opportunities today, we really should cherish them. As we make prostrations to the sutra, every prostration takes us one step closer. Every word is a drop of Dharma-essence. With utmost reverence we need to work to understand its content and realize the magnificence of the Vulture Peak Assembly. We each have a stupa within. There is no need to seek Buddha-Dharma far away. Indeed, our minds are training grounds, so it is best to practice at this inner stupa. So, we should be respectful and grateful at all times. We especially should be reverent and seek the Dharma diligently. When we treat every word as a jewel, we can advance step by step. Every drop of Dharma-essence will then nurture our wisdom-life. So everyone, please always be mindful.