Episode 5 – Lotus Sutra Preface (4)
>> A slight discrepancy determines whether we go in the right or wrong direction. Boundless desires originate from insatiability. Time passes as we remain indecisive on which course to take. When our true nature is lost, we transmigrate through cyclic existence.
>> We vow to repent. We disciples and all sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have lost our true nature and transmigrated through cyclic existence.
>> The transgressions and obstacles of the Six Roots are infinite and boundless. We cannot penetrate and understand the perfect and wondrous Buddha Vehicle. None of our aspirations can be realized
>> We now pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. With this root of goodness, we openly repent our wrongdoings. The boundless grave transgressions created in the past, present and future with the Threefold Karma will all be eliminated.
>> Our bodies and mind will be pure, our delusions and obstacles eliminated. We will be dignified by blessings and wisdom, and our pure causes will grow.
Every day we talk about repenting and making vows. Indeed, to repent is to constantly self-reflect. After we have acted, do we sincerely confess all that we have done in the past? After confessing everything, have we reformed our mental and physical behavior? If we can correct everything, in addition to our physical behavior, wont our minds then often give rise to good thoughts without any deviant, evil thoughts? Have we reached this level of repentance and purification? After we have repented and purified ourselves, we can then make vows. As we make vows, we need to understand that a slight discrepancy makes the difference between going in the right or wrong direction. We make endless vows. We may pray that if a certain good thing happens to a family member, we will then vow to be vegetarian on his behalf, or vow to do good deeds, or we will vow to…. These are conditional vows, vows for desires, vows for something in return. These kinds of vows are misguided. We have to give unconditionally for it to be a vow. We need to be selective in the vows we make. We have many wants, so we have endless expectations and will never be satisfied. The suffering in our lives comes from wanting something more, wanting something better. These kinds of pursuits can be described by an old saying, Mountains are not as tall as our list of wishes. This is like asking, Is this enough? Not yet. Heres more, is this enough? Not yet. This goes on and on. Our minds never feel that anything high is ever high enough, or anything deep is ever deep enough. Therefore, this mind is a bottomless pit of greed, and thus we live in indecision. Which direction should we take in our lives? How do we walk the path we have vowed to take? We are at a loss. Is this the correct path for me to choose? Is it beneficial for me? We keep standing there indecisively. However, time keeps passing by. Isnt this a waste of time? Before the Buddha expounded this Dharma, He had already realized the true principles of the universe. So He began by speaking the True Dharma, the Avatamasaka Sutra, which described the Buddhas spiritual state. But sentient beings did not have the capacity to understand it. Why is that? Their minds were full of greed, afflictions and discursive thoughts, so they were unable to realize this state. Thus, the Buddha had to guide them gently and patiently for 40 years. Consider this span of 40-plus years. Can every person last for 40-plus years? Time keeps passing by. When we come in contact with the Buddha, can we reach Him directly and comprehend the Buddha-mind? If so, then seeing the Buddha and hearing the Dharma is not in vain, because we immediately comprehend it. However, we ordinary beings are such that we have to go through these skillful means. Yet can such skillful means really allow us realize the Dharma? How much time must be wasted in this way? So, during this time, the Buddha began to speak the Lotus Sutra, which is beyond speech. To expound the Lotus Sutra without speech, He sat down and entered the state of the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings and returned to His Buddha-mind. At that moment, He wanted to eliminate the provisional, the skillful. He wanted to take back these skillful means and replace them with the true path, so in that place, He radiated light. Because the Lotus Sutra was beyond speech, it was not expressed in words, but through a spiritual state. [At the assembly], everyone stared at each other, not knowing what was going on. Then, As the Buddha began speaking the True Dharma, 5000 people left their seats. This happened while Buddha was still there. He saw these people leave. As He began speaking about the True Path, 5000 people left. The Buddha felt very sad. However, it was good that they left because their capacities were not yet mature, so they were not ready to accept this teaching. So, it was good that they left, and those who remained could accept these teachings. But could they really? Consider what the Buddha saw after all these people heard His Dharma, how many people were willing to walk the Bodhisattva-path in this world and be responsible for saving others? No one dared to stand out and say, I will bravely take on this burden. This indecisiveness is not limited to people of the present time. Even when the Buddha was alive, when He expounded the Dharma Himself, was He able to truly awaken peoples minds, lead them to realize the Buddha-mind, and go among people to serve? Indeed, it is not very easy. Now, let us speak of modern people and their indecisiveness. If one wants to learn Buddhism, one must choose between Small Vehicle and Great Vehicle. Does one practice to solely benefit oneself or does one seek to benefit others? People also feel indecisive about methods of spiritual practice. This is how we lose our true nature and transmigrate through cyclic existence in the Six Realms.
A slight discrepancy determines whether we go in the right or wrong direction. Boundless desires originate from insatiability. Time passes as we remain indecisive on which course to take. When our true nature is lost, we transmigrate through cyclic existence.
This [indecision] is what we need to repent. Actually, it is not that difficult to nurture a loving heart. We do not need to make vows in a specific way; we just need to have a loving heart, which is by itself a vow to purify our minds. We did not know we were wrong. We were wrong in the past, but now we will begin to cleanse and reform ourselves and quickly change our attitude toward living. This is the right way. This is how we make a great vow. In our daily living, if we can nourish a loving heart, then we will make no mistakes. In Master Lian Chis Essays on Not Killing, there is a story called. Receive Blessings after Rebirth. He wrote that in Suzhou City, there was a man named Wang Da-lin. He was very charitable, especially in releasing captured creatures [as an act of merit]. He greatly cherished living creatures. Sometimes, he saw children playing at capturing crickets or catching bugs… so many kinds [of games]. If Wang Da-lin saw children playing with these tiny living creatures, he would kindly gather the children and explain his beliefs to them because he wanted the children to treasure all beings. He would even use money, candies etc. to create good relationships with them so he could persuade them to not hurt other living creatures. This is like applied education. All the children in the village liked him. All the parents and the elders were grateful to him because he was teaching their children for them. When children feel compassion and love, they naturally know to be filial. Everyone respected him. When he was 61 years old, he suddenly became gravely ill. The doctors had already told him to make his funeral preparations. At this time, he suddenly heard a voice. This very clear voice said, Because you often released captured creatures and cherished all living beings with great loving-kindness and compassion, because you constantly persuaded others to release living creatures, the intangible merits you have accumulated will now extend your lifespan and blessings. So Wang Da-lin lived to be 97 years old, with five generations of his lineage in the same household. He passed away peacefully. Remember, he was not seeking any reward. He just had those thoughts, those loving and compassionate thoughts to cherish living beings. Furthermore, he did not only do it himself, he taught everyone, from the children to the whole village. So his blessings and lifespan were prolonged. Always consider the importance of your mindset. Therefore, we say we need to make vows and dedicate merits. We mentioned previously,
We vow to repent. We disciples and all sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have lost our true nature and transmigrated through cyclic existence.
We have all lost our true nature and are only willing to make vows in return for things. But our mind was originally loving. Our mind was originally filled with unlimited and tremendous vows. It was filled with kindness and great love, which are great vows. But we have lost that state of mind, so we now transmigrate through cyclic existence.
The transgressions and obstacles of the Six Roots are infinite and boundless. We cannot penetrate and understand the perfect and wondrous Buddha Vehicle. None of our aspirations can be realized.
The transgressions of the Six Roots arise when greedy thoughts come in contact with the Six Dusts. Our Six Roots give rise to the Six Consciousnesses. This leads to many greedy thoughts. These greedy desires are infinite and boundless. We cannot penetrate and understand the perfect and wondrous Buddha Vehicle. This vehicle points the mind to its true nature. With this perfect and wondrous Dharma, we could return to our true nature, but we are hindered from understanding and. None of our aspirations can be realized. We only know to seek things, and not all of these pursuits will be successful. There is an old saying, Of 10 things, 8 or 9 will be unsatisfactory. This is because we are lost, we really ask for too much. Therefore, None of our aspirations can be realized.
We now pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. With this root of goodness, we openly repent our wrongdoings. The boundless grave transgressions created in the past, present and future with the Threefold Karma will all be eliminated
We now pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. With this root of goodness, we openly repent our wrongdoings. The boundless grave transgressions created in the past, present and future with the Threefold Karma will all be eliminated. We now pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. Now we have begun to receive the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. The Buddha has pointed out the true path to seeing our true nature. This true path is the Bodhisattva-path, so we must cherish it. When we are chanting the Lotus Sutra Preface, we prostrate to every word. Every word is a treasure, so we must sincerely and mindfully understand the. Buddhas mindset. We cannot just recite the Sutras, we need to realize whether or not we have applied it. Have we attained the state of the Buddha-mind? Therefore, whether we prostrate and chant the Sutra of Infinite Meanings or the Lotus Sutra, with this root of goodness, we openly repent our wrongdoings. If we really study the sutras, we will gradually nourish our roots of goodness. As the roots of goodness grow, our wisdom-life will grow. As the roots of goodness continuously grow, we will openly repent our wrongdoings. This is repentance. Out of ignorance, we constantly make mistakes. These mistakes are what we need to openly repent. Once we make a mistake, we need to quickly correct it. Once we have corrected it, we do not need to be afraid of other people knowing our mistakes. This is how we can be cleansed. This is open repentance. We dare not make the same mistakes. This is repenting what was created in the past, present and future by the Threefold Karma. This refers to the past, to what we have done, or to the incorrect, deviant or evil thoughts that arise now because we are not taking good care of our minds. Once a thought arises in the mind, we must quickly repent. So past, present means that the past has already happened, so whatever mistakes we make now, must be quickly terminated. As for the future, we need to quickly change the direction of our Threefold Karma. We must always speak good words with our mouths, do good deeds with our bodies, and think good thoughts with our minds. The past has already happened, so now we cannot allow our Threefold Karma to create more evil. If we commit evils again, we commit boundless grave transgressions. Those transgressions will be very severe. If we have reformed, then boundless. If we have reformed, then boundless grave transgressions will all be eliminated. Our bodies and mind will be pure, our delusions and obstacles eliminated.
Our bodies and mind will be pure, our delusions and obstacles eliminated. We will be dignified by blessings and wisdom, and our pure causes will grow
Our bodies and mind will be pure, our delusions and obstacles eliminated. Our minds will be free. Even though we have committed wrongdoings, we have admitted them all. Then no matter what others say, we will still be very free and at ease. We are not afraid of being criticized because we have admitted our mistakes. We have now corrected them all, so Our bodies and mind will be pure. Defilements and ignorance will never return, so the mind is purified and our delusions and obstacles eliminated. When we have completely eliminated ignorance, we are naturally dignified by blessings and wisdom and our pure causes will grow. Good causes and conditions will keep appearing. Good people are drawn together and will help each other succeed. Therefore, pure causes will grow. What we see will not defile our minds. Everything we hear will be good words. All the people we are with will be good people. Even if someone wants to harm or tempt us, we will be surrounded by virtuous friends. Perhaps with this greater strength we can transform those without right views and bring them in to join us. So, in our daily living, we vow to thoroughly nourish all good thoughts and actions and purify our minds. Once we purify our minds, we can attain even what we do not seek. This natural way of living benefits people and can also be used to educate others. This is a natural and uncontrived vow which is a great vow. Everyone, please always be mindful.