Episode 59 – Vow to Practice without Retreating
>> “A Living Bodhisattva can fulfill all vows. With great vows, one must remain steadfast, maintain one’s initial resolve, develop great aspirations, never abandon sentient beings, have compassion toward them and persevere without retreating.”
>> When one retreats it means that one regresses in one’s spiritual practice and departs from it. When one regresses it means that one loses the merits and virtues that have already been achieved. When one departs it means that one has not regressed but has changed course.
>> Never-retreating means that whether one has achieved or has not yet achieved merits and virtues, one does not regress or depart until one has perfected the ultimate. So, the eighth ground is the ground of stillness. It means never-retreating.
>> The first one is, “never-retreating faith. When we firmly believe in the right Dharma, not only in one lifetime, but for lifetimes to come, we will be steadfast in faith.”
>> The second is “never-retreating state.” So, “Do not retreat again from the great path. When united with the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, the Buddha-mind, every day we will improve and abide [in the state of] never-retreating.”
>> The third is “never-retreating realizations. After one realizes the True Dharmakaya, one will never retreat.”
>> Fourth is “never-retreating practice. Reach the ultimate by never retreating. In all one does, one never retreats, thought after thought. With all Dharma one has or has not yet achieved, one is determined to attain them all and not retreat.”
“A Living Bodhisattva can fulfill all vows. With great vows, one must remain steadfast, maintain one’s initial resolve, develop great aspirations, never abandon sentient beings, have compassion toward them and persevere without retreating.”
As spiritual practitioners, this is the mindset we should have. Everyone has Buddha-nature. In this world, as long as we make a vow, we will achieve it. Only by walking the Bodhisattva-path can we reach the state of the Buddha. Everyone should understand this. When we begin our spiritual practice, we must be resolute in “making the [Four] Great Vows.” We must also “maintain our initial resolve.” When we first make an aspiration, our mindsets and vows at that time are very resolute. If we can sincerely maintain that initial resolve and those vows, then we will always “develop great aspirations.” Not only must we maintain that initial resolve, we must also constantly make great aspirations and “never abandon sentient beings.”
I have told everyone before that the Buddha practiced and became enlightened for the sake of sentient beings. Since we are all Buddhist practitioners, we must have the same aspiration as the Buddha. The suffering of sentient beings makes us uneasy so we must develop great aspirations and make great vows. Therefore, we will never abandon sentient beings. We must go among them. This is how we “have compassion toward them.” The multitudes of sentient beings suffer greatly. We must always be compassionate and “persevere without retreating.” If we can do this, someday we can succeed in our spiritual practice.
Although we will ultimately attain Buddhahood, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path. With this resolve, we only allow ourselves to move forward. We cannot stop or retreat. When we stop, we lose ground, so we must always be mindful and resolute. However, in the course of our practice, we often retreat. If we retreat, we are “regressing” or “departing” from our spiritual practice. When one regresses, it means that “one loses the merits and virtues that have already been achieved.” Originally we were [practicing], we were happily developing great aspirations and benefiting ourselves. As we achieved many realizations and shared them with others, everyone was happy. But, if something did not meet our expectations and caused us to change our direction, we regressed and departed.
Once we are on the path of seeking Buddhahood, our resolve is to attain perfect enlightenment, which is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. What we seek is to attain supreme, perfect enlightenment. But if before we attain it, we turn back, this is retreating from the path.
When one retreats it means that one regresses in one’s spiritual practice and departs from it. When one regresses it means that one loses the merits and virtues that have already been achieved. When one departs it means that one has not regressed but has changed course.
What we seek is to not retreat. Then we have a chance to attain perfect enlightenment. In other words, when we arrive at the stage of supreme enlightenment, which is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, naturally we will not retreat. Those who retreat are those who were on their way but have yet to arrive. Naturally, if they were not determined, they will retreat. If we can walk one path wholeheartedly and single-mindedly, no matter what setbacks we encounter, we will persist in moving forward. Then we will not retreat and can reach the stage of supreme enlightenment.
So, “never-retreating refers to both those who have achieved and have not yet achieved merits and virtues.” So, whether we have already achieved or not yet achieved them, we still have this goal. We must be resolute in moving forward and not allow our surroundings and what we encounter to influence us. So, “one does not regress nor depart but will persevere until one has perfected the ultimate.” This is how we can be resolute. Thus, if we can all “maintain our initial motivation,” then naturally we can arrive at the stage where we have “perfected the ultimate,” which is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
So, “the eighth ground is Ground of Stillness. It means never-retreating.” I have spoken of the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattvas, which begins with the ground of joy and leads to the eighth ground, the ground of stillness. This is the process of our spiritual cultivation. Our minds follow the teachings of the Buddha. We must be resolute and never retreat.
Never-retreating means that whether one has achieved or has not yet achieved merits and virtues, one does not regress or depart until one has perfected the ultimate. So, the eighth ground is the ground of stillness. It means never-retreating.
As humans, we live among sentient beings. [As practitioners,] we cannot abandon them because only they can hone our will to practice. So, we must constantly be grateful for [them and] all the circumstances that strengthen our practice. We must also be very firm in moving forward, so no condition can cause our minds to waver. This is a Ground of Stillness Bodhisattva. It is part of the path for entering the stage of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. We must also remain steadfast. Our minds must be resolute.
So here I also have to remind everyone, there are four categories of “never-retreating” that can prevent us from regressing.
The first one is, “never-retreating faith. When we firmly believe in the right Dharma, not only in one lifetime, but for lifetimes to come, we will be steadfast in faith.”
This means we must maintain our faith; we must have faith in the Buddha’s teachings, which guide our course. We must maintain [our faith], not only for one lifetime, but lifetime after lifetime. Our faith, our will to practice, must always be solid.
The second is “never-retreating state.” So, “Do not retreat again from the great path. When united with the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, the Buddha-mind, every day we will improve and abide [in the state of] never-retreating.”
To abide in the state of Bodhisattvas, we must maintain the level of the ground of stillness. That means we cannot retreat from it. Since we apply right Dharma in our daily living, we must maintain this path and not turn back. Also, we must attain perfect enlightenment. This Buddha-Dharma, this Dharmakaya, was passed down by the Buddha. His wisdom-life, the Dharma He expounded, is equal to His Dharmakaya and has remained in the human realm. The Buddha’s Dharmakaya is the Buddha-mind. If our minds can be joined to the Buddha-mind, then the Buddha-mind will be our mind. In this way, our wisdom-life can grow, day by day, and “every day we will improve.” We will not stop growing and will strengthen our will to practice. This is the “never-retreating state,” which means not to retreat from the state of Bodhisattvas.
The third is “never-retreating realizations. After one realizes the True Dharmakaya, one will never retreat.”
When we are united with the Buddha-mind, we have great understanding, great awakening, which is right knowledge, perfect enlightenment. Then we will be able to validate the teachings with what we see and experience in the world. As the Buddha said over 2000 years ago, everything forms, abides, decays, is annihilated. Humans have created karma with their minds so sentient beings share collective karma and, in the future, will face the imbalance of the four elements. There will be many disasters. Over these 2000-plus years, the world and society and matters and objects have validated [His teachings] one by one. Since this is the case, we must never stop believing in the Buddha’s great enlightenment. So if we have “never-retreating realizations,” we will realize the Buddha’s teachings in the human realm.
What the Buddha predicted for the future, which is now, has indeed been accurate. So, we must have deep faith [in Him]. The Buddha also told us that we all have the same intrinsic nature as Him. We must further have faith [in this]. If we realize this, “we have the True Dharmakaya and will never retreat.” As long as we have faith, naturally we will never retreat.
Fourth is “never-retreating practice.”
Fourth is “never-retreating practice. Reach the ultimate by never retreating. In all one does, one never retreats, thought after thought. With all Dharma one has or has not yet achieved, one is determined to attain them all and not retreat.”
This means if we have not retreated from the three other categories and have reached this point, then we should have “never-retreating practice” and continue to go forward. Since the Dharma is solid and accurate, and we have realized that the Buddha-Dharma is so closely tied to the workings of the world, we must not retreat from our practice of spiritual cultivation. On this great Bodhi-path, this straight and broad path, we should go forward with confidence. We must clearly understand that the Buddha’s teaching is ultimate. Of course, our minds must also follow His Dharmakaya, which are His teachings, and we must thoroughly understand them so that we will never retreat.
“Faith is the source of the Way and the mother of merits.” As long as we have faith in His teachings and are united with His mind, then we have already reached the ultimate stage. So in all our actions, “we never retreat, thought after thought.” Since we established this faith in the past, it is the same now and in the future. We will not break our word or change. With determination, “one never retreats, thought after thought.” Not only do we never retreat in thoughts, we also never retreat in action. On the Bodhisattva-path, we will not retreat in what we do or think.
“Already achieved” is what we have already attained in this process. What we have “not achieved” is the state of the Buddha; we are only at the Bodhisattva-state of equal enlightenment. There is still space for continuous advancement. Even in His state, the Buddha returns to the world out of compassion. Bodhisattvas with equal enlightenment are part of the Buddha’s retinue. These followers of the Buddha constantly do what He does, which is to return to the world out of compassion.
So having already practiced and achieved, we are now moving forward. Everything will happen as we hope, and then we pay it forward. I often tell our Tzu Chi volunteers, “Give without asking in return and be grateful.” This kind of giving is continuous, selfless and unconditional. Sometimes, we see that our giving makes those receiving feel joyous. The recipient attains stability and freedom. When they are in that state, they [are inspired to] develop aspirations. Seeing that they can be saved, that the minds of ordinary people can be transformed into awakened minds, we are filled with Dharma-joy.
Whatever happens in our lives, regardless of time and place, we continuously walk forward by following the vows we made and our will to practice. Every day we constantly encounter afflictions in this world because we are human beings; one by one, we help people resolve afflictions. We also may help eliminate their difficulties, one at a time. This is what we have “already achieved.” Achieving this, our minds are free from afflictions and we still continue to move forward. Much Dharma is still “not achieved.” They are [paths] not yet walked and [people] not yet encountered. This is what has not been achieved in one lifetime. Even if we do attain them all in this lifetime, we must still make a vow for subsequent lifetimes. There are still those who have not achieved. So, we must return out of compassion.
Look at the many ever-present Bodhisattvas who have attained the Dharmakaya in the human realm. Guanyin Bodhisattva returns to this world. Manjusri Bodhisattva also returns to this world. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva protects, upholds the Buddha-Dharma and also returns constantly. Earth Treasury Bodhisattva’s great vow is the same. He continually stays in hell, the place of greatest suffering. Don’t these states of having achieved, achieving and yet to achieve occur through many lifetimes? This Dharma is always in the world to be diligently [practiced] and attained. This is how we should never retreat and continuously move forward.
This is “what one has and has not yet achieved.” So, “one is determined to attain them all and not retreat.” This means that, since our minds are already in the best state, we will always persevere and never retreat. So, we have “never-retreating faith, never-retreating state, never-retreating realizations,” and “never-retreating practice.” If we can understand these four principles of never-retreating, then naturally we will never turn back. So to have the hope of attaining the state of perfect enlightenment, we must never retreat.
May all of you never retreat from spiritual practice. This Bodhisattva-path is actually very long; beginning with the initial aspiration, many things happen throughout this lifetime. The people, matters and objects we encounter may not all be to our liking. That is very difficult. But once we make Bodhisattva-aspirations, we must know that in this world where we must bear suffering, we must have perseverance and patience. Then we will not retreat in wisdom and compassion.
So to become a Living Bodhisattva, we must first make a vow. When we make a great vow, we must be resolute. Starting from when we first make the aspiration, we must make the great vow to never abandon sentient beings. Then we can feel compassion toward them and exercise both compassion and wisdom, be resolute and never retreat. This is how we as practitioners can remain never-retreating every second, hour and day. Of course, I still have to say to everyone, always be mindful.