Episode 108 – Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata
>> “The unsurpassed, great enlightened sage was complete and perfect in the ten virtues. This level of spiritual practice is rarely seen. This great Dharma is exceptional, subtle and wondrous.”
>> “Good men, limitless, boundless, inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago, there was a Buddha with the epithet Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata.”
>>Manjusri described how the ancient Buddhas taught by first giving provisional and limited teachings and then true and great teachings.
>> Praise for three extraordinary things: 1. The vast expanse of time is extraordinary 2. The Buddha’s epithet is extraordinary 3. The supreme and wondrous Dharma is extraordinary.
>>Countless, boundless inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago.
>> The Buddha’s Tathagata-garbha mind was filled with the radiance of great wisdom. Thus, His virtue is likened to the Three Lights. Sunlight represents the virtue of wisdom. Moonlight represents the virtue of ending [all afflictions]. Lamplight represents the virtue of grace.
“The unsurpassed, great enlightened sage was complete and perfect in the ten virtues. This level of spiritual practice is rarely seen. This great Dharma is exceptional, subtle and wondrous.”
This reminds everyone that the reason the Buddha came to this world was to help everyone awaken and realize the same perfect wisdom as Him. Though we possess the same perfect wisdom, we sentient beings remain deluded, unable to completely awaken. The Buddha continues to wait patiently, so all Bodhisattvas also come to help teach in the hopes that everyone can understand the Buddha’s original intent.
Manjusri Bodhisattva said that the Buddha does not want only a small number of people to receive His true principles. The Buddha hopes that many people can receive them. The Tathagata’s Nirvana is not for one to attain Nirvana, but for all to attain it. Whenever we think about this passage, we have to be very grateful to the Buddha. The Buddha sees all sentient beings as His own children. The Buddha sees all sentient beings as equals.
He tirelessly instructs them according to their unenlightened, limited capacities. The Buddha was very straightforward and wanted ordinary people to know that spiritual practice requires lasting patience. Buddhahood cannot be instantly realized in one day or one night, or after one hearing [of the teachings]. [At best,] these principles may meet the right conditions. Meeting the right conditions means that when we happen to receive this phrase, this bit of truth, we understand it. However, our hearts have not yet fully awakened. So, if we often listen to the Dharma and hear a certain phrase that makes us happy, we think, “I understand it, I get it, I am [enlightened]!” We should never hold such thoughts! If we think this way, we are arrogant and proud. If we think this way, it is a great lie.
The Buddha said that. He Himself had to engage in spiritual practice for a very long time, for many kalpas, before His ten virtues were complete and perfect, not to mention us ordinary beings! But all people and the Buddha intrinsically have the same Buddha-nature. Everyone can inherently attain Buddhahood. In the same way, everyone has these ten virtues. However, we have not yet awakened and truly, thoroughly comprehended them. So, the Buddha began to carry out His true, original intent and shared everything in His heart with everyone. Although there were still people who did not have the capability to accept this, the Buddha’s time for transforming beings was coming to an end. So, He had to teach this now.
We can see that the original text of the sutra states,
“Good men, limitless, boundless, inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago, there was a Buddha with the epithet Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata.”
This passage is Manjusri Bodhisattva’s response to Maitreya Bodhisattva’s question. Manjusri Bodhisattva said, “I have heard and seen this before.” When past Buddhas began to teach great Dharma, they also exhibited these phenomena. The present state of Sakyamuni Buddha is the same as that of past Buddhas. This shows that “all Buddhas share the same path.” Like the Buddhas before Him, the present Buddha is teaching sentient beings. They first gave “provisional and limited teachings.”
Manjusri described how the ancient Buddhas taught by first giving provisional and limited teachings and then true and great teachings.
In the past He taught provisional teachings, which were skillful means. Because our capabilities as sentient beings are all very different, the Buddha considered our capabilities and then expounded the Dharma accordingly. The Buddha taught according to capabilities. Sentient beings have limited capabilities, so the Buddha first gave provisional and limited teachings. He first used skillful means, which are “provisional. Limited” refers to Small Vehicle teachings. When one’s capabilities were limited, He would teach these simple means. This is not yet the ultimate great Dharma. But nothing could be done; the capabilities of sentient beings could only accept this much. Thus, the Buddha had to use different analogies from worldly matters to speak to them.
So, this is teaching according to capabilities. At the end, since all Buddhas share the same path, They all give the true and great teachings. At the end, They must set aside the provisional teachings of the past and give true teachings. It must be emphasized to everyone that in the past, skillful means were used to slowly lead them [onto this path]. But they have not yet arrived; with these teachings, they could only benefit themselves. But they have not yet arrived; what they understood was biased towards emptiness, it was not the real true emptiness. It was a bias.
We have to know that in emptiness there is wondrous existence. True emptiness can be experienced in our daily living. So, what exactly are we attached to? We should know that life is impermanent, that impermanence manifests as time passes according to the karmic law of cause and effect. It constantly surrounds us. No one can know when things will change. But we spiritual practitioners must realize that impermanence is always by our side. Truly, everyone needs to clearly understand this principle.
We want to see, [but] we cannot see anything. However, this principle is still there. Thus, it is called wondrous existence. We have to completely and fully realize wondrous existence and true emptiness. So in essence, the Buddha wants to enable all sentient beings to understand that they have to learn how to transform sentient beings and walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is the truth that everyone intrinsically possesses. It is not enough for just a few to understand this. This is something all sentient beings have. If we do not all achieve the same level of realization, then our cyclic existence in the Six Destinies will still be very painful. So, everyone has to fully realize these true principles, so they can last through the ages. Then over a very long period of time, they can continue to be passed on.
Because the Buddha was perfect in the ten virtues, He could reach all sentient beings. He did not hope for only a few to be enlightened but hoped that we can all model this [way of] living and lead others. To lead others, we must become role models; this is what the Buddha taught us. So, we have to understand that in the past, the Buddha gave provisional teachings. Later when His time for transforming beings was nearing its end, He gave the true, great teachings. The time had come for Him to give the great teachings. This was the Buddha’s original intent,
So, Manjusri Bodhisattva announced to everyone that the Buddha was about to give the great teachings. This is an extraordinary moment in time. The Buddha attained enlightenment long ago. How long has it been? The sutras say that it happened countless, boundless, inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago.
Praise for three extraordinary things: 1. The vast expanse of time is extraordinary 2. The Buddha’s epithet is extraordinary 3. The supreme and wondrous Dharma is extraordinary.
We all know the epithet Sakyamuni Buddha. But even before Sakyamuni Buddha, a long time before, countless asankyakalpas before, a Buddha had appeared in this world. He was called Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata; this was His distinctive epithet. Sakyamuni Buddha, SakyamuniTathagata, Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant (Tathagata), these epithets show that Sakyamuni is a Buddha and. Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant is another Buddha.
This is like those of us sitting here now; we are all called “humans.” But among humans, we all have different family and given names. But we do have a common name, we are called “humans.” Among the Six Destinies, we are now in the human realm. There are many sentient beings here, each with a distinct name. But among all sentient beings, we are part of a group called “humans.” Humans also have distinctive epithets.
So, this past Buddha was called Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata and “shared the epithet of the present Buddha.” Though He [had a different name], He was like the present Buddha. Buddha means enlightened one. Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata was also an enlightened one. They both realized the truths of all things in the universe.
How were they enlightened? They had to be endowed with the ten epithets. This is what I meant in the beginning when. I talked about being complete and perfect in the ten virtues. Perfection of the ten virtues means they are endowed with the ten epithets. To have the ten epithets is to have these virtues. Past Buddhas have them, and the present Buddha is the same. They need to have these ten virtues and be endowed with the ten epithets before they can be called great enlightened ones. So, the past Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Tathagata and the present Buddha shared these epithets; these are called shared epithets. Past Buddhas had the ten virtues, and in the present, so does Sakyamuni Buddha. This is “shared.”
But for a Buddha to be endowed with the ten epithets, He must perfectly manifest wondrous existence and true emptiness in His living. Everything He does must be thorough and. His virtuous conduct must be clear for. Him to be endowed with the ten epithets.
Next is teaching the Dharma. The ten epithets must be replete with this Dharma. The supreme and wondrous Dharma is rare, as is each Buddha who has transformed this world in the past. Past Buddhas did this and the present Buddha is doing the same, teaching all beings based on their capabilities. So, this is what Sakyamuni Buddha is doing. He originally intended [to teach] the true principle of all things. Time kept passing, and now He was to expound the true Dharma. Past Buddhas did this, and the present Buddha is doing the same.
This true Dharma is deep and subtle, embodying the subtlety and wonder of all forms. So, before expounding the Dharma, the Buddha continuously radiated light. Each ray of light had a different appearance. This represented the profundity and perfection of the Dharma. It was very wondrous and extraordinary. Ordinary beings could not [understand it]. This is what Manjusri Bodhisattva explained to everyone [regarding] the perfection of this kind of manifested light.
Next,
Countless, boundless inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago.
This represents a wondrously long period of time. This is the capacity of the Buddha-mind. The capacity of this mind is an incalculable number.
When we read the sutras and it says “countless and innumerable,” how long is that? It is impossible to say. But this is the capacity of all Buddha-minds. How can we explain it? We must use many kinds of analogies. So, it is said, “countless, boundless inconceivable numbers of asankyakalpas ago” because this is the capacity of the Buddha-mind. We ordinary beings cannot comprehend such a big number.
So, the three words “Sun-Moon-Lamp,” is a distinctive epithet that signifies the innate radiance of this past Buddha. So, the name of this past Buddha represented His radiance. Our Sakyamuni Buddha has a distinctive epithet that reflects His compassion, so He is “Mighty in Loving-kindness.” Mighty means to have perseverance. Because sentient beings in the world at this time are stubborn, perseverance and patience are needed for one to have loving-kindness and compassion. So He is called Mighty in Loving-kindness. Sakyamuni translated into Chinese means “Mighty in loving-kindness.” The past Buddha’s name, Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant, means that He had that radiance. These are distinctive epithets.
The Buddha’s Tathagata-garbha mind was filled with the radiance of great wisdom. Thus, His virtue is likened to the Three Lights. Sunlight represents the virtue of wisdom. Moonlight represents the virtue of ending [all afflictions]. Lamplight represents the virtue of grace.
The name of this past Buddha, Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant, had this meaning.
Everyone, the Buddha-virtues are so very profound and wondrous. We should be able to realize them in our living, but we have not yet discovered them. The Buddha has to continuously be patient in the hopes that all of us can experience this. The Buddha made these painstaking efforts in the world. Since He painstakingly [taught this], we must also make a great effort to comprehend it. We cannot fail to live up to these ten virtues, So, we must diligently practice. We must spend a long time experiencing this. I hope that everyone can experience the spiritual state of the Buddha. To do so, we must always be very mindful!