Episode 115 – Exercise Compassion, Wisdom and Samadhi
>> One mighty in loving-kindness has compassionate vows to not abandon beings. One replete with Samadhi and wisdom exercises the power of wisdom to extensively help [sentient beings]
>> Sentient beings who endure great suffering and can transform themselves and others to experience great joy are worthy to be the fields of blessings for the heaven and human realm.
>> To expound the right Dharma with excellence in the beginning, middle and end. “The meaning is deep and profound. The words are skillful and wondrous, pure without distractions and complete with the marks of pure practice.”
In learning from the Buddha, we must cultivate both compassion and wisdom. These two things are what spiritual practitioners cannot lack․ So, we have to always act from our hearts when we go among people to provide for their needs by giving of what we have.
Sentient beings need either spiritual or material things. Of these two, the more important is the spiritual. When our hearts are satisfied, our living can be very simple and basic. There are limits to material enjoyment. If the heart is not content, no matter how much wealth and material things we have, [our desires] are still endless. The Buddha came to this world, and because of His compassion, He hoped for all of us to have a sense of contentment. How can the heart be content? We must fully grasp the true principles. If we are clear about them, then naturally, our hearts will always be content.
So, the Buddha came to the human realm to establish and teach methods that bring contentment to sentient beings. As Buddhist practitioners, these are also the principles we must put into practice. So, His compassion makes Him mighty in loving-kindness, which means He maintains the power of His compassionate vows to not abandon sentient beings. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha is also called Mighty in Loving-kindness. This name reflects what this Buddha wanted to express from His heart, the teachings He wanted to offer this world and His sense of mission toward sentient beings, which stems from His compassion.
He extended His compassion to all sentient beings and created good karmic connections with them. For a long time, for three asankyakalpas, His spiritual practice was focused on cultivating His compassion. So, He never let go of His compassionate vows and continuously actualized them over incalculably long eons. Sentient beings have many sufferings that cannot be resolved, but the Buddha will not abandon them. Though they are obstinate, stubborn and difficult to reform, the Buddha still adheres to His compassionate vows and does not abandon them.
Aside from compassionate vows, one must also have Samadhi and wisdom. The mind has to be in a state of Samadhi, and one has to have wisdom. I often say to everyone, wisdom helps us distinguish “true” from “false” in this world. This wisdom gives us a type of power. If something is right, we must resolve to do it. If a thing is wrong, we must have the perseverance to eliminate it. This is the power of discerning wisdom.
There is also impartial wisdom. The stubbornness of sentient beings can be tamed through [the Buddha’s] gentle patience. So, Samadhi and the power of wisdom are essential to training sentient beings. Thus, we need to exercise loving-kindness and must have Samadhi and wisdom. We need to make compassionate vows and have the power of wisdom. With compassionate vows, our wisdom can benefit all sentient beings.
One mighty in loving-kindness has compassionate vows to not abandon beings. One replete with Samadhi and wisdom exercises the power of wisdom to extensively help [sentient beings].
To truly help people in this world requires very hard work. If this is so taxing, how do we do it? We have to be patient and endure the worst kinds of suffering. Sentient beings suffer so much in the cyclic existence of the Six Realms and still have not awakened from delusion. Sentient beings suffer greatly. So, Bodhisattvas and all Buddhas willingly go among people who experience the worst kinds of suffering. If they were not mighty in loving-kindness and replete with Samadhi and wisdom, how could they have this power of vows that enables them to enter conditions of great suffering? What do they do in such places? They manifest appearances.
They leverage the appearance of suffering beings so they can show everyone, “This is suffering. Let us promptly recognize this as suffering so we will be able to free ourselves from it. Beyond this state of suffering, there is a state of freedom and openness, a place that is calm, wondrous and vast. It allows us to be very free so that we are not restrained by afflictions. There is no fear, and there is no suffering. This is a carefree and liberated place.”
How can we get there? “Do what I did. I worked to understand many principles. After attaining understanding, I now share them with you, and I want to tell you how to transcend suffering. Come, follow me and do what I do. Come, walk this path with me.” In this way, we can naturally attain a state of liberation without obstructions and be carefree and at ease.
Because the Buddha manifested attaining enlightenment in this world, we now know how to engage in spiritual practice. By letting go of family ties and being free of attachments, desires, greed etc., we can eliminate the states of anger and ignorance. That is, we have to adhere to the principles of the Dharma expounded by the Buddha. We have to accept them. Once we do, our hearts will be free of worries and will not be bound by afflictions. So, when we share our experience with others, we benefit ourselves and others. We enter a state of the greatest happiness and our minds have no obstructions. Because we have no obstructions, there is no fear, no afflictions, no greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance or doubt, and no conflicts or interpersonal disputes etc. We completely release all these afflictions and are very happy! So, [whether we experience] great suffering or great joy depends on our attitudes in life.
Before, I spoke of how the Buddha, after attaining Buddhahood, had ten epithets, Tathagata, One Worthy of Offering, 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 must diligently study and learn to live up to these ten epithets.
The Buddha is mighty in loving-kindness and replete with ten kinds of virtues. Shouldn’t we diligently cultivate these ten kinds of virtues? In particular, attaining human form is difficult. After finding Buddha-Dharma among humankind, we must develop a great field of blessings in the heaven and human realms.
We often say we can see heaven in this world. The wealthy live in heaven on earth. It is difficult for them to learn the Way. We can make good use of our wisdom, exercise our loving-kindness and Samadhi. Then, through the suffering of the multitudes of sentient beings, we can explain the Dharma so that the wealthy, the blessed ones in this world, can accept it. This will inspire their compassion so they can then help those who are suffering. This is their first step toward the Buddha-Dharma, the beginnings of their great field of blessings. In the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, this is also mentioned in the Chapter of the Ten Merits. So, we have to guide everyone to help those who are suffering, to create a great field of blessings for them.
Sentient beings who endure great suffering and can transform themselves and others to experience great joy are worthy to be the fields of blessings for the heaven and human realm.
Some people suffer from spiritual emptiness; some suffer from material poverty. So, we must be fields of blessings for others. This is also a very important step in learning from the Buddha.
Before, I said that the Buddha was endowed with the ten epithets, so He went among people and began.
To expound the right Dharma with excellence in the beginning, middle and end. “The meaning is deep and profound. The words are skillful and wondrous, pure without distractions and complete with the marks of pure practice.”
After this section of the sutra, Manjusri Bodhisattva told Maitreya Bodhisattva that in the past there was a Buddha, Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant (Buddha), who was also endowed with the ten epithets, and who also expounded the right Dharma to others. His teachings were also divided into the excellence in the beginning, middle and end. What is excellence in the beginning, middle or end? We have to understand that “excellence in the beginning” refers to when the Buddha became enlightened. I have often shared this with everyone. The Buddha was in a state of Samadhi when He saw the morning star. Suddenly, His mind and that star became one. That is, the microcosm and the macrocosm suddenly converged in that moment.
I often say the body is a microcosm. Before enlightenment, the microcosm of the human body is an individual entity. But after some time of spiritual cultivation, the body and mind become completely tranquil, still and clear. In this state, they far surpass the microcosm of the immediate self. At that time, in that state of tranquility and clarity, His gaze happened to fall upon that star. Suddenly, His mind and that star became one, the micro and the macro. At that moment, His mind was all-encompassing and boundless. Our mind is actually also that wondrous!
It is not just limited to this planet, but [can encompass] the wider universe. This is the vastness of the mind. So the Buddha’s first words in that moment were, “How amazing! All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” This was His first thought. When His mind and surroundings became united, His first awakening was that all beings have the Buddha’s nature of wisdom; He was not the only one. That is why He always said, “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in nature].”
In this spiritual state, the Buddha saw that all of us sentient beings can attain Buddhahood, and that we all have this perfect and radiant Buddha-nature. So, He was very joyous, very happy. He wanted to quickly share this state with everyone. After this spiritual state arose in Him, all Buddhas of the ten directions and. Dharmakaya Bodhisattvas gathered. This was called the Avatamsaka Assembly.
Heavenly beings and Dharma-protectors also emerged there. How did such an extraordinary state come about? All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions were there, so all heavenly beings and. Dharma-protectors also came. In this spiritual state, the Buddha began to teach the true principles of the universe that He had realized. His mindset was vast, boundless and encompassed the endless void. With such an open mind, He wanted to share these principles.
But the heavenly beings and humans who attended could not understand or comprehend them. At that time, the Buddha was truly discouraged and thought about just entering Parinirvana. “Since I have attained Buddhahood, I have such great principles to share. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can comprehend my state of mind, but why can’t the eight classes of Dharma-protectors comprehend them? Then what use is my attaining Buddhahood? “I should just enter Parinirvana.” At this time, all Buddhas of the past came to comfort Sakyamuni.
This was the state of the Buddha that was described in the Lotus Sutra. So all past Buddhas comforted Him and asked Him to exercise His Samadhi and wisdom. “You already made these compassionate vows; now exercise Your Samadhi and wisdom. The many sentient beings are stubborn and difficult to train. So You must exercise Samadhi and wisdom. Still Your mind and apply Your wisdom. Doing this is within Your ability.”
Thus, He was originally going to teach Avatamsaka, which was His path to realization. This was how He practiced and achieved the state of attaining fruition. Throughout many past kalpas, for a very, very long time, this was what He practiced and achieved. It took three asankyakalpas and much hard work to attain this realization. Heavenly beings and humans could not understand.
You should know that when other people cannot understand what we say, it is very discouraging. Truly, the Buddha and people have the same mind. So, He said there is Buddha-mind in human minds and a human mind in Buddhas’ minds. This is so relatable and makes so much sense.
Everyone, we have developed the aspiration to practice, so we must cultivate both compassion and wisdom, exercise loving-kindness and have Samadhi and wisdom. We vow to never abandon sentient beings. In this evil world of five turbidities, sentient beings are filled with afflictions and lead hard lives. But in the midst of this great suffering, we willingly learn to bestow great joy so everyone can accept the Buddha-Dharma. We can then all have happiness in our daily living. This requires attaining the Dharma. Only then will we have a sense of Dharma-joy. So, we must always be mindful!