Episode 157 – Principled Methods for Benefiting Ourselves
>> “Develop the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and [37] Practices to Enlightenment” and “give rise to loving-kindness, compassion, the Ten Powers and [Fourfold] Fearlessness. He appears with the good karmic causes and conditions of sentient beings.”
>> The Five Precepts: No Killing. No Stealing. No Sexual Misconduct. No Lying. No Drinking of Alcohol. The Ten Good Deeds: three of the body, four of speech, three of mind 1. Three deeds of the body: No Killing. No Stealing. No Sexual Misconduct 2. Four deeds of speech. No Lying. No Gossiping. No Flattery. No Harsh Speech 3. Three deeds of the mind: No Greed. No Anger. No Ignorance.
>> The Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds are worldly virtuous Dharma. The Three Studies and Six Perfections are world-transcending virtuous Dharma. Though they may be profound or simple, they are methods that accord with principles and benefit the self.
>> A Buddha manifests in this world and may abide here for a long or short time, depending on the good karma and causes and conditions of sentient beings. Sakyamuni manifested in an impure, evil age and had a shortened lifespan of 80 years. Maitreya has a lifespan of 80,000 years. Amitabha has an immeasurable lifespan.
>> “This revealed the places where sentient beings face the karmic retributions of birth and death. Seen, too, were Buddha-lands adorned with a multitude of treasures. The colors of lapis lazuli and crystal were illumined by the Buddha’s light.”
>> Suffering, emptiness, impermanence and impurity to humans, heavenly beings and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors.
Every day, we should constantly be mindful of our thoughts. As Buddhists practitioners, to develop our wisdom, we need to rely on the Buddha and the Dharma. So, we pray for all Buddhas to abide in this world and for the Dharma to penetrate our minds.
If the Great Enlightened One abides here, He can lead sentient beings to become awakened. Although the Buddha entered Parinirvana over 2000 years ago, we still [consider Him] “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms” and the “compassionate father of the Four Kinds of Beings.” In the Saha World, Sakyamuni Buddha is still our guiding teacher. The Buddha forever abides in our minds. With the Buddha in our minds, there will be Dharma in our actions. Isn’t learning the Dharma about [immersing] our bodies and minds in the Dharma?
Thus, in the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, through the Buddha’s teachings, He wants us to always.
“Develop the Three Insights, Six Spiritual Powers and [37] Practices to Enlightenment” and “give rise to loving-kindness, compassion, the Ten Powers and [Fourfold] Fearlessness. He appears with the good karmic causes and conditions of sentient beings.”
We need to have the Three Insights and. Six Spiritual Powers and cultivate the 37 Practices to Enlightenment. We must work very hard to have a clear understanding of the Dharma. Then we will have the wisdom to clearly understand the Three Realms and everything in this world, whether is it a matter, object or principle, whether it is something tangible or intangible. This is achieving the Three Insights and Six Spiritual Powers. Once we completely purify our minds so they are free of defilements, we can fully comprehend everything.
We must exercise great kindness and compassion, not just understand the Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links. We must actually practice the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are not just for our own advancement. The most important thing is benefiting others. This is what it means to awaken oneself and others. In order to awaken oneself and others, we must have the power of fearlessness. Of course, this requires all karmic conditions to be in place. So, “He appears with the good karmic causes and conditions of sentient beings.”
How long can the Buddha abide in the world? Whether He can abide in the world and teach and transform in certain places is closely related to the good karma and causes and conditions of the sentient beings there. Thus, to create good karma, sentient beings must uphold the Five Precepts and do the Ten Good Deeds. This is the worldly virtuous Dharma.
The Five Precepts: No Killing. No Stealing. No Sexual Misconduct. No Lying. No Drinking of Alcohol. The Ten Good Deeds: three of the body, four of speech, three of mind 1. Three deeds of the body: No Killing. No Stealing. No Sexual Misconduct 2. Four deeds of speech. No Lying. No Gossiping. No Flattery. No Harsh Speech 3. Three deeds of the mind: No Greed. No Anger. No Ignorance.
In this world, to be a good person, we must uphold the Five Precepts. Not only must we uphold precepts; for us to be good people, we certainly must do good deeds. Therefore, we must [practice] the Ten Good Deeds. These come from the Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind. We need to be very proactive. We cannot just [adhere to precepts] or avoid committing offenses, we must also proactively do good deeds. In this world, we need the Five Precepts and the Ten Good Deeds.
If we wish to take the next step, we need to transcend this world. Don’t we engage in spiritual practice to transcend birth and death? To go beyond the state of ordinary people, which is cyclic existence, to return to this world because of our vows and not because of our karma, that is called liberation. What must we do to be liberated, to transcend this world? The Three Studies and Six Perfections are the world-transcending virtuous Dharma.
The Three Studies are precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. These are also known as the Three Flawless Studies. The Six Perfections, as everyone knows, are giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. By applying this [kind of Dharma] to the actions of our bodies and minds, we can uphold these precepts when we go among sentient beings. This is how our minds can remain undefiled as we interact with people. This [brings] purity. This is liberation. This is world-transcending virtuous Dharma. This is the aim of our spiritual practice.
Thus, while teachings may be profound or simple, they all go along with “principled methods for benefiting the self.”
The Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds are worldly virtuous Dharma. The Three Studies and Six Perfections are world-transcending virtuous Dharma. Though they may be profound or simple, they are methods that accord with principles and benefit the self.
In accordance with principles, the Buddha gave teachings. He adapted to the capacities of sentient beings to help them protect themselves. We can protect ourselves by upholding these rules. If we can all abide by these rules, we can plant good seeds and create good karmic conditions as we interact with people. This is entirely about protecting ourselves. Why do we engage in spiritual practice? Do we practice for ourselves? Do we practice for the Buddha? Actually, we practice for ourselves and others.
[Similarly], the Buddha gave teachings after. He attained enlightenment. Do we practice in order to become a Buddha? Actually, we want to become a Buddha to transform sentient beings. For sentient beings to be transformed, we must also transform ourselves. So, by going along with these principles, we can help ourselves. But actually, as we transform sentient beings and benefit the world, we benefit ourselves too. This is what we need to understand.
Thus, only after sentient beings create good karma will the Buddha abide in the world. We should understand how a Buddha manifests in this world and how long He may abide here.
A Buddha manifests in this world and may abide here for a long or short time, depending on the good karma and causes and conditions of sentient beings. Sakyamuni manifested in an impure, evil age and had a shortened lifespan of 80 years. Maitreya has a lifespan of 80,000 years. Amitabha has an immeasurable lifespan.
See, the Buddha entered Parinirvana at age 80. By the standards of this world, [His lifespan] was very short. This is because we sentient beings had too little good karma.
In the discussion between Ananda and Kasyapa, Kasyapa said, “Ananda, you have committed six Duskrta offenses. One of them was that the Buddha could have abided in this world for at least one kalpa. But when the Buddha proclaimed, ‘I am about to enter Parinirvana’ and said that three times, Ananda, you did not ask Him to stay. If you had asked Him to stay right away, He could have abided in the world for one kalpa.”
Ananda responded, “Yes, the Buddha did say this. But it was as if my mind was restrained by some force. I knew I should have responded by asking the Buddha to abide in the world, but ultimately, I just did not say it aloud.” This was one of Ananda’s offenses.
But why couldn’t Ananda speak? Because sentient beings did not have enough good karma. That is, they did not have enough blessings. So, we should know that whether a Buddha appears in the world and how long He will abide in the world depends on the karma of sentient beings.
In the Buddhist sutras, a section of the text tells [this next story]. In the past there was a Buddha named Susanta. After this Buddha became enlightened, He wanted to expound the Dharma to everyone. But sentient beings at that time did not have the necessary karmic conditions, so nobody wanted to ask Him for teachings. Because that was the case, Susanta Buddha realized Buddhahood in the morning and entered Parinirvana at sunset on the same day.
Indeed, Sakyamuni Buddha also went through a period where He momentarily thought about entering Parinirvana. Fortunately, Buddhas of the ten directions quickly appeared to console Sakyamuni Buddha. This is why we can listen to the Dharma today. Although the Buddha taught for only 40-some years, His Dharmakaya is ever-abiding and still exists. We are always abiding with His Dharmakaya, so we should accept and practice His teachings.
Sakyamuni Buddha abided in the evil world of the Five Turbidities. The [era of] Right Dharma lasted 500 years. [The era of] Dharma-semblance lasted 1000 years. Now we are in [the era of] Dharma-degeneration. Truly, it is very short. What will happen to the Dharma next? Presently, we have the responsibility of upholding the Buddha’s Right Dharma so it will not change anymore.
Now, over 2000 years after the Buddha abided in this world, the Dharma has already changed quite a bit, though it is flourishing in this world. During the era of Dharma-semblance, images of the Buddha were everywhere. Then after a long period of time, people came to believe that Buddhism is only about asking the Buddha for protection and support and for eliminating calamities and karma. Is this right? To eliminate calamities, we must create more blessings. If we can collectively create blessed karma and obey rules, practice the Five Precepts, Ten Good Deeds and Six Paramitas, the world will be safe. This is the collective karma of sentient beings.
When the Buddha came to the world, He explained that, in the future, this will be an evil world of the Five Turbidities. The Five Turbidities in sentient beings’ minds manifest in the time of [a degenerate age]. Because that was the case, though Sakyamuni Buddha’s lifespan originally could have allowed Him to abide a very long time, it was shortened to 80 years. Truly, the collective karma of sentient beings shortened the Buddha’s lifespan.
Yet Maitreya can abide in this world for 80,000 years. When Maitreya comes to this world, human lifespans will be very long. When Amitabha Buddha abides in His land, He has boundless life. In summary, the Buddhist sutras say the length of a Buddha’s lifespan depends on the amount of good karma we sentient beings have. The more good karma we have, the longer a Buddha’s lifespan will be. Thus it is said, “He appears with the good karmic causes and conditions of sentient beings.” This is why we sentient beings must work hard to create good karmic conditions.
The Lotus Sutra also states,
“This revealed the places where sentient beings face the karmic retributions of birth and death. Seen, too, were Buddha-lands adorned with a multitude of treasures. The colors of lapis lazuli and crystal were illumined by the Buddha’s light.”
“This revealed the places where sentient beings face the karmic retributions of birth and death.” This made apparent the places where sentient beings face their karmic retributions of birth and death. Does everyone know where sentient beings face the karmic retributions of birth and death? So, the Buddha began to give teachings about.
Suffering, emptiness, impermanence and impurity to humans, heavenly beings and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors.
Suffering, emptiness and impermanence are always explained by the Buddha, whether He is giving Small or Great Vehicle teachings. He expounds the sufferings of human life, the truth of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. There are many principles behind suffering. Why do sentient beings suffer so much? Because of the karmic forces they accumulate. The collection of karma from greed, anger and ignorance in the minds of sentient beings, results in an imbalance of the four elements and an increasing number of man-made calamities. Thus, the Buddha came to this world to tell everyone about the causes of suffering. These originate from people’s minds.
Indeed, sentient beings create karma because they are greedy for things. Actually, all things are originally empty. Sentient beings are confused because they do not understand impermanence. Impermanence, suffering and emptiness arise from impurities in human minds. Human minds are not pure and we do not realize that the body is impure. If we think about how this body goes through birth, aging, illness and death, if we understand these principles, naturally we can completely eliminate the impurities of the mind, which are greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt.
Everyone, we really must be mindful. When it comes to impurities of the mind, this is something we must constantly examine. Not only are our minds impure, more importantly, our bodies are also impure. If we thoroughly understand these principles, naturally, our wisdom-life will mature. So everyone, please always be mindful.