Episode 187 – The Sea of Dharma’s Virtues is Boundless
>> The Dharma is as vast as the sea. “The sea of Dharma’s virtues are boundless. The Dharma-nature is vast and endless. Buddha-nature is intrinsic and natural. Compassion and wisdom are exercised infinitely.”
>>About “exercising proper principles through clever words and analogies.”
>> Skillful wisdom: Use teachings according to the capabilities of sentient beings.
>> There are two kinds of knowledge of Absolute Truth. “First is True Dharma,” and the other is called “True Wisdom.”
>>First is True Dharma, which is the first is True Dharma, which is the “principles of the one reality [that help us] transcend unreal and false appearances and realize the equality of our intrinsic nature, which has not been altered.”
>> “All Buddhas follow the course of this Dharma-nature to cultivate and attain Perfect Enlightenment.”
>> The second knowledge of Absolute Truth is True Wisdom, which is “wisdom that can illuminate true nature. Such principles are not false.”
>> “With this True Wisdom as the path, it is thus called True Wisdom Bodhi.”
>> “Since the Buddha realized perfection,” He now wanted to teach sentient beings according to their capabilities.
The Dharma is as vast as the sea.
“The sea of Dharma’s virtues are boundless. The Dharma-nature is vast and endless.
Buddha-nature is intrinsic and natural. Compassion and wisdom are exercised infinitely.”
Everyone, we all understand that “the Buddha-Dharma is like the sea, vast and boundless.” This is because of the virtues that Buddhas have accumulated through spiritual practice. I often say that we must work on this; internally we cultivate [our minds], and externally we engage in virtuous practices. Thus we must bring the Dharma into our minds and adhere to it in our actions.
With the many afflictions sentient beings have, the Buddha must apply His wisdom to come up with the same number of methods to deal with them. There is a common saying, “1000-foot swells rise in the river of cravings, and 10,000 waves surge in the sea of suffering.” Clearly, the waves in the sea of desire of sentient beings flood everything at times. So, they must be treated with the Dharma. [Imparting] that Dharma takes wisdom.
The Buddha comes to this world because sentient beings have boundless afflictions. He has vowed to always transform them. The Four Great Vows are a Bodhisattva’s aspiration. We have the Four Infinite Minds and Four Great Vows. If we are sincere, we must make vows. “There are countless sentient beings, and I vow to deliver them all.”
The Buddha taught His disciples to walk the Bodhisattva-path. Of course, to teach this path, He must first walk this path Himself. What this means is that as the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice over countless lifetimes, He walked the Bodhisattva-path. So, this Dharma, His wisdom, is like a sea. Thus we say, “the sea of Dharma’s virtues are boundless.” Because He has engaged in spiritual practice, His mind is replete with wisdom and. His actions are virtuous. What our eyes can see, what our ears can hear and what we feel tell us that the teachings of. Sakyamuni Buddha, this virtuous and enlightened one, are worthy of our trust. This is called virtue.
So, “the sea of Dharma’s virtues are boundless” because our “Dharma-nature is vast and endless.” Dharma-nature is intrinsic in all of us. Therefore, I often remind everyone that the path traveled by the Buddha can also be traveled by us ordinary people. We just need to rid ourselves of ignorance and afflictions and go in the direction the Buddha taught us. Where the Buddha has gone, we sentient beings can also follow. This can happen because we intrinsically have this Dharma-nature.
This is similar to driving a car. As long as the car is fully functional, when someone starts it and steers it in the right direction, the car will get to the destination. Meanwhile, this person must follow the right course for the car to arrive at the correct place.
The principle is the same. Though the Buddha attained enlightenment, He returned to expound the Dharma. Although we have been immersed in the sea of desire for countless kalpas, now we understand and believe in the Buddha’s teachings. So, we follow His directions to awaken our pure and radiant Buddha-nature.
We must also believe that all of us intrinsically have a pure and radiant nature, a Buddha-nature. This “Dharma-nature is vast and endless.” Everyone has it, not just Buddhas. In this world, there is an endless number of sentient beings. Because sentient beings are boundless, Dharma-nature is boundless.
Thus, “Buddha-nature is intrinsic and natural.” If we believe this, Buddha-nature will not be unattainable; it is actually in our hearts. Buddha-nature is a very natural part of us. So, the Buddha already manifested this intrinsic nature in “the sea of Dharma’s virtues, [which are] boundless.” Buddhas and Bodhisattvas exercise infinite wisdom and compassion. They use compassion to save sentient beings and wisdom to devise methods to transform them. We must have compassion and wisdom, and exercise them in parallel. So, I have often said that one of the Buddha’s ten epithets is “the Two-Footed Honored One.”
Indeed, “the Two-Footed Honored One” exercises both compassion and wisdom. If we have the use of two healthy legs, we can travel all over the world. We must be endowed with the two feet of [compassion] and wisdom. So, one replete with compassion and wisdom is “the Two-Footed Honored One.” Exercising great wisdom is something we should pursue.
We must all believe in the Buddha’s teachings and believe that our self-nature is complete. The Buddha exercises compassion and wisdom. We also have both compassion and wisdom; we can also perfect them. So, we must not look down on ourselves.
We now begin the Chapter on Skillful Means,
About “exercising proper principles through clever words and analogies.”
In “Exercise proper methods, proper” means not off course. No matter what their capabilities are, the Buddha always uses the proper methods to teach and guide them. This is like building a house. Whether we are building a large or small house, the foundation must be very stable. The external appearance of the houses may be different, but the foundation of each must be stable for the house to be safe. To use “proper methods” is to use right principles. No matter what we do, the foundation and the underlying theory must be correct.
Correct principles must still be taught according to people’s capabilities. This is being clever. In explaining things to others, we must use many analogies. Sentient beings have varying capacities. The Buddha compassionately taught according to capabilities. Whether a being has high or low capabilities, limited or great capacities, the Buddha always adjusts His teachings accordingly.
The Buddha comes to this world to unlock the wisdom in all beings. If those of limited capacity do not understand, if those of medium capacity cannot comprehend, the Buddha must extensively give teachings that suit their capacities. He uses “clever words and analogies.” For those who do not understand, we give them an analogy. If they do not understand the analogy, then we guide them to work with us, so they can enter this state of mind and attain joy through their actions.
Thus, Buddha-nature very naturally adapts to the times and to capabilities. Because of His wisdom, the Buddha can teach according to the era and people’s capacities. He uses skillful teachings and clever words to teach the Dharma. Everything He does is to awaken everyone’s intrinsic nature to be one with the world.
“Use teachings according to the capabilities of sentient beings.” In these times, we must clearly distinguish right from wrong. During times of great calamities, we must develop great loving-kindness. Though we see so many disasters in the world, we also see people in Tzu Chi uniforms, Living Bodhisattvas are in every country. When there is a disaster in that country or if people are suffering, they act based on the needs of that time and place. This is “using [teachings] accordingly.”
Once sentient beings accept the teachings, they can apply them in all places. Thus, the Dharma is widespread like the sea. This is the skillful wisdom of the Buddha. Using teachings accordingly is known as “skillful wisdom.”
Skillful wisdom: Use teachings according to the capabilities of sentient beings.
The Chapter on Skillful Means explains how the Buddha uses skillful means to give teachings and transform sentient beings. It is not dependent on the era. The Dharma transcends time. Based on the needs of this era, we guide people in applying this wisdom. Thus, if we want to understand the Buddha’s skillful wisdom, we must first understand the Buddha’s knowledge of the Absolute Truth.
There are two kinds of knowledge of Absolute Truth. “First is True Dharma,” and the other is called “True Wisdom.”
This is the Buddha’s wisdom.
For us to understand the Buddha’s wisdom,
First is True Dharma, which is the first is True Dharma, which is the “principles of the one reality [that help us] transcend unreal and false appearances and realize the equality of our intrinsic nature, which has not been altered.”
This is the One Vehicle. For the One Vehicle and the one great cause, the Buddha comes to this world to teach “the principles of the one reality,” which point directly to our minds, so we can understand and realize our true nature. But that is easier said than done. Because sentient beings are deluded, the Buddha had to start using other methods to help them transcend their delusions.
Whether something is tangible or intangible, when eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body [and mind], when the Six Sense Organs, connect with the Six Sense Objects, we become confused. We do not realize that everything is inherently illusory. Fame, profit, relationships, social status, etc. are all false and illusory appearances. Yet, sentient beings are very confused.
“Realizing the equality of our intrinsic nature,” means we must know our natures are equal; no one is higher or lower. So, it is unnecessary to chase after external conditions and make distinctions. Thus, we “realize the equality of our intrinsic nature, which has not been altered.” Then there will be no fluctuations in our minds.
As I said earlier, people go through birth, aging, illness and death. This is fragmentary samsara. The mind of a Small Vehicle sage, before attaining perfect enlightenment, still experiences transformational [samsara]. Thus, the Buddha used a variety of methods to guide ordinary beings of small or medium capacity in hopes that they could develop large capacities. To “transcend unreal and false appearances and realize the equality of our intrinsic nature,” which as we all know, “has not been altered.”
“All Buddhas follow the course of this Dharma-nature to cultivate and attain Perfect Enlightenment.”
The Buddha created this path. All Buddhas are the same and have set up similar courses. If we follow this path to engage in spiritual practice, we can return to our intrinsic nature. Thus, we can attain perfect enlightenment. This is called “the nature of true Dharma.”
The second knowledge of Absolute Truth is True Wisdom, which is “wisdom that can illuminate true nature. Such principles are not false.”
We can thoroughly illuminate our true nature. We intrinsically have this nature, but it has been covered by ignorance. We just have not realized it. Now, through the Buddha’s wisdom, we have illuminated our hearts and can “reflect on our self-nature.” In this way, “such principles are not false.” So all these principles are true, and this is called True Wisdom.
“With this True Wisdom as the path, it is thus called True Wisdom Bodhi.”
This is the Buddha’s wisdom, His True Wisdom. If we want to make analogies to it, that would require a lot. So, this is “knowledge of Absolute Truth.”
“Since the Buddha realized perfection,” He now wanted to teach sentient beings according to their capabilities.
So, “this is the Buddha’s skillful wisdom.” Since the Buddha enlightened both self and others and had perfect enlightened conduct, He came to this world to teach according to sentient beings’ capabilities. This is His skillful wisdom.
Thus, the Buddha taught skillful means for a lifetime. The Buddha came to this world to simply and directly reveal the mind, so we can understand our true nature. He wanted all of us to know that if we are sincere, we can have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s. Thus, we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. Yet, sentient beings have been grasped firmly by false illusions, so our minds constantly waver. They are ever-changing and unstable. Though we formed aspirations, after some time has passed, we become lax and fall again. This is why we ordinary beings do not quickly become awakened.
Now that we know the Buddha’s wisdom, we must understand “True Dharma and True Wisdom.” His True Dharma and True Wisdom are used to teach us sentient beings that not only are these truths intrinsic in all Buddhas, they are intrinsic in all of us.
The Dharma is truly profound and vast. I hope everyone will harmonize their minds with their nature. Then naturally we will gradually realize how the Buddha exercises both compassion and wisdom. Everyone, please always be mindful.