Episode 199 – Knowledge and Views of the Paramitas
>> “The Buddha is kind and compassionate, exercising both compassion and wisdom. With Bodhisattvas as companions, He cleverly and skillfully goes among people to give teachings to help and transform the fallen. Worldly people are stubborn and foolish; they indulge in and are inextricable from desires.”
>> “Extensively proclaim teachings verbally. With countless skillful means, [He has] guided living beings, leading them to transcend all attachments.”
>> “Why is this? The Tathagata has already perfected skillful means and knowledge and views of the Paramitas.”
>> Are called “knowledge.” [Realizations] from eye-consciousness and deductions are called “views.” Complete realization is “knowledge and views.”
>> Knowledge and views of the Paramitas: Realizing a view that understands all things and whether they are proper or deviant. Through the mind-consciousness, one attains knowledge and views of all teachings that help us cross to the other shore.
>> Paramita: Crossing to the opposite shore. Practitioners ride the boat of great practices to this shore of cyclic existence, suffering and anguish to the opposite shore of Nirvana, peace and joy. That is crossing to the opposite shore.
“The Buddha is kind and compassionate,
exercising both compassion and wisdom.
With Bodhisattvas as companions,
He cleverly and skillfully
goes among people to give teachings
to help and transform the fallen.
Worldly people are stubborn and foolish;
they indulge in and are inextricable from desires.”
Truly, we feel the Buddha’s kindness and compassion. There are also other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who accompany Him to this world to exercise both compassion and wisdom in order to transform sentient beings. But sentient beings are stubborn and foolish; they indulge in and are inextricable from desires. [This means that] they are difficult to rescue. So, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas work hard as they come to the world over and over, not knowing when sentient beings will finally accept the Dharma they hear. This is truly worrisome.
The Buddha is always so kind and compassionate. He has been like this since Beginningless Time, and will never cease being so. Forever, without beginning or end, His mind will always be one of compassion. He constantly returns on the ship of compassion to the human realm in the Saha World to transform people with compassion and wisdom. Since we have come to this world, right now we must work on listening to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas who are establishing skillful means by giving skillful, provisional teachings.
Never-Slighting Bodhisattva treated every person as a Buddha. We should also do the same. We must treat every person around us as a living Buddha. No matter their appearance, whether their words are pleasant or not, whether their expression is amiable or not or whether they [stand] with us or go against us, we must be grateful for all people.
“Bodhisattvas as companions” are people who keep us company and teach us with various skillful means. Therefore, we must be grateful to them. If we can do this, we can use this lifetime to gradually exhaust our karma and end our negative karmic affinities.
Let us repay those who bring negative affinities with positive affinities. This is like a bucket of murky water. Once we know that the water is dirty and cannot be used, we should quickly add clean water to it to cause the murky water to flow out. Over time, the water will gradually become clean. In the past, we have created either good or bad karmic [affinities] with others. What if we created good karma? They will teach us through positive means and counsel and guide us toward a good path. This is because in the past we have accumulated positive affinities, which is like clean water or good teachings. The “Dharma as Water” series was filled with positive teachings.
If people manifest negative appearances, we must then be self-aware and grateful that this is also a teaching to keep us from committing transgressions. “Refrain from all evil and do all good deeds” does not just tell us to refrain from committing new evils, we must put a stop to and eliminate the evil that has already arisen. We cannot [let bad affinities perpetuate]. When evil arises, we must quickly eliminate it. If it has not yet arisen, then we must heighten our vigilance and not attract it. We must “eliminate any evil that has already arisen” and “prevent future evils from arising” and avoid negative causes and conditions.
We must consider that the appearances of such negative karmic conditions present us with skillful means to train our minds and heighten our vigilance. “Nurturing any goodness that has already arisen” refers to good karmic conditions. We must really treasure our virtuous and good friends. When we meet good people but our connections with them have not matured, we should truly cherish them and be happy that we have found this good affinity to learn good teachings. This is “encouraging goodness to quickly arise.”
In our daily living, there are principles concealed within things. So, we must [pay attention to] everything in our lives to find a way to encounter true principles as we deal with people and matters. This is also a way we can practice teachings. All things in the world teach us Dharma; this is “clever and skillful. With Bodhisattvas as companions,”
“He cleverly and skillfully” goes among people. We must realize that every single person is a Bodhisattva. They have come among all of us to give us teachings. So, our minds should grow in wisdom in response to our surroundings instead of allowing them to drag us down. We must constantly heighten our vigilance.
“Worldly people are stubborn and foolish.” With our fellow practitioners, how do we tell them when they are being very stubborn?
Earlier we had discussed that the Buddha comes to the world to.
“Extensively proclaim teachings verbally. With countless skillful means, [He has] guided living beings, leading them to transcend all attachments.”
This talks about how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach us sentient beings by using various skillful means, so we can transcend the attachments of
ordinary people and Small Vehicle [practitioners]. So, ordinary people and spiritual practitioners still have this type of attachment, which is a form of stubborn foolishness. The Buddha wants to help us open the door widely, but we insist on trying to squeeze ourselves through the cracks in the door, and so we cannot get through.
Since the door is already open wide, we should walk through it. The Buddha and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world in order to “open and reveal.” He opened the door to the mind to help us to realize the principles of all things in the universe, to say nothing of relationships, matters and things, which we must understand even better.
However, we ordinary people are truly stubborn and foolish. What are we stubborn and foolish about? Desires. Once desires arise, it is very hard for us to extricate ourselves. This is what we must understand. As we listen to teachings, we must be very mindful.
Next, the sutra passage says,
“Why is this? The Tathagata has already perfected skillful means and knowledge and views of the Paramitas.”
Why does the Buddha spend so much time coming again and again to this world to teach? We should be able to comprehend this. Why? Life is impermanent, and we never know what will happen. Moreover, why do people have so many attachments? The Buddha comes to this world and and uses many kinds of skillful means [to answer such questions].
Why does the Buddha continuously teach us with skillful means? It states here, “The Tathagata has already perfected skillful means and knowledge and views of the Paramitas.” The Saha World must be endured. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all understand this very well. Once the Buddha had this understanding, He was fearless and no longer afraid. Out of “compassion for sentient beings,” He continues to return to the world because He perfected knowledge and views of the Paramitas. He completely understands all knowledge and views of Paramitas.
What are “knowledge and views”? “Knowledge” comes from using. His mind-consciousness to realize the truths of all things in the universe. This comes from deep within His mind. I often tell all of you that ordinary people possess Eight Consciousnesses. The Buddha has surpassed those eight to reach the ninth consciousness, which is pure and undefiled Buddha-nature. So, He uses this to understand the truths of all things in the universe. Knowing all this is called “knowledge.” [Realizations] from mind-consciousness.
Are called “knowledge.” [Realizations] from eye-consciousness and deductions are called “views.” Complete realization is “knowledge and views.”
[Realizations] from eye-consciousness are “views.” What we see with our eyes are our views. Since the Buddha was born over 2500 years ago, people who are alive right now may say, “Well, I never saw Him.” But He did exist! [The birth of] the Buddha over 2500 years ago was documented in historical records. The way the 12 Divisions of the Tripitaka were passed down through the dynasties is also something people can verify. And from these teachings, we can realize the Buddha’s mind-consciousness and how we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We can transcend our afflictions and [the karma] we created, which is
stored in our minds. Whether through the thinking of our sixth or seventh consciousness or from what is stored in our karmic consciousness, we will constantly think about what happened in the past. This is how the mind-consciousness of ordinary people works.
However, the Buddha has a pure mind-consciousness. What He sees and knows comes from. His mind and eye [forming His eye-consciousness]. Then He takes what He sees and analyzes it for everyone by deducing principles from things that happen. Right now when I explain the Dharma, I use principles to explain how things work. This is [what is meant by] skillful means. I use analogies to compare matters to principles. Whether we use matters to refer to principles or use principles to describe matters, this is all called knowledge and views.
The Buddha has already known and seen the truths of all things in the universe, so. He has completely realized everything. There is nothing He does not know or has not realized. He realized everything. This is perfecting all knowledge and views. He completely understands all things like He understands the palm of His hand, like something He can see just by unclenching His fist. This is enlightened knowledge. He has always had complete understanding, so when He sees something, He uses it to teach. This is knowledge and views.
In “Knowledge and views of the Paramitas,” Paramitas refers to realizing a view that understands all things, whether they are proper or deviant. This means we can recognize whether something is deviant or proper. If we have a view that understands whether things are proper or deviant, as awakened people, we will definitely not be deluded by deviant things. Definitely not.
Every one of us should be a Living Bodhisattva every day. We should go among people and listen to their troubles. The more we know, the more matters and teachings will converge, and then naturally our minds will be very pure. When we see others’ minds in chaos, our minds will still have pure knowledge and views. Then we will know how to approach a woman like this when she is disturbed. This is what we Buddhist practitioners must learn. This arises from the mind-consciousness and is how we [develop] knowledge and views.
Knowledge and views of the Paramitas: Realizing a view that understands all things and whether they are proper or deviant. Through the mind-consciousness, one attains knowledge and views of all teachings that help us cross to the other shore.
Right now we are still learning. “All teachings help us cross to the other shore” [refers to] the knowledge and views of. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. We practice skillful means, which are Paramitas. Paramita means “to cross” from this shore of delusion to the other shore, which is pure and undefiled. This is what the Paramitas [do]. There are the Six and Ten Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. Then four more Paramitas are added, which are the Four Infinite Minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Six plus four is ten; the Ten Paramitas are ways to transform sentient beings. These are knowledge and views of the Paramitas.
We understand the world’s matters very well, so we use various means to transform others. The Paramitas are the means we use to help others cross to the opposite shore. But what we must learn to do right now is to ride the boat of great practices. This is what it means “to cross” the “1000-foot swells in the river of cravings.” In particular, crossing the boundless sea requires tools. The Six Paramitas and Four Infinite Minds that I just mentioned are like a huge ship. A ship of compassion helps all people cross from this shore of cyclic existence, suffering and anguish to the opposite shore of Nirvana, peace and joy. So, crossing over to the opposite shore is [the function of] the Paramitas.
Paramita: Crossing to the opposite shore. Practitioners ride the boat of great practices to this shore of cyclic existence, suffering and anguish to the opposite shore of Nirvana, peace and joy. That is crossing to the opposite shore.
Fellow Bodhisattvas, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must attain Right Views and Right Knowledge. Therefore, we must always be mindful and learn to use various skillful means to go among people and interact with them. This is also the wish of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Since we are disciples of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we should also give by going among people. Therefore, we must always be mindful.