Episode 204 – Teach Ultimate Reality with Great Compassion
>> “Buddhas give teachings out of great
compassion. They are known and recognized by all as models. They have achieved
all virtuous merits and profound, never-before-experienced Dharma.”
>> “Sariputra, the Tathagata can make various distinctions,
tactfully giving all teachings. His speech is gentle and delights the hearts of
multitudes.”
>> “Sariputra, essentially speaking, all Buddhas have fully achieved
the unlimited, boundless, never-before-experienced Dharma.”
>> “Stop, Sariputra, there is no need to speak further. Why is
this?”
>> It says, “The Dharma that the Buddha attained was most
extraordinary and difficult to understand. Only Buddhas can thoroughly realize
the ultimate reality of all things.”
>> Extraordinary: [He taught] extraordinary and incredible things, the
teachings of the Great Vehicle Path and worldly and world-transcending Dharma.
Through this, He revealed the extraordinary Dharma of the Three Vehicles.
“Buddhas give teachings out of great compassion.
They are known and recognized by all as models.
They have achieved all virtuous merits
and profound, never-before-experienced Dharma.”
Everyone, as we learn from the Buddha, we must understand His original intention. All Buddhas intend to [exercise] great compassion. This great compassion means They hope that sentient beings can comprehend Their thoughts and thus can become one with Them.
We often talk about “unconditional loving-kindness, great universal compassion.” We must treat all sentient beings as we treat ourselves. “When others hurt, I ache. When others suffer, I grieve.” Sentient beings experience suffering. If we are to learn the Bodhisattva-path, we must learn how to perceive their suffering as our own suffering, to see their hurt as our pain. As we learn the Bodhisattva-path, this is how we should feel toward sentient beings.
The Buddha has already attained enlightenment. After He awakened, He had the compassion to perceive all sentient beings as His own children. So, when sentient beings are lost, the Buddha, out of His great compassion, hopes that they can all be awakened. So, it is said, “Buddhas give teachings out of great compassion.” They hope that we can all accept and realize the Buddha-Dharma and [develop] wisdom equal to Buddhas.’ This is the Buddha’s goal in teaching.
“They are known and recognized by all as models.” After Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment, His great enlightened wisdom was something all Buddhas, heavenly beings and dragon-gods could recognize. As I previously mentioned, “His name was widely known.” So, He was “known and recognized by all.”
At the Lotus Sutra assembly, as we discussed in the Introductory Chapter, many of those who came to listen to teachings were Arhats who engaged in spiritual practice. They were “known and recognized by all.” For instance, Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, Ananda, Mahakasyapa and so on were all representatives of the Sangha and were recognized by everyone. So, they could receive the Buddha’s teachings and had the Dharma in their hearts and actions. Naturally, they became role models and were “known and recognized” by everyone. Thus, by accepting the Buddha’s teachings and practicing them, naturally they became role models known and recognized by everyone.
“They have accomplished all virtuous merits.” At that Dharma-assembly, since they could receive the Buddha’s teachings and practice them, they could put them into action. So, “they have accomplished all virtuous merits.” When all good deeds are accomplished and all evils have been eliminated, our minds are pure and our habitual tendencies are well-adjusted; these are all virtuous merits.
“Merits” are cultivated inwardly. “Virtues” are practiced outwardly. This is how merits and virtues are defined. “Refraining from all evils and doing all good deeds” is what brings merits and virtues. As for “profound, never-before-experienced Dharma,” to achieve all this without giving rise to discursive thoughts and to thoroughly understand what the Buddha teaches out of great compassion is not easy. The Buddha was about to give profound Dharma that no one had ever understood before. Now He was about to proclaim “profound, never-before-experienced Dharma.”
The previous passage in the sutra states,
“Sariputra, the Tathagata can make various distinctions, tactfully giving all teachings. His speech is gentle and delights the hearts of multitudes.”
Next we discuss,
“Sariputra, essentially speaking, all Buddhas have fully achieved the unlimited, boundless, never-before-experienced Dharma.”
The Buddha can teach with various skillful means because He has already achieved many unlimited, boundless teachings. Because He has realized them, He can teach them to sentient beings. By teaching according to their capabilities, He hoped they could begin to develop realizations. However, these are still not the Buddha’s original intended [teachings]. These are just skillful means He tactfully gave to first attract them.
We are like children. Because children do not know anything, parents begin by speaking to them with child-like speech, so they may understand them. Based on the same principle, when we speak to others, we speak according to their age and experience to say things that will resonate with them. Sometimes, when people reach old age, it is like speaking to children again. Why is that? When people age, their brains degenerate.
So I often say, when ordinary people are born, they are young and confused. When we say something true or profound, children cannot understand us. We can live a lifetime this way, lacking knowledge and awareness. We grow from childhood to teenage years to our prime, middle age and senior years. Time goes by as we age. Our knowledge grows as our body matures and strengthens. Then when we reach old age, our consciousness, like our body, returns to that original state of confusion.
Why don’t we quickly become self-aware? We must seize the time now while we can accept this knowledge. We must quickly take this seed of enlightenment into our hearts. Let us take the opportunity to accept and apply the Buddha’s teachings to eliminate our past habitual tendencies of ignorance, confusion and afflictions. We should utilize this moment while our mind-consciousness can accept this teaching. We must seize this [opportunity]. Think about it. The Buddha keeps coming to this world, lifetime after lifetime, to continuously teach with skillful means. When will sentient beings be able to hear the True Dharma?
So, we must “seize the present moment and sustain it forever.” The instant the words penetrate our hearts, we must allow this Dharma to enter our minds and be like pure water, so we can cleanse the ignorance from our minds. We must quickly apply this to our daily living to eliminate our past habitual tendencies.
Everyone, in learning the Buddha’s teachings, we allow the Buddha to continuously use various skillful means to explain the Dharma. This is truly very arduous [for Him]. Do sentient beings actually understand it? So, after the Buddha taught for so long, He said, “Sariputra, essentially speaking, all Buddhas have fully achieved the unlimited, boundless, never-before-experienced Dharma.” The Buddha understands many teachings, so. He can teach according to capabilities.
But then the Buddha said,
“Stop, Sariputra, there is no need to speak further. Why is this?”
Alas, this is what sentient beings are like. I keep using various skillful means to teach them, but they still do not understand. Sentient beings are still indolent, unable to move forward. So, should He keep speaking? Why?
It says, “The Dharma that the Buddha attained was most extraordinary and difficult to understand. Only Buddhas can thoroughly realize the ultimate reality of all things.”
This explains that the Dharma the Buddha realized and wanted to speak from His heart was actually extraordinary and difficult-to-understand Dharma. This was the Buddha’s original [teaching]. For over 40 years, He used skillful means to teach according to sentient beings’ capabilities. The first thing He really wanted to teach was extraordinary and difficult to understand Dharma. To sentient beings, this was extraordinary and very difficult to understand. This is the Buddha’s spiritual state. Only Buddhas can thoroughly realize the ultimate reality of all things.
To truly resonate with the words spoken from the Buddha’s capacity, one must have a capacity equal to His. Only with this kind of dialogue can the teaching be smooth and understandable.
Sometimes I say, “I am unable to get through to him because he does not understand what I am saying.” [It is already like this between humans,] [let alone between humans and the Buddha]. The Buddha’s state is ultimately only understood by other Buddhas. Only when our capacity resonates with the teachings can we truly understand the ultimate reality of all things.
The ultimate reality is what the Buddha first wanted to teach. But the principles of this ultimate reality are extraordinary. What does it mean to be extraordinary?
Extraordinary: [He taught] extraordinary and incredible things, the teachings of the Great Vehicle Path and worldly and world-transcending Dharma. Through this, He revealed the extraordinary Dharma of the Three Vehicles.
“Extraordinary” refers to what normal people do not find possible. Even if it were possible, it is incredible, not something that ordinary people would conceive. Therefore, they are called “incredible things.” These “incredible things” are the “teachings of the Great Vehicle Path.”
Previously, I kept mentioning the teachings of the path. This is a path to enlightenment. His teaching is the True Dharma. In learning from the Buddha, since we have seen this path, we can truly step onto it. As long as we accept and practice teachings and keep walking on this path, we should be able to arrive at the destination of Buddhahood. If we return to and focus on this path and really walk on it, we can see firsthand the scenery along this road. To truly learn the Dharma, we must practice it, so we can realize the joy of the Dharma entering our hearts. This is the teaching of the Great Vehicle Path.
Teachings of the Great Vehicle Path are incredible. What exactly are they? The Buddha comes to teach us how to live in this world, how to be a good person. We often say, “Only when we have perfected our character can we attain Buddhahood.” Since we have come into this world, we should learn to be a [good] person in dealing with people, matters and objects and [develop the right] mindset to
deal with challenges and other people. Can we treat others with patience, openness, love and gentleness? This is how we should treat others. In handling matters, can we “refrain from all evils, do all good deeds”? When we see such material goods, recognition, wealth and status in the world, do they stir up discursive thoughts?
The Buddha taught for over 40 years because He wanted us to be good people first. This is how we should live in this world. [He also taught] world-transcending Dharma, which is what I have been teaching in terms of practicing the Great Vehicle teachings. We should deal with matters until our minds are free of attachments and we can eliminate all afflictions. Every day we bathe in the stream of Dharma and use it to cleanse our minds. By bathing in the stream of Dharma every day, we can transcend the world. Then “the mind is without hindrances.” Can we achieve this state in the world? To do so, we must realize the Buddha’s truth.
So, [He taught] the worldly and world-transcending Dharma. Over 40-plus years, the Buddha used many skillful means to teach the Dharma. He did this solely to reveal the extraordinary Dharma of the Three Vehicles. Though they are skillful means, they contain true principles. Because of sentient beings’ capabilities, He had to use these methods to guide them to enter the Buddha’s door, listen to the Dharma, steady their minds to uphold precepts and focus their minds to slowly awaken wisdom.
Though the Buddha had to work very hard to train stubborn sentient beings, He established these Three Vehicle teachings to [help them] live in and transcend the world, to advance from living in this world all the way to transcending the world. He used various skillful means to make analogies and guide them. This is why there are Three Vehicle teachings for. Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas. The teachings of these Three Vehicles are revealed here at this moment.
So, fellow Bodhisattvas, we truly need to be mindful and practice the Bodhisattva-path. When it comes to this extraordinary Dharma, we must always be mindful.