Episode 214 – Believe in the Teachings of Ultimate Reality
>> “The Avatamsaka state is infinitely
magnificent. The perfect ocean of fruitions is clear and unobstructed. A mind
filled with faith understands the wondrous Dharma. The absolute mindset is in
sync with ultimate reality.”
>> “The assembly of the Buddha’s disciples have made offerings to
all Buddhas. [They] have ended all Leaks and are living in their final bodies.
But, even people such as these do not have the power required.”
>> “Even if the world was filled [in ten directions] with people
like Sariputra, who thought exhaustively and “pooled their abilities, they
would not fathom the Buddha’s wisdom.”
>> “Sari” is the Sanskrit word for mynah. Therefore, he was
given the nme “Son-of-Sari,” or Sariputra, according to his mother’s
name. Sariputra clearly understood all teachings, so he was foremost in wisdom.
“The Avatamsaka state is infinitely magnificent.
The perfect ocean of fruitions is clear and unobstructed.
A mind filled with faith understands the wondrous Dharma.
The absolute mindset is in sync with ultimate reality.”
This tells us that the Avatamsaka state is infinitely magnificent. What is the Avatamsaka state? The state of the Buddha’s mind in the instant He attained enlightenment, the moment His mind converged with that star. That is the Avatamsaka state. He clearly saw His intrinsic nature, its tranquility and purity. This kind of state is infinitely magnificent. It is incredibly magnificent. Comparing it to other states is very difficult. Rarely can we come across it. From the Buddha’s mind arose this magnificent state. This is the “perfect ocean of fruitions.”
The “perfect ocean of fruitions” is our perfect and harmonious intrinsic nature. This seed gives rise to an ocean of fruitions. So, this seed, this core [of enlightenment] is spread extensively; it extends across [the universe], so we can thoroughly understand everything. This expansion of the mind is truly infinite and boundless, so this state of mind is clear and unobstructed. We must understand this state, and our faith must also be firm.
“A mind filled with faith” means our thinking must always be in harmony with our faith. We must be firm in our faith, so we will not allow deviant thinking and thoughts to influence and confuse our right faith and right thinking. Therefore, we must believe in the Buddha’s teachings, especially the One Vehicle, the Great Vehicle. The True Dharma of the One Vehicle is something we must believe in.
So, in our state of mind, if we lack faith, we cannot achieve complete understanding. Therefore, “a mind filled with faith understands the wondrous Dharma.” Our minds must be one with the conditions for us to be in sync with ultimate reality.
Ultimate reality is intrinsic to our minds. However, we have allowed our minds to scatter. Now we must unite our minds with conditions and return to our intrinsic nature. Then we can be in sync with ultimate reality. So, the Lotus Sutra definitely teaches us to use skillful means to return to our true nature. This must begin with a sense of deep faith. We must be focused so that we can return to our intrinsic pure and undefiled Avatamsaka state. Then this magnificence is something we can realize.
Earlier, we spoke about how,
“The assembly of the Buddha’s disciples have made offerings to all Buddhas. [They] have ended all Leaks and are living in their final bodies. But, even people such as these do not have the power required.”
The disciples of past Buddhas and the present Sakyamuni Buddha have put their hearts into making offerings to, being near and serving all Buddhas. They do this lifetime after lifetime. Their level of practice has reached a state where “[they] have ended all Leaks.” They have eliminated all afflictions and are “living in their final bodies.” This is their last instance of fragmentary samsara.
Though they have engaged in spiritual practice, ended all Leaks and “are living in their final bodies, even people such as these still do not have the power required.” So, even if we are all completely within the Dharma-vehicle, we still do not have enough power to return. Thus, we “still do not have the power required,” and we cannot truly realize the state in which the mind converges with the universe.
Then the sutra states,
“Even if the world was filled [in ten directions] with people like Sariputra, who thought exhaustively and “pooled their abilities, they would not fathom the Buddha’s wisdom.”
Sariputra, among the Buddha’s disciples, was foremost in wisdom. But even if [people] with Sariputra’s wisdom “thought exhaustively and pooled their abilities,” they would still be unable to attain realizations. Therefore, we must really put our hearts into this and work very hard.
“Even if the world was filled [in ten directions].” When we talk about the world, we are talking about both space and time.
Time refers to the past, present and future. The past goes back to Beginningless Time. We are in the present, which continuously becomes the past. Then there is the future, which stretches endlessly before us. So, the past, present and future are all part of time. Time refers to the past, present and future from all the way back to Beginningless Time to the present and into the future, This is all part of our sense of time.
East, west, south, north, above and below are all part of space. East, west, south, north, above, below, southeast, northwest and so on are called the ten directions.
When we talk about time and space, we are talking about the world. We consider our universe to be the space between heaven and earth; that is the world we live in. The space between heaven and earth is the space we consider our universe. So, what is the universe, heaven and earth? They are the same; they are different names for the same thing. They refer to the Earth. We [define] the world through the time and space of this planet. We live on this planet, Earth. This is the world we humans live in.
We must understand that this world is not only made up of humans. There are myriad forms and things of all shapes and sizes, as well as mountains, rivers and land, on Earth. All sentient beings rely on this, “the realm of physical existence.”
The myriad forms we see, the things we need to live etc., everything contained in this world is “the realm of physical existence.” For example, right now, we abide in our spiritual practice center. I am here speaking, and you are there listening. This is also “the realm of physical existence.” These myriad forms and this piece of land allow us to create this spiritual practice center. We depend on this place for our spiritual practice. [In a similar way,] sentient beings depend on the universe and the earth; all of which are “the realm of physical existence.” Everything we now depend on is a part of the realm of physical existence. When we study the Buddha’s teachings, this is something we must understand.
We rely on this world with its myriads of things, which give rise to different environments that support us in different ways. Then there are sentient beings, which are living beings, including humans and animals. All sentient beings dwell here and create karma together.
Where does karma come from? Sentient beings and humans all have different habitual tendencies and behaviors, both good and evil. Doing [good deeds] creates a world of blessed retributions. What about doing [bad deeds]? When beings collectively create bad karma, they cause many natural and manmade disasters. These are all created by sentient beings.
Why do they create [karma]? Because of ignorance. How does ignorance arise? It begins with an ignorant thought that gives rise to greed, anger and delusion. This leads them to create karma. The collective karma of sentient beings leads to disasters. Natural and manmade disasters come from collective karma.
When we come to this world, we are bound to die. While we are here, we [create] a mix of good and bad karma. Some people aspire and vow to do good deeds. But their minds waver, so they give rise to [discursive] thoughts, which lead to greed, anger and delusion. So, in sentient beings, good and evil coexist. Therefore, we continue to have a physical form in this cyclic existence. Thus, we live in the world of sentient beings. The relationships between people or animals, or between people and animals etc., are part of “the world of sentient beings.”
As “sentient beings,” we can discern hot from cold and what we like from what we do not like. This is what sentient beings do. But we sentient beings in the human realm are lost, so we must engage in spiritual practice. We must awaken and become “enlightened sentient beings.” We must learn what the Enlightened One practiced and the roads He walked. So, we must aspire and vow to be enlightened sentient beings.
Earlier we mentioned, “Even if the world was filled [in ten directions] with people like Sariputra.” By saying if people are like Sariputra, the Buddha was praising him as the disciple foremost in wisdom. He also wanted us to know that even if we all had wisdom like Sariputra and tried to understand the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, even if we focused all our thinking, that still would not be enough. Clearly, the Buddha is telling us that to achieve the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which is His spiritual state, we still have a long way to go. So, He encourages us to be more diligent.
Among the Hearers, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom. At the Lotus Dharma-assembly, he was the first one who realized the One Vehicle. He understood that the Buddha had to set aside provisional teachings of the past. Now, He would directly expound from His heart the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. Sariputra was the first one to realize this. So, in the Chapter on Parables, Sariputra was the first among His disciples to receive predictions of Buddhahood.
Sariputra is a Sanskrit name which means Son-of-Sari. This signified that his mother was very beautiful, intelligent and wise. Part of her beauty came from her clear eyes, like those of a sari (myna bird). Therefore, people called his mother “Sari.” When Sariputra was born, he was named after his mother. So, “Sariputra” means “Son-of-Sari.”
“Sari” is the Sanskrit word for mynah. Therefore, he was given the name “Son-of-Sari,” or Sariputra, according to his mother’s name. Sariputra clearly understood all teachings, so he was foremost in wisdom.
In this world, he could understand all kinds of the Buddha’s various teachings. He had clear understanding, but for his mind to [return to] its intrinsic nature, for it to converge with the Buddha’s mind, which is the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, he still had quite a ways to go.
In short, in the Chapter on Parables, Sariputra was about to receive the Buddha’s prediction for his attainment of Buddhahood. Therefore, we must put our hearts into attaining “the Avatamsaka state” that is “infinitely magnificent. The perfect ocean of fruitions is clear and unobstructed.” We must know and understand this and focus our faith. So, when our “mind is filled with faith, [we] understand the wondrous Dharma. The absolute mindset is in sync with ultimate reality.”
Everyone, we must have “a mind filled with faith.” We must all be mindful of ourselves and contemplate our faith. We must study the principles of the Lotus Sutra, though they are very profound. The Buddha keeps telling us they are like this, but we still cannot comprehend them. Yet we must know without a doubt it is possible. As long as we can focus our faith and completely instill it in our thinking and actions, we can understand the Buddha’s wondrous Dharma. We must have faith in ourselves.
As long as our minds can constantly converge with external conditions, [we can see] that everything contains the wondrous Dharma. We need to expend more effort to experience all things in the world. In this world, “the Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from worldly teachings.” To seek the Dharma apart from this world is like trying to find fur on a turtle shell or trying to find horns on a rabbit’s head. Those things are impossible.
So, the Buddha Dharma must be united with the way we live in the world. Since the Buddha came for one great cause, to expound teachings in this world, His Dharma must be [applied here]. This is something we must believe. Even though [His teachings] are very profound, nothing is difficult as long as our will is strong. So, “all things are created by the mind.” Everyone, please always be mindful.