Episode 226 – Resonate with the Buddha’s Understanding and Views
>>”With the Dharma, we eliminate delusions
and end illusions. All Buddhas share the same path to open the Three [Vehicles]
to reveal true teachings. This pure ultimate truth [helps us] transcend
mistakes and wrongs and attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see
the True Dharma.”
>> Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In
response to the Dharma expounded by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power
of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time,
the true and real Dharma must be spoken.
>> The Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the
world and is called the World-Honored One. With teachings of impartial wisdom,
He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. He eliminated
the suffering of cyclic existence and attained unsurpassed enlightenment.
Heavenly beings and humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him.
So, His epithet is World-Honored One.
>> Though the Buddha wanted to reveal this Dharma, sentient beings had
dull capabilities. He had to stay silent for a long time and could not
immediately expound it. Therefore, it was guarded by the Buddha. And now, He
was giving this teaching.
“With the Dharma, we eliminate delusions and end illusions.
All Buddhas share the same path to open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal true teachings.
This pure ultimate truth [helps us] transcend mistakes and wrongs
and attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see the True Dharma.”
This is telling everyone that to learn from the Buddha and His Dharma, we must eliminate delusions. Being a Buddhist practitioner is not just a label, it is something to [practice] wholeheartedly. To learn the truths that the Buddha realized, we must be very earnest. After listening to the Dharma, we need to be vigilant every day and avoid being tempted to stray by our surroundings.
After listening to the Dharma, if we are still tempted to go astray by external phenomena, then that is being deluded. So, we must eliminate delusions and cut ourselves off from temptations around us. We cannot allow the phenomena we encounter in our daily living to cause us to give rise to the slightest thoughts. Perhaps when we hear something displeasing, we will give rise to afflictions, and when we face undesirable situations, we will give rise to discursive thoughts. This must not happen. We must always take good care of our minds. This is how we “eliminate delusions and end illusions.” The things around us are as fleeting as clouds. Once they pass, they are no longer an issue. Therefore, we must constantly take good care of our minds, so we can “eliminate delusions and end illusions.”
The Buddha taught in a way that suited every kind of capability. But in the end, He also had to “open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the true teachings.” All Buddhas share this same path. The Three Vehicles are. Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. The Three Vehicle teachings are skillful means. So, the Buddha had already clearly told us that the Lotus Sutra He was about to teach at the Vulture Peak assembly would set aside the Three Vehicle teachings of the past. Now, He was giving the most important teachings, the True Dharma. As we have been discussing every day, all Buddhas share this same path.
When each Buddha comes to this world, [He sees that] sentient beings are lost, thus they are called unenlightened. Unenlightened beings uncontrollably face extensive suffering and difficulties. And when it comes to the Buddha’s state, they cannot understand or realize it just by listening to someone talk about it. Things are not that easy. So, all Buddhas of the past and the present Sakyamuni Buddha had to establish methods to gradually steer us in the right direction.
Then if we keep walking forward, step by step, naturally we will approach the Buddha’s state, the ultimate reality. Only then will the Buddha tell us, “Yes, this is it. In the past, you were only arriving at conjured cities [designed to] let you rest at each stage of the journey. But this has always been your final destination.” This is the place the Buddha guides us to, a state of great awakening and realization of the truths of all things in the universe. This is the Buddha’s original intent.
So, this Dharma is the pure ultimate truth, the very simple one reality. [The Buddha] wanted us to understand that our original, intrinsic awakened nature is pure and [contains] this ultimate truth. Thus, we must transcend mistakes and wrongs. The Three Vehicle teachings of the past were given because people had varying capabilities. Now, He is gradually guiding us to set aside [the teachings of] the past and wholeheartedly pursue the same goal. No matter where we come from, we must quickly focus on the same goal, to walk toward the Buddha’s enlightened state.
Hence, “attune to the Buddha’s understanding and views to see the true Dharma.” This is what the Buddha really wanted to tell us, and have us internalize. Although He kept giving teachings, it is really up to us to practice them. After listening to the Dharma, do we constantly contemplate it? We must think to ourselves, what is the Buddha really trying to teach us? What did the Buddha want us to comprehend? This is what we must constantly work on.
The Buddha, particularly at the Vulture Peak Assembly, clearly stated that He will “open the Three [Vehicle] to reveal the truth,” This is a path shared by all Buddhas. Therefore, the Buddha’s teaching is “the pure ultimate truth,” He just wanted to tell us one thing, to remind us that in each of our hearts, we intrinsically have Buddha-nature. I hope that we can push aside our past mistakes. We must immediately turn toward the true path, diligently go forward so that we can be attuned with the Buddha’s understanding and views. Then we can attain true teachings. So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must be mindful.
Earlier, we spoke of how “one must give rise to great power of faith,” and “after the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real Dharma must be spoken.”
Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ. In response to the Dharma expounded by Buddhas, one must give rise to great power of faith. After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real Dharma must be spoken.
As the Buddha was about to teach the Dharma, He reminded us that we must give rise to great power of faith. We should know that at this time, His Dharma had been around “for a long time.” He had been teaching for over 40 years. For the first 40-plus years, He taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings. He told them to uphold the Five Precepts and practice the Ten Good Deeds.
By upholding the Five Precepts, we will not lose our human form. So, when we return to this world, we will still be in the human realm. If we do not uphold them, we may end up in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realms. So, to retain our human form, we must uphold the Five Precepts. If we want to live more comfortably, we must practice the Ten Good Deeds and do so earnestly. In addition to the Five Precepts, we must earnestly create blessed karma to be born in heaven. This is the Heavenly Being and Human Vehicle.
[The Buddha] first enticed ordinary people to uphold the Five Precepts and then to take the next step of practicing the Ten Good Deeds. This is the Heavenly Being and Human Vehicle. Some people knew that the Buddha-Dharma was very profound. He described the Six Unenlightened Realms and said that even if we were born in the human or heaven realms, once we exhaust our blessings, we will fall again. All this takes place in the Six Realms. Therefore, some people put their hearts into listening to the Buddha-Dharma, so that they can transcend the Six Realms. This is why they followed the Buddha and became monastics. Those who became monastics focused on listening to the Dharma. This is the Hearer Vehicle. They wholeheartedly listen to and practice the teachings so that
after hearing the Dharma, they can then attain realizations. Aside from listening to the Buddha’s teachings, coming in contact with other conditions can also lead to realizations. What they realize are limited awakenings, such as the impermanence of the world. As they come in contact with external conditions, they can more deeply comprehend that all things in this world are impermanent. Those who can broaden their minds to understand these conditions are called. Solitary Realizers.
Now, the Buddha wanted to help them set aside [these vehicles]. There is more than just the path to the human and heaven realms. He wanted them to know that even those in the human and heaven realms will eventually fall and that it is not right to be Hearers who only awaken themselves. So, after they understand the Dharma, they must thoroughly eliminate their attachments to self-awakening and take bigger steps forward. For Solitary Realizers, the Buddha further encouraged them to gain a deeper realization. After they thoroughly understand the principles of all things in the world, they must devote themselves to transforming sentient beings. So, the Buddha had to set aside these methods to direct everyone toward the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.
The World-Honored One’s Dharma had been around for a long time. When He started teaching over 40 years ago, He established skillful means. Now, after this long period of time, “the true and real Dharma must be spoken.” From that moment on, He was going to bring everyone together on the same path.
Now let us discuss the World-Honored One, the Buddha.
The Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the world and is called the World-Honored One. With teachings of impartial wisdom, He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. He eliminated the suffering of cyclic existence and attained unsurpassed enlightenment. Heavenly beings and humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him. So, His epithet is World-Honored One.
The Buddha is “replete with all virtues and revered by people of the world. Buddha” means “enlightened.” To become enlightened, He also had to be replete with all virtues. In the past, I already mentioned that. He drew near countless Buddhas and upheld each of Their teachings. He diligently and mindfully practiced the teachings of all Buddhas, so He was already replete with all virtues. So, “the Buddha is replete with all virtues. He is revered by people of the world and is called the World-Honored One.” And, “with teachings of impartial wisdom, He destroys greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways.” This is how He exercised His wisdom to eliminate greed, anger, ignorance and other unwholesome ways. The Buddha had already achieved this, so He could teach us to
“eliminate the suffering of cyclic existence and attain unsurpassed enlightenment.” This is a virtue. Because of His virtues, “heavenly beings, humans, ordinary people and noble beings, all respect Him. So, His epithet is World-Honored One.” The Buddha was already replete with all virtues and wanted to help everyone understand this teaching, so they could eliminate greed, anger and ignorance to transcend the suffering of cyclic existence. He already attained unsurpassed enlightenment and was revered by heavenly beings, humans, ordinary people and noble beings. Therefore, He was called the World-Honored One.
To reiterate, “When the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time,” this means that the Buddha wanted to share His insight with all of us after He attained enlightenment. He wanted to point directly to our hearts, so we can see our true nature. Though this is what He wanted to teach us, as sentient beings, our capabilities are dull. Therefore, He knew we could not [accept] the truth of this great teaching. So, the Buddha had to “stay silent for a long time.”
Though the Buddha wanted to reveal this Dharma, sentient beings had dull capabilities. He had to stay silent for a long time and could not immediately expound it. Therefore, it was guarded by the Buddha. And now, He was giving this teaching.
For a long time, over 40 years, He could not directly give the true teachings. So, He temporarily kept them in His heart, observed people’s capabilities and waited to give the teachings at the right time. So, He “could not immediately expound it.” He did not teach it very early on because. He recognized that people were not capable of receiving it.
“Therefore, this had been guarded by the Buddha.” What did He guard? “The ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.” One Vehicle means there is only one path. That path, that ultimate reality, is the state of the Buddha. We all intrinsically have that Buddha-state. Because we all intrinsically have that state, we can all return to our Buddha-nature. So, the Buddha kept this Dharma in His heart. This was His original [teaching]. Though He stayed silent for a long time, He held it close to His heart, so. He would not forget to teach it. He always remembered, with His every thought, that He had to teach it. Though He constantly thought about teaching it, the capabilities of ordinary people did not allow them to accept it. “Therefore, this had been guarded by the Buddha.”
The Buddha really gave this a lot of thought. Now, “the true and real must be spoken,” so He began to reveal the same path as all Buddhas. The Dharma has been around for a long time, so the World Honored One was now about to teach the Dharma that He had been guarding in His heart. He had originally wanted to share this. He wanted to help everyone understand that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. For over 40 years, He gradually tried to guide us to this realization. And now, “the true and real must be spoken.”
This is the True Dharma. Clearly, the Buddha first concealed what He wanted to teach. Everything He taught suited people’s capabilities and was what they enjoyed hearing. If He did not give teachings people enjoyed, would they willingly come to listen? So, He had to teach according to capabilities. Clearly, His past teachings were not yet the ultimate. But now, at the Vulture Peak Assembly, He intended to lead us to the state of ultimate reality. So everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must always be mindful.