Episode 239 – Eliminate Doubts to Seek the Dharma
>>”Doubts may be deep or superficial.
Capabilities may be sharp or dull. The disciples in the fourfold assembly did
not understand the Buddha’s wisdom. They uphold Small Vehicle teachings and
think that is enough. They do not seek Great Vehicles teachings but [instead]
doubt the One True Dharma.”
>>”Ajnata Kaundinya and others, 1200 in all, as well as those who
aspired to become. Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas
and upasikas, each had the following thought,”
>> Upasaka is a Sanskrit word that means lay devotees. Though they are
lay practitioners, they uphold the Five Precepts and abide in their pure faith.
It is also said that male and female lay followers can follow precepts and draw
near to and uphold the Buddha-Dharma. Therefore, they are called upasakas and
upasikas.
>> Each had the following thought: Over 40 years, they followed the
Buddha and listened to the Three Vehicle teachings. They were taught according
to their capabilities. But now as they listened to the Buddha’s. One Vehicle,
extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma, they found it difficult to know
and understand because of their strong attachments and deep doubts.
>> At the assembly, these Hearers, Arhats, had strong attachments and
deep doubts. The fourfold assembly all gave rise to doubts and sought [answers]
from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There were roughly 80,000 of them, all with
doubts.
“Doubts may be deep or superficial.
Capabilities may be sharp or dull.
The disciples in the fourfold assembly
did not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.
They uphold Small Vehicle teachings
and think that is enough.
They do not seek Great Vehicles teachings
but [instead] doubt the One True Dharma.”
This is meant to tell us that among the afflictions in our hearts, besides greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance, there is doubt. It hinders our diligent will to practice. Therefore, we must pay close attention to our minds. Do we have doubts about the Buddha’s teachings? Have we given rise to great Power of Faith?
Previously, I mentioned that the Buddha had especially told everyone, “One must give rise to great Power of Faith.” To understand the ultimate One Vehicle Dharma, we must give rise to great Power of Faith.
However, “doubts” can be deep or superficial. If we have severe doubts, we will stubbornly cling to unenlightened delusion. Though we have doubts, if they are superficial, after we are given a [deeper] explanation, we will naturally give rise to faith. When doubts are eliminated, faith arises. So, the Root of Faith can be deep or superficial. Thus, the Buddha gave teachings based on our capabilities.
“Capabilities may be sharp or dull.” People with great capabilities and strengths are sharp. They are very keen and are fast learners. Hearing [one teaching,] they know ten things. They are people with great, sharp capabilities. But if people have dull capabilities, they can listen to the teachings again and again [with no effect]. This is because we sentient beings, while in the Six Realms, continuously create afflictions. The more afflictions we create, the deeper and thicker they accumulate, and the duller our capabilities become.
Consider a piece of cloth. If it picks up just a little bit of dirt, we can beat it lightly and it will be clean. But if it gets dirtier, then it needs to be washed. And if it gets even dirtier, it takes great effort to wash it clean. We must look at how many afflictions we have in our minds, and look at how many habitual tendencies we have developed over our many lifetimes. Thus, the sharpness of our capabilities depends on the amount of defilements we have amassed.
In particular, we must be vigilant of our doubts. Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are the five major hindrances to our wisdom-life. So, they are called poisons, or turbidities. Therefore, we must be mindful [of them].
At the beginning of the Lotus Sutra [Assembly], “The disciples in the fourfold assembly did not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.” For over 40 years, everyone had faith in themselves, believing that they had the best understanding of the Buddha’s teachings, that they had already attained the most important Dharma. Therefore, they were very conceited, believing they had a complete grasp of the Buddha’s teachings. Whether their capabilities were sharp or dull, they believed that they clearly understood the teachings of the Buddha.
But, during the Lotus Dharma-assembly, the Buddha began to set aside the skillful means of the past and revealed the One Vehicle path. Among the disciples in the fourfold assembly, many did not understand the Buddha’s wisdom. Only now did they realize that they had not yet clearly understood the Buddha’s mindfulness, the Buddha’s wisdom, and all of the Buddha’s teachings. Therefore, “disciples in the fourfold assembly did not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.”
Even those in the Four Noble Realms could not understand, not to mention those of us still in the Six Unenlightened Realms. Compared to the disciples of the fourfold assembly at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, we are even farther from the Buddha’s wisdom and have no way to understand it. Therefore, we must be even more diligent; we cannot be conceited.
Many people say, “I listen to [the Dharma] every day. And because I have listened, this is my understanding. I know this.” If we are always conceited, we will always remain very far away from the Buddha’s wisdom. If we have faith though we are far removed from Him in time, we understand what the Buddha [meant] [when He said], “Those who believe my teachings, even though they are thousands of miles away, are in the same room as me.”
So, we must have faith in the Buddha’s wisdom. I frequently tell everyone that the Dharma the Buddha originally wanted to teach was very simple. He wanted to tell us that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. This is what He wanted us to know. But we could not realize that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, so He had to continuously and repeatedly teach us according to our capabilities. There was not much else He could do. Faced with disciples who had tremendous doubts, who could not immediately give rise to great Power of Faith, the Buddha could not [give true teachings]. So, He had to continuously teach according to capabilities.
These people who upheld Small Vehicle teachings “thought that was enough;” they believed that they had already attained everything. So, “they did not seek Great Vehicle teachings but [instead] doubted the One True Dharma.” Their minds had given rise to doubts about the wondrous One Vehicle Dharma. They had doubts because they believed they were content with the understanding they achieved. “How could there be a more profound Dharma than what I already know?” This is how we ordinary people obstruct our progress through conceit and arrogance. Therefore, we must be very vigilant.
The sutra states,
“Ajnata Kaundinya and others, 1200 in all, as well as those who aspired to become. Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas, each had the following thought,”
because they all still had traces of doubts.
We already explained [the terms] “bhiksu” and “bhiksuni.” Now I will explain what upasakas and upasikas are.
The translation of upasaka is [a male] lay devotee. Their hearts are very pure. Those who have faith in the Three Treasures are called “lay devotees.” They are lay practitioners, and they may have spouses and families. They uphold the Five Precepts and abide by their pure faith. They are also Buddhist practitioners. They have accepted the Buddha’s teachings and are continuously washing away the greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt from their minds. Therefore, they are called lay devotees, spiritual practitioners who purify their minds and have faith in the Three Treasures.
Upasaka is a Sanskrit word that means lay devotees. Though they are lay practitioners, they uphold the Five Precepts and abide in their pure faith. It is also said that male and female lay followers can follow precepts and draw near to and uphold the Buddha-Dharma. Therefore, they are called upasakas and upasikas.
Lay practitioners must also uphold the Five Precepts. Precepts guard against wrongs and stop evils. They prevent people from repeating past mistakes and immediately stop them from committing wrongs. So, we must learn to reflect and repent. We must absolutely prevent ourselves from doing wrong things. If we have already committed wrongs, then we must cease immediately. This can be done with precepts, which guard against wrongs and stop evils. This is how they abide by pure faith and protect themselves. They are also called laymen. Upasikas are called laywomen.
Whether they are male or female lay disciples, they must follow the Buddha’s rules. They have to uphold the Five Precepts to shoulder the responsibilities of the Dharma and constantly draw near to it. This is because the Buddha, in His teachings, gave rules to both monastic and lay practitioners so they would have discipline.
Lay practitioners must learn to be content and then practice giving. Charitable giving can lead to great joy. If they are immersed in the Buddha-Dharma, have deep faith and uphold precepts, they will be able to practice giving and become content, having very few desires. By helping others and giving often, they let go of stinginess and greed. This is what the Buddha taught upasakas. The rules that lay practitioners must uphold are also the rules all of us must know.
Lay practitioners must first, give rise to faith; second, uphold precepts; third, understand the Dharma and fourth, practice giving. This is what laymen and laywomen must do. They are also called “lay devotees.” Their hearts are very pure, and they have faith in the Three Treasures. They uphold precepts and are humble, content, generous and so on. For lay practitioners, these are necessary spiritual practices.
So, at the Vulture Peak Assembly, there were many Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, those who formed Bodhisattva-aspirations, bhiksus and bhiksunis and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. And on this occasion, the Buddha proclaimed, “In the past, I taught skillful means. Now I will set aside the skillful for the direct and talk about the One Vehicle Dharma.” So, all those people “each had the following thought.” This was mentioned in the previous section. Besides Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, bhiksus and bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas “each had the following thought.” They all had similar thoughts in their minds.
Each had the following thought: Over 40 years, they followed the Buddha and listened to the Three Vehicle teachings. They were taught according to their capabilities. But now as they listened to the Buddha’s. One Vehicle, extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma, they found it difficult to know and understand because of their strong attachments and deep doubts.
This is what they were all thinking. For more than 40 years, they followed the Buddha, as the Buddha had been teaching the Dharma for over 40 years. During all that time, no matter who the Buddha was teaching, these followers listened and understood. The Buddha taught according to capabilities, so He developed the Three Vehicle teachings for. Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas and those who formed Bodhisattva-aspirations. With the Three Vehicle teachings, the Buddha taught according to capability, so regardless of people’s capabilities, they could faithfully accept them.
But now, “they listened to the Buddha’s One Vehicle, extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma.” Now, all of a sudden, they heard the Buddha say that there were also the One Vehicle principles, extremely profound, subtle and wondrous. So, at this time, they found it difficult to know and understand. Why is that? Because of “their strong attachments and deep doubts.” They each had their own attachments and believed that the Dharma they had heard was the True Dharma. They believed they had already understood the Buddha’s teachings. They were conceited, so they were very stubborn, with “strong attachments and deep doubts,” All the attendees of the Lotus Dharma-assembly shared this doubt in their minds.
At the assembly, these Hearers, Arhats, had strong attachments and deep doubts. The fourfold assembly all gave rise to doubts and sought [answers] from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There were roughly 80,000 of them, all with doubts.
At the assembly, the Hearers, who were Arhats, as well as Pratyekabuddhas and others, all had “strong attachments and heavy doubts.” It could be said that the fourfold assembly all gave rise to doubts. All attendees gave rise to doubts, Clearly, in the past, when the Buddha taught sentient beings according to their capabilities, they all remained in their comfort zone. They did not open their minds and did not truly establish their faith.
So, as I previously said, “Doubts may be deep or superficial, capabilities may be sharp or dull.” Regarding this “doubt,” people with keen wisdom can quickly understand and resolve their doubts. However, they still have quite a ways to go before attaining the Buddha’s wisdom.
Recently, I have been telling everyone that even people with great capabilities may still fall short, so they still have doubts. Even Bodhisattvas of the tenth ground still have. Dharma-clouds in their minds and still do not have thorough understanding, not to mention “disciples of the fourfold assembly, [who] do not understand the Buddha’s wisdom.” People who practice Small Vehicle teachings are conceited and self-satisfied because they believe they thoroughly understand the Buddha’s teachings. So, they no longer want to advance further. This was what the Buddha was worried about. Thus, He set aside skillful means for the direct to pull those with Three Vehicle capabilities closer to the state of Buddhas. This is the most important principle of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, we must always be mindful.