Episode 243 – Diligently and Faithfully Pursue Wondrous Dharma
>>”The Buddha kindly protected the teachings, so we must practice and pass them on. Wondrous Dharma was not completely understood, so we must sincerely seek it. With faith and diligence, we turn toward the Great Vehicle. With sincerity and vows, we comprehend the great path.”
>>”The Buddha spoke of one meaning of liberation, so we obtained this Dharma and thought we had arrived at Nirvana. But now, we do not understand His intention.”
>> At that time, Sariputra, knowing the fourfold assembly’s doubts, and his own lack of understanding, addressed the Buddha, “World-Honored One, for what reason do You earnestly praise the supremely skillful means of all Buddhas?”
>> The fourfold assembly had doubts: They doubted skillful means. “The Dharma attained by the Buddha is very profound and difficult to understand. So, why is the World-Honored One now saying this?”
>>”The wisdom of all Buddhas is vast and profound. They have achieved rare and difficult-to-understand Dharma.”
“The Buddha kindly protected the teachings, so we must practice and pass them on.
Wondrous Dharma was not completely understood, so we must sincerely seek it.
With faith and diligence, we turn toward the Great Vehicle.
With sincerity and vows, we comprehend the great path.”
[The Buddha] hopes that we can all realize the wondrous One Vehicle Dharma that. He guarded and retained out of compassion. Therefore, we must very mindfully listen to and uphold the Dharma at the same time. We listen, then practice; practice, then uphold. Thus, we must put our hearts into passing on the Dharma.
In the Buddha’s time, even those followers who were constantly by His side were still unable to comprehend His original intent. “Wondrous Dharma was not completely understood.” The truly subtle and wondrous Dharma was guarded and retained in the Buddha’s mind because people could not yet understand it. Thus, “wondrous Dharma was not completely understood” because of people’s [limited] capabilities.
Therefore we, as the assembly, must be focused and sincere. With genuine focus, we are not distracted. With genuine sincerity, we seek the Dharma. We must earnestly listen to the teachings He has guarded and retained. “Wondrous Dharma was not completely understood.” Because we still do not understand some of it, we must become even more focused, sincere and mindful.
“With faith and diligence, we turn toward the Great Vehicle.” The wondrous One Vehicle Dharma the Buddha was about to expound was the Great Vehicle. In the past, the Buddha taught according to capabilities to pave a road for us to easily reach the true path He is opening up right now. In the past, He gave us a temporary path. Although it was temporary, it took us where we needed to go. But we were still missing the [next] part, which was the great path that leads to Buddhahood. So, we must have “faith and diligence.”
To “turn toward [it]” means we must concentrate on the path toward the Great Vehicle. So, only “with sincerity and vows” can we comprehend the great path. Our minds must hold on to genuinely reverent vows and the power of great faith. Only then can we truly comprehend the great path so that our minds can resonate with it.
Previously, we have discussed how, “The Buddha spoke of one meaning of liberation, so we obtained this Dharma and thought we had arrived at Nirvana. But now, we do not understand His intention.”
This text from the previous passage states that we seemed to have attained the principles of liberation the Buddha taught and to have calmed our minds. We understood the Buddha’s teachings, so we knew everything is subject to the law of karma, and thus we were able to quiet our minds. We mistakenly believed that we had already attained liberation. But now, the Buddha reminded us again that the Dharma is very profound and wondrous. He declared that all of the. Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas still cannot understand what these teachings are about.
These are ideas the fourfold assembly was unable to realize. So next, “at that time” refers to that moment. From Ajnata Kaundinya to the retinue of 1250, as well as those seeking to be. Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas, none of those in attendance could understand. They thought they had understood the Dharma. They did not realize that they still lacked true understanding of the Buddha’s intentions. When their minds gave rise to these thoughts, that moment was referred to as “at that time.”
At that time, Sariputra, knowing the fourfold assembly’s doubts, and his own lack of understanding, addressed the Buddha, “World-Honored One, for what reason do You earnestly praise the supremely skillful means of all Buddhas?”
“Sariputra, [knew] the fourfold assembly’s doubts.” He knew they had doubts because he did not understand either.
So, “Sariputra, knowing the fourfold assembly’s doubts, and his own lack of understanding” means he had also not attained this knowledge. First, we must realize that Sariputra was one of the Buddha’s ten great disciples. As we can see, the Buddha’s retinue alone numbered 1250 people. But those He constantly praised and affirmed numbered only ten. Clearly, spiritual practice truly brings us closer to the Buddha-mind and helps us understand the Buddha-Dharma and put it into practice. Achieving this [state of mind] is not very easy.
The ten great disciples each had their strengths. Maudgalyayana was foremost in spiritual powers, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom. All the disciples who were considered wise were represented by Sariputra because he was the wisest. So, he was known for his wisdom. Though he was very wise, it also took him a very long time to form great aspirations. If even Sariputra felt this way, what about the others?
I often talk about having an “open heart and pure thoughts.” We must uphold and practice the teachings. Only then do we have a way to completely understand all Dharma. So, the Buddha said, “One must give rise to great Power of Faith.” We must have faith to develop the strength that we need so we are not afraid of hard work and can carry on. This is why we “give rise to great Power of Faith.”
Everyone, as Tzu Chi volunteers, aren’t we all filled with faith? As we face each challenge, we are determined to overcome them. Thus, we achieve our mission. We overcome all difficulties to achieve our mission. Don’t we often hear people say that? This courage comes from the Power of Faith. Upon forming great aspirations, we must have courage and faith in the Dharma. At the same time, we must be strong. We must have the strength of courage, otherwise we will lose our spiritual aspirations.
Sariputra knew the fourfold assembly had doubts. What is the “fourfold assembly”? When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, everyone would gather to listen, so there were three different fourfold assemblies.
First were those who initiated teachings. In the Lotus Sutra, some in attendance, such as Sariputra, wanted to understand the Buddha’s original intention and. His knowledge and views, the subtle and wondrous Dharma He protected. So, on behalf of the fourfold assembly, he requested teachings three times over. Sariputra had to ask three times before the Buddha gave these teachings. So, Sariputra was among the initiators of the Buddha’s Lotus teachings.
Every sutra and teaching we have been given that address our issues came about because someone raised a question. People who request teachings are called initiators.
Our discussions, up until now, have been recounting the Buddha’s intent and describing those with limited capabilities and wisdom. We have not yet begun to discuss the Lotus Sutra. We begin now with the initiators, like Sariputra. He knew the fourfold assembly had doubts, so he stood up and asked the Buddha to give what became the opening teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Thus, Sariputra is called an “initiator.”
The second group is “adopters,” This part of the retinue was always by His side, so they had heard all His teachings. They practiced according to His teachings but each attained individual realizations, and each engaged in solitary spiritual practice. They already understood the Buddha’s teachings but stopped [practicing after attaining] the state of tranquility and stillness. They felt that their minds were free of afflictions and hindrances, so they stopped there. Though they eliminated fragmentary samsara, they had not overcome the final stage, which is transformational samsara. So, these 1250 people were “adopters.”
Some who had planted virtuous roots in past lives had started practicing but were not among the 1250. There were also other people who had been working on internal cultivation and external practices for a very long time. They had already accumulated many virtues and could return to their original nature, the “human nature that is inherently good,” but they had not yet thoroughly understood. For people like this, when “causes and conditions converge and the time is ripe,” they “hear [teachings] and immediately [awaken].” They were also called “adopters.” At that time, people who wanted to listen to the. Buddha teach the wondrous One Vehicle Dharma were called “adopters.”
The third group were “influencers.” They were Bodhisattvas who came from other places to help the Buddha disseminate the Dharma. Many of the 80,000 Bodhisattvas came from other places or had already attained Buddhahood and came to assist the Buddha at the Dharma-assembly. The often mentioned Maitreya, Manjusri, Guanyin, Samantabhadra and so on, all came to help at the Dharma-assembly. So, Bodhisattvas who came from other places were called “influencers.” Many people came not because they could not grasp the principles, but to influence others and verify the Buddha’s teachings as the True Dharma. They are called “influencers.”
The fourth group were “associators.” They were ordinary people with limited capabilities, lacking in virtues and blessings. These people would listen but not understand anything at all, nor could they form aspirations. But they would [associate themselves] [by saying,]. “When the Buddha lectures, I listen.” These people did not sincerely want to practice, nor did they sincerely want to seek the Dharma.
This fourfold assembly was comprised of initiators, adopters, influencers and associators. This was the first type [of fourfold assembly].
The second is the fourfold assembly of monastics. There are bhiksus and bhiksunis, as well as novice monks and nuns.
There is also the fourfold assembly of monastics and laypeople. Monastics are bhiksus and bhiksunis; laypeople are upasakas and upasikas. They also made up a fourfold assembly. So, this is the third kind.
These three types of fourfold assemblies were all gathered at the Vulture Peak Dharma-assembly. As for the influencers, they came to this assembly to influence everyone. Among them were Bodhisattvas, such as Manjusri, whose hearts were already free of doubts. Since they came to influence the assembly, and to verify the Buddha’s teachings, of course they must have had no doubts. The fourfold assembly I am speaking of now is the one comprised of laypeople and monastics. They were the ones who “doubted skillful means.”
The fourfold assembly had doubts: They doubted skillful means. “The Dharma attained by the Buddha is very profound and difficult to understand. So, why is the World-Honored One now saying this?”
“The Dharma attained by the Buddha is very profound and difficult to understand.” In the past, when the Buddha gave teachings, they felt it was very profound. Now, after much difficulty, they had finally understood it, so why was the Buddha, Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, presently talking in this way? “Now [He was] saying this.” In the past, He already gave teachings that were difficult to understand, and after putting in a lot of effort, they had finally understood. But now the World-Honored One was telling them,
“The wisdom of all Buddhas is vast and profound. They have achieved rare and difficult-to-understand Dharma.”
They thought they had already understood the profound teachings. Now, the Buddha said, “The wisdom of all Buddhas is vast and profound. The Dharma they have realized is rare and difficult-to-understand.” So, was the Buddha now saying that they cannot really understand it? This is what they were wondering.
What He meant by “extremely profound” now was [different from] what He meant by profound in the past. This new teaching was truly extremely profound, and His intent was really difficult to understand. This meant now they “doubted the past teachings.” [They wondered if] the skillful means taught by the Buddha were True Dharma. Now that the Buddha was teaching something even more profound, could they accept these teachings? This was what they doubted.
So, is the “Dharma” really that profound? No, it is just that our minds have not yet truly connected with it. So, we must learn the Buddha’s compassion. He protected [these teachings,] so we must cherish and guard them. These teachings we are about to hear must be cherished, and we must also form aspirations to “practice and pass on [the teachings].” So, we must “practice and pass them on.”
“Wondrous Dharma is not completely understood,” so we must again give rise to diligence, which is strengthened by our Power of Faith. We must turn to the Great Vehicle to inspire great aspirations. We must not turn back to the Small [Vehicle], but continue to sustain our great Power of Faith. So, only with sincerity and the power of our vows can we thoroughly comprehend the great path. Thus, we must always be mindful.