Episode 252 – Seek the State of Buddhahood
>> “The four seasons follow each other, and all things go through cycles. Short-sighted sentient beings often have the perspective of permanence. To destroy sentient beings’ attachment to self and their bias toward emptiness, the Tathagata’s True Dharma of the One Vehicle is revealed.”
>> [You praise] the wisdom, subtle and wondrous, that is attained by all Buddhas. All Arhats, those without Leaks, and those who seek Nirvana have now fallen into a web of doubts. They wonder why the Buddha taught this. Those who seek to be Realizers of Conditions, bhiksus, bhiksunis, all heavenly beings, dragons, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas and so on look at one another hesitantly and then gaze up at the Two-Footed Honored One.
>> Gandharva: Gandharva is a Sanskrit word meaning fragrant-body. They do not consume alcohol or meat, only fragrances nourish their body. They are Sovereign Sakra’s spirits of music.
>> Eight classes of Dharma-protectors: Heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas.
>> [They] looked at one another hesitantly. The true principles they saw were like objects shrouded in darkness and fog, seemingly real and yet unreal. Thus, they became hesitant.
>> Precepts and Samadhi are two feet. Provisional and true are two feet. Blessings and wisdom are two feet. Understanding and practice are two feet.
“The four seasons follow each other, and all things go through cycles.
Short-sighted sentient beings often have the perspective of permanence.
To destroy sentient beings’ attachment to self and their bias toward emptiness,
the Tathagata’s True Dharma of the One Vehicle is revealed.”
We need to understand that in our daily living, spring, summer, fall and winter, the four seasons, are continuously changing. All things go through cycles. Take crops, for example. There is a certain time for planting seedlings and for harvesting them. Since Beginningless Time, human beings’ daily living has been in this world.
The four seasons have a cycle, as does the cultivation of all things. See, these are the cycles found in nature. Our human lives are subject to them. People with wisdom can, from the cycle of the four seasons, understand that we do not live forever, that our lives are impermanent.
But ordinary people just simply let the days pass. This is very short-sighted. They [focus] only on this life, on how to own and possess everything, on doing everything they can to be happy. This is what short-sighted sentient beings do.
Even more short-sighted are those who feel, “If I have alcohol today, I will get drunk today.” As long as they can be happy today, they will not worry about tomorrow. They think tomorrow will be similar to today, that things permanently stay the same.
This is how ordinary people are short-sighted. Thus, in the world, when people interact, they are lost and confused. They are engrossed in the moment in which they fulfill their desires, in which they do whatever pleases them, not caring about morality or consequences. This is why ordinary people create a lot of karma.
“To destroy sentient beings’ attachment to self and their bias toward emptiness.” Sentient beings are always attached to their egos or biased towards themselves. They think no matter what they do, there will not be any karmic retribution. This is called “denying the law of karma”; they do not believe in karmic cause and effect. This is also a bias toward emptiness. People who have not realized the law of karma are unenlightened beings who are attached to the small, limited self.
As for Small Vehicle practitioners, they believed that they had already taken in sufficient teachings from the Buddha. Since they thought their minds were in a state of non-arising and non-ceasing, they believed they were already liberated, that they had no more room for improvement. They [understood] emptiness, so they were no longer attached to anything; what else is there? This is how Small Vehicle practitioners were attached to the small and biased toward emptiness.
The Dharma is used to treat such people. So, the Buddha gave teachings in the world according to people’s capabilities. “The Tathagata’s True Dharma of the One Vehicle is revealed.” Now [the Buddha] would reveal the ultimate truth of the Tathagata’s One Vehicle. Past teachings were in accordance with people’s capabilities. Now, the Buddha would begin to share what was in His mind with everyone. He hoped everyone could be like Him. With expanded wisdom, they could have a deeper understanding of these subtle and wondrous true principles. Therefore, we must pursue the Buddha’s wisdom to reach the state of Buddhahood.
[You praise] the wisdom, subtle and wondrous, that is attained by all Buddhas. All Arhats, those without Leaks, and those who seek Nirvana have now fallen into a web of doubts. They wonder why the Buddha taught this. Those who seek to be Realizers of Conditions, bhiksus, bhiksunis, all heavenly beings, dragons, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas and so on look at one another hesitantly and then gaze up at the Two-Footed Honored One.
So, we have previously mentioned, “[You praise] the wisdom, subtle and wondrous that is attained by all Buddhas.” A Buddha’s wisdom is very subtle and wondrous. It has been attained by all Buddhas, including. Sakyamuni Buddha. This [wisdom] could only be attained by Buddhas. This is what Sariputra and others believed. Therefore, “All Arhats, those without Leaks, and those who seek Nirvana have now fallen into a web of doubts.” None of them were able to realize that they [could have] the same state as the Buddha. They did not have this confidence. Where there is no faith, there will be doubts. So, they “had now fallen into a web of doubts. They wonder why the Buddha taught this. Those who seek to be Realizers of Conditions, bhiksus, bhiksunis….” Moreover, at that assembly, there were “all heavenly beings, dragon, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas and so on. [They all] looked at one another hesitantly.” Not only were Realizers of Conditions hesitant, bhiksus and bhiksunis were as well. Humans in this world were not the only ones with doubts, thinking they could not pass beyond this stage. Could they really advance to the state of Buddhahood? They were not very confident, so they were hesitant. “All heavenly beings, dragons, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas and so on” also felt the same. They all looked at each other, sharing the same doubts. Humans could not resolve these doubts, nor could the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. This means their beliefs were not firm.
“All heavenly beings, dragon, ghosts, spirits” are part of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors mentioned here include “heavenly beings, dragon, ghosts.” Heavenly beings and dragons are two classes among the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. They were mentioned as representatives. Indeed, all eight classes of Dharma-protectors were present at that Dharma-assembly, but these two were singled out as representatives. The sutra text only mentioned the representatives.
In the “eight classes of Dharma-protectors, heavenly beings” include King Brahma and. Sovereign Sakra. Devas and spirits are all heavenly beings. “Dragons” refer to Nanda, Upananda and so on. There are eight classes in total. Ghosts are a kind of sentient being in the Six Realms, while spirits is the general term for the eight classes of Dharma-protectors.
How about “gandharvas and so on”? Gandharva is a Sanskrit word meaning “fragrant-body.” They do not consume alcohol or meat. Instead, they use fragrance to nourish their bodies. They are spirits of music for Sovereign Sakra. As long as there is fragrance, they are satisfied. If there is any event in Heaven, spirits of music will play beautiful heavenly music. The bodies of these spirits of music are very pure. Thus they are called “fragrant-body”; their smell is very pleasant because they nourish their bodies with fragrance. Thus they can play wondrous heavenly music.
Gandharva: Gandharva is a Sanskrit word meaning fragrant-body. They do not consume alcohol or meat, only fragrances nourish their body. They are Sovereign Sakra’s spirits of music.
We have just mentioned “the eight classes of Dharma-protectors.” Here, I will explain these “eight classes” for you all to understand.
Eight classes of Dharma-protectors: Heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas.
“Heavenly beings” are King Brahma, Sovereign Sakra etc. Next are dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras. Some people may wonder why asuras are also in the heaven realm. Indeed, asuras cultivated heavenly blessings but lack heavenly virtues. In the past, they were always willing to give but their tempers were bad. They have heavenly blessings because they created good causes. Based on those good causes, they are able to enjoy heavenly blessings. However, they do not have heavenly virtues. Without heavenly virtues, they constantly lose their tempers, constantly create disputes and constantly work against Sovereign Sakra. They are in opposition, so they cause arguments and wars. This is what asuras are like. They live in heaven with blessings but without the virtues.
There are also garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas. These are all among the eight classes.
The eight classes of Dharma-protectors can understand and protect the Dharma. Whenever the Buddha gave teachings, they would be present at the Dharma-assembly. They protected and listened to the Dharma. Therefore, during the Lotus Dharma-assembly, there were, of course, heavenly beings as well as the rest of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors.
Although they came to protect and listen to the Dharma, [they] also heard that Sakyamuni Buddha would now set aside His old methods of teaching according to people’s capabilities. Now, regardless of the capabilities of those at this Dharma-assembly, He would only teach the great Dharma of the subtle and wondrous One Vehicle. So, even the eight classes of Dharma-protectors looked at each other hesitantly. They still could not understand why the Buddha set aside His past methods of teaching according to sentient beings’ capabilities to open the great Dharma of the One Vehicle. That is why everyone had doubts.
Although [the Buddha] taught subtle and wondrous true principles for them to clearly see, they seemed to be looking at an object in the haze. They could not see clearly, so they had doubts and hesitations. They could not determine what this object was. We have the same [attitude] toward the Dharma and principles. “Are these principles the true principles? Can I apply these principles to myself? Are they widely applicable in the world?” These principles are very abstract. After all, we still have not fully comprehended these principles. Therefore, we are “hesitant.”
[They] looked at one another hesitantly. The true principles they saw were like objects shrouded in darkness and fog, seemingly real and yet unreal. Thus, they became hesitant.
Seemingly real and yet unreal. It seemed real, but they were not very sure. They could not tell whether it was real or not; that was why they had doubts and hesitations.
Therefore, although they had doubts, they still “gazed up at the Two-Footed Honored One.” Even though those at the assembly could not fully understand, they remained as respectful as before and “gazed up at the Two-Footed Honored One.”
To “gaze” means to look up. The Buddha sat higher up. Everybody else sat on the ground, so they had to look up to see the Buddha. Thus, they expressed great respect to
“the Two-Footed Honored One.” We always say the Buddha possesses “both blessings and wisdom.” These are the Buddha’s two feet. “Two-footed” means we can proceed without obstruction.
Precepts and Samadhi are two feet. Provisional and true are two feet. Blessings and wisdom are two feet. Understanding and practice are two feet.
The Buddha was already replete with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Having cultivated these qualities, His mind remains pure and stays in Samadhi forever. This is the virtue of the Buddha.
He gave provisional teachings, which are skillful means, suitable for people’s capabilities. He also revealed the ultimate truth to people. These are also the two feet of Buddha’s virtues.
The Buddha, living among us, had the two feet of blessings and wisdom. In particular, His understanding of the world was very comprehensive. This was part of His virtue. He accomplished many virtuous practices, so the Buddha was replete with virtue.
If we want to learn from the Buddha, we must truly possess precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. We must learn to take opportunities to go among people like the Buddha. However, we must hold fast to the absolute truth. This is also something we must learn. Blessings arise when we give with love. Wisdom comes from having no attachments and not partaking in disputes etc. Practicing understanding is part of having wisdom. We must do both in parallel. This is also something we must learn. Virtues require internal cultivation. Only when we are replete with wisdom can we get close to the Buddha’s understanding and views.
Therefore, everyone, to draw near the Buddha’s understanding and views and the virtues He is replete with, we must study. We must learn the Buddha-Dharma. We cannot just listen to His teachings without understanding His wisdom. If we do not draw near to His wisdom, of course we will not understand and will therefore be short-sighted. Short-sighted people can only see today. They only care about living each day. We must not be like this; we must take the Buddha’s virtues as our model. We must always be mindful.