Episode 260 – Diligently Advance and Be Courageous
>> His words were slow, but they felt an urgency. He understood whether they belittled, valued or had to gradually learn the Dharma. The Buddha was kind yet commanding; He exercised compassion to inspire their wisdom.
>> If shock and doubt do not lead to slander, one’s obstruction is slight. If overbearing arrogance gives rise to resentment and verbal slander, one will surely fall into the depths of hell. Not only is there no benefit, there is harm.
>>”At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, ‘Stop, stop, there is no need to speak further If this matter were spoken of, heavenly beings and humans in all the worlds would be shocked and begin to doubt.'”
>> So, he immediately pleaded with the Buddha, “World-Honored One, I only pray that you will speak it; I only pray that you will speak it.”
>> For what reason? In this assembly are countless hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of asankya sentient beings, who have, in the past, seen all Buddhas. Their capabilities are sharp, and their wisdom is clear. As they listen to what the Buddha says, they are able to respect and believe it.
>> The Five Spiritual Roots: root of faith, root of diligence, root of thought, root of Samadhi and root of wisdom.
>> Diligently advance forward. Be courageous and never let go of [these aspirations]. This is what it means to be sharp.
>>”Wisdom that is clear comes from two methods of the Three Studies. To subdue discursive thoughts is Samadhi. To reflect on matters and principles is wisdom. Buddhahood is the fruit for great Bodhisattvas. Samadhi and wisdom are the foundation for realization.”
His words were slow, but they felt an urgency.
He understood whether they belittled, valued or had to gradually learn the Dharma.
The Buddha was kind yet commanding;
He exercised compassion to inspire their wisdom.
This reminds us of the earlier dialogue between the Buddha and Sariputra. Sariputra had sincerely asked the Buddha to immediately reveal the teachings of the One Vehicle Dharma to everyone. However, the Buddha kept saying, “Stop, stop, there is no need to speak further.” Those who wanted to understand the Dharma felt a great sense of urgency and desired to listen to teachings. But at this crucial moment, when they sought the Dharma with great urgency, the Buddha responded by slowing down. Why was that? Because many humans and heavenly beings, after listening to teachings, would certainly give rise to doubts again. This is why He started to slow down.
So, “He understood whether they belittled, valued or had to gradually learn the Dharma.” He observed whether they sought the Dharma with great urgency or whether they took it lightly. If they belittled the Dharma, their arrogance meant [they would look down on] the teachings. This is how the Buddha observed their capabilities. He met this sense of urgency with delay because “the Buddha was kind yet commanding. He exercised compassion to inspire their wisdom.”
Every time I read this passage, I am deeply shaken by the Buddha’s loving-kindness. But [Him saying]. “Stop, stop, there is no need to speak further” showed that He still had an authoritative presence. Even though He had taught for over 40 years, by the time the Lotus Dharma-assembly was held, the Buddha had praised the Dharma as extremely profound, subtle and wondrous. Yet people still doubted the [Dharma] He attained. So at this moment, though the Buddha was very kind, He was also strict with them. So, “the Buddha was kind yet commanding.” If they did not have faith, why would He give those teachings? Within His loving-kindness, there is a sense of authority.
But most important was the way the Buddha “exercised compassion to inspire their wisdom.” The Buddha did not want sentient beings to have doubts about the Dharma and thus give rise to slander.
While gathered at this assembly, everyone gradually began to set aside the “small” to seek the “great.” They set aside the Small Vehicle of practicing only for their own benefit and learned that they must also benefit others. However, this aspiration to benefit others still contained traces of doubt. And a small number of people who practiced only for their own benefit believed that they were already accomplished and that they really understood the Buddha-Dharma. So, when they were told to be more diligent and to advance to the next level, they were not very motivated. Some people were even shocked and had doubts. “Could what the Buddha taught in the past and what I have been practicing be incorrect?” This was their shocked and doubtful reaction.
If shock and doubt do not lead to slander, one’s obstruction is slight. If overbearing arrogance gives rise to resentment and verbal slander, one will surely fall into the depths of hell. Not only is there no benefit, there is harm.
They felt shocked and had doubts; they worried that the Buddha’s past teachings were incorrect and wondered whether their past spiritual practices had been beneficial. But despite all this, they still respected the Buddha. In the face of shock and doubts, they still did not commit slander. So, “shock and doubt did not lead to slander.” Though they did not have faith or acceptance, they still did not commit slander.
If they did not commit slander, then their obstructions were slight, which meant they were less likely to create karma. Though they were unconvinced, they did not obstruct the paths of others and did not create serious obstructions for themselves. Although they had not committed slander, they remained unconvinced.
As long as they remained unconvinced, [they might give rise to] “verbal slander.” Slanderous words about the Dharma might spontaneously emerge from their mouths. The thoughts in their minds would be expressed through words. The Buddha worried most about these people. “Slandering the Dharma obstructs goodness.” It is wrong to slander the Dharma and to obstruct others from doing good deeds. Doing so, “they would surely fall into hell.” So, if the Buddha readily gave teachings when Sariputra requested it, not only would it not be beneficial, it would be harmful.
Of course, He did not give up on sentient beings. Even though they did not fully believe in and accept [teachings], the Buddha would still teach them. He just had to delay for a while, so they could calmly contemplate and be inspired to faithfully accept [the teachings]. So, the Buddha gave this a lot of thought.
Let us review this passage of the sutra again.
“At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, ‘Stop, stop, there is no need to speak further If this matter were spoken of, heavenly beings and humans in all the worlds would be shocked and begin to doubt.'”
At this point, the Buddha slowed down. But Sariputra sought teachings with great urgency.
So, he immediately pleaded with the Buddha, “World-Honored One, I only pray that you will speak it; I only pray that you will speak it.”
Sariputra pleaded with the Buddha to speak. Sariputra spoke on everyone’s behalf, gave voice to their sincere desire for the Dharma. With no discursive thoughts, he wholeheartedly prayed. So he said, “I only pray.” His only desire was for the Buddha to teach the True Dharma.
For what reason? In this assembly are countless hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of asankya sentient beings, who have, in the past, seen all Buddhas. Their capabilities are sharp, and their wisdom is clear. As they listen to what the Buddha says, they are able to respect and believe it.
Why was this? Sariputra then said, “For what reason? In this assembly are countless hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of asankya sentient beings.” There were so many people at this assembly, hundreds of thousands of millions of billions. Asankya means very many, countless. So, asankya sentient beings means infinite, countless people, who “have, in the past, seen all Buddhas. Their capabilities are sharp.”
Sariputra was expressing that asankya sentient beings, so many people, had “in the past, seen all Buddhas.” They had, in their past lifetimes, seen countless Buddhas. “Their capabilities are sharp, and their wisdom is clear.” Many of them had already engaged in spiritual practice by following all Buddhas. So, their capabilities were also very sharp, and their wisdom was very clear. They had a very clear understanding. “As they listen to what the Buddha says, they are able to respect and believe it.” So, these people could probably accept teachings.
What does “their capabilities were sharp” mean? Capabilities refer to the the Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers mentioned in the 37 Practices to Enlightenment.
The Five Spiritual Roots: root of faith, root of diligence, root of thought, root of Samadhi and root of wisdom.
The first of the Five Roots is the root of faith. “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits.” If we want to enter the Buddha-door, first we must have “faith.” To truly realize the Buddha’s true teachings, we need great roots and great faith. We need a deep and far-reaching root of faith. This is “faith.”
Next, we must be eager and develop diligence, the root of diligence. When we learn the Buddha-Dharma, just believing in and talking about it is useless. “I have faith; I understand; I can talk about it.” But this does not mean we put it into practice. If we know how to cultivate fields but do not sow the seeds, how could we produce rice? How could there be any rice to harvest? That would be impossible.
So, if we only know how to plant and raise crops but do not actually sow seeds, or if we sow the seeds but do not carefully cultivate and care for them, how could we engage in spiritual cultivation? So, we must be diligent. This is the root of diligence.
Next, there is the root of thought. Our every thought must be very firm. We must not only be firm, we must also avoid going astray. We often say, “A slight deviation takes us far off-course,” that tiny bit of ignorance, that tiny deviation. From then on, we are trapped in the Six Realms. We have talked about this before. So, we must take care of our minds and our every thought. This is the root of thought.
Next comes Samadhi, the root of Samadhi. Our minds must be in Samadhi. We often say, “If we maintain our original aspiration, we will surely attain Buddhahood.” Each and every day, if our mindset is the same as when we formed our initial aspirations, if we have that same level of faith, then attaining Buddhahood will be easy.
Only with Samadhi can we unite with the path and give rise to pure wisdom. Otherwise, however much we learn or share, we still only have knowledge of the Buddha-Dharma. It has not deeply penetrated and taken root in our hearts; it is just floating on the surface, with no roots. So, we must have the root of Samadhi.
“Capabilities” in “their capabilities are sharp” refers to wisdom. We must develop strong capabilities by having deep roots. Once we have the Five Roots, we need the. Five Powers to strengthen our capabilities. Then our “capabilities are sharp.” When our capabilities and wisdom grow, we nurture and develop good practices. This is what we are truly seeking.
Diligently advance forward. Be courageous and never let go of [these aspirations]. This is what it means to be sharp.
Sariputra has said that at the assembly, there are many whose “capabilities are sharp. Their capabilities” include the aforementioned. Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers. We are still learning; we are all still at the stage of learning, at the unenlightened state of learning. So, we should “diligently advance forward.” We must be earnest and intensify our diligence. “Be courageous”
means that as we learn from the Buddha, we must develop courage. We are not doing it for ourselves, to grow in knowledge. This is about more than just learning facts; we are learning to develop the root of faith. We must take the Five Spiritual Roots and. Five Powers into our hearts and make sure they become deeply rooted. So, we must “be courageous and never let go of [these aspirations].” With our every thought, every prior thought, every subsequent thought, we must hang on to our aspirations.
We must never let go of the vows we made at the moment we first formed our aspirations. Thus, we “never let go of [these aspirations].” This is what it means to be “sharp. We must diligently advance forward, be courageous, and never let go of [these aspirations].” Then “[our] capabilities are sharp;” they are deeply rooted and fixed in our hearts. Only then can we have “wisdom [that] is clear.”
“Wisdom that is clear comes from two methods of the Three Studies. To subdue discursive thoughts is Samadhi. To reflect on matters and principles is wisdom. Buddhahood is the fruit for great Bodhisattvas. Samadhi and wisdom are the foundation for realization.”
As you all know, the Three Studies are the Three Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Among the Three Flawless Studies, wisdom and Samadhi are two methods that can help us train our minds and subdue our scattered thoughts. Our faith must be deeply rooted. To deepen our. Five Spiritual Roots and Five Powers, we rely on precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. This is our spiritual practice. We head in the direction of the Buddha to draw near Him. Right now we are creating these causes and we look forward to attaining the fruits. So, Samadhi and wisdom are the [foundation for] clear understanding.
So, wisdom and Samadhi help us develop clear understanding and clearly illuminate our nature of True Suchness, so our intrinsic self-nature can be revealed. The Buddha’s teachings, this great, straight Bodhi-path, must be diligently practiced. So, we must not abandon sentient beings; in benefiting ourselves, we must also benefit others. This is the most important part of being Buddhist practitioners. So, we must always be mindful.