Episode 274 – Do Not Obstruct Your Own Mind
>>”Sariputra led the assembly in earnestly asking the Buddha three times to freely express the original [teachings] that. He had guarded in His mind. So, He decided to open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the One [Vehicle] and expound True Dharma.”
>>”Sariputra, you have earnestly made this request three times. How can I not expound it?” Therefore, “now you must listen for truths, ponder carefully and be mindful.”
>> To listen for truths is the wisdom of listening. To ponder carefully is the wisdom of contemplating. To be mindful is the wisdom of practicing.
>>”As He said these words, at the assembly were bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas, 5000 in all, who rose from their seats, prostrated to the Buddha and left.”
>>”What was the reason? These people’s roots of transgressions were deep and grave, and they had such overbearing arrogance that they claimed to have attained what they had not and to have realized what they had not. With faults such as these, they could not stay. The World-Honored One remained silent and did not stop them.”
>> These people’s roots of transgressions were deep and grave. This explains why the indolent ones left. Without respect or faith, with deep and grave roots of transgressions, they obstructed their own minds and gave rise to overbearing arrogance. These were their karmic obstacles.
>> So, “At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, ‘My assembly has now been cleared of branches and leaves, ‘and only the steadfast and true remain Sariputra, they are overbearingly arrogant people It is good that they left.'”
“Sariputra led the assembly
in earnestly asking the Buddha three times
to freely express the original [teachings] that.
He had guarded in His mind.
So, He decided to open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the One [Vehicle]
and expound True Dharma.”
This is telling everyone that. When the Buddha began to teach wondrous Dharma. He had to direct the teachings at someone, so of course He directed them at someone wise. Therefore Sariputra, who was foremost in wisdom, earnestly asked the Buddha on everyone’s behalf. Although the Buddha said “stop” three times and would not speak any further, Sariputra’s wisdom made him suitable to [accept] the Dharma that the Buddha guarded in His mind. This was the one great cause for which the Buddha returned on the ship of compassion, to teach sentient beings to return to their intrinsic nature.
After 40-plus years, this was the most critical moment. The Buddha felt He had to expound the. Dharma that He had been guarding in His mind since attaining enlightenment. When the Buddha stopped three times, Sariputra asked Him three times. Now causes and conditions had matured, so He could “freely express the original [teaching] that He had guarded in His mind.” So, “He decided to open the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the One [Vehicle].” Now He saw that causes and conditions had matured. He connected and brought the limited teachings of the Three Vehicles together to return to the One Vehicle Dharma. Therefore, it was said that, He “opened the Three [Vehicles] to reveal the One [Vehicle] and expounded True Dharma.” Now, He was about to begin.
You may recall the previous [sutra passage] where the World-Honored One said,
“Sariputra, you have earnestly made this request three times. How can I not expound it?” Therefore, “now you must listen for truths, ponder carefully and be mindful.”
We must listen for truths, ponder carefully and be mindful. [These three are all related to wisdom].
To listen for truths is the wisdom of listening. To ponder carefully is the wisdom of contemplating. To be mindful is the wisdom of practicing.
This means we must “listen, contemplate and practice.”
All of the Buddha’s teachings are virtuous Dharma. For those with limited capabilities, He began by advising everyone to uphold the Five Precepts and practice the Ten Good Deeds. Tzu Chi promotes the Ten Precepts. The Buddha instituted the Five Precepts, but in Tzu Chi we uphold the Ten Precepts. On top of the foundational Five Precepts, we must also avoid smoking, gambling, and chewing betel nuts. We must immediately practice filial piety, do good deeds, obey traffic rules and so on. We must also guard our speech and actions. These are rules Tzu Chi volunteers must follow. So, the Five Precepts became the Ten Precepts to better suit modern times.
During the Buddha’s time, some in the Sangha misbehaved. Thus the Buddha, based on their ways of living, came up with rules for them to follow so that the Sangha would be fit to pass [the Dharma] to future generations. So, there are 250 precepts for bhiksus and over 300 precepts for bhiksunis. For some, there are even 500 precepts. Why are there so many precepts? Because our habitual tendencies cause our behavior to worsen. So, we engage in spiritual practice to change our habitual tendencies.
So, the Buddha created a new regulation for each new [wrongdoing] people would commit. As He slowly established rules, people continued to commit different [wrongs]. Thus, over a long period of time, the number of precepts continued to increase. Other than precepts created in the Buddha’s time, there were other rules that were added by the patriarchs of later periods when they felt, “We need to add this; we need to add that.” Clearly, since the Buddha’s lifetime over 2000 years ago, not only have we spiritual practitioners been unable to stay on this path and strictly abide the precepts, we keep developing additional habitual tendencies. We keep developing habitual tendencies, we keep committing transgressions, and that is why there are more and more rules.
So, the Five Precepts and the Ten Good Deeds are worldly virtuous Dharma. What about world-transcending virtuous Dharma? We also talked about. “Three Studies and Six Perfections” earlier. The Three Studies are Three Flawless Studies, which are precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. If we can uphold precepts, we can take the Dharma into our hearts. When we take the Dharma into our hearts, we will manifest it in our actions. Then even though we live in this world, naturally we will not stray from the path of being a good person and will uphold the Buddha’s rules. So, this is why we have precepts.
Engaging in spiritual practice without discipline is not considered spiritual practice. If we uphold precepts, our minds will be focused and in Samadhi. There are many pitfalls in this world, and only with Samadhi can we resist the many temptations in the world. So, our minds must be in Samadhi for us to take the Dharma to heart and retain it without letting it leak out. If the Dharma is in our minds, then the infinite Dharma-doors in the world can awaken our wisdom.
What about the Six Perfections? As we know, they are giving, upholding precepts, patience, [diligence,] Samadhi and wisdom. These are the methods we use as we go among people to help them.
If we want to transcend the world and engage in purifying spiritual practice, we must be able to interact with others without being influenced by them and remaining firm instead. We can deliver ourselves and others, as if we are crossing from the shore of ordinary people to the shore of noble beings. We do this through the Six Perfections, which are world-transcending virtuous Dharma.
World-transcending virtuous Dharma can be profound or simple. Those with great capabilities can gain profound understanding from even the simplest teachings. But those with limited capabilities, even after listening to profound teachings, will not be able to accept them. Therefore, the Dharma needs to be taught according to capabilities. Because there were those whose capabilities had not matured, the Buddha said “stop” three times. So, if the time was right, the place was right and people’s conditions were mature, of course He would teach the virtuous Dharma.
Thus, “the World-Honored One told Sariputra, ‘You have earnestly made this request three times. How can I not expound it?'” Do you remember this? The previous sutra passage also stated, “‘Now you must listen for truths, ponder carefully and be mindful I will expound it to you.'”
The next passage in the sutra states,
“As He said these words, at the assembly were bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas, 5000 in all, who rose from their seats, prostrated to the Buddha and left.”
Let us look at this passage in the sutra. The Buddha finally agreed to Sariputra’s request. “You have made this request three times. How can I not teach it? I will begin to teach it”. Everyone must listen attentively. You must listen, contemplate and practice the virtuous Dharma taught in the past and the world-transcending virtuous Dharma. You must all be mindful.”
After He finished saying this, 5000 people in the assembly, among them bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas. These were some of the people present. They comprised the fourfold assembly. Think of how large a contingent 5000 people is! Altogether, they prostrated to the Buddha and left. Wasn’t this hard on Him?
I have previously mentioned that when the Buddha was finally going to expound the wondrous Dharma, some lacked patience and felt that this was too long to wait for teachings. What were these “three stops and three requests” all about? When they heard the Buddha say, “I am about to teach, please be mindful,” they took this opportunity to stand up, prostrate and leave. Although they sincerely paid their respect, they left the assembly nonetheless. Think about this; if we are about to speak and see people leaving, two or three at a time, we will already have a sense that we have failed, or that we are not being respected. But at that assembly, 5000 people left. They stood up, prostrated and left. Wouldn’t you think this was hard on the Buddha?
Most ordinary people in that situation would feel like they have lost face. “I was about to speak, but so many people walked out.” But the Buddha had been waiting for this moment. Why?
“What was the reason? These people’s roots of transgressions were deep and grave, and they had such overbearing arrogance that they claimed to have attained what they had not and to have realized what they had not. With faults such as these, they could not stay. The World-Honored One remained silent and did not stop them.”
So, this was the reason. The roots of their transgressions were deep and grave. Their minds were indolent, so they were not diligent and had no respect or faith. These people were lazy and lacked respect and faith because they had deep and grave roots of transgressions.
These people’s roots of transgressions. were deep and grave. This explains why the indolent ones left. Without respect or faith, with deep and grave roots of transgressions, they obstructed their own minds and gave rise to overbearing arrogance. These were their karmic obstacles.
These people gave rise to their own obstructions. So, when the Buddha began to teach, their minds gave rise to hindrances, so they did not want to hear it. When they became indolent, they also gave rise to disrespect. So, as the Buddha was about to teach, they became impatient and disrespectful. This is how they obstructed themselves. So, the roots of their transgressions were deep and grave,
and they also gave rise to overbearing arrogance. They “claim to have attained what they had not.” They felt, “I have heard and known many things. After the Buddha gave one teaching, I realized ten teachings. I have understood all [His teachings] from the past 40-plus years. I have heard a lot about the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.” ․”I have attained more realizations from them than anyone else. I can even expound the Dharma to other people.” People like these, “who claimed to have attained what they had not,” are the ones with overbearing arrogance.
They feel that they know a lot, so they go out and give teachings to others based on a partial understanding and their own biased views. “When one speaks a lie, thousands propagate it as the truth.” After listening to the Dharma, they only have a partial understanding. So, then they add their own biased views to it and and proceed to teach it to others. Naturally, some people would think that this teaching came from the Buddha and accept it as the truth. When one person speaks a lie, though his words are false, the listeners believe it as the truth. So when “one speaks a lie, thousands propagate it as the truth.” Other people continue to transmit it as truth.
The Buddha was worried that if these overbearingly arrogant people continued to listen, they would go out and spread false teachings. So, the Buddha was waiting for them to leave. This was a very critical moment. Why else would He have said, “Stop, stop, there is no need to speak any further,” three times? The Buddha sensed that these people’s patience had just about run out. Their indolent minds were about to manifest. So naturally they would want to leave. This was the moment the Buddha was waiting for.
So, the Buddha did not stop them. He did not tell them to not go or force them to stay to listen. In the Buddha’s wisdom, He was waiting for this moment, because this Dharma was not suited to these people’s capabilities; therefore, they had to leave.
So, “At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, ‘My assembly has now been cleared of branches and leaves, ‘and only the steadfast and true remain Sariputra, they are overbearingly arrogant people It is good that they left.'”
This implied, “Good, all those who needed to go have left.” The ones who remained were steadfast. [The assembly was] “cleared of its branches and leaves.” The dead twigs and rotten leaves were completely gone. The people who remained were all “steadfast and true.” Each one was a good seed. He told Sariputra that “they are overbearingly arrogant people. It is good that they left.” It was best that they left.
See, when these indolent, overbearingly arrogant people who refused to hear the Dharma left, the Buddha was glad, too. Since they were indolent and could not accept the True Dharma, it was better that they not listen. This way, they would not create more karma. The Buddha also had great compassion for them. So, fellow Bodhisattvas, the True Dharma is rarely heard. From now on, we must always be mindful.