Episode 275 – Be Pure and True
>> “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.”
>>”The indolent ones left. Without respect for the Buddha or faith in the Dharma, their own minds gave rise to obstacles. The roots of their negative karma were deep and grave, and they had the karmic obstacle of overbearing arrogance.”
>>”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. Is is good that they left.”
>> The assembly has been cleared of its branches and leaves: Branches and leaves refer to those without deeply-rooted virtues. One without a strong root of faith or a sense of respect is an overbearingly arrogant person.
>>”Only the steadfast and true remain.” Those who are honest and steadfast do not flatter or fawn as they accept the Dharma. They are praised as those among the assembly who are endowed with virtue and faith.
>>”[The Buddha said,] ‘You must now listen well, and I shall expound it for you.’ Sariputra said, ‘Most certainly, World-Honored One We would be eager and delighted to hear it.'”
As we mentioned previously, when the Buddha agreed to teach the Lotus Sutra, He had been safeguarding this teaching in His mind for over 40 years. So, it was about time. But people’s minds were still not ready, so He kept waiting for devoted and diligent individuals to become ready to receive the Dharma. Those who were lazy and indolent could not patiently wait through the test of time, thus naturally they left the assembly. So, as we mentioned previously,
“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.”
A previous sutra passage discussed how Sariputra earnestly made requests, but the Buddha kept waiting for people’s capabilities to fully mature. Then when the Buddha was about to speak, 5000 people left the assembly right away. When the Buddha finally agreed to teach, these 5000 people paid their respects and left. The Buddha then said, “These people’s roots of transgressions are deep and grave and they have such overbearing arrogance that they claimed to have attained what they had not.” As [the Buddha] was about to teach, these people believed that they already understood everything, so they left the assembly. They were overbearingly arrogant people
overbearingly arrogant people were actually lazy. These lazy people refused to be diligent, so they left. So, not only were they lazy, as the Buddha was about to preach, they actually left without seeking to further understand the Dharma. These people lacked respect and faith. They had no respect for the Buddha, no respect nor faith in the Dharma. This was how they obstructed their own minds. Because of this, they gave rise to overbearing arrogance. This was their karmic obstacle. So, today we will talk about how.
“The indolent ones left. Without respect for the Buddha or faith in the Dharma, their own minds gave rise to obstacles. The roots of their negative karma were deep and grave, and they had the karmic obstacle of overbearing arrogance.”
Because the roots of their bad karma were deep and grave, [they left] even though they had encountered such good Dharma. “It is rare to attain human form and to hear the Dharma.” Although they had attained human form and also encountered the Buddha-Dharma, when the Buddha began to expound the wondrous One Vehicle Dharma, they became indolent and gave rise to disrespect and disbelief. This was why they left the assembly. Their own minds gave rise to obstacles. This was because the roots of their transgressions were deep and grave and had not been completely uprooted. “The roots of their negative karma were deep and grave”
and they created karmic obstacles of overbearing arrogance. So, we must all be vigilant. Have we been indolent? Do we earnestly listen to the Dharma? When we listen to the Dharma, do we feel respect and have faith? If we are not earnest and diligent and lack respect and faith, our minds will give rise to our own obstructions. This kind of negative karma is deep-rooted.
I always wondered, during the Buddha’s lifetime, when the causes and conditions on Vulture Peak had finally matured, when they encountered this rare opportunity, how could 5000 people just simply pay their respects and leave? I constantly pondered this. This was such a precious opportunity; Why would they leave?
If the causes of our transgressions are very deep and our negative karmic conditions are very grave, eliminating them will not be easy. Therefore, we must constantly be self-vigilant. We created these causes ourselves. We also created these conditions ourselves. How can we uproot these old causes and conditions? We must be very diligent. Only if we are diligent can we eliminate our arrogance and indolence.
Take a look around, there is so much that we can put into practice. But often, while others are diligent, we remain lazy and indolent and simply waste our time. This behavior will also deepen our bad karma. While others are taking action and being diligent, we simply remain bystanders; does that mindset actually make us happy? Not at all. When all of us get involved and diligently work together, then we can be happy and at peace. This is how we can feel peaceful and free.
This is why we must constantly be vigilant and take good care of our minds. On the contrary, when the Buddha was still alive and was about to teach the wondrous Dharma, those who obstructed themselves with bad karma just paid their respects to the Buddha and left. Knowing that these people caused themselves to lose out on this opportunity, He was sad, but there was nothing to do. So, He “remained silent and did not stop them.” He quietly let them leave.
Can we imagine how sad the Buddha was at that moment? 5000 people! When 5000 people left the assembly, imagine what things were like then. This must have been really hard on Him, especially when. He had spent so much effort to teach according to capabilities for over 40 years. But in this place where He waited for people’s capabilities to mature, He saw so many people whose capabilities were still not mature. So, the Buddha was very saddened.
The following sutra passage contains what the Buddha said after these people left.
“At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, ‘My assembly has now been cleared of branches and leaves, and only the steadfast and true remain.'”
“My assembly” referred to those who steadfastly sat before Him and joyfully waited for the Buddha to teach the True Dharma. Sariputra had made his request three times, and [the Buddha] stopped him three times. However, he sincerely asked for the teachings three times, so now this group of people, “My assembly” all the disciples in this assembly, “have been cleared of branches and leaves,” They are all very genuine and “only the steadfast and true remain.” So, every one of them is a seed.
Take trees for example. Sometimes we prune tree branches and plant the cuttings in the soil, but they do not have roots. Therefore, the Buddha said that the disciples who were before Him were not like such branches and leaves. They were all seeds. Seeds fall into the soil, and after being nurtured by water, nutrients, sunlight, they begin to grow, gradually becoming a big tree. The tree then begins to bear lots of fruit. So, [these disciples] are “the steadfast and true.” We will explain this further later.
At this moment, though the Buddha [was sad] that 5000 people left the assembly, when He saw the disciples who sat before Him and remained steadfast, He was delighted and praised them, “Only the steadfast and true remain” because they were about to blossom and fruit. So, the Buddha said again,
“Sariputra, they are overbearingly arrogant people. Is is good that they left.”
Those who stayed were wonderful. It is good that those who left, did. Otherwise, if they could not accept the Dharma, they would then spread the wrong teachings. “When one person speaks a lie, thousands propagate it as the truth.” These overbearingly arrogant people only had partial understandings of the Dharma. But they continued to believe that the teachings they had realized were the best. Though they listened to the Dharma here, when they left, they taught whatever they wanted. That was not the True Dharma. So, they “spoke false words.” What they taught was not true; it was “false.” But when other people heard it, they mistook it for the truth and transmitted it to others. Therefore, the Buddha did not want people who felt no respect or faith to stay. Therefore, it was good that they left.
Let us examine this. “My assembly has been cleared of its branches and leaves.” We previously talked about inserting cuttings into the soil. This essentially means they were “without deeply-rooted virtues.” They had not engaged in spiritual practice, so even though they were inserted in the soil, they had not extended their roots. So, they were “without deeply-rooted virtues” and did not naturally give rise to respect or faith. They listened, but they did not have respect or faith. Since they felt disrespect and disbelief, naturally their roots were not deep. Without strong root of faith, naturally they did not have any respect.
The assembly has been cleared of its branches and leaves: Branches and leaves refer to those without deeply-rooted virtues. One without a strong root of faith or a sense of respect is an overbearingly arrogant person.
These branches and leaves were cuttings that were inserted into the soil. Now, there were no such people left. People who lacked faith and respect had left. “Only the steadfast and true remained.” Those who were “honest and steadfast did not flatter or fawn.” These people were ready to accept the Dharma, so “only the steadfast and true remain.” From the bottom of their hearts, they respected the Buddha and believed in the Dharma.
“Only the steadfast and true remain.” Those who are honest and steadfast do not flatter or fawn as they accept the Dharma. They are praised as those among the assembly who are endowed with virtue and faith.
They mindfully listened to the Dharma, and when they transmitted and promoted it, they accurately spread the true Dharma. The Buddha hoped to pass the Dharma to those who were steadfast and true. So, He praised those who were still sitting at the Dharma-assembly, waiting for the Buddha to give teachings. The Buddha praised them happily as
being “endowed with virtue and faith.” They were replete with both virtue and faith. Virtue comes from spiritual practice. Faith comes from utmost sincerity. They were the most honest people. This means that if we want to engage in spiritual practice, we must have qualities such as sincerity, integrity, faith and honesty. Only then can we spread the Dharma-lineage. So, in this assembly, the Buddha praised these determined people, who chose to stay and listen to the Dharma. They were endowed with virtue and faith and engaged in spiritual practice to strengthen their faith.
Next, the sutra states,
“[the Buddha said,] ‘You must now listen well, and I shall expound it for you.’ Sariputra said, ‘Most certainly, World-Honored One We would be eager and delighted to hear it.'”
This was the dialogue between the Buddha and. His disciple. The Buddha was now happy that they had already given rise to respect and faith and were ready to accept this wondrous True Dharma. The Buddha was joyful, and He again reminded them, “You must now listen well.” Since they decided to stay, they must listen attentively. Didn’t we say earlier that we must “listen, contemplate and practice”? After we listen well, we must contemplate mindfully. After contemplating, we must put it into practice.
After those 5000 people left, the Buddha reiterated, “You must now listen well, and I shall expound it for you.” Those who should leave had already left, those with strong belief had stayed. Everyone must remember [the Dharma] and listen attentively. “Listen well” means to listen earnestly. Earlier He said, “Listen for truths” which means to listen carefully. Now He said, “Listen well,” which means to listen earnestly. “I shall expound it for you.” The Buddha earnestly reminded them once again listen for truths and listen well as. He began to speak.
Sariputra also joyfully responded with, “Most certainly,” meaning definitely, absolutely. He told the Buddha they would be happy to listen. Their faith was strong; as they listened to the Dharma with reverence, they would be very happy.
The Buddha had already promised Sariputra that. He would teach these extremely profound and wondrous principles. But those who listened must have firm respect and faith, respect for the Buddha and faith in the Dharma. Without respect and faith, they would hear something false and transmit something that was not true. The Buddha did not want this to happen. He hoped that everyone would accept the Dharma with sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. Then, when they spread the Dharma to others, they could spread the truth. This was the Buddha’s original intention, so we sentient beings must accept and uphold it. Therefore, we must always be mindful.