Episode 283 – The Ultimate Reality
>> “The one great cause is the ultimate reality. Its nature is extensive; therefore it is called great. The course of the Tathagata’s coming to the world and transforming others is His ‘great cause.”
>> Sentient beings are endowed with this ultimate reality, which evokes a response from the Buddha’s compassion. This is the cause. The Tathagata realized this ultimate reality and could thus transform sentient beings in response. This is the condition.
“The one great cause is the ultimate reality.
Its nature is extensive;
therefore it is called great.
The course of the Tathagata’s
coming to the world and transforming others
is His ‘great cause.”
This “one great cause” is what we have discussed for these past few days. The Buddha comes to this world for this one great cause. The “one great cause” is [revealing] the ultimate reality. The “ultimate true principles” and the “ultimate reality of the One Vehicle” are both the True Suchness of our intrinsic nature. The Buddha [comes to this world] for the sake of the “nature” of all things. Are we humans the only living beings with an intrinsic nature? Actually, all things in the universe have their own nature. Grasses have the nature of grasses. Flowers also have the nature of flowers. Trees, stones, mountains, water, land, everything we can possibly see, have their own underlying ultimate principles.
How can we completely understand. ․this ultimate reality? If something has an appearance, it has a nature. Based on the appearance of a blade of grass, we can try to identify it. People who recognize it know it is lemongrass. So, its appearance is that of lemongrass. What about its nature? It is fragrant. Lemongrass has a sweet [citrus-like] fragrance. ․We can then try to identify another grass. What is this one? People engaged in agriculture or farming will know that this is called nut grass.
It may not be familiar to most of you. A blade of nut grass is much smaller than a blade of lemongrass. Although it is very small, it has tremendous vitality. In terms of its nature, it can penetrate the ground deeply. Its seed does not rest near the top of the soil; instead it stays deep underground. If we are farmers, we will fear nut grass the most. If we want to eliminate this type of grass, when we see a blade, we must hold on to it as we carefully dig downward. This is because its seeds are found on its thin roots in a network of fine tubers. Therefore, it can still flourish even if only a thin root is [left in the ground]. So with nut grass, as long as there is one seed in the soil, it can multiply at a very fast pace. The things we want to plant can be quickly overwhelmed by this type of grass.
Back when we planted peanuts, we sowed the peanut seeds and then packed the soil by stepping on it. After two days, if you look at the ground, you would see some cracks. After three days, if you look again, you will find a few peanut seedlings. After three, five, seven days, when you look on the seventh day, you will see peanut seedlings covering the ground. ․However, if we find a blade of nut grass next to the peanuts, then we must quickly and carefully seek its roots. We must remove its seeds. Otherwise, nut grass can multiply quickly. Each of its seeds can sprout a seedling, which then generates many more seeds. Then it will be very difficult for peanuts to grow well because their nutrients are absorbed by the nut grass.
For farmers to cultivate [the land], they need to have this type of wisdom and this type of patience. In order to plant peanuts, we need to take care of this field by preventing weeds from growing. In particular, farmers already know the nature of weeds and how to eliminate them. They know the nature of seeds and how to care for them. In this world, we see things of all shapes and sizes; each has its own ultimate principles and even its own nature. There are so many things that we can never understand them all. In this world, there are so many natures and appearances, each with an underlying principle. This is how the world works.
When the Buddha comes to this world, He needs to understand all these things. So, we can compare the Buddha to a farmer. He also calls Himself a farmer, the person who sows the seeds. The Buddha Himself makes this analogy. He must recognize the natures and appearances of the world itself and the seed-nature within everything. He needs to understand every object, its seed and its nature. So, He is the Enlightened One, who understands all things in the world. Moreover, the Buddha comes to this world to specifically help human beings. He is here for that one great cause. As I mentioned previously, sentient beings are endowed with the seed-nature of ultimate reality.
Sentient beings are endowed with this ultimate reality, which evokes a response from the Buddha’s compassion. This is the cause. The Tathagata realized this ultimate reality and could thus transform sentient beings in response. This is the condition.
Every person has the appearance of a human. They all have capabilities and opportunities, which come from their causes and conditions. When they have such potential, the Buddha will respond out of compassion. Sentient beings and everything in the world, all animals and plants, are the same. They all have causes, conditions, seed-nature, which are all endowed with the ultimate reality. All seeds are subject to conditions of the land. Causes connect with the sun, moon, wind, water, and so on, the conditions of the elements, in order to grow on this earth. The Buddha has affinities with sentient beings because they all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. With this potential, this cause, they must certainly have karmic connections with the Buddha.
The Buddha cannot bear to let sentient beings continuously multiply their afflictions and continuously create karma. As sentient beings live on this land, they damage it. The more afflictions they have, the more damage they cause. The Buddha cannot bear to let this happen. Sentient beings are replete with potential, so the Buddha is moved by this cause and comes to this world due to the karmic connection between Him and sentient beings. He comes because of the causes and conditions of the one great work. This “one great work,” aside from the nature and appearances of all things in the world, has its own extensive nature and appearance, not to mention human nature and appearances.
So, we always say that when we engage in spiritual practice, we must cultivate our minds. The Buddha came to this world for this reason. Clearly, we all have a pure intrinsic nature. The truth of the ultimate reality, our Tathagata-nature, has always been there, but because of karmic causes and conditions, we end up harming each other. Confrontations do not only exist among humans, but also between humans and the earth.
Take Heping Village in 2012 for example. Though Typhoon Saola did not bring strong winds, it brought a lot of rain, causing substantial damage to Heping Village. Water washed rocks down from the mountain. In areas such as Heping, Hezhong and Heren, not only did the water wash down rocks, mudslides buried many homes. Over 100 houses were buried or damaged.
Take a look at these rocks. How could water bring down so many rocks? The water did not cause damage to the mountain, most likely humans did. Volunteers who provided relief and assessed the conditions sent back many reports. One of the reports mentioned an explosives depot located in Hezhong. So I asked, “Why is there an explosives depot there?” Hualien’s county magistrate replied, “High quality marble is found on that mountain. Also, the dirt used by Taiwan Cement Company is also taken from there.” So, they used explosives to blast the mountain open.
In order to dig deeper into its core, they had to use explosives because the entire mountain is made of rock. Manual labor is limited and can only harvest limited quantities. To acquire as much as they can, they used explosives to blow up the mountain. After several decades, maybe for almost 100 years, they continually used explosives to obtain marble.
So, high quality marble was removed from mines inside the mountain. Large pieces have been removed as well as smaller pieces, which are actually approximately a meter wide. They were distributed around the mountain and mines. Because the rain was so heavy, that large amount of water washed rocks of various sizes down the mountain, which caused extensive damage to the homes of many people.
The world also has an original nature, which is the ultimate nature of all things. Everything in the world has very a valuable nature and appearance. Consider this huge mountain. It contains very valuable marble. Because the marble is very valuable, humans, out of greed for wealth, use explosives to blow up the mountain in order to obtain [the marble]. But if we damage the mountain, it will be damaged forever. After we remove something from it, [that empty space will remain empty]. When we cause damage to the mountain, we are destroying the nature and appearance of the world. Marble’s original nature is very rigid and solid. As for its appearance, after it is extracted, it is utilized in buildings.
Looking back at these last few decades, based on the amount of construction we see, we can tell how how much cement we have consumed and how many mines we have established. After we establish these mines to construct houses and apartment buildings, the homes next to the mountains are subject to calamities. Therefore, human desires damage the land.
The Buddha comes to this world to teach us these principles and to help us learn the truths and ultimate reality of the world. We should all be grateful, be content with what we have and live in peace. We must not give rise to greed because it will give rise to afflictions and ignorance, which cause tremendous damages to this world. The Buddha’s goal in coming to this world is to thoroughly and openly explain major principles, so we can understand them.
However, time is limited, so He teaches us to treat our [particular] psychologies. Otherwise, the nature of all things in the world is [too] extensive, and the principles are [too] great. There is nothing that the Buddha does not know or is unaware of. The Buddha is the Great Enlightened One. ․However, to further our understanding, He had to [help us] fully eliminate our ignorance and afflictions and return to our Tathagata-nature. He helps us realize that we did not come to this world solely for material enjoyment. If so, we will continuously create karma. It is really hard to know how much karma this generates. So now, we need to help people learn ways to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions.
We are also always working to return to our intrinsic nature. What are the truths of ultimate reality? What is the intrinsic nature of True Suchness in the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle? Why do we have the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism? Because we need to return to the Jing Si Dharma-lineage. This is what we must diligently work to do. If we do not understand that ultimate reality has such an extensive nature and broad principles, we will not understand its nature and appearances. The Tathagata comes to this world for this one great cause, this one great cause. Because sentient beings have a particular karmic connection with. Sakyamuni Buddha, the Buddha comes to the world to transform them.
The story of His life, from birth to Parinirvana, was a manifestation for us. So, He was a living example for us. He manifested an example in this world for us to learn from. This was how He transformed living beings. This was His one great cause.
Dear Bodhisattvas, this “one great cause” is also something you and I should share. We must benefit others and protect the Earth. This is our “one great cause.” If we go against this “one great cause,” we will be the source of troubles in the world. Then that becomes one great problem. The Buddha comes to this world to guide us to the true and the ultimate, the extensive “one great cause.” So, I hope everyone will always be mindful.