Episode 285 – Respectfully Listen to and Accept Instruction
>> “The assembly were in accord with the Buddha’s mind. They happily listened to teachings and respectfully followed instructions, so they immediately attained clear minds, understanding and views to reveal the purity of their true intrinsic nature.”
>> He “wanted to reveal to sentient beings the Buddha’s understanding and views. Thus [He] manifested in this world.”
>> “[He] wanted to help all beings realize the Buddha’s understanding and views,” so He manifested in the world. [They] want to reveal to sentient beings: They open the Tathagata-garbha [for us] to see ultimate reality. The ultimate reality [buried] in afflictions is called the Tathagata-garbha. The ultimate reality that transcends afflictions is called the Dharmakaya.
“The assembly were in accord with the Buddha’s mind.
They happily listened to teachings and respectfully followed instructions,
so they immediately attained clear minds, understanding and views
to reveal the purity of their true intrinsic nature.”
This is telling everyone that the Buddha put His heart into giving teachings and also had a large group of disciples who put their hearts into accepting it. Though the Buddha was asked to teach three times by Sariputra, the Buddha stopped him three times. That was because sentient beings did not yet have the capabilities to accept the teachings. So, the Buddha said to stop three times. But then, 5000 people left the assembly. Those who remained followed the Buddha attentively and
understood His intent, just like Sariputra. This large group of people was already joyful and [ready] to accept the Buddha’s teaching. They were in accord with the Buddha’s mind and understood that the Buddha was about to teach the great Dharma. So, all of them “happily listened to the teachings and instructions.” They listened to the Buddha’s teaching with joy, so they had the utmost respect when they accepted the teachings. By utilizing this mindset, “they happily listened to teachings and respectfully followed the instructions.” By accepting the Buddha’s [teachings,] “they immediately attained clear minds, understanding and views.”
To have a clear mind we must eliminate afflictions. Every bit we eliminate brings a bit of clarity and takes us an inch closer to the Buddha’s mind. We are constantly drawing closer. So, this “reveals the purity of our true intrinsic nature.” The closer we draw to [the Buddha’s] understanding and views, to our intrinsic nature, the purer our self-nature naturally becomes. This is an undeniable principle.
One time, Ananda asked the Buddha, “Sentient beings have different capabilities, so how do they accept the teachings and what realizations can they attain?” The Buddha thought for a moment and said, “Let me give you an example.”
[The Buddha told him a story] from ancient times. A certain elder had a successful business and was very wealthy. He had a very close friend, who had only one son. This only child loved fun and lacked restraint. Though his friend was very wealthy, it was all wasted by his self-indulgent son, on eating, gambling and shopping.
This once-wealthy family suffered a drastic decline in fortune. So, his friend became worried and angry. Moreover, due to their poor living conditions, his friend fell ill. He then entrusted his son to the wealthy elder and said, “My son is reckless. He wasted my fortune and and upset me so much I almost died. I aged too quickly. However, he is my son after all. So, please educate him the best you can and help him understand how to live his life.” Then his friend passed away.
The wealthy elder felt responsible for [the son] and was willing to [help him]. So, he called the young man over. “Young man, have you learned anything from this? Your fortune is gone. Your father, whom you depend on, passed away. You don’t have anything now. Listen to me, and I will give you 1000 gold pieces as capital for you to start a life. Use it well to make a fair and legitimate living.” So, the elder gave the young man 1000 gold pieces.
However, this young man spent this money on social engagements for business and ate, gambled and squandered as he did before. Eventually, he was completely broke again. He came back to his father figure, this elder, and said, “I worked hard on this business, but I failed. Not only did I not make money, I actually owe other people money.” This elder then put forth great effort to teach him the principles of being a good person and again gave the young man 1000 gold pieces. The same thing happened five times.
One day, the young man returned for the sixth time. Again, he said, “I worked hard, but…,” and so on. The elder happened to see a pile of trash by the door and a beggar, who was very young, searching through it for something to eat or use. The elder also saw a dead mouse. So, he told this reckless young man who wanted more money, “Look at this pile of trash. That mouse is dead, but a person who strives to make good use of resources can find ways to utilize even this pile of trash and this mouse. If one is determined, even from this pile of trash and this dead mouse, one can gain very useful principles.” Then the elder said, “I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Here is another 1000 gold pieces. Take care of yourself.”
After taking the money, the reckless young man walked away, and the elder continued on his way. The young beggar by the trash was far from them, but when he heard what the elder told the young man, he thought, “As for the mouse in this pile of trash, did the elder mean to treat it with compassion? I should treat this mouse the way he treats the reckless young man, with that same compassion.” He carefully buried the mouse in a graveyard and then sincerely wished him well.
However, he kept thinking about how he could be a good person and really live a good life. So, he earnestly begged for food from others and saved and collected his leftovers. Then, he dried and preserved the food and brought it to poor households. He told them, “These are the leftovers from wealthy households. I preserved them, and I will sell them to you at very cheap price. You can spend very little money on food that is good quality.”
After a while, he was slowly able to grow his savings from the little money he made. With that money, he purchased vegetables and sold them as a vendor. With the money he made from selling vegetables, he purchased a piece of land and started tending the soil. He worked hard on cultivating the field to plant vegetables to sell. In this way, he slowly expanded his land holdings and slowly accumulated his wealth. After some years, he became a businessman.
After more than a decade passed, he thought, “I am very successful today for one reason, the teaching that elder gave over 10 years ago. Out of love for a friend’s son, he gave unconditionally and tried his best to educate the young man. From his teaching, I gained this knowledge ‘Not repaying a kindness received goes against my awakened mind.’ The reason I am successful today is because of him. If I don’t repay his kindness, I am going against my awakened mind, So, I must repay him.”
So one day, this young man had a very big silver plate made. He also had a gold mouse made and filled the mouse’s belly with many valuables. Then, he placed the mouse on the silver plate and surrounded it with pearls and carnelians to represent the trash around it. This referenced what the elder had said about the trash and the mouse. After arranging everything on the plate, he respectfully carried it to the elder and presented it before him.
The elder did not remember this young man at all. So the young man told the elder how, nearly twenty years ago, when he was still quite young, he heard the elder’s teaching, which inspired him tremendously. This led him to work hard for a living. He relayed the whole story to the elder. The elder was very touched so he married his daughter to him. He said, “You are a very good young man. As a child, after simply hearing those words, you became very successful. Today, by repaying me, you show that you are filled with love. I entrust you with all my wealth. You must remember to have faith in the Buddha-Dharma and use the Four Infinite Minds to give with love.”
After finishing this story, the Buddha then said to Ananda, “A dead mouse can lead to great wealth. That young man is now standing in front of me as Bhiksu Panthaka. The elder is now I, Sakyamuni Buddha. The reckless young man is now Devadatta.”
“Devadatta received my help numerous times, akin to 600 million chapters of teachings. Even if I give him all 600 million chapters he will still turn away without accepting them. He will verbally agree with it yet go against it in his actions, just like how the reckless young man said, ‘I will change. I agree, and I will change.’ He agreed verbally but turned around and did something different. Thus, he went against the path. He says the right things, but he refuses to act on it. So, he does not back up words with actions. To verbally agree but physically defy is [the way of] a petty person with worldly knowledge and cleverness. This is what Devadatta does.” For these kinds of people, no matter how many teachings they hear, it would still be no use.
From afar, [the boy] heard the advice given to another. The simple principle he learned was applied over the rest of his life. Consider how he repaid [this kindness] with a silver plate, a gold mouse and all kinds of treasures that represented that scene with the trash. With determination, even trash can become gold. Even a dead mouse [can inspire] someone to care for all sentient beings. This is a person who truly comprehends the Buddha’s understanding and views.
The following passage is about [why] the Buddha came to the world.
He “wanted to reveal to sentient beings the Buddha’s understanding and views. Thus [He] manifested in this world.”
The Buddha comes to the world to teach all beings. His understanding and views teach sentient beings His understanding and views.
“[He] wanted to help all beings realize the Buddha’s understanding and views,” so He manifested in the world. [They] want to reveal to sentient beings: They open the Tathagata-garbha [for us] to see ultimate reality. The ultimate reality [buried] in afflictions is called the Tathagata-garbha. The ultimate reality that transcends afflictions is called the Dharmakaya.
“[They] want to reveal to sentient beings by opening the Tathagata-garbha [for us] to see ultimate reality.” The Buddha wanted to teach sentient beings that they all intrinsically have the Tathagata-garbha. Every one of us has it. He helps us open this treasury within ourselves, so we can see the true principles. Because ultimate reality exists in afflictions, there is a saying, “Afflictions are Bodhi.” This means that ultimate reality exists in afflictions, because we sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature, but our minds are filled with afflictions. Actually, even when we are afflicted, our Buddha-nature is not diminished. This is our Tathagata-garbha. When ultimate reality is free from afflictions, then it is the Dharmakaya. If we can see through our afflictions, ultimate reality will appear.
Everyone, in our practice, [we can be like] Devadatta or Bhiksu Panthaka. They were both the Buddha’s disciples. One was mindful; he received little but did a lot because he believed in and practiced [the Dharma]. The other received so much but constantly lost it and became evil. The result depends on how practitioners apply the teachings. So everyone, please always be mindful.