Episode 289 – With the Buddha’s Understanding and Views
>> Sentient Beings Can Awaken. “We all have the same Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya. Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate. Though they know that. Buddha-wisdom is supreme, they feel that only Buddhas can have it. So, they remain limited, disinclined to [learn] great Dharma.”
>> The Buddha told Sariputra, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Their actions are always for the one cause, to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”
>> “Come only [to teach] the unsurpassed meaning. With all-encompassing wisdom, they always know all paths and know all causes. This is called all-encompassing wisdom.”
>> They come for nothing else: Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle. They do not realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.
Sentient Beings Can Awaken.
“We all have the same Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya.
Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate.
Though they know that. Buddha-wisdom is supreme,
they feel that only Buddhas can have it.
So, they remain limited, disinclined to [learn] great Dharma.”
This is telling everyone that we all know Buddha-nature is equal [in everyone]. After such a long period of time, we should believe this. Our destination in learning the Buddha’s teachings is the attainment of Buddhahood. ․Otherwise, why do we engage in spiritual practice? We should believe in what the Buddha tells us, that. “We all have the same. Buddha-nature and Dharmakaya.”
However, Two Vehicle practitioners who lived in the Buddha’s time, who followed Him into monastic life and stayed by His side to learn from Him, could not realize the ultimate Dharma. The Buddha constantly expounded the Dharma according to capabilities, so they thought that was the extent of the Dharma. Though they all knew that the wisdom of the Buddha is unsurpassed, Two Vehicle practitioners did not know about the ultimate Dharma within themselves. Therefore, they all had the same kind of thinking, that since the Buddha is supreme, unsurpassed, His intrinsic Buddha-nature is something exclusively Buddhas have. [Buddha-nature] seems very distant to us.
When we consider ourselves, it seems like only a Buddha could attain enlightenment and only one such as Sakyamuni Buddha could have intrinsic Buddha-nature; it seems completely unrelated to us. Thus, these practitioners stayed with the Small Vehicle and were not inclined toward Great Vehicle teachings. By deciding to stay in that state, they hindered themselves. They did not understand that the Buddha was teaching that everybody can become a Buddha. They believed there is ever only one Buddha, and no one else can [aspire to that]. So in the beginning, Two Vehicle practitioners did not dare believe they could attain Buddhahood.
Sometimes I wonder, since they had been at Buddha’s side, constantly listening to Him teach for a long time, how could they not have faith? They still hesitated at the threshold. Clearly, the Buddha had opened a door for them, all they had to do was walk in and look. These people had been taught by the Buddha, so they knew that the Six Destinies and. Three Realms are unbearable suffering. They also knew that the Six Destinies are filled with endless torment and the Three Realms are not long-lasting. Knowing these facts, they aspired to follow the Buddha and become monastics in hopes of ending their cyclic existence. They stopped at that stage, as Two Vehicle practitioners.
Do you remember what the two are? Hearers entered [the Dharma] through the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, learning the truth of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Pratyekabuddhas were a stage above them. Through the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence, they understood causes, conditions, effects and retributions. Therefore, Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats were afraid of seeking karmic affinities because they were afraid of creating bad causes or forming negative karmic connections. Thus, they remained Two Vehicle practitioners, afraid of moving forward [in their practice]. This was because they did not know the ultimate; they did not know that, at this point, they needed to take another step forward. They could not just stay within themselves, they had to open the door to their hearts and walk outside.
If we always guard ourselves and only look after ourselves, the evil world of the Five Turbidities around us, the burning house of the Three Realms, will still be very unstable. So, we must quickly open our hearts and interact with others to purify their minds too. In this way, we can put out the fire in the burning house of the Three Realms. This is something we should all do. This was the Buddha’s hope, that we could all walk the Bodhisattva-path.
By entering [teachings], we can walk the Bodhisattva-path of working with others while guarding our minds. By understanding the Four Noble Truths, the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence and the ultimate Buddha-nature of True Suchness, by reaching this level, we can freely go among people without being defiled by the world’s turbidity and still be able to leave safely. At the same time, we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, so we will aspire to go into the world again. When we can freely go in and out of this world, we have truly attained the Buddha’s Dharmakaya and the nature of True Suchness. What the Buddha wanted to do was to teach us, so we can reach this level.
Therefore, the following passage states that.
The Buddha told Sariputra, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Their actions are always for the one cause, to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”
From this passage, we can understand that the Buddha wants sentient beings to realize that Buddha-nature is the same in us all. The Buddha comes to the world for one great cause, to teach the Bodhisattva-path. So, it says, “All Buddhas, Tathagatas, solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way.” All Buddhas refers not just to Sakyamuni Buddha, but all Buddhas of the ten directions. Past and present Buddhas are the same; They all teach sentient beings to walk the Bodhisattva-path.
Therefore, “all Their actions are always for the one cause.” Everything all Buddhas do is for Their one great cause in this world, which is “to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.” They taught the Buddha’s understanding and views to help sentient beings to awaken.
So, “All Buddhas, the Tathagatas,”
“Come only [to teach] the unsurpassed meaning. With all-encompassing wisdom, they always know all paths and know all causes. This is called all-encompassing wisdom.”
Something unsurpassed is supreme. The goal of the Buddha in coming to this world is to guide sentient beings by teaching “the unsurpassed meaning.” This “unsurpassed meaning” is supreme Dharma; there is no teaching beyond this one. From here on, in the sutra we often see the term. “Annutara-samyak-sambodhi.”
Annutara-samyak-sambodhi means supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment. The Buddha comes to the world to teach sentient beings to reach the state of supreme, perfect, universal enlightenment. This is the great teaching He gave in this world.
With “all-encompassing wisdom,” He knows all paths. The Buddha has the wisdom to know how we should walk this road. He knows the fundamental principles behind why we transmigrate in the Six Realms and cannot escape. This passage is saying that the actions of sentient beings lead them down certain paths to end up in certain realms. So, “[He] knows all paths.” He knows the causes and conditions that each of us have created. As humans, we all have problems with our families. We have problems getting along with other people and problems with society. We each face different problems, and the Buddha always knows what causes we planted and what affinities we formed that led to such retributions in this life. This knowledge comes from His pure and clear.
Tathagata-nature, which is also all-encompassing wisdom also known as great perfect mirror wisdom. He also “knows all causes,” all the causes and karma we created. “All causes” can fall into many categories. Humans are a category. Animals fall into many categories, [as do] beings in hell, and so on. As for the difficulties and suffering we all face, we only understand our own. We cannot understand others’ suffering. Because of the Buddha’s compassion, He can truly feel the suffering of sentient beings as if it is His own. “When others hurt, we hurt; when they suffer, we suffer.” This is the heart of a Buddha.
All-encompassing wisdom is the combination of knowing all paths and all causes. Together these are all-encompassing wisdom. This is Buddha-wisdom.
In the end, the Buddha comes to this world solely to teach the Bodhisattva-path, so Bodhisattvas must first learn these [methods]. He comes to teach the Bodhisattva Way. All Buddhas come to this world to do one thing. All they do is “always for the one cause.” They are always, constantly working for one thing, “to reveal all Buddhas’ understanding and views for sentient beings to realize.”
They come for nothing else: Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle. They do not realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.
“They come for nothing else.” Buddhas come to do only one thing, no other. So, They are “not here for any other matter. Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, which is only possible through the One Vehicle.” The Two Vehicles are Hearers, Pratyekabuddhas.
Hearers start with the Four Noble Truths. Pratyekabuddhas start with the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. [However], they stopped after learning the Four Noble Truths or the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. [They only know] these principles. So Two Vehicle practitioners do not know the ultimate, “which is only possible through the One Vehicle.” They do not know that the ultimate Dharma is to return to the One Buddha Vehicle.
Understanding the Four Noble Truths is only part of the process. This helps us realize that we cannot stop there and linger in this world. Everything in this world is suffering. No matter how much we love someone, our inevitable parting will cause us suffering. We cannot be obsessed with worldly pleasures. To obtain these worldly pleasures we create karma, but in the end nothing remains. [So, the Buddha] guides us through this door to help us clearly understand. After we are clear, we need to return to ultimate principles. We can transcend this suffering forever. We will not be confused again by sensual pleasures of wealth, lust and intoxicants, so we can transcend our desires. The Buddha wants to help us come and go with ease, never hindered by karmic retributions. This is the ultimate Dharma. But Two Vehicle practitioners do not know this, so they cannot realize the path of the One Reality, the Buddha’s understanding and views.
The Buddha wants to reveal this to help us understand that. His understanding and views are like this. He is doing everything He can to help us realize what He knows and understands. He holds back nothing. However, we still cannot completely understand. We need to realize that the Buddha [is here to] teach the Bodhisattva Way. His understanding and views [are revealed] only to teach the Bodhisattva Way and to teach that Bodhisattvas’ and Buddhas’ understanding and views are at the same [level]. “[He] solely want to teach the Bodhisattva Way” to explain that this is the Buddha’s intention; Bodhisattvas must live among people and teach and guide sentient beings.
Because of sentient beings’ capabilities, the Buddha has to exercise “relative wisdom” to come up with teachings they can accept. He may teach the path to human and heavenly birth, so people first create good causes and affinities to avoid the suffering of creating karma. Perhaps everyone has thought more deeply and realized that though we enjoy a longer life and many pleasures in heaven, once we deplete our blessings, we will still fall. This is not the ultimate. We need to understand that everything is suffering and the causation of suffering. He may teach the path for Hearers. Some people have higher capabilities and know that to follow the Four Noble Truths, to [eliminate] suffering and walk this Path, we must also understand the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. These are teachings for Pratyekabuddhas.
“All for the sake of teaching and enabling sentient beings to complete the Bodhisattva-path.” From teachings for the human and heaven realm to teachings for Hearers to teachings for Pratyekabuddhas, all are given according to their capabilities. They are taught to plant roots of goodness. During this period, the Buddha told them they had not attained the ultimate and needed to go up another level and let go of [teachings] they were attached to. They had to start over and pave the Bodhisattva-path with roots of goodness. So, ultimately these are all part of the same Bodhisattva-path. This is the Buddha’s compassionate teaching. Everything He does is “always for the one cause.” Always, this work is the cause and condition for Him to manifest in the world to teach sentient beings.
Dear Bodhisattvas, Buddhas have the ability to become enlightened, and so do we. We simply must take the next step; we must not stop here. So everyone, please always be mindful.