Episode 299 – Bring Peace and Happiness to Sentient Beings
>> Thus, “Fundamental wisdom is [His] understanding. Acquired wisdom is [His] views. Combined they illuminate enlightened and unenlightened states. These are the Buddha’s understanding and views.”
>> “These myriad sentient beings listen to the teachings from all Buddhas and will ultimately attain all-encompassing wisdom.”
>> “Sariputra, presently in infinite, countless Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions, all Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.”
The sky is a universe unto itself. Its true nature remains unchanging; what moves and changes are the air currents.
So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must learn what this unmoving nature is that can respond to ever-changing phenomena. This is something we need to learn.
Thus, “Fundamental wisdom is [His] understanding. Acquired wisdom is [His] views. Combined they illuminate enlightened and unenlightened states. These are the Buddha’s understanding and views.”
Remember, a few days ago we talked about “ultimate wisdom” and “relative wisdom.” Do you remember? “Ultimate wisdom” is “fundamental wisdom.” We intrinsically have it; we are born with it. We know all of this, but since we are living in an ever-changing world, to adapt to all the changes, we need to apply “acquired wisdom,” which is also known as “relative wisdom.” We all know that things happen, but how do we adapt to them?
Take the Philippines (in 2012) as an example. The peripheral circulation of Typhoon Sura unexpectedly caused major flooding. A very wide area was affected; this was disastrous for many people. Though the people were safe, many houses were submerged by floodwater. Thus they faced unbearable suffering. That area has a relatively large poor population, so Tzu Chi’s manpower in the Philippines was insufficient. Many survivors needed help and a huge area needed to be cleaned up; even without an assessment, we could already know this.
A group of Bodhisattva-volunteers from Taiwan traveled to the Philippines to help those who were affected. They found the local residents cleaning up the affected areas barefooted. They stood in mud and filthy water, without shoes, to clear the debris. When the volunteers saw this in person, [they thought,] “This is unacceptable. If they injured their feet in this mud full of filth, their wounds might become infected.” So, they immediately recommended a distribution of rain boots for them to protect their feet. This is called “relative wisdom,” which is also known as “acquired wisdom.”
When they went into that environment, and saw what was truly needed there, they promptly took action to help them. This is their “acquired wisdom.”
The Buddha’s understanding and views allow Him to understand the unmoving intrinsic nature and the states of varying capabilities. So, the Buddha is already replete with “ultimate wisdom” as well as “relative wisdom.” Combined, they are “all-encompassing wisdom.”
The wisdom we are talking about now, from the perspective of ordinary people, can be divided into “understanding” and “views. Understanding” means He understands everything. Before we arrived, we knew a disaster took place in the Philippines. However, only upon arriving at the scene did we really know their immediate needs. For example, the essential intrinsic nature is something we all intrinsically have. However, we still cannot experience it. Therefore, the Buddha tailors methods for us based on our capabilities and identities in order to teach us. This is “acquired wisdom.” He taught us according to our capabilities, to help us all understand. So, “acquired wisdom” is “worldly wisdom” and “fundamental wisdom” is “world-transcending wisdom.”
In conclusion, the most fundamental part of us is something we all intrinsically have; what is later acquired comes from mindful study and observation.
After this disaster, the government built neatly plotted rows of houses for these people. These houses looked very nice. But in person, there is not much to them. Each unit was about 160 square feet. How many people lived in each house? It was built for seven people. There was nothing inside at all. The houses were actually built with stacks of concrete blocks, covered by sheets of zinc. From afar, based on photos of the exterior, these houses looked quite nice. Many such houses were lined up in neat rows. But in reality, there were actually seven people living in each 160-square-foot home with no furniture and a mud floor. What we see from the outside may be [nice], but we must go inside to personally experience it. Therefore, “acquired wisdom” comes from experiential understanding. To figure out what is needed, we need to make our own assessments.
Here, “illuminating” means that with His wisdom, His understanding and views, He understands the unmoving essence and the ever-changing, varying and impermanent states of sentient beings that result from karma. He understands and can see them all. He knows and sees. So, His “understanding” is true understanding, and His “views” are true insights. He thoroughly and clearly understands.
“Combined they illuminate enlightened and unenlightened states. Enlightened” refers to “fundamental wisdom,” the essence of True Suchness, which never changes. Take the sky for example. Air pressures and conditions cause it to appear to change. But its essence remains the same. That essence is True Suchness. Here, “unenlightened” refers to all worldly phenomena. We come to this world by following our karmic affinities with our parents that connect us to this world. Our time in this world is brief, but over these decades, we have created so much karma. Each of us face different karmic forces and are in an unenlightened state.
The Buddha understands the Four Noble Realms, the realms of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Solitary Realizers and Hearers. He understands all [ten realms,] especially the Six Unenlightened Realms. He has a clear and thorough understanding of all these different states, as of the palm of His own hand. So this is “the Buddha’s understanding and views”; the Buddha’s wisdom is just like this. Thus, as Buddhist practitioners, we must be more meticulous and deliberate. Previously, I reminded all of you to meticulously and thoroughly understand the state of True Suchness as well as how people live in this ordinary world. We must thoroughly understand all of this; this is our goal in learning the Buddha’s teaching.
Since the Buddha comes to “open and reveal,” how can we not “realize and enter”? We must diligently work to do this. The Buddha’s understanding and views are “fundamental wisdom” and “acquired wisdom, ultimate wisdom” and “relative wisdom.” The labels may be different, but they are actually all part of the same thing. Only by understanding this are we able to distinguish the unmoving essence from ever-changing causes, conditions and retributions. Therefore, the Buddha had to utilize analogies and expressions.
We have discussed the related sutra text earlier.
“These myriad sentient beings listen to the teachings from all Buddhas and will ultimately attain all-encompassing wisdom.”
They had the karmic affinity to “listen to the teachings from all Buddhas,” from those who already attained enlightenment. Those who have already awakened, the Buddhas, come to “open and reveal” [teachings]. We must be mindful and be sincerely willing to seek the Dharma. We cannot just listen occasionally and casually or hear it and then say, “Yes, I understand” and then leave it at that. We must be very earnest because this has a major effect on our wisdom-life.
The suffering in life, cyclic existence in the Six Realms, is beyond our control. We constantly go through this process, without control over what happens. Isn’t this very sad? Since we have the rare opportunity to hear Dharma, we must diligently engage in spiritual practice.
We have the karmic affinity to listen to the Buddha’s teachings now because we created the karmic connection to listening to the teachings in our past lives. Perhaps in the past, we lived at the same time as Sakyamuni Buddha. Even Sakyamuni Buddha followed countless Buddhas in spiritual practice. Perhaps we, along with Sakyamuni Buddha, have listened to teachings from countless Buddhas. The only difference is that Sakyamuni Buddha earnestly engaged in spiritual practice. By listening, contemplating and practicing, He put the teachings into action. Thus, life after life, He has clear understanding and comes to the world to “open and reveal” this to sentient beings.
Yet, we forever remain unenlightened beings. After listening to the Dharma from all Buddhas, we still cannot realize the ultimate. That is what happened in the past. What about now? We should be determined to realize the ultimate by listening to the Dharma. The ultimate is when we completely understand and mindfully accept the teachings. We cannot just casually listen to them and then forget about them, definitely not. After listening, we must consider them carefully. After contemplating, understanding and realizing, we must put the teachings into action. We can no longer wait; time is running out. So, we must act quickly to attain “all-encompassing wisdom.”
“All-encompassing wisdom” is the Buddha’s wisdom. “All-encompassing wisdom” is unmoving and is unaffected by the ever-changing world. No matter how many external changes there are, its essence will remain steadfast..
So the sutra continues,
“Sariputra, presently in infinite, countless Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions, all Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.”
The Buddha said to Sariputra again, “Sariputra, presently in infinite, countless Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions,” all Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, are present. As we have constantly discussed, every one of us is a Buddha. In the past, there has already been a countless number of Buddhas. This passage is a description of the vastness of time, the expansiveness of space and the myriads of sentient beings in the past. “Sentient beings, the mind and the Buddha are no different [in their nature].” The present is the culmination of a lengthy and incalculable amount of time. Time is an infinitely long river that is constantly moving. As the present is a continuation of the past, the present will also extend into the future.
I also told everyone that the “present” is this current instant, from which we talk about the past. It is also from this current instant that we continue on into the future. The past, present and future do not end at this second; “this instant” goes on endlessly. Thus there were infinite, countless Buddha-lands in the past throughout the ten directions, and also infinite, countless Buddha-lands in the present throughout the ten directions. Many Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, come to greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness. This is the one great cause for which all Buddhas manifest in this world, “to greatly benefit sentient beings.” They come to “greatly benefit” all sentient beings. This is not just human beings but all living beings in the world.
This is why we constantly say that we must not kill living beings. We must protect and respect all life. This is why we have been encouraging vegetarianism. Not consuming the meat of sentient beings is a great way to benefit them. We should not only cherish other humans. The Buddha taught principles to help us understand our cyclic existence in the Six Realms. All sentient beings likewise have Buddha-nature. For the sake of this world, while we are in this world, we cherish all sentient beings with a Buddha-mind. This is how we “greatly benefit sentient beings.” Since the Buddha greatly benefits sentient beings we Buddhist practitioners must also do the same, “greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.”
Sentient beings are suffering. Wherever there is suffering, we must go there and find ways to help them. By assisting and comforting them, they can be at peace and happy in body and mind. This is the one great cause for which the Buddha comes to the world, to “open and reveal.” His understanding and views for sentient beings to “realize and enter.” Since the Buddha has manifested in this world, the countless numbers of past Buddhas in Their Buddha-lands and the present Sakyamuni Buddha in His Buddha-land, this Saha world, all share the same path “to greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.”
Everyone, don’t we wish to learn from the Buddha? The Buddha taught us with this mindset, so we must earnestly accept His teachings. Then we must put these teachings into practice and apply them in this world, so we are able to “greatly benefit sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.” So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must always be mindful.