Episode 338 – May Sentient Beings Walk the Wondrous Path
>> May all sentient beings understand the Tathagata-path, enter a sea of wisdom, dwell in the Tathagata-home, carry out Tathagata-actions and don Tathagata-clothing.
>> Those with dull capabilities delight in Small [Vehicle] Dharma and greedily cling to cyclic existence. Despite encountering countless Buddhas, they have not walked the profound, wondrous path. They are troubled by myriads of afflictions, so for them I speak of Nirvana.
>> [They] have not walked the profound, wondrous path: Sentient beings who wander far from Buddhas cannot come in contact with the profound and wondrous Dharma of the Lotus Sutra. So, they have not walked the profound, wondrous path.
>> [They are] troubled by myriads of afflictions: All suffering in this world arises from greed, anger and ignorance, when things do not go as people wish. Their desires are hard to fully satisfy, so they always suffer from not getting what they want. Thus, they trouble themselves and others without feeling remorse.
>> Life is impermanent, but we are not aware of that. So, we cling to thousand-year dreams and illusions and never awaken. In this era, people’s lives are filled with vicious games. Sexual desires destroy our morality, our models of ethics and virtue. Without sense or reason, there is no shame or remorse.
>> For them, I speak of Nirvana: Nirvana means perfect rest or crossing into extinction, extinguishing the cause and effect of samsara and crossing the violent rapids of samsara. Tranquility and cessation: the perfect stillness of the mind that comes from eliminating afflictions.
May all sentient beings
understand the Tathagata-path,
enter a sea of wisdom,
dwell in the Tathagata-home,
carry out Tathagata-actions
and don Tathagata-clothing.
As Buddhist practitioners, from the moment we form our initial aspirations and [take refuge] in the Three Treasures, we must always be mindful of the Three Treasures. We are all disciples of the Buddha. From the moment we take refuge, we recite the Three Refuges as part of every morning and evening recitation. We constantly remind ourselves, “I take refuge with the Buddha. May all living beings comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration.”
Everyone, have we ourselves understood the great path? When we understand the great path, our minds can remain calm and collected. After we understand the great path, have we [wished the same for sentient beings]? We ourselves have understood the great path, but what about sentient beings? Other people? Do they understand the Buddha’s principles?
In life, there is much suffering, but it is not caused by lack of material wealth. Nowadays, there is a lot of trade and manufacturing, so finding a job is not difficult. Then where is the suffering coming from? People do not lack tangible material goods, but they greatly lack intangible wisdom. People nowadays only have worldly intelligence; they lack the wisdom to completely understand the truth. So, we must form aspirations. “May all living beings” completely understand the truth. As we recite the Three Refuges, this is our first vow and aspiration. This becomes our [mission]. Therefore, we must put the three vows of the Three Refuges into practice.
“I take refuge with the Dharma. May all living beings have wisdom like the ocean.” We must awaken our wisdom, then [vow,]. “May all living beings lead the people harmoniously without obstructions.” This means we must transform sentient beings. Aside from developing the wisdom to understand principles ourselves, we must also aspire to spread the Buddha-Dharma throughout the world, so everyone can enter this great, direct Bodhi-path and recognize its beauty and principles. We should also wholeheartedly enter the Sutra-treasury and return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
This is what all of us must strive to do. We must cultivate ourselves to awaken others. If we do not work hard, how can we use this Dharma to awaken others? So, we must vow, “May all living beings understand the Tathagata-path.” With this mindset, we can vow to help all sentient beings understand the Tathagata’s principles. If we can understand the principles, naturally we will “enter the ocean of wisdom.”
Wisdom is likened to an ocean to signify vastness. If we can develop wisdom, our minds see and recognize our consciousness, like an ocean of wisdom. Only when this happens can we truly approach the state of the Buddha. Thus, if we can “enter an ocean of wisdom,” we will “dwell in the Tathagata-home.”
The Tathagata’s family is a group environment, not a solitary one. The Buddha is the kind father of sentient beings in the Three Realms, so it is clear that our family, the Tathagata-home, is very large. Thus, if we can “enter an ocean of wisdom,” we can “dwell in the Tathagata-home,” which is a very harmonious state.
[Then we] “carry out Tathagata-actions.” The rule of this family is to view the world as part of our family and everyone as our loved one. For all of us, wisdom-life is reinvigorated by the same Dharma-essence. Then we can “don Tathagata-clothing.” The clothing we all wear is Tathagata-clothing. Consider our Tzu Chi organization. When people see Tzu Chi volunteers in an orderly formation, they immediately know that we are. Tzu Chi volunteers. They know we are probably going somewhere to do something that benefits all people. This is already a fixed image in people’s minds.
Each of us must take personal responsibility for all sentient beings. So, we must sustain our initial aspiration. We want to purify our own minds as well as the minds of all sentient beings. We also aspire and vow to widely spread the Buddha’s teachings.
“I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” Our first vow is to deliver sentient beings. In order to do so, we “vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” We must eliminate endless afflictions. If we cannot eliminate our own afflictions, how can we transform sentient beings? “I vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors.” We must learn how to eliminate afflictions. The Buddha-Dharma is as expansive as the sea. Sentient beings’ capabilities are infinitely varied, so we must learn many. Dharma-doors and methods to accommodate myriad living beings. This is our vow.
“I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” This road is long and unsurpassed; no principle can transcend the Dharma. So we should realize that we must know and attain the truth and completely understand the state of Buddhahood to return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. This is the vow we all share.
So, the Buddha comes to this world for one great cause, to transform sentient beings and to share the Buddha-Dharma with all of them so they can understand that all suffering originates from mental afflictions. Thus, to eliminate sentient beings’ afflictions, He has to teach infinite Dharma. But some sentient beings have limited capabilities. “Those with dull capabilities delight in Small [Vehicle] Dharma.” As I mentioned before, “those with dull capabilities delight in Small [Vehicle] Dharma.” Therefore, we must be patient.
The Buddha will not abandon any sentient being.
Those with dull capabilities delight in Small [Vehicle] Dharma and greedily cling to cyclic existence. Despite encountering countless Buddhas, they have not walked the profound, wondrous path. They are troubled by myriads of afflictions, so for them I speak of Nirvana.
Of those in this world who have yet to awaken, other than “those with dull capabilities [who] delight in Small [Vehicle] Dharma,” there are many others who greedily cling to cyclic existence. They will not promptly sever their link to the world or promptly accept the pure Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha still has compassion for those who greedily cling to cyclic existence
“despite encountering countless Buddhas.” These people have likely heard the Dharma from countless Buddhas. However, their minds were dull, and they still clung to greed, so they had not fully eliminated their greed and afflictions. These people, [in previous lives], must have engaged in spiritual practice with and joined the Sangha of countless past Buddhas. But they “had not walked the profound and wondrous path.” They were never diligent or mindful. Because they nurtured such habitual tendencies, they still acted the same way in the Sangha. Thus in this world, they were “troubled by myriads of afflictions.” Sakyamuni Buddha still did not abandon these people. “For them, I speak of Nirvana.”
We have spoken generally of this before. Next, let us understand how [they have] “not walked the profound, wondrous path.”
[They] have not walked the profound, wondrous path: Sentient beings who wander far from Buddhas cannot come in contact with the profound and wondrous Dharma of the Lotus Sutra. So, they have not walked the profound, wondrous path.
These people, despite encountering countless Buddhas, have not yet “walked the profound, wondrous path.” They all wandered far away from the Buddha. Though they seemed to be engaging in spiritual practice, their minds strayed very far from the Buddha’s. They could not comprehend the Buddha’s understanding and views.
Haven’t we spent a lot of time discussing the Buddha’s understanding and views? Since they strayed so far from the Buddha, how could these people understand. His understanding and views? What is the Buddha’s understanding? These confused people with “dull capabilities who delighted in Small [Vehicle] Dharma” greedily clung to cyclic existence, and their minds were filled with afflictions. So, how could they comprehend the Buddha’s broad and open mind which is vast as the sea, vast as the universe? How could they understand it? People like these are “sentient beings [who] wandered far away from Buddhas.” They have strayed very far away from Him,
so they could “not come in contact with the profound, wondrous Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.” They stopped and clung to the state of the Small [Vehicle] Dharma, and they did not care about the Lotus Sutra. They did not attain any benefits from this Dharma. They “have not yet been able to enter the wondrous path.” Those who have yet to enter it have stopped at the Small [Vehicle] Dharma. They have not yet penetrated the wondrous Dharma of the great path, have not entered it. These people are those who “have not walked the profound and wondrous path.”
“They are troubled by myriads of afflictions.” All suffering is created by the mind. Thus, sentient beings’ thoughts give rise to countless afflictions, which will trouble them and disturb their minds. This is because afflictions are replicated as people interact with each other. This results in confusion in people’s minds. When they become afflicted, their minds cannot remain still.
Isn’t this what the world is like right now? We do not understand principles at all, and morality is fading away from the world. We constantly discuss [the era of] Dharma-decay. Dharma-decay is when morality has almost disappeared and the principles for [being a good person] have faded. This is why society has become disorderly. There is a lot of chaos, not just from the imbalance of the four elements, but more importantly, from the imbalance in our minds. This makes us “troubled by myriads of afflictions.”
[They are] troubled by myriads of afflictions: All suffering in this world arises from greed, anger and ignorance, when things do not go as people wish. Their desires are hard to fully satisfy, so they always suffer from not getting what they want. Thus, they trouble themselves and others without feeling remorse.
“All suffering in this world” arises from greed, anger and ignorance when things do not go as people wish. If we have ten wishes, nine of them will not turn out the way we hope, leading to a sense of dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction arises from greed, anger and ignorance. If we do not seek anything, then we will never feel dissatisfied. It is only when we have desires and cannot satisfy them that we feel dissatisfied.
Desires are hard to completely satisfy. They are like a bottomless pit; no matter how many good things we put into it, it is still not enough. So, it is often said, “Out of ten, we lack nine.” Our desires will never be satisfied, so we “always suffer from not getting what [we] want.” We constantly pursue things, but we suffer from never getting what we want.
In life, there are many things we regret. Even if we are truly content and have few desires, we will still feel somewhat dissatisfied because we go through aging, illness and death. Is there anything in our lives that can bring us everlasting contentment? Can we be healthy forever? Regrettably, that is difficult. Can we live forever without growing old? That is also very difficult. Can we live till old age and not die [from an accident]? That is also very difficult.
This is the way life is. We are constantly seeking and constantly not getting what we want, so we are always suffering. Thus, we “trouble [ourselves] and others without feeling remorse.” We do not realize how impermanent the world is, so we dream up long-term plans. Then when we do not get what we want we create trouble for others. This is very common.
Life is impermanent, but we are not aware of that. So, we cling to thousand-year dreams and illusions and never awaken. In this era, people’s lives are filled with vicious games. Sexual desires destroy our morality, our models of ethics and virtue. Without sense or reason, there is no shame or remorse.
Life is impermanent, but we are unaware of that. So, “we cling to thousand-year dreams.” We do not awaken from these dreams. For example, in the current era, we are living in vicious and immoral times. Everyone seems to be playing a game. Some people’s actions are so cruel and ruthless it feels like they must be acting out a play. The way people live now is really worrisome. When awakened people examine this world, they see vicious games being played. “Sexual desires destroy our morality.” There is no longer a sense of morality in these modern times.
So, the Buddha used the Small Vehicle Dharma “to speak of Nirvana.” He wanted us all to know that we must eliminate our afflictions. The Six Realms are full of suffering, so He extensively taught the path, hoping everyone could be aware of their minds.
For them, I speak of Nirvana: Nirvana means perfect rest or crossing into extinction, extinguishing the cause and effect of samsara and crossing the violent rapids of samsara. Tranquility and cessation: the perfect stillness of the mind that comes from eliminating afflictions.
Nirvana means perfect rest, or crossing into extinction, which is extinguishing samsara’s cause and effect. We must not create karmic causes with others, nor create further resentment, so we will not be entangled in the Six Realms with no way of severing [those ties]. So, we must “cross the violent rapids of samsara.” We must learn that we need to form good affinities with others and lead them to the Buddha’s broad path. “I am familiar with this road, so I will guide you. When we reach the destination, I will turn around to guide others who are lost and lead them to the destination as well.” This is the path of Bodhisattvas. They do not greedily cling to cyclic existence. They come back repeatedly. They have eliminated the causes of samsara, but vow to return on the ship of compassion to transform sentient beings. They are in a state of tranquility and cessation, having eliminated the causes of samsara and having crossed the violent rapids of samsara. Thus, they are peaceful and at ease.
Tranquility and cessation are the perfect stillness of the mind that comes from eliminating afflictions. This is Nirvana. To manifest Nirvana, we must eliminate all afflictions and also form great aspirations. We must clearly understand the law of karma to cross the violent rapids of samsara, which are afflictions. The world is full of afflictions; they are like the violent rapids of a river. So, if we can safely cross them, we can be in a state of perfect stillness. “The perfect stillness of the mind comes from eliminating afflictions.” Then we can be at peace.
When we reach [the other shore], we must return to bring more sentient beings across. Then we can return again to bring even more sentient beings across. We do this in tranquility and cessation. Our minds can forever be pure once we eliminate our worldly afflictions by clearly understanding the law of karma. So, we focus on transforming sentient beings, creating good affinities with them and not becoming entangled in worldly defilements. The is the mindset of a spiritual practitioner. So, we must always be mindful.