Episode 345 – Teaching Buddha-children the Wondrous Path
>> The world and its people and matters are the concern of Bodhisattvas. When the mind and the Dharma are one, we are on the Bodhi-path. With the Buddha-mind and wondrous Dharma, we have universal compassion.
>> My aim is to lead them into the Great Vehicle, therefore I expound this sutra. Buddha-children are pure in heart, gentle and have sharp capabilities, and who, in the presence of infinite Buddhas, have walked the profound and wondrous path. For these Buddha-children, I give Great Vehicle teachings.
>> [They have] walked the profound and wondrous path: The aim of all Buddha-minds is to walk the profound and wondrous path and only expound the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. The wondrous Dharma encompasses both the provisional and true teachings as one. Since there is much suffering in this world, They taught with principles and guided with the Dharma.
The world and its people and matters are the concern of Bodhisattvas.
When the mind and the Dharma are one, we are on the Bodhi-path.
With the Buddha-mind and wondrous Dharma, we have universal compassion.
“The world and its people and matters are the concern of Bodhisattvas.” I always think this way. In this world, all people, all environments and all living beings are the intimate concerns of Bodhisattvas.
We learn the Buddha’s teachings so that we can take the Buddha’s mind into our own. This is the pure Buddha-nature that we all intrinsically have. I seem to be saying this every day. So, since the mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature], doesn’t that apply to all beings born under the heavens and on earth? All living beings are connected to the things that happen in this world. So, as we learn the Buddha’s teachings in this world, we must thoroughly understand worldly matters. In addition to thoroughly understanding worldly matters, we must also understand the principles of attaining Buddhahood.
Because we are learning the Buddha’s way, we are called Bodhisattvas, which truly makes us Buddha-children. Because we listen to the Buddha’s teachings, we take the Buddha’s Dharma-water into our heart to nourish our wisdom-life in hopes it will grow. I hope our wisdom-life and our nature of True Suchness become one; then we will forever be in a state of non-arising and non-ceasing. This is what Buddhist practitioners call liberation.
The first thing learned by those who want to engage in spiritual practice is that human existence comes with afflictions; matters, objects and other things will bring about much suffering. Because of this, we seek the Buddha-Dharma to find ways to be liberated from suffering we cannot control, such as cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is what we seek.
The only way to transcend the Six Realms is to reach a state of non-arising and non-ceasing. What is a state of non-arising and non-ceasing? It is one of returning to what is natural. The natural state is unconditioned; it is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. This is something we intrinsically have. However, we transmigrate through the Six Realms. Again and again we are influenced by countless worlds, time periods, spaces, environments and so on, so we continuously multiply our defilements. This is what makes us unenlightened beings. Now that we know this, we want to leave this unenlightened state and return to our pure intrinsic nature. The only way to do this is to walk the Bodhisattva-path.
The Bodhisattva-path is all about people and matters in this world. Since we are Bodhisattvas, under the heavens and on the earth, we will carry out the spiritual mission of the Bodhisattva-path. So, “the world and its people and matters are the concern of Bodhisattvas.”
“The mind and Dharma [must be] one.” We must be mindful. If we are not mindful in our spiritual practice, we forget the Dharma once we hear it. If we are going to forget it, why listen? If the Dharma leaks out of our minds, how will we know how to practice? Without knowing principles, how can we practice? Similarly, if we do not know the way, do not know the terrain or the course, how will we know where to go? That is why we need to know the way. When we do not know the way, we need to ask for directions. By the same principle, if our capabilities are relatively sharp, we can listen mindfully and understand right away. “I know what course to take.” But if we do not understand, we have to rely on our virtuous friends. As we have said before, in learning the Buddha’s teachings, we really need wholesome and virtuous friends, These wholesome and virtuous friends can accompany us onto the right course and point us in the right direction.
So, we must be mindful and first understand the principles in order to engage in spiritual practice. If we do not listen to and learn the principles, how can we engage in spiritual practice? How can we walk the Bodhisattva-path? So, we must be mindful. By listening mindfully to the Dharma, it will enter our minds so that in our daily living, the Dharma and our minds are one.
Tzu Chi volunteers often say, “Have the Buddha in your mind, the Dharma in your actions.” The Buddha and the Dharma must be in our minds at all times. Then the Buddha-mind will be one with our minds. And when the Dharma is one with our minds, we are on the Bodhisattva-path, which is also the Bodhi-path, the road to awakening. Bodhisattvas are people who walk on this path, so the path is called Bodhi. Bodhisattvas are “awakened sentient beings” who understand and then walk this path. Thus, their minds must be one with the Dharma. This is [how to walk] the Bodhisattva-path.
“With the Buddha-mind and wondrous Dharma, we have universal compassion.” This sense of universal compassion is the mindset of a Bodhisattva and is something the Buddha wants to teach us.
Every single day, we hear very moving [stories related to this]. The volunteers who help out at [Tzu Chi] hospitals act as the bridge between the medical team and the patients. Listening to their daily sharing of their experiences is like listening to teachings for me. I am listening to teachings about suffering, I am listening to and learning about the way these dedicated Bodhisattvas exercise the wisdom of [doctors] and [volunteers] as they work among suffering sentient beings. I hear their sharing as if listening to teachings. Every day I am moved and am grateful,
especially when I listen to the doctors. Being a doctor is not very easy. Modern medical treatments are very complex. Medical technology is so advanced that we can understand exactly what kind of disease the stomach, liver or intestines are suffering from. This is truly sophisticated technology.
Aside from equipment that helps with diagnosis, if we want to see even more clearly, we can use a tube, [an endoscope]. It has a camera on one end that has been reduced to the size of a bean, and can be sent down our esophagus. But how do we get it in there? Through a “natural opening.” Everyone of us has nine orifices. It is often said, “The nine orifices constantly discharge impurities.” We all have nine orifices on our bodies. These are all “natural openings.” Look, our eyes are two openings, our ears also have two openings, our nose also has two, then the mouth is another. How many orifices are these? Seven orifices. Where are the other two openings? The places where we urinate and defecate. These are the nine. “The nine orifices constantly discharge impurities.” These are called “natural openings.”
This [scope] has to enter through a “natural opening.” Some enter from the mouth and are swallowed. This is [esophageal] endoscopy. When endoscopy was performed in the past, it was very uncomfortable and very painful. Some patients will throw up during the process as it is very uncomfortable. Doctors could not bear [their suffering]. How could they reduce the patient’s suffering. One of the department chairs, Dr. Hu Chi-tan, is continuously finding ways to save patients. He looked for ways to alleviate their suffering, ways to help patients be healthy and feel at ease. So, he continuously conducted research to replace the esophageal endoscopy by introducing the endoscope through the nasal passage.
When he was in Japan back in 2005, he learned that introducing the endoscope through the nostrils can greatly reduce the pain. The patient would not feel any pain and could even talk to him during the procedure. But to what extent is the pain minimized? He experimented on his own body to find out.
First, he stood to observe the image. He inserted the scope himself through his nostril as he stood and tried to examine the image. Why didn’t it seem like it reached the stomach? Why wasn’t the image clear? He wondered, “Is it my posture?” Then he tried sitting. The image was still unclear. As the image shifted, he thought, “Maybe I should lie down.” So, he adjusted the position of his body and limbs and the positioning of his organs. After making the adjustments, he realized he had to lie back in a chair, half sitting, half lying down. This allowed the camera to enter the stomach and other organs. But, he wanted to make the patients more comfortable, and to feel peaceful and at ease, so he made further adjustments. Once he moved onto the bed, he felt comfortable.
He also wanted to make [colonoscopies] more relaxing. So, he developed the water-assisted method, which made it more comfortable. He worked on ways to isolate and identify the source of the illness, as well as ways to treat it. We can see how he tested the scope on himself, how he must have felt. He said, “When others are in pain, I am also in pain. When I see others suffer, I feel their suffering. When they are in pain, I feel very sad.” In particular, he also said, “I cherish those who are ill.” This shows his sense of mission.
He even experimented on his son. His son also consented to be experimented on. This father and son team worked together to find a way to make the patients most comfortable. Indeed, doctors have a Buddha-mind, which means they apply wondrous skills, wondrous techniques and wondrous treatment. Isn’t this universal compassion, the wisdom the Buddha wanted to share with us?
The Buddha wanted us to understand our bodies. Our bodies are filled with impurities and are impermanent. Our ever-changing bodies experience much illness and suffering. So, we need doctors who aspire to walk the Bodhisattva-path to relieve suffering. This also requires mindfulness.
So, the Buddha, and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in this world, are always trying to find ways to help relieve sentient beings of their suffering. So, “[His only] aim is to lead them into the Great Vehicle.” By the same principle, medicine alone is not enough. We must also learn something that is most beneficial to sentient beings so they can be free of suffering, and be happy and at peace. This is the fundamental Great Vehicle Dharma of working for sentient beings that the Buddha wanted to teach us. So, the Buddha taught this sutra.
My aim is to lead them into the Great Vehicle, therefore I expound this sutra. Buddha-children are pure in heart, gentle and have sharp capabilities, and who, in the presence of infinite Buddhas, have walked the profound and wondrous path. For these Buddha-children, I give Great Vehicle teachings.
“Buddha-children are pure in heart, gentle and have sharp capabilities.” We hope people not only work for their own sake, but give unconditionally for the sake of others. Yesterday, we discussed how we need to be gentle toward sentient beings. Of course, we must always be mindful, “gentle and have sharp capabilities.” Buddha-children such as these [studied] “in the presence of infinite Buddhas.” These Bodhisattvas learn not [only] in the present, but also learned in the past; lifetime after lifetime, they [studied with] infinite Buddhas and were continuously permeated [with teachings]. After those teachings are internalized, we will walk the Bodhisattva-path and learn many principles. This wonderful state of mind is found on the path.
Doctors have a healer’s path, Bodhisattvas a Bodhisattva-path. Both paths help develop wisdom-life and protect physical life. Both are intimately related to sentient beings and are profound and wondrous paths. Therefore, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas walked the profound and wondrous path for the sake of sentient beings.
The hearts of all Buddhas have always been profound and wondrous, so They teach only principles that lead to the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. One Vehicle means there is only one path, one road that can transport us [if we] apply its principles, the principles of ultimate reality. What is the ultimate reality? [To learn this,] we have to experience many things through our bodies, which are formed by our parents’ sperm and egg. The human body is a conditioned phenomenon. Without our parents, there is just an unconditioned phenomenon, our intrinsic Buddha-nature. But when causes and conditions converge,
there is conditioned phenomenon, a body. When it is ill, we need a doctor to treat it. By the same principle, when we sentient beings have mental aliments, we rely on the Buddha-Dharma to treat them, similar to the way doctors treat our bodies. This is all wondrous Dharma, the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. Wondrous Dharma is a combination of both true and provisional teachings.
Provisional teachings are conditioned phenomena, tangible things. I work hard to help everyone understand that the body is like a small universe unto itself. [The microscopic things] that are omnipresent in the natural world are really not visible, so we need to rely on tangible things, like our bodies, to learn more about them. We can use the vast field of medicine to study this small universe and the many things within it. We must try to absorb principles of the natural, [unconditioned] world to help with conditioned phenomena, those things that are already formed, [so we know how to] let them recover and repair themselves. Although things in the world can be fixed or restored, everything that is a conditioned phenomenon will inevitably cease. But everything has its inherent principle.
If we humans listen to principles and return to our intrinsic, unconditioned nature of True Suchness, does that mean we will not die? We will still die. But these spiritual principles will help us return to our pure intrinsic nature. The tangible are provisional teachings. The intangible are true teachings. These two are one, so the Buddha can teach Small Vehicle Dharma to help us thoroughly understand the Great Path, the Great [Vehicle] Dharma.
In this world, there are many different forms of suffering. So, the Buddha teaches with principles and guides with the Dharma. This is why the Buddha comes to this world.
[They have] walked the profound and wondrous path: The aim of all Buddha-minds is to walk the profound and wondrous path and only expound the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. The wondrous Dharma encompasses both the provisional and true teachings as one. Since there is much suffering in this world, They taught with principles and guided with the Dharma.
He used examples of suffering to make analogies, and taught with all kinds of expressions so we can realize [true] principles.
When our body suffers from illness, how can it be treated? Doctors have to use various methods. They also constantly improve, constantly innovate better methods to save people. So, I always say, the times are different, but the Dharma does not change. However, unchanging Dharma and principles must adapt to the ever-changing ways of living. This is why the Dharma is necessary to this world; it has to be here. Therefore, since we are Buddha-children, we must always be mindful.