Episode 352 – The Small Vehicle Is Not the Ultimate
>> The Buddha-Dharma remains in this world; it is everlasting, never ceasing. The Dharma can transform the world, so the Buddha transmits the Great Vehicle. With the conditions of His one great cause, He transforms sentient beings. Dharma is like nectar that nourishes minds and sustains wisdom-life.
>> “In order to teach Buddha-wisdom, all Buddhas appear in this world. There is only this one truth; the Two [Vehicles] are not real. Ultimately They do not use the Small Vehicles to deliver sentient beings.”
>> There is only this one truth: To make known ultimate reality and wondrous truths is His work and action. To open and reveal Buddha-understanding and views is also His work and action. The one truth [reveals] the wondrous truths of ultimate reality, also known as the Buddha’s understanding and views. This is the wondrous Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
>> The Two [Vehicles] are not real: Any other vehicles are also not real. There is only One Reality. The Two and Three Vehicles only exist because they are ways for Buddhas to give teachings in this world.
>> Ultimately, they do not use the Small Vehicle: The Small Vehicle is the teaching given to those with limited capabilities. It eliminates minor sufferings and brings minor benefits. Those who only seek to awaken themselves, such as Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Arhats, only realize limited teachings of Nirvana.
>> To deliver sentient beings: Sentient beings, for a long time, have been drowning in the sea of samsara. The Buddha used the Great Vehicle to deliver them to the opposite shore. The sutra states, “Ultimately, they do not use the Small Vehicle to deliver sentient beings.”
This morning, when I looked up at the sky, I thought I saw a mountain in the distance, When I looked more carefully and thought about it, I realized that the ocean was there, so how could a mountain be there? When I took a closer look, I saw that it was actually dark clouds.
Isn’t this the way life is? We seem to see something, but upon looking more closely we recognize that it is not actually there. So, if we know the true principle of emptiness, “true emptiness,” we know there is “wondrous existence” within it. By clearly recognizing “true emptiness” and understanding “wondrous existence,” won’t we see the limitless potential of our lives? Such is life.
The Buddha-Dharma remains in this world; it is everlasting, never ceasing. The Dharma can transform the world, so the Buddha transmits the Great Vehicle. With the conditions of His one great cause, He transforms sentient beings. Dharma is like nectar that nourishes minds and sustains wisdom-life.
“The Buddha-Dharma remains in this world; it is everlasting, never ceasing.” The Buddha-Dharma is true principles. True principles are “wondrous existence” in “true emptiness.” So, the “wondrous existence” that manifests is everlasting. Principles are everlasting and unchanging. Regardless of how much time has passed, true principles will always be true.
“The Dharma can transform the world, so the Buddha transmits the Great Vehicle.” The Buddha clearly understands true principles and wants to help us to clearly understand them so we can deliver others from this shore of unenlightened afflictions to the opposite shore, which is pure and undefiled. For us to return to our pure intrinsic nature, we need the Dharma and the principles to be delivered into our minds. Thus, “With the conditions of His one great cause. He transforms sentient beings.” The manifestation of the Buddha in this world is a conditioned phenomenon. The Buddha was born a human and grew up in this world. Because He sought true principles in this world, He became enlightened. These were the conditions of His one great cause for coming to this world, which was to transform sentient beings. Therefore, the Dharma is like nectar that nourishes our minds and sustains and develops our wisdom-life.
Indeed, only the Buddha-Dharma can inspire people and awaken their love. Then, they will find ways to give, to help others, to transform the world with the Dharma and to transmit the Great Vehicle.
Take Thailand, for example. Even though Buddhism has flourished there, the gap between the poor and the rich is very big. In recent years, Thais began to realize that people were losing their sense of morality. The Prime Minister of Thailand believed that the [best] way to govern would be to help ground people’s minds in [moral] principles and help them value ethics. Since a sense of morality seemed to be waning, he sent many people to different countries to study their approach to governance and to educating their citizens.
After visiting many countries, they came to Taiwan and discovered Tzu Chi. So, the office of the prime minister sent one group of government officials after another to seek teachings in Taiwan. Tens of thousands of officials have visited. One of them was Chow Boon Liong, the public health minister of Ratchaburi, Thailand. He humbled himself and came to our headquarters with Tzu Chi volunteers. He actually did the same volunteer activities as everyone else. Nobody knew he was a public health minister. The day before he returned to Thailand, he finally revealed he was a public health minister.
Ever since then, he has been very involved and has been certified [as a commissioner]. During the certification [ceremony], he received a red envelope that I handed out as part of the Year-End Blessing. Someone explained to him that the grains of rice on the red envelope came from the Dalin [Tzu Chi] Hospital. The hospital superintendent, doctors and staff planted the rice to create good affinities with volunteers worldwide. He was very touched by this, so after he went back he came up with a plan to mobilize their health care professionals to plant rice. Once he thought of this, he made it happen.
The family of a nurse had 19,200 square meters of land and they were willing to lease it to. Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA). Thus began their plans for planting rice. In the meantime, officials were also planning to visit an all-female prison. There were over 900 inmates in this prison, but only one doctor. So, [the ministry] organized a free clinic there.
I really admire how they incorporated the free clinic in the prison into their planning. They contacted a rice research center and told [the researchers], “We already have this piece of land. We have many doctors and nurses who will cultivate this land. Can you provide the rice seeds?” The director of the research center said, “Of course.” They then asked, “Can the rice seeds be delivered to the prison?” The director of the research center followed their plans and sent the rice seeds to the prison. Then the inmates of the prison gave the seeds to Tzu Chi volunteers.
I thought this was a great idea. This was also a form of education. To plant the fields, the seeds were provided by the research center and given to these inmates so they could personally hand them to the Tzu Chi volunteers. These seeds were “seeds of blessings” that gave the inmates an opportunity to benefit others, so they felt that they could also create blessings by giving to others. This is a way to teach wisdom.
On that day, August 13, 2012, they began to cultivate the field by sowing seeds. In Thailand, they hold very grand seed-sowing ceremonies, with a percussion ensemble and a procession. The head of the county also gave a speech to start off the ceremony. The ceremony for cultivating the field was very grand. This is a way of creating blessings with wisdom. From this we can truly feel that even a small task, when completed mindfully, can be very magnificent and grand.
Thus, “Dharma can transform the world, so the Buddha transmitted the Great Vehicle.” In the past, they only sought blessings by paying respect to the Three Treasures. Now, they expanded their field of blessings to encompass even the inmates in prison. Even medical professionals were willing to go into the prison, and inmates from the prison also gave out “seeds of blessings” to be sown in the land. This is how the Dharma is used to transform the world. Because they came to Taiwan to seek teachings, the experiences accumulated over many years helped them take the Dharma to heart, which then led to action. As we watched them sow the rice seeds, it really felt like an important occasion.
The seed-sowing ceremony was very formal. Many heard about how doctors were growing the rice seeds from the prison and so on. This is the type of social education that can drive social consciousness. So, “With the conditions of His one great cause. He transforms sentient beings.” This “nectar that nourishes minds” can truly “sustain wisdom-life.” It can unlock the wisdom in everyone’s life. This kind of education is really heartwarming. In this world, as long we have the will, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
As we mentioned in the previous passage,
“In order to teach Buddha-wisdom, all Buddhas appear in this world. There is only this one truth; the Two [Vehicles] are not real. Ultimately They do not use the Small Vehicles to deliver sentient beings.”
These principles are actually right in front of us. This is a truth. Sentient beings are “good by nature.” When we want to do something, that single thought can benefit all people and can spread the Dharma across the world. This is a truth. Principles must be in line with the truth. So, “There is only this one truth; the Two [Vehicles] are not real.” He did not merely tell everyone that life is suffering and impermanent. That was not all. He also did not merely teach the law of karma. After we learn [the principles], we must put them into practice. If we make mistakes, we must correct them. If we see good deeds, we must promptly do them. Thus, the Buddha summarized the Dharma into “refrain from all evils; do all good deeds” as the principle of walking the Bodhisattva-path.
Therefore, “the Two [Vehicles] are not real.” He did not want us to only awaken ourselves, but also to benefit others. This is not the practice of the Two Vehicles, but of the One Vehicle Dharma. The Two Vehicle Dharma is not the ultimate. The ultimate Dharma is the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, the Buddha “ultimately did not use the Small Vehicle.” From the beginning until the end, the Buddha never wanted to use the Small Vehicle to save sentient beings. He always aimed to use the Great Vehicle to transform sentient beings.
As we mentioned previously, “There is only this one truth,” and that was to “make known ultimate reality and wondrous truths.” With these true principles, we go among others to do work in this world. We use these true principles in the work we do. “Teaching the Buddha’s understanding and views is Their work and action.” We must open, reveal, realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views. The Buddha comes to “open and reveal,” hoping sentient beings can realize His understanding and views. Then they can clearly understand the underlying principles of why people do things in the world. We must know the Buddha’s understanding and views are all about people’s work and action.
There is only this one truth: To make known ultimate reality and wondrous truths is His work and action. To open and reveal Buddha-understanding and views is also His work and action. The one truth [reveals] the wondrous truths of ultimate reality, also known as the Buddha’s understanding and views. This is the wondrous Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
“The one truth,” upon further understanding, “is the wondrous truths of ultimate reality. The truth” actually [reveals] “the wondrous truths of ultimate reality.” Doesn’t everything we do in the world follow the wondrous truths of ultimate reality? Earth is replete with causes, conditions and principles, so there are people, animals, plants etc. as well as mountains and rivers. These all adhere to the principles of matter. This is reality, the ultimate truth. The appearances of this reality also have wondrous truths behind them. If we understand them, we will have the Buddha’s understanding and views. [Principles that are] very subtle also contain wisdom. This is the wondrous Dharma in the Lotus Sutra.
So, “the Two [Vehicles] are not real.” Nothing else is True Dharma. Just understanding the Four Noble Truths will only lead us to renounce life and death. If we only understand the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, we only know the concept of the law of karma. However, if we do not take action, we will not understand the existence of the principles of worldly matters. If we truly understand the principles, as we interact with people, there will be [no obstacles] in what we do. Therefore, I often tell everyone, “If we are in harmony with people and matters, we are in harmony with the principles.” This is the way it is. Therefore, “the Two [Vehicles] are not real.” If we cling to the Small or Middle Vehicles, we cannot thoroughly understand or be in harmony with the principles.
The Two [Vehicles] are not real: Any other vehicles are also not real. There is only One Reality. The Two and Three Vehicles only exist because they are ways for Buddhas to give teachings in this world.
As for the Three Vehicles, if there are not even Two [Vehicles] then how can there be three? So there definitely are not five and so on. As we study teachings, we may categorize them in other ways, but they are not the ultimate. What is [ultimately] real is “ultimate reality.” We must strive to understand the principles of “ultimate reality”; that is what is real.
Therefore, “the Two or Three Vehicles only exist” to guide us to the Great Vehicle. So, [the Buddha] used the Three Vehicles, something tangible, as an analogy to guide us to the principles we cannot see. To help us thoroughly understand the principles of matters, He had to use analogies of worldly appearances, many analogies and causes and conditions. Therefore, the Buddha comes to the world to give us teachings by using all kinds of methods.
The Buddha comes to the world to give teachings. He came to teach the Great Vehicle, definitely not the Small Vehicle. He “ultimately does not use the Small Vehicle.” At the beginning, the Buddha used all kinds of means that were suitable for sentient beings’ capabilities. But at this point, He was still in the world and was subject to the natural course of life. So, “ultimately” means at the end [of His life]. [At that moment,]. He “did not use the Small Vehicle” and quickly set it aside so everybody could enter the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, He “ultimately does not use the Small Vehicle.”
Ultimately, they do not use the Small Vehicle: The Small Vehicle is the teaching given to those with limited capabilities. It eliminates minor sufferings and brings minor benefits. Those who only seek to awaken themselves, such as Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Arhats, only realize limited teachings of Nirvana.
“The Small Vehicle is the teaching given to those with limited capabilities.” He told everyone that this only eliminated minor sufferings. “Life is suffering. I dare not create more suffering.” If we think this way, we will prevent ourselves from creating more karma and be vigilant to not make more mistakes. But this only eliminates minor suffering and brings about limited benefits. Thus we only benefit ourselves.
“Those who only seek to awaken themselves, such as Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Arhats,” are Small Vehicle practitioners. They only realize limited teachings of Nirvana. This means they can only still their own minds. Since it only affects the individual, it is “small.”
So, in order to “deliver sentient beings,” we cannot use Small Vehicle Dharma. This is telling us we cannot only seek to awaken ourselves. We should open the door to our minds. After understanding these principles, we should practice the Great Vehicle Dharma among people. This is how to “deliver sentient beings.”
To deliver sentient beings: Sentient beings, for a long time, have been drowning in the sea of samsara. The Buddha used the Great Vehicle to deliver them to the opposite shore. The sutra states, “Ultimately, they do not use the Small Vehicle to deliver sentient beings.”
The Buddha did not want to [just] teach the Small Vehicle Dharma. Instead, He wanted people to transform each other. So, “sentient beings, for a long time, have been drowning in the sea of samsara.” Multitudes of sentient beings are drowning, and not just humans, but also livestock and other animals. For a long time, they have been drowning in the sea of samsara and cannot save themselves. So, the Buddha taught the Great Vehicle to deliver them to the opposite shore. He delivers the lost and suffering, sentient beings who cannot help themselves, from this shore to the opposite shore. He taught “the Great Vehicle to deliver them to the opposite shore.”
So, when the Buddha finally expounded the Lotus Sutra, He hoped those who had listened to the Dharma could shoulder the responsibility of transmitting Great Vehicle teachings to people around the world. They must also put the teachings into action and walk the Bodhisattva-path. This passage stating, “Ultimately, They do not use the Small Vehicle to deliver sentient beings” reflects the Buddha’s vow to teach us the True Dharma. So, when we learn the Dharma, we are learning from the Buddha. In order to learn the Buddha’s teachings, we must follow and put them into practice. Therefore, we must always be mindful.