Episode 379 – Countless Buddhas of the Past
>> “All the World-Honored Ones teach the One Vehicle Path. Now all those assembled here should resolve all their questions. The teachings of all Buddhas are the same; there is only One Vehicle, not two.”
>> “Throughout countless kalpas in the past, infinite Buddhas have crossed into extinction. There were billions of different kinds; their number is incalculable.”
>> Throughout countless kalpas in the past: [Countless refers to] asankya, which is a very large number. Ten thousand times ten thousand is one hundred million. Ten thousand times one hundred million is one trillion. One asankya is like ten million times many tens of thousands of trillions. In the world, each era is unique. The customs of different ethnic groups are not the same. We cannot count how many there have been over a very long time. This is inconceivable. The number is immeasurable.
>> “Crossing into extinction” also means “eliminating all obstacles and transcending suffering of fragmentary samsara and transformational samsara.”
>> This is truly inconceivable. It cannot be contemplated, cannot be discussed, cannot be said, cannot be measured and cannot be understood through words or analogies. Thus, it is incalculable.
As Buddhist practitioners, we must practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. By establishing faith, vows and practices, our minds can be at peace. In our daily spiritual practice, we must always take good care of our minds and remind ourselves that we are practitioners of the Dharma. Thus, we must be mindful and make a vow to steadfastly practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.
Precepts can protect our wisdom-life. Samadhi can solidify our vows. If we aim ourselves in the right direction and do not deviate at all, we are in Samadhi. Once we can practice precepts and Samadhi, we will naturally develop wisdom. If we can head in the direction of our wisdom, we can naturally liberate ourselves and be free from afflictions and the obstructions of karma. So, as we engage in spiritual practice, we need to develop the Fivefold Dharmakaya. You should still remember what this is.
When we recite the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, we always read about precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberated understanding and views. This is the Fivefold Dharmakaya. How can we develop our wisdom-life? We must utilize these five things. We must practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom in order to attain liberation. Only after being liberated from afflictions can we draw near the Buddha’s understanding and views. This is the Fivefold Dharmakaya. This is how our wisdom-life develops. So, we must establish faith, vows and practices.
Recently, in central Taiwan, we started our series of annual Year-End Blessings. At this Year-End Blessing, there was an air of spiritual refinement. Everyone joined the Musical Sutra Adaptions to comprehend the great path and “remain unwavering for countless eons.” [All the participants,] even the medical staff, including the doctors, demonstrated this great reverence. From Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital,
40 doctors participated in the event. The superintendent, vice superintendent and the heads of the various departments led the staff and doctors in this performance. The men performed “From Vow to Action.” The “Dharma-ship” they formed was magnificent and their movements were in perfect unison. Their performance of “From Vow to Action” showed great power and unity as they moved together in their “ship.” The boldness and courage we felt from them was truly astounding. In addition, there were nearly 30 nurses who performed “Questioning Karmic Connections.” These songs are all from the musical about. Venerable Master Jian Zhen’s arduous journey from China to Japan.
Master Jian Zhen had such a strong determination to learn and practice the Buddha-Dharma and his resolve to spread the Dharma was very firm. He personally cultivated precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. His purpose in traveling to Japan was to transmit the precepts and the Dharma, so his [resolve to cultivate] precepts, Samadhi and wisdom was strong. He also maintained his faith, vows and practice, so his mind was unwavering. Regardless of how dangerous this journey was he continued with his efforts, again and again, each time facing dangers and difficulties. He kept this up for many years; these challenges never weakened his spiritual aspirations. In the face of these difficulties, he renewed his will to practice. Every difficulty strengthened his faith. Every difficulty helped him develop his blessings, wisdom and perseverance. With this unwavering mindset, he did not allow the dangers surrounding him to affect his spiritual aspiration and his vow to practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. So, his mind was always in a state of peace and stability.
This spirit also [guided] our medical staff. The superintendent, assistant superintendent and department heads led doctors from various departments in rehearsing again and again; this was hard work. They had to practice until all of them could move in unison with the music and lyrics and have the same attitude, the same expression in their eyes. This was incredibly hard! Throughout the rehearsals, they experienced. Master Jian Zhen’s resolve in going to Japan along with his unwavering spirit. Afterwards, they wanted to apply this resolve and unwavering spirit to the way that they practice medicine. When I went to [Central Taiwan], this is what they shared with me.
They even praised each other, telling me such and such doctor was determined and worked very hard. Despite foot pain, lumbar pain, skin lesions, blisters, bleeding, etc., they were wholeheartedly determined [to do this]. One of them, Dr. Shi, is a department head. He himself is suffering from Osteoarthritis, which is degenerative form of arthritis. He is a 60-year-old doctor who came back from the United States. He was determined to rehearse with everyone else. He said that it had been painful, but he was determined to keep going. He bought six packs of patches for pain relief and kept changing them. During rehearsals, though he was in pain, he “remained unwavering.” Other people shared this story of Dr. Shi’s determination with me.
Vice Superintendent Chen said that after these rehearsals, he had a better understanding of the difficulty of this kind of rehearsal. This was very exhausting. Though it was extremely painful for him, he felt that this was the exact mentality required for those who use their life to save others’ lives. No matter how many difficulties doctors face, they must always have this mindset and this unwavering determination to safeguard lives and to remain loving. This is what Vice Superintendent Chen learned.
What about Superintendent Lai? He said, “I now have a deeper and clearer understanding after going through these rehearsals for quite a bit of time. For this boat to sail, in unison and with vigor, across the wide sea of afflictions we must all work together in harmony. Our medical staff from every department of the hospital, all of our colleagues, must work together to take good care of people’s lives.”
As they rehearsed, the Dharma became ingrained in their minds, so they realized the spirit of “remaining unwavering.”
When they took the Dharma to heart, they were able to really remain steadfast. How do we develop our wisdom-life? How do we overcome the difficulties we face in this world? As long as we take the Dharma into our hearts and manifest it in our actions, with Dharma in our hearts and actions, we can overcome anything. This was so touching!
To “enter the sutra-treasury,” they had to work in unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort, which is not easy. After seeing the strength of their spiritual aspirations, I was truly moved and happy. We Buddhist practitioners must practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, and establish faith, vows and practices in order to obtain stability in our minds. These are what we must persist in cultivating in our spiritual practice.
We have previously discussed this passage from the Lotus Sutra,
“All the World-Honored Ones teach the One Vehicle Path. Now all those assembled here should resolve all their questions. The teachings of all Buddhas are the same; there is only One Vehicle, not two.”
The next passage states,
“Throughout countless kalpas in the past, infinite Buddhas have crossed into extinction. There were billions of different kinds; their number is incalculable.”
“Throughout countless kalpas in the past.” In “throughout countless kalpas,” everybody knows that “kalpa” [is a Sanskrit word] which means a long period of time.
Throughout countless kalpas in the past: [Countless refers to] asankya, which is a very large number. Ten thousand times ten thousand is one hundred million. Ten thousand times one hundred million is one trillion. One asankya is like ten million times many tens of thousands of trillions. In the world, each era is unique. The customs of different ethnic groups are not the same. We cannot count how many there have been over a very long time. This is inconceivable. The number is immeasurable.
Asankya means very, very long. How large is this quantity? As we discussed yesterday, time is a very long [river]. It extends endlessly into the past and endlessly into the future. It is truly very long. “Ten thousand times ten thousand is one hundred million. Ten thousand times one hundred million is one trillion.” But we cannot calculate this even in trillions. We cannot say that one asankya kalpa is 1000 [trillion years]. One asankya kalpa alone is like “ten million times many tens of thousands of trillions.” This much time seems incalculable. This is how long an asankya kalpa is. So, even without calculating a number, we know this is an extremely long period of time, one that cannot easily be described.
In this world, each era is unique. For a very long time, an seemingly incalculable number of years, ․people have lived in this world. The Chinese characters for “world” are those for “time” and for “space.” In the time and space of this universe, across all these eras, how many changes have there been? We are the product of generations of humans carried on up till now. Many eras have passed and the times have changed. Over this very long period of time, in this place, people and matters constantly change. In addition to that, all the various ethnic groups also have different customs. Take the small island of Taiwan, for example. There are Hokloh, Hakka and indigenous tribes. Each group’s customs are different,
and each way of life has a long history. My ancestors, the Hokloh, had their own customs. The Hakka also have their own customs. During the lunar new year, we can see that it is celebrated in many different ways. And across the world, many different ethnicities and religions have been, and will be, passed on.
“This is inconceivable.” There are truly so many ethnic groups and each has very old customs, as well as new ones. New customs will then be passed on and become old, then there will be more new ones. In this time of plentiful customs, we cannot conceive of how many there are. Our minds cannot understand all these customs, ethnicities, era, time and space, etc. The number is immeasurable. We cannot calculate in numbers how much time has passed or how vast space is. Across these clans, ethnicities and tribes, there are so many different ways of life and various different habits.
“Infinite Buddhas have crossed into extinction” means that from a long time ago to the present, the Buddha has lived in this world and, like a normal human, has gone through birth, aging, illness and death. He was born in this world to guide sentient beings in the right direction. He also experienced aging like other humans and eventually He also crossed into extinction. Therefore, [His life] between birth and death is a “conditioned phenomenon.” With causes and conditions, conditioned phenomena will arise and cease. In the vast expanse of time and space, there is no way to calculate the number of “infinite Buddhas [who] crossed into extinction,” They arise and cease; once They arise, They will cease. So, we do not know how many Buddhas have appeared in this world. Many Buddhas have already crossed into extinction.
“Crossing into extinction” is the “everlasting extinction of the great liability.” In the Enlightened One, all afflictions have already been eliminated and the subtle and wondrous principles that remain in His mind are wisdom. He has returned to His Tathagata-nature and with the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata, He expounded the Dharma in this world according to people’s needs. So, He gave teachings of worldly Dharma and lived the way humans did. The Buddha actually no longer has to go through birth and death; He has already transcended cyclic existence. However, for His one great cause, He manifested in this world. Even though we say He “crossed into cessation,” all Buddhas have actually already eliminated. Their afflictions and the great liability of cyclic existence.
In the past, we often discussed how people have a great liability because we have a physical body. With a body we have feelings and will feel pain. So “crossing into cessation” means the everlasting cessation of the great liability. No Buddhas [suffer] from the great liability of cyclic existence. They only manifest in this world in order to teach sentient beings. So, when the Buddha says, “everlasting cessation of the great liability,” He also means “entering into cessation,” which is the elimination of all afflictions.
“Crossing into extinction” also means “eliminating all obstacles and transcending suffering of fragmentary samsara and transformational samsara.”
In the past, I have told all of you about “fragmentary samsara.” The way Small Vehicle practitioners and ordinary people live is one fragment at a time. Each lifetime is a fragment. We go from childhood to now, then on to old age. Ultimately, this fragment ends. This is called “fragmentary samsara.”
“Transformational samsara” is experienced by beings who understand principles but still have small remnants of afflictions. This applies to Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas. They still undergo “transformational samsara” because they have not eliminated all their afflictions.
“There were billions of different kinds; their number is incalculable.” This is referring to Buddhas. Countless numbers of Them have come and manifested birth and death in this world. From a human perspective, we see Buddhas coming into this world and then crossing into extinction. But actually, to Buddhas, the Enlightened Ones, there is no birth and death. However, from the view of worldly phenomena, people have seen countless Buddhas come to this world. “Throughout countless kalpas in the past,” there have been many. “Buddhas who have crossed into extinction.” How many? “There were billions of different kinds.” They were born in different ethnic groups
over a long period of time. They were not necessarily born in India, nor in China, nor in the United States, nor in any specific place, not at all. A Buddha can be born in any ethnic group. In other words, all of us intrinsically have Buddha-nature, regardless of our ethnicity. Therefore, He said, “There were billions of different kinds.” Buddhas can be born in any ethnic group and become enlightened through spiritual practice, then teach and transform sentient beings. So these are the “billions of different kinds.”
“Their number is incalculable.” This means we cannot comprehend the size of that number. Over a very long period of time, many Buddhas were born into many ethnic groups, so They taught and transformed sentient beings according to different customs.
This is truly inconceivable. It cannot be contemplated, cannot be discussed, cannot be said, cannot be measured and cannot be understood through words or analogies. Thus, it is incalculable.
“Their number is incalculable;” it is very great.
Therefore, as Buddhist practitioners, we must exercise utmost reverence. We must practice precepts, Samadhi and wisdom and establish faith, vows and practices so our minds can be calm and stable. By establishing faith, vows and practices, we can be at peace and our spiritual aspiration can be firm.
Everyone, as Buddhist practitioners, we must orient our minds toward the Buddha. Then from this external Buddha, we can return to the pure Tathagata-state in our minds. If we can do so, we can diligently move forward without deviating. This depends on whether we can always be mindful.