Episode 396 – Transform Countless Beings with Compassion
>> Spiritual practice is about cultivating our mind. We should “have great loving-kindness and compassion, and feel Dharma-joy and blissful equanimity. Thus we diligently cultivate the Four Infinite Minds.”
>> “Even children at play with straws, sticks or reeds, or even with their fingernails, may draw images of the Buddha.”
>> “People such as these gradually accumulated merits and virtues. Replete with great compassion, they have all realized the path to Buddhahood. They teach the Bodhisattva Way to transform and liberate countless multitudes.”
>> Now let us look at “people such as these.” This refers to everyone who erected stupas and created images out of reverence. “With conditioned phenomena and meticulous handiwork, dignified images were spread throughout the world.”
>> [They] gradually accumulate merits and virtues: Over a long period of time they have strengthened their ability to benefit others. This ability is the virtue of doing good deeds. So, they have merits and virtues.
>> Virtuous people internally cultivate their character and externally practice humility and respect. Internally cultivating honesty, integrity, faith and steadfastness is a merit. Externally practicing loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity is a virtue. What we attain through internal cultivation and external practice is called merits and virtues.
>> Then we are “replete with great compassion. Great compassion” is to have great universal compassion for sentient beings and earnestly try to relieve their suffering.
>> “Feel others’ pain and suffering as their own. They cannot bear it, so they try to save and relieve them, and enable them to attain liberation. This is great compassion. With utmost sincerity and earnestness, they have no expectations or resentment.”
>> [They] have realized the path to Buddhahood: This path is the cause. The direct cause of the path of spiritual practice is that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. If we exercise perfect and wondrous right perspective, then with great compassion we will pave the Bodhisattva-path toward Buddhahood.
>> “Transform and liberate countless multitudes.” So, [the Buddha] began by teaching skillful means to guide countless sentient beings. He used these skillful means to guide countless sentient beings to “ultimately enter the right path.”
>> “Joyfully seek the True Dharma of the One Vehicle” and “transform and liberate countless multitudes.”
Spiritual practice is about cultivating our mind.
We should “have great loving-kindness and compassion,
and feel Dharma-joy and blissful equanimity.
Thus we diligently cultivate the Four Infinite Minds.”
As we engage in daily spiritual practice, it is most important to cultivate our minds. We must be mindful of the thoughts we give rise to. Whether our thoughts lead us to happily do good deeds or happily turn toward evil depends on the workings of our mind. Orienting ourselves toward goodness is part of our fundamental duty as Buddhist practitioners. Giving rise to an evil thought [creates] karma. The accumulation of unwholesome karma and actions is frightening. So, while giving rise to even the slightest thoughts in our daily living, we must always remind ourselves, “I am a spiritual practitioner. I am a pure practitioner. I am the Buddha’s disciple, a disciple of the Three Treasures. I have aspired to walk the Bodhisattva-path.” We must always take good care of this mindset. If one thought goes astray, we create karma and begin a series of mistakes. Thus, being mindful is very important.
“Have great loving-kindness and compassion.” We must always maintain this inclusive mindset. As I always tell you, “The mind encompasses the universe and the boundless worlds within it.” Spiritual practitioners’ minds are that expansive. However vast the universe is, our state of mind must be just as vast. This is the Buddha’s enlightened state. Don’t we want to learn to be like the Buddha? So, we must develop an expansive mindset. I often say our hearts must be open and our thoughts must be pure. Shouldn’t that be our state of mind? That is great loving-kindness.
When our minds are very broad and expansive, we can nurture our compassion. With loving-kindness, we will also exercise compassion. By maintaining our practice of loving-kindness, we can put our compassionate vows into practice. This is practicing kindness and exercising compassion, thus we have “great loving-kindness and compassion.” We can always exercise loving-kindness and compassion toward others and give of ourselves to meet the needs of others. This is having “great loving-kindness and compassion.”
We must always have compassion. By giving with compassion, we can always feel. “Dharma-joy and blissful equanimity. Blissful” means happy. If we can always practice giving, our minds will be very pure and our every thought will be wholesome and kind, As we interact with people and matters we will “have great loving-kindness and compassion.” Then there will be no attachment that our minds cannot let go of. There will be no one we cannot get along with. If we have open hearts and pure thoughts, everything we see will make us happy. Any circumstance we face will also make us happy. Although we may face difficulties, we consider them adverse assisting conditions. This is the Dharma.
So, we have “Dharma-joy.” If Dharma-joy constantly arises in our minds, we can happily accept whatever situation we are dealing with. We must always practice “blissful equanimity.” This means we give joyfully. Regardless of who the other person is, we will give to him if he has a need. We happily give, happily serve and happily help others. All good things in the world come from giving happily. This is “Dharma-joy and blissful equanimity.” We can always, out of a sense of joy, practice giving to others.
Then we are “diligently cultivating the Four Infinite Minds.” We must diligently practice, and constantly engage in spiritual cultivation. In particular, we must not become indolent. We must diligently progress in our practice of the Four Infinite Minds, infinite loving-kindness, infinite compassion, infinite joy and infinite equanimity. Not only must we have infinite loving-kindness, we must practice it without regret. Not only must we have infinite compassion, we must practice it without resentment. Not only must we have infinite joy, we must practice it without worry. Not only must we have infinite equanimity, we must practice it without expectations. With these Four Infinite Minds, wherever we are, we are engaged in practice and in cultivating our minds.
We open up our great loving-kindness to practice compassion and to always help others joyfully. After helping others, we feel very happy. This happiness comes from loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. These are the Four Infinite Minds. These Four Infinite Minds are indispensable for Bodhisattva practitioners. So, in the past, the Buddha constantly encouraged everyone to be mindful.
During His lifetime, He was able to personally teach the Dharma. But once He entered Parinirvana, would the Buddha-Dharma disappear? So, He [exercised his] compassion and wisdom. He practiced kindness and exercised compassion for the sake of sentient beings of the future. This is why He encouraged using various means and images to guide everyone to take the Dharma into their hearts. So,
“Even children at play with straws, sticks or reeds, or even with their fingernails, may draw images of the Buddha.”
No matter what kind of materials we use, if we are reverent and have the image of the Buddha in our hearts, when we see stupas, we feel joy and respect. When we see temples, we feel reverent as well. All of these things are intended to inspire the compassion in everyone’s hearts, our loving-kindness and compassion.
There was one time when the Buddha clipped His fingernails and asked a bhiksu to bring them to Kashmir and assemble a group of spiritual practitioners in the mountains to the south. This bhiksu respectfully brought the Buddha’s fingernails to Kashmir to encourage everyone to build stupas
500 monastics were there to receive the fingernails. With reverence, the 500 of them mobilized to build a stupa there. On this mountain, there was also a troop of monkeys, a troop of 500 rhesus monkeys. Every day, these monkeys saw the monastics building the stupa. As the monks constructed the stupa, they prostrated with reverence. While they were building the stupa, they engaged in spiritual practice and prostrated. When the 500 rhesus monkeys saw this, they started to imitate the people’s actions; they also began to build a stupa nearby. They collected materials and piled them up, As the monastics prostrated, they also prostrated.
Some time later, there was a heavy rain that began with no warning. Water rushed down from the top of the mountains and the 500 rhesus monkeys were washed away. They all died, but they were all reborn in the heaven realm. The monkeys were amazed,
but then they used the heavenly eyes they now possessed to look at what they had done in the past. They saw that they were [reborn in heaven] because they prostrated as they built the stupa with great reverence and joy. Simply based on this blessed condition, they were reborn in the heaven realm. So, these 500 heavenly beings went to the Buddha’s abode to pay their respects to Him and give thanks for His compassion in sending the bhiksus to build the stupa and providing them with the chance to imitate them. They were grateful to the Buddha. The Buddha taught the Dharma to these 500 heavenly beings, then they joyfully withdrew. This story is from the Dharmapadavadana Sutra. Thus, as Buddhist practitioners, any and all causes and conditions can inspire the benevolence in our hearts and the power of our love.
So, next we will discuss,
“People such as these gradually accumulated merits and virtues. Replete with great compassion, they have all realized the path to Buddhahood. They teach the Bodhisattva Way to transform and liberate countless multitudes.”
“People such as these….” Because while building temples, stupas, shrines and statues, they became joyful, they “gradually accumulated merits and virtues.” When other people saw [what they had done], those people reverently prostrated. Then those who reverently prostrated could also gradually accumulate merits and virtues. By prostrating reverently, they accumulated merits and virtues and were inspired to seek the Dharma and put it into practice. Then they could be “replete with great compassion.” This is because when external images are brought into our minds, we can understand the Buddha-Dharma, be “replete with great compassion” and “realize the path to Buddhahood.” These external phenomena can bring purity to our minds; so this is also a way we can realize the path to Buddhahood.
“They teach the Bodhisattva Way to transform and liberate countless multitudes.” Here, the Buddha reiterated His purpose for coming to this world. Although He used various methods to establish many skillful means, He was “teaching the Bodhisattva Way.” In everything he taught, He hoped we could bring tangible “Dharma-semblance” into our hearts so we could return to the Buddha’s Right Dharma. So, we still need to walk the Bodhisattva-path in order to transform [ourselves]. When we practice and teach others to practice, we can “transform and liberate countless multitudes.” When we obtain the Dharma, we feel happy and can then guide others to accept the Dharma so they can feel the same Dharma-joy.
Now let us look at “people such as these.” This refers to everyone who erected stupas and created images out of reverence. “With conditioned phenomena and meticulous handiwork, dignified images were spread throughout the world.”
“People such as these” are people who, with utmost reverence, built stupas, shrines and so on. People who spread [the Dharma] in this world “gradually accumulated merits and virtues.” Over a long time they have accumulated the blessings of benefiting others.
[They] gradually accumulate merits and virtues: Over a long period of time they have strengthened their ability to benefit others. This ability is the virtue of doing good deeds. So, they have merits and virtues.
After stupas are built, their image remains in this world. Because their image remains in this world, they are something tangible that can inspire people. Beyond leaving something for future generations, we ourselves must also be reverent and try to understand how we can practice the Buddha-Dharma to benefit people. This is the ability [to benefit others]. This is how we can create things to provide guidance to everyone. Not only can we guide everyone, we can [inspire ourselves] to form aspirations.
“This ability is the virtue of doing good deeds.” Our internal cultivation is about refining our character. If we are spiritually refined, that will manifest in our treatment of others. When we treat others with humility and respect, we are virtuous. When dealing with people, if we have a visibly humble and respectful demeanor, and constantly express our gratitude to everyone, if we are grateful for everything, then we are demonstrating humility. We also must have respect, which comes from having unconditional love in our hearts and having this kind of refinement. So gratitude, respect and love are what we internally cultivate and externally practice.
Virtuous people internally cultivate their character and externally practice humility and respect. Internally cultivating honesty, integrity, faith and steadfastness is a merit. Externally practicing loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity is a virtue. What we attain through internal cultivation and external practice is called merits and virtues.
So, [cultivating] “sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness” is a merit. This effort to cultivate our minds is the work we must do internally. Externally, “practicing loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity is a virtue.” Practicing giving is a virtue. “What we attain through internal cultivation and external practice” are “merits and virtues. What is attained is virtue.” Through internal cultivation and external practice what we attain are merits and virtues. This comes from cultivating our minds.
Then we are “replete with great compassion. Great compassion” is to have great universal compassion for sentient beings and earnestly try to relieve their suffering.
We must always seek to understand sentient beings’ suffering.
When we are suffering, we think about how to eliminate it. The suffering of others is the same as our own; it must immediately be relieved. We must be earnest about this. This is the Bodhisattvas’ compassion for sentient beings who are facing all kinds of suffering. That is something Bodhisattvas cannot bear. So, they always.
“Feel others’ pain and suffering as their own. They cannot bear it, so they try to save and relieve them, and enable them to attain liberation. This is great compassion. With utmost sincerity and earnestness, they have no expectations or resentment.”
To be a Bodhisattva, we must be truly earnest in all these ways, without expectations or resentment. “Without expectations” is the state of equanimity. “Without resentment” is the state of compassion. Having great loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity is the mindset of a Bodhisattva. If we can achieve this, we “have realized the path to Buddhahood.” If we can steadily walk forward on the Bodhisattva-path through diligent practice, we can gradually move closer to the path to Buddhahood.
[They] have realized the path to Buddhahood: This path is the cause. The direct cause of the path of spiritual practice is that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. If we exercise perfect and wondrous right perspective, then with great compassion we will pave the Bodhisattva-path toward Buddhahood.
So, “this path is the cause. The direct cause of the path of spiritual practice is that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.” Since we intrinsically have [Buddha-nature], if we know how to exercise it, we will use it [to manifest] perfect and wondrous right perspective. We must truly have this perfect, wondrous, skillful and correct perspective. Then with great compassion we will pave the Bodhisattva-path toward Buddhahood. If we use this perfect wondrous right perspective, we can unlock our compassion and our great loving-kindness. With this great compassion, we can pave a. Bodhisattva-path toward Buddhahood. To do this, we must be mindful.
So, “They teach the Bodhisattva Way to transform and liberate countless multitudes.” Because of this, though the Buddha had already spent a very long time teaching skillful means, [He also encouraged] the building of stupas, shrines and statues, which is still skillful means. These skillful means “teach the Bodhisattva Way.” They are used to guide and transform Bodhisattvas. These Bodhisattvas then form aspirations again to.
“Transform and liberate countless multitudes.” So, [the Buddha] began by teaching skillful means to guide countless sentient beings. He used these skillful means to guide countless sentient beings to “ultimately enter the right path.”
Eventually, He led them to Right Dharma, to.
“Joyfully seek the True Dharma of the One Vehicle” and “transform and liberate countless multitudes.”
[Bodhisattvas] want everyone to be “joyful.” They joyfully seek so that everyone can always be happy, with joy always rising from their hearts. In the Four Infinite Minds, joy is said to be freedom from worries and sorrows. We should always have a broad mind to seek the True Dharma of the One Vehicle and transform and liberate countless multitudes. These various methods are all used to guide Bodhisattvas to form great aspirations, to have “great loving-kindness and compassion” and then to transform others.
Dear Bodhisattvas, we must be mindful as Buddhist practitioners. Though these are skillful means, they actually contain very profound Dharma. Everyone, please always be mindful.