Episode 401 – Guiding and Widely Transforming Sentient Beings
>> “Our Buddha-nature is intrinsic and deep within us. In walking the Bodhi-path we will transform others. Through our own practice we transform our companions. This is how we perfect our internal cultivation and external practice.”
>> “If they raised even a single hand or gave a slight nod of the head as an offering to the images, they shall gradually see countless Buddhas.”
>> [They] have, themselves, realized the unsurpassed way. They extensively transform countless beings and will enter Nirvana without residue, like a fire going out when the wood is consumed.
>> [They] have, themselves, realized the unsurpassed way: The path attained by the Tathagata is supreme and surpassed by none. Thus it is called the unsurpassed way. The sutras state, “He set aside the skillful for the direct, speaking only of the unsurpassed way.”
>> “I am always wondering how I can enable living beings to enter the unsurpassed way and quickly attain the body of a Buddha.”
>> [They] extensively transform countless beings: Sentient beings, the mind and the Buddha have the same essence. Those with severe karmic obstructions will find it hard to encounter Buddhas. If they encounter good karmic conditions and can eliminate obstructions of delusion, they can gradually draw near the teachings of the Right Path and transform themselves and others and directly enter the Bodhi-path.
>> When the delusions of views and thinking and the body influenced by the Five Roots, Dusts and Conditions are completely extinct and the afflictions of the desires of our senses are eliminated with no remnant, we achieve Nirvana without residue.
“Our Buddha-nature is intrinsic and deep within us.
In walking the Bodhi-path we will transform others.
Through our own practice we transform our companions.
This is how we perfect our internal cultivation and external practice.”
Everyone, as we engage in spiritual practice, we must have faith that we intrinsically have Buddha-nature, that everyone does. However, it is stored deep within us, so we have been unable to reveal and manifest it. It is not gone; it is [buried] deep within. So, we must learn the Buddha’s Dharma and practice according to what He taught.
What is the teaching we faithfully practice? The path to enlightenment. The only way to manifest our deeply buried Buddha-nature is to put [the Dharma] into practice by transforming ourselves and others.
“Through our own practice we transform our companions.” We accompany each other in our spiritual practice together. This is what the Buddha taught us, and it is His hope for us as well. With “internal cultivation and external practice,” we will naturally have perfect awakened conduct. This is when the Buddha-nature buried deep within our minds slowly surfaces.
In our evil world of the Five Turbidities, disasters are prevalent. In particular, with the passage of time, some countries not only remain poor, but they also suffer from repeated disasters. You have all heard of Haiti and can probably remember very clearly how much hardship [they have experienced]. The people there have suffered so much. They suffer from poverty and illness, as well as malnourishment. The hospitals there are in an awful state. Seeing the photographs is truly saddening.
We often mention Haiti as a place of hardship that Living Bodhisattvas constantly travel to. [The current situation] began on January 13, 2010. Suddenly on that day, the heavens and earth shook. Everything fell and shattered. That is how I would describe it. The magnitude of that quake was 7.0. In one instant, Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, was completely leveled. Starting in Taiwan, we initiated a worldwide [fundraiser] to awaken the love in everyone’s hearts. Our US volunteers then undertook our relief mission in Haiti.
It was truly like hell on Earth. [In their reports], I saw our Living Bodhisattvas go among the people who were living as if in hell. [Seeing] this was so profound and moving! Each volunteer [embodied the spirit of]. Earth Treasury Bodhisattva, [who vowed], “Until hell is empty I will not attain Buddhahood.” Although they knew [there would be] suffering, they all traveled there, thus manifesting the compassionate and wise actions of a Bodhisattva. In their mindset and actions, can’t we see their Buddha-nature? So, with this awakened mindset, they went into this place of suffering. Isn’t this [what it means to] “walk the Bodhi-path and transform others”? Together, the volunteers extended a hand to help the affected, the wounded, and the survivors of the disaster, and offered them comfort. They provided medical care, medicine, and food.
The medical treatment areas were truly hellish. The wounds of the patients could not really be treated properly, and the weather was humid and hot. As you can imagine, it was like a furnace. In this place where people were covered in festering wounds, [people’s senses were overwhelmed]. All they could hear were sounds of anguish, all they could see were diseased and wounded bodies, and all they could smell was the stench of rotting flesh. [In this cramped space], each person’s body was sticky with sweat. This is what the medical tent area was like in this hot climate. Just Imagine what that would be like; isn’t that like a living hell?
Bodhisattva[-volunteers] from the US went there to mobilize local Haitian volunteers with patience and love. In the beginning, US volunteers accommodated locals. When [the locals] said, “God has sent you,” despite being Buddhists, Tzu Chi volunteers responded, “God bless you.” Over time, when the locals would say, “God sent you.” [US volunteers] would say, “Yes, God bless you, but actually we came of our own accord. We are Buddhists.” [Then, they would] begin to share the Buddhist principles. After comforting them with love, they gradually became their friends. The Haitians were very touched by this, so in that area, we now have Haitian Tzu Chi volunteers. These Bodhisattvas are local residents, and have become our local volunteers.
Since 2012, the local volunteers discovered that their local central hospital was filled with suffering. The conditions were awful. Many patients suffered from tuberculosis and had been reduced to skin and bones. In addition to lacking medicine, the hospital also lacked food, so everyone was malnourished. Also, the intensive care unit for severe injuries could not really be called an intensive care unit. When I saw the photos, it was like seeing the Hell of Iron Beds. “One person fills it, as will many.” All the beds inside were pushed together. Really, there was nothing that qualified it as an intensive care unit.
Then they looked in the area sectioned off for tuberculosis patients. Each patient was just skin and bones, like withered tree branches. So, when Chi Zhi, of the local volunteers, learned about this, he suggested that they provide meals to the people in the hospital. So, from then on, US Tzu Chi Medical Association tried to do that three days a week, providing lunch and dinner for people there.
We have seen images of local volunteers in their volunteer vests, as well as those in blue and white and gray and white uniforms, all cooking meals together. They cooked meals of salty porridge, hot soup and so on and delivered them to those hospital wards. When they came to the tuberculosis patients, they still walked into the room with hot soup and lunch boxes. Then they respectfully placed the containers of hot food into their hands.
Seeing these Living Bodhisattvas work with the local hospital to provide nutritious food, the doctors and nurses there were also moved. Seeing these images, I truly feel they are modern-day Bodhisattvas, serving our world, especially for those living in hell on earth.
In the Dharma taught by the Buddha, the realms of heaven, human beings, hell and the rest of the Six Realms all exist in the human realm. So, we must quickly put our hearts into finding ways to awaken our deeply hidden Buddha-nature. We must walk the Bodhi-path, and step by step, diligently transform sentient beings. Moreover, “through our own practice” we “transform our companions.” We must all engage in internal and external spiritual practice together. Only then can we perfect our conduct.
We need “internal cultivation, external practice.” Previously, we have said,
“If they raised even a single hand or gave a slight nod of the head as an offering to the images, they shall gradually see countless Buddhas.”
This is talking about our reverence. Every raise of the hand or movement of the foot can express our reverence. Aren’t the Bodhisattvas I was just speaking of very reverent? Their every action comes from their hearts as they express the great kindness and compassion taught by the Buddha. First, with this reverence, they go among suffering beings in the world and help them. This is the best kind of offering.
Now, the next sutra passage states that they “have, themselves, realized the unsurpassed way.”
[We must] exercise our utmost sincerity by making offerings of our conduct to others. No matter how we normally show our reverence in a dignified place of spiritual practice, aside from respect, prostrations and offerings, no matter where we are or whom we encounter, we must use the Buddha-mind to view all others as Buddhas. Thus, we will develop respect for each of them. Even for suffering sentient beings, we will also treat them as Buddhas. So, it is with this kind of reverence that “they will gradually see countless Buddhas and have themselves realized the unsurpassed way.”
[They] have, themselves, realized the unsurpassed way. They extensively transform countless beings and will enter Nirvana without residue, like a fire going out when the wood is consumed.
As we gradually draw near the Buddha, we can begin to realize the principles that He taught. Thus, we can “realize the unsurpassed way”
[and] “extensively transform countless beings.” The more we understand and realize, the more apparent our sense of reverence and our Buddha-nature will become. So, when we share the Dharma with sentient beings, if we can really live up to it ourselves, then people will accept what we teach. Thus we “extensively transform countless beings”
“and will enter Nirvana without residue, like a fire going out when the wood is consumed.” [Then, we will] “realize the unsurpassed way.” The path attained by the Tathagata is supreme and unsurpassed; it is the highest. Nothing can surpass the principles realized by the Buddha, so they are “supreme.” They are the highest and unsurpassed, there is no way to go beyond them.
[They] have, themselves, realized the unsurpassed way: The path attained by the Tathagata is supreme and surpassed by none. Thus it is called the unsurpassed way. The sutras state, “He set aside the skillful for the direct, speaking only of the unsurpassed way.”
The Buddha has realized the truths of the universe. How can anything possibly surpass that? So, because it is surpassed by none, “thus it is called the unsurpassed way.” This “unsurpassed way” is already supreme and unsurpassed.
In this chapter, the sutra states, “He set aside the skillful for the direct, speaking only of the unsurpassed way.” At this point He was allowing everyone to enter the Bodhi-path, to go from the state of unenlightened beings directly to the state of Buddhahood. That is the “unsurpassed way.”
In the Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, there is a similar passage,
“I am always wondering how I can enable living beings to enter the unsurpassed way and quickly attain the body of a Buddha.”
He “opens and reveals” [the Dharma] to help us awaken and directly enter the state of Buddhahood. This was the Buddha’s intent, but sentient beings’ capabilities are dull, so He had to teach through skillful means. But although He taught with skillful means, He was constantly contemplating what methods to use to help sentient beings to enter the unsurpassed way.
He wanted to help people to quickly recognize the suffering in life and learn how to eliminate the karma they had collectively accumulated in their lives that led them to endure so much suffering. He wanted them to know how they could enter this path to enlightenment so they could quickly attain the Buddha-body, which means to quickly attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s compassion. He wanted to “transform countless beings.” The Buddha already had the intention to help everyone “realize the unsurpassed way. The unsurpassed way” is the only way to transform sentient beings.
[They] extensively transform countless beings: Sentient beings, the mind and the Buddha have the same essence. Those with severe karmic obstructions will find it hard to encounter Buddhas. If they encounter good karmic conditions and can eliminate obstructions of delusion, they can gradually draw near the teachings of the Right Path and transform themselves and others and directly enter the Bodhi-path.
“[They] extensively transform countless beings.” If we do not have this realization, how can we transform sentient beings? Sentient beings, the mind and Buddha have the same essence. We need to better understand how sentient beings, the mind and the Buddha are all of the same essence. If we sentient beings can awaken, we will realize the same principles as the Buddha. For people with severe karmic obstructions, to attain the Buddha-Dharma and truly realize the path to awakening is indeed somewhat hard. This is due to the severity of their karma. Even when they encounter the Buddha-Dharma bad karmic conditions may cause them to turn away, so they face many obstacles. “If they encounter good karmic circumstances,” if they have good causes and conditions, they can eliminate obstacles of delusion, gradually draw near Right Dharma and transform themselves and others. Thus, they can directly enter the Bodhi-path and “extensively transform countless beings.”
[We must] also consider those Bodhisattvas in Haiti, and those in the US who went to that place of hardship. Though people there face many karmic obstacles they have encountered positive karmic conditions and are now being guided. Though they are suffering, they have started to give to others. By directly entering the Bodhi-path, they are transforming themselves and others. By directly entering the Bodhi-path, they go among the suffering with an awakened state of mind.
When the delusions of views and thinking and the body influenced by the Five Roots, Dusts and Conditions are completely extinct and the afflictions of the desires of our senses are eliminated with no remnant, we achieve Nirvana without residue.
“[They] will enter Nirvana without residue, like a fire going out when the wood is consumed.” Next, we discuss views and thinking and turbidity of views. If our views and thinking go astray, we end up with delusions, with turbidity and with ignorance. Because of these two delusions, we are affected by the the Five Roots, Five Dusts and Five Conditions. The Fives Roots are the five senses, eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. They correspond with the Five Dusts, form, sound, smell, taste and touch, and connect with our external conditions. Our bodies exist in this environment, so we develop much ignorance. I hope that when desires arise from [the interaction between] roots and dusts, that we can be guided by good karmic conditions to accept the Buddha-Dharma and gradually transform ourselves and others. Then we “enter Nirvana without residue.”
All can attain “Nirvana without residue.” We can achieve complete extinction of afflictions that arise from [sensory] desires. Then when we see forms with our eyes, they will not evoke desires in our minds. If afflictions of the Five Roots and Five Dusts can be completely eliminated, we can be content and always happy, free of any trace of afflictions.
In this world, every place is full of opportunities for us to [learn] and practice, for us to see the path and walk on it. Dear Bodhisattvas, please always be mindful.