Episode 408 – Internal Cultivation and External Practice
>> “With great loving-kindness, there is never any regret. With great compassion, there is never any resentment. With great joy, there is never any worry. With great equanimity, there is never any expectation.”
>> “All Buddhas make this vow, ‘Having walked this path to Buddhahood, I wish to enable all sentient beings to also obtain this path.'”
>> “Though all Buddhas of the future will give hundred, thousands, millions of [teachings], these countless Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle.”
>> Though all Buddhas of the future will give hundred, thousands, millions of [teachings]: All Buddhas [come] for the sake of sentient beings. Because there is much confusion in our minds, Buddhas have to give suitable teachings. Their teachings adapt to capabilities the way water takes on the different shapes of containers but retains the same nature.
>> We must take the Dharma we listen to and diligently cultivate it within. We contemplate how to externally practice it to [attain] virtues. This is how we gradually advance in our practice of the sole wondrous Dharma for attaining Buddhahood.
>> These countless Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle: The wondrous Dharma taught by the Buddha is all the ways noble beings enter the Path, so these are called “doors.” Since all Dharma also leads to ultimate reality, what we call Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle.
“With great loving-kindness, there is never any regret.
With great compassion, there is never any resentment.
With great joy, there is never any worry.
With great equanimity, there is never any expectation.”
As practitioners of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage, we must internally cultivate sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. We must also make the Four Great Vows to transform all sentient beings, eliminate all afflictions, diligently and mindfully study the Buddha-Dharma and steadily engage in spiritual practice. We must not cease until we attain Buddhahood. So, [we must] “vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.”
We are now learning how the. “Tzu Chi School is a road of working with others.” As we enter this school of Buddhism, our mission is to develop the Four Infinite Minds. The Four Infinite Minds are great loving-kindness, great compassion, great joy and great equanimity. To have “loving-kindness” is to hope that the world can become safe and peaceful, that everyone can live harmoniously, receive blessings and find happiness. This is the Buddha’s great loving-kindness. He wants peace and joy for all sentient beings, so He spent a very long time [teaching them]. But sentient beings’ capabilities are complex and vary greatly, so the Buddha unceasingly returns to this world on the ship of compassion. He spent a long time in this world creating karmic connections with sentient beings and helping them. He comes to spread seeds, plant good causes and create good karmic connections.
Since Beginningless Time, Sakyamuni Buddha has been in this world, paving the path to Buddhahood. I continually remind all of you that before we can attain Buddhahood, we must first create good karmic connections. His causes and conditions ripened, so the Buddha manifested the Eight Aspects of His life and enlightenment. This was His way of teaching us the process of His spiritual practice [through] the maturation of His causes and conditions. Before the causes and conditions ripened, He unceasingly exercised great loving-kindness, great compassion, great joy and great equanimity to form good affinities with sentient beings. He kept coming [to the world] for an amount of time that is inconceivable to us. We cannot apply our unenlightened wisdom to fathom that length of time. For us, it is impossible. In the Buddha’s Jataka Sutra, every story happened countless kalpas ago, which is a very, very long time in the past.
Think about all these sutras and the number of His lifetimes they describe. Sakyamuni lived many lives as a Bodhisattva, until more than 2500 years ago, when He manifested the attainment of Buddhahood. This means that after a very long time, His causes and conditions had ripened so He could be born in this era. This was more than 2500 years ago. As we can see, the Buddha’s great loving-kindness is everlasting. Sentient beings are stubborn and hard to tame. This is true not only of those living in the present, but also of those who lived incalculable kalpas ago. Thus, “everlasting” means He never feels any regrets for the lifetimes of love that He has shown to sentient beings. No matter how stubborn sentient beings are, He has never regretted His love for them.
“With great compassion, there is never any resentment.” Sentient beings are not only stubborn and difficult to train, they sometimes also repay kindness with animosity. There are many such stories in the Jataka Sutra. However, He never regretted any of this. Despite being persecuted by sentient beings, He never thought about withdrawing His great compassion. He sees all sentient beings as a part of Him. Therefore, what He wanted to attain is what all sentient beings want to attain. As He has already attained Buddhahood through spiritual cultivation, and. He hoped all sentient beings would engage in spiritual practice. Then, they too could attain Buddhahood. This is great compassion without resentment. Stubborn sentient beings are difficult to tame, but due to His great compassion, He never felt resentful. He never felt any regret or resentment. In every single moment, [He thought], “I must transform you. No matter how you treat me, I will still transform you.” This showed His lack of resentment.
Next, “With great joy, there is never any worry.” A broad and open mind is necessary for dealing with the many people and matters in this world. To continue to exercise the power of vows and to put the Great Vows into practice, we must have a broad, pure mind, “[one which] encompasses the universe and embraces everything”; such a mind is very expansive. If we broaden our minds in this way, we can be free of worry and sorrow and be constantly joyful.
We practice being understanding of trivial things and accommodating of major issues. Only by doing so can our minds be broad and our thoughts become pure. If we can nurture this kind of mindset, we will feel joyful every day. With nothing to regret or resent, every day, we will fee joyful. Thus, “With great joy, there is never any worry.”
[Next], “With great equanimity, there is never any expectation.” Giving must be without expectations. We must realize the Three Spheres of Emptiness and show compassion to all equally. By realizing the Three Spheres of Emptiness, our minds will become very expansive. Giving is what we should be doing. Material things never truly belong to us. When we can use these things to help people, we feel happy. What we gain in return is their peace and safety. This is all it takes for us to be happy. What more can we ask for? This is why. Tzu Chi volunteers give unconditionally. And then what do they say? They are grateful that others are willing to accept their help. I usually tell everyone that the skills we should cultivate are being grateful, content understanding, accommodating and so on. These are the ways we should engage with people and matters in our daily living. Then for us, “with great loving-kindness, “there is never any regret. With great compassion, there is never any resentment. With great joy, there is never any worry. With great equanimity, there is never any expectation.” Indeed, we must work towards this.
Consider the many Bodhisattvas in this world. In places of the greatest suffering in this world, these Living Bodhisattvas have manifested when the causes and conditions matured. For example, in poor countries like South Africa, [volunteers] have taken on a mission. After ceaselessly devoting themselves to helping others in South Africa over the past two decades, despite their own poverty now (2013), they have gone beyond South Africa to help those in Swaziland, Mozambique, Lesotho and other countries.
As of February (2013), they have gone to Swaziland eleven times. The distance between the two countries is 600km. The car they used was very old and beat up, and it was carrying seven people. From South Africa to Swaziland it is 600km. They left very early in the morning and arrived after 7pm. They did not complain of being tired and still seemed to be very energetic. They brought sleeping bags with them so they could curl up and sleep anywhere. Then, the next day they continued
their journey to a rural village in Swaziland. But in Swaziland, they needed a guide to show them the way. During the trips made in the past year, they had become acquainted with an employee of Tex-Ray Industrial Co., a trading company, who introduced them to a friend. The name of this friend is Thembi. She was poor and unemployed, and her family was in a state of difficulty. When her friend introduced her [to Tzu Chi], Thembi thought about her village and the many poor people who lived there. She wanted to bring the Tzu Chi spirit back to her village to help the people there. So, she bravely volunteered to lead them back to her village.
Now, there were eight people in the car. They drove in this car for another couple of hours. After they arrived and parked the car, they still had to travel on foot for a long way. They even had to hike through a mountainous area. We can imagine how hard it was for these South African Bodhisattvas, who have large frames, to hike and walk the narrow path. Hiking must have been very difficult for them. However, they were very happy. They sang happily as they walked. An image of the volunteers in South Africa walking has probably appeared in everyone’s mind. They did the same on their way to this village. Once they arrived in the village, Thembi began introducing them to her relatives. She used her uncle’s house as the meeting location.
Her uncle had already passed away, but he had three wives. There were 31 people in this big family. The three wives lived together harmoniously. They wove straw mats to support the entire family. However, the entire family has AIDS. Even the youngest, a three year old, has it. Would you say this family is poor or rich? They may seem poor but they still live together happily and harmoniously. However, the entire family has AIDS. We may think that they are suffering, yet they did not think of it this way. When the third wife saw a seven-year-old child in the village whose parents had passed away, she adopted him and took him in as part of this family. Although they were poor, they actually had great compassion without resentment, great joy without worries and great equanimity without expectations. They have the hearts of Bodhisattvas.
From this house, Tzu Chi volunteers started to invite people in this village. Over 60 people came. Tzu Bu, Tzu Lei and other South African volunteers began to share about the Tzu Chi spirit and “spread the seeds of love.” Everyone was very happy, so the third wife bravely volunteered to shoulder the responsibility of becoming the first Tzu Chi volunteer there.
Of course, there is much more to this very long, very moving story, but there is no time to share it right now. However, if we want to do good deeds in life and walk the Bodhisattva-path, we do not have to be rich. We do not need to have a lot of free time. Even those who live in poverty and hardship are still willing to give to others. Thus they are Living Bodhisattvas. Their hearts are joyful, free of aversion, resentment and worries. This big group of Bodhisattvas have deeply inspired us. So, all Buddhas have made the Great Vows and continue to work on behalf of this world. This is what “countless Buddhas” refers to. With countless Buddhas, there are countless Bodhisattvas in this world. These countless Bodhisattvas continue to gather, and in the future they will be among the countless Buddhas.
In the previous passage of the sutra,
“All Buddhas make this vow, ‘Having walked this path to Buddhahood, I wish to enable all sentient beings to also obtain this path.'”
Isn’t this the case? Sakyamuni Buddha said, “All Buddhas make this vow.” This was the vow made by so many Buddhas. So, Sakyamuni Buddha said, “Having walked this path to Buddhahood.” He had also walked the path to Buddhahood. For countless kalpas, He walked the path to Buddhahood in this world. All Buddhas, when they were Bodhisattvas, also walked the path to Buddhahood. All of them make the same vow, which is “to enable all sentient beings to also obtain this path.” This is the path to enlightenment. We discussed this yesterday.
Today, we will talk about,
“Though all Buddhas of the future will give hundred, thousands, millions of [teachings], these countless Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle.”
“All Buddhas of the future” means that Sakyamuni Buddha is not the only one; He also spoke of “all Buddhas of the future.” They will use all kinds of Dharma-doors to guide countless people according to capabilities. Actually, no matter which Dharma-doors are used, they are “in fact all part of the One Vehicle. One Vehicle” refers to the one vehicle for attaining Buddhahood.
Though all Buddhas of the future will give hundred, thousands, millions of [teachings]: All Buddhas [come] for the sake of sentient beings. Because there is much confusion in our minds, Buddhas have to give suitable teachings. Their teachings adapt to capabilities the way water takes on the different shapes of containers but retains the same nature.
So, “All Buddhas of the future will give hundred, thousands, millions of [teachings].” All Buddhas come for the sake of sentient beings because the minds of these beings are confused. As I said before, sentient beings’ minds are scattered; unenlightened minds are like this. Their thinking is actually very complicated. Everyone has his own interpretation. Everyone has his own way of thinking. This can be very confusing. However, the Buddha comes for the sake of all of these many sentient beings. The number of sentient beings is equal to the number of discursive afflictions there are. Thus, all Buddhas give teachings which are suited to specific capabilities. They observe sentient beings’ capabilities, the orientation of their minds and the kinds of afflictions they have. Then based on those capabilities, They give [suitable] teachings to relieve their suffering and resolve their conflicts. So, “Their teachings adapt to capabilities.”
For example, whether a water container is round, rectangular, square or hexagonal, whatever shape the container is, the water will take that shape too. When water is poured into a container, it will spread to fill every corner. “Water takes on the different shapes of containers,” just as the Dharma is suited to sentient beings’ [different] capabilities. It has the same nature as water.
Thus, after we listen to the Dharma, we must “diligently cultivate it within.” After we listen to it, we must accept it.
We must take the Dharma we listen to and diligently cultivate it within. We contemplate how to externally practice it to [attain] virtues. This is how we gradually advance in our practice of the sole wondrous Dharma for attaining Buddhahood.
So, I constantly remind everyone to take the Dharma to heart. After we take it to heart, we must diligently practice it. As we practice it, we must contemplate how to go among people and work hard to develop and attain virtue. We diligently cultivate our minds to develop wisdom. We diligently practice among others to cultivate blessings. We have previously discussed this. This is how we can “gradually advance” from the state of ordinary people and practice the sole wondrous Dharma for attaining Buddhahood. So, we must really take the Dharma to heart.
Then, “these countless Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle.”
These countless Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle: The wondrous Dharma taught by the Buddha is all the ways noble beings enter the Path, so these are called “doors.” Since all Dharma also leads to ultimate reality, what we call Dharma-doors are in fact all part of the One Vehicle.
The various wondrous teachings of the Buddha are “all the ways noble beings enter the Path.” The Buddha calls these many Dharma-doors, “skillful means.”
All Buddhas and noble beings must pass through these doors to enter the path. Thus, all Dharma leads to the One Reality, which is why we speak of Dharma-doors. One Reality refers to the singular nature of water. The Dharma is like water; only something with the nature of water can truly penetrate the capacities of sentient beings. So, for the sake of sentient beings, the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice and attained enlightenment. Thus, we must also engage in the internal cultivation of sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness, and we must interact with others to practice loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. So, we must always be mindful.