Episode 411 – Enter the Sea of Dharma-nature
>> “Sentient beings have no fixed nature. They are like ripples on the water. May the winds of wisdom blow them into the sea of Dharma-nature.”
>> The ultimate nature of the Dharma is called True Suchness. The ultimate truth corresponds to all phenomena, the way bubbles and ripples are part of the water. Depending on their karmic conditions, the multitudes can awaken from delusion.
>> All Buddhas, the Two-Footed Honored Ones, know that all Dharma is empty by nature. The seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions, this is why They teach the One Vehicle.
>> Seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions: The seeds for Buddhahood are something sentient beings intrinsically have. These flawless seeds are never greater or lesser. Arising through conditions means that if we are permeated by the Buddha-Dharma, we will have the exceptional conditions to develop the flawless seeds of Buddhahood.
>> The One Vehicle is something that transports. It enables sentient beings to practice the teachings and escape the sea of cyclic existence and suffering, and thus reach the opposite shore of Nirvana. It refers to the ever-abiding ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which was realized by the Buddha.
“Sentient beings have no fixed nature.
They are like ripples on the water.
May the winds of wisdom
blow them into the sea of Dharma-nature.”
We have been discussing “nature.” There is a nature that is intrinsic to all of us, to both the world within us and around us. It is the nature of True Suchness. But we sentient beings are deluded, so we allow our nature of True Suchness to be buried ever more deeply under ignorance and afflictions. Thus, the Buddha-Dharma tells us, “The ultimate nature of the Dharma is called True Suchness.”
The ultimate nature of the Dharma is called True Suchness. The ultimate truth corresponds to all phenomena, the way bubbles and ripples are part of the water. Depending on their karmic conditions, the multitudes can awaken from delusion.
Yesterday I spoke of the ultimate nature of the Dharma, our nature of True Suchness. “The ultimate truth corresponds to all phenomena.” The macrocosm and the microcosm are both inseparable from true principles or the workings of things. The macrocosm is all things in the universe. Each has its own underlying principles. Plants have their own biological principles. Even rocks have their own underlying principles. Each serves a different purpose.
For instance, if we want to build a house we cannot do it without dirt and stones as well as steel bars, bricks and so on. We also need trees. Trees have the nature of trees. Dirt and stones have the nature of dirt and stones. But, they all have their principles of existence. So, it is said, “The ultimate truth corresponds to all phenomena.” All the truth in the macrocosm corresponds to all phenomena.
Actually, many things are like “bubbles and ripples that are part of the water.” Can trees exist without water? No. Dirt, rocks, or anything from a mine also comes from the union of the four elements. We are sitting here right now. Do we see any water? We do not see any. Actually, all around us there is earth, water, fire and air. If there was no moisture at all, we would not be able to sit here. [The air] would be too dry. There must be balance, the right amount of air and so on. This is the balance of the four elements. In this space, we cannot see them, but they are still present. So, in the harmony of the elements in this space, there is Dharma-nature.
The Dharma-nature is always present, but as we said yesterday, sometimes we are not settled; our nature is not fixed. ․Thus we say “sentient beings have no fixed nature”. Not only is sentient beings’ nature not fixed, actually, though all things in the world have a nature, it is not fixed. Water is soft, rocks are hard, but if there is excessive water,
we may end up with something like. Japan’s combination of disasters. The 3.11 Earthquake was an imbalance of earth, followed by an imbalance of water. This caused a tsunami, which was even more powerful than the quake. When the water came, everything on the ground was like tofu on a table. After the water surged in, everything was swept out into the sea. Next, there were fires. After the fires, the nuclear reactor began leaking [radiation].
So, this combination of disasters took place due to the imbalance [of elements]. Each element has its own fundamental nature. So, within fire there is the nature of water and within water there is the nature of fire. In both fire and water, there is the nature of air. In summary, all these natures are pervasive, but there is no way for us to see that.
Humans and sentient beings are without a fixed nature. “This is a good person, definitely trustworthy. This is a bad person, and cannot be trusted, nor relied on and so on.” Both are human, and actually, both have the same original nature, “Human nature is inherently good.” We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. So, why are some people good and some bad? Good people’s original nature of True Suchness has been less tainted by ignorance. Those who are evil still have that intrinsic nature of True Suchness, but it has been unceasingly defiled by their ignorance and surroundings. Thus, their habitual tendencies have become more extreme and unwholesome. Actually, there is a pure intrinsic nature in evil people, too.
Similarly, all things have an intrinsic nature, but the appearances they manifest are different, indicating that their natures are different. So, “sentient beings have no fixed nature. They are like ripples on water.” Yesterday I said to everyone, “bubbles and ripples are part of the water.” The bubbles may appear to be ripples, or simply foam. Actually, this is part of the nature of water. By the same principle, we humans, regardless of our habitual tendencies or conduct, still have that intrinsic nature within us. But what people see are our habitual tendencies, so they cannot see our intrinsic nature. If our habitual tendencies do not manifest, then they cannot be seen either. Habitual tendencies are what we manifest after being influenced [by our surroundings]. That is what makes us sentient beings.
Every different kind of animal has a different nature as well. Do all these different animals also have Buddha-nature? The Buddha said that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, but it has been polluted by habitual tendencies, leading them to create both good and evil. Doing good leads to the heaven or human realms. Doing evil leads to the hell, animal or hungry ghost realm.
The animal, hungry ghost and hell realms can likewise be seen in this world. Why were they born into that kind of environment? Why were there so many twists and turns in their life? This is all created by sentient beings. So, what they have created is like ripples on the water. Under certain conditions, water becomes bubbles, foam or ripples. They are different but they are all water.
Since we know this, as Buddhist practitioners, we must aspire and vow to “[attain] the winds of wisdom.” Where there is water, if the wind is strong, there will be big waves. This comes from imbalance in air. What we hope for is balance of the four elements. We cannot lack water, and we must also have clear, fresh air. So, [we vow to attain] “the winds of wisdom.” That refers to air. This air is a gentle and mild wind. So, it “blows us into the sea of Dharma-nature.” We all intrinsically have Dharma-nature, but we have lost it through our delusion, which causes our minds to waver. So, there are many things that disrupt the fundamental course of life.
Master Zhu Hong’s “Essays on Not Killing,” includes a story that took place in the 20th year of Emperor Daoguang. At that time, there was a man who followed a group of people on a pilgrimage to Jiuhua Mountain. This person had the mindset, “I wonder what Jiuhua Mountain looks like? Since you’re going, I’ll go with you.” And so he followed them there.
In the great hall on Jiuhua Mountain, he saw some paintings and calligraphy. Those words counseled people to stop killing. One painting was of an ox plowing a field, which is very hard work. So, the painted words on not killing asked people to stop consuming the flesh of sentient beings. Oxen work so hard to help people, plowing fields and furrowing gardens. Oxen work so hard on our behalf that for us to consume their flesh is very unreasonable. These words on not killing matched the painting.
That man stood there, looking at the painting and reading the words. Then he laughed suddenly. Laughing aloud, he said, “But I can’t live without eating beef.” After saying this, everyone focused their gaze on him. Suddenly, his face became dark and he fainted for no reason.
They quickly tried to revive him. They quickly carried him down the mountain, bringing him to the village of another clan. For a night, he rested in that place, which was similar to an ancestral shrine. He was allowed to rest there overnight. In the morning, when people opened the door to the room he was staying in, it seemed to have been wrecked by an ox. Then the people who came with him, once it was light enough, took him home.
His family felt that he had created karma, that this was the result of violating a holy place. So, his family, aside from summoning a doctor, So, his family, aside from summoning a doctor, also made vows that if he was able to recover and regain his wits, the entire family would immediately uphold vegetarian precepts and do many charitable things on his behalf. Also, if he could get better, they would bring him to Jiuhua Mountain to personally repent.
After many days had passed, this man gradually recovered. When his mind finally cleared, he suddenly said, “I’ve been working so hard!” He said, “I felt like an ox plowing fields. Not only did I drag the plow, I was beaten. The work was indeed very arduous. For over ten days I have suffered.” Everyone began talking about how, during his many days in a coma, he was making the sounds of an ox in that state of semi-consciousness.
He said, “I was frightened. I know that I transgressed at that sacred place, especially by denying the law of karma, so my karma is very severe. Starting now, not only will I not eat beef, starting now, knowing that all living beings are sentient, I will be a vegetarian.” As a result, several days later, he returned to Jiuhua Mountain to pay respect. He did not just walk up the mountain, but he prostrated every three steps from the foot of mountain to the top in order to repent.
This is telling everyone that we are all sentient beings, and evil and ignorance may arise in any person. Then we may recklessly deny the law of karma. So, we must constantly have this kind of wisdom and apply our wisdom to understand the human world.
The previous sutra passage states, “All Buddhas, the Two-Footed Honored Ones, know that all Dharma is empty by nature.”
All Buddhas, the Two-Footed Honored Ones, know that all Dharma is empty by nature. The seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions, this is why They teach the One Vehicle.
The Two-Footed Honored Ones have created enough blessings and wisdom. Those replete with both blessings and wisdom are the Two-Footed Honored Ones, or Buddhas. The Buddha’s understanding is universal. He is the Completely Awakened One and. One Perfect in Wisdom and Action. Among the Buddha’s ten epithets is. Completely Awakened One. So, we say that the Buddha is the Great Enlightened One of the Universe. After attaining enlightenment, all things in the universe became known to Him. He knows all the principles of how we humans relate to the land. So, those who follow the principles will live a peaceful life. Those who go against the principles will not be in harmony with themselves or with the world.
So, He “knows that all Dharma is empty by nature.” Sentient beings’ habitual nature is not fixed, so they create much evil karma. “The seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions.” Actually, we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. But this seed also requires the convergence of causes and conditions. Aside from soil and water, it also needs air. It also need the nature of fire, which comes from sunlight. So, “the seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions.”
Seeds for Buddhahood arise through conditions: The seeds for Buddhahood are something sentient beings intrinsically have. These flawless seeds are never greater or lesser. Arising through conditions means that if we are permeated by the Buddha-Dharma, we will have the exceptional conditions to develop the flawless seeds of Buddhahood.
We all intrinsically have Tathagata-nature. This seed for Buddhahood is in all of us, but needs many causes and conditions to converge. Take the Four Missions of Tzu Chi, for example. Each serves a different function and each requires its own exceptional causes and conditions to converge. The causes and conditions of today are dependent on those beginnings. This is why we name them in this order, Charity, Medicine, Education, Humanistic Culture. This is how they came about. This is “arising through conditions.”
“This is why They teach the One Vehicle.” So no matter what we do in Tzu Chi, or how we began, our goal has been to carry out the Four Missions. When we put the Four Missions together, they express the belief we all share, which is one of having mutual gratitude.
Our Tzu Chi volunteers are Living Bodhisattvas. They not only use various causes and conditions to build a hospital. After we built a hospital, we needed many doctors, pharmacists, nurses, technicians, various departments, an administrative office and so on. Our Tzu Chi volunteers then also volunteered at the hospital. Many different talents were brought together because of the work of these Living Bodhisattvas. They established the hospital and helped it fulfill its potential to save lives.
After the hospital came the missions of. Education and Humanistic Culture, leading to our Da Ai TV station. All this needed many causes and conditions to converge. So, these causes and conditions converged solely for the sake of one goal, to exercise our altruistic potential for the sake of Buddha’s teachings and sentient beings. We are spreading the Buddha-Dharma throughout this world and guiding everyone to the One Vehicle, to walk the Bodhisattva-path.
Learning to be grateful, respectful, loving and expressing selfless great love in this world is the goal of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and. Tzu Chi School of Buddhism. This is the direction we all share, so we call it the One Vehicle. The One Vehicle is a mode of transportation. When we get on a train and ride it, no matter how many people [are on it], we all move along with the train. So, we take this method of transportation to reach our destination.
The One Vehicle is something that transports. It enables sentient beings to practice the teachings and escape the sea of cyclic existence and suffering, and thus reach the opposite shore of Nirvana. It refers to the ever-abiding ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which was realized by the Buddha.
When the Buddha came to this world, the tool He used was the Dharma, “the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.” He wanted everyone to know we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, and must bring together good causes and conditions to be able to purify people’s minds and exercise our altruistic potential. This is the one great cause for which the Buddha comes to this world. So, all past, present and future Buddhas must cultivate both blessings and wisdom and bring them together. Then They are Two-Footed Honored Ones and can understand all true principles in the world.
True principles cannot be seen; what is seen is what is created by humans, who are influenced by their habitual tendencies. This results in good and bad karmic retributions. We certainly must believe this. So, the Buddha comes to this world to teach all of us the way to attain Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood, we must first know these principles. Therefore, we must always be mindful.