Episode 412 – All Phenomena Peacefully Abide in True Suchness
>> “The Dharma is inherently ever-abiding; it does not go through arising and ceasing. Humans always cling to forms, labels and appearances. By learning about existence and non-existence, we clearly understand right and wrong.”
>> “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 Dharma abides in the Dharma-state; its appearance in the world is ever-abiding. Having understood this at places of practice, the guiding teacher expounds it skillfully.”
>> “The Dharma abides in the Dharma-state;” so “the ultimate reality of ever-abiding Dharma will always abide in the states of all differentiated Dharma of worldly and world-transcending teachings. Wondrous provisional teachings are the starting point that leads to True Dharma.”
>> Dharma-nature, Dharma-realm and the Dharma that abides in the Dharma-state, are other names for True Suchness. Because True Suchness is where all phenomena peacefully abide, all the phenomena we know are referred to as the Dharma-realm.
“The Dharma is inherently ever-abiding;
it does not go through arising and ceasing.
Humans always cling to
forms, labels and appearances.
By learning about existence and non-existence,
we clearly understand right and wrong.”
Recently, it seems. I have been constantly discussing the Dharma and whether its intrinsic nature is permanent or impermanent. It seems that this is very profound, but this profound principle is found in our daily lives. It is so common in our daily living, yet when we try to explain it, it is very profound. We must deeply and thoroughly penetrate
the Dharma that is present in our daily lives. So, if we want to understand this Dharma, we must thoroughly investigate how we came to be born and why we age. It is good for us to be healthy, so why does illness exist? When we are ill, we are most fearful of dying. Illness is suffering and aging makes us unhappy, so what is the point of being born? We go through the same thing every day; from birth until old age, we are constantly worrying about the future. This is a very profound principle. So, we call this the “Dharma.” We must mindfully comprehend the Dharma.
Ultimately, is the Dharma ever-abiding? Or is it not ever-abiding? Is the Dharma changing or everlasting? After we comprehend it mindfully, we use this Dharma to return to the Middle Way, to the One Vehicle Dharma. Then we will have understood. However, returning to the Middle Way is easier said than done. Returning to the One Vehicle and utilizing this path as a tool to directly reach the stage of Buddhahood is truly not easy, because we are in the state of ordinary beings. The understanding and views of ordinary beings are not very clear and bright. Things are not so clear and bright to us, so we feel as if we have blurred vision, as if we are looking at flowers through a fog. After our eyesight deteriorates, when we look at something, it seems something is there, but also not. We seem to see the outline of something, but we cannot see clearly. This is how we ordinary people are. Our minds are not very clear, nor bright.
For so many days, we have been circling around this teaching. The “Dharma,” truly, “is inherently ever-abiding.” Truly, it is ever-abiding, not arising and ceasing. Let us take a look at Earth. Earth’s orbit around the Sun is always so precise. We are aware of whether it is day or night, but we do not detect these infinitesimal changes. The Dharma is inherently ever-abiding. It does not arise and cease; there is no dawn and there is no sunset, no light or dark. Our planet exists in space and is constantly undergoing imperceptible change. If Taiwan is facing the sun, then in the area of the world around Taiwan, people are saying, “The day is about to dawn.”
In the Buddhist sutras, [Earth] is divided into four continents. Now we divide the world into [seven] continents. The United States is divided into 50 states. The US is so big it has different time zones. Later when I finish speaking and we go up the stairs and look into the sky, it is already dawn. Now as we look out the window, it is still dark. While we are sitting here and talking, we are not aware that the Earth is moving. It must be at a certain place, and therefore it must be a certain, exact time. However, the universe as a whole is ever-abiding. It does not arise and cease, nor experience dawn and dusk. In the universe, the Dharma is ever-abiding. But in this world, these changes are unending;
the planet must follow these rules. However, in this world, we ordinary people cling to permanence. We are attached, attached to names and appearances, to tangible things with labels. When it is time for the government of a country to hold an election, its society becomes more unstable, because everyone is fighting. Everyone fights over titles and status. This is what happens to a country. Actually, this happens in any organization. “You need to invite me to join you. What title will you give me? What will my position be?” People want to know their exact title, position and the size of their salary. These are things we are attached to in this world. With these attachments, sometimes a person who was good at and content with his work may be recognized as a talented person and be offered a higher salary and better title elsewhere and be quickly lured away by the offer of status and wealth. They may abandon their current workplace to go to the other place. These are human attachments. We cling to tangible labels and appearances. This is why there is much instability in the world. This comes from a lack of understanding of principles.
What are our goals in this world? What are we here for? For recognition? For wealth? For what? Because we are not clear, we are unenlightened beings. So, we must “learn about existence and non-existence to clearly understand right and wrong.” We must mindfully comprehend this. We are so attached, but do these things truly exist? Do status, labels and numbers truly exist?
We have heard of different nations with different levels of poverty and wealth. We have heard that in Zimbabwe, money is calculated in trillions. Our one dollar or five dollars are worth trillions there. If you go to Zimbabwe, your right hand holds a hundred trillion dollars, while your left hand holds a thousand trillion. This trillion, is it existent or non-existent? These are so many different ways to label currency. But when you really want to use it, what can you actually get with it? What can you buy with it? We humans cling to that number, but does it really exist or not? In terms of principles, labels are temporary; they are empty. If this is the case, what is it that we are attached to?
Let us talk specifically about humans. Are we existent or non-existent? Before we were born, where were we? There was a period of time before we were born. As we were born, upon leaving our mother’s womb, we cried. Where is that infant version of ourselves now? Does it exist or not? “Existent” and “non-existent” are but illusory labels for stages in this process. Do these illusory labels exist or not? If we can understand the principles behind this, then we realize that actually, [when we die,] “we cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma follows us to our next life.” There are things that we cannot take with us, but there are things we will. We cannot bring that infant or adult form with us.
After we pass away, [that form] is left in this world. How will it be dealt with? It may be buried or cremated. It may become ashes. Right now it is popular to spread the ashes in the sea, mountains or forests. So in the end, we are left with nothing, right? But there is still something ever-abiding that we take with us. What do we take with us? Karma; we will take all the good and bad karma we created with us, and then bring it back to face our retributions in that next lifetime. We go through this [cycle] due to the karma we create from our attachments to these labels and appearances.
Thus, if something is the wrong thing to do we should definitely not do it. If we do the wrong things, we are committing evils, which is harmful to us and does not benefit others. Doing those things will hurt us. Though we may attain a certain status now, when we take [this karma] into our future lives, we may end up facing unbearable suffering. If we understand these principles, we will not be confused by the existence or non-existence of things. We would clearly know what we should do or not do and have a direction to head in. This is how we walk the Middle Way. When our course is correct, we will not be off-track.
So, in these few days, we have been saying,
“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.”
Now we will discuss,
“The Dharma abides in the Dharma-state; its appearance in the world is ever-abiding. Having understood this at places of practice, the guiding teacher expounds it skillfully.”
You must clearly remember what I just told you.
“The Dharma abides in the Dharma-state;” so “the ultimate reality of ever-abiding Dharma will always abide in the states of all differentiated Dharma of worldly and world-transcending teachings. Wondrous provisional teachings are the starting point that leads to True Dharma.”
The states of worldly and world-transcending teachings are differentiated “we cannot take anything with us when we die, only our karma follows us to our next life.” This applies to us unenlightened beings. The principles are ever-abiding, but we cannot clearly draw the distinction between virtuous Dharma and unwholesome practices, so good and evil coexist within us. Because of this, [our practice] of the Dharma is vastly different. The Enlightened One’s Dharma “abides in the Dharma-state.” Because He is already enlightened, He clearly understands principles. This means the principles of virtuous Dharma are readily apparent to Him, particularly the non-arising and non-ceasing true principles. He is ever-abiding in “the states of all differentiated Dharma of worldly and world-transcending teachings.”
He is both in and transcends the world. He came down from Tusita Heaven and was born into the palace. He manifested the Eight Aspects of His life and enlightenment. From His birth to. His attainment of Buddhahood to. His teaching of the Dharma, all the stages of His life were different. There was really such a person in this world. His birthplace, the way He lived, His status and so forth have all been researched. But in the sutras, we have heard that Sakyamuni Buddha has been around for countless eons. We have always said that. He manifested in this world countless times and ceaselessly engaged in spiritual practice for the sake of this world. He spent a long time practicing in the presence of countless Buddhas. He was always coming to the world to practice world-transcending teachings. This is differentiated Dharma.
Before He was enlightened, He lived a certain kind of life and went through a certain kind of process and thought in a certain kind of way. That is why He engaged in spiritual practice, diligently advanced and was able to attain enlightenment. These were things that differentiated Him from us. Actually, what He sought were everlasting principles. Countless Buddhas in the past, based on the same principles, sought the Dharma of all Buddhas, lifetime after lifetime. Different Buddhas lived in different ways. One such person who engaged in spiritual practice was the present Sakyamuni Buddha. These are the principles that continually appear in the sutras. If we can understand these principles, we know. “[He] abided in the states of all differentiated Dharma of worldly and world-transcending teachings.” In different eras, there are different ways of entering and transcending the world. The Buddha taught many of these principles.
“Wondrous provisional teachings are the starting point that leads to True Dharma.” He used so many different ways of life and so many principles to teach everyone the Dharma and guide them in the direction of the Middle Way into the Dharma-state of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. So, with wondrous provisional teachings, with these various skillful means, He gathered everyone into this settled state. After reaching this settled state, the road ahead will be the exact right one. So, “wondrous provisional teachings are the starting point that leads to True Dharma.” After guiding us to this state, all we need to do is keep walking forward. So, this is the Dharma and shows the Buddha’s compassion. He used various methods to guide us, hoping that we could accurately and clearly follow this Dharma.
So, we speak of Dharma, Dharma-nature, Dharma-realm and the Dharma that abides in the Dharma-state. In the sutras, if you see the “Dharma-nature, Dharma-realm,” or even “the Dharma that abides in the Dharma-state,” all these are just different labels for the same principle. For what? They are other names for True Suchness.
Dharma-nature, Dharma-realm and the Dharma that abides in the Dharma-state, are other names for True Suchness. Because True Suchness is where all phenomena peacefully abide, all the phenomena we know are referred to as the Dharma-realm.
“Dharma-nature” is True Suchness. “Dharma-realm” is also True Suchness. This Dharma returns and abides in the Dharma-state, which is returning to our nature of True Suchness. Many teaching are given, all with different labels. But actually, in the end, all Dharma abides in the Dharma-state, which is another name for True Suchness.
“True Suchness is where all phenomena peacefully abide.” All true principles, all absolute truth, come back to where True Suchness abides. Where does the Sutra of Infinite Meanings say. Bodhisattvas and Buddhas come from? They come from the home of Buddhas, which is the Tathagata’s state of True Suchness. So, every one of us should know that the Dharma-state all principles return to is the nature of True Suchness. That applies to all the phenomena we know, which is the “Dharma-realm.” Plants have their own underlying principles and ever-abiding nature. But those plants’ natures have their own realm, so they also take on different appearances to reflect their different natures. Thus, we can use one example to understand all the realms in the world.
Based on the realms we know, we know the natures of plants and water. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we can see that among plants there are many different natures. Their nature may be mild, dry or moist. There are many different natures which have different effects. Some can cure illnesses, others can harm the body; they are all different. We must know all this. We must know how water can be used. What kind of water can keep people healthy? What kind of water can contaminate us? And so on. “All the phenomena we know are referred to as the Dharma-realm.” For everything that we know of, regardless of what it is, we can learn how to properly use it. All this is considered the Dharma.
Simply said, everything we come in contact with in our daily living is the Dharma. However, we do not mindfully comprehend this. We do not cherish water as a resource. We are continuously wasting it. Then when we have no water, we will suffer greatly. Where will we find water then? This applies to other things with practical uses. The Earth produces crops. How can we conserve them so that we can share them with more people? We do not need to eat much. People often throw out leftovers. In modern times, this is a big problem.
There are many people with no food to eat. The food that people throw away may be able to nourish and save so many others. We humans only think about what is front of us; we do not think about what is far away from us. If everyone can think about how in our surroundings we must cherish and conserve the Earth’s resources then we can share them with many other people. If we can love and protect the Earth, we will not have issues with the climate and so on. In this world, people are always fighting for things. This is closely related to the Dharma we apply in our daily living.
Everyone, the Dharma is truly subtle and intricate, and also profound. However, it is a part of you and me, of all of us, and the way we live in this world. But, we have made it too profound so we do not realize that we can [apply it] right now. Actually, our lives at this moment are united with this profound Dharma. Thus, to learn the Dharma, we must always be more mindful.