Episode 477 – Turn to the Great in Accord with the Principles
>> “Having heard the Buddha teach the Great Vehicle Dharma, we must feel fortunate that we are returning to the right and the true. Setting aside the limited teachings focused on emptiness, we are now in accord with the principles and turn to the Great [Vehicle Dharma].”
>> “Formerly, I was attached to deviant views and was a teacher to the Brahmins. The World-Honored One knew my heart, rooted out my errors and taught me Nirvana.”
>> “I was freed of all my deviant views and realized the Dharma of emptiness. Then I told myself that. I had reached the state of Nirvana, but now I realize that it was not true Nirvana.”
>> In the past he believed that he had already attained Nirvana, simply because he did not understand that skillful means were suitable teachings given by the Buddha. Those skillful means were taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities. Upon encountering these teachings, he believed and accepted them. Thinking that he had attained realizations, he hindered himself by not seeking Great Dharma.
>> Now he learned that he had to realize the Great Vehicle to attain ultimate Nirvana. By transcending the suffering of cyclic existence, he could attain ultimate peace. This is the joy of attaining great Nirvana.
“Having heard the Buddha teach the Great Vehicle Dharma,
we must feel fortunate that we are returning to the right and the true.
Setting aside the limited teachings focused on emptiness,
we are now in accord with the principles and turn to the Great [Vehicle Dharma].”
This is saying that, having heard the Great Vehicle Dharma, we must know that [the goal of] learning from the Buddha is to be in accord with the Buddha’s true principles. The Buddha’s true principles are what He awakened to. We ordinary people are deluded, so as we transmigrate through the Six Realms, we endlessly create more afflictions. Thus we develop ignorance and habitual tendencies and are born as ordinary people. It is rare to be born human, even more rare to encounter the Buddha-Dharma. We have already been born human, heard the Buddha-Dharma and have understood the principles that the Buddha had realized. These are not truths that can only be realized by [someone like] Prince Siddhartha 2500 years ago. We all intrinsically have these truths in us.
Over 2000 years ago, Prince Siddhartha was saddened to see the state of the world. The four castes were kept separate. Wealthy families were very powerful, held a high status and enjoyed great prosperity. But the poor were considered lowly and looked down upon and lived in poverty and suffering. So, he felt great compassion toward them.
In addition to this, everyone experiences birth, aging, illness and death. So, the young prince wondered, “How can there be happiness in this kind of life? Where is the principle of true happiness? How can everyone live as equals, where all are wealthy and respect each other?” At that time, these were the thoughts in the young prince’s mind. Once he had the idea, he sought out the true principles.
We often say, “One thought [can last] one lifetime.” Perhaps for many lifetimes, we have been shaped by a thought like this one. This prince gave rise to the desire to seek the truth, so he renounced the lay life. He traveled for five years and engaged in ascetic practices for six. Eventually, he understood all the teachings cultivated by non-Buddhist practitioners and realized that they were not the ultimate. So, he investigated and delved further, applying his mind to unceasingly exploring the principles of the universe. Finally, He attained enlightenment,
that tranquil state of mind. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month before dawn broke, his mind was very tranquil and converged with the light of the stars in the sky. The light of his mind and the light of a star in the sky converged. Suddenly, his mind became one with the universe. At last, His “heart encompassed the universe and the boundless worlds within it.” The true principles of the universe were completely encompassed by His mind, so it is called the “ocean of enlightenment.” Once He became enlightened, His mind was so open that it was one with the heavens and the earth.
This was the Buddha’s mind at that moment. Upon realizing that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, He felt so joyful that He wished to share this knowledge with everyone. But sentient beings’ capabilities were not yet mature enough, so the Buddha began by teaching according to capabilities. For over forty years, He taught according to people’s capabilities.
Sariputra was originally a Brahmin practitioner and learned the Brahmin teachings. After being told by his teacher that beyond these teachings there were still ultimate true principles and that he should search for them, he came to join the Buddha’s monastic community. Because of his background with. Brahmin teachings, his mind was on the course of finding a way to purify his heart completely and avoid the entanglements of worldly relationships and the conflicted emotions of the world. So, after listening to the Buddha’s teachings, he knew that his mind must remain very pure and must reach a state of tranquility and clarity. Having understood this, he remained at that state.
Then, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Sariputra gradually realized that his mind must not only be tranquil, but within that tranquility, his mind must “remain unwavering.” His mind was tranquil, but when it encountered any phenomena it would waver again. This is not the ultimate state. To reach the ultimate, he had to “return to the right and true.” Now he understood this, so Sariputra was happy; he “felt fortunate.” His mind was now on a course to turn from the Small to the Great. Before, he had been biased toward emptiness and the Small Vehicle principles. His mind had remained in the. Small Vehicle state of eliminating cyclic existence. So, when he heard the Great Vehicle Dharma, he began to develop doubts in his mind.
There is a saying, “Great doubts lead to great realizations.” When we hear the Dharma, we must listen, contemplate and practice. After listening, we must still give it careful thought. “Is this teaching correct? Have I taken it to heart? Are my actions consistent with the thoughts in my mind?” Some people think one way, but their actions are still in line with their habitual tendencies. This should not be the course of our spiritual practice. We must reflect on and contemplate ourselves. We must constantly remind ourselves, “After I listen to the Dharma, am I accurately following its course?”
Whatever the Buddha taught, our actions must be in accord with the Dharma that He expounded. Then, in our hearts and in our actions, we are engaging in spiritual cultivation and practice. “Cultivation” refers to cultivating our mind and refining our character. “Practice” refers how we correct our behavior. By doing this, we are true spiritual practitioners. Otherwise, if we only listen to the Dharma but still retain our habitual tendencies, acting as we wish without changing ourselves, then listening to the Dharma has not been helpful to us at all; we have wasted our time.
Sariputra already felt “fortunate he was returning to the right and true.” He was on the right course of the True Dharma. Sariputra, at this time, had “[set] aside the limited teachings biased toward emptiness.” He had by now set aside the past limited teachings of the Small [Vehicle] Dharma. At that point, his mind was very free. He was now “in accord with the principles.” Now, his mind and the Buddha’s teachings had come together and resonated with each other.
So, we must “turn to the Great [Vehicle]” and walk the Bodhisattva-path and interact with people. As we interact with people, various conflicts inevitably arise about who is right and who is wrong. People have various kinds of habitual tendencies, so while we are among them, we must not allow ourselves to be affected by their negative habitual tendencies. We must go among people to train ourselves so that our minds will not be affected at all. Only by having a firm resolve can we accomplish anything.
If we hear one person say, “This is right, just do it,” and then another person says, “No, I think I know the right way,” and we change our course to follow that person, if a third, fourth or fifth person tells us what to do, which one shall we listen to? We should wait until they are united in their understanding before we take action. Think about it, if we try to [follow everyone], we will be sloppy in everything we do, we can never relax and no issue will ever be fully resolved.
So, we must seize the moment and learn how to make big decisions as we interact with others without being affected by discursive thoughts or the views of the people around us. Of course, when something is the right thing to do we must seize the opportunity and do it.
In the previous verses, Sariputra said,
“Formerly, I was attached to deviant views and was a teacher to the Brahmins. The World-Honored One knew my heart, rooted out my errors and taught me Nirvana.”
Sariputra expressed that his mind was once focused on principles he had learned from the Brahmin teachings. When he learned the Buddha-Dharma, he heard the Buddha teach how to maintain the purity of the mind. Everything is empty in nature, so there is no need to be attached to material things, relationships and so on, or to hold onto desires. He had achieved this in his spiritual cultivation.
He was not the only one. He had led an entire group of people to engage in spiritual practice, so he was called “teacher to the Brahmins.” Sakyamuni Buddha understood sentient beings’ thinking and past habitual tendencies, so He was able to continue to guide them. This was why Sariputra said, “The World-Honored One knew my heart.” He knew that Sariputra had not eliminated his habitual tendencies. The Buddha patiently taught him to eliminate his deviant views and his bias towards emptiness. So, Sariputra was saying that he had remained focused on emptiness but the Buddha led him away from it, step by step.
In the next passage, Sariputra says,
“I was freed of all my deviant views and realized the Dharma of emptiness. Then I told myself that. I had reached the state of Nirvana, but now I realize that it was not true Nirvana.”
At that time, he thought that by entering the Buddhist path, he had eliminated the habitual tendencies that he had developed as a Brahmin, so he was focused on the principle of emptiness. He thought that his old deviant views were gone. He reached an understanding of true emptiness, that all things are empty in nature, so he thought that he had attained the fruits of spiritual practice. At that time he felt in his heart, “I have already attained Nirvana. I will no longer transmigrate in the Six Realms.”
But at this time, “now I realize that it was not true Nirvana.” Before, he only knew about “true emptiness” but had not yet reached the state of “wondrous existence.” This “wondrous existence” is our nature of True Suchness. We all intrinsically have it; it will never change. The nature of True Suchness in our hearts is the true principles. In addition to emptiness, to not being attached, we should also realize the subtle and wondrous truths within true emptiness. We have not reached this state yet. Sariputra at that point recognized that he had not attained the ultimate state. This was his mindset. He continued to clearly lay out his past mistakes.
This bias toward emptiness and the Dharma of Nirvana had only liberated him from the suffering of the Three Realms but he had not yet attained the principles of ultimate Nirvana without residue.
The Three Realms are, as we have explained before, the desire realm, form realm and formless realm. Now, we will explain this in terms of this world. “Desire” refers to the desires in our minds. Sariputra had already completely eliminated his desires. The form realm refers to various kinds of forms. Living in the human realm, when we open our eyes everything that we can see is a form. When these things no longer tempt our pure hearts, the form realm will no longer be attractive. What about the formless realm? In this realm there are no attachments to forms of any kind. These are the Three Realms in this world. Sariputra had only attained liberation from these realms.
Everything is empty because ultimately, when we keep breaking things down, there is nothing there. Yet when many [causes and conditions] converge, things can come to fruition. But if we break these things down completely, they each return to their existing nature. This is the truth.
So, this is all about labels. Although Sariputra had the wisdom to not be affected by labels, he could not penetrate their true principles. So, his Nirvana was focused on emptiness. Although he said he was liberated from the suffering of the Three Realms and his mind was no longer tempted by these states, within these states there are subtle and wondrous principles that he had still not yet realized. So, this was not the “permanent elimination of suffering without residue.” He had not reached that level.
So he said, “Then I told myself, I had reached the state of Nirvana.” In the past he had believed, “I have already attained Nirvana.” This was just because he did not understand then. He thought he had attained Nirvana because at that time he still did not understand the Buddha’s skillful means.
In the past he believed that he had already attained Nirvana, simply because he did not understand that skillful means were suitable teachings given by the Buddha. Those skillful means were taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities. Upon encountering these teachings, he believed and accepted them. Thinking that he had attained realizations, he hindered himself by not seeking Great Dharma.
[He only practiced] the Dharma the Buddha had expounded according to people’s habitual tendencies, capabilities and needs.
At the time, Sariputra still did not understand that “those skillful means were taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities.” So, he attained this Dharma; “upon encountering these teachings, he believed and accepted them.” Attaining this Dharma made him very happy, so he accepted it, thinking that he had attained realizations. He thought that attaining this Dharma meant he had attained the fruits of spiritual practice. He “hindered himself by not seeking Great Dharma.” He hindered himself. Thinking that he already achieved [his goal], he did not keep advancing in his studies.
But to attain everlasting, non-arising and non-ceasing ultimate Nirvana, he must continue to advance forward. So, “He had to realize the Great Vehicle to attain ultimate Nirvana.” To attain ultimate Nirvana, he had to “transcend the suffering of cyclic existence in order to attain ultimate peace.” After attaining this peaceful state, external conditions would not cause him to waver. This, then, is the true and great Nirvana, a safe, stable and joyful place of refuge.
Now he learned that he had to realize the Great Vehicle to attain ultimate Nirvana. By transcending the suffering of cyclic existence, he could attain ultimate peace. This is the joy of attaining great Nirvana.
In our spiritual practice, when we only listen to part of the Dharma, we may think we understand everything. If we understand but cannot practice it, then we have not actually understood. We must achieve a state where we will not be affected when we are among people. Benefiting people is what the Buddha really wanted to teach us.
He came to the world for the one great cause of saving and transforming sentient beings. We must transform ourselves and also others. We must not allow various worldly phenomena to influence us and trigger our afflictions. Then we can be free of afflictions forever. [We will] remain forever pure and treat the happiness of sentient beings as our Dharma-joy. If we can achieve this, then we have truly pushed aside our own obstacles.
We should know that the Buddha devised teachings according to sentient beings’ capabilities. We should not think, “This is good enough.” Instead, we should keep advancing forward. Let us not obstruct ourselves. If we obstruct ourselves, we will not be able to go forward on the great Bodhi-path of Bodhisattvas. So, in learning the Dharma, we must not hinder ourselves, nor should we seek to awaken only ourselves. We must also simultaneously benefit others. Therefore, we should always be mindful.