Episode 794 – Gradually Entering the Great Vehicle
>> The Tathagata spurs us to advance in our practice, to turn to the [great] teachings and awaken. He gradually guides us to True Vehicle Dharma. By only taking joy in the small path, we remain stuck, never leaving the provisional. When the World-Honored One revealed the true, the four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional, but now they knew and understood.
>> “At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “Then after a short time had passed, the father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear; he had formed a great resolve and scorned his former mindset.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> Then after a short time had passed: Right after the Prajna period was the time that He taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path. A short time: No one understands the son better than the father. At that time, the Buddha had already gradually started teaching the Great Dharma, as causes and conditions had already gradually ripened.
>> This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma. As they considered these things, they had gradually become clear; thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle. Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times. This explains the meaning of seeking the carts.
>> He had formed a great resolve: They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was. And scorned his former mindset: They regretted their abiding in the Small Vehicle.
>> And scorned his former mindset: Upon reflection, they relinquished the Small. This reveals the meaning of seeking the carts outside the burning house. As the son’s resolve had grown greater, it became certain that the father would pass the family business on to the son. But the son, in body and mind, was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].
>> [The Buddha] opened and revealed His views and understanding for us to realize and enter. After more than 40 years, He started teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Samadhi and wisdom of the Surangama.
>> With the mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom, we can illuminate ultimate reality and penetrate the Dharma-nature of True Suchness. After the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding, they gradually came to form a great resolve.
“The Tathagata spurs us to advance in our practice, to turn to the [great] teachings and awaken.
He gradually guides us to True Vehicle Dharma.
By only taking joy in the small path, we remain stuck, never leaving the provisional.
When the World-Honored One revealed the true, the four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional,”
“but now they knew and understood.” From ancient times to the present, the Buddha’s foremost intention has been for everyone to be able to experience their nature of True Suchness, but we are still far from this intrinsic nature. In fact, our nature of True Suchness is within our minds; it can be found in our own minds. As long as we can turn our mindsets around and eliminate ignorance, our pure nature will manifest. But we have not yet mastered this skill. Mastery of this skill is still far from us. Therefore, the Buddha would sometimes use methods to spur us on and motivate us, so we could be sincerely diligent in our practice. We must “turn to the [great] teachings and awaken.” We must not remain in the Small Vehicle Dharma and only benefit ourselves. It is the time for this mindset to be quickly turned around. We must go among people to help others.
The Buddha put His heart into slowly and gradually “guiding us to the True Vehicle Dharma.” He guided us one step at a time to enter the teachings of the True Vehicle. Yet, we sentient beings -cling to our delusions and do not awaken. We are still happy with the Small Vehicle Dharma, still happy with only benefiting ourselves. “We remain stuck, never leaving the provisional.” We have been stuck here for a very long time and are unwilling to advance. Thus, “The World-Honored One revealed the true.” He had to find a way to lay out the True Dharma such that it would help everyone understand what the True Dharma actually is.
So, the “four disciples” were. Subhuti, Katyayana, Mahakasyapa and. Maudgalyayana. These four disciples, since the Buddha had bestowed a prediction of attaining Buddhahood on Sariputra, had already attained deep realizations. So, by the time of the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, they thoroughly believed [in the teachings]. They thus expressed that they had followed the Buddha for a long time, but had continued to remain stuck at the Agama and Vaipulya teachings and even up to the Prajna teachings. After so many years, at the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly, they achieved a deep realization that the purpose of seeking the Dharma is to fulfill the great vow of saving sentient beings. Spiritual practice takes more than one lifetime; we must spend a very long period of time to benefit people and accumulate good affinities, to cultivate both blessings and wisdom.
Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-wisdom; we all have Hearer-wisdom, Bodhisattva-wisdom, Buddha-wisdom and so on. But how many principles do we actually understand? Principles are inherently without substance, form or appearance. Their substance and appearance are found by going among people to earnestly engage in spiritual practice, to benefit others and comprehend all kinds of suffering. In the end, we come back to the beginning, to the truth of suffering. If we do not understand the truth of suffering, how can we realize the great joy of an open and spacious mind? How can we realize this freedom and ease?
So, “The four disciples regretted that they had remained in the provisional.” They had already regretted remaining stuck in the past, in only benefiting themselves. “But now they knew and understood.” Now they knew and were able to understand.
When the elder was guiding the poor son, he had to take off his magnificent clothes and change into crude clothes. He applied a lot of dirt to himself to appear as a laborer in order to approach, take care of and encourage [his son]. Slowly, he arranged for a chance to converse and from this they came to have heart-to-heart talks. During these heart-to-heart talks, he gradually revealed that he had limitless wealth. He gradually revealed his identity, his dignified demeanor, that he had a storehouse of treasures and so on. He had already led him inside.
This is what fathers of this world do. Of course, for the world-transcending kind father, all beings of the four forms of birth and the Five Realms are kept in His heart. He feels that they are all His children. Again and again, countless times, He comes to seek wisdom and transform all beings; He never gives up on them. Just like with very young children who are confused and cannot walk steadily, as they walk forward and stumble around, their mothers and fathers are behind them, worrying that they will fall, that they will be in danger. So, everyone is the same in the Buddha’s heart. We are young children who have not matured yet. This is how the Buddha treats sentient beings. He used all kinds of methods to spur us on in body and mind to engage in diligent practice and eliminate afflictions from our minds, turning afflicted thoughts into pure thoughts. This is how the Buddha teaches us, helping us to attain realizations. The Buddha kept coming back to guide us
“At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things, the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses. Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself. Thus he remained living where he had before and was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.”
As the previous sutra passage says, “At that time, having been given this instruction, the poor son received and understood all those things.” He already knew there were so many things, “the gold, silver and treasures and everything in the storehouses.” There were many things inside. “Still, he had no wish to take even a meal for himself.” He did not think to desire them or take them. “Thus he remained living where he had before.” He still remained in the provisional and still had not stepped out. Although the doors of his mind were opened, he had not stepped out [of the doors] and did not think of going among people. So, this is an analogy describing how. “He was unable to relinquish his feelings of inferiority.” He had not yet relinquished thoughts of only benefiting himself. These thoughts had still not been relinquished.
The following sutra passage says, “Then after a short time had passed, the father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear; he had formed a great resolve and scorned his former mindset.”
The doors of his child’s mind were opening and he understood that there was such an abundance of treasures. The doors of his mind had been opened. So, it says, “after a short time had passed.” What was that time? It was after the Prajna period. From the Agama and Vaipulya, we have already arrived at the Prajna period. What was after that? That was when the Buddha revealed “wondrous existence” within “emptiness. Wondrous existence” was taught during the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. “A short time” in “after a short time had passed” is referring to the time when. He began to teach the Sutra of Infinite Meanings.
Then after a short time had passed: Right after the Prajna period was the time that He taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path. A short time: No one understands the son better than the father. At that time, the Buddha had already gradually started teaching the Great Dharma, as causes and conditions had already gradually ripened.
It was at this time that He began to help us gradually understand many teachings. Starting with the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, “He taught everyone to go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path.” There needs to be “unsummoned teachers” [We can do this] even if our body is ill, as in the analogy of the master boatman. He is not in good health, but he still ferries people to the other shore. It shows that while he too is an ordinary person, he will still help others
“A short time” is an analogy to help us understand the son’s resolve. As the saying goes, “No one understands the son better than the father.” The father understands the son the best. No one understands sentient beings better than the Buddha. The Buddha understands the capabilities of sentient beings and the needs of sentient beings. Even when He was transitioning to begin teaching the Lotus Sutra, He first taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, which includes the Chapter on the Ten Merits. “If you do this, you will earn these merits.” It is the same. Sentient beings’ minds still had expectations, so He had to gradually and slowly teach the Great Dharma, turning from the Small to the Great Vehicle Dharma. “As causes and conditions had already gradually ripened” means. He had to wait for these causes and conditions to ripen.
This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma.
The following passage says, “The father knew his son’s intentions had gradually become clear.” He already knew his child’s mind was slowly becoming clear. The Dharma was given through gradual teachings, immediate teachings and then perfect teachings. During this process, “Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit gradually entered the Great Vehicle.” They were gradually taught and gradually entered the Great Vehicle. Their minds were clear, moving towards the Great
This is like how Small Vehicle practitioners who only wished to practice for their own benefit had gradually entered the Great Vehicle and with clear minds were moving toward the Great. They had learned that infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. They must consider all the infinite teachings, while the principles must return to the One Dharma. As they considered these things, they had gradually become clear; thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle. Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times. This explains the meaning of seeking the carts.
Listening to the teachings is like this; we enter by slowly moving from the Small to the Great. So, “[Infinite teachings] arise from One Dharma.” In listening to the teachings, we can see how. “Infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma.” The Buddha originally wanted to tell everyone that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Everyone has the ability to attain Buddhahood. It is not just a possibility but a certainty that we can attain Buddhahood. The One Dharma is so simple, but because of [our] dull capabilities, the Buddha had to give a lot of teachings. So, infinite teachings fundamentally arise from One Dharma. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings uses many analogies to begin to teach the Dharma.
“They must consider all the infinite teachings.” The Buddha did not just give one teaching; He had to devise many types, like the Nine Divisions of Teachings and the 12 Divisions [of the Tripitaka]. There needed to be many different ways of teaching the Dharma. Whenever one teaching is given, a lot of thinking and consideration must go into adapting it to the capabilities of sentient beings. “The principles must return to the One Dharma.” After many teachings are expounded, all of them must be consolidated again to let everyone know that it is not that complicated. We use various methods to eliminate afflictions, but the goal is to return to our true nature
“As they considered these things,” at this time, the things they considered gradually became clear. These disciples began to understand clearly. After listening to over 40 years of teachings, they had slowly become clear. Their resolve also gradually grew. After practicing for so long, their goal was now to go among people, to be able to truly perfect both blessings and wisdom. “Thus they developed capabilities for the Great Vehicle.” Their capabilities for accepting the Great Vehicle had begun to develop. “Then, at this sutra assembly, [the teachings] were requested three times.” Finally, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Sariputra asked the Buddha to teach three times. Because the Buddha had constantly praised the state of the Buddha-wisdom, they realized their states and the Buddha’s state were still so far apart, so they hoped the Buddha could describe it.
Sariputra asked three times and the Buddha refused three times, but in the end He taught it. “This sutra assembly” is for the Lotus Sutra. The “three requests” were asking that the Buddha explain; this was their aspiration to seek the Dharma.
This is like in the Chapter on Parables, when outside the burning house the elder set up three carts to tempt them to come out. Then he told them, “Look, there is the great white ox-cart. Look, there are so many treasures inside, and they are so magnificent. They are very fun and filled with abundance”
He had formed a great resolve: They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was. And scorned his former mindset: They regretted their abiding in the Small Vehicle.
“He had formed a great resolve” showed that [the Buddha] encouraged everyone to choose the great white ox-cart. But they “scorned [their] former mindset.” Although they began to admire the cart, there was still hesitation. Their mindset of enjoying the Small Dharma and awakening oneself was not fully relinquished. “They had turned toward the place where the treasure of attaining Buddhahood was.” This was their direction, but they still remained in the Small Vehicle state where they had abided in the past. They were like this in the past, and they had not fully abandoned it. So, they were thinking and considering; they were thinking of letting go
And scorned his former mindset: Upon reflection, they relinquished the Small. This reveals the meaning of seeking the carts outside the burning house. As the son’s resolve had grown greater, it became certain that the father would pass the family business on to the son. But the son, in body and mind, was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].
This is explaining the meaning of the three carts outside the burning house. They were what the children wanted. After they saw them, the children’s resolve gradually grew. It was now certain; he knew that his father’s teachings were to be passed to him to carry on the family business. Though in his heart he wanted to accept them, he was still hesitant. “The family business is so large and heavy. Will I be able to shoulder it?” He was still hesitant. So, “[His mind] was not yet comfortable [with inheriting it].”
This was the Buddha’s one great cause in coming to this world, to “open and reveal His views and understanding for us to realize and enter.” Thus, after more than 40 years, He finally began to teach the Lotus Sutra. In the process He also taught the Surangama Sutra
[The Buddha] opened and revealed His views and understanding for us to realize and enter. After more than 40 years, He started teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Samadhi and wisdom of the Surangama.
to help us understand the power of Samadhi in the Buddha’s mind. “The mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom” helps our compassion and gives us a way to go among people. So, “We can illuminate ultimate reality.” How do we express wondrous existence in emptiness, the ultimate reality of True Suchness? By going among people and “penetrating the Dharma-nature of True Suchness.” We can already see very clearly “the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding.”
With the mutual nourishment of Samadhi and wisdom, we can illuminate ultimate reality and penetrate the Dharma-nature of True Suchness. After the opening, revealing, realizing and entering of the Buddha’s views and understanding, they gradually came to form a great resolve.
Prajna wisdom helped us to understand that everything is empty in nature. Now, we return to “wondrous existence.” Everyone intrinsically has this nature. The workings of “wondrous existence” come from our Buddha-nature, with which we go among people to cultivate both blessings and wisdom. Dear Bodhisattvas, learning the Buddha’s Way is indeed for the purpose of guiding us onto the Bodhisattva-path. We must always be mindful.