Episode 806 – Turning from the Small Vehicle to the Great
>> In learning the Buddha’s Way, we must attain teachings and gain understanding. The World-Honored One taught by observing capabilities, so for a period He did not specifically speak of [the disciples’] part in the Great Vehicle Dharma. When He made it clear that all have the Buddha-mind, they gradually turned from the Small Vehicle to the Great.
>> “Through the power of skillful means, the World-Honored One taught the wisdom of the Tathagata. We have attained from the Buddha the single day’s wages of Nirvana and considered this a great achievement, so when it came to the Great Vehicle, we had no aspiration to seek it.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “Furthermore, as the Tathagata’s wisdom was opened, revealed and taught for the Bodhisattvas, we ourselves never had such aspirations.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> Before He turned to the Prajna teachings, during the Vaipulya period, the Buddha saw that we had no aspiration to seek the Great, as we thought the provisional and the true were only up to the Buddha.
>> Bodhisattvas possess four kinds of fearlessness in teaching and transforming sentient beings: First, they completely retain and uphold all goodness and Dharma without forgetting, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly. Second, they completely know the joy of all Dharma, as well as the capacities, desires, natures and minds of sentient beings, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly. Third, they are skillful in answering questions, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly. Fourth, They are skillful in severing doubts, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly.
>> At the Prajna assembly, receiving the teachings of the provisional and the true was up to us, so we sought them ourselves. Then because of the might of the Tathagata’s wisdom, [we understood that] the Buddha had gradually opened the Vaipulya, giving explanations using matters and principles.
>> Doctrine: It means methods of teaching. The door of existence, the door of emptiness, the door of both and the door of neither are the methods of the four doors.
>> Universal: It also means the essence of the principle of impartiality. The methods of the four doors are each [taught] in accord with the principle of impartiality. These are the Vaipulya teachings.
>>Doctrine can also mean broad. Universal can also mean equal. During this third period, the Buddha broadly taught with the four kinds of teachings, the pitaka, common, unique and perfect teachings, to equally benefit both sharp and dull capabilities. Thus, this was called the Vaipulya period.
>>He opened, revealed and taught for all great beings; as they took up the Buddha’s compassion, the Buddha could freely teach them His original intent. As this was expounded to Bodhisattvas, we thought of it as the Bodhisattva Way.
“In learning the Buddha’s Way, we must attain teachings and gain understanding. The World-Honored One taught by observing capabilities,
so for a period He did not specifically speak of [the disciples’] part in the Great Vehicle Dharma.
When He made it clear that all have the Buddha-mind, they gradually turned from the Small Vehicle to the Great.”
As we engage in spiritual practice and listen to the Dharma, we must take the Dharma to heart; we must be able to experience and understand it. The World-Honored One taught according to capabilities. That was during His lifetime. So, we spiritual practitioners must be mindful and must first seek to understand all the teachings He gave. He taught according to people’s capabilities, so the Dharma He taught was not fixed. Depending on people’s capabilities, the Buddha would give them suitable teachings. When the causes and conditions for Him to encounter certain people matured, He would teach in a way they could understand so as to resolve the delusions in their minds and guide them to let go of their afflictions.
In the beginning, they were still not clear about the Buddha-Dharma, so the Buddha gave the Agama teachings, then the Vaipulya and Prajna teachings. He taught in this orderly sequence. But when teaching to the [monastic] assembly, He would still teach according to capabilities. This was the kind of life He led, the way He interacted with everyone. Thus, the World-Honored One taught according to capabilities.
“So, for a period He did not specifically speak of their part in the Great Vehicle Dharma.” During this period, He taught them how to eliminate afflictions. He hoped to encourage everyone in the Sangha to form great aspirations and make great vows. When He turned to expounding the Vaipulya sutras, He taught both the Great and Small Vehicles. After this, during the Prajna period, He taught to help everyone universally understand that the true principles of all things in the world are without form and substance and that the conflicts between people always arise from a single thought. Let go of attachments! Let go of desires! Let go of fame, wealth and status because they are all empty.
When we sentient beings hear this, even if lay practitioners know [they should], is letting go actually that easy? On the other hand, those in the monastery, those who have renounced the lay life, think, “I have already let go of everything. My mind is free of these hindrances. If I do not have to experience any more rebirths. I would be very satisfied.”
The Buddha felt that everyone had more or less realized the principle that all things are empty, so at that time, He began to gradually open the door to the Lotus Sutra to help us be clear about wondrous existence and our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
“When He made it clear that all had the Buddha-mind,” He let everyone know that we all intrinsically have the Buddha-mind and the chance to attain Buddhahood. They only need to earnestly form great aspirations. So, “They gradually turned from the Small Vehicle to the Great.” The Buddha observed that with their capabilities, they had gradually attained realizations.
In fact, for us as unenlightened beings [transmigrating in cyclic existence], all [our karma of] suffering or happiness is created in the human realm. In heaven, everyone enjoys a happy life; there is no significant good or evil [karma]. Yet significant good and evil [karma] is created in the human realm. The human world is impermanent, and human life here is painfully short. In the course of their short lives, people may give rise to a single thought that can cause terrifying calamities in the world. There is a saying in Emperor Liang’s Repentance, “The rage of a king can result in corpses for thousands of miles.” Clearly, when a person in charge of a country gives rise to a deviant thought, everyone in that country will suffer. If he raises an army to attack other countries, innocent people in those countries will suffer.
This is especially true nowadays. It does not have to be “the rage of a king.” In fact, it can be the rage of anyone, even a young person. Some small thing happens on the streets, abd someone is outraged by the injustice, and someone is outraged by the injustice, so he starts writing about it. This causes a sensation, and people spread it. Countless people read it and feel outraged, so they continue to pass it on, triggering outrage in more and more people. As people get upset, things can get out of control. First they hurl verbal abuse at each other, then they begin to act out of frustration and form opposing forces.
Think about it; this is the way the world is. The world has always been impermanent, and in fact life has always been painfully short. Yet a single thought from someone can bring about such a major disaster. Disasters like these are becoming more frequent. Nowadays, people do not know right from wrong; this is very worrisome. So, what is most urgent right now is to purify people’s minds with the Buddha-Dharma. As the world’s population grows, people’s minds have lost their virtue; they keep going further astray. So, now is not the time to solely benefit ourselves, instead we need to benefit the entire world. Thus, we must gradually turn from the Small Vehicle to the Great.
As the previous sutra passage states, “Through the power of skillful means, the World-Honored One taught the wisdom of the Tathagata. We have attained from the Buddha the single day’s wages of Nirvana and considered this a great achievement, so when it came to the Great Vehicle, we had no aspiration to seek it.”
Subhuti said that the World-Honored One had taught with all kinds of skillful means, all the way up to the present. Throughout the Vaipulya period, He exerted His power to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma, but His disciples all felt that human life was filled with suffering, so they stopped at [seeking] Nirvana. They sought their own awakening, practicing only for themselves. This is “a single day’s wages.” They were already satisfied with that. As long as they could save themselves, they paid no attention to others. “So, when it came to the Great Vehicle, we had no aspiration to seek it.” Regarding the Great Vehicle Dharma, they did not form any kind of resolve.
The next passage states, “Furthermore, as the Tathagata’s wisdom was opened, revealed and taught for the Bodhisattvas, we ourselves never had such aspirations.”
The Tathagata, in His wisdom, had, for the Bodhisattvas, opened and revealed the Bodhisattva Way, which is to benefit oneself and others. However, [the disciples] thought He was teaching only to the Bodhisattvas, that it had nothing to do with them.
Before He turned to the Prajna teachings, during the Vaipulya period, the Buddha saw that we had no aspiration to seek the Great, as we thought the provisional and the true were only up to the Buddha.
This was after He “turned to the Prajna teachings.” The Prajna teachings came after the Vaipulya teachings. During the Prajna period, as the Buddha turned from the Vaipulya teachings, “[He] saw that they had no aspiration to seek the Great, as they thought the provisional and the true were only up to the Buddha.” During the Vaipulya period, He had already begun teaching the Great Dharma, but this Great Dharma was still a provisional teaching, as it was taught with skillful means. During the Vaipulya and Agama periods, He had discussed “existence” and the karmic law of cause and effect. He encouraged everyone to practice virtuous Dharma and create good causes and taught everyone to do good deeds. However, these were still provisional teachings.
In fact, the provisional teachings contain true principles, but people did not understand this, so they thought that doing good deeds [only] applied to Bodhisattvas. So, they thought the coming together of the provisional and the true was up to the Buddha. In fact, it was the disciples who had no aspirations to seek the Great. The Buddha’s provisional teachings contain the true; there is True Dharma within them, but they did not understand this. He wanted everyone to be more mindful and benefit others as they benefited themselves, but they were unwilling. So, they “thought the provisional and the true were only up to the Buddha.” These people were still stuck there
“[His wisdom] was opened, revealed and taught for the Bodhisattvas” ․When Bodhisattvas teach sentient beings, they need four kinds of fearlessness. First, “They completely retain and uphold all goodness and Dharma without forgetting, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly.” This is the Bodhisattva Way.
Bodhisattvas possess four kinds of fearlessness in teaching and transforming sentient beings: First, they completely retain and uphold all goodness and Dharma without forgetting, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly. Second, they completely know the joy of all Dharma, as well as the capacities, desires, natures and minds of sentient beings, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly. Third, they are skillful in answering questions, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly. Fourth, They are skillful in severing doubts, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly.
First, they take all of the Buddha’s teachings, whether of the Great or Small Vehicle, and develop a deep understanding of them. Only then can they “teach the Dharma fearlessly.” Only then can they put their hearts into teaching the way the Buddha taught at the start, turning the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, the Six Paramitas and so on for everyone. To do this, Bodhisattvas must first be able to
“completely retain and uphold all goodness. Retain all Dharma and uphold all goodness”; this is something we have discussed previously. We must “retain all Dharma.” All the Dharma He taught, Great and Small, must be absorbed into our minds. Moreover, we should uphold “flawless Dharma.” After we take the Dharma to heart, we must not allow any of it to leak out. When Bodhisattvas “retain all Dharma and uphold all goodness,” they can teach the Dharma fearlessly among people
Second, “They completely know the joy of all Dharma as well as the capacities, desires, natures and minds of sentient beings, so they can teach the Dharma fearlessly.”
We must first know sentient beings’ “capacities, desires, natures and minds.” We must know all of these. When it comes to their natures, desires and states of mind, we need to deeply understand everything. This is where Bodhisattvas exercise their wisdom. If we do not understand their capabilities, if we do not understand their desires, if we do not understand their minds and natures, how can we teach the Dharma to them? We must first understand them in order to teach the Dharma to them
Third, “They are skillful in answering questions, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly.”
Some sentient beings, even before we speak to them, will already want to ask us questions, so we must be able to answer them. At the same time, people may deliberately test us with questions about the Dharma. They want to criticize us or prove us wrong. We also need the ability to respond to them and even convince them. In this way, we can expound infinite teachings and be “skillful in answering questions.” When people ask questions, we must be able to respond to them. When they have questions about the Dharma, naturally we must respond very mindfully and guide them. Some will criticize us out of bad intentions. Even in such cases, we must still answer them and even be able to convince them. If we can do this, we can be “skillful in answering questions” and can “teach the Dharma fearlessly.”
Fourth, “They are skillful in severing doubts, so they teach the Dharma fearlessly.”
Because sentient beings use the Six Sense Organs to connect with the Six Sense Objects, as they encounter external conditions, they give rise to strong desires. If they can give rise to thoughts of goodness, those will be strong, but if they give rise to thoughts of evil, those will be powerful too.
Since objects evoke our desires, once our desires are elicited, we work hard to possess those things. We can never obtain enough; we will never be satisfied. Having one building is not enough, we want to own higher ones and larger ones. Excavating and destroying one mountain to extract its resources is not enough; we [destroy] mountain after mountain.
Ancient people used to say, “Mountains are not as tall as our list of wishes.” As I often say, having “one” we are always lacking “nine.” I have a dollar, but feel nine dollars short. I have a million, but feel nine million short. I have 10 million, but feel 90 million short. I have a billion, but feel nine billion short. We always feel lacking. In the end, what will our life become? Isn’t everything in life empty in nature? This is the “severing of doubts.” How much do we really want? We desire material things, but what do we [really] lack? We have more and more material desires; we want our businesses to be bigger and bigger. This kind of life brings great suffering.
So, “They are skillful in severing doubts.” Our desire for material things keep us in doubt. “This is mine! That is mine too!” We endlessly pursue what we consider “mine.” Because of these desires, in our relationships we doubt each other and fight with each other [We do this] out of our material desires. Because of this, we should earnestly share with everyone the true principle that all things are empty, that life is impermanent and painfully short. We must spend some time on earnestly opening the door to our minds [to tap into] our spiritual wealth. Wasn’t this discussed in the previous passages? [The elder] continuously led the poor son to open up the treasury for him to see. “Look, there are so many treasures! In the future, you can take any of this. You can come and go without hindrance and take and use these without hindrance.” This was in a previous passage. It turns out that these treasures have always been inside our minds. Within our minds, we all have a treasury; this is our intrinsic Buddha-nature [It contains] so much wisdom! However, if we do not unlock our wisdom, we will forever remain in poverty. When it comes to material things, we will never have enough. If we are like this, we suffer greatly.
So, all kinds of teachings were opened, revealed and taught for Bodhisattvas. This is because to be a Bodhisattva, we must be replete with the Fourfold Fearlessness
“At the Prajna assembly, receiving the teachings of the provisional and the true was up to us, so we sought them ourselves. Then because of the might of the Tathagata’s wisdom, [we understood that] the Buddha had gradually opened the Vaipulya, giving explanations using matters and principles.”
Doing good deeds is something everyone can do. Actually, those who are able to do good deeds are people with great capabilities. The Buddha gave all the teachings, including both the provisional and the true; it was we who did not accept them. However, then the Buddha began to teach with the might of the Tathagata’s wisdom. In the past, He used the power of skillful means; now He used this might. As He turned from the Prajna to the Lotus teachings, He exercised His might. Starting with the Vaipulya teachings, He gradually analyzed matters and principles to let us know that everything contains principles. So, He continuously used matters as analogies.
Doctrine: It means methods of teaching. The door of existence, the door of emptiness, the door of both and the door of neither are the methods of the four doors.
Vaipulya refers to methods of teaching. It contains the “door of existence,” which is the karmic law of cause and effect, and “the door of emptiness,” which is the Prajna teaching of the truth that all things are empty. These are called “the two doors,” as well as “the door of both” and “the door of neither.” This is also refers to true and false.
Vaipulya also refers to principles of impartiality. “The methods of the four doors” are each used to teach us the principle of impartiality. These are teachings from the Vaipulya period.
The door of existence, the door of emptiness, the door of both and the door of neither are the “four doors.” They [teach both] existence and non-existence
Universal: It also means the essence of the principle of impartiality. The methods of the four doors are each [taught] in accord with the principle of impartiality. These are the Vaipulya teachings.
Vaipulya can also mean broad and impartial. During this third period, the Buddha broadly taught with the four kinds of teachings, the pitaka, common, unique and perfect teachings, to equally benefit both sharp and dull capabilities. Thus, this was called the Vaipulya period.
Vaipulya also means broad and impartial. It refers to [teachings being] given equally. The third period of the Buddha’s teachings was the Vaipulya. After the Avatamsaka and the Agama came the Vaipulya; this is the third period. Furthermore, during this third period, the Buddha “broadly taught with the pitaka, common, unique and perfect teachings.” These are the “four kinds of teachings.” There were the Five Periods and Four Teachings. People with dull capabilities needed these distinct teachings. Actually, the truth is very simple; returning to our nature of True Suchness is very simple. But the Buddha had to give many kinds of teachings so we can return to our nature of True Suchness, to the One Ultimate Reality.
He opened, revealed and taught for all great beings; as they took up the Buddha’s compassion, the Buddha could freely teach them His original intent. As this was expounded to Bodhisattvas, we thought of it as the Bodhisattva Way.
“It was opened, revealed and taught for the Bodhisattvas.” He taught this for all great beings, for all Bodhisattvas. “As they took up the Buddha’s compassion, the Buddha could freely teach them. His original intent. As this was expounded to Bodhisattvas, we thought of it as the Bodhisattva Way, so we ourselves never had such aspirations.” The Buddha mindfully taught the Bodhisattva Way, but His disciples had no such aspirations. So, when it came to the Great Vehicle sutras, “They never had aspirations for the Great Vehicle. They never formed the aspirations to take it for themselves.”
In the end, everything comes down to our minds. Everyone, learning the Buddha’s teachings, comes down to understanding [the nature] of the mind and how we can make use of it. If our minds are pure and simple, the world will be at peace. If our minds are in chaos, there will be many disasters in the world. Everything is determined by the mind, so we must make an effort to always be mindful.