Episode 814 – The Father and Son Who Lost One Another
>> The Buddha’s great compassion is like that of a kind father of the world. With great wisdom, He resided in the world like a great elder of the world. The Tathagata-garbha and True Suchness are intrinsic to everyone, like the storehouses full of treasure that both father and son possess.
>> “Today, we hear the Buddha’s voice and teachings, and we are joyful and jubilant for we have attained what we never had before. can attain Buddhahood is like a bounty of unsurpassed treasures coming to us unsought.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “We are like a child, young and ignorant, who abandoned his father and ran away to far-off foreign lands, wandering through many countries for more than 50 years.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> The initial rousing of innate enlightenment is like our initial forming of aspirations.
>> However, Young and ignorant, they regressed and lost the Great Vehicle.
>> In the sutras, Bodhisattvas are often referred to as children. One reason is that Bodhisattvas are the true children of the Dharma-king. Another reason is they have no thoughts of lust, just like children of the world. It does not refer to their being young like a child.
>> The young son left his father, lost his way and found it difficult to return home. He wandered about dejected, suffering the hardships of poverty. In the analogy, when the father and son lost one another, the father never abandoned his search for his son, yet the son was young and ignorant. being attached to the Small and taking no delight in the Great.
>> Turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire is like abandoning one’s father and running away. Cyclic existence in the Five Realms and the four forms of birth is like going to far-off foreign lands. Foreign lands: Retreating from the Great [Vehicle] and forgetting one’s innate enlightenment.
>> Wandering through many countries: This is an analogy for cyclic existence in the Three Realms. Wandering: Incessantly rising and sinking.
>> The many countries are the Three Realms. The realms that unenlightened beings transmigrate through in cyclic existence are divided into three: First is the desire realm, a place where sentient beings who have lustful desires and desire for food abide. From the heavens above to the hells below, this is all called the desire realm.
>> Second is the form realm. Form refers to material hindrances and the attachment to unique, wondrous, exquisite and fine tangible material goods. This is the form realm.
>> Third is the intangible and formless spiritual [realm]. This is the formless realm.
>> For more than 50 years: This is an analogy for experiencing all of the Six Destinies. It says “more than 50” because the asuras can be found throughout the Five Realms and the four forms of birth.
“The Buddha’s great compassion is like that of a kind father of the world.
With great wisdom, He resided in the world like a great elder of the world.
The Tathagata-garbha and True Suchness are intrinsic to everyone,
like the storehouses full of treasure that both father and son possess.”
The Buddha’s mind is like that of a father of the world who cherishes his child. The Buddha is like a father with an only child. All sentient beings are like His only child. With this kind of impartial mind, He loves them all. “With great wisdom, He resided in the world.” He goes among people, returning on the ship of compassion. Lifetime after lifetime, He returns with His great compassion to enter the Saha World.
The Tathagata-garbha is intrinsic to us all. Within each of us lies a spiritual home. If we can thoroughly clean out this spiritual home of our minds and let go of attachments, we will be able to continually absorb the pure Dharma into our hearts. Let us be mindful as we listen to the thoughts and wishes of others. Every word we hear is a lesson for us to learn. With this mindset, there is Dharma in what each person says. When we apply this to our minds, we can clearly distinguish right from wrong.
When we listen to other people, we will be able to receive lessons given by them. This way, we can continually develop our wisdom. Otherwise, our nature of True Suchness will continue to remain covered in ignorance. If before others finish speaking we want to immediately refute what they say, how can the Dharma ever enter our hearts? When we are listening to someone, if we are continually thinking of what to say next so we can reply to and refute them, that is not right. Instead, we should remain mindful. In this way, no matter who is talking to us, the Dharma they share with us will be perfect; it will be a very good teaching. If we can do this, we are well-cultivated. If we can do this, we are being diligent. If we can do this, we develop our wisdom-life.
This is “like the storehouses full of treasure that both father and son possess.” Since the father had such bountiful storehouses full of treasure, it means that the son had them too. This is an analogy to show that the Buddha’s great wisdom is actually something we all possess. We are all equal to the Buddha; this is what He told us Himself so that we would understand. Every one of us should accept this.
In His great compassion, the Buddha cherished sentient beings. For instance, during the Buddha’s lifetime, one day, Ananda approached the Buddha and asked Him, “Venerable Buddha, what were the causes and conditions that enabled Kaundinya and the others to be able to receive the nourishment of the Buddha-Dharma when You first turned the Dharma-wheel? What were the causes and conditions that enabled them to do this?”
The Buddha very compassionately answered Him. A very long time, countless kalpas, ago there lived a king in Jambudvipa called Megha Labhala. He was the leader of many small kingdoms, more than 80,000 small kingdoms. His rule was benevolent and compassionate, for he used the Buddha-Dharma to govern. He unified his people and the people of many small kingdoms. His subjects practiced the Ten Good Deeds and upheld the Five Precepts. So, the country enjoyed favorable weather, and the people there all lived in peace.
One evening, five yaksas came before the king. All of them looked very emaciated. They appeared before the king with a request. “Your Majesty! Our existence depends on feeding on people’s blood. However, because everyone practices good deeds and abides by the Five Precepts, we never have the chance to get close enough to them to do this. Your Majesty, you are compassionate; you would not abandon us yaksas!”
The king saw them and took pity on them. They were so emaciated! Indeed, their lives depended on consuming the blood of humans to survive. Considering this, he said, “Very well, I will give you blood from my body.” From the five places where he cut himself, he let the blood flow out so they could fill their bowls and drink.
Those five yaksas were very grateful to the king for his compassion, but the king then told them, “Now you have had your fill. Today, I used the blood from my body to help you survive. However, I hope that in the future if I attain Buddhahood, I will use the ‘blood’ of my Dharma-body to nourish you. I hope that you will drink from the bloodline of the Dharma-lineage to nourish your wisdom-life. I hope you may forever develop your wisdom-life.”
Then the Buddha told Ananda, “Ananda, those five yaksas are the present-day Ajnata Kaundinya and the others. Lifetime after lifetime, as I engaged in spiritual practice, they have always been the first to draw near me, so that, just like my aspiration, they will be the first to be transformed. It was the same this time. Ananda, do you know? If you can practice the Ten Good Deeds and abide by the Five Precepts, ghosts and spirits will not be able to draw close to you.”
Upholding precepts and doing good deeds is the method that the Buddha has taught sentient beings lifetime after lifetime. Now the Buddha has told us that everyone intrinsically possesses Buddha-nature in the same way that everything a father possesses likewise belongs to his children. This is the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha. Since He constantly comes to the world to teach and transform sentient beings, sentient beings should constantly be mindful and diligent and joyfully accept His teachings.
Therefore, in this sutra passage, Venerable Kasyapa restated the meaning, “Today, we hear the Buddha’s voice and teachings, and we are joyful and jubilant for we have attained what we never had before.” It says, “We are joyful and jubilant, for we have attained what we never had before.” This was because the Buddha told them that everyone has the ability to attain Buddhahood, so they were all filled with joy, “for we have attained what we never had before” “To hear the Buddha say that Hearers can attain Buddhahood is like a bounty of unsurpassed treasures coming to us unsought.” This is from the previous sutra passage.
Now, this passage continues, “We are like a child, young and ignorant, who abandoned his father and ran away to far-off foreign lands, wandering through many countries for more than 50 years.”
“We are like a child” is referring to a very young child. This child had no ability to discern things. He loved to play, so he abandoned his father and left “[He ran away] to far-off foreign lands, wandering through many countries for more than 50 years.” Previously, Subhuti spoke of all this.
“A child” symbolizes “the initial opening of innate enlightenment,” the enlightened nature intrinsic to all of us. This word “opening” means uncovering something. Innate enlightenment has always been within us, but it has simply been covered by ignorance. Meeting the Buddha again in this lifetime, [we experience] “the initial opening of innate enlightenment.” This is like our initial forming of aspirations.
The initial rousing of innate enlightenment is like our initial forming of aspirations.
We knew nothing of the Buddha-Dharma in the past. Now that we understand the Buddha-Dharma, our aspirations have been aroused. This is what we call forming aspirations. This is an analogy for our initial aspirations. In the past, we had no understanding. Now we know what to do. So, starting now we must practice the Ten Good Deeds and Five Precepts. We begin to form initial aspirations and begin to put them into practice.
However, Young and ignorant, they regressed and lost the Great Vehicle.
Therefore, it speaks of “the initial opening of innate enlightenment” However, “Young and ignorant, they regressed and lost the Great Vehicle.”
Actually, we have already been cut off from the Buddha-Dharma for a long time. We have spent life after life in the Six Realms and been separated from the Buddha-Dharma for a very long time. If we wish to attain it again in this lifetime, we need to start again from the beginning.
In the sutras, Bodhisattvas are often referred to as children. One reason is that Bodhisattvas are the true children of the Dharma-king. Another reason is they have no thoughts of lust, just like children of the world. It does not refer to their being young like a child.
“In the sutras, Bodhisattvas are often referred to as children. Children” has two explanations. One is that. “Bodhisattvas are true children of the Dharma-king.” Bodhisattvas have connected with the Buddha-mind, have drawn near the Buddha-mind. Dharmakaya Bodhisattvas even return to the world to assist at the Buddha’s Dharma-assemblies. These are the true children of the Dharma-king, like Manjusri, Maitreya, Samantabhadra and so on. All are Bodhisattva-children of the Dharma-king, so they are called “children.” The second reason is, “They have no thoughts of lust, just like children of the world.” Like young children, their hearts are pure and clean. Not only are they pure-hearted, their bodies are clean as well. They have no lust in their minds, nor in their behavior. This is another explanation as to why they are referred to as “children.”
“Children” does not refer to their age; it refers to those who have purity of practice, who are completely free from lustful thoughts, and whose bodies are clean. This is why they are like “children.”
The young son left his father, lost his way and found it difficult to return home. He wandered about dejected, suffering the hardships of poverty. In the analogy, when the father and son lost one another, the father never abandoned his search for his son, yet the son was young and ignorant. being attached to the Small and taking no delight in the Great.
In this section of the sutra, there is a description of a child in the world who when very young left his father and lost his way. He did not know the way back. Having left his father, he lost his way and could not return home. Once he had lost his way, it became very difficult to return home. So, he wandered about dejected, suffering the hardships of poverty. He became like an orphan wandering about out there.
The father spared no effort in searching for his son for more than 50 years. As he searched for his son, he remained unflagging in his efforts ․In the analogy, when the father and son lost one another, the father never abandoned his search for his son, yet the son was young and ignorant. This is like delaying and not forming aspirations, being attached to the Small and taking no delight in the Great. So, the father “never abandoned his search for his son.” But what about the son? The son was “young and ignorant.” He could not find the road home; he had even forgotten his home.
This is an analogy for us sentient beings; having lost our nature of True Suchness, we delay in forming aspirations to find it. Even if we encounter the Buddha-Dharma, we may only think tp eliminate cyclic existence. We fear returning to the world; we fear becoming lost again. So, we delay and dare not form aspirations. This is being “attached to the Small and taking no delight in the Great.” Though we are engaged in spiritual practice, the fact is that we do not form aspirations and do not unlock the wisdom of our minds
Turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire is like abandoning one’s father and running away. Cyclic existence in the Five Realms and the four forms of birth is like going to far-off foreign lands. Foreign lands: Retreating from the Great [Vehicle] and forgetting one’s innate enlightenment.
“[He] abandoned his father and ran away to far-off foreign lands.” This is like “turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire” ․Turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire is like abandoning one’s father and running away. Cyclic existence in the Five Realms and the four forms of birth is like going to far-off foreign lands. Foreign lands: Retreating from the Great [Vehicle] and forgetting one’s innate enlightenment. That state of our nature of True Suchness being hidden is known as “turning one’s back on enlightenment.” When afflictions and ignorance are prevalent, they cover our “enlightenment.” Our enlightened nature is hidden by afflictions, by the dust of afflictions. “Dust” refers to ignorance, for it is ignorance that covers us. Then our enlightenment, the radiance of our wisdom, cannot shine forth. This is “turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire.” Our enlightened nature is intrinsically within us; it is just that it has been covered by ignorance, as if “abandoning one’s father and running away.”
A single thought of ignorance multiplies into many afflictions and results in our descent into the Five Realms and the four forms of birth. This is “going to far-off foreign lands.” We have not taken care of our original homes, our fields and houses. We have already run off to wander about. This is “going to far-off foreign lands. Foreign lands” means “retreating from the Great and forgetting one’s innate enlightenment.” We have retreated from our nature of True Suchness of the Great Vehicle. We have forgotten where to find our innate enlightenment.
Wandering through many countries: This is an analogy for cyclic existence in the Three Realms. Wandering: Incessantly rising and sinking.
We are “wandering through many countries.” This is an analogy for “cyclic existence in the Three Realms. Wandering” is like rising and sinking. One moment we rise, and the next moment we sink.
After we have accepted the Buddha-Dharma, we may at times give rise to certain aspirations. Then, very quickly, certain causes and conditions can cause us to retreat from our aspirations. This is typical of ordinary people today. “I am willing to be diligent; I will diligently practice every day. But then, certain causes and conditions arise, and my mind starts to cause trouble. Then I become indolent again.” There are all sorts of causes and conditions that can pull us away. This is called “wandering,” which refers to “rising and sinking.”
The many countries are the Three Realms. The realms that unenlightened beings transmigrate through in cyclic existence are divided into three: First is the desire realm, a place where sentient beings who have lustful desires and desire for food abide. From the heavens above to the hells below, this is all called the desire realm.
“Many countries” refers to the Three Realms. These are the places that unenlightened beings transmigrate through in cyclic existence. They never leave the Three Realms. Of the Three Realms, the first is the “desire realm. Desire” refers to lustful desires and desire for food. Wherever there are sentient beings, whether up in heaven or down in hell, that is part of the desire realm.
The desire realm is characterized by lustful desires and the desire for food. Desire for offspring to carry on the bloodline, the lust and love between men and women, etc. have created many problems for humankind. Next is the desire for food. How much karma has been created because of this? How much karma of killing has been created, all for the sake of human appetite? Countless living beings have been killed. By killing each other, we create so much karma. Our lustful desires have created overpopulation in the world, and our desires for food lead to killing. All this creation and destruction is due to human desires. The desire realm stretches from heaven above to hell below. All of these are part of the desire realm.
Second is the form realm. Form refers to material hindrances and the attachment to unique, wondrous, exquisite and fine tangible material goods. This is the form realm.
The second is the “form realm” ․Second is the form realm. Form refers to material hindrances and the attachment to unique, wondrous, exquisite and fine tangible material goods. This is the form realm. “Form” refers to tangible things. With tangible things come hindrances. For the sake of material things, out of desire for fine and exquisite objects, we put so much effort into creating things. Much effort is used, and much karma is created. We dig up mountains to get things and so on. All of this is “form.” The things in the form realm stir up people’s cravings and give rise to many desires. This leads to the creation of much karma. This is what we mean by the form realm.
Third is the intangible and formless spiritual [realm]. This is the formless realm.
The third is the spiritual realm. It is intangible and formless, yet is filled with afflictions. This is the “formless realm.”
We humans cannot escape from the Three Realms, the desire, form and formless realms.
For more than 50 years: This is an analogy for experiencing all of the Six Destinies. It says “more than 50” because the asuras can be found throughout the Five Realms and the four forms of birth.
“For more than 50 years,” he left for foreign lands and suffered. “More than 50 years” is an analogy for passing through the Six Destinies. All of us should remember that in “for more than 50 years, more than” refers to the asura realm, because asuras are found in the other Five Realms. So, adding the asura realm, they are referred to as the Six Destinies. If we only say “the Five Realms,” it is because asuras are found throughout the Five Realms. This also includes the four forms of birth.
The delusions of unenlightened beings cause us to be trapped in cyclic existence. This is “turning one’s back on enlightenment to meet with objects of desire.” It is turning from the state of True Suchness and becoming truly lost. So, we certainly must be receptive to the efforts and love of our kind father. Look at how Ajnata Kaundinya had the causes and conditions to be there every time the Buddha taught the Dharma. He was always in the first group of those who received the Buddha-Dharma. That is because the Buddha used love every time, like in the story of the fish giving his flesh. In the earlier story, [the king] governed the kingdom so well that the yaksas could not even draw near people, but the king still offered his own blood to satisfy them. This is how giving He was. Everything He did was to transform sentient beings.
This is the compassion the Buddha used in the way He treated sentient beings. Thus, we sentient beings should be earnest and diligent in receiving the Buddha’s teachings and transformation. Therefore, we must always be mindful.