Episode 825 – Understanding the Dharma Brings Firm Resolve
>> With the virtue of wisdom from previous lives, skillful teachings and provisional means, the Buddha gradually taught and transformed to help us understand all inner and outer Dharma. Always remaining unwavering, He resolutely attained realizations. He established great resolve to teach in accordance with the Dharma.
>> “The poor son cried out in alarm; confused and dazed, he collapsed on the ground ‘This man has captured me’ ‘and I will surely be killed!’ ‘For what did I seek clothing and food’ ‘when it has brought me to this?’.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “The elder knew his son to be foolish, narrow-minded and base ‘He will never trust my words;’ ‘he will not believe I am his father’.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> The elder knew his son to be foolish, narrow-minded and base: This means the son would not come even if he called him, so for the time being he left him in peace.
>> Foolish means having severe delusions. Narrow-minded and base means having limited capacities.
>> He will never trust my words; he will not believe I am his father: The father knew the son’s resolve and thinking were narrow-minded and base, so although they were truly father and son, because he had been away for a long time, the son did not recognize his father as such.
“With the virtue of wisdom from previous lives, skillful teachings and provisional means,
the Buddha gradually taught and transformed to help us understand all inner and outer Dharma.
Always remaining unwavering, He resolutely attained realizations. He established great resolve to teach in accordance with the Dharma.”
“Previous lives” is a term we are still unable to fully understand. As ordinary people, we do not know what we did in our past lives or how we came to this life. This is not very clear to us. But the Buddha told us with certainty that in the past we were likewise living beings. Living beings does not necessarily mean we were humans. In the past, whether in the Six Realms or the Five Realms, among the four forms of birth we were always some kind of living being. In summary, that is our life’s past,
what we accumulated in our past lives. Here, the phrase “with the virtue of wisdom from previous lives” is talking about Sakyamuni Buddha. In life after life, no matter which realm of cyclic existence He was in, the Buddha always went there because of. His great vows to help sentient beings. As He encountered other beings facing their karma, He would mindfully teach and transform them. This kept accumulating for a long time; these lifetimes stretched on a long time. For lifetime after lifetime, He had accumulated wisdom and compassion. With His compassion and wisdom, He went among living beings to help them. So, what He accumulated was the virtue of wisdom.
He had the virtue of wisdom, so He taught with “skillful teachings and provisional means.” He did not do this only in the human realm, but in all the realms of cyclic existence. Because of the Enlightened One’s great vows, whenever sentient beings’ karmic causes and conditions matured, He would go to those realms [to teach]. With the virtues He accumulated, nothing obstructed His understanding. The capabilities of sentient beings in each realm are different. In just the human realm, it is already very difficult to transform both those of great and of limited capabilities, to say nothing of all the other realms. With “skillful teachings and provisional means,” by teaching with all kinds of methods, He constantly accumulated [wisdom and virtue].
“The Buddha gradually taught and transformed.” Teaching sentient beings requires patience; one must be an unsummoned teacher. He could not bear to let sentient beings suffer, So, He had to “gradually teach,” using teachings of skillful means and “gradual teachings. Gradual teachings” means He took things slow and taught according to their capabilities. With patience, He kept them company. With patience, He taught according to capabilities so they could “understand all inner and outer Dharma.”
Inner Dharma helps us understand the workings of life. Life exists within the Five Aggregates. In everyone’s life, beginning from when we were born, from the time we were infants, we have had the Five Aggregates. Sometimes we are happy, sometimes unhappy. When infants are happy, they wave their hands and feet in joy and laugh. In that pure and innocent state, they are happy. When they are unhappy, they cry. How are they actually feeling? If they feel unwell, they cry. From the time they are infants, young children, they experience these emotions and feelings.
They also have eyes. They see external conditions that make them happy so they crawl to their favorite place to grab the thing they want. The same thing happens once they can walk. When they see something [they like], their bodies dash forward to chase after it. This starts from a young age. So, we are born with this inherent ability to feel. The Six Sense Organs and Six Sense Objects give rise to feelings.
This is the workings of the Five Aggregates. As they grow up they gradually become tempted by all kinds of things in society. Their minds begin to discriminate; they have things they like and dislike. If they cannot obtain what they like, they become afflicted. If they encounter what they dislike, they develop resentment, anger and so on. This is the Buddha’s explanation of the workings of our minds, of everyone’s consciousness. These “aggregates,” the Five Aggregates, are how we [experience] life. If we cannot understand ourselves, our own temperament, our own habitual tendencies, how can we understand the things around us?
So, the Buddha helped us to understand inner and outer Dharma. To have a more mature [understanding], we must “contemplate the body as impure.” When it comes to body and mind, form, feeling, perception and action are all related to our minds. Our bodies are impure and the workings of our minds are unhealthy. So, we give rise to many afflictions. The mind is filled with afflictions, and the body is filled with impure things. So, the Buddha taught us the Fourfold Mindfulness. We must contemplate the body as impure, all feelings as suffering, the mind as impermanent and all things as being without self.
With this inner Dharma, we must constantly contemplate ourselves. When it comes to the Buddha’s teachings, have we taken them to heart? Do we have an understanding of ourselves? Have we reduced our habitual tendencies, afflictions and ignorant thoughts? Moreover, are we using our bodies to put the teachings into practice? Although the body is impure, we must make use of our body while it is healthy to seize the moment. Only by giving to others will we reap any benefits. So, we must be mindful and make an effort to be clear on the inner and outer Dharma.
“Always remaining unwavering, He resolutely attained realizations.” Since we have aspired to learn the Buddha’s Way, as we now head for the path to Buddhahood we must have a firm resolve and always remain unwavering. Our minds must remain firm, and moreover, we must genuinely accept the Dharma and take it to heart. “Seeing one corner, we know the other three.” If we are told the method for making one corner [of a table], we should know how to make the second one by applying the same method. This is like how we should take the Dharma we hear in our daily living and put it into practice. I often say, as spiritual practitioners, we must pay attention to our habitual tendencies. For example, we should not always cling to our own ideas. If today we were clearly taught how to make a square shape, we should practice to make this square shape. We practice to make it very square. We should not cling to the idea that. “I want the corners to stand out, so I will make them sharper.” If we do that, we might hurt people with those sharp corners.
So, we need to always be mindful. Once we have formed aspirations, we must mindfully accept and uphold the teachings. We must uphold them squarely, properly, but not in a way that will harm others. This is true spiritual practice. So, we must resolutely attain realizations. Every method has its own underlying principles. There is a way to be rounded and harmonious. There is also a way to be square and proper. Whether we are talking about being rounded or square, there are principles behind them we must realize. We must comprehend these.
If we have wisdom, when we go among people, in whatever we see, there will be no principle we do not understand. Thus, we Buddhist practitioners must be mindful. We must train ourselves so that regardless of what environment we are in, our minds will be able to be in accord with it. In this way we resolutely attain realizations “[We] establish great resolve to teach in accordance with the Dharma.” As Buddhist practitioners, we must always follow karmic conditions and clearly discern right from wrong. We must take the principles to heart so that we can make use of them at any time. This is very important.
The previous sutra passage states, “The poor son cried out in alarm; confused and dazed, he collapsed on the ground ‘This man has captured me’ ‘and I will surely be killed!’ ‘For what did I seek clothing and food’ ‘when it has brought me to this?’.”
This was the previous sutra passage. The poor son stood outside the door and saw how magnificent it was inside. He was afraid, so he turned and ran. The elder saw him from inside. “That person must be my son. Quickly, chase after him and bring him back!” But those who grabbed him were very forceful, so he fainted. He was afraid that. “If these people want to capture me, they surely want to hurt me. They will take my life.” Hence, “For what did I seek clothing and food?” If they took his life, what use would clothing and food be to him? So, he was very frightened. He did not want to be there.
The next sutra passage states, “The elder knew his son to be foolish, narrow-minded and base ‘He will never trust my words;’ ‘he will not believe I am his father’.”
From the inside, the elder saw that as [the messengers] grabbed his child, his son was yelling loudly and struggling mightily. His arms and feet went limp, and he fainted. So, the elder knew that his son still had weak resolve. He was foolish, narrow-minded and base. It would take time to teach him. First he had to find a way to bring him back, then he could slowly educate him. This means that. “The son would not come even if he called him.”
The elder knew his son to be foolish, narrow-minded and base: This means the son would not come even if he called him, so for the time being he left him in peace.
This is like what happened with the burning house where the elder stood outside and yelled loudly. But in the present parable, the elder is the one inside, while his son had been wandering about out there.
At a young age, the son ran away from home and wandered about out there [His father] is an analogy for the Buddha. In our past lives, there is no telling how many times we have lived in the Five Realms and four forms of birth. In the Five Realms, we have suffered all kinds of torment. In the Five Realms, we have been affected by so many afflictions of dust-like [delusions] and ignorance, which come together to form so many karmic forces.
The Buddha wanted us to earnestly eradicate those afflictions of dust-like [delusions] and ignorance. So, He began by using skillful means to gradually approach sentient beings. He expressed His mindset that we are all like His only son. He did not have only one son; all beings in the world are like Rahula in His heart in His heart are like Rahula to Him. We are all like His only son. In this way, His heart encompassed the universe and all of the sentient beings in it. With this mindset, He established all kinds of methods to continuously teach and transform.
So, He is constantly calling to us. This is the meaning of “The son would not come even if he called him, so for the time being he left him in peace.” He let him relax for the time being. He could not instantly tell him that this place was his home. He left at such a young age that he had no memories of his home. So, the elder had to start over. First he had to find a way to bring him back; he had him do some manual labor outdoors. The father took off his magnificent jewels and put on coarse clothing. He went among the people in order to approach the poor son. With love, he comforted him. With great care he approached and taught him, so that the son could, in accord with his wishes, adapt to the environment there.
The elder made himself up as a coworker who would be close to him. This is “transforming by working together.” He went there to work with him and gradually encourage him to understand that. “Other than doing this kind of work, living this kind of life and making this wage, you can actually diligently advance to a state in which work is less taxing yet earns more.” He “gradually taught”; he took it slow. He guided the son in sequence to help him understand the riches inside and outside.
This is similar to how the Buddha taught us. He first helped us understand “suffering.” After we understand life is truly suffering, [we wonder] why there is so much suffering. So, the Buddha explained to us that this is because of causation, because we accumulate causes and conditions. “All our karma will follow us.” This is the karmic law of cause and effect. We undergo the cycle of cause and effect in the Six Realms. If we want to transcend the Six Realms, we must eliminate these kinds of afflictions [to put an end to] fragmentary, then transformational samsara. By eliminating afflictions, we can put an end to fragmentary samsara. By eliminating ignorance and delusions, we can eliminate transformational samsara. All this has to do with the microcosm of our minds, the workings of our minds. The Buddha gradually and carefully explained everything from coarse appearances to the intricate subtleties of our minds to help us understand.
Hearers and Solitary Realizers only understand the coarse appearances, cyclic existence in the Six Realms and the law of karma. They could not yet [eliminate] dust-like delusions. When it came to subtle perspectives of samsara within the mind, they still did not have a thorough understanding. So, for the time being, He had to gradually help them understand. “The son would not come even if he called him, so for the time being he left him in peace.” The elder let him relax.
Foolish means having severe delusions. Narrow-minded and base means having limited capacities.
Being foolish means having severe delusions. Because he was foolish, he was narrow-minded and base ․Foolish means having severe delusions. Narrow-minded and base means having limited capacities. This is because of delusions. Their dust-like delusions were still very severe. Although they had eliminated afflictions, their dust-like delusions were still very severe. So, these disciples were called “foolish” and “narrow-minded and base.” They were very narrow-minded, thus they only wanted to benefit themselves. So, “He will never trust my words; he will not believe I am his father.” If the father told him [at that time], “I am your real father” his son would not have accepted it. Therefore, he acknowledged him, saying, “You are like my son,” as if adopting him. He did not dare say, “You are my son.” We have explained that sutra passage before.
He will never trust my words; he will not believe I am his father: The father knew the son’s resolve and thinking were narrow-minded and base, so although they were truly father and son, because he had been away for a long time, the son did not recognize his father as such.
So, “The father knew the son’s resolve and thinking were narrow-minded and base.” He understood all this. “Although they were truly father and son, because he had been away for a long time, the son did not recognize his father as such.” The father seemed unfamiliar to the son, as the son had been away for such a long time. However, the father still remembered and understood his son. The son left his father such a long time ago, so he did not feel very close. Although the elder acknowledged him as a godson, there was still a distance between them. Thus [the son] still did not realize that the elder was his actual father. He still had not established very firm trust, because he was still very narrow-minded.
The Buddha had helped them to eliminate their afflictions, but all that they hoped for was, “I do not wish to return to the Six Realms.” This is just the coarse appearance; this is fragmentary samsara. They did not want to return to fragmentary samsara which is fragment after fragment of lifetimes. “If I give rise to a delusional thought, won’t I regress again?” So, they stopped at that state where they had not yet eliminated their dust-like delusions.
What we need to do is go among people and train ourselves by learning from everyone. We must train our minds so we will not be led astray by other unenlightened beings. We must strengthen our resolve so that regardless of how complicated things are, our minds will remain pure and our aspirations firm. This is “always remaining unwavering” and “resolutely attaining realizations.” We have not yet achieved this state. Because we still have dust-like delusions, we still easily waver. We have not established great resolve, so we are unable to resonate with the Dharma.
Everyone, we are able to live in this kind of environment, so we must be very content. We can directly understand the Dharma we hear and directly go among people. While working with others, our minds can remain peaceful and calm. So, in this environment, we must always be mindful.