Episode 828 – Great Vows Transform Sentient Beings
>> The all-encompassing, vast macrocosm is extensive and embracing. We make great vows to deliver sentient beings and to be awakened beings of the Great Vehicle. Looking through the window at His son’s figure, the Buddha resolved to clearly reveal the Path.
>> ” You will clear excrement and filth at twice your normal wage. When the poor son heard this, he followed them joyfully to clear excrement and filth and cleanse all rooms and lodgings.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith and Understanding]
>> ” Through the window, the elder often saw his son and thought of how foolish and base his son was, how he delighted in lowly things. Therefore, the elder donned ragged and dirty clothes and, carrying tools for clearing excrement, went to the place where his son was.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith and Understanding]
>> ” Through the window, the elder often saw his son: Peeping at the sun through a window describes how looking through a narrow opening limits one’s views and knowledge, as if one is looking through a narrow window. This is an analogy for how the the Great Vehicle Dharma is difficult to enter. Thus, the Small Vehicle is used to bring them in for them to eventually attain the Great Vehicle. This is like looking through a window at the all-encompassing macrocosm.”
>> He thought of how foolish and base his son was, how he delighted in lowly things. The father knew his son delighted in the small. This is how he was; the son delighted in the small. Foolish and base: In the prose it mentions him being scrawny, haggard and downcast. Lowly things: These are the filthy impurities of excrement, dust and dirt mentioned in the prose. Two Vehicle practitioners delight in cultivating the Small Vehicle Dharma. Thus it says, “He delighted in lowly things.”
>> Therefore, the elder donned ragged and dirty clothes: He took off the precious and donned the ragged. He taught us to renounce samsara and praised the virtuous Dharma of Nirvana.
>> Carrying tools for clearing excrement, [He] went to the place where his son was: Hiding His exceptional reward-body, the Buddha manifested a lowly transformation-body, appearing the same as sentient beings. Thus it says, He went to the place where his son was.
>> Since He was the same as sentient beings, He similarly faced the Three Obstructions. Thus in the prose it says, He assumed a fearful look.
“The all-encompassing, vast macrocosm is extensive and embracing.
We make great vows to deliver sentient beings and to be awakened beings of the Great Vehicle.
Looking through the window at His son’s figure, the Buddha resolved to clearly reveal the Path.”
Think about it; the macrocosm of the world is infinitely vast! See how the world can encompass all things! In fact, if our nature of True Suchness can be brought forth, won’t it be the same? We can also embrace all things in the world within our nature of True Suchness.
Our ocean of enlightened wisdom can accommodate all things in the world. Unfortunately, we are unenlightened beings, and our nature of True Suchness has been affected by delusions of afflictions and ignorance, and in this way, it remains covered. We continue to live among the myriads of sentient beings with different perspectives, yet we continue to act however we like, [saying,]. “These are my habitual tendencies; change them? It is not that easy!” It is very difficult to change our own habitual tendencies. Don’t we all have these habitual tendencies?
However, how much time do we have left to take our time slowly changing them? Since we have encountered the Buddha-Dharma, we should immediately and without delay put our hearts into rectifying these things. We should immediately clear away our ignorance layer by layer, wash it away. Is it true that we do not want to keep our habitual tendencies and afflictions? In that case, we must quickly bring out the potential of our true nature to be “all-encompassing [like the] vast macrocosm, extensive and embracing.” Only with this spiritual state will we able to truly exercise this potential.
Put your heart into it! It is in fact not that difficult. Ironically, it is our attachment to habitual tendencies that makes it so difficult for us. We must make use of a method to eliminate our habitual tendencies, which is to “make great vows to deliver sentient beings.” We must make great vows, must make the great vows, meaning we must deliver ourselves and others. Every day we diligently transform ourselves, but after understanding the principles, we should also transform others. We must put the principles into practice by walking the great Bodhi-path. Thus, we make the great vows; “We vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” There are multitudes of sentient beings. We cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer or continually create karma. If they do, their collective karma, the energy of collective karma, will be strong; it can easily influence the whole world and cause the four elements to become unbalanced. The karma of afflictions in particular causes discord in people’s minds, so manmade calamities constantly occur in this world. As the flames of war rage continually, this world becomes more and more filled with turbidity. However, we must still begin with our initial aspirations to put the teachings into practice. If everyone can do this, can carry out these vast vows, sentient beings will mutually transform each other and mutually inspire each other. “We can be awakened beings of the Great Vehicle.”
If we can all understand the Great Vehicle Dharma, if we can understand the principles of all things in the universe and be clear on the source of the principles, then naturally, we will not reproduce afflictions. Not only will we not reproduce our afflictions, we will also be able to bring about the causes and conditions needed to transform sentient beings. This is the meaning of an awakened being. After attaining enlightenment the Buddha, for the sake of sentient beings, returned lifetime after lifetime, searching for ways to create affinities with them, to create the necessary causes and conditions. We must do the same thing. When there are sentient beings with affinities, if there is an opportunity, we must create the causes and conditions to transform them.
Wherever there are disasters, we must quickly go and find ways to help them. No matter in what time or in what place [we find ourselves], after understanding the principles, upon seeing myriad sentient beings in suffering, Bodhisattvas will naturally arise [and help]. Without seeking anything in return, we help others with open and spacious hearts. This is ” the vow to deliver all sentient beings, to be awakened beings of the Great Vehicle.”
As the Buddha looked upon all sentient beings as if they were His only son, in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, first Subhuti and then Venerable Kasyapa used the analogy of a poor son. Now the elder was already inside the house, looking out the window. He saw his child’s figure outside. Although he was looking through a window, nevertheless, upon looking out, the view he saw was a vast and extensive one. He was “looking through the window at his son’s figure.” From inside, he saw the child outside, still doing his tough job of physical labor. So, he had to be thoughtful; he removed his magnificent clothing and began to slowly approach him. The Buddha gradually used different methods, using the Small Vehicle Dharma to gradually and continuously approach them, drawing them near the Great Vehicle Dharma.
This is like how the elder removed his magnificent clothing and went to work with his child in order to slowly guide him and bring him inside. He guided him to see all the many treasures inside. He opened the storehouses, and there were so many things inside. In this way, he used very obvious [methods] so we would all understand this Path. The great, direct Bodhi-path should be right in front of us. This is made very clear to us. “The Buddha resolved to clearly reveal the Path.” In fact, this great, direct Bodhi-path is not hard for us to go out and walk upon, as everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature.
The previous sutra passage says, “You will clear excrement and filth at twice your normal wage.” When the poor son heard this, he followed them joyfully to clear excrement and filth and cleanse all rooms and lodgings. Because they had already approached the poor son, they told him, “Come and work with us. You can also do this job. You can do this hard labor of clearing away garbage and so forth. The wage is not bad, and it can give you a stable life.” They slowly enticed him like this. The poor son listened and thought, “I can do this.” And so he went and began to “clear excrement and filth and cleanse all rooms and lodgings.” This was the work he did. This is like Hearers and Solitary Realizers, who practice the Small Vehicle. In order to be liberated from life and death, they practice according to those methods, bringing peace and stability to their minds.
The following sutra passage says, “Through the window, the elder often saw his son and thought of how foolish and base his son was, how he delighted in lowly things. Therefore, the elder donned ragged and dirty clothes and, carrying tools for clearing excrement, went to the place where his son was.”
In this sutra passage, the elder was inside the house, and looking out through the window, he saw his son.
This is “peeping at the sun through the window”; he was looking out the window from inside. So, looking out of the window, he was able to see the sun. The sun is so big, yet it can be seen from a window. This is like our nature of True Suchness. It is hidden inside each and every one of us, yet we ourselves cannot see it.
“Through the window, the elder often saw his son: “Peeping at the sun through a window” describes how looking through a narrow opening limits one’s views and knowledge, as if one is looking through a narrow window. This is an analogy for how the Great Vehicle Dharma is difficult to enter. Thus, the Small Vehicle is used to bring them in for them to eventually attain the Great Vehicle. This is like looking through a window at the all-encompassing macrocosm.”
The Buddha, in His innate enlightenment, understood that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, that wondrously profound principle. This is from the Buddha’s perspective. The analogy for limited views of looking out from a narrow window is used to indicate the Small Vehicle Dharma. Because sentient beings’ capabilities are suited for this Dharma, this is the Dharma He must use to adapt to them.
This analogy illustrates how, “The Great Vehicle is difficult to enter,” so “The Small Vehicle is used to bring them in.” To guide these people and draw them in, the Small Vehicle Dharma is used. So, they “eventually attain the Great Vehicle.”
This is like how when the elder saw his son, he began to use methods of this limited scope to transform him [The Buddha] began with provisional means, using the Small Dharma to gradually approach them and to gradually help them so they could gradually come into contact with the Great Dharma and the state of their minds could become like the “all-encompassing macrocosm,” as vast as the macrocosm of the universe, which is like looking at the outside world from inside a window.
“He thought of how foolish and base his son was, how he delighted in lowly things. The father knew his son delighted in the small.” This is how he was; the son delighted in the small. Foolish and base: In the prose it mentions him being scrawny, haggard and downcast. Lowly things: These are the filthy impurities of excrement, dust and dirt mentioned in the prose. Two Vehicle practitioners delight in cultivating the Small Vehicle Dharma. Thus it says, “He delighted in lowly things.””
This was the father looking out the window, watching his son working to clear excrement, seemingly so at ease in his work, so joyful. He knew that at that moment, [the son] was peaceful and at ease in limited methods. This was like how the Buddha knew that the minds of sentient beings were all still focused on awakening themselves.
“Foolish and base” refers to the son’s resolve. His mind had not yet opened. This is what is expressed in the long-form prose as “scrawny, haggard and downcast.” The elder saw his son, how scrawny and haggard he was. He was scrawny; his clothing was undignified. It seemed he did not have enough to eat. This means that their wisdom-life had not matured, so they lacked that dignified appearance.
“Foolish and base, he delighted in lowly things” means he only wanted to engage in crude labor. It is like us only knowing that we want to eliminate our afflictions and get rid of our ignorance. Actually, we still have very fine delusions, dust-like delusions. We still have not thought to get rid of this ignorance of dust-like delusions. We just want to eliminate afflictions. But this is not enough. We must eliminate our delusions as well, so confusion will not arise again as soon as external conditions appear. That is not the ultimate method of spiritual practice.
So, these “lowly things,” are described in the long-form prose as “filthy impurities of excrement, dust and dirt.” These things are “filthy impurities.” They are very filthy things. Yet, “He delighted in lowly things.” He only wanted to eliminate those afflictions on the surface, but he did not care about the deeper delusions. “Two Vehicle practitioners delight in cultivating the Small Vehicle Dharma.” This was where they wanted to remain. “Thus it says, ‘He delighted in lowly things’.”
“Therefore, the elder,” at this time began “donning ragged and dirty clothes.” He began to put on ragged and dirty clothes. He removed his precious and magnificent clothes and donned coarse and dirty clothes.He taught us to renounce samsara and praised the virtuous Dharma of Nirvana.”
Therefore, the elder donned ragged and dirty clothes: He took off the precious and donned the ragged. He taught us to renounce samsara and praised the virtuous Dharma of Nirvana. This is describing how the Buddha had already attained Buddhahood. He was already very dignified. He had already attained liberation and the honored Dharmakaya. Yet, He had to associate with ordinary people caught up in mundane affairs, living in the same way they did. This describes the attitude of love and caring that the Buddha had for sentient beings, for He was willing to again return to the Saha World. To approach sentient beings, “He took off the precious and donned the ragged.” He took off His magnificent Dharma-clothes and wore coarse clothes like ordinary people.
“He taught us to renounce samsara.” He wanted us to eliminate our attachment to cyclic existence in this world. We are all lost in samsara. He wanted to help us clearly understand that it is because we have all kinds of ignorance, afflictions, transgressions and evils that converge and come together that we remain trapped in cyclic existence, especially in the Five Realms. Below the heaven and human realms are the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, etc., which are realms of unbearable suffering. This is why we should renounce samsara. “Renounce” means we must reject it; we must not have it anymore. We must not again be attached to cyclic existence.
“He praised the virtuous Dharma of Nirvana.” Nirvana is the complete elimination of afflictions and the attainment of spiritual liberation. This state of spiritual liberation is very magnificent. It is the Avatamsaka state, where the mind is tranquil and clear, free and at ease. This virtuous Dharma of Nirvana is what the Buddha continually and earnestly taught us. So, this process of teaching is like how he
“carried tools for clearing excrement and went to the place where his son was”
Carrying tools for clearing excrement, [He] went to the place where his son was: Hiding His exceptional reward-body, the Buddha manifested a lowly transformation-body, appearing the same as sentient beings. Thus it says, “He went to the place where his son was.”
In the same way, in order to teach his son, the elder picked up and carried brooms, dustpans and so on. In order to show him how to clear the excrement, he had to show by example. So, “Hiding His exceptional reward-body, the Buddha manifested a lowly transformation-body.” Hiding His originally pure Dharmakaya, He manifested in a lowly form, so He could have the same appearance as sentient beings. “Appearing the same as sentient beings” means He looked no different from sentient beings. Thus it says, “He went to the place where his son was.” The elder was very willing to draw near to the poor son, just like the Buddha coming to the human realm, to this evil world of Five Turbidities where the beings of the Five Destinies coexist. Whether it is in the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost or animal realm, He goes to all of the four forms of birth and the Five Realms to transform sentient beings. Thus, “He went to the place where his son was”; He went to arrange the causes and conditions in order to transform sentient beings.
“Since He was the same as sentient beings,” being no different than sentient beings, “He similarly faced the Three Obstructions” Since He was the same as sentient beings, He similarly faced the Three Obstructions. Thus in the prose it says, “He assumed a fearful look.”
The Three Obstructions are afflictions, karma and retribution. Because we have the obstruction of afflictions, we have greed, anger and delusion. All kinds of ignorance and delusions have accumulated like this; these are known as afflictions. Afflictions will obstruct our will to practice so we create karma. The obstruction of karma comes from things like the Five Offenses, the Ten Evils and so on. This is the obstruction of karma. When we create the obstruction of karma, then naturally we will receive retributions. These are known as obstructions of retribution. These are the Three Obstructions.
Everyone, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we have this precious opportunity to be able to draw near the Buddha-Dharma. So, since the Buddha manifested in this world and bequeathed the Dharma to this world, we should make the effort to be mindful. Let us open and broaden our hearts, so we can make great vows and practice the Great Vehicle Dharma to transform sentient beings. Because the Buddha showed great compassion, we must not fail to live up to His intent. Therefore, we should always be mindful.