Episode 844 – The Treasure of the Buddha-Dharma
>> Knowing the Dharma yet having no faith in or understanding of it is like being employed to count the wealth of others. One can see the family’s wealth filling the house, yet one takes no delight in it for oneself.
>> “As for the secret Dharma of all Buddhas, it was only for Bodhisattvas that this truth was revealed. Its true essence was not expounded for us.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “We were like that poor son who had drawn near his father; although he knew of all these goods, he had no wish to take any for himself. Though we taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma, we had no aspirations ourselves, so we were also like that.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> We were like that poor son who had drawn near his father: The son is an analogy for the Hearers and others, and the father for the Tathagata. This analogy was brought up to explain the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma. This is the unsurpassed path mentioned earlier.
>> Although he knew of all these goods, he had no wish to take any for himself: Though they knew of the treasure of the Dharma, they never saw it as their own, nor wished to take it for themselves.
>> Though we taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma, we had no aspirations ourselves, so we were also like that. This is like how Two Vehicle practitioners maintained their intent to benefit themselves and took no delight in seeking the Great Dharma.
“Knowing the Dharma yet having no faith in or understanding of it
is like being employed to count the wealth of others.
One can see the family’s wealth filling the house,
yet one takes no delight in it for oneself.”
Knowing the Dharma yet having no faith in or understanding of it is like being hired by others to count treasures. For instance, at a jewelry store, there are string after string of pearls, bracelet upon bracelet and ring upon ring. We can see all these pearls and agates. If the jewel is of good size and quality, this piece will be worth ten, a hundred or even hundreds of millions of dollars (NT). Even though it looks like glass, a small [diamond] can be worth so much. That is how valuable it can be. But, does the jewelry belong to these [workers]? No. It is the store owner’s. Does it really belong to him? No, he sells the jewelry to the buyers. Is it the buyers’ then? Yes. But, do they possess these things forever? Does forever mean for a lifetime? How long is a lifetime? We do not know.
Even after buying many gemstones, they dare not even keep these things at home. They still need to pay rent for a safe deposit box in order to keep them at the bank. They do not have these things with them. Even if they want to wear them, they might endanger themselves going outside. People spend so much money to buy these things, but who do they really belong to? The people who own these things do not get to keep them on their person. They must put these jewels and treasures elsewhere and hire people to look after them.
If we really comprehend the Dharma, will we need to spend so much money on acquiring these things? Look how many people live in suffering and poverty. If we can use the money spent on these things to save people, using these tens or hundreds of millions for meaningful purposes, who knows how much good could be done? Furthermore, those who collect these treasures do not consider that the process of finding them requires mining that damages the earth. This is how these treasures are obtained. No one knows how many people have [died] for the sake of obtaining diamonds or other things from these mines. No one knows how many have been sacrificed. Yet, people enjoy these things simply for their own vanity. Does it really make a difference in their lives?
I often take joy in talking about how despite living in the poorest places and suffering from poverty themselves, some people still try their best to save others. We call these people the rich among the poor. We say that they are full of spiritual wealth. There are many people like this! So, we can ask, where is the value of wealth to be found?
In the Buddha’s time, there was also a story about this. In the city of Rajagrha, there lived an elder named Danmiri. When this elder was still very young, his father left him such a great inheritance that he was as wealthy as a country, wealthier than the king. Inside his house, everything was gold, silver, crystal or agate. The entire house was decorated like this; even the floor he walked on was paved in crystal.
Once, when the son of King Prasenajit, Prince Virudhaka, was still young, he fell ill with a skin disease. This disease needed to be treated with agarwood, high quality agarwood mixed into the medicine. A search was conducted throughout the kingdom. A great proclamation was made, but for a period of time, nobody found any. Later, a minister told the king, “There is an elder named Danmiri with a house full of treasures. I am sure his house must have this kind of wood.” On hearing this, the king visited Elder Danmiri in person.
When Elder Danmiri heard the king coming, he personally went outside to greet him. The king went through the first court, the second, the third, the fourth and then the fifth. There were five courtyards leading to the mansion. When the king entered the first door, he saw the gatekeeper was gracefully dressed and the women who greeted guests were beautiful, dressed very stylishly and elegantly. The decorations inside the house were also beautiful. Coral, amber, crystal and jewels decorated the floors. The [elder] truly lived up to his reputation of being as wealthy as a country.
After having a small talk there, Danmiri asked the king, “What has brought your majesty to personally visit my house?” The king said, “What I need is agarwood of the highest quality. Your Majesty, please feel free to tell me how much you need. I only need two liang.” Danmiri immediately gave a piece of agarwood to the king. The king ordered it to be taken back to the palace immediately and quickly mixed with the medicine. Meanwhile, the king remained and chatted with Elder Danmiri. He then asked him, “You are already so blessed. May I ask you if you have met the Buddha? Have you ever heard the Buddha teach?” Elder Danmiri said, “What is a Buddha? I have never heard of this.”
King Prasenajit was a very sincere believer in the Buddha-Dharma, as well as a great Dharma-protector. Thus, he explained about the Buddha to him, about the stages the Buddha had gone through. Born as a prince in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, He abandoned His kingdom, the throne and His status as a prince to engage in spiritual practice. Thus He attained Buddhahood and was now teaching the Dharma to all. Just from hearing this, the elder rejoiced. After he escorted the king back, he followed the king’s advice and went to visit the Buddha. When he arrived there, he met the Buddha, which made him even happier. There, he asked the Buddha for teachings. The Buddha began to teach him with the Four Noble Truths. As soon as he heard this, compassion arose in Elder Danmiri’s heart. “Why did I not realize life is full of suffering? It turns out that most people suffer so much. My whole life. I have never needed to ask for anything. I have so much wealth and enjoy so much comfort. Of what the Buddha just taught me, from suffering to causation to cessation, the most liberating is the practice of the Path. Now that I have comprehended the principles, I should earnestly engage in spiritual practice.” From the Buddha’s teachings, he gained faith and understanding. So, he immediately attained the initial fruit and asked Him to allow him to become a monastic. The Buddha was also very happy and accepted him as His monastic disciple.
In the Sangha, people found it strange. Elder Danmiri had never known the suffering of life. Why was it that when he heard the Dharma, he could awaken so fast to the principles of life? So the Buddha told them how, 91 kalpas ago, in the age of Vipasyin Buddha, after the Buddha of that time entered Parinirvana, five bhiksus who had followed that Buddha shared the same vows and path. They wanted to find a very pure place in order to earnestly engage in spiritual practice.
One among these five people said, “If one of us is willing to focus on begging for alms outside and go out every day for the sake of our sustenance, then the other four can focus on spiritual practice. If we can do it this way, the ones who engage in spiritual practice will also bless the one willing to help the others succeed in spiritual practice.” One of them then said, “I am willing to help you succeed in your spiritual practice.” This bhiksu went to the settlements outside of the forest every day to beg for alms and bring back five portions to share with the other four people. In doing so, he kept everyone in good health so they could focus on spiritual practice.
Throughout 90 days of living this way, these four bhiksus were truly diligent, and they all attained Arhatship. They said, “Today, our accomplishment was possible because of this bhiksu who mindfully took care of us so we never lacked clothing or food and could focus on spiritual practice. We should also help him succeed.” How could they help him? They asked this bhiksu, “Do you have any needs or requests?” He said, “I do not have any needs or requests. Seeing you able to thoroughly comprehend the Buddha-Dharma makes me very happy.”
These four bhiksus then said, “Of course, but we also wish [success] for you. What is your aspiration?” This bhiksu thus said, “I also very much hope that in the future, I will not have to experience the suffering of this world. I hope I can be wealthy life after life and be replete with wisdom. And, once I have the causes and conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma, I hope that, within that lifetime, I will experience and awaken to the Buddha’s principles. This is my wish.” Thus, these four bhiksus blessed him together.
The Buddha stopped here and said, “That Bhiksu is now Danmiri.” Thus, when he listened to the Dharma, he awakened and understood. So, in knowing the Dharma, we need faith and understanding. Knowing the Dharma without faith and understanding “is like being employed to count the wealth of others”
“yet taking no delight in it for oneself.” This is like the poor son. Though he had wandered homeless, after coming to this mansion of the rich family he was invited in by the elder. Though he saw [the treasures], he still did not feel, “This is mine.” Aren’t we also like this son? When we engage in spiritual practice, we must truly put our hearts into giving. These things that we have always possessed can be found inside our hearts; we do not need to destroy the earth. We all have the Seven Treasures inside of us; we do not need to spend so much to buy them. We ourselves are the master gemcutter; we can achieve that fine workmanship ourselves. If we earnestly work on discovering our treasures, we will know how to make good use of them to unceasingly increase our wisdom and blessings and exercise our blessings and wisdom in the world. We can create blessings among people and cultivate wisdom in this world. This is something that we can achieve. We just need to be mindful.
The previous sutra passage states, “As for the secret Dharma of all Buddhas, it was only for Bodhisattvas that this truth was revealed. Its true essence was not expounded for us.”
Venerable Kasyapa described all the “secret Dharma” taught by the Buddha, saying they regarded it as teachings for Bodhisattvas. It seemed to have nothing to do with them at all. But this is what they heard and what the Buddha asked them to share, so this was the Dharma they shared with others.
These were Small Vehicle practitioners, who lacked the intent to go among the people. They had no thought of becoming Bodhisattvas, so they did not think this Dharma important to them. But, they could repeat the Dharma to others on behalf of the Buddha. These were Small Vehicle practitioners; they only spread these words and teachings, but they did not practice them themselves.
The following sutra passage says, “We were like that poor son who had drawn near his father; although he knew of all these goods, he had no wish to take any for himself. Though we taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma, we had no aspirations ourselves, so we were also like that.”
They were like that poor son. Although he had already drawn near his own father and knew where all the treasures were stored, the poor son had “no wish to take any for himself.” He did not have the will to pursue them. Thus, “though we taught to others” was Venerable Kasyapa saying that they were like the poor son themselves. They were Hearers. Though they “taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma,” though they taught the treasures of the Dharma, they were only hearing what the Buddha said and spreading it around on His behalf. They were also teaching the Dharma He taught, but they themselves “had no aspirations.” They told others they must resolve to do it, but they did not have the will to practice it. “So we were also like that” means that they were just like the poor son. This was Venerable Kasyapa’s analogy
We were like that poor son who had drawn near his father: The son is an analogy for the Hearers and others, and the father for the Tathagata. This analogy was brought up to explain the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma. This is the unsurpassed path mentioned earlier.
The “son” is analogous to Hearers, Solitary Realizers and so on. These were the Small Vehicle practitioners. The “father” is the Tathagata, who is the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the four kinds of beings. The “four kinds of beings” are not only human beings; this includes all sentient beings. He treats them all as His only son.
So, fathers of this world are [fathers to] individuals; they have their own blood-line and own children. But the Buddha is the father of everyone. He wants to pass down the Dharma-lineage to sentient beings. He comes to the world on the Dharma of Suchness, transforming sentient beings as a great compassionate father.
“This analogy was brought up to explain the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma.” This analogy was drawn to talk about the treasury of the Buddha-Dharma. The Dharma is a treasure; it is more precious than worldly treasures. It is the Dharma-treasure that truly benefits people. Whether in this lifetime or in future lifetimes, if we can obtain the Buddha-Dharma and keep passing it on, each lifetime, we will understand the Dharma more, and our affinity with the Dharma will deepen. Then lifetime after lifetime, we will have more affinities to encounter the Buddha-Dharma.
Recently, we keep seeing three- and four-year-olds or four, five, six, seven or eight-year-old children. We can see, when they hear the Dharma they really take it to heart. They are so persistent in listening to the morning Dharma lecture. Think about it. Isn’t this because they already have the Buddha-Dharma in their hearts? When we come back to this world, if we have taken the Dharma-treasure to heart, although we cannot take anything with us when we die, we will bring the Dharma with us instead of karma. Thus, this kind of Dharma-treasure is what was mentioned earlier as “the unsurpassed path.”
Do you remember that we talked previously about “the path of difficult practice” and “the path of purity”? “The path of difficult practice” is the Bodhisattva-path that we need to cultivate. “Actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions” is called “the path of difficult practice.” Next is “the path of purity.” We need to eliminate afflictions and keep our minds undefiled. This is “the unsurpassed path.” This is the Dharma, the treasure that the Buddha taught
Although he knew of all these goods, he had no wish to take any for himself: Though they knew of the treasure of the Dharma, they never saw it as their own, nor wished to take it for themselves.
“Although he knew of all these goods, he had no wish to take any for himself.” This is such a shame. Although we understand the Dharma-treasure, we do not take it as our own. This is because we still cannot experience our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, the treasure of True Suchness. As we do not know it, we “never saw it as our own.” We think that all these things out there, all these teachings, belong to the Buddha. It is what the Buddha taught the Bodhisattvas to walk the Bodhisattva-path. It has nothing to do with us. So, we “never saw it as our own.” We think it is not ours. Thus, we do not “wish to take it for ourselves.” This is because we never formed aspirations to pursue it.
So, “Though we taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma, we had no aspirations ourselves, so we were also like that. This is like how Two Vehicle practitioners maintained their intent to benefit themselves and took no delight in seeking the Great Dharma.”
“We” refers to. Venerable Kasyapa, Subhuti and the others. “Though we taught to others the treasure of the Buddha-Dharma….” They listened to the Buddha’s teachings, but they were like [the son]. They taught others according to the Buddha’s teachings. But they formed no aspirations to [practice it]; they told others to do it without doing it themselves. This is “like how Two Vehicle practitioners maintained their intent to benefit themselves and took no delight in seeking the Great Dharma.” It was just like this.
Everyone, while we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must make an effort to be mindful. Once the Buddha attained Buddhahood, He said, “Everyone inherently has this. Tathagata-nature of wisdom.” So, we must believe this. Wisdom is inherent in all people. This is because we all have a Buddha-nature equal to the Buddha’s. We all have the Tathagata-garbha, have the Tathagata’s storehouse of treasures. We must believe in ourselves. Therefore, we must always be mindful.