Episode 846 – Purifying Buddha-Lands, Teaching Sentient Beings
>> Purity is the true principle of True Suchness. A defiled mind brings all kinds of transgressions and unwholesome practices. The water of wisdom eliminates the mind’s filth, revealing our intrinsic nature and pure nature of True Suchness. Purifying Buddha-lands and transforming sentient beings, we delight in the Great Vehicle and the teachings of Bodhi.
>> “Having eliminated what was within, we took this to be sufficient. We only sought to finish this matter and never sought any other matters.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “If we heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands or the teaching and transforming of sentient beings, we never took delight in them.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> We only sought to finish this matter: They only sought to finish and be liberated from the great matters of life and death. They had already established purifying practices and had done everything that was needed so that they would have no subsequent incarnations.
>> [We] never sought any other matters: As for purifying Buddha-lands and transforming sentient beings, they considered these as other matters; this is precisely the shortcoming of the Small Vehicle. They looked upon this as something for others; they willingly took no part in it.
>> If we heard: Their resolve was limited. If they heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands: They thought eliminating all deluded karma was what is meant by purifying Buddha-lands. This refers to a practice that benefits oneself.
>> The teaching and transforming of sentient beings: Devising [methods] to guide and transform and embracing and bringing in sentient beings are practices that benefit others. Seeking the Dharma and transforming others is the work of Bodhisattvas.
>> We took no delight in them: Terrified of cyclic existence, they urgently sought to deliver themselves; they took no delight in entering the doors of compassion and wisdom.
>> Their wisdom was of the Small Vehicle, so they took no pleasure in the Great Vehicle Dharma and were lacking in great compassion. Thus, He taught them according to capabilities. The purifying of Buddha-lands is the Great Vehicle Dharma of teaching and transforming sentient beings. But they felt delivering and transforming [others] had nothing to do with them.
“Purity is the true principle of True Suchness.
A defiled mind brings all kinds of transgressions and unwholesome practices.
The water of wisdom eliminates the mind’s filth, revealing our intrinsic nature and pure nature of True Suchness. Purifying Buddha-lands and transforming sentient beings,
we delight in the Great Vehicle and the teachings of Bodhi.”
Everyone, please be mindful! “Purity is the true principle of True Suchness.” It is inherently within all of us. As long as we are mindful and return to our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, all of the true principles will manifest. However, if our thoughts go astray, we give rise to ignorance. Then naturally our “defiled mind,” that mind defiled by ignorance, will give rise to discursive thoughts, and we will commit all kinds of transgressions. Once a single thought goes astray, 1000 thoughts will be wrong. Once our direction is off, every step after that will be wrong; the karma of body, speech and mind we create will all be unwholesome. So, our spiritual practice is very simple; we merely need to safeguard our pure minds. With a pure mind, all things will be good. If our mind becomes defiled, then everything will be unwholesome. Therefore, we must earnestly maintain a pure mind.
A pure mind is True Suchness. True Suchness is undefiled truth. So, “true principles” are True Suchness, and our nature of True Suchness is pure. Actually, everyone intrinsically has wisdom. Wisdom is like water; it can wash away defilements. When one thought has gone astray, our pure intrinsic nature became defiled. When one thought has gone astray, we fall into the state of ordinary beings. Then our unenlightened minds are continually defiled by ignorance. Only the water of wisdom can help us thoroughly understand the principles. When wisdom manifests, it is like water washing away dirty things.
We absolutely need to use the water of wisdom to clean our minds of filth. Not only must we not fill our minds with garbage, we must also use water to cleanse them. Similarly, in our spiritual practice, we must use the Dharma like water; we must use the Dharma to scrub and wash so that our minds’ filth can be completely eliminated and the true principle of our nature of True Suchness can be revealed [To reveal] this pure nature of True Suchness, we must make a great effort; we must use water to cleanse [our minds], must use the water of wisdom, the Buddha-Dharma’s true principles, and truly take the Dharma to heart. We must use great skill, as if we are wiping a mirror.
This is how we “reveal our intrinsic nature and pure nature of True Suchness.” We must use the water of wisdom to remove our minds’ filth before we can manifest our intrinsic nature and purify the True Suchness in us. Only when our minds have been cleansed can we “purify Buddha-lands and transform sentient beings.” In order to dignify Buddha-lands, we must teach and transform sentient beings. Whatever place we are born in, that is where we must exercise the Buddha-Dharma’s ability to purify and transform people’s minds, helping everyone to be able to apply the Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is [applied] in this world. Living Bodhisattvas apply the Dharma and truly realize it in their lives. This is the method we must use to purify Buddha-lands. So, we must be Bodhisattvas in this world and apply the Buddha-Dharma in our lives. Then we can purify Buddha-lands and transform sentient beings. We transform sentient beings for the sake of purifying Buddha-lands, and we purify Buddha-lands for the purpose of transforming sentient beings. Each helps the other to be accomplished.
Thus, to benefit both ourselves and others, we must first understand the Buddha-Dharma and eliminate afflictions. The true principle of our nature of True Suchness must first be manifested before we can say to others, “Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature.” Only when we thoroughly understand the principles can we tell everyone, “Your wisdom is equal to the Buddha’s.” Thus, benefiting ourselves and transforming others must begin with us. To engage in spiritual practice and understand the Buddha-Dharma, we must “delight in the Great Vehicle and the teachings of Bodhi.” We should seek to benefit ourselves and others. This is how sentient beings are transformed.
The previous sutra passage states, “Having eliminated what was within, we took this to be sufficient. We only sought to finish this matter and never sought any other matters.”
This is in the previous passage. Venerable Kasyapa was still explaining, “We just stuck to upholding our own duties. We had already eliminated [afflictions] within and attained the virtues of wisdom and ending.” Wisdom is understanding the true principles of all Dharma. Ending is eliminating all kinds of ignorance and afflictions. So, these are the virtues of wisdom and ending. This is “eliminating what was within.” In their minds, they had understood the true principles. They had also eliminated ignorance and afflictions. They were practicing in accord with the Dharma, so they were satisfied. They only worked towards this; there was nothing else they sought. That was all. They were Small Vehicle practitioners who only sought to awaken themselves.
Therefore, they again said, “If we heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands or the teaching and transforming of sentient beings, we never took delight in them.”
If they had heard the Buddha teaching how to purify and transform, purify Buddha-lands and transform sentient beings, they took no delight in it nor ever thought that they should go do it.
“The purifying of Buddha-lands” depends on sentient beings. If sentient beings are pure, then the land will be pure. If sentient beings are defiled, then the land will be defiled. This is why we must purify Buddha-lands; wherever sentient beings are pure and accept the Buddha-Dharma, that is a pure Buddha-land where sentient beings are taught and transformed. But, there must be people to do this, to go out and help others. Venerable Kasyapa and others said, “We never took delight in them.” The teaching and transforming of sentient beings and the purifying of Buddha-lands were things they did not delight in. No joy arose in them; they were unwilling to dedicate themselves. They just took the Dharma the Buddha taught and spread it around for others to know.
We only sought to finish this matter: They only sought to finish and be liberated from the great matters of life and death. They had already established purifying practices and had done everything that was needed so that they would have no subsequent incarnations.
That is all they did. Thus it says, “We only sought to finish this matter”. They felt these practices were their duty, and they practiced accordingly, following the Buddha’s teachings. This was what they did; “They only sought to finish and be liberated from the great matters of life and death.” They only thought of not returning to this world through the cycle of birth and death. That would be so painful, so they only focused on purifying practices.
Purifying practices are also called Brahma-conduct. They did not want their minds to be defiled again. They did not want to commit any kind of mistake or unwholesome practice again. They wanted to be rid of these. So, “They had already established purifying practices.” They had established themselves as models for engaging in pure spiritual practice. They had “done everything that was needed.” They felt that by doing this they had completely fulfilled their duties. So, “They would have no subsequent incarnations.” They would no longer transgress and engage in unwholesome practices. They did not need to worry because their afflictions were completely eliminated and their minds were completely pure. They understood the principles; without greed, anger and ignorance, they would not have negative causes, conditions, effects or retributions later on. These would all be gone. So, “They would have no subsequent incarnations.”
[We] never sought any other matters: As for purifying Buddha-lands and transforming sentient beings, they considered these as other matters; this is precisely the shortcoming of the Small Vehicle. They looked upon this as something for others; they willingly took no part in it.
They “never sought any other matters” [To them], there was nothing else. Purifying Buddha-lands and transforming all beings were “considered as other matters.” They were separate things ․[We] never sought any other matters: As for purifying Buddha-lands and transforming sentient beings, they considered these as other matters; this is precisely the shortcoming of the Small Vehicle. They looked upon this as something for others; they willingly took no part in it [They] “never sought any other matters. This has nothing to do with me. My basic duties, my own matters, are already completed. Going to purify Buddha-lands and transform sentient beings are extra things; they have nothing to do with me.” This is the “shortcoming of the Small Vehicle.” This is precisely the shortcoming of the practitioners of the Small Vehicle.
So, the Buddha was concerned. The Buddha’s wish was not yet fulfilled. The Buddha’s hope, His wish, was that everyone would return to their nature of True Suchness, then also widely transform sentient beings and attain Buddhahood. To truly manifest the nature of True Suchness and reach the great enlightenment of the truths of all things in the universe, we must practice the Great Vehicle and go among the people. Only when the lotus grows in mud does it bloom and bear seeds. This is what the Buddha was hoping for the most.
But these spiritual practitioners felt, “I have awakened myself. Everything else is extra. I have liberated myself. Whether others find liberation has nothing to do with me.” Not forming aspirations for these extra things was the shortcoming of Small Vehicle practitioners and was what concerned the Buddha. The Buddha hoped that every sentient being would truly find great enlightenment and attain great liberation. If we stay at the Small Vehicle Dharma, it is very easy to become defiled again. It is only when every person has been liberated that we can attain true liberation.
“They looked upon this as something for others. They willingly took no part in it.” They felt this Dharma was for others. They were willing to say, “It is not for me, and that is just fine. The Great Dharma is for practitioners of the. Bodhisattva-path to accept. It is not for me, and that is just fine. I do not need it. I am already satisfied. I do not need the Great Vehicle Dharma.” Thus, “They willingly took no part in it. This Great Vehicle Dharma is something I willingly abandon.” This is Small Vehicle practitioners’ shortcoming
[They felt,] “This is good enough for me.” Therefore, the next passage states, “If we heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands…” ․
If we heard: Their resolve was limited. If they heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands: They thought eliminating all deluded karma was what is meant by purifying Buddha-lands. This refers to a practice that benefits oneself.
Venerable Kasyapa spoke on behalf of everyone. So, he said “we.” Their resolve was limited. Their resolve was not that great, meaning it was weak. They only sought to awaken themselves. Or, “If they heard of the purifying of Buddha-lands, they thought eliminating all deluded karma was what is meant by purifying Buddha-lands.” They thought they would have to eliminate the deluded karma of sentient beings, all that ignorance, so many dust-like delusions. If they had to go among people again, it would really be difficult. They were able to purify themselves, but they could not purify and transform others. Therefore, they could benefit themselves, but they could not benefit others. To benefit themselves and also benefit others was really something they had no interest in doing.
The teaching and transforming of sentient beings: Devising [methods] to guide and transform and embracing and bringing in sentient beings are practices that benefit others. Seeking the Dharma and transforming others is the work of Bodhisattvas.
“Devising [methods] to guide and transform and embracing and bringing in sentient beings are practices that benefit others. Seeking the Dharma and transforming others” is the work of Bodhisattvas. So it is called the “teaching and transforming of sentient beings”
“The teaching and transforming of sentient beings” means that we must start to go transform and teach other people. To embrace and bring in sentient beings is to create great blessed affinities with them. When we embrace and bring them in, they become willing to listen to what we say; they become willing to engage in spiritual practice along with us. This way, we engage in practice to benefit others. In “seeking the Dharma and transforming others,” on one hand, we still must seek the Dharma from the Buddha. On the other hand, we still must go out and transform sentient beings.
We took no delight in them: Terrified of cyclic existence, they urgently sought to deliver themselves; they took no delight in entering the doors of compassion and wisdom.
This is called the “teaching and transforming of sentient beings.” For “the purifying of Buddha-lands,” our own minds must be pure, and we also must go to teach and transform others. This is walking the Bodhisattva-path. But regarding these things, “[They] took no delight in them.” They really did not want to do these things. If they could eliminate their own afflictions, that would be enough for them. They were terrified of cyclic existence. Because they were “terrified of cyclic existence, they urgently sought to deliver themselves. They took no delight in entering the doors of compassion and wisdom.”
The Saha World is one of patient endurance. To patiently endure really is very difficult. To patiently endure really is very difficult. They did not want to return here. They did not wish to return to the Five Realms, so they were terrified. “We do not dare to return.” Thus, “They urgently sought to deliver themselves.” Transforming themselves was more important. Wanting to transform others was not a thought they had. So, “They urgently sought to deliver themselves. They took no delight in entering the doors of compassion and wisdom.” That meant asking them to have compassion, universal compassion, along with the wisdom to go among people and discern right from wrong without being contaminated themselves. Because sentient beings have so many conflicts, ignorance and afflictions, if our compassion was insufficient, we would not think of going among the people.
When we look around, it is the same thing nowadays. When people suffer and experience disasters, those disasters seem so far away from us; what do they have to do with us? We never consider that the world is really one, that we all live on the same earth and all breathe the same air. Since we are all living on the same earth, we cannot say that those disasters are far away. Science is very advanced nowadays. We also know now that these climate extremes are continuing to occur. Once things are out of balance, disasters will affect the entire earth.
All sentient beings are living together on this earth. As soon as sentient beings experience disaster, universal compassion should arise in us. So, with this great compassion, we can dedicate ourselves to others. Dedicating ourselves to others requires wisdom. We need wisdom to know how to save people, and we ourselves also need to stay safe. To help others is difficult, but we feel very happy doing it. It feels good to help others, to give without expectations. This is the Three Spheres of Emptiness. These are the “doors of compassion and wisdom.” But as for this Dharma of compassion and wisdom, they took no joy in it; they were not willing
Their wisdom was of the Small Vehicle, so they took no pleasure in the Great Vehicle Dharma and were lacking in great compassion. Thus, He taught them according to capabilities. The purifying of Buddha-lands is the Great Vehicle Dharma of teaching and transforming sentient beings. But they felt delivering and transforming [others] had nothing to do with them.
Because “their wisdom was of the Small Vehicle,” they took no pleasure in the Great Vehicle Dharma. In particular, because they were lacking in great compassion, they remained stuck in the wisdom of the Small Vehicle. So, the Buddha continuously taught the Dharma for those people according to their capabilities. All was for the sake of purifying Buddha-lands. This is the Buddha’s compassion. He wants to purify Buddha-lands and teach and transform sentient beings with the Great Vehicle Dharma.
This is purifying Buddha-lands. As for “delivering and transforming,” Small Vehicle practitioners felt that it had nothing to do with them. “How does one purify Buddha-lands? How does one teach, transform sentient beings? These things have nothing to do with me.” They never thought that this was why the Buddha patiently guided them. So, they were still unclear about the Buddha’s original intent.
Bodhisattvas respond to a Buddha-land, so there must be sentient beings to transform. The purity or defilement of the Buddha-land depends upon the purity or defilement of the sentient beings transformed. If the sentient beings to be transformed are pure, then the land itself will be pure. If the sentient beings to be transformed are defiled, then the land will also be defiled.
Bodhisattvas “respond to a Buddha-land, so there must be sentient beings to transform.” Since this place has an affinity with a Buddha, with all its sentient beings, “[the land] depends on the purity or defilement of the sentient beings to be transformed.” If the sentient beings there are pure, then the land will be pure; if the sentient beings there are defiled, then the land will also be defiled.
So Bodhisattvas, for the sake of dignifying Buddha-lands, today teach and transform sentient beings. By following these teachings, sentient beings physically bring to fulfillment the karma of purity and goodness and together attain purity. This is why they teach and transform sentient beings. The teaching and transforming of sentient beings is known as the purifying of Buddha-lands.
So, “Bodhisattvas, for the sake of dignifying Buddha-lands, today teach and transform sentient beings.” For us to attain Buddhahood in the future, we must now quickly teach and transform sentient beings and physically bring to fulfillment pure karma of goodness. We ourselves must make an effort to bring to fulfillment karma of purity and goodness and teach and transform sentient beings so that we can “together attain purity.” When our own minds can be pure, then sentient beings’ minds can also be pure. Because of this, “the teaching and transforming of sentient beings” is known as “the purifying of Buddha-lands. To teach and transform sentient beings,”
we ourselves must know that. “Purity is the true principle of True Suchness. A defiled mind brings all kinds of transgressions and unwholesome practices.” We must leave these far behind. We must use the water of wisdom to cleanse our minds of filth. We must “reveal our intrinsic nature and pure nature of True Suchness.” This requires us ourselves to be pure. So, “to purify Buddha-lands and to deliver and transform sentient beings,” we must always be mindful.