Episode 849 – The True Repayment of the Buddha’s Grace
>> Bodhisattvas who receive the perfect teachings have only slight confusion about the principles. They do not require analogies as skillful means but can be directly taught the wonders of all Dharma and all principles. The Buddha directly teaches the Bodhisattva Way, which refers to the principles and teachings outside the Three Realms, the wondrous truth of all paths and ultimate reality.
>> “Throughout the long night, regarding the Buddha’s wisdom, we had no desire or attachment, nor any aspiration to attain it. As for ourselves, regarding the Dharma, we thought we had reached the ultimate. Throughout the long night, we cultivated [only] the teaching of emptiness.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> “We obtained liberation from the Three Realms and the troubles of suffering and afflictions, so we abide in our final incarnation, in Nirvana with remainder. With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations. We thought that our attainment had already repaid the Buddha’s grace.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4 – Faith And Understanding]
>> By eliminating the delusions of views and thinking, we attain the flawless fruits and obtain liberation from the Three Realms, the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death, and worries, sadness, suffering and afflictions. This is speaking of those who possess the flawless wisdom to eliminate the suffering of samsara.
>> So we abide in the final body: Their bodies still exist; they have not yet ceased to be, so it says they “abide”.
>> In this lifetime they have ended [afflictions], so they will not experience future incarnations. They have already realized the fourth fruit, thus it says this is their ‘final incarnation’.
>> Nirvana with remainder: They eliminated the delusions of views and thinking but their bodies still remained This is called “with remainder”.
>> The mind abiding in emptiness and stillness is called ‘Nirvana’.
>> With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations: These limited teachings on the Dharma of arising and ceasing were what the Buddha taught. Engaging in spiritual practice accordingly, we already attained the noble path; this is true and not false.
>> With what they gained, they revealed what was lost. Though the fruit they attained was with remainder, the seed was still what the Buddha taught them. The cause and effect are both real, so they truly attained realizations.
>> We thought that our attainment had already repaid the Buddha’s grace: They practiced diligently so they attained. They obeyed all of the Buddha’s instructions and faithfully put them into practice, so they thought they had repaid the Tathagata’s grace for transforming and teaching them.
>> All of us thought that we had practiced accordingly to attain realizations and had transformed ourselves and others, and thus we had already repaid His grace. Thus they had no wish to seek the Great Dharma. They did not accept the Buddha’s intention for them to turn from the Small toward the Great Vehicle.
>> Subhuti and others had thought if they could end fragmentary samsara, they would have repaid the grace of the Buddha. This is one who only liberates oneself.
>> They must learn His great compassion and wisdom to widely transform sentient beings. This is truly repaying the Buddha’s grace.
“Bodhisattvas who receive the perfect teachings have only slight confusion about the principles.
They do not require analogies as skillful means
but can be directly taught the wonders of all Dharma and all principles. The Buddha directly teaches the Bodhisattva Way,
which refers to the principles and teachings outside the Three Realms, the wondrous truth of all paths and ultimate reality.”
Do you understand? The Small Vehicle practitioners still remained attached to their own practice to seek only their own awakening. Since their capabilities were limited, it did not matter what kind of principles the Buddha used to encourage them; when they listened to the Great Vehicle Dharma, those of limited capabilities thought it was something for other people and had nothing to do with them. They thought they had to stay pure and undefiled, with no conflicts in the world; thus they would have no afflictions. They thought that was all that they needed to do. No matter how the Buddha taught the Great Vehicle, the Bodhisattva Way, they thought it was something for other people.
He [used many] analogies, using matters as analogies for principles and principles as analogies for matters. He taught matters and principles using analogies, all to help us understand that when certain things happen in life, when our minds give arise to certain thoughts, as a result, we experience suffering or joy. So, everything the Buddha taught, the pitaka, common, unique and perfect teachings, were classified like this by those who came later.
“Bodhisattvas who receive the perfect teachings have only slight confusion about the principles.” This describes those with great capabilities. They believe in the Buddha’s teachings and also believe that they themselves have the Tathagata-nature of True Suchness. Therefore, as far as the principles go, they are already quite clear about them. They only have a few unclear things left. Their afflictions are light, not heavy, and the things they do not understand are subtle. They manifest as [unenlightened] Bodhisattvas, so they seek the path to Buddhahood because they still have room for improvement. Then they are able to transform sentient beings. Even Manjusri Bodhisattva, who had been the teacher of seven past Buddhas and who had attained Buddhahood himself, when he came to the world to help Sakyamuni Buddha deliver and transform sentient beings, also had to appear in Bodhisattva-form. Actually, when it came to the principles, these Bodhisattvas were not confused at all. They had simply come to help the Buddha teach and transform, so they requested the Dharma on behalf of sentient beings. They would appear and say, “I do not know. I will ask on everyone’s behalf so the Buddha can teach and everyone will know.” Actually they were not confused; they just manifested this kind of appearance in order to help.
For those with great capabilities like this, the Buddha did not “require analogies as skillful means.” He did not have to beat around the bush. He could directly point to their minds so they could behold their nature and attain Buddhahood. He could simply say to them, “For you to attain Buddhahood, your spiritual practice must be to truly understand the principles and eliminate ignorance. For every measure of ignorance eliminated, the same measure of wisdom will be revealed.” Where does wisdom come from? It comes from going among people. He simply told them this directly, and the Bodhisattvas understood and just did it. It was unnecessary to use all kinds of analogies; He could directly teach the Dharma to them. So, they could “be directly taught the wonders of all Dharma and all principles.” He taught them directly like this.
They understood; since their causes and conditions had already matured, coming to this world, they could encounter the Buddha-Dharma and put it into practice with faith and understanding. They knew that they should just do it. So, they went among people to transform them. This was what the Buddha taught them, and this was what those Bodhisattvas accepted. They formed great aspirations and walked the Bodhisattva-path, “which refers to the principles and teachings outside the Three Realms.” These are teachings outside the Three Realms.
As we discussed yesterday, spiritual practice inside the Three Realms only eliminates fragmentary samsara. But Bodhisattvas still manifest a slight amount of transformational samsara. Transformational samsara refers to our thoughts, to coming and going freely. They leave this life and go to the next, returning in order to fulfill their vows. Whether to the heaven, human, hell or hungry ghost realm, though they must still go there, it is because of their vows. No matter where in the human realm or whatever realm where they have affinities with sentient beings, they will go there.
For instance, Ananda had been following the Buddha for a very long time. But after the Buddha had entered Parinirvana, when His teachings were to be compiled, Venerable Kasyapa rebuked Ananda and said, “You have not eliminated your afflictions.” Ananda said, “In order to follow the Buddha, I retained a small measure of afflictions.” Therefore, when we form Bodhisattva-aspirations, we retain a small measure of afflictions. This is the “slight confusion.” They still keep just a little bit, but actually they are completely pure. They have to leave a little, so that they can appear to say, “I do not know. If I knew, the Buddha would not have to teach any further. So, I do not know. The Buddha has to teach us further.” So, when the Buddha spoke to these people
of higher capabilities and taught them the Dharma, it really was quite simple. He did not have to “pull the vine to get the bean.” He could teach them directly, without using all kinds of analogies. Thus, He “directly taught the Bodhisattva Way.” These are the “teachings and principles outside the Three Realms.” He pushed aside the Three Realms, the desire, form and formless realms, and how those afflictions can be removed. The Buddha quickly jumped over these and taught them how to practice the Bodhisattva Way. Thus, He “directly taught the Bodhisattva Way.” These are the teachings and principles outside the Three Realms.
So, this is “the wondrous truth of all paths and ultimate reality.” All Buddhas of past teach paths that connect; the Dharma of all Buddhas is interconnected. The principles are all the same. Thus, They pointed directly to our minds for us to behold our nature and attain Buddhahood. However, for us to do this we must go among people and walk the Bodhisattva-path. This principle is just as simple as that. Bodhisattvas, Living Bodhisattvas, are also like this. They just do it. It does not require a lot of explanation.
The previous sutra passage states, “Throughout the long night, regarding the Buddha’s wisdom, we had no desire or attachment, nor any aspiration to attain it. As for ourselves, regarding the Dharma, we thought we had reached the ultimate. Throughout the long night, we cultivated [only] the teaching of emptiness.”
This is the analogy that. Venerable Kasyapa used to describe himself. Throughout the long night, the Buddha’s wisdom shone like a ray of light. But the disciples remained in the long night, looking up at the stars and moon in the sky and thinking to themselves, “I have already seen the light! I have already realized the vastness of the sky.” They did not know that beneath the sky, all phenomena still exist. So many matters, appearances and principles were still not clear to them. They just remained within the long night, just looking up at the sky
[Kasyapa] used this kind of analogy to compare the Buddha’s wisdom to sunlight. When the sky is light, we can see the mountains, rivers and land, and the workings of things that are before us. This is the Buddha’s wisdom, yet they never thought to take it for themselves. Thus, they had no desire or attachment nor any aspiration to attain it. They thought they had already understood all of the teachings, that this was good enough. They thought they had reached the ultimate by attaining the fourth fruit, Arhatship. They were satisfied with that.
The next sutra passage then states, “We obtained liberation from the Three Realms and the troubles of suffering and afflictions, so we abide in our final incarnation, in Nirvana with remainder. With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations. We thought that our attainment had already repaid the Buddha’s grace.”
“We obtained liberation from the Three Realms.” They had cultivated and practiced the Dharma of emptiness in the past, thinking that in doing this they would attain liberation from the Three Realms. They thought, “We abide in our final incarnation. In this lifetime, we have already thoroughly understood the principles and have eliminated our ignorance so this will be our final lifetime”; they are in “Nirvana with remainder.” In fact, this is only “Nirvana with remainder,” because “Nirvana with remainder” means that they had only eliminated the suffering of the Three Realms. Now they already knew this. “With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations. We thought that our attainment had already repaid the Buddha’s grace.” Knowing that the Buddha taught us mindfully, we earnestly engaged in spiritual practice. We practice earnestly now in order to repay the Buddha’s grace and live up to His great efforts on our behalf.
Indeed, this is also true. Of course, seeing His disciples earnestly engaged in their spiritual practice gave the Buddha the greatest comfort and joy. However, besides their own spiritual practice, the Buddha would have been even more joyful if they had taken the next step of going among people without being defiled by them. Only then would they be truly pure. If the bustle of the crowd causes one afflictions, how could one be considered purity? The Buddha wanted them to eliminate afflictions so even in the midst of complicated situations they could remain calm and pure. Only then would they truly remain undefiled and have truly eliminated afflictions.
By eliminating the delusions of views and thinking, we attain the flawless fruits and obtain liberation from the Three Realms, the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death, and worries, sadness, suffering and afflictions. This is speaking of those who possess the flawless wisdom to eliminate the suffering of samsara.
So, these afflictions are the delusions of views and thinking. “By eliminating the delusions of views and thinking, we attain the flawless fruits.” This is what is known as eliminating afflictions [We] “obtain liberation from the Three Realms, the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death, and worries, sadness, suffering and afflictions.” All of these take place in the Three Realms. It is in the desire realm that ignorance exists in our views and thinking, such that we undergo birth, aging, illness, death, worries, sadness, suffering and afflictions. The sources of these are ignorance and afflictions. They possess “flawless wisdom to eliminate the suffering of samsara.” They know all of this. They know and already have the flawless wisdom to eliminate the suffering of samsara. They already know this. Thus it says, “We abide in our final incarnation. Their present bodies still exist; they have not yet ceased to be.” This is called “abiding.”
So we abide in the final body: Their bodies still exist; they have not yet ceased to be, so it says they “abide”.
Kasyapa and the Buddha’s other disciples still had their bodies. They had eliminated afflictions, but their bodies still existed. So, they were said to “abide. We abide in our final incarnation.” Their bodies were still in this world, but they had eliminated their afflictions
“In this lifetime they have ended [afflictions], so they will not experience future incarnations. They have already realized the fourth fruit, thus it says this is their ‘final incarnation’.”
When their bodies ceased to exist, when their bodies came to that very last day, they would “not experience future incarnations. I will not return to this world. I have no need to transmigrate further in the Six Realms.” This was what Venerable Kasyapa said because he had already attained the fourth fruit, Arhatship. “This lifetime is my last. This is my final incarnation.”
Nirvana with remainder: They eliminated the delusions of views and thinking but their bodies still remained This is called “with remainder”.
As for “Nirvana with remainder,” it means they had “eliminated the delusions of views and thinking, but their bodies still remained.” Although their delusions of views and thinking were already eliminated, their bodies still remained. So, it is called “with remainder.” Their bodies still remained. They had bodies, so when it was cold, they felt cold, and when it was hot, they felt hot. They still had to eat food every day in order to keep on living. So, this is saying that they still had bodies, but they had eliminated their afflictions. This is called “Nirvana with remainder”
“The mind abiding in emptiness and stillness is called ‘Nirvana’.”
“The mind [is] abiding in emptiness and stillness.” In their minds, they thought everything was empty. So, they thought there was no need to seek further and went no further in their practice. They felt they had no need for the Bodhisattva Way taught by the Buddha.
With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations: These limited teachings on the Dharma of arising and ceasing were what the Buddha taught. Engaging in spiritual practice accordingly, we already attained the noble path; this is true and not false.
“Our minds ‘abide in emptiness and stillness,’ so we have already entered the state of Nirvana. Our minds are empty. All that remains of us is the body.” So, this was “Nirvana with remainder. With what the Buddha has taught us, we truly attained realizations. These limited teachings on the Dharma of arising and ceasing….” These limited teachings benefit only oneself. This is what they do. The Small Vehicle teachings were “what the Buddha taught us,” what He expounded. The Buddha taught this so we practiced accordingly. Sure enough, we attained [realizations], and after understanding the principles, our minds became free and at ease. We have truly attained the noble path. “This is true and not false.” This is true. Because of this, “With what they gained, they revealed what was lost”. In this way, they felt they had attained, so what was “lost” was truly revealed, which was the aspiration to seek the Great Dharma. So, “Though the fruit they attained was with remainder, the seed was still what the Buddha taught them.” What the Buddha taught, like the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, were realized one level after another. With what they experienced, “The cause and effect are both real.” The cause and effect, the principles taught to them by the Buddha and the effects they had gained from their efforts, these principles, were all real. “So they had truly attained realizations.” If we can truly attain realizations through these teachings, we can achieve peace and freedom in our minds. Thus, “They truly attained realizations.”
With what they gained, they revealed what was lost. Though the fruit they attained was with remainder, the seed was still what the Buddha taught them. The cause and effect are both real, so they truly attained realizations.
“We thought that our attainment had already repaid the Buddha’s grace.” They felt that they “had practiced so they attained. They obeyed all of the Buddha’s instructions.” This is what they had done. “Whatever the Buddha taught us, that is what we did.” So, “They faithfully put teachings into practice.” They had practiced obediently, and this made the Buddha joyful. This was repaying the Buddha’s grace, repaying Him for teaching and transforming them.
Of course, if the students are well-behaved, the teacher is happy. The Buddha was the same way. If His disciples earnestly practiced, this was the most joyful thing for the Buddha. The Buddha came for one great cause, which was none other than to teach sentient beings to realize and enter the true principles. So, when sentient beings, the disciples, realized and entered the true principles, the Buddha was of course joyful. They seriously engaged in spiritual practice in order to repay the Buddha’s grace “All of us thought that we had practiced accordingly to attain realizations and had transformed ourselves and others, thus we had already repaid His grace.”
All of us thought that we had practiced accordingly to attain realizations and had transformed ourselves and others, and thus we had already repaid His grace. Thus they had no wish to seek the Great Dharma. They did not accept the Buddha’s intention for them to turn from the Small toward the Great Vehicle.
So, “They had no wish to seek the Great Dharma” ․Thus they had no wish to seek the Great Dharma. They did not accept the Buddha’s intention for them to turn from the Small toward the Great Vehicle. They should have gone to transform others, but they stopped at only transforming themselves. They did not want to go and transform others, so they had no wish to seek further. They never accepted the Buddha’s intent for them to turn from the Small toward the Great Vehicle. They still did not really understand. The Buddha hoped His disciples would “turn from the Small toward the Great Vehicle. You understand the basic principles. Now you must transcend the basic principles and make great strides without delay; go among the people and form great aspirations.” This was what the Buddha had hoped for, but still they were unable to truly comprehend the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, “Subhuti and the others had thought if they could end fragmentary samsara,” they would have repaid the Buddha’s grace. They thought by eliminating fragmentary samsara and afflictions in the Three Realms, they would have repaid the Buddha’s grace. Thus, “They were only focused on self-awakening.”
Subhuti and others had thought if they could end fragmentary samsara, they would have repaid the grace of the Buddha. This is one who only liberates oneself.
This was not what the Buddha had in mind as He taught them. “I did not teach you to be selfish. Do not only seek your own awakening without seeking to benefit others.” When we accept the Dharma, we should then again bring out the principles of the Buddha-Dharma to go and teach them to others; only then will the Dharma-lineage be passed down. We should not assume that after this lifetime, all will be over and done with
They must learn His great compassion and wisdom to widely transform sentient beings. This is truly repaying the Buddha’s grace.
To learn the Buddha’s Way, we must do this. Since we have understood and thoroughly grasped the principles, after we are clear, we should put them into practice. By putting them into practice, we can become examples for others to follow and go among people to create blessings. Amongst them, we can absorb much wisdom, and this wisdom will wear away our afflictions. We completely eliminate them when among people, yet remain undefiled by others’ afflictions. This is the only way to truly eliminate samsara. Otherwise, we will continue to carry our karma into our next life.
We should form great aspirations, and after taking the Dharma to heart, we must, in this very lifetime, seize the time to practice according to the teachings, putting the Dharma into practice. Then, in the future, on our very last day, when we meet our end, we will bring the Dharma with us when we go. We should keep the Dharma and true principles in our aspirations and aspire to come again journeying on the Dharma, instead of bringing karma with us when we go. We must take the vehicle of the Dharma and our vows to come back [to the world]. Therefore, we must always be mindful.