Episode 896 – The Dharma-King Manifests in the World
>> In describing the Tathagata’s infinite virtues, we cannot finish in millions of kalpas. We should know the Buddha’s grace covers all, like clouds and rain that cover and nourish all.
>> “You and the others, Kasyapa, are profoundly extraordinary. You can understand the Tathagata’s skillful and suitable teachings and are able to believe and accept them. Why is this so? The skillful and suitable teachings of all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, are very difficult to understand.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 5 – The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs]
>> “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, then spoke these verses.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 5 – The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs]
>> “He said, The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world and, according to sentient beings’ desires, taught all kinds of Dharma.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 5 – The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs]
>> Wanting to restate and more clearly reveal the words, principles, matters and appearances in the previous long-form prose, He thus spoke these verses.
>> The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world. This is what it says in the sutra text. This is how The Buddha used unobstructed wisdom and skillful means to break through our attachments to self, others, myriad existence and inherent reality.
>> The Tathagata had already broken through attachments to the phenomena of all existence. Thus it says, “The Dharma-king who breaks through existence”.
>> The earlier prose [sutra] passage says, The Tathagata is the king of all Dharma. That which He teaches will never be false.
>> Restated in verse it says: The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world and, according to sentient beings’ desires, taught all kinds of Dharma.
>> According to sentient beings’ desires, [He] taught all kinds of Dharma: In these verses, the Buddha used provisional wisdom to give provisional teachings and, according to our desires and delights, skillfully taught the Three Vehicles. This is what is stated in the prose: The Buddha taught all Dharma with His wisdom and skillful means. It was all according to sentient beings’ desires. Thus He taught all kinds of Dharma.
>> Existence: The name is the opposite of non-existence. At first, things combine to come into existence; then their appearances continue to exist. Everything existing in the Dharma-realms comes into being when other things converge. This results in the appearances of myriad existence.
>> Thus, all of this myriad existence truly began with the formation of one karmic act. Everyone creating the same karma will face the same effect in response. This is also collective karma and collective effects. Thus it is called karmic existence.
>> Due to karma, we attract suffering; this is also known as existence of suffering. This, along with karmic existence, make up the two kinds of existence. The desire, form and formless realms together are called the Three Existences.
>> Birth, death,intermediate existence and present existence are known as the Four Existences. The Five Destinies are called the Five Existences.
>> It is as if a great illusionist, using his great powers of illusion, is creating illusory appearances. This results in all existence. Dharma-kings like the Buddha fear sentient beings’ attachment to existence and thus first breaks through existence.
>> So, The Buddha uses true wisdom to realize the. Dharma-nature of True Suchness equal in all. All conditioned phenomena that others cannot transcend, He has transcended. Thus, He is called the Dharma-king that breaks through existence.
“In describing the Tathagata’s infinite virtues, we cannot finish in millions of kalpas.
We should know the Buddha’s grace covers all, like clouds and rain that cover and nourish all.”
When we describe the Buddha, the World-Honored One, the Tathagata, we say He comes to the world for sentient beings. Out of His great compassion and concern for sentient beings, He has repeatedly returned over a very long time, coming to countless places. How many lifetimes has it been? In what kinds of states? In what realms? In the human and heaven realms? Or in the Three Evil Realms? In the four forms of birth and the Five Realms, He makes use of His causes and conditions. Having karmic conditions with a certain realm, He goes there to save and transform sentient beings or to create causes and conditions that will enable Him to save and transform them. Basically, there must always be causes and conditions. So, if we want to very clearly describe the infinite merit and virtues of the Tathagata, truly, even if we take countless kalpas, we can never finish describing them. This is the Buddha’s virtue. We sentient beings have experienced this, so we must be grateful.
We should know that. “The Buddha’s grace covers all, like clouds and rain.” There is no place it does not reach; it is just like the clouds and rain in the sky. See, in places where causes and conditions are replete, when it rains, the entire space receives these drops of rain, the nourishment of the rainwater. But though the Buddha treats all equally, though He nurtures all with the Buddha-Dharma, He still cannot deliver sentient beings whom. He has no affinities with. So, the Buddha constantly observes capabilities and the timing, creating and responding to affinities. This is how He awaits opportunities to deliver and transform sentient beings. So, this takes a very long time. The Buddha’s compassion is truly infinite. The merits and virtues He has accumulated “could not be described in countless kalpas.” Thus, we must know the Buddha’s grace; His grace and virtue are truly very great.
The previous sutra passage says, “You and the others, Kasyapa, are profoundly extraordinary. You can understand the Tathagata’s skillful and suitable teachings and are able to believe and accept them. Why is this so? The skillful and suitable teachings of all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, are very difficult to understand.”
The Buddha praised. Venerable Kasyapa and the others, the four great disciples. Among His many disciples, these four, from the Introductory Chapter, the Chapter on Skillful Means and the Chapter on Parables, have already attained realizations; this was expressed in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. The Buddha was happy, and He praised them. These four knew that the Buddha taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities. Now they finally had faith and understanding.
Then the sutra continues, “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, then spoke these verses.”
This section of the long-form prose ends here. The Buddha, in His compassion, considered that among us sentient beings, many have still not yet attained realizations. Though those four disciples already understood, there were still many who did not understand. So, He restated His meaning.
He repeated it in verse. He said, “The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world and, according to sentient beings’ desires, taught all kinds of Dharma.”
These were the words, principles, matters and appearances expressed in the prior prose section. In the prose of the Chapter on Medicinal Plants, these were continually spoken of. It described how dense clouds covered the mountains, rivers and earth, forests of vegetation, medicinal plants and so on. All things on earth great and small are covered by dense clouds. The rain falls upon the land, helping things grow and thrive. This means the Buddha can evaluate sentient beings’ capabilities and, based on what they can and cannot accept, He gives [appropriate] teachings. This was in the long-form prose
Wanting to restate and more clearly reveal the words, principles, matters and appearances in the previous long-form prose, He thus spoke these verses.
So, this section contains principles. It contains words and contains principles; [these] “words and principles are true.” These words, principles, matters and appearances are truly profound. Aside from the four who truly realized them, there were many [disciples] who still did not. So, the Buddha, in His compassion, “restated and more clearly revealed.” He repeated His meaning in verse
“The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world.” This is what it says in the sutra text. This is how “The Buddha used unobstructed wisdom and skillful means to break through our attachments to self, others, myriad existence and inherent reality.”
Sentient beings experience many conflicts, so we are continually reproducing afflictions. Thus the Buddha had to use unobstructed wisdom and skillful means to accommodate sentient beings and help us break through our [attachments] to a sense of self and other.
If we understand the Buddha-Dharma, [we know] no matter how people treat us with ill intent or unkindness, if we can be accommodating, we can eliminate a measure of [bad] karma and eradicate a measure of ignorance. If we cannot be accommodating, these cycles of enmity and afflictive emotions will continue to be replicated. After accepting the Buddha-Dharma, we should understand that, whether we experience greed, cravings or desires, all are illusory. We must not form attachments. We must not continue cycles of grievances. By doing this, we can “break through our attachments to self, others and myriad existence.” As for “attachment to inherent reality,” all of us have attachment to this.
The Tathagata had already broken through attachments to the phenomena of all existence. Thus it says, “The Dharma-king who breaks through existence”.
Therefore, the Buddha had to first “break through attachments to the phenomena of all existence,” He had to break through attachments to phenomena, break free from unwholesome phenomena. The Buddha had already perfected this, so He is called “the Dharma-king who breaks through existence.” He breaks through all phenomena of afflictions and ignorance.
The earlier prose [sutra] passage says, The Tathagata is the king of all Dharma. That which He teaches will never be false.
The Buddha clearly understood all phenomena and played effortlessly through the world. Seeing that sentient beings were still lost, seeing them still immersed [in confusion], the Buddha was saddened. So, He restated the prose in verse The earlier prose [sutra] passage says, “The Tathagata is the king of all Dharma. That which He teaches will never be false.” This helps us to understand that the Dharma the Buddha has taught is absolutely not false.
Now, it says the Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world. This verse connects with what the Buddha previously said, that “The Tathagata is the king of all Dharma.” The teachings the Buddha gave are never false; He hopes everyone will mindfully accept them. So, the Buddha adapted to sentient beings’ desires to give all kinds of teachings. Everyone must be very clear that
Restated in verse it says: The Dharma-king who breaks through existence manifested in the world and, according to sentient beings’ desires, taught all kinds of Dharma.
the reason the long-form prose is repeated is to further strengthen everyone’s faith and enable those who did not yet have faith to quickly give rise to faith.
According to sentient beings’ desires, [He] taught all kinds of Dharma: In these verses, the Buddha used provisional wisdom to give provisional teachings and, according to our desires and delights, skillfully taught the Three Vehicles. This is what is stated in the prose: The Buddha taught all Dharma with His wisdom and skillful means. It was all according to sentient beings’ desires. Thus He taught all kinds of Dharma.
So, “According to sentient beings’ desires, He taught all kinds of Dharma.” This verse describes how. “The Buddha used provisional wisdom to give provisional teachings.” He used skillful means to accommodate sentient beings’ capabilities and, “According to our desires and delights, [He] skillfully taught the Three Vehicles” ․This is what was expressed in the long-form prose. So, “The Buddha teaches all Dharma with His wisdom and skillful means.” It was for the sole purpose of adapting to their desires that “He taught all kinds of Dharma.”
He taught according to sentient beings’ desires; what exactly did they want? The Buddha had to adapt to sentient beings’ capacities, to what they could accept. He taught according to their capabilities. Whether it was the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence or what He was now advancing, the teaching of the Six Paramitas, the principles of all things in the universe were one by one analyzed by the Buddha to help sentient beings understand how ignorance arises in people’s minds, how the sources of their ignorance were formed, how their ignorance was replicated, how the law of karma works and so on. The Buddha took all of these teachings and taught them using the wisdom of skillful means. All this was to adapt to sentient beings’ desires. So, “He taught all kinds of Dharma” to accommodate sentient beings’ capabilities.
Existence: The name is the opposite of non-existence. At first, things combine to come into existence; then their appearances continue to exist. Everything existing in the Dharma-realms comes into being when other things converge. This results in the appearances of myriad existence.
As for this word “existence,” it implies existence of many, of all afflictions. “The name is the opposite of non-existence” ․Existence: The name is the opposite of non-existence. At first, things combine to come into existence; then their appearances continue to exist. Everything existing in the Dharma-realms comes into being when other things converge. This results in the appearances of myriad existence. The existence of afflictions is the opposite of being free of afflictions. Defilement is the opposite of purity. Originally things were pure, but gradually defilements were created. In this process, these things did not originally exist, but with the convergence of causes and conditions, they now have existence [Then,] “Their appearances continue to exist.” Their appearances continue to exist like this. These appearances exist, so they endlessly continue on; this cycle of causes and conditions is unbroken. So, this is “existence.”
“Everything existing in the Dharma-realms comes into being when other things converge.” All these things have converged. With the existence of afflictions and ignorance, the Dharma must begin to arise. It was because of sentient beings’ ignorance that the Buddha attained enlightenment. In the same way, the enlightened Buddha likewise reveals that all things in the world come into existence from non-existence, from the creation of this cycle of karma, etc. These appearances continue without ceasing. This way, everything continues to exist in the Dharma-realms
Thus, all of this myriad existence truly began with the formation of one karmic act. Everyone creating the same karma will face the same effect in response. This is also collective karma and collective effects. Thus it is called karmic existence.
Everything we see originates with the principles of the convergence of all kinds of things. All of the myriad existence we create and all of our countless afflictions in fact come into being from the creation of one karmic act. This is the “one karmic act.” This karma comes from each individual. With many different individuals, this all comes together to form one karmic act. All are creating “the same karma.” This is sentient beings’ collective karma.
So, “Everyone creating the same karma will face the same effect in response.” When people create the same kind of karma, the result is that they face the same kind of retribution. So, “It is also called collective karma and collective effects.” This is called “karmic existence.”
Due to karma, we attract suffering; this is also known as existence of suffering. This, along with karmic existence, make up the two kinds of existence. The desire, form and formless realms together are called the Three Existences.
Thus, “Due to karma, we attract suffering; this is also known as existence of suffering” When the karma created by sentient beings accumulates and comes together, the fruits of karmic retributions mature. This is “collective karma and collective effects.” When karmic retributions manifest, we face all kinds of suffering at the same time. So, the suffering we attract due to our karma is called “the existence of suffering. Karmic existence” and “existence of suffering” are both the result of karma. These are the “two kinds of existence.”
“The desire, form and formless realms together are called the Three Existences.” All negative karma is created in the desire realm. When a thought of greed arises, we create countless and boundless evils, many negative causes and conditions, negative effects and retributions. This is in the desire realm. In the form realm, there are all kinds of things of every shape and color that tempt our minds. Our minds were originally pure, but then defiled thoughts came into existence, like greed for forms in our external conditions. Thus our imagination begins to run wild. This happens in the form realm. As for the formless realm, though we may be apart from those conditions, our minds are still filled with afflictions; these dust-like delusions are just like dust. This ignorance and these deluded thoughts are still in our minds, causing unbearable suffering. This is suffering from karma, the existence of suffering.
Birth, death,intermediate existence and present existence are known as the Four Existences. The Five Destinies are called the Five Existences.
In the Three Realms, there is the suffering of the Three Existences. There are also the Four Existences, “birth, death, intermediate existence” and “present existence.” There is suffering in birth, suffering in death, and everything in between is suffering. The period after death and before rebirth is the “state of intermediate existence.” The “state of intermediate existence” is also called “intermediate existence.”
There are also “the Five Destinies and the Five Existences.” The Five Destinies are called the Five Existences. Everyone knows the Five Destinies. The Five Destinies are the Five Realms, the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. “Existence” is accumulated in the Five Destinies, so there is more and more “existence.”
So, there are the Two Existences, the Three Existences, the Four Existences and the Five Existences. They are all filled with afflictions and ignorance. It is like a great illusion. This illusion is like one created by a magician “[He uses] his great powers of illusion, [to] create all illusory appearances”
It is as if a great illusionist, using his great powers of illusion, is creating illusory appearances. This results in all existence. Dharma-kings like the Buddha fear sentient beings’ attachment to existence and thus first breaks through existence.
These illusions did not originally exist [The magician] has taken one thing and switched it for another, causing us to be [lost] in the grand spectacle and deceiving our eyes. This results in “all existence.” When it comes to worldly phenomena, the Buddha and “Dharma-kings like the Buddha fear sentient beings’ attachment to existence.” What Dharma-kings like the Buddha worry most about are sentient beings’ attachments. They are attached to “existence,” so He has to break through that first. If He cannot break their attachments, He will be unable to help them accept the Dharma
So, The Buddha uses true wisdom to realize the. Dharma-nature of True Suchness equal in all. All conditioned phenomena that others cannot transcend, He has transcended. Thus, He is called the Dharma-king that breaks through existence.
The Buddha used His true wisdom to realize the Dharma-nature of True Suchness in all. “All conditioned phenomena that others cannot transcend, He has transcended.” There are many kinds of karma, the karma of Three Realms and karma of suffering, and He transcended the Five Destinies’ many kinds of “karmic existence.” They are difficult for regular people to transcend but the Buddha had already transcended them. Thus, He is called “the Dharma-king who breaks through existence.” This means He can break through all ignorance.
As we just said, there is “karmic existence,” the “existence of suffering,” the Three Existences and the Five Existences. These are all sources of us replicating our ignorance. The Buddha has broken through these one by one and attained Buddhahood, proving that humans can also become Buddhas. So, “the Dharma-king who breaks through existence” manifests in the world for the sake of sentient beings and spreads the Dharma to everyone. We must be grateful to the Buddha and accept the Buddha-Dharma. We must have this reverence as we earnestly consider this. In His compassion, after He finished expounding the long-form prose, to help those in the process of realization, He repeated [the concepts], reviewing them again. Thus, He taught again in verse. I hope everyone can always be mindful.