Episode 898 – The Cloud of Wisdom Covers All Universally
>> What is right view? Not having bias toward emptiness or existence. With all-encompassing wisdom, the Buddha first teaches the provisional, then the true. Our minds and natures are inherently pure, and all phenomena come from the mind. Understanding that all appearances come from non-appearance is called right view.
>> “This is why, Kasyapa, I expound the Dharma according to ability and, with all kinds of causes and conditions, enable them to obtain right views.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 5 – The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs]
>> “Kasyapa, you should know; this is like a great cloud that arises in the world and covers all universally. This cloud of wisdom is filled with nourishment. Its lightning brings flashes of illumination, and the sound of thunder shakes all from afar. It brings delight to all.” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 5 – The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs]
>> Kasyapa, you should know; this is like a great cloud: This again praises the great cloud that brings rain which can nourish all things with no disparity. The great cloud is an analogy for the Buddha’s reward-body.
>> That arises in the world: This means that according to conditions, the Buddha manifested in this world. From absolute truth, the Dharma which responds to the world arises just like the birth of a cloud.
>> So, [It] covers all universally. His compassion covers all sentient beings in the Three Realms and Six Destinies. He transforms beings of every kind of capability. This is like a cloud covering all universally.
>> This cloud of wisdom is filled with nourishment: The cloud of wisdom in the Buddha’s body contains beneficial nourishment. With His reward-body He manifested the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. All His actions were guided by wisdom. Thus this is called the cloud of wisdom. It is able to nourish sentient beings, thus it says it is filled with nourishment.
>> Its lightning brings flashes of illumination: An analogy for the Buddha’s reward-body, which appears in the world in response to ordinary people’s karma of the body, He entered the mundane world by being conceived and born, bringing a great light that shone universally. His wisdom is like lightning, brilliant and quick, bringing flashes of illumination everywhere.
>> The sound of thunder shakes all from afar: This is the analogy for the karma of speech of the Buddha’s reward-body, replete with Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence. He expounds the Dharma like the lion’s roar, so that all kinds of beasts are afraid, and He scares all demons into submission. His Dharma-voice responds perfectly and like thunder shakes all from afar.
>> It brings delight to all: Delight is happiness. The Threefold Karma of the Buddha’s reward-body is free from faults. Like a ship of compassion in the sea of suffering, everything He taught brings sentient beings in the Five Destinies and Three Vehicles joy and benefits.
>> So, Just as lightning flashes, He can illuminate and move people. Just as thunder shakes us, He can scare evildoers into submission. Covering the light of the sun is an analogy for eliminating heretical teachings. This is praising the merits of the great cloud.
“What is right view? Not having bias toward emptiness or existence.
With all-encompassing wisdom, the Buddha first teaches the provisional, then the true.
Our minds and natures are inherently pure, and all phenomena come from the mind.
Understanding that all appearances come from non-appearance is called right view.”
Let us put our effort into understanding. What is right view? Not having a bias toward emptiness or existence. This is right view. It is walking the Middle Way. This is called having right views. As Buddhist practitioners, we cannot be attached to emptiness and, even more so, cannot be biased toward existence. We must know this. As Buddhist practitioners, we hope to walk the path of right views, the great, direct Bodhisattva-path, and continue to advance diligently. If we deviate toward emptiness, [we think of] everything as false and illusory and thus will no longer diligently advance. If we are biased toward existence and cling to material things as [actually existing], we will always be [focused on] me and mine. Our greed will be boundless and never-ending. This is why we sentient beings have afflictions, why we are deluded. We remain unable to eliminate [our afflictions]. So, as Buddhist practitioners, it is most important to understand right views and to have right thinking, right views, right mindfulness, follow right practices etc.
Our methods of spiritual practice are inseparable from the Four Noble Truths and the teachings of Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. With right understanding and views, naturally we will be able to break through heretical teachings and biased views such as of existence and emptiness. If we know the karmic law of cause and effect, then we will not be influenced by these types of incorrect teachings that cause us to be deluded.
I heard of a case [that illustrates] this. A family had a child who was only ten years old and had a brain tumor. They were introduced to Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital. Our doctors at the Dalin Hospital evaluated him and confirmed that to do surgery at that time would be fairly dangerous. But they told them, “The surgery has to be done. We are going to use a certain procedure so that we can operate as soon as possible. There shouldn’t be any problems.” When they heard surgery was going to be performed, the parents asked a medium to consult the spirits. The response they got was to go to a hospital that was close to the sea. Tzu Chi Dalin Hospital was not close to the sea, so they had to find a hospital that was.
They found a hospital that was close to the sea. After the surgery was performed, some time passed and the child was discharged. However, the child’s condition did not get better. After some time passed it got even more serious, and [the condition] recurred. He returned to our hospital in this condition. Saving life is most important, because life is priceless. Thus everyone on the medical staff gathered together [to discuss it]. This surgery would be more difficult than before. So, the opinions of many were considered. After a long surgery, the Intensive Care Unit team cared for him until he was finally able to leave the ICU and stay in a regular ward. Thanks to everyone’s effort and care, we were able to see this child gradually recover. He actually recovered quite well. This child finally recovered to the highest possible degree of health.
So, if surgery had been performed immediately, his chances of recovery would have been higher, but they had delayed, and another surgery was needed that was difficult and complicated. Just think, isn’t this having incorrect beliefs?
As Buddhist practitioners, we must break away from deviant practices and deviant views on existence, emptiness, etc. This is having right views. We must eliminate all our incorrect perspectives. This is having right views, not being biased toward emptiness nor existence. On the right path in between, on the correct road, we continue moving forward. This is truly the great, direct Bodhisattva-path that allows us to attain all-encompassing wisdom. All-encompassing wisdom is the Buddha’s wisdom. The Buddha uses His wisdom to guide us, but sentient beings have dull capabilities. So, because we have limited capabilities, the Buddha first guided us with provisional means. The Buddha must use countless skillful means in order to teach and guide us.
We should understand that. “Our minds are inherently pure, and all phenomena come from the mind.” People’s minds all intrinsically have the same nature of True Suchness. We should understand that everything is created by the mind. In our spiritual cultivation, we must practice until right understanding, right views and right mindfulness are always present in our minds. If our minds go astray, we will stray onto a deviant path. So, all phenomena come from the mind.
“Understanding that all appearances come from non-appearance is called right view.” All these principles, as we continually say, have no form or substance. But all the things that we see have underlying principles contained within them. So, we say to “understand that all appearances come from non-appearance.” Don’t all these things exist because of the coming together of [causes and conditions]? No matter what kind of flower or grass it is, the seed has its own principles. It needs the causes and conditions of the four elements to come together to be able to grow in this space. When these factors are not present, things will not appear. So, “Understand that all appearances come from non-appearance.” If we can understand this, we will not be deluded about appearances and will be able to see everything. If we understand everything we see with our eyes, we will not be deluded by it.
So, the previous sutra passage says, “This is why, Kasyapa, I expound the Dharma according to ability and, with all kinds of causes and conditions, enable them to obtain right views.”
With His wisdom, that all-encompassing wisdom, the Buddha adapts to sentient beings’ capabilities. “I expound the Dharma according to ability.” Does this person have the resolve and ability to be willing to accept this responsibility? So, “With all kinds of causes and conditions, [He] enables them to obtain right views.” This allows those people to all open up their perspective and see clearly. Then they willingly form great aspirations and make great vows. With this kind of power, they will undertake the aspiration to save and transform sentient beings. This is the mindfulness of the Buddha.
The next sutra passage states, “Kasyapa, you should know; this is like a great cloud that arises in the world and covers all universally. This cloud of wisdom is filled with nourishment. Its lightning brings flashes of illumination, and the sound of thunder shakes all from afar. It brings delight to all.”
This verse is praising “the great cloud that brings the rain.” When great clouds gather together, we know that rain will fall and cover the entire earth. This “can nourish all things”
Kasyapa, you should know; this is like a great cloud: This again praises the great cloud that brings rain which can nourish all things with no disparity. The great cloud is an analogy for the Buddha’s reward-body.
In this way, clouds gather and rain falls. Then on this dry land, all things receive nourishment from the rain “with no disparity,” whether they are big trees or little trees, whether rivers, creeks, streams or ponds. These are all different bodies of water. So, this great cloud that brings rain can nourish all things equally with no disparity.
The great cloud is an analogy for the Buddha’s reward-body. As long as the Buddha’s reward-body comes to this world, He manifests according to conditions
That arises in the world: This means that according to conditions, the Buddha manifested in this world. From absolute truth, the Dharma which responds to the world arises just like the birth of a cloud.
This is an analogy for how the Buddha’s causes and conditions have matured and [He has] come to our world. Starting at Deer Park, He began to carry out the work of promoting the Dharma and benefiting all life. So, “From absolute truth, the Dharma which responds to the world arises.” This is the principle. After attaining Buddhahood in the human realm, He travelled everywhere to expound the Dharma, the path of enlightenment. This is “just like the birth of a cloud.” When clouds begin to gather, we can see it. This is like how the Buddha’s reward-body comes to the human realm and, in accordance with sentient beings’ needs, nurtures them with Dharma-rain, expounding the Dharma for sentient beings
So, “[It] covers all universally. His compassion covers all sentient beings in the Three Realms and Six Destinies. He transforms beings of every kind of capability.” This is like a cloud covering all universally.
If we see clouds in the sky, the coming of clouds indicates that the rain will be widespread. This represents the compassion of the. Buddha’s reward-body coming to the human realm. His compassion is universal. It extends not just to the human realm, but to everything we can see and to what we cannot see in the Three Realms.
The Three Realms are [due to] the desires of sentient beings’ minds. There is the “desire realm” as well as all that we can see and all that our heart desires in the “form realm.” There is even [a realm] beyond the forms we see, where our minds still fluctuate and are unsettled with ignorance and afflictions. This is called the “formless realm.” We have transcended the things that have form, but our minds still waver and think of things we want, but cannot attain. These things are distant from us, but our minds cannot let go and keep fluctuating. Or if a particular person is unhappy with us, they slander and harm us, causing us to suffer for a long time. Though this person has left, in our minds, the hate still remains. In this way, even if no trace of [the thing] is left, in our minds, we still have layers of afflictions. This is all part of the Three Realms. We ordinary sentient beings are still covered by these conditioned phenomena that cause us to act.
The Buddha is like a cloud that brings rain, sending the Dharma-rain to eliminate the desires and forms in our minds, washing away the dust-like delusions and ignorance. This is called “covering all universally. He transforms beings of every kind of capability.” With the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom, He uses right understanding and views to guide us down a path of proper spiritual practice. “This is like a cloud covering all universally,” helping our minds receive the Dharma-rain and be nurtured [by the Dharma]. This is the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha.
This cloud of wisdom is filled with nourishment: The cloud of wisdom in the Buddha’s body contains beneficial nourishment. With His reward-body He manifested the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. All His actions were guided by wisdom. Thus this is called the cloud of wisdom. It is able to nourish sentient beings, thus it says it is filled with nourishment.
“The cloud of wisdom in the Buddha’s body contains beneficial nourishment” This is the Buddha’s wisdom, what is in His Dharma-body. For countless kalpas, He had been accumulating [wisdom], returning life after life to transform and benefit sentient beings. Thus, when the causes and conditions matured, He manifested His reward-body and the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. As causes and conditions matured, His reward-body came to the human realm and. He was born in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, going through the. Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. “All His actions were guided by wisdom.” Throughout the process, His actions were guided by wisdom. “Thus, this is called the cloud of wisdom.”
“It is able to nourish sentient beings, thus it says it is filled with nourishment.” It contains so much Dharma! All sentient beings and all beings on earth, especially humans, with our inner worlds, can accept the Buddha’s teachings and the ground of our minds can be moistened.
There is another analogy, “Its lightning brings flashes of illumination”
Its lightning brings flashes of illumination: An analogy for the Buddha’s reward-body, which appears in the world in response to ordinary people’s karma of the body, He entered the mundane world by being conceived and born, bringing a great light that shone universally. His wisdom is like lightning, brilliant and quick, bringing flashes of illumination everywhere.
The analogy of lightning refers to the Buddha’s reward-body, which responds to the humans’ karma of the body. He still had to be conceived; He was born just like ordinary beings. He “brings a great light that shone universally.” Being born in the human realm, He was like a light shining in the boundless dark night of the world. The darkness of the human realm was illuminated. So, “His wisdom is like lightning, brilliant and quick, bringing flashes of illumination everywhere.” The Buddha-Dharma is like a lamp [shining]. As long as we take the Dharma to heart, our minds will be filled with light. The Buddha’s birth is like the dawning of a day,
The sound of thunder shakes all from afar: This is the analogy for the karma of speech of the Buddha’s reward-body, replete with Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence. He expounds the Dharma like the lion’s roar, so that all kinds of beasts are afraid, and He scares all demons into submission. His Dharma-voice responds perfectly and like thunder shakes all from afar.
“and the sound of thunder shakes all from afar”. When the thunder sounds, it can be heard from very distant places. “This is the analogy of the karma of speech of the Buddha’s reward-body, replete with the Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence.” The voice from the Buddha’s mouth and the Dharma He expounds is like thunder; nothing can obstruct Him. The Buddha’s speech has the. Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence, and He expounds the Dharma like the lion’s roar, His voice is loud in expounding the Dharma, allowing everyone to thoroughly hear. When they can hear it, they take it to heart and can accept it. When the lion roars, “all kinds of beasts are afraid.” This is “scaring all demons into submission.” Right Dharma breaks through deviant teachings. The Buddha’s Dharma-voice can harmoniously bring together sentient beings of all capabilities. “It is like thunder that shakes all from afar.”
“It brings delight to all”. Everyone heard His voice and was very happy.
It brings delight to all: Delight is happiness. The Threefold Karma of the Buddha’s reward-body is free from faults. Like a ship of compassion in the sea of suffering, everything He taught brings sentient beings in the Five Destinies and Three Vehicles joy and benefits.
Thus, “The Threefold Karma of the Buddha’s reward-body is free from faults.” As the guiding teacher of sentient beings of the Three Realms, His physical conduct was pure. This kind of bodily appearance allows everyone to be clear on what it is to have pure karma of the body and pure karma of speech. Of course His karma of the mind was also pure and free of faults
[His teachings are] “like a ship of compassion in the sea of suffering.” Sentient beings who are adrift in the sea of suffering can get help from the ship of compassion and be saved “[He brings joy to] the Five Destinies and. Three Vehicles.” They can have happy lives and attain benefit. This is like being lost in a great sea; when we see a ship, we know that we can be saved
So, Just as lightning flashes, He can illuminate and move people. Just as thunder shakes us, He can scare evildoers into submission. Covering the light of the sun is an analogy for eliminating heretical teachings. This is praising the merits of the great cloud,
which is when the Buddha’s reward-body comes to the human realm, replete with many gathered virtues.
As Buddhist practitioners, we must understand right views right views are not biased toward emptiness, nor are they biased toward existence. When our thoughts are right, all things are right. I hope that we can all work hard to understand that the importance of clouds and rain for life is like that of the Right Dharma for our minds. It is so urgently needed. We must experience and understand this. Therefore, we must always be mindful.