Episode 1205 -Illuminating with the Torch of Wisdom
>> The torch of wisdom illuminates and expels the darkness of all delusions. All sentient beings create the Threefold Karma and wander in the darkness of ignorance. Bodhisattvas of great compassion practice diligently and uphold wisdom. The World-Honored One lights the lamp of wisdom, so He is called. Radiant Lamp of Wisdom.
>> Why is this? If these good men and good women can take even one sentence of the Lotus Sutra, accepting and upholding, reading and reciting, expounding and transcribing it…
>> They make all kinds of offerings to the sutra, including flowers, fragrance, strings of jewels, scented powders, fragrant oils, incense, silken canopies, hanging banners, clothes, music, and putting their palms together in reverence.
>> They make all kinds of offerings: 1. Flowers and fragrance. These come from various plants. They are called “flowers filled with fragrance” 2. Strings of jewels: These are precious jewels strung together as magnificent adornments.
>> They make all kinds of offerings: 3. Scented powders: Sandalwood is ground into fine powders 4. Fragrant oils: This means pure, fragrant perfumes.
>> They make all kinds of offerings: 5. Incense: Incense is shaped into sticks for burning 6. Silken canopies: Fine silken cloths are made into canopies to shield from dust and dirt.
>> They make all kinds of offerings: 7. Hanging banners: These wave back and forth to drive off birds and rats 8. Clothes: From front to back, inside and out, the sutra is bound in fine brocade.
>> They make all kinds of offerings: 9. Music: They dance and play music 10. Putting their palms together in reverence: They devote their lives and prostrate, expressing utmost sincerity and reverence.
>> These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world. People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.
>> These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world. People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata: These people will certainly attain Buddhahood in future lifetimes. So, now people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.
>> These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world: People like this should be esteemed and revered by all sentient beings in the world. Esteemed and revered by the world: The sevenfold assembly takes refuge in them.
>> People should make offerings to these people as if making offerings to the Tathagata: During eras with no Buddhas in the world, these people will promote the teachings on behalf of the Buddhas. So, people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Buddhas. Offerings to the Tathagata: They respectfully regard them as Buddhas.
“The torch of wisdom
illuminates and expels the darkness of all delusions.
All sentient beings create the Threefold Karma
and wander in the darkness of ignorance.
Bodhisattvas of great compassion
practice diligently and uphold wisdom.
The World-Honored One lights the lamp of wisdom,
so He is called. Radiant Lamp of Wisdom.”
“The torch of wisdom illuminates and expels the darkness of all delusions.” Every sentient being, every one of us, intrinsically has a clear and bright wisdom-life; it is bright and as clear as crystal. But where is our lamp of wisdom now? Has our wisdom-life grown [in radiance]? Within the house of our mind, is it still dark indoors? Or have we kindled some light? Even if it is a small candle, or a small lamp, have we actually lit it? Only we ourselves know.
The Buddha constantly shows us that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. We must also have self-respect; we must respect ourselves as the Buddha’s equal. We must have confidence in ourselves. We also have the bright torch of wisdom. Not only can we illuminate ourselves with it, we can also shine it upon all sentient beings. In this way, with just one lamp, everyone can kindle countless lights.
As the Buddha told us, “As long as you light a single candle, you help others light a candle one after another from your candle.” Then He asked everyone, “Does that diminish the light of your candle?” The disciples’ answer was, “No! This is the normal brightness of this candle.” Ten candles were lit from the first candle. One hundred, then tens of millions of candles, were lit from this one and then dispersed. The Buddha then asked, “Are the surroundings brighter? Yes! Much brighter.”
The light from one candle can brighten up a dark room; is this enough? It is not; we need many people’s candles. They have not lit their candles yet. Using the light of this candle, we can pass the light to theirs. Millions of candles can be lit up at the same time. In that way, this dark room will become so bright! This is what the Buddha did. Although the torch of wisdom in His mind is brightly lit up, He hopes that His torch of wisdom can bring out [the light of] even more people. So, we must be very mindful!
We saw, in the US [in 2016], there was a six-year-old child who was very worried about [people damaging] Earth. In the state of Washington, there was this child who was six years old. One day when he went to school, the teacher played a video for the children. This video was about the destruction of Earth’s environment. This child saw that many animals in the water, fish and so on were ingesting trash. The bodies of many fish were tangled with trash; [the fish] were also ingesting trash.
The teacher said to these children, “Look, Earth is being destroyed. There is trash everywhere. The beaches are covered with trash. After the waves come in, they bring the trash into the ocean. The ocean is filled with trash. So, the animals in the ocean take the trash as food. Some animals ingest it, and some swim into it and become entangled.” The teacher also played a video that showed that Earth is being destroyed and that trees of the forest are being cut down. Trees are cut down to build houses and to build roads through the mountains.
These many videos on the destruction of the environment were shown in their entirety to the children. This six-year-old child was named Henry. He started to cry and cry. Then his mother came to take him home. She saw him crying miserably. His mother held his hand and asked, “Why are you crying like this? What happened to you?” He was crying so much that he was unable to speak. His mother held his hand, and he was still crying when he got into the car. After getting home, he said to his mother, “I hope that I can grow up quickly. Because this planet is being destroyed, I really hope that I can grow up quickly so that I can protect Earth.” He said this as he cried, and he continued to cry after he got home. He was very emotional. He cried loudly and miserably. He kept saying, “I want to grow up quickly. I want to protect Earth. This planet is being destroyed by bad people.”
As this child continued to cry, his mother tried to console him, but it was of no use. Seeing that the child continued to cry miserably, she recorded him with her phone and uploaded the video to the internet. This child, as he cried, continued to say that, “People on Earth are bad people. They cut down trees to build roads. The trash they throw away [hurts the] animals in the water.” He continued to cry and repeat these words. How many people saw this video clip? 17 million people. Over the internet, they could instantly see the video of this child. This generated a huge response. Everyone praised this child for being very wise. This young child already knew to protect Earth; adults should truly feel ashamed of themselves.
The mother said to her child, “Since you love Earth so much, why don’t you draw a picture. Then you can send out this picture to let everyone know to not cut down trees and not [carelessly] throw away the trash?” The child replied to his mother, “Drawing pictures is useless!” He invited his mother, “Let’s go out on the streets!” In this way, he called on everyone. He called to everyone loudly; “Everyone, don’t cut down trees. Don’t destroy Earth. Don’t [carelessly] throw away trash.”
He said, “I am very angry at these people. These people are foolish.” The orangutan [we talked about] said the same. [In sign language,] she said “stupid” and “exceedingly foolish.” It was for the same reason. [The child] continued to yell, scolding people for being so cruel as to destroy the entire planet in this way. He could not wait to grow up right away so he could protect Earth.
He said, “Humankind is truly very terrible! I can only say that they are foolish.” Adults were being scolded like this by a child. See, children are so adorable! Their minds have not been tainted; they are very pure. This is the intrinsic nature of the Tathagata. Everyone has a pure intrinsic nature. Our nature of True Suchness has been [covered] by defilements and desires from our environment. Take this child for example. He has such a pure mind. What the teacher said and the images he saw deeply influenced him. Moreover, he immediately formed aspirations. He was inspired. He wanted to save the planet. He hoped to be able to grow up quickly.
The things he yelled were about how terrible humankind was, how they are all terrible people, very foolish. However, the adults were impressed by his scolding. Later, he put up posters everywhere, promoting recycling. After these posters about environmental protection were distributed, he said, “Simply putting up posters is useless.” This was what the child said. He still wanted his mother to go out on the streets with him to urge everyone to not [carelessly] throw away trash. Although he put up posters, he still said that they needed to take action. He could not just draw and put up posters; he had to go out among people. He hoped his mother would go with him to call on people [to act].
Seeing this, I thought, “Are we all willing to do this? Do we have this courage?” We now know that this planet is not in good shape. There are many crises. Humans live amidst these changes in the climate. This is not just a crisis for humans and animals; even plants, trees, flowers, grass and so on have also changed. I have heard people say that it is not until the beginning of autumn every year that the maple leaves turn red. Now, [in June 2016], they are already starting to turn red. This is because of climate change. The land and the entire climate, including trees, grass, flowers and so on, have become abnormal. They are not normal.
I also heard Mudan telling me, “I am not sure what is going on, but in some of the fields outside the abode, all the corn husks are empty; nothing is inside. What is happening to the climate? The entire field is like this.” Think about it; in Hualien, our experience is that the rain falls when it is supposed to, and the sun comes out when it is supposed to. Over this recent period of time it seems there is suddenly heavy rain, and then suddenly a blazing sun. This is all that we experience. But the grains and plants on the land are also changing. Think about it; this is a crisis for the planet! Not only are humans and animals, but plants, trees and so on and grains are likewise affected. The climate is already imbalanced.
There is a saying, “If people do not follow the laws of nature, nature will not follow the rules of seasons.” This is what the people from long ago said. Now we can experience it; we can see it. Adults see this and know it is happening. We ask them to change their living habits, but can they do it? It is difficult! Children this young are very sensitive. They immediately accept that this is happening. After that, not only do they express their strong emotions, they also want to protect [the planet]. Look, Henry is six years old. At such a young age, this little child is so eager to protect the animals!
We often see this with children in Malaysia. After they learn about this, they are determined to eat a vegetarian diet. Look at them! For several years, they have been determined to be vegetarian. They learned this principle in kindergarten, and now they are in elementary school. Their resolve is firm. What about us adults? Are we foolish? Henry was very angry and scolded us severely. He said many unpleasant things in this context. This child was angry about this. Therefore, we adults should earnestly reflect upon ourselves.
“The torch of wisdom illuminates.” As Buddhist practitioners, have we ourselves lit up our darkened rooms? In our daily living, are we still filled with ignorance and delusions of darkness? I have continued to tell everyone that we have these principles in our lives. So, we can bring our way of life in line with them. In our daily living, when the Dharma comes together with our life, in the future, our minds will be able to become one with the universe. That is becoming “the Great Enlightened One,” which is attaining Buddhahood.
Presently, in our lives, we must be mindful of the principles that we heard. Have today’s principles been applied to our daily living? Children are worried about issues of trash, but have we taken any action? Do we comprehend and actualize [the principles]?
In Taiwan alone, [there are] 6 million hot water dispensers. Simply by keeping them plugged in, we use up so much electricity. Researchers have calculated this, and we have seen the numbers. We often say, “Turn off the lights as you leave.” This is so important! This is [applying] principles. We can do it with our actions. We can do it in our lives. When it comes to our lives, our principles and our actions our principles and our actions, are our lives, actions and the principles aligned with each other?
If so, then the torch of wisdom in our minds has been lit. Our ignorance and darkness of delusions will naturally open up, and [our minds] will naturally be illuminated. With darkness in our minds, we do not know what we are doing. We are truly foolish; we do not know at all what we are doing. Whether we are right or wrong, we do not know. So, we must put effort into being mindful. The Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from the workings of the world; it is inseparable from the actions in our lives. We must truly be mindful. “Illuminating and expelling the darkness of all delusion” is not difficult. This is all we need to do in our lives.
So, “All sentient beings create the Threefold Karma and wander in the darkness of ignorance.” Everything happens because of us sentient beings. Why is it that Earth’s climate and our environment are being destroyed? It is because sentient beings have created so much Threefold Karma. Does everyone know what the Threefold Karma are? Body, speech and mind are the Threefold Karma. The actions of our body, our craving for taste which we cannot control, all arise from our minds. So, the Threefold Karma causes changes in the environment. When the planet is damaged, living things, including humans, will all face disasters. Yet we still do not awaken. No wonder a six-year-old child would scold us, “Humans are foolish.” This shows how we humans are truly ignorant.
When we learn the Dharma, listen to teachings, we should form Bodhisattva-aspirations. So, “Bodhisattvas [have] great compassion.” We must form Great Vehicle aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path. We must arouse our compassion for all sentient beings in the world. Earth has already suffered such great damage, yet human beings are still so foolish. If we do not hurry and bring purity to people’s hearts, if we do not hurry and go among people to give of ourselves, think about it, what will the world be like in the future? Now, the land is already in serious trouble, and the climate is already abnormal. “Bodhisattvas of great compassion” must “practice diligently and uphold wisdom.” We must go among people; we must practice diligently and uphold wisdom.
So, “The Buddha lights the lamp of wisdom.” We must light the lamp of wisdom. This lamp of ours must be lit. Because of this lamp, more people will be able to be inspired to quickly light their unlit lamps. It is already dark in the Three Realms. As more people light the lamps in their minds, naturally the Three Realms will be illuminated. The fires in the burning house of the Three Realms will be extinguished. This is [why] we must earnestly walk the Bodhisattva-path and light the lamp of wisdom. Because of this, we must be very grateful. The Buddha came to the world to save sentient beings, save our minds. He came to the world for one great cause. Because the World-Honored One had this wisdom to open up sentient beings’ foolishness, the World-Honored One is called. Radiant Lamp of Wisdom. We must have faith in the Buddha’s wisdom. We must have faith that. With the Buddha’s wisdom, we must kindle one light after another, using this lamp to light up other lamps. Even if the candles are not big, as long as there are many people who light them, naturally [all things] will be illuminated.
The previous sutra passage states,
“Why is this? If these good men and good women can take even one sentence of the Lotus Sutra, accepting and upholding, reading and reciting, expounding and transcribing it….”
The Buddha constantly encourages us [to do this] in the previous sutra passage. He hopes that everyone accepts and upholds [the sutra] so that people everywhere, even if they only hear one sentence or one verse, can give rise to a joyful mind. Then, they will be willing to read and recite it, be willing to transcribe it, be willing to expound it and so on. These are all people who will attain Buddhahood in the future. This explains that earlier, they were able to receive the sutra. With every line and verse of the Lotus Sutra, they gave rise to joy in their minds. They began to be willing to accept, uphold, transcribe it and so on to widely spread the principles of this sutra. They are willing to inspire everyone to give of themselves and make offerings. This was the previous sutra passage.
I hope that every one of us, when we take the Dharma to heart, will naturally open up our minds. We must take the Dharma to heart. This way, the principles will be in our lives, and our lives will be aligned with the principles. Then naturally, we will change. We will change our erroneous behavior; this is very important.
The next sutra passage continues with,
“They make all kinds of offerings to the sutra, including flowers, fragrance, strings of jewels, scented powders, fragrant oils, incense, silken canopies, hanging banners, clothes, music, and putting their palms together in reverence.”
We must make offerings. We make offerings to the Buddha and to the Dharma. In any place where the Lotus Sutra is, we must [do this] with great reverence. Making these offerings demonstrate reverence. At the time when the Buddha was in the world, or even after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, wherever the sutras are, it is as if a Buddha is there. Therefore, we must express our reverence. So, we make all kinds of offerings. There are many types of flowers. “Flowers [and] fragrance” refers to the fragrance of flowers. It is very hot in India, and the sanitation there might not have been not very good. With the hot weather and all the people, there would have been an unpleasant odor. So, they made sure to find a way for there to be a fragrant scent in the place people gathered to learn the Buddha-Dharma. They used flowers and fragrance. This is the fragrance of flowers and plants. They used the fragrance of grass, fragrance of flowers and the fragrance of plants to thoroughly decorate the environment. This eliminated the bad odor.
They make all kinds of offerings: 1. Flowers and fragrance. These come from various plants. They are called “flowers filled with fragrance” 2. Strings of jewels: These are precious jewels strung together as magnificent adornments.
The second type is “strings of jewels.” Strings of jewels are valuable things in this world. Jewels are strung together into strands to adorn this spiritual training ground. When each string is hung up, the decorations are magnificent. They used flowers, plants and valuable things to decorate this place to express their [sincerity].
The third kind is “scented powders. Sandalwood is ground into fine powders.” Scented powders are made from fragrant woods. They are ground into fine powders and can be applied to the body. In India, people wore many layers of clothing. This was how things were. So, the Buddha said, “Contemplate the body as impure.” When human bodies sweat, every person will give off body odor. If everyone does not earnestly clean their body, everyone will have body odor. It was necessary to apply scented things so that when people approached the Buddha, they would not give off a bad odor.
They make all kinds of offerings: 3. Scented powders: Sandalwood is ground into fine powders 4. Fragrant oils: This means pure, fragrant perfumes.
It is the same with “fragrant oils. Scented powders” are ground into dust, ground into fine powders. “Fragrant oils” are like pastes and are fragrant. They can be rubbed. They can also be diluted with water to make perfume. They can be applied to the body or sprayed in the surroundings. This shows respect and is an offering to the Buddha.
The fifth kind is “incense.” Fragrant powders are formed into sticks and lit up. When incense is burnt, there is a fragrance. This also happens when “fragrant wood” is burnt.
The sixth kind is “silken canopies,” which are decorations. These designs of cloth are silken canopies or other kinds of coverings.
They make all kinds of offerings: 5. Incense: Incense is shaped into sticks for burning 6. Silken canopies: Fine silken cloths are made into canopies to shield from dust and dirt.
The seventh is “hanging banners.” We can see hanging banners when we visit temples. Sometimes, at those places, there will be flies and mosquitoes, or various little animals. Sometimes they will approach us. If there are silken canopies and hanging banners, when the wind blows they will swing, as if they were chasing away these insects. Then, whether people are listening or speaking they can be very focused.
They make all kinds of offerings: 7. Hanging banners: These wave back and forth to drive off birds and rats 8. Clothes: From front to back, inside and out, the sutra is bound in fine brocade.
The eighth kind is “clothes.” Because we all [want to] express gratitude, with cloth, in addition to silken canopies and hanging banners, we can also make clothes as an offering.
The ninth kind is “music,” with singing and dancing. The custom back then was to have singing and dancing. This is “music.” With sound and movement, they made offerings with music, singing and dancing.
Or, they put their palms together in reverence. Even simply putting palms together shows the respect in our minds. This kind of reverent prostration and devotion are all expressions of utmost sincerity and respect.
They make all kinds of offerings: 9. Music: They dance and play music 10. Putting their palms together in reverence: They devote their lives and prostrate, expressing utmost sincerity and reverence.
So, there are many types of offerings. There are material offerings, which adorn the environment to make it magnificent or help the atmosphere smell fragrant. We give these to the Buddha and the Dharma to show our reverence and respect. So, this is also considered making offerings. When people put their palms together or make prostrations, this is also making offerings. This is how a heart of respect is expressed in our appearance. This shows respect to the Buddha and the Dharma.
Next, let us look at this.
“These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world. People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.”
These people know to accept, uphold, transcribe, expound the sutras and so on. When these people accept and uphold sutras, it is as if the Buddha is transmitting the Dharma in the world. These kinds of people “should be esteemed and revered by all in the world.” Previously, we discussed Dharma masters. People who uphold these teachings can be called “Dharma masters.” The Buddha has already entered Parinirvana, and the Dharma needs to be passed on by these kind of people. So, these people should be “esteemed and revered by all in the world.” Therefore, they are worthy of offerings.
“People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.” They should pay respect to them as if they were paying respect to the Buddha. Wherever the Dharma is, the Buddha is there in that place. Moreover, the Dharma needs people [because] people can spread the Dharma. “People spread the Way; the Way cannot spread itself.” When we encounter people who can spread the Dharma, we must respect them the way students respect their teacher. This is truly respecting the Path. It is the same when listening to the Dharma. Those who can uphold the Dharma, not only uphold it, they can also expound and transmit it. People like this are worthy of respect.
These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world. People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata: These people will certainly attain Buddhahood in future lifetimes. So, now people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.
“These people will certainly attain Buddhahood in future lifetimes.” We must have faith that these kinds of people will certainly attain Buddhahood in the future. Recently, we have been saying that if you have this kind of mindset, you have the seed of spiritual practice. In the future, if you continue to practice and uphold the sutras for a long time, you can also attain Buddhahood. This is not to mention people who are currently upholding the sutras, currently transcribing, reading, reciting, expounding them and so on as well as putting them into practice. So, the people who are doing this “will certainly attain Buddhahood in future lifetimes.” The future lifetimes referred to here will come after many, many lifetimes; it will still be a very long time. “So, now people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.”
“These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world.” People like these should be esteemed and revered by all sentient beings in the world. So, they “should be esteemed and revered by the world. Esteemed and revered by the world” means. “The sevenfold assembly takes refuge in them.
“These people should be esteemed and revered by all in the world: People like this should be esteemed and revered by all sentient beings in the world. Esteemed and revered by the world: The sevenfold assembly takes refuge in them.“
The sevenfold assembly can take refuge in people like this. “People should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Tathagata.” The “sevenfold assembly” are the Buddha’s five kinds of monastic disciples and the two kinds of lay disciples. All of us already know that we should all diligently make offerings to the Dharma. We should respect those who can accept the Dharma.
So, “People should make offerings to these people as if making offerings to the Tathagata.”
People should make offerings to these people as if making offerings to the Tathagata: During eras with no Buddhas in the world, these people will promote the teachings on behalf of the Buddhas. So, people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Buddhas. Offerings to the Tathagata: They respectfully regard them as Buddhas.
In an era with no Buddhas, after a Buddha entered Parinirvana, someone needs to fill in and find a way to promote the Great Vehicle sutras. So, they need to be able to uphold, transcribe, recite and expound the sutras, transmit the Dharma and so on. This is “promoting the teachings on behalf of the Buddhas.” These people expound the teachings on behalf of the Buddha. “So, people should make offerings to them as if making offerings to the Buddhas,” It is as if the Buddha is present. They respect the Buddha as if the Buddha is present, and they respect the Dharma as if the Buddha is present. This shows respect to the Dharma and people who can put it into practice, by making offerings to them. So, “making offerings to the Tathagata” means “respectfully [regarding] them as Buddhas.”
Everyone, learning the Buddha’s Way is all about the mind. Learning the Buddha’s Way is learning the Buddha’s wisdom. What is the Buddha’s wisdom? Everyone intrinsically has the nature of True Suchness. The nature of True Suchness is as pure as crystal. We should all have a lamp of wisdom equal to the Buddha’s that can illuminate and expel ignorance and darkness of all delusions. So, we should be very mindful. With each bit of the Dharma we comprehend, we expel one bit of the darkness of delusion.
We often see that children are adorable. They are innocent and have pure minds. Seeing that the earth is being destroyed, they cannot bear it. They cry so miserably. They cry out of compassion and continuously admonish humans for being terrible people, admonish them for being foolish. Look, even an orangutan scolded us in the same way. We humans were basically the most intelligent of all beings. How could we not live up to other animals? An orangutan is an animal. Previously, we discussed the story about a goat and a horse. The horse was already blind, so the goat took care of him and guided him for 16 years. He continued to care for the horse in this way until this old horse passed away. Then, this goat returned to his herd and [enjoyed the freedom] of the world. Look, animals will do something like this. What about us humans? So, I hope that every one of us listens to the Dharma and takes it to heart. Humans are the most intelligent of all beings. We should not underestimate ourselves. At the same time, we must have an impartial mind and respect and cherish all beings, all things. This is up to each of us. Let us always be mindful.