Episode 1617 – Recruiting People to Uphold the Dharma
>> “We praise others in order to help them succeed in doing good deeds. We must recruit people to uphold the sutra, walk the path and follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice. With the seed of the Bodhisattva-practice of the Six Paramitas, we will directly approach the fruit of sarvajna, reach the other shore, turn away from delusion and attain all-encompassing wisdom, the state of ultimate perfection of all Buddhas.”
>> In past kalpas, after seeing [past] Buddhas cultivate giving, upholding precepts, patience and so on, [Sakyamuni Buddha] then made vows. Lifetime after lifetime, Devadatta lived during the Buddha’s lifetime and harmed the Buddha’s life. This was to help [the Buddha] fulfill. His practice of giving, precepts and patience and upholding Samadhi and wisdom as part of the cultivation of the Bodhisattva-cause. [Devadatta] asked for His head, eyes, hands, feet, marrow, liver, kidneys, and the five organs. This helped Him perfect. His practice of giving, precepts and patience as part of the causal practice of Bodhisattvas.
>> First we must understand that, in order to seek the great Dharma and perfect the practice of the Six Paramitas, we must not hesitate to give up our lives. By being in perfect harmony with worldly matters, we demonstrate our understanding of the true principles. We must urge and encourage the Dharma-seekers of future generations.
>> “At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva spoke to the Buddha ‘World-Honored One, if good men and good women hear this Lotus Sutra and take joy in it, how many blessings will they attain?'” [Lotus Sutra, Chapter 17 – On Distinguishing Merits and Virtues]
>> “Good men and good women” is twofold in meaning: In terms of people, this refers to the fourfold assembly. Seen as a Dharma-analogy, it refers to Arhats and Bodhisattvas. Arhats are rigid and direct by nature. They can only seek to benefit themselves and are unable to transform others. Those who listen to the Dharma only for their own benefit are “good men.” The nature of Bodhisattvas is gentle and compassionate. They can transform themselves as well as others. They spread virtuous causes and conditions and help the seeds of Buddhahood continue to flourish. Thus they are represented as “good women.” They make the Four Offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha as good men and good women who uphold and learn [the Dharma] while living the lay life.
>> Maitreya Bodhisattva carries on the past to inspire the future. In the future, He will be born in this world to attain Buddhahood. He was referring to how, in the previous chapter, [the Buddha] said that those who will accept, uphold, read and recite [the sutras] while also practicing the Six Paramitas will have the aforementioned merits and virtues from upholding these practices.
>> At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva spoke to the Buddha: Since Maitreya Bodhisattva will come to the world in the future as a guiding teacher, he had to ask these questions then. Thus, he spoke to the Buddha.
>> After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, those able to hear this sutra would give rise to deep faith and understanding, faithfully accept it with joy and dance in celebration. They would naturally give rise to a joyful mindset, so why wouldn’t they gain merits and virtues? Thus, Maitreya asked how many blessings they would gain
“We praise others in order to help them succeed in doing good deeds.
We must recruit people to uphold the sutra, walk the path
and follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice.
With the seed of the Bodhisattva-practice of the Six Paramitas,
we will directly approach the fruit of sarvajna,
reach the other shore, turn away from delusion
and attain all-encompassing wisdom,
the state of ultimate perfection of all Buddhas.”
We must be mindful; we must always refine our ability to praise others. When we praise and rejoice for others, [this will encourage them] to do more good deeds. Because praising others helps them succeed in doing good deeds, when [we see] others doing a good deed, we must say to them sincerely, “That’s right! We must do the right thing! Not only have you done this [good deed], I will also rejoice in it with you. This encourages everyone to respond [in kind], and they will [also] do good deeds.” This is [how we can] “help others succeed in doing good deeds.”
At the same time, we can also recruit others to do good deeds, and we must also recruit them to “uphold the sutra and walk the path.” Simply doing good deeds is not enough; we must also listen to more teachings. Good deeds last only temporarily in this world. [Life in] this world is inherently impermanent; how much time do we have to do good deeds? At most, we only have the rest of this lifetime. When it comes to [sowing] the field of blessings with blessed seeds, are we able to do this lifetime after lifetime? We may diligently spread seeds of goodness, but are we able to seek the [true] principles? If we only create blessings unwittingly, lifetime after lifetime, even if we are able to create these blessings, we will not form an affinity with the Dharma.
If we only spend our days enjoying our blessings, discursive thoughts will inevitably arise. Once such afflictions arise in us, [we give rise to] a mix of good and evil. Even when we do good [deeds], our ignorance and afflictions will continuously bind us. These are ordinary people’s blessings. We need to cultivate blessings and wisdom at the same time. This is why [we often] talk about cultivating both blessings and wisdom. “Blessings come from the joy of serving others, and wisdom is the freedom that we gain from understanding.” This wisdom comes from understanding. This is why we must listen to more teachings to thoroughly understand worldly principles. When we understand the principles, all worldly hindrances are naturally removed. Thus, matters are in harmony with the principles.
“We must recruit people to uphold the sutra and walk the path.” Only if the principles can be upheld can they last long into the future. This means that only if each of us constantly passes them down like this, can the principles [continue to] sustain our wisdom-life. So, we “follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice.” Only when we have upheld this sutra do we know the value of its teachings. If we can accept and uphold the Dharma earnestly and diligently for a long time, then we will be able to return to our pure nature. This is why we must learn to “follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice.” Learning from the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, how did the Buddha attain Buddhahood? As Buddhist practitioners, isn’t our goal to attain Buddhahood? To learn from the Buddha’s [teachings] and attain Buddhahood, we must follow the Dharma, but how do we cultivate ourselves? How do we diligently advance? We must be sure to stay on the right path of the Four Noble Truths and the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. We must investigate the true principles which underlie the Four Noble Truths.
Life is full of suffering. Each and every day, in our daily living, we hear about and see [instances of suffering]. Ah, this world is full of tragic events which [cause] suffering. There are truly many lamentable events. [People] suffer! We cannot bear to see others suffer, and we feel their pain and suffering as our own. We feel sad to see them suffering. We must nurture this kind of [empathy], for this is the Buddha’s heart. The Buddha’s heart is a heart of great compassion. I often tell everyone we need to “take the Buddha’s heart as our own.” This is what we need to learn, and it [gives us] our direction.
The Buddha’s mind is pure and undefiled, for it has transformed [all sense of] “me, mine” and “self” into nothing. Mostly, we remain attached to our [sense of self], to “my” feelings, “my” preconceived ideas, “my” direction or whatever is “mine.” The “self” takes many [forms], but it means we are only concerned with ourselves and our own benefit. We have many attachments to this [sense of] self. Because we are like this, we can never break through our afflictions; [they are like] a dream-like net of ignorance. We have mentioned this previously as well, that life is like a dream, but it also [lures] us to enter its net.
When we dream, we become entangled in this net. Not only do we go about life as if in a dream, we also allow ourselves to become tangled in it, as if caught in this kind of tangible net. This formless dream [becomes] a tangible net; it makes our surroundings feel just like a net, like a net that is constricting us. What “I” love, what I am attached to, what I possess and so on, everything becomes about “me.” This is like a net. People nowadays speak about “the internet”; this is something that can entangle us.
Thus, life is inherently like a dream, and we become tied up in this net of ignorance. We may remain there forever, in this dream-like net of ignorance. So, only with the Buddha’s heart can we be freed from this dream-like net; only then can we purify our bodies and minds and [make them] open and spacious like the sky, return to our greater self and deeply understand the true principles of all things in the universe. Otherwise, although the principles are right in front us, this net still covers and binds us. This is why we must “follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice.”
Besides the Four Noble Truths, which we need to thoroughly understand, we must also learn the teaching of the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. Ignorance leads to volitional formation which leads to consciousness which leads to name and form. Name and form lead to the six entrances and so on until we are born into the world. Coming to this world was beyond our control, providing another chance for us to create karma and give rise to evil. So, we must not allow ourselves to come to the world again due to the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. This is why we must “follow the Dharma to engage in diligent practice.”
We [must] at least have a direction that leads us to do what we should, to do good [deeds] in accord with the Dharma and the true principles. Our direction must be accurate. If we can remember this, then it means that in our consciousness, our direction and our karmic seeds are pure. “We cannot bring anything but our karma to our next life.” This is the case for unenlightened beings. We are still unenlightened beings, and we still become tangled up in worldly things. We remain entangled in a net of afflictions. Without the Dharma, we have no way to be delivered. This is why we must follow the Dharma and diligently engage in spiritual practice.
We must practice the Four Noble Truths and [take] the Six Paramitas as our causal practice. If we practice the Six Paramitas, the Bodhisattva-practice, “we will directly approach the fruit of sarvajna. The fruit of sarvajna” is the ultimate stage of Buddhahood. If we begin as unenlightened beings and our destination is to attain Buddhahood, then we must apply the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas enable us to cross to the other shore. To go from an unenlightened state and cross over to the ultimate stage of Buddhahood is our objective.
In past kalpas, after seeing [past] Buddhas cultivate giving, upholding precepts, patience and so on, [Sakyamuni Buddha] then made vows. Lifetime after lifetime, Devadatta lived during the Buddha’s lifetime and harmed the Buddha’s life. This was to help [the Buddha] fulfill. His practice of giving, precepts and patience and upholding Samadhi and wisdom as part of the cultivation of the Bodhisattva-cause. [Devadatta] asked for His head, eyes, hands, feet, marrow, liver, kidneys, and the five organs. This helped Him perfect. His practice of giving, precepts and patience as part of the causal practice of Bodhisattvas.
So, when we “reach the other shore,” we “turn away from delusion and attain all-encompassing wisdom.” All-encompassing wisdom is the Buddha’s wisdom. With it, we are unimpeded in all Dharma, for having all-encompassing wisdom [means] having a complete understanding of the true principles of all things in the universe. This is “the state of ultimate perfection of all Buddhas.” This is not impossible, but it requires us to [have clear] intent and to be determined in our resolve. Beginning in the right place and never deviating even slightly, we move diligently forward, straight ahead while following the Dharma.
“In past kalpas, after seeing [past] Buddhas cultivate the practices of giving and the precepts….” Giving, precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom are the Six Paramitas, the six methods we must steadfastly uphold. These are our tools for spiritual practice. How should we go about giving? Our giving must be all-inclusive, with sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness in body and mind. We must make vows, the [Four] Great Vows, “to deliver countless sentient beings, to eliminate endless afflictions, to learn the infinite Dharma-doors” and “to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” These are our great vows. Starting with giving, we cannot be lacking in any of the Six Paramitas if we are to succeed in our spiritual mission of saving all sentient beings.
This is why, every time we help others, we serve them mindfully, making an effort with our minds and bodies to give joyfully and willingly. And once we are done, we even say, “Thank you for letting us do this!” So, as we give without expectations, we must also express our gratitude. This is what it means to be “selfless.” There is no “me” who gives, and there is no “you” who receives what I give. All sentient beings are equal. [We must not be] attached to giving and receiving, or to how much we give. These are the Three Spheres of Emptiness. This is how we become “selfless. It is no trouble! We are grateful to serve you. You give us a chance to accomplish our practice. If you can be at peace, it will make us even happier than you. When you find peace, we will also be at ease.” So, sentient beings’ suffering is the Bodhisattva’s spiritual training ground. If there was no suffering, we would never have a chance to become Bodhisattvas.
This is why it says, “In past kalpas, after seeing [past] Buddhas cultivate giving and upholding precepts….” Not only must we give, we must still go on to uphold the precepts. Not only must we uphold the precepts, we must also practice patience. Our patience must be long-term, so we need to be diligent. We must persevere and be diligent. Whatever our lifestyle may be, we must work for the Dharma and sentient beings, regardless of what hardships we encounter. We must not think, “I am here doing chores out in the fields while you all practice in there, sitting there listening to this [Dharma-talk] on the sutra.”
If we can help people succeed by giving them a chance to listen to the Dharma in peace, then even if we are working in the kitchen, those people can perfect their merit and virtue because [we enabled them to listen] mindfully. After the morning recitation is over, everyone is happily listening to the Dharma. When we enter the cafeteria and can eat our fill, we must be very grateful, grateful to this group who serves us. They do it very willingly, [telling us], “We are happy you are diligently practicing.” This feeling is mutual. When they give, they do so willingly, because this is their goal in spiritual practice. So, we must be diligent and mindful [in learning], or else we will let down those who are working so hard. So, in our spiritual training ground, as we practice giving, upholding the precepts, patience and diligence, our minds are in contemplation, in meditation. In this calm contemplation of wisdom, our minds can be at peace, which is Samadhi. This produces wisdom, which gives us our direction.
So, we must put the Six Paramitas into practice; we must then keep making vows. Time passes continuously, as do our circumstances, so we must certainly make good use of our time. Time may pass, but the Dharma must remain in our hearts. Because the principles are eternal, once the Dharma abides in our hearts, it will never increase nor decrease. The principles are always like this, so we must accept them every day and not say things like, “I’ve had enough,” or, “There are so many teachings; I’ve had enough.” How could there be enough? We must never become complacent, for the Dharma never increases nor decreases. When we can apply it, we will not lose it. It is only by applying it in our lives that we can truly attain the Dharma.
We give to help people, and we take the Dharma to heart as we give. This is something intangible, but it is by doing these things ourselves that we receive benefit. [If we attain] merits and virtues through giving, have we really given of ourselves? Are we truly [giving] with equanimity? When we give willingly and someone receives [our charity], those who receive what we give give us “virtue” in return. Everyone must listen and understand this clearly. When someone receives what we give, it is material aid, while the virtues we gain are intangible. So, we must be grateful for this.
Even if we are upholding precepts, they guard against wrongdoing and stop evil. In our minds, we must never allow a moment of ignorance to make us lose our spiritual aspirations or allow our afflictions to increase. So, we must uphold the precepts and have patience, for without them, we cannot become Bodhisattvas. If we cannot follow the Bodhisattva-path, how could we walk the path to Buddhahood? So, we must be patient. Having “patience” means “being focused and not distracted, advancing and not retreating.” When we have only our spiritual aspiration and we no longer have conflicts with others, this is “diligence.”
“Samadhi” means constantly engaging in right thinking, regardless of our external circumstances. We must pay attention to our thinking. The appearances we recognize around us become thoughts once we take them into our minds. As I often tell everyone, thoughts arise when our consciousness connects with external conditions. We take all kinds of conditions to heart. This is what we call “thoughts.” We must earnestly engage in calm contemplation and [cultivate] the field of our minds. We need to remember the external forms and appearances, and we must cultivate the ground of our minds. Have we ever truly cultivated it? What kinds of seeds have we sown in the ground of our minds? To diligently cultivate our minds, we must engage in calm contemplation. This is Samadhi, which means putting [the Dharma] into practice and never allowing our thinking to deviate. We must not allow the field of our minds to stray. This is very important.
So, when it comes to “practice,” the practice of the Six Paramitas, “[we must] make vows.” We need to make vows. After taking action, we must still make vows, make vows over and over. This is what we must do at this time, [vow] to keep doing what is right and quickly rid ourselves of wrongdoing. Every day, we must continuously plow the grounds of our mind, ceaselessly eliminating weeds and endlessly planting seeds [of goodness]. We must never stop cultivating the ground of our minds like this. So, this means making vows to continuously sow seeds and create good affinities. “Before we can attain Buddhahood, we must first form good affinities.” I often talk about these good affinities.
“Lifetime after lifetime, Devadatta lived during the Buddha’s lifetime and harmed the Buddha’s life.” Do you know who Devadatta was? Lifetime after lifetime, Devadatta was always born in the same lifetime as the Buddha. In each of those lifetimes, Devadatta created adverse conditions; He created adverse conditions for the Buddha and tried to hinder and harm His spiritual practice. He even thought up ways to kill the Buddha. He always lived at the same time as the Buddha, and always tried to harm the Buddha’s life. In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish or the Sutra of Karmic Conditions, we often read about how the Buddha, lifetime after lifetime, had to undergo so much torment and suffering. Who was it that tormented Him, who caused Him to encounter so much suffering? It was Devadatta. The one who created an environment where spiritual practitioners were persecuted was Devadatta.
Thus, these [many] lifetimes of [Devadatta] tormenting [the Buddha] gave Him the chance to cultivate patience, to perfect His practice of giving, upholding the precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. It was Devadatta testing Him like this that gave Him the karmic conditions [He needed]; only adverse conditions could enable Him to train His diligence. So, this helped Him to learn patience and to continue progressing in cultivating wisdom and maintaining Samadhi. These were His causes of the Bodhisattva-practice. So, we must always be grateful whenever adverse conditions manifest; we must never be resentful or complain about them. They are an opportunity for spiritual practice.
There were many harmful situations, different karmic circumstances, where Devadatta wanted [the Buddha’s] head, His eyes, His hands and feet, His bones, His liver, His kidneys, His five organs and so on. There are many stories like this. [But the Buddha] was never afraid to give and was always willing to satisfy the needs of those who appealed to Him. This is how He perfected His Bodhisattva-practice. This is why we must first understand what exactly “merits and virtues” are. It is not just taking joy in hearing of others’ [good] deeds. We must also find joy in doing things ourselves.
First we must understand that, in order to seek the great Dharma and perfect the practice of the Six Paramitas, we must not hesitate to give up our lives. By being in perfect harmony with worldly matters, we demonstrate our understanding of the true principles. We must urge and encourage the Dharma-seekers of future generations.
We must first understand that to seek the Great Dharma, we must first fulfill the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are the Six Perfections. [Attaining] the fruit of sarvajna means reaching the ultimate state of Buddhahood. This process requires that we do not hesitate to give up our lives or to sacrifice this human body. Only with these bodies can we do physical labor and be of service to others, so we must not hesitate to devote our bodies and minds to the service of others.
“By being in perfect harmony with worldly matters, we demonstrate our understanding of the true principles.” Without these people and matters, we will be unable to demonstrate our understanding of the principles. What is spiritual practice? We must undergo hard work like this. Spiritual practice is not just saying, “You must respect the Three Treasures. After becoming a monastic, I am now superior.” It is not like this. To truly form aspirations for spiritual practice, we must strive to [become] “selfless,” so that we no longer have any “self.” Only then can we perfect our “greater self.” The “greater self” [embraces] all worldly matters. “We feel others’ pain as our own and grieve when others suffer.” We feel compassion for all suffering people and pain when anyone is harmed. This [applies to] everyone in the world. So, we must never begrudge hard work, nor hesitate to [devote] our lives to service. We can spend our time taking on responsibilities, or spend it merely amusing ourselves.
Everyone, truly we must first understand that to seek the Great Dharma, “to perfect the practice of the Six Paramitas, we must not hesitate to give up our lives. We must be in perfect harmony with worldly matters to demonstrate our understanding of the true principles.” We must arrive at the realm of true principles. This means “We must urge and encourage the Dharma-seekers of future generations.” We must recruit others. We must continuously recruit others to uphold the sutra and accept the Dharma. “The sutra is a path. This path is a road to walk on.” This is the method by which we must learn to engage in spiritual practice. This is what we must first understand. It is not just about listening [and saying], “I know, I know. I understand, and I know all of this. I can lay out all the principles.” It is not like this.
[For the Da Ai TV program]. “Biographies of Eminent Monks,” I asked that they [thoroughly] research that era and make use of [authentic] personages, background [information] and history. I am very grateful to Da Ai TV. They do not fabricate stories but report the truth in their television programs. They use true events, especially when it comes to the Buddha-Dharma. I hope every episode of. Biographies of Eminent Monks can be a humanistic documentary that truly serves to help us delve deeply into the Buddha-Dharma. So, we must cherish them.
Now we enter the sutra text, [starting at] the sutra’s 18th Chapter, on the Merits and Virtues of Joy.
“At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva spoke to the Buddha ‘World-Honored One, if good men and good women hear this Lotus Sutra and take joy in it, how many blessings will they attain?'”
We must listen even more mindfully here. The phrase, “good men and good women” can be analyzed in two ways. “In terms of people,” the Buddha’s disciples are divided into a fourfold assembly. Seen as a Dharma-analogy, it refers to Arhats and Bodhisattvas.
“Good men and good women” is twofold in meaning: In terms of people, this refers to the fourfold assembly. Seen as a Dharma-analogy, it refers to Arhats and Bodhisattvas. Arhats are rigid and direct by nature. They can only seek to benefit themselves and are unable to transform others. Those who listen to the Dharma only for their own benefit are “good men.” The nature of Bodhisattvas is gentle and compassionate. They can transform themselves as well as others. They spread virtuous causes and conditions and help the seeds of Buddhahood continue to flourish. Thus they are represented as “good women.” They make the Four Offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha as good men and good women who uphold and learn [the Dharma] while living the lay life.
Arhats are “rigid and direct by nature. My purpose for engaging in spiritual practice is to keep on eliminating my afflictions. I do not want to be defiled by afflictions. Ah, I put them aside! I must not concern myself [with worldly matters].” They are rigid and direct. They say, “That’s what the Buddha said.” This is how they are, “rigid and direct by nature. They can only seek to benefit themselves and are unable to transform others.” So, “those who listen to the Dharma only for their own benefit” are the ones that we call “good men,” They practice only for their own benefit.
The second kind are Bodhisattvas. “Bodhisattvas are gentle and compassionate by nature. They spread virtuous causes and conditions.” They not only strive to transform themselves, but also go on to transform others. To transform others, we must sow good karmic conditions [for them]. So, we must create good affinities with them; only then can we “help the seeds of Buddhahood continue to flourish,” and enable the Dharma to be passed on. Thus, those who “help the seeds of Buddhahood continue to flourish,” who continuously help to proliferate the Dharma are called “good women.”
During the Buddha’s era, there were the Four Offerings of building monasteries, medicine, food and clothing. These were called the Four Offerings. Any monastic during the Buddha’s era had to go out and beg for a living. In their time, just like in ours today, there were twenty-four hours in a day, and they traveled far to beg before returning, which took a lot of time. They needed lay people to protect the Dharma by giving them charity. At that time, to support the Sangha, the Buddha [told them to praise the laity], saying, “Your merit and virtue is great!” These lay people who upheld and learned the Dharma were called good men and women for their giving.
So, since Maitreya Bodhisattva would attain Buddhahood in the future, he knew that people in the future who listened to this sutra would think, “We can gain merit and virtue just by rejoicing.” How can we determine the amount of merit such rejoicing brings? Though [it said this] previously in the Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues, now it says merit and virtue are [attained] through rejoicing. Is this all we really need to do? How much merit and virtue can we gain by this? So, because Maitreya Bodhisattva was the one who would pass on the Dharma in the future, he kept asking the Buddha these [questions] for the sake of those future sentient beings. To get the Buddha to further clarify things, this is how he asked.
Maitreya Bodhisattva carries on the past to inspire the future. In the future, He will be born in this world to attain Buddhahood. He was referring to how, in the previous chapter, [the Buddha] said that those who will accept, uphold, read and recite [the sutras] while also practicing the Six Paramitas will have the aforementioned merits and virtues from upholding these practices.
It said this previously, so [we should] understand that. [Maitreya was] asking the Buddha to repeat [the merits of] accepting, upholding, reading and reciting the sutra, while practicing the Six Paramitas. He wanted the Buddha to make it very clear to everyone that it was not just about reading and reciting the sutra, nor only about the Four Offerings. They still had to put the sutra into practice, by practicing the Six Paramitas in the world, giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom and all the merit and virtue they bring.
“At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva spoke to the Buddha.”
At that time, Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva spoke to the Buddha: Since Maitreya Bodhisattva will come to the world in the future as a guiding teacher, he had to ask these questions then. Thus, he spoke to the Buddha.
Maitreya “spoke to the Buddha” because he wanted to give the Buddha a chance to explain things even more clearly, so that those who had not heard this before would be able to understand. He did this “to help the seeds of Buddhahood continue to flourish.” When the future Buddha is in this world, He must help these good men and good women listen to the Lotus Sutra so that afterwards, they know how to praise and put it into practice. How many blessings could they attain by putting it into practice? This is what He wanted the Buddha to make clear. [Maitreya] asked Him for our sake.
So, from now on, we must be very mindful. When we have deep faith and understanding and accept things joyfully, these bring so much merit and virtue; with what mindset do we accept these merits and virtues? We must all mindfully investigate this.
After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, those able to hear this sutra would give rise to deep faith and understanding, faithfully accept it with joy and dance in celebration. They would naturally give rise to a joyful mindset, so why wouldn’t they gain merits and virtues? Thus, Maitreya asked how many blessings they would gain.
As for deep faith, understanding and joyful acceptance, do these all [bring] merits and virtues? This is something we need to investigate deeply. The Buddha has begun to explain to us how we must prepare our minds and listen mindfully [to learn] how we can accumulate merit and virtue. How do we take joy in praising others? We must give appropriate praise to others, for it is wrong to give praise inappropriately. So, we must always be mindful.