Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Faith and Persistence to Practice the One Vehicle (能信恆持奉行一乘)
Date: April.07.2017
“They were able to have faith, persist and not be lax. He first praised their virtue and then encouraged all to draw near them and not turn away. He feared that after having been delivered, people might again lose their faith and become lax. This was His intent in encouraging them. Thus, if the Three Vehicle practitioners could have faith in what was taught and accept and uphold it without retreating, they would attain the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.”
Recently we have been describing how Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha gave testimony and praise for the 16 novices. He testified to their past [practice] and praised them for widely transforming so many sentient beings. Some people had faith, yet some still harbored doubt and confusion. For those who listened to the Dharma but still had doubts, the 16 novices one by one resolved their confusion. For those with doubts, [their doubts were resolved] through the 16 novices’ explanations of the Great Vehicle Dharma taught by Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. The Lotus Sutra contains such profound principles. Most people listened but did not understand. Some people listened and took it in but still had doubts and confusion. When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha entered the meditation room, the 16 novices explained [these principles] on His behalf. They thus delivered many people. Many took the Dharma taught by the 16 novices deeply to heart. They formed deep affinities with and followed the 16 novices lifetime after lifetime to lands where they engaged in spiritual practice and thus reached attainment.
So, “They were able to have faith, persist and not be lax.” It was because of their past that the 16 novices, at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s Dharma-assembly, were now able to reach such attainment. After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha emerged from Samadhi, He was afraid that those listening to the Dharma would doubt the novices due to their youth or not believe that the 16 novices could teach the profound Great Dharma. So, after He emerged from Samadhi, He wanted everyone to have even greater faith in and understanding of the 16 novices and not become lax. Thus, He continually praised [the novices]. He praised the 16 novices for how, in the presence of countless past Buddhas, they had already engaged in spiritual practice. and had made offerings. The virtues they had cultivated were very mature. He hoped to let everyone know that though the novices were young, in the past they had engaged in spiritual practice for countless kalpas already, continually being permeated by [the Dharma]. Their virtues had already matured. So, He kept encouraging these people who listened to the Buddha and the Dharma to quickly draw close [to the novices], so they would not lose their spiritual aspirations after having already developed faith. Thus, He first wanted everyone to understand the novices’ virtues. Then He encouraged everyone to draw very close to them. Draw very close means doing so repeatedly, constantly drawing near to them. To draw close, they must believe in them and not turn away from them. Everyone must believe in them wholeheartedly. So, “He feared that after having been delivered, people might again lose their faith.” He worried about these people. They heard the Dharma taught by the 16 novices, and everyone had faith. After having come to believe in it, they were able to be delivered. After having been delivered, they might again become lax and retreat. [He worried] they would become lax and retreat from their aspirations.
This often happens to us; it is the same for people today. When they begin to believe, they are very passionate and diligent, but after a period of time, they gradually begin losing their faith and gradually start to become lax. There are many people like this today. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s time, He also worried that having now come to believe, they might quickly lose their will to practice. So, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha also worried about this. “He feared that after having been delivered, people might again lose their faith.” On losing their faith, they might become lax. Because of this, He again encouraged the assembly. He encouraged everyone to be diligent. It is exceedingly rare to encounter the Buddha-Dharma! “Since you have encountered the Buddha-Dharma, you must faithfully accept it, take it to heart and practice it diligently.” This was Great Unhindered Buddha’s intent, His compassion. They were finally able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, to have faith in it and be delivered. They must not lose their spiritual aspirations; that would be a pity!
So, this shows how mindful Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was. During the period when the Buddha had entered His mediation room, for 84,00 kalpas the 16 novices taught the fourfold assembly. The Great Vehicle Dharma encompasses the Three Vehicles. This is like what Sakyamuni Buddha [taught] more than 2000 years ago at the Dharma-assembly at Vulture Peak. He had already, for over 40 years, taught the Dharma according to sentient beings’ capabilities. But the Buddha’s original intent, what He really wanted to tell everyone, was not revealed until after 42 years, when He could not wait any longer. The capabilities of sentient beings were still stuck in the Small and Middle Vehicles, but the Buddha hoped that everyone could progress to the Great Vehicle. So, when He began teaching the Lotus Sutra, He had to include the past [teachings] of the Small and Middle Vehicles. Now, at Vulture Peak, He absolutely had to include all Three Vehicles. He hoped that when those who practiced the Small and Middle Vehicles heard the Great Vehicle Dharma, they would set aside the Small and take up the Great. All Buddhas share this same path. This was the case for our Sakyamuni Buddha, and it was the same for Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior in the past. So, He explained that with the Dharma taught by the 16 novices at that Dharma-assembly, “if the Three Vehicle practitioners could have faith in what was taught and accept and uphold it without retreating, they would attain the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.” So, at this Dharma-assembly, the [practitioners of] the Three Vehicles, those of the Small and Middle Vehicles and those with aspirations to practice the Great Vehicle, all listened to the 16 novices analyze the Dharma taught by Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. All had faith and understanding and also accepted and upheld [the Dharma]. If they could accept and uphold it like this without retreating, they would “attain the True Dharma of the One Vehicle”.
“Everyone, whether you practice the Small, Middle or Great Vehicle, you can all at the same time attain the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.” This is how Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha bore witness for the 16 Bodhisattva-novices and at the same time encouraged everyone, “You must believe in them.” He put so much effort into this! This is the mindset of every Buddha. They hope to open and reveal for sentient beings the fact that all have intrinsic Buddha-nature, that everyone is equal.
Yet, to experience and understand this is not that easy. The nature of sentient beings and the nature of the Tathagata is the same. This is true not only for humans; all sentient beings, all living beings, similarly possess the same Buddha-nature.
In America, in the San Francisco Zoo, there is a very intelligent gorilla [named Koko]. The staff at the zoo will teach her things. They taught her sign language. Although they cannot teach her to speak, they have taught her to work just like a human. They want to help her communicate with humans. Since she is unable to utter sounds to speak, they instead taught her sign language. Surprisingly, she has already learned a vocabulary of 2000 English words. She leaned the word “kitten”. A kitten is a cat. When she learned this word, she became very happy and through sign language expressed her desire to raise a kitten. She wanted to keep a kitten as a petWhen the zoo’s managers saw her sign that she wished to keep a cat, they quickly got a cat for her. They gave her the cat on her birthday. This was on her birthday in 1984. On her birthday, they gave her a cat as her gift. She nurtured the cat very well, and as time went by they were just like mother and daughter, like mother and child. The zoo later adopted two more cats for her, and they were given names by the staff. One was “Miss Gray” while the other was “Miss Black”. One was more gray in color, while the other one was pure black. She was so happy, very happy every day. Because all of them had fur, when the zoo staff saw this, this gorilla and her three cats, they gave them the name the “furry family”. They are quite an attraction. Many people come to see them. This gorilla has he personality of a human. Her love is a motherly love. Even animals are replete with such motherly love. Having lost their own mother’s love, these cats received the love of this gorilla, who was just like their mother. Although of different species, they nevertheless get along very harmoniously. Animals are sentient [too]！
So, the Buddha told us that everyone has an intrinsic nature of True Suchness. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” Look at the intelligence of that gorilla, how she learned sign language and formed a family the way she did. Animals are like this. Even after all this time, their [intrinsic] nature remains the same; their love has not been lost. They are so harmonious, so willing to cooperate. They can even learn human sign language and communicate with humans as well as with other animals. Seeing them like this, we should have faith that animals have maintained, after all this time, a sense of motherly love, a sense of familial warmth. Animals can also commit to a family. Their nature and ours are the same, even after all this time. There is human time, then there is the time the Buddha talked about. Actually, the way the Buddha spoke of time has its own special meaning, so He gradually explained His view of time for us. Thus, first off, we must have faith that every passage of the Buddhist sutras has true principles hidden within it.
Let us now look at the previous sutra passage. “Lifetime after lifetime they were born in the company of Bodhisattvas. They heard the Dharma from them and all had faith and understanding. Through these causes and conditions, they are able to encounter four trillion Buddhas, World-Honored Ones, and have not reached the end even now”.
This is describing the sentient beings delivered by the 16 novices. For countless kalpas, for countless billions of kalpas, they have continually engaged in spiritual practice and, lifetime after lifetime, been born into places where they are together with Bodhisattvas. So, they were “in the company of Bodhisattvas”. Bodhisattvas are their spiritual family. “They heard the Dharma from them”. They are all spiritual friends for one another and are always together in the same place, engaging in spiritual practice together, inspiring one another and resolving each other’s doubts. Thus they are each other’s spiritual family. So, “Through these causes and conditions, they are able to encounter four trillion Buddhas, World-Honored Ones”. Because of this, from the past and on into the future, they will continue like this, even up to now. [In this passage], “now” refers to the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Even at that time, they were still not finished. “[They] have not reached the end even now”. This means that even after Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, they would still be born in the company of Bodhisattvas; there affinities would continue lifetime after lifetime.
The next passage continues, saying, “Bhiksus, I now tell you that Buddha’s disciples, the 16 novices, have now all attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. In the lands of the ten directions, they are presently teaching the Dharma. They have countless hundreds of trillions of Bodhisattvas and Hearers as spiritual family”.
This is now Sakyamuni Buddha speaking. Sakyamuni Buddha said “Bhiksus”, [calling] to His disciples, the bhiksus before Him. “I now tell you that”, He was now going to tell them that, “that Buddha’s disciples, the 16 novices”, where “that Buddha” refers to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. In Great Unhindered Buddha’s time, the 16 novices who were all at that assembly the 16 novices who were all at that assembly “have now all attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi”. Sakyamuni Buddha’s description of the past era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and the state of that assembly had already come to a close. Sakyamuni Buddha was now telling everyone that those novices from the past were now each in his own land, in the land they had affinities with, and that they had all attained Buddhahood. This refers to how Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had born witness to these 16 Bodhisattvas’ past [practice] in the presence of Buddhas for countless billions of kalpas. Those 16 novices did not only practice in Great Unhindered ‘s era. Long before Great Unhindered Buddha’s time, they had already practiced for a very long time. Over this time they had engaged in extended practice and uninterrupted practice, practice with nothing further and practice with reverence.
“Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha testified to how those 16 Bodhisattvas had, in their past lifetimes, in the presence of countless billions of Buddhas, engaged in extended and uninterrupted practice, practice with nothing further and with reverence. They had gone among people and delivered countless beings.
For such a long time. Even before Great Unhindered Buddha’s era, they had continually engaged in practice like this and were already very mature. By the time they arrived at Great Unhindered Buddha’s place of enlightenment, once Great Unhindered Buddha taught the Dharma and entered His meditation room, each of them was able to shoulder this responsibility. So, when people had doubts and confusion, they were able to explain the Dharma to them. This shows [their practice] from the past up until Great Unhindered Buddha’s era. Great Unhindered Buddha also testified to how for such a long time in the future they would continue to practice and in the future would attain Buddhahood. He verified this for them. Clearly, the 16 Bodhisattva-novices had engaged in practice for a very long time, in the past, in the present and on into the future. Their practice was over an extended time, without interruption and with nothing further. Engaging in practice with reverence, in every spiritual training ground, in every lifetime, they made reverent offerings to each Buddha. They made offerings by putting the Dharma into practice, thus making offerings of reverence.
In the future, they would go among people and deliver infinite sentient beings. They would continue in this cycle for a long time. So, this is what Sakyamuni Buddha told everyone, that these 16 Bodhisattva-novices had a practice that was extended, uninterrupted, with nothing further and with reverence. They constantly engaged in spiritual practice. Now, each of them had attained Buddhahood, each Buddha in a different place. So, “Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha spoke freely about the 16 Bodhisattvas past causes and conditions”.
Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha spoke freely about the 16 Bodhisattvas’ past causes and conditions. [Sakyamuni] then proceeded to explain the epithets of those Buddhas today and the names of the lands where they transform the multitudes who have affinities with them.
Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of the 16 novices in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, how Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha had praised their past cause and conditions. these were their past causes and conditions. Sakyamuni Buddha immediately began to explain how these novices had all attained Buddhahood in different lands. He continued relating this up to the present when He Himself had already attained Buddhahood. As for the others’ distinct epithets upon attaining Buddhahood and the names of the lands where they transform sentient beings with whom they had affinities, He cited the past, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time Sakyamuni cited the past to speak of the present, how they had [practiced] in the past, how they were now at that Dharma-assembly and how they would attain Buddhahood in the future, each with a distinct epithet and each with a distinct Buddha-land.
Sakyamuni Buddha cited the past to speak of the present: First, explaining Their attaining Buddhahood . second, revealing each one’s distinctive name.
So, this is divided into [two], first “explaining Their attaining Buddhahood”. They attained Buddhahood “for the sake of benefiting all sentient beings”. so, They had to engage in spiritual practice until They attained enlightenment; once awakened, They would benefit all sentient beings.
First, explaining Their attaining Buddhahood: For the sake of benefiting all sentient beings, the 16 novices have all attained perfect enlightenment, presently teach the Dharma and thus now have countless people as spiritual family.
Since each of the 16 novices wanted to benefit sentient beings, to deliver and transform sentient beings, they had to engage in spiritual practice, in extended practice, uninterrupted practice, practice with nothing further and practice with reverence. They had to make offerings life after life, making offerings to all Buddhas through their actions. This is what they continued to do. These were the 16 novices at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s place of practice. they now had all attained perfect enlightenment. They were presently teaching the Dharma and now had countless people in Their spiritual family. This shows that Sakyamuni Buddha wanted to clearly help everyone understand the 19 novices’ past, Their time at Great Unhindered Buddha’s assembly and how They attained Buddhahood in the future. They had already formed the spiritual families with which They had affinities.
If one wants to attain Buddhahood but does not form affinities with sentient beings, then there is no way to attain Buddhahood. So, we often say, “Before attaining Buddhahood, we must first form good affinities with others”. Going among people, benefiting others, creating blessed affinities with others, this is all very important. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha always hoped that we all accept the Great Vehicle Dharma and go among people to witness others’ suffering, train ourselves and eradicate our ignorance and afflictions. In the midst of that suffering, we experience principles of suffering causation, cessation and the Path. In the midst of difficulties, we form aspirations and vow to deliver sentient beings. this requires us to put the Dharma into practice.
“In accord with the virtues they cultivated, their Buddha-names and epithets are set”. These were the virtues they cultivated; their epithets were based upon their virtues.
Second, revealing each one’s distinctive name: These are Their epithets as realize Buddhas. In accord with the virtues They cultivated, Their Buddha-names and epithets are set, as are the places They had affinities with. In accordance with those They should transform, They are thus in the Buddha-lands of the eight directions and so on.
Every Buddha has a specific name, just like every person has a name. Similarly, in our spiritual practice, each of us receives a name and an epithet. This is true for each of us. So, these are “places they had affinities with. In accordance with those they should transform” means in accord with those they transform, they split off in eight ways. The eight ways are east, south, west, north and the southeast, northwest and so on. they split off into the eight directions. Later, the epithets of those Buddhas of the eight directions will be introduced one by one.
So, They had already gone to the places where They had affinities, the places They had formed affinities with. “In accordance with those They should transform” means these are the sentient beings whom They should deliver and transform, so They go to do so. in that place, They engage in spiritual practice, attain enlightenment and transform sentient beings. so, regarding “Bhiksus, I now tell you, the Buddha’s words contain profound meaning, “revealing the appearances of the past and now. Bhiksus, the Buddhas was saying to them, the 16 princes have now all attained Buddhahood. In the Dharma taught by the Buddha, in everything the Buddha said, there are underlying meanings, and in the meanings there are principles. Whatever the Buddha said, there would always be profound principles within. So “Revealing the appearances of the past and now refers to the very distant past, countless kalpas ago, and also to the time after those countless kalpas, the long period of time up to the present. “Bhiksus, I am telling you that the 16 princes have now all attained Buddhahood”. They had by then all attained Buddhahood.
As for “that Buddha’s disciples, the 16 novices, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught how those 16 Bodhisattva-novices” at that time “had listened to the Dharma, upheld the Dharma and transmitted the Dharma”. They earnestly wished to deliver and transform sentient beings.
At Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s Dharma-assembly, they heard Him teach about “suffering, causation, cessation and the Path”, as well as the “12 Links of Cyclic Existence. For a long time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha expounded the Three Vehicle teachings. According to sentient beings’ capabilities, He taught the Small and Middle Vehicles and only later returned to the Great Vehicle. So, the 16 novices earnestly beseeched Him, “Venerable Buddha! We hope you will meticulously expound for us the Great Vehicle Dharma. What all of us seek is to have the same perspective as the Buddha. We seek the Buddha’s understanding and views, the same perspective as the Buddha”. We probably all still remember when the 16 novices asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. They hoped to attain the same understanding and views as the Buddha. So, in that Dharma-assembly, they listened to, upheld and transmitted the Dharma. They had already done this at Great Unhindered Buddha’s Dharma-assembly. In listening to the Dharma, they were mindful. After listening, they faithfully accepted, practiced and upheld the Dharma. Once Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha entered His meditation room, they began transmitting the Dharma. This was how sincere and earnest their wish was to deliver and transform sentient beings. The wish of the 16 novices in delivering and transforming sentient beings was very sincere and earnest. They put their heart into it.
Because of this, they have done this from the time of Great Unhindered Buddha until now. “They have now all attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi”. The 16 bodhisattva-novices had by now already all attained universal and perfect enlightenment. “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi” means supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. They had all achieved this. So, “In the lands of the ten directions…”.
The next section says, “In the lands of the ten directions, They are presently teaching the Dharma. They have countless hundreds of trillions of Bodhisattvas and Hearers as spiritual family”.
Each of these 16 novices is now in a different land teaching the Dharma. Each of them has His own spiritual training ground where He is teaching the Dharma to countless hundreds of trillions of Bodhisattvas and Hearers; these are Their spiritual families. What this means is, “It says They are doing this ‘presently’”. This is to distinguish this “from the past and the future. It speaks about Them teaching the Dharma to distinguish this from attaining Buddhahood or from having yet to turn the Dharma-wheel”. It says “presently” here, referring to the present of Sakyamuni Buddha, not the Dharma-assembly of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and the “present” He spoke of then. This is like us now. The present which I speak of now is not the present spoken of by Sakyamuni Buddha during His time. Language follows time in how it is expressed. It always [changes] according to time. In different eras, the same word is used to express this. So, “It speaks about them doing this presently” in order to distinguish it from the past. There is Great Unhindered Buddha’s “present,” and there is the “present” of the future, the “present” of [Sakyamuni] Buddha’s time. There is also the “present” of our own time. Now the founder of our religion is still the same, still Sakyamuni Buddha. Since we also have been educated by Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings, we are part of His spiritual family. Thus, we are still all [in the era] in which Sakyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma, this present era. So speaking of time, we are not in the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha; we are in the era of Sakyamuni Buddha. This is to “distinguish it from the past and the future”. This is the “present”. It speaks about Them teaching the Dharma to distinguish this from attaining Buddhahood or from having yet to turn the Dharma-wheel”. Those teaching the Dharma were in the lands of the ten directions. They were all different people. Each taught the Dharma in His own place. Each had His own spiritual training ground. The leaders of those spiritual training grounds each had different names, and the spiritual training grounds where They [taught] were all in different places. So, They were all different. Yet, They transmitted and taught the Dharma in the same way. So, “distinguish this from attaining Buddhahood or from having yet to turn the Dharma-wheel” means that in the past, they had not yet begun to turn the Dharma-wheel. But starting from then, they had already begun turning the Dharma-wheel and would do the same in the future.
In the past, present and future they had always continually listened to, upheld and transmitted the teachings up until they attained [enlightenment]. All of them were in different lands where they continually delivered and transformed others. With the passage of time, the number of sentient beings coming to hear the Dharma and forming affinities continued to increase. So, “They have countless hundreds of trillions of Bodhisattvas and Hearers as spiritual family”. Those who were delivered became Bodhisattvas. Those yet to be delivered became Hearers. When Hearers can enter the Bodhisattva-path, they have been delivered and reached attainment. But there are still many yet to be delivered, those yet to reach attainment, so the Dharma must continue to be passed down. So, “They have countless hundreds of trillions of practitioners of Three Vehicles as spiritual family”. Some have not yet completely reached attainment, so at these assemblies, each [novice] had practitioners of the Three Vehicles. Not everyone had already completely faithfully accepted and practiced the Great Vehicle, the One Vehicle Dharma. Not everyone has reached attainment. So, it will still take a very long time.
To learn the Dharma, we truly need to be patient and mindful. To have faith and understanding of any phrase or of the manifestation of any matter or appearance, we must have experiential understanding. So, “They were able to have faith, persist”. We should earnestly persist and not become lax. We should be diligent and advance without retreating. We must have strong determination to persist over a very long time. We should have faith that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. We were just speaking of how that gorilla we mentioned has a nature like a human’s. We should believe in the Buddha when He said, “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature”. This is something we can believe in and verify, to say nothing of these great lengths of time. Astronomy can likewise testify to these. So, we should believe in the Dharma the Buddha taught. Let us always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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