Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Many Treasures Buddha’s Land, Treasure Purity (國名寶淨 佛號多寶)
Date: January.18.2018
“Infinite kalpas in the past, there was a Buddha named Many Treasures Buddha. His land was called Treasure Purity because everything there was composed of the Seven Treasures and it was pure and wisdom any defilements. The Buddha’s epithet was Many Treasure because He used His Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues to give endless benefit to others.”
These past few days, everyone has been very mindful. Many Treasures Buddha’s Stupa manifested, everyone there was very joyful. The Buddha even expounded to everyone the causes and conditions for the stupa of Many Treasures Buddha to appear. Because Great Joyful Eloquence Bodhisattva knew everyone still had doubts in their minds, he asked the Buddha to give an explanation. This is how Sakyamuni Buddha explained it to them.
A very long time ago, countless asankya worlds to the east, there was a Buddha, soon to enter Parinirvana. Before doing so, His last instructions were to build Him a stupa of treasures where His entire body could abide. Then, no matter where or in which world, as long as a Buddha was teaching the Lotus Sutra, this stupa would emerge from the ground there to serve as proof that the Buddha’s teaching of the Lotus Sutra’s principles was true, that it is truly the wondrous medicine to treat the world. It is the right direction for practitioners’ to mindfully work towards. It is the path to Buddhahood. This is the meaning behind the stupa’s emergence. But Sakyamuni Buddha wanted to explain Many Treasures Buddha’s great vow made in the past. His vow was that, in the future, in any world where there is a Dharma-assembly where the Buddha teaches the Lotus Sutra, His treasured stupa will appear there. [From this,] it is evident that both ancient Buddhas of the past and Sakyamuni Buddha in the present, both past and present Buddhas, all share the same path. [This path] is to safeguard this sutra. They regard teaching the Lotus Sutra to all beings as a matter of great importance. Even ancient Buddhas who have entered Parinirvana also value and respect this Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.
Now, because Sakyamuni Buddha had grown old, before He entered Parinirvana, He had to finish expounding the Lotus Sutra, for all Buddhas share the same path. So, [as we just] described, infinite kalpas ago, there was a Buddha named Many Treasures Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha introduced this Buddha as having come from a world far to the east. It was a very long time ago; it was an ancient Buddha who had already entered Parinirvana. Now, with His stupa of treasures, wherever the Lotus Sutra is taught, like in this case, at Vulture Peak, it would suddenly emerge from the ground. This is the scene which Sakyamuni Buddha described. “His land was called Treasure Purity because everything there was composed of the Seven Treasures.” [He] introduced that land, how it was so clean, so pure; everything was made out of the Seven Treasures, pearls, chalcedony, coral, amber, and so on. This was the appearance of that land. Nothing was dirty. Everything was pure without any defilements, so the land was called Treasure Purity. Because the world was so pure, all things in it were precious treasures. That Buddha was also called Many Treasures Tathagata, because of His many merits and virtues in [His] past lifetime. For the past few days, we have been talking about being adorned with all virtues. This begins with practicing the Six Perfections. Giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom are called the Six Perfections. The Six Perfections allow us respond to the needs of others and create blessings for them with every action. People have many kinds of afflictions. We must first follow the Bodhisattva-path in order to attain Buddhahood. Amidst these afflictions, we temper our wisdom. So, we cultivate our wisdom in all actions; we should cultivate blessings and wisdom in all actions. This creates a “Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues.” In all things, we “give endless benefit to others.” The practice of giving to sentient beings means accumulating good deeds over a long time. We certainly must spend a very long time accumulating [good deeds]. The more time we spend, the more we can accumulate. This is like our world [today]; many Living Bodhisattvas are living longer and forming aspirations earlier, allowing them to go among people and do many good deeds. With a longer lifespan and more time, naturally we can accumulate more good deeds. Earth has existed for a long time. How long has it been? Modern scientists say that our planet Earth has already existed for 4.6 billion years. It has existed for 4.6 billion years, according to scientists. But as the old as the world is, in the vastness of universe this is not considered a very long time. What about our own lifespan? How long will we be alive in this world? Our lifespan is only around 100 years. Not many people can even live to 100 years old; very few people actually make it, not to mention the many people in the world who die relatively young. Some people’ s lifespan is so short that they live for only a few years, a few days, or even just a few hours. [Our lifespan] depends on the length of our affinities in the world. Thus, people live for only a few decades and are always in the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death. Over these few short decades, we go through aging, illness and death. This is truly not a very long time. But if Buddhist practitioners want to thoroughly understand the principles and cherish their lives, they must practice with diligence. If want to use our lives for the most essential things in life, we must good deeds. We must not waste any time. We must form good affinities in the world. Then among people, we can transmit wholesome teachings. We must not only transmit wholesome teachings, but learn ourselves. We must also learn from the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha taught us, “Refrain from all evil and do all that is good.” These two sentences are simple, but there is so much evil [to refrain from]! In this world of sentient beings, [we encounter] all kinds of external conditions. Our heart’s desires follow all these various states. We see something and give rise to desire. For things we ought not seek, we start to scheme up ways to get them. With things we should not have, we give rise to ignorance and do things we should not do. In this way, we create mush negative karma. All of us sentient beings have such habitual tendencies. In addition to creating karma, we are filled with afflictions and ignorance. Our minds constantly go off course and lack discipline. This is why we give rise to ignorance and create afflictions. Afflictions cause us to create karma, which constantly accumulates. This karma is very severe! Although our lifespan are short, we unknowingly accumulate many karmic forces and create so many afflictions. So, the Buddha taught us how to eliminate all evil. “Evil” refers to our afflictions, ignorance, the karma [we accumulate] and so on. These methods are to use the Buddha’s wholesome teachings to treat various negative [practices]. Thus, we must learn all wholesome teachings to eliminate our afflictions and negative tendencies. Only then can we teach sentient beings to “refrain from all evil and do all that is good.” This is what all Buddhas teach. We sentient beings must reverently accept and put [His teachings] into practice every day by going among people and helping suffering sentient beings. For afflicted, ignorance sentient beings, we must give them teachings. This is our goal in learning from the Buddha.
Ancient Buddhas come forth to testify that the Dharma can be applied in this world, that is the teaching to treat the world. Now, this is also what Sakyamuni Buddha teaches us. The Lotus Sutra teaches us the Bodhisattva Way, it teaches us to follow the Bodhisattva-path to stay away from all evil and to immediately and proactively do good deeds. He even passed these wholesome teachings on to us, so we can teach others to stay away from evil and to seize the moment to do good deeds. We must do it ourselves and teach it to others. This is the Buddha-Dharma; this is what we must learn. This is how we accumulate a wealth of merits and virtues, by “giving endless benefit to others.” All Buddhas from the past to the present teach in this way. They use Their past accumulated actions of “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions” in order to teach us, so we must humbly accept it, uphold it and put it into practice.
This is like Tzu Chi’s Living Bodhisattvas. Some of them have been following me since the beginning of Tzu Chi. They are now 80 or 90 years old, and they are still doing Tzu Chi work. Many of them are still alive and going strong. They still [volunteer in Tzu Chi] without stopping. Their lifespans are long, and they have been Tzu Chi volunteers every day. This is “accumulating merits and virtues.” One person can affect so many people. Speaking of something closer to us, in Fenglin, in total, there are 130 recycling stations, which were all started by one person. That person is Lin Yuehua. How did she do this? What were her causes and conditions for doing so? She was not anyone extraordinary. She was just an ordinary woman. She lived in a village called Fenglin with a very ordinary family. Her husband did manual labor, and they had supported their family this way with manual labor since they were young. She did all kinds of jobs. She helped her husband and taught her children. She helped her husband and also did manual labor in order to support their family. A decade or two ago, because of his job, her husband hurt his lower back. He could not walk for several years. There were children in this family, who still needed to live and get an education. Since the husband could not work, she had to take on the responsibility. She said she did all kinds of work. She could lay cement and also farm. She even went to work as a caregiver at Fenglin Hospital because sometimes there was no other work. So, she became a caregiver to look after patients. Sometimes she came to Hualien, our Tzu Chi hospital at Hualien. Wherever there was a job, she went to do it. She took care of patients at the hospital. If no one needed looking after, she would go back to doing manual labor. If there was no manual labor to do, she would go back to the hospital as a caregiver. In any case, she worked all kinds of jobs, as long as she was able to raise her family. Her life was truly full of hardships. However, she was very kindhearted and optimistic although her family circumstances were such that her husband could not work or shoulder the responsibility of his family. So, someone reported her case to Tzu Chi, and [we] helped her for a period of time. Although [she experienced] many hardships, she still worked very hard. Sometimes, the patients could tell that her family circumstances were not very good. Since she took such good care of them and satisfied them, they would give her a red envelop [with a bonus]. If a patient’s family gave her red envelopes, she would in turn [donate the money] to Tzu Chi, use the patient’s name for the receipt and give it to the patient. The patient’s family said, “The red envelope is for you. Why do you donate them to Tzu Chi?” She replied, “This is my way of praying for blessings for the patients, in hopes that they get well soon.” She was doing good deeds in her patients’ names and creating blessings for them. She was so kindhearted and was not greedy. It was very difficult to take care of her family. About 10 or so years ago, she suddenly got sick, so she went for a check up. The doctor told her, “You have so overworked [yourself]. Your immune system is not in balance, and you have developed lupus erythematous. You cannot do so much manual labor.” Since then, her children have grown up, and her husband told her, “Now, I can do some light work as well, and the children have grown up. It is your turn to retire.” He told her “Do not do any more manual labor.” She thought, “If this is the case, I can wholeheartedly dedicate myself to Tzu Chi.” So, she told our Tzu Chi volunteers, “I want to devote myself to Tzu Chi. Since my children can work, and my husband can work now as well, I can focus and dedicate myself to Tzu Chi.” Thus, even though her family was not very wealthy, she was still spiritually wealthy. So, she dedicated herself to Tzu Chi and took part in the recycling program at Fenglin. Everyone told her, “Tzu Chi has so many missions. Out of everything, why did you choose recycling work? It requires hard work to do recycling.” She replied, “Master has emphasized recycling. “We do this for the earth’s sake. For the sake of the cleanliness of the world, we must do recycling work as Master has asked us.” She set up a recycling station in her front yard. When she started, she used a big umbrella to shield herself from the sun, and did the recycling work there. A volunteer saw her working hard and using a motorcycle to carry recyclables from the whole village. [Seeing] how much [she collected], this volunteer built her a tin roof hut. Once the metal roof was in place, she no longer needed to use the umbrella to shield herself from the sun. Now, she had a tin-roofed recycling station. She used her motorcycle to go collect recyclables every day. She collected [recyclables] throughout the morning. Then, there was another [commissioner] who fixed a second-hand car for her, filled its tank with gasoline, drove to the recycling station and told her “Yuehua, I fixed this car and filled the tank, so you can use it for recycling.” This is how the first recycling truck came about. Thus, her motorcycle became a recycling truck. From there, she learned how to drive and went around the village. There were 130 recycling spots in total. She mobilized that village, and every community there has someone who takes part in recycling work. Think about it, this was an ordinary, frail women whose family was not wealthy. She worked diligently, cherished her blessings, and remained kindhearted. This is how she seized the moment. Even when her doctor declared that she had developed lupus, it just made her think, “I should seize the time I have in my life and not miss another minute or second. This is what I want do.” She did not think, I have worked so hard in the past few decades. [Now] I am sick and need to rest.” No, she did the opposite. She cherished her life and seized the moment to accumulate [good deeds]. She went into the community to promote the significance of recycling and guided everyone to do recycling work. She helped those with afflictions and ignorance to become happy recycling volunteers. [She] did good deeds and also guided many people to go through training and be certified and so on. Such a life is to be cherished and honored. This is how we accumulate merits and virtues. True Living Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions.
We saw that our media volunteers went to see how she does her recycling work. There were many people in that village who make a living doing recycling work. Those people will collect whatever is valuable. But as for the glass bottles and plastic bags which have no value, we will still collect them. There were many rice bags from the famers’ association, which she gathered and washed at the river with stream water. Many people passing by saw her washing at the river. Wearing long pants and shoes, they still waded into the water to help her wash [the rice bags]. The media volunteers asked [one of them], “Sir, you were passing by. Why did you suddenly come down to the river?” He said, “Yes, I was passing by, and I saw sister Yudhua and many of the other Recycling Bodhisattvas. When I saw them, naturally I wanted to come down and do this with them.” There were many of them [like this]! He then asked, “But aren’t you getting wet?” [The man] replied, “I originally came to bathe in the river; it was convenient!” In fact, he had been driving past that place. [After], he returned to his car, started it and left. Is she did not do [her work] so admirably, would anyone have been willing to go to the river and help her wash [rice bags] as they passed by? This gentleman said, “My mother also does recycling work with them.” From the 130 recycling stations in the village, we can see how widespread recycling is there!
Think about this. It all began with one person. Now, the whole village [is doing recycling work]. It is very impressive. Living Bodhisattvas, these recycling Bodhisattvas, [work to] protect both Earth and humanity. This is not easy, so it is very praiseworthy. This is transforming sentient beings by actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions. She practices this in her daily living, making use of every moment. Despite having this kind of illness, she still does [her work] joyfully and leads a joyful life.
In the previous sutra passage, it says, “so he said to the Buddha….” Here Great Joyful Eloquence Bodhisattva was making a request of the Buddha. “He said to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One, what are the causes and conditions that allowed this stupa to emerge from the ground and this voice to emanate from within?’“
When the stupa of treasures appeared, besides the stupa itself, its surrounding also were very magnificent. There were also subtle and wondrous bell chimes. A voice even emanated from within the stupa. So, everyone began to give rise to doubts. Thus, He came to ask the Buddha, to ask the Buddha to teach.
So, the next sutra passage states, “At that time the Buddha told Great Joyful Eloquence Bodhisattva, ‘in this stupa of treasures is the entire body of the Tathagata from long ago, from infinite trillions of asankyas of world to the east.’”
It was then that the Buddha explained to Great Joyful Eloquence Bodhisattva that in the stupa of treasures is a Tathagata’s entire body. This [originated] with this Buddha in the past, a long time ago, and across a vast expanse of space, asankyas of world away. You would have to cross over so many lands and such a great distance to get there. In that place, there was a Buddha who lived in this faraway land.
Continuing on, [the sutra] says, “The land was called Treasures Purity. In that land, there was a Buddha with the epithet of Many Treasures. When that Buddha was practicing the Bodhisattva-path, he made a great vow.”
That land was a place that could only be reached by travelling so far. Treasure Purity was the name of this land. This land, called Treasure Purity, “was pure with many treasures.” It was not at all like our Saha world. Although we have many treasures on Earth, humankind continues to destroy it. We destroy so much [of the world] to be able to extract gold, silver, crystals and gems. We have to damage the earth so much in order to [obtain] these things. However, in the land called Treasures Purity, everywhere you look, you can see that all things there are treasures. There is no need to destroy this land, because everything is naturally a treasures. It is pure; His lands is intact, having not suffering ant damage. Wherever you go, you can see treasures. Thus, “The land was called Treasures Purity.” This country is called Treasures Purity.
It is both pure and filled with many treasures. “It was composed of the Seven Treasures.” Everything in this land is composed of treasures, so “there was nothing filthy or defiled.” This is why the name of this land is called Treasures Purity.
The land was called Treasures Purity: That land was pure with many precious objects composed of the Seven Treasures. There was nothing filthy or defiled. Thus [it was called] Treasures Purity.
“In that land, there was a Buddha with the epithet of Many Treasures.” In this land if Treasure Purity, there was a Buddha with the epithet of Many Treasures. Many Treasures Tathagata was born and attained Buddhahood in this land. So, “In that land of Treasures Purity, the Buddha has the epithet of Many Treasures. Thus, the Buddha used His merits and virtues, “His Dharma-wealth of merits and virtues, to give endless benefit to sentient beings.” [He does this with] the Dharma. Everything in that country is [valuable]; there are no impoverished or suffering people. Yet the Buddha uses the Dharma and Dharma-wealth to give charitable to [the people in] that land. Thus, “When that Buddha was practicing the Bodhisattva-path, “He made a great vow.
When that Buddha was practicing the Bodhisattva-path, He made a great vow: When Many Treasures Buddha cultivated and upheld the Bodhisattva-practice in the causal ground, He made a great vow that wherever Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, His treasured stupa would manifest before Them to stand as testimony.
Following the Bodhisattva-path takes [more than] just one lifetime; it takes infinite kalpas. Having followed the Bodhisattva-path for so long, [He accumulated] so many abundant blessings that [He] was born and attained Buddhahood in the land of Treasures Purity. As He followed the Bodhisattva-path, He had already made a vow. [He would uphold] for lifetime after lifetime. Many Treasures Buddha’s vowed “to cultivate and uphold the Bodhisattva-path in His causal ground. In His causal ground of Bodhisattva-practice, He made this vow to “[manifest] wherever Buddhas taught the Lotus Sutra. This was His vow; after He attains Buddhahood in the future or after He enters Parinirvana, [He will appear] whenever any Buddha expounds the Lotus Sutra. This is the vow He formed “My stupa of treasures will appear at the Dharma-assembly as testimony.” This is Many Treasures Buddha’s vow.
The next sutra passage continues, “After I attain Buddhahood and enter Parinirvana, in the lands of the ten directions, wherever the Lotys Sutra is taught, my stupa will, for the sake of those who listen to this sutra, emerge before them to stand as testimony. In praise, I will say, ‘Excellent!’“
This is His vow. [The passage states] “After I attain Buddhahood and enter Parinirvana…” In order to attain Buddhahood, of course one must be replete with all practices. To be able to truly understand thoroughly the true principles of the universe and become one with everyone, to awaken to the principles of the world is what we call attaining Buddhahood. But, one must also manifest in the world with a lifetime appropriate to the world. He must also enter Parinirvana. Thus, [He needed to] eliminate “His delusions and cross the sea of samsara.” This is called “Crossing into Parinirvana.” This does not refer to people who simply pass away. In fact, at the moment they attain Buddhahood, they have crossed into Parinirvana also. Having eliminated all delusions, when all afflictions, ignorance, and dust-like delusions are completely eliminated, we will feel at ease with life and death. This, we can cross the sea of samsara. This is the meaning of “Crossing into Parinirvana.” To attain Buddhahood means to have crossed the sea of samsara. Having eliminated all afflictions, ignorance and delusions, He has already attained Buddhahood. However, after attaining Buddhahood, He must also respond to worldly emotions and lifespans of the world and He must also manifest an appearance of Parinirvana (cessation and deliverance). Thus, “after entering Parinirvana, [His mission] is still the same “For the sake of future worlds, wherever a Buddha teaches the Lotus Sutra, He will “still come to testify.”
After I attain Buddhahood and enter Parinirvana: When He attain Buddhahood. Parinirvana: This is the cessation of delusion and deliverance from the sea of samsara. After entering Parinirvana, He will still, in future lifetimes, come to testify wherever a Buddha teaches the Wondrous Lotus Sutra.
This was the Buddha’s [vow] He attained Buddhahood, He had already crossed over the sea of samsara. After eliminating all afflictions, he entered Parinirvana; He manifested the appearance of entering Parinirvana. He entered this treasure stupa, and He will appear together with this stupa. In any world, wherever Buddhas expound the Lotus Sutra, He will manifest His stupa of treasures before them to bear witness. This was Many Treasures Buddha’s aspiration. He will go to “the lands of the ten directions, wherever the Lotus Sutra is taught.” This was His aspiration. His treasures stupa will manifest in front of the Dharma-assembly, just like when Sakyamuni Buddha was expounding the Lotus Sutra, and His stupa of treasures emerged there. My stupa [will emerge] for the sake of those who listen to this sutra. My stupa will emerge right at that time at the Lotus Dharma-assembly.”
This is a stupa of the Seven Treasures; it is composed of the Seven Treasures, so it is called a stupa of the Seven Treasures. ”For the sake of those who listen to this sutra,” even a Buddha from the past appeared together with His stupa at the Lotus Dharma-assembly. He also came to listen to the teachings. This Buddha from [faraway] came to the Saha world to listen to Sakyamuni Buddha expound the Lotus Sutra. This shows His respect for this sutra.
In the lands of the ten directions, wherever the Lotus Sutra is taught: He will manifest in any land of the ten directions wherever this sutra is taught. My stupa [will emerge] for the sake of those who listen to this sutra: This stupa of the Seven Treasures of His is for the sake of those who listen to the Lotus Sutra.
Thus, “[It will] emerge before them to stand as testimony. In praise, I will say, ‘Excellent’!’" This [describes] how Many Treasures Buddha emerged at this place to praise [the Buddha]. We must mindfully seek to experience this moment when He emerged before the Buddha. This is “because the seed of His aspiration was such." This was His aspiration. I mentioned to everyone a few days ago that after hearing this teaching, everyone’s minds leapt with joy. With this jubilance and joy, they formed great aspirations and made great vows to actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions in the previous chapter, on Dharma Teachers, we already clearly explained that wherever the Lotus Sutra is present, the complete body of the Buddha will be there too. When we all uphold the Lotus sutra with a firm, resolute mindset, this is the seed of our aspiration. “Because Many Treasures had this vow,” from the moment Many Treasures Buddha formed His Bodhisattva-aspirations, [He sustained it] for lifetime after lifetime, even after He attained Buddhahood. Thus, “with the causal practice of Bodhisattvas,” He attained the fruit of Buddhahood. This is Many Treasures Buddha’s fruit of Buddhahood. This is the nature of His aspiration why He came “before Sakyamuni Buddha’s. Lotus Dharma-assembly. [It will] emerge before them to stand as testimony.”
[It will] emerge before them to stand as testimony. “In praise, I will say, ‘excellent!’” [The stupa] would then emerge before that Buddha because the seed of His aspiration was such. Because Many Treasure had this vow, before Sakyamuni Buddha’s Lotus Dharma-assembly, His stupa emerged and He spoke words of praise, which would serve as proof.
When this stupa emerged, sounds [were heard] from within and without. Outside, there was a sound of wind blowing bells, as we mentioned a few days ago. Afterwards, everyone was joyful, and felt unprecedented admiration. Amid their joy and praise, doubts also arose. There had never been such a scene, so they were doubtful. Thus, Great Joyful Eloquence Bodhisattva asked on behalf of the assembly, “These sounds coming from the stupa, what are the causes and conditions for this?” Sakyamuni Buddha already answered this for us, replying that this Buddha had, from His heartfelt aspirations in the causal practice of Bodhisattvas to His attaining the fruit of Buddhahood, He had [upheld] the same vow. Thus, He had emerged before them. This is like Sakyamuni Buddha, whose vows was to transform sentiment being in the Saha word and attain Buddhahood in the Saha world. In the same way, every Buddha has His specific vow. Many Treasures Buddha’s [vow] was that, wherever the Buddha expounds the Lotus Sutra, Many Treasures Buddha’s stupa would appear there. Sakyamuni Buddha [vowed to appear] wherever sentient beings suffer. Wherever sentient beings are suffering, He would go to practice the Bodhisattva-path, engage in spiritual practice and attain Buddhahood. All Buddhas have Their specific vows, but They all share the same path, and the true principles are the same; They all safeguard the Wondrous Lots Sutra in their minds. We must mindfully comprehend the stupa’s appearance.
In fact, it [alludes to] our True Suchness as sentient beings. The principle of True Suchness is in our hearts. It seems to be very profound, but we just need to listen the Dharma and be very mindful. So, every day, I say to everyone that we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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