Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Only Those in the Assembly Remained (唯留會眾 移諸天人)
Date: February.01.2018
“The ground made of pure crystal and other details describe the pure state of the Lotus-treasury. Without the chaos of human settlements, it was free from the crudeness and defilements of the Saha World. Those in the assembly with mature affinities remained, while heavenly beings without the proper capabilities retreated. What was defiled instantly became pure; these are non-dual. Pure noble beings and defiled ordinary beings share the same existence.”
These words should seem [familiar to us]. Indeed, we have read them before. But are the principles clear to us? We must always [try to] mindfully comprehend them. “The ground [was] made of pure crystal.” Yesterday, we discussed how Sakyamuni Buddha called on His multiple manifestations to gather together. We should know that this [refers to] the Dharma; His multiple manifestations are the Dharma. Sakyamuni Buddha had been teaching the Dharma in this world for several decades already. For more than 40 years, He taught about emptiness and existence, the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. He taught us all of this [He taught us] that everyone should purify the ground of their own mind, eliminate all afflictions and ignorance and get rid of habitual tendencies one by one. These habitual tendencies and our mistakes in life are what we must immediately reflect on and correct. This is what we must do in our spiritual practice. What is most important in spiritual practice is [to clean] our minds of defilements, ignorance and afflictions. With each passing day, the Dharma-water will nourish us drop by drop. We must [use it to] quickly purify our minds. With the past mistakes we have made, we must seize the time [to correct them]. When it comes to our minds, how much more time do we have to clean them? Only we can [purify] our own minds. In every second of the day, we must reflect on the thoughts that arise. In our thinking, we must repeatedly eliminate our wrongdoings and continually clear away and eliminate our mistakes. As for the things we should learn and do, we need to [take it in] bit by bit, dignifying our hearts like the trees of treasures [that dignify the lands]. We must have golden cords to border our path, so our every path is clear. This is what we must put our heart into. The Buddha was able to “open” and “reveal” [the Dharma] to us; this is how He taught. Our past confusion must be quickly corrected. Otherwise, [we will lead] a confused, useless life that will muddy the field of our mind. If we do not quickly eliminate [our mistakes], who will do it for us? How much time do we have to purify our defiled minds? Furthermore, in order to turn our defiled minds into lands as pure as crystal, we must be very mindful and work very hard. If we can be mindful and put in the effort to clean our defiled minds, we will naturally manifest “the pure state of the Lotus-treasury.” The realm of the Lotus-treasury is a dignified place. It is the world of all Buddhas, their true reward-land. In order to attain Buddhahood, we must reach the stage where our spiritual state is pure and undefiled. As Buddhist practitioners, we should work hard [to achieve] this ideal. Every day, we must earnestly cleanse [our minds] so we can be equal to the Buddha and be able to reach the realm of the Lotus-treasury. The state of the Lotus-treasury is also known as the realm of the Lotus-treasury. We should all know that the lotus flower grows from the mud yet remains pure. Sakyamuni Buddha was born in this world, this world of endurance with severe turbidities. It is like a world of mud. However, all of us in this world have the nature of True Suchness in our hearts; it is like we have seeds that are buried in mud. Sakyamuni Buddha arrived to this turbid, mud-like Saha World solely to open and reveal [the Dharma] to us. So, He had to work very hard to serve as a model for us. He left the palace to engage in spiritual practice in order to [show] us that, if we aspire to engage in spiritual practice, we should be like Him. Born into the palace, He was like a lotus seed. The palace was full of desires, the mud of the turbidity of desires. Those in the palace constantly indulged themselves. In that place, all they knew was how to enrich the country and expand its territory. Doesn’t every king lead his government like this? This environment was full of desires and turbidities. Yet with this seed inside of him, [the prince] had a different perspective and way of thinking. The more [those in the palace] indulged, the clearer it became to him that even after they had indulged themselves so much, they were still confined to “aging, illness and death.” This is not to mention the disparity between the rich and poor. [Seeing how] the poor people lived compared to the extravagance of the nobility. [Sakyamuni] wondered, “Are people destined to be this way from birth? They are so poor and lowly. Why is it like this generation after generation? Why are the nobility born as they are, passing on their noble status continually, generation after generation? The noble are always noble, and the lowly are always lowly. Why is it like this? It seems that this world is a place full of contradictions. What is the secret of life? Why is there birth and death? What comes before birth? What happens after we die? How do we come and go?” This helps us understand the prince’s perspective and way of thinking. So, he wanted to seek the principles. He left the palace so that we could understand; we must know to awaken ourselves. He was a wealthy and noble person from the palace, yet for the sake of the world’s sentient beings, [he left]; with what he valued in life, he went to seek to comprehend [the principles]. So, what about us? We ordinary begins suffer greatly. In our relationships, our hearts are in conflict; our opinions go against each other and we take opposing positions with each other. How difficult this is! Within so many different environments, how is it that we do to know to seek [to understand] the causes and conditions by which we come and go in life? Our time keeps passing us by; in the end, which direction will we go? None of us know. Now, the Enlightened One has already paved this path for us to see already paved this path for us to see. He hopes for us to be at ease and walk this path. [This is the path] we should follow. This is how He revealed Himself as role model. As it is, Sakyamuni Buddha had already engaged in spiritual practice for many lifetimes. He had already ended fragmentary and transformational samara. He did not need to return to the Saha World. Yet, He could not bear to let all these seeds sink into the mud like this. So, He came to the world and manifested in the palace. In his search for the principles, He left the palace to engage in spiritual practice. [After] His process of spiritual practice and [attaining] His awakened state, He returned again [to us], transforming sentient beings as a monastic, living the same way as everyone else. In His pure realm of the Lotus-treasury, His mind was already liberated, but He worked very hard for sentient beings. He worked hard and tirelessly to teach and transform sentient beings in this world. Sentient beings were dull in capabilities and stubborn. Their capabilities are very dull, and they are very stubborn; they are difficult to train and transform. But the Buddha had His state of mind and His true reward-land. The past few days, we have been discussing this “true reward-land”. The true reward-land is in the Lotus-treasury, the realm of the Lotus-treasury. It is a pure, undefiled world one that is peaceful and comfortable. This is the world of all Buddhas.
The realm of the Lotus-treasury means that when Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood beneath the Bodhi tree in the Kingdom of Magadha, what those with limited capacities perceived was the Buddha’s transformation-body. What those with great capacities perceived was the reward-body of Vairocana Buddha. In the realm of the Lotus-treasury, He attained perfect enlightenment. But His seat beneath the Bodhi tree and the realm of the Lotus-treasury were not different places. The defiled land is the pure land.
What we ordinary beings see of Sakyamuni Buddha was that He was born in the nation of Kapilavastu and attained Buddhahood under the Bodhi tree. But this was only a manifestation for us to see, for us to know that He was born into the palace. In the Kingdom of Magadha, after He become a monastic, He spent a long time in spiritual practice, experiencing all kinds of suffering. Then He sat in meditation under the Bodhi tree. Thus, His mind connected with the starlight. This is just a symbolic image to help us all understand that in the moment He attained this enlightened state, His mind was very tranquil and calm. Before dawn had begun to break, [he saw] that star. It was very simple; the light from the star in the sky met His gaze, and suddenly, His mind completely opened, becoming one with the universe. His state of mind was suddenly illuminated and became completely pure. This is [what it means] to be tranquil and clear. His mind was very tranquil and clear; His state of mind was calm. Just like that, His mind opened suddenly. “All beings in the world share the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom.” In the turbid mud, there are many seeds. Everyone’s mind has this nature of True Suchness. Everyone’s mind is like [a seed] inside the turbid mud. The Buddha already realized and understood that everyone has this nature of True Suchness. It is just that they are still stuck in the mud.
The Buddha had already freed Himself form this mud. He had blossomed and the fruit had formed. The lotus flower blooms and its fruit is formed. When we look at our lotus flowers in the pond, when we see them blossom, we see that the pods inside have already appeared. There are seeds inside the lotus pods. It is the same idea. We call this the Lotus-treasury, which is the realm of the Lotus-treasury. But for those of us with limited capabilities, we “perceive the Buddha’s transformation-body,” which manifested in this world. So, we are just like the Hearers; when we listen to Him teach the Dharma, the Dharma seems to be distant from us. Although the Buddha taught the Dharma, for us to truly be in touch with the Buddha’s state of mind seems like an illusion; it seemed to still be very far from us. “What those with great capacities perceived….” When those of great capabilities heard His Dharma, they could quickly experience “the reward-body of Vairocana Buddha. It was as if the Buddha-body was very near, and the Buddha’s reward-land was very real. This was the perfect enlightenment of the realm of the Lotus-treasury. They felt very close to the Buddha’s realm and resonated with the Buddha’s intent. They were already in accordance with His intent; it was very real. This is reaching the realm of the Lotus-treasury, the state of attaining perfect enlightenment. Those with great capacities could comprehend this. Although they had not truly awakened, they could already comprehend this principle. In His enlightened state, the Buddha’s [mind] became one with the universe. Thus, “His seat beneath the Bodhi tree and the realm of the Lotus-treasury were not different places.”
There was no difference. In the Saha World, His seat under the Bodhi tree in the Kingdom of Magadha was no different from the realm of Lotus-treasury. This means that the Saha World and the pure land were the same. So, “The defiled land is the pure land.” This Saha World’s defiled land is the pure land; it is the Buddha’s pure land. This reveals the realm of the Lotus-treasury.
In fact, if we can all earnestly clear out the ground of our minds at all times, we can sweep away all our ignorance, turbidities and afflictions. We should immediately eliminate all the mistakes we have made in the past, quickly correct our course. When we turn around, we see [the safety] of shore. This is [the aim] of our spiritual practice. Only then can we become one with this pure realm of the Lotus-treasury. So, there are no human settlements. We explained this yesterday. There are no human settlements. There are no defilements due to men and women, so there are no human settlements. There are no conflicts due to the afflictions of unenlightened beings. There is no craving, hatred, passion or animosity. “Without human settlements or the like, the crudeness and defilements of the Saha World were erased.” Our world’s defilements, these crude and defiled mindsets, are what we must completely eliminate. Therefore, in the Saha World, when the Buddha gave these perfect teachings of the One True Vehicle Dharma to the assembly, of those who listened to Him, only those with mature affinities remained. This is just like how many disciples had received their predictions of Buddhahood. Sariptra received predictions. The 500 disciples, Purna Maitrayaniputra, as well as Ananda, Rahula and the others, those 2000 people, also received predictions of Buddhahood. This meant their karmic conditions and capabilities were mature, so they remained. As for the heavenly beings, no matter how knowledgeable they were or how blessed they were, if they did not have the right capabilities, they also retreated. Right as the essential teachings were to be given, they all left [the assembly]. These were their karmic conditions in life.
Are [the conditions mature to teach] the Buddha-Dharma? Have we worked hard [to cultivate] our minds? This depends on whether our karmic conditions have matured. “Those in the assembly with mature affinities remained, while heavenly beings without the proper capabilities retreated.” Wasn’t it like this? So, “what was defiled instantly became pure; these are non-dual.” All beings are equal. It all depends on how close we are to the Buddha’s heart. If we are close, then our karmic conditions are mature. If we are still very far from His heart, it means we are [like] all the other myriad beings and our capabilities are not mature yet.
Actually, purity and defilement are both found in people’s minds. “Pure noble beings and defiled ordinary beings share the same existence.” Noble beings are pure, while ordinary beings are defiled, but actually, pure noble beings and defiled ordinary beings share the same existence. Afflictions are Bodhi. Bodhi arises from afflictions; the lotus flower grows from the mud. It is the same principle. But if we are still in the mud and remain in the ground of common beings, who knows how much karma we will create? Our afflictions and ignorance are still countless. So, we must mindfully comprehend this.
This previous sutra passage says, “There were no human settlements, villages, cities, oceans, rivers, mountain streams or forest swamps. Very precious incense was burned, and Mandarava flowers were scattered all across the earth.
This is our spiritual state. It is very calm and as pure as crystal. There are no human settlements in our hearts; there are no words of ordinary beings nor thoughts of ordinary beings. there are no such human settlements, nor any villages nor cities. Our hearts are calm. [There are no] “oceans and rivers”. Whether we have Great Vehicle capabilities, Middle Vehicle capabilities or they all converge [into the One Vehicle]. So, this Saha World has already transformed. “Precious incense” filled the atmosphere. Mandarava flowers were scattered all over the earth. This symbolizers the elimination of all defilements from our hearts. Now, our hearts are pure and complete. That atmosphere was a truly tranquil and wondrous state.
The following sutra passage says, “Jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above, and myriad precious bells were hung there. Only those in the assembly remained. The various heavenly beings were moved to other lands.”
Here, it expresses that “Jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above.” Besides the earth being completely clean, these jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above. These were made entirely of pearls and treasures. They were moven together and covered the world from above. This symbolizes how. “Among what Bodhisattvas practice, compassion is foremost.”
Jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above: Among what Bodhisattvas practice, compassion is foremost. Thus it says precious curtains covered everything. The way to Buddhahood cannot be attained without the precepts. Thus it says jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above.
Great compassion is the room. In terms of the thoughts of Bodhisattvas that we are talking about now, to begin, we need a heart of compassion. Compassion guides us as we follow the Bodhisattva practice. We must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. Practicing giving is about helping others, and helping comes from compassion. When we encounter beings we have no affinity with, we must [show them] great loving-kindness. When we see sentient beings suffering, we must have universal compassion. This is loving-kindness and compassion. When we are willing to help others, that is the paramita of giving. Compassion is foremost “among what Bodhisattvas practice.” So, “it says jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above.” All of those are previous objects.
Furthermore, “The way to Buddhahood cannot be attained without the precepts.” Therefore, we must have the precepts. Although we say noble beings and ordinary being are equal, although afflictions and Bodhi are also equal, when we are afflicted and go against the precepts, we become contaminated. To attain Buddhahood and purify ourselves, we must have the precepts.
So, it says in the precious passage that ropes bordered the path. Gold ropes were used to border this path, the Eightfold Noble Path. We must earnestly uphold the precepts in our perspectives, thinking, speech, actions, in our lives, [the way to Buddhahood]. [We must] “refrain from all evil and do all that is good.” We must prevent “human settlements,” meaning [romantic attachments of] men and women and so on. These transgressions are impure. So, in order to attain Buddhahood, we must have the precepts. On the Bodhisattva-path, compassion is foremost. “The way to Buddhahood.” So, for us to attain Buddhahood, we must have compassion on one hand and abide by the precepts on the other. So, giving and upholding the precepts are very important to the Bodhisattva practice. [To have] compassion is to create blessings, and upholding the precepts is wisdom; blessing and wisdom must be applied in parallel.
So, because of this, it says, “Jeweled nets and precious curtains covered it from above.” The earth is clean, and the jeweled nets and precious curtains cover it from above. Also, “Myriad precious bells were hung there. Only those in the assembly remained.
Myriad precious bells were hung there. Only those in the assembly remained: The sound of the bells represent the teaching of the Dharma. Those gathered alone remained, the assembly who listened to the Dharma.
Because all of the Buddha’s multiple manifestations were about arrive, everything was made very clean. A vast jeweled net and precious curtains covered the sky. Amidst this vastness, there were also “myriad precious bells hanging there.” They adorned this place. When we are indoors, we must earnestly clean the space very well we must earnestly clean the space very well. Even the refters and ceilings. We must also decorate with lamps and ribbons. This is all decorating the assembly space. We must put our heart into decorating; we must decorate from top to bottom. So, it says that these bells made [a wondrous] sound. We discussed before now the stupas of treasures also had ringing bells. The bells [adorning it] rang in the wind. When the bells rang, it was like music. This is metaphor for the Dharma the Buddha taught. This jeweled net was vast. The earth was boundless, and the jeweled net was limitless. This is where the myriad precious bells were hung. All the precious bells [made a wondrous] sound. When they moved in the wind, they rang out. “Those gathered alone remained, the assembly who listened to the Dharma.” Now at this place, only those who wanted to listen to the Dharma remained. Those who did not want to listen, “the various heavenly beings, were moved to other lands.”
The assembly ground were decorated. The people who wanted to listen drew near, and the people who did not want to listen went away. [It says they] “moved,” which means retreated; they moved away and left. So, “The various heavenly beings were moved to other lands. This means they were not in this assembly anymore. “With the Buddha spiritual power, He moved all the heavenly beings to other lands.” Because their capabilities could not resonate [with the Dharma], He moved them to another place. They were unwilling to listen, so [the Buddha] gave room to all those who wanted to come listen.
The next passage says, “At this time, all the Buddhas took a great Bodhisattva as Their attendant and came to the Saha World. They each arrived beneath the trees treasures.”
Now that the grounds were well adorned, to receive this teaching, the multiple manifestations came from all directions. Do you remember? The Buddha emitted a light which shone eastward. [Everything seen] in one direction also [existed] in the other directions. Including the four intermediate directions, this makes eight directions, plus above and below. [All Buddhas] from the ten directions began moving. They all gathered together like this. With every Buddha that came, a Bodhisattva came with Them to the Saha World. Each of the Buddha’s multiple manifestations brought only one Bodhisattva with Them. How bid was this place of practice? How many Buddhas from those worlds could hold? If each Buddha brought too many [attendants], how could this world contain them? So, each Buddha brought with Them one Bodhisattva to come “as Their attendant.”
At this time, all the Buddha took a great Bodhisattva as Their attendant: Each of the Buddha’s multiple manifestations of the ten directions brought one great Bodhisattva as Their attendant.
In this Saha World, [the Buddhas] from each direction manifested beneath the tree of treasures. These beings had already arrived, had come to the Saha World. The Saha World contained trees of treasures, which are the same as the Bodhi-tree. Every Buddha sat under a tree of treasures. They took their places like this, under a tree of treasures. This is how “the multiple manifestations gathered like clouds.” These multiple manifestations now gathered there like clouds, “pervading the great chilicosm, His multiple manifestations from one direction had yet to be accommodated. This serves to show how widely He had manifested.
[They] came to the Saha World They each arrived beneath the trees of treasures: In this realm, transformation-lands appeared in all directions. Beneath the trees of treasures, the multiple manifestations gathered like clouds, pervading the great chiliocosm. His multiple manifestations from one direction had yet to be accommodated.
This shows how the Buddha’s multiple manifestations all came from the ten directions. So, all of the Buddha’s multiple manifestations gathered like clouds. They were not only from this Saha World. The multiple manifestations came from many worlds. They had yet to be accommodated. Think about how widely He had manifested. Everywhere in the great trichiliocosm was a world that Sakyamuni Buddha transformed now accepted His Dharma and applied it to their lives. They then transformed sentient beings in Their own worlds so sentient beings could attain the Bodhisattva-path. Thus, He taught extensively, using the same Dharma to transform all beings. So, the gathering of the Buddha’s multiple manifestations means that the Dharma scattered around the universe and the great chiliocosm was all gathered together. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas follow each other, which means the Buddhas teach and transform the Bodhisattvas.
Previously, we said, “Compassion is foremost,” and that we must also actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. Giving, upholding the precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom are the Six Paramitas we must actualize. This is the path we must follow. This path leads us through the world, which is defiled. The world’s defilements have led to the appearance of “formation, existence, decay and disappearance,” continuously emerging [before us]. Now we frequently discuss environmental issues. We have seen how educating others on environmental protection is constantly being promoted. We see that in Malaysia, they begin this I n pre-school. What does our Great Love Pre-school teach these children? They start with recycling. They first help the children understand what the greenhouse effect is. How did they tell the children that the earth has a fever? How did they help them understand this? First, they assembled [a tent] outside. They used plastic bags that they gathered, and they put them together to form a tent. Then they had the children go in and hold class inside the tent. Seeing that all the children were sweating and wiping away their sweat, then the teacher asked, “How do you feel? Do you like having class here?” The four or five-year-olds children responded, “We are all about to melt away!” The teacher then asked, “Should we have class in here every day?” The children replied, “No!” “Why not?” “Because it is too hot.” The teacher then began to teach the children, [asking,] “Why is it so hot?” The students began to tell the teachers why. The teachers showed a program about how our world today [suffers from] disasters caused by floods and powerful storms. During these disasters, the flood waters surge and crash. The children said, “That is so scary!” In the rushing waters, houses collapse, and the people there suffer greatly! The children said, “This is so sad!”
Next [the video showed disasters caused by] wind, other disasters caused by the four elements. These were shown to the children one by one. The children were taught through this experience. By the time they came out [of the tent,] [the teacher asked], “What do you wish for now?” The children replied, “We want to drink water. We sweat so much, so we need to drink water.” “How are you going to drink water? The buckets are all empty, so there is no water to drink. Why is there no water?” The teachers then explained the reason to them. It is because we continually draw water and oil from the ground and so on. This is how they teach environmental protection. After the children understood it, finally, they asked them, “Why do [all these disasters happen]?” The children answered, “It is because of the greenhouse effect that we have these kinds of disasters.” “Yes, and do these disasters cause suffering?” "They do!” “How will you now give back to the earth? How will you eliminate these disasters?” They said, “We must recycle, carry reusable bags and not buy toys. We must conserve water, paper and electricity" and so on. After a lesson like this, the children began to understand. This is education. We teach them while they are young. It is very easy for teachers to teach preschoolers. When the Buddha taught sentient beings, they were very dull in capabilities and stubborn. Why was that? It was because they were defiled by the world. They had severe turbidities and afflictions, so for them to accept the Dharma, it was difficult. It is difficult to purify our minds. So, with Bodhisattva-seeds, we need to practice compassion. To attain the Buddha’s fruit, we must uphold the precepts. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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