Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Deep Aspirations for the Path to Enlightenment (深心覺道 悲智願行)
Date: September.03.2018
“In order to seek unsurpassed Bodhi, we must apply right mindfulness to resonate with the profound principles. In order to resonate with the profound and wondrous Dharma, we must cultivate all roots of goodness and the power of right mindfulness. To plant deep roots in the path to enlightenment is known as having deep aspirations. This means that our aspiration toward Right Dharma gives rise to deep faith. Also, to take joy in cultivating all goodness is to have deep faith in Bodhi.”
Please be mindful! We must realize that in seeking the Dharma, we need to form supreme aspirations. Only then will we be able to attain the path to enlightenment of unsurpassed Bodhi. This requires right mindfulness. This is all very simple. Have we formed aspirations? Yes, we have! Have we formed great aspirations? Yes, we have! Since we have formed aspirations, and especially since we have formed Great Vehicle aspirations, we need to awaken our minds. We truly need to awaken! Why do we need to form aspirations, and why must these be Great Vehicle aspirations? Because we have already experienced first-hand that life is full of suffering.
As for myself, I feel we came to this world to awaken ourselves, and that it is the Buddha’s teachings that we must awaken to. When it comes to the Buddha’s teachings, “suffering” is something we must remember always. The Dharma’s most fundamental [teaching] is on suffering. With whatever teaching it may be that [inspires us] to form aspirations, we must first give rise to the awareness that life is suffering. We must experience for ourselves and realize that everyone in this world suffers. This includes us as well. In life, even if we think that we have been very blessed since birth and that we have never really experienced suffering, even if our entire life has gone smoothly, perhaps we should think again. Think about it; we might never have met with hardship in life, but [we never know] what danger could be lying in wait for us! Though our lives might be free of hardship, life is full of hidden dangers. Life is impermanent; life is short. There is birth, aging, illness and death; isn’t [this cycle] full of suffering? If you had never suffered in life, if everything went smoothly for you in life, you would be unaware of life’s suffering. But when you grew old, wouldn’t you suffer then? You would surely suffer. If you are not old yet, then you have never experienced it. Look at how much the elderly suffer. As we age, our bodies change and deteriorate, and so many things become difficult for us. As we approach old age, in addition to our body growing frail, we will also suffer from illness. Once we suffer from illness, soon comes the suffering of death. This day is constantly drawing nearer and nearer. There is also suffering from parting from loved ones, meeting those we hate and unattained desires! Think about the very end [of our lives]. We will have no more time left to be with the ones we love most. This is very difficult.
Though [those we love] might make us happy, we will also meet with those we hate. If you really think about it, you must have experienced this. Parting with loved ones is inevitable on our last day. Think about this parting; the loved ones we will ultimately leave behind cannot bear to part with us; the living will suffer. When it comes to death, if we think about how our bodies will decompose, not only must we suffer from the pain of parting from our loved ones, but our bodies are also going to rot. In the end, will we be placed in a coffin [to rot] in a desolate and forsaken place? Will we be incinerated in a furnace and burned until nothing is left? Who can bear such suffering?
Of course, as Buddhist practitioners, we speak of death as we speak of life, for death is a very ordinary thing. Yet, it is difficult to avoid having feelings like these. We are unable to let go of these feelings. “How much will I leave undone? Who will [I leave behind]? There are so many people I will miss.” These feelings are inevitable.
So, what should we do? We should hasten to seek unsurpassed Bodhi. In the midst of all conditioned phenomena, we should be even more diligent. As we help others amidst conditioned phenomena, we experience the suffering of the world. With universal compassion, as we help people in suffering, we create blessed karma for ourselves as well. This clears our consciousness, freeing us of habitual tendencies toward evil, discursive thoughts. We must cultivate ourselves so that we constantly give rise to thoughts of goodness. We must make it into a routine [to cultivate] theses seeds of goodness in our sixth consciousness. We must not react to external conditions. No matter what external conditions we see or hear, we must train ourselves to turn evil into goodness. When people criticize us with harsh speech, harsh language and harsh words we will hear this and take it into our consciousness, then we will transform [afflictions] into our usual peace of mind so that our mind will be free of afflictions. We will be very much at peace. Those who are more well-cultivated will give rise to compassion for such people. “If this is how you are, I must care for you even more and find a way to transform you.” This requires us to train our sixth and seventh consciousnesses. When faced with external conditions, we should learn how to transform our mind and our perspectives. This requires us to put effort into cultivating our habitual tendencies. By cultivating our sixth and seventh consciousnesses and eliminating our afflictions, the fruits of our actions in the outside world will all enter the storehouse of our eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness is inside of us. When we deeply cultivate our power of vows, in our next life, when we return to this world, these seeds will all have become seeds of goodness for us to come and spread again. Thus, “In order to seek unsurpassed Bodhi, we must apply right mindfulness to resonate with the profound principles.” We must maintain a constant state of vigilance and constantly nurture our aspirations. In order to nurture these aspirations, we must “resonate with the profound and wondrous Dharma”.
To seek the true principles and the unsurpassed Bodhi-path, we must resonate with the principles of the profound and wondrous Dharma. To seek the principles of the profound and wondrous Dharma we must “cultivate all roots of goodness and the power of right mindfulness.” The seeds for these roots of goodness have already been planted. We must just like gardeners or farmers. Gardeners care for plants; they know how to cultivate all kinds of trees. They keep the weeds from growing. Depending on the type of plant, they will keep it if it is valuable and remove it if it is a weed. They can make any kind of flower bloom beautifully. They know how to prune them and so on. We are like gardeners. When we engage in spiritual practice, we care for our minds just like a gardener, tending to the landscape of our minds. Gardeners know how to plant trees, how to arrange them and how to shape and prune them. They may prune them to look like phoenixes. They may prune them to look like lively dragons. They can make dragons and phoenixes out of trees. They cultivate them mindfully, using shears to gradually cut away the leaves, pruning them into a sculpted landscape. All of this requires mindfulness in order to “cultivate all roots of goodness,” we must tend to these roots well. If the roots are tended to, then any tree will flourish, and then we can prune it into beautiful shapes. The principle is the same. We must maintain right mindfulness at all times. We need right understanding, right views and right thinking, the power of right mindfulness and so on. We need to be mindful!
We must cultivate deep roots in order to build a firm foundation on the path to enlightenment. We must broaden this Bodhi-path and pave it evenly. This path is the Bodhi-path. We must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. It is on this path that we come and go throughout lifetime after lifetime. This is known as the “path to enlightenment”. Deep aspirations are so deep that [they remain] within the ground of our mind, our consciousness the field of our eighth consciousness, throughout lifetime after lifetime. [With deep aspirations], we will not be easily confused or disturbed by roots, dusts and external conditions. Lifetime after lifetime, we will come and go on this perfect path to enlightenment. As unenlightened begins, however, we might form aspirations in this lifetime, but if our roots are shallow and do not hold fast, if we fail to sow our seeds well, our life will be a mix of good and evil. There may be good seeds in the ground of our mind, but if that ground is also full of weeds, if we do not cultivate it in this life, our next life will also be a mix of good and evil. We might have some good karma, but we will have even more bad karma; if just keeps on multiplying like this until we lose ourselves again. So, we must pave our own path to enlightenment. Our aspirations must be deep, for only with deep roots will the path to enlightenment become open and smooth. This is the meaning of “deep aspirations”.
Moreover, our deep aspirations must be “aspirations toward Right Dharma” that enable us to give rise to deep faith. When we have this Dharma and our faith in it is deep, we will spend lifetime after lifetime putting Right Dharma into practice. Then, in our next life, we will once again “take joy in cultivating all goodness”. In our next lifetime, we will again take joy in cultivating the Bodhi-path, the unsurpassed path of Bodhi and all goodness. This means we must “have deep faith in Bodhi”. So, we must mindfully seek to understand this. Whenever I start to talk about this, [I think], “This is what we must practice every day!”
We must diligently cultivate the conduct of our body, speech and mind. Those who say things about the teachings that are meaningless or of no benefit are saying things they should not say. Anything that stirs up disputes or arguments, whether proper or improper, is frivolous debate that is of no benefit. All frivolous debate on the Dharma is considered karma of speech.
We must diligently cultivate the conduct of our body, speech and mind. Moreover, in everything we do, we must not [waste time] doing meaningless things. Because the length of our life is limited, we should not do things that are unimportant or [waste our time] rushing around. This is truly exhausting. In whatever we do, at all times, we should be very grounded in our lives and seek to truly benefit humanity. We should never be idle or waste our time; this is of no use. So, [we must not say] “things about the teachings that are meaningless”. We must not [say] them. We must take care of our body, speech and mind. We must remember to avoid saying things that are not beneficial. These are all things that we should not say. We should not stand around engaging in useless talk with others. When we speak, we must encourage others with every word and correctly guide others in every situation. We should never waste time doing useless things or saying useless things. As for “anything that stirs up disputes or arguments, whether proper or improper”, it is useless for us to gossip about others’ shortcomings.
As we discussed earlier, we must cultivate our karma of speech. If we like discussing useless things that are of no benefit with others, then conflicts can easily arise and we will stir up disputes and arguments whether our speech is proper or improper. Whether proper or improper, it will not be useful. When something is not beneficial, there is no need to say it. This is “frivolous debate that is of no benefit”. “All frivolous debate on the Dharma is considered karma of speech”. Earlier, we were reminded that in addition to the karma of the body, there is also the karma of speech. Whenever we speak, we must make the most of our time. Life is so precious and short, so in all that we do, we must work to benefit others. Our speech should always be beneficial; it should benefit others and enable us to teach and guide others. So, when it comes to bodily actions and speech, we should be very cautious. Of course, this means that when it comes to our mental state, we must work hard to make sure that we never deviate in our direction. We must be mindful!
The previous sutra passage says, “Nor do they say to these people. ‘You are all far away the path and will never be able to attain all-encompassing wisdom. Why is this so? Because you are undisciplined and indolent with respect to the path’”.
As we just discussed, we must not do or say useless things. Just standing around, wasting time gossiping about others’ faults and gossiping about others’ faults and creating karma of speech like this is of no use at all. We should hasten to form great aspirations to practice the Great Vehicle Dharma and advance forward. Some people have already advanced so far, while we are still stagnating here, [mired in] our personal conflicts, creating karma of body and karma of speech. If we keep creating so much severe, evil karma in our actions, then we will end up “far away from the path”. Perhaps we only seek to benefit ourselves. Diligent people will advance, but those who only seek to benefit themselves will get stuck there, worrying, “It is better to take care of myself. Going out [among people] again might be dangerous! If I go to save others, will they bring me down with them?” They worry too much. There is only one path, so we must advance upon it.
This is the path of diligence, a safe path. So, why keep worrying about it? If we stand around worrying about it, the diligent people will advance while those who worry will stray far away from the group of diligent people. This is called “indolence”. Indolent people like these [stagnate] in one place, undisciplined and unwilling to move forward. These are indolent people. As practitioners, we must be especially carefully to avoid frivolous debates over the teachings.
The previous sutra passage says, “Moreover, they must not engage in frivolous debate over the various teachings”. Moreover, they must not engage in frivolous debate over the various teachings, giving rise to disputes or arguments.
The Dharma cannot be taught casually. Since we teach the Dharma, we must put it into practice. Once we experience the principles, the principles will verify the Dharma. We must be even more earnest; we must not stand around arguing with others. We can write all kinds of treatises, but if we do not advance in our conduct, we will continue to stagnate here. That would be a pity. So, we should be mindful and diligent, for our time here is painfully short. So, we must diligently advance.
The next sutra passage says, “They think of all sentient beings with great compassion, think of all Tathagatas as their kind fathers and think of all Bodhisattvas as their great teachers. To all great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, they must always reverently prostate with deep aspirations”.
This passage serves to teach us about the mind. We must clearly understand the nature of our mind. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in nature]”. I have told you this frequently in the past. We must recognize that our mind, the Buddha and the myriad sentient beings are no different [in their nature], so we should be mindful in realizing this.
The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature]. It is just that the Buddha has awakened to the truth and realized the Tathagata-Dharma. With this heart of universal compassion, He sails throughout His ocean of wisdom freely and naturally, with no obstruction.
Are we really this close to the Buddha? He was also mixed up with sentient beings, so why is it that the Buddha became enlightened and Bodhisattvas can diligently advance, yet we remain in the state of ordinary beings? We should put effort into beings mindful. This is only because the Buddha has awakened to the truth and realized the Tathagata-Dharma. This is all due to His diligence. Over the course of many kalpas, beginning dust-inked kalpas ago, [He formed] deep aspirations and cultivated the ground of His mind. We discussed this earlier. He sought unsurpassed Bodhi and [cultivated] the ground of His mind like this throughout lifetime after lifetime. This is what we must learn; we must learn from the Buddha’s aspirations.
We must take the Buddha’s aspirations as our own. How did the Buddha form aspirations? How did the Buddha diligently advance? It took Him a very long time, and He never deviated in His direction.
So, what about us? Are we diligently advancing? Are we learning from the Buddha’s aspirations? The unsurpassed path is what we must seek. So, “With this heart of universal compassion, through His individual spiritual practice, the Buddha reached the point where He became as one with sentient beings. However, as unenlightened beings, [we think], “You are you and I am me. Whatever you are experiencing, “I cannot empathize with it.” Because we cannot empathize, we make insensitive remarks in front of them. We lack this universal compassion. Doctors see patient as their own family, as if each patient were themselves. The doctor mindfully seeks to understand how to treat their illness. Nurses are the same. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are also the same. [they see] the suffering of sentient beings as their own suffering.
So, the Buddha, upon awakening, in addition to realizing the true principles Himself, took those principles among sentient beings. Sentient beings [suffer from] afflictions, from the hardships of afflictions and ignorance and toward the path of enlightenment? This is why the Buddha came to the world, His one great cause in coming to the world, to open and reveal His understanding and views for sentient beings to realize and enter. This is His heart of universal compassion, the Buddha-mind.
[With this], “He sails throughout His ocean of wisdom freely and naturally, with no obstruction”. The Buddha, with His great compassion, feels universal compassion for all sentient beings. He is one with the universe. So, His wisdom is like the ocean; it is like the ocean or like the endless void He travels freely and naturally. No matter how big or how small the vessel, He will always be able to captain it and sail on. Whether north, west, east or south, He sails “freely and naturally, with no obstruction.” His wisdom is this vast. So, “I take refuge in the Dharma and have wisdom like the ocean.” He delved deeply into the sutra treasury, so His wisdom is like an ocean. By taking refuge with the Buddha, we come to comprehend the great path. Like the empty void, [His mind] pervades all Dharma-realms and is completely free of obstructions. This is the Buddha-mind, the Buddha’s wisdom. So, “They think of all sentient beings with great compassion. This is the Buddha’s enlightenment, his mind one with the universe and one with sentient beings.
They think of all sentient beings with great compassion: When Bodhisattvas start learning the Bodhi-path of the One Vehicle, they give rise to thoughts of great compassion. However, they have yet to actually put this into practice, so they are unable to realize this state. Thus, He taught all sentient beings to give rise to thoughts iof universal compassion.
So, “When Bodhisattvas start learning the Bodhi-path of the One Vehicle, they give rise to thoughts of great compassion. This is what Bodhisattvas learn from the Buddha. Because they have given rise to faith in the One Vehicle, they focus wholly on wholly on leaning the Buddha-Dharma. What Bodhisattvas learn in the beginning is the Bodhi-path of the One Vehicle”. This is the One Vehicle, not the Two Vehicles to practice the Great Vehicle Dharma, this Bodhi-path, they give rise to thoughts of great compassion for sentient beings. they cannot bear that sentient beings suffer.
Just look at how Living Bodhisattvas go abroad to do disaster relief. We cannot bear for anyone. We cannot bear for anyone by our side or anywhere around us to suffer from poverty or hardship. For the elderly who live alone and the sick, we provide them with long-term accompaniment. This makes us Bodhisattvas; whether people are far or near, friends or strangers, this is how we care for them. This is “giving rise to thoughts of great compassion”. However, as Bodhisattvas proceed [upon this path] despite forming initial aspirations. Some have yet to put a them into practice. [Some say], “I already know the principles! I understand them and have formed aspirations. I am headed towards the Bodhisattva-path!” But they have yet truly come down to earth and walk it and deeply immerse themselves. They have only formed initial aspirations. Since they have not yet begun to practice, they are “unable to realize this state”. They have yet to realize the state of the great Bodhi-path. Although their aspirations are firm, they have yet to put them into practice. Or they are currently undergoing this process, but have yet to accomplish this. They have yet to realize this state of mind, so they have yet to attain Buddhahood. They are now at the stage of forming aspirations or have begun to take their first steps in the process of walking the Bodhisattva-path, of “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions”. But they have yet to reach the state of perfect fruition and Buddhahood. They are not there yet.
“Thus, [the Buddha] taught all sentient beings to give rise to thoughts of universal compassion.” Though we have formed aspirations, the Buddha encouraged us to be even more diligent. Since we have formed aspirations, we should refrain from stagnating in one place. Since we have formed aspirations to practice, we must no engage in the Small Vehicle practice but hasten to form great aspirations and diligently advance onward. When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, this was the most important [concept]. Since we have formed aspirations to practice, we must give rise to great Bodhicitta.
This brings us to, “[They] think of all Tathagatas as their kind fathers.” Since the Buddha teaches and guides us, we must think of how to show our reverence for Him.
[They] think of all Tathagatas as their kind fathers: The Tathagata can bestow the teachings and bring joy to sentient beings, just like a kind father does for his sons. This is what it means to think of all Tathagatas as our kind fathers.
The Buddha is like a kind gather, He bestows the teachings upon sentient beings, hoping that they will be able to attain happiness. He is like a kind father who would do anything for his children, always hoping that his children will make something of themselves and become accomplished. Like our own father, He always wants the best for us. The Buddha hopes that Bodhisattvas will be able to attain happiness through the Dharma. [He hopes that] through unconditional giving, we will become free and at ease. As He teaches sentient beings Right Dharma through conditioned phenomena, [He hopes] we will put Right Dharma into practice. He also wanted to teach sentient beings that after putting this into practice, we must accept “unconditioned Dharma” into our pure and undefiled minds. In unconditioned Dharma lies happiness, peace, freedom and the absence of worry.
This is the great goal of the Tathagata in teaching sentient beings. We should mindfully seek to comprehend conditioned phenomena and take action in the right direction that [the Buddha] guided us toward. However, He also wanted to teach us that once we take action, we must return our hearts to the state of being free and at ease in the unconditioned Dharma. He hoped everyone would understand this Dharma, for only then can we truly [abide] in the practice of peace and joy. So, He is like a father looking after His son. [We must] “think of all Tathagatas as our kind fathers”. We must respect the Buddha as the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. Furthermore, we must think of all Bodhisattvas as our great teachers.
[They] think of all Bodhisattvas as their great teachers: Bodhisattvas take prajna as their main practice. Since the practice of prajna is the teacher of Buddhist practitioners, [the Buddha] instructed them to think of all Bodhisattvas as their great teachers.
Bodhisattvas are awakened beings. Having formed aspirations, they then proceed to put them into practice. They not only relieve sentient beings of their physical suffering, but also teach them how to rid themselves of the suffering from their mental afflictions. In this way, they are our teachers, so they deserve our respect. As for Bodhisattvas, not only must we respect them as our teachers, we must also respect them for putting all [the teachings] into practice. This is because, in their bodily conduct, they are our role models. Everything that they say, we must accept, for they are our virtuous friends. So, these Bodhisattvas, these Living Bodhisattvas, are all our teachers. “Bodhisattvas take prajna as their main practice”. This means they focus on the practice of wisdom. “The practice of prajna is the teacher of Buddhist practitioners”. Buddhist practitioners apply wisdom in their actions. People who conduct themselves wisely take the Buddha as their teacher. So, “[The Buddha] instructed them to think of all Bodhisattvas as their great teachers”. We should have faith in these Bodhisattvas. [We should accept] their actions and all the things they teach and share; we should accept it all because they are our virtuous friends and because they are our teachers who teach us how to walk the path and engage in spiritual practice.
[They take them] as their great teachers: Those on the Bodhisattva-path are our great teachers. Everything in the Saha World is a teaching for us to attain Buddhahood. Manjusri helps us attain great wisdom. Samantabhadra helps us attain great practice. Guanyin helps us attain great compassion. Earth Treasury helps us attain great vows.
So, we must take them “as our great teachers”. This means that “those on the Bodhisattva-path,” those who practice the Bodhisattva-path, are all our great teachers, our excellent virtuous friends. We discussed this before. So, “Everything in the Saha World is a teaching for us to attain Buddhahood”. We can only attain Buddhahood in this world. The Saha World is a mix of suffering and joy. Many things cause us afflictions in this world, but there are many ways to walk the Bodhisattva-path in this world. The Saha World is a teaching for us to attain Buddhahood. “Afflictions are Bodhi.” Without these worldly afflictions, how could we ever know the difference between confusion and awakening? It is because we are confused that we seek the Dharma in order to awaken ourselves. The Saha World is our training ground for attaining Buddhahood, a place where we can engage in spiritual practice. So, “Everything in the Saha World is a teaching for us to attain Buddhahood”. It is our spiritual training ground. The teachings we practice can only be attained in the Saha World. It is because of what we see and experience here that we are able to learn. Only by listening, contemplating and practicing can we succeed in precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. This is the flawless Dharma that comes from the Saha World. “Manjusri helps us attain great wisdom”. Because the Buddha-Dharma is in the world, Manjusri Bodhisattva returned to the world after attaining Buddhahood. In the Lotus Sutra, he worked together with the Buddha to bring the Lotus Sutra to fulfillment. When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, in the Chapter on the Practice of Bringing Peace and Joy, Manjusri asked the Buddha to teach about how to avoid the evils of the world, how to uphold the sutra, teach the Dharma and pass on the Buddha-Dharma. He wanted to know how to avoid the world’s evils to spread the Buddha-Dharma in peace and joy. It was Manjusri Bodhisattva who requested that the Buddha make things clearer and teach according to capabilities so that people could accept it. We should still remember this part. So, we should be grateful to Manjusri Bodhisattva for helping us attain great wisdom. Manjusri’s wisdom was such that he represents the wisdom of Bodhisattvas.
So, “Manjusri helps us attain great wisdom. Samantabhadra helps us attain great practice”. Samantabhadra, within the Lotus teachings of the Threefold Lotus Sutra, at the very end, also guided us in putting the Dharma into practice. So, “Samantabhadra helps us attain great practice. Guanyin helps us attain great compassion.” Guanyin Bodhisattva, who saves us from suffering and hardship, is in our hearts; Guanyin lives in all our hearts. In our time of need, we just need to call, “Guanyin!”
So, Guanyin Bodhisattva helps us attain great compassion, inspiring us to be like Guanyin Bodhisattva and manifest according to people’s needs. This is why Living Bodhisattvas must learn how to save and transform sentient beings universally throughout the world. Just like Guanyin Bodhisattva, they appear in times of need to help people. This is Guanyin Bodhisattva, her spirit of great compassion and spirit of great loving-kindness. This is the kind and compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva. “Earth Treasury helps us attain great vows. Until hell is empty, I will not attain Buddhahood.” His courage is such that he does not fear the suffering in the world, nor does he fear the suffering in hell. He keeps returning to hell, where people suffer the most. In places that are like hell on earth, Earth Treasury Bodhisattva will also be there. These [Bodhisattvas] serve as role models for us, so they are all our great teachers.
Actually, everything we are learning, wisdom, practice, loving-kindness and vows, we all learn from Bodhisattvas. So, we need to put our mind into taking these Bodhisattvas as our great teachers. Living Bodhisattvas are also our great teachers. So long as they live out the Dharma as good role models, they are all Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Guanyin and Earth Treasury Bodhisattva. We must have this kind of mindset and show our respect to everyone.
“If we abandon the practice of compassion, wisdom and vows, then what can give us the benefit of transforming our deviant [views]?” If we abandon the practice of compassion, wisdom and vows, then what can give us the benefit of transforming our deviant [views]? With deep aspirations and reverence, we must gather the teachings of all sages to perfect our wisdom of all Dharma. Without teachers, how will we ever be able to perfect our vows and actions?
We have been deluded and have had blind faith in the past. This is why we must learn the Bodhisattva spirit. If we lack loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, [if we lack] these practices, then how will we ever be able to transform our deviant views? When we have blind faith, it is because our world is too small. If we never go out, if we never go among people, if we never witness the world’s confusion, we cannot understand the world’s suffering. Then, we will just stay stuck in place. If we do not open our minds, we will have deviant [views] and delusions. I hope everyone opens the doors of their hearts, for it is only by going among people that we can benefit our own Bodhi-practice.
“With deep aspirations and reverence, we must gather the teachings of all sages to perfect our wisdom of all Dharma.” Our aspirations must be very deep. I spoke about this in the beginning; we must have deep aspirations. We should work hard to sow seeds and cultivate the ground of our mind. Our roots need to be deep, our faith needs to be deep and so on. Only then will we be able to have respect for all sages and Bodhisattvas and develop our wisdom. If not for these sages and Bodhisattvas who put this into practice before us, if not for these Bodhisattvas, how could we ever find a way to successfully practice our vows? Bodhisattvas are walking [this path]. We see them walking ahead of us, safely, bringing us benefits and joy. So, we can also follow them to benefit sentient beings alongside them. Once we benefit others, we also feel joyful. We should mindfully follow the people before us.
“To all great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, they must always reverently prostrate with deep aspirations.” To all great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, they must always reverently prostrate with deep aspirations: Regarding all great Bodhisattvas throughout the realms of the ten directions, they must not view them lightly, but instead must reverently prostrate to them with deep aspirations. Out of their respect for teachers, to the great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, they express reverence through their bodily actions and prostrate.
So, we must have great reverence for all great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions. This means we must never view them lightly, saying, “The Buddha-Dharma says such and such! I know, for I have read the sutra, so I understand it.” We should not just be like this. We have encountered the Buddha-Dharma, and what is contained within the sutra is so broad and vast. Just because we have read the sutra doesn’t mean that we understand its meaning. Its meaning is so broad and vast. We must very mindfully seek to understand it. To understand the sutra, we must observe how others put it into action. We cannot rely on understanding alone; we must experience it. This is the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. Remember that the True Dharma of the One Vehicle is the truth, the True Dharma, the one path. This is the one, true path that we must walk.
When it comes to the great Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, we must revere them with deep aspirations. We should never say, “Oh, I know all about them!” We need to know all about them. What kind of Bodhisattva is Manjusri? What does Samantabhadra practice? What is Guanyin Bodhisattva’s mission in this world? What is Earth Treasury Bodhisattva’s great vow? We need to understand this very well. Everything that they do is for sentient beings. This is what we must learn, and in order to learn it, we must do it.
“Out of their respect for teachers, to the great Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, they express reverence through their bodily actions.” We must put [this reverence] into action. This is reverence in action. In learning the Buddha-Dharma, we must dedicate ourselves to moving forward rather than being stuck in place. Our days are fading and time is ceaselessly flying by. Our lives are impermanent. We do not know when [the end will come]. No one knows how much longer we have. We must make the most of it, abstain from frivolous debates and never waste our time. So, to deeply resonate with the wondrous Dharma, we must earnestly establish right mindfulness, plant deep roots on the path of enlightenment. Only with deep aspirations can we realize the Buddha’s right principles and Right Dharma, step out onto the great, direct Bodhi-path and diligently advance without ever growing indolent. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
