Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Four Kinds of Dharma-Treasures (四種法寶 教理行果)
Date: September.14.2018
There are four kinds of Dharma. We must mindfully seek to comprehend them. First is “the Dharma of teachings.” Second is “the Dharma of principles”. Third is “the Dharma of practice.” Fourth is “the Dharma of fruits.” They are called “teachings, principles, practice and fruits.”
There are four kinds of Dharma. 1. The Dharma of teachings: This refers to that which is taught by all Buddhas of the Three Periods to destroy ignorance and afflictions. 2. The Dharma of principles: This refers to the meanings and principles explained in the Dharma of teachings. 3. The Dharma of practice: This refers to the practice of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom according to the principles. 4. The Dharma of fruits: This refers to the fruits realized from practicing among both the conditioned and the unconditioned.
Bodhisattvas must make vows to [help] sentient beings. It is essential that they give them teachings to transform them. This is “the Dharma of teachings.” The Dharma of teachings refers to the Dharma “taught by all Buddhas of the Three Periods to destroy ignorance and afflictions.” Because sentient beings have many afflictions, they suffer and create karma, constantly multiplying the many kinds of hardships in the world. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this.
Since we are Buddhist practitioners, in the course of learning the Buddha’s teachings, we must start from forming aspirations from [a heart] that cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer, from this heart of great compassion. This is the necessary mindset for attaining Buddhahood. So, in the course of our spiritual practice, we must make vows to destroy the afflictions and ignorance of sentient beings. We must constantly give them teachings. The Buddha comes to the world lifetime after lifetime. Throughout the past, present and future, to attain Buddhahood, He has to go through the process of destroying the ignorance of sentient beings and teaching sentient beings so that they can become free of defilement, purify their minds and awaken to the Dharma of the myriad things in the universe. This is the goal of spiritual practice, to learn the Dharma of teachings so that we can [help] sentient beings destroy all kinds of ignorance and afflictions. So, we must place great value in the Dharma of teachings.
Second is “the Dharma of principles”. In order to teach, first, we need to learn. Only once we have learned can we go on to teach. The second is the principles, which refers to “the meanings and principles explained in the Dharma of teachings.” We must learn the meanings and principles explained in the Dharma of teachings. So, we must “vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors.” There are many Dharma-doors. We must make vows to learn them so that we can learn about all things in the world, their principles, names, appearances and so on. We must clearly understand their meaning. We want to destroy humanity’s ignorance, so how can we not know the principles of the world? So, we must learn constantly. There is no end to learning! We must learn these principles in the same way. We want to teach people, so we must learn all Dharma in the world. This is called the Dharma of principles.
What about the third kind? It is “the Dharma of practice. This refers to the practice of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom according to the principles.” We are learning the Dharma, but [we do not learn by] talking about it! Though we explain it with words and teach it through language and speech there is more to it than that. We must put the teachings into practice. Sentient beings are suffering. How do they suffer? If we do not seek to understand their suffering and how they suffer, [we will not know] what it feels like to suffer. So, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas “have unconditional loving-kindness and great universal compassion.” They see all the world’s sentient beings as their family, their children or themselves. This kind of affinity is very close. They cannot bear to see sentient beings suffer. If we see all as family, children or ourselves, with such close affinities, how can we bear to see sentient beings suffer? Of course, it would be unbearable!
So, we must have “unconditional loving-kindness” and hope that all sentient beings can attain blessings, reach awakening, eliminate afflictions, destroy ignorance, attain great wisdom and fully comprehend all principles. This is what the Buddha wanted to give to all sentient beings. So, we must teach [the Dharma], understand it and put it into practice. As we put it into practice, we need to “practice according to the principles”. We must comprehend what the principles teach us; we must find a way to comprehend this. Once we comprehend it, we can put it into practice; then, we can understand the suffering among sentient beings. Where is this suffering? They are suffering, so we must devote ourselves to sentient beings in suffering and seek to understand how unbearable their conditions are. If we can understand this, naturally, we can put the teachings into practice.
10-20OK
As we put the teachings into practice, [we must cultivate] precepts, Samadhi and wisdom the Three Flawless Studies. We discussed the Three Flawless Studies for a while some time ago. “We must not let them leak away!” “Precepts” are meant to prevent us from committing transgressions with our body and mind. Do our minds, in reaction to external conditions, to people, matters and things, give rise to discursive thoughts? What about our bodies? Do [our actions] deviate in reaction to interpersonal conflicts? We must maintain constant vigilance. This is called “guarding against wrongs and stopping evils”. We must not allow ourselves to deviate in the slightest. So, with “precepts,” we must eliminate any slight deviation in order to calm our minds. When our minds are free of shame and guilt, our minds will naturally become calm. We will not deviate, do anything wrong or make any mistakes. No matter how chaotic the world is, our minds will have a steady direction. We will not feel guilty about people or matters. In this way, our minds will be calm, and from that calmness, wisdom will arise. Naturally, we will give rise to wisdom. When we are not afflicted by people’s defilements, naturally, we will see matters clearly.
Otherwise, life [can be very difficult]! We say one thing to people’s faces and malign them behind their backs. This always makes us feel guilty. We will also be fearful; if we malign someone, will they find out about it? We say such nice things to their face. “Hello! Welcome! You are very welcome here! I love being around you.” What about behind their backs? We are always looking for ways to malign others, to ostracize them. Those who understand the principles will know this as soon as they hear about it or see it. We will also feel guilt in our heats. These are imperfections in our character; we are not treating others right. We act in one way to their face and harbor other intentions behind their backs. People like this are lacking in character. These are foolish people without wisdom or Samadhi. With a mindset like this, how will we ever be able to calm our minds? This is because our body and mind have broken the precepts; we are also violating the precepts! This happens when our minds are not “straightforward”; we have not disciplined our minds well. The Bodhi-path is direct. To walk the Bodhi-path, we need a very straightforward mind. Truly, “a straightforward mind is where spiritual practice takes place.” We have discussed this kind of deceit before.
“Deceit” refers to when people act nice to our face but are dishonest behind our backs. This is breaking the rules of precepts, Samadhi, and wisdom. This is why we need to Three Flawless Studies. We must not let them leak away. We must fulfill the Dharma of teachings, principles and practice. Then, we can attain “the Dharma of fruits”. Bodhisattvas must “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions”. We must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. Once we perfect the Six Paramitas, we can realize fruition. Only then will we fulfill the qualities for attaining Buddhahood. So, this is called “the Dharma of fruits”.
We must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. “This refers to the fruits realized from practicing among both the conditioned and the unconditioned.” We must devote ourselves to [going amongst] “conditioned phenomena” in the world. Once we are free of faults, [we must relieve] sentient beings’ suffering and eliminate our interpersonal conflicts. The “unconditioned Dharma” [say that] everyone is equal. This is what we must learn. Otherwise, our minds will not be impartial. This is just like how, when we like someone more ,we want them to sit with us. [When we look at] the chair next to us, and it looks like someone else is coming, we worry that they will take the seat. So, we save this seat so that the people we like can come sit next to us. When we do not like someone, we do not want them to come close to us. This is how people are, unenlightened beings!
These are very minor actions, but the slightest deviation will take us far off course. Like this, our conduct is flawed so that we can never realize fruition completely.
So, we must be mindful of the fourfold practice. We must not be lacking in this. As for the Three Directives and Four Practices, we must constantly keep them in mind. This is because, if we can carry out “the practices of bringing peace and joy,” we will never be lacking. We will be able to bring peace to our minds, and our conduct will be very upright. We must not let any of the troubles around us entangle us. It is not other people who give us these troubles, it is we ourselves. If our minds are not “straightforward,” these troublesome matters will surely befall us.
So, “The Dharma of teachings, principles, practice and fruits guides sentient begins out of the sea of samsara to reach the others shore.” The Dharma of teachings, principles, practice and fruits guides sentient beings out of the sea of samsara to reach the other shore. All Buddhas of the Three Periods engage in spiritual practice according to this [Dharma] to eliminate all hindrances and succeed in realizing Bodhi.
This is the nature of human life. When we deviate in the slightest, our afflictions will still persist, and we will still remain on this shore, in the realm of unenlightened begins. So, how do we guide sentient beings out of the sea of samsara to reach the other shore? “All Buddhas of the Three Periods engage in spiritual practice according to this [Dharma] to eliminate all hindrances.” All past, present and future Buddhas form aspirations to engage in spiritual practice to transform all sentient beings. The path They walk is the myriad practices of Bodhisattvas. Thus, They [practice] constantly, very meticulously, constantly returning, all for the sake of sentient beings. Their very thought is on sentient beings. As they transform sentient beings, their every thought is on destroying their afflictions and relieving them of the suffering of samsara. They must eliminate these things lifetime after lifetime. This requires sentient beings to eliminate their own afflictions. Sentient beings have not eliminated afflictions; they keep traveling back and forth throughout the Six Realms. The Six Realms are the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms and, moreover, the asura realm. These are known as the Six Realms. [Sentient beings] keep coming and going because their minds are haunted [by afflictions]. How do we eliminate the afflictions in our minds and our subtle discursive thoughts? This is the work that the Buddhas of the Three Periods undertake. So, They “engage in spiritual practice according to this [Dharma]”. They engage in spiritual practice in this way. They travel back and forth to transform all sentient beings’ hindrances. To transform sentient beings’ hindrances. They must also eliminate Their own hindrances. Once They eliminate these, They can eliminate sentient beings’ hindrances. In this way, They “succeed in realized Bodhi”. They hope sentient beings can all realize this. The Buddha has attained [Bodhi]; He has finished His journey. He has engaged in spiritual practice like this, and He hopes that all sentient beings will be able to do the same, that they will also begin their spiritual practice and become “awakened sentient beings”. We are all sentient beings. As we all learn the Buddha-Dharma, we must eliminate our afflictions. With each affliction we eliminate, we grow just as much in wisdom. Each time we eliminate ignorance, our wisdom-life grows a bit. The Buddha hopes that sentient beings will gradually draw near to Him in this way. So, the Buddha revealed the Three Directives and the Four Practices. In fact, the four kinds of Dharma are manifold. Among them, there are “teachings, principles, practice and fruits”.
The principle is the same. Once we engage in spiritual practice, we can realize and comprehend them all. Only then will we be able to perfect our spiritual practice. In order to transform sentient beings, we must make vows. Didn’t we talk about this earlier? In addition to the body, speech and mind, there is also vows. This is known as “the Four Practices”. So, we must vow to make use of all kinds of Dharma. There are many teachings in the world, and we must bring them all into [our practice]. In this way, we will know everything in the world, become one with the true principles of all things in the world. There is more than just the “four” we discussed. The number four refers to how the countless teachings are divided into four kinds. There are so many. All in all, we must learn the principles of all things in the world. So, the previous sutra passage states, “Thought these people do not inquire into, have faith in or understand this sutra…”.
Though these people do not inquire into, have faith in or understand this sutra, when I attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, wherever I may be, I will use my spiritual powers and my power of wisdom to guide them and help them abide in this Dharma.
We discussed this earlier. Many people will not want to listen. Since they do want not listen, they will not know, and will thus be unable to awaken. Moreover, when they listen and fail to understand, they are afraid to ask questions. If we are unwilling to ask, our root of faith will not be deep. If our root of faith is not deep, we will never be able to fully understand the principles. We just said that we must understand all the principles of the world. We must understand them all. But if we do not inquire into them and we lack faith, then how can we understand all of the world’s many principles? This is impossible! So, we must listen and seek to understand, so that we can awaken. Then, we can become awakened sentient beings. Awakened sentient beings must constantly explore the Buddha-Dharma and the principles.
The more we explore, the more we will understand, and the deeper our root of faith will become. The deeper it goes, the more we will understand. When we comprehend the principles of the universe, we will become converge with them. Our wisdom-life will become one with the universe. We will approach the state of enlightenment. If sentient beings do not listen to or understand [this sutra], they will be unable to awaken. If they do not inquire into or have faith in it, they will be unable to understand it. These people will be unable to have faith in this sutra. The Buddha said, “When I attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi…. After I attain enlightenment, continuously, until He has attained enlightenment, wherever I may be”, no matter where He may be, “I will use must spiritual powers and my power of wisdom to guide them and help them abide in this Dharma”.
We talked about these spiritual powers. He uses His spiritual powers to spread the Dharma so that more people can understand, guiding them so that everyone can listen to it. He can guide people to understand the principles of the Dharma, guiding everyone to become awakened sentient beings. Once awakened, they willingly devote themselves to going among people to understand their afflictions and their hardships and experience their suffering. They willingly serve others to experience these things. They must experience these things, because, in the process of becoming, awakened sentient beings, they still have things they do not know. So, we must ask questions Bodhisattvas engage in myriad practices. They “learn by doing and awaken by learning”. They are learning, experiencing and awakening all the same time. So, we must understand more. We must have deep faith and understanding. So, this is the meaning of spiritual powers. We must let everyone everywhere know that we all have this power. This is not just the power of one person. We have to mobilize the strength of many people. Everyone has the same wisdom as the Buddha. Everyone has the same vast spiritual powers as Him. When one person understands this, naturally, many others will also come to understand. When one person takes action, naturally, many others will also take action. This is why the Sutra of Infinite Meanings says. “[These infinite meanings] arise from one Dharma”, which gives rise to infinity. Infinity also arises from one Dharma. A tiny seed can produce infinite things. This is the same principle as planting trees. A tree comes from a single seed. Once it grows into a great tree and matures, there will be abundant fruits. These are all seeds! The principle is the same. So, every seed has the same function.
Thus, sentient beings have the same wisdom and the same spiritual powers as the Buddha. As long as we are willing to give, our spiritual powers can penetrate everything. So, [we must use our] “power of wisdom to guide them and help them abide in this Dharma”. We need to help everyone abide in this Dharma, in these principles. Our wisdom-life must become one with all the true principles of the universe. These are the spiritual powers we discussed previously. If we see the Buddha-Dharma from this perspective learning the Dharma is not is not so difficult. These spiritual powers are inside us. We must form aspirations, we cannot be lacking [in aspirations]. We must never deviate from our aspirations, and we must maintain a clear conscience. If we feel shame, this is due to our flaws, to our shortcomings. This is the reason for our bad conscience. Only with a clear conscience can we perfect [our practice].
So, the next sutra passage continues, “Manjusri, these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, after the Tathagata enters Parinirvana, will accomplish this fourth practice. When they teach this Dharma, they will not commit any transgressions.
The fourth practice is “bringing peace and vows”. “Manjusri these people have formed Bodhisattva-aspirations.” These awakened sentient beings have formed great aspirations with awakened love. As they put them into practice, they bring peace and joy with their vows. This not a matter of this lifetime alone; in their previous lifetimes, they had these causes and conditions. In this lifetime, when these conditions ripen again, they make this same vow.
Manjusri, these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas…: Due to bringing peace and joy with their vows, they will not commit any transgressions of jealously, anger, indolence or deceit. These Bodhisattvas: These are awakened sentient beings who cultivate.
They will bring peace and joy to people no matter what king of conditions they are in, so long as they have the Three Directives, “enter the Tathagata’s room, wear the Tathagata’s clothing and sit on the Tathagata’s seat. In this way, body, speech and mind become one. So, we must make this vow. We must make this vow lifetime after lifetime. In our every thought, we must constantly heighten our vigilance so we “will not commit any transgressions of jealousy, anger, indolence or deceit”. We should not feel jealous of others, nor fear that they will get closer to the Dharma. We must do everything we can to transform them. To enter the Dharma-lineage and we must do our best to help people draw near this Dharma. Through our volunteer system and our Missions, we must quickly recruit good people; we must not be afraid. When we bring people in and help them succeed we are also helping ourselves succeed.
Tzu Chi’s Four Missions and the volunteer system within our missions [were established] to train people in going among people. So, we must treat others well. We must not give rise to jealousy or anger. We must not discriminate. It is not that others are bed; it is own mental state that [leads us to] discriminate against and reject people. It is not because they are bad. As for the people that you reject, I am certain that they are not bad people. If we reject people, we are the ones who are truly lacking. When we use our perspective to look at others’ weaknesses, it is inaccurate. Others may think it is their strengths. We are the ones who are jealous of others and criticize them for having weaknesses. This is not right. So, we must not have any jealousy or anger.
We often say that, if we do not look at a cup’s chipped edge, the whole thing will be perfectly round. Who doesn’t have flaws? If we keep magnifying peoples’ flaws, this is our own flaw.in short, we must be free of jealousy and anger. Unenlightened beings easily make such mistakes.
Next is indolence. Indolence is the greatest obstacle on our path. This is indolence. Jealousy and anger obstruct our minds. What obstructs us from entering the Tathagata’s room is indolence, it will obstruct us so that we are unable to draw near to the Tathagata’s room. We must be very vigilant of ourselves. We must not become indolent. If we cannot enter through this door, then how can we enter [the Tathagata’s] room?
So, we must delve deep into the Dharma-doors. Not only must we enter them, we must also guide others to enter them deeply. So, we must not harbor any deceit. We just discussed how we praise people to their face, welcoming them, but what do we do behind their back? We dislike them and want to exclude them. This is called “deceit”. We flatter them to their face and deceive them behind their backs. This is truly awful. So, we must not do anything like this! We should not commit any transgression of jealousy, anger, indolence or deceit. These are all known as “transgressions”.
So, Bodhisattvas cultivate aspirations toward the path of wondrous practice. Only awakened sentient beings free of such transgressions can be Bodhisattvas. Without any jealousy, anger, indolence or deceit, we will be free of all transgressions. Only then can we call ourselves Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas cultivate aspirations “toward the path of wondrous practice”. We have aspirations for the direct Bodhi-path. We must focus on what we are doing. We must single-mindedly seek to transform others. We should not exclude anyone. We must take good care of our minds. This is what it means to be an awakened sentient being. We know how to take care of our minds. This is the meaning of “awakened”. Speaking of awakened sentient beings, although we have awakened, we are still unenlightened beings. so, we are called “sentient”. [We are] sentient beings. We are sentient beings “learning to be awakened”. This means we are Bodhisattvas, “newly-inspired Bodhisattvas”. We must be very mindful.
So, “After the Tathagata enters Parinirvana, [they] will accomplish this fourth practice.” After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, [they would be] willing to bring to fruition this great compassion and “great power of vows, the fourth practice of bringing peace and joy”. We have already learned about this, the power of vows. With the power of vows, we must push aside the weaknesses we discussed earlier. Our strength lies in cultivating aspirations toward the path of wondrous practice. We must put this into practice at all times. With peace and joy, our minds will be at peace. We will not feel any guilt in our hearts, so we will feel at peace. We practice the Bodhisattva-path by putting it into action among people. Therefore, it says, “When they teach this Dharma, they will not commit any transgressions.”
When they teach this Dharma, they will not commit any transgressions: When they expound this wondrous Lotus Sutra, they will not commit any unwholesome transgressions.
If we can do this, we will teach the Dharma perfectly, without committing any transgressions. In order to transform sentient beings, we must not make any mistakes in our speech, let alone when we are teaching the Dharma. We cannot praise people to their face and then do what? Slander them behind their backs. This is also speech!
We must cultivate our karma of speech. Every word we utter creates karma, so we must be very careful. “When they expound this wondrous Lotus Sutra, they will not commit any unwholesome transgressions.” This is because people who cultivate the Bodhisattva-practice form great aspirations. We must eliminate all our transgressions. We must teach the true, wondrous Dharma with a straightforward mind.
“[They] will not commit any transgressions. This means that Bodhisattvas are compassionate. They protect, transform and guide all sentient beings, helping them ultimately abide in the Buddha-Dharma.”
Since we have formed such aspirations, naturally, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors will protect us. Although we are unenlightened beings, we have formed aspirations to teach this Dharma and practice this path, so the Dharma-protectors will come to protect us. This is like what we saw with a Tzu Chi volunteer in Venezuela, a genuine Bodhisattva, Wu Ranyun. In this very unstable society, there is inflation and constant robberies. She opened a supermarket there. Even though people robbed her too, she conducted her business with a good conscience. Other people inflate their [prices], so the poor people have no food. Now, even the rich people cannot buy anything. She sold her goods to people at a normal price. For the truly poor people, she found ways to send supplies to poor areas. But before these poor people received these supplies, she would mindfully visit their homes, going from door to door, [seeing] how each household was truly poor. Now, she takes care of more than 40 households suffering from extreme poverty or illness.
There are also 10 to 20 students that his family is taking care of. Just like that, there are Bodhisattvas there in that place. Whenever she went out, with so many robberies there, how could she distribute the supplies? They received her aid in a very orderly fashion. They lined up in a very orderly fashion. They were very orderly. Every time, the police were very proactive. They served as volunteers. Among the police, there were many male officers and female officers. They kept telling her, “If you are paying a visit to their home, I must accompany you. If you are going to give supplies, we will all come to help you”. Aren’t they like the Dharma-protectors? They followed her closely and were a great help to her; they kept her very safe. Other people’s shops were robbed and her shop had also been robbed, but during this period, ever since she started doing charity work, everyone protected her very well. This is because she truly put her heart into operating this store. When others inflated [their prices], she kept them unchanged. She did not think about gaining extra profits. She is such an honest person.
When no one had any food to eat, she distributed her goods to them. But she had to be honest with every person who came to receive these goods. She did not just talk about herself, but said, “Thanks to everyone’s recycling work, little by little, we could buy these things. You must be grateful to Tzu Chi, and to this and that person”. She [told them about Tzu Chi], starting all the way from the beginning. Every time they held a distribution, she would give this demonstration, and they would also perform a mudra bow and express their gratitude to Tzu Chi. They were grateful to Tzu Chi. They were grateful that so many people were giving through recycling work, accumulating the funds little by little to help them. She did not say, “Me! Me! This was all me!” No, she did not. She gave credit to everyone who gave. This is what Bodhisattvas do. So, very naturally, the police protected them voluntarily. This is something that really happened in today’s world. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this. “Bodhisattvas are compassionate. They protect, transform and guide all sentient beings.” Because she was doing this, of course there were very many people who came to protect her and help them. Thus, “They help them ultimately abide in the Buddha-Dharma”. Naturally, everything went smoothly. [Venezuela] is full of hardships and dangers. Every day, everyone must be very vigilant. They do not know when they will be robbed. They cannot know. But she is very much at ease. So, “Die to their meritorious practice…”. Actually, this is due to their vows to practice; it should be “Due to their vows to practice…. …no heavenly beings, humans or maras of resentment can cause them to commit transgressions, thus all heavenly beings, humans and other beings will join together to make offerings to them and safeguard them.” Whether heavenly beings, humans or maras of resentment, no one will come to hurt them or cause them to commit transgressions. They will all protect them.
Thus, “All heavenly beings, humans and other beings will join together to make offerings to them and safeguard them”. If they can put the Dharma into practice, [all these beings] will protect them well. To make offerings is to serve. They are willing to serve others. As long as we form Bodhisattva-aspirations, maintain an upright mind and upright conduct and serve with this mindset of selfless love, naturally, many people will [take action]. They will be willing to unite together with concerted effort to serve others. This is called “joining together. They will join together to make offerings.” The will come together to serve others. This is what we must do for many people to protect and support us so that many people will share the same mindset to serve sentient beings in suffering.
The next sutra passage continues, “They will always [be praised by] bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, kings, princes, ministers, citizens, Brahmins, lay people and so on.”
Everyone is familiar with this. We all know about this. These Bodhisattvas mindfully devote themselves to others, not just to ordinary people, but to bhiksus, bhiksunis, spiritual practitioners, upasakas and upasikas as well. They are all part of a spiritual community. Everyone can respond to this and unite together with the same aspiration.
In addition, there are kings, princes, ministers and people who are all willing to answer the call. Not just Buddhists but Brahmins and lay people as well will all come to answer the call. This is why we must be mindful.
We must engage in our own spiritual practice and fulfill our vow to practice. Then, naturally, many people will heed our call and join together to serve others. So, “He always teaches the fourfold assembly according to capabilities”. The Buddha does this at any time and any place; He is able to give teachings and serve others constantly. Because the Buddha-Dharma is always in the world, the Buddha-Dharma can always adapt to any capability, to any time and place. Thus, “He teaches the fourfold assembly according to capabilities”. If people do not want to listen or ask questions, the Buddha will still make vows [to teach them] at any time and place. Even after attaining Buddhahood, He continues in the same way; ever after entering Parinirvana, He does this all the same, at any time and place. The Buddha-Dharma will always abide in the world. We are now in the era of Dharma-degeneration, but the true principles are ever-abiding. As long as we awaken people’s minds, Right Dharma will abide in the minds. Their minds will all abide in the state of Buddhahood. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [ in their nature]”. The only difference lies in the mind. So, in this way, “Sentient beings are happily persuaded”. Everyone is very joyful.
Through the Dharma, they resonate with matters and principles because [the Dharma] brings matters and principles into unison and perfectly reconciles them. They will practice [ the Dharma] very joyfully.
So, the next sutra passage continues, “[These people] will make reverend offerings and respectfully praise them. All heavenly beings throughout the universe, in order to listen to the Dharma, will constantly follow and serve them”.
They will make offerings. “[These people] will make reverent offerings and “respectfully praise them”. The Buddha in His loving-kindness gave them the Dharma of Suchness.
[These people] will make reverent offerings and respectfully praise them: Because the Buddha, out of loving-kindness, gave them the Dharma of Suchness, the fourfold assembly, with diligence and sincerity and the profound, firm power of vows, use the conduct of their body, speech and mind to make reverent offerings and voice their respectful praise.
Because the Buddha [views] sentient beings as His family, His children or Himself, this Dharma will always be in the world. So, the fourfold assembly must be diligent and sincere. We must have a diligent mind, sincere thoughts and the profound power of vows. Then naturally, [people will] “use the conduct of their body, speech, mind to make reverent offerings and voice their respectful praise”. Very naturally, everyone will do this. They will make offerings through practice and voice their respectful praise.
All heavenly beings throughout the universe: This refers to all heavenly beings who pervade the realms of the universe and those below [ the heavens]. Their practice and Dharma are extraordinary, so all heavenly beings take refuge in them, revere the Dharma, safeguard the teachings, and respect the people [who teach the Dharma].
“All heavenly beings throughout the universe” refers to “all heavenly beings who pervade” the Dharma-realms of the universe. “All“ refers to all heavenly beings. Below [the heavens], there is the human world. “Their practice and Dharma are extraordinary”. We must put the teachings into practice and walk in parallel with the Dharma. “Practice” means to walk in parallel with the principles. There is no such thing as a higher Dharma or lower practice. They are parallel. So, “All heavenly beings take refuge in them”. Dharma-protectors come to safeguard the Dharma. All heavenly beings also safeguard the Dharma. “They revere the Dharma, safeguard the teachings and respect the people [who teach the Dharma]”. All heavenly beings throughout the universe come to safeguard the Dharma. So, “To listen to the Dharma, they will constantly follow and serve them”.
To listen to the Dharma, they will constantly follow and serve them: Because they want to listen to the sound of the Dharma, they will constantly follow them night and day.
By the same [principle], though we might not see any [heavenly beings], we always say that, whether we see [them] or not, we are still in the realm of sentient beings, so we should always be respectful. Whether we are reading the sutra, reciting it or walking the path, in all things that we do, people in the past said, “There are spiritual beings three inches above us”. Just three inches! This is the same principle. We cannot say that our actions go unseen or that no one knows our thoughts. Whenever we give rise to the slightest thought, these spiritual beings will sense it! So, we must have faith. The Buddha did not want us to be superstitious, so we need to have right faith. It is the same with the Buddha’s sutras. With a proper mindset and right conduct, why would we need superstitions? The principles are in our thoughts and actions. When we practice in parallel with the Dharma, how can we feel we are missing anything? We do not feel this way. So, these Dharma-protectors, “to listen to the Dharma, will constantly follow and serve them”. They are all by our side. So, “Because they want to listen to the sound of the Dharma,” night and day, they will always be by our side. So, this is the power of love. We must have faith, listen, understand, and awaken. If we do not understand, we must ask questions. We must have faith in the Buddha-Dharma, and we need to understand it very well. If we can do this, the Dharma will always be with us. The Dharma-protectors will always be by our side, so long as our mindset is proper and our conduct is right. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
