Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha Abides in the Saha World to Teach (佛居娑婆 說法教化)
Date: January.07.2019
“’Praise for the Mystery of the Lotus Sutra’ says ‘Saha’ means ‘the world of endurance.’ As Bodhisattvas benefit others in all actions and teach and transform sentient beings in peace and joy, there will be much resentment and jealousy and various hardships to oppress and afflict them. They must endure hard labor and fatigue and bear this patiently. They must uphold their vows to engage in the practices of bringing peace and joy. Thus, [the Saha world] is called ‘the world of endurance.’”
In “Praise for the Mystery of the Lotus Sutra,” there is an explanation of the word “Saha”. “Saha” means “endurance”. Our world is a place that is hard to endure. The world we live in now is known as “the world of endurance.” Thus, in the Buddha’s sutras, it is known as the “Saha World”. In this world that is so hard to endure, sentient beings experience so much suffering. Sentient beings, through no choice of their own, come here due to their karma, suffering circumstantial and direct retributions in this world that is hard to endure. We have come to reside in the place we are now by journeying upon our karma.
What about Bodhisattvas? Bodhisattvas make vows to come to “benefit others in all actions.” They come to the world because sentient beings are suffering so much. So, Bodhisattvas come to the world to dedicate themselves to going among people, so they must “teach and transform sentient beings in peace and joy.” They must go among people to actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. So, they must “benefit others in all actions.” We must cultivate the Six Paramitas ourselves. This means that we need to give of ourselves and [practice] giving, precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. We have explained these Six Paramitas clearly, but we still need to cultivate them ourselves.
So, we must practice the Six Paramitas. In our course of spiritual practice, our very first lesson is learning how to give of ourselves. This is known as [the paramita of] “giving”. There are many forms of giving. Those who have money can give money to help people who suffer from material hardship. Those with strength can give their strength to help those who are disadvantaged and unable to sustain their own living. Some people are not physically strong enough. Some need others to lend them a hand in daily life so that they will have a chance to go on living. There are all kinds of people who need our help in this world. Helping others is [the paramita of] “giving”. When we give, we give according to people’s needs. This is the first lesson a Bodhisattva learns. When we go among others to give of ourselves, we must set some standards for ourselves that we must never contravene. We must uphold the precepts. We need to have rules and self-discipline, otherwise we may be giving only out of a desire for fame or profit. If we crave worldly [things], we will expect something in return for giving. The genuine giving [practiced by] Bodhisattvas is without expectations. This is to give of ourselves with freedom and ease, with great joy and willingness. With these precepts, we will protect our minds from craving. We must uphold the precepts in order to prevent our minds from giving rise to inappropriate thoughts. We must heighten our vigilance and ask ourselves, “Have my thoughts gone off course?” If so, then we should promptly reign them in. The minds of unenlightened beings are always fluctuating; this is inevitable. So, we must uphold these precepts to guard against wrongs and stop evil; this is how we engage in self-cultivation.
Moreover, when we are among people, we must patiently endure this world. Isn’t this what the Buddha told us in the Chapter on the Practice of Bringing Peace and Joy? We need to have patience! We need to have understanding and know we must take “great compassion as the room” and “gentleness and patience as the clothing.” As we go among people, we must practice compassion and patience. So, we must patiently endure [this world]. We express our patience through our body, speech and mind. This all comes back to our vows. This is what it means to be a Bodhisattva. We have the aspiration. We sincerely wish to help others, and we are willing to do so no matter the hardship.
This is just like in the Philippines. On the 26th of September 2009, Typhoon Ketsana brought torrential rains which led to a terrible disaster. [It caused] severe flooding over vast areas, affecting over four million people. Three days later, Tzu Chi volunteers began to mobilize. For three days, the waters remained high and receded very slowly, so it was only after three days that there were places they could visit. Wherever there was dry land, Tzu Chi volunteers left their footprints there. Tzu Chi mobilized teams to begin to assess the disaster. They found that medical clinics were needed, so they immediately began to mobilize clinics. Not only did they set up clinics, they also prepared hot food and supplied meals. When I think back to that time, I do not know where their strength came from. They took action so quickly. As the water gradually receded, they broadened the scope of their disaster assessment. They came to understand that the disaster situation was in fact very severe. Every house [was affected]. Some were flooded almost up to the ceiling, some were half-flooded, [and some] were completely under water. Four million people were affected by this disaster. We quickly convened a meeting by video conference. During that meeting, I reminded them, “These people have all suffered from the disaster. They have no one to help them clean the [muddy] things out of their homes, and after moving things outside, there is no one to help clean them. Everything is covered in mud. What can we do about this?”
In any case, no one could clean their own house just by themselves. Most people would be unable to do this. There was no one who could help them clean, so what could be done? I could only advise everyone to set up a Cash for Relief program. If everyone pooled their strength, if all of the disaster survivors worked with concerted effort, they could go around cleaning everyone’s houses. In a quick and systematic manner.
At the beginning, everyone thought, “Can this method actually work?” If not, if everyone were to separately clean their own house, it would really be too much for them. How could they clean their homes all by themselves? They were completely filled with mud! How could they carry out their things? It would be better to find laborers. But where would they find laborers? They were all laborers! Their lives had been full of hardship to begin with. So, although it was difficult, we provided three meals a day for them to eat. We made sure they had food to eat and money they could earn and that everyone was mobilized. We started out like this with 800 people, with the numbers increasing daily. During the 18 days of cleaning, the amount of manpower continuously increased. Over the course of those 18 days, [the participants] did 84,830 work shifts. Because it was a Cash for Relief program, not only did they receive wages and food to eat, they could also get their houses cleaned. Everyone was willing [to participate]. People of all ages joined in. Whole families and people of all ages joined in to earn money and clean. We had originally come to do disaster relief, but where would we have even started? It was better to lead them all to work together, gathering everyone together to clean the streets in a systematic manner from one end to the other. In this way, they cleaned up every household. Eighteen days later, one after another, the small stores along the streets began to resume business, and since the streets were clean, the street stalls slowly opened up again.
During this period, we helped them like this. After that, we offered them constant loving care, here and there, [helping] these people in hardship. We also wished to help them [earn a living]. So, a year later, in April of 2010, we officially began a recycling program, a recycling-based Cash for Relief program. We also began to promote recycling in schools and in communities. This is how the whole recycling program was initiated in the Philippines. In [the city of] Marikina, after we helped them clean, we gradually trained people to become volunteers. For the impoverished, we continued running the Cash for Relief program to help them sustain a living. In this way, several hundred people began to undergo volunteer training. [This training] is very strict! We set [many] rules, such as abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, gambling, drugs and so forth. We kept training them like this, until at one point over 1000 people were being trained. In the end, there were more than 200 people left who were able to receive the official uniform, a grey shirt and white pants. They officially became volunteers. As volunteers, they underwent more training. They were tainted, and in a few years, they would become certified volunteers. It is true! Right now, they are becoming certified one after another! This is how Bodhisattvas deliver and transform sentient beings. This is also a transformation. As they help people, they transform them. This is “teaching and transforming sentient beings in peace and joy”. Sentient beings go through so much suffering. Since they are suffering, we must go among them. In response to their hardships. We must teach them, save and transform them, ensuring the physical safety, easing the minds and securing the livelihood for these sentient beings in hardship. This is how “Bodhisattvas benefit others in all actions” by bringing peace and joy to sentient beings and teaching and transforming sentient beings. Yet, “There will be much resentment and jealousy” and various hardships to oppress and afflict them.
The Saha World has always been like this; this is why it is called “the Saha World”. On top of natural disasters, manmade calamities and the hardships of poverty, [sentient beings’] minds are also full of so much resentment and jealousy. Some do not do [good deeds] themselves, but they resent and complain about others who try. All of these various obstacles have created so much suffering in the world. If we want to help others, we must patiently endure as we give of ourselves. Bodhisattvas must engage in the practice of bringing peace and joy, and “they must endure hard labor and fatigue and bear this patiently”. Otherwise, since disaster relief is so exhausting, since the road is so long and the work is so laborious, if we had no patience, how would we be willing to go on accompanying them and serving them? Accompanying these sentient beings in hardship, we lead them out of [suffering]. To do this well, we must patiently accompany them.
So, we must “endure hard labor and fatigue and bear this patiently”. This is the world that must be endured, and Bodhisattvas, in coming to the world, must also patiently endure it. Sentient beings create karma and suffering their karmic retributions. They suffer, and they must endure living in places where there are many disasters. So, “They must uphold their vows to engage in the practices of bringing peace and joy. Thus, [the Saha world] is called ‘the world of endurance’”.
This refers to the vows Bodhisattvas make. We must uphold our great vows, and we must engage in the practices of bringing peace and joy. We must “enter the Tathagata’s room, wear the Tathagata’s clothing” and “take emptiness as our seat”. Upholding this mindset in body, spec and mind, we must make vows to go forth, for only then will the world’s suffering sentient beings have someone to save them. Therefore, we must be able to patiently endure. So, “Saha” here means “endurance”. “The sentient beings of this land abide within the Ten Evils”.
Saha: This means “endurance”. The sentient beings of this land abide within the Ten Evils. They do not know that they must seek liberation. Their minds are inclined to create karma. Thus it is named as such.
Sentient beings in the Saha World are stubborn. They are very insistent on remaining in such an environment, in such an abominable place. They are unwilling to right their wrongs. They believe in a world where “might makes right”, where people do whatever they desire to do with evil thoughts, evil intentions and evil deeds. While they are in this kind of environment, they do not perceive it as suffering. They feel there is no need to be vigilant or to worry. They seem content to abide among the Ten Evils. Sentient beings in the Saha World are like this; this is their state of mind. When people want to do good, when people are relatively good-hearted, others will tell them, “Nice guys finish last”. We will need to endure this as well! The strong are oppressive, and the good must endure patiently. This is how the world is. They also do not know how to seek liberation. Even the good people and the vulnerable people do not know how to seek liberation, but [remain here] willingly and are happy to do so. They clearly understand the hardships involved in having a family, they clearly know that childbirth is painful, yet they have one child after another. They do this very willingly. Nothing can be done about this; this is just how sentient beings are.
There is so much suffering, and they endure it willingly. They willingly endure pain and suffering. They are willing to be tortured and tormented without ever wishing to seek liberation. This is how sentient beings are. When we look at them, we think, “Why do they need to suffer [this way]? Why don’t they try to find a way to relieve [their burdens] in this lifetime so they are not so tormented and constrained?” Since we are bound to this life, we should make the most of it, yet we must also pave the path for our next life. But they do not know how to pave the path for their future lifetimes either. This is very lamentable. “They do not know they must seek liberation.
Their minds are inclined to create karma”. The minds of unenlightened beings are inclined to willingly undertake the burden of a business, the burden of a family and the burden of afflictive emotions. They do this willingly. Because of this, we say they are willing to be in the Saha World, this world that must be endured. People’s minds are inclined to confine themselves to this and do not wish to seek liberation. Because of this, [this world] is called “Saha”.
Saha: This means “endurance”. All sentient beings must endure the Three Poisons and all kinds of afflictions. Thus it is called “the world of endurance”. It is also called the place where the Five Destinies coexist because the beings of the Nine Realms coexist here.
“Saha” can be translated as “endurance”. This place is hard to bear because sentient beings are so stubborn. So, “Sentient beings must endure the Three Poisons and all kinds of afflictions”. They willingly endure greed, anger and ignorance, harming themselves and others. They are willing to remain in this world of greed, anger and ignorance, coming and going from the Three Evil Realms. Thus it is called “the world of endurance”. They are like drug addicts. Doing drugs truly leads to suffering, yet people still do drugs nonetheless. This is like our Saha World. We know that the Saha World brings suffering, yet nevertheless, we bind ourselves to it, to these afflictive emotions.
The principle is the same. This greed, anger and ignorance will endlessly entangle us as we face all kinds of afflictions, thus this world is hard to endure. “It is also called the place where the Five Destinies coexist”. The Five Destinies are the heavenly being, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. They all coexist here. There are Nine Realms. In short, we all live together in this world. There are unenlightened beings, Bodhisattvas, spiritual practitioners, awakened beings, those who seek to benefit themselves and those who seek to also benefit others. They are all part of this world. I hope everyone understand these things clearly, as they are a very important part of the Dharma, the Dharma we must learn from the Buddha. We need to understand this place that we live in. We live in the Saha World. We abide in this world that must be endured amidst greed, anger, ignorance and afflictive emotions, amidst all kinds of afflictions within this world of endurance that is impossible to escape. In order to understand how to seek liberation, we need to understand the place we live in, and we must also understand how to liberate ourselves from this place. So, we must delve deep into the Buddha-Dharma, for we must come to understand this Saha World.
In the previous sutra passage [Maitreya] said, “’World-Honored One, those worlds would be infinite and boundless. “At that time, the Buddha told all those great Bodhisattvas, ‘All you good men, now I will clarify and proclaim this to you all.
The Buddha addressed them again, saying “All you good men, now I will clarify and explain this to you again. Suppose all these worlds, whether a dust particle is placed in them or not, are completely ground to dust. If one dust particle represents one kalpas, the time that has passed since I attained Buddhahood would surpass this number by quadrillions of nayutas of asankyas of kalpas.
This means that this took a very long time. We have spent the past few days explaining how this took Him a very long time, so everyone should recall and understand it.
In the next sutra passage, He went on to say, “Ever since then…. He had spent so much time and passed through so many worlds since He first began [teaching]. “I have always been in this Saha World, expounding the Dharma to teach and transform. In other places as well, throughout quadrillions of anyutas of asankyas of lands, I have guided and benefited sentient beings.
The Buddha had now begun to reveal this to them; He “revealed how long it had been since He attained Buddhahood”. A very long time had passed. From the passage above, we can understand how long it had been since the Buddha attained Buddhahood.
The Buddha revealed how long it had been since He attained Buddhahood. He used these numbers and His lifespan as analogies for the true principles. The analogy used to describe the kalpas since Great Unhindered Wisdom Tathagata attained Buddhahood is similar.
The Buddha had attained Buddhahood long ago. So, He used these numbers and His lifespan as analogies for the principles. Whether it is the Buddha’s lifespan, how long it lasted or the numbers used to measure it, these matters are closely connected to the principles. So, the analogy “used describe the kalpas since Great Unhindered Wisdom Tathagata attained Buddhahood” is similar.
If we still remember the time of Great Unhindered Wisdom Buddha that we discussed previously, everyone should understand this by now. In the analogy He raised, He said that He had attained Buddhahood extremely long ago He had yet to elaborate upon where He had lived for so long, so He said that He had always been in this land and in other lands. However, this Saha World is the land where His original Nirmanakaya abides. At that time, the manifest abided in the same place as the intrinsic. The only difference is the past and present time.
So, “In the analogy He raised, in the analogy He raised earlier, He had already explained a great deal about how “He had attained Buddhahood extremely long ago”. But “He had yet to elaborate upon where He had lived for so long, so He said that He had always been in this land and in other lands. He had yet to explain in detail about which places and lands He had been in. Now, Sakyamuni Buddha told them that it was “in this land”. In addition to “this land,” this Saha World, there were also other lands. This is what the Buddha started to tell them.
However, this Saha World is “the land where” His original Nirmanakaya abides”. Think back to the time of the Chapter Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, when the Buddha gathered. This means the Buddha’s original body had always remained, peaceful and unwavering, at that place, Vulture Peak. He had taught and transformed so many people, spread the principles throughout so many other worlds and helped so many Bodhisattvas attain achievements. These were all the Buddha’s many manifestations.
So, His Nirmanakaya manifests wherever there is a need. In this way, He will manifest this body anywhere to teach and transform sentient beings. thus, this is “the land where His original Nirmanakaya abides. Sakyamuni Buddha is the founder of this religion in the Saha World. As its founder in the Saha World, He made vows to always remain here to transform sentient beings. He was also able to spread His spirit and ideals to reach other lands and other world to transform sentient beings. “At that time, the manifest abided in the same place as the intrinsic. Although He “manifests” in the world, He never departs from the original spirit of the Dharma. So, the Dharma forever remains in the Saha World. The Dharmakaya forever remains in the Saha World. The Dharma of the Saha World spreads throughout infinite, countless trillions of lands. These true principles permeate every place. The Buddha abides in this Saha World, so the principles began to spread from this place to pervade all the Dharma-realms of the universe, pervading every world.
“The only difference is the past and present time”. It is just a matter of the past and present due to the changing times. [The Chinese word for] “world” [contains the character for] “time”. Time never stops; the seconds constantly flow into the past. This is the only difference. Now we call this “the present,” but as the seconds pass by, they become part of the infinite [past]. The only difference is between the past and present. From the past to the present, over the course of time, [the Buddha’s mission] to transform [sentient beings] has expanded, as all things accumulate with time.
Ever since then, I have always been in this Saha World, expounding the Dharma to teach and transform: This means He always returns to teach and transform this land without ever resting.
So, “Ever since then, from the time He first began all the way until then and onward, “I have always been in this Saha World, expounding the Dharma to teach and transform”. At this point, the Buddha said, “I have never gone anywhere else. I have only ever been here. The principles continue to spread like this. Due to my past affinities, [my Dharma] endlessly teaches and transforms. I myself have never gone anywhere; I have always been here.” He said the word “always”. Although the Dharma comes and goes, the Buddha nevertheless told them, “I have always been in this Saha World, expounding the Dharma to teach and transform. He has never gone anywhere. In coming and going the Saha World, He has taught and transformed without ever resting.
“In other places as well, throughout quadrillions of nayutas of asankyas of lands, I have guided and benefited sentient beings”. through He has never left in person and has always remained here, His ideals and principles, His Dharmakaya which responds to sentient beings’ needs, have already spread throughout all the corners of the world.
In other places as well, throughout quadrillions of nayutas of asankyas of lands, I have guided and benefited sentient beings: If He merely taught and transformed but did not spread the Dharma, this would not be great compassion. So, in other places, He also guides and benefits all sentient beings.
This is the Buddha’s Dharma. [To spread] this Dharma, He never needed to leave [this world]. Bodhisattvas will spread the spirit of this Dharma until they have taught, transformed and saved all sentient beings. By that time, it had already begun to spread universally. This is what this passage means. The Buddha has never left the Saha World, but the principles repeatedly return as they appeal to the altruistic potential of Bodhisattvas, who constantly seek to transform sentient beings. So, “If He merely taught and transformed but did not spread the Dharma, this would not be great compassion”. If we only ever sat here talking about it without ever [reaching] outward, without ever going out to serve others, it would be impossible to spread the Dharma, and this Dharma would not be the true Dharma. The Dharma must be put to use. If we do not use the Dharma, we cannot spread it. Only by using it can we spread it. Only by using it can we comprehend it. Only by comprehending it will we be able to teach it. Only by teaching it will we be able to put it into action. We must come to hear about the Bodhisattva Way. After hearing about it, we must engage in earnest contemplation and cultivation. Cultivating means putting it into practice. Those who listen to, teach and spread the Dharma must put it into practice. Where should we put the Buddha-Dharma to use? How can we use it to save others? This method entails constantly spreading the Dharma by actually saving others. This is what it means to truly teach and transform. “So, in other places, He also guides and benefits all sentient beings”. [He also does this] in other places. Although He has never left the Saha World, in other places as well, He still guides and benefits all sentient beings.
He had always been at Vulture Peak and in the other places He used to live. So why did He have to leave Gaya to seek sterna tranquility? Outside of this eternal tranquility, there is no Saha World.
“He had always been at Vulture Peak and in the other places He used to live. So why did He have to leave Gaya to seek sterna tranquility?” He has always been there, but the sutra passage says He “left the city of Gaya”. Actually, the Dharma is ever-abiding. It neither leaves nor remains. This is not a matter of leaving or not leaving, just like it does not matter if the Buddha entered Parinirvana or not, because right now, we still have Sakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma; it has spread all the way to the present. The Buddha’s Dharmakaya still abides here with us in the present. It never ceases, and it never arises. So, it does not matter when or where. He went to sit beneath a certain Bodhi-tree or attained Buddhahood in a certain place. The Buddha has always been there at Vulture Peak. What does Vulture Peak represent? It represents the place where the Great Vehicle Dharma came together, the place where He taught the Lotus Sutra. He was able to teach the Lotus Sutra and spread the Bodhisattva Way in that place. This is the place where the Buddha eternally manifests the Dharma, the Dharma-assembly where He revealed the Dharma, the One Vehicle Dharma. So, this is a place of “eternal tranquility”. It does not matter when this “tranquility” began. In fact, the mind of the Buddha is eternal. Since Beginningless Time, it has been His regular practice to come and go, back and forth. His place of spiritual practice is eternal. He always comes back to His eternal place of spiritual practice. “Outside of this eternal tranquility, there is no Saha World”. The Saha World is here as well. This is the Dharma the Buddha used to analyze life’s impermanence, suffering and emptiness and to analyze the deluded ways of humans in the world. How could He set them straight? How could He guide them toward the correct path? All the True Dharma was there in that place.
So, “The Dharmakaya connects to all Dharma-realms”. This is the nature of the Dharmakaya; neither birth, aging, illness or death can separate us from the Dharmakaya. Nothing He taught during the Agama period, Lotus period or Avatamsaka period ever deviated from the Dharmakaya. Such is the wisdom of the Buddha, for the Dharmakaya is everlasting.
The Dharmakaya connects to all Dharma-realms. The One Truth abides permanently, firm and free of any directions or boundaries. Moreover, the Buddha’s Sambhogakaya is perfectly replete with the fruit of enlightenment without any deficiencies or omissions. He is as complete as the universe and cannot be limited by a lifespan.
So, “The One Truth abides permanently”. The nature of True Suchness is intrinsic to all; it abides permanently, without beginning or end. Without beginning or end, it is always there, never born and never dying, never arising and never ceasing. “Birth and death” and “arising and ceasing” are just names; they are simply appearances. They are impermanent appearances, corporeal forms. Our genuine nature of True Suchness is permanent, thus “The One Truth abides permanently, firm and free of any directions or boundaries”. It is very firm, and it makes no distinctions between east, west, north or south, for it is everywhere the same. People may be red, black or white, but they are all the same; they are all equal in their Dharma-nature. There is no difference between east, west, north or south. So, “the Buddha’s Sambhogakaya is perfectly replete with the fruit of enlightenment”. Since forming aspirations early on in the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Buddha and actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions, He has become “perfectly replete with the fruit of enlightenment without deficiencies or omissions”. He is without deficiencies. There is nothing that He lacks. He is always the same, never moving from that place; there is nothing that is left out. So, “He is as complete as the universe”. He is truly as complete as the universe, neither increasing nor decreasing. “He cannot be limited by a lifespan”. We cannot speak about the length of His lifespan. His lifespan is already limitless.
Also, since His Sambhogakaya is as complete as the universe, how could He appear to be in or out of the Saha world, or appear to abide in the world permanently or not permanently? This is the great application of the spiritual power of the Tathagata’s Sambhogakaya, as well as the secret power of His skillful means of great compassion. He manifests them according to sentient beings’ capabilities and conditions.
“His Sambhogakaya is as complete as the universe.” The Buddha manifests in the world for us to see His circumstantial and direct retribution. When He was born in Kapilavastu in the palace as a prince, that was His direct and circumstantial retribution. When He was there and began to engage in spiritual practice, He was merely manifesting an appearance just so that we would have something to see. In fact, the Buddha spoke of how He would enter Parinirvana by the time He was 80, but actually, His Parinirvana is not cessation. He is still eternal, immortal and unceasing, for the Dharmakaya exists even now. So, “How could He appear to be in or out of the Saha world?” In fact, His Sambhogakaya is already complete. “It is as complete as the universe,” for it is one with the universe.
Is He really in the Saha World? He is not [subject to] the Saha World’s afflictive emotions or the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death, not to any of these things. He has always been like this, so pure, for this is the nature of True Suchness. So, we need not speak of whether He was in the Saha World.
He abides in the Middle Way, which has never belonged to the Saha World, yet He is the founder of this religion in the Saha World. He formed aspirations and made vows to become this religion’s founder in the Saha World, and He is also “the kind father of the Four Kinds of. Beings.” He comes here willingly, for this place is not hard to endure for Him. He willingly comes upon His vows.
[How could He] “appear to abide in the world either permanently or not permanently”? Was He born into the world to last forever? In terms of His human form, this is not the case. He has already entered Perfect Rest. Yet if He “appears to not abide permanently,” would this mean that He is really gone? Actually, the Buddha is still here. His Dharmakaya is still here; why else would we call out His name out every day? Why else would we say, every day, “The Buddha says…”. This is actually the Buddha speaking, for the Buddha lives on in the Dharma. When we accept the Buddha’s Dharma, He lives on in our hearts. So, the Buddha will never disappear, for He will remain forever in our hearts. When our minds become one with the Buddha’s mind, this is our nature of True Suchness. So, “This is the great application of the spiritual power of the Tathagata’s Sambhogakaya.” This is how the Buddha comes to the world. His Sambhogakaya to come to the world, forever returning to teach and transform sentient beings. This is His spiritual power, “the great application of [His] spiritual power.” After over 2000 years, He is still putting it to work in the hearts of sentient beings. This is “also the secret power of His skillful means of great compassion.” He uses great compassion and the wisdom of skillful means to patiently guide us sentient beings. Only in this way will He tame our stubbornness so that we will be able to accept [His teachings]. “According to… capabilities and conditions,” in accordance with capabilities and conditions, He manifested in the Saha World by being born in the kingdom of kapilavastu. This was skillful means and nothing more; this is what He has always told us. I hope everyone will mindfully delve into the Buddha-Dharma so that we may understand both time and space. Where do we live, and in what kind of environment? We must also understand this clearly. How did the Buddha manifest in this world? How did [the Dharma] spread throughout the world of sentient beings? We need to understand this as well. His spirit and ideals are everlasting. Everyone, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)