Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: He Expounds the Dharma According to Capabilities (應機說法 皆為度生)
Date: January.14.2019
“With cumulative practice and intrinsic virtue, He transforms and liberates sentient beings. He responds to all beings in accordance with their capabilities. All the Dharma He expounds has real benefits. The Tathagata transforms beings according to their kind. The intrinsic and the manifest are all for the sake of transforming beings. Thus, the sutras He expounded do not depart from this truth.”
We must be mindful as we earnestly seek to comprehend this. “Cultivate practice” [refers to] “the myriad practices of the Six Paramitras.” Ever since He initially formed aspirations, He continued to uphold these aspirations. For dust-inked kalpas over countless lifetimes, He always kept these aspirations in mind, putting them into practice. He “actualized the Six Paramitas in all actions” to transform sentient beings. From the time He formed His first aspirations as a Bodhisattva, [He practiced] for an incalculable amount of time, for dust-inked kalpas, a very long time. Why? This was all for the sake of transforming and liberating sentient beings. This transformation began with the first thought the Buddha had upon attaining enlightenment, “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in nature]”. With this thought, He discovered the true principles. Everyone is equal; all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. This is what the Buddha awakened to. He hoped that everyone would be able to understand this idea. The lives of sentient beings all possess the nature of True Suchness. We must respect ourselves and respect others. We all must have respect for all living beings. This is the great principle of life that the Buddha discovered.
Once the Buddha discovered this, all He wanted to do was teach it to everyone so they would realize and understand it. [Yet] He kept it [hidden] in His mind because sentient beings lacked the capabilities to accept it. So, over the course of 40 years, He patiently guided them, but this thought always remained inside Him. Throughout the past dust-inked kalpas, the “myriad practices” He cumulatively engaged in were all driven by this thought. Constantly, throughout lifetime after lifetime, He cumulatively engaged in these myriad practices to do good deeds. He did good deeds to benefit sentient beings. What He [gained] through this Himself was virtue. He did good deeds to serve sentient beings while also accumulating virtue Himself. We do good deeds in order to help others without expectations. However, as a matter of principle, we will naturally attain virtue in this way, this intrinsic virtue. Previously we spoke of “the manifest”. The method of the manifest is to do good deeds. What this reveals is “the intrinsic,” which all goes back to that thought. From the very beginning, dust-inked kalpas ago during the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, the 16th prince gave rise to this thought, and as a result of this thought, He manifested these appearances in the world. He said that when He attained enlightenment, it was all inseparable from this thought that all sentient beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, the nature of True Suchness. This is what connects all life as one; it is the true principles.
This is what the Buddha kept in His heart, never forgetting it throughout all this time. It was not until He was at Vulture Peak that He opened the manifest to reveal the intrinsic. “The intrinsic” is the root of virtue, the realization of the most fundamental [principle] of all life, the nature of True Suchness. All beings in the world are interconnected in this. Bodhisattvas give of themselves for the sake of the world’s sentient beings.
Therefore, they engage in cumulative practice. “Practice” refers to helping others. “Cumulative” means to do something continuously. They accumulate it very naturally, so, what returns to them is “virtue”. What they continue to practice is “goodness”. When we practice goodness, we accumulate intrinsic virtue. This is all done with a singular goal, which is to transform sentient beings to liberate themselves from afflictions, ignorance and attachments. Due to our afflictions, ignorance and attachments, we are faced with worldly matters such as the hardships caused by manmade calamities, natural disasters, interpersonal conflicts, greed, desire and so on. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this and understand its subtlest details. So, “He responds to all beings in accordance with their capabilities.” Where it says “responds to all beings” here, this does not just refer to humans. This also refers to how “all life is interconnected as one.” “Sentient beings” does not just refer to humans; this includes all beings. Thus, the Buddha comes to this world to teach the Dharma to and transform all living beings. He wants us to spread our love universally to all. Because of this, “All the Dharma He expounds has real benefits.” The Buddha comes to the world to teach the Dharma in order to benefit sentient beings. We must know how to have love for ourselves; in loving ourselves, we come to love others. For us all to love ourselves, to love others and to spread our love universally to all beings is the Buddha’s goal in expounding the Dharma. So, ”The Tathagata transforms beings according to their kind.” “According to their kind” means He does not come to the human world alone. A few days ago, we talked about how He transformed begins “during this time”.
This means the Buddha makes good use of time. When His affinities come to an end in a place, He leaves this place to go elsewhere. So, He travels throughout the Six Realms, the heaven realm, human realm, asura realm, hell realm, hungry ghost realm and animal realm. For the sake of the sentient begins of the Six Realms, He travels back and forth. Thus, “The Tathagata journeys on the Dharma of Suchness,” traveling to every realm of sentient beings to transform them according to their kind.
[He does this through] His Nirmanakaya, His Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya, which we have discussed previously. This is all part of His Dharmakaya, which transforms begins according to their kind responding to sentient begins’ different characteristics to transform them. Hence, “The intrinsic and the manifest are all for the sake of transforming beings]”. Whether it was forming His initial aspiration or revealing His manifestations throughout the Six Realms, He did this all for the sake of universally transforming all living begins. “Thus, the sutras that He expounded do not depart form this truth.” All the Buddha’s teachings [convey] these matters and principles. In accordance with sentient begins’ capabilities. He transforms them according to their capabilities and what is appropriate at the time, constantly coming and going.
The sentient beings in this world truly have many hardships to endure and experience much suffering. When their collective karma manifests, whether in the form of natural disasters or manmade calamities, there is so much collective suffering. We have seen how in the United States, in Houston, [Hurricane Harvey] was able to cause such vast and extensive damage [in August, 2017]. It was very severe. There was not only one hurricane; after that there was another one, [Hurricane] Irma. One after another, the disasters came in an unrelenting onslaught. Our Tzu Chi volunteers in the United States, the executive directors from the different regions across the US and the volunteer leads all took the initiative to gather in Texas. For over 30 days, everyone took turns, working continuously. For every [affected] area, each day, they split into groups, going out at the same time to assess the damage. When they returned in the evening, they had to comprehensively review and assess the overall situation. They continued on and on like this. Everyone worked in concert with unity, harmony and love. Once everything was organized, they again split into different teams to hold relief distributions. They held 20 to 30 distributions in total and distributed aid to over 12,000 families. This was just one part of [the process]. Over the course of 30 days, they completed this stage of the process. Were they finished? Not yet. By this stage, they had a list of names, and they could see and understand the hardships of every family. We targeted the people in hardship and provided aid to them. There were 12,000 families, almost 35,000 people. This is only the people we were able to reach and see. Throughout this process, there were many touching stories.
When we were in the city of Dickinson, the mayor was very touched. She published a formal letter to express her gratitude toward Tzu Chi. She declared that September to be “Tzu Chi Month”. Through this public declaration, she expressed her feelings in detail. She expressed that what her city received from Tzu Chi was more than just material; [Tzu Chi] also opened everyone’s hearts and settled everyone’s minds. The mayor was so considerate and mindful to publish this letter and designate that September as “Tzu Chi Month”.
There was also another city, Whaton, where they designated that October as “Tzu Chi Month”. What the mayor said was very touching. He told [our volunteer] Mr. Hsing that he will always remember us. When Stephen [Huang] said to him that they should eat more vegetarian meals, he kept this in mind. [The mayor] also wanted to encourage people to actually become vegetarians. This is also a very joyful thing. He even knew that Stephen was doing relief work in Mexico, so he very sincerely gave his best wishes to Stephen in his relief work in Mexico, hoping that his work would go safely and smoothly. This is true sincerity. This love goes beyond “I am in trouble and need your help.” It is not like vapor from a diffuser that quickly disappears. It is not like this. This place is deeply infused with love. When we went there, in addition to relief work, we also promoted vegetarianism. This mayor also voiced his support by ordering vegetarian meals. This was a genuine expression of love. There are so many touching stories. One very touching story is about a gentleman who came carrying a cash card with him. He came to express his gratitude. He did not come to receive anything from us, but said that when we were distributing aid, during the registration [period], he was evacuated to a safe place. Because the area he lived in was not yet safe to return to, the government did not allow him to return. So, he still had yet to return, and did not receive any of our aid this time. However, he came to show [us] a cash card. This card was a little older. He showed us this old card. He took it out, [saying], “Though there is no cash left on the card, I always carry it with me. I am so thankful”.
Earlier, [in 2016], there was also flooding, and Tzu Chi went to distribute these cards then too. It helped him get through the immediate hard times. So, he came to especially express his gratitude. This is called “awakened love”. As people with awakened love, wherever we go to help others, we do not just provide disaster survivors with material support and then leave. We give without expectations, but this awakened love, this ever-lasting great love will forever remain in their hearts. This is what it means to transform sentient beings. Once we show this love to them and teach them, they will keep it in their hearts. They will change their mindset and behavior and return to the right direction, harboring gratitude at all times. This is what it means to transform sentient beings.
In the previous sutra passage, [the Buddha] said, “Good men, the Tathagata observed those sentient beings who take joy in the limited teachings and have meager virtues and severe defilements. It was for these people that I said that at a young age, I left home and attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi”.
The Buddha said, “Sentient beings take joy in limited teachings. Those who take joy in limited teachings merely seek to benefit and cultivate themselves. So, the virtues they practice are meager”. We just spoke about “cumulative practice and intrinsic virtue”; we must accumulate this intrinsic goodness. However, those who take joy in limited teachings only care about themselves; they do not seek to serve sentient beings.
So, as such, their virtues are meager. The karma they accumulate from the past and its causes and conditions still remain; so, they are severely defiled. They have yet to completely eradicate their afflictions so their [negative] karmic conditions and karmic forces have yet to be eliminated. “It was for these people that I said that, at a young age, I left home”. He revealed this manifestation for these people. The Buddha revealed the manifest and also told everyone, “This is how I engaged in spiritual practice”. So, He spoke of the ideas and thoughts that led Him to leave home. He told them little stories to transform and inspire them so that they could draw near to learning the Dharma and engaging in spiritual practice.
In the next sutra passage, [the Buddha] continued, “However, I actually attained Buddhahood long before that. It is simply because I use skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings and help them enter the path to Buddhahood that I spoke this way”.
In this passage, the Buddha says, “I actually attained Buddhahood a very long time ago”. In truth, the course He took while engaging in spiritual practice each lifetime truly lasted an incalculable amount of kalpas. This is like what we were discussing previously about infinite, countless kalpas. The Buddha had taught and transformed so many sentient beings into Bodhisattvas, and they had all come to Vulture Peak. This [large] number of people caused the Bodhisattvas at the assembly to express their doubts. “How could there be so many people?” The Buddha even said that He had taught and transformed them all. Exactly how long did this take? The Buddha took dust-inked kalpas, countless, innumerable kalpas, a very long time, to teach and transform them. We discussed this previously. In truth, He taught and transformed like this in the pas just as He does in the present. “The intrinsic is actually non-arising”.
However, I actually attained…: This shows that the intrinsic is actually non-arising. [Long before] that: Just like He said in the previous sutra passage, He attained Buddhahood an extremely long time ago. It was not just in this current lifetime that He attained Buddhahood.
Because this happened before Beginningless Time, we cannot say exactly when it was. We can only say that it was dust-inked kalpas ago. Even a mathematician and his disciples cannot calculate [this time]. This is the meaning of “Beginningless Time”. He gave rise to that thought before Beginningless Time. We cannot define its limits. Therefore, “The intrinsic is actually non-arising”. In which lifetime did He do this? In lifetime after lifetime He always returns, always manifesting His Nirmanakaya according to sentient beings’ capabilities to transform them. So, “The intrinsic is actually non-arising”. Now, we are always talking about Sakyamuni Buddha. Where is He now? Only His spirit is in this world. Only the Dharma and His ideals are in the world. The Buddha’s physical body is gone from this world. [Since then], He has returned to this world many times, going back and forth. This is how it is “[Long before] that…”.
In the sutra passages we discussed before, [He taught] many analogies. “He attained Buddhahood an extremely long time ago”. It had been so long since He attained Buddhahood. It was very long ago. “It was not just in this current lifetime that He attained Buddhahood”. Did He just attain Buddhahood recently? He did not just attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. He had already attained Buddhahood in the past. This passage tells us that we cannot say when He first attained Buddhahood or which year this was; it is not possible. It has been an extremely long time. It is simply because I use skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings and help them enter the path to Buddhahood”.
Sentient beings have dull capabilities, so the Buddha had to devise skillful means to teach and transform them. He told them that His lifespan was extremely long. This is how the Buddha manifests in this world.
So, in the next passage, the Buddha continues to say, “Good men, the sutras that the Tathagata expounds are all for transforming and liberating sentient beings. I might speak of my own lives, or I might speak of others’ lives. I might manifest my own body, or I might manifest others’ bodies. I might reveal my own works, or I might reveal others’ works. All that I speak is true and not false. We must study this mindfully.
“I might speak of my own lives, or I might speak of others’ lives. I might manifest my own body, or I might manifest others’ bodies”. This repetition means we must read carefully. “I might reveal my own works, or I might reveal others’ works”. We must mindfully seek to comprehend these works. So, as the Buddha expounded the Dharma, He constantly wished to tell everyone to be mindful.
So, He called out to them again. “Good men, the sutras that the Tathagata expounds are all for transforming and liberating sentient beings”. Thus, He “expounded the Dharma” entirely “in accordance with capabilities”.
Good men, the sutras that the Tathagata expounds are all for transforming and liberating sentient beings: The Buddha simply wished to expound the Dharma in accordance with capabilities. He is like a doctor who knows the illness and prescribes medicine accordingly. Curing the illness is His priority.
The Buddha only wants to accord with capabilities. Whatever sentient beings’ capabilities are, He teaches whatever they can understand and whatever suits their capabilities so that at the opportune moment, they can apply [His teachings] whenever they need. When the timing and capabilities are right, they can comprehend and apply [the teachings]. This is [according] with capabilities.” He is like a doctor who knows the illness and prescribes medicine accordingly”. Just like a doctor, He knows when sentient beings are ill; He must prescribe medicine for those who are ill. He must understand what kind of illness they have in order to prescribe the suitable medicine.
This is how the Buddha teaches sentient beings in according with timing and capabilities. This is just like how doctors treat their patients. The Buddha expounds the Dharma just like doctors prescribe in response to the illness. The principle is the same. So, doctors treat people’s lives while the Buddha treats sentient beings’ wisdom-life. So, we must be very mindful. “I might speak of my own lives, or I might speak of others’ lives.
I might speak of my own lives, or I might speak of others’ lives: He spoke of His own lives and of how in the past causal ground, He manifested in accordance with causes and conditions. He also spoke of others’ lives when they were in the causal ground.
“He spoke of His own lives and of how in the past causal ground, He manifested in accordance [with cause and conditions]”. He had been in the past causal ground for countless kalpas. It is impossible to number all the places where He manifested in accordance with capabilities and all the sentient beings He transformed in accordance with causes and conditions. This means that in [the past causal ground], over countless kalpas and countless lifetimes, He encountered countless sentient beings and seized His causes and conditions to teach them according to their capabilities. “He also spoke of others’ lives when they were in the causal ground”. He spoke not only of Himself but also of others.
I might speak of my own lives. For example, Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of Himself, back “when He endured [the torment of] the mystic or [when He was] the 16th novice, Prince Sattva, King Sibi and so on.
King Sibe [saw] a dove came to him, and he wanted to help this dove. However, a ferocious [eagle] came “I do not want anything else you can offer. I just want the dove. I need the dove’s meat”. The king agreed “I am willing. How much meat do you need? [I will give you] as much as the dove weights”. Everyone should recognize this story; there is no need to repeat it again. In this way, the king cut off his flesh to save this dove. But no matter how much he cut off, it never matched the dove’s weight; he cut all the flesh off his body. How he bled! He did this all to save this bird’s life. This is what it means to be awakened to the interconnectedness of all life. He did not just care for himself and other humans, but for non-human lives as well. This is the meaning of great awakening. He has sacrificed Himself, enduring pain in order to save sentient beings. What He went through during that time surpasses the human capacity for endurance. This is something He went through. This is something He went through. He was also the 16th novice; it was at that time that He formed aspirations. He was also Prince Sattva, King Sibi etc. He told many stories about His own past lifetimes. Hence, He said “I might speak of my own lives”. Having lived through countless kalpas, He told so many stories in the Jataka Sutra. They are more than just stories; they are His past. He also said, “I might speak of others’ lives”. For example, He spoke of Maitreya’s past lifetimes when he was the mystic called All Luminous Wisdom.
I might speak of others’ lives: For example, He spoke of Maitreya’s past lifetime when he was the mystic called All Luminous Wisdom, and how Amitabha Buddha used to be Dharma-Treasury Bhiksu and so on.
The Buddha also spoke of Maitreya, about how he had been engaging in spiritual practice all along and will do so until he succeeds [Him] in the future. Maitreya, who will attain Buddhahood in the Saha World, have also lived through lifetime after lifetime. One of these times, he was the mystic Luminous Wisdom. the Buddha told this story as well. This is what He meant by “I might speak of others’ lives. He spoke not only of Himself, the present Buddha; He also spoke of past and future Buddhas, including how Maitreya Bodhisattva accumulated causes and conditions in the past. Also, there is Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha Buddha was also one of the 16 princes. He has now attained Buddhahood in the west. In the past, He was Bhiksu Dharma-Treasury. Sakyamuni Buddha also tole this story. He told of Amitabha Buddha’s past. These are examples of “I might speak of others’ lives. I might speak of my own [and] others’ lives. I might manifest my own body, or I might manifest others’ bodies”.
I might manifest my own body, or I might manifest others’ bodies: He taught people using the retributions received by Himself and others in their past lifetimes.
This refers to how [Sakyamuni] “and others” had met in the past. He also spoke about how He and Maitreya had practiced together in the same lifetime. Maitreya’s wisdom was greater than His own, even greater than Sakyamuni [Bodhisattva’s]. But when Sakyamuni transformed sentient beings, He formed stronger affinities with them. So, He also discussed these conditions that determined the order in which they became Buddhas. So, He also discussed the examples of “Himself and others”. The causes and conditions of their “retributions received in their past lifetimes” were all explained [by the Buddha]. He also spoke of Himself and Devadatta and the karmic affinities between them; the Buddha spoke of all of this. In addition, “I might manifest my own body”. This refers to Sakyamuni Buddha’s own body.
I might manifest my own body: Presently, He manifested the body of Sakyamuni. I might manifest others’ bodies: [This refers to] how the Buddhas from all directions manifested in the world, as well as how [Sakyamuni] opened the stupa at the Lotus Dharma-assembly to see Many Treasures Tathagata and so on.
“I might manifest my own body” He wanted to let everyone know that there are so many Buddhas in all directions. He even opened the stupa of treasures at the Lotus Dharma-assembly. During the Lotus Dharma-assembly, Many Treasures Tathagata journeyed in the stupa of treasures to arrive at the Lotus Dharma-assembly on Vulture Peak. We discussed this part quite extensively. Many Treasures attained Buddhahood long ago. He made a vow before He entered Parinirvana that He wanted His whole body to be placed in the stupa. The Buddha told this story about this past Buddha. The Buddha also told [stories] about past Buddhas.
“I might reveal my own works, I might reveal others’ works. He revealed to people all the works of the past, all the various works that He and others did”. [He spoke of] past works, His own works, and the spiritual practice of other Buddhas in the past and present, of spiritual practitioners who had attained Buddhahood and entered Parinirvana, Buddhas who lived in the past. He also [discussed] future Buddhas, such as Maitreya Bodhisattva. Whether past, present or future Buddhas, the Buddha has spoken of and revealed them all so that everyone would know about them. “He revealed to people all the various works that [They] did,” He revealed them all. So, He said, “I might reveal my own works”. He revealed how “Sakyamuni attained enlightenment, expounded the Dharma, manifested His spiritual powers and so on. I might reveal others’ works” refers to how He spoke of Medicine Buddha, of how Medicine Buddha of the east and Amitabha Buddha of the west both vowed to transform sentient beings. There was also Burning Lamp Buddha and Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. He revealed all these past Buddhas, one by one, to sentient beings. So, “All that I speak is true and not false”. Everything He said previously was completely true and free of falsehood. This was what Sakyamuni Buddha told us. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this. Everything He said in the past [was true], whether He was revealing things about Himself or talking about others, whether He spoke of the past or future, or especially of the present. It had been so long since He attained Buddhahood. The number [of kalpas] was so many; it had truly been a very long time. So, “Every single word is honest and true”. It is completely true and not false. “All that I speak is true and not false”. Therefore, His every single word is the truth. There are absolutely no falsehoods. So, “Everything that He says is truly beneficial to sentient beings”. All the Dharma the Buddha taught is beneficial to all sentient beings “and is never false speech”.
Dear Bodhisattvas, this is how we build up the power of love. We must have faith in good things. We must listen to good words and learn from good role models. We must understand that in our daily living, we must truly direct our actions toward goodness. We must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. Whether we do a great deed or contribute something very small, this is all beneficial to sentient beings. A small smile and a few gentle words are both [ways to benefit others]. We must earnestly put forth the effort; we must have the power of gentleness. We must speak so that others will understand. This is very important; we must be mindful and tactful so that people can accept and understand us. As we listen to the Dharma, we need to put it into practice in our lives. This must be done “in accordance with capabilities” and with the right timing. If the time was not right, the Buddha would not teach.
We see in the Lotus Sutra how, several times, Sariputra started to request the teachings. The Buddha still said, “Stop! Stop! Stop!” He could not teach anything if the time was not right and people were not ready. The time needs to be right and people’s capabilities need to be mature. These are the two requirements. The time we are in right now, compared to the time during the Buddha’s era, is not the same. Our present time compared to the time 50 years ago is not the same either. When is the right time to teach this sutra so that it will truly suit people, so that people will take it to heart, so that it will suit the times? This must all happen in accord with the time and [people’s] capabilities. This is why the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra so cautiously. So, as we listen to the Dharma, we must be very cautious and listen mindfully to every phrase. We must not let anything slip us by. We must always be mindful.
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