Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Seeking Medicine to Give to His Sons (依經求藥 與子令服)
Date: February.05.2019
“Following our karma, we are born into the desire realm which is full of sorrow and suffering and things that go against our wishes, yet we do not have any sense of renunciation. We give rise to greed, anger and ignorance. This is known as ‘suffering and afflictions.’ The phenomena of samsara’s sea of troubles always bring us suffering and afflictions. There is no place that is safe, stable or free of suffering. The Medicine-king knows the forms of all diseases well. He is adept at healing this world and age by giving wondrous medicine.”
We must be mindful! “Following our karma, we are born into the desire realm which is full of sorrow and suffering and things that go against our wishes, yet we do not have any sense of renunciation.” We must mindfully seek to experience this. Sentient beings are very helpless and have no control. We are born in the desire realm. With desires, we will pursue things. Our Six Roots crave the Six Dusts, and thus we give rise to the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. In this way, we suffer and continuously transmigrate.
We talked about this previously. When it comes to the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence, they begin with a thought of ignorance. This thought of ignorance comes from desire, from the desire realm. In the desire realm, we face external conditions every day. In this realm of desire, ordinary people easily give rise to discursive thoughts. We give rise to a thought that connects with the external world, and thus gives rise to pursuit and greed. Starting from there, without stopping at all in our lifetime, we create all kinds of karma out of afflictions and ignorance. Thus, we are continuously in this cycle. We are in this cycle for our whole life, up until the last day of [our life]. On the last day of our life, we will not bring anything with us except these karmic seeds. We bring the seeds of ignorance with us, so when we are reborn into this world, when we connect with the world, we are again surrounded by this desire.
In the same way, we spend this lifetime in total confusion. We still have afflictions, ignorance and karmic forces that lead to yet another lifetime. As we come and go; this sorrow and suffering is outside of our control. However, in this desire realm, have we ever been satisfied with what we seek? We have never been satisfied. When we do not have something in this lifetime, we earnestly pursue it. When we obtain it, are we satisfied? We are not, because it is still not enough. So, we keep on pursuing more. In this kind of pursuit, we will never have enough. Aren’t modern people like this? Are they satisfied with their business being successful in a certain country? Are they satisfied? They are not. Because of this business, they have causes and conditions in another country.
So, they are drawn to that country. Is it enough to have businesses in two countries? Is it enough in three countries? It will never be enough. The causes and conditions of desires continuously draw and pull people over. They will never have enough. Does everything go smoothly? That may not be the case. The process of establishing a business is always hard. After it is established, who will take care of it? Will they feel at ease? In this way, [afflictions continue to arise]. Inevitably, with each additional location, the chain of afflictions grow. The chain continues to drag us down and tightly bound us, growing longer and longer. This long chain continues to drag on. This is what “going against our wishes” means. Things do not go smoothly so that people feel satisfied and joyful and stop pursuing. People do not do that; they still feel they do not have enough.
This is called “going against their wishes.” So, they “do not have any sense of renunciation.” They have already worked so hard, yet in the same way, they do not know the goal of life. They only know that there is money to earn, that there is a corporation, that there is fame and that they can continue to expand. They keep living like this. So, “They give rise to greed, anger and ignorance.” These people are [driven by] greed. When things go against their wishes, their minds are not tranquil. They lose their temper, have afflictions and feel disturbed and so on. People are like this; this is called ignorance. This is known as “suffering and afflictions.” This is due to their boundless greed. They earn so much money, but what do they do with it? They are too busy to enjoy it. Does their family enjoy it with them? They have material enjoyment, but their minds are always empty. Their family does not feel satisfied. Do they do good deeds? “I do not have time. I am busy. I will do a little bit. Later on, I will form aspirations, and once I earn enough money, I will do many [good deeds] because doing small good deeds is not enough. It is too little. If I am to do something, I want to do a lot.” They continuously postpone it. They do not want to do good deeds. For greater things, they are unwilling to do them, saying they do not have the time or opportunities. Thus, they continuously distance themselves from the work that benefits people. Although they claim to give many people jog opportunities, those who work for them do not feel grateful [but say], “The work is very hard.” So, there are big problems between employer and employees; they are opposing each other. This way, as they seek benefits in the world, they actually cause harm. There are no benefits at all. So, this all brings suffering and afflictions. They create, directly or indirectly, afflictions and suffering in the world. In this lifetime, they can never escape samara’s sea of troubles. What they create is worldly Dharma in the world. They toil away like this; throughout their life, they are never satisfied and are always afflicted. Time still passes by, and people continue to age. In the end, they still cannot escape [the cycle of] birth, aging, illness and death. They cannot escape aging, illness and death and furthermore the impermanence of life. They may not even experience illness or aging, since life is impermanent.
If people are not vigilant in life, they will always be submerged in samara’s sea of troubles. They create negative phenomena and lack virtuous Dharma. What they create and what they have in their minds are all about earning money and taking issue over matters. They have many afflictions. Throughout their lives, they are among the phenomena of samara’s sea of troubles. They do not have the phenomena that benefits sentient beings. They always think of ways to get things for themselves. So, they suffer unbearably as they live their life without having any awareness. They then bring that consciousnesses of ignorance that is beyond their control into future lifetimes. They do not know what realm they will be born into. Whether they will be born into a rich family, a poor family or a suffering country, they do not know. They simply go following their karma. This is life.
For their entire life, they are among the suffering and afflictions of “greed, anger and ignorance” in samara’s sea of troubles in this way, their whole lifetime passes. When impermanence strikes, they are dragged along by the karmic forces of ignorance and enter their next lifetime. No one knows where they will be in their lifetime. So, this “always brings us suffering and afflictions”. In their next lifetime, we may suffer greatly. Will we suffer in hell? Or will we suffer from poverty and many disasters in life? Or will we suffer from adverse affinities within our families? We do not know. The future always brings us suffering, “Alas! I am suffering!” Or it brings us afflictions. “I am afflicted!” These things may follow us into our next lifetime, “always bringing us suffering and afflictions. There is no place that is safe, stable or free of suffering.” Perhaps, for such suffering and afflictions, we will not be able to find a place where we can avoid this suffering, these afflictions. If we do not earnestly awaken ourselves and do not know how to adjust our present life we cannot know what our future lifetime will be.
So, the Buddha appeared in the world. The Buddha is a “medicine-king [who] knows the forms of all diseases well”. He is “adept at healing this world and age by giving wondrous medicine”. We talked about this previously. Great medicine-kings not only know all sentient beings’ physical illness and pain. Furthermore, they understand this world and age, whether this age, the future age or many more ages in the distant future. Take Sakyamuni Buddha for example. More than 2500 years ago, in India, in a part of ancient India that is now Nepal during that age, there were fewer people, and their lives were simple. But at that age, people were already having inequality in their perspectives. At that time, Prince Siddhartha saw how the strong bully the weak, how the strong devour the flesh of the weak. He wondered why living begins fought with each other like this, why the strong and the weak were unequal. How was there such a great difference in people’s minds regarding rich and poor, noble and lowly? Life is full of suffering. Do the rich experience any happiness? At the end, they still cannot escape aging, illness and death. Regarding these great principles in life, [the Buddha] always felt that [wealth and status] were not what He should pursue in life. What He should pursue was the most wondrous way of looking at life. Why are human beings here? Why do we live? What is the reason for these extremes? Because of this, He left to investigate the truth principles. He [investigated] time, space and the world; He investigated [the principles of] the universe. He deeply comprehended the true principles of all things in the universe and the relationship between people and [other] beings. When it comes to the world, He thoroughly understood the relationship between space and time. This was why we say that the world at that time was so simple, the air was so fresh and all living begins had their own world.
At that time, pigs had their own living environment, dogs had their own living environment, and all other creatures had their own living environments. But the Buddha began to make predictions for the future age and world. In the universe, in the space that will form in the future, what kind of living environment will it be? He already knew that. It would be the evil world of the Five Turbidities and that there would be severe turbidities. [In that world, living begins] live in hardship. They find it difficult to sustain a living, and are unable to die even if they wanted to. This is how the conditions would be in this world. In this space, all kinds of living beings have suffered torment before they are slaughtered by people.
Most living beings are [suffering] like this. What about people? They too experience suffering. The rich have their suffering and the poor have their suffering; the healthy have their suffering and the sick also have their suffering. The way of life for the rich and the poor, for the noble and the lowly are all different. How can we change this? It can only be done by [changing] perspectives. If people’s perspectives can enter the Dharma and everyone can experience and accept the true principles, once they have the Dharma in their perspectives, they can naturally live together in harmony with different ways of life. When all living beings, both humans and animals, can live together in harmony, naturally humans and animals can be in peace. So how could it be that humans would be unable to lie peacefully with animals? They can certainly live in harmony. Naturally, space, time and people will be harmonious and orderly. People will be at peace, take joy in the path and be free of greed. Greed is always boundless. All direct and indirect, tangible and intangible damage begin with thought of greed. So, there are visible and invisible damage, and people struggle and fight with each other. How can families, society and the world be safe and peaceful in this way?
We must mindfully seek to experience that, in our life, it is just karmic forces that draw us in, causing us to have no control of our own and to constantly suffer and be afflicted all our life. We have sorrow and afflictions. We have this kind of suffering and afflictions. “I am worried! I suffer greatly!” Who can be truly joyful and at ease? This is what our whole life is like. We truly have no control of our own; this suffering is truly unbearable! Only the Great Medicine-King “understands the illness”. He knows the proper timing and the way of living in the world. We must use His Dharma in our everyday life to treat the causes of our suffering and afflictions. We must be very mindful. The world is filled with illnesses, illnesses of the mind and illnesses of society. Throughout the world, illnesses continue to arise. All sentient beings are ill. This is a metaphor. As a metaphor, [the Buddha] is using this elder, who understands the principles of medicine, the workings of the body and of illnesses. He understands all of them. He leaves his family to go to a faraway place. Then, the children in this big family “drink another, poisonous, medicine”. They are slowly poisoned. Isn’t this just like us sentient beings?
For a long time, we have departed from Right Dharma and headed toward deviant understanding, views and teachings. We keep seeking these things, pursuing our own benefit, always seeking fame, wealth and status. We think that this I honorable, so we continue to be deluded and bring suffering to our body and mind. This is affliction. In the end, [the children] become delirious and faint. This is what the sutra passage described before. The father leaves his family to go to another place. Finally, the father’s affinities with other places ends, so he returns. [His sons] “see their father from afar”.
This is what the previous sutra passage states. Seeing their father from afar, they all greatly rejoice. They bow and kneel down to greet him. “How wonderful; you returned safe and sound. We were foolish and took poison by mistake. “We hope that you will save and cure us and grant us more time to live”.
These children, his children at home, are gravely ill and in a lot of pain. For those who have not lost their original minds, upon seeing their father return, they all rejoice. “Seeing their father from afar, they all greatly rejoice”. When they see him from afar, they rejoice. As he arrives, they quickly “bow and kneel down to greet him” and say “How wonderful; you returned safe and sound to greet their father. “You had a long trip! Now you have returned! Everyone is joyful. However, we were foolish during this time. We show our remorse to our father. We were foolish and lacked wisdom, so we took poisonous medicine by mistake. We took some other, poisonous, medicine and are slowly being affected by the poison. So, now that father is back, please quickly save us! So, [they say], “We hope that you will save and cure us and give us more time to their live”. Now, they ask their father to save their lives. These are those who, although poisoned, have not yet lost their original minds. They know that their father is coming back and that this is their chance to cure their illness. They understand they must ask their father to prescribe medicine to them to cure the illness so that they can stay alive. These are those who have not been deeply poisoned, so they understand to ask their father to save their lives.
This continues in the next sutra passage. In the sutra passage, [the Buddha] says, “The father sees his sons suffering and afflicted like this. Based on the classic prescriptions, he searches for fine medicinal herbs fully replete in form fragrance and flavor. He grinds, sifts and mixes them together and gives this to his sons to take”.
The father sees that his children truly are poisoned. This is like the Buddha coming to the world and seeing sentient beings enduring so much suffering in the Three Realms. He could not bear this.
The father sees his sons suffering and afflicted like this: The Buddha sees how sentient beings endure all kinds of suffering like this in the Three Realms.
This is [an analogy for] Sakyamuni Buddha. We talked about this previously. The founder of this religion in the Saha World has repeatedly returned to this world for a long time, throughout countless kalpas. He has transformed sentient beings in this realm and in other worlds. But after transforming beings in other worlds, he again comes to this world. At this place, he discovers that these people are truly suffering hardship. Because sentient beings are stubborn and are disturbed in their minds, they constantly seek things externally and do not understand to sincerely follow the true principles. In this way, they can never truly uphold the Dharma of Samadhi. Their minds do not have a set direction. So, they are always submerged and lost in this chaotic sea of confusion. The Buddha sees the myriad sentient beings and could not bear [their suffering] Because of this, “Based on the classic prescriptions, [the father] searches for fine medicinal herbs”.
Based on the classic prescriptions, he searches for the medicinal herbs: This is following the skillful means that all Buddhas have applied. Thus, it says, “Based on the classic prescriptions” investigating the source of their illness and taming them according to the principles is “searching for fine medicinal herbs”. Seeking medicine based on classic prescriptions is a metaphor for observing capabilities and teaching accordingly.
When the Buddha sees sentient beings, He cannot bear [for them to suffer]. He must devise various methods [to help them]. So, He is like a doctor. He must quickly find a method, find medicines, see which medicine can treat which illness. “Based on the classic prescriptions, [the father] searches for fine medicinal herbs”. He searches for medicine to treat [them]. This is like “following the skillful means that all Buddhas have applied”. All Buddhas share the same path.
To treat sentient beings, They must teach according to capabilities. They must teach them with skillful means. So, this is what is meant by “based on the classic prescriptions”. Before using the medicine, [the Buddha] must first “investigate the source of [sentient beings’] illness”. He must understand the source of their illness and what illness they have. Depending on capabilities they have, He has to use certain methods. The principle is the same; He prescribes medicine according to the illness.
So, He “trains them according to the principles”. Based on their capabilities, He uses appropriate principles to teach them. This is likened to “searching for fine medicinal herbs”. He must use skillful means. This is the teachings of all Buddhas. “Seeking medicine based on classic prescriptions is a metaphor for observing capabilities and teaching accordingly”. What kind of medicine should He use? The medicine must not be too bitter. He must find a way to make it “fully replete in form, fragrance and flavor”. Regarding this medicine, [the father] has to make it so that people will joyfully accept it when they see it; it must not taste bitter when people take it and must also smell very fragrant. He must use such [methods] to help these children take it joyfully. The Buddha must also be like this, using all kind of methods so that sentient beings will be able to accept [the Dharma]. So, [the Dharma] has “the form of practice, fragrance of the path and the wonderful flavor of the Dharma-sound”.
Fully replete in form, fragrance and flavor: With the form of practice, fragrance of the path and the wonderful flavor of the Dharma-sound, it is replete with medicinal properties. This good medicine replete with wonderful form, fragrance and flavor represent the one and only wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle.
“Form” refers to the path. [The Buddha] opens a road and tells us the scenery along this road is pretty, so we should walk on it. What about the fragrance? The trees, flowers and grass planted along this road are all very fragrant. As people walk on this road, it is very tranquil. There are sounds of birds and insects. The wonderful sounds of nature attract them to walk upon this road, going toward this path. These are “the form of practice, fragrance of the path and the wonderful flavor of the Dharma-sound, which make them willing to listen to the sounds of nature”. Here “nature” represents the Dharma-sound.
This “flavor” makes them very joyful when they accept [the Dharma]. They willingly accept it with their hearts. When they take the Dharma to heart and are able to give rise to joy, they will be able to apply the Dharma to their minds. [The father] has to combine all kinds of medicine; he has to fully utilize all of them. So, it is “replete with wonderful form, fragrance and flavor”. Form, fragrance and flavor must all be wonderful so that it makes them joyful when they see it. This medicine is a metaphor for the wondrous Dharma of the One Great Vehicle. This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. When we look at the Lotus Sutra, it includes myriad forms [of teachings]. We say that it is the Great Vehicle, but it also speak s of causes and conditions and analogies as well. Similarly, in the Agama period, didn’t the Buddha speak of causes and conditions, analogies, cause and effect and so on? It is the same in the Lotus Sutra, in which [the Buddha] “opens two doors, the intrinsic and the manifest”. There is “the method of the intrinsic” that we walk about now and “the method of the manifest” that we discussed earlier. So, this is the Great Vehicle Dharma.
We must very mindfully seek to experience and comprehend it. “Form” represents “the precepts”. The Lotus Sutra also tells us to uphold precepts. As we uphold precepts, we can protect our bodies from committing wrongdoings. Among the Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy, isn’t there “bringing peace and joy with body”? If we do not commit wrongdoings with our bodies, naturally we will be satisfied with what we do with our bodies because we do not commit wrongdoings and do not deviate.
“Form” represents the precepts, which guard our body and speech. This concerns the display of coarse matters and appearances. “Fragrance” represents Samadhi, the wondrous fragrance of merit and virtue. This permeates everything. “Flavor” represents wisdom. Wisdom can help us attain the flavor of the principles. [Replete with] liberation and liberation’s understanding and views, we will enter the Fivefold Dharmakaya and become completely replete with all [five parts].
So, “form” represents the precepts. This refers to our physical form. “[The precepts] guard or body and speech.” We must not violate the precepts with our body and speech. “This concerns the display of coarse matters and appearances.” When we speak, we express thoughts in our minds. Whether our thoughts are deviant or correct whether they are good or evil, they all go through our minds and are expressed through our speech. These are “coarse matters”. They are what appears in front of people. In our speech, because of what we say, we may get into conflicts with a few words. Our relationships may be affected by a few words. There is false speech, flattery and gossip. Gossip sows discord. Once there is discord, it will result in suffering in the world. This all begins from speech. We must mindfully seek to experience and comprehend this. So, speech expresses matters and appearances, which are very coarse and apparent. When we want to do good things, we also guide [people] with our speech. We describe the right direction and express the goodness in our minds, in this way encouraging all to head toward goodness. Good and evil are all expressed with speech.
What about fragrance? “Fragrance” represents Samadhi. We must have precepts and Samadhi. Here, Samadhi is “the wondrous fragrance of merit and virtue”. “Our minds must be in Samadhi, we must not let our minds be disturbed by people.” We must be very mindful about this. If our minds are in Samadhi as we do good deeds, we will not make mistakes whether in our actions or speech, in these tangible, coarse and apparent matters. This requires our minds to be in Samadhi. If our minds are in Samadhi, naturally we will have “the wondrous fragrance of merit and virtue.” We must calm our minds to seek the Buddha-Dharma. So we permeate ourselves with all Dharma. We must always permeate our minds with it so that [we can eliminate] our deviant and let our minds now be in Samadhi. This is because we have listened to the Dharma and understand the principles. Once we clearly understand the principles naturally our minds will be free of delusions. Our minds will be in Samadhi. This is to “permeate everything [with the Dharma]”. This is cultivating our habitual tendencies our habits. We must elimination our confused and discursive habitual tendencies of the past and. The principle is the same as habitual tendencies of the past and. The principles is the same as that of permeating our minds until they are fragrant.
So, “flavor” represents wisdom. Being able to attain the flavor of the principles is wisdom, it represents wisdom. When we listen to the Dharma and listen which a calm mind, naturally the Dharma can nourish our wisdom-life, and our wisdom will then grow. So, this is the Three Flawless Studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. There was a time when we constantly said that we must not have Leaks. With precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, naturally, we be liberated from affliction and ignorance. We will not have affliction and ignorance, so naturally we will have liberation’s understanding and views. After we attain liberation, we will have the Buddha’s understanding and views. He understands the true principles of all things in the universe, both the coarse and the subtle. This is called the Fivefold Dharmakaya.
If we can do this, then [the medicine] is “fully replete in form, fragrance and flavor”. This medicine is replete with [these qualities]. No matter what kind of medicine or what kind of medicinal herbs they are, they all include [properties] that can give us precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberation’s understanding and views. We will clearly understand these and attain the Buddha’s understanding and views. This accomplishes our Dharmakaya. [We will be] replete with the Dharmakaya. Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya, with the Three Bodies, and have perfected the Four Wisdoms. This is what we must pursue. The Buddha also teaches in sequence according to capabilities. Like this, “He grinds, sifts and mixes them together and gives this to his sons to take.”
He grinds, sifts and mixes them together and gives this to his sons to take: This represents using all kinds of clever skillful means to teach this wondrous Dharma. Taming stubborn and violent people is represented by “grinding and sifting”.
Grinding and sifting means pounding and filtering. Things are coarse, this medicine is very coarse so [the father] has to take all of it and grind and pound it. Haven’t we seen in Chinese Medicine stores how people grind medicine into powder? They keep grinding it over and over again, constantly pounding it. They pound it until it is crushed and grind it until it becomes powder. Then they sift it and mix it together and make it into paste or pills so that people can take it easily and so that it smells good. In this way, we will be willing to [take it] to adjust our body and mind. This is how the Buddha is like a doctor who mindfully treats patients just like how the Buddha teaches sentient begins in the world in that era. The principle is the same.
This represents “using all kinds of clever and skillful means to teach this wondrous Dharma” to “tame stubborn and violent people”. “[This] is represented by ‘grinding and sifting.’” He must slowly pound, grind and sift to mix this medicine.
Seeking herbs based on the classic prescriptions represents observing capabilities and teaching accordingly. This good medicine replete with wonderful form, fragrance and flavor represents the one and only wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle. He grinds, sifts and mixes them together and gives this to his sons to take. This represents using all kinds of clever and skillful means to teach this wondrous Dharma.
This represents how the Buddha seeks all kinds of [methods] to use. These are like medicine; they are principles useful to sentient beings. This represents “observing capabilities and teaching accordingly.” He uses all kinds of medicines and methods to teach according to capabilities and prescribe medicine according to their illness. He uses [medicine with] wonderful form, fragrance and flavor so that people do not dislike it and are able to take it. This is “the wondrous Dharma of the One Great Vehicle.” This is called the wondrous Dharma of the One Great Vehicle.
In this Dharma of the Great Vehicle, there are all kinds of methods. The Buddha teaches them to us one by one, so we must mindfully accept them one by one to grow our wisdom-life. We must earnestly take [the Dharma-medicine]. He uses all kinds of wondrous methods to teach the Dharma so that sentient beings will be able to believe in it, to give rise to faith and understanding. This is what we must be very mindful of.
He helps sentient beings give rise to understanding through faith, practice their understanding and attain realization through practice in order to eliminate all suffering. This is a metaphor for teaching the Dharma according to capabilities.
So, we “give rise to understanding through faith.” We understand [the Dharma]. After understanding, we must put it into practice “and attain realization in order to eliminate all suffering.” We are truly suffering. In the world, we are confused and lost. We do not know why we are here nor why we have such causes and conditions. In this lifetime, we must understand these causes and conditions. As for causes and conditions, we must quickly seize good causes and conditions and be vigilant of bad causes and conditions. We cannot keep contriving negative affinities, but we should seize good causes and conditions. We must quickly eliminate negative affinities and quickly seize good affinities. Time passes by very fast! We already understand that life is impermanent. Whether it be within time, space of between people, we cannot be certain of what will happen in the next second. We do not know. Regarding the time of the outside world, we do not know when there will be wind, rain or imbalance of the earth. We do not know this either. Among people, what kind of perspectives will they have? As for others’ relationships with us, will good things or bad things happen? We do not know. In our bodies, our organs and blood continuously [function] and circulate in this way; will they circulate smoothly every second? We do not know this either. In our bodies, as our organs and blood [function and] circulate at this moment, will anything happen to them unexpectedly? No one knows. So, speaking of this, in the universe, we cannot understand space, time, interpersonal relationships or our lives.
So, we must seize time; we must seize the present moment. As for the Dharma, we must learn it quickly and put it into practice. We must heighten our vigilance. We must quickly eliminate what we must eliminate and do what we must do in time. We must seize every second. So, this is “sustaining it forever.” We must seize the moment and sustain it forever. For every moment, we must seize it forever. We must seize every moment and not let go of it. This is our perspective of time. We want to cure this time and the world, so we must also seize [our time] like this. So, the Buddha can treat the illnesses of this world and age because of [His good use of] time; He seizes every second of time, seizes the present moment. So, we must earnestly be mindful. “He helps sentient beings.” Regarding all the Dharma, He always hopes that people can believe in it and put it into practice. They “give rise to understanding and faith.” Because I have faith, I understand [the Dharma]. Because I understand [the Dharma], I must put it into practice. This is how we must, in every second, “attain realization through practice.” Because we put it into practice, we truly experience it. This is called “attaining realization through practice” “in order to eliminate all suffering.” So, there will be no afflictions or suffering. When things happen, they bring us suffering. Since things have already occurred, they bring us suffering and afflictions. We must quickly eliminate them so that suffering and afflictions will no longer continuously be around us.
So, “This is a metaphor for teaching the Dharma according to capabilities.” The Buddha comes to the world to teach the Dharma according to capabilities. So, we must always be mindful. The Buddha teaches the Dharma according to capabilities at all times. Whether it be the trees, the chirping of birds or the buzzing of insects, all the forms we see are Dharma and all the sounds we hear are Dharma. This is the true principle of the universe. When it comes to the true principles of the universe, it is up to us to experience them in nature. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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