Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Infinite Phenomena Arise From One Dharma (諸法無量 從一法生)
Date: February.25.2019
“There are infinite and countless meanings and principles. The infinite phenomena all have their own meanings and principles, thus we say that they are infinite. These infinite meanings arise from One Dharma. This One Dharma is of non-appearance. ‘Infinite meanings’ refers to infinite meanings and principles. All teachings emerge from One Dharma. Thus we say that its substance, appearance, application and meanings are infinite.”
We should be mindful and listen carefully. “There are infinite and countless meanings and principles.” Therefore, [the teachings] are called “infinite meanings”. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings [contains] teachings we regularly accept and uphold so we all need to be familiar with “infinite meanings”. All teachings are retained and contained within “infinite meanings”. As Buddhist practitioners, we must work hard to comprehend the Dharma. As for the Dharma, what exactly is the Dharma? How many teachings are there? So, here it expresses that there are infinite meanings and principles. This is called “infinite meanings”. Within every phenomenon there are countless meanings and principles, thus we talk about “infinite phenomena”. As we come and go, the principles are infinite and can [help us] comprehend the infinite meanings. Within these infinite meanings, there are infinite principles. This is quite obvious. However, although this fact is very obvious, if we were to try to talk about the principles underlying every phenomenon one by one, we would have to speak of countless principles.
This is because all principles “have their own [underlying] meanings and principles.” Within each principle there exists countless other principles as well, and this is why they are said to be “infinite”. As for “infinite meanings,” they all “arise from One Dharma.” Here, the meaning of “infinite” is that it arises from One Dharma. [Though] things are very simple in the beginning, the teachings that arise from One Dharma can explain infinite and countless meanings and principles. Take the term “Ganges’ sands” for example. ‘Ganges’ sands’ refers to the sands of the Ganges River. The grains of sand it contains are too many to count. The Buddha also said so He bent down and scraped the ground with His fingernail. [He said] “Ananda, [look at] the sand on my fingernail, can you count them grain by grain?” Ananda looked, shook his head and replied, “Buddha, these grains are so fine! How can anyone ever possibly count them one by one?” The Buddha again asked, “The sands on my fingernail are impossible to count. Is this a large amount or not?” “Yes, it is very large,” responded Ananda. “The grains of sand on your nail are already very many.” The Buddha said, “Compared to all of the sand along the banks of this river, is this amount of sand greater or is the amount of the sand on my nail greater?” We know right away what Ananda’s response was “World-Honored One! How can the amount of sand on your fingernail and the amount along the banks of the Ganges possibly be compared? Of course there is more sand along the banks of the Ganges.” The Buddha then said, “That is true! There is more sand in the Ganges, but even the sand on my fingernail is impossible for you to count. As to the Dharma, according to my understanding, there are even more teachings than grains of sand in the Ganges.”
This is because since Beginningless Time, throughout lifetime after lifetime, He has faced sentient beings, facing the afflictions and ignorance that these sentient beings have accumulated one lifetime after another. For each affliction and instance of ignorance, there must be a teaching to treat it. If we compare the teachings to afflictions, the number of afflictions [will be equal to] the number of teachings. Clearly there are many afflictions in life. The principles the Buddha awakened to encompass the entire universe. Everything, everywhere is the Dharma. It is incalculable, so it says there are “infinite phenomena” and “each have their own meanings and principles.” Thus, they are infinite.
Each phenomenon contains its own meanings and its own principles. So, infinite meanings all come from One Dharma. There are so many phenomena and so many principles, but where did they come from originally? The Buddha said that they come from one thought; they arise like this from “one”. Really, the principles are that simple. One give rise to infinity, and these infinite principles all in the end return to one. This too is quite simple. We have explained so many principles. When these many principles ultimately return to their origin, they will still become one thing, the nature of True Suchness that is intrinsic to us all. If there were no nature of True Suchness in us, how could we understand the countless principles of all things in the world? It is convergence of all these principles within the awakened nature that is inherent in every one of us that makes it possible to generate so many teachings. So, “This One Dharma is of non-appearance. ‘Infinite meanings’ refers to infinite meanings and principles.” This Dharma ultimately returns to “one,” but what does this “one” look like? What is its form? It has no appearance, just as meanings and principles have no form, substance or appearance. As I have often told everyone, this is like how each of us possesses the intrinsic nature of True Suchness. It is within each of us. Every one of us must uncover our intrinsic nature. What does our intrinsic nature look like? No one can describe what their intrinsic nature looks like. Yet it exists. Our nature of True Suchness has no substance or appearance, so it is of non-appearance. Despite it being of non-appearance, it can radiate outward infinitely. “’Infinite meanings’ refers to infinite meanings and principles.” Each principle that comes from it further generates infinite meanings and principles. There are so many [of them]. Why else would there be so many sutras to teach?
If [we extract] the teachings of every sutra, they always speak of “existence and emptiness.” How do we analyze emptiness and existence? We continuously take up these principles and analyze them. “Do you have afflictions?” “Yes, I do.” “Where are they?” “I cannot show them to you, but I do have afflictions. My mind can never settle down.” “Why is that?” “It’s because I have afflictions!” “What are they like?” “I cannot describe them.” What do these indescribable afflictions look like? If you keep on investigating them, you will find nothing there. Yet you are afflicted because of them. In the same way, ignorance arises from a single thought. If we are unable to let go, then we will experience countless afflictions. Our minds understand the principles, but what are these principles like? “They are infinite and countless.” Each person has different capabilities. So, we treat their suffering and afflictions in accordance with their capabilities so that they can resolve their afflictions and their afflictions will disappear. We keep talking about afflictions and suffering. We know in reality that someone is suffering, yet if we truly to glean the appearance of [their afflictions] from this, we will find that they lack appearance. When it comes to [things] “without appearance,” we need to take practical action to help people. Helping people is something tangible. We just need willingness, but to be willing, we first need to be convinced by many principles in order to go out and help others.
This is like our Living Bodhisattvas, the Tzu Chi volunteers. Look, every day there are so many stories about them. They serve as if it is the most ordinary thing, but this is something ordinary people cannot do. Ordinary people are not able to do these ordinary things. Without these Bodhisattvas, people would find no relief from their suffering. This is like the case of Mr. Weng in Shuangxi. He was actually only a little over 70 [in 2017], but he had completely given up on life. Why was this? His story goes back to before 2001, to the time when he went to Vietnam to bring back a bride who bore him two daughters. However, after marrying her and bringing her home, he never really felt secure. He was afraid that the wife he brought to Taiwan, after realizing his financial situation, would not like living there and would leave him. So, he kept her locked up and never let her go out on her own. The wife could not bear such a constricted a life, so even though the she had two daughters, she eventually took her daughters with her and returned to Vietnam, never wanting to return to Taiwan again. From that time on, Mr. Weng abandoned himself to despair and gave up on life. Then he had two strokes, one after the other, and also developed epilepsy. His ailments came one after another. After his strokes, he also developed epilepsy. His mobility gradually became impaired and he gave up on himself. He did not bathe and only went out once a day to buy take-out meals. He would by two meals at a time, eat his fill, and then leave the rest lying around. This went on for 10 years until his body, the place he lived in, and everywhere around him was completely buried in garbage. He did not even have space to lie down and sleep. There was a sofa, but it was piled so high with garbage that only a small space remained for someone to recline. The rest was covered with stinky garbage. No one dared go near his house; even his own uncle, who lived next door and was almost 90, could not [change] him. When neighbors passed by his house, they all said it stank so bad it was unbearable.
Because of this, the village head had no choice but to ask Tzu Chi volunteers for assistance. Tzu chi volunteers, the Faith Corp members and commissioners, always listen to suffering people’s calls for help. They never abandon sentient beings in hardship. So, they went there to help.
The village head told them, “The place stinks very bad! You should prepare yourselves!” Indeed! Even though they were prepared, wearing very thick N95 masks, the odor still entered their noses. There was no avoiding it. They [entered] his house and cleaned for him. It was very filthy, yet, these Bodhisattvas are not ordinary people. They worked as though this were the most ordinary thing. They cleaned for him with this mindset. They spent an entire day cleaning out everything inside. The entire courtyard was full of [garbage]. No one could imagine how full the space was of excrement, urine and so. It was impossible to describe. Such an accumulation of garbage, filth and even human excrement and urine were all there inside the house. I saw among our Faith Corp members there were some who were elderly. The middle-aged and elderly were all willing to go and clean for him. In this way, with great effort, they helped him scrub, clean and sweep his place. That was how that case began.
After a period of time, five or six people went together to call on him again. They brought him things and cleaned some more for him. They went many times to visit over the next month, but however much they encouraged him, however much they instructed him, none of it did any good. He just became more and more sluggish, reacting more and more slowly. They cared for him for over 10 years, and they all thought, “This is impossible. Maybe it would be better to commit him to a nursing home, to an institution”. They had to get him to consent to this. They solicited his consent time and again, every time when they went there to clean. Whether to bathe him or to clean his place, they always tried to get his consent. Finally, one day, they brought this up to him again, mentioning all the good reasons for going there, and they even promised him, “We will visit you more often”. They tried all this to communicate with him. Though he did not directly reply, he began nodding his head in agreement. This made everyone very happy. His uncle was happy and the village head was happy. All his neighbors were also happy. But there were certain procedures to be done. What had to be done? They had to bring him out for a physical exam to check if he was physically healthy or if he had any illnesses. Tzu Chi volunteers again came to clean him up before accompanying him to the hospital. They took him to our hospital in Xindian for a physical examination. While he was undergoing the examination, he had to wait lying on the bed. He laid on the bed while being examined. When the examination was almost over, he suddenly lost control, releasing excrement and urine on the bed. We saw how those Faith Corp members and Tzu Chi volunteers ere unafraid of the stench. The excrement was all over the floor. They helped him stand up, pulled the curtain around them, and then those Faith Corp members stripped off his clothing from head to toe, carefully wiped him down, got him cleaned, got some clean clothes and then helped him change. Then they cleaned up the mess on the floor. They completely cleaned him up. When the examination was over, they brought him home to wait while they worked on the application for the nursing home. When they went back several days later, they saw he had become completely filthy once more. After he was approved, they went to get him. They cleaned him up again, cut his hair and made him look all refreshed. Then, a group of volunteers accompanied him to the nursing home and got him settled in. This was a relief for everyone. Tzu Chi volunteers visit him regularly. Some time has passed since then. They often go to accompany him. They have documented these visits; after a month, they went to visit him again. They saw that he had become a new man. Now he can ride the elevator and even go for walks. He is very clean. When they asked him, “Are you comfortable here?” He replied, “I am very happy here”. It is as though he has become a new man. Accompanying this case for over 10 years has certainly never easy. It was a group effort.
For over 10 years, this group of Living Bodhisattvas did these ordinary things. It was ordinary for them, but not something that ordinary people could ever accomplish. It was very moving to see this. How can these be considered ordinary people? In fact, one must be a Bodhisattva to do this. So, “Infinite meanings refers to infinite meanings and principles. All teachings emerge from One Dharma. This is what the Buddha-Dharma is like. If you approach the Buddha-Dharma with sincerity, you will find so much suffering in the world. Ordinary people have no way of enduring this, especially over such a long period of time. Yet these people are willing to handle this; for one individual, this group is willing to handle these things. This group are [an example of] One Dharma; a single principle inspired them to give rise to these loving thoughts, this “unconditional living-kindness” and “universal compassion.” They formed Bodhisattva-aspirations to help others. So, “All teachings emerge from One Dharma. They accept these teachings and put them into practice. “Thus we say that its substance, appearance, application and meanings are infinite.” What does this group do this for? They do it solely for the sake of giving. When this case came to a conclusion, everyone was happy. That was all there was to it, and nothing more.
So, we should be very clear that the Dharma is there for our use, to apply among ordinary people. Actually, anyone can do it, it is just that no one will do it. So, this is why we say that ordinary things are worldly things. When people in the world accept this Dharma and go to help others, they will feel such joy. Where do these principles exist? They are actually found in our nature of True Suchness.
As for these Bodhisattvas, as I watched how this story developed, I came to deeply admire them. I prostrate myself before them! They are truly worthy of respect. They are like Guanyin Bodhisattva. When people willingly aspire [to do such things], then the world’s sentient beings have a chance to be saved. When people willingly accept this Dharma and these teachings, many people will be saved in the world. So, we should hold these Bodhisattva-practitioners in high esteem.
In the previous sutra passage, [the Buddha] says, “All those who cultivate merits and virtues, who are gentle, genuine and straightforward, will see me expound the Dharma in this place.
This group of Bodhisattvas was cultivating their merits and virtues. They were able to accept a case like that, one lasting more than 10 years. They went time and again, even though [the house] was so dirty and smelly. They could accept all of it. They were “gentle and genuine. This genuine mindset is something they expressed from inside. It is only because of their right mindfulness and unselfish love, their open-mindedness and tolerance, that the could be as gentle as they were. So, “They will all see me.” This is the Buddha-mind; they make use of the Buddha-mind, their intrinsic nature of True Suchness. Being gentle and genuine, they can do such things. This is how they demonstrate the Buddha’s heart and Buddha’s practice.
This is why He says, “They all will see me.” This “me” refers to the greater self, the Buddha’s self which is the nature of True Suchness, so He says, “They all will see me.” Stories about Bodhisattvas like these bring people joy. They teach us the Dharma; they educate us by putting the teachings into practice. Even I myself was greatly moved by this group of Bodhisattvas.
So, in the sutra [the Buddha says], “For this group, I may teach them that the Buddha’s lifespan is infinite. For those who take long to see the Buddha, I teach them that it is rare to encounter the Buddha. this is the power of my wisdom; the light of my wisdom illuminates infinitely. My lifespan extends over countless kalpas. This is only attained through long cultivation.
This is so clear! “For this group, I may teach them that the Buddha’s lifespan is infinite.” When the Buddha teaches the Dharma to sentient beings, He adapts to their capabilities. Sometimes the Buddha manifests a certain lifespan to show sentient beings that “I am just like everyone else. I was young just like everyone else. I, too, have become old. With this old age, I will eventually also leave this world, such is the nature of the human lifespan.” Yet, the Buddha also told His disciples that His lifespan “is long and infinite.” His body aged, He fell ill and in the end He entered cessation. Although this was how His body was, His true lifespan is that of the principles; returning to the principles, this lifespan is long, countless and infinite. It is intrinsic to every one of us.
For this group, I may teach them that the Buddha’s lifespan is infinite: For this group, He may teach that the Buddha’s lifespan is long and infinite to lead them to give rise to joy, respect and admiration for the Buddha. This verse clearly indicates again that those who lack the affinities will not see the Buddha, and those who have the affinities can see Him.
The Buddha’s lifespan is long and ever-lasting, for principles abide forever in people’s hearts. If we put effort into our spiritual practice and achieve realization of the Buddha’s principles, we will then discover that the principles have always been here in our hearts. So, these principles are everywhere.
Upon realizing this, sentient beings will rejoice and become happy. We are just passing through this life, but the true lifespan is intrinsic to us all. When we have the Dharma, the principles, our lifespan will be infinite. So, because of this, we must have deep “respect and admiration for the Buddha. Venerable Buddha, the principles are eternal, “We all understand the principles; the principles are forever non-ceasing and ever-lasting.”
This section of [repeated] verse help us understand the affinities that the Buddha has with sentient beings. The Buddha keeps coming to the world over and over to form good affinities with sentient beings. He does this only for the sake of having the chance to meet with sentient beings. Only by meeting with them will He have a chance to pass on the Dharma. If sentient beings had no affinities with Him, then He would never get the chance to pass on the Dharma. Only sentient beings who have blessings will be able to be born in the time of a Buddha. Only sentient beings who have blessing will be able to hear the Dharma and awaken. Only sentient beings who have blessings will be able to take the Dharma to heart and understand it. These are their affinities. When the Buddha was in the world, people witnessed the Buddha-Dharma. Now that the Buddha has entered Parinirvana, although He is no longer here, we can still accept the Buddha-Dharma as if He were still among us in the world. So, “For those who take long to see the Buddha. I teach them that it is rare to encounter the Buddha”.
For those who take long to see the Buddha. I teach them that it is rare to encounter the Buddha: For those who must advance diligently and incessantly throughout long kalpas before they can see the Buddha and hear the Dharma, He teaches that it is rare to encounter a Buddha, [This] leads them to give rise to the utmost sincerity, respect, reverence and admiration in their minds.
Truly, seeing a Buddha is never easy. It will take over 5.6 billion years before [another] Buddha appears in the world. Seeing one is very difficult! A very long time must pass. Yet so long as the Buddha’s principles remain in the world, when we see the Dharma, it is as if we are seeing the Buddha. In this way, the Buddha is present everywhere. So, they “must advance diligently and incessantly throughout long kalpas before they can see the Buddha”. We should use this time to listen to the Dharma. Listening to the Dharma is how we accumulate the karmic conditions to be born in the same era as a Buddha in the future, so we can continue walking the path to Buddhahood. To those who “hear the Dharma, He teaches that it is rare to encounter a Buddha”. He tells everyone, “It is not easy at all to meet a Buddha. For long kalpas, we must not deviate from the Dharma if we are to live in the same era as a Buddha and see the physical form of a Buddha”. This “leads them to give rise to the utmost sincerity, respect, reverence and admiration in their minds” While the Buddha is not here, the Dharma is. We must respect it. If we do not respect it, we will not take it to heart when we hear it. The Dharma is still in the world, so we should really respect the Dharma as if the Buddha were still here in the world. We should be very mindful of this. So, “This is the power of my wisdom”.
This is the power of my wisdom: The Tathagata, with His power of wisdom, teaches that [seeing the Buddha] can be easy or difficult and that [His lifespan] will be long or short. These are the skillful means He used. His wisdom and lifespan are infinite and incalculable. This is the retribution He received from engaging in various practices over a long time.
The Tathagata, through His power of wisdom, teaches that this can be easy or that it can be very difficult. The Dharma can simply be referred to as “one”. Yet when the principles spread out from “One [Dharma]” it becomes “infinite”. [He says His lifespan] “will be short or long”. Does he say it will last a short or long time? In short, it will end in this lifetime, and if long, it will last for countless asankyas of kalpas. This depends upon sentient beings’ capabilities. He teaches according to capabilities. These are all skillful means. So, “His wisdom and lifespan” are “infinite and incalculable”. This can only come from cultivating good karmic conditions over long periods of time. Only then can such wisdom and such a lifespan be attained. Only with this kind of wisdom and principles, only with the true principles, can we abide forever in the world. It also takes wisdom like this to be able to describe such principles. They are naturally “countless and infinite” and are passed down over a very long period of time. This is why we should be very mindful as we seek to comprehend the Dharma. “The light of my wisdom illuminates infinitely”. The light of my wisdom can forever illuminate the world. These are the principles.
The light of my wisdom illuminates infinitely. My lifespan extends over countless kalpas: It is from His nature that this light radiates. Due to this light, He can see the path. The light of His wisdom is infinite, and thoroughly illuminates everything. The wisdom-body and lifespan that He attains are free of limitations and last incalculable kalpas.
His lifespan lasts for infinite kalpas. This is His nature. Through our nature of True Suchness, our enlightened nature, we unite with the Dharma and the principles, joining our enlightened nature of True Suchness together with the principles. This is like when the Buddha saw the morning star. Suddenly in that moment, His inner enlightened nature came in contact with a ray of starlight, and it began to radiate. This is how this radiance began. “Due to this light, He can see the path”. Due to this light that He came in contact with, all the principles appeared before Him in their entirety. This is the path. The path before Him became very clear and opened up completely. So, “His light of wisdom is infinite”. His light of wisdom is infinite, “seeing all thoroughly and completely”. He could see from one end to the other; [this path] is very long! It is very long, but was very clear to Him. He could see all the scenery of the path clearly. There was nothing left out or obscured. All had become completely clear. His wisdom-body and the lifespan of His Sambhogakaya “are free from limitations and last incalculable kalpas”. He understands completely through His wisdom. Why is that? “This is only attained through long cultivation”.
Thus is only attained through long cultivation. Such blessings and wisdom are attained through the long cultivation of pure karma in the causal ground. The previous verse explains that He benefits all beings throughout the Three Periods.
“Over the course of many lifetimes…”. Recently, I have been using this expression, “over the course of many lifetimes,” which means lifetime after lifetime. No matter what bodily form we take, no matter what state we are born into and no matter environment we are in, we must follow the worldly conditions of our times. Whatever family we are born into, whatever our circumstances in this lifetime and whatever our karmic conditions may be, this is all determined by the karma we create along our way. So, this is what He meant by saying, “This is only attained through long cultivation”. This is just like the commissioners and Faith Corp members we just talked about. They took charge of that case and accompanied that man for more than 10 years, even as it became more difficult year by year. This is because as that gentleman got older and older, his epilepsy became worse and worse. He became less and less mobile, and less and less capable of expressing himself. His home got filthier and filthier in this way, so they continuously accompanied him, eventually reaching the point we just spoke of. Think of how gentle and genuine they are in accompanying sentient beings. Think about it, isn’t this what it means to engage in spiritual practice? So, “This is attained through the long cultivation of pure karma.” Although his place was very dirty, they devoted themselves to cleaning for him. Didn’t we just see how clean it was? These are blessings and wisdom. They cultivated these blessings and wisdom in their causal ground. They willingly accompanied him the whole way until the point at which he became stable, and his entire body brightened up. This is the practice that Bodhisattvas cultivate. The previous verse speaks of the Three Periods, the past, present and future. Ceaselessly, throughout past, present and future, throughout lifetime after lifetime, He has helped and benefited the world. ”This is only attained through long cultivation.” Everyone, indeed, the Bodhisattva-path is true and not false because it needs to adapt to the world.
People in the world are truly suffering. These are true hardships. Sentient beings each have different karmic forces. Thus, every one of us has different karma. There are so many sentient beings who suffer. This shows how the karma they have accumulated out of confusion, ignorance and afflictions is dragging them along without control of their own. So, they need Bodhisattvas. “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.” Bodhisattvas place of spiritual practice is just such a place. So, if we wish to engage in cultivation, [we must grasp] the Buddha-mind. Being willing to help others is the Buddha-mind. How can we see the Buddha? This depends on how we manifest our Buddha-mind. When we manifest our Buddha-mind by practicing the Bodhisattva-path, we are on the Bodhisattva-path. “This is only attained through long cultivation.” This is what we accomplish, the creation of blessings, virtues and wisdom. The willingness to help suffering sentient beings is our “causal ground.” Our past, present and future are all part of our “causal ground.” There is cause and effect. We are experiencing “the effect,” but what we create now is “the cause.” What we experience now, what we look like and what our lives are like, these are already “the effects.” However, whatever we are doing now is creating “causes.” Within our Three Periods there are causes and effects. The effects and causes exist throughout the past, present and future. If we can understand this principle, we will know that “one gives rise to infinity” and that “infinity arises from one.” Over countless lifetimes, how many causes and effects have we created? How did we create them? From this, we can understand the principle of “infinite meanings.” So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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