Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Four All-Embracing Virtues of Bodhisattvas (菩薩四攝 饒益眾生)
Date: March.28.2019
“As we cultivate the Bodhisattva-practice, we must engage in giving. We must also use gentle and loving speech, take actions to benefit others and work together with all kinds of people to help everyone attain peace and joy. This brings benefit to others.”
We still must mindfully seek to listen, realize and understand this. In the course of spiritual practice, it is rare to hear the Buddha-Dharma. By now, we have already heard the Buddha-Dharma and have formed aspirations. The Buddha-Dharma we choose to learn should be the Great Vehicle Dharma, the Bodhisattva-practice of the Great Vehicle. Since we have chosen the Bodhisattva-practice of the Great Vehicle, we must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. First among the Six Paramitas is “giving”. Giving is very important to the spiritual practice of a Bodhisattva. When it comes to giving, we should always seize our time, not by merely making good use of our time, but by making good use of it to give [to others]. There are many different ways to give. Talking [about the Dharma] benefits people; this is a form of giving. When we offer our labor to lighten another’s burden, this is also a form of giving. Encouraging people and helping them to be more confident is also a form of giving. There are numerous ways; in anything we do, we can help and benefit others, and we are always capable of giving of ourselves among people. Giving is something that is quite simple and easy. We can [give] at any time. We do not have to wait until we have money or anything else. We need only to engage in spiritual practice and listen to the Dharma. With the Dharma in our hearts, we can always adjust our perspective. Then, whether it be our attitude, the tone of our voice or our actions, we will always be benefiting others through the act of giving. This is an experience that anyone can achieve.
So, “We must use gentle and loving speech.” Are we able to do this? Yes, we can! It is easy to do! If we use this as a [form of] giving, it will be very easy to do. If we use this to teach others, there are many different approaches and different kinds of language we can adopt. Sometimes we need to take a very direct approach, while at other times we should be gentle, since sentient beings are so stubborn and hard to train. As there are so many stubborn sentient beings, we also need to learn what kind of language and what method [of communication] we must use; this is something we need to learn as well. Although when we are speaking, we may not pay much attention to what we say, there are in fact four kinds of [evil] karma that we can create through our speech, lying, flattery, gossip and harsh speech; there are also four of these. “Lying” is speaking false words, to say that something is true when it is not. It can also mean starting rumors, or blurting out something we aren’t sure of in order to get what we want. By distorting reality, we can disturb the minds of people in society. So, we should not go around telling lies, saying things that are not true. Lying is a truly terrible thing. To fan the winds of ignorance by saying all sorts of untrue things and telling lies that hurt others is terrible indeed! We should be very careful that we always speak the truth.
Besides lying, there is also flattery. Flattery is when you actually dislike someone, but in seeking to benefit yourself, you tell them so many nice things, saying one thing to their face and another thing behind their back. Flattery is the use of especially smooth words to win the love or favor of another for your own personal benefit. So, flattery is not speech that spiritual practitioners should use. We should always speak the truth, for everything we say should be true. When someone does something right, we should praise them. If they do something wrong, we should not just try to win their favor by saying to them, “You’ve done well, you were right; everything you did was right,” and then saying behind their back, “Actually, they did everything wrong,” criticizing them profusely behind their back. Flattery is when we tell people whatever we think they want to hear. Another kind [of karma of speech] is gossip. We sow discord by [gossiping about] the strengths and weaknesses of others, or when we tell people things that others may have said about them. This is not right. So, sowing discord through gossips is always wrong. “Harsh speech” is even worse. [Harsh speech] is a habitual tendency. Someone may clearly have wished to say something nice, but due to the bad habitual tendencies they have acquired, [they end up having to say], “I meant no harm. This is just the way I talk.”
Those around [such a person] might apologize for them by saying, “They actually mean well; it’s just that they’re a bit uncouth. That’s just the way they talk.” They might explain themselves after saying something harsh by saying, “I didn’t mean anything bad by that!” Even if someone else explains for them later, does this really make everything alright? It leaves people with a bad impression. It goes without saying that harsh speech is fundamentally wrong. If it becomes habitual, it is even worse. So, speech is truly a great art that we must mindfully seek to cultivate in ourselves. So, we must be gentle in our speech. This requires genuine cultivation, and it requires us to be truthful. We must refrain from harsh speech, gossip, lies and flattery. Our speech should always be true and gentle. We must mindfully seek to learn this.
We must “take actions to benefit others and work together with all kinds of people.” “Benefiting others” means that in whatever we do, we must never seek to harm anyone. We should benefit others, bringing them peace in body and mind and bringing them peace in life. This is the practice of benefiting others. We must “work together with all kinds of people.” When everyone does charity work, we must all “work together,” praising one another and helping one another to succeed. This is all part of benefiting others and working together. For everyone to do good deeds together, this requires wisdom. Blessings and wisdom must be practiced in parallel. We should not only emphasize that doing good deeds creates blessings. There is more to it than this. We must use our wisdom to teach and guide more and more people so that everyone can join us in doing good deeds. This is very important. So, we must teach and guide people how to benefit others. We do this through accompanying them any by teaching them what to do. This is the practice of “working together.”
This is like how, when the Buddha was in the world, will teaching sentient beings, He once led a group of bhiksus to the kingdom of Magadha where they received offerings from everyone there. One day, they all went to beg for alms, walking along the streets, and [all the locals] made offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. When the Buddha and His Sangha had received their offerings, they took their bowls and found a quiet place, a secluded grove, where they could eat. After everyone had finished eating and had sat themselves down, the Buddha began speaking to the Sangha. He told His disciples, “I have reasons for bringing us to the kingdom of Magadha at this time. The first reason is that everyone in this kingdom, from the highest rungs of society to the lowest, from the king down to the common folk, all faithfully follow the Buddha-Dharma and make offerings to the Three Treasures.
Because they aspire to create such blessings and make offerings, we have come to fulfill and guide them. We will promote the spirit of making offerings and giving, giving them a chance to give and make offerings with even more reverence in their hearts. The second reason we have come is because of the kingdom neighboring Magadha. It is a small kingdom not far from the kingdom we are in now called Kashna. The kingdom of Kashna is a very small and more remote kingdom. As they lack any education there, their minds and temperaments are wild. They are unreasonable people, prone to constant quarreling and fighting. No one yields to anyone else there. They are very unreasonable and uneducated. We came to the kingdom of Magadha this time for the purpose of going to Kashna. We will go to transform the people there, for it is only by transforming them so that they can accept the Buddha-Dharma that there will ever be any peace in that kingdom. Thus, therein lies our objective.” He explained at great lengths that they had come to open the minds of the people of Kashna and transform them. This sounded reasonable to everyone, so they said, “We are all able to accomplish this. This wild country’s greed, anger and ignorance is something that we have all personally experienced in the past. It was through accepting the Buddha’s teachings that we came to understand and realize [the principles] and change our habitual tendencies, improving ourselves so that we could start giving our love to others.
Since we have all been through this before, it will be no problem for us.” At that time, Maudgalyayana stepped forward from the Sangha. He paid his respects to the Buddha and pleaded, “Buddha, I will go first to try and understand this kingdom and its people. I believe that if I go there, I will be able to accomplish this”. He was very confident. The Buddha looked at Maudgalyayana, smiled slightly and then nodded His head. Maudgalyayana, very joyfully, disembarked for the neighboring kingdom. On his way to Kashna, he grew in confidence with every step. How hard could it possibly be to teach the people in such a remote place? He finally arrived in the kingdom of Kashna. When he was crossing the border, the first thing he saw was a woman with a kitchen knife in her hand chasing after something. What was she chasing?
Running before her was a man clutching a chicken to his chest as he fled from this women chasing after him with a knife. The very next thing that came to his attention was a fight between tow completely naked youths rolling around in the dirt fighting. Having witnessed this scene, Maudgalyayana kept walking forward. Having seen these people and their way of life, [he admitted that] they were quite wild indeed. Everyone spoke in loud voices, had rude mannerisms and so on. Eventually, Maudgalyayana reached a place where there were a lot of people. In this place full of people, they all had a crude and boorish disposition. These people saw someone who was different from themselves, who walked in a very refined manner with a smile on his face. They had never seen someone like this in their kingdom before. What was this person doing here? Moreover, he seemed to walk with a purpose, neither too fast nor too slow. Everyone stopped to watch him. As he passed by, they followed him out of curiosity. Maudgalyayana turned around to greet everyone following him, and when he reached an empty clearing, he found a place to sit down. Maudgalyayana spoke to them, saying, “I have come to your wisdom to see what your situation is like here. My goodness! You are all so crude! You are all so rough and cruel. You are doing this wrong and that wrong!” Then he pointed out some examples to them. As they listened, some remained seated, but some others stood up, and the longer they listened, the more people left. In the end, some of the more surly individuals surrounded him and started shoving him around, saying, “Who do you think you are? Where do you come from to tell us that everything we do is wrong? We’ve lived like this all our lives, and our ancestors lived like this as well. We’ve always lived like this! What could be wrong about it?” They pushed and shoved him and even tried to beat him. They quickly ran him out of the city and shut the city gates behind him. Having encountered such a setback,
Maudgalyayana returned in utter devastation. He reached the grove, and before he went to see the Buddha, Sariputra came before him and said, “Maudgalyayana, why are you so dispirited? What happened to you there?” Maudgalyayana told him what happened and how he had spoken to the people there. Sariputra said to him, “Maudgalyayana, you think you can just use your spiritual powers. Do you think you can [transform] them this way? It is not that you cannot transform everyone, it is just that your method does not work. I will go there myself”. Then he went with Maudgalyayana to see the Buddha. Maudgalyayana told the Buddha about his journey, and then Sariputra said to the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha! I will go. I am confident! I just need to apply my wisdom to teach them some discipline. I should go there to apply my wisdom and teach them some discipline. Otherwise, since they are so rude, it will be very difficult to tame them. I have confidence [in myself]”. The Buddha looked at Sariputra without either smiling or nodding, but simply remained silent. Sariputra took the Buddha’s silence for assent, and so with that, he set off. As soon as he arrived there, he too witnessed many [chaotic] scenes. When they saw Sariputra, they thought, “This one is like that guy from yesterday. What could he possibly want?” So, they followed him. Sariputra called them all to sit down and said, “Listen, human life is full of suffering. We must change our temperaments; we must change them by getting rid of our greed, anger and ignorance”. Everyone thought, “’Greed?’ What is this greed? We are just trying to get by. We don’t know what greed means. We have never been greedy we are just trying to get by. As for ‘anger’, if we cannot get what we want, we will just snatch it away from someone! If we don’t snatch it away, we will never get anything. We will never get anything if we do not struggle and fight for it. How can we do this without getting angry? We need to have a temper if we are to quarrel with others! And what is ‘ignorance’? we know we need to fight people. What’s stupid about that?!” So, it was the same [for Sariputra] as it had been for Maudgalyayana.
He returned and told the Buddha what had happened, and the Buddha just nodded His head. Next Katyayana, Venerable Kasyapa Subhuti, etc., all went one after the other, all returning with the same results. The Buddha finally began to speak, “You are still lack a way to understand the habitual tendencies of those people there”. “Now is the time for Manjusri Bodhisattva to go.” Manjusri undertook the Buddha’s mission and set off for [Kashna]. Once he arrived there, he entered [the kingdom] with a smile on his face, nodding his head and praising people, saying, “Wow, look at you catching fish by the seaside! You are so skilled! When he saw the hunters shooting their arrows, he praised them as well. Whatever trade he saw them engaged in, he just kept on praising them with a very gentle tone of voice. Then he went to see the king. The king too was very crude and wild, but Manjusri praised him as well. He praised everything about them, whether it was their fishing or hunting skills, their construction or business skills or whatever He walked throughout the entire kingdom, praising people for everything. Then, he told the king, “Your kingdom, of all the kingdoms I have been to, is the most courageous and spirited of them all. Everyone is an expert at their trade. This must be due to your brilliance as king. You have a real way of leading them.” This made the king happy, and he thought, “The reason my subjects are like this is all because of me. This makes me very happy. “Come! Listen to this person speak! This person has so much to teach us. He has visited so many other kingdoms. Come listen to what he has to say! The city’s people all began to gather together to listen to Manjusri Bodhisattva teach the Dharma. Manjusri Bodhisattva shared many of his experiences with them without ever mentioning discipline or rule. He only spoke of how earnest, successful and hardworking they were and how much they had improved their own lives. They listened to Manjusri, then praised and made offerings to him. Manjusri then told them, “You should make offerings to my master”. Then he told them about Sakyamuni Buddha saying, “Sakyamuni Buddha was once a prince.” He told them of Sakyamuni Buddha’s background, from His lavish life in Kapilavastu to how He engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood, how he had taught so many people and won the admiration of so many kings and ministers. He told them of all these things. At this time, they all yearned to see the Buddha. They implored Manjusri Bodhisattva, “Take us to meet the Buddha!” Manjusri Bodhisattva had succeeded; in a grand procession, he led the king, his ministers and all the kingdom’s people to come see the Buddha. He had completed his mission.
When the Buddha began to teach, everyone listened to the Dharma He taught and came to faithfully accept and practice it. Thus, the entire kingdom was transformed. Of course, this took quite a while, when the Buddha had won the faith of everyone [in the kingdom of Mafadha], He went to the kingdom of Kashna to transform sentient beings there. Thus, in the kingdom of Kashna, the Buddha-Dharma spread far and wide, flourishing everywhere. This all required [skillful] means. If we aspire to help others, we also need to use [skillful] means, whether we use gentle and loving speech, whether we seek to benefit others or work together to teach and transform them. We always need to use [skillful] means in order to be able to “help everyone attain peace and joy”. This way, our whole society and country will be able to attain harmony, peace and joy. This is “brings benefit to others”. It is very important. So, with every method we use, we should always be very mindful, dedicated and understanding. So, mindfulness is very important. This is what we must earnestly seek to realize.
In the previous sutra passage, [Manjusri] said, “Before each Buddha, they hang triumphant banners on jeweled poles and sing millions of verses in praise of all Tathagatas. Things such as these have never occurred before, upon hearing about the Buddha’s infinite lifespan, they all rejoice. The Buddha’s name is heard throughout the ten directions widely benefit sentient beings. It enable all beings to become replete in roots of goodness, helping them to form the supreme aspiration.
Everyone should be able to understand the story we just told from these verses. This next sutra passage says, “At that time, the Buddha told Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, ‘Ajita, if there are sentient beings who hear that the Buddha’s life span is long and extensive like this and are able to give rise to even a single thought of faith and understanding, the merits and virtues they attain will be without limits’”.
From this sutra passage, we know that it was Maitreya Bodhisattva who was praising the Buddha in those previous verses. [This scene] continues on from the last chapter the Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan. There were so many Bodhisattvas at the assembly. [The Buddha] explained to them all how He had been transforming those Bodhisattvas at the assembly for a very long time. There were Bodhisattvas in all the various stages of achievement, and not only that, there were also a great many sentient beings there as well. After the Bodhisattvas had all been introduced, Maitreya Bodhisattva began to praise the Buddha.
Now, this next sutra passage tells us once again that not only many Bodhisattvas but many sentient beings as well heard of the Buddha’s long and extensive lifespan.
At that time, the Buddha told Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, “Ajita, if there are sentient beings who hear that the Buddha’s lifespan is long and extensive like this”: This was after Maitreya finished speaking in verse to praise the Buddha for transforming the countless Bodhisattvas.
There were not only Bodhisattvas listening there; there were sentient beings as well. So many sentient beings heard about how long and extensive the Buddha’s lifespan is. This is like those Bodhisattvas who heard of how long and extensive the Buddha’s wisdom-life is, how He benefits sentient beings throughout lifetime after lifetime. The sentient beings there had yet to achieve [awakening], while the Bodhisattvas had already accepted the Buddha-Dharma and achieved awakening. The sentient beings had yet to accept the Dharma. They had heard it and formed affinities with it, but they had yet to put it into practice. So, they were still referred to as sentient beings. They claimed to know the Dharma, but had yet to put it into action. Thus, they were referred to as sentient beings. All of these people were part of the long course of the Buddha’s lifespan. “The Buddha’s lifespan” discussed here represents His wisdom-life. His wisdom-life extends throughout the course of many lifetimes, over very long periods of time. So, Maitreya praised the Buddha in verse for transforming countless Bodhisattvas. Now, the Buddha wanted to go further and tell him that not only had He transformed countless Bodhisattvas. He had even [transformed] the sentient beings. “I know all about [the Dharma]. I’m just taking to it slowly”. There are still many sentient beings like this.
The Buddha then told Maitreya Bodhisattva: There were sentient beings who, compared to the Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of four worlds with four quadrants, were even greater in number, such that they could not be counted.
So, “The Buddha then told Maitreya Bodhisattva” that “there were sentient beings who, compared to…” This is a comparison. In the past, we discussed the four worlds with four quadrants, three worlds with four quadrants, two worlds with four quadrants and, one world with four quadrants. Does everyone still remember this? One level after another, the Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles all throughout the universe kept growing and growing [in number]. This means that those who had not yet formed aspirations were much more numerous than those who had. Thus, “they were even greater in number, such that they could not be counted”. There were even more of them. “[If they] are able to give rise to even a single thought of faith and understanding, the merits and virtues they attain will be without limits”. When people have yet to hear the Dharma, they need to be given another chance to hear it. We must give them another chance to hear it, for it is only by giving them this chance that they will be able to come to accept it. Just like in the story we just told, no matter how wild someone may be, so long as they get the chance to hear it, they will be able to accept it.
Thus, “[If they] are able to give rise to even a single thought of faith and understanding, the merits and virtues they attain will be without limits”. [The Buddha] has to keep teaching until people give rise to faith and understanding. This is because by “giving rise to even a single thought of faith and understanding, this single thought of faith will bring them limitless merits and virtues”. This is to say nothing of people replete with deep, heartfelt faith and understanding.
So, just by giving rise to a single thought of faith and understanding, the instant of this thought will reach throughout tens of thousands of years. They just need the chance to really listen to [the Dharma], and they will naturally gain the opportunity to awaken to their intrinsic nature, their Tathagata-nature of True Suchness. This will then “completely encompass the time of tens of thousands of years”.
The instant of this thought will reach throughout tens of thousands of years. When unenlightened beings, through the interaction of Roots and Dusts, give rise to thoughts that arise and cease, they will all be delusions. When they are free of Roots and Dusts, their thoughts will be truly pure and wondrous. Such all-pervasive and unhindered thoughts [will be full of] the Tathagata’s right wisdom.
“When unenlightened beings, through the interaction of Roots and Dusts…” When our Six Roots interact with the Six Dusts, we give rise to thoughts. Thus, unenlightened beings experience the law of arising and ceasing. Unenlightened beings are subject to the law of arising and ceasing at all times. Thoughts of joy, thoughts of anger, thoughts of greed and so on all arise and stir in them like this. This is the unenlightened mind and its deluded thoughts. “If they are free of Roots and Dusts, their thoughts will be truly pure and wondrous”. If we can listen to the Dharma, we will clearly understand about Roots and Dusts and consciousness and wisdom. We will “transform consciousness into wisdom” and naturally free ourselves from Roots and Dusts. We will know how important it is to transform our “consciousness” into “wisdom” and gradually approach this “truly pure and wondrous” [state]. When we start to change our state of mind, we slowly transform our ignorance and delusions into pure wondrousness. So, our thoughts will become “all-pervasive and unhindered”. We will be able to think things through clearly, for we will have dispelled our ignorance. All principles and maters will become clear to us. So, this is how we “transform consciousness into wisdom” and “turn from the unenlightened to the noble”. Our thoughts [will be full of] the Tathagata’s right wisdom. They will be wise thoughts; our every thought will be [full of] wisdom, the right wisdom of the Tathagata. This all begins with that single, initial thought.
Faith: Listening to the Dharma without doubts is faith. When the Buddha taught that His lifespan is infinite, we must faithfully accept this without doubts. Understanding: Clarity in views and thinking is understanding. This is how the Dharmakaya abides forever. This means wherever we listen to the Dharma, our mind will be broad, open, bright and without doubts, confusion or hindrances.
That first thought must arise from “faith”. So, as for faith, “Listening to the Dharma without doubts is faith. When the Buddha taught that His lifespan is infinite, we must faithfully accept this without doubts”. This is “faith”. What of “understanding”? “Clarity in views and thinking is understanding”. All we can see, all our thinking etc. can be connected to the Dharma. As our minds become connected to the Dharma, [this is how] “the Dharmakaya abides forever”. When our every thought is of the Dharma, then our every thought will be truly wise. Thus, “This is how the Dharmakaya abides forever. This means wherever we listen to the Dharma, our mind will be broad, open, bright”. Our mind will become very bright. “This means wherever we listen to the Dharma,” everything we see and hear will be the Dharma. No matter what we see, we will know how to turn it around and [see] the Dharma [in it]. We should put effort into being mindful of this. We will be “without doubts or confusion”. Because we will never doubt the Dharma, we will naturally remain unhindered. This requires us to be mindful.
Everyone, we are truly running out of time. The Dharma lives here in every word. Our time and lifespans are limited, but through listening to the Dharma, by hearing one truth, we can grasp all truths; thus, we must persistently give rise to thoughts of faith and understanding. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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