Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The True Wisdom of Prajna Is Our Guide (般若真智 度行之導)
Date: March.01.2019
“The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, which is to freely express His original intent and impart the great teachings. He opened and revealed the Dharma for sentient beings to realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views about how all beings are equal in nature. Bodhisattvas form the Four Great Vows and practice the Six Paramitas. In practicing the paramitas, wisdom must be our guide, and we must have right thinking and earnest efforts along the path.”
We must mindfully seek to comprehend and understand this better. “The Buddha came to the world for one great cause.” For what reason was the Buddha born in this world? Lately, we have often said that the Buddha has always been and will always be in this world. It is just that He comes and goes in accordance with ordinary causes and conditions in order to transform sentient beings in the world. However, when He came to the world this time, it was due to extraordinary causes and conditions; He came to the world in order to manifest the appearance of attaining Buddhahood. But what about most of the time? For such a long time, over many lifetimes, He has come [to the world] like this. Starting many ages ago, for such a long time, haven’t there always been sages and talented people in the world? It could be that, among these sages and talented people, Sakyamuni Buddha was there, among these sages, benefiting people. However, when He came to the world this time, He especially revealed His extraordinary way of looking at the world. He learned that the world is full of suffering, so many different kinds of suffering that people are unable to overcome or resolve. Everyone is suffering. In this world, the turbidities are growing worse and worse; it is under this state of affairs, under these causes and conditions, that [His story] begins. [It begins] in a palace in the land of India. At that time, during ancient times, in what is currently Nepal, was an ancient Indian city. This city was considered to be its own kingdom. So, in the Buddha’s sutras, we often see many different kingdoms. As for these many different kingdoms, in the present day, India has been united. Nepal is its own independent country. Now, its name is Nepal. So, at that time, in ancient India, this country was called the kingdom of Kapilavastu. [Sakyamuni] was a prince in the palace. He was very special because his father was already very old by the time he finally had his son. The entire kingdom rejoiced. This kingdom especially had always been prosperous. In this peaceful and prosperous kingdom, the king had a son at a very advanced age. Because of this, his son was very special, which clearly came across in his princely status. Everyone cherished him. He grew up in this luxurious environment. As he grew up, even when he was very young, when compared to ordinary children at his age, he had extraordinary ideas and ways of thinking. He was different and more mature. He was very wise. Every word he spoke made sense. So, the king and everyone in the kingdom deeply cherished and loved this prince. They loved him in every possible way; everyone adored him. Although this country was prosperous, there was a large disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich were very rich, and the poor were very poor. It was like this for most people in India because of the caste system. Most poor people were slaves and part of the lowest caste. So, for a long time, they lived in a world of great inequity. In addition to this disparity between the rich and the poor, there were also the other forms of suffering which everyone must experience as part of the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death. Even the people as rich as kings would gradually grow old. Even the high-ranking royal officials and ministers were the same; while the prince grew up, his elders kept growing older and older. From his perspective as a young child, he would think, “How do we come to be born into this life?” Once he was born, while he was growing up, [he was very aware of] himself, his elders, the people of the palace and their way of life; he was keenly observant. He kept on contemplating, “We are all human beings, but why do our bodies change in such obvious ways?” [He questioned] himself and his surroundings. When it came to the cycle of birth, aging, illness and death, he had such big questions in his young mind. He thought, “Why is it like this?” With questions come realizations.
In Buddhism, we often say, “Small questions lead to small realizations, while big questions lead to big realizations.” From a young age, [Sakyamuni] questioned everything. “Where do the tree, the sapling and the seed come from? How do the seeds of the fruit grow in the earth?” He even contemplated [little] things like this. Anything like this, anything about living things, plants, people, animals and so on, was all part of his contemplations. [It was not] until he went out into society to look around, when he left the palace for the city’s outskirts, that he saw the toilsome labor of the farmers. He saw that there was poverty and suffering both within and beyond the city. He saw sick and disabled people everywhere, lying on the ground, and he also watched them [take their last] breath. This cycle of birth, aging, illness and death pervaded all aspects of society. Another one of the questions in His mind was, “Why is human [society] so unequal? Why is that? Why can’t anyone escape the law of nature?” He had all these questions about life on his mind. “How can we break through to the source? Where does the source stop? Where do we go in the end?” This was the awakening he sought. This led him to leave the palace; we all know about this journey. Yet, we must also contemplate how he lived so luxuriously in the palace and had a lot of wisdom then, yet still left the palace. We must investigate his mindset. He must have been very extraordinary for all these matters to make his mind surge with so many questions. There were so many questions he wanted to resolve, so he had to leave the palace. He had this mindset ever since he was born, and it led him to become a monastic on a journey to investigate the true principles. So, he became a monastic, and this was his journey; he left the palace to begin his search. The course of his journey was very toilsome. With only his two feet to carry him, he went to every forest where people engaged in ascetic practice to find out what sort of practices spiritual practitioners engaged in. There were more than 90 kinds of Brahmanism. He wanted to investigate every course of spiritual practice to understand how others engaged in spiritual cultivation.
First he got to know them, checking them out, continuously evaluating [each practice]. Once he had seen them all, [he decided] that none were the ultimate course of practice, nor were they humanistic. They did not [lead to] ultimate [awakening], but were merely a form of escape to numb oneself. They were not true methods of spiritual practice. So, He decided to find his own path. Since so many religions failed to provide him with answers, [he decided] it would be better for him to find them himself. So, he began to find his own path. In this way, he slowly came to enter Uruvilva Forest [to engage in ascetic practice].
Of course, during this time, his father, the king, sent five of [Sakyamuni’s] elder after him; they were his uncles on his mother’s side as well as his father’s side. They found the prince, but since they could not get the prince to return, they could only follow in his footsteps. They came to a place, Deer Park, and stopped there. At that place, everyone settled down to engage in spiritual practice. Yet, the prince was still unsatisfied. He had contemplated the mindsets of so many different spiritual practitioners and their methods of spiritual practice, but he had yet to find his central direction. So, he entered his own form of ascetic practice. He was also human, so, as part of his ascetic practice, he had a single grain of wheat a day; this was such a hard [way of life]. He was malnourished, but he could think very clearly. He thought that without nourishment, he would be unable to sustain his body. How then would he have the mental faculties to contemplate much else?
So, He decided to abandon these extreme ascetic practices and never torment His body again. To abandon the ascetic practice, He had to clean his body first. By the time he reached the Niranjan River, he was already out of energy, and he fainted as soon as he got up from bathing. Everyone knows this story. This was when the shepherdess made offerings to him, and he regained his health. Once he had replenished his strength, his energy and the keenness of his wisdom, he engaged in constant contemplation, calming his mind. As he contemplated, His mind came into complete harmony. His thinking became very intricate and precise. From his mind, he had eliminated all his afflictions and discursive thoughts. He had gathered together his profound [thoughts], so he sat down in concentration. Finally, as he focused [his thoughts], he suddenly discovered, upon connecting with a star in the sky, a completely different spiritual world. He became one with the universe. This is the meaning of enlightenment.
Once [the Buddha] attained enlightenment, His spiritual state and His understanding and views really cannot be fully described. So, the Buddha came to the world for one great cause. He accumulated the essence of countless past lifetimes and came to this world in this lifetime replete with causes and conditions. So, He came to be born in the palace and was raised in this environment. It was also in such an environment, with such extremely affluent circumstances, that He watched over people in society who were suffering the most in life. So, with His honorable body, He went to see [people who lived] the poorest and lowliest lives, experiencing these extreme circumstances in search of awakening. At the same time, He also investigated the religious principles of more than 90 kinds of religions in India. He evaluated them all and understood them clearly. Then, He paved His own path, which united. Worldly principles and matters as well as the teachings explored by religious practitioners, all of which He understood clearly. He sought to understand both the absolute truth and the worldly truth. So, what is the absolute truth? It refers to the true principles. He had to walk his own path to find them. Once the Buddha attained enlightenment, He had to find ways to teach and transform sentient beings.
Because of what He has seen and experienced, even though the universe has its bounds, the Buddha’s vows are boundless. The world was its bounds, but world of the Buddha’s mind is boundless. So, this means that He sees and understands everything in the world. Because of this, He has rich, profound understanding and views. He hopes that people will be able to understand everything He has gathered within His heart. Whether it be worldly matters or the true principles about transcending the world and liberating oneself from suffering, He has contemplated and experienced them all. Thus, “He freely expresses His original intent and imparts the great teachings”. Everything He has taken to heart, the principles that encompass the universe and pervade all Dharma-realms, are all embraced by His original state of mind. This is what is meant by the Buddha’s understanding and views. He understood so many things. So, He lamented that He would not have the chance to help everyone understand completely.
He wanted to tell everyone about. His first thought upon attaining Buddhahood and teach them the most essential [principle] of life, but He realized that this would be impossible because people have a lot ignorance and afflictions. Their ignorance is unrelenting, and their afflictions are severe. He could not convey the Dharma’s essence to them. If He taught it, no one would understand, so He had to start with the basics. He taught how everything in the world is suffering. He also had to teach them that to eliminate suffering in the world, they had to see and experience so many things. What is the difference between reality and illusion? We cannot be attached to either of these things. The most important thing is to walk the Middle Way [and follow] this Dharma. How much time would this take Him? How many capabilities would He have to adjust to? How many teachings methods would He have to use? To guide people’s minds toward this principle and open their hearts so they would willingly accept it, how much effort would He have to expend? This is very difficult. Just to tell the person next to us, “You must do this and this. We can do this together” is difficult already. Thus, sentient beings are hard to transform. The Buddha could not do anything about this. For more than 40 years, He taught so many principles, but how many people were able to retain them and earnestly accept the Dharma? And among these people who accepted the Dharma, how many of them were able to comprehend the Buddha’s intent? And were these few people actually capable of putting it into practice? There are so many difficulties in doing this. Is this impossible? It is definitely possible, it is just that we are all hindered by our own severe karmic forces. We create our own obstacles. The things we must do are not difficult, and the practices we must engage in are simple; it is just that we are hindered by ourselves and other people. It is not so bad when other people obstruct us, but when we hinder ourselves, [it is much worse]. So, because of this, it is difficult to attain Buddhahood. Why does it take such a long time to attain Buddhahood? The ability to attain Buddhahood is intrinsic to us all; it is just a matter of our actions. In our actions, as we interact with others, how many people can we form good affinities with? How many people listen to the words we say? Although we may understand the principles clearly, and although we may teach them well, how many people listen to our words and are willing to accept our teachings? Because of this, throughout lifetime after lifetime, the Buddha seeks to form good affinities with people, guiding them to willingly listen to, accept and put the teachings into practice. He must be replete in karmic affinities to be able to manifest the attainment of Buddhahood in the world. How long does this take? This is very hard to do. It is hard to engage in ascetic practice, but it is hard to form good affinities with people. At this time, the Buddha had already manifested. His attainment of Buddhahood, so He wished to freely express His original intent. There were people beside Him who were willing to follow Him and spread the Buddha-Dharma. Although the people had yet to truly awaken and walk the Middle Way, they had already opened their minds and developed their wisdom. So, after more than 40 years, the Buddha wanted to freely express His original intent and share the essence of what. He had stored in His mind, which is the Lotus Sutra. The principles in the Lotus Sutra are all-pervasive. It contains the worldly truth.
However, most important of all is that it teaches us to walk the Middle Way. We must practice the Middle Way. He hopes we can understand worldly matters with great clarity. He hopes we can understand these principles very clearly so that we can apply these teachings in the world and bring them together as we walk the Middle Way. This is how He freely expressed His original intent and imparted the great teachings.
So, because of this, “He opened and revealed the Dharma for sentient beings to realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views about how all beings are equal in nature”. In the end, He wanted to help us understand that Buddha-nature is intrinsic to all sentient beings. Returning to our nature of True Suchness is very important. We are all still some distance away from uniting with our nature of True suchness, but we must understand [that it is there]. So, this is the Buddha’s understanding and views. The Buddha’s understanding and views in the end, are that “all beings are equal in nature. Human nature is inherently good. Our natures are the same, but our habits differ greatly”. We are constantly influenced by this [world], thus we depart from our intrinsic nature. So, we must put effort into being mindful. Everyone’s nature is the same.
Come, Bodhisattvas must make the Four Great Vows. We have already formed aspirations to practice the Bodhisattva-path. Everyone must make the Four Great Vows. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings. The Four Great Vows include. “I vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” We must eliminate afflictions. “I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” We must eliminate our endless afflictions. We must eliminate our afflictions to be able to the path to Buddhahood. Thus, “Bodhisattvas must make the Four Great Vows and practice the Six Paramitas.” We must begin by “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions”. So, “in practicing the paramitas, wisdom must be our guide, and we must have right thinking and earnest effort along the path.” We must work hard to be mindful.
This passage is very important. You might think that we all know the story Sakyamuni Buddha by now. But if we want to understand the principles behind the story, we must mindfully explore the Buddha’s intent. This is because the Lotus Sutra freely expresses His original intent. Here, He expresses His original, heartfully intent. So, we must be very mindful.
Among all the paramitas, if we cannot attain the prajna paramita, we will still be like a group of blind people without a guide. We will be without a direction. Thus, the prajna paramitas can guide us toward the other five paramitas and help us reach the other shore. So, “Among all the paramitas, if we cannot attain the prajna paramita, we will still be like a group of blind people without a guide.
So, we must use wisdom. Without wisdom, all we can do is keep saying, “Give, uphold the precepts, be patient, be diligent and seek Samadhi. This is not enough; we still lack wisdom. So, we must work harder. [Otherwise], “We will still be like a group of blind people without a guide. We will be without a direction. Thus, the prajna paramita can guide us toward the other five paramitas and help us reach the other shore.” When we boat, to be “transformed” is to be delivered to the other shore by this [vehicle]. To reach the other shore, we cannot lack any of [the paramitas]. So, among the Six Paramitas, “prajna” is indispensable. If you lack “prajna,” you will only have the Five Paramitas.
“There may be good men and good women who, for the sake of attaining. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, over 80 trillion nayuras kalpas practice the Five Paramitas including the dana paramita, the sila paramita, the ksanti paramita, the virya paramita and the dhyana paramita.”
These are the Five Paramitas, excluding “the prajna paramita.” Excluding “the prajna Paramita, they are called “the Five Paramitas”. Everyone should clearly understand this. Since we clearly understand the Five Paramitas, we should know that “the dana paramita” is known as giving. “The sila paramita” is known as upholding precepts. “The ksanti paramita” is known as patience. “The virya paramita” is known as diligence. What about “the dhyana paramita”? This is known as right thinking and meditative concentration. This is even more important! How do we eliminate our ignorance? Although we might understand the first five paramitas of giving, precepts, patience and diligence, if we do not understand how to eliminate afflictions and ignorance, we will never be able to attain wisdom. So, with our [minds], before we do anything in our daily living, we must contemplate; we must give, uphold precepts, be patient and so on. It is important to contemplate. We must not let our minds fluctuate along with our environment. We must truly be very mindful. The key to attaining wisdom is calm contemplation and meditative concentration, so our minds must be focused.
he dana paramita: This is giving. The sila paramita: This is upholding the precepts. The ksanti paramita: This is patience. The virya paramita: This is diligence. The dhyana paramita: This is right thinking or meditative concentration. If we diligently seek unsurpassed Bodhi by only practicing these five paramitas, the path we seek will be far and unreachable. So, “If we diligently seek unsurpassed Bodhi by only practicing these five paramitas,” the path we seek will be far and unreachable.
If we only engage in calm contemplation and silent concentration without the previously-mentioned paramitas of giving and so on, it will not be enough. If we just sit there contemplating without the courage to act, it will be difficult to reach the other shore. Some people are very contemplative, and they contemplate things very calmly. They have right thinking and meditative concentration. They contemplate a lot and reach accurate [conclusions]. However, they do not want to take action. They are not willing to give to others. In this way, their wisdom is insufficient. These [people] are Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Hearers and Solitary Realizers are at this stage; they have calm contemplation, right thinking and meditative concentration. Hearers and Solitary Realizers have reached this stage.
So, we all need to have wisdom. Wisdom gives us motivation. With motivation, we are willing to practice giving, precepts, patience and diligence. Right thinking and meditative concentration [give us] power. The power of wisdom motivates us to do these things without ever deviating from our direction. As we benefit ourselves through right thinking, we will never deviate from our direction. We will diligently advance without making mistakes. As for interpersonal conflicts, we will work hard to endure them patiently. Patience [helps us] uphold precepts. To uphold precepts, we must start by giving. Those who give must know how to uphold precepts and practice patience and diligence. [But if we only practice the Five Paramitas], no matter which one we start with, even as we go through them all, we will lace one power, the power of wisdom. This is the power to understand how to put right thinking to use and practice diligence. To develop our practice of giving, to walk the right path in this world and so on, we must have wisdom. So, we must understand this. Otherwise, if we only practice the Five Paramitas, we will still be a far way away from reaching the other shore.
Excluding the prajna paramita: This is wisdom. A single thought of faith and understanding can eliminate all doubts and delusions and awaken our enlightened nature of True Suchness. The true wisdom of prajna is the source of the path, mother of merits.
So, in “excluding the prajna paramita,” this “prajna” means wisdom. It is “a single thought of faith and understanding”. With a single thought of faith and understanding, we can eliminate all kinds of doubts. We can eliminate many doubts and concerns. Look at Sakyamuni Buddha. As He grew up, He was curious about everything. So, because He had questions, He went on a search [for answers]. So, He sought and found the right principles, and gave rise to faith and understanding. In the same say, after seeing so many people engage in ascetic practice, He was able to rule [this practice] out. In the end, all He believed in were the right principles. He promptly practiced right thinking, this principle. So, “A single thought of faith and understanding can eliminate all doubts and delusions and awaken our enlightened nature of True Suchness”. [The Buddha] has awakened His enlightened nature of True Suchness. “The true wisdom of prajna” has been revealed. It is “the source of the path, mother of merits”. Don’t we often say that “faith is the source of the path, mother of merits”?
The sutra raises their merits and virtues as examples to compare people of faith and understanding. Thus, it discusses [what would happen if] we exclude prajna. In our practice of the Six Paramitas, if we can practice the prajna paramita, then the other five paramitas that we practice will lead us to the ultimate state.
So, this sutra of ours raises their merits and virtues as examples. The Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues also presents many different methods of spiritual practice and makes comparisons between them. It compares approaches to spiritual practice, presenting many different kinds of methods of spiritual practice. In distinguishing merits and virtues, it “compares those of faith and understanding,” so that we understand their comparative [merits]. Thus, [it discusses what happens if] “we exclude prajna,” if we lack this paramita. The practice of giving is simple, and practicing to benefit oneself is easy, but if we want to truly demonstrate our righteous power, we are not there yet. So, at this time, we have yet to apply our wisdom. This is because we lack the prajna paramita. Although we have the power of the [first] five, the enlightened nature of prajna has yet to truly enter our minds. We only know and understand it, but we have not truly comprehended the Buddha’s intent, the true wisdom. So, “If among all the Six Paramitas, we can practice the prajna paramita, then the other five paramitas that we practice will reach the ultimate state.” If we have prajna, if we can truly comprehend the state of “prajna,” then we will be replete with the previous five [paramitas]. True wisdom benefits people. So, I often say that cleverness is completely different from wisdom. Wisdom is pure and free of afflictions. It can eliminate ignorance and benefit people in the world. It is already replete with the first five paramitas. People of wisdom will definitely possess the first five paramitas, giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence and Samadhi. They are all encompassed by “prajna.” So, if we only have the first five paramitas, we will be unable to realize “prajna.” In short, “prajna” is the source of our spiritual practice, and it encompasses all teachings. All teachings are encompassed within “prajna,” which is wisdom. So, we must put effort into being mindful. If we are mindful, we will be able to realize the Buddha’s intent. We must mindfully comprehend the Buddha’s intent and how He found this path.
First He had to experience the suffering in the world. He experienced the suffering in the world; He witnessed and came to understand the world’s various forms of birth, aging, illness and death, the law of nature. We must not only be aware of [the cycle of] “birth, aging, illness and death,” we must also know “the law of karma,” how we come and go in the world. When we die, this lifetime will be over, but where will we go in our next life? If we want to know where we will go in our next life, we must be watchful of how we live our life now and learn to make good use of this opportunity, form good affinities with people and give of ourselves to others. ”The mind is without hindrances; there are no hindrances.” This includes the practice of the Six Paramitas. If we can do this, this is the direction we must strive toward in our spiritual practice. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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