Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Enter the Path and Give Rise to Buddha-Wisdom (出家入道 能生佛智)
Date: March.19.2019
“All Buddhas’ treasury of the wisdom of all paths is the wisdom to know all sentient beings’ causal seeds. With the wisdom of all Dharma, They know all seeds of all paths. All Buddhas have wisdom and wondrous enlightenment. They awaken Themselves and others and have perfect awakened conduct. The Buddha’s wisdom is replete with these three. The wisdom of all Dharma is [the wisdom of] Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas. The wisdom of all paths is [the wisdom of] Bodhisattvas. All-encompassing wisdom is all Buddhas’ path of enlightenment.”
We must very clearly understand this. The Buddha’s awakening encompassed everything and everyone in the world. Thus, the Buddha taught all kinds of teachings. The Buddha’s great enlightenment encompasses everything. So, [it says], “All Buddhas’ treasury of the wisdom of all paths...” The wisdom of all Dharma, wisdom of all paths and all-encompassing wisdom are all included in this treasury of wisdom. This treasury of wisdom is our Tathagata-nature of True Suchness, which everyone has. The Buddha has reached enlightenment and completely understands [everything]. Unenlightened beings only know about things. We may know about things, but do we understand them, and are we familiar with them? To know about them, we must begin to familiarize ourselves with them.
In the past, we did not even know of them, so now in this moment, we must begin to do so. What about “knowing”? The Buddha tells us that everything in the world and in life is impermanent, suffering and empty. There is so much suffering within impermanence, and impermanence in the world means [everything] is temporary. What will happen and when will it happen? No one knows. This is how, in our lives, there are many things that we do not know. However, with people, when it comes to our minds, what they can encompass is always very broad. Aren’t we all like this? In particular, when it comes to people nowadays, is there anything that people do not know? With our cellphones in our hands, we can hear about things no matter where they may be in the world. [We can know] what a country is known for and its tourist attractions; with [a simple search] on our cellphones, we can learn all the famous places in the world. When it comes to famous people in the world, we can also search that with our cellphones and learn about them. Is this “knowing” true understanding? When it comes to the scenery of a certain place in the world, do we really know it? It is just that, with our cellphones and modern technology, we can look them up. Then, of the famous places around the world, we can know [them all].
In truth, what kind of environments are these? We may not have even set foot in these places and we do not know the directions. However, what we can know is that a certain place has scenery that is [world-famous] and very wonderful. We know about that, and that is it. In a certain place, there may be a certain great person who is great in a certain way. But do we know them well? We know them only from a search on a cellphone. When it comes to “knowing” them, what do we know about them? We may not know them at all, or they may have already passed away a long time ago. So, do we know the Buddha? We know [Him]; we all know the Buddha, but between us and the Buddha, we are more than 2000 years apart in time and more than 10,000 kilometers away in space. We are so far apart! In terms of “being familiar” and “knowing,” for people nowadays, we can quickly become familiar with something, and we can quickly know something, but we do not come into [physical] contact with it. We cannot truly experience the beauty of that environment. We cannot truly get in touch with this great person. For us to truly be in contact with [the Buddha] and personally receive guidance from Him is impossible. This is who we are; we are unenlightened beings who do not know everything. What about the Buddha? He knows and is familiar [with everything]. He has experienced it for Himself and can tell us about the past of the past, describe the world in the past and provide guidance to us. When it comes to the knowledge and awakened nature of humans, there is a difference between the two. Knowledge is what we have just mentioned. We only know and are familiar with things in name and appearance. We have yet to have “true knowledge.” In order to understand true knowledge, we must personally get in touch with it. When it comes to the principles and us, we can encounter matters, but how many of us can comprehend the principles? There are many who encounter matters.
However, when it comes to these matters, how many people can return them to the principles? So, for matters and principles to come together harmoniously is truly not easy let alone for unenlightened beings’ consciousness to return to their intrinsic nature. We must mindfully seek to experience and understand [the principles]. Unenlightened beings must start by listening, by listening mindfully. The Dharma is the principles of the universe that Sakyamuni Buddha experienced in the past. The Buddha revealed the principles contained within all things in the world and analyzed them for us, one by one. He analyzed them for us to understand [the principles] and paved different roads so that we could know where each road would lead us if we went that way.
Right now, from our cellphones, we know which country a particular scenery is from. This was [made possible] through the refinement of technology. Between one country and another, what is the distance between them? When it comes to the distance, whether it is accurate or not, we do not know. However, it provides us with a measurement for the distance. Is this distance [measured] accurately? Is it the distance in a straight line or a curve? The numbers are for our consideration.
At this time, what the Buddha tells us are infinite amounts so that we know that we need to use our brains, our wisdom, [to understand]. “I have pointed out a direction for you, told you about countless kalpas, the amount of sands of the Ganges River, the number of drops of water and so on.” Although numbers allow us to know a lot and know that we should have faith, [the Buddha] did not give us exact numbers. This is because, in truth, where do our lives come from? The Buddha tells us that they are from Beginningless Time. Since they are from Beginningless Time, we do not need to further investigate when the beginning of Beginningless Time is. It is enough that we are clear that they are from Beginningless Time, an immeasurable amount of time. We do not need to be attached to it. As long as we know that it is a lot, we do not need to be attached to the actual number. We should use wisdom to analyze the appearance of matters and their principles.
Take Vulture Peak for example. During the era of the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra described the location as extremely spacious. From the descriptions, it appeared to be very spacious and big. In truth, [the place] has a physical form. There is a physical location for that place. Currently, there are many people who make pilgrimages. They can also go to that place, the original location where the Buddha expounded this sutra. This was the platform; this was what it was like. People who make the pilgrimage there are joyful when they arrive. “I have finally visited this place where Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra. This is the place.” Then [they are satisfied]. Ordinary beings limit themselves to a small area, fulfilling their limited [curiosity]. What we want to understand is the infinite amount, principles of incalculable numbers. What is the Buddha’s goal in expounding the Lotus Sutra? This is what we want to understand. In the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, we described how the Buddha summoned many Bodhisattvas who constantly came from the ten directions. For a very long time, the Buddha continued to expand the Dharma-assembly. Since many people had come, He continuously expanded the Dharma-assembly. This is because there were many, many people and Bodhisattvas coming. What this means is that every one of us intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Our Buddha-nature is the heart that encompasses the universe and the boundless worlds within it. This is the broadness of this state of mind and of this principle.
“All Buddhas treasury of the wisdom of all paths” encompasses the whole universe. How much does it encompass? It is not limited by the surface of Earth; it encompasses the entire universe. The many solar systems and galaxies are all included within the universe. This is “the treasury of wisdom.” It [expresses] how all of our hearts must be this broad and expansive. The Buddha’s wisdom is one with the universe. This is what I have continuously been telling everyone, that He is one with the universe. So, this is the Buddha’s wisdom. The Buddha’s wisdom encompasses the sky and the universe.
The Buddha’s wisdom encompasses the sky and the universe. So, His heart encompasses the whole universe, and in truth, we can also be like this. Right now, everyone is listening to these words. This is what I am saying right now. When I speak these words, do our hearts also encompass the universe? As soon as I speak these words, our hearts truly [try to] encompass the universe. However, what happens when the returns to the self? There is still a limit to the capacity of our hearts; this is the limit. I am [within these limits], and you are all within these confines. This is how it is. So, this “treasure of wisdom” should be something everyone has. We must realize the Buddha’s principles; we must truly realize that nature of True Suchness and make it a reality. However much we can uncover and understand, we should do our best to do it. In order to understand as much as we can, we must gradually uncover our ignorant consciousness, our afflictions and ignorance. We must continuously clear [them out]. However many treasures of wisdom we have in our minds is how much wider they will become. If we do not do this, then our treasury of wisdom will just be our consciousness. When it comes to our consciousnesses our Seven, Six, and Five Consciousness, they will all connect to our daily lives. In truth, when it comes to life, when [our consciousness] returns to our lives, everything is impermanent. We do not know anything; however, we think a lot about everything. We do not know, but we think a lot. This is called knowledge, the consciousness of knowing. When it comes to the Buddha, He has the treasury of wisdom. This is what we must seek. It is “the wisdom to know all sentient beings causal seeds”. This is what the Buddha has. Because He has the treasury of wisdom, His mind is as clear as a mirror. He can illuminate the causal seeds of all sentient beings. This is the kind of wisdom He has. Regardless of the kind of karma that different sentient beings create and the kind of causes and conditions we have, according to our causes, conditions, effect and retributions, the Buddha can analyze them all for us. He guides us to transform our [evil] karma and evil consciousness into virtuous knowledge. He teaches us how to transform evil causes into good conditions. This is how He guides us. Depending on the causes of the sentient beings, the Buddha utilizes the [appropriate] Dharma of wisdom to instruct and guide us. He helps us to transform evil into good, form affinities with sentient beings, transform ourselves and others and go among people to experience and understand [the Dharma]. This is a must. We must go among people and understand [the Dharma], understand the principles by coming into touch with matters and bring the matters together with the principles. This is very important. These are methods.
“With the wisdom of all Dharma. they know all seeds of all paths”. With “the wisdom of all Dharma”, they know good and evil and understand [how to] transform evil into goodness. This is called “wisdom of all Dharma”. This is also the wisdom of knowing all causal seeds. When we understand the karmic law of cause and effect, then when we reach the end of our lives and when impermanence befalls us, we can naturally let go and be at peace. Otherwise, since life is already suffering, our hearts will suffer even more. We will continuously create karma and afflictions. So, we must first understand that “all things arise with causes and conditions, and all things cease with causes and conditions”. We must seek to understand this from [the practices]. Hearers and Solitary Realizers. When it comes to Hearers and Solitary Realizers, we are [engaging in] Hearer [practices] as well. We understand principles through listening. Hearers connect with this state to understand good and evil. Once we understand [them], we naturally and gradually enter all-encompassing wisdom. With all-encompassing wisdom, we begin to understand our lives and awakened nature. When it comes to our lives and awakened nature, we must clearly understand them and engage in spiritual practice. In order to understand them and engage in spiritual practice, we must seek the Buddha-Dharma. Only the Buddha thoroughly understands this. “All Buddhas have wisdom and wondrous enlightenment”. [The Buddha has] thorough understandings, the wisdom and wondrous awakening that is one with the universe; [He has] this awakened wisdom. When it comes to this awakened wisdom. He “has awakened [Himself] and others” and already has perfect awakened conduct. This is the Buddha from the past, the Buddha who has attained fruition according to His causes. He “has awakened [Himself] and others and has perfect awakened conduct”. The Buddha has perfect awakened conduct; He has awakened Himself and others. Starting from the wisdom of all Dharma, He understood and distinguished between good and evil. Then, He continuously explored the Buddha-Dharma, thoroughly understanding [the wisdom] of all paths and engaging in spiritual practice lifetime after lifetime. He has already perfected. His causes and conditions among people. This took a very long time. When causes and conditions matured, He awakened Himself and became enlightened. He became one with the universe and perfect transforming others. So, the Buddha is already replete in the Three Kinds of Wisdoms, the wisdom of all Dharma, wisdom of all paths and all-encompassing wisdom. So, now we can understand that the wisdom of all Dharma is the [wisdom of] Hearer and Solitary Realizers, Pratyekabuddhas. In their course [of practice they attained] the wisdom of all Dharma. Bodhisattvas have already attained the wisdom of all Dharma. Starting from understanding good and evil and the law of karma, they continue to move toward the path to Buddhahood and cultivate the Bodhisattvas-practice. [They have attained] “the wisdom of all paths” and “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions”. This is how Bodhisattvas walk upon the Bodhisattva-paths. This is called “the wisdom of all paths”. What about “all-encompassing wisdom”? “This is all Buddhas’ teachings of the path.” On the path that all Buddhas walked, They [attained] the wisdom of all Dharma and the wisdom of all paths and perfected all-encompassing wisdom. “The Buddha’s wisdom is replete with these three.” To attain these, the Buddha spent a very long time, an incalculable amount of time. The Bodhisattvas that [the Buddha] had encountered were also incalculable, including those who have achieved, those who are achieving and those who have not yet achieved. Those who have not yet achieved are like us. We have not achieved yet. Perhaps we are [in the process of] achieving. We already understand that we should return to transform others who have never heard of or know the Buddha-Dharma. We who have already heard of it. We should realize the principles to apply them toward people and matters. Then, through [our dealing with] people and matters, we must widely spread the Buddha-Dharma. This was the process that the Buddha went through and what He teaches us. We should remember that in the Chapter on Dharma Teachers, the Buddha is recruiting people to spread the Dharma; He is recruiting Bodhisattvas. We are the ones that the Buddha recruited. So, we must still have this sense of mission. Come, we are the stage where should enter the Buddha’s understanding and views. At this time, we are all about to begin entering the Buddha’s understanding and views. They are very profound; how can everyone realize and understand them? They only thing we can do is to encourage each other. We are people who are being recruited and transformed by the Buddha. We must still listen and be in touch with [the Dharma]; we must still be transformed. So, we must understand the principles by coming in touch with matters. This is what we must be very earnest [about].
The previous sutra passage encourages us to listen widely [to the sutra]. This is to say nothing of those who listen to this sutra widely or teach others to listen to it, uphold it themselves or teach others to uphold it, transcribe it themselves or teach others to transcribe it….
The previous passage says, “This is to say nothing of those who listen to this sutra widely. Just by understanding, with faith and understanding, we can open the door of wisdom. Furthermore, not only should we have faith and understanding, but we must also listen more. We should not [say], “I know, l know, I do not need to listen. We talk about it and listen to it every day. It is pretty much the same”. This is pride and arrogance having heard it before, although we know [the principles], do we truly, thoroughly understand them? We must further encourage ourselves, although we have heard them before. “We already know about this section. We already understand this matter, so are we supposed to continue to listen to it?” We may be able to thoroughly understand one principle, but [the passage] may contain many more. The principles I analyzed for everyone previously are like drops of water. We have previously talked about this; if we used number of drops to quantify all water, would we be able to calculate it? [If we consider] one drop of water as one principle, would we possibly know how much water there is? True principles are infinite. It is not that a drop of water encompasses everything. What we can know is just one drop out of an infinite amount of water. The dust that we see, the sand, is but one speck of sand on the earth. It is just one pile of sand or one handful of sand; that is all. So, we must not disregard the opportunity to listen to the sutras. We must still listen widely to them. This section refers to the merits of listening widely [to the sutras]. The merits it speaks of [are attained] when we work hard and help people; we have the power to help others. We are able to, from listening to the sutra, teach people [more] teachings and bring together teachings and matters. Is this enough, though? This is not enough. This is only a little bit [of effort]. So, we must continually listen, understand and analyze [the Dharma] and teach others about it. This requires us to be very patient for a long time. Then, we will truly be the people whom the Buddha wanted to recruit to pass down the Dharma. We must continuously listen [to the Dharma]. We must understand [it].
We must understand the Buddha and have the Buddha’s understanding and views. So, surely we must continue to listen to this sutra widely”. We must continue listening all the same. We must also “teach others to listen to it”. Not only must we listen to it ourselves, but also teach others to do it. We must “uphold [the sutra ourselves]. After listening [to it] ourselves, we must put it into practice and then teach others to also listen to and put it into practice. We must “transcribe [the sutra] ourselves” and teach others to transcribe it.
In that era, people had to be abale to let others see the words. Now, we must also introduce [them] to others. “When it comes to this sutra and these teachings, you must read them and write them down”. As you listen to the sutra now, how many people are taking notes here? You should review your notes and then take down what you have just heard. You should know that these notes you write down are your life’s essence that you leave behind. This is because you record the principles you hear and the insights you have. These are the most [tangible] things that we leave behind. We write down these notes and insights, so one day when we want to share with everyone, from these few sentences, we can expand them into more things and more insights to share with everyone. This helps us remember [the teachings] and it becomes a record of our lives. So, we must be very mindful.
When we “transcribe [the sutra ourselves],
we can do so by taking notes. This is also transcribing. [We must also] “teach others to transcribe it”. We do it ourselves and. We should be very mindful.
The next sutra passage says, “…or use flowers, incense, strings of jewels, banners, silken canopies, scented oil and oil lamps to make offerings to the sutra. These people’s merits and virtues are countless and boundless. They can give rise to all-encompassing wisdom”.
This sutra passage speaks of “flowers and incense,” which represent virtues. Strings of jewels, banners, silken canopies, scented oil and so on represent dignifying [the true principles].
…or use flowers, incense, strings of jewels, banners, silken canopies, scented oil and oil lamps to make offerings to the sutra: Flowers represent virtues. Strings of jewels and other items dignify, spread and promote the true principles and protect the Dharmakaya of the sutra’s teachings.
At this Dharma-assembly, while [the Buddha] taught the Dharma, there were also flowers, incense, sandalwood incense and so on to dignify the spiritual training ground. In the past, in India and other [places], they would use banners during festivals to make the ambience feel very lively and dignified. This is the culture in India. At the same time, there were scents. Not only were [the sights] very colorful and the scenes very grand and lively, the atmosphere was fragrant. This was all used to dignify the scene. In truth, the meaning of this in the sutra is that the Dharma is abundant. The Dharma that we are speaking of now contains very magnificent meanings. [There is more than] just the physical banners and silken canopies; those were not all. The sutra passages contain an abundance of content. So, we use these items to describe [how they] “dignify, spread and promote the true principles”. There are actually many, many principles within this. From this, we must know that the sutra is a treasury. We must earnestly protect it because its teaching is what the world needs. Therefore, Dharma is like water; it can cleanse defilements, especially in this world with heavy turbidities and in the human mind. The human mind is deluded. This kind of world needs the Buddha-Dharma even more. So, we must widely spread and protect [the Dharma]. The teachings are the Dharma-body, the Dharmakaya of the sutra’s teachings. We must very mindfully seek to comprehend this.
Lighting the lamps and keeping them lit represents the light of wisdom. These do not depart from the Four Offerings. Lighting candles, hanging canopies, lighting lamps, scattering flowers and burning incense are to show the magnificence of how principles are in harmony with matters. So, “Lighting the lamps and keeping them lit represents the light of wisdom”.
The lamps represent the light of wisdom. “These do not depart from the Four Offerings”. The lamps are also a form of offering. During the Buddha’s era, there were no electrical lights. They used lamps to make offerings. In life, they needed lamps at night. So, lamps were a necessity of life. We have discussed the Four Offerings previously, which are clothing, food, shelter and medicine. These are all called offerings.
So, it speaks of “lighting candles”. Hanging canopies, scattering flowers, incense and so on all represent dignifying [the space]. As for lamps, they are necessary in life. Also, when expounding the sutra, if it was at dusk, people needed them. People also needed them at night. This signifies that when we are in the dark, we need lamps. There are also many other necessities. We must clearly distinguish what we need. So, “These people’s merits and virtues are countless and boundless. They can give rise to all-encompassing wisdom”.
These people’s merits and virtues are countless and boundless. They can give rise to all-encompassing wisdom: They engage in practice because of aspirations. They enter the path because of practice. They renounce the worldly Dharma and enter the path to Buddhahood. They believe and understand with pure faith. By renouncing the lay life and entering the path, they can give rise to the Tathagata’s all-encompassing wisdom.
As long as we understand how to utilize [the Dharma], we can clearly understand it. We “engage in practice because of aspirations”. Since we have been inspired and have formed aspirations, we know to begin to put them into action. The Buddha used lamps to shed light on us and used principles to inspire our minds. Since our minds have been inspired, we must put [the Dharma] into practice. We “enter the path because of practice”. Because of our practice, we enter the path. Once we enter the path, then we have “pure faith”. When it comes to pure faith, our minds are pure; we have faith and understanding. Because our minds are already pure and light has entered our hearts, our afflictions are eliminated. We have no hindrances, so we have very clear faith. We have deep faith and understanding; this is very clear. “By renouncing the lay life and entering the path, they can give rise to the Tathagata’s” all-encompassing wisdom”. By renouncing the lay life, they do not have the burdens of family; they can go among people wholeheartedly to spread the Buddha-Dharma, without the burdens of family. Once they break away from people, they can concentrate on the path and remain within their spiritual training ground. They must spread the Dharma and go among people to bring together the principles and matters. Once they finish spreading the teachings, they return to the spiritual training ground. They are able to do this wholeheartedly without the burdens of family. These are the merits and virtues of renouncing the lay life. So, “[They] are able to use all-encompassing wisdom to know all Buddha’s teachings of the path”.
Those who are able to use all-encompassing wisdom to know all Buddhas’ teachings of the path and know all sentient beings’ causal seeds are known as people of wisdom who enter the path. They can understand the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom and expound it to people widely. This cannot be done without the Buddha’s wisdom.
We can use all-encompassing wisdom to learn the ways of the Buddha. Using all-encompassing wisdom does not mean that we only need to [attain] “wisdom of all Dharma”. And it is not that we stop when we attain “the wisdom of all paths”. We must walk this path until the end, until we attain “all-encompassing wisdom”. This is Buddha-wisdom. So, we should know all Buddhas and “all Buddhas’ teachings of the path”. We must reach “all Buddhas’ teachings of the path” and enter them. “[They] know all sentient beings’ causal seeds”. When it comes to the causes and conditions of all sentient beings, our causes and conditions of cyclic existence, this path we are born on, how we walk on the path in the world, the kind of encounters or causes and conditions [we may face], we [will be ] completely clear about them.
So, “They are known as people of wisdom who enter the path”. These are people with wisdom who have already entered the path. We must understand sentient beings’ karmic retributions. We must be very clear about them. “They can understand the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom”. We must hurry to go forward to enter the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom and “expound it to people widely”. We must enter the Great Vehicle Dharma and gain the all-encompassing wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s. we must have such great aspirations to enter [the Great Vehicle Dharma] so that we can “expound it to people widely”. “This cannot be done without the Buddha’s wisdom”. If we do not reach the level of the Buddha’s wisdom truly, we will not know how to transform sentient beings. So, we must, from the very beginning, have faith in what the Buddha said. Everyone intrinsically possesses the nature of True Suchness. From that, [we go from] “wisdom of all Dharma” to “wisdom of all paths” until we [ attain] “all-encompassing wisdom”. If we do not do this, how can we go among people and transform sentient beings? Although we are still advancing forward right now and have not yet reached that state, on this path, we must believe that as long as we continue forward upon it, we will reach the destination no matter how distant it is. We just need to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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