Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Spiritual Practitioners Benefit Others (行者利他 為趣道場)
Date: May.13.2019
“In the place where the Buddha attained Buddhahood, Bodhicitta was His place of practice. Wherever we learn the path is our place of practice. A disciplined, aligned and upright mind is our place of practice. Through contemplation, we enter the place of right conduct and a tranquil and clear state of mind. A still and calm state of mind is our place of practice.”
We should mindfully seek to comprehend this. Where is our “place of practice”? We keep looking for a place where our minds can take refuge. The Buddha found His refuge at His place of enlightenment. But where was it? [It was] in Bodhicitta, the place where He attained enlightenment. Bodhicitta is our place of spiritual practice. Wherein lies this Bodhicitta? It lies within our minds. Buddha-nature is intrinsic to everyone. When all is said and done, it is right inside of us. This is true! Whatever the world’s problems may be, it all comes back to what is inside ourselves. We [speak of] ourselves, but when we use the word, “us,” isn’t it just a combination of letters? What is this “us” of which we speak? “Us” is just a word. When the word “us” is pronounced in a different tone [in Taiwanese], it sounds like the word for “lazy”. What does that mean? That means we are lazy. We are all lazy. “Hey! Why are you so lazy?” “I know! If I were just a little more diligent, I’d seize the moment and never waste a second!” If we aspire to never let a second go to waste, is this even possible? If we try to hold on to just a second, it will be impossible to hold onto or grasp it; it will just elude us, passing us by like this. Mindful people realize that time is passing us by like this, but they use that time to accomplish all kinds of things. Because time is passing us by like this, we need to be as mindful as we can. We must be aware of this; we must understand that time is passing us by. We might not have understood this at first, yet with the passage of time, our knowledge has grown. As time ceaselessly passes us by, our knowledge has been ceaselessly growing into wisdom. To use our time well, we must see time as if it were water flowing away. Water is something we can use, and water is also something that flows away, but if we are mindful, we can use this water to wash things clean. Though the water is flowing away from us, things still gets clean. Though time also flows away from us, if we use our time well and keep the Dharma in our hearts, our wisdom-life will grow. We should be mindful of this.
“In the place where the Buddha attained Buddhahood...”. We should ask ourselves, where was the Buddha able to attain Buddhahood? Is there a [physical] place that will enable us to attain awakening? People actually seek out that place where the Buddha attained enlightenment, that original spot beneath the tree. Yet the instant in which the Buddha suddenly became one with the universe, when He awakened to the oneness of all things, is everlasting. With this everlasting enlightenment, He can teach about everything in the world. He clearly knows and discerns all tangible materials in the entire universe, so He can teach the Dharma. This is because the Buddha became enlightened to the oneness of all things in the universe. Where did this “enlightenment” come from? “Bodhicitta was His place of practice.” This is the enlightened nature intrinsic to us all. “Bodhi” is “enlightenment,” the innate enlightenment intrinsic to everyone. His mind became one with the universe, and He awakened to His enlightened nature. This is the Buddha’s place of enlightenment, the place of His spiritual practice. This place of practice is wherever He teaches the Dharma and leads His disciples. He has many places of practice, for He has become one with the universe, so how could His mind belong to any one place?
Unenlightened beings have yet to awaken. The Buddha wants to tell us this. So, “All appearances come from non-appearance.” There are so many appearances in the world, and though we pursue these appearances, we will never be able to grasp them. [knowing this] is “enlightenment”. When we fully understand these principles, where else will we seek [these appearances]? Once we grasp this, there really nothing there. What could there be? Even if we truly want to seek something, there is nothing inside or outside of us. But worldly people just keep clinging to their delusions about “us,” about “self” and “other.” They have so many [delusions], thus they are full of afflictions and ignorance. Their Bodhicitta, their place of practice, never emerges. We are also like this; the location of our Bodhicitta has yet to emerge. Thus, our place of practice is wherever we learn the path. We must focus on what we are doing. Where do we learn the path? What even is the path? The path lies within our place of practice, a disciplined, aligned and upright mind. There was a time in the past when we also said that aligning our mind will align our path with the great, direct Bodhi-path. We all must discipline our minds, for our mind is crooked and misaligned. Thus, when it comes to the very deep principles, we fail to string them together and make sense of them. We are not yet mindful enough to do this.
This is like the program Da Ai Opera. I hope that our Da Ai TV writes will portray our humanistic culture accurately. As they do research for the Da Ai Opera programs [about eminent monastics], I hope that they will depict the true journey and experience of those who have realized, learned and spread the teachings. If we can make time to watch it, we will learn of their stories. The stories they tell are about our past history. If we listen carefully, we may instantly gain realizations. “Oh! I see! What you said gave me this realization.” This is “moment of awakening,” penning up an opportunity for awakening. Deep at night, when all is quiet, [we think], “I have spent all of these years here, and what have I gained from it?” It seems there is nowhere for our mind to take refuge. “What is enlightenment? How am I supposed to attain enlightenment from sitting in meditation? What does it mean that the teachings must accord with our capabilities for us to be able to accept them?” Enlightenment is actually not that easy to attain. Accepting the teachings means to take them in and apply them in our daily lives as best we can, realizing the principles through matters. As we experience things first-hand, [we realize], “These are the principles. Through dealing with this matter, I came to understand the principle behind it.”
When the Buddha-Dharma is in our lives, then no matter how long our life lasts, so long as we accept the Buddha-Dharma, listen to it and put it to use every day, we can change our habitual tendencies every day. We must change our habitual tendencies. The Dharma is like water; water just keeps on flowing. We must clean the things we use each day, [and in the same way], every day, we must eliminate our afflictions. Do we have any discursive thoughts? If we have any discursive thoughts or any amount of afflictions in the present, we must use the Dharma as water to wash them away. At night when all is quiet, we need not trouble ourselves with afflictions.
By the same principle, when it comes to all [the information] we absorb, we must make sure to mindfully deposit it into our wisdom-life treasury. This is our “lifespan treasury,” which we store within our eighth consciousness and carry with us into our future lifetime. In order for our causes and conditions to keep maturing, we must quickly let go of the daily afflictions and ignorance we encounter, quickly eliminate our bad conditions and make good use of our good conditions. This applies to all our interactions and matters. In everything we deal with, we need to filter the good from the bad, elimination the bad, getting rid of it, and turning the good into wisdom.
This is how we accumulate [wisdom], making it part of our memory. So, we must discipline our mind until all that remains within it is the Dharma. Then, [our mind] will be “disciplined, aligned and upright.” This is our place of practice. This is the path we must walk. The mind is our place of practice. If we take the teachings we learn to heart, this also becomes our place of practice, one that gives us direction in our daily lives. We must walk this path with a disciplined, aligned and upright mind. This is the place where we practice the teachings. When we engage in constant contemplation, this becomes or meditation. Whether we are chopping wood or carrying water, speaking, eating or drinking, it is all meditation. Mediation, refers to contemplation, quiet contemplation; through it, we “enter the place of right conduct.”
When we speak, we must focus on speaking. When we work, we must focus on our hands. When we walk, we must focus on our feet. When we see something, we must focus on what we see. This means that through quiet contemplation, we can enter the place of right conduct. We should constantly maintain a tranquil and clear state of mind. Our minds should always be very clear. We should always be in this “state of mind”. Ever still and calm, this state of mind is our place of practice. To make the most of our time, we must be very mindful.
As we deal with people and matters, we must remember this. This works just like memory. Despite how busy we are each day, can we still remember things that happened before? Can we still remember what we did many years ago? If we think about it, we can remember.
Yes! It was January 14th, 2001 when something terrible happened in EI Salvador. There was an earthquake, 7.4 on the Richter scale, a very powerful earthquake that caused devastation all across EI Salvador. Tzu Chi volunteers quickly arrived in El Salvador to provide emergency relief. Besides providing immediate emergence relief, they also wondered how they could help the people who had lost their homes. They began thinking of ways to help them. The government allocated some land and Tzu Chi used it to build houses for them. This is how things developed. In January of the following year, in 2002, they opened the first Da Ai village in El Salvador. When the second piece of land was allocated, they immediately began planning, and the second village was completed in 2003. Altogether, the two villages provided accommodation for over 1000 household over 1000 families.
From then on, we began sowing seeds in El Salvador. When El Salvador experienced a series of hurricanes and floods, our Tzu Chi USA volunteers went there and rose up to the task. They guided the locals there. Wherever there was hurricane damage, the people of the village came together. They all worked together and began providing hot meals. Everyone quickly pooled their resources and gathered provisions together to begin providing hot meals. This place was truly remote. While the villagers took care of each other, we continued on to build them a school. This was the loving care that our Tzu Chi USA volunteers expressed. [The locals] kept working together with them as they kept helping them. When Lu Rong (Debbie Chen) came back from the US to make a report, she brought up El Salvage. She had gone there to see those Tzu Chi villages, to see the school we had built for them. To this day, the students there are well taught. Even though they are poor, they do not receive a poor education. The education the children are receiving is exceptional. They all dress so neatly! The little elementary school students, wear very dignified clothing, deep blue trousers and white shirts with ties. Even the little ones in 1st through 4th grade are all very orderly. It makes me very happy to see the education they are receiving. The primary and middle school students are very orderly, and their teachers are very mindful when teaching.
Moreover, though [Tzu Chi volunteers] rarely interact with them there, they remember the kindness they have received and are very grateful. The entire village is very clean. They cherish their village with gratitude. Those who are well-off there maintain their homes very well. Not everyone, however, is well-off. When we first built those homes for them, we used brick and corrugated roofing, but that we almost 20 years ago. People with the means to do so have already replaced the corrugated roofing, while a minority live in run-down homes that they are unable to restore. When Lu Rong and Mr. Chen went to see them, some of the house there were leaking in the rain. Their surroundings were very clean but what could they do about the leaking roofs? They had no way to restore them, so Lu Rong asked everyone, “Would you help your fellow villagers? In other countries, people are helping one another. Just by saving handfuls of rice, they were able to give good to people more impoverished than themselves. If you all save just a little, you can help each other [repair] these roofs. Yes, that’s true!” Mr. Chen began calling upon the people in the village who had a bit of strength to save up three US dollars a month. In this way, over 100 people came together to replace the remaining leaking roofs. Now, all the roofs have been replaced. They also mobilized volunteers to go up on the roofs and repair them. They bought materials and mobilized volunteers to help these people with no one else to rely on, who are very impoverished. Their minds are very disciplined. They learned to be grateful for what they have received, and because of their gratitude, they have taken good care of their village. They show their gratitude by loving their village. [Their minds] are also “disciplined and aligned”.
After 10 or 20 years, the roofs of these poor people had begun to leak. Yet, now, by merely asking everyone to save up three dollars, they were able to give several dozen households, people with no one else to rely on, a safe, stable and joyful refuge. “Having relieved them from suffering, they then expounded the Dharma for them”. Sentient beings are sufferings. We give sentient beings a safe, stable and joyful refuge by leveraging each others’ strength. This is how the principles work. As long as we take “wherever we learn the path” as “our place of practice”, no matter what we learn today, we will gain insights and learn which methods we can use to help others. When we give them a little guidance, [they say], “I get it; I will help others!” Once inspired, everyone pools together their strength to do what needs to be done. Isn’t this leveraging each other’s strengths? This motivation came from the insights they gained. They heard the Dharma and actualized it their life. [They learned] there were people doing such things and thus realized the principles through matters. These are all very simple matters, but as we just said, they are all part of the path!
So, “Through contemplation, we enter the place of right conduct.” Just think how, if we walk the path like this, as long as our mind is totally pure, then we will naturally gain strength through reflection and contemplation. “A still and calm state of mind. This is more than just emptying our mind, sitting in meditation, learning the Dharma or just gaining realizations from the Sutra and thinking this is enough. It is not enough. People might say a lot, but if they fail to take actions, their words are empty. They might listen a lot, but if they do not grasp the principles, it is all for naught.
Everyone, the learning is in the doing. Only by doing it do we make it real; this is the true place of practice. This is the True Dharma. We must all understand this very clearly. To enter the Buddha’s views and understanding, we must put the Dharma to use. We need to be very mindful to this!
In the previous passage, [the Buddha] said, “They can also uphold precepts with purity and dwell together with gentle and harmonious people, patient and free of anger. With firm resolve and aspirations, they always cherish sitting in meditation and attain deep Samadhi. With diligence and courage, they embrace all virtuous teachings. With sharp capabilities and wisdom, they skillfully answer challenging questions.
This is the Dharma. We should not ask challenging questions just deliberately try to stump someone. We are not learning the Dharma just so we can try to stump people or just so we can sit there dealing with people’s difficult questions, answering whatever they ask. There is more to it than that. So, we need to be very mindful in truly actualizing the Dharma and making use of it. Empty questions and empty answers are useless. We must mindfully put the Dharma into action.
“Ajita, after I enter Parinirvana, if there are good men and good women who will accept, uphold read and recite this sutra, they will also have all these good merits and virtues.”
“Ajila” refers to Maitreya Bodhisattva. After I enter Parinirvana, there will be good men and good women who understand the need to read, transcribe and copy the sutra like this. They will teach others to read, transcribe and most importantly, spread and uphold the Dharma. These people will gain great merits and virtues. Then He goes on to describe these, for this chapter is called the Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues.
In the next passage, [the Buddha] says, “You should know that such people have already proceeded to the place of practice and are drawing near to Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi as they sit beneath the Bodhi tree.
We should know that there are people like this, the people discussed previously, who copy and transcribe the sutra and so on. Most important of all are the people who accept and uphold the Dharma. Those who accept and uphold the Dharma “have already proceeded to the place of practice”. To “proceed” is to “go in that directions. They are going along the Bodhi-path. Their direction is precise, which makes it easy for them to approach. “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” They are going in the direction of the path to supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. They are headed in the right direction.
You should know that such people have already proceeded to the place of practice and are drawing near to Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: You should know that by spreading the sutra and cultivating blessings like this, Bodhisattva-practitioners have already proceeded to the place of practice. They are not far from the Buddha and are able to draw near to Bodhi.
So, we should know about “Bodhisattva-practitioners who spread the Dharma and cultivate blessings like this. They do not just sit there, reading and reciting the sutra. Most important of all is to “spread the sutra and cultivate blessings”. This is why Bodhisattvas must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions, giving, precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. We cannot lack any one of these. We cannot do this on our own, it is critical that we go among people and teach. Everyone needs to be able to do this. This is spreading the sutra, the Bodhisattva-practice of spreading the sutra and cultivating blessings. To cultivate blessings, we must go among people and form good affinities with everyone. We cultivate blessings by forming good affinities, thus guiding people to create blessed karma. This is all part of cultivating blessings. If we have been cultivating blessings, we are headed along the Bodhi-path and “have already proceeded to the place of practice”. We are headed in the right direction. We know the importance of going among people. We know we must go benefit sentient beings, and we know we must guide them to benefit others through the Four All-Embracing Virtues of giving, loving-speech, beneficial conduct and working together. This is the right thing to do. So, [Bodhisattva-practitioners] have “already proceeded to the place of practice. They are not far from the Buddha and are able to draw near to Bodhi”. We have already begun, and we long as we go in the right direction, we need not fear how long the path is.
This explains clearly that practitioners, by also practicing the Six Paramitas to benefit others, have proceeded to the place of practice. By erecting stupas and building monasteries, they give of their wealth. By praising the Three Vehicles and teaching the Lotus Sutra, they give of the Dharma. [Giving], along with precepts, patience, Samadhi, diligence and wisdom, are the Six Paramitas. These are all for the sake of benefiting others. Thus, this is the place where [practitioners] proceed directly toward Bodhi.
This explains very clearly how ”practitioners also practice the Six Paramitas to benefit others”. If we aspire to become a practitioner, a monastic, we must let go of our small family and orient ourselves to a greater family. So, in our spiritual practice, we must make sure to “also practice the Six paramitas to benefit others”. This is how we “proceed to the place of practice”. Our spiritual practice must not just benefit ourselves alone. We must also make sure to go among people. Though we leave a little family behind, we get to enter into a greater family. The little family consists of a few relatives. The family we wish to entire into is the family of all sentient beings in the world. This is the greater family. This is the direction of our place of practice. Erecting stupas, building monasteries and so on are examples of giving of our wealth.
However, we can only give as much wealth as we can. When it comes to “praising the Three Vehicles and teaching the Lotus Sutra,” this is all considered “giving of the Dharma”. To give wealth is to give something tangible; to give the Dharma is to give something intangible. We apply and spread the Dharma to transform sentient beings. When we “have the Dharma to transform others,” we have a way; we “have a way to transform others”. We have the Dharma, so we can transform others. It is not about having ways to deal with matters. This is not the case. It is about having the Dharma to transform others. “I can do small things; I am doing enough on my own”. We must not [think like this]! If we want to do something great, we need a way to transform others! Thus, we need “the Dharma to transform” them. This is giving. This, “along with precepts, patience, Samadhi, diligence and wisdom, are the Six Paramitas”. We should always practice all of the Six Paramitas. “These are all for the sake of benefiting others”. Giving, precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom must all be part of our practice. When it comes to the six practices listed here, we must actualize them in all our actions. If we wish to do good deeds everywhere, then we cannot do without these. So, when we benefit others, we benefit ourselves especially. As we help others, we are also perfecting ourselves. So, we benefit ourselves by benefiting others. “Thus, this is the place where [we] proceed directly toward Bodhi”. In our journey [to help others], we are perfecting ourselves. Thus, we are headed in the right direction.
“As they sit beneath the Bodhi tree…”. As we sit beneath the tree, “in every moment, [our] mind is always focused on the path”. We remain unwavering. This is the significance of “sitting”. “The great Bodhicitta that Bodhisattvas form is represented by the Bodhi tree.
In every moment” refers to how, in every second, our mind maintains constant, unwavering stillness. We were just talking about how even chopping wood and carrying water can be meditation. In whatever we do, if our mind remains unwavering, this is Samadhi, meaning we have mastered the art of a focused mind. So, “This is represented by ‘sitting’”. “The great Bodhicitta that Bodhisattvas form is represented by the Bodhi tree”. When it comes to the Bodhi tree, as long as we form great Bodhicitta, we will find that the Bodhimanda is in our mind. Our mind becomes our place of enlightenment.
Beneath a tree, The Tathagata attained universal and perfect enlightenment by awakening to this wondrous Dharma. Practitioners of the path who currently uphold and recite this sutra are already proceeding toward the place for attaining enlightenment. They are drawing near unsurpassed Bodhi and are sitting beneath the Bodhi tree.
So, “Beneath a tree, The Tathagata attained universal and perfect enlightenment by awakening to this wondrous Dharma”. It was in India, beneath a Bodhi tree, that He attained enlightenment. The Bodhi [tree] was His Bodhimanda. In truth, Bodhi exists within the mind of every Bodhisattva who practices the path. We all have this Bodhi tree inside of us. There is a Bodhimanda in us all. In our journey of spiritual practice, so long as our mind remains unwavering and focused, retaining our initial aspiration without regrets, we will abide in Samadhi and awaken to the wondrous Dharma.
From the instant we form our initial aspiration, we begin to awaken. When we awaken like this, we never waver from our aspiration. We keep moving on in accordance with this Dharma. This brings us to “practitioners of the path who currently uphold and recite this sutra”. These practitioners currently teach and recite the sutra. We have walked this path as well. The sutra is more than just words; it is the path we walk every day. It is our journey. Just as I was speaking, I thought of El Salvador. That was also a journey, a journey along the Bodhisattva-path. There was a group of Bodhisattvas who kept returning to walk that path. Whether they came from America or Taiwan to join together, they kept returning. Over the course of two or three years, they successfully built two villages with more than 1000 houses there. The past is history, but there is both recent and distant history. My entry into this room just now has already become recent history. The words I am speaking now and the moments passing us by right now, these too are becoming history. By the same token, the Buddha lived more than 2000 years before us. This is ancient history from a long time ago. The time we are experiencing right now, as each moment accumulates, will become history. If we are mindful of every moment, it will become part of history. If we are not mindful, it is spent in vain. We took another walk through history when they came back from America and shared their experiences from abroad, their impressions from their repeated visits. This is all history. Yet we must always know how to walk the path. These are the journeys made by these volunteers, their reflections upon the path they walked. They are all part of the path. We still need to single-mindedly advance upon the paths that help us reach our destination. For us to get there, we still have a long way to go. We must continue to walk, single-mindedly, without ever wavering, always in the Bodhimanda. We must all mindfully seek to experience this. We do not need to sit here to do this; we can experience it no matter what we are doing. As “practitioners of the path who currently uphold and recite this sutra,” we do this every day; we are always “reciting the sutra”. Whether we speak of our past or present experiences or what we will experience in the future, we are always “experiencing” the sutra. So, we will “proceed toward the place for attaining enlightenment” so long as we never deviate in our direction. Hence, “They are drawing near unsurpassed Bodhi and are sitting beneath the Bodhi tree”. We must very mindfully move forward. This requires us to be very mindful as we sit beneath the tree.
Earth, water, fire and wind are the four elements. Sight, smell, taste and touch. The human body comes into existence through a temporary union of the four elements. The four elements themselves come into existence through the four minute forms, so they are collectively referred to as the Eight Dharmas.
So, there is “the earth” [element]. Everything is comprised of the four elements and the four minute forms. As we go about our daily living, sight, smell, taste and touch are the minute forms that are all part of our lives. What really happens when the four minute forms give us sensations? These sensations cause us to give rise to thoughts. What is it that gives rise to these thoughts? It is this body. In the body, we can see how earth, water, fire and wind, the four elements, all come together to make up the body. The body is inseparable from the four minute forms. The “four elements” and “the four minute forms” together make up the Eight Dharmas.
Everyone, when it comes to the Dharma, this Dharma is always part of our daily lives; though we may not be aware of it, the Dharma is everywhere in the world. We must work hard to be mindful. In the course of our daily lives, we must really seek to experience this and work hard to make the most of every second. Whenever we work hard, our mind becomes our place of practice. So, we must mindfully seek to experience this. Where should we go to meditate? Where should we go to practice? Our place of practice is in the here and now. So, the wondrousness of the Dharma is revealed when we are able to experience it in life, and this brings us great joy. To never experience this is truly sorrowful. Everyone, when we have experienced the Dharma, don’t we feel great joy and ease? How much sorrow and afflictions do we feel? This is something we must ask ourselves. The mind is our place of practice and self-examination. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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