Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Six Practices: Ten Dedications Part 3(六行~十回向行三)
Yesterday we spoke about “expressing the Middle Path.” We should also remember to “transform all sentient beings.” Sentient beings and Buddha have the same nature, so why are Buddha and ordinary people different? One thing separates them: delusion. Ordinary people are deluded. All Buddhas are enlightened. That is the difference between them.
We live in a land of delusion, but once we have Initial Enlightenment, we should begin to realize that we want to return to the same state as Buddha, to our Innate Enlightenment. We start as ordinary people, and the endpoint of this road is Buddhahood. To cross the distance between the two points, we must first “transform all sentient beings.”
There is a great distance between making that vow as ordinary people and Buddhahood. As we walk down this long path, we cannot deviate in the slightest. We must walk the Middle Path. As we said yesterday, we must walk the Middle Path to regain our Innate Enlightenment.
Innate Enlightenment: Everyone possesses the same pure innate nature as Buddha. Initial Enlightenment: After listening to Dharma, one must come to a realization and vow to practice to return to Buddha-nature.
How do we move from Initial to Innate Enlightenment? “The peaceful and ever-abiding enlightening wisdom is equal to that of all Buddhas. This is called Dedication Equal to All Buddhas.” This emphatically states that this is a simple thing. We are born with the truth of Innate Enlightenment not only in this lifetime, but in all our lifetimes. This bright and pure Innate Enlightenment has already followed us here. It will never leave us. Therefore it is “ever-abiding” and it does not experience creation or extinction. Buddha has no more than us and ordinary people have no less than Buddha. Our enlightened nature and reasoning are equal to Buddha’s, so we are ever-abiding.
It is sad that an ignorant thought will produce greed, anger, ignorance, etc. Ignorance is the source of afflictions for sentient beings; there are 84,000 afflictions. So the Buddha must use His enlightened nature to create 84,000 skillful means to suit and mirror ordinary people’s ignorance. He taught these methods.
So we often hear the number 84,000. There are 84,000 ignorant afflictions so the Buddha’s compassion inspired Him to create 84,000 skillful methods. This is the Dedication equal to all Buddhas. “All Buddhas” refers to the principle behind Innate Enlightenment. Everyone must first understand the wisdom of Initial Enlightenment. We want to investigate the truth of Innate Enlightenment, now we are still trying to find our way back. We have to start with Initial Enlightenment to unlock our wisdom.
Among the 84,000 skillful methods, there is one that deals with delusion. Delusion is lack of enlightenment. We must have the wisdom of Initial Enlightenment. “Wisdom of complete Initial Enlightenment merges with the truth of pure Innate Enlightenment. Truth merges with wisdom, form and mind are one.” We can begin to fit things into the ultimate, innate wisdom. We already know we share the same Innate Enlightenment as Buddha, but we must begin anew.
What we start with now and what we originally had are actually the same thing. If we put them together they are one and the same. So originally, we had the same clear Innate Enlightenment as the Buddha. But , who knows when, an ignorant thought produced the Three Subtleties, greed, anger, ignorance, as well as endlessly reproducing afflictions. So we should feel lucky to have this opportunity. We match Initial Enlightenment to Ultimate Enlightenment. The ultimate already exists, it is what we had. We use Initial Enlightenment to return to the ultimate original Truth, to our Innate Enlightenment.
So these two things, the initial and innate, were originally one. We are trying to bring them together, unite them. What we call “form” is the world around us. Do you see me now?
Yes.
I possess a form. Now listen to me speak. Sound enters your ears. My actions are seen through your eyes. After you hear me speak, do you keep my words in mind?
Yes.
Yes or no, no one knows but you. That is Initial Enlightenment. That is it. The world outside of our minds is made of forms. Form inspires realization in our minds, so “form and mind are one.” That is what we should constantly strive to learn and understand.
We possess Innate Enlightenment equal to Buddha, but it was defiled by ignorance and afflictions. Now we have an opportunity for enlightenment, so we will return to Ultimate Truth through Initial Enlightenment. Their union inspires an awakening.
So this is Manifestation of Wisdom. Actually, there is no universal word for “sound”, nor for “form.” In Taiwanese, it is “Hsiah.” In Chinese, it is “Suh.” In Japanese, it is “Iro.” And so on. So terms are not universal. But we assign a name according to our wisdom. Everyone knows what this is and what it is called. All these people are sitting in front of me. Are you all called “human?” Yes. But are Chang and Li the same human? No. The common term is “human”, but we each have our own names. Who helped name you? They did it with wisdom. It is difficult to choose a name. That is why it takes wisdom to name someone. It all means the same thing whether it is the external or internal world, we create that view based on our own discernment.
If we understand this Truth, this is the Dharma-body of Wisdom. Our minds create everything. There is a saying, “Everything is create by the mind.” Everything is created through our thoughts. So we must have a Dharma-body. We must cultivate our Dharma-body. We practice to go from ignorance to realizing how to apply Dharma. If we can use Dharma, we have the Dharma-body. Applying it habitually in our daily lives is called the Virtue of Dharma-body. I often say, the virtuous attain, those who attain are virtuous. For attainment and virtue, after we learn, we attain insight. Once we attain insight, we must practice it in our daily lives. Then the character that we display is virtuous. This is what we attain. After we learn these skills, they stay with us.
The virtuous attain, those who attain are virtuous. One attains insight after learning Dharma and must apply it to one’s life. Then the character one manifests is virtuous.
So we must learn Dharma and then use in our daily lives to foster good habits. I often tell everyone, “Habits are as different as people’s faces.” We can recognize and feel who is cultivated and who is not from their habitual tendencies. So we practice to fix our negative habits and maintain and use our good ones. This is Dharma. When it is used in our daily lives, it is called virtue. We just mentioned 84,000 afflictions. We must learn the means to transform them. We need to use wisdom to establish skillful means so we will not deviate from the Middle Path.
Wisdom tells us to walk in the middle of the Bodhisattva-path. This is something we learn. Dharma lays down a path. All Buddhas take this path to enlightenment. Past, present and future Buddhas must walk this Dharma-path without deviation. This is the only way to become a Buddha. This is the Dharma-body.
Dharma-body does not grow greater in Buddhas or diminish in sentient beings. As I just said, “Delusions confuse sentient beings.” Why are we sentient beings? We are deluded, so we are confused. “Buddhas are at ease because they are enlightened.” Why are Buddhas at ease? Because they are enlightened. They attain freedom through enlightenment. Clearly “delusion and enlightenment differ.” Although they differ greatly, “body and nature are always one.”
Enlightenment and delusion begin in the same place. Enlightenment is awareness of an ignorant thought. Actually they are one, so the minds of sentient beings and Buddha are one. “Body and nature are always one. Filled with permanence, bliss, self and purity, this is the Virtue of Dharma-body.”
What is the Virtue of Dharma-body? Having permanence, bliss, self and purity? The minds of ordinary people are impermanent. They are happy on moment and perhaps troubled in the next. When they are in love, they constantly chase, constantly pursue. The happiness of successful pursuit is as fleeting as a cereus. Is it long-lasting? Is it real? Hard to say. Everything in the world is impermanent. We should be at ease with gain and loss. When people lack something, they worry about gaining it. When they have something, they fear losing it. If we have fame, wealth and fortune, we usually worry. Worry is fear.
What are we worried about? Loss. If we do not have something, we also worry. We try hard to make money, to acquire things. That also worries us. These are worried about how to attain things. When we do not have things, we worry about gain. When we do, we worry about loss. These thoughts of gain and loss cause indescribable suffering. Ordinary people are like this. They are confused by delusions.
Enlightened beings are filled with permanence, bliss, self and purity. Having things does not increase their happiness. Things are just that way. When they have things, they think about how to use them. They have the usage rights. They think about how to use them happily to benefit people’s lives. They do not feel they have lost anything. No, they feel happy about using it. It brings “permanence.” When they have something, they give it away. When they do not have anything, they do not worry. So they are consistently happy, and nothing can defile their minds. They have permanence, bliss, self and purity. Fame and wealth will cause them no worries. That is permanence, bliss, self and purity. That is the Virtue of Dharma-body.
Dharma is the path that all Buddhas practice to attain enlightenment. It is called Dharma-body. It does not grow greater in Buddhas or diminish in sentient beings. Sentient beings are confused by delusions. All Buddhas attain freedom through enlightenment. Delusion and enlightenment differ but their nature is always one. The Virtue of the Dharma-body is complete with Permanence, Bliss, Self and Purity.
If we can practice so that worldly matters no longer concern us, we will not be greedy or defiled. We should start with transforming sentient beings. Their lives are filled with suffering. However we help them, we should have no expectations after doing so. Then we can clearly continue on this Bodhisattva-path, the Right Path and the Middle Path. If we can do so, we truly possess Dharma-Body and we have truly learned virtue.
So Dharma is a method. It is a method that helps sentient beings without involving any sense of our own gain or loss. So we must use 84,000 different methods to transform the 84.000 afflictions of sentient beings. So, everyone, we have discussed the first, second and third of the Ten Dedications. We need to understand them all thoroughly. Then we can possess the Virtue of Dharma-body, be filled with permanence, bliss, self and purity. So, everyone should be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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