Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha’s Virtues Pervade the Universe (佛德遍虛空)
In our daily lives, when we sit down for half an hour to practice, our minds are calm and filled with good thoughts. But when we resume our daily lives, we will encounter people and matters that will inevitably make us wonder, “Have I created good affinities with this person?” If not, even if he does not express any negative emotions, when we run into each other, we may become unhappy just from seeing that person.
The mind changes with conditions. Even if nothing changes in the physical world, there are changes occurring in our minds. These are the thoughts that arise. While doing things during the day, our minds may roam, to past events or to the future, because we are dissatisfied with the present. In this way, unhappy thoughts arise and we begin to feel resentful. Then the Dharma we hear today, and the goodness that arises in our minds, will be eliminated. We eliminate it ourselves.
So we must take good care of our own minds and cultivate good thoughts. This way, we will destroy many evils. Didn’t we say that obstacles originate from mixing the water of ignorance and mud of desire? This causes mud and filth to accumulate in our minds and cover our Wisdom-eyes. Then many obstacles begin to arise and it is difficult to shed and transcend afflictions. So, we must take good care of our minds.
When the water of ignorance mixes with the mud of desire, it fills the mind with filth and obstructs the wisdom that can distinguish good from evil. Then one falls into affliction and cannot escape. So we need to take good care of our minds.
The next section talks about obstacles. Obstacles prevent us from attaining noble birth in the Human or Heaven Realms, or “being born in the Form Realm or Formless Realm and achieving the joyous blessing of Samadhi.”
We learn Buddhism and practice virtuous Dharma in an effort to escape suffering. Some create blessings so as to be born in Heaven. Heavenly beings have wealth, dignity and longevity. Those are the blessings of heavenly beings. To be born into Heaven we must cultivate blessings. We cannot do it without blessings. So we should not create obstacles in our own minds. We see so much suffering in this world, so we have many opportunities to create blessings.
In this world we experience many manmade and natural disasters that may give us the opportunity to reflect and practice. In this world, we come in contact with many thing that inspire our kindness and our intentions to practice good deeds. But if we obstruct ourselves, we lose the opportunity to be born in Heaven, let alone in “the Form Realm or Formless Realm” with “the joyous blessing of Samadhi.” How can we obtain such an opportunity? Without those opportunities, we will continue to suffer in the Five Realms and Three Destinies. These are afflictions. They are never-ending because we hinder ourselves.
Next, “We have obstacles to unimpeded spiritual powers of soaring, of turning invisible and of traveling to the Pure Lands of all Buddhas of the Ten Directions to listen to the Right Dharma.”
We were once equal to the Buddha. When the Buddha was alive, He had a disciple named Maudgalyayana, who had spiritual powers that allowed him to cross from one side of Mount Sumeru to the other side with just one step. Crossing a great distance in this way is called the Power of Transporting Oneself. Maudgalyayana wanted to measure the Buddha’s virtues, the breadth and height of His Dharma-body. So he used his spiritual powers to travel to the Four Heavens of the Four Deva-kings. He went to Trayastrimsa Heaven, Tusita Heaven, and the most supreme realms.
He wanted to measure the virtues of the Buddha’s Dharma-body so he traversed the heavens. But, it was immeasurable. Thus, we can know that the Buddha’s virtues pervade the endless Dharma realms. This shows that while Maudgalyayana had these spiritual powers, he still had not reached the state of the Buddha.
However great one’s powers may be, the Buddha’s virtuous Dharma-body is infinitely greater. We do not practice to attain spiritual powers, for they are inherent in all of us. They are virtues we possess by nature. We all innately possess virtuous natures, which are endowed with unimpeded spiritual powers. We actually have these powers right now. Spiritual powers can manifest an instant. If I say, “Su-zhou,” perhaps you can imagine the environment of that city. Your spirit has quickly traveled to that place. You can visualize the sights and people there. Your body is still be here, but your powers have flown you there, quickly and invisibly. Our bodies are here, but our spirit is there. Though our minds can soar and invisible, there are still obstacles.
One who has spiritual powers like Maudgalyayana can freely and easily step from this side of Mount Sumeru to the other. This is a manifestation of spiritual powers. But that was over 2000 years ago, and we do not know if it was true. It was described that way in the Sutras. If we talk about spiritual powers now, it is like what we just said. No matter where we were in the past, if we think about the past, perhaps each of our minds will scatter to visit the things we have experienced.
Perhaps everyone’s mind has already invisibly flown away and traveled to the assembly of all Buddhas. It says here that if we are unhindered and our minds are focused, then we can be at ease and free from scattered thoughts. There will be no distractions of the past or delusions of the future. None. Then we can travel to all places, including the assembly of all Buddhas. In the west, there is the World of Ultimate Bliss. In the east, there is the World of Lapis Lazuli. There are Buddha-worlds in every direction. In all Buddha-world there is a time when all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will gather together. We all have spiritual powers, we have the potential to be equal to all Buddhas. At least our pure natures should be able to travel to the gatherings of Buddhas of all directions to “listen to the Right Dharma.”
This is the state we want to attain in our spiritual practice. But it is not easy, for we are still merely ordinary people. We are still learning to transcend the mindset of ordinary people, while trying to manifest our inherent capacity for spiritual powers. At present we have only scattered thoughts and delusions, so we are unable to focus. We still cannot get over confusions and delusions to return to our inherent virtues and abilities. We cannot soar or be invisible, nor travel to the gatherings of all Buddhas to listen to the Right Dharma.
Many afflictions block us from knowing how to practice in order to attain enlightenment. We must learn how to correct our past sufferings, mistakes or afflictions. Because of our many past afflictions and mistakes, we created many obstacles for ourselves, so now we cannot focus. I often tell Tzu Chi volunteers that to save the world, we must first save people’s minds. We must make our minds pure in order to help others do the same. We must keep both our bodies and minds pure. When minds are pure, the Earth will be pure. Our minds will be free of scattered thoughts, and there will be no afflictions to trouble us. If we can achieve this state, the power of everyone’s mind can join together.
Learning Buddhism is about the here and now. It is not about pursuing spiritual practice in faraway places or taking long periods of time. Just begin by changing yourselves.
In the process of spiritual cultivation, mistakes and afflictions create obstacles which cause us to be unable to focus our mind and spirit. Only by purifying the mind and eliminating discursive thoughts can any accomplishments be attained.
The following story is form the Agama Sutra. In the Buddha’s time, there was an extremely poor man. His circumstances were very sad, and caused people to truly pity him. But through the Dharma, he learned why he was so poor and unfortunate. He understood cause and effect so he had no resentments. He cultivated pure thoughts and actions. He diligently listened to the Sutras. He was fortunate to encounter the Buddha. Whenever the Buddha gave talks, this man would attend and listen. He cultivated pure actions and a mind free of scattered thoughts and grievances. He attained a state free of afflictions so he could uphold the pure precepts. He was poor, but he abided by those precepts. He listened to the Dharma and the Sutras. Whatever little he possessed, he gave away. When he died, he went to the Trayastrimsa Heaven.
In an instant, he reached that place of supreme wonder and goodness. The heavenly beings there have three types of superiority. First is Superior Appearance, which means to look elegant and dignified. The second is Superior Reputation. Many heavenly beings were amazed that such a dignified person was in their midst. Third is Superior Lifespan. So as the heavenly beings saw him, they rejoiced. They reported his sudden arrival to King Sakra. The Heavenly beings told Sakra that the man came to Trayastrimsa Heaven from the Saha World, and he possessed these three superior qualities. Sakya, ruler of Heaven, said, “Do you want to know of his origins? Although he lived in poverty and suffering , his mind was always on the Path. He accepted whatever the Buddha said “He never doubted Him and had great faith in the Path. He respected the Three Treasures and practices the pure Dharma. No matter how little he had, he gave. He always thought he had more than he needed. He often felt he was wealthy, and had enough to help others.” Thus, Sakra explained the origins of this new heavenly being. So if one has pure faith in the Three Treasures, “one can uphold the precepts and not transgress. Such a person is not considered poor, but is endowed with wisdom and longevity. He was a wise man, not a poor man. He was endowed with wisdom-life. With utmost reverence for the Three Treasures.” Because he could respect them, he could “attain the supreme joy of heavenly birth.” He possessed three superior qualities in Heaven, and so he was happy. “We all should strive to learn from this.” We should all learn from this person.
With pure faith in the Three Treasures, the mind remains firm and unwavering. One can uphold the precepts without transgressions. Then one is not poor but endowed with wisdom and longevity. With reverence for the Three Treasures, one attains the supreme joy of heavenly birth. Therefore, all should strive to learn from this. Alternate Version of the Samyuktagama Sutra.
We should not wait until we have a lot before we engage in practice and give to others. We should not wait to help others until we have the power to do so. If so, we will never have the opportunity to practice. Spiritual practice begins with ourselves and those around us. We are inherently virtuous, and we all have spiritual powers. Scattered thinking and delusions erode the strength of our spiritual powers. So everyone, we must take good care of our minds in our daily living. So please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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