Lecturer: Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Respect the Sutra, Value the Buddha’s Path (敬經典 重佛道)
The Buddha told us, all sentient beings are confused, as if they were lost, wandering in all directions. They falsely see the Four Elements as their bodies. Sentient beings are so disoriented and confused. They seem to be sleepwalking; they do not know where they are going. Cravings and desires entangle them so they cannot awaken. Everything is hazy, indistinct. They know not whence they came nor where they go because their cravings and desires entangle them. This happens because they lack wisdom.
Without clear wisdom, the conditions we meet are hazy and indistinct. So, out wisdom has not developed yet. We should understand that we innately possess this wisdom. It is like a flower that blooms at sunrise and closes at sunset. This is an analogy.
If the Buddha is in our minds and the Dharma is in our actions, we will open our hearts and let go of afflictions. If we can do so, what can confuse us? How can we open our hearts and awaken our wisdom? We must begin with understanding the teachings. So, respect the Sutras and value the Buddha’s Path. We must have reverence for the teachings. If we can practice in accord with the Dharma, our bodies and minds will be pure.
Sakyamuni Buddha is the teacher of all beings and is supremely respected. Because sentient beings became lost, they left the Tathagata’s house to drift around. It is like the poor son [in the Lotus Sutra]. Originally, our minds were rich with Right Dharma. We innately possess the Buddha-nature in our minds. The dignified Dharma-body exists in our minds. But we became lost, got confused, and drifted afar [from home]. Although the kind father looked for his son, the child did not recognize him. So, he used many methods to get close to his child and help him understand that he originally had this magnificent house and should quickly seek it out. We want to enter the Tathagata’s house, which is like a big mansion which contains everything.
But when we are lost outside, we do not consider any of it ours. Actually, inside there is everything we could possibly need. So, we should seek to rediscover this place. If our bodies and minds are pure, we can enter the Tathagata’s house. Then we have returned to the source of our pure nature, this magnificent and abundant abode.
Respect the Sutras, value the Buddha’s Path. Practice in accord with the Dharma to obtain purity of body and mind and thus enter the Tathagata’s house.
We have talked about the Six Rarities. Since we have attained human form, we can walk the human path. We are fortunate to hear the Dharma, meet the Sangha and have benevolent friends to help inspire our faith. Having healthy sense organs is even more precious. But if we do not know how to cherish this, it is as if our Six Roots were incomplete.
The repentance text continues on, “When we see the Buddha’s image, we may not treat it with deep respect. We may disparage the Sangha or harm our benevolent friends.”
Though we are separated from Him by over 2,000 years, the Buddha said, “The Dharma will undergo an Era of Right Dharma, of Dharma Semblance and of Dharma Decay.” We are presently at the juncture between Dharma Semblance and Dharma Decay. This is what He told average sentient beings.
But we have already attained the Buddha-Dharma, so we should enter into the Right Dharma ourselves. Some just worship the statues of the Buddha. They do not distinguish Buddha from other deities. If they are not very respectful, they only pray to ask for things “Buddha, please protect me. I have these difficulties. Protect me; when this bad luck passes and I’m safe, then I will do this and that.”
Most ordinary people do this. This is not respectful. As Buddhists, we must pay respect to the Buddha. Seeing His image is like seeing Him. So, we must have respect and bow to Him with deep sincerity, as if He were in front of us.
If we have made mistakes, we must seek His teachings to educate ourselves. Though images of the Buddha will not speak to us, the Sutras will. So, when we see the images of the Buddha, it is like seeing the Buddha. Since the Buddha is before us, we do our best to show the deep sincerity of our minds and bodies by always placing the Buddha in our hearts. We respect the Buddha’s image as the real Buddha. Some people are disrespectful, and will even “disparage the Sangha and harm benevolent friends.”
There was a period of time in mainland China when people were not allowed not practice religion. Since religion was forbidden, many Sutras and texts were burned. Temples and images of the Buddha were destroyed. This is disparaging the Sangha and also harming benevolent friends.
At that time, many spiritual practitioners did not dare reveal, “I am a Buddhist. I understand a lot of the Dharma. I want to explain the truth of the Dharma to you.” Although they believed in the Buddha, read Sutras and listened to the Dharma, they could do nothing.
Now we are truly fortunate. In this time period, we have religious freedom. Since we have religious freedom, besides respecting the religion we chose, we have to respect those who spread the Dharma. To Dharma has to be passed down. Those who read Sutras and listen to the Dharma can share it after the Dharma enters their hearts. Everyone should be respectful. If the Buddha is in our minds, He is present. If our minds receive Right Dharma, it is present.
So, we should understand that to love ourselves, we have to respect the Dharma. In addition to respect, we must cherish and love the Sangha. All of the spiritual friends around us are beneficial and should be cherished. So, let us always be respectful.
When we see images of the Buddha, we need to be reverent. We must also respect the Sangha because they spread the Dharma. If we disrespect them, if we belittle the Snagha, that is like disparaging the Right Dharma. Disparaging Right Dharma is like disrespecting all Buddhas.
The text here says that not only do we disparage monastics, we may even harm our benevolent friends. We may also “destroy pagodas and temples, burn Sutras and statues, causing the Buddha to bleed.”
Master Wu-Da collected all these excerpts from the Sutras when he wrote the Water Repentance.
Think about it, at the juncture of the eras of Dharma Semblance and Dharma Decay, such phenomena appear. In the past [era of Dharma Semblance], governments encouraged people to pay respect to the Buddha by creating images of the Buddha. That period of time has already passed.
Look at how Buddhism thrived during the Tang and Song dynasties. Many people crated images of the Buddha. They were not only [in temples], some were carved into the sides of mountains. Look at the Dunhuang caves, or places along Venerable Xuan-zang’s path to seek the Sutras. The Silk Road extends from China to the Middle East. It passes through the Middle East, and through India and Afghanistan. This is recent history. We can still see images of the Buddha constructed over 1,000 years ago. They are very dignified. Look at the mountains and caves along this route. The caves are full of carved images of the Buddha. The statues outside are dozens of meters tall. But over 1,000 years have passed and the Era of Dharma Semblance is shifting into the Era of Dharma Decay. Violent dictatorships and religious conflicts have emerged in the world. Nations go to war each other and people split into factions to fight. And conflict between religions also arise. That is why so many “pagodas and temples” have been destroyed. The destructions is still going on.
Until recently, there were many giant statues of the Buddha in Afghanistan. The biggest were over 30 to 50 meters tall. They were huge.
For a period of time, we provided relief and medical are there. Under great danger, we delivered food and medicine. The chief editor of our “Rhythms” magazine, Mr. Stephen Huang and Knightsbridge International from the US, as well as our doctors, saw that their plane had hundreds of bullet holes. The entire plane had been shot through by bullets. There were bullet holes everywhere. These kind individuals risked their lives by getting on this plane. In the skies above Afghanistan, they looked down and saw people with guns. So, they recognized this as a dangerous journey. Fortunately, the plane landed safely and they fulfilled their goal in delivering the supplies.
They also took pictures by the giant Buddhas. Mr. Huang stood at the foot of the Buddha statue. He was like an ant at the foot of a mountain. Think about how big it was. Imagine how many people and how long it took to transform each mountain into cave –temples. Each cave told a story about the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
But religious extremists will not even allow these carved images to exist anymore. In 2001, the carved figure of the Buddha was blown up. Now we only see a hole. That images of the Buddha no longer exists. We were even able to watch this destruction, because the media filmed it at the time. We could only watch as those images of the Buddha in these spectacular cave–temples disintegrated in an instant. This is the evil which people create. Although they attained human form, their hearts do not follow the human path. Buddhism flourished along this road. These images of the Buddha were dignified; these caves were filled with stories that were mindfully carved out of the rock to express the Dharma of the Sutras. But these people destroyed them. Though they are endowed with the Six Rarities, these people in this era act like those who do not have them.
This is like causing the Buddha to bleed. “We may live in beautiful homes, but place the Buddha’s image in an inferior place.”
Let us think about this. Some people today, as we just said, destroy images of the Buddha. What the text describes is also very disrespectful.
Not only do people destroy Sutras and statues, causing the Buddha to bleed, they may live in a very nice place while putting the Buddha’s image in an inferior place. There was a period of time when the Chinese government drove out all the monks. They turned beautiful temples into residences. Some also piled Buddha statues in the corners. This happened not too long ago.
Sometimes when I see these texts that Master Wu-da compiled from the Sutras, it seems that the Buddha predicted the human mindset at the shift from the era of Dharma Semblance to Dharma Decay.
So, the Buddha was truly a great prophet, and the Great Enlightened One of the universe.
Looking at this passage of the text
truly saddens us. We do not know if, in the future, Buddhism will flourish and return to the Right Dharma or, continue to be destroyed, in accordance with the evil of human minds.
However, the Right Dharma is in people’s hearts. Everyone, if we all have the Buddha in our minds, then we have the Dharma in our actions and Right Dharma still exists in this world. This all depends on whether we are mindful. We need to focus on saving ourselves and others, and passing the Dharma on the future generations. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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