Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Help All Beings Cross the River of Life and Death(運載群生渡生死河)
Date: September.20, 2013
Every day, I talk about time. Every day, I talk about the mind. Time and our minds are essential to our daily living, particularly in our spiritual practice. We must seize this moment, live in the present and [discipline] our minds. We must have full control of our minds. This is the true goal of our spiritual practice. In our lives, as we communicate with each other, not only must our ears discern right from wrong, we must speak the Right Dharma. This is how we truly, mindfully learn Buddha’s Way. This does not only apply to ourselves. We also hope that other people can have correct views and understanding, can discern right from wrong in what they hear and can speak the Right Dharma. These roots, [these sense organs,] that were not utilized properly in the past, must be corrected now. [We must] guide them toward correct views and understanding and help them to discern right from wrong. If we are to guide others to do this, we must be able to practice it ourselves. We want to always be able to remain unmoving in body and mind. Actually, first we have to break down our arrogance. There are several kinds of “arrogance”.
In the sutras, there is this story from the Buddha’s lifetime. There was a dignified-looking young man who had just become a monastic and held very firm spiritual aspirations. One day before daybreak, he went to a pool to bathe. After he took off his clothing and was heading into the water, in the dark [he suddenly] saw a ray of light shine upon him. This young man felt slightly alarmed. When he was able to focus, he saw a dignified heavenly being. This heavenly being appeared before the young bhiksu to ask, “Young bhiksu, I esteem you for becoming a monastic at such a young age. But why did you choose to leave home at such a young age? You could still be enjoying the many sensory pleasures in this world. Why did you become a monastic so young?” The bhiksu replied, “Although it has not been long since I became a monk, I know that this is my heartfelt aspiration. I heard the Buddha talk about how young He was when He became a monk and how that is the right time for people to leave their secular lives. But that time does not seem to be a suitable time for the Buddha’s teachings.”
The heavenly beings heard this and said, “I don’t understand.“ You say you became a monk at the right time, but it is not the right time for the Buddha’s teaching. What do you mean?” The young bhiksu said, “I heard the Buddha say that this world is filled with the Five Desires. These desires will confuse people’s minds, lead them to create much karma and cause them to experience much suffering. So, this is not the right time.” The heavenly being said, “I still don’t understand. The Five Desires are an inherent part of this world. Aren’t people born into the world to enjoy them?” The bhiksu replied, “I haven’t been a monk for that long, I have not heard that many teachings. I heard the Buddha say this but I do not fully understand it either. If you want to understand, why don’t you ask the Buddha yourself?” The heavenly being said, “If this is the case, can you present me to Him?” The bhiksu said, “No problem”. And so it was decided After the sun rose, he brought the heavenly being to the Buddha, The Buddha was very glad to see this heavenly being.
After the heavenly being sat down, he asked, “Venerable Buddha, I was just listening to this young bhiksu’s aspirations for becoming a monastic. He said he became a monk at the right time, but in the world it is not the right time. I don’t understand what that means.” The Buddha said, “Whether the time is right or wrong, you only need to ask yourself how you came to be born in the heaven realm?” The heavenly being responded in an arrogant tone of voice and said, “I practiced the Ten Good Deeds in the human realm so I could be born in the heaven realm. Since I practiced them often, I was able to be born in heaven.” He repeated this statement three times. The Buddha smiled and replied, “In this world, many impermanent things also arise from the mind.”
Then the Buddha told him, “Superior conceit, equal conceit and inferior conceit. Those with these three kinds of conceits may have disputes. The elimination of these three conceits is called unmoving thinking.”
The heavenly being told the Buddha, “I don’t understand this principle.” Then the Buddha told him, “Right now you are a heavenly being and are very joyful. You believe you were born in heaven because you practiced the Ten Good Deeds. Will it last forever and ever?” The heavenly being said, “I don’t know how long I will stay in heaven. I really don’t know.” The Buddha said, “Though a heavenly lifespan is long, it will still come to an end. When heavenly blessings are exhausted, one will still descend. Descend to where? That depends on the karma you have created aside from your heavenly blessings.” The heavenly being said, “I don’t’ know. I don’t know how much good I have done. I really don’t know. I also don’t know how much evil have done.
The Buddha said, Ah, yes. Evil arises from the mind, from agreed, anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt. During your past lives, you probably did not have many greedy thoughts. You knew to give from what your obtained. You created blessings so you were reborn as a heavenly being. Your anger probably varied in intensity. Delusion easily caused you to become arrogant.”
The heavenly being quietly thought to himself and then said, “Oh, I understand now Venerable Buddha, you mentioned “arrogance”. Is that because in my mind, these is still a sense of arrogance?” The Buddha said, “Correct!” Arrogance is also conceit. Superior conceit’ means you feel like you have done so much that you are many times better than other people. Do you have that mindset?” “Yes, I do.” “What do you think of people who did more good deeds than you?”“I think that although they did more, since I was also born in heaven, we are about the same. We are equal.”“And then, what about when you are not as good as others?”“I think their goodness and my goodness having nothing to do with each other?”
The Buddha said, “All right, you know you are not as good as others yet, you still don’t think about being more diligent. You even feel that if is fine to be not as good. You have a mind that is not willing to progress. This is called “inferior conceit”.”
Indeed, the Buddha taught the heavenly being about the “Three Conceits”. If they remained in this heart, then he would not know how scary the Five Desires are and thus would still want to enjoy pleasures. Then, he would still have conflicts with others. If you can eliminate these three conceits, then you can be born in heaven and still comprehend the Buddha-Dharma and eliminate attachments. If this is the case, the mind becomes unmoving. As it enjoys pleasures, there are no ups or downs, such is an unmoving mind that will not be influenced by desires.
Otherwise, although your good deeds have enabled you to be born in heaven, evil thoughts can still lead you into the three evil destinies. Thus, “arrogance” is an illness of the mind. Sentient beings are now filled with illnesses of the mind. How do we guide these sentient beings with illnesses of the mind toward the correct path? I often say, “losing our temper is form of temporary insanity.” Indeed! This is the mind’s madness, recklessness and confusion. If our minds can constantly remain steady and calm, we can stay on the right course. With Right Mindfulness, throughout time and throughout our thoughts, we can constantly uphold and practice the Path. And not only should we do that, we must also guide others onto the right path.
So, “to turn those who are confused, in chaos and panic, toward great Right Mindfulness, we must become “master boatmen or great master boatmen who ferry all living beings across the river of life and death to the shore of Nirvana”.
There are multitudes of sentient beings in this boundless sea. We need to set sail on our Dharma-ship out of our compassion to save sentient beings in this boundless sea. Therefore, we must mindfully enter the Way.
So, the next section of the Lotus Sutra states,
“Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha finished expounding the teachings at the end of 60 small kalpas. To the assembly of Brahma, demons sramanas, Brahmins, heavenly beings, humans and asuras, He made this announcement: Today, at midnight, the Tathagata will enter Nirvana without residue.”
60 small kalpas is a very long period of time. As I mentioned previously, even though it refers to a long time, it starts from the moment of “an arising thought” whether it feels long or short, we must cultivate purifying practices. Brahma means pure. Brahma also refers to Brahma heaven. A heavenly being there, unlike those in the heaven of the four heavenly kings or Tusita Heaven, did not get to be born there just by practicing the Ten Good Deeds. They also had to maintain a pure heart, which is a more advanced state of mind. To be born in Brahma heaven, one must be able to do good deeds without attachment. So, “Brahma” refers Brahma Heaven and people who are pure.
What about demons? They rob us of wisdom-life and damage our Dharma-path. Thoughts that arise can also act as demons to influence people’s spiritual aspirations and destroy their Path. This is what demons do. There are also sramanas, which refer to bhiksus, spiritual practitioners who calm their minds to stop evil. As they engage in spiritual practice, they still their minds and cease to be affected by thoughts. They are called sramanas. Then there are Brahmins. Brahmin means purifying practices.
“After 60 small kalpas of expounding this sutra, ［the Buddha］said He was going into extinction and entering Nirvana Brahma: beings who are pure. Demons: beings who seize wisdom-life, damage spiritual practice, obstruct virtuous deeds. Sramanas: beings who still their minds to stop evil. Brahmins: beings who engage in purifying practices.”
In conclusion, at Dharma-assemblies where all Buddhas teach, there are heavenly beings and humans. Of course, there are also asuras, blessed beings who did not refine themselves and frequently lose their tempers. At a Dharma-assembly of so many beings, Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha announced, “Today, at midnight, the Tathagata will enter Nirvana without residue.” Then He began to prepare to physically enter Nirvana. This means that after a lifetime of transforming and helping people cross over, He prepared to enter Nirvana without residue.
“Nirvana without residue” is a tranquil and still state where one has crossed into extinction and completely eliminated every cause and effect of cyclic existence in one’s heart. So, the “midnight” that He spoke of at that time reflected a kind of long, dark night. When sentient beings’ minds stray into darkness, a Buddha will appear in the world to guide them. When the conditions for this transformation end, He will manifest the form of entering extinction. Originally, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya is neither coming nor going, is neither arising nor ceasing. It inherently does not arise nor cease, He is only manifesting this form to guide and expound the Dharma for sentient beings. This form is the transformation-body. What enters extinction is the “transformation-body” that gave teachings to sentient beings according to their capabilities and conditions.
“The Buddha’s Dharmakaya neither comes nor goes. It does not arise nor cease. With this transformation-body and according to the capabilities and conditions of sentient beings, He gave teachings.”
So, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya inherently does not arise nor cease, He only manifested this transformation-body in order to give teachings to sentient beings according to their capabilities and conditions.
In conclusion, the Buddha is always abiding in the world, but He only appears on earth at suitable times to guide and transform sentient beings. We must mindfully and meticulously think about this principle in order to understand it. So, please always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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