Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Suitable Teachings of the One Buddha Vehicle (為一佛乘應機說法)
Date: May. 27. 2014
In accord with the original nature possessed by sentient beings the Buddha taught His knowledge and views. In True Suchness is just the One Buddha Vehicle; there is no Two or Three Vehicles.
Sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature. The belief that Buddha-nature is intrinsic to us is the Dharma, so which method do we use to open up our Buddha-nature and eliminate our ignorance? It is for this reason that the Buddha comes to “open and reveal” His knowledge and views for sentient beings to “realize and enter”. The moment we realize Buddha’s knowledge and views is when our Buddha-nature will manifest. Similarly, people with healthy eyes can see their external conditions very clearly. But for people with eye disease, everything looks blurry. Is it the environment which is blurry, or is the problem in people’s eyes? The answer should be very obvious. People with eyes that are diseased cannot see the environment clearly. If they want to see their surroundings as clearly as people with healthy eyes, they need to cure their eye disease. After their eyes are healed, they will naturally see as well as people with healthy eyes. This is called “knowledge and views”.
Ordinary people are like people with eye disease. Thus the pure and radiant Buddha-nature within us has become hazy to us. The Buddha is here to tell us that state still exists, the Buddha-nature is still intrinsic to all of us. “As long as you can cure our eye disease, naturally, the state that you see and the state that I see will be the same.” The Buddha’s knowledge and views should lead us to the same goal as the Buddha, to this state [of mind] that exists, which is known as True Suchness. The Buddha teaches us many methods to help us attain the same views and understanding as Him, To help us to understand our minds and realize our true nature, the Buddha keeps teaching with various causes and conditions, with various analogies and expressions. He utilizes various methods to make analogies to help us understand that all sentient beings have the Tathagata-nature. This leads us to awaken our compassion. Then we will respect ourselves and respect everyone else. If we can all respect one another, if I respect you for having Buddha-nature and you respect that I have pure Tathagata-nature, we can mutually respect and love one another. In this way, we will always be grateful toward one another.
Don’t all Tzu Chi volunteers say, “Having self-respect is a way to repay grace; practicing giving is a way to show gratitude?” We all try to love and respect ourselves. Since the Buddha comes to teach us, to repay the Buddha’s grace, we must respect our teacher and His Path. We must respect His teachings that have been passed on to the present for us to accept and practice.
Accepting teachings is how we respect ourselves. If we have self-respect, and earnestly practice, then we respect the Buddha’s teachings. Thus, if we disciples respect ourselves, we are repaying the grace of the Buddha, our parents and sentient beings. Those who respect themselves know to repay others. If we practice giving, we are showing gratitude. We are grateful for the ability to give, and for having the right views and understanding. By helping sentient beings and benefiting them, we are actually benefiting ourselves. Thus when we help others, we must be grateful that we have Right Knowledge, Right Views and Right Thinking.
Being able to help the world’s sentient beings is something we should be grateful for.It is because we have this Dharma that we give to help others.Having the ability to give is something we are grateful for.This comes from realizing we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.The Buddha utilizes various methods to help us fully believe that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.By believing in this, we will apply the Buddha’s teachings in hope of breaking through our layers of ignorance so our Buddha-nature may be revealed.
Though the Buddha utilizes countless methods, they all lead back to the One Buddha Vehicle.He teaches according to capabilities, [but there is] just the One Buddha Vehicle, “there is no Two or Three Vehicles”.We discussed this two days ago.The sutra text tells us that the Buddha manifests in this evil world of the Five Turbidities because this is when sentient beings need teachings.
Without these teachings, without the Dharma, the turbidity would become heavier and denser.The Buddha came to purify sentient beings’ minds so He continually manifested in the evil world of the Five Turbidities.When we chant repentance verses and make vows, we say “The universe has bounds; our vows are boundless.”This vow comes from our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
Our compassion has awakened this vow.
“The universe has bounds; our vows are boundless”.Clearly, the vow made from our Buddha-nature is very powerful.So we say “the Buddha always abides in this world” in a state of “non-arising and non-ceasing”.As it appears to the Buddha, His state is truly non-arising and non-ceasing.As it appears to us sentient beings, He was here over 2000 years ago.The Buddha was born over 2000 years ago.
But actually, how long is 2000-plays years to Him?It is not a very long time, so how would He experience any arising or ceasing?He only manifested those appearances for the sake of transforming sentient beings.
Thus the Lotus Sutra states that the Buddha and all Buddhas manifested in the world, in the world of turbidity.All Buddhas of the ten directions, not just Sakyamuni, have manifested in this turbid world, always during the turbidity of kalpa.Sentient beings are heavily afflicted and defiled, so all Buddhas had to come to this world.They all come to teach sentient beings, because “in the era of chaos and turbidity of kalpa, sentient beings are heavily defiled”.
We have severe afflictions and turbidities, like “stinginess, greed, envy and jealousy,” etc., and develop all roots of unwholesomeness.We bring about the creation of many unwholesome things.All sentient beings suffer in this world.
[Because we develop] these unwholesome roots as we live in this world, the Buddha comes to this world.
So, the previous sutra passage spoke of how the Buddha, “in the era of chaos and turbidity of kalpa, sentient beings are heavily defiled with stinginess, greed, envy and jealousy.Thus, they develop all roots of unwholesomeness.”
This is from the previous sutra passage.Now let us look at how ”all Buddhas, with the power of skillful means, taught the One Buddha Vehicle as divided in three”.
This is also a passage that has appeared often recently.
The Buddha [see that] sentient beings have varying capabilities because of their afflictions.Some have more severe turbidity and afflictions, thus they have more layers of ignorance.If their turbidity is milder and weaker, then their capabilities will be sharper, just as those with relatively minor eye disorders can see their environment more clearly.The thicker and heavier the turbidity within us, the more ignorant views and understandings we have.Then our perspectives, views and understanding become evil and deviant.Our deviating leads us to create more bad karma.Stinginess, greed, envy, jealousy and so on are all within our minds, giving rise to severe turbidity.
To deal with this, the Buddha used various methods.Actually, all His methods are a part of the One Buddha Vehicle teachings.From the One Buddha Vehicle, He separately taught the Three Vehicles.Some say “you cannot see from so far away,”Some say “You cannot see from so far away, so come closer; can you see it now? I cannot see it clearly. Come closer and look again. If we go to an optometrist, sometimes the doctor may say, “Let’s use this dark [paddle] to cover this eye. Use your other eye to look at the missing section. Can you see that opening, so come closer; can you see it now?” At first, it is very big, [so we say,] “Yes, I see it”. Then it becomes smaller and smaller. Then we have to see if the opening is on this side or that side. If our vision is better, as the testing continues, we can still see it when it is very small. If our vision is poor, even with a big opening, [we think] “How come it looks different? Even the roundness of the circle is changing. It is not round enough. It doesn’t even seem round anymore, so how I can see the opening? I cannot see it. Why is there such a big difference?”
Indeed, the same circles of various sizes are used. The circles that are used do not change. But the worse our eyesight is, the more blurry the circles are. After we begin treatment, we look again, “It is rounder now. I see it clearer now”. We can correctly indicate where the opening is. We sentient beings are just like this. So, the Buddha teaches according to capabilities, like prescribing medicine according to the illness. We must go through such a treatment, so that we will eventually recover our health.
Now, let us put our hearts into understanding why the Buddha manifested in the era of the turbidity of kalpa. It was to transform all sentient beings who had roots of goodness.
All Buddhas, at these times, manifest as world-transcending beings to transform all sentient beings with roots of goodness and karmic affinities and help them aspire to transcend the world.
Indeed, the Buddha said that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, and of course we all have roots of goodness. But, as I have just said, some people have very heavy turbidities and no affinity with the Buddha. We constantly talk about the poor woman who had no affinity with the Buddha. Why did she lack a good affinity with the Buddha? Because during the course of His spiritual practice the Buddha had neglected a certain sentient being. This happened [in one of His past lives]. This woman’s family was struck with misfortune, so she was sad and crying. A spiritual practitioner passed by and asked, “Ma’am, why are you crying?” She told him what had happened to her family, how her husband and child suddenly passed away, how poor her family was, and so on. Her many afflictions caused her sadness and caused her to experience the suffering of life.
The spiritual practitioner said, “The life of sentient beings is always like this. What is there to cry about? Just accept it.” After making this statement, he left. Then, another spiritual practitioner walked by “Ma’am, what’s wrong?” His words were gentle as was his manner. Then, He took out a handkerchief and said, “Accept it, this is the way life is.No matter how long one lives,inevitably,[death] will come. You must take good care of yourself now, and do not harm your body. Please wipe away your tears”. Then he handed her the handkerchief. The woman took the handkerchief, wiped her tears away, and expressed her gratitude to him. Then she walked away.
The Buddha told His disciples, “Do you know why I could not transform this poor woman? That first spiritual practitioner is now I, Sakyamuni Buddha. Then second spiritual practitioner is now the one by my side, Ananda”. Ananda was able to form many good affinities, because his mind is very meticulous and he is skillful and gentle. So, Ananda was the disciple that had 30 Marks of the Buddha. The Buddha had 32 Marks. Ananda ’s magnificent appearance was similar to that of the Buddha’s because in his past lives he had created many good affinities with sentient beings. Many people who saw Ananda became joyful. The Buddha said that all Buddhas manifested in the evil world of the Five Turbidities. So, all Buddhas manifest in this evil, turbid world because this is the moment teachings are needed.They do this to transform all beings who have roots of goodness, those They have affinities with “Having roots of goodness” refers to sentient beings They have [good] affinities with.
Sentient beings with good over many lifetimes, planted seeds that have been. Nourished by the Dharma-water and have extended their roots deeply and widely. These are sentient beings with good affinities. The goal of all Buddhas in coming into this world is to lead them to develop Bodhicitta and engage in world-transcending practices.
These sentient beings must be continuously guided, life after life. Didn’t we just talk about how the Buddha is in the world [at all times and in all places]? He is beyond birth and death. We go through successive lifetimes, but the Buddha is forever in this world. After listening to a lesson, [the teacher asks,] “Do you understand?” Those who enjoyed the class will come back for the nest lesson, and the teacher will remain the same. In summary, this is a very long lesson. After you learn about this class, you may come back for the next lesson, and then the next one, and so on. “Do you understand?” After understanding this lesson, go on to the next one. We do this until we achieve the goal of the class. [The Buddha’s goal] in teaching this class is for sentient beings to develop Bodhicitta, to use an awakened mind to cultivate world-transcending practices.
In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, how can we enable our minds to transcend the turbidities of the world? The lotus flower grows in the mud, and though it never leaves the mud it is not defiled by it. This is developing Bodhictta and cultivating world-transcending practices. With Bodhicitta, we are Bodhisattvas. To walk the Bodhisattva-path clearly we must go among the people . How then can we transcend this world? By keeping our minds undefiled amidst the mud. Our minds can remain in this turbid world, yet transcend it. It is our minds that transcend it, that transcend afflictions. When our minds can transcend afflictions, we return to our pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature, our nature of Ture Suchness. This is why, “He taught” “the One Buddha Vehicle as divided in three” .The Buddha gave this teaching so we can all be liberated from this evil world of the Five Turbidities.
The Buddha taught the One Buddha Vehicle as divided in three. Because of the Five Turbidities, He could not instantly teach [the One Vehicle]. Therefore, He gave provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles. The ture teaching is still the One Buddha Vehicle, which is the ultimate.
The Five Turbidities in this evil world are the turbidity of kalpa, of affliction, of views, of sentient beings and of life. If we can transcend these Five Turbidities, we have returned to our intrinsic nature. This is also the One Buddha Vehicle. Whatever teaching the Buddha gives, He hopes we can return to the One Buddha Vehicle. He teaches the One Buddha Vehicle as divided in three because in the evil world of the Five Turbidities, He could not instantly teach [the One Vehicle] He could not just teach one lesson that everyone would understand completely. He had to continuously approach those beings with good roots, those He had good affinities with.
So, He gave provisional teachings of the Three Vehicles. Because sentient beings these Three Vehicles were established. They could not instantly realize the One Vehicle, so He had to spend all this time teaching them. Actually, the One Buddha Vehicle is the ultimate teaching. Dear Bodhisattvas, we really must be mindful. From the teachings given earlier, we must all understand that we intrinsically have Buddha-nature. The Buddha was teaching us that we can have views and understanding equal to the Buddha. Only the One Vehicle leads to this realization there is no Two or Three Vehicles. In the Lotus Sutra, this is the most important concept and the truest Dharma. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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