Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Enter True Suchness with Virtuous Dharma (柔軟善法入真如)
Date: January.22. 2015
“The sounds we hear enter through our ears. The Dharma-essence enters our hearts and develops our wisdom-life. The Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma is pure and elegant. The soft and gentle virtuous Dharma helps us enter our nature of True Suchness.”
I want to share this with everyone. Where does the Dharma we listen to come from? Our ears listen, so we hear sounds. External sounds are heard with our ears. The sounds we hear can make us happy, or they can make us unhappy. All kinds of sounds from our surroundings enter through our ears. If we do not become distracted and just focus on listening to what is in front of us, we may be happy or not, but we will not think about how in the environment in which we live, there are so many complex principles. We do not pay attention to them.
The Buddha-Dharma is what the Buddha, when He comes to this world, uses to remind all of us that besides what we are presently focused on when it comes to matters and objects around us, we must try to keenly understand, comprehend and differentiate them. This takes wisdom, which we call “discerning wisdom.” We apply discerning wisdom to external conditions and then internalize what we learned. Then after we contemplate this, we will devote ourselves to helping people and see all sentient beings as equals. We will exercise the love of the Bodhisattvas among the people.
Look at South Africa. They are doing winter relief distributions right now. Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho are far away from South Africa, so they distributed there first. After completing the distributions, these volunteers from Swaziland and Mozambique then continued on to South Africa. Their goal was to meet with South Africa Tzu Chi volunteers and learn from them. The Tzu Chi volunteers in Duran, these South Africa Bodhisattvas, held distributions in the countryside while at the same time conducting home visits. They began to split into groups; volunteers brought other volunteers to visit families who suffered from poverty and illness. They went to see how they could care for those who were poor and sick, elderly and disabled, or who suffered from psychological illnesses, etc. So, each group went a different way.
One volunteer led a group to visit an elderly woman. Her home was rundown and filthy. This old woman was old and sick. She laid in bed with no one to care for her, among a pile of garbage. There was so much clutter around her and she was mixed in with all that filth and garbage. The volunteers came and could not bear to see this. So, they arranged to give her a bath and clean up her house. It turned out that she had a mentally challenged granddaughter. Not only was she mentally disabled, her body was covered in sores which were rotten and odorous. These volunteers found her outside. They also felt pity for her so they meticulously cleaned her up, prepared a change of clothes for her, and so on. This is what Bodhisattvas do.
They went to visit many families. The houses they saw were extremely dilapidated. The people they saw were severely ill; they suffered tremendously, hovering on the edge of life and death. Indeed, this is truly saddening to see. So, [Tzu Chi volunteer] Michael Pan took this opportunity to teach them.
He said, “This family is suffering. In Mozambique and Swaziland, of course you have seen families like this as well. But at that time, you had not yet encountered Tzu Chi.If this person had no connection to you, you would just think she is poor, but so are you, and her illness is her problem. You’re healthy, so you don’t have a problem. She may be poor, but so are you. You are healthy, but she is ill. Without any pre-existing relationship with her, you would just walk away.”
Joining Tzu Chi inspired them [to help].Because they encountered the Buddha-Dharma, they became Bodhisattvas who benefit others.Being a benefactor to other people is such a noble thing.When they help people, not only do those being helped feel happy, those who help others are also joyful when they see those they help become happy.This happiness is long-lasting.This is the Dharma.
Because we have taken the Buddha-Dharma to heart, we know this is the Bodhisattva-path and so we walk this Bodhisattva-path in the world.Bodhisattvas are not people on a pedestal for us to worship.There is actually a Bodhisattva in every one of us that can help others.
If someone is sick and lives in a filthy environment, [we can say,].
“Though we are poor, we are not sick. We can help those who are poor and sick to clean up their surroundings.”When their surroundings are clean, people who are sick feel much more relaxed, the way this poor and ill elderly woman felt very comforted.
“Does coming here to help this person make you happy?”
“Yes.”“Seeing this grandma, how poor she is, are we as poor as she is?”One person said, “I’m not much better off.”He was also poor.“But she’s sick and we’re healthy, so how do you feel about that? I am more blessed then she is. Indeed, those who are blessed must quickly help those who are suffering and in difficulty. After we cleaned up her house, we feel happy and she feels relaxed. Will this feeling remain with you? I will remember this forever. Exactly. This is how we become someone who helps others.”
Thus they continued their visits to different families.Asise from seeing the suffering of poverty and illness, they also listened to the various life stories of these care recipients.One of the Mozambican volunteers said, “Originally, I always felt that I lived in such poverty and with such suffering. But then I came here and saw that in South Africa there were those who were injured by accidents, shot by guns or cut by knives, resulting in a lifetime of physical disability.”
Mr. Pan summarized everything by saying, “This is the Dharma the Buddha taught. Life is suffering.”He talked about the truth of suffering and how each family they visited had a different story, but all resulted in suffering.He told them, “This is the causation of suffering. This is the truth of causation. Life is simply filled with suffering. Do you all want to be liberated from this suffering?”
Everyone said, “Yes, I am afraid of this world and I have so many afflictions.”
Mr. Pan said, “Do you want to come back her in the next life?”
“No.”“Then what should you do? You must create [good] karmic conditions. To eliminate suffering, you must engage in spiritual practice. You must walk the path of spiritual cultivation.”I can go on and on about this story.After meeting all these families, this is the lesson they must learn.This came from the sounds they heard with their ears.
Seeing suffering, they recognized their blessings; they understood that this was the law of karma and that they could not control where they were born, so they had to engage in spiritual practice, which meant they had to take care of each other.
As “un-summoned teachers” who help others, happiness arises in us, as well as in the person we help; with happiness, we will not suffer.After these principles enter their ears, they walk the great Bodhisattva-path.When this Dharma-essence enters their minds, it develops their wisdom-life.This is how worldly teachings can converge with the Buddha-Dharma.
So, the sutras say that during the Buddha’s lifetime, He gave teachings with a pure and elegant voice and everything He taught was virtuous Dharma.He wanted to help people understand the true principles of the Great and Small Vehicles.
The Small Vehicle uses the provisional to entice. The Great Vehicle directly points to their minds so they can return to their intrinsic nature. If the Dharma can flow into their hearts and help them understand their minds, they can instantly attain Buddhahood. So, in the previous sutra passage, which we discussed yesterday, it states, “The World-Honored One preaches the true path. Papiyas would not do this.”
“The World-Honored One preaches the true path. Papiyas would not do this. Therefore I know for certain that this is not Mara posing as the Buddha. But I had fallen into a web of doubts, so I said it was the doings of Mara.”
“The World-Honored One preaches the true path. Papiyas would not do this”. This means that when we abide in the Dharma, there is no such thing as evil that can disturb our minds. Our minds are disturbed when something in our external environment leads us astray. Then the Dharma leaks out and our minds waver. This is how the maras in our minds disturb the Right Dharma within us. If we can understand this, we know “Papiyas would not [teach the true path]”. Then nothing can disturb our minds.
So, “Therefore I know for certain that this is not Mara posing as the Buddha. Indeed, this Dharma is true and real; it is definitely not an illusion. So, we must believe in it. Let us read the next sutra passage, “Hearing the Buddha’s soft and gentle voice”. Because he completely eliminated this doubts, he believed everyone can attain Buddhahood. Sariputra was certain of this teaching. Now, [the sutra] states,
“Hearing the Buddha’s soft and gentle voice profound, far-reaching, subtle and wondrous, widely proclaiming the pure Dharma, I feel great joy within my heart. My doubts and regrets are forever ended, so I can abide in true wisdom”.
This addresses sentient beings’ stubbornness. We sentient beings are unyielding and difficult to train. Because of the Buddha’s compassion, He did not abandon sentient beings. He continued to teach with love and patience, just like a kind father in this world. No matter how naughty and disobedient a child is, a kind father still will not abandon his child. For the sake of sentient beings, the Buddha constantly returns to this world. As long as there are still unenlightened beings, the Buddha will never give up. For kalpas, He has adapted to sentient beings in this world and devised causes and conditions to transform them. So, He used various kinds of methods solely to remind sentient beings of their awakened nature of True Suchness.
When causes and conditions are mature, as they listen to the Buddha’s teachings happiness will arise in their hearts. That is because the door to their minds has opened. “Hearing the Buddha’s soft and gentle voice”, Sariputra already understood the Buddha-Dharma and knew that every word was true, was real and not a lie. So, the more he listened, the more gentle the Buddha sounded. Not only was His voice gentle, it was particularly “profound, far-reaching, subtle and wondrous”.
“Sentient beings are unyielding, difficult to train. But the soft and gentle voice of the Buddha immerses their hearts like the morning dew. It is inconceivable, tranquil and still, profound, far-reaching, subtle and wondrous and thus allows them to abide in true wisdom.”
This is when sentient beings’ unyielding minds have begun to accept the teachings. Their mind is like a land with sand covered by dew overnight. So, the sand on the ground is immersed by dew. This moistens the land. As the wind gently blows, the air is very cool and clean. If the sun dries out the sand, the blowing wind would cause a sand storm. This describes a state of mind. So, when the dew immerses the land, the feeling is really incredible. A refreshing and happy state of mind is “tranquil and still, profound, far-reaching, subtle and wondrous”. This tranquil state enables principles to sink deeply into the mind. How do we express this? It seems so subtle and wondrous; it cannot be expressed in words.
What we can express through words is very simple and superficial. As for profound principles, we have to realize them ourselves, this is the only way to truly understand them.
Then, “[Hearing the Buddha] widely proclaiming the pure Dharma, I feel great joy within my heart”. The Buddha’s voice and the Dharma He taught help people to feel the subtlety and wonder of the principles as they penetrate the mind. This is the sound of the Dharma. So, the Buddha had begun to freely express His intent.
“The Buddha freely expressed His intent and proclaimed the Great Vehicle Dharma. The subtle and wondrous Great Dharma of the One Vehicle resolved my delusions of views and thinking and severed my web of doubts, so I feel great joy within my heart.”
The Dharma the Buddha was now teaching brought Him the great joy. So, He spoke with great joy and His voice sounded very special He really wanted to share this. So, He taught the wondrous Great Vehicle Dharma.
[For Sariputra,] this Great Dharma “resolved [his] delusions of views and thinking and severed [his] web of doubts.” When Sariputra listened to what the Buddha was sharing now, the Dharma he accepted into his heart was truly very joyful, very subtle and wondrous. No words can describe that state of mind.
His state of mind was one of gratitude. He was grateful to the Buddha for analyzing and explaining this Dharma.
Sariputra spoke of “my delusions of views and thinking.”Originally, Sariputra still had the slightest afflictions and delusion of views and thinking. Because the Buddha’s Dharma-essence entered his wisdom-life drop by drop, this web of doubts, his delusions of views and thinking and the slightest remaining afflictions were eliminated. Having severed his web of doubts, Sariputra said, “I feel great joy within my heart. Now we have heard the Buddha teach this pure, subtle and wondrous Dharma.”
People intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness. The One [Vehicle] is the Dharma of True Suchness, which all of us inherently possess. It is the most profound, supreme, great principles, which will return us to our intrinsic nature. This is the Tathagata’s wondrous Great Vehicle Dharma.
Now that we have heard the Buddha teach this pure, subtle and wondrous Dharma, we know that intrinsic to our nature is the wondrous Great Vehicle Dharma of True Suchness. All who heard the Dharma became jubilant. So, I said, “I feel great joy within my heart.”
So, “All who heard the Dharma became jubilant.” When everyone heard it, they all felt joy within their hearts. They were so joyful they wanted to leap in their air. “I feel great joy within my heart.” So, what Sariputra expressed was the joy in his heart. He also felt, “My doubts and regrets are forever ended, and I will abide in true wisdom.” He was very joyful. He was so happy, his mind was peacefully abiding. Thus his mind was definitely free of doubts.
So, the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra states, “Those who seek the Three Vehicle teachings, should they have doubts or regrets, will have them resolved completely by the Buddha so that none remain.”
This sutra passage is what the Buddha said in the Introductory Chapter. He was now going to teach the True Dharma. If they had doubts, the Buddha would definitely help each of those seeking the Three Vehicle to completely eliminate their doubts. This also applied to Sariputra at this time. His doubts had been eliminated, so he abided in true wisdom. He knew that he has the chance to attain Buddhahood in the future. Therefore, he felt very joyful.
So, with “the sounds we hear through our ears, the Dharma-essence enters our hearts and develops our wisdom-life.” If we allow the Dharma-essence to enter our hearts and accept the Buddha-Dharma with joy, the Buddha’s voice and teachings will clearly enter our ears and become engraved on our hearts. When our minds are as pure as a crystal, then virtuous Dharma will naturally help us enter our nature of True Suchness.
Dear Bodhisattvas, we must be very mindful to establish our faith so we can realize true principles. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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