Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Understand the Mind and Principles of the Buddha (解佛契理悲心入眾)
Date: February.27. 2015
“By understanding the Buddha’s mind, we can be in accord with true principles. With great compassion, we go among the people. With the power of great wisdom, we understand Right Dharma. With great blessings, we attain freedom and ease.”
I want to emphasize again to everyone that as we learn the Buddha’s Way we need Right Understanding and Right Views. Only then can our minds be in accord with the Buddha’s mind. In the Buddha’s past spiritual practice, He spent countless kalpas in the presence of trillions of Buddhas. Over countless lifetimes, He never stopped doing good deeds, benefiting others and forming good karmic connections. He continuously accumulated these things. Why? For the sake of delivering sentient beings. Forming karmic connections with sentient beings to transform them, this is the Buddha’s mind.
He comes to this world for one great cause and with a mind of great wisdom. His mind must fully and perfectly encompass the true principles of all things in the universe. Lifetime after lifetime, He unceasingly cultivated blessings and wisdom until reached His “final body,” which is when He finally manifested the appearance of a Buddha.
So, for a Buddha to manifests in this world is not easy. Thus we say it is rare to encounter a Buddha. “By understanding the Buddha’s mind, we can be in accord with true principles,” which are the principles of Absolute Truth. We have to be able to come together with the Buddha’s mind and wisdom. Not only must we understand the Buddha’s mind, we must also be in accord with the truth that He has realized. This is why we must learn the Buddha’s Way and His “great compassion, [going] among the people.”
If we have wisdom, we will take good care of our minds as, with great compassion, we go among people to help those who are suffering, both from tangible suffering and intangible suffering. Intangible suffering refers to afflictions. Tangible suffering is the lack of material resources. Both tangible and intangible suffering are unbearable. We may be willing to help them, but we must first have the power of great wisdom and understand the Right Dharma before interacting with them so that we will not become confused or contaminated. This is why we have to work hard. This hard work is necessary for achieving great blessings. For us to have great blessings, we must form many good karmic connections. Only by accumulating blessings and wisdom can we be at ease and come and go freely.
Then whether we are going among people or returning to our intrinsic nature, we can do so with great freedom and ease. We have to be able to go among people without being defiled by them. Thus, “with great blessings, we attain freedom and ease.” Yesterday, I shared with everyone that Living Bodhisattvas go among the people and into places with the greatest suffering. Yesterday, we talked about Mozambique. Initially, to carry out our work in this country, many causes and conditions had to come together. After causes and conditions converged, we were able to make a start. We planted seeds of goodness and opened up a road [for helping people].
We also felt very happy as we listened yesterday. Normally, in Mozambique, once it is dark, everyone goes to sleep. But they had taken the Dharma into their hearts, so they wanted to help others by unloading the rice. Normally, they may not eat rice even once a year. Yet, they moved over 2000 bags [of it], each weighing over ten kilograms. In less than two hours, they finished moving them. Everyone still had the energy to sing and dance until it was past midnight. They had this kind of spirit because after receiving [our] help once, they took our love into their hearts and discovered their own spiritual wealth.
This kind of spiritual wealth [comes from] the power of the Dharma.So, now it is they who are carrying rice to help others.
This time, they were helping 500 households.These are households of people with AIDS.Some people were not strong enough, so the volunteers immediately walked them to a cooler place where they could wait.Older people also received gentle assistance; volunteers steadied and guided them, and took care of them while they waited.
Those who came to receive aid were very orderly.Those who handed out the rice wished people well, those who received it expressed their gratitude.This is how, “with great compassion, we go among the people”.We saw this in the first district where they conducted this year’s winter relief distribution.
Then they crossed into another district; they have begun crossing into other districts, expanding out of their own district to continue their relief efforts.The district of Matendene was where they [helped the next distribution].This place is very poor and needed our winter relief distribution.
Denise Tsai led a group of volunteers into this community.Every day, she carried a computer and brought a chair with her and went among these people to spread the seeds of goodness in this community.At any time, she could connect to the internet and use the computer to show them how Tzu Chi has conducted distributions in countries around the world.
She could also show that, in Mozambique, Tzu Chi had held distributions both last year and this year.She showed these images to everyone and shared about the Tzu Chi spirit with everybody.At the same time, she reminded everyone there that they can be the rich among the poor and can help people who are even poorer than they are, and that the joy of helping others is greater than that of receiving material goods.
The volunteers working with Denise had received our help in the past and after having been helped, are now helping others.They are living example of the cycle of love.Now they are going among people to spread the seeds of goodness.
The next time Denise Tsai went to that community, she brought her daughter.As soon as she arrived there, she saw the children there tying sting to small sheets of plastic or plastic bags and flying them in the wind.Watching these children sitting on the ground while they flew these “kites,” she held her child’s hand and thought, “We are so fortunate!”
We often say that we “witness suffering to recognize our blessings”.Those of us how are blessed should not give up on the one great cause.Denise Tsai led her child and took her computer as she went into the poorest communities.For what?For the one great cause, her mission.That is why she is doing all this.
Many touching stories have come out of our relief work in Mozambique.For example, during the preparation stage, her husband received a call from his hometown.He learned that his mother was seriously ill.After receiving this news from 1500 away, he wondered if he should go back and see his mother, or if he should spend these couple of days taking care of all the details for the event.The new volunteers had to be trained and the new rules for the distribution must be clear so that everything would happen smoothly.He culture of holding a distribution takes time and attention to communicate; it requires a lot of training and so on.
But after hearing about his mother’s illness, what could he do?
Denise and her husband felt that if his mother’s situation became critical, they absolutely had to go back.They immediately stepped up the training and told them, “You have to pay close attention. I have to tend to something in my family, so I may not be here with you that day. But, I have confidence in all of you that you absolutely can carry out this mission. Everything will happen perfectly.”
Denise continued to encourage them in this way.The day before the distribution, her husband said to her, “Although my mother is seriously ill, for now, she remains in a stable condition.”With the Tzu Chi spirit in him, he said, “Let us set aside personal love for great love. At a moment like this, we should have a broad view of things. There are so many people in need, and for Mozambique, it is rare to have such a big shipment of goods that can be distributed to the poorest people. This is very important for Mozambique. In particular, this love comes to us from Taiwan. Also, the Bodhisattva [-volunteers] from South Africa have repeatedly come here to pave this road for us and to guide us. Now is the time to show our spirit of great love. This is the time to demonstrate it.”
So, he decided to set aside personal love ad live out great love. The relief distribution was very successful and the volunteers were very organized. Also, something very rare happened there. Because they often listened to the Dharma, they knew that in the seventh lunar month, our focus is on filial piety. In Mozambique, they do not have traditions relating to this month but because of the example we set in Taiwan by explaining that it is a most auspicious moth and one for being filial, they made a decision to lead the young people to pay their respects to their elders. So, at the location of the distribution, they advocated washing the feet of elders.
In that place, during the distribution, some volunteers led these young people to do this for their elders. They prepared the water, lined up the chairs and led the elders to sit down. Holding the containers of water, they knelt down and then began washing their feet. Some led their own parents to the chairs. After the parents’ feet were washed, the parents and children embraced. This was shocking; in Mozambique, this had never had [this ceremony] before.
When these people locked down and saw that bag of rice in their arms, they felt this was something they never had before. But then, they saw young people kneeling down to wash the feet of their parents and afterwards, [embraced them]; parents and children hugged each other. This was a kind of scene that they had never experienced before in their lives, had never heard about and had never seen. You can imagine this; in a place like Mozambique, they were able to carry out these distributions in a way that was so abundant with Dharma. Furthermore, these things were unprecedented. Think about it, without the Buddha’s mind, how could this be achieved? If people had not been in accord with the principles, how could they have accomplished this? How could they lead a big group of people to create such an orderly and beautiful state? This comes from a heart of great compassion; they are willing to go among people. There is nowhere they will not go; no one they will not transform. No wonder Denise carried a computer and a chair to go among these people on a daily basis. Every day, she spread the seeds of goodness. This power comes from great wisdom.
This kind of spirit is truly very admirable. Because she has understood the Right Dharma, she wanted to extend the Jing Si Dharma-lineage all the way to Mozambique. This was her vow; she will open up the Tzu Chi [path] of going among the people to help. This means that people there can do good deeds and create blessings.
Denise herself felt very at ease. The more poor people she saw, the more fortunate she felt she was. Here is not the only story to emerge from there. There are many more. So, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, this is what we must learn to do. The previous sutra passage states,
“The Two-Footed Honored One, shall be supreme and without peer. He will be none other than you, so you should rejoice ad feel fortunate.”
In this previous sutra passage, when the Buddha bestowed this prediction. He told Sariputra that in the incalculably [distant] future, after trillions of kalpas, he will attain Buddhahood. The most important thing is [what he does during] these countless kalpas. This period of time is very important, and it includes the time we are now living in. Sariputra has already repeatedly returned to the human realm to go among people to do good deeds, benefit others and form good connections. Perhaps among our Tzu Chi volunteers, Sariputra is also present. The Sariputra of Sakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime will spend this long period of time creating blessings and cultivating wisdom. Over this very long period of time, he will become the Two-Footed Honored One, and “shall be supreme and without peer”.
Among the Bodhisattvas, he will be the most exceptional and attain enlightenment as Flower Light Buddha. “Who is Flower Light Tathagata? It is you, Sariputra. Sariputra, you should be very happy and have even more confidence in yourself to go among people”. He also needed to make the Four Great Vows. As I have told everyone, the Four Great Vows are the original vows of all Buddhas. Every single Buddha must carry them out. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings. I vow to eliminate endless afflictions. I vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors. I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood”.
No matter how long it takes, they must carry out these vows, lifetime after lifetime. Day after day, they must go among the people. This is the one great cause of a Bodhisattva. Didn’t we see this in Mozambique? When the Buddha bestowed the prediction of Buddhahood on Sariputra,
“At that time, the fourfold assembly of bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas [were there]”. These comprised the fourfold assembly. There were also the eight classes, “heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas and so on.”
So many people were in that place, witnessing this for Sariputra. Knowing that Sariputra was able to receive the prediction of Buddhahood, knowing that this was possible for Sariputra, made them all feel this would be possible for them. So, who should be next to receive this prediction?
The Buddha was nearing the end of His life. For the sake of the one great cause, He spend over 40 years using carious skillful means to guide people to and understanding of “awakening.”
Everyone has an awakened nature. Everyone needs to understand the law of karma. After everyone understood it, He took the next stop of the telling them, “You, you, you and you, every one of you can attain Buddhahood. For people to attain Buddhahood, He must first give them a prediction of attainment.
So-and-so will have to spend a very long period of time doing certain kinds of things, practicing good deeds, benefiting others and forming good karmic connections. Then in the future, he will attain Buddhahood. After he is replete with blessings and wisdom, and his causes and conditions have matured, he will be the leader of his reward-land.
Take Sakyamuni Buddha, for example His reward-land was the Saha World. This was because of His vow to be here at the most critical moment, prior to the most turbid eras in the human realm, to begin teaching and transforming sentient beings.
So, I often share the saying, “Buddhahood must be attained in this world.” Teaching the Dharma in this turbid world is what Sakyamuni Buddha vowed to do. This is a time when people’s minds need to be purified.
So, on our communities there is a need for Bodhisattvas who have [vowed] to help in this world. Sariputra will also return to this world. He will spend a very long time going among the people. At the same time, he must keep his mind pure. Only with bright and clear wisdom can he go among people and not be defiled by them. By coming back repeatedly he will form many good karmic connections.
In the future, replete with blessings and wisdom and having awakened himself and others, he will complete the path to Buddhahood.
Everyone, to learn the Buddha’s way, we should do the same. It is very difficult to compare ourselves to people who lived over 2000 years ago. We can compare ourselves to what is currently taught, how people currently live, what people currently suffer from and the aspirations people currently form.
Look, Mozanbique is a place of great hardship. In this poor country in Africa, there are actually Bodhisattvas like this there. Aren’t they truly Living Bodhisattvas? Aren’t they very precious? Aren’t they fulfilling Buddha’s one great cause in the human realm? With great compassion, they go among the people. This is not merely a description; this is real life.
The power of their wisdom is truly admirable, in summary, regardless of the country, Tzu Chi seeds can be found there. The Bodhisattva [-volunteers] in South Africa and in Zimbabwe are also very exceptional. Living Bodhisattvas are like seeds; one gives rise to infinity and infinity arises from one.
So, every Bodhisattvas, we must all aspire to be Bodhisattvas. We must have absolute confidence. It is not impossible as long as we are always mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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