Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Repay the Buddha’s Grace with Utmost Reverence (至誠供養報重恩)
Date: March.03. 2015
“Make offerings impartially and with the utmost sincerity. Practice goodness and benefit others to repay the [Fourfold] Grace. Respect the heavens and love the earth to amass blessed conditions. These are the true offerings to repay the Buddha’s great grace.”
Over these past few days, we have been very happily taking joy in [Sariputra’s] merits, even though it has been over 2000 years. When Sakyamuni Buddha predicted that Sariputra would be able to attain Buddhahood in the future, it was a form of blessing and also a promise that the land in which Sariputra will attain Buddhahood will be very magnificent, with Bodhisattvas as its great treasures. When everyone heard this, they felt very happy. Not only were they happy and wished him well, they also felt very fortunate themselves because everyone can attain Buddhahood. Sariputra had received this prediction, so everyone should also have a part in this. This is what we discussed yesterday.
Attaining Buddhahood takes a long period of [spiritual practice]. Therefore, we must “make offerings impartially and with the utmost sincerity”.
Previously, we talked about “showing compassion to all equally.” In our spiritual practice, the Buddha teaches us to cultivate compassion and develop great loving-kindness, great compassion, great joy and great equanimity. These are the Four Infinite Minds. With great loving-kindness, we consider all sentient beings our loved ones. This is why we unceasingly do good deeds, unceasingly create blessings and blessed karmic connections to be replete with blessings and wisdom. With blessings and wisdom as our two feet, [we walk through] all our lifetimes. Not to mention, in the Sutra of Profound Gratitude toward Parents, the Buddha said, “This pile of white bones was once my mother and father. Not only were they my mother and father once, we were family in lifetime after lifetime.”
Therefore, we often say that when we are giving to other people, we must be grateful to them, because they help us to succeed [in our practice]. The truth of this world is that every sentient being, every single person, regardless of the appearance they manifest, whether they are our virtuous friends or our unwholesome friends, whether they help us to solidify our spiritual aspirations or prevent us from giving rise to faith, we must be grateful to them. When Sakyamuni Buddha bestowed the prediction of Buddhahood upon His disciples at this assembly, He also bestowed this prediction on Devadatta. Devadatta was one of the Buddha’s followers who tried to harm the Sangha. He slandered [the Buddha] at every turn, trying his best to break the group apart. Yet the Buddha bestowed this prediction on him. Although Devadatta was not by his side, He still blessed him all the same and bestowed this prediction upon him. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, but good, evil and indeterminate [karma]. If afflictions arise in your mind and your mindset changes, then “an ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties.” When our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body connect with form, sound, scent, taste and touch, this gives rise to desires and leads us to create much karma in the human realm. Thus we endlessly multiply our afflictions. No matter how many afflictions we give rise to and no matter how much karma we create, our pure intrinsic nature is still there. When causes and conditions mature, we can likewise eliminate ignorance, aspire to engage in spiritual practice and thus attain Buddhahood. This is [also true of] Devadatta. Although he was an unwholesome friend who spent lifetimes obstructing Sakyamuni, the Buddha was very understanding and knew Devadatta was His beneficial adverse condition. So, He was still grateful to him and still considered him family.
We must treat everyone in this same way.With a Buddha-mind, when we look at all beings, we see old people as our elderly relatives, people close to our age as our brothers and sisters and people much younger than us like our own children.This is a form of sincerity.
Thus the Buddha said, “Show compassion to all equally.”
Everything you give to others is an offering.When we give material things with the utmost sincerity and reverence, that is like making an offering.With the utmost sincerity, we will treat everyone impartially.If we can achieve this state, then we are walking the Bodhisattva-path and developing a Buddha-mind.
So, we must spend a long time doing good deeds and benefiting others to repay [the Fourfold] Grace.Indeed, we must give to others with a sense of gratitude.
Not only must we give unconditionally, but we must also express our gratitude.Moreover, we must repay [the Fourfold] Grace.We must treat everyone as if they are our parents.Whether they are from our past life or from our current life, we must treat them with a sense of filial piety and gratitude.Or we can treat them all as our virtuous friends or as our teachers.Every person is teaching us something.If we can forever sustain our initial aspirations, the Buddha will certainly give us a prediction of Buddhahood when He sees us.That is what happened with Sariputra.
Once he began forming great aspirations, the Buddha bestowed this prediction upon him.However, this will not come to be for a long time.What will he do for that long period of time?He will do good deeds and benefit others.As he does this, he sees it as repaying grace and is always grateful; this is how he gives.For us to attain Buddhahood in the future, we must pave the road ourselves and absorb the spiritual nourishment we need for our wisdom-life to grow.So, we must do good deeds and benefit others.This is how we repay the Fourfold Grace.
Everyone knows the Fourfold Grace, the grace of parents, the grace of teachers, the grace of sentient beings and the grace of heaven and earth.Out of every person who lives in this world, who has not breathed the fresh air that allows us to grow?
Who has not relied on the crops of the land to nourish our physical life?Who has not received the grace of the sun and the rain?
Thus, we must repay the Fourfold Grace, the grace of parents, the grace of teachers, the grace of the Three Treasures and the grace of sentient beings.There is also the grace of heaven and earth.So, we must “respect the heavens and love the earth to amass good karmic conditions.”
We must cherish all things; by collecting recyclables and doing environmental protection work, we can care for all things.This is respecting the heavens and loving the earth.
As we interact with each other, showing each other gratitude and helping each other succeed is how we amass blessed conditions.
If we can achieve this, then we are truly making the offerings with which we can repay the Buddha’s great grace.
Whatever the Buddha teaches us, we do.Practicing according to the Buddha’s teachings is how we repay His grace.By developing our wisdom-life, we are repaying the grace of the Three Treasures.We are grateful for the Buddha and the Dharma because the teachings given by the Buddha can purify our hearts and minds.We must also be grateful to the Sangha.
Engaging in spiritual practice alone, one may easily become lax.
So, monastic practitioners must gather together.This is the grace of the Three Treasures.For the Dharma to flourish in the human realm, there must be a Sangha.Therefore, we must repay the Three Treasures.Once we accept the Buddha’s teachings, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya will be in our wisdom-life.So, we must turn the wheel of Dharma because the Buddha came to the world for one great cause.
As His disciples, we are His heirs.So, working “for Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings” is our fundamental responsibility.
“For Buddha’s teachings” means we must help Dharma remain in this world and widely spread the seeds of goodness.This is what we do “for Buddha’s teachings. For sentient beings” means that we muss dedicate ourselves to helping other people.The Dharma and principles the Buddha taught muss be passed on one by one.Thus, we are the heirs of the Buddha, those who will continue the Dharma-lineage.This is our mission, so we must transmit the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel.This is a true offering;this offering is to repay the Buddha’s great grace.
When parents have children, they have very high hopes for them. They do not ask much from them; they just hope they will be well-behaved and earnestly study, so that they will make positive contributions to society. This is all that parents want for their children. If we can do this, we can repay our parents’ grace. By the same principle, we must use this kind of “true offering to repay the Buddha’s great grace”. In doing this, we will attain realizations and also benefit others. This is really worth celebrating, so we must have this sense of reverence. The previous sutra passage states,
“The assembly, seeing Sariputra, in the presence of the Buddha, receive the prediction of attaining. Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, felt great joy and boundless jubilance. Each removed their outer garment and presented it as an offering to the Buddha.”
This is the previous passage in the sutra. As we have said, they were all very happy. They were happy for Sariputra and felt fortunate that if they made an effort to engage in spiritual practice, then they, too, would also attain Buddhahood. Whether they were heavenly beings, humans or one of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors, they all took joy in Sariputra’s merits.
They were so happy they took off their outer garments as an offering; the garments all whirled through the air. The next sutra passage states,
“Sakro-devanam Indra, King Brahma and so on, with countless heavenly Iords, also used wonderful celestial garments, celestial Mandarava flowers, Mahamandarava flowers and so on to make offerings to the Buddha. The celestial garments they tossed aloft remained suspended in the air and spun around by themselves.”
This passage mentions that, aside from humans, heavenly beings and the eight classes of Deharma-protectors all being happy [for Sariputra], even Sakro-devanam Indra, King Brahma and many heavenly Iords were all present at this Dharma-assembly. They were all very happy, so happy that heavenly maidens scattered flowers. Aside from using celestial robes as offerings, they also scattered many flowers. There were “celestial Mandarava flowers”.
“Celestial Mandarava flowers” are soft flowers. They are very beautiful flowers. Some are red and some are white; some are large and some are small. The large flowers are Mahamandarava flowers. “Maha” means big. They are very soft and very pretty, and fell down from the heavens like that. They were used as offerings for the Buddha. This is a description of that joyous state. Flowers were floating in the air, as were so many precious treasures, celestial garments and so on. They were brightly colored, spinning in the air. This signified a celebratory state. They celebrated the prediction bestowed upon Sariputra. Like any festive occasion in the human realm, there were many decorations and the air was full of excitement! This signified that it was a joyous occasion. Who is Sakro-devanam Indra? He is the load of Trayastrimsa Heaven.
“Trayastrimsa Heaven: Sakro-devanam Indra is the lord of these 33 heavens, abbreviated as Sakra or Indra. There were 33 people who cultivated exceptional karma to be reborn in this heaven together and live on the top of Mt. Sumeru. In each of the four directions there are eight palaces. In the ceter is Indra’s palace. Indra is the king of this heaven. Those in this heaven cultivated blessed karma from upholding precepts and giving. They are superior to those in the four heavens of the heavenly kings.”
Trayastrimsa Heaven, as we know, is made up of 33 heavens. There is a story behind these heavens. Once, there was a very affluent woman. She was very wealthy and very reverent. One day, she saw a very old stupa, which was already falling apart. She saw a Buddha statue inside that had been worn down by the elements. She could not bear this sight, so she sought the help of her 32 good friends. They all pooled their money and were thus able to hire many workers to completely renovate the stupa and sculpt a new golden statue of the Buddha. As a result, many came to believe in the Dharma. She accumulated much merit from what she gave in that one lifetime.
Besides rebuilding stupas and temples, she unceasingly did good deeds, benefited others and propagated the Dharma. Based on these merits, she was given a place in Trayastrimsa Heaven.
This heaven lies above the four heavens of the four heavenly kings. 1 day in this heaven is 100 years in our realm, their heavenly lifespan is 1000 years. So, those in Trayastrimsa Heaven have long lifespans and great blessings. Because she did good deeds and benefited others, and motivated others to do the same thing, this woman led so many people [to that heaven]. This is at the summit of Mt. Sumeru, above the four heavens of the four heavenly kings. There are 33 cities in this heaven. One in the middle and 32 cities around it. The 32 cities are divided into north, south, east and west. In each direction, there are eight palaces. 4 times 8 is 32. The palace in the middle is Indra’s because he is the king of this heaven.
So, the heavenly lord of Trayastrimsa heaven, Sakro-devanam Indra, is also known as the lord of the Thirty-three Heavens. This is Sakro-devanam Indra.
Then there is King Brahma. King Brahma is the lord of the Saha World. He engaged in purifying practices, thus he became king of the Brahma heavens. He was very protective of all beings. He was also very respectful of the Buddha. So, he was also at this assembly and celebrated that Sariputra received the prediction of Buddhahood.
Therefore, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must cultivate our minds.As long as our resolve is strong, we can withstand the many challenges posed by the maras. This is also the challenge faced by King Brahma. So, by overcoming great difficulties, we can also be respected by all in Three Realms. Whether Sakro-devanam Indra or King Brahma, all of the heavenly lords were joyous and reverent. With Mandrarva flowers, they showed their utmost respect. The celestial robes of these heavenly beings were truly very gorgeous and very soft. With these garments of the highest quality, they made offerings. They also scattered flowers to show respect.
The celestial garments that were tossed aloft remained in the air for a long time, whirling in that space.This shows the reverence of heavenly beings. Because they had this great reverence, they made these kinds of offerings. These offerings expressed utmost reverence; they stayed in the air without scattering, spinning by themselves.
We humans must have the same mindset. These are more than material offerings; these represent their happiness and joy that these represent happiness and joy that there was one person at this Dharma-assembly who had already received the Buddha’s affirmation. The Buddha had bestowed this prediction of Buddhahood upon Sariputra, so everyone took joy in this. This showed they all had the same mindset and their hearts were as one In the whole world, everyone’s hearts and minds are equal. The Buddha, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, taught everyone to show compassion to all equally. This comes from “making offerings impartially and with utmost reverence.”
When we engage in spiritual practice, we must show compassion to all equally. With this true impartiality, we must earnestly make offerings at all times. We constantly make offerings by doing good deeds and benefiting others. Only by giving to others with the feeling that we are repaying them can we treat everyone equally. We even respect the heavens and love the earth to amass blessed conditions. This is the greatest offering we can make to the Buddha. Everyone, this is definitely not difficult.
By making an offering with utmost reverence, we express our respect for ourselves and constantly give to others with gratitude, respect and love. Isn’t this the greatest offering we can make? Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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