Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Freedom Found in the Six Paramitas (菩薩六度去來自在)
Date: May.06. 2015
“Bodhisattvas in the world play effortlessly without any hindrances. Purifying the mind brings joy; benefiting others is best. By perfecting the Six Paramitas, we can deliver ourselves and others and freely travel between the two shores, those of noble and of ordinary beings.”
Live Bodhisattvas effortlessly play and travel through this world without any hindrances. Isn’t this a very wonderful state? If we are able to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, form aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path, nothing in this world can hinder us. Depending on our state of mind, we can go among people to transform, help and save suffering sentient beings. To do all this without hindrances is indeed something we must all pray for.
So, our minds must be pure. If our minds are pure, whenever we give to others and see that their difficulties have been resolved, this will bring us the greatest happiness. We do not ask for anything else. This is why we talk about a pure mind. A pure mind will not greedily expect anything. The happiness and peace of sentient beings bring happiness and peace to Bodhisattvas. So, when we form Bodhisattva-aspirations, we always have to hold on to this mindset, to happy give without expectations. When we do this, it is called actualizing the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. These are six requirements for walking the Bodhisattva-path. With all of these necessary conditions, we will be able to transform all sentient beings and help end their suffering. Although we say we are transforming or saving others, we are in fact, also transforming ourselves, because we are still in the state of ordinary beings. This is why we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations.
We need to learn the Buddha’s Way to learn the Great Enlightened One’s state of mind. We must travel from this shore to the far shore, to go from the state of ordinary beings to that of noble beings and from having the mind of an unenlightened being to being able to experience the mind of the sages. In between these states lies the river of afflictions. We must cross it to go from this shore to the far shore.
On the Bodhisattva-path, if we have these six necessary conditions, then we will be able to cross from this shore to the other shore and then return to this shore so that we can deliver other people to the far shore; we can travel back and forth freely and unhindered.
This is why we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations. It is possible to experience this state of freedom while living in the human realm. During the Buddha’s lifetime, every summer there was a retreat for the Sangha. One year, after they wrapped up their summer retreat, disciples from all the monasteries traveled to the Jetavana abode. Once the Buddha saw that all His monastic disciples had arrived, He was very happy, so He asked everyone, “During the three months of your summer retreat, have things gone well?”
In unison, they answered Him, “Yes, they have.” The Buddha then asked, “Did you lack anything in those three months?” They all answered, “No, we did not. All our daily necessities were provided by the local lay disciples. They gave us ample support. We are grateful that Your virtue has allowed us to practice in peace and [inspired] the lay disciples to reverently support us.”
So, all of us are very grateful for. Your virtue, because it has safeguarded us so that we can practice in safety.”
Ananda saw how the disciples from all over gathering together had brought the Buddha great happiness as He listened to their experiences from their three-month summer retreat.Everyone was full of gratitude and Dharma-joy.
At that moment, Ananda wondered, “what kind of karmic affinities did the Buddha from with sentient beings in the past? He has so many disciples who feel gratitude, respect and reverence toward Him; the monastics diligently practice and the lay disciples support them out of great compassion. In His past lives, what kind of vows did He make and wha tspiritual practice did He engage in so that He could form so many good affinities with so many sentient beings?”He could not help but raise these questions and asked the Buddha to teach on this.
The Buddha smiled and answered Ananda, “All my disciples, listen carefully. This began countless kalpaks ago, an incalculable number of eons in the past, when I was in hell. In hell, there were many instruments of torture. People who had committed crimes fell into hell and faced truly unbearable suffering. One instrument of torture used by prison guards was an iron cart heated until it was red. They would partially flay a person and stretch out his skin and tie it to the iron cart. Two people would be attached to each iron cart by their skins, and then they would be told to pull it. The iron cart was tremendously heavy and had been heated until it was hot. If they could not pull it, the prison guards would whip them. Whether the guards hit them with a rod or a whip, their suffering was tremendous. Among those being punished this way was one who could not take it anymore. He simply collapsed. The other person saw that his companion had collapsed and that the prison guard was continuing to beat him until he would stand up and continue pulling the cart. So, this other person said, “Let me do it by myself. I can put in more effort and take his place. Please be compassionate and spare this person who is suffering so much.” The prison guard was very fierce and hateful. He said, ‘You cannot even save yourself, yet you want to save this other person. “Out of anger, he hit him with both rod and whip. This person who was still pulling the cart with his flayed skin gave rise to this one thought, causing him to be beaten with both whip and rod at the same time. Thus he passed away. Upon his death, he was born in heaven. From heaven, he saw the human realm. He looked back on everything that he had experienced in the human realm, on all the karma he had accumulated, which led him to fall into hell and experience tremendous suffering. From that moment on, he aspired to willingly go anywhere in the Six Realms; wherever there was a need and sufficient conditions, he would go to transform people.”
The Buddha stopped at this point of the story.Facing the crowd, He called out to Ananda.“Ananda, you know, this person who wanted to save others even as he was being punished, this person who beaten to death by the prison guard, do you know who he was? That was I, Sakyamuni Buddha. From the time I formed that aspiration in hell until this lifetime. I have repeatedly returned to the Six Realms with great ease. This is how I walked the Bodhisattva-path over many lifetimes.”
The Buddha told this story about how.He was inspired to form His aspirations by the tremendous suffering He experienced in hell.
“Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.”
The Buddha enlightened Himself and others.He had already attained enlightenment, but He still renewed His aspirations because.He did not want sentient beings to create karma in the human realm and thus fall into the Three Evil Realms to suffer.So, the Buddha advocated the Six Paramitas, the practice of these six methods.To practice giving, we must give of ourselves.Once we recognize the needs of sentient beings, we devote ourselves to helping them. This is the first step.
In addition to giving, we must uphold precepts, have patience and be diligent so that we can achieve Samadhi and wisdom. We must practice all six. So, in order to “freely travel between the two shores, those of noble and of ordinary beings”, we need to apply a world-transcending spirit as we unceasingly carry out mission in this world traveling freely back and forth.
In the previous sutra passage, the elder, the kind father, could not bear to let his children remain in the great house without knowing they needed to get out, without knowing they needed to leave immediately. So, the elder had to think of a way. He put the children’s favorite things right outside the house to entice them to come out. He yelled loudly, “Everyone hurry and come out”. He said, “If you don’t hurry up, and quickly come out of that burning house, if you don’t come out quickly, you won’t get any of these things. If you don’t get any of it, your will really regret it. So hurry up and come outside!”
The children heard him calling and knew their favorite things were outside, so they thought, “I should hurry up and go out”.
This father knew his children that each had his or her own preferences for all kinds of precious toys or unusual objects, which would surely bring them joy.
This represents how people prefer spiritual practices that are suitable for their capabilities that are suited to what they need. So at first, the Four Noble Truths were taught because, with their capabilities, people could accept it.
Later on, the Buddha taught the Six Paramitas, or the Six Perfections, to deliver them to the other shore. To “deliver” means to cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore. We must cross the sea of samsara and reach the other shore, which is to reach the shore of Nirvana.
This is a state of tranquility and stillness, the land of calm illumination. Calm illumination is a very radiant state. It is also a state of tranquility and clarity. Such is the shore of Nirvana. With our spiritual practice we can go from the mental state of afflictions all the way to a very pure state in which afflictions do not cause our minds to fluctuate. That is a most tranquil state of mind.
So, to cross into that state, there are six methods to use, which are giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom.
The Sutra of the Benevolent King also mentions that we must practice the Six Paramitas and the Four All-Embracing Virtues. Everyone’s practice must include the Four All-Embracing Virtues. Everyone should know that these are charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work. These are the Four All-Embracing Virtues. In fact, the people we interact with are our colleagues in collaborative work. Whenever we meet someone, whenever we work with someone and so on, we have the opportunity to transform them. Therefore we must all work hard to “transform through collaborative work”.
Since we are all living together in this world, we must transform whomever we meet. Then, in all that we do, we must benefit all beings; we need many people to come together with the single resolve of helping everyone. That is called “beneficial conduct”.
What about “loving speech”? This is the Dharma that is spoken. We always say that “Dharma-children are born of the Buddha’s mouth”. The Dharma comes out of the mouth. For everyone to learn the Buddha’s Way, we must constantly talk about the Dharma the Buddha spoke. Then the Dharma will remain in the human realm. We have already taken the Dharma to heart, so if we keep the Dharma in our minds, we speak it whenever we open our mouths.
Then we can persuade people to form aspirations and make vows. That is called “loving speech”.
“Loving speech” is something we must constantly give to others. Nowadays, what sentient beings need the most is to have their minds nourished with Dharma-water. So, Dharma-water is what we need to give them right away. The giving of the Dharma is something we must give to all sentient beings.
So, we need the Six Paramitas and the Four All-Embracing Virtues in all of our actions. They are the key methods for walking the Bodhisattva-path.
Next, we focus on the elder’s worries. He worried that if the children did not come out, what was he supposed to do? So, he used all kinds of precious toys and unusual objects to tempt them. What did the children need? This is similar to how the Buddha developed all kinds of Dharma-treasures according to sentient beings’ capabilities. But eventually there was this urgent need for Him to proclaim this most important teaching and for everyone to come receive it right away. Otherwise, it would be too late.
The next passage states, “If you do not come take them, you will regret it later.” If they did not come out quickly to earnestly receive the Dharma, the True Dharma of the One Vehicle, they would regret it later. This was what the Buddha told sentient beings who were receiving the Dharma and learning the Path.
So [the elder] told them, “The toys you like to play with are rare and difficult to obtain.” “If you do not take them, you will regret it later.” Practitioners of the Three Vehicles who were fortunate enough to draw near the Buddha were lead out by Him with skillful means. Otherwise, their greed and attachment to the burning house of the Three Realms would make it difficult for them to escape. This was worrisome and if nothing was done, it would be too late for regrets.
These “practitioners of the Three Vehicles” were “fortunate enough to draw near the Buddha”. People who are fortunate can live in an era with a Buddha. They are fortunate to encounter Him in His lifetime.
So, “They were led out by Him with skillful means” Because they lived in the same era as the Buddha, Because they lived in the same era as the Buddha, they could hear the Buddha-Dharma from Him. We should be very happy for them that they had the karmic conditions to do this. The Buddha, for the sake of sentient beings, developed skillful means to patiently guide everyone out of the Three Realms.
In conclusion, whether we encounter the Buddha-Dharma or not make a big difference. If we encounter the Dharma, we can be Hearers and can understand the karmic law of cause and effect. Upon hearing it, we will be more restrained because we have understood the law of karma. Although we cannot completely purify our minds, we know the concept of cause and effect. This is the state of Hearers. If we are Solitary Realizers, we already clearly understand the principles that life is impermanent, there is no self and so on. We understand the principle of emptiness, but we still need to go one step further Besides “true emptiness”, we must quickly realize “wondrous existence, that everyone can attain Buddhahood.”
We must seek to attain Buddhahood and feel an urgency to awaken; we must go among people without beings defiled by them. We have to advance to this higher level. Only then can we develop. Otherwise, all we can do is say, “I’m already pure, ” but when we are affect by external conditions, but where we are affected by exterrnal but when we are affectly external conditions, we will degenerate again. It would better to return to this world where we must live with these conditions, so we learn to keep our lives from influenced by external conditions. We must not be affected by the gain and loss we experience in life and thus give rise to [discursive] thoughts. If we keep our minds calm and steady that is the state of Samadhi, which is also one of wisdom.
If we have this kind of wisdom we will not be tempted by other conditions. So, when we learn the Buddha’s Way, everyone in the burning house must quickly come out. There are precious treasures which we must seize right away .This is the Dharma. The most precious principle of the One Vehicle is the path we can take to escape the burning of the Three Reams. So everyone, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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