Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Always Seek to Do Good to Benefit All (恆求善事利益一切)
Date:June.10. 2015
“Outwardly practice compassion with skillful means to be dignified with blessings and virtues. Inwardly cultivate pure wisdom to go among people without being defiled in order to attain infinite spiritual wealth.”
Internal cultivation and external practice are essential. We cannot just say, “I engage in spiritual practice because I’m very compassionate.” The compassion in your heart cannot be seen by others. If people ask you for help and you do not lift a finger to assist them, how can you be considered compassionate?
Feeling compassion but not contributing effort to help does not show true compassion. True compassion is visible to others. When people need help, if we can immediately give to them, help lighten their burdens and relieve their urgent needs, that is true compassion.
Compassion requires giving; that is how we “outwardly practice compassion.” There are many ways to compassionately help people. Because sentient beings suffer in countless ways, when we help others with compassion, we must do so according to their needs. We must consider their needs and their hardships when we give to them. This requires the use of “skillful means”. When we give to others with skillful means, the people who receive our help feel that they have been respected and aided. We, the people who give, also feel very joyful. When we see that the people we have helped have been relieved of their hardship and have been able to resolve their difficulties, we attain a sense of joy.
When we give skillfully and others achieve relief, we attain a sense of Dharma-joy. Between those that give and those that receive, there is a sense of mutual joy and gratitude. When we feel this way, we are very blessed. By benefiting others, we also attain virtue, so everyone involved feels grateful.
After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, Tzu Chi volunteers gave to the survivors with respect and love and used skillful means and methods so that those who were being helped could feel that they were actually working to rebuild their own towns. When we gave to them without expectations, the aid recipients felt respected. By rebuilding their homes with their own labor, their was dignity in their hearts and actions. Amidst this wreckage, because of our love we used skillful means to help them, and they used their strength to clean up and restore their homes. The towns began to prosper and signs of vitality have reappeared. The volunteers who gave were joyful because they created blessings in this place. People from this place were grateful to this group of volunteers from around the world.
They saw how Tzu Chi gave to them out of love, so whenever they saw people in Tzu Chi uniforms, they shouted, “Tzu Chi! Tzu Chi! Thank you, Tzu Chi!” This is because we have benefited them. The sense of mutual gratitude and love between us has brought dignity to our interactions and created blessings for that place. This is being “dignified with blessings and virtues.”
Everyone felt joyful and grateful, and this place has regained its liveliness.This is how we, by using skillful means, can express our compassion among people in a way that is helpful to them.Giving without expectations is the mindset the Buddha taught Bodhisattvas.This is how we “inwardly cultivate pure wisdom”.
If we apply various skillful means to put our compassion into action, then after we have given to others, there is no impurity in our minds; there is only joy.Helping others in this way brings Dharma-joy.This is how we inwardly cultivate pure wisdom.We are not trying to reap any benefits from the people that we help.That is not our goal.
Rather, by going among the people in this place, we are able to unlock our deep wisdom and deepen our faith, our faith in the Buddha’s teachings about “suffering, causation, cessation and the Path”.
We completely understand the Four Noble Truths.Life is suffering because everything is impermanent.When we see the fragility of the planet and the impermanence of life, this strengthens our faith in the Buddha-Dharma.So, [helping others in need] is very helpful for our own spiritual practice.Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world for the sake of helping sentient beings return to their pure intrinsic nature.They want everyone to “follow the Way”.
By following this path of wisdom, we can walk the Buddha-path as Bodhisattvas.This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to this world without asking anything of sentient beings.They only hope that sentient beings can transcend their afflictions, the ignorance in their minds that is like a burning house.This is the goal of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in coming to this world.
After we learn the Buddha’s Way, we follow the Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’ teaching to practice compassion.
Knowing that sentient beings face much suffering, we will make use of skillful means to find a way to help them.By giving to others, we benefit the world and bring dignity to each other.When you show gratitude to me and I give to you out of love, we are showing mutual gratitude and love.
This purest kind of interaction.It is completely free of greed, anger, ignorance and various other kinds of complicated afflictions.
Thus, by exercising pure wisdom we can “go among the people without being defiled”.By “going among the people without being defiled,” we can develop our wisdom-life, our wisdom.The understanding we gain by going among people can inspire us to engage in very rich contemplation.
Actually, this spiritual abundance and wisdom has always been in our minds.From one example we can realize ten things.After a disaster like this happens, so many people are willing to give, because everyone has the same intentions.By joining their efforts they give rise to an abundance of strength to transform sentient beings.This is why the Buddha came to inspire us to develop this intention to help. Thus we must always outwardly practice compassion and inwardly cultivate wisdom.
By practicing compassion and cultivating wisdom, by exercising both compassion and wisdom, we can benefit other people’s lives and benefit ourselves by developing our wisdom-life.
As I mentioned earlier,The Tathagata “perfects infinite views and understanding powers and fearlessness, great spiritual powers and powers of wisdom. He is replete with the wisdom of skillful means and the Paramitas”.
With various kinds of skillful wisdom, the Tathagata devises ways to help sentient beings who are lost and afflicted, giving rise to delusions and creating karma.
How can He transform their ignorant minds?With skillful means, He can deliver them from the shore of afflictions and ignorance to the others shore.To deliver sentient beings in this way, He uses skillful wisdom as His tools, along with great loving-kindness and compassion.
The following sutra passage states,“He has great loving-kindness and compassion and is never indolent or tired. He always seeks out good deeds to benefit all and thus is born in the decaying, burning house of the Three Realms”.
This sutra passage tells us that the Buddha has constantly engaged in spiritual practice for countless kalpas, walked the Bodhisattva-path for many lifetimes ad has already attained enlightenment. He is already a noble being who has transcended the Three Realms. Nevertheless, His vow is to deliver all sentient beings, so He cannot bear for them to constantly reproduce afflictions and create karma in this world. Thus, for many lifetimes He has manifested in this world in response to our needs. This is why we often say that we should respect whomever we see. Perhaps the Buddha is among us right now; maybe one of you is the manifestation of the Buddha, because all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have remained in the Saha World and will always be among people. But His manifestation-body does not only appear among humans; He may also go to the Three Evil Realms to teach and transform the beings there.
Of course, as I have constantly told everyone, this world is replete with all Five Realms. The Five Realms are the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. The Buddha lives with sentient beings in this place where the Five Destinies coexist. So, in summary, the Buddha’s teaching that we are discussing now is the wisdom Sakyamuni Buddha left for us. More than 2000 years ago, Prince Siddhartha engaged in spiritual practice and then attained Buddhahood. As the Buddha, He taught sentient beings and those teachings have been passed down till today. For this Dharma to exist, there had to be a “manifestation-body”.
“The manifestation-body: Tathagatas manifest the body of a Buddha to teach and transform sentient beings. With compassion, They teach according to situations and relieve sentient beings’ suffering. In the burning house of the Three Realms. They never cease in their efforts.”
This manifestation-body may not appear among humans. It can be among any kind of living beings. So the Buddha says, “All living, moving beings have Buddha-nature”. Over successive lifetimes, He manifests in different states to transform sentient beings. In that lifetime, [2000 years ago], He manifested as a Tathagata. with His nature of True Suchness and by practicing the principles of True Suchness. He taught and transformed sentient beings. Therefore, He was called the Tathagata.
“Tathagatas manifest the body of a Buddha”. With Their pure intrinsic nature, They manifest the Buddha-body to teach and transform sentient beings. “With compassion, They teach according to situations”. They teach people with methods that suit them. After entering Parinirvana in India, who knows how many lives. He has lived all over the world as He continues to teach the Dharma by example and educate sentient beings in this world.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world, repeatedly and without rest. With compassion, they are never indolent or tired. With compassion they engage in charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work to transform others. These are the Four All-Embracing Virtues, the foundation of the Bodhisattva-practice. I hope everyone will always keep them in mind.
“Compassion is the root of transforming others through charitable giving and beneficial conduct. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are constantly benefiting all sentient beings in the Five Realms. With a heart of great joy and equanimity, they are never indolent or tired. They never seek any reward for their good deeds. The only thing they seek is to benefit all sentient beings.”
At all times we are willing to give, and at all times we are working to benefit everyone. The foundation for transforming others is having compassion. The Four All-Embracing virtues are also the foundation of compassion. “Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are constantly benefiting all beings in the Five Realms”. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas never stop going into the Five Realms “with great joy and equanimity”. They will forever give with great joy and equanimity for the sake of [their fellow] sentient beings in the Five Realms.
Without regard for themselves, they give to others in the Five Realms. Moreover, they do so with great joy. This joy is the willingness to repeatedly return to the Five Realms to give to sentient beings. This is why they never “become indolent or tired”. Because of their compassion, regardless of what kind of place it is, the footprints of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be found there.
So, after giving, we do not expect any reward for our good deeds. There are no such expectations. We only seek to give what is suitable. We give our of goodness, without any expectations. This is “to benefit all sentient beings.” When we give for the sake of benefiting all beings without expecting any rewards, we are doing so with the purest of minds.
“The only things they seek is to benefit all sentient beings.” Those who just want to do good deeds and are not looking for anything in return are called Bodhisattvas Spiritual cultivation brings merits and virtues. With internal cultivation and external practice, “The virtuous attain.” When we engage in inner cultivation, we attain realizations. When we express these realization, that is called virtue. So, “The virtuous attain.” When we engage in spiritual cultivation and attain realizations, that is a virtue. “Transforming others brings benefit to them.” Cultivating ourselves is for our own benefit. Only after we attain realizations will we be willing to give to others. After we give of ourselves, what we will attain is Dharma-joy. But when we give to others we can transform them. If we share our realizations with others, we can also benefit them by influencing them to do good deeds. This brings benefit to them.
“Cultivating oneself brings merits and virtues.Transforming others brings benefit to them. Those with merits, virtues and beneficial conduct are cultivating themselves and benefiting others at the same time. ” Thus, they “always seek out good deeds to benefit all.”
On the one hand, we benefit ourselves.When it comes to spiritual cultivation, we attain the benefit of our own practice. Every day, I give teachings. If you can take them in, you will attain [benefits]. If you do not take them in, I myself still attain [benefits], because I am grateful that so many people are willing to listen and for the technology that allow this to happen, and this inspires me to be even more diligent. This is why I say I attain [benefits], and if you listen, you will also attain [benefits]. So, we are mutually engaged in internal cultivation and attaining realizations. Then we can earnestly put these into action; this brings merits and virtues.
We can benefit by applying what we hear to ourselves and then sharing it with others. All this happens among people. When we all attain merits and virtues, we all benefit. This is how we cultivate blessings and wisdom. When we benefit others, we crate blessings.
When we develop our wisdom-life, we create merits and virtues. With the merits and virtues we have cultivated, we can benefit others. This is cultivating both blessings and wisdom. So, “We are cultivating ourselves and benefiting others at the same time.” We need to spend a long period of time doing this, not just a short period of time.
By continuously listening and taking action, we continuously learn and develop our wisdom-life. With “great loving-kindness and compassion,” we “are never indolent or tired.” We must not stop and should “always seek our good deeds to benefit all.”
We “are born in the decaying,” burning house of the Three Realms is filled with afflictions and defilements. So, we give rise to delusion and crate karma, thus accumulating various kinds of afflictions. The manifestation-body of the Buddha appears in this burning house of the Three Realms. To save and transform sentient beings, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live where “the beings of the Five Destinies co-exist” to continue to benefit sentient beings.
They live together with them in the burning house of the Three Realms, so they can teach them.
Dear Bodhisattvas, the Buddha’s grace is boundless and hard to repay. So, we should continue to diligently practice and always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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