Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Relieve Suffering with Compassion and Wisdom (悲智拔眾苦)
Date:June.22. 2015
“Giving peace and joy to all sentient beings is His loving-kindness. Relieving all the suffering of sentient beings is His compassion. With the power of patience, the Buddha does not abandon sentient beings to a mistaken path. With the great power of wisdom, He gives wondrous provisional teachings.”
I want to help everyone better understand that the Buddha came to this world for one great cause, to help sentient beings who are deluded, who greedily cling to this world, who continue to create karma. So, His one great cause was to teach the Dharma in the hope that everybody could comprehend the meanings behind His words. However, sentient beings are severely afflicted, so realizing the meaning behind His words is extremely difficult for them.
So, the Buddha had to first exercise His loving-kindness and compassion. For sentient beings to listen to His words, clearly understand them and take them to heart, first the Buddha had to settle their minds. Once their minds were peaceful and stable, they felt happy. So, He first practiced loving-kindness, then He exercised compassion since sentient beings’ suffering had to be relieved. In addition to bringing peace to their minds, the Buddha continued to help them understand the source of human suffering. He hoped everybody could understand where suffering comes from. This was why He never stopped hoping that people would walk the Bodhisattva-path to experience the suffering of sentient beings.
To understand the source of suffering, one must have personal experience with it. Otherwise, we may say to someone, “Life is ‘suffering,’ which comes from ‘causation’.” How did this “causation” come about? That person would not understand. This is why we have to go among people [to learn].
So, the Buddha constantly teaches us the Bodhisattva Way. To practice the Bodhisattva Way, we must go among people and relieve their suffering and hardship. As we exercise loving-kindness and compassion, we must have “the power of patience” and never abandon sentient beings. No matter how hard things are, we must persevere.
For this reason, “With the great power of wisdom, He gives wondrous provisional teachings.” This is the one great cause for which the Buddha came to this world.
The previous sutra passage states, “Sariputra, the Buddha saw this and thus had this thought, ‘As a father to all sentient beings, I should relieve their suffering and give them the infinite and boundless joy of the Buddha’s wisdom for them to play with.”
The Buddha and sentient beings are connected through the Dharma-essence and wisdom-life. The Buddha, for the sake of all sentient beings, came to share the Dharma-essence with us to help us revitalize our wisdom-life. Therefore, the Buddha said, “As a father to all sentient beings, I should relieve their suffering.” What He gave to sentient beings was the infinite and boundless joy of His awakened wisdom. This is what the Buddha wanted to do for sentient beings. Today, let us discuss the following passage.
“Sariputra, the Tathagata then had this thought, ‘If I simply used my spiritual powers and my powers of wisdom but set aside skillful means, and for the sake of sentient beings praised the Tathagata’s understanding and views, powers and fearlessness, sentient beings would not be able to attain liberation through this.”
This is sad. After the Buddha attained enlightenment, He wanted to quickly infuse sentient beings with this Dharma-essence. However, the ignorance of sentient beings is too severe. Before they can accept the Dharma-essence, they need to spend some time treating their mental ailments. This is why the Buddha established skillful means for them. If the Buddha directly taught [the True Dharma], they would not be able to accept it.
So, the Buddha could not praise the Tathagata’s understanding and views, powers and fearlessness.
If this was how He taught to help them understand, they would not be able to understand.So, He relieved their suffering with the power of loving-kindness and compassion.
With the power of loving-kindness and compassion, the Tathagata relieved sentient beings’ suffering and gave sentient beings joy.However, He still had this thought.As it was ultimately difficult to express His intent and teach the True Dharma it was necessary to give provisional teachings.Because sentient beings’ capacities were incapable of accepting [the great teachings], the Tathagata had this thought.
The Buddha had to further exercise great loving-kindness and compassion, as well as patience.
As sentient beings are lost, He mindfully figured out how to free them from that state.To relieve the suffering of sentient beings, He had to first help bring them peace of mind so they would be willing to believe and accept what He taught.
Although sentient beings have already accepted the Three Vehicle He taught according to their capabilities, although they could accept these, the Buddha still believed that they needed to accept the Dharma-essence so they could truly develop the wisdom to transcend cyclic existence.
Because the Buddha hoped they would ultimately attain liberation, “the Tathagata had this thought. It was ultimately difficult to express His intent and teach the True Dharma.”
This was the case for more than 40 years.This means the Buddha had already waited for more than 40 years.As He patiently guided sentient beings, they simply developed stability and faith.However, they were still unable to take the True Dharma to heart.
So, the Buddha still could not freely carry out His original intent to expound the True Dharma.
There was nothing else the Buddha could do, so “It was necessary to give provisional teachings.”He had to continue to give provisional teachings.“Sentient beings’ capacities were incapable of accepting [great teachings].”
So, the Tathagata continued to “have this thought, If I simply used my spiritual powers my powers of wisdom…”
He thought about directly using.His spiritual powers and power of wisdom.How could the Buddha utilize.
His spiritual powers and power of wisdom to help them internalize [the True Dharma]?“With compassion and wisdom, the Buddha considered how sentient beings would be able to realize the meaning behind His words.”
How would sentient beings be able to realize the Buddha’s original intent and the meaning behind the words He spoke?Did they actually have the capabilities to comprehend what He said?For this reason, He “had this thought”.This was the Buddha’s state of mind.Sometimes when I think about it, I empathize with His dilemma.
With compassion and wisdom, the Buddha considered how sentient beings would be able to realize the meaning behind His words.
Thus He had this thought, “If I simply used my spiritual powers” and my powers of wisdom…”
When spiritual powers are used with the power of compassion and wisdom, they are like two hands working as one.They are even more powerful.
The Buddha “had this thought” for sentient beings.
“Thus He had this thought.”This thought was based on His assessment of their capabilities.“If I simply used my spiritual powers and my powers of wisdom…”If spiritual powers can be used in conjunction with our compassion and wisdom, that will be like using our two hands together.Then there will be much we can do.
When we do things, can we do them easily with just one hand?We must use both of our hands.By combining our compassion and wisdom, we can do even more and will be even more powerful.This means that, when “spiritual powers are used with the power of compassion and wisdom, they are like two hands working as one. They are even more powerful.” “Spiritual” means “Their wondrous use is unfathomable.”This is truly inconceivable; people cannot comprehend this wondrous use.This is the meaning of “spiritual”.
“Powers” are what allow us to flexibly succeed with Samadhi and wisdom.Our power comes from uniting our spiritual and [physical] powers and putting them to use.
Take listening to the Dharma, for example.When I speak, you can hear what I say.My words are not only heard by the people sitting here.Through modern technology, this Dharma can spread across so many countries to be heard by so many people at the same time.With these free and flexible spiritual powers, in this world, there nothing we cannot do.
Anything is possible as long as we have wisdom and the power of Samadhi.
Spiritual powers:
Spiritual means its wondrous use is unfathomable; powers are what can freely and flexibly succeed.
Through Samadhi and wisdom we can attain.
To develop anything we must focus; we must invent and discover. The power we exercise comes from wisdom and Samadhi. In order to invent something, we must concentrate. Concentration is the power of Samadhi. By exercising our wisdom in this way, we will be able to figure out the functions of all things in the world and bring out the best in them. With spiritual powers we are flexible and free. In addition to applying our spiritual powers, we also need to apply our wisdom. To have wisdom, we must exercise loving-kindness and compassion. With loving-kindness, we cherish all sentient beings. Since they are suffering, we exercise the power of compassion. Then we have both compassion and wisdom.
This is why the Buddha said, “These are the two kinds of virtuous natures that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must be replete with”. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must have compassion and wisdom.
Compassion and wisdom: These are the two kinds of virtuous natures that all Buddhas must be replete with, also called the two doors of compassion and wisdom. Wisdom is seeking the Buddha’s Way and is considered benefiting oneself. Compassion is transforming sentient beings and is considered benefiting others.
The Buddha, with the wisdom He attained upon enlightenment, still hopes everyone can be in accord with His state of mind. He hopes we can connect with the words He spoke from His heart and connect with His wisdom. Those who can be in accord with His wisdom are called Bodhisattvas. They understand the Buddha’s original intent, how, for the sake of sentient beings, the Buddha stabilized their minds in the hope they could understand [the teachings] and practice the One Dharma to walk the Bodhisattva-path.
By doing this, they are Bodhisattvas. Only those who share this mission and path are Bodhisattvas. With the same mission as the Buddha, they can walk this path together with Him.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are replete with two kinds of virtues. This is His intrinsic nature and virtue. I often mention the Buddha-mind. When the Buddha is in our hearts, the Dharma will be in our actions; we will act according to the Dharma. This is how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas share the same mission and path. They are in accord with each other, so they are able to listen to the Dharma and turn the Dharma-wheel. These are the two doors of compassion and wisdom. We must have compassion, and we must have wisdom. Compassion and wisdom are essential qualities that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas must have.
Wisdom comes from “seeking the Buddha’s Way” and is considered benefiting oneself. To be Bodhisattvas, we must learn the bodhisattva-path. After we are in accord with the Buddha’s mind, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path and never stop [cultivating] our wisdom. This means we need to seek Bodhi, which is benefiting ourselves. We seek this Dharma to benefit ourselves. Compassion comes from “transforming sentient beings”. They cannot bear for sentient beings to remain lost and deluded, so Bodhisattvas constantly seek the Dharma to learn methods to save and transform all beings. Sentient beings suffer because they are lost and deluded, so we must use the Dharma to transform them. This is considered benefiting others.
Next, “If I set aside skillful means, and for the sake of sentient beings praised the Tathagata’s understanding and views…”.
For the Buddha to set aside skillful means and directly praise the awakened Tathagata-nature and ocean of wisdom, He would manifest His power of the understanding and view of truth and His powers of wisdom.
The Buddha originally wanted to tell everyone, “Your also possess these. You are the same. You and I both intrinsically have Buddha-nature”. However, we could not understand this. The Buddha was starting to wonder, “How much more time do I have in this world? So, for the sake of future sentient beings. He decided to open this spiritual path. “The Buddha set aside skillful means and directly praised the awakened. Tathagata-nature and ocean of wisdom”.
When the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, at the beginning He told everybody that His past teachings had been skillful means, which, like the sheep-cart and deer-cart, suited the capabilities of sentient beings. At this assembly, everyone needed to understand that there was an even bigger cart, which could benefit them as well as other people. Not only could they reach their destination, other people could, too.
So, the Buddha kept praising the “awakened Tathagate-nature and ocean of wisdom”. The Tathagata-nature is realizable as long as we can be in accord with the Buddha’s mind. If we can understand the meaning of His words, we can also attain this wisdom.
We all intrinsically have this awakened nature and ocean of wisdom. This comes from the power of the understanding and view of truth. This is what the Buddha wanted to say to us. This is the power of wisdom. [The Buddha has] spiritual powers and wisdom. Spiritual powers can encompass everything, and they are unfathomable.
Since they are unfathomable, I cannot explain them. Everyone needs to understand for themselves that in our daily living, as we interact with surroundings, we all have these incredible [powers]. The Buddha can use wondrous teachings to provide us with analogies.
He also has fearlessness. What does it mean to be fearless? Sentient beings cannot understand this, so they “would not be able to attain liberation through this.” Because we cannot understand, we cannot be transformed.
“The power of fearlessness” is praise for the Tathagata’s exceptional state of understanding and views, when “The Buddha spoke in accord with His state of mind and what He wanted to say.”
In this state, the Buddha acted according to His own intentions. Through His words, He expressed praise for the state of the Buddha and His spiritual powers and the power of wisdom. If the Buddha had not used skillful means, sentient beings would not have any way to comprehend what He said.
If the Buddha only taught in accord with His state mind and what He wanted to say, sentient beings would not be able to comprehend. What the Buddha really wanted to share is “the True Dharma on compassion and impartiality.”
So, the Buddha wants us to understand that we must cultivate our compassion because the True Dharma teaches us to be impartial. All living beings are equal. Though the world is complicated, the Dharma applies equally to all.
The Tathagata, in His exceptional and wondrous state, can encompass everything in the One Vehicle Dharma.This is the Buddha’s [impartial] state of mind, but helping sentient beings understand it is not easy matter.
When we reach a state of “fearlessness,” the state of Bodhisattvas, we are in accord with the Buddha’s mind. So Bodhisattvas are similar to Buddhas. they know “how to transform the understanding and views” of sentient beings and “take attachment to existence, etc., and transform them into true emptiness.” This is the state of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Fearlessness also refers to how Bodhisattvas can transform understanding and views so they can take attachments to existence, etc., and transform them into true emptiness. Thus they can enable sentient beings to [safely] enter situations of disaster and danger to relive the suffering of sentient beings. This is the fearlessness of the Bodhisattvas.
Bodhisattvas, while among sentient beings, have the means to transform their understanding and views, turning them from delusion to awakening. This is “transform the understanding and views so they are transformed from deluded attachments into true emptiness.
We may not be able see through things. We often says, “You need to see through things and let go.” To let go, we must apply the principle of true emptiness. “Why take issue over this?” This shows the power of Bodhisattvas.
Their wisdom can approach that of the Buddha’s, so they can turn delusion into awakening and transform understandings and views. Then those attached to existence and dallying. This is the method used by Bodhisattvas.
“This allows sentient beings to [safely] enter situations of disaster and danger.” They will also be able to relieve the suffering of sentient beings.”
Indeed, as long as we can let go of the perspectives we are attached to, we can understand the suffering of sentient beings. When we enter a disaster area, there may be hazards and difficulties. But Bodhisattvas have ways to eliminate suffering of sentient beings. This is the power of fearlessness. This is what Bodhisattvas do.
The minds of sentient beings may not be able to accept the teachings. Normal people are unable to accept them, so they cannot be transformed. If people cannot accept the Dharma, they will not be willing to practice it, or even praise it. How can sentient beings like this be transformed? This is why the Buddha has to use various methods to patiently guide them. The true Dharma cannot directly enter the minds of sentient beings because “the Dharma does not adapt to the capabilities of sentient beings.” If it does not adapt to their capacities. “It cannot benefit sentient beings.”
Dear Bodhisattvas, the Dharma is truly profound and wondrous. Teaching in ways that everyone can comprehend is indeed very difficult. Those who listen to the Dharma must also be mindful and use the power of Samadhi. They must also experience it so they will be able to comprehend the teachings.
In conclusion, everyone needs to think carefully and always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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