Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Giving Rise to the Samadhi of No Conflict (深信體解無諍三昧)
Date: December.23. 2015
“People such as these have faith and understanding. Because they have deep faith, they have no doubts. Because they can understand, the principles are clear to them. Those with faith and understanding have the deepest wisdom among all people.”
When learning the Buddha’s Way, only when we mindfully, genuinely, penetratingly and wholeheartedly believe in the Buddha-Dharma are we able to take it to heart. Only with deep faith and understanding will the Dharma be able to take effect in our minds. Have we brought our bodies and minds to meet and become one with the Dharma? Have we? Or are we still a long way off? What can we do about this? The only way is to be “people such as these”. The only way is to “have faith and understanding”. We must deeply and faithfully accept the Dharma.
So, we must put the Dharma into practice. What kind of mindset did the Buddha have when He engaged in spiritual practice? We must learn to develop that state of mind. If we can form the same aspirations as Him and be firm in our resolve, lifetime after lifetime, over countless kalpas, everything we do will be for sentient beings; we will give for the sake of sentient beings and will give for the sake of seeking the Dharma. This is what we must learn.
As for faith and understanding, “Because they have deep faith, they have no doubts.” Most of us have an equal mix of faith and doubt. We have faith in the Buddha but we doubt ourselves. Can we really attain Buddhahood? We doubt ourselves; where is our nature of True Suchness? Since we have faith, we should have deep faith, faith that everyone has the potential to attain Buddhahood beyond the shadow of a doubt. We must absolutely believe that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, including ourselves.
Since everyone has Buddha-nature, how can we not respect them? Then, “Because they can understand, the principles are clear to them.” If we can experience and realize these principles, then everything will become totally clear. Everyone, we must truly have this realization.
Life is filled with impermanence. So much can change in an instant; all of this is beyond our control! Since we can deeply penetrate the Buddha-Dharma, we should have deep faith in the principles. We must bring our actions into accord with our faith. If our faith is not a part of our actions, we will never be able to realize this Dharma.
For example, when a disaster occurs, we see many who, without a second thought, steadfastly go among the people and enter the disaster area to provide help and relief. Seeing them do this should evoke a deep sense of respect in us, for they are all Bodhisattvas. If we want to further understand how they can give of themselves in this way without complaining of being tired, we must go experience this for ourselves.
When we physically enter that environment, to face the people who are suffering and to face that environment, we will immediately console and comfort them. In this way, suffering sentient beings can lean upon the shoulders of Bodhisattvas to cry and express their suffering and will feel like they have someone to rely on. Thus after we help them, we see that those suffering and mourning beings are already at peace.
Moreover, after comforting them, when they can transcend that state of unbearable suffering, we will know we were able to do this out of love. This is selfless love; it is a true principle.
Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.Thus, “Because they can understand, the principles are clear to them”.Bodhisattvas are never too far from us.They are not just the [statues] that sit or stand there, while we are here constantly paying our respects.Not at all.Actually, we ourselves are Bodhisattvas too.This is the realization we spoke of.
We have experienced this for ourselves, so we deeply understand that when those who save come together with those who suffer and help them, this is the kind of principle [that makes someone] a Bodhisattva, the principle of awakened love, the principles of sincere compassion.These are the principles that we must have faith in and understand.
As for “deepest wisdom,” if we have deep faith and understanding, then naturally we will be like the Buddha, the wisest among people.
So, when it comes to faith and understanding, if we do not experience and accept [the Dharma], then we will be unable to listen to the sutras, learn the teachings and awaken, to become one with the Dharma.
Therefore, I always hope that everyone will have deep faith and understanding.This is a very important teaching in the Capter on Faith and Understanding.
The Capter on Faith and Understanding begins, “At that time, Wisdom-life Subhuti, Mahakatyayana, Mahakasyapa and Mahamaudgalyayana heard from the Buddha teachings they had not heard before.”
These four were four of the ten main disciples of the Buddha.When we include Sariputra, there were five.These four were “the heads of the Sangha”.
These four disciples, Subhuti and the others, were the heads of the Sangha.They awakened after Sariputra.
The 10 main disciples each had their own strengths.Sariputra’s strength was being foremost in wisdom, so of course he was the first to awaken to the principles the Buddha taught, to say nothing of the fact that the Buddha had expounded the Dharma for more than 40 years.
Only after 42 years did He begin to give the Lotus teachings.In the past, the disciples had remained in the state of the Small Vehicle.This included Sariputtra.After following the Buddha for more than 40 years and having listened to so many teachings, he still practiced only for his own benefit; he feared future transmigration in the Six Realms.
He also understood the principle that, “All things are empty.”But then came the Lotus [Dharma-assembly].What the Buddha gave the Lotus teachings, at the time of the Introductory Chapter, the Buddha manifested auspicious appearances and radiated light.
People at this assembly wondered, “Why is the Buddha doing this?”After teaching the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, why did He stay seated there and enter Samadhi?
As He “enter the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings,” deep in concentration, He radiated light from between His brows.While He did this, people began to have doubts.
But Sariputra believed that there had to be a reason behind this.Only as he listened to the dialogue between Maitreya and Manjusri did he deeply comprehend [this reason].So, he continued to request the Dharma on behalf of the assembly.
The Buddha was asked three times by Sariputra, and three time He stopped him, but in the end, “How could [He] not expound it?”
Thus, even in the Introductory Chapter, Sariputra had already begun to reflect on himself and began to doubt his previous cultivation of the Small Vehicle Dharma, He began to make vows; he would no longer remain in the state of the Small Vehicle.
When the Buddha began to praise how all sentient beings could attain Buddhahood, [he realized that,] if this was so, Hearers could become Buddha too.For this reason, his resolve was set; he accepted this Dharma with deep faith.
Thus, Sariputra was the first to receive the prediction of Budddhahood.
Now as we continue on, there are four more how has begun to accept the Buddha’s teachings.They hoped that they themselves would receive the Buddha’s prediction as an affirmation.
Wisdom-life Subhuti was the head of these four.
So, this chapter begins with, “At that time ,Wisdom-life Subhuti. ” The Chapter on Faith and Understanding began by talking about Subhuti. “After the teaching of the parable… ”
It was not until after the Chapter on Parables that they could truly comprehend,and then immediately they gained faith and understanding.
“At that time” refers to the time when the Buddha taught [the parable] of the burning house.
This was in the Chapter on Parables, describing the elder and the burning house and the relationship between him and his children. Out of his compassion, the elder did everything he could to get the children to quickly come out and escape the burning house. Also with compassion, he set up three kinds of carts outside the door. The disciples realized the principles behind this, so after hearing the parable of the burning house, they truly developed a deep understanding.
So, of the four of them, Subhuti was called “Wisdom-life [Subhuti]”. In fact, anyone who is a monastic should be “one with wisdom-life”, because they have already understood the Buddha’s teachings. We pursue the Buddha-Dharma in order to seek Buddha-wisdom. By taking the Buddha-Dharma to heart, we can develop our wisdom-life. So, everyone who cultivates pure practices should be able to be addressed as “Wisdom-life”. Actually, all bhiksus could be addressed as “Wisdom-life”.
“Wisdom-life: A common title for bhiksus who followed the Buddha and became monastics. They begged for food to sustain their physical life, and requested the Dharma to sustain their wisdom-life.”
In the Buddha’s lifetime, members of the Sangha “begged for food to sustain their physical life” the Buddha wanted everyone to be equal, with no distinctions based on class among those who joined the Sangha for spiritual practice. So every person, in order to sustain themselves, had to beg for alms themselves. Firstly, they begged for alms for the sake of sustaining their physical life.
Secondly, they wanted to help people understand that the Buddha’s teachings had been established, and there was this kind of monastic order. In this way, monastics and lay people would have a chance to come in contact with each other. This is way “begging for alms” is also called “conditions for transformation”. Thus they begged for food to create “conditions for transformation” and to sustain their physical life. This was during the Buddha’s lifetime.
Requesting the Dharma sustains our wisdom-life. After returning from begging for food, after eating their fill, they listened to the Buddha expound the Dharma. So, they sought the Dharma from the Buddha to develop their wisdom-life. Thus all monastics could be addressed as “Wisdom-life”.
“Subhuti means “benevolent and auspicious”. He was also called Good Karma as well as Born of Emptiness”.
This describes the events of Subhuti’s birth. On the day that he was born, something inconceivable happened. Originally, his family was very wealthy and had many things in their storehouses. But the moment Subhuti was born, on that very day, all of his family’s treasures, everything in their storehouses, suddenly disappeared; there was just emptiness. His parents were panic-stricken. They immediately called a fortune teller to tell the child’s fortune.
The fortune teller told them, “This child is a good omen, not a bad one. His appearance is very auspicious. In the future, this child will accomplish great things. He will benefit humanity and will be a person of great wisdom.” Because of this, his mother and father asked the fortune teller to choose a name for him.
So, the fortune teller chose one word that meant “benevolent”. And because he would benefit sentient beings and be of help to them, he added “auspicious”, thus he was called Benevolent Auspiciousness. So, “Subhuti” had the name Benevolent Auspiciousness. He was also called Born of Emptiness. This was because when he was born, all the things in his house disappeared. Three days later, everything was restored.
“Why did Subhuti have the unique title “Wisdom-life”? Because of his benevolence and auspiciousness and his understanding of emptiness. So, he took Wisdom of Emptiness as his appointed name.”
As soon as he was born, those [storehouses of] worldly material goods all of a sudden disappeared. This was an auspicious sign. Because of this, everyone knew the story of his birth. Thus, he was also called Born of Emptiness. People also recognized that he was very clear on the principles and that he was very wise. After becoming a monastic, he completely accepted the Buddha-Dharma; when it came to the Buddha’s teachings, he faithfully accepted and practiced all of them. He took them in completely; he faithfully accepted all of them.
For this reason, among the ten main disciples he was “the foremost in understanding emptiness”. He had a true, penetrating understanding.
You see, in the Diamond Sutra and the Prajnaparamita Sutra, Subhuti was designated as the recipient of those teachings. Whenever the Buddha gave teachings, Subhuti was certain to be present. When the Buddha began teaching and wanted to ask, “Do you understand?” he would called on Subhuti. “Subhuti, what do you think?” then Subhuti would verify the teachings by sharing his understanding. Thus, it was said that Subhuti had wisdom and was foremost in the wisdom of understanding emptiness. Whenever the Buddha wanted to teach the principles of emptiness, He always designated Subhuti as the recipient of those teachings for he could understand them better.
Subhuti, in particular, “naturally had a benevolent disposition”; he was very kind. He came from a very wealthy family, but ever since he was young, he had no interest at all in material things. Toward suffering people, he was quite sympathetic. Every time he saw people suffering, he would give everything he had to them, even the clothes he wore when he left the house the pearls and carnelian he wore He even took off the clothes he was wearing and gave them away, returning home in his underwear. This constantly troubled his parents. From his point of view he felt, “What value is there in material things?” “Suffering people are very important.Those of us who have things should immediately help those who are suffering.” With his benevolent disposition, he never came into conflict with others over material things.
Subhuti naturally had a benevolent disposition and never fought over anything. Becoming a monastic, understanding emptiness and attaining the Way, he simultaneously nurtured. loving-kindness and achieved the Samadhi of no conflicts. Since he always protected living things, he other name was Good Karma. He followed the Buddha in spiritual practice, understood the principle of emptiness and realized the Samadhi of no conflicts.
Subhuti never fought with people over anything. If they wanted something, if they were in need, he would give charitably. Thus, when he became a monastic, he “understood emptiness and attained realization” and “simultaneously nurtured loving-kindness.” He went beyond, “I understand, everything is empty” He was also rich in loving-kindness, so he “realized the Samadhi of no conflicts.” He had no conflicts with others and no conflicts over matters. With loving-kindness and compassion, he attained the “Samadhi of no conflicts.”
He constantly cherished the lives of all beings and [showed] his love for the world, his love for people and his love for all kinds of beings by completely giving of himself to them. Thus he was called Good Karma.
“He followed the Buddha in spiritual practice”, so he “understood emptiness.” He understood this principle, so he “achieved the Samadhi of no conflicts.” This was how he lived his entire life.
But as for attaining Buddhahood, for going among people without getting involved or becoming afflicted, he had not reached that state. So, only after hearing the Chapter on Parables did he truly realize the Buddha’s original intent.
When we engage in spiritual practice, we must have these diligent, enduring aspirations to go among people We should not strive [to protect] our own purity; we must go among people yet remain undefiled. This is the true path to Buddhahood.
So, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we can see that is was not easy even for people who had been at the Buddha’s side for decades even for the leaders of the Sangha, to easily develop faith and understanding, to say nothing of we who live in this era.
Nevertheless, we have the chance to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, and this is truly a blessing. From the beginning, we must make an effort to faithfully accept and practice [the Dharma].
We must have true faith and understanding. We must have deep faith and be without doubts. We need to develop understanding so that we can become one with the principles. We must earnestly learn from the Buddha, the wisest among us. So, every day, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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