Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Maudgalyayana, Foremost in Spiritual Powers (神通第一目犍連)
Date: December.28. 2015
“With a clear mind, our spiritual powers can reach everywhere in the ten directions. We can clearly reflect all objects and grasp our past lives. With a pure nature, we make clear distinctions according to the power of Samadhi. Having no obstructions is called having spiritual powers.”
“With a clear mind [and] spiritual powers…” is our mind in a state of clarity all the time? Is our mind in a state of clarity all the time? Do we wipe the mirror of our mind every day? We must work hard! Are we able to wipe it clean? Or is it still tainted with dust? We must reflect upon ourselves. Is the state of our mind clear?
If our mind is clear, naturally we will have spiritual powers. Don’t we often hear people say, “You seem to be in low spirits”? What does it mean to be in low spirits? It means we have many afflictions in our minds. When we feel dispirited and downcast, we have no way to clearly distinguish our external conditions, or people, matters and objects. The things we should do are not done properly; the things we need to say are not spoken clearly. That is because our spirits are in disarray.
If we have “a clear mind, our spiritual powers” can naturally “reach everywhere in the ten directions.” I often give this example. When someone brings up a person’s name, a person whom we have not seen for many years, once the name is mentioned, [we think,] “Oh, I know this person. He is very tall, very sturdy. This person is… and so on.” Once we hear his name, his appearance will surface in our minds. In a moment’s time, our minds can cross countless mountains and rivers and transcend time and space, no matter how far. It is because our spirits are very clear that we can “reach everywhere in ten directions.”
In fact, if we are clear on the Buddha-Dharma, in the whole universe and in all Dharma-realms, there is nothing we cannot thoroughly understand. So, we must make an effort to be mindful and make sure the mirror of our mind is always wiped clean and is carefully protected.
Look at how people protect things now. They worry that when they touch things they will leave prints, so they wrap those objects up or wear gloves when they hold them. We protect material things in these ways, so why don’t we protect our pure intrinsic nature? We must take good care of our minds so that they can “clearly reflect all objects”.
For a mirror to be clean, we must constantly wipe it and clean it. We must protect it so it is pure and undefiled. Then it will be “clear” and able to “reflect all objects.” In this way, we “can grasp our past lives.” What were we actually like in the past? What kind of karma did we bring here? Based on our relationships in this life, we can clearly tell whether we have formed good karmic affinities or not. This depends on our minds. We must be clear about ourselves and clear about other people too. When it comes to habitual tendencies, if we know what people’s tendencies are, we will not take issue over things. In this way, “With a pure nature, we make clear distinctions.”
We must believe that this True Suchness lies within us in order to clearly discern external phenomena. We do this “according to the power of Samadhi.” If our pure nature is able to draw these clear distinctions, naturally the power of precepts, Samadhi, wisdom will arise in our minds.
If our minds can be focused, when we do things we will be able to be very clear.This kind of power is free of obstructions; it is called “spiritual power”.
Focusing all our energy on understanding all Dharma is most important.
At that time, Wisdom-life Subhuti, Mahakatyayana, Mahakasyapa and Mahamaudgalyayana heard from the Buddha teachings they had not heard before.
Among the Buddha’s disciples, so far we have discussed.Wisdom-life Subhuti, Mahakatyayana and Mahakasyapa.Each had their own habitual tendencies, their own strengths, their own outstanding talents and so on.
Now we will take about Mahamaudagalyayana.
Mahamaudgalyayana was also one of Buddha’s ten main disciples and some who was “know and recognized by all”.
Maudgalyayana is a Sanskrit name.
It means “kidney beans; mystics liked to eat this food”.
Spiritual practitioners from the past, since Beginningless Time, were called mystics.
These kidney beans were what they liked to eat, so they turned it into the name of a clan.
[Venerable] Maudgalayayana was given this surname for his name.
Thus he was known as Mandgalyayana.
He was well respected among all the disciples, thus he was given the title “Maha”.Everyone knows that “Maha” means great“.Out of respect for him, people called him Mahamaudgalyayana.
Among the Buddha’s disciples, he attained the greatest spiritual powers, so he was “foremost in spiritual powers”.
He was born in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, in a village outside the city of Rajagrha called Kolita.He was also born a Brahmin.He was truly a very talented person, as well as Sariputra’s good friend.They shared the same teacher in another religious tradition.
As they were being educated by their teacher, they felt there should be something more to it.
To them, these teachings felt insufficient, as if something was still missing.Both of them kept saying, “In the future, between us two, we should try to find a teacher whose teachings satisfy us. If I find someone, I will certainly tell you. If you find someone, you have to let me know. We must seek together, share the same teacher and diligently advance together.”This was their agreement.
Each of them had their own group of disciples comprised of 250 people.Their teacher was old, and eventually he passed away.When their teacher passed away,.Sariputra was unable to put his mind at ease.This was because before he passed away, their teacher said to Sariputra, “The true workings of life are something. I cannot yet fully understand. Desire is [the most harmful thing] in our lives. Worldly love and desire are so in comprehensible.”
In his mind, Sariputra also wondered, “What is the principle behind this?”He was unable to resolve this question.
One day, when he was walking, suddenly he saw a person walking with a very dignified demeanor.
His mannerisms and actions were very proper; this drew the attention of many people.When he suddenly saw this monastic, his eyes lit up.He hurried toward this spiritual practitioner.With mindful reverence, he asked, “What spiritual path do you practice? Which teacher do you rely on? What teachings has he given you? Why are your mannerisms and actions so different from other people?
This person was actually the Buddha’s disciples, Bhiksu Asvajit, Sariputra continued to ask, so he said, “All things arise with causes and conditions. All things cease with causes and conditions. The Buddha, the great Sramana, always teaches this. With these words, Sariputra suddenly realized the principles of “all things having no self”, so he was very happy and rushed to find Maudgalyayana. When Maudgalyayana heard this, he was also happy. The two of them arranged to bring all their disciples in front of the Buddha, asked Him to shave their heads, took refuge with Him and became monastics.
One month later, Maudgalyayana attained Arhatship. After Maudgalyayana took refuge with the Buddha, he and Sariputra were very diligent. Together, they brought 500 people into the Sangha, so they were among the heads of the Sangha.
In particular, Sariputra was “foremost in wisdom”. After Maudgalyayana attained Arhatship, his mind and spiritual abilities opened up, and so he was “foremost in spiritual powers”. Because of this, he would constantly go to other places to expound the Dharma on behalf of the Buddha. This is how the Buddha-Dharma began [to spread] as more people joined the Sangha.
In the Lotus Sutra, Venerable Maudgalyayana eventually receives a predictions of Buddhahood that after he attains enlightenment, his Buddha-epithet will be Tamalapattra-candan-gandha Tathagata.
This is Maudgalyayana. In fact, Maudgalyayana followed the Buddha for a very long time, for more than 40 years. During these 40-plus years, Maudgalyayana constantly traveled for the sake of spreading the Dharma. While he was spreading the Dharma, he offended many other religious practitioners. This was because Venerable Maudgalyayana was a very righteous person. Right was right, and wrong was wrong. But some religious practitioners could not our-argue Maudgalyayana, so their minds became filled with hatred, and some even became very jealous. They were jealous that Maudgalyayana had helped the Buddha-Dharma flourish so that other kinds of religious practitioners were drawn to believing in the Buddha-Dharma.
You may recall. King Virudhaka’s massacre of the Sakya clan Maudgalyayana kept asking the Buddha to save the Sakya clan. So three times, the Buddha sat in the middle of the road. As King Virudhaka assembled his troops to kill the Sakya clan, at the time, Sakyamuni Buddha sat under that withered tree under the blazing sun. Although King Virudhaka was a fierce and brutal person, when he saw the Buddha, respect arose in his heart. He got off his horse and paid his respects to the Buddha. He withdrew his troops right away. The more he thought, the more conflicted he felt, He had vowed to eliminate the Sakya clan, but he still had respect for the Buddha.
The first time, he [turned back after seeing] the Buddha. Then he mobilized his forces a second time. From afar, he saw the Buddha sitting there, so he withdrew his troops again. This happened a third time. When he saw the Buddha sitting there, he withdrew once again.
After the third time, the Buddha was saddened; the Sakya clan could not escape this fate. When King Virudhaka gathered his troops again, he saw that the Buddha was no longer sitting there. Thus he was able to destroy the Sakya clan. But as this happened, Maudgalyayana tried to manifest spiritual powers. With his alms bowl, he gathered up 500 people from the Sakya clan, so he could help them leave that place. But when he arrived at his destination and looked into the bowl, those people had turned into a pool of blood.
He consulted the Buddha, “Why did this happen? People say I am foremost in spiritual powers; why couldn’t I save them”? He was very upset. Of course, the Buddha then told him about the Sakya clan’s karmic causes and conditions, the resentment they had incurred and so on. Infinite kalpas ago, they formed these affinities of hatred and enmity.
Of course, that us another story. Maudgalyayana had these kinds of spiritual powers, and he followed the Buddha loyally. He had dedicated his life to protecting the Buddha-Dharma and the Sakya clan, but even his spiritual powers could not help them. He could not even save himself; in his old age, before the Buddha had entered Parinirvana, he was walking on the road one when a group of religious practitioners saw him. They said “That is Maudgalyayana. We have been looking for a way to kill him, so our teachings can flourish again.”
This group of people gathered together and followed Maudgalyayana. Maudgalyayana came to the foot of the hill and sat under a tree. This group of religious practitioners stood at the top of the hill and worked together to push a huge boulder down the hill. Maudgalyayana was crushed to pieces. Thus he passed away.
When sariputra heard this, he said, “Venerable Buddha, before Maudgalyayana left, he came to You and asked for a leave of absence.” You already knew what was going to happen; why didn’t You stop him from leaving? Now Maudgalyayana is….”
The Buddha said sadly, “Indeed! I knew this would happen. Sariputra, and all of disciples, you should all know that the force of karma is as great as Mt. Sumeru. Whatever cause and conditions you created, you must eventually face the consequences. All the karma Maudgalyayana created had finally been exhausted in this lifetime, so we should just wish him well.”
This is the way life is; in this world, though Maudgalyayana was said to have spiritual powers, the Buddha always said we must have Right Understanding and Right Views. Even with spiritual powers, he could not escape his own karmic forces. When it comes to spiritual powers, “With a clear mind, our spiritual powers can reach everywhere in the ten directions. If we can focus our mind, naturally we can understand anything; this is the meaning of spiritual powers.
If our mind is constantly clear, naturally it will be able to reflect all external appearances. Matters and objects will become clear, and we will be full of spirit. This is also a form of spiritual powers; there will be no obstructions in our thinking.
With our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, if we can draw clear distinctions and cultivate precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, our mental and physical power will be very great. Then we can earnestly lead the people harmoniously. Everyone will be able to listen to and accept what we say, so we can work with unity and concerted effort. Sharing the same mind, we work to benefit people. If we can do this, there will be no obstructions. These are spiritual powers.
Everyone person has these spiritual powers. Every day we chant the Three Refuges. “I take refuge with the Buddha. May all living beings comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration. I take refuge with the Dharma. May all delve deeply into the sutra treasury and have wisdom like the ocean. I take refuge with the Snagha. May we lead the people harmoniously.” Isn’t this telling us to accept the Buddha’s teachings wholeheartedly? These are spiritual powers.
Maudgalyayana’s spiritual powers came from unifying his mind and spirit. Thus he could thoroughly understand everything. So, he could travel and spread the Dharma. He dedicated his body and his life to the Buddha until the very end. This is Venerable Maudgalyayana.
Dear Bodhisattvas, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we must learn to bring purity and radiance to our minds. By doing so, we are true Buddhist practitioners. So, we must be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
