Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Planting Seeds of Enlightenment (一歷識田永為道種)
Date: January.18. 2016
“The cause for the attainment of understanding is found first in their listening a long time ago. This is why they celebrated obtaining great benefit and attaining understanding. From recently listening to the extraordinary Dharma of the parables, they understood the Buddha’s intent and obtained the benefit of awakening.”
Actually, we are able to hear the Dharma now thanks to what we did in the past. We probably spent a long time planting [the seeds for] these karmic conditions. Only with the accumulation of these conditions do we now have the opportunity to be at the same spiritual practice center and thus engage in spiritual practice together, encounter the Buddha-Dharma together. And likewise, we are now beginning to listen to and share the most true and wondrous teachings of the Dharma. This is all because, in our past lives, we were “listening a very long time ago.”
A long, long time ago, we formed these causes and conditions so [now] we are able to “attain understanding”. “The cause for the attainment of understanding, ” what allows us to listen and understand now, is the karmic causes and conditions that were created in distant past kalpas.
Since we have theses causes and conditions, we should celebrate that we can “obtain great benefit and attain understanding.” It is because of past causes and conditions that we have the affinities to be able to gather together again now and listen to teachings from this sutra together. We should feel very happy at attaining this great benefit of listening to the teachings.
For the same reason, Subhuti and the others were also very happy. Though for a long period of time in the past they did not understand the Great Vehicle Dharma, they now had complete faith and understanding. So, they told this parable. “From recently listening” means they had only recently heard these teachings. In fact, the Buddha had already been teaching for more than 40 years. They had listened to Him teach from the beginning, but it was not until the Lotus Dharma-assembly that they truly achieved great understanding.
In the past they all thought, “Looking after myself is good enough. The Buddha is teaching those who have great capabilities to form great aspirations, make great vows and practice the Bodhisattva-path; this has nothing to do with me.” Thus, they did not mindfully [listen] and their hearts were not inspired. Then, when the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, He began to teach directly to these disciples who were constantly by His side.
According to their capabilities, He praised the wisdom of all past and present Buddhas and the intrinsic nature of True Suchness that everyone intrinsically possesses. He explained that everyone has the potential to attain Buddhahood. Then He bestowed His prediction upon Sariputra. This brought faith and great understanding; they deepened their faith and their realizations. They began to develop this confidence. So, this all happened “recently”.
The Buddha-Dharma that they were listening to now was truly extraordinary Dharma. So, “They understood the Buddha’s intent”; they understood the mind of the Buddha. At Sakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma-assembly, there were those who had already become Buddhas and, out of compassion, had returned to this world as Bodhisattvas to set an example for others. There were also those like Maitreya Bodhisattva, who would attain Buddhahood in the future, who came to awaken and inspire people. In the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Maitreya, who had not yet attained Buddhahood but would do so in the future, and Manjusri, who had already attained Buddhahood as Honorable Dragon King Buddha and had taught seven Buddhas in the past, engaged in a dialogue with each other.
Look at how extraordinary the Lotus Sutra is! Many Bodhisattvas who were Buddhas in the past steered the ship of compassion back to this world to support Sakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma-assembly.This is all truly incredible.
Now, in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, four bhiksus that everyone knew and recognized, leaders of the Sangha, expressed how they had neglected the Buddha’s teachings in the past and how, though they were in their old age, they were nevertheless now inspired to form great aspirations. Because of the precious Dharma they heard in the chapter on Parables they now understood the Buddha’s intent and that all Buddhas share the same path.
By forming aspirations now, they “obtained the benefit of awakening”.They began to form aspirations and out their heart into walking the Bodhisattva-path.
The previous passage states, “There was a person who, while still small and young, abandoned his father and ran away, living a log time in foreign lands, for perhaps 10, 20, or even 50 years. ”
“Small and young” refers to looking only at the surface of things, not really delving deeply into them; this is the cause.Thus this kind of mindset was likened to that of a young and mischievous child who had abandoned his father and wandered abroad for a long time.He stayed away a long time and did not come home.
How long did this last?“For perhaps 10, 20, or even 50 years.”Do you remember which realm “10” is an analogy for?The heaven realm.
With the Ten Good Deeds we are born in heaven.
What about “20”?
The human realm of good and evil.
Practicing the Ten Good Deeds leads to heaven.
Committing he Ten Evils leads to falling into the hell, hungry ghost or animal realm.
This is due to [our actions] in the human realm.
Everything that happens depends on what we do with our bodies in this world.Every day we exist among the Five Aggregates, form, feeling, perception, action, consciousness; every one of these drives us to practice the Ten Good Deeds or the Ten evils.
Therefore, in our daily living, we must always be very mindful!
The next passage states, “As be grew older in years, he suffered increasing poverty and hardship. He proved in all directions seeking food and clothing, until eventually in his wanderings he found himself back in his homeland.”
Over time, this person gradually advanced in age.
This period of time, spanned from when he was “small and young” and left home to when he was much older “50” years means he had experienced all kinds of hardship.Moreover, he was impoverished; he was already very poor.
When we have no Dharma in our mind and it is filled with afflictions and ignorance, then we have truly fallen on hard times.He went everywhere, in “all directions”; “He proved in all directions.”He wandered abut in all directions, “seeking food and clothing”.
He only sought enough to eat for his next meal.
“Until eventually in his wanderings,” with no place to live and no course to follow, he gradually headed back towards his homeland.
Let us be mindful in listening to this passage.
When it says, “He grew older in years,” it means that his original.Great Vehicle aspirations had awakened.
As he grew older in years:
This is analogy for the awakening of our original Great Vehicle aspirations.The Bodhisattva we gave rise to in the past, once planted in the eighth consciousness, remains forever as a seed of enlightenment.Thus, we will once again have the good karmic condition of meeting a Buddha.This is an analogy for our permeated nature.
This “original Great Vehicle aspiration” is something we all already have; we all have it intrinsically.We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.Now this Buddha-nature had begun to awaken.
“The Bodhisattva we gave rise to in the past, that sense of joy we felt upon seeing the Buddha, that Bodhisattva, had begun to stir inside.”It had already been “planted in the eighth consciousness”.
We must understand this “eighth consciousness”.
How many consciousnesses are there?When it comes to “consciousness,” most sutras only go up to the eighth one, but I have always emphasized to you that there are Nine Consciousnesses.
The ninth consciousness is the enlightened consciousness of the Buddha a pure and undefiled consciousness.
The Nine Consciousnesses:
Eve-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- and mind-consciousness are the Six Consciousnesses.
The seventh is the adana (manas) consciousness.
The eighth is the alaya consciousness.
The ninth is the amala consciousness.
Let us start at the beginning with the eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- and mind-consciousness. These are known as the Six Consciousnesses. Whenever we interact with our external conditions, we always use our “body of the Five Aggregates”. When we use our Six Sense Organs to connect with our external conditions, we can either practice the Ten Good Deeds or commit the Ten Evils. After we take an action, it goes through the seventh consciousness, the adana consciousness.
This seventh consciousness is continually cultivating and producing [seeds] in the fields of our minds, which causes us to do many kinds of things. The fruits of these actions, the good or evil fruits of the seeds planted, are stored in the eighth consciousness, and thus the eighth consciousness contains both good and evil [karma].
“We cannot take anything with us when we die; only our karma follows us to our next life”. According to the karmic causes and conditions stores in the eighth consciousness, we are reborn and face our retributions. Unenlightened people only make use of everything up to their eighth consciousness.
We have the opportunity to listen to the Dharma, to form aspirations and engage in spiritual practice. But though we engage in spiritual practice, understand the principles, have few desires and are content, our ignorance, afflictions and dust-like delusions have not yet been eliminated or cleansed. Thus, we are still in the state of the alaya consciousness. This is about as far as most of us go.
If we can move forward and advance to the point where all of our afflictions are eliminated, we will be like Sariputra, Subhuti, Katyayana, Mahakasyapa and Maudgalyayana. They had completely eliminated their afflictions, and now they awakened their great aspirations, which had been “planted in the eighth consciousness”.
Having worked through the sixth, seventh and eighth consciousnesses of ordinary people, their minds were now purified, so they began to awaken their great aspirations. They were drawing near the ninth consciousness. With their understanding, they would not become contaminated again. Thus it was “planted in the eighth consciousness”, this pure and undefiled ninth consciousness. It “remains forever as a seed of enlightenment”.
“Thus, we will once again have the good karmic condition of meeting a Buddha”. They were drawing near their ninth consciousness. In fact, this is true “wisdom of enlightenment”. The “seed of enlightenment” is wisdom. The wisdom of enlightenment, of all Dharma, the pure Buddha-wisdom; this is all undefiled wisdom.
So, we will “once again meet a Buddha”. We already have the karmic conditions to draw near our nature of True Suchness. This is the analogy of “our permeated nature”. Though we have just begun to eliminate afflictions and have just begun to awaken, our nature has already been “permeated”.
[Having been] “permeated”, we have the chance of draw near our nature of True Suchness and realize the Buddha’s intent. The [sutra passage states that], now he was already old, in his 50s; he went from his 20s to his 50s. “He suffered increasing poverty and hardship”.
“He suffered increasing poverty and hardship: They had never cultivated impartial wisdom; lacking the Seven Noble Treasures, they were called poor.
“He suffered increasing poverty and hardship”. This sutra explains that, “They had never cultivated impartial wisdom”. They had attained discerning wisdom, but not impartial wisdom, in their spiritual cultivation. Everyone knows about discerning wisdom. We know that we should avoid doing this or that, but we are not yet treating all begins as equals. We still have not personally realized what the Buddha said, that everyone is able to attain Buddhahood. We still have not understood that everyone can become a Buddha. So, “They had never cultivated impartial wisdom”.
Thus they lacked the Seven Noble Treasures. This is “poverty”. Though engaging in spiritual practice, they lacked the Seven Noble Treasures.
“The Seven Noble Treasures: Faith, diligence, upholding precepts, remorse, renunciation, patience, and Samadhi and wisdom. Because sentient beings do not treasure these, they are said to be in extreme poverty, and as they are burned by the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings, they are said to be in hardship”.
What does it mean to lack the Seven Noble Treasures? It is when our “faith” is not deep, when we are not “diligent” enough, when we practice “upholding the precepts” but are not yet able to uphold the great precepts. As for “remorse”, in our spiritual practice in the past we did not yet feel remorse. While others diligently advanced, we stopped at [that limited state]. This is because we had not yet awakened; we did not yet feel remorse. When listening to the Dharma, we had not reached the stage of joyfully letting go. Perhaps we could not endure being among people, so we lacked patience.
Thus our Samadhi and wisdom were insufficient. We are lacking these things. If we really want to be replete with the Seven Noble Treasures, our faith must grow deeper, and we must be fearless in our diligence. We must courageously advance and directly go among people to widely transform them without being contaminated by their afflictions. This is true diligence.
We must uphold the precepts; even though we are in the “mud,” in the evil world of Five Turbidities, we will not be afraid. Thus, we can enter this evil world without being contaminated by its impurities. This is truly the flawless upholding of precepts. This is also a treasure, that of precepts.
Next, we must always have that sense of remorse. To protect ourselves, we must keep a clear conscience and be humble toward others. We should constantly protect ourselves by not giving rise to desires and anger in response to our external conditions. We should constantly minimize our ego and treat others with respect; all of this comes from a sense of remorse. This is also a noble treasure.
When we listen to the Dharma, we must be mindful. After we listen, we must joyful let go so we can give and create blessings for the world. This is also a treasure.Only by taking the Dharma to heart can we develop “patience.” When we are among myriad sentient beings, we must be able to be patient.
As we engage in spiritual practice among people, everyone has different habitual tendencies. We must have a open heart and pure thoughts and be understanding and accommodating in order to not become indolent as we interact with people. This is why patience is necessary. It is another treasure that we cultivate.
Then we are able to attain Samadhi and wisdom. With precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we will not retreat from our spiritual aspirations. These are the Seven Noble Treasures.
Subhuti and the other openly repented that they were not mindful of these seven treasures. Therefore, their Roots of Faith was not deep, and they were not thorough in their diligence. Without thoroughly cultivating the Three Flawless Studies, they only looked after themselves, and not looking after people. Lacking these qualities, they were considered impoverished.
They lacked the Seven Noble Treasures. These noble treasures are methods, so they lacked methods of attaining Buddhahood.
“Because sentient beings do not treasures them….” These sentient beings did not resolve to treasure them, so their spiritual cultivation was lacking. They lacked this because they avoided it.
So, previously they had said, “We grew weary of listening to the teachings.” They had listened to the Dharma for a long time, and they had become tired. Thus, they were not diligent. When it came to transforming sentient beings they felt no joy; no joy arose in them. Thus, “They are said to be in extreme poverty.” Experiencing the Five Turbidities and Eight Sufferings is called hardship.
Trapped in this evil world of Five Turbidities, they faced the Eight Sufferings because they were lacking the Seven Noble Treasures.Because of this, “[The son] roved in all directions seeking food and clothing,” He ran around in all directions, seeking only enough for a single meal. This is like transmigrating among the fore forms of birth.
“He roved in all directions” means going through the four forms of birth. The four forms of birth are egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. [We are all] living this way.
Through the four forms of birth, through the cycle of birth and death, we transmigrate in the Six Realms. Thus, we have already experienced many times birth, aging, illness and death in this hazardous world, full of traps.
Therefore, in learning the Buddha’s Way we must be mindful. Spiritual cultivation is the result of karmic conditions we cultivated over many kalpas. Let us make the best use of them so that, sometime in the distant future, the day will come when we attain Buddhahood. We must use these treasures, this wealth and abundance of Dharma, to nurture our wisdom-life. We must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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