Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Unable to Understand the Wondrous of the Dharma (不解法妙、如聾若啞)
Date: January.27. 2016
“Ever since the Avatamsaka assembly, He had wanted to proclaim His original intent, but His disciple could not understand the wondrous of the Dharma. As if deaf or dumb to it, they could not accept the One Vehicle Dharma. They were biased and attached to either emptiness or existence and regretted that he past teaching could not yet deeply penetrate their minds.”
The Avatamsaka state does not only exist in the Buddha’s thoughts at the moment of His awakening. Actually, the Avatamsaka state is in you and me; we all inherently have it. However, it is very far from our present state, countless kalpas away. Its source is so far away [in distance and time] that we have no way of measuring this. When the Buddha first became enlightened and attained this state, He realized that [this state] is within everyone. This ocean of enlightenment was something He wanted to share with everyone. He wanted to “proclaim His original intent”. He hoped that this state, this awakened nature everyone intrinsically has, could be revealed to everyone.
However, He unfortunately did not know how to give everyone a way to experience it. It was not that the Buddha could not explain it; it was that once He explained it, sentient beings were unable to comprehend it. So, He “proclaimed His original intent,” but “His disciples could not understand the wonders of the Dharma.”
Sentient beings were unable to comprehend it. Even when He taught about suffering, causation, cessation and the Path at the first assembly, those five people alone needed the Buddha to explain the Four Noble Truths three times. For those five people to learn suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, He had to repeat the teachings three times. Only then could they understand that all sentient beings are suffering! Suffering comes from “causation”.
These karmic retributions originated countless kalpas ago and were continuously replicated and endlessly created, so we [face suffering] beyond our control. Thus, if we want to put an end to “causation,” we must completely eradicate all evil. Similarly, when it comes to either form, feeling, perception, action or consciousness a thought of greed that arises will lead us to commit the Ten Evils. With all the Five Aggregates, we commit 50 evils. Thus, we must be vigilant and promptly extinguish [thoughts of evil]. However, actually eliminating them is difficult. We spiritual practitioners understand that we must do our best to put an end to afflictions and thoughts of desire. We can all accomplish this, but eliminate habitual tendencies, interpersonal conflicts, discursive thoughts, these subtle afflictions, is very difficult. Why is that? Because we “cannot understand the wondrous of the Dharma.”
[These disciples] listened to the Dharma, but realizing its wondrous principles was still beyond them. So, it is “as if [they were] deaf or dumb to it.” This is because they “could not accept the One Vehicle Dharma”, until the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly. Recall the appearances the Buddha manifested in the Introductory Chapter. No one could understand; why was it that every other time He taught, when He finished teaching, everyone would “happily uphold [the teachings], pay their respects and leave,” but this time it was different? After the Buddha finished teaching the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, He remained sitting, unmoving. Because He remained sitting there, no one left. When they saw the way He manifested appearances and radiated light, everyone found it to be inconceivable. The people there discussed this for a long time.
Only then did Maitreya ask Manjusri Bodhisattva about what was happening.Only then did everyone listen closely.The Buddha was in Samadhi, and the Bodhisattvas engaged in a dialogue; one of them asked, the other answered.This was in the Introductory Chapter.
Form the beginning until the Buddha emerged from Samadhi, the Buddha’s virtues were praised and admired for being inconceivable and His wisdom for being extremely pound.
This continued until Sariputra really felt [this was true] and asked the Buddha for teachings.“Venerable Buddha, can you please teach this to us?”
As the Buddha was about to teach, 5000 people left.
Think abut it; this already shows sentient beings could not understand the wonders of the Dharma.
This is due to causes and conditions; the causes and conditions had already matured for the Buddha to give those wondrous teachings, yet many people actually paid their respects and left.
Still, the Buddha said, “It is good that they left. If they stayed, they would not understand. Since they would not understand, they would actually slander these teachings. So, it is better for them that they left.”
The people who remained all listened earnestly.
The Chapter on Skillful Means and the Chapter on Parables were filled with very profound principles, taught with various skillful means, analogies and expressions.But could everyone have faith in and understand them?
Right now, we are discussing how The Chapter on Faith and Understanding is also filled with many parables.Subhuti and the others wanted to repent to the Buddha, because in the past [their practice] had been focused on themselves.Though they listened to the Dharma, they did not understand its wonders and were unable to form great aspirations.It was not until Sariputra received the Buddha’s predictions of Buddhahood that they began to realize,“It turns out that we can also attain Buddhahood.”
But they were in their old age, so they openly expressed to the Buddha what their mindset had been like in the past and how they had been stuck in that state.To do this, Subhuti told a parable.
He told the parable of the poor son.He likened himself to a very poor person.Originally, this person was born to a rich family, but he did not recognize his family’s wealth.He was self-indulgent, so he left his home, and as soon as he left, his playing took him farther and farther away, and he did not know how to get home.This is an analogy for how we originally had this nature of True Suchness.
Saying we are all born into wealth is an analogy for how we all have a pure Buddha-nature.It is just that we gave rise to an ignorant thought.With one thought of indulgence, we left home, and there is no telling how many times we unenlightened beings have wandered through the four forms of birth and the Six Destinies.This number is incalculable.
In the past, we did not earnestly accept the One Vehicle Dharma.The One Vehicle Dharma is the heart of the wonders of the Dharma.The One Vehicle Dharma is our nature of True Suchness.
In the past, we did not make an effort to mindfully safeguard this state.We went astray and became biased and attached to either “emptiness” or “existence”.People born in the Buddha’s lifetime who became monastics and followed Him in spiritual practice heard the teachings He gave, from the Agama to the Vaipulya to the Prajna, and accepted them all.They thought that meant they understood everything.
“Existence” is the law of karma.“Emptiness” is that everything is empty.They thought that the matters of causes and conditions were thus settled, that everything was empty in nature.So, thinking that everything was clear to them, they stopped there.
“They were biased and attached to either emptiness or existence.”
But now they felt “regret”.Now that they had heard the Lotus teachings and understood the wondrous principles, they “regretted that the past teaching” [had not penetrated their minds].They regretted that when the Buddha taught that within “existence” there is “emptiness” and within “emptiness” there is “wondrous existence”, they were unable to realize it. When these teachings were given in the past, they did not mindfully delve into them. That was indeed a great pity.
So, this sutra passage states, “The father constantly thought of his son. They had been apart for more than 50 years”.
The father constantly thought of his son. They had been apart more than 50 years, yet he had never spoken of the matter to anyone. He only thought of it himself, and it filled his heart with regret and hate.
The father’s every thought was of his son. We are still in a state very far from the Buddha. “More than 50 years” is a very long time. “More than 50 years”, as all of you know refers to the Five Aggregates, as well as the Five Destinies. In additions to the Five Destinies, there is the asura realm. We face all of this due to the workings of the Five Aggregates.
So, for “more than 50 years. He had never spoken of the matter to anyone”. Because our capabilities were not yet mature, the Avatamsaka state and the wondrous Dharma for returning to our pure nature of True Suchness were not within our capacity to accept. Thus, the Buddha had yet to explain them. “He only thought of it himself, and it filled his heart with regret and hate”.
This is followed by the next sutra passage, “He knew that he was old and worn out and still possessed so much wealth. Gold, silver and treasures filled his vaults to overflowing. With no heirs to succeed him, once his life finally came to an end, his wealth would be scattered and lost, for he had no one to entrust it to. This is why he so fervently thought of his son”.
This sutra passage is also an analogy for the Buddha. This is how Subhuti described the Buddha’s state of mind. “This is why he so fervently thought of his son”. The father had constantly thought of his child, from the time he left as a youth to the present, when he was in his 50s. The father should have likewise been worn out and very advanced in age.
He “still possessed so much wealth”. He had a lot of money and an abundance of things: there was so much still stored in his storehouse. Aside from what people could see on the outside, there was a lot more inside.
“He knew he was old and worn out” was the way
Subhuti and the others expressed that the Buddha’s merits and virtues were already very mature; He had already attained Buddhahood. His spiritual state and the Dharma He possessed were abundant and mature. “All those who possess wisdom, when contemplating the Tathagata’s three kinds of virtues of perfection, will give rise to profound love and respect”.
What are these three virtues?
The first is perfection of the cause.
The second is perfection of the effect.
The third is perfection of His grace.
Regarding these “causes” we speak of, the “cause” in the first virtue is the same “cause” as in “causes and conditions”. The cause of the Buddha’s affinity with all beings is already perfect and complete, because He had to have affinities with all beings to be able to come here and manifest the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment to transform sentient beings. This “cause” had matured, and the fruits of the Buddha’s own practice had matured as well. This is the perfection of the effect. So, He had virtues of the cause and the effect, which had been perfected. Thus He could come to this world and manifest appearances to transform sentient beings.
The last is “grace” the virtue of grace. The Buddha gave of Himself to sentient beings, so sentient beings should be able to feel that grace. Thus, the virtue of grace was also perfected. This is how the Tathagata came to the world with “the three kinds of virtues of perfection, which give rise to profound love and respect. He knew that he was old and worn out”, means the Buddha felt in His heart that “His conditions for transformation were at an end”.
He knew he was old and worn out; His conditions for transformation were at an end. If, in this lifetime, the capabilities of the Two Vehicle practitioners did not mature, they would not receive predictions of Buddhahood. Then who would there be to transmit the seeds of Buddhahood to sentient beings? Old and worn out, He lamented that things were this way.
This is Subhuti describing how the Buddha was also advanced in age and worried that “His conditions for transformation were at an end”. Subhuti himself said that the Hearers and Solitary Realizers, the Two Vehicle practitioners, still lacked great capabilities. Since they were stuck at the state of Hearers or of Solitary Realizers, their capabilities had no yet matured. Thus, the Buddha was still unable to bestow predictions of Buddhahood upon them.
So, who would transmit the seeds of Buddhahood to sentient beings in the future? Who would transform sentient beings in the future? Thus, “old and worn out, was an expression of his feelings, not only were the disciples old, the Buddha was even older.” “He knew he was old and worn out” refer to how Subhuti felt, both when he looked at himself and at the Buddha. He also knew that the Buddha still had a wealth of Dharma.
He “still possessed so much wealth Gold, silver and treasures filled his vaults to overflowing.” This expresses that, “The Buddha’s compassion is immense and His nature of wisdom is perfect and complete”.
Because the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice life after life, [His efforts] had accumulated over time. He had saved and transformed countless beings; He had truly done many things to benefit people. Life after life, He created blessings and relieved their suffering. This shows the Buddha compassion is immense and His blessings are infinite. This is especially true of the love He has for sentient beings. Moreover, He was constantly working with people and developing His wisdom.
Every time He saved someone, He had to understand all of this person’s afflictions, delusions and background. This understanding added to His knowledge. For each kind of background, He had to have a specific method for treating that person’s afflictions and delusions. Thus, the Buddha developed His wisdom and never abandoned sentient beings.
[By acting out of] compassion, He could develop His wisdom. Then with wisdom, He could act out of compassion to save people. So, we often say that the Buddha is the Two-Footed Honored One, as He cultivates both blessings and wisdom. As He saves people, He simultaneously absorbs wisdom.
This is “discerning wisdom” With this wisdom, He discerns the problems of sentient beings and finds a way to use the Dharma to relieve their suffering for them so that everyone can also attain liberation and joy.
Thus, with discerning wisdom, He teaches according to capabilities so that everyone can accept the teachings and attain liberation, the liberated state in which [they realize] all are equal thus they can “show compassion to all equally.”
To save people and save the world, the Buddha gave to others with this expansive state of mind. This is the state of the Buddha. Because He benefits people out of compassion, His blessings, like His wealth, are immense. Thus, He was able to achieve this magnificence and dignify His place of spiritual practice. When sentient beings saw this, they joyfully accepted [the teachings]. This is described in every sutra.
As the Buddha saves and transforms all beings, He has infinite blessings. So, “The Buddha’s compassion is immense, His blessings infinite, His nature of wisdom perfect and complete.” Thus, He is perfect in blessings and wisdom. So it says, “[He] still possessed so much wealth.” “Gold, silver and treasures filled his vaults to overflowing.”
Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, it is only if we are very mindful of our thoughts it is only if we are very mindful of our thoughts that we will be able to understand the wonders of the Dharma. Otherwise, we cannot comprehend its wonders. If we do not understand the wonders of the Dharma, no matter how we listen to it, it will be the same as not having heard it at all it will go in one ear and out the other, or we will only achieve a partial understanding It would be as if we were “deaf or dumb [to it].”
Most importantly, we must accept the One Vehicle. The One Vehicle Dharma is inseparable from our minds, everyone intrinsically has a pure nature of True Suchness. We must not become biased or attached, this is most important. Thus, we must constantly take more Dharma to heart.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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