Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Being a Role Model Who Resonates (恆隨契範轉小向大)
Date: January.29. 2016
“The enlightened father’s thoughts are on those with limited capabilities. He is always with them to resonate as an example. Deeply contemplating His desire to teach the Great Dharma, He long cultivated opportunities and conditions. But due to their limited capacities, people formed habitual tendencies. Thus, He guided them towards the Great. He transmitted the Dharma-essence, nourishing their wisdom-life and turning the Small to the Great.”
“Enlightened father” has two meanings. One is the Buddha external to us, Sakyamuni Buddha. The other meaning is our own innate enlightenment. We also intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We also know that we must earnestly work to eliminate our afflictions. We hope to eradicate all of our afflictions; this was our original hope, [and the state of] our original awakened nature.
However, we must be constantly vigilant. We should form great aspirations, not remain stuck with limited capabilities. We must put out lives to great use. Instead of focusing on ourselves, we should use them to benefit everyone. This is our inner Buddha. The Buddha external to us is Sakyamuni Buddha, who is like a teacher and a father. His every thought is on sentient beings. Ever since Beginningless Time, throughout all His lifetimes, He follows sentient beings He has affinities with, constantly hoping to help them complete [their spiritual cultivation]. He hopes to go among them and create affinities with them.
“He is always with them to resonate as an example.” He has this hope, so He follows sentient beings. As sentient beings transmigrate in the Six Realms, the Buddha still constantly returns on the ship of compassion to go among sentient beings and transform them. He deeply hopes to resonate with the minds of sentient beings and to be their role model, to teach them by personal example.
Thus He is “always with them”. “Always” means a very long time. “With” means He never abandoned sentient beings. He continued to follow us.“Resonate” means to connect with them. He used the Buddha-Dharma to resonate with the minds of sentient beings and set an example for them. He manifested these appearances to teach them. Doing this required deep contemplation.
He had to be very mindful in thinking about how to spread these teachings widely among people and gradually help them all to experience the Great Vehicle Dharma.
They must go beyond only benefiting themselves; they must also benefit others. This took a very long time. This is like what farmers do. After planting seeds, they must gradually take care of them until they mature and produce an abundance of fruits. After all these fruits are harvested, their seeds can likewise be planted. To long cultivate something, we must constantly sow seeds and nurture the seeds. So, “He long cultivated opportunities and conditions.” He was waiting for the right opportunity. This requires mindfulness.
After the Buddha’s enlightenment, He wanted to help everyone know that each person intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Sadly, many people had very limited capabilities, so they were unable to accept [this teaching]. Thus, He had to have patience. He had to wait a very long time for the right opportunities and conditions in order to teach the Great Vehicle.
More than 40 years passed, and He could not wait any longer, so the Buddha began to teach the Great Vehicle.However, “Due to their limited capacities, people formed habitual tendencies.”
They had developed habitual tendencies.Those whose causes and conditions had not yet matured were still in the majority.Therefore, “He guided them toward the Great.”
Because of their habitual tendencies, people remained in the state of the Small Vehicle, so He had to put His heart into patiently guiding and enticing them to go toward the Great Vehicle.Clearly, transforming sentient beings is very hard work.
To help everyone thoroughly understand and be clear on the principles is not an easy feat.
Therefore, “He transmitted the Dharma-essence, nourishing their wisdom-life and turning the Small to the Great.”He had to transmit this Dharma-essence.
The Dharma-lineage must be passed on so that the Buddha-Dharma can be transmitted to those who will come after for generations to come into the distant future.
We should always feel grateful that we have sutras to read today.We must wholeheartedly cherish them.
The ancient sages who wanted to bring sutras from India to China or travel to India to bring back the sutras had to face incredible difficulties; there were numerous obstacles.
Reading the Lotus Sutra reminds us of Master Kumarajiva.It took him such a long time, and he had to overcome so many difficulties to arrive in China.
To translate the sutras, he had to mobilize many people for this effort.Clearly, this was not an easy matter.
So, “He transmitted the Dharma-essence, nourishing their wisdom-life.”This was transmitted with great difficulty.We have been talking about “faith and understanding”.This is the Chapter On Faith and Understanding.As we are receiving the essence of Dharma, do we have deep faith and understanding?
Are we taking this Dharma to heart?
In our lives, we must exercise our true potential to go among the people without being contaminated by them or allowing them to shake our resolve.
Can we do this?If we can, we are using the essence of the Dharma to nourish our wisdom-life.Remaining undefiled, growing in wisdom and cultivating both blessings and wisdom is what we must learn to do.
So, “He transmitted the Dharma-essence, nourishing their wisdom-life and turning the Small to the Great.”We must turn from our Small Vehicle resolve and wholeheartedly move towards the Great, to advance in the Great Vehicle Dharma.
Thus, we need to take care of our wisdom-life.
“The enlightened father,” when referring to us, is our intrinsic enlightenment, but we must also be grateful to Sakyamuni Buddha.For such a long time, since Beginning less Time, He has never abandoned sentient beings.
His every thought is on sentient beings.Even if He already formed affinities with them,.He still hopes that they can form Great Vehicle aspirations. Because of these causes and conditions,He will be with them forever.
This is like our own intrinsic enlightenment.
We obviously know [it exists], and we have begun to form great aspirations; our resolve is so firm and earnest that in that moment, our nature of True Suchness radiates the brilliant light of True Suchness.
But will we allow this dawning light of True Suchness to continuously spread and grow brighter?Will we allow the light to be continuously emitted, or will it be covered by our ignorance?We must “always be with” [our nature]; our intrinsic nature, our nature of True Suchness, is something we must always be aware of.We must resonate with the Buddha-Dharma.We must take in the Dharma that resonates with our minds’ capabilities.We must set and example with our actions, not just look to other people.
The Dharma has always been in our intrinsic nature and in our minds.If we take the teachings closer to heart, our nature of True Suchness will also move closer to these teachings.This is the only way for them to resonate with our minds and capabilities.
Indeed, at all times, the elder’s every thought was on his child. This child had been gone for a long time. The elder had so much wealth, and he was getting old. What worried him most was that his son was not back. This is as if our intrinsic enlightenment has not yet been awakened.
So, [the sutra is referring to] Sakyamuni Buddha, who was like that father waiting for his son, worrying “Once his life finally came to an end, his wealth would be scattered and lost”.
With on heirs to succeed him, once his life finally came to an end, his wealth would be scattered and lost, for the had no one to entrust it to. This is why he so fervently thought of his son.
This is like how the Buddha [worried that] after He entered Parinirvana, no one would make an effort to spread the Dharma. This was what Subhuti had already awakened to, but he was also quite old. He had realized how the Buddha felt, that if there was no one to spread the Dharma, the Path would end and the Dharma would cease, so there was an urgent need to find and bring home this wayward son. The elder needed to entrust his wealth to someone.
What if “He had no one to entrust it to”? So, it was for this reason that “he so fervently thought of his son”. Because of this, he missed his son even more and looked for him even more fervently. This is was the previous sutra passage.
Next, we are going to discuss, “He repeatedly had this thought. If only I could find my son, I could entrust my wealth to him. I would be calm and happy and have no further anxieties”.
This was his hope. He deeply hoped that his son would come home. So it says, “He repeatedly had this thought”. “Repeatedly” means that this continued on; this thought was always on his mind. “If only I could find my son, I could entrust my wealth to him, means his every thought was about finding his son so he could pass on his wealth and property to him. This would make him very happy. He did not ask for anything else, just that his child would come home. This is like just wanting everyone to be able to return to their intrinsic nature. If this happens, he would be very happy and “and have no further anxieties”. He would not have to worry anymore.
He repeatedly had this thought: This thought repeatedly occurred in his mind. It means he hoped to be free from worry.
Next, let us discuss, “If only I could find my son, I could entrust my wealth to him”. Hoping that he could find his son is like having “the opportunity for transformation”.
If only I could find my son: This is the opportunity for transformation. Father and son think of each other, thus it talks about finding his son.
This is saying that even if children leave home, they will come back some day. In the previous sutra passage, we read about how the poor son was drifting about the world. He wandered to other lands and became impoverished. He unceasingly begged for clothing and food. As he begged, he gradually came to the city his father lived in. This is like a person who has gradually accepted the Dharma. This is an analogy for sentient beings who have accepted the Dharma. This Dharma helps us grow in our wisdom-life; it is something we can depend on. Food and clothing are like spiritual nourishment. As we gradually attain more spiritual nourishment, we gradually develop our wisdom-life and slowly draw near [our true nature].
So, “This is the opportunity for transformation”; it is an analogy for an opportunity. The father had begun looking for his son, and the son was looking for something to rely on. In this way, they slowly came closer together. This is called “finding his son”. “If only I could find my son”, signifies that the opportunity is coming. If he finds his son, he will naturally be able to relax.
“I could entrust my wealth to him. Bestowing a prediction of Buddhahood is to entrust the Dharma-wealth”.
Gradually, the time when the Buddha would bestow predictions of Buddhahood on His disciples was getting closer. Once that happened, “[He] would be calm and happy and have no further anxieties”.
I would be calm and happy and have no further anxieties: The son no longer faced myriad sufferings and only experienced all kinds of joy. This addressed the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, the father would be calm and happy and have no further anxieties.
Thus, “The son on longer faced myriad sufferings and only experienced all kinds of joy.” The son had already entered this city. There was great prosperity in this city. At this point in the parable, we can see that the son is setting down. Having a stable source of food and clothing.It was the same for the Buddha’s disciples who accepted the Dharma. He saw Sariputra had developed great aspirations and bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood on him. Subhuti, Mahakatyayana, Kasyapa and Mahamaugalyayana were the [next] four. They stood up from among the group of disciples and came in front of the Buddha. With deep reverence, they repented to Him.
They openly expressed the thoughts in their minds. In the past, they had accepted the Dharma, but then they went astray and stopped, thus wasting their time while they gradually grew older.
But at this time they knew that Sariputra was old just like them, yet he had still formed aspirations, so they too should plant this seed in the ground; it was time for them to take the Great Vehicle Dharma to heart. Once they planted the seed and took the Dharma to heart, naturally the causes and conditions would mature.
“We have all realized that our pure nature of True Suchness, this ray of light, is something we should radiate.”Therefore, the Buddha should find this agreeable. This was in accord with His intent, so “This addressed the Buddha’s original intent. This is because the Buddha wanted to share the Dharma in His heart in hopes that everyone would understand. More than 40 years ago, at the Avatamsaka assembly He was in this awakened state of mind. He sincerely hoped this state would be continuously available for all beings and all His disciples to experience; He hoped they would awaken to that state of mind. if they did not enter the Bodhi-path, if they did not walk this road, they would not reach their goal.
Now that He saw that His disciples were stepping onto the Bodhi-path, this should address His original intent, thus He could freely express it. He could speak of His original intent for everyone to realize.
“This would address the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, the father would be calm and happy.” The Buddha was like the father who saw that his son had come home. “It is good that you have come back. Now I can pass down the family business.” This was the Buddha’s mindset.
Although His disciples were old, and He was advanced in age, it was good enough that they could understand and realize [the Dharma]. They should not focus on their age because they can still lead the assembly. The young people in the assembly all needed to develop their aspirations and manifest their nature of True Suchness. Then there would be more people to spread the Dharma.
So, we must all be mindful. We must awaken ourselves and also transmit the Dharma we have awakened to. This is the only way to preserve the Dharma. It must last for a very long time, until Maitreya attains Buddhahood. The Dharma must remain for a very long time. If the Dharma is not transmitted at this time, it will be a long time before the next Buddha comes. That is still a ling way off.
“The enlightened father” is in our hearts. We must be grateful to those who transmitted the Dharma, those who expounded the Dharma. We must practice according to the teachings to take the essence of Dharma into our hearts and develop our wisdom-life. We need to turn from the Small to the Great. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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