Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With Great Effort, Seek True Principles (勤苦奮力進求諦理)
Date: Febuary.02. 2016
“Hiring someone means employing them for their physical labor. To use one’s strength to make a profit is to be a laborer. With hard work and great effort, we move ahead to seek true principles. Gradually, we form habits of wholesome practices, resulting in the development of world-transcending roots of goodness and the cultivation of the Great Vehicle.”
As human beings, we must truly keep our feet firmly planted on the ground; we must make an effort to work hard, serve others. This was true in the past as well. People also had to labor in order to make a living.
There is a story in the sutras about this. There were two brothers in a very impoverished family. The older brother heard people say that by praying, one could become wealthy. So, he thought, “I should pray earnestly to Lord Bhima for blessings so that I can be wealthy and have lots of money.”
At the same time, the younger brother diligently worked in the fields every day. A very long period of time passed. The older brother wondered, “Why haven’t I attained any wealth?” One day, Lord Bhima took the form of his younger brother and came to him. The older brother asked him, “Why are you here instead of cultivating the fields?”
The younger brother replied, “I am out working in the fields every day, which is very tiring; so, I wanted to see if I can also pray to attain wealth without doing any work. That is why I have come to pray.”
The older brother told him, “The fields must be cultivated. If you do not put your heart and your effort into tending the land and sowing seeds, if you only spend your time praying, how can the land produce any grains?” Once he said this, the younger brother disappeared and Load Bhima appeared in his place, saying, “That is right! You are so earnest in constantly praying. But all of your prayers are empty, since you are not creating any blessings. True blessings must be earnestly cultivated. You must diligently give to others.” When the older brother heard this, he [finally] understood.
This story is just like what we see in the world and like [what we learn] from the Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma teaches us that if we only think of spiritual practice as praying to the Buddha, [then we only] pray to Him to develop our wisdom and to grant us blessings and wisdom. What is our purpose in praying for wisdom? If we do not eliminate our afflictions, how can we possibly attain wisdom? If we pray for blessings but do not go among people to do good deeds and give charitably, where will our blessings come from?
So, we must continue to practice diligently. Then, “We move ahead to seek true principles.” “Gradually, we form habits of wholesome practices.”
In the Buddha’s more than 40 years of teaching, everything He taught was virtuous Dharma that can help us eliminate evil and practice goodness. When we open our mouth, when we move our body, when we give rise to a thought, are we always mindfully considering how we can benefit everyone? If we are, we have taken the true principles to heart. Then we are truly “moving ahead to seek true principles” and are genuinely learning the Buddha’s Way.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, the disciples listened to Him teach for more than 40 years. Though they heard many teachings, each of them clung to certain ones. Some clung to “existence”; others clung to “emptiness”. Clinging to either emptiness or existence is an “extreme view”; both are perspectives biased toward one extreme.
The Buddha wanted us to walk the Middle Way.
After slowly moving away from our bias toward existence or emptiness, we must quickly make gradual course corrections and “from habits of wholesome practices”.
Advancing in our practice of True Dharma “results in the development of world-transcending roots of goodness”.With “world-transcending roots of goodness,” we can freely come and go in this world to fulfill one goal, achieve one wish, which is to help Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to save sentient beings.
Advancing in our practice of the Great Vehicle is what we must learn to do.
We must find a way to earnestly and diligently practice the true principles and gradually move toward the Middle Way.We must thoroughly understand true emptiness and wondrous existence.
We must not lost our karmic connection with sentient beings, but we must also avoid being contaminated by sentient beings’ impurities.
If we thus “form habits of wholesome practices,” these are “world-transcending roots of goodness”; we aspire and vow to advance in our practice of the Great Vehicle.This is the Buddha’s objective in coming to the world to teach us.
Next, didn’t we discuss this passage yesterday?
Subhuti and the others said, “World-Honored Once, at that time, the poor son was hires as a laborer from place to place until he arrived at his father’s house and stood beside the gate.”
This is an analogy for our spiritual practice; before we form the great aspirations to walk the Bodhi-pat, we are still outside peeking in, hesitating.
The next passage continues by stating, “From afar he saw his father, occupying the lion’s couch, feet resting on a jeweled stand. There were Brahmins, Ksatrivas and householders, who all respectfully encircled him.”
In this sutra passage, he had gone down the right road and was now already beside the gate.He saw his father from afar, but still did not recognize him.
This is an analogy for how, “The Buddha in His loving-kindness physically manifested in the world with His body of joyful use (reward-body).”
This was for His joyful use.This is like the father.
He was sitting this extremely luxurious house, while the son peeked in from outside.This elder inspired a deep sense of respect in everyone who saw him.
This is an analogy for the Buddha’s loving-kindness.
With His body of joyful use, He physically manifested in this world.The body of joyful use is like our human body.
What is the body of joyful use?It is what the Tathagata had achieved after cultivating infinite blessings and wisdom.
A body of joyful use:
This comes from the boundless true merits that arise when all Buddhas cultivate infinite blessings and wisdom, which allow Them to forever have this joyful use and this great Dharma-joy.
The body is a vessel for spiritual cultivation.
When we dedicate ourselves to [helping] people, we also must use this body.So, it is called the body of joyful use.
For a long time Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, have been transforming people life after life, which is also done with their body of joyful use.They go among the countless sentient beings to bring blessings to them and to cultivate wisdom among people.
Because they have done this, “Boundless true merits arise”.Their body of joyful use is the accumulation of many merits and virtues through their spiritual practice through their spiritual practice.
In spiritual practice, we reap what we sow.The effort we put in determines what we get in return.The longer we engage in spiritual practice, the more merits and virtues we have to say nothing of [those who have] accumulated merits and virtues since Beginningless Time, “which allow them to forever have this joyful use and this great Dharma-joy”.
So, the Buddha repeatedly returns; all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come to the world.Though the world is filled with suffering, they have made great vows.
Each Buddha makes His own great vows about returning to deliver sentient beings.
Furthermore, “The Two Vehicle practitioners, despite having made great [aspirations], were still quite far from the non-retreating state of the Great Vehicle. Thus it says, ‘from afar he saw’.”
When Bodhisattvas form aspirations, they continue to advance.They do not retreat, nor do they get stuck.
However, though Two Vehicle practitioners had formed great aspirations, they were unable to wholeheartedly mover forward without stooping; this was still beyond them.So, they were still far from the Great Vehicle.Thus it says, “from afar he saw”.
Though they had formed aspirations, they were still looking on form far away, [like] the son looking at his father.This is the analogy used. “From afar he saw his father, occupying the lion’s couch”. He looked at him from afar, still unable to approach him.
We have also “deviated from the true wisdom-eye”. Our wisdom is still biased. We are either biased toward “existence”, or clinging to “emptiness”. Regardless, we are biased. So, “Although they have understood the principles, they are still far away”. They know how to walk this path, but they still have a long way to go. This is also why it says, “from afar he saw”.
“Occupying the lion’s couch” means that “The Buddha has great compassion as His room, gentleness and patience as His clothing, the emptiness of all Dharma as His throne and achieves satisfaction through myriad practices”.
The Buddha is already seated on the lion throne, just as the elder is seated on the lion’s couch, very awe-inspiring and magnificent. The owner of this stately room is the Great Enlightened Buddha. This is like how the very large room that the elder was in completely belonged to him. The same thing applies here. However, this “room”, the Buddha’s room, refers to how He has “great compassion as His room” and how He wears upon His body “gentleness and patience as His clothing”.
Next, “The emptiness of all Dharma is His throne. This “throne” means that we do not need to have attachments. We often speak of the Three Spheres of Emptiness, about giving without expectations and moreover having gratitude. When people allow us to give to them, they enable us to engage in spiritual practice. So we should not be attached to how much we have given.
“[He] achieves satisfaction through myriad practices. We feel very satisfied; when we can give to others and have this large group of Bodhisattvas as our companions, we should feel very satisfied.
This is called “occupying the lion’s couch”. It is so open and spacious. This “couch” is a “throne”. In ancient times, people had very large chairs. If they were tired of sitting, they could lie down. So, the “couch” is a chair, a very large chair people sat on. The “lion throne” is an analogy for “the seat where the Buddha first gave the teaching of the Avatamsaka Sutra”.
This refers to the vastness of the Buddha’s mind upon His enlightenment; His mind was in a tranquil and clear state. This was the state in which He taught the Dharma to heavenly beings and Bodhisattvas. This is sitting on “the lion’s throne”.
Actually, the Buddha is always in that [enlightened] state of mind, so He is always sitting on the lion’s throne. As for “feet resting on a jeweled stand, a jeweled stand” indicates a rich household. Rich people have and use an abundance of precious objects. Even the stool they rest their feet on, even a footstool, is a treasure. This is an analogy for the Buddha being surrounded by magnificence and treasures, like His ocean of enlightenment.
His ocean of enlightenment is vast; every word of Dharma is a treasure. So, He received people’s respect.
“A jeweled stand” is an analogy for the one ultimate reality. Whether the chairs, tables, footstools, etc., all show the presence of strong and sturdy true principles. True principles surrounded the Buddha; they were all true and unfailing. This is “Samadhi and wisdom of the Great Vehicle”.
A jeweled stand is an analogy for the one ultimate reality. Resting His feet is an analogy for Samadhi and wisdom, the Samadhi and wisdom of the Great Vehicle. Resting on the true substance of ultimate reality, resting on one’s pure undefiled intrinsic nature, one cultivates the Great Vehicle Dharma.
Great Vehicle Dharma, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, are all true teachings. When we engage in spiritual cultivation, we must practice according to the True Dharma. So, “the true substance of ultimate reality” is like this throne, the chair that he sat upon. The table, the footstool, etc, were all very sturdy and very reliable, so are true principles. This is also how, “Resting on one’s pure undefiled intrinsic nature one cultivates the Great Vehicle Dharma”.
This is how we engage in spiritual practice. We must use the Great Vehicle and form Great Vehicle aspirations; we must look to our [intrinsic] nature and engage in spiritual practice with a pure mind.
Moving on, it mentions, “Feet resting on a jeweled stand”. There were many others surrounding him. He was not alone in that room. There were also “Brahmins Kshatriyas and householders”.
“Kshatriyas” are the [royalty]. Householders are ordinary Buddhist practitioners. “Brahmins”, “Kshatriyas” and householders are analogies for the practitioners of the Three Vehicles.
What does it mean to be a Brahmin? Brahmins engage in purifying practices. This was the most elevated caste. In India, Brahmins were the highest caste, followed by Kshatriyas. Whether they remained lay practitioners or became monastics, the tradition was passed down through successive generations; their family tradition was spiritual practice.
They all studied Brahmin teachings. These were passed down through generations. They believed they had descended from Brahma. They observed the Path through chastity and knew to cherish and respect themselves.
As spiritual practitioners, they engaged in purifying practices and saw themselves as followers of Brahmin teachings and as part of the supreme and unsurpassed caste. They believed they came from Lord Brahma, that they were his descendants. So, they considered themselves “spotless [in their actions].” This means they were very virtuous; this is why their name means purifying practices.
“Kahatriyas” were royalty; they led the kingdom. They were the royals and the nobles, so they were royalty. [Kastriyas] also means “landlords, which meant that they possessed a lot of land.” And, they were the lords of the lands of the world.
In this world, as people gradually acquired more land, desirous thoughts slowly arose in them. Gradually, people’s orderly lives were disrupted.
Later generations’ feelings gradually turned false with each wanting to cultivate fields of their own. Thus, those with virtue were elected to fairly divide the fields. This is how royalty began People had slowly strayed from their true and pure intrinsic nature.
“Gradually turned false” means they had gone off track, “each wanting to cultivate fields of their own” So, they had to divide up the land.“This is yours, and this is his.” Thus, they needed a virtuous person, a person who could lead others, a person who could settle all disputes fairly a person who could settle all disputes fairly. A person like this was called the “king.”
“Householders” are “those who resolutely practice the Buddhist path at home.” These are “householders” A lay practitioner is anyone who is willing to take refuge in the Three Treasures. All disciples of the Three Treasures and are called “householders.” They “adhere to the Path, practicing self-restraint.” They earnestly uphold the Path and fulfill their fundamental responsibilities. “Having fewer desires, they accumulate virtue.” “Accumulate” means to bring together. “Having fewer desires, being content and free of desires, we can nurture our virtues.”
This is something lay practitioners can do lay practitioners must uphold the Five Precepts; this is how they fulfill their fundamental duties. Upholding the precepts makes them householders.
These three kinds of people, the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and householders, are all analogies for those people who are already at the states of the Ten Faiths. These are virtuous stages, and those in them are virtuous people, but they have not yet entered the noble stages. They only focus on eliminating the delusions of views and thinking but they still have the delusions of ignorance. Ignorance comes from not understanding the true principles. There is still much they do not understand, so they have not entered the noble stages. They have only reached the virtuous stages; they have not yet entered the noble stages. So, they are the virtuous ones,
the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and householders, are spiritual practitioners on the edges of the Buddha’s monastic community. They often come to draw near, draw near the Buddha-Dharma and listen to the Buddha teach.
So, “They all respectfully encircled Him.Those of every rank and standing all respectfully serve the Tathagata and cultivate the Great Vehicle teachings, so they are able to attain Buddhahood.”
It is not only the innermost disciples. The Dharma is equally available to those outside. As long as they are mindful, they can also attain Buddha-wisdom, As long as they give rise to Bodhicitta, they can practice the Great Vehicle Dharma; everyone is equal. So, as Buddhist practitioners, when we learn the Dharma we must be mindful and gradually learn to approach it more quickly; we must increase our efforts to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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