Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Exhorting and Admonishing Us to Enter Bodhi (教化勸誡入菩提)
Date: February.16. 2016
“Instructing and guiding to do good deeds is exhortation. Stopping the practicing of evil is admonishment. The Tathagata’s teaching is none other than this. The sutra treasury is considered exhortation to practice all that is good. The vinaya treasury is considered admonishment to prevent all evil. The abhidharma treasury explains and discusses how to practice and verify the Dharma.”
Do you understand? We read sutras, sutras, rules and treatises. These are three things we must understand in our spiritual practice. When we take all of the Buddha’s teachings, all of the Dharma taught by the Buddha, and compile them, these are known as “sutras”. Sutras are the exhortations that teach and guide us to practice goodness; they tell us why we need to do good deeds. Under the law of karma, as are the causes, so too are the effects and retributions. People who practice good deeds will receive positive retributions. “Refrain from all evil” tells us to stop committing negative deeds. This is called “admonishment.”
“Exhortation” and “admonishment” are the roles of the sutras. In the Buddha’s teachings, the Great and Small Vehicles are both said to “exhort and admonish”; they do not deviate from these two roles. There is a story about this in the sutras. In the past, there was a certain kingdom in which there was a prime minister. The prime minister had been suffering from illness for years so the king then gave him permission to go back to his hometown and recuperate.
However, after he went home, his illness continued to torment him for many more years. The medicine for his treatment was very expensive, so after a few years, he used up all his wealth. Eventually, he died from this illness, and the family’s fortune gradually declined. Then his wife passed away; their child was just a teenager, yet had lost one parent after the other. As a child in his teens, what could he do?
He wandered around, living a life of poverty and hardship. At one time he thought, “To support myself, I might as well steal.” So, he decided to be a thief. But then he thought, “But if I steal. Many people are already quite poor. If I steal from them, won’t they be even poorer?” “That won’t do.”
Then he thought, “Well, the king has so many treasures. If I steal from the palace, the king will not really suffer any loss.” So, he dressed up to look tough and stuck bamboo into a scabbard so it looked as if he was carrying a sword. Dressed in this way, he slipped into the palace. As he entered the palace, the king had not yet fallen asleep, and he sensed that someone had entered the palace. He was afraid to make a noise, so he remained still and observed this intruder. What did this intruder want? It turned out that he was stealing things. He took the king’s necklaces, jewels and clothing and wrapped them all together. After he made this bundle, he saw a bucket of water in the room. He was very thirsty, and as he was about to drink, he thought of the dirt in his scabbard. He had a thought. He mixed the dirt with the water and then drank it.
After drinking it, he felt full and satisfied. In that moment, he had a sudden realization; just drinking dirt and water had made him full, so how much better would wild herbs and fruits be? “As long as I can be full, that is enough.” “Why would I need to resort to thievery?” “If my father were alive, he would never have permitted me to do that”. Standing there, he began to repent and quietly left the palace empty handed.
The king saw everything this young man did, that he was so gentle and just left like that.The king immediately ordered people to follow him.
They followed him to where he lived.It turned out he did not have a house to live in; he was just living in a cave under a tree.They asked, “Why did you do this? Well, I was going to be a thief in order to relieve my hunger. But then I drank some water that had been mixed with dirt, and it was able to fill me up, so I didn’t steal anything. You don’t have to arrest me.”
But the people who came said, “Whether you stole something or not, you must still go before the king to report.”So, the young man went before the king.
When the king questioned him, he told his story from the beginning.“When I was a young child my parents taught me in this way, so though my family situation deteriorated,. I know I should not have behaved like this.”
Hearing this, the king felt that the young man was very open and honest.He seemed decent and showed promise, and from the time he was a child, he had received a wonderful education.Moreover, he had very few desires.
“Just drinking a pot of dirt and water was able to satisfy him. He must be a virtuous person.”This made the king very happy.
“I think you should inherit your father’s post as prime minister.”From this story, we know that when put into certain situations, people may give rise to improper thoughts.But, human nature is inherently kind.
Since he was the son of a prime minister, how could he behave in this way?
Actually, life can be very simple.A cup of water and a handful of dirt mixed together could fill him up.He could survive, so why should he have to steal?
When that thought arose, he quietly left.It deeply touched the king that this young man recognized his faults and changed his ways; he had the thought but he did not follow through.The young man did not actually steal anything; he changed his ways in time, thus showing his potential.
This is the effect of “instruction”.Regularly instruction and guiding people to do good deeds is called “exhortation”.We can see that when this young man was a child, he took his parents’ teachings to heart.
He did not dare to commit acts of evil because their teachings and admonishments were with him.
“The Tathagata’s teaching is none other than this.”
The Tathagata also taught in this way.Everything in the sutra treasury is part of this; it all exhorts us to practice all that is good.
The vinaya treasury is considered admonishment.
Admonishment prevents us from committing evil.
“If it is something I should not do, I must quickly prevent myself from carrying it out. When it comes to evil deeds, I must put an end to them right away.”
This is the role of the vinaya treasury.
It helps us guard against wrongs and stop evil.
The abhidharma treasury explains, discusses how to “practice, achieve realization of the Dharma”.
This Dharma was taught by the Buddha.After everyone took it in, they analyzed it with each other.
With their experiences they engaged in discussions, ect.
Listening to each other increases understanding; this allows us to “verify” [the teachings].“This proves that the Dharma is useful in my life. It gave me these kinds of experiences.”
This is the abhidharma (treatise) .The sutra, vinaya and abhidharma [treasuries] comprise the Tripitaka.
So, returning to the sutra text, thus far in the parable, the poor son had arrived at the gates of the elder’s house.
After seeing how awe-inspiring it was inside, he became scared.He quickly turned to run away.The elder had seen the figure of his son.When the son ran away, the elder quickly sent someone to go after him and bring him back.
“He quickly dispatched attendants to urgently chase and bring him back.”They quickly rushed after him to bring him back.
The previous sutra passage states, “At that time, the messengers swiftly went and captured him. Shocked and bewildered, the poor son cried out in complaint, ‘I have done nothing wrong! Why have you seized me?’ ”
The attendants dispatched did not know who this person was.Upon seeing him, they seized and forced him to go back with them.
The poor son was in great shock.“I tried to leave, but they seized me.”He became very scared.He cried out in complaint very loudly.
“I have done nothing wrong. I was just standing there. I did not do anything wrong. Why have you seized me? He yelled this over and over. This shows that the timing was right. The father had been looking for his son. After many decades, the son had arrived at where his father lived.
At that time, the messengers swiftly went and captured him: The timing was right, just as it was for the Great Vehicle Dharma to be clearly and directly revealed. To seize this opportunity and quickly dispatch the attendants to urgently bring him back is like teaching Bodhi and transforming [people] with exhortation and admonishment, which can also help them swiftly enter Bodhi.
“Opportunity” means that the Buddha taught for decades to help His disciples develop their capabilities in hopes that they could connect with and accept the Great Dharma. It looked as though they were slowly coming to comprehend it.
Sariputra, Subhuti, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa and so on were beginning to realize it. So, it could be “clearly and directly revealed”. Quickly ordering attendants to capture him and bring him back is like teaching the Dharma very directly. So, “seizing this opportunity” is directly seizing and capturing the poor son.
“Dispatching the attendants to urgently chase him back is like teaching Bodhi and transforming with exhortation, admonishment”. Urgently chasing him back was a very direct method. They had been in the state of the Small Vehicle teachings, when suddenly, He wanted them to set aside the Small to follow the Great; this seemed very direct. Thus, “[It] can also help them swiftly enter Bodhi”.
To help them quickly go beyond the Small Vehicle, beyond only benefiting themselves, He exhorted and admonished them. His “exhortations” tell us to devote ourselves to [helping] other people. “You must thoroughly eliminate your afflictions. You must interact with people”. If we can truly go among them without being [negatively] influenced, that is “admonishment”.
“[This] can also help them” quickly. “Them” are those who the attendants were sent to bring back. This is like directly telling people that though they had practiced the Small Vehicle, now they must return to the Great Vehicle Dharma. The Buddha addressed them directly like this, hoping that they could “swiftly enter Bodhi”.
Because He did not have much time left, He hurried to tell them, “You must quickly enter the Bodhi-path”. “Bodhi” is enlightenment. “You need to attain great enlightenment, not limited enlightenment”. In addition to attaining great enlightenment, they must also bring sentient beings to fruition. This is the Bodhisattva-path.
Thus it states, “At that time, the messengers swiftly went and captured him”. The “messengers” are Bodhisattvas. “Swiftly went and captured him” means that the Dharma was [taught] very swiftly and directly. This is the analogy. “Shocked and bewildered, the poor son cried out in complaint”.
He cried, “I don’t want to!” This is an analogy for “teaching with exhortation when there is a lack of conditions and mature capabilities”. To conditions were not right for teaching with exhortations, nor had people’s capabilities matured.
This is an analogy for teaching with exhortation when there is a lack of conditions and mature capabilities. Although they had previously formed great aspirations, they had long cast them aside and forgotten them. Suddenly hearing the great teaching without any intention or desire to do so resulted in their shock and bewilderment, so they cried out in complaint.
Observing their capabilities, the Buddha wondered, “Why haven’t their capabilities matured?” With their capabilities and conditions, why had they remained in the Small Vehicle? So, the Buddha felt a great sense of urgency to quickly help everyone enter the Bodhi-path. He wanted to directly tell them to earnestly practice the Bodhisattva-path, but their capabilities and conditions had not matured, so they were like the poor son. These disciples were still not replete with and abundance of Dharma nor [knowledge of] the matters of samsara.
They only had a limited grasp of samsara. They had not yet realized that they are interconnected with all living beings in the world. They had not yet understood all life is one.
Thus, they “lacked maturity in their conditions and capabilities”. “Previously” means they were undisciplined. In the past, they were ones who had formed great aspirations, each one of them. When we first engaged in spiritual practice, we had magnificent aspirations. We were certainly courageous. But slowly, we became lax. “They had long cast them aside and forgotten them”. They neglected [their aspirations]. Their powerful aspirations for engaging in spiritual practice had slowly slackened. They had already forgotten the aspirations they formed at the start.
“Suddenly hearing the great teaching” means they unexpectedly heard this great teaching. “Without any intention or desire to do so” means when they heard that they should go among people to transform them, [they said], “I do not have the will. I do not have this intention or desire”. This shows their sense of resistance. They were “in such shock and bewilderment and cried out in complaint.”
“Cried out in complaint” refers to Small Vehicle practitioners, or Two Vehicle practitioners, they are the Hearers and Solitary Realizers. People like this “see afflictions as grievances and samsara as suffering.”
Because they had finally been able to put an end to their afflictions, they thought that when they passed away they would enter extinction and no longer return to the human realm. “Why should I have to continue returning to the Saha World to transform sentient beings?” “That brings suffering!” They did not want to contrive affinities with sentient beings, but now they were asked to do so. Is this in fact contriving affinities? No, it is not. The Buddha wanted everyone to create positive affinities with sentient beings. To create good karma, we must cultivate blessings. If we are lacking blessings, how can we transform sentient beings? If we cannot transform sentient beings, how can we unlock our wisdom?
If we cannot unlock our wisdom, we lack both blessings and wisdom. Then how would we attain Buddhahood? The Buddha wanted us to attain great Nirvana and the [ultimate truth of] samara and become one with all living things in the universe.
We must go beyond the Small Vehicle state of only benefiting ourselves. He wanted us to take good care of our minds, to not commit evil and to practice doing good deeds. By practicing doing good deeds we create positive affinities with sentient beings and benefit everyone. Better still, we must put these words into action. This is the Bodhisattva-path.
“If one exhorts them to see afflictions as Bodhi.”
If one exhorts them to see afflictions as Bodhi, they cry out in complaint. Hearing that samsara is Nirvana, they cry out in suffering. Thus it says, cried out in complaint.
“Exhortation and admonishment” are two doors that the Buddha has opened wide for us. Stopping evil and practicing good deeds were His exhortations. “Afflictions are Bodhi.” This is to say, though we are among beings with afflictions, in our minds, we clearly know the Bodhi-path, so we will not be led astray by them we have our path. “They cried out in complaint.” These sentient beings had not clearly understood the door of exhortation. They were still unclear on these teachings, so they “cried out.” Because they were unwilling, they complained “I just don’t want to!” So, “Hearing that samsara is Nirvana, they cry out in suffering.”
[They felt,] “We were finally free from [fragmentary] samsara; that was good enough for us.” “But now we are supposed to go among people and continue transmigrating for countless lifetimes.”“This will be suffering.” Coming to the human realm is suffering, but they did not understand that thoroughly then though there are afflictions among people, they would know that, “Afflictions are Bodhi.” The afflictions of sentient beings help us grow in wisdom. They were unable to understand this point, so they called out in agony.
“I have done nothing wrong!” “Why have you seized me?” Since the poor son did nothing wrong, why was this happening? This is like “one not seeking the Great Vehicle of one’s own accord.”
As Subhuti mentioned previously, “We did not give rise to any thoughts of taking interest or joy in it.” Regarding the Great Vehicle Dharma, they had no interest or joy in it.
“I find no happiness in seeking the Great Vehicle.” “Why am I being forced to do this?” This is like saying, “I have done nothing wrong.” “Why have you seized me?”
They did not want to do this, so why were they being forced to? Before they had awakened, Subhuti and the others only cared about their own samsara, no one else’s.
Everyone, when we form aspirations, we have to form great aspirations we go among people to cultivate both our blessings and wisdom. When we go among people, we can learn so much about how to teach and transform sentient beings. So, instructing and guiding people to practice good deeds is “the door of exhortation”; it is a way of teaching.
The Buddha used many kind of sutras to encourage and guide people to practice good deeds Admonishment is the “door of admonishment.”
The door of admonishment teaches us how to not break the precepts, how to eliminate afflictions and how to go among people without being contaminated, so that our mind is the Bodhi-path. This is what the Buddha taught.
Even the stories He told are filled with an abundance of truths that we can learn. So, we should always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
