Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Doors of Exhortation and Admonishment (勸誡二門 悲智雙施)
Date: February.19. 2016
“The two doors, exhortation and admonishment, practiced together transmit blessings and wisdom. With wisdom and compassion, the Buddha used both doors, exhortation and admonishment. With their capacities, it is difficult to resonate with the Great Dharma, so He had to adhere to capabilities. Waiting for capabilities to ripen, He opened both doors, of exhortation and of admonishment.”
“Exhortation” is counseling everyone to practice all kinds of good deeds. “Admonishment” is cautioning everyone not to create a lot of negative karma out of afflictions and ignorance. So, “exhortation” and “admonishment” are two kinds of methods, two kinds of doors, that must be practiced in parallel.
The Buddha has taught us this way for a long time. He did this for the sole purpose of teaching us to cultivate blessings and wisdom in parallel. But in order to cultivate blessings and wisdom, we must put efforts into the “door of exhortation”. We must practice kindness for the greater good. We should not just benefit ourselves, but simultaneously benefit others as well. This is kindness for the greater good. We must not just focus on our own benefit.
The Buddha asked that we look beyond ourselves to also care for all sentient beings of the world and go among the people. He explained this clearly to us to help us to know how to eliminate afflictions and to help us eliminate our past habitual tendency of contriving affinities. We must all be clear on what it is to “contrive affinities”.
Contriving affinities is saying different things to different people and spreading rumors about things to affect people’s relationships, or forcibly creating connections with people to gain some advantage for ourselves. This is definitely not the proper mindset. The Buddha taught us to be sincere. Awakened beings care for everyone in the world and for all worldly matters; this is to be selfless and assume responsibility for the world. This is how we benefit everyone and create good affinities with sentient beings. Thus we are replete with blessings and wisdom.
Some people cultivate empty wisdom. All they have done is understand many principles; they have not applied them among people. They think others have nothing to do with them; this kind of wisdom is biased and empty.
What the Buddha needed was to teach us to keep our feet on the ground, to create blessings among people and to cultivate wisdom among people. To cultivate blessings and wisdom among people while not being contaminated by them is true spiritual practice.
So, “The two doors, exhortation and admonishment, practiced together transmit blessings and wisdom.” This is very important for all of us. “With wisdom and compassion, the Buddha used both [doors].” The Buddha’s original intent was freely expressed in the Lotus Sutra. At the Lotus Dharma-assembly, He shared everything that was in His mind.
So, He still placed great important on how compassion and wisdom must be used simultaneously. Therefore, “the doors of exhortation and of admonishment” must be used in parallel like this. That is what the Buddha emphasized for us in the Lotus Sutra.
“With their capacities, it is difficult to resonate with the Great Dharma.” With their capacities, resonating with the Great Dharma is very difficult. Even if they are engaged in spiritual practice, they are practitioners with limited capabilities who only focus on self-awakening. They do not want to form great aspirations and benefit everyone. Many people are like this. Thus, even if we hear many teachings, though we listen, we still continue to say different things to different people and draw distinctions between ourselves and others; “What you like, I do not like.” We extol the virtues of people we like, but speak of others’ shortcomings, explaining them clearly and exhaustively, until everyone knows that they have more than just this one shortcoming; they are also flawed in many other ways.
It is as if we are afraid that this person’s flaws are not clear to everyone.That is not right either.In the past people said, “Praise people’s virtues and conceal their faults.”We know everyone innately has Buddha-nature, but habitual tendencies are hard to change.If someone has the will to change, we must put our hearts into helping them.
Regarding their small habitual tendencies, we must find a way to help them eliminate these [bad habits], so they are able to develop their kindness and their pure potential.We must find a way to accompany them.
Everyone had innate enlightenment, a pure Tathagata-nature.So, when among fellow spiritual practitioners, we must be each other’s virtuous friends.How do we organize a place of spiritual practice?How orderly a place of spiritual practice is depends on each person’s mannerisms and actions.
Are we all behaving in an orderly manner?
Take morning recitations for example.As we are chanting, to express our reverence, we must let our voices ring out from our hearts.The more reverent we are, the louder our voices will be.Yet as we sing loudly, we must be in concert with other people’s singing.We listen to their voices and sing out with our own voices.When our voices and their voices join together in harmony, that demonstrate reverence of speech, reverence of the mind and reverence of the body.
When our Threefold Karma of body, speech, mind are united in reverence, we can resonate with the Great Dharma with our capacities.Even just practicing in this way, achieving unity and harmony, is Dharma.Being orderly is also Dharma.When voices are in unison, that is also Dharma.All of this begins without hearts.
To be so orderly in a place of spiritual practice, our hearts must be united with those of others.Everyone is orderly when prostrating to the Buddha because they are paying close attention and are united in their hearts.When we chant, the melody is harmonious when our hearts express reverence through our mouths.Praising the Buddha and chanting both come from the mouth.
Every day, without Threefold Karma, we enter the Great Hall in an orderly manner.With this first action we can already “resonate with the Great Dharma”.
“With our capacities, it is difficult to resonate with the Great Dharma.”If we are unable to unify our minds, then we know that we have not yet taken the Dharma to heart, that we are not being mindful of the Great Dharma.Thus, the Buddha “had to adhere to capabilities”.
We must really make an effort to be mindful.
“waiting for capabilities to ripen, He opened both doors, of exhortation and of admonishment”.He waited for our capabilities to ripen so we could realize His “exhortation” and “admonishment”.He exhorted us to practice good deeds.He exhorted us to be united in our intent to create blessings and cultivate wisdom for the sake of all sentient beings.He waited for the opportunity to do this in the hope that all of us spiritual practitioners could open both doors.
We spiritual practitioners must not miss this opportunity.Otherwise, we will be like the poor son in the story Subhuti told.The poor son poked his head in, then quickly ran off.
The previous sutra passage states, “The fatter saw this from afar and said to the messengers, I do not need this man. Do not force him to come here. Sprinkle cold water upon his face to wake him up, then say nothing more to him.”
The father saw his son from afar strugging against the men he had dispatched.He urgently told them, “Stop, I do not need this man. Do not forcibly drag him back; let him go. He has fainted; quick, sprinkle water on him. Splash it on his face so he will quickly wake up.”This is like the Dharma; the Buddha knew that the Great Dharma was still unsuitable for sentient beings’ capacities.
In an act similar to the father’s, He temporarily let go of teaching the Great Dharma.He still continued to teach the Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links and allowed them to remain in the Small Vehicle, peaceful and at ease.The father did not yet say who the son was, nor did he reversal his own identity, so as not to give his son pressure.
In fact, the poor son was the son of this wealthy man, but he had wandered away from home.“Why did he do so?”
The following sutra passage continues, “The father knew his son to be of limited resolve. He knew that his grandeur and nobility would be difficult for his son to accept. Knowing full well that this was his son, he employed skillful means. He never told anyone else, This is my son.”
His father took great pains to help him.For now, he would wake him up and then let him go.In this way, he would know where he was He just wanted to know where his son was, but he did not yet reveal the son’s identity. How would the father interact with his son? He had to devise certain methods.
This explains, “All Buddhas who come to the world share the same path; they conceal the true and give the provisional, first teaching the Three and then the One”. Every single Buddha in the world use the same methods, “first teaching the Three and then the One”.
The state He achieved upon enlightenment is definitely not something that ordinary people would be able to realize. So, He has to first use Small [Vehicle] teachings “to teach about existence and emptiness”. Only later does He bring “existence” and “emptiness” together. By talking about wondrous existence in emptiness, He brings them together to teach the Great Dharma of the One Vehicle.
At this time, Sakyamuni Buddha did as all past Buddhas had done He began to “bring the Three into the One”. He wanted to give great teachings, but since their capabilities had not yet matured, He “temporarily ceased the great transformation. Because their capabilities were not mature, He had to spend a long time patiently guiding them. Think about this; Sakyamuni Buddha spent seven years expounding just the Lotus Sutra. Isn’t that a long time? He still had to spend seven years teaching it.
So, He still had to slow down and “temporarily cease the great transformation”. He was about to enter Parinirvana so He had to earnestly teach the Dharma to help them understand it very clearly. Thus, “A father knows his son best”.
People say that no one knows a son better than his own father. Now he had to teach according to capabilities. Knowing that his son’s resolve was not strong, he had to go slowly. This was the father’s mindfulness toward his son. His son had limited resolve, but the elder had “grandeur and nobility”. This means that one who had “limited resolve” will “detest suffering and enjoy emptiness”.
As Two Vehicle practitioners, they already recognized suffering. Ah, suffering! As the Buddha said, [life is] filled with suffering. They understood birth, aging, illness, death and the raging Five Aggregates. In particular, in the human realm we suffer from not getting what we want, parting with those we love and meeting those we hate.
In addition, there are the Five Aggregates Time keeps moving through infinitesimal changes, and with these aggregates, we endlessly accumulate negative karma over time. As time endlessly passes, we keep collecting negative karma and afflictions. How frightening! Every day we experience happiness, anger, sorrow and joy, love, hate, passion and animosity. These feelings are also suffering.
So, these practitioners “detest suffering and enjoy emptiness. I want to cut off all karmic connections. I have no need to contrive affinities. Living a life of only awakening myself brings me such joy and such freedom. Isn’t that a good thing?”.
[The father knew his son] to be of limited resolve. He knew that his grandeur and nobility would be difficult for his son to accept: We detest suffering and enjoy emptiness. Thus, later in the sutra it says, “We are subject to the Three Sufferings”.
The sutra text says there are the Three Sufferings. What did the Chapter on Parables say that the Three Sufferings are? First is “the suffering of suffering. This is suffering that we give rise to because of the conditions of suffering such as being cold, hot, hungry and thirsty and so on”. This is suffering that happens in life.
Many people experience poverty and hardship. They do not have roofs or have broken roofs. And their walls? Their walls are not solid; they all have cracks in them. The freezing wind blows right in. The snow falls on top of them. The rain completely drenches them. When the cold wind blows, they shiver. In this way they experience extreme heat and cold. Whether it is hot or cold, they suffer immensely.
Sometimes impoverished people are also hungry and thirsty. This is truly unbearable suffering. They face these painful conditions, on top of which comes birth, aging, illness, death. If they are old and sick, or disables, aren’t they suffering? This is tremendous suffering! This is “the suffering of suffering”. There is not just one [layer] of suffering. Facing suffering on top of suffering is “the suffering of suffer”
The second is “the suffering of decay”. We possess many things, but we hope to have even more. We worry us most is losing things. This is decay, deterioration. This gaining only to lose is “the suffering of decay”.
When a state of happiness decays, that suffering is even worse. Some may have lived in comfort and wielded great power; they could even “command water to freeze.” But once they fail, they end up on the streets and no one knows them. Once they fail, everyone else will distance themselves. This is the “suffering of decay.”
The Third is “the suffering of action.” “This is suffering due to the impermanence of and constant changes in all conditioned phenomena.”
Living in a world of conditioned phenomena, we create karma. Then impermanence strikes in the blink of an eye, bringing suffering; this happens often. This is suffering caused by constant change; everything is truly impermanent. We often hear how the four elements are imbalanced. We often hear that the world is impermanent, etc. When people’s minds are in discord, manmade calamities will endlessly arise. This truly brings great suffering.
Therefore, we all have these Three Sufferings. “Thus, in samsara we face all kinds of fiery afflictions. This is why practitioners of the Two Vehicles renounced coming back to the human realm and going among people. With “confusion, delusion and ignorance, [they] “joyfully clung to the Small Vehicle Dharma.”
They did not know that, by trying to end suffering in this way, they are in fact adding to confusion and delusion. They only eliminated their afflictions, and had not yet eliminated their ignorance; they still had dust-like afflictions.
In the past, we have constantly said that, regarding the afflictions of the Three Realms, even if we [transcend] the desire and form realms, we may not be able to transcend the formless realm.
With dust-like afflictions, inevitably more afflictions will arise. With this “confusion, delusions and ignorance, we “joyfully cling to the Small Vehicle Dharma.” Why do we not train ourselves to cultivate blessings among people, to cultivate wisdom among people?
Only by going among people do we know what kind of Dharma they need. Only if we can train ourselves to go among people without becoming contaminated by them can we truly eliminate our dust-like afflictions.
So, the Buddha already understood these practitioners of the Small Vehicle. He knew [they fears His] “grandeur and nobility.” “He knew” means that He understood. This Great Dharma, the Great Vehicle Dharma, begins with one mind. One mind giving rise to myriad practices to cultivate virtues is grandeur. We cultivate myriad virtues with one mind. Where do we go to cultivate myriad virtues? The only thing to do is to go among sentient beings that need our help; only by giving to them can we cultivate myriad blessings and virtues. This is called “grandeur.”“The innate enlightenment of one mind encompassing myriad practice, this enlightened and virtuous nature, is called “nobility.”
Everyone intrinsically had a virtuous nature of innate enlightenment. We all inherently have it. We all have a virtuous and enlightened nature, which we can exercise by going among people to cultivate myriad virtues and myriad practices.We can cultivate these by going among the people.
So, we all inherently have “grandeur and nobility.” With our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, we are replete with many teachings and can exercise both compassion and wisdom.
However, for Small Vehicle practitioners, “Their compassion and wisdom had yet to develop.” They were still lacking in compassion. They were unwilling to exercise wisdom. “Their compassion and wisdom had yet to develop, so they feared the Great Vehicle Dharma and had no wish to seek grandeur and nobility.” They thought it would be “difficult.”
Actually, if we are willing to form aspirations, nothing is difficult; it is just that we refuse to form aspirations. If we fear the Great Vehicle Dharma, this will be difficult; if we want to walk the Bodhisattva-path, we will find that step is difficult.
Thus we have “no wish to seek grandeur and nobility.” We are unwilling to seek wealth, unwilling to seek the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, we must form great aspirations and make great vows. We were all originally children of a wealthy family. We must hurry back to our original home. We have a grand home and abundant treasures, so we should make an effort to go back, to find the road back.
In our intrinsic nature, our myriad virtues gives us grandeur, and our intrinsic awakened nature gives us nobility.We all have this wealth within us, so we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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