Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Wisdom-life Weakens Without Spiritual Provisions (道糧不足慧命羸瘦)
Date:March.02. 2016
“With insufficient Dharma and spiritual provisions, our wisdom-life will be scrawny. With incomplete blessings and wisdom, lacking conditions, our appearance will be haggard and downcast. Muck is a metaphor for delusions of views and thinking and the dust and dirt ignorance. Seeing the obvious, we must carefully consider the subtlety of the concealed truth and how [the Buddha’s] teaching gradually turns towards the Great.”
Always be mindful! Life is short. How much time do we have to adequately stock up on spiritual provisions for our wisdom-life? How much can we absorb in order to nourish our wisdom-life?
For most of us, our spiritual provisions and Dharma are insufficient. After absorbing the Buddha-Dharma and principles, how much do we really understand? After understanding, how much do we actually take to heart and apply in our actions? How much are we really growing?
We must always be mindful and assess our wisdom-life to find out. So, if our spiritual provisions are insufficient, our wisdom-life will be scrawny and very lean. Our wisdom-life will not be able to grow. It will be as if it is malnourished.
What is the reason for this? “Incomplete blessings and wisdom, lacking conditions.” It is because we have not created enough blessings. It may be that in our past lives not only did we not create blessings, we may have also been miserly and greedy. If in this life we have neither blessings nor virtues, if both are insufficient, we will be lacking conditions. Thus we will be very lonely, and our lives will be difficult. Our appearance will also be haggard and downcast. When we look at people living in the world, we see many whose appearances are like this. Sometimes we wonder, “Why are their lives so full of suffering? Why do they have so few good conditions?” This is due to every individual’s thoughts and behaviors. Each person creates different karma. The things we did in the past come to fruition, and our conditions in this life are created by the causes we carry from past lives. In this life we create more causes and conditions that then come to fruition. We bring these causes with us into our next life. No matter what, we cannot escape the law of karma.
So, we must regularly create blessings and become replete with blessing and virtues. We must not fail to create blessings or create good affinities with others. If that is the case, if we lack positive causes and conditions, we will fall into a life of suffering and poverty. People like this appear haggard and downcast.
There are many of them in the world. If we see people in such a state, we must make an effort to be mindful. We must know, “Seeing the obvious, we must carefully consider the subtle.” When we earnestly observe external states, everything we can see is “coarse” appearances. Seeing these coarse appearances around us, we must consider them in great detail.
Think about it; how did this kind of life come about? How did they come to live this life of suffering? The Buddha-Dharma explains this very clearly. If we are mindful, we will think very carefully. Alas, it seems we have not been mindful of the True Dharma.
From now on, we must try to better understand the great care the Buddha took at the beginning. After His enlightenment, He was in a state of where His mind was one with the universe; this spiritual state is intrinsic to everyone, and He hoped that we could all discover the Buddha-nature we all intrinsically possess.Unfortunately, we were unable to do that.
No matter how He said it, we could not understand.
No matter how we tried to learn it, we were unable.
So, the Buddha had to use gradual teachings, instructing us step by step to inspire our aspirations.
When we have given rise to this aspiration, we have the faith to believe that we intrinsically also have Buddha-nature and that the day will come when our minds will also be one with the universe and in resonance with the principles; we will likewise be able to awaken.
If we have faith in ourselves, naturally we will open up our minds and practice according to the teachings.
Therefore, we say that we should make an effort to be mindful.We must be aware of the people around us and pay thorough attention to [staying in harmony].If we can do this, then when we are all together, our appearance, this outer coarse appearance, will show how meticulous we are.
When we are meticulous and mindful of our every action, etc., then naturally we [manifest] the Dharma.
This True Dharma is concealed in our minds, just like our nature of True Suchness.
Our pure nature of True Suchness is hidden in our minds.This is the “true”.Living in this world, our appearance will change but our nature of True Suchness will not.
The nature of True Suchness in young children is the same as it is in you, me and the Buddha; we all have the same nature of True Suchness.The same applies to wisdom. As we gradually make use of our clear and bright minds, our nature of True Suchness, to connect with our external conditions, those with few afflictions will have minds like mirrors, which can immediately produce clear and bright reflections.
The mirror of our mind will be clear and bright.
But the surroundings and the society we live in constantly contaminate this mirror.
Although our surroundings are full of coarse appearances our minds can still be meticulous.
This mirror will always be clear and bright.It is just that afflictions have contaminated us.As soon as we clear away these afflictions, the mirror’s bright surface will reappear.
By the same Principe, we must be mindful and gradually accept teachings to turn toward the Great.
We must have sufficient spiritual provisions and Dharma so that we can develop our wisdom-life.
We must accumulate blessings and virtues so that we will not appear haggard and downcast.We should sweep away our ignorance; only then can our nature of True Suchness manifest.
The previous passage states, “At that time the poor son first asked for the value of his wages. Then he followed them to clear excrement. When the father saw his son, he pitied him and saw fault.”
The elder’s son had already arrived, and when he arrived, he asked, “What do I do? How much is one day’s wages?”He wanted to understand how much effort he had to expend, the type of work he was to do and how much his wages would be.
Actually, the entirety of this family’s estate was all his.
Why should he haggle over his wages?It is because he did not know; he was covered by ignorance.So, “When the father saw his son, he pitied him and saw fault.”
From the Buddha’s perspective, there was not much He could do.This is like the father looking at his son.
The next passage states, “Later, on another day, looking through the window, he saw the figure of his son in the distance, scrawny, haggard and downcast, filthy with the impurities of much, dust and dirt.”
He saw that, as his son was clearing excrement, his entire body was now covered in muck.This was the work his son came to do.
“Later, on another day” means a period of time passed.We must listen mindfully to these principles.
“Later, on another day” indicates that “They accepted and understood the teachings given by the Buddha according to their capabilities and that He concealed the true and gave the provisional.”
We must now understand that Subhuti described it this way because in his heart he understood that these were the teachings given by the Buddha.
For the Buddha to teach according to capabilities, He had to apply His wisdom in order to instruct sentient beings. Sentient beings’ capabilities were very limited so He concealed the true and gave the provisional. This is what Subhuti expressed to the Buddha.
Right after the Buddha’s awakening, He directly taught this Dharma to sentient beings, but they were unable to understand. That was why He had to teach using other means; He concealed the true and gave the provisional, teaching according to capabilities. Thus, the Buddha’s wisdom was exercised to accord with capabilities.
“[Subhuti] reiterated the previous situation”. This is Subhuti speaking of the past, how the Buddha had in this way taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities.
[Subhuti] reiterated the previous situation, that the Buddha skillfully transformed others by knowing their capabilities. It is a reiteration of the Buddha’s intent. Thus it says, “Later, on another day. ”
“The Buddha skillfully transformed others by knowing their capabilities”. Subhuti felt that the Buddha, in His wisdom, understood that their capabilities had not matured so He could not pass on the great teachings. Thus, He used all kinds of teachings, the karmic law of cause and effect, the Vaipulya, the Prajna, discussions of emptiness and existence, etc., to teach according to their capabilities. This was a description of the methods He used.
Thus, he was reiterating the Buddha’s intent. This is “Later, on another day”. This refers to what the Buddha taught to sentient beings at that time.
What time was that? Subhuti was talking about the time when the Buddha attained enlightenment. More than 40 years had passed since then, and the Buddha had taught with all kinds of methods. These were not he teachings of the Buddha’s original intent; these were given according to their capacities. So, it says “another day”.
Another day: This is a metaphor for how the self-proclaimed provisional truths of Two Vehicle practitioners are biased towards one extreme. The provisional truths of illusoriness are taken as the true principles in hopes of achieving cessation.
“Another day” also refers to what was taught to the Two Vehicle practitioners, Hearers and Solitary Realizers. “This is a metaphor for how the self-proclaimed provisional truths of Two Vehicle practitioners are biased towards one extreme, the provisional truths of illusoriness”.
The Two Vehicle were the Buddha’s teachings on suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, etc. For more than 40 years, He had discussed emptiness and existence, but they were always biased in their acceptance, biased toward one extreme. They clung to one side, to the provisional, to skillful means. These are the principles of emptiness and illusoriness.
Illusoriness is the law of karma. We must make an effort to understand the law of karma. Life is like a play. It is as if we are on a stage. In this play, the roles we play are determined by the script we already wrote. We go from birth, to old age, to death; then the play ends. This is “illusoriness”. In fact, our nature of True Suchness still exists; it is just that we have not discovered it. We continue to follow the script we have written without any control. However, we wrote the script is how we must act it out on stage. This is “illusoriness”.
“The provisional truths of illusoriness” were all understood; the Two Vehicle practitioners understood all this so they clung to these principles of the provisional truths of illusoriness. They think, “It’s like this; I understand. I only need to eliminate my afflictions and guard my nature of True Suchness; that is good enough”. This is a bias. They think that by “achieving cessation”, that is all they need to do. Actually, after eliminating afflictions, we must still go among people. We need blessings and virtues, the virtuous practices of blessings and wisdom in order to attain Buddhahood.
Without blessings, wisdom and virtue, how will we transform sentient beings? Without transforming sentient beings, we will not have a chance of attaining Buddhahood. This is “another day”. This is the mentality of Two Vehicle practitioners. They believe in maintaining their own purity, so they hope to avoid contriving affinities.
The Buddha wanted us to create blessed affinities, but practitioners of the Two Vehicles see that as contriving affinities. When we speak of “contriving affinities”, we mean doing frivolous things, gossiping to different people; that is considered “contriving affinities”.
Actually, when we practice giving to meet the needs of sentient beings, when we give for the sake of all sentient beings, that makes us Bodhisattvas. Then we are truly Great Vehicle practitioners.
“Furthermore, ‘another’ means that the Buddha taught with provisional wisdom to shine upon them with skillful means.
Furthermore, “another’’ means that the Buddha taught with provisional wisdom to shine upon them with skillful means.“Another day” also refers to how, after the Buddha first awakened at the place of enlightenment, during the Avatamsaka period, He headed toward Deer Park.
Regarding the Buddha, “another” in “another day” refers to teaching provisional wisdom to shine upon them with skillful means. This refers to the Buddha’s wisdom. The Buddha is different from the Two Vehicles; He has transcended them. The Two Vehicle practitioners still need to put in more effort, just like the poor son who, to clear excrement, had to put forth effort. However, the Buddha had already become one with the universe. With His wisdom, He illuminates all ignorant sentient beings.
“This refers to [how] the Buddha first awakened at the place of enlightenment,” which was “the Avatamsaka period” it was at that time that the Buddha attained enlightenment. With His awakening, His mind became one with the universe He manifested the Avatamsaka state, which is tranquil and clear, with vows as vast as the universe. He hoped everyone would understand this state, understand that everyone has a pure Buddha-nature. So He said, “Amazing! Amazing!All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.”
You all often hear me say this, because the Buddha said this, and I have faith in it. Because I believe what the Buddha said, that all beings have the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom, I believe both that. I myself inherently have the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom and that everyone has the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom. At the Avatamsaka Dharma-assembly, this was the enlightened state that He wished to share with everyone; but that was not possible.
So, “He headed toward Deer Park.” This is considered “another day.” His original mindset, His enlightened state of mind, could not be imparted to sentient beings, so He had to withdraw it and conceal it within His mind He walked toward Deer Park to help the five practitioners who were with Him when He began His spiritual cultivation, to teach them about suffering, causation, cessation and the Path The Four Noble Truths, had to be taught three times, explained three times. This speaks to the state of mind of the Buddha, of ordinary people and of the Two Vehicle practitioners Two Vehicle practitioners still have afflictions. Their afflictions come from focusing only on benefiting themselves and distancing themselves from people.
Thus, they are unable to truly see the Buddha and become one with their Buddha-nature. This is the mindset of Two Vehicles practitioners. The Buddha’s mind is very clear and bright, He can understand that state of being one with the universe, where the light of His wisdom can illuminate all places. This is what “another day” means to the Buddha It is different from what “another day” means to Two Vehicle practitioners and ordinary people.
In summary, the Buddha-Dharma is wondrously profound; a few words can contain great principles. So, I hope everyone can apply these principles and take them to heart to better comprehend the Buddha’s intent.
As I said, everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. We must safeguard our minds, be aware of everyone and everything around us. This is how we guard our hearts well. We must not forget the people in front and behind. We must not forget the people to the left and right. This brings truth, goodness, and beauty to our spiritual practice center. The quality that is most “true” is our reverence.
Reverence comes from within, from our pure nature within. Utmost goodness arises when people in the front, back, left and right are in harmony. When we are in harmony with all those around us that kind of reverence is most beautiful. The most beautiful state is our nature of True Suchness.
So, everyone, being mindful is to always be in a state of True Suchness so that our wisdom-life can grow. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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