Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Father and Son Do Not Different in Intrinsic Nature (父子天性不異)
Date:March.25. 2016
“The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature]. We must take care not to be reckless or unrestrained and warn ourselves not to lose our spiritual aspirations. First, we must not allow the Prajna teachings, the teachings for Bodhisattvas, to leak away. Second, we must practice in accord with the principles and the Dharma.”
The mind of sentient beings in the Buddha-mind; it is we sentient beings who have allowed this awakened nature to be covered over by ignorance and afflictions. If we can eliminate our ignorance and afflictions, our clear and bright nature will manifest. In this way, we are equal to the Buddha, with a mind as clear as a mirror.
So, now that we have this opportunity to listen to the Dharma and learn the Buddha’s Way, every day we must remind ourselves to be vigilant. We must not longer give rise to afflictions. As we interact with people, matters and things, we must always be aware and vigilant of ourselves. We must be vigilant; “We must take care not to be reckless or unrestrained.”
We must constantly work to polish our minds and wipe them clean. We must not let any dust, any affliction, ignorant thought or dust-like delusion build up on the mirror of our mind. As we take the Dharma to heart, it is ourselves whom we must be vigilant of. We must be very careful not to lose our will to practice. What is most important is the teachings for Bodhisattvas.
The Buddha came to the world for one great cause. He manifested an appearance in this world to teach us how to engage in spiritual practice. He had to have so much patience and undertake such taxing work. He had to be willing to live in this way to spend such a long time of traveling to learn and engage in ascetic practice, etc.
Finally, in that instant, His mind became one with the universe. He attained enlightenment. In His mind, the Avatamsaka state manifested, and for 21 days He gave the Avatamsaka teachings, freely sharing His original intent and explaining His inner state. This was a teaching for Bodhisattvas.
But would it be easy for sentient beings to accept these teachings? It would be difficult! In the latter parts of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha began to express over and over that He was old and about to enter Parinirvana, but His mind was still filled with concerns for sentient beings of the Saha World.
In the future, how would the Dharma be passed down? How would the Bodhisattva-path of transforming sentient beings be transmitted? He was concerned. Not everyone can immediately awaken once they come in contact with the Dharma and right away be able to walk the great Bodhi-path to care for all sentient beings. That was why He devised all kinds of methods.
So, after going through the Agama Period and the Vaipulya period, He came to the Prajna period. During the Vaipulya period, He taught both the Great and Small Vehicles. When He came to the Prajna period, He wanted to help us to eliminate afflictions from our minds, to clear away all of our afflictions.
So, with the Prajna teachings, we must be very mindful. We must give rise to an aspiration to walk the Bodhisattva-path. But when we go among people, we must not allow their habitual tendencies to contaminate our minds.
Therefore, we must be vigilant.We must not allow the Prajna teachings to leak away.
The Prajna teachings are about “emptiness”.
So, Subhuti told the Buddha the parable of the poor son.This came from four people, Subhuti, Kasyapa, Maudgalyayana [and Katyayana], who shared their realizations with the Buddha.
In fact, Subhti already realized the principles of the Prajna teachings.
“Prajna” is wisdom.With wisdom we can analyze right and wrong.There is “discerning wisdom,” and there is “impartial wisdom”.With discerning wisdom, we discern right from wrong.With impartial wisdom, we view all sentient beings equally.
In this way, we have both compassion and wisdom.This is what we must learn as we learn the Buddha’s Way; we must not let this leak away and be lost.
“Second, we must practice in accord with the principles and the Dharma.”Every day, as we listen, we must learn to take the Dharma to heart, manifest it in our actions and live according to it.
That is why we often say, “We must live out the Buddha-Dharma and be Bodhisattvas in this world.”We need to apply the Buddha-Dharma to our living.
Our life in this world is not separate from the Buddha-Dharma ; in this world, we must constantly from Bodhisattva-aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path.We must be awakened beings on the Bodhi-path.Therefore, we must always be mindful.
We have been discussing the parable of the poor son.[The way the elder had to approach] the poor son show what a difficult process this was!The son had been wandering about and had finally returned to the gates of his house, but then he wanted to run away again.
The elder quickly devised methods, gradually approaching him and calling him to come back.
Engaging in amiable conversation, he was able to bring him in.How much effort did he have to expend to keep him company and teach him?
By now, they could speak openly to each other.
So, “He said [this] to the poor son.”
This is what He told the poor son, “I now have gold, silver and treasures filling my storehouses to overflowing. You already know precisely how much or how little of this is to be taken in or given out. ”
“There is an abundance of things here. You can freely use whatever you want. After all, you are my child. How you use it is up to you. You already understand everything.”
This is what we explained before; all of this is talking about the Dharma.The Buddha did all He could to help us understand.His mindfulness [in teaching us].He was like the elder, the father who had been looking for his son.He had gradually called his son to come back to him.
Next he said, “This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent. Why is this so? Now you and I are no different, so be even more mindful to let nothing be lost. ”
This is what is in my heart, and you must understand my intent.The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to teach us that we all have this kind of mind.
So, He was like that elder and “regarded sentient beings as [His] son”.The father did everything he could to keep his son from going hungry and give him a stable life; this was from the parable of the poor son.
Those passages were Subhuti using the elder’s mindset as analogy.Now, this is still part of the analogy; Subhuti is again using the analogy of the elder having this kind of mindset.He wanted to see that his son settled, to see to his son’s needs, that he could dress warmly, could eat his fill and had what he needed.This was the elder’s mindset; this was his wish.
So, “You must understand my intent.”This was what the elder wanted for his son.“You must understand that my intent is only for you to be warm, to eat your fill and to live a stable life.”
The Buddha wants to help develop our wisdom-life.We need sufficient provisions of Dharma for our wisdom-life to be healthy.All of us need to understand this intent.
So, what we need to learn is this, to provide each other’s spiritual nourishment, to help each other succeed.Thus we need to go among people.
“Why is this so?” Why?“Now you and I are no different.”[The Buddha told us,] “I am like this.”
[The Buddha told us], “I am like this. In fact, you are also like this”. We also have the Buddha-mind. We can also go among people to transform sentient beings. We can also go among people to give to them.
Of course, the process will be very taxing. But we must not be afraid of hard work; we must do this willingly. “Blessings are the joy we gain through giving”. We really need to benefit everyone.
By benefiting people, we will be blessed and have great abundance. So, it is in giving that we attain joy.
What kind of joy? Dharma-joy, which comes from developing our wisdom-life. This is the way [the Buddha] is, and this is the way all of us must be as well. So, “Now you and I are no different. You and I are the same”. We have taken the Buddha-mind as our mind, thus we cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer.
So, “Be even more mindful”. We need to redouble our efforts to be mindful. For this past long period of time, people and matters have been used as analogies for the Dharma and principles.
Now, we should know that we need to be even more mindful. What we did not know in the past, we have learned through earnest teaching, parables. Now that we know, we need to be mindful. This is a reminder to “let nothing be lost”. We must not listen to the Dharma and immediately let it leak away and be lost. We must not allow this. We must always be cautious, heighten our vigilance. We must be careful to let nothing be lost.
Once we take the Dharma to heart, we must engrave it on our minds. We must be earnest and constantly be aware. We must heighten our vigilance to avoid allowing afflictions to enter our minds. We must not allow our pure minds to be contaminated again.
The habitual tendencies we have must be immediately eliminated. This is what the Buddha continuously reminds us.
Next, we need to better understand, “This is what is in my heart”. It took such a long time for the elder to approach his son. “We now begin to realize that father and son are fundamentally no different in nature. The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence. This is the pure heart of our intrinsic nature”.
If we are Buddhist practitioners, by now we should know why we chant on a daily basis, “the guiding teacher of the three realms” and “the kind father of the four kinds of beings”. What is this about? The Buddha made a heartfelt effort to patiently guide us for more than 40 years. He did so very earnestly. He always treated sentient beings as His children. He “regarded sentient beings as His only son”. “Now” refers to the time of the Lotus Dharma-assembly. Everyone who was listening, including Sariputra, Subhuit and other leaders of the Sangha, all knew this by that time. They had already comprehended; “realize” means that they could experience this.
“Father and son” shows that He treated all beings as His only son, with that kind of feeling.
They “are fundamentally no different in nature”. Among humans, father and son are of the same bloodline. The father’s sperm and the mother’s egg join together to create the child. This is how people are born. They “are fundamentally no different in nature”. They are the same. Nowadays, when we hear about someone with an illness we wonder, is that hereditary? Is it inherited through the bloodline? This is the same thing; it is passed from generation to generation. This is because we are “fundamentally no different in nature”. This is how it works in terms of bloodlines. Things can be passed down from person to person.
But what about our wisdom-life? Wisdom-life is [passed on through] Dharma-lineage. The Dharma came from Sakyamuni Buddha more than 2000 years ago. He engaged in arduous spiritual practice; then overcoming great difficulties, after enduring many hardships, He finally was able to settle His mind. He cultivated contemplation of all the truths of the universe, and in this way, He finally became one with the universe.
Suddenly, everything opened up. The Avatamsaka state, which is tranquil and clear, was truly not easy to achieve. His wisdom-life was completely unified with the universe, so His ocean of enlightened wisdom opened up.
The Dharma-lineage of His wisdom-life was what He wanted to pass down to sentient beings. However, sentient beings have been, since Beginningless Time, continuously replicating ignorance and afflictions so they have become deluded and stubborn.
Thus, the Buddha had to “shed His honored status for a humble one and go among people to teach us with the way He lived. He taught us we can live the same kind of life, follow the percepts as He did and attain wisdom as He did. To do this, we must settle pour minds [in Samadhi]. The Three Flawless Studies are what we truly need to learn.
So, “The mind of the Buddha and the minds of sentient beings are fundamentally of one essence.” This is “what is in my heart.”
“My” refers to the “greater self.” The “greater self” refers to the universe, the awakened nature of true principles. It is the state of Buddhahood. The Buddha’s enlightenment made Him one with the universe.The enlightened nature of “greater self” if just like this, “fundamentally of one essence.”
The Buddha attained this kind of enlightenment; we can also attain this kind of enlightenment. “This is the pure heart of our intrinsic nature.” Our minds all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness.
The Buddha has prajna as His nature and wondrous existence as His mind. This is great compassion, wisdom and vows. With His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana, and with His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence.
“The Buddha has prajna as His nature;” realizing that all things are empty in nature, that principles are without form or substance, He has achieved this completely pure and undefiled state. This is prajna having wisdom that can both discern and recognize that all sentient beings are equal.
So, recognizing “all sentient beings as equal,” in addition to having “prajna as His nature,” He also has “wondrous existence as His mind.”
“Wondrous existence” is great compassion. He sees all sentient beings as His only son, so when they are suffering, how can He mind be at ease? So, [this is] “wondrous existence”.
He hopes that everyone can form great aspirations and walk the great, direct path, which is the Bodhisattva-path.
So, having “wondrous existence as His mind” is having “great compassion, great wisdom and great vows. It is because of “His compassion and great vows” that “He does not abide in Nirvana.” The Buddha did not have to come back to this world and experience birth, aging, illness and death.
But because causes and conditions [matured], He came to manifest the attainment of Buddhahood.He made use of living in the world and undergoing birth, aging, illness and death and made use of His wisdom, all in order to transform sentient beings.
So, with “His compassion and great vows, He does not abide in Nirvana.” With His great wisdom, He is not bound by cyclic existence. Though born, He has transcended birth; though dead, He is beyond death. His Dharmakaya will live on in our minds. We take the Buddha’s teachings and apply them in our daily living. So, the Buddha is still constantly steering the ship of compassion to this world. He does not abandon sentient beings, so He does not abide in Nirvana, nor is He bound by cyclic existence.
The nature of the human mind is the Buddha-nature, also known as the Buddha-mind.
Dear Bodhisattvas, “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” There is absolutely no difference.Our mind is no different from the Buddha-mind. We need to always be vigilant, “not to be reckless or unrestrained,” thus allowing ignorance to defile our minds. We must not waste our nature of True Suchness; we must earnestly safeguard it. We must remind ourselves to be Vigilant and always share the Bodhisattva Way [with others]. Moreover, we must abide in prajna and not allow our wisdom to leak away and be lost.
In this way, we live out the Buddha-Dharma. This is the course of our spiritual practice. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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