Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Ambrosial Dew of Pure Dharma (一音演暢甘露淨法)
Date: September.07. 2016
“The ambrosial dew of pure Dharma has only one true appearance and flavor. It is the flavor of the wondrous voice of liberation and Nirvana. This Dharma of one flavor is taught freely with one voice. According to their type, all can understand this meaning and attain liberation.”
The ambrosial dew of pure Dharma has only one true appearance and flavor. It has one flavor and appearance. The rain that falls is actually water. What does water look and taste like? Everyone is very clear about this. Thus, the appearance and flavor of water are both widely known and quite simple, yet we use this as an analogy for the Dharma. The Dharma is something our minds must have, and it is also very simple. The true principles abide in our minds, but what name do we give to these principles? The nature of True Suchness. The nature of True Suchness is the truth underlying all things in the world.
The Buddha’s teachings are intended to help us understand all things in the world and how to diligently deal with everything that we encounter in life. [It tells us] how to handle our affairs as we interact with people and how we can help everyone turn away from ignorance and embrace beneficial methods. This is the Buddha’s one great cause in coming to this world.
If we want to be liberated, we must listen to the Dharma and understand it. We allow the sound to enter our ears, then once we have taken it to heart, we must put it into action in order to experience it; thus the Dharma will be one with our thoughts and actions, and we have precepts, Samadhi and wisdom together. This realization will be even more profound.
“This Dharma of one flavor is taught freely with one voice.” Although the Dharma is very simple, whether in our daily living, in our interpersonal relationships, in our relationship with the earth or in many various other causes and conditions, even the most mundane matter can help us to realize a very deep principle. Thus, everything in the world is teaching us the Dharma; it is all acting out the Dharma for us.
For example, in the Buddha’s lifetime, there was an old man living in a village. Ever since he was young, he was never happy unless he had been drinking. He constantly drank alcohol, and every day he was in a drunken stupor. Every day, when Ananda went to ask for alms, he would encounter this man, and when he ran into him, Ananda would say to him, “Go, go and listen to the Buddha teach.” His answer was always the same, “I am still drunk. You want me to forego drinking. I cannot do it.” This was the answer he always gave. One day in the evening, he was still drunk as always, and he tripped on a tree root and was in great pain; he had fallen over, and he struck a bone which hurt very much. He struggled to pull himself up for a long time, and suddenly, in that place, he thought to himself, “Ah! I repent! I am so drunk that I tripped on that tree root. The pain I am feeling now is unbearable. How can I get rid of this pain? I repent! I should not have ignored Ananda. I repent; I should have gone to see the Buddha.” Having turned his thoughts around, he struggled to his feet and returned home. In the morning, when he awoke, true to his word, he went to the abode and came before the Buddha, bowing to Him respectfully.
The Buddha asked him, “If there are 500 carts loaded with logs, how many carts of fire are needed to ignite all 500 carts of logs?” [The old man] replied, “That is easy. It would take only a pea-seized spark, and all 500 carts piled with logs would be set ablaze.”
The Buddha asked again. “The clothes you are wearing now, how long have they not been washed?” He thought for a moment, “I have not washed them in over a year.” “If you want to wash the dirt from them, how much water will it take to clean these clothes of yours?”
The old man answered, “It is very simple. With one scoop of lime powder in water, I can get them clean.”
The Buddha said, “Indeed. Following the same principles, however many afflictions and ignorant habitual tendencies you have, as long as you are willing to listen to the Dharma and uphold the Five Precepts, your negative habitual tendencies of the past, your drinking habit, will naturally be completely eradicated.”
When the old man heard this, he was filed with Dharma-joy. This was such a simple method that could help him to completely eliminate the habitual tendencies that he had accumulated over several decades.
Thus, the Buddha taught freely with one voice the Dharma of one flavor. “According to their type, all can understand this meaning and attain liberation.” This was how the Buddha [taught]; the Dharma of one appearance and flavor could be accepted by the capabilities of all in the Five Vehicles. This is the ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma, which has one appearance and one flavor. As long as we accept it, our minds can be cleansed and liberated, and all afflictions eliminated. So, we must listen mindfully.
The previous sutra passage says, “All you heavenly begins and humans must single-mindedly and attentively listen. You should all come here to observe the supremely honored one. I am the World-Honored One, none can equal me. To bring peace and stability to sentient beings, I have appeared in the world.
All you heavenly beings and humans” is referring to all humans. If they had these causes and conditions, they could accept the Dharma. The Buddha wanted everyone to know, “I am the World-Honored One,” one who will be respected by all people. “None can equal me.” Actually, the “I” the Buddha refers to is the greater self, the “self” of all things in the world. The greater self of the true principles can bring peace and stability to all sentient beings. The Buddha’s Dharmakaya that permeates the world is the true principles. The principles form His Dharmakaya (Dharma-body); thus, He can bring peace and stability to all sentient beings.
The next sutra passage says, “For the assembly, I teach the ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma. The Dharma has only one flavor, the liberation of Nirvana. With one wondrous voice, I freely teach this meaning and constantly create the cause and conditions for the Great Vehicle.”
The Buddha appeared in the world for the sole purpose of teaching the Dharma. So it says, “For the assembly, I teach;” what He taught is “the ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma.” In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, we need the nourishment of Dharma-water; this is like ambrosial dew or pure water. “This Dharma has only one flavor, the liberation of Nirvana.”
The Dharma never changes throughout endless time. As for water, water has existed since Earth came into being. The water of billions of years ago is just like the water today. It has one appearance and one flavor. The principles are also like this; the Dharma that was taught in the past is the same as the Dharma being taught now. So, as for “the liberation of Nirvana,” if we can receive the Dharma, we can truly awaken and have a pure mind while still [ensuring] that the True Dharma remains in this world and is continually transmitted.
The source from which the Dharma is passed down is [His] single, wondrous voice. During the Buddha’s time, He taught the Dharma by speaking it. His teachings were passed down all the way to today; by “freely teaching this meaning,” the Dharma was able to be passed down.
“[He] constantly creates the causes and conditions for the Great Vehicle.” The Buddha continues to come to this world to pass on the Dharma in this way, in the hope that we can all accept the Dharma. Thus, He said, “For the assembly, I teach. The one who speak is respected, therefore the Dharma He teaches is wondrous.”
One who is able to teach the Dharma [is worthy of] the respect of all people. As one whom everyone respects, the teachings one gives are wondrous. So, we must engage in spiritual practice until we have taken the Dharma to heart and are able to transform sentient beings. Then, others will naturally accept our teachings.
So, “the ambrosial dew of pure Dharma” is a metaphor for the meaning of the Dharma, which “can refresh and cool people’s minds” and extinguish the heat of afflictions. Only the Buddha-Dharma can cleanse and cool people’s minds. Otherwise, the heat of our afflictions causes our minds unbearable suffering. Only the Dharma can extinguish this heat of the afflictions in our minds.
So, “Ambrosial dew is the elixir of immortality. Wondrous Dharma is the true and permanent essence. It is called pure because it is undefiled. The ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma has only one flavor, the flavor of the liberation of Nirvana.”
Ambrosial dew is the elixir of immortality. Because our nature of True Suchness exists forever everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. This is ever-lasting. Once we have thoroughly understood the Dharma and the principles, these wondrous principles are true and permanent and remain unchanging throughout eternity. Thus, they are referred to as “pure.” This is pure Dharma-essence.
The pure Dharma-essence is the truth, which is undefiled, and it is called “ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma.” This is what the Buddha taught. “[It] has only one flavor.” There is only one flavor; there are no others. The Three Vehicles all return to the One True Vehicle. “The flavor of the liberation of Nirvana” is the One True Vehicle.
“This Dharma has only one flavor, the liberation of Nirvana.” This means that, because the capabilities of sent beings differ greatly from each other, the Buddha’s intent is to constantly harmonize all in the one flavor. His hope was for sentient beings to be able to comprehend that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. [He hoped] “to help them reach the unsurpassed liberation of ultimate Nirvana.”
This is the Buddha’s intent. “The Dharma of one flavor is taught freely with one wondrous voice.” The same Dharma was taught with the one wondrous voice of His mouth. “According to their type, all can understand.” According to sentient beings’ capabilities, they can all understand. We sentient beings are still constantly caught in our cyclic existence. How much do we really understand? “With one wondrous voice, I freely teach this meaning.”
With one wondrous voice, I freely teach this meaning: Based on appearances, things seem to differ, but the meaning is one. He taught the provisional for the sake of the true. This is called the wondrous voice. He taught this wondrous meaning freely and extensively. This is teaching its meaning freely with one wondrous voice.
“Based on appearances, things seem to differ.” Some things seem to be similar and some different, however, “The meaning is one. The Buddha taught the True Dharma, but some people listened and seemed not to fully understand. They could not comprehend the true principles that lay within His mind.
So, the Buddha taught the provisional for the sake of the true. Using provisional teachings and skillful means, He was still able to guide every one of us to see the True Dharma. This was the Buddha’s intent. So, “the wondrous voice” means He taught with His voice according to sentient beings’ capabilities.
“He taught this wondrous meaning freely and extensively.” He gave His utmost effort and taught freely and extensively, openly for all to listen so the Dharma could reach sentient beings’ minds. The Buddha hoped the words from His mouth would reach the minds of sentient beings. This is “teaching its meaning freely with one wondrous voice.” This is the Buddha’s mindfulness.
“[He] constantly creates the causes and conditions for the Great Vehicle.” The Buddha “expounded the Small,” with the intention to guide them into the Great. “The wisdom of the Small Vehicle is the cause and good deeds of the Small Vehicle, the condition.” The Buddha practiced for sentient beings. He attained Buddhahood for sentient beings. This is the Buddha, the Great Enlightened One. The intent of the Great Enlightened One is to teach those who were deluded. He had to begin by teaching the Small [Vehicle].
Therefore, He taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, then slowly guided them into actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions, to guide them from the Small into the Great. “The wisdom of the Small Vehicle is the cause and good deeds of the Small Vehicle, the condition.”
In other words, “It was not only at this time that He freely taught this meaning.” It was not just for a period of time that the Buddha’s Dharma was freely taught. The Buddha first turned the Dharma-wheel in Deer Park to transform the five bhiksus. “In the past 40 years, though expounding the Nine Divisions of teachings. In the past 40-plus years, by expounding the Nine Divisions of teachings, He was always crating the causes and conditions for the Great Vehicle.” What are the Nine Divisions of Teachings?
The Nine Divisions of Teachings:
1. Sutra: Prose teachings.
2. Geya: Repeated verse.
3. Gatha: independent verse.
4. Itivrttaka: Previous lives of disciples.
5. Jataka: Previous lives of Buddhas.
6. Adbhutadharma: Teachings which never existed.
7. Udana: Unrequested teachings.
8. Vaipulya: Broad teachings.
9. Vyakarana: Predictions of Buddhahood.
In the Nine Divisions of Teachings, the first is sutra. This is Sanakrit term, which can be translated to mean “prose teachings.” Prose teachings are the Buddha’s teachings which comprise the sutras He taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities. These are called “prose teachings.”
The second is “geya,” which means “repeated verse.” The prose contains truly important teachings, so they needed to be repeated in verse. This is “geya.” The third is called “gatha.” Gatha is independent verse, unrelated to any long-from prose. They begin the same way as the repeated verses. One verse can contain many principles, with seven words per line or four words per line and so on. The fourth is “itivrttaka.” These concern the “previous lives of disciples.”
Previous lives of disciples: These are texts in which the Buddha tells stories of His disciples’ previous lives, whether they are Bodhisattvas, Hearers or so on. They tell of their experiences, actions and karma.
When the Buddha was teachings, if He saw people in interpersonal relationships who were unable to disentangle themselves, the Buddha would trace back to past lifetimes and say to everyone, “My causes and conditions with him are thus.” These were the Buddha’s actions and karma over the course of His practice in past lives, the karma He had created along the way. This is the content of the “previous lives of the disciples.”
The fifth is “jataka.” This concerns the “previous lives of Buddhas.”
Previous lives of Buddhas: Texts where the Tathagata speaks of His practice and karma when He was a Bodhisattva.
In the “previous lives of Buddha’s, the Buddha explains what had happened in previous lives such that He encountered these things now. I have not only been human in previous lives; I was also an elephant, appearing in animal form to transform sentient beings.” This is called the “previous lives of Buddhas.”
The next is called “teachings which never existed.” When the Buddha taught the Dharma, everyone felt unprecedented joy. Now they received the Dharma and felt a joy that they never had before.
The next is called “udana,” which encompasses unrequested teachings. When there were no causes and conditions, the Buddha began speaking on His own. He spoke without being requested.
The eighth is “broad teachings.” This contains the Great Vehicle teachings, like the Avatamsaka Sutra, and so on.
The ninth is “predictions of Buddhahood.” Here the Buddha, for the sake of all beings with the proper causes and conditions, including Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas and so on, gave predictions of attaining Buddhahood in the future.
These are the Nine Divisions of Teachings. The Buddha, in His 49 years, gave various teachings for sentient beings. The Buddha-Dharma is as profound as the ocean. But as we constantly say, it has “one appearance and one flavor.” If our minds are able to comprehend the great path and form infinite aspirations, naturally our wisdom will be as vast as the ocean, and we will be able to lead people [harmoniously]. I hope everyone will always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
