Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Teaching the Dharma to All Equally (恆為一切平等說法)
Date: September.08. 2016
“I observe the one nature as equal in all. I view my friends and foes as equals. I always teach the Dharma to all equally; whether teaching for one or many, it is equal. Whether distant or near, I always teach equally.”
Since Beginningless Time, the Buddha has devoted Himself lifetime after lifetime to this one great cause, to let everyone know that they intrinsically have Buddha-nature and that all are equal to the Buddha. It is because sentient beings are not impartial that they give rise to so much resentment, afflictions and so on. They create so much misery and so much suffering in this world.
If sentient beings could comprehend this principle of equality and have mutual respect for each other, gratitude for each other and impartial love, wouldn’t this world be a pure land?
Thus, the Buddha said, “I observe the one nature as equal in all.” All sentient beings innately have Buddha-nature; we are all equal to the Buddha. But due to just one thought, we sink into the Five Realms and the four forms of birth. The Buddha wanted us to thoroughly understand that all people are of one nature, which is the Buddha-nature. The Buddha-nature is equal in all.
He said, “I view my friends and foes as equals.” The Buddha was impartial to all sentient beings. Whether His enemies or those closest to Him, He treated everyone equally.
Since ancient times, humans’ mindsets have not been equal or balanced. There has been resentment, jealousy and envy. A mindset of resentment, jealousy or envy toward people easily leads to killing or harming other people. Whether one kills or harms another, it creates enmity. This hatred accumulates endlessly. If in this life there is no retribution, there will be consequences in subsequent lifetimes. This karmic retribution cannot be dissolved.
So, whether they are friends or foes, our karmic entanglements with these people continue. If we are able to understand the principles, we will use an open heart to forgive others. This is not impossible. As long as we can turn our thoughts around, nothing is impossible.
Over the past two years, there was such a moving true story. There were two families. One of the families was a young couple. The wife in one of these families had a male friend. They always got along well, so feelings developed between them.
This woman’s husband found out about this, and hate arose in his mind. So, he invited his wife’s younger brother and another friend to go to the other man’s family’s home. Once they entered the house, they began to beat the young man. The sticks they were using were deadly, and he was beaten to death in front of his parents.
After this, a lawsuit was filed. The mother of the primary murderer went to the home of the victim, and with a very sincere heart, repented to the victim’s parents. The victim’s mother saw the other mother and began to feel compassion. This mother’s son had beaten someone to death, and she did not know what the punishment would be. Furthermore, the guilt for his crime would be carried by the mother her whole life.How could she face people?
So, the victim’s mother comforted the murderer’s mother.In this way, she forgave that mother.In the end, the primary murderer was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The victim’s parents went to visit him.They did not harbor resentment, but guided him with many principles.From prison, he wrote a letter to the victim’s parents.
The parents saw this letter and felt that it was enough that he had repented.They treated him as a son and often went to see him in prison.This is treating friends and foes equally.This is truly remarkable.
So, the principles of past and present are one; these principles are all one great principle.If we can put this principles into practice, that is called awakening.This is awakening to the truth of the principles.
So, when the Buddha came to this world, this was the Dharma that He wanted to teach.
Thus, “I always teach the Dharma to all equally.”The Buddha constantly [comes to] this world to teach these principles and enable people to put them into practice.He uses love to pave this road and make it very even so that all people can walk on it easily.When we step onto this great, direct Bodhi-path, everyone is able to mutually connect with this impartial principle of the One Vehicle.
“Whether teaching for one or many, it is equal.”When teaching to a single person, the Buddha would teach the same Great Dharma; when teaching many people, He would likewise teach the impartial Great Dharma.
These are the true principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.
“Whether distant or near, I always teach equally.”He often taught with principles from countless kalpas ago, including cause and conditions, His previous lives, teaching that had never existed before, etc.The Buddha spoke about the past and also taught us about the future.This is the Buddha-mind.
All sentient beings equally have the Buddha’s wisdom.So, in this way it is equal.This selfless great love was taught in that time and had been passed down to the present.It is the same [Dharma].
If we can accept it, it is no less [accessible].
If we are not willing to accept [the teachings], just reading sutras will not make it more [accessible].When we read sutras, we must accept them and put them into practice.
Otherwise, even if we read thousands of sutras, no matter how many we read, if we do not take it to heart or put it into practice, it is in fact useless.
So, we must learn the Dharma and apply it in our daily living.
The previous sutra passage says, “For the assembly, I teach the ambrosial dew of the pure Dharma. This Dharma has only one flavor, the liberation of Nirvana. With one wondrous voice, I freely teach this meaning and constantly create the causes and conditions for the Great Vehicle.”
The previous sutra passage already stated that the Buddha was the World-Honored One and that “none could equal Him.”He wanted to bring peace and stability to sentinel beings, so He appeared in this world.
Sentient beings’ minds were already dried out, and their hearts were full of stifling vexations.
Nowadays, the population is large, and there is much competition in daily life and over economics.
2000 years ago, the Buddha was already like dense clouds that let fall the rain to nourish the people of that time, as well as the present and the future.This is the pure Dharma like ambrosial dew that nourishes sentient begins’ minds.
Everything He taught was Great Vehicle Dharma, because the Great Vehicle Dharma is what His future, our present times as well as times even farther into the future, will need the most; this is the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.This means He created causes and conditions for the Great Vehicle teachings so we all could understand.
The following sutra passage states, “I view all universally as equals; there is no you and I nor love and hate. I have no greed and attachments, nor limits and hindrances. I constantly teach the Dharma to all equally. I view all universally as equals.”
This is saying that all are equal; there is no high or low, shallow or deep.
The Dharma is all the same; it is the One Vehicle Dharma.
The Dharma is all the same; it is the One Vehicle Dharma. It is completely equal. There is no one sutra that is the highest or one sutra that is the most profound. The Dharma He used and His intent was equal for all. It is just that, because of our capabilities, He had to use these means, with the separate names and appearances of the Great Vehicle and the Small Vehicle, but the principles are the same.
So, “The sky treats all equally, thus it always covers all. The earth treats all equally, thus it always bears all”.
Because the sky treats all equally, we feel everything is together under the heavens. The heavens are always this way. When we raise our heads to look into the heavens, we see the same sky every day; it is just that there may or may not be clouds. The sky covers us in this way. In fact, “sky” is just a word we use to describe the great void of the universe, which is infinite, boundless and intangible.
Yet, when we raise our heads, we can see the sky. So, “The sky treats all equally”.
This great void is completely equal, “thus it always covers all. The earth treats all equally, thus it always bears all”.
The earth is also impartial, and it has the grace of bearing all things. Whether mountains, rivers, or land, forests of vegetation and trees or pure and defiled sentient beings, all reside on this earth. Without complaint, the earth continually provides for sentient beings. When sentient beings destroy the earth, she also simply tolerates it. So, this is the earth’s impartiality and forgiving great love.
“There is no you and I nor love and hate. I have no greed and attachments. The Buddha sees friends and foes as equals with no feelings of love and hate, resentment and intimacy. He hope that all sentient beings can let go of feelings of love and hate and eliminate the bonds of greed and anger”.
The Buddha said that He viewed friends and foes as equals. The Dharma that He taught to sentient beings was also equal. This was the great heart of the Buddha. The Buddha also said, “I have no greed and attachments. As I came to this world to give of myself, I don not calculate loss or gain.
No greed and attachments” means no thoughts of loss or gain. He only used impartial love and had no desire to gain benefit from sentient beings. He only hoped that all sentient beings would accept the Great Dharma and that all would be equal to Him in comprehending the principles of all things in the universe.
The Buddha “see friends and foes as equals will no feelings of love and hate, resentment and intimacy”. To Him, everyone is equal; He has no preferential love.
See, He was born was a prince. He was willing to give up the love of his father, the king, and the officials and subjects, as well the love of his family. So, for the sake of sentient beings, He became a monastic and attained Buddhahood. Although His Sakya clan was exterminated, He still had no resentment. “He hopes that all sentient beings can let go of feelings of love and hate and eliminate the bonds of greed and anger”. He only had one thought, the hope that all people could have the same heart as the Buddha and let go of all feelings of love and hate and even eliminate the bonds of greed and anger. We do not want our minds to be bound by these kinds of afflictions.
Thus, “I have no feelings of love and hate for others”. Sentient beings cannot escape love and hate, while the Buddha’s mind is impartial. He has no feelings of love and hate for anyone, nor any discrimination. The Buddha’s mind was without these things.
So, the Buddha used His own mind to teach and guide sentient beings to let go of their feelings of love and hate. The Buddha put Himself in their position in order to educate sentient beings. This is the love of the Buddha.
He continued, “I have no greed and attachments, nor limits and hindrances”. The Buddha’s heart embraced the universe, was equal to the universe, so the Buddha said that He already had no “greed, cravings, attachments or stinginess”. “He also has no limits, barriers, obstructions or hindrances”.
[The Dharma] is not limited to any one space. So, although the Dharma originated in India, the Dharma has been universally spread all across the world with no obstructions or hindrances. Regardless of the external form, regardless of the location, regardless of what land someone is from, even if we are of different ethnicities, we can all accept the Buddha-Dharma, without any obstructions or hindrance. [The Dharma] will not be obstructed or hindered; all of it can be accepted.
“I have no greed and attachments” means “He is not stingy in teaching the Great Dharma, this Dharma of no greed.
I have no greed and attachments: He is not stingy in teaching the Great Dharma. This Dharma of no greed is our virtuous seed-nature, which can be the foundation of infinite virtuous teachings. Thus it is called the root of goodness of no greed, nor [does He have] limits and hindrances: He harbors no jealousy.
The Buddha understood the Dharma in its entirety. He did not guard the Dharma, saying, “Only I can attain Buddhahood.” He was not this way. He said, “I have already attained Buddhahood. I understand that all can attain Buddhahood. All people should receive this Great Dharma for attaining Buddhahood.” He was in no way stingy. This “virtuous seed-nature” is something that we all intrinsically have.
This virtuous seed-nature is our nature of True Suchness. This seed-nature “can be [the foundation of] infinite virtuous teachings.” It can be the root of infinite virtuous teachings for us to [help] everyone; this is inherent in us. This root of infinite virtuous teachings enables us to [help] all beings in the world. We accept the Dharma and transmit the Dharma; this is our foundation.
“Thus it is called the root of goodness of no greed.”All people inherently have roots of goodness. When our roots of goodness return to the most clear state, that is nature of True Suchness. This is the Great Dharma of the Buddha.
So, we must awaken everyone’s root of goodness. If our roots of goodness are awakened, we accept and spread the Dharma with no obstacles.
[The Buddha] also “harbors no jealousy.” All of us humans are jealous of the virtuous and capable. If we are “jealous of the virtuous and capable, with the Dharma we know, we worry others will be better at it than us, so we do not transmit these teachings to them. This is not right.
People are jealous of the virtuous and capable, thinking themselves right and others wrong. When they see other cultivating goodness, they instead become jealous, hence they are unable to learn the Tathagata’s Right Dharma. This is called the severe hindrance of jealousy.
If we see virtuous and capable people, we must quickly take all we understand and know and transmit it to them right away. This is what we call cultivating talent. This is passing down the teachings. It is also called transmitting the Dharma-lineage. We are willing to about all we know; we must teach everything we know. This is called transmitting the Dharma.
Otherwise, we are being “jealous of the virtuous and capable,” taking that we are right about everything, and that others are wrong all the time. We must [avoid] thinking that we are superior and that others cannot match up to us. Or when others acknowledge that another person is very outstanding, we may think, “I am not so far off from him.” This kind of person will always believe that they are never inferior to others. This kind of mindset is not right.
“Thinking themselves right and others wrong, when they see others cultivating goodness, they instead become jealous.” Seeing other people practicing virtuous Dharma, some people might not only do it themselves, not only engage in practice, but even give rise to jealousy. “Hence they are unable to learn.” They are not willing to accept this Right Dharma of True Suchness, the Tathagata’s teaching of suchness. These people are not willing to put effort into accepting the Right Dharma.” “This is called the severe hindrance of jealousy.” This is a very severe hindrance.
So, the Buddha said, “I constantly teach the Dharma to all equally.” This means that He taught the Dharma equally. “With an impartial mind, He constantly teaches all the Dharma of non-appearance.”
When the Buddha came to this world, it was only to help sentient beings pave a smooth road for our minds, because the road of our minds is bumpy and uneven. In so many matters, we hinder ourselves; we create hindrances for ourselves. This is like own Earth as it rotates. The sun us there in space, and its radiance is ever-present. So, are our own minds turned toward the light or the darkness? This depends on us.
“All things are created by the mind.” in the Dharma, all is equal. We must not distinguish between friends and foes. If we discriminate between people or are jealous of others, we may refuse to engage in spiritual practice, while also being jealous of other people. If we are this way, we will create great obstructions. We create hindrances for ourselves and others. Not only do we hinder others, we hinder ourselves even more severely. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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