Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Certainty of Attain Buddhahood (自知作佛決定無疑)
Date: September.16. 2016
“We make vows to practice, uphold and wholly focus on the Great Vehicle path to Buddhahood. Though there are many paths to Buddhahood, they are all based on the Four Infinite Minds. We constantly make the Four Great Vows and practice both compassion and wisdom.”
Dear Bodhisattvas, we listen to the sutras every day, and every day we explain the principles. However, having listened to the sutras, can we actually follow the path they lay out? Are we putting the principles into action? “Only the person who drinks the water knows the temperature of the water.”
As Buddhist practitioners, the most fundamental thing that we must learn is exactly what the Buddha taught us, that we must make our vows ourselves. We see that the Buddha gave the teachings of the Five Vehicles because as sentient beings, our capabilities can be divided into five types. Some people living in society want to listen to the Buddha-Dharma. The teachings that the Buddha gave to lay practitioners in society were that practicing the Ten Good Deeds enables rebirth in heaven and upholding the Five Precepts prevents falling into the Three Evil Destinies and allows people to retain their human form.
Some people form aspirations to engage in spiritual practice and become monastic practitioners. Monastics must take the Dharma to heart and at the same time they must eliminate afflictions and destroy attachments. Hearers and Solitary Realizers have already broken their “attachment to self” and are without afflictions. These are the Hearers and Solitary Realizers to whom the Buddha gave the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. When it comes to interpersonal conflicts, they do not make anything of them and do not let afflictions from interpersonal conflict trouble their minds. They have already eliminated that ignorance.
However, even though the Buddha had led everyone to this point where they no longer had interpersonal conflicts, where afflictions no longer arose in them and where they no longer had attachments to self, He still told everyone that this was not enough. We must also eliminate our attachments to the Dharma. This means no longer engaging in spiritual practice merely for ourselves or being attached to achieving our own awakening, wanting to attain Nirvana for ourselves. The Buddha taught us that this is still attachment to the Dharma.
So, we must break our attachments to the Dharma. We must dedicate ourselves to others; we must make great vows. So, “We make vows to practice, uphold and wholly focus on the Great Vehicle path to Buddhahood.” We must put our heart into forming great aspirations, which is the Bodhisattva-path.
This Bodhisattva-path is more than merely forming the aspiration to engage in practice. Hearers and Solitary Realizers can accomplish this. In fact, everyone in society can accomplish this. We should understand that the Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to teach and transform sentient beings according to their capabilities. The Dharma was the same, but He gave different teachings to people with different capabilities. So, all these different teachings, when put together, are the Five Vehicles.
However, the Bodhisattva Way is found throughout the Five Vehicles. Everyone can form great aspirations. So, “We make vows to practice, uphold and wholly focus on the Great Vehicle path to Buddhahood. Though there are many paths to Buddhahood, all are based on the Four Infinite Minds.”
What are the Four Infinite Minds? They are great loving-kindness, great compassion, great joy and great equanimity, infinite loving-kindness, infinite compassion, infinite joy and infinite equanimity. They are not only infinite, they are infinitely open and spacious. To what degree are they open and spacious? [To the degree that we have] “great loving-kindness without regrets.” Since we have formed great aspirations, we hope that all sentient beings in the world will create and attain blessings and will be happy and peaceful. When we give with great loving-kindness like this, we will never have regrets.
“Great compassion without resentment” [means] we have no resentment or complaints. When we give in this way, we cannot bear to see sentient beings’ suffering, so we act to save them from their suffering. When we save sentient beings from suffering, we are not seek our own peace and happiness. We are not worried about ourselves, so we have no reasons for complaint. Giving without complaint is called “great compassion without resentment.”
“Great joy without worries” means that we not only have infinite joy but when we help others, when we are among others, we remain undefiled by their turbidities. When we serve them, we do not need to worry. When others are not understanding of us, we remain unaffected by their afflictions and are not defiled by them. We are still joyful like a clear sky. Our hearts are open and our thoughts are pure. So, we have “great joy without worries” and “great equanimity without expectations.”
When we give with no thought of return, the world opens up before us. This is truly having the Four Infinite Minds. The Four Infinite Minds are what, in our external practice, as we interact with sentient beings, we should strive for. However, in our minds, what we need even more are the Four Great Vows.
Thus, “We constantly make the Four Great Vows and practice both compassion and wisdom.” To vow means to state that you will do something. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings.” There are so many sentient beings. How can we transform them all? We can never transform them all. Regardless, we must learn the spirit of the Buddha. For the sake of sentient beings, the Buddha repeatedly returned to this world, life after life, over countless kalpas in the Five Realms and four forms of birth.
Look at the great vows of Earth Treasury Bodhisattva. Because Earth Treasury Bodhisattva understood the Buddha’s intentions, he went to the place of greatest suffering, vowing “Until hell is empty, I will not attain Buddhahood.” These are all great vows.
“I vow to eliminate endless afflictions.” Ah, we have so many afflictions. We vow to completely eliminate our afflictions, for only then can we go among sentient beings. “Vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors.” Every person, every habitual tendency, is a method for us to engage in spiritual practice. There are so many kinds of suffering in life.
Only by entering into this suffering can we experience the truth of suffering, the true principle of suffering. So, we vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors. We must go among the myriad sentient beings to transform them. We learn the Dharma among sentient being; much Dharma can be learned by going among them.
Thus, these Dharma-doors are vast and great; we must vow to learn them. We do this with one goal; we “vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” The true way to seek the path to Buddhahood is through the Four Infinites Minds and the Four Great Vows. In our daily living, the Buddha-Dharma teaches us how to engage in self-cultivation, “to refine our character and correct our behavior.” This is called spiritual practice. We apply the Buddha-Dharma to body and mind. In our action and in our treatment of people and dealing with things, can we embrace the Four Infinite Minds?
Can we practice great compassion without regrets? Do we have regrets? In this tumultuous world, when we serve others and get involved, do we regret it? Do we have resentment? Do we have worries? Do we have expectations? We must ask ourselves these questions. Can we accomplish the Four Great Vows?
We have formed aspirations and made vows, but ultimately, can we accomplish them? When we make the Four Great Vows, though there are countless sentient beings, we try to deliver them all. Though there are endless afflictions, we want to eliminate them all. Though there are infinite Dharma-doors, we must learn them all. Though the path to Buddhahood is supreme, we want to attain it. Can we accomplish these things?
The previous sutra passage already stated, “Those who seek the state of the World-Honored One are sure they will attain Buddhahood. They practice diligence and Samadhi; they are the great medicinal plants.”
What we seek in learning the Buddha’s teachings is to reach the state of Buddhahood. “[We] are sure we will attain Buddhahood.” We must have faith in ourselves. If we practice according to the teachings, the day will come when we attain Buddhahood. But we must practice “diligence and Samadhi.” We must be diligent; when it comes to the right thing to do, we should just do it. Only then are we “great medicinal plants.”
[With] medicinal plants we can heal ourselves. If we understand [how to use] medicinal plants, we not only use this medicine to cure ourselves, when we hear of someone else’s pain, we can also use this medicine to cure them; we cure ourselves while curing others, save ourselves while saving others and transform ourselves while transforming others. This is what we must learn. The Buddha-Dharma is a teaching to save the world, so we must put our hearts into it.
The sutra passage then continues, “Those Buddha-children who focus on the path to Buddhahood and constantly practice compassion know that they will attain Buddhahood; they are determined, without doubts. They are the little trees.”
It says, “Those Buddha-children who focus on the path to Buddhahood.” Do we dare to call ourselves Buddha-children? Who are the Buddha-children? “They are different from Hearers. They focus wholeheartedly on seeking the path to Buddhahood.” They are different from the Hearers and the Solitary Realizers. Hearers and Solitary Realizers followed the Buddha for more than 40 years but sought only their own blessings, wishing to eliminate afflictions by seeking purity.
There were also the lay people, who also sought only their own blessings, or feared falling into the Three Evil Destinies. Everything they did was for themselves. This is not correct. The Buddha hoped that everyone would “focus wholeheartedly on seeking the path to Buddhahood” and single-mindedly seek the path to Buddhahood. “They understand the Buddha’s intent” which is to “have compassion for sentient beings.” The Buddha has compassion for sentient beings. So, they “love those whom Buddha loves as their only son and can thus be called “Buddha-children.” We must “attain the Three Sagely States and the Four Earnest Efforts;” this is “focusing on the path to Buddhahood.”
If we know the Buddha’s intent, we know that the Buddha loves all the world’s sentient beings as if they were each His only son. We should also learn this from the Buddha and love the world’s sentient beings as our only child. Only if we do this can we truly be called Buddha-children.
So, we must have the Three Sagely States and the Four Earnest Efforts. The teachings are a process which we need to practice. This is called focusing on the path to Buddhahood.
What are the Three Sagely States? “In the Great Vehicle, the Ten Abiding Conducts, Ten Practices and Ten Dedications of Merits.” This process of spiritual practice is called the Three Sagely States.
As we begin seeking Buddhahood, [we follow] the Ten Abiding Conducts and the Ten Practices. Happily starting from the first abiding conduct, we keep engaging in spiritual practice until we achieve equal enlightenment. We dedicate our merits [to sentient beings], as all Buddha-Dharma rests in widely transforming sentient beings.
This is a process of spiritual practice. In the Ten Abiding Conducts, Ten Practices and Ten Dedications of Merits, there are already 30 stages. These are the Three Sagely States. Only by walking the path [do we attain] the Three Sagely Stages.
Then we add to this the Four Earnest Efforts. “Reaching the stage of the Four Earnest Efforts, we have reached the stage of Bodhisattvas. Through the provisions of blessings and wisdom and further earnest efforts, [we] have entered the stage of seeing the Path and abide in the nature of True Suchness. This is the stage of Earnest Efforts.”
We have progressed through the 30 stages of the Three Sagely States until we reached the Four Earnest Efforts, so we have very abundant Dharma-provisions. As we go among people, we simultaneously cultivate blessings and wisdom. “Through the provisions of blessings and wisdom and further earnest efforts,” our Dharma-provisions will be sufficient. We must strengthen our efforts without delay. “Effort” refers to spiritual practice, our putting the Dharma into practice. We can “enter the stage of seeing the Path and abide in the nature of True Suchness”. We have eliminated all our afflictions through the previously-stated Ten Abiding Conducts.
Ten Practices and Ten Dedications of Merits. We move stage by stage, like climbing stairs. We continue upward, level by level, through each state and method of practice. Having passed through these, our Dharma-provisions will be abundant. We must utilize these at once, utilize this Dharma to widely deliver sentient beings and return to our nature of True Suchness. “This is the stage of Earnest Efforts.” the stage where we step up our efforts. Throughout the process of the three Tens, we have already understood each stage, one by one. Having understood them, we must be more earnest in our practice right away. We must earnestly make efforts to implement them.
“[They] constantly practice compassion. A Bodhisattva’s resolve is to put great compassion into action. There are many paths to Buddhahood, but all are based on the Four Infinite Minds. Hence, they ‘constantly practice compassion.’”
We just spoke of the Four Infinite Minds. Great loving-kindness without regrets, great compassion without resentment, great joy without worries and great equanimity without expectations are the Four Infinite Minds. These are the most fundamental [teachings]. “Hence, they ‘constantly practice compassion.’” We must always practice compassion.
“They know they will attain Buddhahood.” Since what we do is correct, we “are determined, without doubts. In their mind they know. They are determined they will attain Buddhahood. They have no more feelings of doubt.” We cannot continue to have doubts. “Though the Buddha has not given them predictions although the Buddha has not made this prediction, they know they will attain Buddhahood.”
Since we are listening to the Dharma, this Dharma should be found abundantly in all of our hearts. So, we “know [we] will attain Buddhahood without a doubt.” We must not have any doubts. “They are the little trees.”
These are the little trees. We are no longer just plants. Now we have gone up a level; our vows and aspirations are very firm. Having passed through the Three Sagely States and the Four Earnest Efforts, we should already have great confidence in attaining Buddhahood. Then we are called the “little trees.” We have great confidence in attaining Buddhahood.
They are the little trees: their power of Samadhi has increased, and their resolve is greater. They are superior to the great plants, so they are called little trees. Bodhisattvas in this stage are those who have formed their initial resolve in the state of prajna.
“Their power of Samadhi has increased.” This is our meditative power, the power of Samadhi. Before, there was giving, upholding precepts, patience and diligence. Now, “Their power of Samadhi has increased.” We have already become very determined. Thus, “Their resolve is greater.”
“Little trees” are a step above the plants. They are superior, “so they are called little trees,” just like small trees. As for “Bodhisattvas in this stage, by this point, we have already entered into what can be called the Bodhisattva stage, treading firmly upon the Bodhisattva-path, having “formed initial resolve in the state of prajna.”
We have already proved our aspirations, so we can be called Bodhisattvas. We are newly-inspired to climb to the stage of Bodhisattvas. The previous [passage] “is praising how the little trees receive nourishment.”
The previous [passage] is praising how the little trees receive nourishment.” Though these Bodhisattvas practice according to their [intrinsic] nature and have eliminated the two attachments, they have not yet seen the Dharmakaya, and their practice is still inferior. The protection they provide is not extensive, so they are likened to little trees.
Though the environment is arid, the little trees are moistened by the rain. This is like the ground of our mind. We have eliminated afflictions and ignorance but the ground is still dry. The seeds that we sow need the Dharma-water to moisten them. So, “These Bodhisattvas practice according to their [intrinsic nature].”
These Bodhisattvas practice according to their nature of True Suchness, and “have eliminated the two attachments.” As we live in this world, we have come to
Understand that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Though we still live among others, we nevertheless understand that we must eliminate attachments to the self and attachment to the Dharma.
“My interpersonal conflict and afflictions have already been eliminated. They no longer concern me. I want to engage in spiritual practice; I no longer fear cyclic existence. I want to take the Dharma to heart and carry it with me to my next life to go among people and transform sentient beings.” This is having “eliminated the two attachments. We have broken all attachments. However, “They have not yet seen the Dharmakaya, and there is still inferior.”
We still have not seen the Dharmakaya, for we must still listen to the Dharma. We must still advance in our spiritual practice. We are only at the first stage. We have embarked upon the road and are taking our first steps on the Bodhisattvas-path.
“The protection they provide is not extensive.” We must protect sentient beings. We are still not broad [-hearted] enough to shelter and protect all sentient beings. We still are not broad [-hearted] enough, so the analogy of “little trees” is used. We have not yet achieved that strength, so we are still little trees.
However, little trees also grow large. Therefore, we must be mindful, earnestly letting the Buddha-Dharma irrigate the ground of our mind. We must earnestly use the Dharma as nourishment, moistening the ground of our minds.
I often say the phrase, “If it is right thing to do, just do it.” If our direction is right, we must step firmly and advance forward. So, “We make vows to practice, uphold and wholly focus on the Great Vehicle path to Buddhahood.” We must not forget this.
There are many paths to Buddhahood but the Four Infinite Minds are essential to all. Let us always remember to abide firmly in the Four Great Vows. In our spiritual practice, this is the first stage of practicing the Bodhisattva-path.
Dear Bodhisattvas, in learning the Buddha’s teachings, we must truly have firm aspirations. Do not hesitate, for there is much suffering in this world. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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