Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Accumulating Superior Causes from the Dharma(內積勝因外託勝緣)
Date: October.07. 2016
“He will meet and serve the World-Honored Ones; outwardly relying on superior conditions, he will be replete with the infinite blessings and virtues of all Buddhas. He widely proclaims the Dharma of impartiality and accumulates superior causes within so he achieves the profound wisdom of all Buddhas.”
This is what we spoke of earlier; the Buddha bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood upon Venerable Kasyapa. We also talked about the process described in Venerable Kasyapa’s prediction. He would meet 300 trillion Buddhas and would make offerings to them by serving them. This is a very long process. However, spiritual practice has always been a process of continual accumulation. This is because ordinary people like us have for countless kalpas already accumulated layer upon layer of afflictions.
We must now engage in spiritual practice to return to our pure Tathagata-nature. When ordinary people engage in spiritual practice, we have clearly made up our minds to eliminate our afflictions; we clearly know this, yet we ordinary people still have delusions that have not yet been eliminated. Whenever we hear certain comments or encounter certain situations, our old afflictions have no yet been eliminated, but new afflictions already arise in us. When we face other people’s challenging attitudes, our afflictions and ignorance are provoked. This is how we ordinary people are.
Because of this, we need a long period of time [to eliminate them]. However, Venerable Kasyapa engaged in practice and immediately eliminated any habits of a wealthy and luxurious [lifestyle]. He engaged in ascetic practice with firm spiritual aspirations.
The Buddha praised him. The Buddha not only praised him but also highly regarded how he firmly upheld his aspirations. So, at the end [of His lifetime], the Buddha entrusted him with the task of going to Cock’s Foot Mountain to enter Samadhi. He was asked to wait there until Maitreya attains Buddhahood and comes to the human realm. Passing the Buddha’s robe and alms bowl to him showed the high respect the Buddha held for Venerable Kasyapa.
But how long would it take [for Kasyapa to attain Buddhahood]? He would first have to meet and serve 300 trillion Buddhas in order for him to attain Buddhahood.
So, to attain Buddhahood is not an easy task; we need to work even harder and have even more patience.
So, “He will meet and serve the World-Honored Ones; outwardly relying on superior conditions.” Outwardly, we must rely on external superior conditions.
“Relying on” means trusting in. We have to outwardly rely on superior conditions, the superior conditions of the teachings of 300 trillion World-Honored Ones. Must we truly [wait] for such a long time?
Actually, the Buddha’s meaning was for everyone to respect one another and to treat each other as future Buddhas. If we can do this, we create goof affinities with sentient beings. When we are able to have many good affinities with sentient beings, we can gain a lot of wisdom from sentient beings’ habitual tendencies. Then won’t we meet and serve 300 trillion Buddhas even more quickly? This is learning the Buddha-Dharma of the mind. “He will be replete with the infinite blessings and virtues of all Buddhas.”
If we can treat everyone as a Buddha, the causes and conditions for the blessings and virtues we want to cultivate will quickly [ripen].
Because we listen to the Buddha’s teachings, we must then give the teachings to sentient beings.We take them into our hearts, then cultivate these kinds of practices.
Thus “[We] will be replete with the infinite blessings and virtues of all Buddhas.”If we take these practices to heart, when facing the many sentient beings, we can create blessings and engage in practice.This is the direction we should pursue.
“He widely proclaims the Dharma of impartiality and accumulates superior causes within.” We need to be continuously transmitting the Buddha’s teachings, to let everyone know not to discriminate.We should all have respect for one another.
Widely proclaiming impartial compassion, the teachings of compassion and equality, is to “accumulate superior causes within” so we can “outwardly rely on superior conditions”.
We need to continuously go among people to create countless blessings until causes and conditions ripen.All these [karmic] seeds enter our storehouse consciousness; this is “accumulating superior causes within so he achieves the profound wisdom of all Buddhas”.This is what we must pursue.
We want to have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s, profound and superior wisdom.
We want to return to the [Dharma-nature], the Dharma-nature that encompasses the universe and all Dharma-realms.
If we can all understand this clearly, we can “achieve [this] profound wisdom”.
The previous sutra passage states, “In his final incarnation, he will attain Buddhahood and be called Radiant Light Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans and Buddha, the World-Honored One.”
We have explained this before, so we must be more mindful.What Kasyapa will accomplish in the future will make him replete with the ten epithets.
The next sutra passage states, “His land will be named Radiant Virtue, and the kalpa will be called Great Magnificence. This Buddha’s lifespan will be 12 small kalpas. Right Dharma will abide in the world for 20 small kalpas. Dharma-semblance will also abide for 20 small kalpas.”
In the future, when Venerable Kasyapa attains Buddhahood, his land will be named “Radiant Virtue.”When Kasyapa attains Buddhahood, he will be called Radiant Light Tathagata.
The Buddha only lived to be 80 years old.But for this Radiant Light Tathagata, His land will be known as Radiant Virtue, and the kalpa will be called “Great Magnificence”.
This Buddha’s lifespan will be 12 small kalpas 12 small kalpas is a great length of time; our Sakyamuni Buddha only lived to be 80.
When we speak of a kalpa, even a “small kalpa,” it can be really hard for us to measure.
Starting with an average lifespan of 10 years, each 100 years it increases by one year.
Every 100 years [the lifespan] increases one year, increasing until the average human lifespan reaches 84,000 years.Then from 84,000 years, with each 100 years the average decreases one year until the human lifespan is 10 years.One increasing kalpa and one decreasing kalpa makes up “one small kalpa”.
Think about it, how long are 12 small kalpas?
A very long period of time.So, not only is this Buddha’s lifespan long, but the Right Dharma will also abide in the world for 20 small kalpas.
Dharma-semblance will abide for 20 small kalpas.This is truly enviable!His land will be called Radiant Virtue.
“Land” refers to a geographic location.“Kalpa” is a measure of time.Kalpa refers to a long period of time.
“Both are related to his causal practices.”
These represent the circumstantial and direct retributions of his spiritual practice.Our direct retribution determines where we are born.
Our circumstantial retribution determines which country, whether we are wealthy or poor and so on.This all depends on our causal practices.
“His circumstantial and direct retributions are both inseparable from the two [opposites]. Circumstantial and direct retributions” are both circumstantial retributions and direct ones.
“[The land] is called Radiant Virtue because everyone born there is a person of wisdom.”
This refers to the causes we have cultivated.
With the causes we cultivate, if they are good causes, we attain good fruits and will have good conditions.What we will attain and the people we are to be with are to be in a country with all people of wisdom, where all are sages.Our circumstantial and direct retributions are all in that country.Everyone that we meet there is a person of wisdom.
“It is Great Magnificence because everyone’s retributions are beautiful and superior.”
All that are born there have great magnificence. The people have wisdom and the environment is good. It will be a perfect land.
Land refers to the place. Kalpa refers to the time. Both are related to his causal practices are both inseparable from the two [opposites]. [The land] is called Radiant Virtue because everyone born there is a person of wisdom. [The kalpa] is called Great Magnificence because everyone’s circumstantial and direct retributions are beautiful and superior.
When Sakyamuni Buddha was born here, at that time in the human realm, there was a very clear division between the four castes. The poor and the rich were clearly separated. But the land Radiant Virtue, the land of Radiant Light Tathagata, will be of great magnificence, a place filled with people of wisdom.
“His causes and conditions will both be superior; he will be dignified with blessings and wisdom.” His blessings and wisdom make him very dignified. “Thus he is able to attain Buddhahood”. These ae the practices we must cultivate daily.
With our circumstantial and direct retributions, where will we be born? That will depend on our causes and conditions, so we must create more blessings. As for Radiant Virtue, “Radiance is this land’s virtue of fruition”. Radiant Light Tathagata will abide in this land. His virtue of fruition, his result, is to be born in this place; His circumstantial and direct retributions are in this place.
“Radiance is this land’s virtue of fruition; everyone born there is a person of wisdom. The sentient beings in that land all possess radiance and world-transcending merits and virtues”.
All are willing to engage in spiritual practice and all are willing to hear the Buddha-Dharma. This shows that the land is very radiant and that it is a very rich country. “The kalpa will be called Great Magnificence”. “Kalpa” refers to a long period. “With the myriad practices of the Great Vehicle”, with so many practices of the Great Vehicle, he “will achieve perfection of blessings and wisdom and the magnificence of merits and virtues”. Thus it is called Great Magnificence.
When Venerable Kasyapa attains Buddhahood in the future, that era and the land [he will have] will be filled with people of great wisdom. They will practice the Great Vehicle teachings, to create blessings and virtues. It will be a place of accumulated virtues and magnificence.
Thus, “the myriad practices of the Great Vehicle” also need to have been accumulated in the past for them to “pervade this time and this world”.
So, “The circumstantial and direct retributions will all be beautiful and superior. Thus, the kalpa’s name will be Great Magnificence”. This truly will be a society and land of great magnificence.
“The kalpa will be called Great Magnificence: With the myriad practices of the Great Vehicle, he will achieve perfection of blessings and wisdom and the magnificence of merits and virtues, which pervade this time and this world. The circumstantial and direct retributions will all be beautiful and superior. Thus, the kalpa’s name will be Great Magnificence”.
“This Buddha’s lifespan will be 12 small kalpas”. This Buddha’s lifespan is quite long. “The body of the pure Dharma-realm, [the Buddha’s] body of the pure Dharma-realm, “fundamentally does not appear or disappear, yet He will abide for 12 small kalpas”. Fundamentally the body of this pure Dharma-realm does not increase or decrease, nor does it appear or disappear. This will be a very pure land. But He will live for such a long time, for 12 small kalpas. This is “manifesting according to the power of His great compassionate vows”.
Actually, He had already reached the body of this pure Dharma-realm, so how can we speak of the length of His life?
However, He still wanted the Buddha-Dharma to continually be passed down. Spiritual practitioners will eventually attain Buddhahood. So, once they attain Buddhahood they will have a long time to pass down the Buddha-Dharma. This is the power of great compassionate vows. The Buddha and Bodhisattvas gather together in the same lifetime at this place. So, “this Buddha’s lifespan” refers to “the lifespan of His reward-body”.
Thus, this Buddha’s lifespan is this long. He can stay in the world so long in order to expound the teachings.
“This Buddha’s lifespan will be 12 small kalpas: The body of the pure Dharma-realm fundamentally does not appear or disappear, yet He will abide for 12 small kalpas, manifesting according to the power of His great compassionate vows. This Buddha’s lifespan: The lifespan of His reward-body.”
So, everyone ought to make a vow that when Kasyapa attains Buddhahood, we will join him in that lifetime. We must be with Kasyapa when he attains Buddhahood in the future, in the era of Radiant Light Tathagata. Right now, we must similarly follow his example of spiritual practice. Then in the future we will have the chance to live during His lifetime.
Next it says,
“Right Dharma will abide in the world for 20 small kalpas. Dharma-semblance will also abide for 20 small kalpas”. Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance each “will disappear after 20 small kalpas. [The Dharma] prospers and declines in response to sentient beings’ capabilities. The Buddha-body of the Dharma-nature is firm, neither increasing or decreasing during this time”.
The Dharma will prosper for so long because of sentient beings’ capabilities and their causes and conditions”.
We have great capabilities to accept Great Dharma, so in the future it will accumulate. Then, naturally our lifespans will be long, and the Dharma will be passed down for a long time. This is in response to the capabilities of sentient beings. Sentient beings’ capabilities create these retributions in response. Thus, the Dharma will flourish like this and be continually passed sown.
“The Buddha-body of the Dharma-nature is firm, neither increasing nor decreasing.”
It is extremely firm. Everything is gathered [at that time]. His lifespan is long, Right Dharma is long and Dharma-semblance is long. This is because in the past, everyone practiced so many teachings. With very pure minds, they cab all abide in that world together, so it will be for a long time.
Thus, Right Dharma means “When people’s capabilities are superior, it is as if the Buddha is present. This is called the era of Right Dharma.
Right Dharma depends on people’s capabilities. Todat, although it is over 2000 years later, if our capabilities are sharp and keen, naturally we will hear the Buddha-Dharma. This is the Buddha’s Dharmakaya (Dharma-body) that remains in the human realm.
If we use right understanding, right views and right faith to accept the Dharma, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya will still remain in the human realm. It will be as if the Buddha is present. This is Right Dharma.
Dharma-semblance is when people’s capabilities gradually weaken. After the Buddha has left and the Right Dharma has also passed, gradually, the Dharma-assembly will decline. This is called Dharma-semblance;
we can only see superficial appearances. In that era, Right Dharma and those who earnestly cultivate will diminish. Everywhere you can see images of the Buddha, but the people who earnestly practice the teachings will have decreased in number. This is called Dharma-semblance.
“In the era of Right Dharma, the Dharma’s rites have not yet changed. There are people who teach and practice and truly attain the fruits of the Dharma.”
It is as if the Buddha is still present. People’s way of life not changed, as there are still “people who teach and practice.” They still teach the Dharma in the same way, they still accept the Dharma in the same way and they still practice the Dharma in the same way. “[They] truly attain the fruits of the Dharma. When there are those who truly attain the fruits of the Dharma, the Right Dharma is still in the human realm.
In the era of Dharma-semblance, “People teach the Dharma, and there are images and relics of the Buddha.” After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, His relics are still preserved. But the Dharma’s true rites and etiquette are not practiced. It seems that the Buddha-Dharma circulates, but no one is able to attain the fruits.
In this era we will only see Dharma-semblance. People see the images and relics of the Buddha, but the true Dharma and its rites and the rules of spiritual practice will no longer take form and will slowly dissipate. “It seems that the Buddha-Dharma circulates, it seems the Dharma is still passed on, it seems that way, but it is nor real. All that will be left of the Dharma is the name and image of the Buddha. Thus, the true Buddha-Dharma will slowly disappear. No one will be able to attain the fruits.
So, as Buddhist practitioners, we need to keep our feet firmly on the ground. The Buddha-Dharma is in our minds. The era of the Right Dharma is also in our minds. We are now in the era of Dharma-degeneration; in the era of Dharma-semblance, the Dharma was already declining, let alone on the era of Dharma-degeneration!
Dharma-degeneration is when the armies of Mara flourish. So, the sutra speak of breaking the web of Mara. We must now engage in spiritual practice. We must have even more perseverance. We must break this web of Mara. Therefore, we must put our effort into “meeting and serving” right now.
We ought to “meet and serve all Buddhas.” Even if the Buddha is not present, we still need to “meet and serve the World-Honored One’s outwardly relying on superior conditions. With every person we encounter, we should treat if they are Buddha. With these superior conditions, we can accomplish our spiritual cultivation.This is why we need to seize [the moment].
So, we must “widely proclaim the Dharma of impartiality and accumulate superior cause within so [we can] achieve the profound wisdom of all Buddhas.” true wisdom is achieved in this way; Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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