Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Serve All Buddhas and Walk the Bodhisattva-path
(奉覲諸佛具菩薩道)
Date: November.21. 2016
“They will meet and serve and offer their deeds to many Buddhas. They resonate with the Buddha’s wisdom and merit listen to many wondrous teachings, deeply understand and take them to heart. They concentrate and cultivate contemplation, and, with firm resolve, put the teachings into action. They cultivate and uphold everlasting aspirations for billions of kalpas.”
In spiritual practice, to be able to live in the era of a Buddha is rare and precious. The Buddha bestowed predictions on His disciples that in their course of spiritual practice, they would meet and serve many Buddhas. So, “They will meet and serve and offer their deeds to many Buddhas.” They will be born into the eras of Buddhas, draw near these Buddhas and serve and offer their deeds to these Buddhas. They make offerings to and do things for Buddhas.
After [serving] so many Buddhas, the more time they spend at a Buddha’s side, the more opportunity they will have to understand the Buddha-Dharma and thus “resonate with the Buddha’s wisdom and merit.” When they are able to resonate with the Buddha’s mind and wisdom, they can further penetrate and understand the virtues that the Buddhas have cultivated. This is because they “listen to many wondrous teachings.” They will be able to listen to many Buddhas teaching the Dharma.
As they listen to the Dharma more and are continually permeated over and over again, continually cultivating it, they will take the Dharma to heart more deeply and will understand the Dharma more profoundly. The more we understand the Dharma, as we cultivate contemplation and concentrate, the firmer our resolve will be. With firm resolve, all our deeds will be to benefit sentient beings and walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is the conduct that results from the firm resolve of cultivating contemplation.
If we use such [resolve] to cultivate and uphold “everlasting aspirations for billions of kalpas,” if we earnestly contemplate with this resolve, [no matter] how much time passes, our minds will remain firm as we take action.
So, we often say that spiritual practice happens in our everyday life. All of our actions are an education for others. For instance, the Buddha was once at Jetavana Abode. This abode was built by Anathapindada and Prince Jeta as an offering to the Buddha. This elder, Anathapindada, every time the Buddha came to this abode, would personally go to Jetavana daily and using a broom to sweep the surrounding land and clean the grounds.
One day, Anathapindada had something else to do. So on that morning, he did not go to clean the grounds. When the Buddha went outside to do walking meditation, He saw many fallen leaves on the ground. The Buddha gave rise to a thought that everyone should work together to maintain their living environment and keep it clean. This was a place of spiritual practice. So, the Buddha gave rise to a thought and went to find a broom Himself.
As soon as He gave rise to this thought, Sovereign Sakra and other heavenly beings knew that the Buddha had given rise to this thought of sweeping the ground. So, the heavenly beings quickly took up brooms and likewise went to clean this place up. Kasyapa, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana saw that the Buddha had taken up a broom, so they quickly grabbed brooms too. When the others saw these disciples, no one dared to be indolent. Everyone worked together to clean up. After the ground was swept clean, the Buddha began to tell them all about the five exceptional merits and virtues of sweeping the ground.
He began by saying that the first is purifying our own mind. After the ground is swept clean and we take a look at it, don’t we feel very happy? When we sweep the ground around us, we actually purify the ground of our mind within. The second is purifying other people’s minds. When people come to this area and see the clean surroundings, they will also give rise to joy. Third, heavenly beings are happy and praise us. If we can always maintain the cleanliness of this place, not only will we ourselves and others be happy, heavenly beings will also give rise to joy and praise us. The fourth is planting the wholesome seed of having a dignified appearance in future lifetimes. The fifth is to be reborn in heaven after death. This is because heaven is full of pleasures, and the environment in heaven is very clean. These are the five merits and virtues [of seeping].
During the time the Buddha was teaching, Anathapindada had finished his work and quickly came to Jetavana to sweep. When he arrived, he saw that the surroundings were shining and clean inside and out. When he saw this, in his mind he gave rise to great happiness. As he reached the entrance, he heard the Buddha teaching the Dharma. So, he did not dare to step in, because this place had been cleaned by the Buddha and His disciples. “This is such a dignified place, how could I dare to step on this ground?”
The Buddha saw him and said loudly, “Come in! Usually it is you who cleans this place daily. That is also paying reverence to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. You can put your mind at ease and step in.” Anathapindada followed the Buddha’s instructions. From his heart, he gave rise to respect for the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Thus, he reverently stepped inside. The Buddha then praised Anathapindada for practicing giving through physical action by coming there to clean every day. These were offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. This was praised by all. This is to “serve and offer their deeds”; this is what Anathapindada did.
The Buddha also taught His disciples to seize the opportunity to take action. He taught His disciples that everyone is responsible for the environment and that they must be mindful in cleaning it. This is a kind of teaching for our daily living. Whether we are sweeping, planting vegetables, doing chores, or mindfully preparing food, we should do all of these things with this firm spiritual resolve to single-mindedly and wholeheartedly give of ourselves to benefit people. This is spiritual practice in daily living.
So, “They cultivate and uphold everlasting aspirations for billions of kalpas.” This requires a very long time of doing thing. This is the way we engage in spiritual practice. It is actually done in our daily living.
The previous sutra passages states, “After this, he will further.” After this, he will further make offerings to two trillion Buddhas, also in the same way. After he makes offerings to all these Buddhas, he will fulfill the Bodhisattva-path.
Before this, Katyayana has to make offerings to many Buddhas, to 800 billion Buddhas. After that there are another two trillion Buddhas. Think of it, this requires a long time and a countless number of Buddhas. After this, he will further make offerings to more Buddhas.
“After he makes offerings to all these Buddhas, he will fulfill the Bodhisattva-path”. While he is making offerings to the Buddhas, he is also engaging in spiritual practice. So, after this, “fulfill” refers to how he will have fulfilled the Bodhisattva-path. It means that during the course of his offering his deeds to every Buddha, he is walking the Bodhisattva-path. He does this until he serves two trillion Buddhas. Thus he fulfills his offerings to all Buddhas, and his Bodhisattva-path will be perfect and complete. This is the process the Buddha told Katyayana of when He bestowed a prediction on him.
Next, the passage states, “He will attain Buddhahood.” Once he fulfills the Bodhisattva-path, he will attain Buddhahood. “His epithet will be Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata.”
He will attain Buddhahood, and as a Buddha, his epithet will be “Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata.” This is the epithet of that Buddha. “He will attain Buddhahood.” This means he will become a Buddha. “The final destination of Bodhisattva-practice” means that he will reach his final incarnation. Over this time, he will have walked the Bodhisattva-path to “eliminate delusions and awaken to true enlightenment.” All of his illusions, afflictions and delusion of ignorance will be completely eliminated. Over the course of the Bodhisattva-path, he must constantly eliminate ignorance. He must go among people to form good affinities and transform sentient beings. He must go among people to develop wisdom-life, to unlock his wisdom. Thus he will completely fulfill the Bodhisattva-path “fulfill the path that Bodhisattvas practice. He will attain Buddhahood. Once he has fulfilled the Bodhisattva-path, he will naturally attain Buddhahood.
He will attain Buddhahood: Attaining Buddhahood: The final destination of Bodhisattva-practice. Having eliminated delusions and awakened his true enlightenment, he fulfills the path that Bodhisattvas practice. He will attain Buddhahood. This predicts the essence of the fruits: Attaining Buddhahood.
Do we not say every day that only when we fulfill the Bodhisattva-path will we reach the state of Buddhahood? This is “predicting the fruits.” His past meeting and serving all Buddhas is the cause he has been cultivating. After that, the Buddha predicted his fruit. After He attain Buddhahood, “his epithet will be Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata.” This is the fruit; he will attain Buddhahood.
So, this Buddha attains Buddhahood and his epithet will be “Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata.” “Jambu” is the name of a tree, “Nadi” means [river]. This is in Jambudvipa, the continent where we live. There is tree here called a Jambu tree. When the fruits of this tree growing by the river ripen and fall into the water, they tint the sands with a golden color. This color is supreme.
This is how the Buddha described it, “This color is supreme.” The fruits fall into water and turn the sand into a golden color. When the fruits tint the sand, the color is very beautiful. Mahakatyayana was foremost in discussion of doctrine. Among Buddha’s disciples, Venerable Katyayana “was foremost in discussion of doctrine.” “His nature is like the essence of gold.” His mind and his nature had become very firm through spiritual practice. He constantly practiced concentration and cultivated contemplation. His mind was firm, thus he clearly understood the Buddha’s mind.
So, his nature is compared to the essence of gold. It will not deteriorate. “His wisdom is as radiant as gold, which no one can surpass.” When describing the nature of his mind, his wisdom is said to be as radiant as gold. His wisdom is described as having the radiance of gold. This means it is not contaminated with afflictions. So, his wisdom is as radiant as gold, “which no one can surpass.” There are no other ways to describe this pure radiance. “Hence his epithet is Jambunada Gold Radiance.”
Mahakatyayana was foremost in discussion of doctrine, His nature is like the essence of gold, which will not deteriorate. His wisdom is as radiant as gold, which no one can surpass. Hence hos epithet is Jambunda Gold Radiance.
Katyayana will attain Buddhahood in the future because he will have engaged in spiritual practice until reaching such a state. In the future, he will again make offerings to so many Buddhas. His very firm mind will be just like this tree. This shows the truth of his spiritual practice; this true Suchness is as radiant as gold. “In the causal ground, his distinctive practice” is saying that in his spiritual practice he is somewhat different from others. He too listened to the Buddha’s teachings, yet his spiritual practice was different from others.
In the causal ground, his distinctive practice was to diligently sweep the Buddha Hall. As an Arhat, he was called Adorned with Language. After becoming a Buddha, his epithet will be Jambunada [Gold Radiance]. This means “superior to gold.” Because he will completely eliminate delusion and deeply realize the Dharmakaya, he is likened to pure gold extracted from ore, which never changes in radiance. Moreover, as gold is foremost of all treasures, this is an analogy for a Buddha as the most honored among all noble beings.
We have mentioned this before, that everyone has their own specialty and everyone has their own strengths. “In the causal ground, his distinctive practice was to diligently sweep the Buddha Hall.” This was his strength. The Buddha led His disciples to sweep the ground. Katyayana’s causal ground in the past was also like this. He constantly built stupas. He served the Buddhas, built stupas, and in the Buddha halls and stupas, he diligently swept and cleaned the surrounding environment.
“As an Arhat, he was called Adorned with Language.” At this time as he engaged in spiritual practice, he was an Arhat. Katyayana was his surname. His given name was Adorned with Language. In the future, when he attains Buddhahood, his epithet will be Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata. This is the course of his spiritual practice.
“In the causal ground, his distinctive practice” refers to his special qualities. So, “In the causal ground, [this was] his distinctive practice.” Here it says he will be “superior to gold. Because he will completely eliminate delusion….”
This means that all his delusions, ignorance and afflictions will be completely eliminated. Look at gold; it is extracted from ore and from piles of sand and continuously refined into gold. Likewise he had “completely eliminated delusion and deeply realized the Dharmakaya, He is likened to pure gold extracted from ore.” This gold has already been extracted from the ore and refined. Thus, “it never changes in radiance.” This is because it has been refined.
Gold is foremost of all treasures. It is an analogy for a Buddha being the most honored among all noble beings. Thus, his epithet will be Jambunada Gold Radiance Tathagata.” He will be replete with the ten virtues, therefore, he has the ten epithets.
Other than the Tathagata, he is also One Worthy 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.
Every Buddha has these common epithets. Only being replete with the ten epithets can a person be called a Buddha. These ten epithets are the Buddha’s ten virtues. To be replete and perfect with all ten virtues is truly our goal in spiritual practice. In the course of our spiritual practice, we must go through such a long period of time. We must constantly refine ourselves in order to extract the pure gold from the ore. We intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness; we all have it. As long as we have patience and are mindful in cultivating contemplation, in this way, one day we will also be able to attain Buddhahood. We just need to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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