Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Widely Practicing Skillful Means Benefits People (廣行方便饒益有情)
Date: January.12. 2016
“Bodhisattvas, with their compassion and Bodhi-mind of innate enlightenment, take pity on all sentient beings and widely practice skillful means. They benefit and embrace out of compassion for sentient beings.”
Bodhisattvas, the term “Bodhisattva” is something we use causally in our daily living, like “elderly Bodhisattva” or “dear Bodhisattvas.” It seems to just roll off the tongue. Yes! Not only does it come out very naturally, to state a fact, everyone is a Bodhisattva, because everyone inherently has Buddha-nature, and everyone inherently has a loving heart. So, when we interact with people, we should always treat everyone with respect. They are all Bodhisattvas standing before us.
Bodhisattvas have loving hearts, which means they exercise compassion. Yet compassion is not enough; we still need the Bodhi-mind. Bodhi is something that we all innately possess, our intrinsic nature, our innate enlightenment. This is our nature of True Suchness. But our nature of True Suchness was lost to us, so though there is love in our hearts, we may not necessarily walk the Bodhi-path.
In learning the Buddha’s teachings, we have this love in our hearts as we learn, hoping we can step onto the Bodhisattva-path. Everyone knows we must walk the Bodhisattva-path. The Bodhi-path has always been straight. So, we say the great Bodhi-path is straight. Yet sometimes if people are very straightforward when they talk, we may misconstrue or misinterpret what they say. A slight deviation can take us far off course.
So, if we are very straightforward when we talk, though it may not be intentional, though we may not even be aware of it, others may misunderstand us, and this may delay their entering the Bodhi-path. Perhaps we ourselves are completely unaware of it.
So, as listeners, we should listen with a straightforward mind, and as speakers, we should be accommodating and harmonious. Then we will be able to transform others and be transformed ourselves.
A member of our Tzu Chi Faith Corp, Mr. Chen, is a good example. He is very diligent. He always takes in the fragrance of the Dharma; he listens to the morning Dharma-lecture every day. I saw a short program on Da Ai TV about him, of how he would listen to the teachings.
The story tells of his past, about how back in 1989 he had already known about Tzu Chi, but had not yet joined, because he went to a different practice center. At the spiritual practice center he had chosen, he could engage in practice by sitting in meditation, listening to the Dharma and studying the sutras; this was his spiritual practice center. This lasted until the 921 Earthquake, that great earthquake that hit central Taiwan. The earthquake caused tremendous turmoil and chaos. Many families suffered from the disaster. Some people’s houses collapsed, while others lost family members. When I think back on the 921 Earthquake, there was indeed so much suffering! Along with his fellow spiritual practitioners, he also entered the disaster area, but during his time in the disaster area, what he saw everywhere was our volunteers in blue and white. Our Tzu Chi volunteers were everywhere. He saw how these people devoted themselves, how they gave of themselves night and day, how they comforted the suffering, how they did many things for the suffering. In whatever they did, such as providing hot meals, everything was so well-ordered. There was a group of volunteers there who were attending to the culinary work. There was another group there caring for the wounded in the hospitals. There was another group there continuously engaged in consoling [survivors]. In summary, everyone acted together in such unity, with their roles all so clearly defined. There was such a spirit of cooperation among everyone. In this way he began to desire to join this Tzu Chi organization. Afterwards, he joined and began serving as a volunteer and was so happy to do the work.
One day a Faith Corp member, a Tzu Chi volunteer, spoke to him carelessly, in a very straightforward way. Though what he said was likely unintentional, Mr. Chen [took offense] and left. He left and stayed away until Typhoon Morakat. In the Kaohsiung and Pingtung regions, there was severe flooding. Again he witnessed the selflessness of Tzu Chi volunteers, making no distinction between self and others, how they all gave to help like this. Such a large group of volunteers from the northern and central regions went down to southern Taiwan. [He witnessed] their selfless great love, how they put their hearts into helping others, their unity, harmony and happiness, their willingness to help those suffering people. Seeing how Tzu Chi volunteers, for the sake of those displaced individuals, began clearing the land for building temporary shelters and so on, he was very moved, and with that he began again. He joined and began dedicating himself again.
This time he was very determined in his spiritual aspirations. He understood that Tzu Chi is a group of loving people in society who are practicing the Bodhisattva-path; we not only serve society but also hold study groups together and more. He decided that this was the way to cultivate blessings and wisdom. He joined volunteer training to become certified. During this period, Tzu Chi volunteers and commissioners mentored him. One day they went on a case to visit a family. A gentleman in this family had been in an accident and his entire body was paralyzed. All he could do was lay in bed; it was impossible for him to get out of bed. Tzu Chi volunteers had begun accompanying and caring for this family. He went with some senior commissioners to see them and began to realize first-hand how life was truly impermanent. This man who appeared to be so healthy was unable to get out of bed or even move a muscle. This is truly the helplessness and impermanence of life.
So, he started to continually care for this family. One day, he went again to visit the family and brought a copy of the Jing Si Aphorisms with him. He spent time interacting with the bedridden man, talking with him about the suffering of life, explaining to him the principles of suffering, emptiness and impermanence’s. His copy of Jing Si Aphorisms had not been opened. He said to the man, “In Jing Si Aphorisms, the teachings are all quite simple. Come, I will flip to a page and show you.”
He began opening to a page and letting the man read. The aphorism the man happened to open to was, “Suffering is a precious life lesson.” This was the first aphorism he opened to and asked the man to read aloud. There it was, suffering, written in big letters, “Suffering is a precious life lesson.” When the bedridden man began reading this sentence, his eyes seemed to well with tears. Those around him listening, Tzu Chi volunteers, were also stunned.
Mr. Chen later shared that he saw the expression of the bedridden man as the man read the sentence; his eyes seemed to well up with tears. Mr. Chen said that this particular aphorism truly resonated with the man; that particular sentence seemed to suit his capabilities, for the man was facing his greatest suffering. For someone so healthy several years prior to now instead be bedridden and unable to move, isn’t this suffering? His family needed his support to sustain them. When the man became disabled, his family totally lost their means of support. The family was suffering and the man, bedridden due to illness, was suffering.
Yes, this was a precious life lesson! The aphorism was incredibly fitting. This was the karmic causes and conditions. This is the Dharma. The Dharma is so simple when it is applied to life. So, Mr. Chen is very diligent. He now listens to the morning Dharma-lectures and is probably listening to me now as I speak. At the recycling station in Qiaotou, at that spiritual practice center, every day he is the first to arrive and open up. As soon as he arrives, he lays out the cushions. Then he begins the morning recitation with us. As we begin the morning recitation at the Abode, he follows along. He waits for everyone to successively arrive, then they all begin watching the morning teaching. He listens and earnestly takes notes. Indeed! He feels those who listen to the Dharma are also teachers of the Dharma and should spread the Dharma as well, thus he earnestly takes notes so as to take the Dharma to heart and apply it in his daily life. This is his daily living. Before he goes to work, this the subject he reverently and diligently tries to master.
Think about it; at times when we may make a remark, even if we say something unintentionally, it can cause someone to stop [volunteering]. It was not until the August 8the floods of Morakot when he again saw a group of Tzu Chi Volunteers, this group of Buddhist disciples, dedicated themselves to society, selflessly helping others; this moved him greatly. This time, upon joining, you can see how diligent he is, how he listens to the Dharma-lectures every day. He is also a leader for group spiritual practice. If he had not stopped during that period, wouldn’t his spiritual aspirations and his wisdom-life have grown much more?
However, if we have the causes and conditions, it is never too late to form aspirations. Now he is very diligent. This is a “Bodhisattva, with [his] compassion and Bodhi-mind of innate enlightenment.”
When Ah-ming interviewed him in the past, he said he used to think that learning the Buddha’s teachings meant meditating and reciting the sutras to purify his mind. Any kind of interpersonal conflict was merely a waste of time. It seemed he felt that going among people was merely a waste of time. But Tzu Chi is exactly the opposite of this. We should want to go among people, for it is precisely among people where we learn to temper ourselves by using our love to give to those who are suffering. Through different sentient beings’ afflictions and ignorance, we can experience how afflictions and ignorance can be turned into Bodhi. How do we go among others and quickly help relieve them of their suffering? How do we comfort people in their afflictions? There is Bodhi amidst ignorance; the question is how to transform, for this is how we increase our wisdom-life.
All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas underwent these experiences along the way, exercising both compassion and wisdom. Only having compassion is not enough; merely seeking wisdom is also not enough. We must have compassion as well as wisdom. Only with compassion and wisdom combined together can we exercise them both on the Bodhisattva-path in this world.
Those one the Bodhisattva-path in this world are known as enlightened sentient beings. After awakening, we devote ourselves to other sentient beings, awakening ourselves while awakening others. At the same time, by witnessing others’ suffering, we come to recognize our own blessings. All this helps us experience and understand that the true Buddha-Dharma lies in spiritual practice in daily living.
So, only by engaging in spiritual practice in our daily living can we truly experience the Buddha-Dharma. When we experience the truth of the Buddha-Dharma, we will manifest our compassion. By exercising compassion and wisdom together, we can “take pity on all sentient beings and widely practice skillful means.” When compassion and wisdom mutually resonate within us, our compassionate thoughts will contain wisdom, and this wisdom can transform the afflictions. This is transforming afflictions into Bodhi.
So, listening to and teaching the Dharma is done by exercising both compassion and wisdom. We then take pity on all sentient beings. On this path, we go among people and draw near to them through skillful means. When people are suffering, they become our spiritual training ground. We should be grateful to them for manifesting an appearance of suffering for us to experience. So with a very peaceful mind, we can go help them, advise and guide them. This is taking pity on them and widely practicing skillful means. This is how we “benefit and embrace out of compassion for sentient beings.”
We have the Four All-Embracing Virtues,” the precepts that benefit sentient beings. These are charitable giving, beneficial conduct, loving speech and collaborative work. These are precepts that benefit sentient beings. These are skillful means that serve to benefit and embrace all sentient beings. If we do not learn these teachings, it will be impossible for us to truly draw near the Buddha’s True Dharma. So, we must be mindful of them.
Look at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha; we should remember that He represents something we all have, an innate enlightenment intrinsic to everyone. Since Beginningless Time, everyone has had this. The 16 princes went off in all directions. From listening to the Dharma, they then requested the Dharma, then they clearly expounded the Lotus Sutra, the path to Buddhahood. They began by listening, and after listening, that Buddha entered Samadhi and sat in Samadhi for more than 80,000 kalpas, such a very long period of time. The 16 novices then scattered in all directions and sat at [different] Dharma-assemblies to teach the Dharma. They were listeners of the Dharma, teachers of the Dharma and spreaders of the Dharma.
Now all of those 16 princes, who had spread throughout the eight directions, had each already attained Buddhahood. One among them, Sakyamuni Buddha, attained Buddhahood in our Saha World. Sakyamuni Buddha, who attained Buddhahood in the Saha World, had made this vow to willingly come lifetime after lifetime to the place where the Five Destinies coexist, this world that must be endured, for the sake of sentient beings. Sentient beings have ignorance and afflictions, [He wished] to turn their afflictions into Bodhi. His one great cause was to open and reveal; then He had to wait for sentient beings to realize and enter. This will be a very long period of time.
In fact, returning to our original nature, our intrinsic nature, takes this kind of process, like those 16 princes, who listened to the Dharma, requested the Dharma and later taught the Dharma. This means we must be earnest and diligent. We must learn the earnestness and diligence of 16 princes. Then we can “benefit and embrace out of compassion for sentient beings.”
When we begin learning the Buddha’s Way, we hope to attain Buddhahood in the future. To attain Buddhahood in the future, we must go through the process of putting wisdom and compassion into action to benefit and embrace all sentient beings. This process is absolutely necessary. We should all mindfully try to realize this.
The previous sutra passage says, “At that time, the 16 princes, having praised the Buddha with this verse, implored the World-Honored One to turn the Dharma-wheel. They all spoke these words, ‘If the World-Honored One teaches the Dharma, many will attain great peace and stability.”
After Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Buddhahood, He began teaching the Dharma. The 16 princes had also all became monastics to engage in spiritual practice. Their diligence shows us that outwardly in our spiritual practice, we need to widely transform sentient beings. To widely and outwardly transform sentient beings, we must return to our intrinsic nature and strengthen our spiritual aspirations. We still must strengthen our spiritual aspirations. With spiritual aspirations like those of the 16 principles, we can draw out our nature of True Suchness, our ocean of wisdom, then further give of ourselves for the sake of the multitudes of sentient beings. Actually, this is the most important meaning that is contained here [in this passage]. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature; then we can attain Buddhahood. The process of attain Buddhahood is a very long one; we must teach the Dharma. When we teach the Dharma to others, we also dedicate it to ourselves, to being out our nature of True Suchness. Then universally, in all directions, for all sentient beings, we must also make the great vows. This must go one continuously. This is telling us that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature.
So, we must continually spread the Dharma. There are innumerable suffering sentient beings who are unable to achieve peace of mind. They are unable to achieve peace of mind, and only the Buddha-Dharma can bring it to them.
It is like that volunteer who opened to that page in the Aphorisms by chance for the man who was bedridden to read. The first sentence he read was, “Suffering is a precious life lesson.”
Indeed, this is suffering. The Buddha came to the world to tell us of “suffering, causation, cessation and the Path.” Where is there a place or a life without suffering? Everyone is suffering! There is so much suffering. Especially recently, in countries [near and] far, there is so much suffering due to imbalances in the four elements; there are natural disasters as well as suffering due to manmade calamities. For natural disasters, if many people immediately come from all directions and quickly get involved to help, in a period of several years, [the affected] people can get back on their feet.
But manmade calamities are different. Manmade calamities cause destruction and displacement over a long time. Their lives are filled with suffering, and suffering is passed down through generations. This is what manmade calamities bring. Isn’t this suffering? Many suffer from lack of peace and stability.
So, we must put effort into teaching the Dharma. We all must make an effort to awaken. The Buddha opened and revealed; sentient beings must mindfully realize and enter. To awaken, we must take the Buddha-Dharma to heart. Only by taking the Buddha-Dharma to heart and continually walking upon this Bodhi-path will it be possible for us draw near the state of Buddhahood. Ultimately, we wish to attain Buddhahood, so we must mindfully try to realize this.
The next sutra passage continues, “Have mercy upon and benefit all heavenly beings and humans.” Earlier they said [He would] bring peace and stability to sentient beings; they asked the World-Honored One to teach to being peace and stability to sentient beings. “Many will attain great peace and stability.”
Now, the next sutra passage talks about taking pity on and widely benefiting them. We just mentioned “benefiting and embracing.” This is what we need to work on as well. Previously, the heavenly beings and the 16 princes asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to teach the Dharma to benefit sentient beings, They asked Him to teach the Lotus Sutra to benefit all, so the sutra passage says, ‘“Have mercy upon and benefit all heavenly beings and humans.’ They then repeated themselves in verse.”
What came before was long-form prose. Now it continues again in verse in order to restate again. “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World, who dignifies Himself with 100 blessings and has attained supreme wisdom, may You teach for the sake of the world.”
This sutra passage speaks of the Buddha’s “sympathy and mercy, which is compassion, universal compassion He looked upon the world’s sentient beings as His only child, as a parent would look upon his own children.
“Have mercy upon and benefit all heavenly beings and humans. They then repeated themselves in verse: Out of sympathy and mercy, He nourishes and benefits all in the heaven realm, as well as all humans. Thus, they reiterated their earlier intent and implored the World-Honored One.
If a child becomes lost like this, if he encounters such difficulties and becomes destitute and homeless, with place for body or mind to settle, then of course his parents will worry about him and take pity on him. If parents of this world are like this, then how much more so the Buddha? The Buddha looked upon the world’s sentient beings as His only child. It is with the heart of a parent that the Great Enlightened One sees the world’s sentient beings. We face all kinds of things that must be endured; this is indeed a world difficult to endure. However, since we have been born in this world, we have no choice but to patiently endure it. Furthermore, we remain unaware, deluded and lost; in the middle of this suffering we remain unaware. This is like the burning house. In that great burning house, there were still some children inside. Thought the flames were already pressing closer, they still foolishly played inside. This made the elder worried, so, taking pity on these children, he devised the skillful means of setting up three carts outside the door. The principle is the same. So, the Buddha “took mercy upon and benefited all heavenly beings as well as all humans.” This was His intent in teaching the Dharma, so “He nourished and benefited all in the heaven realms as well as all humans.”
Only through the Buddha’s teachings, can people maintain their good thoughts. Doing good deeds and creating blessings leads to rebirth in heaven. This benefits those sentient beings in heaven. But to benefit those in the heaven realm, He had to start in the human realm; we must first do good deeds in the world. Only by doing good deeds in this world, can we be reborn in heaven and enjoy heavenly blessings. So, it says He benefited them.
“He nourishes and benefits all in the heaven realm as well as all humans,” all the sentient beings in this world. So, “They reiterated their earlier intent and implored the World-Honored One.” This is the meaning repeated again in verse.
So, He is the “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World.”
Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World: The World-Honored One is a great hero, unmatched and peerless, whose superior wisdom is supreme.
The wisdom of the Tathagata is such that nothing can be compared to it, and no one can surpass it.
Hence the name, “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World.”
Past praise for the Buddha is repeated here. So, “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World” means that “The World-Honored One is a great hero, unmatched and peerless, whose superior wisdom is supreme.” This means that the Buddha had attained enlightenment. He had attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, which, translated, means “supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.” No one in the Three Realms can surpass the Buddha. No One has greater wisdom or compassion, so He is called World-Honored one, Great Hero, One with Supreme Wisdom; He is the highest and most supreme, There is none more transcendent than the Buddha. This is the wisdom of the Tathagata; it is “such that nothing can be compared to it.” There is nothing that can be compared to it. There is no one who can surpass the Buddha in wisdom and compassion.
There is “no one who can surpass it.” He is a “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World.”
Hero of the World: This is another name for the Buddha. The Buddha is the most heroic and brave in the world; He has completely eliminated all afflictions.
Hero of the World is another name for the Buddha. Next time, if you see “Hero of the World,” you will know it is another name for the Buddha. This is another name for the Buddha. “The Buddha is the most heroic and brave in the world.” He is the most powerful person, because the Buddha’s wisdom is transcendent, and His compassion is transcendent. In terms of compassion and wisdom, there is no one who can compare with Him. He is the Hero of the World, for He has completely eliminated all afflictions.
Humans are weak because of their afflictions; they can be defeated by even a few simple words. This is like Mr. Chen; because of one unintentional remark, he felt defeated and withdrew. Once he left, he stayed away for many years, before he finally recovered, returned and, now, has become very diligent.
So, our spiritual aspirations must be firm. We must first eliminate afflictions and ignorance so that a single small remark or an insignificant incident will not cause us to lose our will to practice. So, for our spiritual aspirations to be firm, we need the strength of a Hero of the World; only strength like this can keep us from quitting halfway and retreating without achieving success. In our spiritual practice, we need such courage and diligence. Then we are a “great person” (practitioners). A “great person” is also a Tamer, one of the ten epithets of the Buddha. So, we must be diligent and courageous to be called Hero of the World.
“Unmatched” means “compared to other beings, none can equal His blessings.” These are his blessings; it is not just His wisdom, but His blessings which are also great, for over many lifetimes. He was always going among people to create blessings. He did good deeds to created blessings and nurtured His wisdom-life among others, so His blessings were great. “The wisdom of the Tathagata is such that nothing can be compared to it”; no one can surpass it. Thus, He is called “unmatched.” “Peerless” means that noble beings of the ten grounds are unable to match or compare to His wisdom. So, His wisdom is incomparable.
“(He) dignifies Himself with 100 blessings.” With His wisdom, His blessings and wisdom, He is completely dignified. Having both blessings and wisdom, He “dignifies Himself with 100 blessings.”
We explained before that the Ten Good Deeds exist in every good deed you do. For example, by not killing, you are already nurturing love in your heart. By not killing, you are already respecting life. You are loving and protecting sentient beings. You have already begun upholding the precepts. By not speaking harsh words and so forth. The Ten Good Deeds exist in every good deed, so we will be replete with the Ten Goods Deeds. Not speaking harsh words is also a good deed. Those who do not use harsh speech understand the value of kind speech; they teach the Dharma, so of course they can uphold the precepts and practice the Ten Good Deeds.
In any case, the Ten Good Deeds exist in every good deed you do. The continue accumulation of these [deeds] results in dignity; they continually accumulate. Every good deed is replete with blessings, and every blessing is replete with good deeds. 100 good deeds make up one blessing. They must be continually accumulated like this.
So, this is how it is. Whenever you do a good deed, you absolutely are not engaging in a bad deed. When a kind thought arises and you perform one good deed, you are definitely replete with all Ten Good Deeds. So, these good deeds gather together like this. Every 100 good deeds results a single blessing. This is the dignity of 1000 blessings, of dignity of 100 blessings.
So, “[You who have] attained supreme wisdom, may You teach for sake of the world.”
[You who have] attained supreme wisdom, may You teach for sake of the world: The Buddha had realized and attained supreme true wisdom, thus everyone faithfully accepted Right Dharma; their mind’s mirror wisdom was clear and sharp, illuminating all without hindrance. They prayed the Buddha would teach for the sake if all sentient beings in the world.
If we give mindfully and lovingly like this, and continue to give, there will be no need to count [our blessings]. We have already gone through dust-inked kalpas. Everything we have done, everything that accumulated, will be incalculable even by a mathematician or his disciples. So, here it speaks of 100 blessings, but in fact, we must do it continually every day, so everything we do is replete with goodness. If we are replete with good thoughts, by continual and unceasing accumulation, we will naturally become dignified, dignified in our bodies and minds.
[“You who have] attained supreme wisdom” means He had already supreme wisdom. “May You teach for the sake of the world.” They asked the Buddha to teach the Dharma. “The Buddha had realized and attained supreme true wisdom, so everyone “faithfully accepted Right Dharma.” When everyone faithfully accepts the Right Dharma, the wisdom of the mirror of our minds will become clear and sharp.
Right now we are unenlightened beings whose minds have become severely muddled by layers of ignorance. By listening to the Dharma, we can faithfully accept and put it not practice. If we can take in this Dharma of true wisdom, we should faithfully accept it. By faithfully accepting the Right Dharma, naturally we will be able to consistently polish the mirror of our minds so that, not only will it not be covered by ignorance and afflictions, but because we put in effort every day, our mind’s will become clear and sharp, and wisdom will manifest. When afflictions are transformed they become Bodhi. They become wisdom. So, when the mirror becomes clear, it naturally “illuminates all without hindrance.” None of the world’s afflictions will be able to hinder our minds or our diligent resolve. So, our mind’s “mirror is clear and sharp, illuminating all without hindrance.” This is why we need the Buddha. To fulfill the wish we share, we need the Buddha to teach the world’s sentient beings, to earnestly teach the people of the world. The Buddha has left us this Dharma, so the Dharma can be passed down for a long time. Therefore, when we listen to the Dharma, let us try to truly comprehend the true wisdom contained within it. So, let us always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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