Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: He teaches the True Principles for the World (願為世間說諦理)
Date: January.13. 2017
“The Buddha is foremost in the world, the most honored Hero of the World. Among two-footed sentient beings, He is the highest, peerless and unmatched. Blessings and wisdom, wisdom and compassion, are in accord with each other and replete for the Two-Footed Honored One. Heavenly beings and humans look up to Him and joyfully congratulate Him for having attained liberation.”
“The Buddha is foremost in the world, the most honored Hero of the World.” We should all have great respect for the Buddha; we should always be reverent and respectful. For a Great Enlightened One to appear in the world is extremely rare. How much time does it take? It takes countless kalpas, a process of a very long time, for there to be a Buddha who awakens in the world and is worthy of being called a Buddha. If we think about it, isn’t this a rare event? It is so respectable, rare and precious.
What kind of character allows one to be known as a Great Enlightened One, one who attained Buddhahood? He would need to be replete with wisdom, blessings and wisdom; he would need to have blessings and wisdom. Moreover, His wisdom would be the wisdom of all Dharma, wisdom of enlightenment and all-encompassing wisdom, the Three Kinds of Wisdom as one. He is one with everything in the universe. He is clear about and understands everything. All principles of all things in the universe and all Dharma-realms, all the principles in their entirety, are encompassed inside the ocean of awakening of His intrinsic nature. So, this is why, in this world, He can be called the Great Hero.
Previously, we said, “Peerless and Unmatched Hero of the World.” This means, in this world, there is no one who can ever surpass this Great Enlightened One. He is known as the World-Honored One, the most supremely honored in the world. He is called the Great Hero with great power, the Great World-Honored One, the only one in the human realm. So, in this world, in the Three Realms, the Buddha is the foremost hero. He truly has power. What is this power? It is not the kind of power we use to compete with others. Rather, it is the power of His two feet of blessings and wisdom. He has benefited others for a long time, across time and space. The Buddha has created blessings in this world for a long time, across an expansive space. So, He has accumulated them over a very long time. With everything that He has accumulated, He is the “most honored Hero of the World.”
So, “Among two-footed sentient beings, He is the highest, peerless and unmatched.” Two-footed refers to having two feet. Among humans, humans use human language to communicate with each other. Humans have human feelings and expressions and, thus, create all sorts of karma. This is what humans do. Humans have two feet, so among all humans, [the Buddha] “is the highest, peerless and unmatched.” We need not even mention other sentient beings. Beings in the hungry ghost, hell and animal realms cannot help themselves. They are unable to express themselves. Only humans can express their experiences. Love, hate, passion, animosity and so on can all be found among humans. With the afflictions and ignorance that each person has in his mind, we are all fully human. Of all human beings, He is the highest, peerless and unmatched. This is the Great Enlightened One. After His enlightenment, among all people, He was the most honored, most respected, the highest, supreme, peerless and unmatched. This is something we should praise. With everything the Buddha possesses, His blessings and wisdom, wisdom and compassion, are in accord with each other.
As for His blessings, we constantly mention that [the Buddha goes] among the people in any place. He not only does this within the human realm, but He even goes among the four kinds of beings, the womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. He goes among all living and moving beings. The Buddha’s wisdom and love extend universally to all four kinds of beings. In addition to humans, the beings of the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms are all sentient beings that the Buddha protects.
If we think about it, doesn’t He benefit all in the Five Realms? Every realm and every living being is protected by the Buddha’s loving-kindness. He hopes that the beings of the Five Realms and the four kinds of beings attain blessings by listening to the teachings and creating blessings. This is how the Buddha treats sentient beings, as if they were His own children. This is the kind of love with which He serves. With His wisdom and compassion, His universal compassion, He relates to all sentient beings’ suffering so closely as if it were in His own body and mind. This kind of love is universal compassion. We often say, “We feel others’ pain as our own.” He cannot bear for sentient beings to suffer and does not seek His own peace and joy. He does not seek His own peace and joy because He cannot bear for sentient begins to suffer. As for this kind of compassion and wisdom, whether it be His blessings and wisdom or His compassion and wisdom, they were already in accord with each other. He was already replete with both.
Blessings and wisdom or wisdom and compassion have converged. He is relate with the two. So, His is called the Two-footed Honored One. This is whom heavenly beings and humans look up to. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha sat in meditation for ten kalpas. Heavenly beings protected the Dharma for ten small kalpas. After such a long period of time, this Buddha finally awakened and attained Buddhahood; He perfected his practice. His blessed virtues and wisdom were perfected. Heavenly beings looked up to Him with reverence while protecting the Dharma.
Finally, they saw the Buddha emerge from Samadhi and open His mouth to expound the Dharma. This was when the enlightened Buddha had achieved perfection. He emerged from Samadhi and taught heavenly begins the Dharma. Heavenly beings had great respect for Him. They looked up to him, meaning from below they gazed upwards, lifting their heads up with reverence. This is called “looking up.”
Everyone was very joyful. They were so happy and joyful. They “joyfully congratulated Him for having attained liberation.” For people who were present at the assembly, for heavenly beings, the Buddha expounded the Dharma He thoroughly understood. This Dharma a encompasses all the principles of the universe together. The Buddha expounded it for the heavenly beings, so the heavenly begins were all very joyful and joyfully celebrated. Everyone’s minds opened as they understood. Indeed, the Dharma must be passed on. The path of Living Bodhisattvas is what we understand, so we must also pass it on.
Recently, we keep seeing the Bodhisattvas in South Africa. They live like monks engaged in ascetic practice. Starting in September of 2014, they would drive an old van from Durban to Port Elizabeth. That is more than 1000 kilometers. On their journey, they pass by East London, which is more than 600 kilometers from Durban.
There are Tzu Chi volunteers in East London. So, they would drive from Durban to East London, stopping there to promote the Dharma. They would speak about the teachings of Tzu Chi, how we must pass on the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and implement the principles of the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism, putting them into practice. So, it started from there.
In September, when they set off on the first trip, they took the wrong road and got lost twice in the mountains. Why did they get lost? Because in the car, everyone had their own opinion as to which road and direction to take. Everyone’s sense of direction was different, so driving a car like this, a slight deviation caused them to go far off course.
They were driving in the opposite direction and went a long way out of the way. Everyone’s minds began to drift, and with minds like this, they could not work together. Again, someone suggested a road to take, and then they got lost again on that road. The second time they got lost, they stopped to calm down. Everyone reflected upon themselves. “Why are we driving on the wrong road? It is because our minds are not in harmony. We should reflect on ourselves and what our Master has taught us. Are we working in unity and harmony with mutual love and concerted effort?” Hearing this, everyone lowered their head and thought carefully. “It was my fault. I was acting on impulse. No, it was my mistake.” They repented to each other. Everyone then put their palms together, bowing to each other and repenting. In this way, their minds all calmed down.
Then, a benefactor appeared. There was an old man at the gas station, so they quickly went to ask him which direction to take. “To go from Durban to East London, which direction should we be going?” The old man gave them directions, saying, “You should go straight in this direction.” With someone to guide the way, everyone was grateful and they began driving again. When they arrived at East London, it was already midnight, so they stayed in the car overnight. Everyone was very tired, but they began doing what they were suppose to do that day.
The teachings of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism had to be shared with everyone. Then these seeds of love could be revealed and this field of blessings cultivated. They also transformed many people there. They also transformed many people there. Then they continued to move onward toward King William’s Town, which was another 50 or 60 kilometers away. There were no Tzu Chi volunteers there, and there was also a neighborhood there that was said to be a dangerous area.
Actually, the neighborhood is called Madakeni. This was what people called a dangerous area. Public safety was extremely lacking, and there were often robberies. So, they felt, “This is where we want to transform people.” They were very brave and courageous. They began stopping there. Each time, they stayed two to three days. Where could they stay? There was a volunteer who lived nearby. She introduced her nephew who had a house that was in that area. That house was empty, so they were able to stay there by just paying a small amount for utilities. They started staying over there and paid for water and electricity. The first time it was like this, and the second time. But the third time… Since September, they constantly traveled from Durban to East London, then to King William’s Town, until they reached Port Elizabeth. This took [a lot] of time, as it was more than 2000 kilometers’ roundtrip. Upon reaching Port Elizabeth, which is at the southern tip [of South Africa], they had traveled more than 1000 kilometers. All along the way on each of their trips, they passed by so many places, the places where they hoped to transform people. They had to travel such great distances.
From September of 2014 until June of this year [2015], they have already made this trip six times. About every month and a half or every month, they make this journey. Every time, they encounter difficulties; it is very difficult and they must be very frugal.
So, speaking of their issue with accommodation, that volunteer’s nephew let them stay at his place for three trips. That area was where they wanted to spread the seeds of love and with love open up a field to cultivate because public safety there was lacking. How could they purify people’s minds? Therefore, at that place, they needed to stay for about three nights. On their third trip, that nephew’s girlfriend assumed that this group of volunteers must be rich. “How can you only let them pay for utilities. We should raise the fees to that of a guesthouse or a hotel. There are so many of them. They should pay at least 2000 ZAR.”
Before, they just needed to pay for utilities, which was only a few hundred Taiwanese dollars. Now it suddenly jumped to more than NT$10,000. There volunteers could not bear to spend so much money. So, [the owner] stopped the utilities there. But they had the wisdom of firm patience; they remained firm and patient. They did not misconstrue [the owner’s intent]; they still were grateful to him. They recalled what I say, “Be grateful!” in difficult times, we must be grateful. They could go without electricity or water, but they had to listen to my morning Dharma talks; they still had to hear the teachings.
It occurred to them that in a Dharma talk, they had once heard about the Malaysian volunteers, Chi Yuan and others. In the beginning of this year, Malaysia suffered a severe flood. As an entrepreneur, he had set off from Penang and personally led an effort in the affected area. He did not shower for ten days there. [The South African volunteers] knew this story, as they all listened to my teachings. So, since they all knew this story, they felt, “If this big entrepreneur could do it, then why wouldn’t we be able to do it?” So, they endured and did not shower. They did not shower or bathe, but they were still grateful.
During this time, a benefactor appeared. There was a woman. Because our volunteers were [planting blessings], spreading Jing Si Aphorisms and speaking about Tzu Chi there, they also brought goods for distribution. This woman was happy to hear the Dharma. She said, “Next time, if you come, you can stay at my place. My house is not very big, but I would be happy to host you if you do not mind the inconvenience.” This woman was very happy, so she began volunteering. Our volunteers were cultivating a field there; they were mobilizing locals in that place to open up the land and make good use of the field. This spacious land should not be left deserted. Our volunteers repeated what they did in Durban and helped orphans and the ill. The way that they took care of orphans was by cultivating land and growing vegetables to provide for them. Our volunteers awakened everyone’s love there. At the beginning, there were 10 local participants. The second [trip], there were 20 local helpers. Although they started with deserted land, they worked to develop it. Truly, when they went there a month later, the plants had grown so much. We can see that they truly helped people. They are like ascetic monastics.
In this area, another incident happened. Some local volunteers, a husband, his wife and their neighbor, were out at around 3 AM in the morning. While they were walking along the road, they suddenly ran into some gangsters. These people came not only to rob people but also to rape [them]. So, the two women quickly jumped into a muddy pool, and the husband ran back to call the police. The gangsters heard the police car. The police siren was constantly blaring. The police siren was constantly blaring. The sounds of the police car siren were heard from afar by the gangsters, so they quickly fled. Although our volunteers were fully covered in mud, they came out and washed themselves back at home. Then, as always, the three listened to the Dharma.
Later they shared about this incident. The volunteers from South Africa saw the husband who accompanied the two women, his wife and his neighbor, after this happened to them in the early morning. He was still so joyful and continued to accompany his wife. So, they praised him. In this very dangerous place, these seeds had been nurtured to such maturity. They have made six round trips and still continue. Every month ore every month and a half, they will make a trip like this.
In King William’s Town, Madakeni is such a dangerous area, but they have had their greatest success there. There are already 20 to 30 volunteers starting to farm the land there. Even the spirit of the bamboo banks has started to spread in that place. This is 600 or 700 kilometers away from Durban.
When they continue south to Port Elizabeth, it is more than 1000 kilometers roundtrip. This is what they do every month. Every time they set off on the journey and take this route, it is over 2000 kilometers roundtrip. Think about it; in this world, aren’t they spreading the Dharma, spreading the seeds of love, purifying and transforming the human realm? They put aside their own safety to go to such a dangerous area, a very impoverished area, to teach and guide sentient beings. They do this with no money, only their strength. Think about it, don’t they listen to the Dharma, then walk the Bodhisattva-path and draw closer to the Buddha-nature? In my heart, all of these [volunteers] are Bodhisattvas. Indeed, whenever I speak of them, I truly feel joy from the bottom of my heart. I feel great respect for them, for they are like living Buddhas. Their resolve is so firm. Their spiritual resolve to seek Dharma is so firm. They take in the Dharma and truly make use of it. They are not shaken by external conditions at all. If we think about it, isn’t this having blessings and wisdom, wisdom and compassion, in accord with each other? Aren’t they replete with blessings and wisdom? This really touches my heart.
Even though they live in such poverty, and every day they go through such hardships, they are still walking the Bodhisattva-path. This kind of love truly cannot be compared to anything else. I respect and love them so much, and I am so joyful.
So, the previous sutra passage states, “Take pity upon and benefit all heavenly beings and humans. They then repeated themselves in verse, 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 is the 16 princes asking the Buddha to begin teaching the Dharma for heavenly beings and humans.
The next sutra passage reads, “May you liberate us and all kinds of sentient beings. Separately reveal to us and enable us to attain this wisdom. If we can attain Buddhahood, then other beings can do likewise.”
The 16 princes asked the Buddha to teach the Dharma in order to transform and save everyone. Even heavenly beings hoped for the Buddha to expound the Dharma. Heavenly beings also have afflictions, so they need principles to liberate their minds from afflictions. It is not only heavenly beings who need this, so do all sentient beings of the world, as well as the Five Realms and four forms of birth. The 16 princes looked up the Buddha, hoping He would, for those in the heaven and human realms and the four forms of birth and the Six Realms, open and reveal the true principles. They hoped He would “separately reveal [them].” For the four forms of birth or the Five Realms, or the Six Realms, they asked Him to separately reveal the principles. This was in hopes that He would “enable us to attain this wisdom.”
When people in a state of delusion attain wisdom, their ignorance transform into Bodhi. Their afflictions become Bodhi. If everyone, all of “us” [in the sutra], can hear the Buddha expound the Dharma, all sentient beings can also hear the Buddha and listen to the teachings. So, the 16 princes asked the Buddha to teach the state of mind and the principles that He awakened to for everyone to understand.
So, “They sincerely prayed.” The 16 princes sincerely prayed for the Buddha, out of compassion, to save, transform and liberate all sentient beings. From heavenly beings to humans to all kinds of sentient beings, it was their wish that they and others could attain the Dharma’s benefits. By hearing the Dharma themselves, they could benefit from it, and they also hoped that I this world, fewer beings would fall in to the evil realms and that more could be born in heaven. This was the 16 princes’ hope, that He “separately reveal to us and enable is to attain this wisdom.
Separately reveal to us and enable us to attain this wisdom: By separately revealing and clearly teaching the true principles, He enables all heavenly beings, humans, as well as all sentient beings to attain such true wisdom.
So, “by separately revealing and clearly teaching the true principles” means that because each person’s capabilities are different, with the Buddha’s wisdom, for different capabilities, He adapts the Dharma to the causes and conditions. Using the truth, the true principles, He could give teachings according to capabilities. Even these heavenly beings and sentient beings would be able to attain true wisdom, to transform consciousness into wisdom. They hoped the Buddha would apply all kinds of methods.
Of these different kinds of methods, the Buddha used the Four Siddhants. By using this kind of method, “He would, according to their capabilities, reveal the teachings of the truth. In this way, heavenly beings and humans could hear, “enabling them all to listen, understand, contemplate and practice so that they would attain wisdom.” By responding to everyone’s capabilities, once the Buddha teaches the Dharma, everyone can use the simple teachings right away, while carefully listening to and earnestly contemplating the profound teachings, before diligently putting them into practice “so that they would attain wisdom.” He had to use wisdom to transform sentient beings. When it comes to cultivating blessings, this encompasses the [first] five perfections. These are the Six Perfections [together].
Wisdom includes giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence and Samadhi. These are the [first] five perfections.As for wisdom, the purest and most undefiled wisdom is used to teach and expound. So, these are actually the Six Perfections.
The Four Siddhantas: First, the worldly life siddhanta.
Second, the individual siddhanta.
Third, the curative siddhanta.
Fourth, the supreme meaning siddhanta.
The Four Siddhantas are four kinds of methods that the Buddha uses to expound the Dharma. Thus He “gives universally to all sentient beings.” Using these four kinds of methods, He is able to give universally to all the sentient beings of the Six Realms. “Siddhanta used to be translated ‘accomplishment.’” It means accomplishment. As long as He uses these four methods, He can accomplish the function of teaching the Dharma. These four methods can help sentient beings accomplish their journey on the path to Buddhahood.
The first is called the worldly life siddhanta. First, the worldly life siddhanta: Because sentient beings have shallow capabilities, the Buddha, according to their capabilities and what they delighted in hearing, teaches the Dharma sequentially and separately, enabling them to give rise to joy. This is called the worldly life Siddhanta.
This says, “Sentient beings have shallow capabilities.” Sentient beings all have shallow capabilities. So, the Buddha must follow their capabilities. According to sentient beings’ desires, the teachings they want to hear, the Buddha adapts to their intents and teaches the Dharma according to their capabilities. According to what delight in hearing, according to what they want to listen to, He expounds the teachings that they can take in and teaches things that they can accomplish. He speaks of the entanglements in their minds and how to release those knots and their ignorance. This all requires methods. He “teaches Dharma sequentially and separately.” He does this time and time again. Thus, He is “enabling them to give rise to joy.” “This is called worldly life siddhanta.” Of all the Dharma to be taught in the world, all must be taught according to capabilities and causes and conditions. If the capabilities, causes and conditions exist, then we must make good use of them.
Take the Bodhisattvas in South Africa, for example. Despite the long trips, as long as there were causes and conditions and the right capabilities, they were not afraid of the hard work. Time after time, they transformed people according to their capabilities. This is the worldly life siddhanta.
Second is the individual siddhanta. Second, the individual siddhanta: When the Buddha wanted to teach the Dharma, He had to first observe sentient beings, whether their capabilities were great or limited and whether their past causes were shallow or deep, then teach according to their capabilities to enable them to have right faith and increase their roots of goodness. This is called the individual siddhanta.
This means that to teach the Dharma, “He had to first observe sentient beings.” Were their capabilities great or limited? He even had to understand their past and present. What was their environment in the past? What is their current mindset? How can He teach according to capabilities? It says, “Their past causes were shallow or deep.” What was their past like? What are their current conditions? So, He “teaches according to their capabilities.” He speaks in accord with their capabilities, “enabling them to have right faith.” They will have right faith, and it will increase.
After the volunteers went, time after time, finally someone was willing to offer accommodation so that when the Bodhisattvas in South Africa went to that place, they would have a place to rest. They already had right faith, and this (faith) increased. So, they grew “their roots of goodness.” What grows roots of goodness “is called the individual siddhanta.” For the sake of helping even one person, we would (go) again and again. For the sake of that place, we go to purify people’s minds and transform the people there for the better. The volunteers do not fear hard work or danger. They went to that place again and again. This is love. They used this kind of wisdom and love. They have the spirit of transmitting the teachings.
Third is the curative siddhanta. Third, the curative siddhanta: For those with greed and desire, He taught them to contemplate the body as impure. For those with anger, He taught them to cultivate a mind of loving-kindness. For those who were deluded, He taught them to contemplate karmic causes and conditions. For all these illnesses of ignorance, He taught the medicine of the Dharma, therefore it is called the curative siddhanta.
Moreover, “for those with greed and desire,” He taught them about impurity, “to contemplate the body as impure.” All things of the world are impure. He taught us to contemplate the body as impure so we would not have this kind of sexual desire.
For instance, in Madakeni there were those three people, one man and two women, who had encountered the gangsters. They would not only rob their money, they had also wanted to rape the women. If they had understood the body as impure, would they still have this kind of impure mindset? On seeing the women, desire world not have arisen, and there would be no such incident. So, when it comes to desire and greed, especially this kind of sensual desire, the Buddha taught this view of the body’s impurity.
For those with anger, He taught cultivating a mind of loving-kindness. We must know to be compassionate. For those who are deluded, He taught contemplating karmic causes and conditions. Why is someone so deluded? It has to do with past causes and conditions, etc. So, greed, anger and ignorance all have their own treatment. These delusions, greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt, are all ways in which we lack of clarity. They are all illnesses of the mind, the illnesses of the mind of all sentient beings. To cure these illnesses of the mind, we need the Dharma-medicine as a treatment. So, this if called the curative siddhanta.
The fourth is the supreme meaning siddhanta. Fourth, the supreme meaning siddhanta: When the Buddha knew that sentient beings’ roots of goodness had ripened, He would teach them the Dharma and enable them to realize the noble path. This is called the supreme meaning siddhanta.
Once the Buddha knows that sentient beings’ capabilities have matured, He expounds the Dharma for them. The Dharma that He teaches is not to only benefit oneself, but to also others. This is why after Sakyamuni Buddha had expounded the Dharma for over 40 years, He began to cast aside the skillful means He taught in the past in order to enter the True, the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. He called upon people to walk the Bodhisattva-path and simultaneously benefit others, “enable them to realize the noble path.”
True Buddha-Dharma is not only to benefit oneself, but also to practice benefiting others. This is called the supreme meaning siddhanta. This is the True Dharma. Although sentient beings all have habitual tendencies, and their capabilities are all different, the goal of the Buddha coming to the human realm was to purify all people’s minds so the world can be at peace and people can interact harmoniously. Everyone, in their interactions with each other, must cultivate the path of awakening. How can we free our minds of hindrances and eliminate ignorance and afflictions so that in this world the beings of the Five
Destinies would not be forced to endure so much sufferings? Purifying people’s minds is the only way.
This was the Buddha’s one great cause, to come to this world to open and reveal. Our Sakyamuni Buddha was this way. Actually, dust-inked kalpas ago, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior was like this too. What the heavenly beings and humans hoped for was for the Dharma to enter their hearts and for their body and mind to be liberated. This is the true path of the human realm. Thus, “If we can attain Buddhahood, then other beings can do likewise.”
These 16 princes asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha so everyone could hear the Buddha-Dharma. If they could understand the true principles, then in the future, they would not have to transmigrate in the Five Realms. They could also be liberated from cyclic existence in the Five Destinies. Although heavenly beings enjoy blessings, their blessings can be depleted, and the Five Signs of Decay will appear. When they run out of blessings, they too have to fall into the Six Realms. They still have to transmigrate. When their blessings are gone, they will fall into the evil realms.
In the past, they had many blessings and were born in heaven, but if their blessings have been depleted, the negative karma they created in the past would cause them to fall into the Three Evil Realms. So, heavenly beings also have their fears. They hope they can hear the true principles and practice so they do not transmigrate again.
So, “if we can attain Buddhahood, then other beings can do likewise.” They did not hope to hear it themselves; they hoped for all the world’s sentient beings to be able to hear it as well so all would have the chance to be born into the human or heaven realms. Being born in the human realm, there is Buddha-Dharma for us to hear. Being born in heaven, they can enjoy blessings. Other than these two realms, the other are evil realms. So, they hope for the Buddha to teach the Dharma.
Thus, “If we can attain Buddhahood, naturally other sentient beings can also do so.”
If we can attain Buddhahood, then other beings can do likewise: If we can attain Buddhahood, naturally other sentient beings can also do so. This means when Bodhisattvas are diligent and never lax in in their Brahma-conduce, all Buddhas will embrace them and never forsake them.
If we can hear the Dharma, we can also engage in spiritual practice. We can also attain Buddhahood. It is not only us. All kinds of sentient beings can do so, too. So, “Bodhisattvas, in their Brahma-conduce,” are very diligent. They do not dare to be lax at all. This is in order to transform sentient beings. When the Buddha came to this world, this was His greatest goal. Whether Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha dust-inked kalpas ago or Sakyamuni Buddha in our present time, or Maitreya Buddha in the future, all Buddhas similarly walk this path. I believe Maitreya Buddha is also in our world. In the past, Sakyamuni Buddha also came for the sake of this world. He could not bear to let sentient beings suffer. He continuously found chance [to deliver them].
It is possible that the Bodhisattvas in South Africa are all Buddhas in the human realm. They transform those in the most impoverished, most difficult and most treacherous places. They were born in that place to give. In conclusion, the law if karma is something we must believe in. The world is suffering, and we must also believe this. So, as the human realm is suffering, I hope that more people with love will aspire to put the teachings into practice. Please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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