Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Turn the Six Consciousnesses Toward Goodness (六情諸根悉轉為善)
Date: January.17. 2017
“For a long time, sentient beings have been transformed by the Buddha’s skillful Dharma, which planted the causes and conditions of the path to Buddhahood. Throughout this time, they mutually plant seeds. Then the Buddha used other skillful means to help reveal the supreme meaning. As [causes and conditions] have matured, today flowers rain down and the earth quakes.”
“For a long time, sentient beings have been transformed by the Buddha’s skillful Dharma.” How long is a long time? It is incalculable. For dust-inked kalpas, for a very long period, for a very long time, we have been transformed by the Buddha’s love. For a very long time, the Buddha has “transformed [us] by skillful Dharma.” He used these skill means to transform sentient beings. When the myriad sentient beings are led astray by one thought of ignorance, they transmigrate in the Five Realms and four forms of birth. The Buddha had compassion for sentient beings; He could not bear for a single sentient being to be lost. He continually looked for them, hoping to bring them all back, and used all kinds of methods to teach them. Isn’t this the Buddha’s great compassion?
His compassion and wisdom were in harmony. He worked very hard for sentient beings; He was willing to come to this Saha World, the world of endurance. It is the place where the Five Destinies coexist, truly a very complicated place. Sentient beings are stubborn and hard to train.
It is only with a Buddha’s mercy that He, since distant kalpas, has never abandoned us. We sentient beings must all be very grateful to Him. The Buddha taught us by transforming us with skillful Dharma. This is because of sentient beings’ capabilities; we are stubborn and have dull capabilities. So, He must use His patience and compassion to adapt to sentient beings’ capabilities. With skillful means, He tirelessly guides us.
The Buddha truly works so hard. So, He “planted the causes and conditions of the path to Buddhahood.” He used all kinds of methods to give us the causes and conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma, because sentient beings face so much suffering, all different kinds of sufferings. So, the Buddha leaves no one behind; with all beings, if they have the causes and conditions, He will transform them. If they are suffering, He will save them. In this way, He seizes the causes and conditions and uses all kinds of methods.
For example, many natural disasters occur in the world, and people’s minds are out of balance. The Buddha still tries to find ways to relieve suffering, to enable sentient beings to feel settled, peaceful and happy. This is the Buddha’s love, [which He exercised] for many lifetimes, starting dust-inked kalpas ago. He went through countless numbers of increasing and decreasing kalpas. An increasing and a decreasing kalpa is the period of time for everything to go through formation, existence, decay and disappearance. No one knows how many worlds have gone through formation, existence, decay and disappearance while the Buddha still continuously returns. He has journeyed through this world where the Five Destinies coexist, has lived through birth, aging, illness and death. Lifetime after lifetime, He lived through the world’s decay and disappearance. He did this constantly; it was truly taxing. He returned again and again; over this long time, the Buddha constantly seized the causes and conditions. Whenever sentient beings experienced suffering, He would save and transform them. “Having relieved them of their suffering, [He] then expounds the Dharma for them.” Once sentient beings are settled, once they can feel this way, He will begin to expound the Dharma for them. He has been doing this for many lifetimes; this is “planting the causes and conditions of the path to Buddhahood.”
We must truly learn from the Buddha how to seize the opportunities. No matter what the suffering is, no matter what country, no matter what religion or ethnicity the people, we make no distinctions; after all they are human beings. Along with the changing of the times, it is inevitable that countries, ethnicities, people and religions will all be constantly changing.
The Buddha-Dharma is everlasting, and our Buddha-nature does not change. So, regardless of the religion, ethnicity or country, it is always the same; all places in this world and throughout the Three Realms are the places where the Buddha wished to transform people and teach.
So, the Buddha is called the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the four kinds of beings. We must have an open and spacious mind to learn the Buddha’s compassion. Thus we “plant [seeds of] the path to Buddhahood.” As long as we do not form attachments, regardless of where the suffering occurs or what people’s religions are, we will approach them and serve as un-summoned teachers. Even if they only see things from their religion, “This is my Lord, my God, my…” and so on, we still behave in the same manner. As long as they are human beings, we give to help them. We do not discriminate against any religion.
Therefore, we use all kinds of paths to Buddhahood so they can feel that we make no distinctions between religions. In the same way, we want them to have the causes and conditions to be able to receive [our help] with joy, without any divisions between religions. Then they will slowly be able to feel the fundamental love within human nature. This fundamental love is everyone’s pure intrinsic Buddha-nature. This nature of True Suchness, this pure love, does not discriminate. It is sentient begins who discriminate and thus create chaos, religious conflict and struggles between peoples, making the world very complicated.
So, we absolutely must “plant the [causes for the] path to Buddhahood.” As un-summoned teachers, we proactively give to others with love. Theses causes and conditions have existed since Beginningless Time. Throughout this time, starting from before Beginningless Time, it has been like this and continues to be so today. Throughout this time, the seeds that are planted will take a very long time to cultivate. Of those who listen, speak or spread the Dharma, the most important is the one who walks the path and applies the teachings. Once we accept the Buddha-Dharma, we must put the teachings into practice by giving. Just do it. If it is the right thing to do, we should just do it. As long as sentient beings are suffering, we do not discriminate; we go to help. We relieve sentient beings’ suffering and help them settle their body and mind, help them feel safe and improve their lives. This is our goal.
Yesterday, there was a group of admirable visitors who came here from Turkey. They came on behalf of the Syrian refugees. So many of them, around three million, have fled their country and gone to Turkey. Only one million-plus were officially recognized. Those that were not recognized were still allowed to enter this country. They are considered to be illegal refugees living in Turkey. But as refugees flow across the borders and continue pouring into capital, the [government] still uses a broad mind to accept these people that are from another country, because they are truly suffering after fleeing from manmade disaster. They come to Istanbul, which is Turkey’s capital. These people are all very highly educated, with high status [in society].
Now as refugees, they bring their whole family to the capital, hoping to settle down with their family safely to raise their children. They are good people and obey the law. But they need to make a living. They cannot work because working is against the law [for illegal refugees]. But child labor is allowed; children as young as seven work as laborers.
They work to produce crafts and such. The money they make supports the family. However, the parents still hope that their children can go to school. But the children must go to work, otherwise the family cannot get by.
Some families are a couple with seven or eight children, a family of ten. They often live in dilapidated housing. Some are living in cellars that are already growing mold while the water continues to seep in. They are living in these kinds of environments. What about those living on the bare ground? Whatever simple objects they put up for shelter are already falling apart.
Previous, they had education and social standing. Now, these families of almost ten, or families of seven or eight or those of five or six or more people, are all living in these conditions. How can they survive? After they fled, they were left with nothing and rely on the children to work for a living. We saw pictures of children as young as seven have to work, along with eight, nine, ten or eleven-year-olds. No wonder when they spoke of these children and their situation, all these grown men [were moved to tears]. There was a director of education, a deputy mayor, Professor Cuma, Mr. Faisal Hu and his wife; they all came back. As they recounted these stories of the refugees’ environment, they began to cry when they reached this point. But they continually speak of their gratitude. They are grateful to Taiwan and Tzu Chi, grateful to so many Tzu Chi volunteers, because during the time they were in Turkey, they saw the suffering of these refugees. It was truly heartbreaking. This is especially true in regards to children’s educational difficulties.
So, they helped them. Because Mr. Hu and Professor Cuma went to find the director of education and the deputy mayor, they had already found a ray of hope. They negotiated for a school to give them access to its facilities during the afternoons for these children to go to school and get a diploma. Over 500 children were able to officially attend school. They would attend school in the afternoon. But there were still another 300 children. In trying to look after them, the space that could accommodate them was a tutoring center, an afterschool tutoring program.
I asked, “Does this tutoring center give academic diplomas?” They said, “No. They can only receive and education for basic literacy. They cannot get a diploma.” It was just a basic literacy program. Why is it like this? It is as I just said; children between the ages of seven and eleven can only get tutoring for basic literacy. “Why can’t they go to school? It is because their family needs them to work.” When he said this he started to cry. It really is such suffering!
Of course, we have much hope for them, and our heart goes out to them. How many children are there like this? In the Istanbul area alone, they know that there are tens of thousands of school-age children. But the space they have now is only able to accommodate this many; only 500-plus can officially attend school. There are still another 300-plus who can only be accommodated by a tutoring class. They are hoping for another 2000 to receive assistance, because these children are truly very pitiable. They also felt that if they did not receive an education, they really would have no hope at all. It is not that these adults refused to work. The environment created this situation. But they still have to survive.
So, we need to find a way to supplement the family’s income so we can strive for these children to have the chance to get an education. Thus, when speaking of this yesterday, they continually expressed their gratitude. I do not know how many times they said they are grateful to Taiwan, grateful to Tzu Chi. They are grateful to the Tzu Chi volunteers. They spoke on behalf of the refugees to express their gratitude toward Tzu Chi. Every sentence was so sincere.
But they have their own religious beliefs; they have such respect for the God of their religion. You can feel their [attitude] toward their god; their first words are for [Allah’s] grace. But they are grateful to Tzu Chi. I expressed, “While Tzu Chi is a Buddhist [foundation], we are open when it comes to religious belief. We do not discriminate based on religion. If any human beings are suffering, we treat them with sincere love. We give to others with sincere love.” I am sure that the Buddha also had this mindset. He did not reject any religion or ethnicity. He treated everyone the same. For everyone in the world, He had the spirit of being the guiding teacher of the Three Realms; He had the compassion to be the kind father of the four kinds of beings. He could not bear for sentient being to suffer.
This is extended practice, practice with nothing further, uninterrupted practice and practice with reverence. We have respect for any religion, respect for any ethnicity or any country. We use the Six Perfections and the Four Practices, putting the teachings into action. So, we “plant the causes and conditions of the path to Buddhahood. Throughout this time” means from the beginning until now, when we are able to meet again. Your causes and conditions and ours, everyone’s causes and conditions, allowed us to, throughout this long time, encounter each other and meet each other, to share the same resolve, same mission, same path and same spiritual practice. “Throughout this time, they mutually plant seeds.
“Then the Buddha used other skillful means to help reveal the supreme meaning.” The Buddha came to this world using various means like this to teach and lead us so that we will know what we should do. He used all kinds of skillful means, and in the end He revealed this Dharma, the supreme meaning, which is to walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is the True Dharma. Skillful means will eventually return to the True Dharma.
The True Dharma is to go among people, create good affinities and benefit others. By going among people and seeing the afflictions and ignorance of sentient beings, we will be able to experience, comprehend and thus transform afflictions into Bodhi. With all these kinds of methods, we use the supreme meaning, the most essential, to teach people in this world. This can help us develop our own wisdom-life as well as help sentient beings.
So, “As [causes and conditions] had matured, today flowers rain down and the earth quakes.” For a very long time, since dust-inked kalpas before, the Buddha has undergone this process. As the world went through formation, existence, decay and disappearance again and again, whatever the karmic forces of sentient beings, the Buddha still continually followed them. In this Saha World, the place where the Five Destinies coexist, in the Three Realms, He delivered sentient beings.
So, each time causes and conditions matured, it would be like this moment. Whether Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha or Sakyamuni Buddha, when They attain Buddhahood, “Flowers rain down and the earth quakes.” This is the most moving moment. Flowers rained down and the earth moved. This is the true meaning. Those truly moved will take it in. The earth shook; there are many types of quaking. When the Bodhisattva descended from Tusita Heaven to Jambudvipa, that was [one of the] six times the earth shook. The earth shook six times.
This is the first. The Bodhisattva was in Tusita Heaven’s palace, the Bodhisattva’s spiritual training ground. Every Buddha who comes to the Saha World, which is Jambudvipa, must first [spend time] in Tusita Heaven; the Bodhisattva must be trained in how to come to this world.
So, this is “descending from Tusita Heaven” the Buddha descended to Jambudvipa at the time for Him to enter the womb. I believe that in the moment when Lady Maya became pregnant, at the moment of Him entering the womb, the earth must have shook. The earth and heavens shook as He entered the womb. The earth and heavens shook again when He was born. Next was when He became a monastic, when He attained perfect enlightenment, when He turned the Dharma-wheel and when He entered Parinirvana. There are the six kinds [of quaking], entering the womb, birth, entering monastic life, attaining perfect enlightenment, turning the Dharma-wheel and entering Parinirvana. These were the great events of the Buddha’s life in his world. So, “This is called a great quake.”
Thus, “Flowers rain down and the earth quakes.” During these six times, there was a type of peaceful shaking, not the kind that harms people. We often encounter earthquakes, but after a period of quaking, everything is over and it is peaceful again. It is this type of quaking.
The previous sutra passage begins by saying, “The World-Honored One knows sentient beings and the thoughts we have in the depths of our hearts. You also know the paths we practice and know the strength of our wisdom as well as our desires, delights, the blessings we cultivated and our deeds and karma from previous lives. Since the World-Honored One knows them all, please turn the supreme wheel.”
The World-Honored One has attained Buddhahood; He expounded the Dharma and understood all of sentient beings’ different capabilities. He understood the past karma of sentient beings, the causes and conditions of their past lives. He understood whether in their past lives they created good or evil karma. The Buddha understood it all. So, He used Dharma, adapting the teachings to our capabilities to patiently guide and teach us.
The next sutra passage states, “The Buddha told all the bhiksus, ‘When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Anuttara-amyak-sambodhi, 500 trillion Buddha-world in the ten directions quaked in six different ways.’”
The Buddha, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, had already attained perfect enlightenment, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. At that time, [He] “sat for ten small kalpas,” such a long time, until finally compassion and wisdom were perfected. His great perfect mirror wisdom appeared. At this time, It was as if a great mirror was already shining in every direction, illuminating all in this way.
So, “500 trillion Buddha-worlds in the ten directions quaked in six different ways.” These were other worlds, not only this Saha World, not only the Three Realms. In each of the ten directions, there were 500 trillion Buddha-worlds that all experienced these six kinds of quaking. Clearly, when this Buddha was born, every Buddha-world shook. Just what kind of quaking was this? We must be mindful; this is a principle.
So, “The Buddha told all the bhiksus, ‘When Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi,’” meaning, “This perfect Bodhi returns to non-attainment. The attainment spoken of today is the attainment of non-attainment. ”
Speaking of principles, the nature of principles, principles are without substance or appearance. This is what I constantly tell everyone. In the past, we continually sought the principles. When do we find them? Actually, they are within our mind. The nature of True Suchness in our mind is without form and without substance. But we sentient beings are in a state of confusion. We all live in the world as unenlightened beings. We spend our lives this way, in a state of confusion. But as we engage in spiritual practice, we seek the principles. How do we inspire everyone to come together with the principles? What method should we use? Of course, we spiritual practitioners understand the principles. So, where are we lacking? As I have continually said, compassion and wisdom; we must exercise compassion and wisdom together. Both of them must come together in order for us to truly be in accord with the minds of sentient beings.
Sentient beings’ minds are formless and intangible. What method do we use to inspire sentient beings? This Dharma, this method. So, we must have “this perfect Bodhi.” This perfect Bodhi is thorough understanding. “[This] returns to non-attainment.” When it all comes back in the end, there is nothing there, it is simply thorough understanding. What kind of appearances is there to see? There is no appearance. So, “[This] returns to non-attainment.”
The attainment spoken of today is the attainment of non-attainment. Truly, He finally reached the thorough understanding of the intangible principles. He completely and thoroughly understood His awakened nature’ Because of this, “The 500 trillion Buddha-worlds in the ten directions [all shook].” “By grasping one truth, He understood all truths.” In the 500 trillion Buddha-worlds in the ten directions, He understood all the principles completely. All Buddhas share the same path. Then this teaching can make a further analogy.
“The 500 trillion Buddha-worlds in the ten directions” are an analogy for the Five Realms. We all know that the Five Realms are the heaven, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. They are all within this world. Aside from all those Buddha-worlds, this also includes the Five Realms. “The 500 trillion [worlds] indicate that when Buddhas appear in the world, everything in the ten directions and Five Realms will quake as they receive His light and benefit.”
As long as this world has someone who is attaining Buddhahood, naturally the light of the principles will shine throughout the Five Realms. The hell, hungry ghost and animal [realms] can likewise receive the light of the principles. So, they “receive His light and benefit.” Where there are principles, there is light. If there are no principles, there will be manmade calamities and natural disasters. So, only the principles can balance the macrocosm and the microcosm.
If we lose the principles, naturally we will also lose this balance. Nowadays we talk about climate imbalance. Our weather patterns are becoming unusual; this is due to our morality, our lives in this world, going off track. So, this has created the greenhouse effect, and our weather patterns have become abnormal. Balance has already been lost. So, with principles, both the macrocosm and the microcosm can be in balance and harmonious. This is a healthy state. This is the light of the principles.
With principles, hell can also be illuminated, and [people in hell] can attain the principles. Similarly, humans can also receive this. Where is hell? It is in this world. As we carry out our humanitarian work, we can often see [those] whose lives seem to be in hell, just as we spoke of earlier with the [volunteers] who returned from Turkey. They described some who are homeless. Some people are near the borders, while some are in the city, [living] in dark corners of the city. If the principles of humanity were followed, there would not be situations like this, where people are forced to live their lives in a living hell. It would not be like this.
So, this is why I say that the principles are very important in the world. Thus, the principles must be thoroughly understood. All Buddhas share the same path. The light of the principles can also benefit those in a state of suffering.
[Worlds] quaked in six different ways: The ground represents the essence of the mind. When good thoughts begin to stir, among the consciousnesses of feeling of the Six Roots, they are of the mind-consciousness. Thus the essence has this name, and the six consciousnesses of the roots will all turn toward goodness.
[Worlds] quaked in six different ways. “The ground represents the essence of the mind.” It is the ground of our mind that quakes. It does not have to be a great quake. When the Buddha entered the womb, everyone in the country rejoiced that Lady Maya was pregnant. “In our country, the king will have a descendent who will one day rule the kingdom.” When people heard that the queen was pregnant, they all rejoiced; this is the essence of the mind. The essence of the mind leapt and quaked. “Good thoughts begin to stir.” We also often hear in the Buddhist sutras that when children were born, [parents] would bring them to a fortune teller. They would be asked, “When you became pregnant, were there any unusual signs?”
“Yes, the mother became so much kinder. The mother became much wiser, etc..”
For some, after they became pregnant, the mother became very impatient and had many unwholesome thoughts. This is known as a negative birth. When the mother is much wiser, with more wisdom and kind thoughts, this is a positive birth. Such fortune can be determined from her pregnancy. This is also fetal education. During pregnancy, the mother’s mind is connected to her child, so these kinds of signs appear.
So, “when good thoughts begin to stir can mean when the Buddha was born, the nation and everyone in it rejoiced. From the pregnancy, they all were full of hope and joy. At the time of His birth, everyone also rejoiced. So, “Among the consciousnesses of feeling of the Six Roots, they are of the mind-consciousness.” This is speaking of the six kinds of quaking. We have the Six Roots [sense organs]. All six have consciousness of feeling. The eyes can see form. Whether we are happy or sad, our body can sense it. When it is hot, we sweat; it is so uncomfortable. Or if we have air conditioning, it feels so comfortable! We will not sweat; it is very comfortable. This is what happens when our Six Roots encounter external conditions. This is “the consciousnesses of feeling of the Six Roots.” This is the mental state we encounter, the consciousnesses of feeling.
So, we have six types of consciousness of feeling. “Thus the essence has this name, and the Six Consciousness of the Roots will all turn toward goodness.” When the prince was in the womb, then born, everyone rejoiced. “The Six Consciousness of the Roots all turn toward goodness.” This is a type of analogy.
The mind-root connects with mental phenomena, while the other five Roots give rise to the consciousnesses of feeling. Thus it is from the fruit that arises that the name is given of the consciousnesses of feeling of the Six Roots.
“The mind-root connects with mental phenomena.” The mind-root [perceives] mental phenomenon, “while the other five Roots give rise to the consciousnesses of feeling.” Our mind-root is our mind’s consciousness. This mind is intangible and formless; it perceives through our sensory nerves but it is intangible and formless. It can sense cold and hot, hard and soft, happiness or so on. These are what it sense. Whenever we move or express emotions such as crying and laughter, or anything else, these all come from the workings of the mind and how we connect with extra conditions. This is the consciousness of feeling. The mind encounters something and brings it in. We said before that the Five Consciousness are like a camera; all the images are taken into the mind, before they arrive at the [sixth] consciousness, which makes plans and creates [karma]. “That which I love” is in our mind-consciousness; it is our mind and our feeling. “That which love” always kept in our mind. Once it is in our mind, we think of ways to attain it. This is our [sixth] consciousness beginning to plan and create [karma]. Whether good or evil, after we take action, the result is stored in the eighth consciousness. But here it only speaks of Six Consciousness, the Six Roots and Six Dusts, how our mind and consciousness interact. “It is from the mind that the fruit arises, thus it is called the consciousness of feeling of the Six Roots.”
All Six Roots are present when we are born. When we are born, we cry, kick our feet, wave our arms around, etc.. In this way, we grow up with all six of our consciousness of feeling present.
The world is what responds to sentient beings’ common appearance. We are obstructed and unable to connect because we are unyielding and difficult to move.
“The world is what responds to sentient beings’ common appearance.” This world, and all Buddha-worlds, are the worlds that appear in response to the common [appearance] of we sentient beings. In our Saha World, we sentient beings all experience the things on this planet together. This world has its weather; spring, summer, autumn and winter cycle in this world this way. Now our macrocosm faces climate change that creates disasters. Everyone in the world can feel this.
So, everyone in this world is [experiencing] this karma of circumstantial and direct retributions. This is the place we [are living] in. So, it “responds to [our] common appearance.” We are obstructed and unable to connect. This is “because we are unyielding and difficult to move.” How can we transform this world, transform evil into good? Sentient beings really do have a stubborn mind. So, we have many obstacles and much ignorance. This is being stubborn and hard to train. So, “We are unyielding and hard to move. We obstruct our own original source of wisdom.” Originally, we all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness. We are our obstacles, obstructing our original source of wisdom.
We obstruct our own original wisdom. Thus all Buddhas, when attaining Buddhahood, will first move the ground of sentient beings, which is difficult to move. This means They destroy ignorance and reveal the light of wisdom.
It is because we are all together in this world, living together where the Five Destinies coexist, that our minds are continually reproducing ignorance. So, we have many obstacles. We do not thoroughly understand the principles. Thus, it is sentient beings’ stubbornness that makes it difficult to receive the principles. This is “because we are unyielding and difficult to move;” this type of stubborn mind is very difficult to transform. We ourselves obstruct our own wisdom.
“Thus all Buddhas, when attaining Buddhahood…” All Buddhas must come to this world to attain Buddhahood. Before attaining Buddhahood, They “will first move the ground of sentient beings, which is difficult to move.” Sentient beings’ minds must first be moved to help sentient beings move and respond. This means they “destroy ignorance and reveal the light of wisdom.” This is the six kinds of quaking. The ground quakes at the birth of a Buddha. We just spoke those “six kinds [of quaking],” entering the womb, birth, becoming a monastic, attaining Buddhahood, turning the Dharma-wheel and entering Parinirvana. “When the ground quakes is actually talking about our minds. We humans are like [infants], and this is like an infant rocking in a cradle. Actually, this is a very peaceful movement. It is not the quaking of disaster. As for these six kinds of quaking, only those with the power of the heavenly eye will be able to experience this.
In summary, this quaking is when people are moved; we are truly moved from essence of our mind. With the ignorance of sentient beings, how can we receive the true principles? The true principles are light; when the shine, the world can be in balance. So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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