Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha Cultivates Contemplation in Clarity (清澄久坐靜思惟修)
Date: January.25. 2017
“The Virtuous One sat for a long time in clarity in the place of enlightenment, cultivating calm contemplation. The sentient beings mentioned earlier who had long been in darkness were surprised at this sudden appearance. Those in the Six Realms are separated like clouds and mud. All sentient beings together requested the Dharma.”
The Virtuous One sat for a long time in clarity in the place of enlightenment, cultivating calm contemplation.
The sentient beings mentioned earlier who had long been in darkness were surprised at this sudden appearance.
Those in the Six Realms are separated like clouds and mud.
All sentient beings together requested the Dharma.
For sentient beings, everything is determined by our thoughts. In fact, the Virtuous One was also a human, with the thoughts [of a human]. But once He transformed these thoughts, afflictions became Bodhi. We all intrinsically have an intrinsic nature like that of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. For dust-inked kalpas, our nature of True Suchness has always existed. We are always there. If we can persist for a long time until our thoughts become our nature of True Suchness, which we intrinsically have, life after life, we always have this pure mind. This mind is the willingness to go among people; if we can do this, then we will be replete with the myriad practices and can be called a Virtuous One. A Virtuous One continuously engages in uninterrupted practice, extended practice, practice with nothing further and practice with reverence. He respects, loves and protects all beings. If we do this, with a continuous virtuous circle, our minds will continue to accumulate [virtue]. We do not give up, but advance forward on the Bodhisattva-path for a long time. Then after a long period of time, we will also become the Unsurpassed Guide. Once we perfect all virtues and can be called Virtuous One, Unsurpassed Guide, then won’t we have attained Buddhahood?
Yesterday, we talked about how a Brahmin asked the Buddha how many people will become Buddhas in the future. “The number of those who will reach Buddhahood is as many as the sand of infinite Ganges Rivers.” In the future, there will be that many. [The Brahmin asked], “What about in the past?” In the past there were also countless and infinite numbers of Buddhas, like the sands of the Ganges. “In the past, so many people attained Buddhahood, but I have no met them. Today, I have encountered the Buddha, so I should seize the opportunity to quickly engage in spiritual practice.” That was the story [of the Brahmin]. With extended practice, uninterrupted practice, practice with reverence and practice with nothing further, he was very diligent. He simply seized the present moment. Even though he was advanced in years, he had such reverence toward the Buddha-Dharma. So, we must always be mindful.
Originally, dust-inked kalpas ago, in Beginningless Time, we always had this Great Unhindered in us, in our intrinsic nature. Through continuous accumulation, we persist in “sitting for a long time in clarity.” This does not mean just sitting there quietly. Sitting for a long time refers to the pure mind that has abided forever in our intrinsic nature. We do not need to seek a spiritual training ground outside of us; the spiritual training ground is in our minds. Our intrinsic nature is our training ground. We must always cultivate calm contemplation; that is what I often remind everyone of, so we can mutually encourage each other. When interacting with each other as we practice in our spiritual training ground, we ought to constantly have calm contemplation and put effort into spiritual practice. The most troublesome aspect of the mind is that it wavers and fluctuates. When it wavers, if one thought goes astray, we continue to follow it in the wrong direction, walking further and further into darkness. Because ignorance continues to multiply and increase, amidst this ignorance, we cannot open up our pure intrinsic nature of True Suchness. If our minds are unable to calm down, our minds will keep going toward the darkness.
For instance, from Nepal, I saw a news report that on July 28, 2015, they announced a prohibition of slaughtering. They had a custom of, every five years, holding an extremely violent, bloody day of gory sacrifice. This day of sacrifice is the Gadhimai Festival, which was named after a goddess. This story’s origins began 400 years ago, when a great landowner had a dream one day. He dreamt that his problems would be solved with a blood sacrifice to Gadhimai. If Goodness Gadhimai were to be offered sacrifices every five years, with this bloodbath all problems would be eliminated. There would be no disasters or suffering, and all problems would be eliminated.
It was simply due to this dream that [this massacre] began to take shape. Therefore, in India, every five years, there was this kind of day of slaughter and bloody sacrifices. About 300,000 lives [were sacrificed], of all kinds of living beings. Some were from India, others from Nepal. Many places sent living and breathing animals, whether they were pigeons, rats, lambs, pigs, cows or other animals. As long as they were animals, these living creatures would be sent from far away. Every five years, the number of sacrificed lives was over 300,000. They were amassed for this bloody sacrifice. Every five years, in this ceremony, there would be about 2.5 million people who would gather there to make sacrifices. Once every five years, the festival would be held 140 kilometers south of today’s Kathmandu. That place is called Baliyap Village, where there is a temple of Gadhimai. Every five years in November, this sort of great massacre would occur, using blood as a sacrifice. It has been held every five years for 400 years already.
I heard the good news, which was that this announcement was sent out, that a decision has been made. This religion would stop this day of sacrifice and bloody massacre. But the head of the temple said that they knew this had been a tradition for 400 years, so now that they wanted to stop this, it would be truly difficult. However, the next festival is in 2019, which is still more than three years away. He said, “We will devote ourselves to educating the believers. For the believers, we need correct teachings and correct thinking in order to educate them.” This kind of sacrifice every five years, this custom of gory sacrifice, must stop. With the next three or so years, they will need to really devote themselves in order to change people’s thinking, to help them know that these animal killings are inhumane customs. The head of the temple said, “As humans, we need to be aware of [the cruelty] of killing these animals.” In the images, we can see the bulls wearing strips of red cloth being herded together to a centralized place. The rest of the animals were similarly amassed and transported to that place. When it was time, we could see this scene of killing, how all the animals were collapsing. Truly, we can see this sight of the animals gathered and massacred en masse; it is extremely cruel. People’s delusions are like this.
Although it was just a person’s dream, it was announced widely and started to become their tradition. This religious tradition of sacrifice happened once every five years. Now there are causes and conditions to allow them to stop this kind of sacrifice. We have already seen an official document, which is a decree prohibiting this massacre. This sacrifice has been discontinued. But there are still more than three years where they must apply right methods to let people know that animals are just like humans. They also have flesh and blood and feel pain. So, they have begun to educate the believers now.
We heard this news and saw the images, saw the cruelty. Now the prohibition has been announced, and we can see how a thin piece of paper can save the future and protect more than 300,000 lives from massacre. From this point on, they can start anew, and there can be peace. This is such a joyous matter. We must know that animals are just like humans. As can be seen nowadays, we not only know they feel pain, but also know they have flesh and blood and likewise fear pain and death.
Nowadays, there is avian flu, hand-foot-and-mouth disease and other epidemics. Many viruses and bacteria spread by animals are intermixed with those found in humans. Human influenza can be passed to animals, and animal influenza can also be passed to humans. As we can see, we are all living beings. We feel pain and fear death. Animals also feel pain and also fear death. We also living, and they are also living. How can we bear to let them face so much suffering?
Even a six-year-old child knows to love and protect animals by curbing her cravings for certain tastes. This is a student from Kaohsiung in the Da Ai Kindergarten class. She promotes a vegetarian diet to others and of course is also vegetarian herself. This child’s name is Nianchun (Pure Thoughts). Her parents are already Tzu Chi commissioners. She has been a vegetarian since the womb. When she was three or four years old, on her first day of kindergarten, she told her teacher, “Teacher, I am a vegetarian baby. I don’t eat meat; I want to eat vegetables.” Back then, she was not at our Kaohsiung kindergarten, but at a school in their community. On the first day, she told her teacher this. At that time, she was only three or four, and she told her teacher, “I am vegetarian baby, I do not eat meat. I want to eat vegetarian food.”
From that point on, her mother felt that being in a place where no vegetarian food was provided was very inconvenient. For the teachers, it was also very inconvenient. So, she looked and searched. She knew that at the Jing Si Hall in Kaohsiung, we have a Da Ai Kindergarten, so she later transferred Nianchun over. This child, Nianchun, was like a fish in water and was very happy.
She is very sensitive to the word “meat”. Once her father was peeling longan fruit and he told Nianchun, “Daddy is giving you the longan meat to eat.“ The child said, “Dad, I do not eat meat. Why are you giving me the meat of the longan?”. Then, he had to give her an explanation. Even the word “meat” could not be said. So, this is a very pure child. She always has such pure thoughts. When she drew pictures at her kindergarten, all she drew were fruits and vegetables. She drew nearly ten kinds and all were very pretty. She would point out vegetables and fruits and say, “This is called green bean.” “This is called eggplant, and this is…” How many are there total? “One, two, three…” She kept on counting until she was done. “I drew ten different kinds here. There are ten kinds, but there are more. These all can be eaten.” This is a child’s heart. It is filled with pure innocence, these kinds of pure and clear thoughts. This is the intrinsic nature of her mind.
So, she began to promote vegetarianism. She said, “I want to make a vow. I want to encourage 100 people to be vegetarian.” Actually, at first, she said 60 people. 60 people! We [heard] that. She was brought along by her father or someone else to a Tzu Chi gathering where volunteers were having a study group or something. He took her there, then she shared her perspective as a vegetarian baby and encouraged everyone to become vegetarian.
At first, she used booklets to promote vegetarianism. She asked, “All of you present…” She spoke like an adult, “Of all of you present, are you vegetarian? If you are vegetarian, please raise your hand.” Many raised their hands. She took out a booklet promoting vegetarianism and said, “If it’s just one meal, that is okay. If you can eat vegetarian for 108 meals, check a box for every vegetarian meal you eat.” She took that booklet out to teach people. She said, “If you eat a vegetarian meal, check this box.” She would give a small gift and hand over a booklet to them. If someone was willing to be vegetarian, they would accept this booklet, and she would give them a gift. She would say, “Originally, this booklet would need to have all 108 boxes checked for me to give you this present. But I am worried that you will not find me after checking all the boxes, so I am giving you the gift beforehand. But if you have not finished checking them, I will have to take the gift back, okay?” She is truly a child with principles.
Think about it. From the womb she was vegetarian. Even on the first day of kindergarten, she expressed, “I do not eat meat.” As we can see, from her birth until now, her mind is not enticed by form, smell or taste. She eats with her classmates at the same table, with so many people, yet her mind is unwavering. Will it be hard to sustain a mind like this for dust-inked kalpas?
We all intrinsically have a pure Buddha-nature. This is to say, our spiritual training ground is in our minds. We must mindfully cultivate contemplation. We fundamentally have this pure intrinsic nature. We need to preserve this mind of ours and put effort into cultivating contemplation. We must contemplate what life’s ultimate truth is. We are all humans, but how do we regard animals and their lives? When it comes to living beings, we should also mindfully seek to comprehend. Otherwise, when a thought goes astray, even [the effects of] a dream can be drawn out for 400 years and result in this bloody massacre every five years.
In Nepal, over these few hundred years, has it really been all peaceful? There have been disasters there frequently. Can their sacrifices and massacres really help them avoid disasters? This is a superstitious legend that has attracted many disasters. This kind of bloody scene truly is a great defilement for people’s minds. So, they have “long been in darkness”. In the past, they did not understand and continued what they regarded as a religious festival every five years. Every five years, they held what was regarded as a religious festival. So, every five years, more than two million people gathered at that village. It is inconceivable, how could they believe this? But now we have heard that this day of sacrifice has been eliminated.
What kind of causes and conditions helped them see sentient beings as equals? What kind of causes and conditions let them know all sentient beings are flesh and blood just like humans. They feel pain the same way. What were these causes and conditions? So, this sudden realization they had was like those “sentient beings who were surprised at this sudden appearance”. In the past, they thought this was normal. People’s minds were in darkness, as they were covered by ignorance. Ignorance is similar to darkness. Then all of a sudden this happened, so they “were surprised at this sudden appearance”.
This is just like the sutra passage says. When the darkness suddenly [turns] to light, it means the truth is already shining through. The doors to their minds have opened, and light was shining through. Thus, “Those in the Six Realms are separated like clouds and mud”. The Six Realms are the heaven, human, asura, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These are like sky and earth, like the clouds in the sky and the mud on the earth. There is such a complete and distant separation. The sky is like those Brahma kings, enjoying their palaces. The earth is like those suffering in hell, those suffering as animals and so forth. But the sentient beings of the Six Realms have one thing in common, which is a pure Buddha-nature intrinsic to all. So, “All sentient beings together requested the Dharma”. The Buddha had attained enlightenment in the world. The Buddha’s principles should pervade across heaven and throughout the Six Realms and the four forms of birth. These principles needed to be announced to all. As long as there are principles, the light of the mind can shine through.
The previous sutra passage states, “At that time, all the Brahma kings from the 500 trillion lands went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the west to seek out this sign.”
At that time, all the Brahma kings from the 500 trillion lands went along with their palaces. They each used their mantle to hold all kinds of celestial flowers. Together they went to the west to seek out this sign.
At that time, the light had started by shining toward the east and then shining in all directions. So, since the light shone first toward the east, the Brahma kings began to lead a each toward the west to find, to seek out, the origin of the light. This is like when we went to Nepal. We went from the east to the west. A group of people are there now, and what are they doing at that place? They are not seeking the scriptures. They are at the birthplace of the Buddha, where sentient beings are now in confusion, are suffering, are facing uncertain futures, all the suffering that comes after a disaster. In such times, how should we bring Buddha-Dharma back to the Buddha’s birthplace? This is what we seek by going west.
The next sutra passage states, “They saw Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.”
They saw Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior in the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the throne. All heavenly beings, naga kings, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so on respectfully surrounded Him.
Seeking in the west, they saw Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Tathagata under the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne. In addition to the Brahma kings, there were those from other heavens in the desire realm, or the heavens of the form realm. There were also naga kings, gandharvas and so on. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors all came. They were all there surrounding Him in the place of enlightenment under the Bodhi-tree. The Buddha’s place of enlightenment was under this Bodhi-tree. This was where He attained Buddhahood. He sat in mediation under the tree and contemplated silently there. He awakened compassion, exercised wisdom there. So, it says “beneath the Bodhi-tree, sitting on the lion throne”.
There were heavenly beings, nagas, gandharvas, kinnaras, mahoragas, hmans, non-humans and so on. They all respectfully surrounded Him. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors showed their respect. So, humans, with our eyes, the physical eyes that we have, cannot see the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. Especially with heavenly beings, our physical eyes are unable to see them at all. This is a kind of spiritual state, so we also say “invisible hosts of eight classes”. Invisible hosts are those we cannot see. These invisible hosts are invisible beings.
When speaking of invisible sentient beings, there is a commonly-used phrase, “There are spiritual beings three inches above us.” We need to believe this. Actually, when we speak, we should always say good things. We should always have good thoughts and always do good deeds. As soon as we give rise to a thought, the eight classes of Dharma-protectors will know. So, ancient people said to go with our conscience. Because, three inches above us, there are indeed spiritual beings. “There are spiritual beings three inches above us.” We ought to believe this.
We also often speak of demons and spirits. Otherwise, why do we chant sutras out loud? Every religion has rituals of reciting scripture. This is something that is widely recognized. When we chant the sutra, every line of the sutra is teaching the Dharma. I often tell everyone, we must recite the sutras loudly. Sutras are not just for us to read ourselves, to take into our own heart, recite to ourselves. At the same time, we recite for those in the invisible realms, for demons, spirits and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors to hear. So, often when we pray every day, we hope to be heard by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, heavenly beings and Dharma-protectors. This takes great reverence. We should sing and recite the sutras loudly. Otherwise, we will never really learn them. We need to chant them loudly. So, the “invisible hosts of eight classes” are also called “eight classes of Dharma-protectors”.
The eight classes of Dharma-protectors: Heavenly beings, nagas, yaksas. Gandharvas: spirits of fragrance. Asuras: Not-heavenly beings. Garudas: Golden-winged birds. Kinnaras: non-humans.
Mahoragas: great python spirits.
What are the eight classes of Dharma-protectors? “Heavenly beings” are beings from the heaven realm. “Nagas” are the dragon kings, creatures in the ocean. “Yaksas” are spirits. We know that these speedy ghosts are very fierce. Also, there are “gandharvas”, which are spirits of fragrance. So, when we eat, we should not waste food. When the aroma starts to waft from your kitchen, these spirits will smell the scent and come. We must do our best to not kill. Where there are bloody things, good and bad [demons and ghosts] will come. So, it is best for us to be vegetarian.
“Asuras” are not-heavenly beings. Although they are born in the heaven realm and enjoy heavenly blessings, they do not have heavenly virtues. So, heavenly beings do not include them in the family of heavenly beings. Thus, when we speak of the Sis Realms, we add in the asura realm. Still, the reason why heavenly beings exclude them from the heavenly family is because they do not have heavenly virtues. They easily trigger fights with others. Although lacking in heavenly virtues, they have cultivated heavenly blessings. So, they are called not-heavenly beings; they are not considered heavenly beings.
There are also the “garudas”. Garudas are golden-winged birds.
These kinds of birds are very big. Their wingspan is very broad. They are called great golden-winged birds. These are the garudas. “Kinnaras” are non-humans. Asuras are not-heavenly beings, while Kinnaras are non-humans. They have the head of a human, but they have the body of an animal. Still, on their head, they have a horn. So they are non-humans. They look like humans, but they are not. “Mahoragas” are great python spirits. They use their body to crawl on the ground.
Everybody should know, from the Chapter on Parables, the explanation of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. When a Buddha attains Buddhahood, heavenly beings from the heaven realm will appear to celebrate.
Next, the sutra passage states, “And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Right away, all Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.”
And they saw the 16 princes asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Right away, all Brahma kings prostrated out of respect for the Buddha, circumambulated the Buddha thousands of times and scattered celestial flowers upon Him.
At that time, because this place of enlightenment was luminous, it was extremely dignified. The 16 princes were there to ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The eight classes of Dharma-protectors had all come, so they then paid respect to the Buddha in order to listen to the teachings. They “asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel”. They again ceremoniously paid their respects. Thus, they “Scattered celestial flowers upon Him”. This was another scene of scattering flowers. When the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra in the Introductory Chapter, this also happened. When He turned the Great Dharma-wheel, He set aside skillful means and returned to the one True Dharma. Everyone was very joyful to return to their intrinsic Buddha-nature. The Buddha had already clearly set aside skillful means to reveal the One Vehicle Dharma. So, they were joyful. Heavenly beings all came to scatter flowers as offerings, representing the spreading of good seeds, in hopes that all would walk the Bodhisattva-path and engage in spiritual practice.
Listening to the Dharma as Hearers is not enough. Comprehending principles as Solitary Realizers is also not enough. We need to quickly advance to the next step and walk the Bodhisattva-path. Bodhisattva must return to the human realm to give of themselves for this world, create good affinities, and spread seeds of goodness to help all people promptly cultivate good causes. In the future, those who attain Buddhahood will be as numerous as the sand of infinite Ganges Rivers. I hope that all people, all these people, will be able to hear the Dharma, cultivate good causes, reap good fruits and attain Buddhahood. If not many can go among the people, the Dharma will forever be closed off.
So, the Lotus Sutra opens and reveals, the supreme meaning in the hope that everyone can accept it. Thus, those who hear the Dharma and those who speak the Dharma need to become those who pass on the Dharma. These are Bodhisattvas. We must spread these good seeds so everyone can accept these good seeds and begin engaging in spiritual practice. We must interact with people in unity, harmony, mutual love and concerted effort. We must give of ourselves for the Dharma; as practitioners, this is what we should do. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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