Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Revering the Bodhi-tree As If It Were the Buddha (敬樹如敬佛)
Date: January.03. 2017
“They made offerings to the Buddha as well as to the tree of enlightenment, for it was what the Buddha relied on. They revered the tree as if revering the Buddha and could not bear to cut it down. The tree was ten yojanas in height, and its flowers were as large as a cart’s wheel. How could its appearance be so large? We must know that it is inconceivable.”
This seems rather profound. It is very profound! This is all expressing that we must have respect.
In the previous sutra passages, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha sat for ten small kalpas and attained Buddhahood, then the heavenly beings and Dharma-protectors rejoiced and made offerings until the Buddha taught the Dharma. This took a very long time. Then He transformed sentient beings. The 16 princes became monastics and rejoiced in listening to the Dharma. They again requested that Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha expound the Dharma; they requested the Dharma, the True Dharma.
He knew the capabilities of the 16 princes were different from those of ordinary people. Our Sakyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma in the Saha World for over 42 years. With the Dharma that He taught, to Hearers, Solitary Realizers and even to the ordinary people, what they came to understand was the teaching of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. What Solitary Realizers were able to understand was that the world is impermanent, with the seasons constantly changing. They understood that life arises through the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence and so on. These were the teachings they could understand. Though the Bodhisattvas comprehended the Buddha’s intent, that we must dedicate ourselves among the people, their understanding was still not precise. So, the Buddha had no choice but to teach according to capabilities.
It was only after 42 years had passed that the Buddha judged the time and felt that causes and conditions were about ripe. So, He had to begin teaching the Lotus Sutra. This is the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. He wanted Hearers and Solitary Realizers to know that the goal of spiritual practice was to return to their nature of True Suchness. This is possessed by everyone, so everyone can attain Buddhahood. We just need a method; we must open the door to our hearts, form great aspirations and make great vows. We do not practice only for own our own benefit. We do not only have an understanding of the principles. We must be tempered by going among people to truly experience and understand, to truly help enable everyone to experience their Buddha-nature. The Buddha had to guide everyone to know the equality of all living things. It was only after 42 years that the Buddha began teaching and praising the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.
In the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, the Buddha began praising the Bodhisattva Way. He even taught many [methods] for Bodhisattvas in the world. He taught Bodhisattvas how to go among the people and that they should even be unsummoned teachers. He even wanted everyone to know that although they are still unenlightened beings, after listening to and understanding the Dharma, they can also go among people and teach it. This is like the master boatman; though his body may suffer from illness, he can still make use of his boat to deliver sentient beings. This is in the Sutras of Infinite Meanings. We are constantly reciting the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, so we know that Bodhisattvas go among people. That means once we understand the principles, we must immediately go among people to give. We have no concern for ourselves; we do it all to deliver sentient beings.
After Great Unhindered Superior Wisdom Buddha attained Buddhahood, He began teaching the Dharma. This went on for a period of time. The 16 princes resolved to become monastics, for they had taken the Dharma to heart. They understood that these teachings contained within them the very precious Dharma of the One True Reality. The 16 princes knew to take the initiative in asking the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. As for Sariputra, [he did not know to ask] until after listening to the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, after the Buddha began radiating light, after Manjusri and Maitreya had their dialogue in verse, praising the past Sun Moon Lamp Radiant Buddhas and the numerous stories that occurred with those 20,000 Buddhas in the past.
Everyone was still not completely clear, so when the Buddha emerged from Samadhi, He again began praising the Buddha-wisdom, that [enlightened] state and so forth. Only then did Sariputra finally understand what the state of Buddhahood was like, that everyone could attain it; it was just that no one was clear.
Everyone intrinsically has the Buddha-nature, so Sariputra, on everyone’s behalf, entreated the Buddha to teach the True Dharma. The Buddha refused three times, because Sariputra had entreated Him three times. It was only after the third time that the Buddha formally set aside skillful means and opened and revealed the One Vehicle Path. This means He taught the Lotus Sutra. This was because the Buddha of the Saha World had to face such sentient beings. Later in the Lotus Sutra it says sentient beings are difficult to train. Sentient beings in the Saha World are stubborn. They are difficult to train. They are very obstinate, so it is difficult to transform them. This shows that sentient beings in the Saha World are truly stubborn and dense, hard to transform.
For Great Unhindered Buddha, it was simple; the people quickly accepted the Dharma He taught. Moreover, the 16 princes quickly understood and asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. At that moment, the Brahma kings in their palaces began to feel that Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was about to teach the Great Dharma. A ray of light shone eastward first, then illuminating all in the ten directions, not only horizontally, broadly illuminating the Brahma palaces in 500 trillion [lands], but vertically as well, above and below. The lighten reached up to the highest points, while also illuminating all the dark places of the lands below. They were all suddenly illuminated.
This shows that He was about to [teach] the true principles. For everyone, whether those in the Brahma heavens or those sentient beings in dark places, the principles are equal. It does not matter whether they are heavenly beings or sentient beings in the Six Destinies. All sentient beings are the same; all can likewise understand the Dharma, for this Dharma exists intrinsically in everyone. This is a way of showing that the Buddha’s teaching has always been impartial; He views all with equal compassion. Thus He exercises both compassion and wisdom. If we can all bring together compassion and wisdom, the principles will be very clear and universal. The Buddha-Dharma tells us this as well. To attain Buddhahood, even if we have understood all the principles, still in the end, we must combine compassion and wisdom. Thus was complete our great perfect mirror wisdom.
The principles is the same. However, during the time of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, it was much simpler and easier. In face, this is everyone’s intrinsic nature; it has always been this simple, so why, for sentient beings in the Saha World, is it so difficult? They were continually covered by ignorance, thus they were stubborn and difficult to train. This is why the principles were difficult for them. It is difficult for people’s minds to come together with the principles. No matter how the principles are taught, they say, “I know, I know.” But they have not thoroughly understood. They are unwilling to mindfully accept the Dharma. This is the only difference.
So it says, “They made offerings to the Buddha as well as to the tree of enlightenment.” This means that when the Buddha attained enlightenment, heavenly beings, humans, as well as the eight classes of Dharma-protectors, as the previous passage said, had all appeared. Since the Buddha was about to teach the Great Dharma, all of them had come. They not only made offerings to the Buddha, but to the Bodhi-tree as well. All of you probably remember; why was this? The Bodhi-tree was what the Buddha relied on. When a Buddha wishes to attain Buddhahood, He must abandon His family and take heaven and earth as his home, living on the land under the sky. The Buddha was a man before attaining Buddhahood. He was still a man even after attaining Buddhahood. He still needed to find a placate to shelter Himself from the elements, a shaded place to block the sun. Bodhi-trees are lush. So, the Bodhi-tree was the place where He abided.
The Bodhi-tree offered the most safe and stable place for the Buddha to sit, so “It was what the Buddha relied on.” When He sat beneath this Bodhi-tree, the Bodhi-tree’s lush leaves could block the sun, and if it rains ever so slightly, it could serve as an umbrella to block the rain. It could block the rain as well as the sun. There He could find shelter from the wind, so this was where the Buddha abided. He could sit there with peach of mind, remaining peaceful and unmoving. So, the Buddha abided in that place, and that is where He attained Buddhahood. This was true in the past for Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and true in the present for Sakyamuni Buddha.
So, in making respectful offerings to the Buddha, at the same time they made offerings to the Bodhi-tree as well.
“They revered the tree as if revering the Buddha.” It was there that the Buddha had sat, there that He awakened, there that He attained Buddhahood. When He finally entered Parinirvana, it also occurred beneath a tree. So, “They revered the tree as they revered the Buddha.”
They revered the tree just as they revered the Buddha when He was alive. The Buddha attained Buddhahood there, and it was under a tree that He entered Parinirvana. So, they revered the tree. Thus, they “could not bear to cut it down.” We should all cherish trees. We cannot bear to cut them down, and it our heart we should cherish trees.
Actually, trees are very important for the well-being of the earth. Trees protect the earth and life on the earth. We should know where there are trees, there must be water. Where there are mountains and trees, there will naturally be water. Every large tree stores water when it rains. Trees absorb the rainwater, both big trees as well as little ones. A single tree can absorb approximately three to four tons of water. Bigger trees can absorb four to five tons. Think about it; a single tree can absorb so much water, can store so much water. Thus, even if it rains more, the rainwater is first stored in the trees. As the rain gradually stops, the trees gradually release their water through their leaves, their branches and even through their roots back into the soil. As the water circulates and is recycled like this, it protects the earth.
Sentient beings also need water to live. When we lack water, our lives face a great vicious cycle. Look at how big trees protect the earth. They also have the ability to provide everyone with lots of fresh air. Trees can absorb water, then over time protect the land through this water cycle that returns it to the earth. As humans, we should have a heart that cannot bear to cut down the earth’s trees. So, we revere trees as we revere the Tathagata Himself. We revere trees as we would people. When we cut down trees, it is the same as harming the life of the land, as cutting down the life of Earth. We should love and cherish our trees.
“The tree was ten yojanas in heigh.” This is describing how these trees grew to a very large height. Every tree was very tall. They were very tall trees. “Its flowers were as large as a cart’s wheel.” The flowers, when they bloomed, were also large. In the world of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, everything was large; everything was a treasure. These were not normal trees, and their flowers were different from ours.
Our lotus pond came from a person who sent me two seeds in the past. They were lotus seeds. Later, when we planted the seeds back there, the leaves of those lotuses were this big. Recently, I have no longer seen them. You could put a child on one of the leaves; one leaf could have supported a child. This kind of lotus is different from regular lotus leaves. When it opens up, it is flat. Such things exist in our Saha World. In the world of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, the trees were ten yojanas in height. A yojana is 40 li, so if they were ten yojanas tall, just imagine how tall they were! Its flowers were as large as the wheels of a cart. “How could its appearance be so large?” How could these appear to be so big? The trees were huge, the flowers were also huge. This is telling us that it is inconceivable!
Though the principles are so very simple, we unenlightened beings cannot comprehend them. For instance, here on Earth, the United States, in March 2009, launched the [Kepler] space telescope. What they were looking for was to see is if there is a second “Planet Earth”. Finally, in 2015, on the day of July 23, they received a message from the space telescope. On that day they announced that, at a distance of 1400 light-years from Earth, at a distance so very far away, they had discovered a plant nearly the same as Earth, but bigger. It orbits a sun [like ours]. Our earth takes 365 days to revolve around the sun. Our one year is 365 days. A year there is 385 days, which is very similar to Earth.
They discovered it has what appears to be oceans and mountains. However, the telescope is still far away from it. It can only view it from afar, it cannot actually reach it. The distance is truly still too great. It is still very far away. All they can discover is that there are volcanoes, there are oceans and there is sunlight. It is brighter there than on Earth. But is there water that humans can drink? Is there any life there? They still do not know, because this space telescope has no way to get there; it can only see it from afar. It cannot reach it, because it is 1400 light-years away from Earth. A light-year is a very long distance. When we talk about light-years, if a ray of light travels for one year, then you calculate this distance, it would be 9.46 trillion kilometers.
Just imagine over 1400 light-years! According to the reports, if you were to fly an airplane there, it would take at least 1.5 billion to arrive. Just imagine; the distance is so great, yet scientists have already discovered there another planet similar to Earth. But though this planet is very similar to Earth, is there life upon it? We do not know. This planet is also very old, much older than Earth.
In any case, we humans here now on this Earth, those of us who live here now, continuously cut down trees and dump garbage. Now, at this time, is space we have discovered what appears to be another Earth; this would still never be enough for us. We humans, in our delusion, still continue to destroy, continue to waste and consume and whittle away our resources. This is what we should promptly alert ourselves to.
It is said that trees are [intimately related] to our entire planet, to our atmosphere circulation, to the water cycle, to all the elements of earth, water, fire and air. This is why I especially want to share with everyone that we should be making offerings to trees with the same attitude we make offerings to the Buddha. With the same importance we place on a Buddha coming to the world, we should cherish the life of trees as being just as precious.
Cutting sown a tree takes seconds. With a chainsaw, one cut and it topples. But for a tree to grow so big and tall, if you think about it, takes decades or close to a hundred, even a thousand years. Still, we humans do not know to cherish them. So, I hope that everyone understands the true principles; they must be understood and investigated in this way. This is how we seek out principles.
The previous passage says, “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.
As we said before, the 16 princes and Brahma kings had all arrived. The 16 princes were already there to request the Dharma, and the Brahma kings and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors had all arrived. So, in that place, they reverently paid their respects to the Buddha, circumambulating and scattering celestial flowers; it was a truly a magnificent scene. It was a truly a very dignified occasion.
The passage continues by saying, “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. This Bodhi-tree was ten yojanas in height. Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.”
The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru.
They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.
This Bodhi-tree was ten yojanas in height.
Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.
All came to make offerings of flowers to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. The Bodhi-tree they made offerings to was tall, and the flowers were large, continuously falling from the sky. All the Brahma kings’ palaces had also arrived with them. They all made offerings to the Buddha with their bodies, minds and possessions. This expressed their sincerity.
“The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. It says that Sumeru is a Sanskrit word. It means wondrously high summit. The flowers were piled as high as a mountain.”
This is a very tall mountain. The flowers were so numerous that they accumulated as high as a mountain. This is how it was. They were like Mt. Sumeru, a very tall mountain. On the mountain are trees, on the trees, flowers. When the flowers fell, if you looked from afar, the mountain of flowers was like Mt. Sumeru. This is the highest and most wondrously tall peak, the top of Mt. Sumeru. The flowers were scattered, falling from the sky, filling up a mountain. They reached the peak.
So, “The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru.” This is what it means. It says that, “The celestial flowers were scattered from the sky above the Buddha and formed a canopy of flowers. It was as tall and grand as Mt. Sumeru.” The flowers scattered from above the Buddha and naturally stopped there to form a canopy of flowers. It was just like an umbrella, a canopy that formed above the Buddha’s head.“ It was as tall and grand as Mt. Sumeru.” They formed many layers in the air.
Second, “On the ground, the flowers they scattered” piled up very thick and high, like Mt. Sumeru. These are all analogies describing the great piles of the flowers that formed. It is a description; that is what it looked like, “not that the flowers were truly that high.” This is a kind of description.
The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. The second meaning: On the ground, the flowers they scattered were piled so thick high that they looked like Mt. Sumeru. This means the shape was like Mt. Sumeru, not that the flowers were truly that high.
Third, “The pile of the flowers they scattered surpassed the height of the Bodhi-tree.” Of course, the Bodhi-tree was already tall, so for the flowers scattered from the sky to surpass the height of the Bodhi-tree would be “an inconceivable matter.” This is incredible.
The Bodhi-tree was already quite tall, and the flowers were even higher than the Bodhi-tree! The flowers scattered by heavenly beings fell like this, covering the Buddha’s head, covering the Bodhi-tree and covering the land very thickly. This describes the magnificence of that place of enlightenment.
The flowers they scattered were like Mt. Sumeru. The third meaning: The pile of the flowers they scattered surpassed the height of the Bodhi-tree. This is and inconceivable matter, as they did not obstruct each other.
“They were used to make offerings to both the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree.” “This Bodhi-tree was ten yojanas in height.” They scattered flowers to make offerings to the Buddha and the Bodhi-tree. The Bodhi-tree was ten yojanas in height. We were just talking about this.
“They made offerings to the Buddha and the tree.” This is because the tree “was the seat that the Buddha relied upon.” This is the place where the Buddha abided, where He lived, where He engaged in spiritual practice, where He entered calm contemplation. It is where He attained enlightenment and where He taught the Dharma. This is where the Buddha abided, where He cultivated calm contemplation.
So, everyone made offerings like this to the tree. There are still many now who worship trees. There are many in India, and in Taiwan also.
If a tree is bigger, they say they “pay respect to the tree spirit” and build small shrines beneath them. They say they are worshiping the tree spirit. This expresses reverence for the tree. When it comes to trees, actually, the Bodhi-tree is the tree of enlightenment. It was where the Buddha engaged in spiritual practice at that time, the place where He stayed, the place where He sat. In this place and in its surroundings He cultivated contemplation, received the Dharma and came to understand the principles of all things in the universe. It is where He cultivated calm contemplation. Because of this, He attained Buddhahood. Because of this, everyone also offered reverence to the tree as if they were revering the Buddha Himself. They revered it as they did the Buddha, as if the Buddha were still there; such was their respect.
They made offerings to the Buddha and the tree. This is because the tree was the Buddha’s place of support, abiding, sitting, the place He cultivated contemplation of Dharma. Therefore, paying respect to the tree is actually paying respect to Him.
So, “Having made offerings with flowers, they each offered their palaces to that Buddha.” Heavenly beings follow their heart’s desires. Things follow their desires. When they decide to go somewhere, they can bring whatever they want. When they want to do something, the things they [need] appear. There are the blessings of heavenly beings. So, when they came before the Buddha, “Each used the heavenly palaces they journeyed on.” They used these to make offerings in the same way.
Many people say, “I am willing to make offerings.” Some even say, “I make a lot of money, but I do not do it for myself. I do it for the sake of….” Actually, it is not for the sake of anyone. Even if they make more money, what use is it? If they say they are making offerings, what is it that they are making offerings to? How many heavenly beings came to make offerings to the Buddha? Those from 500 trillion lands, and they all brought their palaces. All those heavenly beings came with all their palaces; where would they take them to? If all were offered to the Buddha, think about it, how could the Buddha accept them? This is kind of a description. It is an analogy for giving everything one has out of respect, giving everything one can, even one’s life. It is being willing to give everything one has. This is an analogy for giving everything one has, so it says they used even the palaces they journeyed on as offering to the Buddha, to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. This is used as an analogy.
I hope when all of us listen to the Dharma, we understand the meaning contained in the sutra. Otherwise, there is so much that we discuss which we cannot see. When we speak of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors, do they really exist? We cannot see them, so do they exist? Whether they exist or not, still we must know, “There are spiritual beings three inches above us.”
I always talk about this, as I did yesterday. Here is a very simple example. A father took his child out in the dead of the night, telling him, “Let’s go out. I want to take you to a place where I will need your help.” So, the child followed the father into the vegetable garden of another person. He told his son, “I want you to see if there are people around.” So, the child looked and then said, “No one is around.” “No? Alright, then come! Look for the biggest melon you can find. Come, let’s pick a melon!” The son then said, “Father, this melon garden does not belong to us.” He said, “It’s fine! No one is here to see us, so let us pick one.” The son told him, ”Father, yes there is; I can see you and you can see me. The moon can also see us and so can the stars. Father, how could there be no one to see us?” Hearing this, the father quickly let go. “Oh! My son has reminded me! There actually is someone who can see us. It is my conscience that sees me. This is a bad deed, even though it is as small as taking a melon belonging to another. Though it is nighttime and nobody sees us, my child sees it, the heavens see it, the moon sees it, the stars sees it; actually, my own conscience sees it too. I shouldn’t do such a bad deed and be a bad example to my child.” He discovered his conscience. If all of us everywhere were to discover our conscience, to constantly discover our conscience, to constantly use our nature of True Suchness, our pure mindset, to see everything, the principles [will be clear]. The principles are without form or substance. We do not necessarily need to see them in order to believe in them.
Those scientists discovered that 1400 light-years away, at such a great distance, there is another planet in another solar system that is very similar to our Earth. With that place, if this planet can no longer contain us and we want to go to “that planet”, would “that planet” necessarily be suitable for us humans to live upon? Now this space telescope can capture images from very far away, but it cannot get there; it is too distant. The distance is so great; how can we possibly see it clearly? We cannot; the distance is so far. Even if we wanted to go, by plane it would take us 1.5 billion years. Think of how long that is! Science has proven that this planet exists, but we cannot see it ourselves or go to it.
So, we can say that there is much that we cannot touch or see but in fact does exist in the universe. Our planet Earth is also floating, floating in space. Looking at Earth from the Moon makes a very deep impression. One has to raise one’s head to see Earth. When we look at the Moon from here, we raise our heads to look up into the sky. If you were on the Moon, what you would see from afar is Earth, shining like the moon shines. It is inconceivable!
It turns out we are also floating upon a planet in the universe; it is just that we humans are covered by ignorance. Our ignorance has covered us, so there is so much that we cannot comprehend or see. Thus we are endlessly covered in afflictions, and there are many principles we cannot understand.
So, as Buddhist practitioners, it is most important for us to investigate the principles. But do you need to investigated them fully before you can believe in them? We should believe in them now. The Buddha taught us to go among people and promptly share these principles with everyone, to transform evil into good and afflictions into Bodhi. If everyone does so earnestly, if all of us are diligent and frugal, we can definitely benefit the planet and definitely benefit our society. Since it is beneficial, we should believe in it. We should believe in it, then just do it. If something is correct, then we do it. So everyone, please always be mindful. We must always accept the teachings faithfully, put them into practice and always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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