Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha Appears to Be Sentient Beings’ Eyes (佛出於世作眾生眼)
Date: January.08. 2017
“The places where those with evil karma go are called the Three Evil Realms.” The Three Evil Realms are: “One, the hell realm. Those who create the greatest karma of the Ten Evils go to this place. Two, the hungry ghost realm. Those who create average karma of the Ten Evils go to this place. Three, the animal realm. Those who create the least karma of the Ten Evils go to this place.”
This is telling us about what we often speak of, the Three Evil Realms. The Three Evil Realms, as well all already know, are the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These are called the Three Evil Realms.
What kind of karma do people create that will lead them to go to the hell realm? In the Three Evil Realms, the place with the greatest suffering is the hell realm. If a person enters the hell realm, they will face unspeakable suffering. Such suffering is uninterrupted, so in hell, there is a place known as Unremitting Hell. This Unremitting Hell is a place for people who have accumulated all kinds of suffering, so they face constant, unremitting suffering. It is extreme suffering.
Why would someone fall into this hell with its constant suffering? They have created the greatest karma of the Ten Evils. Such people will naturally be born in the hell realm. Evil karma can be categorized as greatest, average or least. For those who commit the most extreme evils, their retribution is to fall into the extreme suffering of Unremitting Hell; this is extreme suffering. When speaking of the names of hell and the suffering there, they are truly unbearable to describe; it is impossible to describe such suffering.
In any case, if we take a look at this world, some families are not only impoverished, but in the whole family, from parents to children and grandchildren, across three generations, all are collectively suffering. If not poverty, then disability. It is not just one or two of them, but sometimes the whole family; for some, the whole family relies upon one person. But even that person can experience a misfortune or a major injury or great torment and so on. We can see that in this world there are families like this.
Speaking of suffering, there is suffering that lasts for a lifetime and suffering that lasts for two or three generations. In one family, three generations may suffer from layers of illness, disability and misfortune. How many cases like this have we already seen? In our world, we can already see this kind of unremitting, constant suffering.
Living Bodhisattvas interact with such families to save and transform sentient beings. We help renovate or repair their broken-down homes and turn them into beautiful places. We clear away the feces, dirt and garbage for them until it is very clean. For each person who is suffering, we use different methods to help them settle down, perhaps in a shelter, a senior home or so on. If it is severe, we will properly resettle them. If it is less severe, over the long term we keep them company and educate them. In our world, there are such families that face hell-like suffering, so there are also Living Bodhisattvas who manifest.
This depends on causes and conditions. If there is an opportunity, we can save them. If there is none, we cannot do anything. Then, there is truly “no Dharma to transform them.” For those with the causes and conditions, those who in a past lifetime had already created causes and conditions, in this lifetime, when they are suffering, there is a group of people who have the causes and conditions to help them. If in their past lifetimes there was no Dharma and no causes or conditions, then in this lifetime, it will still be hard to break free from this unremitting suffering. It will continue on this way. This is how it is in our world.
Then if we want to speak of hell, of a state that is completely in the hell realm, this state of hell is like a family where a person may think, “This is my whole world. My whole world is filled with such suffering.” As mentioned in the Earth Treasury Sutra, in Unremitting Hell, “One person will fill it, as will many.”
Nowadays, in the hospital, in Acute Care wards, everyone is suffering from the pain of illness. All they think of is, “I am suffering the most.” For them, it is all about “me”. “My pain and suffering fill up this space.” They do not think of the bed next to theirs, where there is someone in more pain; thus it says, “One person will fill it, as will many” [when describing] Unremitting Hell. Lying on the [hospital] bed, they think, “I am suffering the worst! I have many complaints. Why do the doctors and nurses go to the bed next to mine? Why haven’t they come to me yet? My wait time has been so long. This is very upsetting.” Their hearts have resentment, worries and fear. Their bodies and minds are tormented with pain and suffering. This is called “Unremitting Hell.”
If a person is in pain and suffering, he thinks he himself is the one suffering most. There are causes, effects and retributions to this. If something [happens] to their health, [we think] “He is a very good person; how can this happen?” As they are good, some karma has already matured, so they can enjoy good fruitions in this world. If people have blessings to enjoy, will they be free from illness and pain? They will not; in the past they did not realize they were committing evils, but they are still replete with evil karma. For example, nowadays there are many who practice good deeds, but still unconsciously sacrifice many lives because of their craving for taste. They do not realize how many lives they have harmed or swallowed. They do not know how many beings have suffered and been tormented for their sake before their bones and flesh were consumed. For these people, even though they are kind and do good deeds, they are still not aware. They do not know how many lives they have eaten just because of their cravings for taste. Thus, once sickness befalls them, their bodies and minds will suffer; this also happens. Those who suffer severe illness will be in hell, facing unbearable suffering.
For those who create average evil karma, they go to the hungry ghost realm. Apart from poverty, they are also born into circumstantial retributions where they lack water, lack clean water. Without clean water or a sufficient food supply, they are also suffering unbearably.
Now, when we watch international news, how many countries are suffering from warfare? How many countries are suffering drought? How many countries have impoverished people who are suffering from sickness and hunger? How many people live in the hungry ghost realm in this world? Such suffering is truly hard to describe. It is very difficult to save them, to reach them. Being in the hungry ghost realm and suffering from hunger like this, though those people are living in this world, it is still truly unbearable suffering!
In the Three Evil reams, there is such suffering. For instance, some people have diseases where they just cannot eat. Although they want to eat, they cannot swallow. They really want to eat, but they cannot swallow, so they are unable to eat. Among the diseases in the world, there are such sicknesses. There is also something called anorexia, which is a nervous system disorder. Though the patient wants to swallow, they cannot. The mechanism for swallowing suddenly goes awry. The nerves for swallowing have a disorder, and the patient cannot swallow food. There is obviously food for them to eat, but they have such a disorder; this happens, too. What about suffering from both direct and circumstantial retributions? Those who suffer in the hungry ghost realm are those who created average evil karma. Ti is not as extreme as the greatest evil karma of the Ten Evils of Unremitting Hell. Those who have created a little bit less evil will fall into the hungry ghost realm.
Third is the animal realm. The animal realm can also be found in this world. We see various kinds of animals, be it very large animals or very miniscule insects and so on. They are all in the animal realm. Animals also have consciousness. Early this morning, while I was browsing through what our global Tzu Chi volunteers are doing, I found a news report that really moved me. It was about Tzu Chi volunteers in Brazil. [In 2015,] at the end of July, they held a distribution. They distributed aid in a village. There were Chinese and Brazilians in that village. Both the Chinese and the locals were living in poverty, so we provided a free medical clinic and aid. During the free clinic service and distribution, we discovered that many were near-sighted, so the volunteers measured their visual clarity. On August 1st, they gathered everyone to give them glasses they gathered everyone to give them glasses. There were Chinese and Brazilians amongst them. One volunteer introduced Tzu Chi in Mandarin, while another used Portuguese when introducing Tzu Chi to them. One spoke Chinese, another spoke Portuguese, translating what the other said.
As they were introducing Tzu Chi, they promoted the love behind our charity work, which is the mutual love between human beings. Apart from mutual love between human beings, humans should also love and cherish animals.
They shared a story with the audience. This story happened in 1976 during the Tangshan Earthquake. This was a great earthquake in Tangshan, China. Before this earthquake, there was a kindhearted man. He saw a fox entering his home and stealing food from his kitchen. In the kitchen, there was a cooked fish covered on the table. The fox lifted the lid and stealthily ate the fish. The owner came in and witnessed the whole thing. Although he was furious, a thought of compassion arose in him. Even though someone yelled, “Beat the fox!” this thought of compassion arose in this man. He protected this fox and spoke on his behalf, defending him, and then released him into the wild.
This happened a few days before the earthquake. Just fifteen minutes prior to the earthquake, this fox appeared again and came before the man who had released him. In that place, the fox used all kinds of methods to tempt him out. The man who released the fox continued to [follow] this fox. This fox was very adorable in his attitude and thus enticed and led the man out of his house to a spot that was a safe distance away. Suddenly, the earth shook all of Tangshan; the great Tangshan Earthquake had struck. His whole house was leveled. Some of his family members were buried, but the man who released the fox was unharmed.
This is a story. After telling the story, the volunteer said, “Master told us that we humans are greedy in our craving for taste and consume all kinds of living beings. Sentient beings kill and give life to each other, bringing mutual retributions upon each other. For instance, this fox came to repay the man’s grace; this was in response to his goodness. This fox came to repay his grace.” The volunteer said, “Master often says that all living beings have Buddha-nature. If you kill and eat an animal, there will be hatred and resentment in his heart. So, without you knowing it, in some life they may be your family member, while in another they may be you enemy.”
They told this story, which touched many people. This happened in Brazil. The volunteers regularly held distributions and also free medical clinics, which included optometry and dentistry. When they saw those who could not see clearly, they helped by giving them prescription glasses. For those who had rotten teeth, they helped by making dentures for them. In summary, they mindfully and lovingly explained the Tzu Chi spirit and Jing Si Dharma-lineage. Even though they are half a globe apart from us, our hearts are so close in distance. They are so close; “Our natures are similar.” In that place, they likewise listen to the Dharma, so every sentence they spoke was “Master says this; Master teaches us this.” See, with the same words, they applied the same spirit and ideals there; they applied the same spiritual ideology there. They also spoke of the law of karma in regards to the animal realm.
Indeed, good and evil each have their retributions. The hell realm, the suffering from creating greatest evil karma, is unspeakable suffering, unremitting, constant suffering. When it comes to the hungry ghost realm, even in our world we can experience and observe those places of poverty, those states, or those wealthy places where there is such suffering of sickness. This is the same as the hungry ghost realm. The animal realm is everywhere. There are animals that fly, such as birds we now hear chirping. There are animals that run on the ground, such as the cats and dogs that we often see, as well as all kinds of tiny living beings. There are so many we could never list them all. They are all in a karmic cycle of good and evil.
There are so many forms and kinds of suffering in life; it is truly unspeakable. So, we must believe in the Three Evil Realms and the four forms of birth, which are womb-born, egg-born, transformation-born and moisture-born. This is all truly suffering! Even in the human and heaven realms, there is the suffering of impermanence. In the human realm, life is painfully short. Although heavenly beings have long lifespans and enjoy great blessings and pleasures, when their lives end, they also fall into the Five Realms and undergo cyclic existence.
So, this sutra passage, which is the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, covers a very large area. Brahma kings continued to come from the east and southeast, seeking the light and investigating the principles. They sought the source of light and principles. Wasn’t this for the purpose of escaping their transmigration in cyclic existence?
The previous passage of the sutra says,
“Lord of the sages, king of heavenly beings, one with the sound of kalavinka, who takes mercy on sentient beings, we now respectfully prostrate to You. The World-Honored One is profoundly rare, only appearing after a long period of time 180 kalpas have passed with no Buddha.”
We should have gained a greater understanding of this passage. The Three Evil Realms are unspeakable suffering. The passage continues on to say, “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished. Now a Buddha born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.”
This sutra passage is very clear. The Three Evil Realms, as we described previously are truly filled with unbearable suffering. More and more sentient beings are going there. It is the same in our world; the human population continually increases. He said, “The heavenly beings have diminished.” Clearly, when lifespans in heaven are over, they again fall into our world, the human realm. So, it says, “The heavenly beings have diminished” because
“The Three Evil Realms are filled.” In the human realm we give rise to ignorance, and once a single thought of ignorance arises, we create different amounts of evil karma. Then we will fall into the Three Evil Realms, so “The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished.”
“Now a Buddha is born to this world.” Now a Buddha has manifested in this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. Only the Buddha is one who truly has bright, clear eyes, because the Buddha has already seen the Path. He has awakened and His mind is open. Thus, He sees all principles in the whole universe. “Of all I have seen in the world, this phrase, is seen in the sutras.” So, we hope the Buddha can serve as the eyes for sentient beings, because sentient beings are already blind. They lost their sight and are now in darkness. Now we need the Buddha to serve as the eyes for sentient beings, so we must ask for the Buddha’s teachings. “You are the refuge of the world.” A place of refuge for the world means that we hope the Buddha is whom sentient beings rely on. Only the Buddha can “save and protect all.” Indeed, we need this.
Look at the Tzu Chi volunteers in Brazil who held distributions as well as free clinics. The optometrists, if some could not see clearly, quickly look their measurements and prescribed glasses for them so they could see more clearly. This loving mind is the Buddha-mind. With the Buddha-mind and Buddha-eye, he Buddha serves as the eyes for sentient beings. Isn’t this so?
So, the Three Evil Realms are all within the karmic law of cause and effect. Thus, when evil people increase in number, good people decrease in number. “According to the cause, they receive the effect.” This is all due to causes from the past. How we behaved, how we treated sentient beings, how we ate them and how we created karma out of ignorance are causes. What we are experiencing now are all the karmic effects. If we “do not encounter the Buddha’s teaching, if we do not encounter the Buddha teaching and revealing the principles to us, we will create more and more karma.” The Evil Destinies will be broader and broader.
Now, in our world, we often hear about overpopulated prisons, which means many people committed crimes. It is the same in hell. Increasingly, more people are suffering punishment in the Evil Destinies. With a cause, we face the effect. According to the cause, they receive the effect. When we continue to create such evil causes, what we experience is many retributions of suffering; this is “not cultivating goodness.”
If we are in the human realm, and are now enjoying ourselves, when our blessings are depleted, we still fall. We cannot help but follow our karma. All it takes is for us to commit evils; all it takes is to lack goodness in our heart. All we do [will be evil] and cause afflictions. When we have afflictions, even without committing evil, such ignorance will still accumulate. In future lifetimes, we cannot guarantee we will understand principles. Similarly, evil karma will accumulate over time. Even if we do no evil in this lifetime, because of accumulated ignorance, our next life will still be beyond our control.
As long as we have ignorance in this life, we cannot form good affinities. As long as we have afflictions, we have already formed conflicts with others. Then in our next life there will still be negative effects. So, “They fall when their blessings are depleted.” We should not think, “In this lifetime, I am so talented and have material wealth, What does everyone else’s suffering have to do with me?” If so, in coming lifetimes, “They fall when their blessings are depleted.” Heavenly beings will naturally diminish in number. Those enjoying pleasures and blessings in the human realm will decrease, while the people in suffering will increase. This is not only here, even after this realm, those with the greatest evil karma will be reborn in the hell realm. Average evil karma lead us to the hungry ghost realm. The least evil karma leads us to the animal realm. So, those the Three Evil Realms grow in number.
The Three Evil Realms are filled, and the heavenly beings have diminished: There are more evil people and fewer good ones. According to the cause, they receive the effect Those who do not encounter the Buddha’s teaching will create more karma. The evil destinies are packed full. By not cultivating goodness, they fall when their blessings are depleted. Thus heavenly beings have diminished.
“Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings. Not being able to tell right from wrong is like having no eyes.” When we are not able to tell right from wrong, we are like a person who has eyes but who cannot see the principles clearly. Isn’t this the same as not having eyes? If our mind’s eye is not yet opened, we only have our physical eyes. Our mind’s eye is covered by ignorance. Thus, “Not being able to tell right from wrong, we are unable to tell right from wrong, like a person who has no eyes.” Our mind is like this. Though our physical eyes may be clear, the mind’s eye is still unopened, so we are not clear about the principles.
“The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind.” The Buddha manifested in our world and started by telling us the principles. He turned the Dharma-wheel and taught the principles so we can understand them, so we can know what is good, what is evil and how to do things in a very comprehensive and harmonious way. Our considerations must be very meticulous, not careless and confused. Some say, “It is enough that I do good deeds,” but they do things in a state of confusion. When it comes to doing good, we must be meticulous and detailed in analyzing how to do things in a thorough and harmonious way. This requires great mindfulness and a clear understanding of the principles.
This was how the Buddha carefully and meticulously analyzed [the principles] for us. He was very thorough in His analysis. He let the Hearers listen to the Dharma, let Solitary Realizers experience the Dharma and guided Bodhisattvas to go among people and, with the Dharma, engage in spiritual practice. On the Bodhi-path, they could draw near to the state of Buddhahood. This was how Buddha used various methods to guide us. “The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind.” If we can accept the Buddha’s teaching, our mind’s eye will be open, and we will clearly understand the principles. So, “Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views.” We sentient beings are already blind, and our eyes have lost sight. Even if we can see, our vision is blurry. Such lack of clarity is like being in the dark. All we can see are shadows; the [details] are not clear. So, “Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views.”
This is how we humans are; we have lost right views. If we lose right views, we also lose right thinking. Without right thinking, we have no right action, right mindfulness and so on. We will lose all of it. The Eightfold Noble Path will all be lost. This “loss of right views” means we will not be able to walk the path. These eight correct ways are already blurred; we cannot see them, so “[We] do not know how to escape.” We do not know how to escape cyclic existence. As for how to escape this karma and ignorance, we do not know the method. “[We] do not know how to escape.” Only when a Buddha appears in our world, can we be guided and instructed. When a Buddha “opens” and “reveals” the Dharma, we should accept it to “realize’” and “enter.” This is how He guides us, “guides [us] to be free.” If we do not realize and enter, how will we have a way to escape the suffering in the Three Realms? How can we escape the suffering in the Three Evil Destinies? There is suffering in the Three Realms, to desire realm, form realm and formless realm. Even in the form realm, the Brahma heavens’ highest states, which are pure and filled with great enjoyment, they are still worried that when their life is over, “They will not know how to escape.” How could they put an end to cyclic existence? This was what they worried about. Therefore, they wanted to find this light, the source of the ultimate principles. Thus, they had to search in this way, seeking out this most important path of escaping the Three Realms. Only the Buddha can help, turning the Dharma-wheel to guide, open and reveal to them. He “guided them to be free. Hence it says, ‘He serves as the eyes for sentient beings.’” He hopes everyone will open their mind’s eye. Only when they see the principles clearly will they have a correct path to walk on.
Now a Buddha is born to this world to serve as the eyes for sentient beings: Not being able to tell right from wrong is like having no eyes. The Buddha manifests to transform and guide, like giving eyes to the blind. Sentient beings are blind and in the dark, having lost right views. They do not know how to escape, so the Buddha instructs them, guiding them to be free. Hence it says, “He serves as the eyes for sentient beings”
So, “You are the refuge of the world who saves and protects all.” The Buddha is whom the world relies and depends on. He is the refuge of the world. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we comprehend the great path and must form the supreme aspiration. We take refuge in the Dharma and delve deeply into the sutra treasury. Only then can we gain wisdom as vast as the ocean. When we take refuge in the Sangha, we must lead the people harmoniously. If we want to take refuge in the Sangha and lead people harmoniously, but do not take the Dharma to heart and lack wisdom, how can we lead sentient beings? So, the Buddha and Dharma “open” and “reveal,” and we must “realize” and “enter.” Only then can we unlock our wisdom, so our wisdom can be as vast as the ocean. Then the ocean of enlightened wisdom will manifest. Otherwise, if we do not want to connect with [the Dharma] the Buddha opened and revealed, if we do not want it to enter our heart, we will be unable to experience and realize it. So, we must be mindful. “You are the refuge of the world.” This refers to the Buddha’s teachings, which we can rely on.
So, we must form the supreme aspiration. We must form aspirations, take the Dharma to heart and mindfully investigate it, seek to understand it. So, I hope that when we all can obtain the Buddha’s teachings, we will earnestly take refuge around the Buddha and Buddha-Dharma, never leaving them. So the Buddha can deliver and transform us, can shelter us. The Buddha-Dharma helps us to never depart from the principles.
Next, the sutra passage says, “You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us. We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.”
As for “fathers in the world,” after reading the Chapter on Parables and the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, we should be very clear about this. Fathers in the world can “give life to our physical body.” Our body comes from our father and mother, but the Buddha through His speech gives birth to our dharma-body. So, “The Buddha is the Dharma-father.” He expounds the Dharma for us, and we are “transformation-born from the Dharma.” We all are children born of the Dharma from the Buddha’s mouth. The Buddha-Dharma transforms and delivers us so we can be reborn and go among people with a pure mind. As for the “pure Dharma-body,” this shows that those in the Brahma heavens asked the Buddha to give them a pure Dharma-body. This requires that we first purify our heart so we can go among the people to benefit all in the world.
You are the father of sentient beings, the one who takes mercy on and benefits us: Fathers in the world can give life to our physical body. The Buddha is the Dharma-father, and our pure Dharma-body is transformation-born from the Dharma. He is one who takes mercy on and benefits the world.
So, ”For those who have enters an evil destiny, He saves them by freeing them.” Because we are inspired by noble beings, afterwards we must also purify our minds. Then we can also go into evil realms deliver sentient being. This was the Bodhisattva-path taught by the Buddha; we must go among people, into places of suffering, it is these places where we are needed. So, when Bodhisattvas form aspirations to go among people and deliver sentient beings, they give of themselves in such a manner. For these who have entered the evil destinies, we must deliver and transform. “For those yet to enter an evil destiny, He protects them by not letting them enter.” For those who gave yet to create evil Karma and have not yet entered the evil destinies, we must quickly save them. They must quickly change and negative habitual tendencies and stop committing evil actions. We must inspire them in this way. “We celebrate our past blessings that allow us to today encounter the World-Honored One.” All of us are very fortunate and blessed. So, we rejoice that the World-Honored One was born in our time and turned the Dharma-wheel for us. Thus, all of us should seize this moment and ask the Buddha to protect us by opening and revealing [the Dharma] for us.
Yes, we must always take the Dharma to heart. Although it has been more than 2000 years, the Buddha’s Dharma –body is still here we must cherish the Dharma. So, we must have the mindset that it is rare and precious to encounter [the Dharma]. Once we hear Dharma, we should be mindful of it. The Dharma can verify the suffering in the world and, amidst suffering, bear witness to the devotion and service of Living Bodhisattvas. After providing aid and relief, our hearts will be pure and filled with Dharma-joy. As long as all of us are mindful, we can experience this. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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