Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Practice Diligently With Innocence and Purity (童真純潔 殷勤精進)
Date: March.23. 2017
“Since dust-inked kalpas ago, all have had the initial enlightenment of True Suchness. With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently. Over many lifetimes, they cultivated the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle. They formed Great Vehicle aspirations and made the Four Great Vows.”
We should be very clear about this. The 16 novices lived in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s ear. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha lived dust-inked kalpas ago. We must still remember that dust-inked kalpas are very long; they are incalculable. This is a time beginningless kalpas ago. We clearly explained this in the previous passages. From Beginningless Time, we have all had our initial enlightenment of True Suchness. This was what the Buddha said to us “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” All sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have intrinsically had the True Suchness of initial enlightenment. The initial enlightenment of True Suchness is in everyone’s intrinsic nature. But we unenlightened beings let a single thought go astray and lost our initial enlightenment of True Suchness. We say we lost it, but actually, it has not been lost; it is merely covered by ignorance. So now, as Buddhist practitioners, we want to return to our intrinsic nature. We make use of the Buddha-Dharma to guide us on the path to return to our intrinsic nature.
The Lotus Sutra is a guide to lead us in returning to our nature of True Suchness. Every chapter has its profound, hidden meanings. We must earnestly be mindful of this. At the beginning of the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City, Sakyamuni Buddha spoke of dust-inked kalpas ago, of beginningless kalpas ago in Beginningless Time. At that time, there were many Brahma kings who had cultivated supreme virtues, upheld supreme precepts and returned to the purity of their mind. This is called Brahma-conduct. With this Brahma-conduct, they were born in the Brahma heavens. So, when Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha first sat in the Bodhimanda and attained perfect enlightenment, the Brahma kings came from the ten directions. The Brahma kings came from every direction and were all so dignified. They scattered flowers along the way. 500 trillions, countless Brahma kings, journeyed all this way, and to express their utmost sincerity, they even offered their Brahma palaces to the Buddha. This was the scene. The scattered flowers were like Mt. Sumeru, dignifying the place of enlightenment. All shared the same purpose, which was to request that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha needed to wait for causes and conditions to mature. When they asked Him to turn the Dharma-wheel, He silently consented. We should again think back and remember this; we must think back to that state. Only after the Brahma kings from above arrived and all from the ten directions were there requesting the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel did the Buddha finally use the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence to teach. These were what everyone could understand. They learned that cyclic existence starts from one thought of ignorance. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation, then each Link gives rise to the next until giving rise to the worries, sadness and distress of aging, illness and death. Starting in this way, we transmigrate endlessly, creating ignorance and karmic forces and facing the suffering in life without any control. We understand this; we know this, but how do we put an end to it? The 16 novices then began to request the turning of the Dharma-wheel. As for the 16 novices, “With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently. Over many lifetimes, they cultivated the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle.” They had the heart of a child, very pure. They not only had pure minds, but also pure bodies. Because they kept their childlike innocence, their bodies remained pure and undefiled. With a child’s innocent purity, they practiced earnestly and diligently. Since Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha lived before beginningless kalpas ago, of course, in Beginningless Time, there were Buddhas appearing in the world.
So, the [novices] always had a child’s innocence. Before Beginningless Time, they had started upholding precepts and engaging in spiritual practices. Over countless kalpas of time, whenever Buddhas manifested in the world, they would be at each Buddha’s assemblies, receiving the teachings and engaging in practice. They could maintain their original childlike purity, the initial enlightenment of True Suchness, a child’s innocent and pure mind. Thus, they continuously maintained diligence. Over many lifetimes, they kept practicing earnestly in this way. All they practiced was the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle, and they formed Great Vehicle aspirations. They had already accepted the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, over many lifetimes, they formed Great Vehicle aspirations and even made the Four Great Vows in every lifetime. This is their initial enlightenment of True Suchness from dust-inked kalpas ago. They continuously maintained their innocence and purity, practicing earnestly and diligently. They manifested in many lifetimes, practicing the true Dharma of the Great Vehicle. The Great Vehicle is walking the Bodhisattva-path with the power of great vows.
As for these great vows, all Buddhas share the same path and the Four Great Vows.
The Four Great Vows and the Four Infinite Minds are all Buddhas’ universal vows. Every Buddha has the Four Great Vows and Four Infinite Minds. Apart from the universal vows, each Buddha has His specific vows. The 16 Princes all has great capabilities. We must mindfully understand that the Buddha-Dharma comes from Beginningless Time. We all share the same [nature]. It is just that we have been defiled. We must not look down on the young, thinking that they do not understand worldly matters. Actually, when children enter the Path, their spiritual practice also reaches a high level.
100 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, back then in ancient India was a period called “Peacock Dynasty” (Mauryas). In the time of the Peacock Dynasty, King Asoka ruled over ancient India. During that period, he was a great patron of the Buddha-Dharma. He supported and protected the Buddha-Dharma and made offerings to the Sangha. Toward the Buddha-Dharma and the monastic community, he had great reverence. One time, a city in his kingdom, in India, was struck with a plague, a contagion that started from within the kingdom. King Asoka was worried that this plague, this contagious disease, would spread to the palace, so he blocked all travel to prevent the plague from spreading into his palace. He even sent someone to the Sangha’s abode to invite them to send someone, a monastic, to come to the palace to teach the Dharma to eth king’s concubines so everyone’s minds would be put at ease. He could even teach them how to prevent this contagious disease. At that time, the Sangha sent a young novice who was only eight years old but had already attained the fruit of Arhatship. His name was Miao Yan. Miao Yan was sent to the palace. Because the eight-year-old novice was very adorable, the queen, concubines, princesses and the palace maids, seeing that such a small novice has come, [remarked,] “How adorable!” King Asoka’s wife, with a joyful heart, opened her arms to hug the young novice. Novice Miao Yan quickly took a step back and, with a strict tone, told the lady that he refused to be hugged. The lady said, “You are so young, just like my child. When I see that you are so small, just like my child, my motherly love moved me to hug you. Is this wrong?” The young novice, Mias Yan, answered her by saying, “Madam, the attachment of loved and desire starts from a very subtle thought in the mind. It is just like a hot ember. A tiny ember as big as a chestnut can destroy thousands of miles of forest. The whole forest, thousands of miles of it, will go up in smoke from a chestnut-sized flame. Such a small flame can destroy miles of forest. Or, it is like a drop of water the size of your fingertip. If it keeps dripping over time, it can penetrate solid rock. This is all an accumulation of something small, which then becomes something big. So, we must not look down on the smallest thought. Each of us needs wisdom. Only with wisdom can we understand profound principles. When it comes to love and desire, we must keep our distance to not cause others to have suspicions. Even though I am very young in age, I am male. Although you are old enough to be my mother, we must still avoid suspicion. A small [display of] affection, whatever kind of affection it is, has the attachment of love; it is tainted love. In this way, just like a tiny flame, when it grows it becomes a great tainted desire.”
Since the novice Miao Yan was using such a stern and righteous tone and very serious language, as he spoke in an increasingly loud voice, his voice spread to the main hall. King Asoka was in his meeting hall. When he heard such a clear, pure voice, he asked his attendants, “What Dharma is being taught in the inner chambers with such a clear, pure voice?” The servant said, “Novice Miao Yan has come to the palace.” Hearing this, King Asoka quickly went to the inner chambers. He saw his wife and Novice Miao Yan seemingly engaged in a little argument. The lady insisted on hugging him, while the novice spoke in a righteous, stern tone. King Asoka quickly went in and said, “What is happening? Why are you so agitated and speaking with such stern and serious tone? What exactly happened?” Again, Novice Miao Yan explained from the start. “Such affection needs to be avoided to prevent suspicions from others. This is a preventative action. With all matters, we must take preventative measures. It is like a disease. A small germ can infect many people, so it also requires prevention. Prevention must be done at the source of a small infection. It is the same for our human affections. With desire and love, starting from very little, it can be like a flame that destroys forests or like drops of water that penetrate rocks.” He repeated himself again like this. But the king said, “The queen is so old. The affection between a mother and son, is that also not allowed?” The novice again said, “Everything starts from such small thoughts. We believe them to be harmless, therefore, we lack preventative measures. If you think it is harmless, you feel that it does not need to be prevented and become overly relaxed, which can easily lead to more trouble.” Novice Miao Yan also said, “In Buddha’s time, there were such precepts in order to help the disciples avoid violating the precepts. Once the precepts are violated, various maladies will occur. To prevent such maladies, we must be very cautious and prevent them. For example, in the etiquette of the world, girls older than seven years old should not be hugged by their fathers and should not play in the father’s study room. If one is a male, once he is older than eight years old, he cannot sit on his mother’s bed. These are rules. In particular, there are rules like, under lush fruit trees bearing much fruit, we must not adjust our head coverings or hats. Under trees covered with fruits, we must not arrange our head covering. If we are in a field of gourds, we cannot bend down to tie our shoelaces. This is to avoid raising suspicion, because if we are under trees with many fruits and take off our hats, others may wonder if we are preparing to steal fruits and hide them in our hat. So, under trees with many fruits, we should not adjust our hats. In fields of gourds, we cannot bend down; this is to avoid others saying that we want to steal the gourds. Even such rules as these must be upheld. These are our precepts, discipline and etiquette that prevent suspicion and maladies from arising.”
This was what Novice Miao Yan said. This was the wisdom of that novice. Then Novice Miao Yan further said, “I have already eliminated all afflictions, like a lotus flower emerging from the mud. Like a lotus untainted by the mud, I am bright and clear. I have no fear of being defiled, like a lotus flower emerging from mud. Madam, your loving affection is like a mother’s for her child. But for unenlightened beings who have not yet eliminated the Three Poisons, such a gesture can easily lead to afflictions and ignorance, so I hope you will not hug me. Although I will not be tainted, ignorant unenlightened beings could be defiled by you acting in this way.”
Hearing this, King Asoka was very moved, and his wife was very embarrassed, so on the spot she repented and apologized to the young novice. At the same time, she gained more reverence for the Buddha-Dharma. This was 100 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana. The precepts were still strictly upheld. Even this young novice had such power of spiritual cultivation. Think about this childlike innocence and purity; actually he must have also cultivated this over dust-inked kalpas. That is the only way that, at such a young age, he could be so mature, could take the Buddha-Dharma to heart and could uphold the precepts so well.
King Asoka knew that there was a that there was a plague outside the city, so for the sake of prevention, he knew to prevent travel. So, he invited someone to the palace to teach and inform everyone about the disease. He did not expect that the novice he invited would not only know how to prevent diseases from a very small source of contagion, but also now to purity minds. This was in King Asoka’s time. With a child’s innocent purity, practicing and diligent, this novice, over lifetimes, must have cultivated the Great Vehicle Dharma and formed Great Vehicle aspirations.
So, he made the Four Great Vows “I vow to deliver countless sentient brings.” Even a young child could do this, so we must put our hearts into learning the Buddha-Dharma.
The preceding passage said, “They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddha, purely cultivated Brahma-conduct and sought Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” “They” are the 16 novices. They had already made offerings to 100 trillion Buddhas and purely cultivated Brahma-conduct. Clearly, dust-inked kalpas ago, before Beginningless Time, they had a already begun to. This is describing the 16 novices and the process of their cultivation.
In their process, they engaged in spiritual practice in the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. They were still children when they became monastics and engaged in spiritual practice. So, they likewise requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel.
“They all addressed the Buddha, saying, ‘World-Honored One’”. They asked the Buddha to teach the Dharma. “’All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great Virtue have already achieved attainment. World-Honored One, You must also teach us the Dharma of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.’”
The Dharma sought by these young novices was supreme universal and perfect enlightenment, Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They not only sought this for themselves but also for the countless thousands and millions of Hearers; they requested it on their behalf. They themselves needed to understand it, and those Hearers needed the Dharma even more, so they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel.
“All these countless thousands and millions of Hearers of great virtue” means there were so many of them, and these Hearers were all great Hearers with awe-inspiring virtue. There were thousand and millions of people who needed Buddha to teach them the Dharma. These people “have already achieved attainment”. The previous 600 trillion and others “have already achieved attainment.”
[They] have already achieved attainment: This refers to the previous 600trillion and others who were unaffected by all phenomena of Leaks and had attained Arhatship. They engaged in spiritual practice with courageous diligence, and their minds were never self-indulgent. Thus they were called Arhats. With the strength of focused diligence, they were said to have achieved attainment.
How many people were like this? The number of those who came to the place of enlightenment had reached 600 trillion. These people were already “unaffected by all phenomena of Leaks,” meaning that they were unaffected by afflictions. As for “all phenomena of Leaks,” we must remember that this refers to ignorance. The negative phenomena of ignorance of afflictions did not affect them, they were not tainted by it. Everyone had already attained Arhatship, so they engaged in spiritual practice with courageous diligence, and their minds were never self-indulgent. These were very earnest and diligent people. Their minds were not self-indulgent; they were very diligent and conscientious. Thus they were called Arhats. They had the strength of focused diligence and single-minded resolve. With the Seven Factors of Bodhi and the Eightfold Noble Path, their power of diligence was very vigorous and they had achieved attainment, had attained the fruit of Arhatship. There were so many of them who had “already achieved attainment.
[They] have already achieved attainment: This indicates that they had already eliminated the turbidities of hindrances. Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated. The children’s merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete. They also had compassion for all Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate, so they again entreated Him to reveal it.
This indicates that they “had already eliminated the turbidities of hindrances”. This is to tell us that at Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s Dharma-assembly, these 600 trillions, countless Heaters, listened to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior’s teaching and had completely eliminated ignorance. As their ignorance was eliminated, they were unaffected by negative phenomena. Naturally, their hindrance of turbidity was also gone. All our hindrances are created from our ignorance. This is why we are often obstructed. People in the world often say, “Nine out of ten things go against our wishes.” This is because we have many expectations. Expectations are ignorance. We pursue so many matters of ignorance, therefore we have many hindrances. So, all this begins from a thought of ignorance. If our ignorance and turbidities are eliminated, then there will be no more hindrances. “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated. Their Great Vehicle capabilities had begun to be activated. So many Hearers had eliminated their turbidities and ignorance. Now, they began to seek the Great Vehicle Dharma. “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” These great capabilities began to be activated. So, “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” It already resonated with their capabilities, so with great capabilities, they had already started to realize that they must quickly extend their roots so this tree could grow strong. The small tree was about to turn into a big tree. If they wanted to have great roots, trunks, branches and leaves, then they must start extending themselves.“ The children’s merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete.” The “children” were the16 prince and also included those Hearers. They were all the Buddha’s children. “Their Great Vehicle capabilities had resonated and been activated.” As we mentioned before, the children of the Dharma-king are those born from the Buddha’s mouth. They had engaged in spiritual cultivation and took the Buddha-Dharma they heard to heart. They already understood the Great Vehicle Dharma. Now, their minds were activated, so they could be called “children”. “The children” included the 16 princes. Their “merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle were complete.” They had formed Great Vehicle aspirations, and these merits and virtues were abundant. Their resolve to pursue the Dharma was sincere, so they diligently sought the Dharma.“
They also had compassion for all Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate. The 16 princes themselves were very sincere and also had compassion for those Hearers who had not yet reached the ultimate. So, the 16 princes, on behalf of these Hearers, likewise asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. These Hearers were also already the same; they had eliminated turbidities, and their great capabilities had begun to be activated. In addition, the 16 princes’ request for the Dharma was to complete their own attainment while also hoping that these Hearers would be able to attain the ultimate principle. Thus, they again requested the Dharma.
“World-Honored One, You must also teach us.” “Us” refers to the 16 princes because these 16 princes spoke with one voice in the Dharma-assembly. With one voice, they asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. This is what the 16 princes did. So, “You must also teach us” means that they requested that the Buddha teach them so they could understand, teach everyone so they could understand. At the same time, there were many Hearers and such. So, they asked the Buddha to teach with compassion. Thus, it was “the Dharma of the spiritual practice” “of supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.” This supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is “Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.” The method for practicing this supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment is the Bodhisattva-practice of “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions.” The Bodhisattva-practice is actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions. Just these Six Paramitas alone can branch out into thousands of actions, because when they are spread out, they respond to all sentient beings’ capabilities. However many desires sentient beings have, however much ignorance they have, however much suffering they have, Bodhisattvas will respond to their suffering, to their ignorance and to their capabilities. So, they must make use of all phenomena and of all kinds of methods. There are 84,000 types of ignorance that need 84,000 teachings of Bodhi to treat them. The principle is the same. So, this is actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions. “You previously turned the Dharma-wheel of the Small Vehicle to benefit the Hearers. They all achieved attainment.”
You previously turned the Dharma-wheel of the Small Vehicle to benefit the Hearers. They all achieved attainment. Now You must open and reveal the Great Vehicle in line with our aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views. This expresses their intent in entreating Him to teach the Dharma.
The present Sakyamuni Buddha did the same. He had taught the Dharma for 42 years, but the people listening to him were still stuck as Hearers and Solitary Realizers. Their capabilities were yet to be activated, and they had not formed great aspirations. In the past era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, that Buddha was the same. For a very long period of time, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha observed sentient beings’ capabilities. He taught the Small Vehicle for a long time, which was teaching with skillful means. Similarly, He benefitted those with limited capabilities. So, all Buddhas share the same path. This was so in the era of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and was the same in Sakyamuni Buddha’s present era. They patiently and kindly guide in this manner. After 42 years, the present Buddha, Skayamuni, began to teach the Great Dharma. He only started teaching the Lotus Sutra after teaching the Dharma for 42 years.
In the same way, Sariputra, on behalf of everyone, asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. He also requested that the Buddha teach the Dharma. Similarly, he was refused three times. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, the Brahma kings of the ten directions came to request the Dharma, and Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha was silent each time. Only when all causes and conditions had ripened did He begin to turn the Great Dharma-wheel. The novices again requested that the Buddha turn the Dharma-wheel. This is how it was. The Dharma-assemblies of past and present Buddha are all very similar, and they use more or less the same methods. So we say, “All Buddhas share the same path.” This is how things accumulate, so with the Dharma that everyone had heard, they already started to understand. “They all achieved attainment.” What attainment? They attain Great Vehicle capabilities. So, “Now You must open and reveal the Great Vehicle in line with our aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views.” They hoped that since all these people’s capabilities were already ripe, the World –Honored One could now open and reveal the Great Vehicle to all. Weren’t everyone’s aspirations to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views understood by the World-Honored One, the Buddha? As He could understand, He would teach, teach them this Dharma.
So, “This expresses their intent in entreating Him to teach the Dharma.” This indicates that everyone was earnest and diligent and clearly expressed their intent to Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Not only did the 16 princes’ capabilities mature, all these countless 600 trillion people present shared the same aspirations and the same intention to seek the Buddha’s understanding and views. This expressed everyone’s intent. In Sakyamuni Buddhi’s time, it was Sariputra who expressed everyone’s intent. In Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s time the 16 princes represented everyone’s intent, their willingness to accept Great Vehicle Dharma. If we can all understand this sutra passage, then [we know ] our minds must return to. Beginningless Time ago, to the intrinsic Buddha-nature that we all have. Everyone has the pure, innocent mind of a child. This requires us to have very pure minds, so we must continuously practice diligently. In previous lives, we also listened to the Dharma, but we became distracted and indolent. With this indolence and distraction, we were affected by negative phenomena and, following the turbid environment in the world, we created much ignorance that covered our pure, childlike innocence and our pure intrinsic mature of True Suchness. Although we listened to the Dharma in the past, one thought of ignorance arose, and in this world of turbidities, what we encounter is all negative phenomena, which tempts us to make mistakes. These actions [ will] accumulate and replicate so much ignorance. Now we must go back and earnestly form Great Vehicle aspiration, make the Four Noble Vows and widely transform sentient beings. This is not impossible.
Even drops if water can penetrate rocks, and small flames can destroy great areas of forest. In the same way, when flames of ignorance arise, they can burn for thousands of miles. If we have a determined mind, even small drops of water can penetrate rocks, so it is not impossible. We just need to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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