Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Cherishing Our Affinities with the Dharma (人身難得珍惜法緣)
Date: May.05.2017
“Bodhisattvas as numerous as sands of the Ganges cherish their causes and conditions and thus seek the path to Buddhahood. All World-Honored Ones teach the True Dharma of the One Vehicle to deliver and transform countless others. The Buddha, in order to guide sentient beings and enable them to enter the path to Buddhahood, had long practiced and diligently advanced to arrive at the noble state. This is called the noble path.”
Everyone, Buddhist practitioners must be like this. Our practice must have been accumulated since before dust-inked kalpas ago. We listened to the teachings and mindfully engaged in practice. What accumulates over this time is Bodhisattvas as numerous as sands of the Ganges. These numerous Bodhisattvas all cherish their causes and conditions. Lifetime after lifetime, they constantly cherish their causes and conditions, their conditions to seek the path to Buddhahood. Once we have the causes and conditions, we must earnestly seek the path to Buddhahood. It is precious to attain human existence and precious to encounter the Buddha-Dharma. Since we are born human, if we waste our time and do not learn the Dharma, then we have wasted our life. It is precious to be born human. “If we do not transform ourselves in this lifetime, in which lifetime will we transform ourselves?” The Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges were all like this. They cherished their causes and conditions and cherished their human form life after life. Once we have these causes and conditions, we must quickly seek the path to Buddhahood. Only as humans can we learn the Dharma, learn from the Buddha and take in the Dharma. Therefore, we must earnestly cherish our human existence lifetime after lifetime. When each Buddha, each World-Honored One, manifests in this world, They expound nothing but the True Dharma of the One Vehicle to teach and transform countless sentient beings. Although He set up many methods to teach, the Buddha’s purpose, His hope in coming to the world was that all people could attain the True Dharma of the One Vehicle. This is the path all Buddhas share. Every Buddha comes to the world with this same goal. They hope everyone can attain a state equal to that of the Buddha, can awaken to the true principles of all things in the universe. This is the path all Buddhas share; all of them have the same goal.
The Buddha, in order to guide sentient beings and enable all to enter the path to Buddhahood, had to [Himself] practice life after life, remain diligent for a long time. He had to be earnest and diligent. Only then could He arrive at the noble state, the most exceptional, unsurpassed, complete and awakened noble state. This is the goal of all Buddhas in coming to the human world. The Buddha Himself also had to accumulate over a period of very long time, continuously accumulating [virtues] throughout kalpas as countless as the sands of the Ganges. The sentient beings He transformed were countless, also as many as the sands of the Ganges. These Bodhisattvas like the sands of the Ganges are also very diligent. They cherish their causes and conditions and seek the path to Buddhahood. The Buddha Himself, in order to transform sentient beings, also had to practice earnestly and diligently for a long time. See, those who transform others should themselves be able to do this. The Buddha had long upheld Brahma-conduct, purifying practices, and advanced diligently.
Later, more and more people accumulated to become the Buddha’s followers in spiritual practice. It was the same for everyone; they all had to work diligently and cherish their causes and conditions. This is the great, direct Bodhi-path. Sakyamuni Buddha had set out on this great, direct Bodhi-path to guide sentient beings. Everyone must also follow the Buddha to walk this same great, direct Bodhi-path. On this same path, those in front lead while those behind follow. All of them stay on the same path. Therefore, we must be very mindful.
In the preceding passage, it says, “Bhiksus, the Tathagata is also like this. Now I act as your great guiding teacher. I know the evil path of all the afflictions of cyclic existence, which is dangerous, difficult and long. You must depart and cross it.”
We discussed this passage before. They were in the conjured city because as they were trying to learn the Dharma, they had limited capacities and this road was so long. To cross this treacherous path, they needed someone to lead the way. This also happened in ancient India. When people wanted to do business, they needed someone who knew the road to guide them. These people are called guiding teachers. They traveled back and forth on the path and were very familiar with it. They were able to guide people to safely cross these treacherous paths, avoiding danger and leading them to a safe path. For so many kalpas, sentient beings have, lifetime after lifetime, continuously transmigrated in samsara, continually reproducing the afflictions of samsara. They keep coming and going on these evil paths. This shows they do not know the way, so they constantly fall into treacherous paths, fall into paths of difficulty from which they cannot escape. Therefore, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are like those who travel back and forth on these paths and are very familiar with them. They will guide and lead the way for us.
However, some people, as they walk, start out with great joy, yet after a while, begin to feel tired. They lack patience, become indolent and do not want to move forward. So, along the way they want to stop. Now the guide must use all kinds of methods to urge them on and encourage them. He must use different methods, use the Dharma to transform them. That is why the “conjured city” is there. He gestures with his hand, “Look, everyone, not very far ahead there is a city, a place where you can rest. Once you get there, you can rest. Come, raise your spirits and keep going.” He said, “You must depart and cross it,” meaning the mission of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They clearly know that sentient begins are indolent, stubborn and difficult to train. Despite this, to go back and forth on this path. Because this path is so treacherous, this is their mission, to repeatedly go back and forth. They must depart and [help others] to cross. They must get through this treacherous path to work with myriad sentient begins to guide them. Thus it says, “You must depart.” All those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas had already liberated themselves, so why did they bother to come back to the world to transform sentient beings? This is because they cannot bear to let sentient begins suffer. This is the great love of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; they cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer. Their hearts are like those of loving parents. So it says, “You must depart.” They must depart to go among sentient begins and use many methods to transform and deliver them. Therefore, “You must depart and cross it.”
We see that the myriad sentient begins are able to accept the Dharma. We hear people share, “We have now listened to the teachings and have understood. We get along very well.” This is like what happened in Taipei. On the first morning [of my visits around Taiwan], a group of young Bodhisattvas came to see me; they were so adorable. A large group of these young [Jing Si] bookstore volunteers had come. The first one to speak was Peiqi; she is six or seven years old. She has been volunteering since she was three or four, and now she is already six years old. She was first, and she told me, “Master, you taught me to be patient, and I have been doing it. Now I am very friendly with all my classmates. We are all good friends and get along very well.” Look, such a young child said, “You taught me to be patient and I did it, so I now get along very well with my classmates.” You see, this is the Dharma. Even for a child of such a young age, once she took the Dharma to heart, she was able to happily get along well with her classmates.
We see so many Bodhisattva, whether elderly Bodhisattvas or others who are dedicated to walking Bodhisattva-path; once the morning Dharma lectures are mentioned, they talk about how they have changed as a result. This is because they get the Dharma cross into their hearts. Therefore, “You must depart and cross it.” All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas still come and go in the human world. They do this in order to transform all sentient beings. Bodhisattvas [respond] to suffering everywhere. While traveling, I heard that some volunteers went abroad [for disaster relief]. Those who went to Turkey came back and shared their experiences. Those who went to Nepal also came back and shared their experiences with everyone. They went there, came back and shared their experience. They “depart” to go to places of suffering, then come home to this realm and share about those suffering the worst torment, suffering begins in the evil destinies. They return and testify for everyone that this is what they saw. The world is impermanent and full of suffering. When suffering and hardships befall people, [think of] the pain and sorrow in their minds. As soon as impermanence strikes, we can see the land’s fragility and so on. Then we can come back and share with everyone about that dangerous, difficult and evil path. The principles is the same.
So, we need to listen more, share more and guide people more. This is how Bodhisattvas as numerous as sands of the Ganges cherish their causes and conditions. Just a moment ago, I said that Bodhisattvas as numerous as sands of the Ganges must cherish their causes and conditions, which means they must go among people and continuously share the Dharma they heard with everyone, to help everyone to understand it better. This is what it means to listen to, teach and transmit the Dharma. This continues to accumulate, [until there are]. Bodhisattvas as numerous as sands of the Ganges. The more people who listen to the teachings, the more people who can teach and understand. This is how the Dharma is spread. “You must depart and cross it” means we must very mindfully seek to experience the importance of every word of the teachings. We must take them all to heart.
The next sutra passage says, “If sentient beings only hear the One Buddha Vehicle, they do not desire to see the Buddha nor desire to draw near Him. They give rise to this thought. The path to Buddhahood is very long. Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it”.
People who want to learn the Buddha’s teachings may have great faith at the beginning. They form aspirations and make vows to listen to the Buddha-Dharma and to practice the Buddha-Dharma. But sentient beings only know that there is so much suffering. “If I practice the Buddha-Dharma, then I can be liberated from samsara”. Therefore, everyone just wants to be liberated from samsara. So, they accept teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Once these teachings on suffering have been given, there are countless terms and countless explanations. Truly, even just from these first teachings of the Four Noble Truths, there begins to be [many] methods of practice, faith, understanding, practice and realization as well as precepts, meditation, wisdom and so on. We want to treat suffering, but suffering takes so many different forms. People’s afflictions and ignorance are countless and innumerable. There are also so many methods we must cultivate. To reach the state of a Bodhisattva, we must go through the Ten Abiding Conducts, Ten Practices, Ten Grounds and so on. There are truly many methods for us to practice. Therefore, everybody is earnestly trying to attain liberation from the suffering of samsara, so they seek to awaken themselves. After learning the Four Noble Truths, they had already worked very hard, until reaching the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Then they needed to have even deeper realizations. So, having just entered into the teachings, could they really have understood everything? Even though they had eliminated afflictions of views and thinking, they had not eliminated dust-like delusions. So, the Buddha had to guide them. They still had to eliminate dust-like delusions.
How do we eliminate dust-like delusions? We must go among the myriad sentient beings. Sentient beings are as countless as the Ganges’ sand. With so many countless sentient beings, we must go among them. Everyone’s afflictions and perspectives are all different. We must go among people to observe and understand how, with the afflictions they have, we must use that kind of Dharma to transform them. What are the qualifications of a teacher? If we want to be a teacher and teach students, for students to listen to what the teacher says, the teacher must first work hard. Therefore, the students help the teacher work hard and understand the right methods to teach them. If some of the students are still not clear, then, as teachers, we must work even harder. This is what is required to be a teacher. Teachers teach the students, and students provide the teacher with a way to be even more diligent. This is why we need to go among people. Since we want to eliminate our afflictions, if we do not continue to advance, we will not be aware there are many afflictions that we have not yet eliminated. Therefore, we absolutely must go among people [to find our] dust-like delusions. Only then can we experience and understand each of these dust-like delusions and ignorance. Therefore, we always say that we must not only give without expectations, but also be grateful for the opportunity to help. When their hearts open up, it is because our methods help them. And these methods of ours are methods that we must find ourselves. So, when we see them open their hearts, we feel Dharma-joy. The Dharma is attained through our own efforts. So, we must go among people. Yet, sentient beings are indolent. “I only seek to gain understanding for myself”. They are afraid to go among people, so they worry about the long path ahead and do not want to go further. They want to stop where they are.
The previous passages explained this. So, now the Buddha wanted to encourage them. He conjured a city and told them that there is a city where everybody can stop to rest. Now, the Buddha needed to go back to explain [what happens] “if sentient beings only hear the One Buddha Vehicle”. The original goal of the Buddha was to proclaim to all sentient beings that they can attain Buddhahood. The state of Buddhahood pervades the universe. That state of mind is one of understanding all matters in the universe. That state of mind is one of understanding all matters in the universe. This was the Buddha’s spiritual state. Yet, it was too hard for them [to understand]. So, if they “only heard the One Buddha Vehicle, they would not desire to see the Buddha”. They would prefer not to see the Buddha so that He would not push them to keep going. “I am fine like this. If I see the Buddha again, He will tell me to keep moving forward. So, they “do not desire to see the Buddha. I am fine like this. I do not desire to draw near Him. If I draw near to the Buddha, I will have to walk with Him on this long path. It is enough for me to just stop here. I will just stop here in the conjured city. This is how sentient beings are lax, stubborn and hard to train.
So, “They give rise to this thought, ‘The path to Buddhahood is very long. Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it’”. The path to Buddhahood is very long. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City tells us that the path is very long, whether in time or space; the time is long and the space boundless. So, we want to come to the world, to the realms of sentient beings, but how many times can we come here? There was a biologist who said that just for living beings alone there are a total of 8,700,000 species. Humans are only 1 out of 8,700,000. So, the chance to be born human is only 1 out of 8,700,000. How can we not cherish this life as a human and earnestly take in the Dharma? In this lifetime, future lifetimes and infinite future lifetimes to come, we must continuously cherish our resolve to seek the path of Buddhahood lifetime after lifetime. So, the path to Buddhahood is such a long path! Can we attain Buddhahood? Absolutely! As we mentioned earlier, there are Bodhisattvas as countless as the sands of the Ganges. We constantly accept the Buddha-Dharma and walk the Bodhisattva-path. Since we are walking the Bodhisattva-path, we must be very clear on principles. Of course, at the end of the Bodhisattva-path is the state of Buddhahood. So, we must be mindful.
Therefore, “If sentient beings only hear the One Buddha Vehicle, they do not desire to see the Buddha noe desire to draw near Him.
For those of limited capabilities who uphold the Small Vehicle Dharma and stick to teachings that only benefit themselves, if He did not teach them these simple and limited teachings, but only led them to listen to the wondrous One Buddha Vehicle, they would not desire to see the Buddha, nor desire to draw near Him.
This refers to “those of limited capabilities, who uphold the Small [Vehicle] Dharma and. For people who stick to teachings that only benefit themselves, if He did not teach them these simple and limited teachings, but only led them to listen to the wondrous One Buddha Vehicle…”. He had to start from limited teachings and continuously lead and guide them. He only has one goal which is to keep drawing them closer to the Buddha and the Dharma until they can reach the wondrous One Buddha Vehicle. So, He had to spend a very long time to draw near to them, or else “they would not desire to see the Buddha nor desire to draw near Him”. This would cut off [the affinities]. So, He had to use simple and limited teachings to allow them to gradually and joyfully draw near. This way, they can reach the wondrous One Buddha Vehicle. This was for those who “do not desire to see the Buddha nor desire to draw near Him, those with limited capabilities. he had to use these methods, these simple, limited teachings, to draw them in.
Because it goes against their preferences, along the way they become lax and retreat. They lack the great faith and capabilities to accept the maining of the teaching. Because their capabilities are limited they cannot shoulder the Great. Thus, they do not take joy in seeing the Buddha nor desire to draw near Him,
“Because it does against their preferences means they turned away [from their aspiration]. Originally, they formed aspirations and made vows; they wanted to attain Buddhahood and engage in spiritual practice. But, after a long period of practice, they turned away from their own vows. So, we always say, “if you sustain your original aspiration, you will surely attain Buddhahood. It says “go against” because they turned away from that original aspiration. So, “it goes against their preferences”. Were we not very enthusiastic initially? Were we not full of confidence in the beginning?
But they turned away from their [aspirations]. Their earnest and diligent resolve has slackened and become lax. So, “Along the way they become lax and retreat”. They lack the great faith and capabilities needed to accept the meaning of the teachings. So, “Because their capabilities are limited, they cannot shoulder the Great. They did not have great capabilities; their capabilities could not take this at this time. So, they were willing to give up. They could not bear to shoulder the heavy responsibility for the world’s affairs. People say, great responsibility comes from the heavens, it will first test her strength; she must able to endure this tempering. But, if she cannot bear the pressure, she will easily become indolent and retreat along the way”. Thus, they do not take joy in seeing the Buddha nor desire to draw near Him”. Because of this, they became indolent and retreat. Their diligent resolve becomes lax. So, they will gradually retreat. As I am speaking about this, I thought of some elderly Bodhisattvas. They were very happy to see me, but they looked like they had some complaints. “For more than ten years, no one has taken us to meet with Master.” I hear about things like this everywhere. Perhaps it has been 10 years or 20 years. They all have this very small complaint. When they see me, they are very happy. They say, “We will work hard and be diligent. “We will work for a long, long time”. I hear this from these Bodhisattvas. I truly have not seen them for a long time. Those who do not want to meet [the Buddha] gradually become indolent. Those who meet Him will begin to keep working earnestly.
So, “Those of shallow and inferior capabilities are likened to the son cleaning excrement for wages. He feels at peace in being hired as a servant, seeking work and food. Then he desires to see and draw near”. It is like when the elder saw his son at the door. He quickly sent men to pursue him. The son saw someone running after him and got scared and fainted. So, the elder had to use [different] methods, He used cold water to wake him up. The elder went out personally to deliver him and bring him in. “Come, work for your three meals a day due crude labor in exchange for three meals a day”. With this approach, he was willing to do it. The meaning is the same. So, “Then he desires to see and draw near. If it is like this, alright, I can do it. I am willing to clear excrement and earnestly teach and guide them, but if people are not willing to accept, it will be very difficult. They just continue to become lax and do not cherish how previous human existence is. As the Buddha said, “It takes kalpas to regain”. This is how all sentient beings are. There are so many kinds of sentient beings. therefore, it says in the Buddha-Dharma, “Once lost, it takes kalpas to regain human form. If we are born human, we should immediately and earnestly cherish that. Therefore, “If the One Vehicle Great Dharma is taught but does not resonate, those who hear do not let it enter their ears”. If what we say does not suit their capabilities, they are not able to take it in. Then, “They will not desire to see or draw near”. As for teaching the Great Dharma, if people have limited capabilities and we teach the Create Dharma to them, then they will not be able to take it in. They will not be willing to see or draw ear to [the Dharma]. “They give rise to this thought, ‘The path to Buddhahood is very long’”.
So, the Buddha thought, “These sentient beings have limited capabilities”. If He taught them the One Buddha Vehicle, for them to truly accept it right away would be very difficult. So, He had to have this perspective that “They give rise to this thought”. The Buddha had to think of a method. Since the path to Buddhahood is so long, He considered how to guide them to walk through this dangerous, difficult path. How could He help sentient beings be able to eliminate their afflictions, give rise to joyful hearts and walk through this path?
They give rise to this thought, “The path to Buddhahood is very long”: The Buddha Himself has the thought that beginning from dust-inked kalpas ago, lifetime after lifetime He had increasingly cultivated myriad practices, and only then could He attain Buddhahood. Therefore, it says [the path is] “very long”.
So, “Beginning from dust-inked kalpas ago,” from such a long time ago, “lifetime after lifetime He had increasingly cultivated myriad practices, and only then could He attain Buddhahood”. This refers to the Buddha Himself. In order to transform sentient beings, beginning from dust-inked kalpas ago, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s and the 16 princes’ time, all the way to now, He kept increasingly practicing life after life. Because He had living among people for many lifetimes, He knew the afflictions and ignorance of sentient beings and the methods needed to transform them. Therefore, “Lifetime after lifetime He had increasingly cultivated myriad practices, and only then could He attain Buddhahood”. This is so important; we must all be mindful. Thus it says “very long”. The path to Buddhahood is very long, and it takes a long time to establish the methods. “Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it”. Truly, the process of spiritual practice takes such a long time; therefore, we must spend a long time over many lives and kalpas getting involved and diligently advancing.
Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it: For so many long, distant kalpas past, till now, He patiently endured diligent practice, hardship and exhaustion. Only then could He attain realization and achieve perfect enlightenment. It takes three great asankya kalpas of diligent practice, lifetime after lifetime, and 100 kalpas of cultivating the causes. Can a path of 1000 li be completed in a matter of days? Thus it says: Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it.
When we go among people, we face myriad sentient beings who are full of suffering. Sentient beings are lax, stubborn and difficult to train. But in order to attain Buddhahood, we must transform sentient beings. We still need to continuously dedicate ourselves. “For so many long, distant kalpas past, till now,” for such a long time, from dust-inked kalpas ago until now, “He patiently endured diligent practice, hardship and exhaustion. Only then could He attain realization and achieve perfect enlightenment”. This is the compassion of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In order to transform people, they must also endure hardships. They must spend such a long time to serve as role models for people. This is their process of spiritual cultivation. How long does this take? “It takes three great asankya kalpas of diligent practice, lifetime after lifetime, and” 100 kalpas of cultivating the causes. Can a path of 1000 li be completed in a matter of days?” With such a long way to go, how could we arrive in one day? Of course, it will take a long time. Therefore, we say, “Only by long enduring diligent practice and hardship can one attain it”.
Dear Bodhisattvas, in order to truly be Buddhist practitioners, we must be very mindful and must be able to patiently endure. We must always be patient and spend a long time going among people. Look at the Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, who cherish causes and conditions. I still want to rally everyone in this way; with conditions to seek the path to Buddhahood, “Once our human form is lost, it takes kalpas to regain”. Recently, I have been saying that the older we are, the more diligent we should be. If we do not directly have contact with sentient beings, then we will never have affinities with them. So, we must earnestly seize the time we have. No matter how long we have left, we must cherish this, cherish the conditions to seek Buddhahood. Even the Buddha Himself still needed to long engage in practice with diligence and hardship to be able to reach the noble state. So, the Buddha walked [this path] to get here. We must follow Him and walk in the same way on this same great, direct Bodhi-path. Starting today, we all must raise our spirits again and take the Dharma to heart. We must set out once again. As we listen to the Dharma, we continuously take the Dharma to heart. I heard from many who listened to the Dharma and then transformed their views of the world. They analyze their conditions and their minds and are truly diligent and truly progressing. So, we must earnestly seize the time we have. We all must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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