Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Supreme Perfect Enlightenment (無上等覺 受眾人請)
Date: May.18.2017
“The Buddha’s virtue is perfect and complete, His wisdom infinite and profound. The Honored-One of Supreme and Universal Enlightenment, in accepting the assembly’s request, taught the truth of suffering, of causation and of cessation, as well as the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. He explained how all problems, arise from a single thought, so we should listen to, contemplate and uphold the teachings.”
“The Buddha’s virtue is perfect and complete, His wisdom infinite and profound.” This is something that we sentient beings cannot comprehend. We may think we know it, but how do we actually go about experiencing it? “The drinker alone knows the temperature of the water.” We know, therefore we must experience it ourselves. But to be frank, we cannot do it! There may be those who can experience it in stages, because the Buddha-Dharma is extremely profound and wondrous. In the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, isn’t this what the Buddha told Great Magnificent Bodhisattva? “It is very profound, very profound, truly very profound.” Indeed, the Buddha-Dharma is this profound! How can we as unenlightened beings experience the truth of such profound Dharma, let alone the Buddha’s wisdom or the Buddha’s virtue? For us to experience this truth would truly be difficult. However, do we believe in it? We should believe in it. I myself firmly believe in it. Does each of you believe? I do not know. I believe, but I know I cannot compare. I believe that the Buddha’s virtue is perfect and complete. I absolutely believe this to be true, that the Buddha’s state of enlightenment encompasses the entire universe and is tranquil and clear. I believe this, but I also know that I cannot compare. Of course we must believe in the Buddha’s virtue. Only with deep faith in the Buddha’s virtue can we believe in the Buddha-Dharma. If we believe in the Buddha’s virtue, then how could we not believe in the Buddha’s teachings? So, we should have faith in the Buddha and faith in the Dharma. We not only need faith in the Buddha and Dharma, but faith in the Sangha as well. Although we are monastics, we too are Buddhist practitioners. As Buddhist practitioners, we must have faith in the Buddha. It is because we truly and sincerely believe that we are willing to renounce the lay life and enter the door of the Buddha’s teaching. So, this means we believe; because we believe, we will be sincere in learning from the Buddha. The wisdom and virtue of the Buddha are a model for us. This is the direction we must take in our learning. As members of the Sangha, though we have faith in and learn from the Buddha, we are still in the process of learning. We are still unenlightened beings. Though we are unenlightened, we still want to rely upon the Buddha’s teachings as our model for learning and practice. Naturally, we also want to be role models for the world’s sentient beings. How do the world’s sentient beings come to recognize the Buddha-Dharma? Through spiritual practitioners. They must be able to believe in its practitioners.
So, practitioners must work hard to become someone who learns from the Buddha. To learn from the Buddha, we must seek to attain Buddhahood. This is a definite truth. So, each of us should have faith in ourselves. With faith, [we know] the Buddha’s virtue “is perfect and complete, His wisdom infinite and profound.” This is the reason we begin to want to learn from the Buddha. Our goal in learning from the Buddha is to attain Buddhahood. This is something we should be clear on. If we are unsure whether or not we can attain Buddhahood, then we will forever remain unenlightened. The Buddha told us that we will definitely attain Buddhahood, so we should believe Him. But the Buddha also very frankly admonished us that this will take a very long time. It will take us countless dust-inked kalpas, dust-inked kalpas as countless as Ganges’ sands. He was very sincere in telling us this. The Buddha speaks the truth, what is real; He does not speak falsehoods. He told us this very sincerely. But it depends on us. If we remain amidst our afflictions and confusion even after dust-inked kalpas, a period of time indeed impossible to describe, then this is telling us that our afflictions have piled up layer by layer and incessantly increase. Because of this, it will take us a very long time. This is what the Buddha cautioned us about. He told us very sincerely that to learn the Buddha’s teachings requires a very long time because we have layer upon layer of ignorance and afflictions. We are afflicted by afflictions we should not have. Thus we have continuously been unable to reach the Buddha’s perfect and complete virtue and experience what that state of the Buddha’s perfect and complete virtue and profound and infinite wisdom is actually like. Because of the way we are, it is still impossible for us to experience this, but we must definitely believe in it. “Faith is the source of the Way and the mother of all merit and virtue.” Only with deep faith can we rid ourselves of delusion and ignorance and purify the ground of our minds. This is why we should believe. The Honored-One of Supreme and Universal Enlightenment is the World-Honored One. What He had already attained was supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment; thus He was called Word-Honored One. So, He had already attained Buddhahood and had received the assembly’s request.
This is describing Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, who sat at the place of enlightenment for ten kalpas until He finally attained Buddhahood. After He attained Buddhahood, many people, heavenly beings, humans, Brahma kings and so on, came to see Him from the eight directions, as well as from above and below. There were those from the human and heaven realms and the Eight Classes of Dharma-protectors. They all gathered at that place of enlightenment. This indicates all of the states that the Buddha transcended upon attaining enlightenment. The state He attained transcended the human realm. Not only did it transcend the human realm, it is transcended the heaven realm as well, and not only the heavens of the desire realm, but all the states of the formless realm as well. So, these people, these heavenly beings and humans, all had faith and understanding in the Dharma, but they all nonetheless still remained within the Six Unenlightened Realms, among unenlightened begins. Even though the Brahma kings had eliminated their afflictions and cultivated supreme precepts and supreme goodness, they still had subtle afflictions, dust-like and subtle ones they had not eliminated. So, they too wanted to come to ask the Buddha to teach them the Great Dharma, to turn the Great Dharma-wheel.
The World-Honored One had already transcended the Three Realms. He is honored by both humans and heavenly beings because He had already transcended these and attained supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. Supreme means the highest. It is impossible to reach a state that is higher than the Buddha’s. This is why it is supreme. Even the Brahma kings could not compare, so it was called supreme. The Buddha’s enlightenment was like this. So, the Buddha proclaimed the truth of suffering, the truth of causation, the truth of cessation and the truth of the Path. This is the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. Because sentient beings’ capabilities are the way that they are, He came to the world for one great cause, hoping all could draw near the Buddha-Dharma. From the Dharma, we can give rise to faith, and from faith we can learn the Dharma. We will know how suffering comes about; it is caused by the accumulation of many causes, of countless numbers. As these countless causes are gathered together, they create countless, immeasurable [afflictions]. It was so many they were beyond description. This is why we talk about afflictions as numerous as the Ganges’ sands or time as long as dust-inked kalpas. We accumulated so many afflictions; they just continue to accumulate in this way. How do we eliminate these afflictions? We need to accumulate many teachings; we need the Dharma. What do we mean by Dharma? Afflictions are Bodhi. Without afflictions, there is no Bodhi. Due to these afflictions, we wonder why we cannot resolve our issues. Why can’t we come to an understanding? Because of these extremely subtle [afflictions], we do not know how to open our hearts. People today say they are “open-hearted” (happy). Have they truly opened up their hearts? When it comes to opening up our hearts, the principles involved are profound and extensive. In an ordinary sense, people now say things like. “I am open-hearted!” to mean they are happy.” Have they truly opened up their hearts? In fact, they have not truly opened up the door to their minds. So when people speak, they use it as an adjective [to express feelings], not as a determiner [of their state]. So, in using adjectives to describe something, we have to use all kinds of methods to describe it or to make analogies or to explain it. Some people listen and say, “Right! This is why things are this way! Now I understand; I will change!” How many people in Tzu Chi have changed because of their understanding? Yet, is their understanding total and complete? They still have afflictions. How much more time do they need? The Buddha constantly told us that life is painfully short, that there is not much time.
We must be proactive, so we must eliminate our afflictions. Afflictions are as countless as dust particles. We should quickly build up our faith, and as quickly as today’s afflictions arrive, we must quickly eliminate them today. We should not again allow them to enter our hearts. Only then can we reduce our afflictions. Otherwise, they continue to accumulate daily; so many afflictions accumulate. The more they accumulate, the heavier they become. This is how the world is. Why do people today so often speak of depression? This is when afflictions turn into mental illness. If we cannot resolve our mental illness, will we have to live with it all our lives? What about future lifetimes? Do you believe in future lifetimes? We do not need to talk about future lifetimes; in this present lifetime, in our lives, we should give for the sake of all people. Because the world is carrying one extra person, as this extra person, with our lives, we should give for the sake of all people. This is the value of life we often discuss.
So, the ancients also said, “Everyone shares responsibility for the affairs of the world.” Everyone has a responsibility to shoulder the affairs of the world for the sake of all people. So, we should listen carefully. What is exactly is the Buddha-Dharma? It is not just about seeking to attain things, seeking peace for ourselves. If we want to explain all of the different terms used in the Buddha-Dharma, there are so many! We should mindfully focus on one method of practice. The Lotus teachings are the Great Vehicle Dharma, which tell us to put others before ourselves. Whatever kind of ignorance and afflictions the world’s sentient beings have, we must quickly seek to comprehend the countermeasures to their ignorance and afflictions and the ways to eliminate these. We help everyone to understand, so they can change. We help everyone to make changes. Recently I have been constantly talking about how we should not indulge our craving for taste. Is everyone promoting this? Is everyone explaining to others how from one individual, that individual’s craving for taste can have an [influence] on the entire world? The climate of the world can be influenced by an individual. People nowadays talk about the butterfly effect; some say everything in the world can be known by simply looking at a butterfly. How can everything in the world be known from a tiny little butterfly? We should know that people’s small habitual tendencies accumulate to create great amounts of karma. So, this is the truth of suffering and causation. Thus, our responsibility now is to realize “cessation”. We must find ways to eliminate all of our ignorance and afflictions. A single individual can cause a group or the entire world to be unsettled. This is something we should carefully consider. In fact, when it comes to ourselves, we must eliminate our suffering. We must understand the true principles of our suffering. How does it arise? From the stirring of one ignorant thought. Then without any control, this leads to the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence; along with the Four Noble Truths, [these explain] how our bodies are formed, our relationship with this world, and with this society and so on, all the way to encompass everything. The Four Noble Truths can be found in any world, or in any of the karmic forces people create or in the way that everyone’s karmic forces in fluence the entire world. Something may seem like a very small thing, yet in reality it is quite a big deal. So, He taught the truth of suffering, of causation and of cessation, as well as the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. You should not think, “Master always ends up talking about these things”. I keep coming back because without understanding, how can we move on to other things? So, we must thoroughly understand these. We must truly be able to dispel doubts. There are many things in the world which we doubt. When we get rid of our doubts, our faith will arise; then we understand everything completely. “He explained how all problems arise from a single thought, so we should listen to, contemplate and uphold the teachings”. He “explained” this for us so that we would completely understand; we understand that problems arise from a single thought. With individuals, though something many seem to be very simple, its influence may be very great. This all comes from a single thought; there will be errors and problems from this one thought. Since we have faith in and learn from the Buddha, we should listen to, contemplate, accept and uphold His teachings. Since we have faith in and entrust our entire lives to the Buddha-Dharma, let us make the best use of this lifetime to understand a little more. Let us give more to help sentient beings, form affinities with them and create blessed karma. This is why we must earnestly listen, contemplate and uphold the teachings even more.
We should listen and carefully contemplate. With everything that is taught, we must faithfully accept it and put it into practice. Even with something as simple as the Four Noble Truths or the Twelve Link of Cyclic Existence, we still do not yet understand. In fact, we need to believe in everything the Buddha taught. Because we believe in the Buddha’s virtue, even if we cannot yet comprehend the teachings, we need to have deep faith and understanding. We must have this; we cannot lack deep faith and understanding. So, we need to be very mindful of this.
The previous sutra passage says, “When all the Brahma kings saw this sign, their search took them to where the Buddha was. They scattered flowers as offerings and also made offerings of their palaces. They asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel and praised Him in verse. The Buddha knew the time had not come yet. Receiving their request, He still sat in silence”.
“They praised Him in verse” means the previous long-form prose had already described this. We are now repeating it again in verse. It is being repeated in verse. This means what is expressed here is important. This praise is also very important. They praised how “the Buddha’s virtue is perfect and complete, His wisdom infinite and profound”. We already saw this passage earlier. This is praising the Buddha. Now this passage of verse is also praising Him. They had arrived at the place of enlightenment, scattering flowers and making offerings, expressing their utmost reverence and praising Him; with their words and material objects, they praised Him and made offerings. However, Great unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha knew that not everyone had arrived, so the time had not yet come. The Great Dharma must be taught universally, and everyone must understand it from the beginning. So, the time had not arrived “[They came] from the [remaining] three cardinal and four intermediate directions”.
From the [remaining] three cardinal and four intermediate directions, as well as from above and below, [they came], scattering flowers and offering their palaces. They asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. Encountering a World-Honored One is rare, so they prayed that with His original compassion, He would widely open the door of ambrosial dew and turn the supreme Dharma-wheel.
He kept waiting for their arrival. Earlier in the prose, each one was described. Those from the east, the southeast, the west, the northwest and so on, all these Brahma kings had, in order, arrived from every direction. All offered Him their palaces. All asked the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. They praised the Buddha’s appearing in the world as being very rare and precious. “They prayed that with His original compassion…”. They entreated the Buddha and praised Him for the compassion originally inherent in His mind. From the time the Buddha first formed His aspirations up until now and on into the future, this is His fundamental state of mind. Starting from the intrinsic nature of True Suchness in His mind, [His mind] has continued to be radiant and is one with the universe. With His original compassion, the compassion that has always been in His mind, “He would widely open the door of ambrosial dew”. In order to save and deliver sentient beings, they entreated the Buddha to open wide the door of ambrosial dew, which is the Buddha-Dharma. For sentient beings’ wisdom-life, ambrosial dew is the elixir of immortality. As we mentioned yesterday, it helps sustain the health of our wisdom-life, so our wisdom-life can grow this is turning the supreme Dharma-wheel.
The next passage then says, “The World-Honored One of infinite wisdom received the assembly’s request and proclaimed for them all kinds of Dharma, the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Existence. From ignorance to old age to death, all comes into being due to conditional arising. You all should recogmnize these many problems.
This World-Honored One, Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha, had infinite wisdom. He had already accepted everyone’s request for the Dharma. He had accepted their request to turn the Dharma-wheel, so He began teaching. All Buddhas share the same path; Sakyamuni Buddha was no different. After attaining Buddhahood, heavenly beings and humans came to request the Dharma. The Dharma He taught then was very profound, so they could not understand. The Buddha began to have to find ways to teach people in the world so they could understand. He had to start with the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Kinks of Cyclic Existence, how, from ignorance to old age to death, “all comes into being due to conditional arising.” Starting from a single thought of ignorance, we come to the world and continue on and on in this endless cycle. In the world, we create so much ignorance and so many afflictions.
So, in this way, He began teaching us that “You all should recognize these many problems.” Everyone should know about these things. In order to go one step further into the Great Dharma, if they did not know about these things, how could they promote the Great Vehicle Dharma? If we do not understand the great matters of our birth and death, how can we spread the word about the state which the Buddha awakened to? So, with birth and death in the world, ignorance and afflictions, we must have a very thorough understanding. Only then will we be able to truly walk the Bodhisattva-path to reach the state of the Buddhahood.
So, the Brahma kings of the ten directions respectfully requested [the Dharma] with sincerity. They asked the Buddha with heartfelt reverence.
The World-Honored One, infinite in wisdom, accepted the assembly’s request: The Brahma kings from the ten directions reverently and respectfully appealed to the World-Honored One of infinite wisdom and myriad virtues. Receiving that assembly’s request, He still remained silent in His assent.
The Buddha is the World-Honored One of infinite wisdom, replete with all virtues. “Receiving that assembly’s request” is referring to the Brahma kings who had come in person to jointly ask the Buddha to turn the Dharma-wheel. The first time, He remained silent then the second and the third time, until everyone had arrived from all ten directions. So, He “proclaimed for them all kinds of Dharma, the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Existence.” Buddhas appear in the world for one great cause. This great cause is only one thing, “solely to turn the Dharma-wheel. Thus He proclaimed and taught the Dharma according to capabilities.” To the Hearers and Solitary Realizers, He taught the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Fundamentally, turning the Dharma-wheel is the Buddha’s sole purpose for coming to the world. Since this is His only purpose, why did so many heavenly beings and humans why did so many heavenly beings and humans have to respectfully appeal over and over? He did this to allow everyone to understand that the Buddha-Dharma is profound and rare.
If they lacked respect for the Dharma He taught, either they would not take it in at all, or even if they did, they would not understand, so, He wished to instill respect in them. “Only if you ask me will I answer. I will answer with what it is that you really need. Only then will I answer you. In this way you will truly accept it, truly understand and truly be able to change. Otherwise, if I were to explain the Dharma in a simple and universal way, there might be those who would use this Dharma with evil intentions.
So, in the Chapter on Skillful Means, the Buddha continually told [Sariputra] to stop. He stopped him three times. This Buddha only sat silently after receiving their requests; our Sakyamuni Buddha was also like this. so, in the past, Great Unhindered Wisdon Superior was also like this. thus, Buddhas fundamentally appear in the world only for one great cause. This is to turn the Dharma-wheel. However, they must respond to capabilities in order to teach. So, in response to capabilities, He taught the Hearers and Solitary Realizers the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. From ignorance to old age to death, all come into being due to conditional arising.
From ignorance to old age to death, all comes into being due to conditional arising: A person’s lifetime starts in ignorance and ends in aging and death. All of this arises conditionally from the Three poisins and the Five Turbidities and thus suffering comes into being.
When we are born, we emerge from our mother’s womb crying very loudly. We begin by crying; this is how it starts. We do not know where we came from, nor do we know why someone gave birth to us. Why were we born into this family? Why were we born in such an era? Why do our lives take the course they do? From the start, starting from birth, [we are] in ignorance. There is so much we do not know; this starts in ignorance. Then all around us in the world, there are others in society whom we interact with. Some have affinities with us; some do not. When we have affinities, sometimes we may become hopelessly entangled. We have so many emotions that cause us to become hopelessly entangled. Whether familiar affection, friendly affection, loving affection, deluded affection and so on, all of this is due to ignorance. Throughout our lives, every day us like this; we have to deal with people, whether we have affinities with them or not, whether we love them or not. We become hopelessly entangled like this. It is the same in the way we handle matters. So, “It ends in aging and death”. Our entire lives are like this; starting from birth, we continually remain in ignorance. Then in the end we age, get sick and die. This is how life passes. “All of this arises conditionally from the Three Poisons and the Five Turbidities.” This is true for all of us. Why do we all have such lack of clarity? It is because of the Three Poisons. What are the Three Poisons? The greed, anger and ignorance in our minds. These are the Three Poisons. If you add doubt and then arrogance, you will have the Five Poisons. These are continually produced out of ignorance. Once these five things are continually produced, we further create [entanglements] with others, so the Three Poisons or Five Poisons are in people’s hearts. They have already become habitual tendencies; if we do not change, then our minds will continue to create and replicate these things. Thus externally the Five Turbidities arise conditionally. For instance, our perspectives are from the ignorance inside us shaping our perspectives on the outside world. So, with these perspective, more ignorance arises. With ignorant perspectives, among sentient beings, in our relationships, there is the turbidity of sentient beings. Because in our relations with others, we cause so many calamities, now life on earth is threatened. Look at how humans treat animals now; for the sake of a craving for taste, for food, we raise so many animals. Because of the bird flu epidemic or an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease, many animals have to be killed. Conflicts among humans also create many manmade calamities. You see, this is the turbidity of life.
Next, there is the kalpa of turbidity which is this time right now. These five kinds of turbid energies arise out of each and every one of our minds. The Three Poisons or the Five Poisons have existed in us from the time we were born right up until now. Do we still remain amidst ignorance now? With our present ignorance, what kind of result will we cause later? I feel that even now. I have yet to eliminate my ignorance. As my ignorance still remains, then what kind of karma will I create today? Will I unintentionally say something incorrect? Will I create afflictions for others? Will I create troubles for myself? Is this what I will do? I still do now know. This is ignorance. From the time we are born right until now, and from present on into the future, will we always continue to remain in ignorance? This is why I always tell everyone to heighten your awareness, be cautious and reverent. In interacting with each other, we should treat one another with sincerity and trust. This is very important.
We must listen to the teachings and learn from the Buddha. We should earnestly practice and learn the Buddha-Dharma and to take it to heart. So, “From ignorance to old age to death, all comes into being due to conditional arising.” Ignorance, aging and death all begin at birth. These conditions each give rise to the next. Conditions from our past lifetimes gave rise to those in our present. Our present life’s conditions will continue on into the next lifetime. So, “This conditional arising refers to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.” Sentient beings’ lives and future lives are explained by the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. In the beginning there is ignorance. Everything always begins with ignorance. When we reach old age and death, our present lifetime will be over. It ends with aging and death, but is there more? Yes, affinities still remain, karmic conditions that lead us to the next life. This is “conditional arising.” So, we must be very mindful. These conditions which we can fully eliminate are truly unbearable suffering.
“You all should recognize these many problems.” The Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links describe many things that cause problems. We all should understand the Four Noble Truths; do we all know where suffering comes from? It is caused by accumulation. What exactly is accumulated? We accumulate afflictive emotions and so on. Thus our afflictions and ignorance continue to accumulate like this. We should all know this. It is because of this that ignorance leads our causes and conditions; thus we constantly go round and round, transmigrating in the Six Realms and the four forms of birth. This is all beyond our control. These troubles are in truth the results from our mistakes. We reap what we sow in life; these problems are our mistaken or negative karma. We should understand this.
Next, let us quickly try to understand “When He freely proclaimed this Dharma, 600 trillion gai of people were able to completely end all kinds of suffering and all attained Arhtship. When He taught the Dharma a second time, [there were]billions of people, as many as the sands of the Ganges.”
“When He freely proclaimed this Dharma, 600 trillion gai of people [ended suffering].” When He freely proclaimed this Dharma, 600 trillion gai of people [ended suffering]: They had listened to the Dharma for a long time and attained the truth when He proclaimed this Dharma-door.
This took a very long time. Once the Buddha began teaching the Dharma, He had to spend a very long time. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha took a very long time; do you remember? He taught for a very long time until there were many who had heard His teaching. Because He taught for so long, more and more people came to seek the Dharma. So, there were many there who had heard it. Thus, after listening they attained the truth. By listening to the Dharma for so long, one by one they all came to understand. This is because “He freely proclaimed this Dharma.” Freely means unimpededly. Those who were able to understood the Buddha’s mind could accept the teachings. Even right there at the place of enlightenment, the 16 princes were transformed. Think about it; they knew the Buddha’s heart. Thus they could understand the Buddha’s intent. He was able to proclaim the Dharma freely, so everyone was able to accept this teaching. When He opened this Dharma-door, [many awakened] What exactly is a gai? How much is it exactly? Frankly, it is so much that it is impossible to calculate. When we say a “gai,” we mean “10,000 is called 1 wan. 10,000 wan is called 1 yi. 10,000 yi is called 1 zhao. 10,000 zhao is called 1 jing. 10,000 jing is called 1 gai.” Is there anything beyond this? Yes there is! There are even greater numbers than these later. For instance, there is a “zi”. “10,000 gai is called 1 zi”. “10,000 zi is called 1 rang”. Another 10,000 is called 1 gou. Another 10,000 is called 1 jian. Another 10,000 is called 1 zheng. When we say zai our ji these continue getting larger and larger. So He says, “as numerous as the sands of the Ganges” to describe numbers that are incalculable. Therefore a “gai” is already a huge amount. After a “jing” comes a gai. These are huge numbers, astronomical numbers, impossible to calculate.
In any case, Great Unhindered Buddha, in His wisdom, helped 600 trillion gal of people attain release. Imagine how many people this is! So, that many people were already “able to completely end all kinds of suffering, and all attained Arhatship.” There were already so many who attained Arhatship, who had eliminated all of their afflictions. This is because He taught the Dharma for a very long time. If you go back and look at the long-form prose at the beginning of the Chapter on the Parable in the Conjured City we know how long He taught the Dharma and just how many sentient beings He delivered. Sakyamuni Buddha only lived to be 80-something. He only taught the Dharma for 40 or 50 years, so the numbers differ greatly. In comparison, you can see they are truly smaller. As for us, how much more of the Dharma will we ultimately be able to listen to? We truly have no way of knowing. In conclusion, if we can mindfully take in the Dharma, “One gives rise to infinity,” and “infinity arises from one.” In the moment of a thought arising, if we can make an effort to change our thoughts, we can open the door to our hearts. When our hearts are truly open, our nature of True Suchness [is revealed]. When our afflictions ate swept away, our nature of True Suchness will be revealed. Then we can truly experience all the principles in the world. “[They] completely ended all kinds of suffering and all attained Arhatship.” “All had attained Arhatship.”
[They] completely ended all kinds if suffering and all attained Arhatship: They were able to end all suffering of birth and death in the world. All of these many people had all attained Arhatship.
They had completely ended their worldly suffering. There were so many people who had been to do this, they completely understood about suffering, the suffering taught in the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. When we understand the origin, then we naturally learn how to maintain our lives as well as deal with the world. It is because we do not understand that we continue to have entanglements with others and become hopelessly entangled with people, matters and objects. When we understand, we can “end all kinds of suffering of birth and death in the world.” Having come to understand the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death and the Twelve Links, every one of them could become Arhats. Arhats are those who have completely eliminated afflictions. Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha initially taught the Four Norble Truths. That was the first stage. There was still a second stage. “When He taught the Dharma a second time, [there were billions of people.”
When He taught the Dharma a second time, [there were] billions of people, as many as the sands of the Ganges: When He taught the Dharma for the second time, there were so many people in the assembly.
When it says billions of people, as many as the Ganges’ sands, that means many. It was because He taught the Dharma for so long that so many were able to accept it. So, in learning the Buddha’s teachings, we should be very mindful. We must be mindful of the Dharma. We say it is profound, but in fact it is also quite simple. In our daily living, we speak of how hard it is to practice, yet it is also quite simple, by transforming our thoughts, we open our hearts. If our hearts have not opened, it means we have not yet transformed our minds. When we transform our minds and open our hearts, what Dharma can we not take to heart? It is only when the door to our hearts remains shut that we cannot take the Dharma to heart. Look at the poor son standing outside the gate. He should have been looking in directly through the front gate at the magnificent house of the elder. However, he was not directly in front, but off to the side of the gate, looking in through the slats. He was stealing glances inside. As he was peeping inside, fear arose in him and he quickly ran away. Yet, when the elder sitting inside saw him, he immediately recognized him as his son and quickly sent people to bring him back. However, his good intention was misunderstood. So, the son became so shocked that he fainted. They could only splash water on him to wake him and then help him calm down. Later the elder would find methods [to help him]. See, we sentient beings are like this. We struggle with ourselves. We could walk directly into the house, so why do we still struggle with ourselves? Sentient beings truly suffer unbearably. So, since we abide in the Dharma, let us moisten ourselves with the Dharma-water in order to nourish our wisdom-life. This is sweet ambrosial dew of the Dharma-water which can nourish our wisdom-life. Please, let us all always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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