Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Vow to Attain the Buddha’s Supreme Wisdom-eyes (願得佛智 慧眼第一)
Date: May.19.2017
“People of limited capabilities fear the Great and linger in what they had initially accepted to benefit only themselves. With their small capacities and roots, they attained little yet thought it sufficient. This is like those small plants and trees who easily become full when they receive water. If those clouds let fall a great amount of rain, they are unable to take it in.”
See, “People of limited capabilities fear the Great and linger in what they had initially accepted to benefit only themselves.” Everyone should all be able to understand this. If people have limited capabilities, when they begin engaging in spiritual practice, they learn about “suffering”. Indeed, the world is truly full of suffering! Thus they formed aspirations to engage in spiritual practice, and their goal in spiritual practice is to avoid for eliminate their suffering. To be able to avoid and escape suffering, they needed to follow the Buddha’s guidance to know the origin of suffering and understand it. So, they began to understand the methods of eliminating afflictions, and wanted to avoid entanglements with others, those unwholesome affinities. So, they engage in spiritual practice only to benefit themselves; they do not want any entanglements with others. So, they earnestly engage in spiritual practice on their own, not wishing to create any more evil karma. Thus, the refrain from all evil and know not to create more evil karma or form more negative affinities. Whenever afflictions arise in them, they will try to find ways to avoid them and eliminate the ignorance fluctuating in their mind. Observing the matters and principles of the world, they can understand them all. So, those of limited capabilities practice for themselves. They understand all the principles, but they fear the Great. They fear it, are afraid of it. They are afraid that if they continue on to cultivate the Great Dharma, it would mean going among the people, and they already no longer wish to become entangled with people again. So, they avoid it and refuse to accept the Great Dharma; this is fear. Therefore they stop and linger in the Small Vehicle. From the start, what they understand is that they must not become entangled with others; that is the causes and conditions for suffering. Because of this, this is “what they had initially accepted to benefit only themselves.” They only care for themselves, only protect themselves. Thus, “With their small capacities and roots, they attained little yet thought it sufficient.” As their capacities are very limited, upon attaining a small amount of Dharma, they feel quite satisfied. “I know the suffering in the world. I know the cause of suffering, that its origin is the accumulation of all kinds of causes and conditions. I understand all these principles, and this is sufficient for me.” So, this is the extent of their capacities. Having accepted these teachings, they thought this was enough to satisfy them. “They attained little yet thought it sufficient.” In fact, of the Dharma the Buddha wanted to teach, this is not all there is. He only gave them a start. They started by understanding life’s suffering, yet that is as far as they got before they stopped. They stopped within their own world. So, “This is like those small plants and trees who easily become full when they receive water.” Take small plants for instance; a small plant is satisfied with a bit of dew. Actually, with a small tree, a little rain is enough to moisten the entire tree. As we have said before, big trees can absorb great amounts of water. A very big tree, when it rains, can perhaps absorb as much as two or three tons of water.
So, the good thing about growing trees is that forests, when there is a lot of rain, are the first to absorb the rainwater. After the rain is gone, they gradually release it. If there are no trees, or the trees are small, there is nothing to absorb all that heavy rain nor are there any roots to protect the earth, so landslides can easily occur. Thus, small plants and small trees can only look out for themselves. It is the big trees that not only care for themselves, but being full themselves and able to absorb great amounts, can also care for and protect the earth. These are the abilities of big trees. So, “if those clouds let fall rain,” the capacities of small plants and small trees are such that if it rains a great deal, they are unable to absorb it all. The abilities of small plants and trees are limited; they can only take care of themselves. What we should be learning is the Great Dharma. Or is the Small [Vehicle] Dharma enough?
Either way we are human. Taiwan now has many problems indeed. In Taiwan alone, those with physical and mental disabilities are said to number over a million. 90 percent of these are stuck inside their homes under the care of their families. These are the luckier ones, disabled people who can rely on their families. Then there are another 10 percent who are not cared for. They live by themselves, staying inside and not daring to go out. They do not receive any help from the outside. The remaining 10 percent with mental and physical disabilities is not a small number of people. How can we go and help them?
We recently saw a case. There are actually many cases like this, but this is an example. There is a 45-year-old person; she is turning 45 this year. [Ah Qing] has a slight learning disability. She has an older brother, but her parents have already passed away. When she was young, her parents always told her, “Do not open the door for just anyone who knocks. There are many bad people out there. Do not just open the door when someone knocks, and never go outside.” Ever since she was little, because she had this learning disability this is how her parents taught her. Being very obedient, she listened to them. So, from the time she was young, when her parents were still healthy, she would never open the door for anyone. She fostered this kind of habit, especially as she had a learning disability. After her parents passed away in succession, though she now has an apartment to live in, her brother lives elsewhere with his own family, so it was difficult for him to go see her, and he seldom went. This younger sister lived on her own, so the village head asked people specifically to provide for her, to bring her takeout boxes. He provided takeout meals for her. When the meal deliver person came, she had a habit of chatting with him for a while. Since it was always the same delivery person, she would chat with him. Yet, her intelligence was that of a child’s. While at home, she could do small things like sweep the floor, but had no real ability to do anything else. The village head reported this case to our branch office in Keelung, and our Bodhisattva-volunteers there accepted the case and quickly found the home according to the address. They kept knocking on the door and calling out, but no matter how they knocked, she was not willing to open the door. She would only speak to them through the door. “Just stand out there and I will talk to you.” They had to stand outside in a line. Over a period of one or two years, sometimes she was happy and opened the door. They could go inside and chat with her. Sometimes, everyone would be so tired of standing that they would ask her, “Why don’t you ask us to sit down?” She would reply, “Just stand there.” She would never give them a chair to sit in, so they had to stand there to speak with her. They needed to speak with her very sincerely in ways that made her very happy. They would say, “Our feet are sore from standing. We can’t take it anymore. Please let us sit in a chair for while, OK?” If she was happy she might say, “Fine, you can sit for a while.” When she was not happy, she would just make them stand there in a line. For two years, every month, they would visit her once or twice. This was what they did; they kept checking on her and chatting with her. This continued until recently. Although she could sweep her own place, one day the water tank and toilet had backed up, and the toilet contents began spilling everywhere; it had filled up and was seeping outside. When Tzu Chi volunteers discovered this, they mobilized volunteers to help her clean. They also had someone designated to talk with her. This person was Xiuyan. She went and told her, “We brought someone to fix your water tank. “Alright.” She opened the door and let them go up. There was no water to us, everything was blocked, so they needed to fix her water tank. She was happy and let them go up. They told her they wanted to clean her toilet and her bathroom. She said, “There is no need.” “Why is there no need? It’s so dirty; why shouldn’t we clean it?” “You cannot use this bucket, nor this nor that.” “Why can’t we use them?” “I need to put things in this one and put things in that one.” Sister Xiuyan said, “With out these things, we are unable to clean for you.” She said, “Can’t you just to go and buy them?” She told them to go buy these things. They said, “We did not bring any money, and we cannot buy anything without money. Can you just lend us these for a while?” They went back and forth for a while like this, but still she was unwilling. She said, “Well then, we will have to leave, because we didn’t bring any money. We have no way to buy buckets to help you clean. If you don’t let us use yours, then we have to leave, and no one will help you clean.” She said, “Oh, I see. Fine then, you can help me clean.” Only then did she allow them to clean. This involved a great deal of skill, like a mother dealing with a small child. There needed to be a person willing to stand outside her door and continually talk to her, continuously convince her with simple language, before she would allow the others in to clean, fix her clogged toilet and fix the water problem. Faith Corps brothers went up on the roof to fix the water tank. They cleaned and repaired the water tank, then started the motor so water would flow. With water, they could begin to clean, so they then began sweeping and cleaning. They had unclogged her toilet and had helped her clean up when the meal delivery person arrived. She hurried to get the meal, opened it and exclaimed, “I am so hungry! These people came to help me unclog my toilet. I’m lucky they came and helped me clean so well.” The meal delivery person asked her, “Are you grateful to them? Yes! I am very grateful to them.” “Did you thank them?” Only then did she say, “Thank you!” You could call her dumb, but she knew enough to say thank you. I believe she was trying to be playful when she would not let them use her buckets or allow them to clean. It was not until they told her that they would not help her clean that she quickly said, “Alright.” So, she is not dumb, though her IQ is really not that high. She is just like a child. Her parents taught her from the time she was young that she should never open the door, that there were many bad people out there, so she was always on the defensive and would not make contact with other people. This group of Bodhisattvas never stopped making contact with her and never stopped caring for her. They even helped her cut her hair, wash her fair, and help her wash up. After helping her wash up they asked her, “Isn’t that better?” “Yes!” She replied, and she began to cry. “Why are you crying?” The volunteer asked her, “Aren’t you happy?” “Yes, I am so happy I am crying”. The volunteer told her, “Don’t cry! I can’t bear it if you cry!” So, she smiled again. She really is quite adorable.
But if you think about it, this is all she knew from the time she was young, that she should not open the door for anyone, that there were many bad people outside. This is how unenlightened beings are. Her mother and father loved her; they knew she was not as smart and had a lower IQ, so they taught her to be defensive, to prevent against bad people breaking in. The way they protected her was by telling her, “Don’t open the door, there are many bad people outside”.
Yet, the Buddha is like a compassionate father who has come to teach sentient beings that we must unlock our wisdom. We must unlock our wisdom because in the past we were like Ah Qing; she is someone with lower mental capabilities. We did not know where the cause of our suffering had come from. Ordinary people are like this. The Buddha told us about how life is filled with suffering and what the origin of this suffering is so that we can protect ourselves and not create more karma. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. He came to the world to open this door and help us enter into the teachings. He did not close the door to us; He opened the door [to these teachings]. “This is life’s suffering. It comes about this way, because people create so much karma”. Because we have conflicts in our relationships and become entangled in afflictive emotions, we thus face this suffering. This is what the Buddha came to teach us.
However, our capabilities are limited, so we only think, “I want to protect myself, I do not want to go among the people anymore, nor to have contact with sentient beings”. So “People of limited capabilities fear the Great and linger in what they had initially accepted to benefit only themselves”. This was the teaching they initially accepted. They thought they only had to protect themselves, so “With their small capacities and roots, they attained little yet thought it sufficient”. This is like how Ah Qing wished to protect what she had. This is how people of limited capabilities protect themselves. “I am satisfied; I am not willing to lose anything”. They are just like small plants and trees. Bigger [trees] are like those volunteers who lovingly went to Ah Qing’s home, yet were continually rejected at her door. Luckily, Living Bodhisattvas have the hearts of Bodhisattvas, so they went again and again, many times in a month. They stood outside her door in a line and were willing to keep on going back. This is the power of their love. They were often rejected at her door, but Bodhisattvas are like big trees wishing to stretch their roots, to shade and protect those with such weak capabilities. This is the love of Bodhisattvas; they go among the people to help them. So, to learn from the Buddha, we must learn the Great Vehicle Dharma. For the sake of sentient beings, we enter the door to their hearts. We must open this door of ignorance so we can enter into their rooms and earnestly help them clean the filth of ignorance. Then, by using the Dharma of wisdom, we encourage them and guide them. This is the heart of a Bodhisattva!
The previous sutra passage 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 should all recognize these many problems.
We sentient beings have this kind of ignorance. So, since the Buddha came to this world for the sake of one great cause, He now began to turn the Dharma-wheel. He started turning it with “the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Existence.” “From ignorance to old age to death, there is unbearable suffering; the suffering in the human realm can always be traced to the past. It is never without a past cause. There must be cause in the past; with these causes and conditions, an endless chain of [problems] is stirred up. This “comes into being due to conditional arising”. Over the course of many lifetimes, these cause and conditions have entangled us all the way to the present. “You should all recognize these many problems”. There are so many of these. Through the “Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Existence, [we know the] causes and conditions of suffering, these negative causes and negative effects. These problems continue through endless lifetimes. We people are like this; a single thought that goes astray causes mistakes. This is how it is; so many troubles continually pile up like this. Thus, everyone should know. “You should all recognize these”. Everyone should know this.
“When He freely proclaimed this Dharma, 600 trillion gai of people were able to completely end all kinds of suffering, and all attained Arhatship. When He taught the Dharma a second time, billions of people, as many as Ganges’ sands….”
He began to proclaim this Dharma freely. The Buddha came to turn the Dharma-wheel and teach sentient beings. He opened this Dharma-door and began teaching the Dharma. There were many people; the more time passed, the longer He taught the Dharma, the more people He transformed. There were very many [people], “600 trillion gai of people”. As we mentioned yesterday, this is a lot. After zhao (trillion) comes jing, after jing comes gai. There are still many more after that. These are astronomical numbers, truly a lot. There were so many people who, because the Buddha had turned the Dharma-wheel, gradually took the Dharma to heart and gradually came to understand the origins of suffering. This came from the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They had already come to understand and were “able to completely end all kinds of suffering”. These Hearers and Solitary Realizers, these spiritual practitioners, where very numerous. They had already “all attained Arhatship.” Many had been delivered, and many had attained Arhatship. “Upon teaching the Dharma a second time, billions of people, as many as Ganges’ sands….” Then in the second stage, after teaching the Four Noble Truths, He next taught the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Of course, these can also be encompassed by the general term “the Four Noble Truths.” Actually, all things in the world can be included in the Four Noble Truths. Our coming and going in cyclic existence, the entanglement of causes and conditions, is all due to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. So, as He taught a first and a second time, more and more people came to understand.
First, there were the Hearers who understood the Four Noble Truths from His voice. Then they went further to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence to understand the origins of cyclic existence. This is how all Buddhas share the same path. Every Buddha uses the same method, the same order. The longer He taught, the more sentient beings He transformed. In a short amount of time, the sentient beings transformed will be few. This is because of sentient beings’ karma.
The Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, originally could have long abided in the world, but the karmic conditions were lacking. Therefore, He entered Parinirvana at 80 years old. We spoke about this before as well.
The next sutra passage says, “[They] remained unaffected by any phenomena and also attained Arhatship. After this, they attained the truth. Their number was immeasurable; even after counting for trillions of kalpas, one would still be unable to reach the end.
This happened over a very long time. Actually, Sakyamuni Buddha [had practiced] since dust-inked kalpas ago through to the present. From dust-inked kalpas ago in Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s era, a very long time has passed. So, those He taught and transformed “remained unaffected by any phenomena and also attained Arhatship.”
They remained unaffected by any phenomena and also attained Arhatship: They were not affected at all by the worldly phenomena of the five desires. They put work into inner cultivation, upholding precepts and abandoning desires to realize the fruits.
[They] were not affected by any phenomena. This means “They were not affected at all by the worldly phenomena of the five desires.” They were spiritual practitioners. They had already engaged in spiritual practice and understood. They not only understood the Four Noble Truths, they also knew that worldly pleasures, fame, fortune and status, all of the five desires, were ultimately illusory. Ordinary people, for the sake of these illusory five desires, will create so much evil karma. so, spiritual practitioners already “remain unaffected by any phenomena.” They would not allow the worldly phenomenon of the five desires to affect them. They had eliminated the five desires and were no longer affected at all.
“They put work into inner cultivation, upholding precepts and abandoning desires.” They had already worked hard on their own minds. To sweep away desires is easier said than done. Even for something simple, like eating, just eliminate desire for taste is difficult.
Recently, we have constantly been talking about lowering Earth’s temperature. One way is through eating a vegetarian diet, for everyone to become vegetarian. From a religious standpoint, we are reducing our taking of others’ lives. This is of course a very significant thing, but the most important thing for the average person is that, by eating a vegetarian diet, there would be no need to raise so many animals. The land would be less polluted, and carbon emissions would be reduced. The amount of carbon emissions, the polluting gas carbon dioxide, would naturally be reduced and the earth would also be less polluted. We all know about this now, but is this truly enough for us to rid ourselves of the craving for taste? That is difficulty. Just talking about teste, satisfying our craving for taste is difficult, not to mention the craving for wealth, sex or fame. Those desires are indeed difficult [to deal with]. We normally speak of the five desires, wealth, sensual pleasure, fame, food and sleep. Spiritual practitioners make the best use of time by sleeping a little less. The average person might say, “It’s so cold, if you tell me to get up so early there is no way! In summer, the air-conditioning feels so good. I could never get up that early!” See? This is how we sentient beings are. Abandoning our pleasures is truly not easy! Thus, to be able to abandon pleasures we must engage in spiritual practice so we remain unaffected by the five desires. So, they had to put in hard work with their minds. In eliminating] craving for taste, it takes a lot of hard work to succeed, a lot of practice. Getting up early to listen to the sutras also requires great determination. One must be very courageous. This is to say nothing of fame, fortune or status. If we do not make a great effort, yet wish to control our desires, it will indeed be difficult. So, “They put work into inner cultivation, upholding precepts and abandoning desires.” This is spiritual practice. this way, they realized the fruit of Arhatship. This is what we often talk about; in order to eliminate ignorance, we must first relinquish the five desires. Only then can we get rid of ignorance. “After this, they attained the truth. Their number was immeasurable.”
After this, they attained the truth. Their number was immeasurable: From this moment onwards they have enough to understand and attain the truth. Furthermore, their numbers were limitless.
Through effort in spiritual practice, they attained the truth and their number was immeasurable. There were very many of them. Having freed themselves from desire, they are able to understand the truth. When we get rid of the desire in our mind, our mind then becomes pure. Then we have enough to be able to seek the Dharma. So, by getting rid of our afflictions, our minds have enough room to accept the teachings of the Dharma.
So, “[They] have enough to understand and attain the truth.” When we are without desire, our minds can naturally meet with the Dharma. Then we are able to attain the truth. So, “Furthermore, their numbers were limitless.” Their numbers were so great. Because they understood these teachings, they could put them into practice themselves to get rid of every kind of affliction. In this way, those who attained the truth were great in number; their numbers were limitless. So, “Even after counting for trillions of kalpas, one would still be unable to reach the end.”
Even after counting for trillions of kalpas, one would still be unable to reach the end: If you spent a long time, even passing through trillions of kalpas, you would still not be able to know their bounds.
There were so many that they were countless. There were “600 trillion gai of people,” or even more than that. All these many people had truly gotten rid of their desirous thoughts and had then, one by one, attained the truth. There were so many that they could not be counted, so even “If you spent a long time, even passing through trillions of kalpas, you would still not be able to know their bounds.” There were actually that many who had engaged in spiritual practice. They had engaged in practice for a long time, and their numbers were truly limitless.
“At that time, the 16 princes abandoned lay life to become novices. They all asked that Buddha together to expound the Great Vehicle Dharma. ‘All of us and our followers will all attain Buddhahood. We vow to attain, like the World-Honored One, the wisdom-eyes of utmost purity.”’
They abandoned the lay life and made the great vows, becoming “Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas.” To become a monastic, one must make the great vows; only then can one become a monastic. The great vows are not to only benefit oneself, but also to deliver sentient beings. We do not merely deliver ourselves; we must deliver others as well. So, they made the great vows of Great Vehicle Bodhisattva-practice and thus became monastics. Thus they all “had great aspirations to enter the path to Buddhahood.” Those with the resolve to attain Buddhahood, who want to enter the path to Buddhahood, are those who are willing to become monastics. “Bodhisattvas have the wisdom-eye.” Bodhisattvas have the wisdom-eye, but “they are not equal to the Buddha’s wisdom-eye, which can thoroughly illuminate intrinsic nature and thus reach the ultimate.” Although Bodhisattvas have wisdom-eyes, they cannot yet “thoroughly illuminate intrinsic nature and thus reach the ultimate.” Bodhisattvas have [wisdom-eyes], but the Buddha has already arrived at the ultimate. So, Bodhisattvas must still diligently advance, must diligently advance on the Bodhisattva-path. These are the monastic Bodhisattvas. When it comes to Bodhisattvas, even ordinary people can be called Bodhisattvas. Laypeople can also be Bodhisattvas. Monastic Bodhisattvas and lay Bodhisattvas differ. Monastic Bodhisattvas must practice many supreme precepts. They have many rules. Their understanding of the Dharma must be deeper and broader than a lay person’s. They must have a deeper understanding and put the Dharma into practice in all their actions because their goal is to attain Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood, one must become a monastic. Only by becoming a monastic can one attain mental and physical purity, only by becoming a monastic can one eliminate the most subtle dust-like [delusions]. This is because only monastics are no longer entangled by worldly affinities.
So, we become monastics and engage in practice in order to reach the state of Buddhahood. Lay Bodhisattvas also have the wisdom-eye. Look at that group of Bodhisattvas in Keelong. For just one person, Ah Qing, they spent so much time. They had such patience and love and gave unconditionally with the heart of a Bodhisattvas. They saw this care recipient as if she were a small child they were looking after. They kept her company with such patience, gave to her with such love. This is the wisdom-eye that views all sentient beings equally. They saw her as if she were their own child. Because her mental capabilities were like those of a child, they treated her as if she was their own child. With her environment, her living situation, they thoroughly cared for her in every way. This is the heart of a Bodhisattva. This heart of a Bodhisattva is what the Buddha came to awaken in us. The Buddha, in His wisdom, came to this world where all sentient beings suffer, and some suffer even more amidst this suffering. Their karmic forces entangle them. These sentient beings cannot escape themselves; they have closed the door to their hearts. So, they must open the door to their hearts. Besides the door to their own hearts, they can also open the door to others’ hearts. By attaining this Dharma, we can open the door to our own heart, then also open the door to others’ hearts. This is the Bodhisattva’s wisdom-eye. Although Bodhisattvas have the wisdom-eye, they cannot yet “thoroughly illuminate intrinsic nature and thus reach the ultimate.” We must still continue moving ahead until our minds are “without hindrances; there are no hindrances.” When we engage in spiritual practice, we leave behind our family and loved ones so that we have no hindrances, no hindrances of our personal family. Having left behind our family and loved ones, we can concentrate on going among people, completely getting rid of all desires, sweeping away afflictions and ignorance and further working hard with our dust-like ignorance. Only then can we be equal to the Buddha, “thoroughly illuminate intrinsic nature and thus reach the ultimate.” So, “At that time, the 16 princes abandoned lay life to become novices.”
At that time, the 16 princes abandoned lay life to become novices: The princes made vows, abandoned the lay life and worldly prosperity. They became monastics to promote great love. They had yet to take the full precepts, so they were still novices.
“The princes made vows to abandon lay life and worldly prosperity.” They eliminated any [attachment] to worldly honor, achievement, wealth or nobility. They became monastics to “promote great love.” They wanted to go among people to promote the great love of the Buddha. After the 16 princes became monastics, they were called novices. If you have not yet taken the [full] precepts, even if you are already an adult, before you have taken the precepts, you are called a novice. Those who have not yet taken the full precepts are all called novices. No matter how old you are, if you have not yet accepted the full precepts, then you will still be called a novice. The 16 princes were already grown when they left home to become monastics and practice and learn the Buddha-Dharma, yet they were still called novices. “They had yet to take the full precepts, so they were still novices.” So, “They all asked that Buddha together to expound the Great Vehicle Dharma.”
They all asked that Buddha together to expound the Great Vehicle Dharma: With utmost reverence and respect, they all formed aspirations together. Together they asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to expound the Great Vehicle and teach the Bodhisattva Way.
This was the beginning. The 16 princes had already become monastics, so they were 16 novices. They understood and engaged in spiritual practice. They were able to understand, but had still not advanced into that great space. The novices then asked the Buddha to expound the Great Vehicle Dharma. Although they were only novices, they nonetheless had great aspirations and had made great vows. They had great aspirations, had great hopes, not just to become monastics, not just to benefit themselves, but also to go further and widely benefit others. So, “With utmost reverence and respect, they all formed aspirations together. Together they asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to expound the Great Vehicle and teach the Bodhisattva Way.” This was the heartfelt wish of the 16 novices. They more or less understood all the teachings, yet still had much room to advance. So, it says, “All of us and our followers will all attain Buddhahood.”
All of us and our followers will all attain Buddhahood: We princes and all our followers all vow to complete the path to Buddhahood. Followers: This refers to the ministers in the long –form prose.
“We and all those who came with us hope that the Buddha can teach the Great Dharma.” They hoped [their followers] could likewise become monastics, take the full precepts and promote the Great Dharma. This was the hope of the novices. It was not just for themselves, but for many people. All came at the same time to engage in practice, so they all [hoped] to attain Buddhahood together. This was the novices’ hope. So “We vow to attain ,like the World-Honored One, the wisdom-eye of utmost purity.”
We vow to attain, like the World-Honored One, the wisdom-eye of utmost purity: They wished to have great wisdom like the Buddha’s. The eyes of compassion see all equally, so they are utmost in purity.
That hoped everyone could be just like the World Honored-one and have “the wisdom-eye of utmost purity.” Though they had formed great aspirations to practice the Bodhisattva-path, though they had the wisdom-eye, there was still not thoroughly penetrating. They wanted everyone to have great wisdom equal to the Buddha’s. “The eyes of compassion see all equally.” These are wisdom-eyes “utmost in purity.” Only these are truly ultimate So, it speaks of “the wisdom-eye of utmost purity.” This means that both Bodhisattvas and Buddhas have wisdom. “They contemplate emptiness while being unhindered by existence; they know of emptiness, but have not realized it.”
The wisdom-eye of utmost purity: Both Bodhisattvas and Buddhas have wisdom-eyes. They contemplate emptiness while being unhindered by existence; they know of emptiness yet have not realized it. Only the Buddha’s wisdom-eyes can thoroughly realize that the mind-nature is intrinsically pure and clear, and that all phenomena are only the ultimate reality of the mind. They seek the very origin of the Dharma and ultimately attain enlightenment. Thus, this is called being utmost in purity.
Bodhisattvas can observe emptiness while being unhindered by existence. They completely understand this teaching. From the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links, they enter into the Prajna teachings, the principles of true emptiness. Though they enter unhindered into the teaching of emptiness, they are still unable to achieve the Buddha’s spiritual state of wondrous existence that comes from the purity of true emptiness. It is still impossible for them to attain this. So, “Only the Buddha’s eyes of wisdom can thoroughly realize that the mind-nature is intrinsically pure and clear.” Only the Buddha can thoroughly comprehend the purity of true nature “and that that all phenomena are only the ultimate reality of the mind.” Only a Buddha can thoroughly comprehend this. So, “They seek the very origin of the Dharma.” They penetrate to the very source of the Dharma “and ultimately attain enlightenment.” This is being “utmost in purity”. So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must truly form great aspirations and make great vows. Although we walk the Bodhisattva-path, we must nevertheless still continue on to seek the Buddha’s wisdom. We eliminate our delusions of views and thinking, but more delusions still remain. This is the process of the Bodhisattva-practice. Among the myriads of sentient beings, we can experience many afflictions and, through afflictions, awaken our wisdom. However, we have not yet completely eradicated our dust-like delusions, have not yet arrived at the wisdom-eye of utmost purity. So, now they want to request the Dharma, in the hope being able to reach state that is equal to the Buddha’s. This is the goal of our learning and practice of the Buddha-Dharma. In learning from the Buddha, we must reach Buddhahood. We must not give up until we attain Buddhahood. So, let us always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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