Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Keep Advancing after the Conjured City (但至化城 仍需精進)
Date: May.30.2017
“Those who are peaceful and joyful reach a state of tranquility and wondrous permanence. The world’s affairs are illusory and impermanent so we eliminate our thoughts of contriving affinities. We eliminate all defilements of afflictions to deliver ourselves and sentient beings.”
When we are peaceful and joyful, we are so carefree and at ease! In this world, to be able to be peaceful and joyful, there is only one method; let go! There are many complicated matters in life. In our interpersonal relationships, everyone has different perspectives. In people’s ways of seeing things, there will always be places in which their perspectives differ. For people’s perspectives to naturally match is by no means easy. If we cannot reach a mutual understanding, naturally we will not feel happy. Without harmony, how can our hearts be joyful? When things do not go our way, how can we be at peace? Thus, in the way we see things, interact with people and deal with matters, we must open our hearts even wider. Our hearts must be more and more open. This is how we should treat others. “My spacious heart can accommodate you. If this is not enough, I must open my heart more. If this still is not enough, I have to open my heart even more.” This is a skill mastered in spiritual practice.
How can we have an open heart and pure thoughts? We should use a very simple mindset. As for spiritual practice, we must have patience and must be diligent! To be diligent, we must be able to yield a little. If we can transform people and their understanding of the principle is correct, then we should have respect for them. If they have a misunderstanding of the principles, then we must be mindful and find ways to open our hearts and use the right method to teach them. This is a skill we must learn to master. Being yielding in interpersonal relationships and mutually transforming each other should help everyone to rejoice. Not everyone will do as we wish nor will everyone share our thinking. This is why we must engage in spiritual practice. We should consider how to be more accommodating. It is our turn to accommodate others’ wishes whiles also not deviating. For us to accommodate others’ wishes and also be able to transform them requires great skill. In this way, we transform ourselves and others, which brings peace and joy. All worldly affairs are inherently like this, so if we can do this, we will reach a state of tranquility and wondrous permanence.
Our state of mind can be like what we described before. During the process of spiritual practice, if we do not engage in disputes with others, naturally our state of mind will always be tranquil and still. This is the state of wondrous permanence.
Don’t we often say, “Seize the present moment and sustain it forever?” We must sustain that initial aspiration we formed to engage in spiritual practice when we were filled with confidence in ourselves. No matter how many hardships the world gives us, we must patiently endure them. No matter how difficult the path is to walk, we must continue to advance forward, walking courageously without retreating. This is our initial aspiration, that resolve we first formed. We call this “the moment”. [To sustain] this initial aspiration is to seize the present moment. When we can seize this initial aspiration and hold on to it forever, upholding this aspiration, this is called sustaining it forever. When we formed aspirations in that instant, our mind was at its purest. So, we must sustain this forever; we must earnestly seize the resolve of the moment. This is the most subtle and wondrously permanent, meaning it lasts forever.
The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City relates how the Buddha continued to tell us that this road [of practice] is long and far. There are many dangerous paths and many traps. We must pass through another500 yojanas of dangerous places filled with deadly beasts. These deadly beasts often trouble our minds, causing us to panic, causing us to fear, causing us to doubt, causing us to give rise to anger and so on. Across these 500 yojanas there are many ferocious and deadly beasts. It is a treacherous path. We must go through this long path of spiritual practice, and we must also go among the people. Among people, sentient beings will not always act according to our wishes. For instance, during the Buddha’s life, He went to ask for alms one day. After He finished asking for alms, He went to the forest and he went to the forest and quietly sat down to eat. After eating, He meditated and rested for a bit. This forest was still a distance from the abode, but He mind was very still. In the forest, He could hear from the abode the sound of people arguing. He listened mindfully. It turned out that in the Sangha, to handle some of their administrative matters, people had began to discuss and examine them. In people’s interpersonal relationships or their conduct in daily life, who had done something wrong? Who had violated the precepts? In the discussion, they talked about one bhiksu who made a mistake. Another bhiksu gently brought this up. “One day when I was doing something, the other bhiksu came to me and used harsh speech. I felt very bad and have not been able to let it go.”
When the other bhiksu heard this, he shouted very loudly, “Tell me, when did I yell at you loudly? When did I use harsh language toward you?” As soon as he started talking, this other bhiksu spoke very loudly and used a lot of harsh speech. Another the [first] bhiksu had brought this up, he felt very bad. Although it was many days ago, he still kept it in his heart. Within the assembly he brought this up again, but provoked the other bhiksu’s yelling at him with lots of harsh speech. This bhiksu remained silent and did not respond. In his heart he had not let go of his previous [afflictions], and now he was adding more to them. “Why do you keep shouting? I must endure, I must endure.” So, he did not respond. The loud bhiksu continued to yell. None of the bhiksus how came to the discussion dared say anything.
The Buddha heard this with His power of the heavenly ear. In such a distant spot, as soon as He had settled His mind, He heard this arguing, so He packed up His alms bowl and walked back to the abode. When He arrived at the abode, He sat down and asked, “What happened? I heard people’s voices in the abode. It was very noisy and chaotic. What was the reason for this?” Everyone looked at each other. The bhiksu who had been yelling did not dare speak up either. Later a bhiksu saw that the Buddha was continuing to ask about what had really happened, so he stood up and told the Buddha what had occurred and so on. After hearing this, the Buddha sighed and said, “Why? Spiritual practice has always been something we ourselves aspire to do. We understand that in this world, the accumulation of all kinds of causes and conditions causes us to give rise to afflictions. When we have afflictions in our minds, these accumulate into suffering. All this suffering accumulates from all kinds of cause which are not resolved. There is so much suffering. Since everyone is engaged in spiritual practice, why can’t we stop having these disputes? Why do we still need to entangle ourselves like this?” One person said, “That bhiksu was very patient. Although the other bhiksu used abusive language and spoke loudly, that bhiksu was patient with him. But later, after the loud bhiksu shouted continually for a very long time, he calmed down and then knew that he was not right. So he also apologized to the other bhiksu, asking for his forgiveness. But the other bhiksu was not willing to forgive; he remained silent without responding.”
The Buddha said that spiritual practice comes from our minds. We must be very careful about how causes and conditions come together. Just consider how, in Trayastrimsa Heaven, Sakro-devanam Indra leads heavenly beings. He also tells them, “The power of anger can burn roots of goodness.” Sakro-devanam Indra teaches his heavenly beings by using this kind of analogy. He tells those heavenly beings, “Do not light the fire of ignorance and anger in your minds. If the fire of anger ignites, we must quickly extinguish it. If there is a lamp, we can light it up to brighten our surroundings and eliminate darkness. Illuminating the surroundings is the lamp’s function. For the lamp to be bright enough, it needs oil. If someone used a ladle to pour oil and carelessly put the ladle too close to the fire, then, although he originally wanted to add oil for the fire to continue to burn, since he carelessly kept the ladle too close to fire, a spark from the fire can ignite the ladle so the ladle catches on fire and burns his hands”. [The Buddha explained], “Sakro-devanam Indra used this method to teach heavenly beings. Why do you still continue to be so foolish? As we all engage in spiritual practice, why must we linger over words said in the past and continue to bring up past matters? We should not do this. When we hear of our past mistakes, we still attempt to explain them away. Those two people were both wrong. However, the person who shouted has already reflected on himself and repented. Though the person who was shouted at was patient and did not respond to him, considering that the other had come forth and repented, he should have immediately forgiven him. This is to say nothing of the accumulated afflictions of resentment stored in the mind. Repenting once can eliminate past ignorance; so this immediate repentance [should do the same]. Why do you not forgive him now?”
This was what the Buddha told him. When the bhiksu who was not willing to forgive heard the Buddha’s explanation, he thought, “Indeed, it is the other’s habitual tendency to shout. It is his issue if he does not wish to change. Why, when they are his habitual tendencies, must I keep these afflictions in my mind for so long? “At that moment, I brought up past matters, which only stirred up conflicts and anger. Why? I was like the heavenly being who added oil, but added the oil too close to the fire so the ladle caught on fire. The Buddha used this analogy and I understand. My heart has opened and I understand. I accept this bhiksu’s repentance”. And so this conflict was resolved in this way.
Indeed, aren’t we people just like this? If something is in the past, leave it in the past. Why must we continue to look at others. With anger and vengeance in our hearts? Or maybe as soon as we see them, we feel unhappy, so we do not wish to interact or be with them. We do not feel at peace. In this way, our own mind is stirring up this fire to burn ourselves. This person lacked patience, while the other encountered situations without thinking, the other encountered situations without thinking, so he began to be unable to control his thoughts and easily gave rise to anger. These two people were both indolent, not diligent. If we always put effort into being mindful, we will be able to immediately let go of our past negative habitual tendencies. Yet, we continue to carry them in our minds. This is how habitual tendencies are. We store and accumulate afflictions in our minds. When we are not mindful, we are not diligent and we do not know [the truth of] worldly matters. So, for the sake of worldly affairs, we give rise to ignorance. Both bhiksus had this problem. In fact, the two bhiksus we talked about were in the Sangha during the Buddha’s lifetime. Even practitioners then had this problem.
As we reflect on ourselves now, haven’t we also been like this before? If we have, we must quickly bring peace to our minds and be more joyful. With open hearts and pure thoughts each day, we can enjoy being peaceful and joyful. If we can be like this, our mind has the stillness of wondrous permanence; it will be tranquil and still, subtle and wondrous like the Buddha’s heart. From far away, He was able to hear the disputes. The Buddha was so far away, but in His tranquil state of mind, He was able to hear it. This is the tranquil and still, subtle and wondrous state of mind. This tranquil and still wondrous permanence is the state of mind the Buddha always sustained. The Buddha is completely aware of all conditions. As for power of the heavenly ear and eye and knowing others’ minds. He is replete in all of these.
So, in our spiritual practice, we must understand that “the world’s affairs are illusory and impermanent [and thus] eliminate our thoughts of contriving affinities”. If we can understand that this world is illusory and impermanent, we will not contrive affinities. We let bygones be bygones and not leave them in our minds. Our afflictions must be constantly eliminated; when we have them, we must quickly eliminate them. We must end thoughts of contriving affinities. So, “We eliminate all defilements of afflictions to deliver ourselves and sentient beings”.
Everyone, this is such a simple matter. Why must we walk such a long path? It is a 500 yojana-ling dangerous path, fat-off, extremely desolate, uninhabited, with many deadly beasts. These many afflictions are our own creations. With our own afflictions, we give rise to ignorance, fear and doubt. These are all fierce, deadly beasts in our minds. They are truly frightening. We must return to the right mindset for engaging in true spiritual practice. The Buddha taught us, “The world’s affairs are illusory and impermanent, so we eliminate our thoughts of contriving affinities.” We should be like this and quickly end thoughts of contriving affinities. If unhappy things occurred today, we must quickly let go of them. This way, we can truly eliminate afflictions and transform ourselves and others. We must put our hearts into this in these verses that we have discussed, we must pass through these treacherous paths. There is a city ahead for us to rest in The Buddha began to describe the peaceful, joyful environment inside the city.
So, this verse says that upon reaching the mansions, “Circling around there are gardens and forests, canals and bathing pools, layers of gates and tall towers. Men and women were everywhere. Having completed this conjuring, he consoles the group by saying, Do not fear. When you all enter this city, you can each follow what brings you joy.”
We explained this previously. After entering the city of treasures, “you can each follow what brings you joy.” Upon entering the city, the interior conditions will be so wonderful. Everyone can enjoy themselves inside the gardens. We can also bathe in the flow Dharma. When we engage in spiritual practice, we can accept the Buddha’s teachings with a joyful mind, just as if we were in gardens or forests. We are not alone, as there are many fellow practitioners there. There is always Dharma. There are “canals and bathing pools.” There is a water source that continually flows. In this pool, we bathe in the flow of Dharma. As for the “layers of gates and tall towers, do you still remember? They are very tall. This is an analogy for describing the state of transcending heretical teachings. We can transcend samsara and eliminate cyclic existence in the Six Destinies and four forms of birth. If we come to the Six or Five Destinies again, it will be in order to transform sentient beings We can come and go as we wish, instead of coming to the world without control. We come and go freely. We must reach this state of transcendence. inside, “Men and women were everywhere.” Men represent wisdom, women represent Samadhi. Men and women are used analogy. In that place, there is Samadhi and wisdom; there is movement and stillness in that place, everything is Dharma.
Thus, He has “completed this conjuring.” With this conjured city, [He said,] “Come everyone, this is a resting place midway in our journey. Do not be afraid; just walk forward again. If you keep moving forward, [there is a place] you can each follow what brings you joy.”
The next passage of verse says, “Since all those people have entered the city, their hearts are all overjoyed. They all give rise to thoughts of peace and stability, thinking they have already attained deliverance. The guiding teacher, knowing they have rested, gathers these people and tells them, ‘You all should keep advancing. This is only a conjured city.’”
Everyone had passed through this treacherous path and entered this city. Everyone was very joyful. This means that, in everyone’s hearts, they had accepted the Buddha-Dharma. The Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links had already been attained. They knew how to eliminate afflictions and pass through this [path] of afflictions and ignorance; they already understood the principles behind this. They knew the way to eliminate afflictions and to accept the principles. Accepting the principles and eliminating ignorance were already clearly understood by them. This means they have entered the city. “Their hearts are all overjoyed.” This means they have taken the Dharma to heart and have already eliminated afflictions. Their bodies and minds were peaceful, as they joyfully entered the city.
“As the people have entered the city of Nirvana”, they are already in the Dharma. “Their hearts are all overjoyed.”
Since all those people have entered the city, their hearts are all overjoyed: With bodies and minds peace, they joyfully enter the city. Since people have entered the city of Nirvana, their hearts are all overjoyed.
Everyone had taken the Dharma to heart, so they knew how to eliminate the sources of afflictions. They had already understood this. So, “They all give rise to thoughts of peace and stability, thinking they have already attained deliverance.” They already heard the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They thought that in this way they already understood and knew everything. They thought they had already attained deliverance. “They are all content with attaining the Small [Vehicle] fruit.” They are already content with those teachings “and thus give rise to thought of fearlessness, peace and stability.” They do not need to be afraid, as they have already attained the Dharma. Thus, they have eliminated afflictions and are peaceful and joyful. These are thoughts of fearlessness, peace and stability. This was the previous passage. They thought that they had already attained [deliverance]. They were in the conjured city, but they did not know the city was conjured. “They think they have already been delivered from the Three Realms. They do not understand that afflictions are as difficult to measure as the great sea.”
They all give rise to thoughts of peace and stability, thinking they have already attained deliverance: They are all content with attaining the Small [Vehicle] fruit and thus give rise to thoughts of fearlessness, peace and stability. They think they have already been delivered from the Three Realms. They do not understand that afflictions are as difficult to measure as the great sea.
Everyone thought, “I am already here, I can finally rest. Here, I feel peaceful and joyful. This is it, I feel peaceful and joyful now.” So, they thought they had attained deliverance and transcended the Three Realms, they were unaware, “they did not understand” means they were unaware, that afflictions are difficult to measure, because they still had dust-like delusions. In the Three realms there is more than just the afflictions and ignorance of views and thinking; that is not all there is. The afflictions of views and thinking have more obvious, crude appearance, and they had already eliminated these. But they still had the delusions of dust-like ignorance and afflictions. There were truly so many, they were “as difficult to measure as the great sea.” They still had many dust-like afflictions. Take a look at how much sand there is on the beach. It is like this, like lots of sand. The amount is as great as the sea. They had not yet completely eliminated these. “The guiding teacher, knowing they have rested, gathers these people and tells them.”
The guiding teacher, knowing they have rested, gathers these people and tells them: The Buddha knew the joy of those with limited capabilities who realize Nirvana. After they had rested, He then gathered the assembly of all Hearers and so forth and spoke to them.
The guiding teacher has wisdom. He wants to bring these people to the destination, not just to this temporary resting place. They still have to move forward until they reach the land of truth. This is the true goal that He is guiding them to. However, this was just a skillful means He used. After the guiding teacher saw that all had rested, He said, “Are you well-rested now? The Buddha knew the joy of those with limited capabilities who realize Nirvana.” They thought that they were already tranquil and still and had eliminated ignorance. They thought that this was it. So, “after they had rested,” since everyone was now rested up, they thought it was fine to stop, that this was the end point. The guiding teacher knew everyone had rested and that their fatigue had disappeared. So, “He then gathered the assembly of all Hearers and so forth and spoke to them.” At this place, [the Buddha] knew that everyone had accepted the Dharma and that they had taken this as their limit. But the Buddha hoped they could continue forward. So, He gathered the assembly and said to them, “You all should keep advancing. This is only a conjured city.”
You all should keep advancing. This is only a conjured city: You and all the people need to keep advancing to enter the Great Vehicle. This limited Nirvana is for resting away your weariness; it is merely conjured up by me. In the For Missions and Eight Footprints, we resonate with principles and grasp matters.
Everyone must continue moving forward. Although this environment is very good, it is not good enough. The place where I really want to take you is even better than here. You may feel joyful here now, but if we continue to move forward, the realm of truth we will reach will be even better than this. It is bigger, more profound and more beautiful. There is true peace and joy there. Everyone must continue moving forward. After resting for a moment, we must continue moving forward. “You and all the people need to keep advancing to enter the Great Vehicle.” This is the Small Vehicle Dharma. It was only to help you understand. The Dharma teaches us that this is how people come and go, that it is due to karmic conditions of suffering. We mutually contrive affinities and create these causes of suffering, so now all of us must raise our spirits. This is the process we went through in the past. We suffered and were mutually entangled by causes and conditions. Now, everyone must understand that things of this world are illusory and impermanent; Tranquility is the true wonder; we must quickly eliminate any thoughts of contriving affinities. In the past, we had many karmic conditions and grasped at so much ignorance. Causes and conditions continually dragged us until this point. This is only to let everyone know that all the suffering and these conditions come from the accumulation of contrived affinities. This is to help everyone understand this method. The origin of our lives, the causes and conditions we have with our parents and our causes and conditions in future lifetimes are determined by the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. They are all linked together in this way. They taught us that the Dharma is like this, and the process of being born is like this. But this is only telling us about this process. This is the small Vehicle; that is all. We must quickly be more diligent and enter the Great Vehicle. The Great Vehicle is where we can steadily abide. We can come and go with ease, certainly not allowing any causes and conditions to entangle us in our grasping. We must earnestly be diligent and move toward the Great Vehicle Dharma. This conjured city is “the limited Nirvana.” It is only a resting place for us to settle our minds, for us to rest. That is why it is called the limited Nirvana. “It is for resting away your weariness. It is merely conjured up by me. In order for you to be able to rest temporarily, I conjured this city in this way to provide everyone with a peaceful, stable place and help you first understand many teachings. Then, as you move forward, you will be careful. As it is, you still have a long way to go on the treacherous path in this world. I am just telling you that the path you took to reach here is like this.” This is a foundation so everyone will know how to walk future paths.
[Once] Jing Qi told me, “Master, I have understood that our Four Footprints are adapted to individuals’ capabilities . Everyone carries them out joyfully. There are some who make mistakes, but there are Living Bodhisattvas who will help them turn around and guide them” “They have changed their lives” “and are very joyful now. Some have a compassionate mind and are willing to give by joining our charity work. Everyone is very joyful. From Taiwan to other countries, our charity has spread internationally. Even this Dharma has been integrated into society in subtle ways. People in the community have accepted the Dharma with joy.” As for the Four Missions and Eight Footprints, charity and compassion safeguard giving with joy and equanimity.
I must say to all, charity and compassion do indeed safeguard our spirit of giving with joy and equanimity. This is because charity teaches people to give with joy and equanimity. We give away all kinds of external wealth, and with joy and equanimity even give “head, eyes, marrow and brain to other people.” With loving-kindness, we are without regret. With compassion, we are without resentment. With joy, we are without worries. With equanimity, we are without expectations.
Charity and compassion safeguard giving with joy and equanimity. Medicine safeguards life. Education safeguards luminous virtue. Humanistic culture develops wisdom-life.
We must all learn from the sutras like Jing Qi. After listening to the Dharma she thought about the past, when we had established the Four Missions and Eight Footprints. Isn’t this like being in a conjured city? After entering the conjured city, everyone can do as they desire. They are willing to accept the Dharma according to their capabilities and the environment they need. They are all there playing inside, using the Dharma to play effortlessly in the world. We have medicine, which safeguards life. It is because there are doctors that we can safeguard life. While doctors practice medicine, they also can accept the Buddha-Dharma. Look at how many doctors we have. When they share their stories during the morning volunteer assembly, we hear that they also join everyone for the morning Dharma lecture. The superintendents, assisting superintendents and doctors though in different places, at this same time taking in the Buddha-Dharma. If they understand the Buddha- Dharma, they can exercise their professional skills and inspire their own compassion. They are so sincere; a doctor’s heart is like the Buddha’s heart. Nurses are like Great Bodhisattvas in white with the heart of a Bodhisattva, no matter which hospital, every staff member upholds their own duties, giving of themselves with joy and dedicating themselves to the protection of life. In our mission of education, there are teachers and students. Teachers carry out their mission to teach wisdom and practical knowledge. The students joyfully take in these teachings. We also have a group of Tzu Chi moms and dads who also assist in the mission of education. When they come together with the children, it is like they are a small family. Every month, we see Tzu Cheng “fathers” and Yi De “mothers” visiting. We ask them “What are you doing today?” “We are here for a family meeting. We are here to share a meal with the children and share our experiences with the children.” Isn’t this teaching according to capabilities as they nurture the students and take joy in interacting with them? Those teachers put their hearts into teaching. This is how the Tzu Chi Parents Association is. They accompany students with joy. They are also applying the Dharma; Tzu Chi volunteers hear the Dharma and joyful play among the people. The purpose of humanistic culture is to develop wisdom-life. Now, technology is very advanced. Even with places we cannot ordinarily see, we can use technology to see all matters and objects in our world, all things in the world. We have understood what methods we can use to clean up the ignorance in this world and help other people’s wisdom-life to grow. This is the Four Missions, which extend into the Eight Footprints.
So, “We resonate with principles and grasp matters.” This is abiding in the Buddha-Dharma Charity, medicine, education and humanistic culture are all Dharma. Thus, we must be mindful. As Buddhist practitioners, we start with being able to attain our own peace and stability. When we are peaceful, stable and joyful, we hope others can also be like this. We hope that everyone’s minds can be “tranquil and still, with vows as vast as the universe.” We even hope to “seize the moment and sustain it forever ” This is how we can “remain unwavering.” This is what we need when we practice. Furthermore, we must understand that this world is illusory and impermanent. We must end any thought of contriving affinities. We must not have a mind full of afflictions. Thus, we must eliminate all kinds of afflictions, transform ourselves and also transform sentient beings.
Dear Bodhisattvas, since we are learning the Buddha’s teachings, we must pass through the Bodhisattva-path. This is a path we must take. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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