Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Three Vehicles are Skillful Means (方便說三 一乘真實 )
Date: June.05.2017
“The impartial great wisdom of all Buddhas is the wisdom of supreme, perfect enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra’s Chapter on Skillful Means says, ‘The reason why the Tathagata appears is to teach Buddha-wisdom.’ Now the causes and conditions had matured for teaching the boundless Buddha-wisdom.”
This is saying that the Buddha uses impartial great wisdom, which is supreme, perfect enlightenment. This is the Buddha’s wisdom; He has supreme, universal perfect enlightenment. He hopes to help sentient beings have wisdom that is equal to the Buddha’s and, just like the Buddha, be able to understand all principles in the world. When our “hearts encompass the universe,” our minds will be open and spacious. We will not allow mundane, worldly matters to contaminate and cause afflictions in our hearts. This is the Buddha’s hope that all people’s state of mind will be equal to the Buddha’s, to His enlightenment of complete awakening. This is what the Buddha anticipates for sentient beings. So, He taught the Dharma for over 40 years. This was truly very taxing. Time waits for no one; people grow old, and the time will also pass away like this. After more than 40 years, how deep was the Dharma the disciples had accepted? How much did they really understand? The Buddha was also very worried because, to truly guide everyone to the state of Buddhahood, there was still a long path to go. On this long path, if they got stuck somewhere in the process, they would be unable to reach Buddhahood.
However, time cannot be stopped. So, the Buddha knew this was the time; He now had to quickly present the Lotus Sutra before everyone. Though He knew that many people still would be unable to accept it and unable to comprehend it, there was nothing He could do; time was passing, so He had to begin to teach the Lotus Sutra. He began with the Introductory Chapter. Before teaching the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. This is one stage of the path. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is completely about teaching the Bodhisattva-path. After teaching this, did everyone truly hear and take in the Dharma? After the Buddha had taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, He sat in meditation. This was in the Introductory Chapter. He sat in meditation for a long time. Everyone looked at each other. Usually, after the Buddha taught a sutra, everyone paid their respects and left. This showed that the Buddha had already finished teaching this sutra and everyone could pay their respects and leave. But, this time it was different. The Buddha’s appearance this time was different from before. After teaching the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, He entered Samadhi and emitted light, illuminating 18,000 worlds. This light continued to radiate like this. This was everyone’s spiritual state at the time. They saw that the Buddha was seated magnificently with the 32 Marks, emitting that [light] that led everyone’s minds to give rise to respect and love. Was the Buddha still going to continue teaching? When would He emerge from Samadhi? No one could bear to leave; all remained seated there. But there was doubt in everyone’s minds. After the Buddha emerged from Samadhi, what Dharma He would teach? Everyone’s minds were captivated, so they could not bear to leave. But their minds still gave rise to doubts, wondering if the Buddha still had more Dharma, that He had not yet finished teaching. They thought the Buddha must still have more Dharma He wanted to teach.
So, everyone had this question in their minds. Thus they asked each other, “Will the Buddha continue to teach the Dharma?” “Will He?” “I do not know, either.” “It seems the Buddha has not finished teaching.” It went on like this for a long time. Manjusri and Maitreya [were present]. Maitreya Bodhisattva represented those who had doubts and went to ask Manjusri Bodhisattva. This is in the Introductory Chapter. Manjusri Bodhisattva and Maitreya Bodhisattva spoke in verse to each other. This also took a very long period of time. They spoke of [the last] Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha, who existed a very, very long time ago. In His place of enlightenment, there were likewise eight princes. During that time, those passages of the sutra were also very long. The Buddha still remained in Samadhi. When the Buddha finally emerged from Samadhi, He began to teach to everyone again. This was the beginning of the Chapter on Skillful Mean.
So in the Lotus Sutra’s Chapter on Skillful Mean, there is also this passage that states, “The reason the Tathagata appears is to teach Buddha-wisdom.” This is in the Chapter on Skillful Means. The Buddha first appeared in this world for one great cause. This one great cause was to teach the Buddha-wisdom. The Buddha-wisdom is so great, so profound and so broad. In the Chapter on Skillful Mean, He used so many analogies to describe the Buddha’ wisdom. In speaking of the Buddha’s wisdom. He wanted all to have deep faith and acceptance. Everyone should believe that the Buddha’s wisdom is very profound and hard to fathom. It truly is so profound it is difficult to fathom. The Dharma is deep and so broad that it has no boundaries. He spoke of all the kind of Buddha-wisdom, but no one could understand Him. So, the Buddha used skillful means and analogies to describe how profound, broad and great the Buddha’s wisdom was. It is supreme and unsurpassed. He wanted all, from the bottom of their hearts, to give rise to faith and to respect the Buddha-wisdom.
At this time, everyone still could not understand the deep and extensive wisdom of the Buddha. He had the wisdom of all Dharma, natural wisdom, wisdom of all paths and many other kinds. The wisdom He had accumulated on His long path [was great] but everyone was unable to comprehend it. This is just like worldly matter. How can all worldly matters be fully explained? The world that He understood, with all its suffering, [came from] the afflictions people create in their interpersonal relationships. The Buddha understood that the formation of afflictions leads to different kinds of causes and conditions. “With such causes, there are such conditions.” Even to just explain to everyone “such causes,” the afflictions that arise in people’s minds, these seeds that are the source, even to fully explain “such causes,” there are so many different kinds. It is with “such causes” that there will be “such conditions” in interpersonal relationships. With so many kinds of causes and conditions, how cold He explain them all? What analogies cold He use? There was such a wide range. The Buddha used analogies and skillful means to explain them. After so much explanation, can we understand? We listen and we know, but do we understand? We understand half of it. With such causes and conditions, there are such effects and retributions. With such a cause, the result created will be such. Whether positive or negative causes, they attract conditions to bring this effect to fruition. Do you understand? We know it, but still do not yet thoroughly understand. “I will teach you again. Because of this effect, this is the kind of retribution you experience.” There are so many different kinds of live. Every person’s living conditions are different. From the time we were born, through our adulthood, our environments undergo change, impermanence; these are the conditions under which we grow up.
We often hear, “In the past, our family life was so difficult. In that era my father and mother had to suffer such hardship and work so hard.” Just these stories of “When I was growing up…” are too many to listen to. Everyone has different conditions. Some people had very good family situations, but their life now has gone through changes, all the way up to today. When we talk about the past, every person and every family has their own causes, conditions and effects that they experience. Each person has a family of their own. How many brothers do they have? Each of the brothers may come from the same family and be born of the same parents. However, once they each grow up, each of them creates a career and a life. They establish a career and a family different from the other. This is like when we plant a seed and it bears many fruits. In different environments and locations, those same fruits will grow in different ways. Some fruits will be good, some will not. Some fruits will be abundant. Other fruits will be withered and so on. This is like how each person is different.
So in life, we can explain things with causes and conditions, causes and effects, effects and retributions. This law of karmic cause and effect is so bright and clear in the Buddha’s mind. But for Him to help so many people to gain an understanding of this was truly not easy! No matter how clear the Dharma was to the Buddha, or how clearly He explained it to everyone, the more profound the Dharma was, the harder it was for people to understand. So, we say, “Only the one who drinks the water knows if it is hot or cold”. When the Buddha drinks this cup of water, He cannot have everyone experience the water He drank. The Buddha can only know Himself that this water is sweet or bitter or astringent. Only the Buddha Himself know this. After determining the taste, He can tell everyone, “This cup of water is very sweet”. Everyone knows, “I am very thirsty; I want some water. I want to be able to drink this sweet water”. The Buddha is very willing. “You can drink this kind of water. Here, the water is in front of you. You can drink it”. But how big is the container we each use to hold this water to drink? How does it feel to drink this water? When you drink this same water, is it sufficient for your body’s functions? Is it too much or not enough? Or is the feeling when we drink it that it just pours through us to later be expelled? Or when we drink the water, does it have a beneficial effect on our body? Does it provide our body with the water that it needs to be healthy? It is the same when the Buddha comes to this world to provide so much Dharma-water for us. Is our body built to take in this amount of water? With this amount of water, do we have any particular feeling? When we drink this water, do we feel gratitude or joy as we drink? Or perhaps we do not feel anything at all. “Everyone was drinking, so I just drank with them. When it is time, I just drink; that is all”. There is no feeling or sensation. After drinking the water, we just give our body what it needs and it will quickly be expelled. We do not feel this water functioning in our body.
The Dharma is also like this. We are continually listening to the Dharma. We listen like this, and it passes by like this. We listen to it every day, but every day we are still unable to change our habitual tendencies. These are unenlightened beings’ inferior capacities. The Buddha was very mindful in coming to this world to teach the Buddha’s wisdom, hoping to share this wisdom with everyone. We all intrinsically have the same wisdom as the Buddha. Yet, we do not mindfully seek to experience it. When this wisdom connects with external states, we could take in the Dharma, but we do not make use of it. Thus, we continually linger in the state of unenlightened beings, linger in this state of not applying it. We have clearly absorbed the Dharma, but we do not put it into use. We do not apply it, the Buddha had to continually inspire us. So, He spent a long time teaching the Dharma. Now the conditions had matured. The causes and conditions were already mature, and the time had already come. There was not much time left.
So, He had to “teach the boundless Buddha-wisdom”. He clearly knew that sentient beings were still unable to accept it; though He wanted to inspire them to form great aspirations and make great vows, they were still unable to accept it. But He had no choice but to teach. Time kept passing by like this, so He had to teach it now. Thus, He had to “teach boundless Buddha-wisdom”. The causes and conditions had already arrived; He had to teach it. The Buddha’s wisdom still had to be taught. So, the Chapter on Skillful Means continually revolves around how profound, broad and extensive the Buddha’s wisdom was. This is all how the Buddha [taught] mindfully. Unfortunately, the Chapter on Skillful Means was so very profound that even the great disciples by the Buddha’s side were all unable to understand. So, this is why the Lotus Sutra is so long. The Lotus Sutra has 28 chapters. The second chapter is called the Chapter on Skillful Means.
In the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the name of the second chapter teachers use the Three Vehicles are skillful means and the One Vehicle is the truth. Thus it is called Skillful Means.
The Chapter on Skillful Means “teaches us the Three Vehicles are skillful means”. It helps us analyze how, based on our capacities, the Buddha used various kinds of methods, used the Nine Divisions of Teachings. This was analyzed for us in detail to let us know that during the Agama period, He gave teachings of causes and conditions to help everyone understand where the source of suffering comes from. Everyone understands what suffering is. We have often discussed this. Having said it so often, has everyone taken it in? How much does everyone understand about suffering? What are the causes and conditions that create suffering? There are many people suffering in today’s society. With these suffering people, those seen in poverty and hardship, Tzu Chi volunteers witness suffering and recognize their blessings. After seeing this, they change themselves. Previously we were wasteful; now we repent. We see people who are so poor. Previously we were undisciplined; now we repent. We have wasted time, idling it away. When we see people with physical disabilities for whom getting even a glass of water close by is very difficult, [we realize] how painful their lives are. Our arms and legs are in good condition and our body is healthy, so why do we waste so much time like this? We begin to form aspirations, joining Tzu Chi and walking the Bodhisattva-path. With similar cases, with all kinds of suffering, in our interpersonal interactions, we can see and feel these obvious appearances. These awaken our aspirations.
However, there is more subtle and intricate Dharma as well. We past causes and conditions did this person have in order to be born into this life? As we hear him describe his describe his situation, we see that these kinds of causes in this life turned into these kinds of effects. But it is not just a matter of his causes and effects in this life. In his past lifetimes, if there were no such causes and conditions, why would he be experiencing the effect of suffering today? His experience is his retribution. We cannot know this; we only that his present life is like this. We also do not know about our own past. However, in this life, we have the causes and conditions to come into contact with those who suffer. Since we understand and awaken our aspirations, then we must mindfully take action right away. This is what the Buddha wants us to recognize. With these past teachings, we must recognize “suffering” and must understand “causation”. We must have a method to eliminate all these different kinds of suffering. We can do so only by immediately forming more good affinities and creating blessed karma. When we can transform our minds, with the many [afflictions] we accumulated both in the past and now, we must open up our hearts and turn negative affinities into positive affinities. This is “cessation”. In the past, I would be unhappy upon seeing you and you would avoid me when you saw me. Now that I know, when I see you and you want to avoid me, I hurry up to catch you, take your hand and say to you, “I made a mistake before. Now let us talk over our past unpleasantness and be clear about it. I apologize to you. Let the past be in the past. Now we can be good friends.” In this way, we resolve our enmity. The unhappiness of the past is dissolved, and the knots in each of our minds are untangled. This is “cessation”. We eliminate all kinds of conditions of unhappiness that we mutually formed in the past and brought into future lifetimes. Now we know to learn from the Buddha’s teachings and understand the Dharma the Buddha taught us. “Cessation” must be achieved now among people; er cannot be apart from others. Even as we engage in spiritual practice ourselves and change ourselves, spiritual practice is inseparable from others; we cannot run away from them. If you run away, the resentment will still remain. Though we may not form more negative affinities in this life, those past affinities are not yet resolved. The same affinities are still there. These are dust-like [causes].
Over a long period of time, in future lifetimes, these causes will resurface. These causes are very fine and dust-like. When affinities entangle us again, we again find ourselves in samsara and ignorance. The Buddha wants us to go among people. So now, from the Small and Middle Vehicles, He made a turn to enter the One True Vehicle. To do so, He had to go through skillful means. There was much we did not know in the past. Now we know. So, after we know, we must quickly put it into practice. the Buddha taught for a very long time. Those of average capabilities did not understand the Dharma taught earlier, but by the Chapter on Parables, they understood.
The Chapter on Parables: For people of average capabilities who had not awakened in the previous cycle of teaching the Dharma, the Buddha spoke of the three carts and one cart. His first promising the three carts was giving the provisional. His later bestowing the great cart equally was revealing the true. This is what the Chapter on Parables teaches with the Parable of the Burning House. This was a cycle to transform those of average capabilities.
Because Sariputra now understood everything, here the Buddha taught about the three carts. The burning house was very dangerous and [the elder] called everyone to quickly come out. It was a very dangerous place, and we needed to quickly leave. But everyone still did not understand. So, He used the method of enticing everyone; this is the skillful means of the three carts. Finally, He explained to everyone that among these three carts, the ox-cart was most grand and had many treasures inside. “If you enter the ox-cart, you will have everything you want. You will be able to attain everything.” Hearing this, everyone abandoned the sheep-cart and the deer-cart and went in the direction of the great white ox-cart. At first, He told them of the three carts, but in the end still encouraged everyone to go [choose] the great cart with abundant [treasures] inside. This is “revealing the true”.
In the Chapter on Parables, there is such abundant Dharma to help us understand. The teaching of the burning house is to show the karma created by future sentient beings. this was created in the past; the future of the Buddha’s era is our present time. The burning house was very dangerous, with flames in all four directions. There were still many people inside. They were playing inside, playing with fire. Isn’t our present time not like this?
On the evening of December 31, New Year’s Eve, people celebrated New Year’s until dawn. They were having fun and setting off fireworks. People clearly know that fireworks are not only expensive but also emit carbon and are very polluting. They clearly knew this. Even though they knew the global heads of state went to France to hold a Climate Summit, they still acted the same way. Several countries still displayed fireworks. In Taiwan, this is also the case. A firework display lasting for a moment costs so much money and creates so much carbon emissions. When the firework display was over, everyone wanted to go home. We saw from the news report, in Taipei alone, over three million people needed to go home via public transportation and so on, yet they could not get onboard. The vehicles had difficulty coming in and out; they were stuck there emitting carbon. Such a huge crowd amassed there. Think about it; is this not like playing with fire in the burning house? They clearly know, but still live like this. So, in the Buddha’s era, when He taught the analogy of the burning house, He was talking about our time now. He wanted to teach and transform those of average capabilities. Thus, He taught one cycle with the Chapter on Skillful Means and the Chapter on Parables. This whole cycle was meant to help everyone have understanding. But the only person who truly understood was Sariputra. So, the Buddha bestowed a prediction upon him. Everyone still remembers how in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, because Sariputara had received predictions, there were four great disciples who saw that Sariputra had understood and had received the Buddha’s prediction.
The Chapter on Faith and Understanding: When people of average capabilities first heard the Dharma taught in the Chapter on Skillful Means, though they believed and accepted it humbly, they could not comprehend its meaning. The World-Honored One, in the previous Chapter on Parables, broadly drew the analogy of the three carts and the one cart to teach His intent of merging the Three to return to the One. Therefore Subhuti, Katyayana, Kasyapa and Maudgalyayana, these four great Hearers, began to comprehend His intent and, wanting to describe the intent they realized, told the Parable of the Elder and the Poor Son.
When people of average capabilities heard the teachings in the Chapter on Skillful Means, though they accepted it very humbly, though they had opened the doors of their hearts and fully accepted it, they were unable to awaken to its meaning. They just said, “We know, we know” In the Chapter on Skillful Means, the Buddha taught such expansive wisdom and continually asked everyone to believe in it. Although everyone was willing to believe, they still could not understand the Buddha’s intent. Just how transcendent was His wisdom? They could not understand.
So, this was the World-Honored One’s purpose. Everyone could not fully understand the previous teachings, so He had to use the Chapter on Parables. The Chapter on Parables used such extensive analogies, all the way until the analogy of the three carts. In the Chapter on Parables, He spoke of many poisonous beasts and so forth. Lastly, He concluded with the three carts. He thus taught very extensively, using many different styles of analogies. But when He got to the three carts, He merged the Three to return to One. He told everyone that the sheep-cart and deer-cart could only transport one person and there was nothing much inside them. So, it would be better to take the ox-cart. The ox-cart has many things inside. Thus, He enabled everyone to put aside the sheep-cart and deer-cart and be willing to accept the great white ox-cart. This was in the Chapter on Parables, up until the Chapter on Faith and Understanding. Everyone already had a partial understanding, but Sariputra received a prediction. So, the four disciples finally went a step further in understanding. They were willing to have faith and understanding, so they needed to go deeper. Thus, they made the analogy of how they were like the poor son. Everyone should still remember these four. They were Subhuti, Katyayana, Kasyapa and Maudgalyayana. These four great Hearers had already begun to awaken; they awakened to the meaning contained within. So, they recounted their process of awakening. It had been such a long time, and time causes people to age. They were already old themselves. They had been doing this for a long time and had already grown old in years. At this time, they were like the poor son. They made the analogy of being like the poor son. The Chapter on Faith and Understanding was completed in this way. The Buddha is like a great elder who patiently guided and led them in, helping them to understand. Everyone has so much wealth to begin with. Everyone has the nature of True Suchness. Everyone has this. Now, everyone had already understood this. Everything we just talked about was describing [the sutra] for everyone again in the hope that as everyone has heard the Dharma up to this point, you are able to understand. After the Chapter on Faith and Understanding and the Chapter on Medicinal Plants, now we already come to the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City. We must not merely listen and then forget; we cannot do this. We must put effort into being mindful and continually think back on the past [chapters]. In these 28 chapters, with everything we have heard up to this point, we can realize how mindful the Buddha is. With these urgent causes and conditions, He wants to quickly guide us onto the great Bodhi-path. If we are not earnestly mindful in accepting it, we are listening to the teachings in vain, and they were taught in vain. So, everyone must put effort into being mindful.
The previous sutra passage says, “Thus with the power of skillful means, I expound Nirvana, for them to rest. I say to you that all of your sufferings have been eliminated and the things you must do have all been done. Since I know they have reached Nirvana and have all attained Arhatship, I will thus gather the assembly to teach the true Dharma.”
This was what He did in the past. He used various skillful means to entice them. Throughout this period of time, everyone had already accepted the Dharma. They had also put in the effort they needed to. But, upon attaining Arhatship, everyone felt content with this. Though everyone was filled with the Dharma, as I mentioned earlier, if we do not clear away enmities and entanglements, even if we are willing to repent, the other person will just turn away if he sees us. This is because this person still has these knots in his mind. Though we now know to repent, we have not expressed ourselves, so, this entanglement still remains. If we again encounter this person one day, with a slight misstep, again these kinds of entanglements will still return. Our “One deluded thought creates the Three Subtleties. External states lead to the Six Coarse Marks” so we are dragged away again. This is not the ultimate. So, the Buddha quickly gathered everyone together. The causes and conditions had matured, so He wanted to quickly “teach the true Dharma” to everyone. So, this is not like the sheep-cart or deer-cart where once we get it we can just enjoy yourself. We should choose the great white ox-cart, which has so many treasures inside. As said in the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, we are not poor; we are very wealthy. It is just that we have lost our way. Now we must quickly return. This wealth is still ours. It was ours to begin with. This is what He told us. So, we should know that we have everything. Since we have everything, we must quickly go among people to transform sentient beings and walk the Bodhisattva-path. This was the Buddha’s intent and purpose.
The next sutra passage says, “All Buddhas, with the power of skillful means, teach the Three Vehicles separately, but there is only the One Buddha Vehicle. For you to have a place to rest, I taught the Two Vehicles. Now I teach you the true. What you have attained is not extinction. For the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom, you must form great aspirations and be diligent.”
If we want to understand the Buddha’s wisdom, we must quickly advance Diligently. In the past, all Buddhas have transformed sentient beings. As sentient beings are lost, all Buddhas share the same path and likewise use the power of skillful means to teach the Three Vehicles separately. In this way, all Buddhas are the same. Actually, Their goal is to teach the One Vehicle, but we are unable to understand it. So, They had to teach it in three stages. “There is only the One Buddha Vehicle. For you to [to rest,] I taught the Two Vehicles.”
There is only the One Buddha Vehicle. For you to have a place to rest, I taught the Two Vehicles: Actually there is only the wondrous One Buddha Vehicle. For them to rest away their tiredness, He taught that there is Great and Small. This is what it said previously: To let them stop and rest, He taught the two kinds of Nirvana.
There is only the One Buddha Vehicle. To be able to attain Buddhahood and have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s, we must pass through [this path] and head in the direction of the One Buddha Vehicle. We must not just be Hearers and Solitary Realizers. That is simply a place for us to rest. We must quickly continue to press forward. Actually, there is only one wondrous Buddha Vehicle. Truly, the Buddha-Dharma is only the one wondrous Buddha Vehicle. It is because everyone became lax and weary that He made a conjured city to teach the Dharma. Since we all have different capacities, He had to use this kind of method. Thus previously it said, “To let them stop and rest, He taught the two kinds of Nirvana.” We discussed this before. “Now I teach you the true. What you have attained is not extinction.”
Now I teach you the true. What you have attained is not extinction: Now the Buddha taught them the true path. What you attained in the past is the fruit of Arhatship. This was merely giving provisional teachings; it is not true extinction.
“Now, I want to speak frankly to you all. You Hearers attained the fruit of Arhatship. By hearing, the Dharma entered your mind and you engaged in practice to realize Arhatship. This is not the true [vehicle]. I will tell you frankly. There is still a ways to go. There is still more path for us to walk before we get to the end.” So, now the Buddha taught them the true path. Now the Buddha taught them the true Dharma. “What you attained in the past is the fruit of Arhatship. This was merely giving provisional teachings.” This was simply giving the provisional. He had used the provisional, used skillful means. This “ is not true extinction”; it is not true. The Dharma of true liberation is to help everyone to resolve enmity and entanglements, to be without enmity, resentment or hatred. Everyone must mutually eliminate all afflictions, ignorance and dust-like [delusions]. Even the finest of these must be eliminated. So, “For the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom, you must form great aspirations and be diligent.” In order to seek all-encompassing wisdom, everyone must quickly make vows and be diligent. We must not slow ourselves down with small steps, taking our time with small steps. If you say you want to change, “Alright, I will take my time.” If you take your time, you will lose the chance. While you slowly take your time, time quickly passes. With time passing so quickly, how can we take our time? So, “For the Buddha’s all-encompassing wisdom, you must form great aspirations and be diligent.” To truly have wisdom equal to the Buddha’s, the only way is for us to form great aspirations. This is already clearly explaining to everyone that we must form great aspirations to go among people where there is still enmity and [good] affinities. If we have affinities with someone, we must quickly transmit the Dharma to them; As for enmity, we must quickly resolve enmity and entanglements. In this way, we are truly engaging in spiritual practice and are truly equal to the state of the Buddha. I wonder if everyone can understand this? Everyone, please understand that we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)