Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Awakening in the Depths of the Heart (內證深因 得四無礙)
Date: June.21.2017
“In the depths of his heart, he awakened to the seeds and virtues that were deeply planted. As for the Dharma taught by all Buddhas, he clearly and thoroughly understood it. He even understood the supreme meaning of emptiness and comprehended it without obstructions. Purna understood clearly without doubt. His understanding was deep and thorough.”
The depths of our hearts is so important! Purna Maitrayaniputra, because of the power of the vows in the depths of his heart, spent dust-inked kalpas constantly accumulating [these virtues]. He helped the Buddha to promote the teachings and transform sentient beings. This is what Purna Maitrayaniputra did. This seed originated an incalculable number of dust-inked kalpas ago. He was at the same Dharma-assembly as the 16 novices. The 16 novices repeated the Dharma taught by Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha. Purna Maitrayaniputra, as the 16 novices taught the Lotus Sutra again, formed an aspiration to listen to the teachings of Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha and listen to them repeated by the 16 novices as they explained again the profound and wondrous principles of the Lotus Sutra. So, that aspiration was very deep in his heart. This seed has been there until now. Sakyamuni Buddha had attained Buddhahood and begun carrying out His one great cause to open and reveal to sentient beings. Purna Maitrayaniputra joined the Sangha at this time. Once he heard the Buddha-Dharma, he attained 1000 realizations. So, he already had realizations deep in his heart, because he understood the impermanence of life and the true principles of all things in the universe. Through the Buddha’s analysis of these things, he had deep realizations. Thus, “He awakened to the seeds”; that seed buried very deep within him had already begun to grow. This was also what he had cultivated in spiritual practice over many lifetimes; there were all kinds of merits and virtue.
As we mentioned previously, the merits that Purna Maitrayaniputra attained came from lifetimes of forming good conditions and planting causes of blessings, layer upon layer. Apart from Sakyamuni Buddha, no one can compare to him. So, with Purna Maitrayaniputra, we know the depths of merits and virtue he accumulated. However deep the causes are, that is how deep the conditions are. So, when causes and conditions converge, all kinds of merits and virtues will appear. This shows us why Purna Maitrayaniputra was so highly esteemed by the Buddha. For 40-plus years he had been praised by the Buddha. This was truly remarkable. “As for the Dharma taught by all Buddhas, he clearly and thoroughly understood it.” This is how Purna was. He did this not only in the presence of Sakyamuni Buddha, in this lifetime. For many lifetimes, just as Sakyamuni Buddha did, he helped Buddhas and helped to promote teachings. Sakyamuni Buddha did this, and Purna Maitrayaniputra also did this. For any Buddha, as long as they had the karmic conditions, they would be in the presence of that Buddha, at that Buddha’s place of practice, still reverently listening to the Dharma. All Buddhas share the same path. He took the Buddha’s teachings to heart. With every teaching the Buddha gave, he would take it to heart and comprehend it thoroughly and clearly.
“He fully understood the supreme meaning of emptiness and comprehended it without obstructions.” What he understood was the Great Vehicle Dharma. Everything that he received, all the teaching of emptiness, were clear to him; he understood them all. But he was not obstructed by this emptiness. Many practitioners are biased toward emptiness in their practice. They have deviated, clinging only to emptiness. “Since everything is empty, I will not take issue over anything. I also do not have to do anything.” This is clinging to emptiness. They do not know that in emptiness there is still wondrous existence. Although there is no need to be attached, we must still be diligent and work hard! This is because we learn the Buddha-Dharma in order to attain Buddhahood, not just to stop at, “I know, I know, I know all these principles. I do not have to take issue over anything.” Is this good enough? No. Not only should we not take issue over things, we must furthermore go among the people. The Bodhi-path is found among people. We must go to teach everyone to not take issue over things. Not only do we teach people, we must help them not to be deluded and lost. When it comes to being deluded, people these days are all lost in the internet. Isn’t this like being in a “web of delusion”? They have been trapped by this web. In this way sentient beings are in a “lost in a web of delusion”. They are trapped in this web. So, we need to be liberated. Not only must we ourselves not fall into this web of ignorance. We must break through this web of ignorance and continue moving forward to deliver all sentient beings. We must help sentient beings understand that this web is terrifying. This kind of ignorance can cause us to regress and create chaos in society, in the world. We must teach people to make use of the web, to spread a network of Bodhisattvas, not a web of unenlightened begins’ ignorance. We use the World Wide Web to spread the Dharma. We should use the web for today’s world; how many people are worried about the rise in Earth’s temperature? Now, we must quickly lower the temperature. How do we do this? We must reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the emission of pollutants from industrial production. We need everyone to see things clearly and think things through. We need a way to reduce factory emissions so we can lower Earth’s temperature. Only when the temperature is lowered will the climate and weather be favorable.
The current human population is very large. This one planet alone has to sustain more than seven billion people. Just imagine, if we do not think things through, our population will continue to grow, and our minds will continue to be trapped in this web, unable to comprehend the principles. People will only create conflicts with each other, slander each other and cause pollution etc., leading to chaos in families, societies and the whole world. This is the result of being trapped in this web. This web is truly terrifying.
If we are unable to understand the principles, then we are stuck in this web. When we understand principles, we know that. “We cannot take anything with us when we die; only karma follows us to our nest life.” If only the manufacturers would see more clearly, or utilize their wisdom to resolve the issues of emissions and pollution, if they could do this…. This takes being able to see through things. If we understand that all things are empty and e cannot take them with us, why [cause harm]? When a method does not work, why don’t we let it go and reduce [the load]? Since we cannot make these [emissions] clean, the only thing to do is let go and produce less. Otherwise, on this planet we will continually see the temperature rising higher and higher. This is very terrifying! We must thoroughly comprehend the principles to see through and let go [of our attachments]. Perhaps when penetrate the principles, we can think of methods to clean up [pollution]. If there are good methods, we can use the web for everyone to work together to purify the world. First, we purify people’s hearts and share effective and helpful methods for cleaning [our environment]. For example, we teach people how to recycle. All [our volunteers] share the same aspiration; purity begins at the source. The web connects all of us. If everyone can accept environmental protection, if we place importance on it and all of us can work together, this will be of great benefit to the planet.
Next is to kill less by adopting vegetarianism. Everyone should do their best to be vegetarian to reduce the number of animals raised and killed. Raising livestock generates pollution. On this topic alone, there are many issues worth exploring. This can involve religious concepts like the karmic law of cause and effect. Now we are talking about how to protect Earth. According to the Buddha’s teachings, sentient beings create collective karma as they continue to hurt and kill each other. Animals are living beings too. They also have feelings. Don’t we often hear about and see this? We heard about and saw the gorilla who learned sign language from a young age. When she was with humans, she communicated with them through sing language. Humans taught her sign language, so she could communicate with humans. Last year, in 2015, she turned 44 years old. This year she will be 45 years old. She knew that world leaders would be in France for the Climate Change Conference. She expressed that she had something to say; through sign language she said she wanted to talk. They let her express herself. She began by saying she was a representative for the flowers and animals. Flowers means nature. “Koko,” she pointed to herself, “loves humans, nature and animals, but humans are foolish, incredibly foolish”. This was what Koko said in sign language. She said that she was very sad. She also cried! She said, “We must hurry to cure Earth. We must quickly save the planet. Nature is watching everyone.” Though she only said these few sentences, used sign language to say these few sentences, if we mindfully think about this, she also knows that Earth has been damaged. She wants to fix the planet, save the planet.
See, this animal loves nature, animals and humans. But humans are so stupid. This gorilla reprimanded humans for being foolish. See, she is also very sad. She signed that this makes her cry. She signed, “Nature is watched you”. Is this not how “there are spiritual beings three inches above us”? I do not know how many times I have said this. Koko the gorilla was able to learn sign language and understand human nature. She also truly wants to help save the planet because she loves humans and loves nature. This is the intrinsic nature that all beings share. It is just that we humans can express it through our voice. We can express our thoughts. Although humans have so many different languages, through education, we can translate between different languages to communicate and share what we think. But what about animals? They cannot speak. They are not like Koko with her sign language. They cannot use human sign language to communicate with humans. Not all animals are able to do this, and not even all gorillas can do this. Only Koko has such a bright and clear spiritual nature. Think about it. For this gorilla, she had “awakened to the seeds”. It is just that she brought her karma. Or perhaps she was born into the animal realm to manifest an animal’s appearance, to display this manifestation of a gorilla, in order to warn us humans. So, I want to use [the example] of her innate potential, which is so close to humans that she was able to express herself like us, in order to verify what the Buddha told us, “All sentient beings have the Buddha-nature”. This has already been very proven. This is so clear. Why have humans still not awakened to this? Can humans really be worse than an animal?
So, we need to understand this thoroughly. We sentient beings must awaken [to the truth that] all things are empty. We focus on whose business is bigger, who is more well-know, who has greater power. We want more of everything. But as for what day something will happen to us, nobody knows. No one can predict the length of their life. Just how long will my life actually be? however, for humanity’s sake, we can give more of ourselves.
Look at Tzu Chi volunteers around the world. Look at Jordan. Near Jordan’s borders, in the [Iraq-Syria-Jordan triangle], refugees from Iraq continually head toward Jordan. Refugees from nearby Syria are also escaping into Jordan. Now in Jordan, they have already taken in over 10,000 refugees in that place. Within their borders they already carry the burden of sustaining over one million [refugees]. These are inside the borders. However, there are still tens of thousands outside living in dire circumstances. Whether they come from Iraq or Syria, they are all shut out at the border and are stuck there. The weather is very cold now! It is hard for those people to survive. They face many dangers. A director from the [UN] Refugee Agency was stationed at the refugee camp. Through introductions by Tzu Chi volunteers there, he met Chi Hui. Chi Hui explained to him how Tzu Chi holds relief distributions and gives to refugees around the world. He told him about all the things we do. This official from the refugee agency was very moved. He hoped to collaborate with Tzu Chi to find ways to deliver aid outside the borders so that these refugees could make it through this difficult time. After thorough consideration and a meeting, the final decision was to work in stages. With more than 10,000 people, we could not help all of them at once. So, we learned which area needed the most help. There were more than 1000 people there, so we prepared supplies for more than 1500 people. After overcoming great difficult, obstacle after obstacle the material goods were finally ready and loaded into cars. The journey was over 300 kilometers through the desert to arrive outside the borders. Early in the morning, some time before 4 am, two cars were finally ready to go. After leaving some time before 4 am, they kept traveling until dawn gradually broke. By 7 am, they had reached the border and encountered difficulties; the soldiers at the borders believe they had not received information about their passing through. So, once more they had to explain everything. They had to move these soldiers. After they understood, they finally let our volunteers through. When we went through and saw the refugees, there was another charity organization that welcomed us and collaborated with us. We could see our volunteers in blue and white repeatedly overcoming all kinds of obstacles to personally hand out material goods. Blankets, nutritious food and clean water were all successfully delivered. These refugees from Iraq and Syria were living in these freezing winter temperatures, on the border between life and death. After so many supplies were unloaded, everybody cheered with joy. These life-saving material goods were delivered in the nick of time. In that place, Chi Hui said to everyone that he represented that love of Tzu Chi volunteers from around the world. The spirit of love, the seed of love, have been sown again that place, in the desert have been sown again in that place, in the desert. We hope that desert will become an oasis. In everything we do, we must be able to overcome obstacles.
Would we say this kind of world is “empty”? We cannot dismiss human suffering as empty Trapped in the web of ignorance, people’s afflictions and ignorance created disasters in these countries. This happened to Iraq before; rebuilding it now is still such a long road that the end cannot be seen. There are still scattered groups of refugees fleeing the country. The Syrian civil war has lasted almost five years. Families have been destroyed, and people have died. Refugees are still fleeing the country. Why exactly is this happening? It is because a web of ignorance has trapped them, resulting in so many hardships. In fact, if we understand the truth that everything is empty, what exactly are we talking issue over? Why do we create opposition and conflict? Yet there are so many people in that place hovering on the edge of life and death. Can we say that this is empty? Clearly, in this world suffering is right in front of our eyes. Bodhisattvas are needed to go help. Although everything is truly empty, in our journey through life in the human realm, there is this kind of human suffering in this place. So, we must mindfully seek to understand and penetrate the principles. We must thoroughly understand true emptiness. There is no need to take issue over things But there is wondrous existence, so we must give to help. When we plant these seeds of causes in the depth of our hearts, how do we help them to open up? Everyone must return to their intrinsic nature of True Suchness. For beginningless dust-inked kalpas, it has been the same in the past and the present, as well as on into the infinite future. With time and space, we must be mindful.
So, we must understand “the supreme meaning of emptiness and comprehend it without obstructions.” Then we will not produce so many afflictions and so much suffering. “Purna understood clearly without boubt. His understanding was deep and thorough.” Because in the depths of his heart, he had this seed, when he heard the Buddha-Dharma, he could comprehend it without obstructions.
The previous sutra passage states, “You must not think that Purna can only protect, uphold and help to promote my teachings. In the past, he was also in the presence of nine billion Buddhas, protecting, upholding and helping to promote the Right Dharma of those Buddhas. Among those who taught the Dharma then, he was also foremost.”
This is what we discussed yesterday. The next sutra passage states, “Moreover regarding the Dharma of emptiness taught by all Buddhas, he understood and comprehended it and attained the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. He could constantly examine the truth and teach the Dharma purely, without any doubts or delusions. He was replete with a Bodhisattva’s spiritual powers and throughout his lifetime constantly cultivated Brahma-conduct.”
”Moreover, regarding the Dharma of emptiness taught by all Buddhas….” In the past he was able to help at the assemblies of nine billion Buddhas. This was the previous passage. In those places he helped to protect, uphold and promote the Dharma. Now, this is about the Dharma of emptiness all Buddha taught. At the place of practice of each Buddha, he heard the Buddha teach the Dharma of emptiness.
Moreover, in the supreme wisdom of all Buddhas, the true principles. They taught were empty and still in substance and appearance. That which has no appearance is called empty. That which has no arising and ceasing is still. As he was unattached to the world like the lotus flower, he could skillfully penetrate the teachings of emptiness and stillness.
So, in the supreme wisdom of all Buddhas, “all the true principles They taught were empty and still in substance and appearance.” These are the principles taught by all Buddhas, “true” refers to the principles, true principles. Among their teachings, these are true principles yet “empty and still essence and appearance.” This is what we always talk about True principles have no substance or appearance. We cannot see or touch them, but they are clearly true principles. This is the wondrous existence in true emptiness. We cannot see anything there; this is true emptiness, but it contain s wondrous existence. “That which has no appearance” is without any appearance of any kind. So, we call this “empty”. “That which has no arising and ceasing is still.” There is no moment when it begins, and no moment when it ends. Because it has no beginning, it has no ending. We talk about dust-inked kalpas ago; exactly how long was dust-inked kalpas ago? We do not know. To find its beginning, neither a mathematician nor his disciples could ever calculate it. It is impossible to speak of The beginning of dust-inked kalpas is something we are unable to understand. Time and space are without beginning or end. There is no arising and thus naturally no ceasing.
Therefore, that with no appearance of “arising and ceasing” is called “still”. He is always so tranquil and still. Without arising or ceasing, there is stillness. This is called “emptiness and stillness”. This is the true principles. “He was unattached to the world, like the lotus flower.” Consider our minds. As we go among people, our minds must not be defiled by people. I often explain that the teaching of the Great Vehicle is like this. We must go among people but not allow people and matters to afflict our minds nor allow the web of ignorance trap our minds. This is to be “unattached to the world like the lotus flower.” It emerges from the mud but remains undefiled. But we must “skillfully penetrate the teachings of emptiness and stillness.” We must always do good deeds among people but never allow arising and ceasing to trouble our minds. Our minds must be free of arising and ceasing. We often say to give without any expectations and also express our gratitude. Many people find this inconceivable, but those who know this, those who are grateful, find great joy in it. Though giving to others may be taxing on the body and we have to be very mindful in the process, when we are able to help people, when our mission ends, we are joyful. Can we take out this joy and show it to people? No, we cannot. We just feel joyful. It is formless and intangible. We can only experience it. We cannot take it out and describe its appearance. This is how true principles are. So, “He understood and comprehended.”
He understood and comprehended: He had refined views and clear understanding. Thorough and unobstructed clarity is called “comprehension”. This states that he has entered deeply into the Tathagata’s ocean of wisdom and saw the Dharma clearly. His inner realization was so deep; how could it be easily reached?
This is to be refined, without impurities. “He had refined views and clear understanding. Thorough and unobstructed clarity” “is called ‘comprehension.’” We are very refined, without impurities, just like a mirror without any trace of dust. So, the scene it reflects is clear and bright, completely unobstructed. These exterior states are all clearly reflected in the mirror. This is comprehension. When we look at this mirror, we have a comprehensive view of all conditions and understand everything. “This states that he has entered deeply into the Tathagata’s ocean of wisdom and saw the Dharma clearly.” The Tathagata’s wisdom and Dharma are deep, as deep as the ocean. In this ocean there is nothing that He does not thoroughly comprehend. This wisdom is as vast as the ocean; it is very refined and very clear. Look at people who go to the bottom of the ocean. As long as their eyes are well-protected, they can swim around and clearly see all the things under the ocean. This is the same principle. So, “His inner realization was so deep; how could it be easily reached?” This is how the Buddha praised Purna Maitrayaniputra; he thoroughly understood all Buddhas’ teachings. There was nobody comparable to him. So, “[He] attained the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms”.
[He] attained the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: He had clearly understood the nature of all Dharma and realized the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom. These wisdoms are referring to eloquence: First, wisdom of unobstructed meaning. Second, wisdom of unobstructed Dharma. Third, wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric. Fourth, wisdom of unobstructed joyful eloquence.
Purna Maitrayaniputra not only had very a clear perspective, he also attained the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. “He had clearly understood the nature of all Dharma.” He completely and clearly understood the nature of all Dharma and attained the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. “First [is] wisdom of unobstructed meaning.”
The first of the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms, the wisdom of unobstructed meaning: This means he knows the meaning and principles of all Dharma and can understand them all thoroughly without hindrance.
Everyone must remember that we often mention the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. The first is wisdom of unobstructed meaning. This means that we clearly understand the meanings and principles of all Dharma. We thoroughly understand them without obstruction or hindrance. Without hindrance means without obstruction. We are not stopped nor blocked, so there is no obstruction.
“Second [is] wisdom of unobstructed Dharma.”
The second of the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms, the wisdom of unobstructed Dharma: This means he knows the names and appearances of all Dharma and can distinguish them without error.
He not only understands the meaning and principles of the Dharma, but also, the methods for spreading the Dharma, transforming sentient beings and teaching according to capabilities, all without obstruction. This means he “knows the names and appearances of all Dharma.” As he teaches the Dharma according to capacities, “he can distinguish them without error.” He does so without error. He makes no mistakes.
“Third [is] the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric.”
The third of the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms, the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric: This means he could use the different languages of different places eloquently and without obstruction and can enable those listening to all understand his words.
This means he “could use the different languages of different places eloquently and without obstruction.” Different places have different languages, and he could communicate in all of them. He is not like me, who needs things to be translated again and again. He could comprehend all kinds of languages. “He can enable those listening to all understand his words.” They can all understand and comprehend the Dharma that he teaches.
“Fourth [is] the wisdom of unobstructed joyful eloquence.”
The fourth of the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms, the wisdom of joyful eloquence: In a single word, he can teach the meanings of all principles. With one word, one teaching, he could promote and teach the infinite Dharma, instructing others tirelessly.
This is how he taught the Dharma; apart from thoroughly comprehending the Dharma, he also understood all languages. In order to communicate with everyone, he had to understand the Dharma he would teach. Then he must teach it happily, with joy. He must be tireless [and teach] over and over again. The Dharma in the sutras is repetitive, and very similar, but still he teaches it continually, repeatedly. He tirelessly keeps expounding it. In one word he can teach all the meanings. With the same teaching, he can use different analogies and different explanations, all contained within this one line of Dharma. He teaches it until we can remember it, understand it and furthermore apply it. This is known as “joyful eloquence.” Over and over again, he uses different methods to help us understand, to move us, to help us put it into practice. So, all meanings and principles can be explained within one word. “With one word, one teaching, he could promote and teach the infinite Dharma.” With one word, one teaching, he was able to explain and promote the Dharma. The Dharma is infinite, and there are truly many people to teach. Teaching tirelessly is Purna Maitrayaniputra’s strength. “He could constantly examine the truth and teach the Dharma purely, without any doubts or delusions.”
He could constantly examine the truth and teach the Dharma purely, without any doubts or delusions: Because of his wisdom, he could constantly carefully and aptly examine the truth of the Dharma. He was free of defilement and remained pure, so he could teach according to the Dharma. His mind had no doubts or confusion
The principles of the Dharma were all very clear to him. This is his wisdom. “He could constantly [be clear about] the Dharma.” He could very clearly discern right from wrong. Therefore, he was free of defilement and “remained pure, so he could teach according to the Dharma.” He could eliminate all of these defilements and use the pure Dharma to teach so people would no longer have doubts, no longer have chaos or delusion in their minds. This is to “teach the Dharma purely without any doubts or delusions.”
[He could] teach the Dharma purely, without any doubts or delusion: this means that he could use skillful means to reveal the Dharma-nature, yet not be obstructed by or attached to the Dharma that was taught. Not only could he teach it, he could also realize it, therefore he was without any doubts or delusions.
He revealed the Dharma-nature with skillful means, but was not obstructed by or attached to the Dharma that was taught. He was able to reveal this Dharma-nature with no obstruction. He was not only able to teach this Dharma, but also help everyone realize it and verify it for themselves. This is the true Dharma. He did not just teach it; he was not one who could teach but not practice. He taught it, and he put it into practice. he also verified it so everyone would be without doubts and delusion. This was his skillfulness in teaching the Dharma,
I hope we all can be like Purna and use the power of love to be replete with all the practices we cultivate. We must be replete with spiritual powers and practice the Great Vehicle Bodhisattva Way to awaken in the depths of our hearts, to truly attain realizations the wondrous fruits of the deep deeds. Of our original aspirations are what Bodhisattvas have realized. This is what the Buddha said about Putra Maitrayaniputra.
“Throughout his lifetime, [he] constantly cultivated Brahma-conduct.” Throughout Putra Maitrayaniputra’s life, he steadfastly engaged in Brahma-conduct with his spiritual powers. Throughout his lifetime, he constantly engaged in purifying practices.
Throughout his lifetime[he] constantly cultivated Brahma-conduct: because he possessed spiritual powers, throughout his lifetime he was able to constantly cultivate purifying practices. In his practice on the Path, he disciplined himself to never stop. He did not rest on the merits he had achieved or on the ultimate states he reached. Thus it says he had constantly cultivated.
This is the power of love. “In his practice on the Path, he had continued without ever stopping. His merits and virtues reached the ultimate. They will forever be the ultimate and unsurpassed. So, when we form aspirations, we must give rise to Bodhicitta. And walk the Great Bodhisattva-path. Only then can we truly awaken in the depths of our hearts. These deep deeds create all kinds of virtues. All of them must be [planted] deeply. This is what we need to learn. Putra Maitrayaniputra should be the role model for us modern-day spiritual practitioners. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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