Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Benefiting Others To Purify Our Own Buddha-Land (利他願行 嚴淨佛土)
Date: June.28.2017
“With the vow and practice of benefiting others, we dignify and purify our own Buddha-Land. Without creating affinities with people, Bodhisattvas will have no opportunity to transform them. The path to Buddhahood is far; transforming sentient beings is our provisions for attaining Buddhahood.”
Engaging in practice and attaining Buddhahood require us to make use of our opportunities. What kinds of opportunities must we use? Only by relying on our vow to benefit others and putting the Dharma into practice will we have the opportunity to attain Buddhahood. For us to walk such a long path, we need spiritual provisions; we need provisions to help us walk across such a long road.
The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City taught us this, didn’t it? The road was difficult to walk, very long and very far. Everyone was exhausted and wanted to stop midway. They even thought it would be better to go back. So, the guiding teacher told everyone, “We have already walked such a long way. Look, the city of treasures is near. It is not too far of a walk from here. Let’s raise our spirits and keep advancing forward.” This was in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City. The Buddha’s wisdom is like that of the guiding teacher showing us the way. On the one hand, he needs to lead us very precisely; he also needs to make sure we arrive safely. So, he patiently guided us, repeatedly giving reminders and instructions. “This path is very critical. There are many things to pay attention to. So, everyone, be cautious. Mind your direction and do not go astray. Do not make the slightest mistakes in the steps you take; everyone needs to be very mindful and earnestly keep walking forward.” When the guiding teacher leads, he leads them very mindfully like this. If we walk this path with the guiding teacher, we can travel safely and steadily. This means we must follow what he says.
Not only must we follow, we cannot stray from the path even slightly. We need to follow him closely until the end in order to arrive. Similarly, there is a saying, “The spiritual training ground of Bodhisattvas is found amidst suffering sentient beings.” So, it is said, “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings.” Suffering sentient beings are Bodhisattvas’ spiritual training ground. If we can clearly understand this saying, then attaining Buddhahood is not difficult.
“With the vow and practice of benefiting others, we dignify and purify our own Buddha-land.” To attain Buddhahood, we must first make use of the suffering of sentient beings. Sentient beings’ suffering comes from replicating ignorance and afflictions; as a result, things are beyond their control. Thus, they accumulate so much karma. What is more terrifying is their collective karma. When the causes and conditions of collective karma ripen, a tragic state of suffering and hardship manifests. This requires Bodhisattvas dedicating themselves and all extending a helping hand to give.
In the world, don’t we often see these kinds of natural disasters and manmade calamities? When disasters strike, so many are affected by the suffering at once. In an instant, they lose their loved ones forever. Looking at our international disaster relief work, in the past few years there have been so many natural disaster and manmade calamities. The four elements are not in balance. In a typhoon that struck Myanmar in 2008, between 100,000 and 200,000 people died. Similarly, in Haiti (2010), there was an earthquake in which 200,000 to 300,000 people died. From the high number of deaths, we can imagine how many were injured. With the number of dead and injured so great, we can further imagine what happened to all the structures and what the conditions would be. We can imagine this. We can think about how that earthquake had almost completely destroyed Port-Au-Prince. This tremendous disaster that affected everyone comes from the collective karma of sentient beings. In the places where relief work was carried out, there was [support from] the United Nations and from many humanitarian groups. There were many different countries; when one country experiences a disaster, nations from around the world come to help them. How many countries went there, and how much did they do? In the end, who truly helped them? In the end, everyone could see that this organization was still there, that these Bodhisattvas are still giving for the sake of that country. Though there is poverty and suffering there, though there are still frequent natural disasters and the four elements are still not balanced, those people likewise see. Bodhisattvas from other countries coming [to help]. They always wear the blue and white uniforms as they come and go in that country. Everyone is so grateful. These people had already been there for many years. For this country’s sake, they provide immediate relief whenever disasters hit. For people who suffer from illness, they have provided free medical services for a long time. When people are hungry, they will also distribute provisions for an extended period of time.
Year after year, they repeatedly provided people with healthy provisions. The children who are studying are already in the technical colleges, and the middle school, elementary school and kindergarten have all rebuilt one after another. Although this country was completely devastated, there are now already several large buildings which can facilitate the young people’s quest for an education. As they are educated, every year we see that their graduation ceremonies. They are also very grand. This is despite the fact that recently, year after year, they have had either hurricanes or severe rain and major flooding. We see they still are unable to stabilize their country. In their government, who exactly will be their leader? That is still undecided. They still rely on many countries and the peacekeeping troops of the United Nations to maintain peace there. This country is suffering.
Although there is much suffering there, it is because of these severe disasters that we had the causes and conditions for Tzu Chi USA volunteers to establish a presence. Theses volunteers repeatedly went there. Over the past four, five, six years, they have taken more than 50. 60, trips there. For example, James Chen went back and forth to Haiti 50, 60 times. Let’s see, why did he do this? This volunteer, for the sake of Haiti, took responsibility for the construction projects. So, he went back and forth. Normally, when he was there, he also managed the material goods for relief, going back and forth with Tzu Chi USA volunteers. Most of the people in that place know him. Clearly, through the “vow and practice of benefiting others, through these trips back and forth, this group of lay Buddhist practitioners were able to show such determination. Reverently, for the sake of suffering beings, they willingly gave of themselves. Furthermore, they also considered how to improve the quality of the soil so that it would become suitable for people to plant crops so that people could recover their vitality, stand on their own two feet and have a way of producing their own food. Now there is still a group of people considering how to use this land. Why is it that, in this place, people were not encouraged to plant crops? Everyone does want to plant crops, but the land and climate [are not suitable]. What is wrong with land? Whenever it rains, flooding occurs, and when the water recedes there is a drought. The country is poor, so the water management system is not set up well. They have no way to manage the water. So, for this country, there is so much that needs to be done, to start the rebuilding.
Life is filled with suffering. What do we need to do it truly be able to give to and help others and understand the true principles of the world? We must simultaneously walk the path, take action and seek to experience the truth. This is the suffering of the world. Some of it is due to collective karma and some of it is due to circumstantial retribution. Scattered here and there, there are suffering people who need help and. As Living Bodhisattvas with the vow and practice of benefiting others, we must make use of sentient beings’ suffering. Witness suffering and recognize our blessings and create blessings for others. With the strength of these vows, naturally we can bring purity to our own lands. This helps us to pave a path, the great Bodhi-path. For us to pave this path, we need to put these principles into practice. When we witness sentient beings’ suffering, we must awaken our heart of compassion. With universal compassion, we willingly give, give of our time and open up our wallets. We do this over and over. It has been several years. Over all this time, we have persevered and never given up on helping this country rebuild, on finding ways to help this land over the long term, to improve the land and people’s lives. This will take a very long time. This kind of “dignifying and purifying” is our spiritual practice. This is our spiritual training ground. This is how we move [forward] in our practice. We need a group of people, not just an individual. Although there is always one person in charge, we still need a group of people to dedicate themselves in order to do this together.
“Without creating affinities with people, Bodhisattvas will have no opportunity to transform them.” How do we become Bodhisattvas? What is Bodhisattva-practice? Bodhisattva-practice must take place among people. Without creating affinities with people. Bodhisattvas will have no opportunity to transform sentient beings. So, we certainly must seize [the opportunities]. Suffering sentient beings are the spiritual training ground for Bodhisattvas. We must quickly go among them, then we can dignify our Buddha-land in the future. We want to attain Buddhahood, so we need to have assisting conditions. The best causes and conditions come from going among people. When we go among the people, live amidst them, while remaining peaceful and at ease, then we are able to go into the states of greatest suffering to help. It is because they are suffering that they are willing to accept our help. This creates affinities. If they do not have suffering or difficulties, even if we wanted to give something to them, they would not need it.
So, if we do not create affinities with people, we Bodhisattvas will have no opportunity to transform them. Thus, we always say we must give without expectations and also be grateful for them giving us this opportunity to practice the Bodhisattva-path. So, Bodhisattvas find their opportunities among suffering sentient beings. We go to help others and make use of this spiritual training ground to engage in spiritual practice. So, “The path to Buddhahood is far; transforming sentient beings is our provisions for attaining Buddhahood”. Transforming sentient beings is our provisions for attaining Buddhahood. How can we attain Buddhahood? We need to develop our wisdom-life. The development of our wisdom-life is the growth of this great, direct Bodhi-path is the growth of this great, direct Bodhi-path. To pave this great Bodhi-path, we need sentient beings like this to give us the opportunity. This is the only way to develop our wisdom-life and pave our Bodhi-path to extend farther.
So, these are the provisions for our wisdom-life. For our wisdom-life to grow stronger, the only way is to earnestly walk the Bodhisattva-path. The Bodhisattva-path is Bodhi, is our wisdom-life.
Come, let us look at the previous sutra passage, which states, “He always protects, upholds and helps to promote the Buddha-Dharma. In the future he will also protect, uphold and help to promote the teachings of countless and infinite Buddhas, teaching, transforming and benefiting countless sentient beings. He will enable them to establish Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. In order to purify the Buddha-lands, he always advances diligently and rigorously, teaching and transforming sentient beings so that they gradually perfect their practice of the Bodhisattva-path”.
This is what needs to be done. Among many sentient beings, we get involved to enable everyone to encounter the Buddha-Dharma and enable them all to get involved too, to likewise extend their hands and likewise go among people to diligently advance and teach and transform sentient beings. Purna Maitrayaniputra was like this. He taught sentient beings, and they followed him to likewise comprehend the Dharma. He did not just give teachings, but taught them until they [too] would “always advance diligently and rigorously, teaching and transforming sentient beings”. [He did this for] very many sentient beings and over “countless asankyas kalpas”. Not only will he teach many people, but he will do so for a very long span of time.
The next sutra passage then states, “After countless asankyas kalpas pass, he will in this land attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity”.
Purna Maitrayaniputra was praised so much by the Buddha. Having now come to this point, He wanted to say that Purna Maitrayaniputra, in addition to transforming many people and spending a very long time, still had to go through countless asankyas kalpas. It was the same; he had a long time still to come. It had been a long time in the past, having done this for dust-inked kalpas. In the future, [he would continue doing this] for countless asankyas kalpas. It would still be a very long time. So, he still needs to accumulate [these seeds].
After countless asankyas kalpas pass: A seed contains an ocean of fruits. Penetrating the fruits, one sees the source seed. He must still pass through countless numbers, beyond any possible calculation of immeasurable asankyas kalpas.
“A seed contains an ocean of fruits. Penetrating the fruits, one sees the source seed”. He still needed to accumulate [these seeds]. These seeds are formed within the heart, and he continually cultivated them. “Such is the cause“; it never changes. This seed will forever be this pure. The seed of the Tathagata is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness; it has never been defiled. He always maintained this pure aspiration, life after life. Life after life, he constantly helped others, thus yielding an abundance of fruits as deep and as vast as the ocean. This is how it is; such causes will constantly accumulate. The fruits that are formed all came from that one seed over time. “Penetrating the fruits, one sees the source seed”. No matter how many fruits have resulted, we can likewise trace them back to that very first aspiration. That aspiration is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness.
“Penetrating the fruits, one sees the source seed”. This is that aspiration. Lifetime after lifetime, this aspiration never changes. So, “He must still pass through countless numbers beyond any possible calculation”. It is impossible to calculate or measure exactly how long he had been doing this or exactly how many sentient beings he had saved and transformed. This amount of time and the number of people he saved and transformed are truly beyond calculation. It will be “immeasurable asankyas kalpas”; thus, such a long time had already passed, and “He will in this land attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi”.
He will in this land attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: “This land” means the Saha World. He will attain supreme, complete awakening.
He was this way in the past and will continue in the future for such a long time. In the future, he will be able to attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Although the road is far, if we walk far enough we will arrive. So, we must constantly accumulate [seeds]. What about “this land”? Purna Maitrayaniputra formed the aspiration to abide in the Saha World just like Sakyamuni Buddha. He made a vow to remain in the Saha World, where sentient beings have the greatest need. In “this land”, which is the Saha World, “He will attain supreme, complete awakening” which is Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. His vow was not about going somewhere that was more dignified and more pure. He was willing to remain in this evil world of Five Turbidities to continually purity it. This is like Earth Treasury Bodhisattva, who willingly abides in hell, the place of the worst suffering. Purna’s vow is the same as the Buddha’s, to remain among the suffering, in this complicated world. He vowed to repeatedly return to attain Buddhahood and transform sentient beings. This was his vow. So, “This land” is “refer to all within the Dharma-realms”.
“This land” refers to all within the Dharma-realms in this impure Saha World that must be endured, he will attain the fruits and manifest the path of noble beings. All of this assists him in the original great vows that he made and in returning to that ultimate sincerity.
As for the Dharma-realms, there are ten Dharma-realms, including the Six Unenlightened and Four Noble Realms. We have discussed this in the past. The Six Unenlightened Realms are the heaven, asura, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. These are the Six Unenlightened Realms. The Four Noble Realms are those of Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. These are the Four Noble Realms. They are all here in this place, so this is where the Five Destinies co-exist. This is very complicated place. However, this place is filled with Dharma; so many principles can be awakened to in this place. “In this impure Saha World that must be endured, he will attain the fruits and manifest the path of noble beings.” In such a complicated world that must be endured, by engaging in spiritual practice and giving, he manifests the path of noble beings. The power of these vows is truly incredible. So, “All of this assists him in the original great vows that he made.” Only this kind of world can truly enable us to [fulfill our] initial aspiration. Sakyamuni Buddha, in the most extreme suffering, formed an aspiration, that great vow. The principle is the same. So, “returning to that ultimate sincerity” demonstrates his initial aspiration for practice, they very first aspiration. I often say, “Never forget your initial resolve”. We must not forget the resolve we had when we first made that vow. With utmost sincerity, that of “sincere friendship, he forever remained in this Saha World to willing give to suffering sentient beings.
This is “returning to that ultimate sincerity”. Likewise, he will attain Buddhahood in this place. “His epithet will be Dharma Clarity”.
His epithet will be Dharma Clarity: The Venerable One, in the causal ground, comprehended with clarity the Dharma of all Buddhas. Thus when he reaches attainment of the fruit, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. With his causes, he comprehends with clarity the Dharma’s meaning and expounds the Dharma to break through the confusion and foolishness in the world. Thus he will be called Dharma Clarity. This is that Buddha’s distinctive epithet; all others are shared epithets.
In the future, Purna will attain Buddhahood here. His epithet will be “Dharma Clarity”. This is like how Maltreya will also, in the future, attain Buddhahood in this world. His epithet will be “Maltreya”. After Maltreya, it will take a very long period of time before another Buddha will appear in the world. Every Buddha on this land, each one who attains Buddhahood in this world, has a different epithet.
So, “the Venerable One, in the causal ground” means he began to practice in this causal ground. “He comprehends with all clarity the Dharma of all Buddhas.” In this place, he discovered the Buddha-Dharma and formed the aspiration and made the vow to learn the Buddha’s teachings here. “He comprehends with all clarity the Dharma of all Buddhas.” So, he will attain the fruits; in this place, having attained the fruits, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. Through these causes, he will attain the fruits. “He comprehends with clarity the Dharmas meaning.” He really understands the principles contained in Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. So, he “expounds the Dharma to break through the confusion and foolishness in the world. Thus he will be called Dharma Clarity.” He comprehends the principles of the world; he completely understands them and can teach the Dharma to break through the ignorance of all beings. This world is very evil and turbid, very dark It is not only that the world is turbid and dark. As we often say these days, “Now, why is the whole sky gray and cloudy? Even though we see the sun, the sky is still gray and hazy.” Now the whole earth is gray and hazy, not to mention people’s minds! Of course, our minds are also foggy and foolish. Ignorance continues to cover our minds, and we continue to generate impure emissions that pollute the sky. This is the same principle.
So, everyone must clearly understand the truth. Only then can our ignorance begin to fade. Naturally the macrocosm of the world will slowly clear up. So, we need principles to purify people’s minds. Only then we can purity the macrocosm. This is called “breaking though the confusion and foolishness in the world.” Confusion is like a haze. It arises from ignorance and delusion. “Thus he will be called Dharma Clarity.” So for this, his name will be Dharma Clarity. He will continually transform sentient beings. There are still many sentient beings [to deliver], so it will require a very long time. “This is that Buddha’s distinctive epithet.” This is a distinctive epithet. There are also the shared epithets. All Buddhas share the same path; They do not only have distinctive epithets. “Sakyamuni Buddha” is a distinctive epithet. “Maitreya Buddha” is also a distinctive epithet. “Dharma Clarity” is also a distinctive epithet. But all Buddhas have shared epithets, which are the Ten Epithets. The Ten Epithets express the Ten Virtues. Only when one is replete with the Ten Virtues can one attain Buddhahood and have a distinctive epithet. We all read the Ten Epithets when we chant sutras.
As part of every sutra we chant. “The Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One Perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans and Buddha, the World-Honored One.” Of the Ten Epithets, the first is “Tathagata”. “He journeys on the path of the True Suchness and comes to achieve perfect enlightenment.”
He has to have all these principles, whether the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence or Six Paramitas. He understands all of these many paths. He not only understands them, He also puts them into practice. He has followed these principles to give and to complete [His practice], thus He attained perfect enlightenment. This is the meaning of Tathagata.
Second is the “One Worthy of Offerings. He is worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings.” Because He helped others in this way, with the virtues He thus cultivated. He is worthy of receiving offerings in the world.
The third is the “Completely Awakened One”. “He is completely awakened to all Dharma.” Among all principles in the universe, there is none He does not comprehend. So, He is the “Completely Awakened One.”
The fourth is “One Perfect in Wisdom and Action,” meaning He is replete with the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers. He is replete with both blessings and wisdom, so He is the “One Perfect in Wisdom and Action.”
The fifth is the “Well-gone One”. “Well-gone One” means that “with the wisdom of all Dharma as His great cart, He travels the Eightfold Path to enter Nirvana.” With wisdom, He chose the Great Vehicle Dharma, but the Great Vehicle Dharma is still inseparable from the Eightfold Noble Path. With a clear and tranquil mind, He entered Nirvana.
The sixth is the “Knower of the World”. “He can comprehend the matters of all sentient beings and non-sentient things.” He can understand people and sentient beings. In addition to humans, there are other living beings too. So, we often try to help animals that cannot fend for themselves. These animals all have Buddha-nature, so we must not kill them; we cannot kill them! Especially because killing animals creates the karma of the transgression of killing, thus creating the dangers of collective karma, which is continually produced in this world. This is the “Knower of the World”. It is the sixth epithet. He comprehends all living beings’ feelings. Humans have feelings; animals have feelings too. People have life; animals have life as well. Humans were born in the world beyond their control. Animals have also, beyond their control, been born in the body of an animal. They are living beings just the same.
The seventh is the “Unsurpassed Guide”. “Just as Nirvana is supreme among all Dharma, the Buddha is supreme among all sentient beings.” This is why He is the “Unsurpassed Guide.”
Among all Dharma, Nirvana is supreme. This is something we must seek. We also hope that our minds will forever be silent and still, in a state of tranquility and clarity. This state is supreme and unsurpassed. Among all sentient beings, the Buddha is also supreme. The Dharma can help our minds be tranquil and clear. This is the supreme Dharma. One who attains Buddhahood is unsurpassed and supreme. So, He is called the Unsurpassed Guide.
The eighth is the Tamer.
The Ten Epithets of the Buddha. 8. The Tamer: The Buddha sometimes uses soft and gentle words and sometimes uses harsh and urgent words so He can tame all people and guide them onto a good path.
The Buddha, no matter the time, returns to the world to open and reveal teachings in the hope that all beings will realize and enter. So, He needed to use soft and gentle words. However, in some places, He has to use harsh and urgent words to warn us. He applied both soft and hard tactics. Thus, this is called the “Tamer”. Sentient beings are like fierce creatures, stubborn and difficult to tame. The Buddha heeds to be like a tamer, using various means to tame us.
The Ten Epithets of the Buddha. 9. The Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans: The Buddha is the guiding teacher of humans and heavenly beings. He can teach and demonstrate what they should and should not do.
Ninth is “Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans”. “The Buddha is the guiding teacher of humans and heavenly beings.” The Buddha is father of the four kinds of beings and guiding teacher of the Three Realms. In His compassion, He cherished sentient beings and taught by revealing to all of us what we should and should not do. He helped us understand what we should not do, that doing this will only add to our afflictions. But in this matter, we must be diligent so that we can eradicate karmic obstruction, afflictions and ignorance. This is how the Buddha taught us.
The tenth is the “Buddha, the World-Honored One,” which is translated as “the wise and awakened one”. He can also be called the “World-Honored One,” which means He is honored by the whole world.
Dear Bodhisattvas, as Buddhist practitioners, we take suffering sentient beings as our spiritual training ground. We must always be mindful and spend a very long time to patiently give to others. In this world, what helps us be most joyous and most at peace? When we can give to others, when people’s suffering is relieved, this is what makes us feel at peace and joyful. This kind of joy is called Dharma-joy. There is nothing more joyful than doing good deeds and giving to help people. With the vow and practice of benefiting others, we are actually dignifying our own Buddha-Land. If we do not earnestly form affinities with people, even if we want to be Bodhisattvas, we will have no opportunity to transform people. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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