Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Dignified with Might, Virtue and Samadhi (自在莊嚴 威德三昧)
Date: July.24.2017
“We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honestly and love are our virtues. To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue. Then we will be at ease and dignified with might, virtue and Samadhi.”
Confucius was “gentle but stern, imposing but not forceful.” These were the virtues of Confucius. What Sakyamuni Buddha now teaches us is also the same. He teaches us how to interact with people and deal with matters, how we can cultivate our own conduct and mind. Whether we speak of Buddhas, sages or saints, they must all be replete with these [virtues]. “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent;” This is what we must learn.
We must know that in order to lead people, we must have virtue. Then people will respect us on sight and will accept what we say. After listening, they can take it to heart and reflect on themselves. If they have made any mistakes, they will quickly reflect and then awaken. Mistakes made in the past must be corrected; once we know, we must quickly change. If we live our lives this way, there is still time. We must not wait until the end of life when our time has run out. By then it will be too late. We have now encountered good causes and conditions. There are good people with whom we have affinities. These people have virtue. When we have the opportunity to come together with people who are well-cultivated, they can point out our mistakes to us, so we must quickly accept this. They are not blaming us, but motivating us. In this way, we are willing to accept [guidance]. Even if they are blaming us, we must think, “I am so grateful that someone saw my mistake, that someone saw where I went astray and pointed it out for me. This is my mistake; I must repent and awaken right away.” This is what we must learn; there are truly many things we must learn.
Only when we learn can we be well-cultivated. What is it that we are cultivating? What kind of mastery? After cultivating ourselves, when interacting with people, what will the results be? It is like we just said earlier; people will be willing to listen to us. When we tell them, “You have made this kind of mistake. You should change in this way,” they will be willing to accept what we say. This shows we have a kind of might and virtue. This might and virtue does not mean being harsh to others. It is being gentle and generous. We will be gentle and generous, or will be very humble; we will be very humble as we interact with people. We will also have respect for everybody. Even though we are humble and respectful, when we see mistakes in others, we can be direct with them. When speaking with them, we never stop being humble and respectful. In this way, we have an “imposing but not forceful” attitude. This is because with a mighty, imposing demeanor, we still remain very humble with everyone; we are respectful to everyone. Thus, people are very happy when they see us and respect arises in their hearts. This is the meaning of “imposing but not forceful.” On seeing this person, [they think,] “I’ve done something wrong. When I see that person, I feel so remorseful. I have lost face. He explained it to me in that way and was able to do it himself. So, after he did it, he also told me how, but I was not able to do it. So, when I see him, I feel a sense of remorse.” Then naturally they will correct themselves. This is [the ability] of people with virtue. “Humility and respect are virtues.” We should be humble when interacting with people and be reverent and respectful.
Isn’t Never-Slighting Bodhisattva just like this? “I dare not look down on you because you will attain Buddhahood in the future as well.” He maintained this mindset of seeing the Buddha-nature in everyone, seeing the equality in everyone. So, we should be respectful toward everyone. This kind of humble respect is an important step for our spiritual practice. If we can be like this, we are “imposing but not forceful.” The feeling we bring to others is not fear, but the feeling that we have this might and virtue in us. This gives people a feeling of “imposing but not forceful,” because “humility and respect are our virtues.” In spiritual practice, what we truly cultivate is this kind of humility and this respect toward people. These are our virtues. As spiritual practitioners, we should have such virtues. We must also be “gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues.” We must treat people gently and harmoniously, very kindly. “Thus, honesty and love are our virtues.” “Honesty” means being sincere and genuine. We must engage in practice with a sincere and genuine heart. Loving others, loving things and loving ourselves with sincere and genuine love is the meaning of “Honesty and love are our virtues.” This is also what we need to cultivate. It is the same for spiritual practice; we must cultivate an open and spacious mind, must cultivate humility and respect in the way that we treat others, must cultivate having honesty and love when facing the people and matters of the world. If we can do this, that is the fundamental duty of a spiritual practitioner. We seek to cultivate world-transcending Dharma, the virtuous teachings that transcend the world, so how can we, when we enter the world to help, be lacking in these [worldly] virtues? This is what must put effort into cultivating. “We must be gentle, generous and diligent”; we must persist in this. When we know something is right, we just do it. In our physical conduct, we must “uphold our mission and follow the Path, then the Path is great.” As we seek the Dharma and learn the Path, this is truly most important.
So, “Honesty and love are our virtues.” If we can engage in spiritual practice like this, then naturally, “To subdue [afflictions] is our might.” We will be able to subdue all afflictions. If we can do as the previous passage said and “be imposing but not forceful, humility and respect are our virtues.” If we can “be gentle, generous and diligent, honesty and love are our virtues”. If we have these virtues, no matter what afflictions there are externally, naturally they will not be able to invade our mind. Naturally, we will also be able to subdue the afflictions already in our mind. If we can always be humble and give with love, then honesty and love are our virtues. If we treat people with love, how can ignorance or afflictions still remain in our mind? Love is giving, giving without expectations. If we give with unconditional love, we will naturally be free of afflictions. Afflictions originate from greed, from the desire to possess everything, from wanting everything, begging unwilling to let anything go. This will lead us to have many afflictions. Because of one thought of greed, we are unwilling to let go and thus create so much karma and so many afflictions! These are all afflictions which we created and brought upon ourselves. If we can turn this greed into giving and love, if with honesty and love, we are willing to give without expectations, isn’t this a very joyful thing? We are not only happy ourselves, but also, “To captivate others is our virtue. To subdue [afflictions] is our might.” With the cultivation we mentioned earlier, naturally we can subdue all kinds of afflictions. These afflictions will not be able to approach us. This is called subduing all afflictions. They will not come into our hearts. If we do not contend or fight with others, then we have no afflictions from conflicts. If we are willing to step back and yield, “with a step back, our whole world opens up.” We have no enemies. With honesty and love, we have no enemies. In this way, our minds will be very at ease. Although we say we do not contend with others, we still have that imposing might and virtue. This is how spiritual practitioners are. When people with integrity talk with others in society, interact with people or deal with things, they have great power. So we say, “To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue.” Because of this, what we say inspires faith in others. Because we are “gentle, generous and diligent,” we inspire thoughts of sincere faith in everyone. When we speak, everyone will be able to accept what we say. So, “To captivate others is our virtue. Then we will be at ease and dignified with might, virtue and Samadhi.” This is the “might, virtue and Samadhi” that the Buddha taught. How should we learn to have “might, virtue and Samadhi”? We need to do what was mentioned. “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues. To subdue [afflictions] is our might. To captivate others is our virtue.” If we learn these three virtues completely and take them to hear, then naturally, “We will be at ease and dignified.” We will be at ease. Because there will be no deception in our hearts and no greed or attachments in our minds we will be truly at ease. This state of being at ease is a kind of dignity; it is also might and virtue. It is “might, virtue and Samadhi”.
In the Buddha’s time, He taught us this way, taught us how we should act. In the times of the Buddha and Confucius, there were many sages who appeared in the world and used many different methods to teach us. We should accept [these teachings]. Although it has been over 2000 years since the era of the Buddha, now is the time; now is the time for us to exercise and apply these teachings in our present era. In this evil world of the Five Turbidities, sentient beings’ lives are filled with suffering. Now is when they need the teachings of the sages. These teachings have been transmitted so that we can apply them right now. At this time, we can see many events happening in this world. Many Living Bodhisattvas have mobilized. Whenever a place is struck by disaster, wherever there is suffering, they all form aspirations and begin to work in concert with unity, harmony and love to help others.
We saw the images from Serbia. They have already been broadcast by Da Ai TV. The images are quite heartwarming. People seemed to be very happy as they sang a song together. “We are all one family.” They were not only singing, but also performing [the sign language]. Using body language, they expressed how. “We are all one family.” These volunteers from different countries who had come to help took charge of leading them. The people receiving the help accepted this and also learned and sang along. They were really in sync, and the melody was so harmonious. By arousing everyone’s love, with the power of love, smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces. Although they were of different ethnicities, they had the same beautiful smiles. Our Jing Si instant rice [arrived] on March 18 (2016), local time. Zusong and Mr. Yang both began the testing process. In that place, they began preparing the Jing Si instant rice. People surrounded them to learn and watch. After ten or minutes of stirring the rice, they covered the two large pots and left them there. Then they came out and began interacting with people, talking with them. Zusong started meeting everyone and sharing with everyone. Tzu Chi started 50 years ago with 50 cents. Small good deeds have accumulated until today to become great love. They explained that this rice came from a group of spiritual practitioners in Taiwan. We knew that people there also like eating rice. Rice was their staple. So, people immediately put love and sincerity into preparing this instant rice. Moreover, aside from this group of spiritual practitioners, there was also another group of loving people. They too worked together harmoniously as a team to prepare everything. These two tons of [instant] rice were sent from Hualien to Taipei and then from Taipei to Serbia. This is group of loving people in the world. The principle that small contributions can accomplish great deeds was shared with the people at that site. Mr. Rubi Willi Pfaff was also there. He is from Germany; he is Shuwei’s husband. He is German, but he is very dedicated to the spirit and the ideals of Tzu Chi. He knows the Four Missions and Eight Footprints so well that he can recite them backwards. He spoke to people over there explaining that in the Four Missions of Tzu Chi, there is no discrimination over nationality or ethnicity. We do not discuss religion and politics. The only goal is to help suffering sentient beings. This is a very pure and sincere spirit of great love. This volunteer from Germany talked about Tzu Chi and the Four Missions and Eight Footprints, so the refugees all circled around to listen to him. What he said made everyone feel so touched. He even said, “Master told us to take care of the earth and pay attention to environmental protection, education and vegetarianism”. He talked about these thing with the people there. He said, “Master taught us these ideals, to love Earth, to value environmental protection and to adopt a vegetarian diet”. In that place, he took the opportunity to speak to them like this. Everybody was very quiet and listened carefully to this German man. He has high social standing in Germany. What is more, his physical condition was not well. He visited Serbia two times in a row. He was in the first group [of volunteers]. After ten days, due to his physical condition, he had to go back [home] to receive an injection. He was no willing to take the time to rest. After the injection for chemotherapy, he was supposed to rest for a while. However, in his heart, he could not let go of the refugees and the Bodhisattva-volunteers who were still there. After three or four days, he went back to Serbia. When he went back the second time, Zusong had already sent supplies to the site. Volunteers were also coming. With the arrival of great amounts of instant rice, they could prepare it so easily. While the food was soaking and cooing, they came out to talk with people. He could not help sanding up and telling people about Tzu Chi’s Four Missions and the spirit and ideals behind them, about how we do not discriminate over religion, nationality or ethnicity. He also talked about loving Earth and the concept of environmental protection. Zusong even told people that every grain of rice is precious. It comes from kind people all over the world. These small amounts of strength are joined together to become great love and help people all over the world. He also told them that this rice they were eating was not just paid for by rich people; even poor people also gave donations. In short, he described the spirit of Tzu Chi very well, in the hopes that these people would cherish their blessings. He told them to take only what they could eat and absolutely not waste anything. Afterwards, Zusong introduced the process of making Jing Si instant rice, how each grain of rice is processed and so on. He played the video for people, showing them that each grain of rice does not come easily. Every action is done with such reverence; everything is given with such love. After this description, they roused everyone; the Tzu Chi volunteers led everyone [in the song]. “We are one family”. The activities were well-planned, starting with the introduction of instant rice, an explanation of Tzu Chi’s Four Missions, then the process of making Jing Si instant rice and how it was packaged and delivered. In this way, after the video was played, people understood the sincere love [put into this] and thus sang. “We are one family” together. They were very joyful. Once we finished speaking, some time might have passed, then they started to eat; a couple of hours later, they started to eat. People were asked to try the food. All those present, whether they were refugees from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, ate together like this, and everyone was very happy. A young man said, “It reminds me of the food in my hometown, my mother’s home cooking; I’m so happy”. This was on March 19 (2016). They were so happy there; all of them were so happy to eat this.
So, every day has a story behind it. Historically, on today’s date, March 20, 2003, war erupted between the United States and Iraq. In that same year, we also had the SARS virus, which had begun spreading in Taiwan. So, starting from that year, I always worried whenever I saw the three major or minor calamities. Thus, I began to promote the Threefold Goodness. The [Threefold Goodness] is speaking good words, doing good deeds and thinking good thoughts. We have constantly been promoting this. These kinds of “compassionate vows, good thoughts, peace, love were all promoted that year by all Tzu Chi volunteers. “Compassionate vows, good thoughts, peace and love” have been promoted ever since. Even in our society, in Taiwan, the Threefold Goodness of saying good words, doing good deeds and thinking good thoughts has spread from families to schools. This has continued since we began promoting it. We should always do this, not only when there is some disaster that year. However, starting from that year, we also began holding activities frequently. Because of the suffering in the world, we need people with loving hearts. Or, when people who are lost wish to awaken, they require everyone’s mindful support. Only in this way can society be harmonious. For everyone in society to say good words, do good deeds and bring purity to people’s hearts is what we hope for every day. We hope the Dharma can spread to the whole the whole world. Moral principles and ethics, even the teachings of Confucius, should be promoted in the world, whether the Buddha or Confucius, their ideals are all precious teachings for our world. We should be mindful [to understand them].
The previous sutra passage states, “Afterwards he will attain Buddhahood. His epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be named Pure Kindness, composed of the Seven Treasures. His kalpa will be named Treasure Bright. The Bodhisattvas in the assembly will be many, numbering in the countless billions.”
After Purna attains Buddhahood, his epithet will be Dharma Clarity. His land will be dignified. Everyone there will do good deeds, and every word they say is the Dharma. Their minds will have already been purified. As they have already purified their minds, their world will be joyous and blessed. Thus, there will be treasures everywhere. Working in concert with unity, harmony and love in this kind of world today is truly something to admire. If we look forward to the arrival of such an era, we must put the teachings into practice.
The next sutra passage continues with, “All have been delivered, possess great powers, are replete with the power of might and virtue. It was because of this sentence that we spent so much time explaining this. “[This is] replete with power of might and virtue. They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless. With the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations, they attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. These people and more will be the Sangha.” Those Bodhisattvas, at the beginning, because of their past spiritual practice, will already have great spiritual powers. Everybody will engage in spiritual practice and will be “replete with power of might and virtue.” “They will fill his land.” People like this will be seen everywhere. There will be many Hearers. People will have virtues of the Three Insights and the Eight Liberations. They even attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdom. these people are all in the Sangha of the future Dharma Tathagata. The spiritual practitioners there are like this. “All have been delivered, possess great powers, are replete with the power of might and virtue. They have been delivered; all these people are already like this. they engaged in practice, were liberated and “possess great powers.” They are all “replete with the power of might and virtue.
So, “They employ both might and virtue and utilize both grace and virtue. “They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.” They have might and virtue. Might means being imposing and dignified. The practices they cultivated lead others to feel reverence on sight, to have respect for them on sight. These are the virtues they regularly accumulate. This is cultivated by “being gentle, generous.” This is how they attained these virtues. Or, “Humility and respect are their virtues”; this is what they have cultivated.
So, “They employ both might and virtue.” With the practices that they have cultivated, they are already replete in all of this; they exercise both might and virtue. So, “[They] utilize both grace and virtue.” They have the virtue of might and the grace of giving to sentient beings, giving without expectations, giving constantly. Self-cultivation is called “might and virtue.” Giving is called “grace and virtue.” In cultivating ourselves, there are so many things we must pay attention to, how to be humble and respectful, how to be gentle, generous and diligent. We should be mindful about all of this. after listening to the teachings, we should put them into practice. So, this is “utilizing both grace and virtue. “They accumulate the foundation of virtue to deliver and liberate all.” If all of these virtues are accumulated, they will be the root of our spiritual practice. This is the foundation of virtue. The root of our luminous virtue is our nature of True Suchness. Returning to the nature of True Suchness is what we attain at the end of our spiritual practice. People like this “will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.
They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless: [The Bodhisattvas] are found throughout his land. The assembly of Hearers will also be countless.
Such Bodhisattvas will be found throughout his land. There will be many Hearers; it will be impossible to calculate their number. They are already “replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom.” If the Tathagata had not engaged in practicing precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, how would He have been able to attain Buddhahood? Therefore, these spiritual practitioners practice what the Buddha taught; they practice according to teachings. They also learn the Tathagata’s precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.
They are replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom and give rise to vast and wondrous applications.” Throughout the world, there is nothing they do not illuminate. Hence it says: They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.
Therefore, they are “replete with the Tathagata’s Samadhi and wisdom and give rise to vast and wondrous applications. “Throughout the world, there is nothing they do not illuminate. Hence it says: “’They will fill his land. The Hearers there will also be countless.’” These Hearers are like this. When all of them come together, with the light of virtue they can illuminate each other. Everybody teaches the Dharma to each other, spurs each other on and encourages each other to succeed. With the power of love, they mutually help each other succeed.
Next is “the Three Insights and Eight Liberations. The Three Insights are the virtues that Arhats possess. The Eight Liberations are eight kinds of meditation for abandoning the entanglements of the defiled phenomena in the Three Realms.”
This is our ignorance. In the desire realm, form realm and formless realm, all kinds of contamination and ignorance are eliminated. Dust-like ignorance is also eliminated. On entering Samadhi, we have Samadhi and wisdom. This is called “Abandonment”. We give up and abandon all past afflictions and return to pure meditation. This is cultivating contemplation and purity. The Three insights are the insight into previous lives, of the heavenly eye and of ending all Leaks. We should all more or less know all of this.
The Three Insights: Insight into previous lives. Insight of the heavenly eye. Insight into ending all Leaks. Insight into previous lives: The insight of knowing one’s own or others’ causes and conditions in all previous lifetimes. Insight of the heavenly eye: The insight of knowing what happens to oneself or others in all past, present and future lifetimes. Insight into ending all Leaks: The insight of using the wisdom of noble beings to completely eliminate all afflictions.
“Insight into previous lives” is “knowing one’s own or others causes and conditions in all previous lifetimes.” This is called “insight into previous lives.” “Insight of the heavenly eye” means knowing one’s own or others’ [lives] in the past, present and future. This includes knowing what our past was like and what kind of karma we bring with us. We are very clear about the present life, regarding what we must do and must not do. Now, everything about interpersonal relationships is clear to us. As for the future, ours and others’, we know this very well too. “Insight into ending all Leaks” is “using the wisdom of noble beings to completely eliminate all afflictions.” One has reached the wisdom of noble beings and completely eliminated all afflictions. This is the “insight into ending all Leaks.” This is flawless precepts, Samadhi and wisdom; all afflictions have been eliminated, and all Leaks have been ended. This is called “insight into ending all Leaks.”
The Eight Liberations are “also called the Eight Abandonments.” With these eight types of abandonments, all afflictions and so on in the Three Realms will all be eliminated. “They attain the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms. They clearly understand all kinds of Dharma-nature and realize the four kinds of unobstructed wisdom of eloquence.”
Let us review the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms again. I hope everyone is familiar with these. The first one is “wisdom of unobstructed Dharma.” This is “thoroughly understanding all Dharma and differentiating it without obstruction.” We are able to completely understand all Dharma. And have no obstructions in differentiating it. Second is “the wisdom of unobstructed meaning.” “This is understanding all Dharma and thoroughly comprehending it without obstruction.” We understand all Dharma, and we thoroughly comprehend it without any obstructions. Third is “the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric.” “This is understanding all kinds of languages and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will.” This is just like the “foreign language team.” Dozens of them come to practice diligently. Even though they speak various languages, people from northern, central and southern [Taiwan] all come back to the Abode to learn more about the Dharma. They come back to the Abode for diligent practice. Over the three days, [we saw] they can “understand all kinds of languages and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will.” No matter what terminology it is, they are always able to explain it. Fourth is “the wisdom of joyful eloquence.” “This is teaching sentient beings joyfully and freely.” I hope the Buddha’s teachings are always promoted and that these good teachings are spread around the world. This way, everybody can awaken themselves and understand the mistakes they have made. We must not keep contaminating people’s minds, disrupting people’s minds. We should earnestly [seek to be] like Dharma Clarity Tathagata. In His world, everybody says good words and performs good deeds. This is our ideal world and how we engage in practice.
The Four Unobstructed Wisdoms: First, the wisdom of unobstructed Dharma: This is thoroughly understanding all Dharma and differentiating it without obstruction. Second, the wisdom of unobstructed meaning: This is understanding all Dharma and thoroughly comprehending it without obstruction. Third, the wisdom of unobstructed rhetoric: This is understanding all kinds of languages and freely expounding [the Dharma] at will. Fourth, the wisdom of joyful eloquence: This is teaching sentient beings joyfully and freely.
“These people and more will be the Sangha.” This is the world of Dharma Clarity Tathagata. This is what his Sangha will be like. Those with the “Three Insights, Eight Liberations and the Four Unobstructed Wisdoms,” people like that, are all in His Sangha. This land is filled with spiritual practitioners like this.
“These people and more will be the Sangha. These and people like them are those who linger and abide in the Small Vehicle teachings to learn and practice the flawless Dharma. They are called the Sangha.”
Although they have aspirations, they are still at the stage of learning. They are still stuck at the stage of learning. They are those learning very earnestly. However, the teachings [they learn] move in the direction of the Great Vehicle Dharma. They already have removed Leaks from their mind; without Leaks, the Dharma that they learn will not leak away. They have precepts, Samadhi and wisdom; they listen, contemplate and practice. They are all without Leaks. This is the Sangha of the future Dharma Clarity Tathagata. In this way, they are good students. They take every word of the teachings to heart and put it into practice. This is Dharma Clarity Tathagata’s world in the future. We hope that our world can be like this. As we all engage in spiritual practice, “We must be imposing but not forceful; thus, humility and respect are our virtues. We must be gentle, generous and diligent; thus, honesty and love are our virtues.” Only with these can we subdue so many afflictions and captivate others so they “follow the path to rectify themselves.” This is what we should put our heart into. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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