Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: What the Universe Contains is Incredibly Wondrous (寰宇含藏妙難言)
Date: August.03.2017
“The Dharma is wondrous, the mind is wondrous, the principles and essence of the universe are wondrous and inconceivable. Time and space are boundless. What the universe contains is wondrous and unspeakable. Even one word of the Dharma is so profound it cannot be described using an ocean of ink. With the minds of unenlightened beings, we easily forget, so the Buddha, with compassion, teaches the Dharma again.”
The Dharma is wondrous! The Dharma is wondrous, and the mind even more so. The wondrousness of the principles and essence of the universe is not something that we as ordinary people are able to conceive of or truly experience. Indeed, the Dharma is truly very wondrous. It is profound; the Dharma is profoundly wondrous and difficult for us to conceive of. The Dharma is truly wondrous.
In exactly what ways is the Dharma wondrous? We need to put our heart into contemplating and experiencing the Dharma. We must [mindfully contemplate] the essence and appearances and principles of all things in the universe; we must put our heart into thinking about them. Distant things are unreachably far away, while close ones are right in front of us. What thing is not wondrous and inconceivable? Look at the notebook that you are holding. That notebook is made from pieces of paper that are combined to make a notebook. Where does the notebook’s paper come from? What is its original material? Paper pulp. The material for paper pulp comes from trees. Where do trees come from? Seeds. As for this seed itself, it is hard for a seed alone to grow into a tree. It needs certain conditions. There are different types of conditions needed. There are the conditions of earth, the conditions of water, the conditions of sunshine and the conditions of air and wind. Think about it; where does a seed originate? A seed looks like nothing much. If we cut it open, what we see inside the inside of the seed is merely something very tiny. What is contained within this tiny thing that comes together with causes and conditions to become a great tree? How can humans, with their thinking, come to an understanding of this? How do we know? How do we know that this large tree can be turned into paper pulp? The human mind can come up with these methods to turn a tree into paper pulp. After the paper pulp is processed by all kinds of machines and human labor, it is made into pieces of paper and trimmed into notebooks. Think about it, isn’t it wondrous? It is really wondrous!
Within the universe, this is only one example that is so close to us. In our daily living, we must mindfully seek to experience the truth; there are so many physical objects around us. Throughout the universe, the manifestations of these principles of matter and the principles each contain are all different. They are so wondrous and inconceivable. A paper notebook is made this way. The cellphone in everyone’s hand is even more complex. Making a simple cellphone is a complicated process. Material things in the world are destroyed in order to make this simple thing in our hand. In our hand, we hold the whole world. With one finger, we just keep swiping. Whatever we want just appears at our fingertips. We know these things like the back of our hand. But what we see only disturbs the mind. Because of such things, true principles become even more confused for us. Then the body and mind are disturbed. This is all created by humans. When things are used improperly, the body and mind are disturbed. Our health is also harmed in this way.
On a larger scale, we can talk about countries. Look at the news nowadays. Look at the people in refugee camps. This all began with one incident. Through print media and the internet, the news was spread and people were rallied. Their minds followed along and became disturbed. People began to gather together until it was too late to stop. Now it is like this, so many refugees fleeing; they are innocent! Just now I saw our report from Serbia. In the refugee camps now, what Tzu Chi volunteers in Europe have seen is lamentable. Among them, there is one Bodhisattva-volunteer from Rome, Italy. Her name is Tang Meikuai. She has already gotten involved and joined the ranks of volunteers. She said she saw a two-year-old girl. She was very tiny and by herself; she seemed lonely. She sat in a corner among the refugees. When she got up and walked around, she was alone. She wandered aimlessly and seemed lonely. When [Meikuai] saw this two-year-old girl, her heart went out to her. She went hugged the girl and asked, “Where is your mom? Where is she?” It turned out, the mother was pregnant and lying down in a corner. No one was taking care of her. How would this mother be able to take care of this two-year-old child? She asked, “What about your father?” They had been separated; she did not know where he was. Look how sad this is! They are human beings too. Their family used to be very fortunate. The child was so innocent and adorable. If her family and their country had not been met with such a thing occurring, wouldn’t this family have been happy? With a father and mother, and the mother about to give birth to a little brother or sister, this small family would have been full of blessings. But now it has already gotten to this point. The mother was going to give birth soon, and it looked like it would be very difficult. Could she safely give birth to the baby? After the child was born, where would they go?
I also read the story of a 16-year-old child. Because of the state their country was in, the parents had their 16-or 17-year-old child flee alone. This child followed the wave of refugees. In the midst of this, he sometimes thought about sneaking across from Serbia into Hungary. If he could reach Hungary, he would be able to go to his ideal country. But he was caught sneaking across the border. Not only was he beaten, he was marked with paint. After several attempts at crossing, this was all he had to show for it, getting caught and beaten. Now he had no choice but to listen to the rules and stay in the refugee camp. This is how the life of this 17-year-old boy was. Maybe in his country, this 16- or 17-year-old boy, still a youth, would have had the period of adolescence that the youth must go through. But nothing can be done about that. Now he is in this place, at the refugee camp by the Sid train station. In short, there are many stories from that place. When I read them, my heart truly goes out to them.
Look, does advanced science and technology bring us happiness or misfortune? Do these products of greater convenience create blessings or disasters? There are so many contradictions in the world. There are also many principles contained within these contradictions. This is the law of karmic cause and effect. That is why we say, “The principles and essence of the universe are wondrous and inconceivable. Time and space are boundless.” Truly, the principles contained within are really impossible to explain with words. So, “What the universe contains is wondrous and unspeakable.” We are at this moment in time, in this space in the universe. At this same moment in time, how many people’s sorties are unfolding? Some [people] are fortunate, but some are not. There are many happy moments and tragic ones, joys and sorrows, partings and reunions. At every moment, every second in time and space, how much is happening in this world?
So, in summary, “Every one word of the Dharma is so profound it cannot be described using an ocean of ink.” One word of the Dharma is truly profound. The Dharma is subtle and wondrous. Just within one word, one can expound many principles. With all the things that happen in the world. In just one second, if we used a pen with an amount of ink that is equal to the amount of water in the ocean, then even with so much ink, it would still be impossible to fully describe all the principles of people, matters and things in this time and space. Truly, “It cannot be described using and ocean of ink.” We must be very mindful. There is so much Dharma. It is precious to be born human and precious to hear the Buddha-Dharma. We are in this time and space, right now and right here; we have this human body, and we have the Buddha-Dharma to listen to. How can we not celebrate for ourselves? How can we not put our hearts into earnestly experiencing the truth? We must make use of the people and things that are around us in order to understand things that are far away. Throughout the world, there is so much suffering.
Not only is there suffering, but every minute and second, the true causes of suffering, the reasons that this suffering accumulates, are constantly beings created, constantly being reproduced and constantly being manufactured. It does not stop with the people who are suffering now; in fact, these causes and conditions, the ignorance, afflictions and delusions, will still constantly be reproduced. There is no end to these things in this world. how should we promote teachings of goodness when there is no end to negative phenomena? This is the world’s suffering. Thus, we are still unenlightened beings. “With the minds of unenlightened beings, we easily forget”. We have the aspiration to listen to the Dharma, but we easily forget what we learn. Even though we have been troubled by ignorance, we still seem to forget it again very quickly. How do we heighten our vigilance? How do we go about thoroughly adjusting our mind? How can we be earnest in our diligent practice? We forget all of this. We forget that we once received many teachings. It is the world’s suffering, impermanence, afflictions and ignorance that constantly teach us. So, how is it that we still do not see clearly? There are so many afflictions, so much ignorance, afflictions resulting from impermanence, suffering and emptiness; how can we not thoroughly understand them? We listen to the Dharma but quickly forget it. Only the Buddha could have such great compassion that every time He came to an important passage in the sutras, He would exercise His compassion and repeat the teachings. Because of the Buddha’s compassion, He persevered and never gave up, manifesting in the world life after life to transform sentient beings. When He had to causes and conditions, He quickly taught according to capabilities. After teaching the Dharma, He still had to repeat it again. He had to tirelessly teach it again and again. This was the Buddha’s love for sentient beings. He persevered and never gave up. He hoped that all people could value and respect the Dharma and engage in extended and uninterrupted practice with nothing further. He wanted everyone to practice with reverence and understand the principles of worldly Dharma. This was the Buddha’s hope. He hoped everyone would be mindful.
The previous sutra passage states, “Those 500 Arhats, Uruvilva Kasyapa, Gaya Kasyapa, Nadi Kasyapa, Kaludayi, Udayin, Aniruddha, Revada, Kapphina….”
Now He was indicating the 500 Arhats. At this point, as the Buddha began to teach this passage, these people, the 500 Arhats, were present. The meaning of Arhat is threefold.
Arhat has three meanings: One, thief-destroyer: This means eliminating the thief of afflictions. Two, worthy of offerings: It means they cultivate purifying practices, so they are worthy of receiving offerings from humans and heavenly beings. Three, one not to be reborn: They will enter Nirvana forever, no longer subject to the cause and effect of cyclic existence.
First is “thief-destroyer”. The meaning of “thief-destroyer” is one who eliminates the thief of afflictions. When it comes to our minds, every one of us intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Everyone has wisdom equal to the Buddha. Unfortunately, we have thieves of afflictions. These thieves of afflictions live in our minds, so our wisdom is constantly worn away by them. They continuously steal the treasures of our wisdom. Thus they are likened to thieves. Some say, “There is a thief in the house!” or “There is a thief in the company!” this means that things continuously disappear. The principle is the same. There is this thief in everyone’s mind; this is the thief of ignorance and afflictions. How do we deal with these thieves? We must put in the effort. We put in the effort to eliminate the thieves of afflictions and guard against them. So, we must abide by the precepts, not allow external afflictions to enter our minds, nor allow the thief inside of us to betray us from within. With outer circumstances and inner ignorance, when we come together with external states, they cause disturbances in our minds. In spiritual practice we need to have the resolve to destroy these thieves, to always abide by the precepts as prevention, not allow the thieves in us to cause chaos. We should not react to the outside, thus being attacked from both within and without. We must earnestly persevere in our spiritual aspirations. So, “thief-destroyer” means “eliminating the thief of afflictions.”
The second name is “worthy of offerings”. The Buddha is also worthy of offerings. The Arhats are also worthy of offerings, for they too engage in spiritual practice. those worthy of offerings cultivate purifying practices; this is why they can receive offerings from humans and heavenly beings.
So, first is being a “thief-destroyer”; we need to abide by precepts. The second is being “worthy of offerings”. With precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we have already settled our minds in Samadhi. Our bodies and minds are pure, so we can attain offerings from humans and heavenly beings. then we are “worthy of offerings“.
If we do not engage in spiritual practice and just want others to make offerings to us, we are not worthy of them. So, we must rely on our own efforts. To be “worthy of offerings” we must engage in purifying practices. Only then can we receive offerings from humans and heavenly beings.
The third is “one not to be reborn”. “Not to be reborn” means they will enter Nirvana forever. They will “no longer be subject to the cause and effect of cyclic existence.” Nirvana means the mind has arrived at a tranquil and still state, where there is no longer arising or ceasing. It is extremely tranquil; we are no longer subject to external temptations. No discursive thoughts arise ibn our minds either. This is the ultimate fruit; this state of mind is what Arhats are capable of reaching through practice. Thief-destroyer,” “worthy of offerings” and “one not to be reborn are their virtues.” They have these kinds of abilities and these kings of virtues.
The Buddha had begun to bestow predictions of Buddhahood upon these 500 disciples. He started to call each of them by name. previously, we went over the names one by one, starting with Kaundinya, all the way to Revada, Kapphina, Vakkula, Acyuta, Svagata and so on. The Buddha hoped that these disciples would [continue] in their process of spiritual practice. Although they did not have the highest capabilities like Sariputra, nor were they at the level of those with average capabilities like Mahakasyapa, nor could they conceal the Great and reveal the Small like Purna, He hoped that, being in the Sangha, they take Buddha’s heartfelt wishes and His teachings which transform sentient beings and put them into action. Though they were not at that level yet, starting from Kaundinya, who, with the Three Turnings of the Dharma-wheel was the first to awaken, the Buddha began to call out the name of rather exceptional [bhiksus] who were always at His side. For those whose names were called one by one, the Buddha said that these people “will all attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They will all share the same epithet and be called Universal Radiance.”
Revada, Kapphina, Vakkula, Acyuta, Svagata and so on, will all attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. They will all share the same epithet and be called Univresal Radiance.
These people’s names were already called, and the Buddha gave them confirmation. They would attain Buddhahood in the future and be called “Universal Radiance.” All of them would share the same name.
“At that time….” The next sutra passage states, “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke this verse.” He repeated the previous long-form prose and stated it again so that people would remember it.
The following passage begins, “The bhiksu Kaundinya will meet countless Buddhas and, after asankyas of kalpas pass, will attain universal and perfect enlightenment.”
These are repeated verses. These repeated verses were o describe these people who were just named, as these passages were not in the prose sections.
The repeated verse describes how the lifespan of these Buddhas will be 60,000 kalpas, the era of Right Dharma will be 120,000 kalpsa and that of Dharma-semblance, 240,000 kalpas. This is to supplement what the long-form prose did not mention.
How long is the lifespan mentioned here? The lifespan will be 60,000 kalpas. The era of Right Dharma will be 120,000 kalpas; the era of Dharma-semblance will be 240,000 kalpas. Without the verses, this was lost in the prose. So, these passages are repeated to make up for what the Buddha did not mention in the prose sections. What is more, when calling these names, the Buddha in fact also indicated that the time when the 500 bhiksus attain Buddhahood will be “after Kaundinya attains Buddhahood, that is, after the disappearance of the Dharma.”
He also said that the time when the 500 bhiksus will attain Buddhahood should be after Kaundinya attains Buddhahood, that is, after the disappearance of the Dharma. Moreover, He said the 500 bhiksus will attain Buddhahood one after another in sequence, and thus one after another, He bestowed predictions on them.
After Kaundinya attains Buddhahood, his lifespan will be a very long time. 60,000 kalpas is such a long time. Right Dharma will also abide for 120,000 kalpas. After this very long time, after the Buddha enters Parinirvana and after the periods of Right Dharma, Dharma- semblance and Dharma-degeneration, these 500 disciples will begin to attain Buddhahood in sequence. They will do so one after another. As each Buddha teaches, they will constantly bestow predictions in sequence so the teachings will continually be passed down.
This is what we need to know, the reason why the verses are repeated. First, it helps us to remember better. Second, it makes up for what the Buddha did not mention in the prose. This is why it was added afterwards.
At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke this verse: He already spoke of it earlier in the long-form prose. Now He stated it again. Thus it says “restate”.
So, “The bhiksu Kaundinya “will meet countless Buddhas. Each has different causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood.” Kaundinya and the many other people all have their own causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood.
The bhiksu Kaundinya will meet countless Buddhas: Each had different causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood meet countless Buddhas, serve and make offerings to Them.
This is like what I had said yesterday. Everyone has their own background and story of coming into this life and entering the door to the Buddhist teachings. Their courses of spiritual practice all differ, thus, “Each had different causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood”. So, as long as every spiritual practitioner follows the rules taught by the Buddha as they engage in spiritual practice, “in future lifetimes,” in life after life, for many lifetimes, they will be able to meet countless Buddhas. Meeting countless Buddhas means they will be able to meet Buddhas in lifetime after lifetime. They will meet Buddhas in many lifetimes, which is an indication of their spiritual practice. They can get close to these Buddhas and “serve and make offerings to Them”. They will be able to learn closely from the Buddha. This will happen to many in the future; in the future, these 500 disciples will attain Buddhahood in sequence, lifetime after lifetime.
After asankyas of kalpas pass, [he] will attain universal and perfect enlightenment: This praises how with perfected seeds, they attain the fruits. After countless kalpas pass, they will then achieve this.
“After asankyas of kalpas pass, [he] will attain universal and perfect enlightenment”. After engaging in such spiritual practice for many lifetimes. “With perfected seeds, they attain the fruits”. When the causes and conditions are completed and brought to fruition, naturally they will attain supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, which means that they attain Buddhahood. When their seeds of virtue are perfected, the fruits of Buddhahood will be attained.
Next, the sutra passage continues, “He will constantly emit a great radiance and be replete with all spiritual powers. Renowned universally in all directions, he will be respected by all and will constantly teach the supreme path, thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance. His land will be pure and clear. All the Bodhisattvas there will be courageous.”
Before Kaundinya attains Buddhahood in the future, he needs to encounter countless Buddhas. He will encounter countless Buddhas because he still has a very long time to go. So after this, Kaundinya must of course still continue to meet many Buddhas as “asankyas of kalpas pass”. Then, “He will constantly emit a great radiance and be replete with all spiritual powers.”
He will constantly emit a great radiance and be replete with all spiritual powers: Having practiced for long kalpas, he accumulated merits and virtues for lifetimes, thus attaining the path to Buddhahood. Emitting radiance indicates wisdom and virtue. Spiritual powers indicate Samadhi and wisdom.
“Having practiced for long kalpas” means that he will have to engage in spiritual practice for a long time. “He accumulated merits and virtues for lifetimes.” For many lifetimes, he must go among people. For many lifetimes, he needs to form affinities with others and benefit them. “He accumulated merits and virtues for lifetimes, thus attaining the path to Buddhahood”. So, after his merits and virtues are complete, he will attain Buddhahood. Having attained Buddhahood, naturally, this Buddha’s body will constantly be emitting light. He will be replete with the Buddha-virtues and will radiate light. This demonstrates that this Buddha, Universal Radiance Buddha, is replete with the virtue of wisdom. He is also “replete with all spiritual powers”.
Besides radiating great light, besides having wisdom like radiating light, he is also replete with spiritual powers. This shows his Samadhi and wisdom. We need to have wisdom [and virtue], so we must have Samadhi and wisdom. The special traits of this future Buddha are his wisdom and his power of Samadhi in all things.
“Renowned universally in all directions, he will be respected by all.” Being renowned is having a virtuous reputation. He is “known universally in all directions. He is respected and admired by all beings. [He] will constantly teach the supreme path, thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance”.
This is because he will constantly teach. From his future spiritual practice all the way until he attains Buddhahood, even in the land where he attains Buddhahood, he will still constantly teach the Dharma to sentient beings. His wisdom and teachings are inexhaustible. As previously mentioned, “The Dharma is wondrous, the mind is wondrous, the principles of the universe are wondrous.” They are truly wondrous and inconceivable. So, after he attains Buddhahood, in his land the Dharma will be inexhaustible. He will constantly teach the Dharma.
[He] will constantly teach the supreme path, thus his epithet will be Universal Radiance: Teaching the Dharma is universally emitting the radiance of wisdom to illuminate everything. Thus his epithet is Universal Radiance.
“Teaching the Dharma is universally emitting the radiance of wisdom.” The light of wisdom keeps radiating so that people who are in darkness and ignorance can escape and leave this ignorance behind. This is the meaning of wisdom. We can leave that lack of clarity and see the light of wisdom. “Teaching the Dharma is universally emitting the radiance of wisdom to illuminate everything. Thus, his epithet will be Universal Radiance”. He will be able to light up everyone’s minds and the principles of all the things in the world, so that everyone can see them more clearly. So, “His land will be pure and clear. All the Bodhisattvas there will be courageous.”
His land will be pure and clear. All the Bodhisattvas there will be courageous: This praises how pure and dignified his land is and how subtly wondrous his followers are. His land will be pure and clear: His circumstantial retributions are superior. All the Bodhisattvas there will be courageous: His direct retributions are superior.
The land of this Buddha is pure and clear. Every Bodhisattva is very diligent and courageous. This is praise for how pure and dignified his land is and how wondrous His followers are. Thus, for these 500 [bhiksus], and for Kaundinya is particular, the land he will attain in the future is like this. “His land will be pure and clear.” His circumstantial retributions are extraordinary. “All the Bodhisattvas there will be courageous.” This is to remind us that for Kaundinya, we must give rise to respect. From the limited teachings, he was the first to attain realizations. The Buddha began with the Three Turnings of the Four Noble Truths, which also marked the beginning of the Sangha. Therefore, we should have respect for [Kaundinya]. In the future when Kaundinya attains Buddhahood, it is possible that we will also be in his land. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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