Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Receiving Predictions Brings Infinite Joy (得佛授記 歡喜無量)
Date: August.21.2017
“They felt fortunate being able to understand now and ashamed of their lack of understanding in the past. They had four transgressions: They forgot their original vows, they were afraid of the Great Vehicle, they took joy in the Small Dharma and they were content with attaining the Small.”
Let us be mindful when listening to the teachings. In the past, we heard the Dharma, but after hearing, we may have quickly forgotten. The teachings entered our ears, yet leaked out of our memory. We were only casually listening. We did not take the teachings to heart, nor did we apply them in our daily living. These are our failings as sentient beings. This is the shortcoming of our minds. “I did listen! It’s just that I forgot. That’s all there is to it.” Indeed, that is all; we have just wasted our time. In this way, time slips away every minute and second. We already know that we should be diligent and put the teachings into practice among people. “I already knew this. I just forgot it for a bit. I just have this tendency not to get along well with people. This is just who I am. This is just the way things are.” As a result, we do not apply the teachings, and we do not form [good] affinities with people. Although we have been listening, if we do not use [what we learn], it is useless. So, we must feel remorseful and repent. The 500 disciples of the Buddha felt remorseful. They repented that they had wasted their time. Now they had understood. After the Buddha bestowed predictions of Buddhahood on them, they felt very fortunate and expressed the words in their hearts. So they said, “[We feel] fortunate being able to understand now and ashamed of our lack of understanding in the past.” They rejoiced. “I am so fortunate! Fortunately, I have now understood the Dharma that the Buddha taught.” However, they were ashamed that in the past they had wasted so much time. The Buddha was so dedicated in teaching the Dharma, but they were never able to thoroughly understand His intention. So, they were “ashamed of their lack of understanding in the past. They had four transgressions.” In this way, they had wasted their time. They could not realize the Buddha’s intent, nor could they really understand the teachings. They isolated themselves from people and were unable to realize [the teachings] in their lives. They had committed four kinds of transgressions.
What were they? “They forgot their original vows.” They forgot that for dust-inked kalpas, lifetime after lifetime, they had been born during the times of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas seized the causes and conditions to teach them, yet lifetime after lifetime, they were covered by their own ignorance. They had listened to the teachings, but they were unable to fully comprehend them. Sometimes, they took them to heart, were moved and formed aspirations. However, after forming aspirations, they soon forgot about them. So, “They forgot their original vows.” In lifetime after lifetime, they were touched. In kalpa after kalpa, no matter what era they were in, they had also formed aspirations. However, they would forget them every time. Even if they thought about it, were moved and formed vows, they would still hesitate. This means “They were afraid of the Great Vehicle.” They feared if they put their vows into action and went among people to transform sentient beings, [then,] “Wishing to transform sentient beings, we are instead transformed by sentient beings.” They were very scared. So, regarding the Great Vehicle Dharma, they hesitated and did not dare go among people. They did not dare to accept [the teachings] and apply them among people. Thus, “They were afraid of the Great Vehicle.” They were terrified, afraid to accept [the teachings] and go among people. They only “took joy in the Small Dharma.” They kept hesitating and lingering in the Small [Vehicle] Dharma. They felt [life was filled with] suffering. Their only wish was not return to this world. After thoroughly understanding the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, they earnestly accepted [and upheld] them. They knew well the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. [They thought] that if they were not careful, they would contrive affinities, and once they contrived affinities, they would be pulled back by sentient beings. They lacked confidence in themselves, so they limited themselves to the Small Dharma. In this way, they took joy in the Small Dharma meaning they limited themselves only to the Small Dharma. They were “content with attaining the Small.” Having attained the Small Vehicle Dharma, they already felt satisfied.”
This was because of these four transgressions, they are common failings that we all have. With these four common failings, we forget the teachings we heard in the past as well as the aspirations and vows we formed. We dare not accepts the Great Vehicle Dharma. Instead, we remain in the Small Vehicle. Having attained the Small Vehicle, we are already very content and only hope that we will not be reborn again to cyclic existence in the Six Realms. This is all we hope for. In this way, [the disciples] wasted many decades. Even though they lived when the Buddha was in the world, followed Him to join the Sangha and directly listened to His teachings, for several secedes, they had not progressed. They had passed their time in vain. Therefore, they deeply repented. This teaches us that we all should be mindful. “With each passing day, we draw closer to death.” Human existence is rarely attained and the Buddha-Dharma is rarely encountered. Today we have attained human existence and have moreover encountered the Buddha-Dharma. This is so precious! We should earnestly seize this [opportunity]. “Once lost, it takes eons to regain human for.” However, our intrinsic nature exists forever.
In the past, I have talked about different kinds of animals, how they all have a spiritual nature. There are so many animals. Those closest to humans are cats and dogs. Yesterday a group showed me a story of a dog in Penang, [Malaysia]. In our Jing Si Hall in Penang, there is a group that gathers every morning to listen to the Dharma. They have already done this for over three years. One of the attendants is Yang Suhua. There is a stray dog who is often seen in her neighborhood. This street dog came to her door. With her love for animals and her compassion, when she saw this stray dog, she started to feed him every day. Although she did not adopt him, he would come every day. Whenever she saw him, she quickly gave him food. One day, she noticed that as she was riding her bicycle to the Jing Si Hall for the early morning Dharma study, surprisingly, the dog followed her bicycle. He ran behind her all the way to the Jing Si Hall. Once there, he was very well-behaved, as if listening to the Dharma with the humans. This happened every morning. Sometimes, if she left home later than usual, the dog would already be waiting at her door. When she started riding the bicycle, the dog would follow her. One day, Suhua worried that if the dog kept following her, he might put himself in danger. Therefore, she decided to drive her car and take the dog with her to the Jing Si Hall. Actually, the hall is not far from her home. It is only about one or two kilometers away. However, she worried that if the dog followed her, it might be dangerous. So, she wanted to drive her car and give the dog a ride. But when she brought the car in front of the dog and invited him to jump in, her refused. She had no choice but to drive the car by herself. The dog then followed the car all the way to the Jing Si Hall. This happened every day. Every day, the dog refused to get in the car, but instead followed behind it. At the Jing Si Hall, the other volunteers saw this dog and wondered if he had come as her Dharma-protector or to listen to the Dharma. Therefore, one day another Dharma-sister said to Suhua, “Maybe you can drive to the Jing Si Hall and drive around it without stopping. Drive around two or three times and see how the dog reacts.” As usual, the dog followed [the car] from her door all the way to the Jing Si Hall. When he was about to enter, he noticed that the car did not stop. The car continued to drive to go somewhere else. The dog was very confused but stayed at the Jing Si Hall. Later, he saw that the car came back again. He thought the car would stop, but again, it did not. She he kept waiting there. No matter how [Suhua] called for him, “Doggie!” he would not follow her. Eventually, when the car drove away again, he ignored the car and entered the Jing Si Hall. He meekly sat there and listened to the Dharma. This was a report about a dog from Penang. From the beginning, the dog had been following the car to listen to the Dharma. In fact, the distance is not far. It is only a little over one kilometer, a walk of ten or so minutes and even less for a dog. No wonder the dog did not want to get in the car. He was expressing his sincerity in this way, by punctually listening to the Dharma every day.
Think about it. Although this dog has the physical form of a dog, he could have been a human being in his past lives. As a human, he might have listened to the Dharma but violated the precepts. Thus, without any control of his own, he fell into the animal realm. However, his Buddha-nature, his intrinsic nature of True Suchness, was not lost. Our intrinsic nature is everlasting and never lost. This time, he encountered a kind person who fed him every day. It turns out that the person who fed him is a Bodhisattva who does good deeds and listens to the Dharma every day. So, the dog comes punctually every day. Suhua said that, seeing the dog as she opens her door, she is now much more diligent. She does not dare to slack off. If the dog is able to arrive at her door on time, how can she slack off and not go to the Jing Si Hall? This is the story of a human and a dog, [a story of] diligence. This is how this person and this dog interact. Of course, human nature is also like this.
We saw another story, that of Hong Shunfa, a Faith Corp member from Tainan. He was born into a family environment where his father had two wives. He was the child of the second wife and was also the youngest of the father’s six children. His father was busy with his business, so whenever his mother felt wronged, she scolded her child to vent [her anger]. This resulted in psychological [problems] for him. He would always spend time with troublemakers, and of course he followed their bad example. After he returned from military service, he started running [underground lotteries] like “Everyone Is Happy”, “Mark Six” and so on. At the same time, he continued to be involved with the gangs. So, all of his life he made his mother worry. This went on until the 921 Earthquake struck. He had joined a security company. When the 921 Earthquake struck central Taiwan, he saw the Tzu Chi volunteers and found it hard to trust them. This was because he rejected religion. “These people are doing charity work, but are they genuine or fake?” His mind gave rise to doubt. After a period of time, he heard about Da Ai TV station. He [subscribed to] Da Ai TV and began to watch the Da Ai dramas. In the Da Ai dramas, he saw the story of Xie Kunshan, a person with disabilities. He had no hands or feet and he was also blind on one eye, but he was able to draw very beautiful pictures. He had such a successful life! He was even able to go abroad to share his story with Tzu Chi volunteers there. When [Hong Shunfa] saw these stories, he was very impressed. He also realized that he should change. In particular after his mother passed away, he kept feeling he had made mistakes in his life. He saw his mistakes, so he resolved to change. But although he wanted to change, it is hard to change one’s habitual tendencies. It was like this until he became very ill. A kidney problem resulted in high blood pressure and caused a stroke. After the stroke, there were residual effects. His vision was affected. His eyes could only see straight ahead; he had no peripheral vision. This brought him deep realizations. So, as he experienced these changes in life, his mindset changed. His sister also saw how he gradually came to interact with Tzu Chi volunteers. Tzu Chi volunteers took him to do recycling work and began inviting him to all kinds of activities. He was very interested in photography, so whenever he attended events, he always brought his camera with him. Without even noticing, he became a media volunteer and a recycling volunteer. He became a Tzu Chi dad in the community school, a classroom dad. He participated in every activity, helped tutor children in the school and taught the children Jing Shi Aphorisms. However, one day, the words of a first-grade student provoked him. The child said, “I can’t stand the sight of you. I feel uncomfortable seeing you”. Hearing this upset him greatly. He said that if this happened in the past, he would have thrown the kid to the ground. However, he had already taken the Jing Si Aphorisms to heart. He was teaching Jing Si Aphorisms; [one says], “If others dislike us, it means we are lacking in spiritual cultivation”. He began to form an aspiration in his mind, “Some day, you will feel happy to see me”. So, rather than making a scene, he made he made a vow. He started to be very careful. When he was in school, he was very polite and kind. In this way, he drew closer to the students. He taught the Jing Si Aphorisms very earnestly. Now, that child is in third grade. Whenever he sees [Hong Shunfa], he always salutes from a distance and shouts to him, “Good morning, Dad!” “Hello, Dad!” [Hong Shunfa] said, “Wow, what a big difference!” In the past, when people saw this person’s [bad] temper, even small children would say, “I can’t stand the sight of you”. Now when they meet, they greet him, say hello and even call him “dad”. So what about him? These students are like his own children. In the past, he spoke loudly; he would shout and yell. Nowadays, he gently and kindly draws near to them, hugs them and helps them. In this way, everyone is happy to see him. This is why we should go among people.
When we go among people, to be able to naturally form good affinities requires long-term spiritual practice. Even dogs do not lose their intrinsic nature. We humans need to form great aspirations and vow to go among people. Then, we can also form good affinities. Thus, the 500 disciples of the Buddha wanted to express what was in their hearts. In life after life in the past, they forgot the original vows that they had formed or they feared the Great Vehicle Dharma, so they limited themselves to the Small Vehicle and only sought to awaken themselves. This was all wrong.
They now lived during the era of the Buddha. The Buddha was in this world, and they were able to follow the Buddha to become a monastic in the Sangha. [Moreover], the Buddha taught them in person. So, at this moment they all felt very fortunate that they still had time. Now that the Buddha taught the Great Dharma, they could all open their hearts and understand. They felt fortunate for now being able to understand.” It was just that they felt remorse for previously being unable to understand the Buddha’s intent and as a result having wasted so much time. It was because of the four transgressions that they had wasted so much time. This was the sentiment the 500 disciples expressed.
Actually, think about that dog. His intrinsic nature is still there. Look at our current Faith Corps member. He changed his past habitual tendencies with just a change of mindset; he put the teachings into practice and changed his life. It is completely different now. Ordinary people can also turn into Bodhisattvas. So, shouldn’t we seize the time without delay?
Now, let us look at the previous sutra passage. ”’For the sake of skillful means, I manifested the appearance of Nirvana, but you thought that you had truly attained Nirvana.’ World-Honored One, only now do we know that we truly are Bodhisattvas.”
Here the Buddha expressed that since sentient beings have different capabilities, He used skillful means to teach the principle of “neither arising nor ceasing”. If everybody could eliminate afflictions and end negative affinities with sentient beings, the conditions that give rise to afflictions, they would not transmigrate in the Six Realms. This is called “Nirvana”. He started with the Four Noble Truths, the principles of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path, and taught them in this way. This is called “skillful means”. After they took the teachings to heart, they practiced accordingly. They thought that with this kind of practice, they would enter Nirvana. These were the skillful means that the World-Honored One, the Buddha, established. This was how the 500 bhiksus described the Buddha’s past teachings. “World-Honored One, only now do we know that we truly are Bodhisattvas. Only now did they realize that they too were able to form aspirations to become Bodhisattvas. This is what the 500 bhiksus expressed. We just need to form aspirations; everything is created by the mind. We can become Arhats and we can also become Bodhisattvas.
Thus, once we change our mindsets, naturally, as we practice the Bodhisattva Way, “we received predictions of attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi”. This comes from the following sutra passage.
We received predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Due to these causes and conditions, we greatly rejoice for having attained what we never had before.
They had begun to form Bodhisattva-aspirations. Thus, the Buddha knew that they had already formed great aspirations, so the Buddha bestowed predictions of Buddhahood, of attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. This means supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. “Due to these causes and conditions, we greatly rejoice for having attained what we never had before. This is what this sutra passage states. As the Buddha had bestowed upon them predictions of Buddhahood, everybody greatly rejoiced for these causes and conditions. they had never been so joyful before. This was because the Buddha bestowed upon them. Predictions of Buddhahood, of supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, as well as the reward-body would manifest upon attaining Buddhahood. In the future, once causes and conditions mature, they will be born in the human realm and engage in spiritual practice. Following the same process as the Buddha, they too will engage in spiritual practice and awaken to attain Buddhahood. This is the prediction the Buddha bestowed regarding their future reward-body.
We received predictions of Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi: They received predictions of attaining supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment. This is the prediction of attaining Buddhahood and manifesting a reward-body.
[To attain] this future reward-body, they will have to undergo a long period of time of coming to the world, lifetime after lifetime in response to cause and conditions here. Only when the cause and conditions are mature and perfected will they manifest a reward-body and again return to the world. So, “This means that from the first ground….” It stats from the beginning.
Reward-body: This means that from the first ground to their ultimate fruition of wondrous enlightenment, they will accumulate merits, virtue and Dharma that are right and perfect. Therefore, they will be able to manifest in response to capabilities. they will teach all kinds of Dharma and delivered many sentient beings. Thus, this is called a “reward-body”.
In fact, all of us are manifesting a body. Me too, I am manifesting one, in accordance with causes and conditions, with the time, the place and the affinities we have with our parents. So, according to these causes and conditions, we are born to this world. I was born into this world, and you too were born to the world according to your cause and conditions. there are also karmic conditions between us. In response to these causes and conditions, we are now abiding in the same place. However, the bodies that we manifest are still those of unenlightened beings. Form our past until the present, we have been in this process of [learning] of manifesting a body to hear the Buddha-Dharma we must earnestly put effort into listening, practicing, teaching and spreading the Dharma repeatedly following this cycle. “From the first ground [we advance] to our ultimate fruition of wondrous enlightenment”.
The day will come, after countless future lives, if we continue to engage in spiritual practice, when we too will attain “ultimate fruition of wondrous enlightenment. So, “we accumulate merits, virtue and Dharma.” Only then can we return to the world with perfect [causes and conditions], manifesting in response to capabilities. At that time, we will clearly have positive causes and conditions. With aspirations to engage in spiritual practice, we will naturally “be able to manifest in response to capabilities.” after attaining Buddhahood, we will be able to “teach all kinds of Dharma” to “deliver many sentient beings”. this is called a reward-body. Manifesting a reward-body is the result of lifetime after lifetime responding to causes and conditions in the world. We must earnestly cherish our human existence and earnestly accept the teachings of the Buddha-Dharma. We must take the teachings to heart. We should not only take them to heart, but also go among people and use the Buddha-Dharma to widely transform sentient beings and form good affinities with them. So, “Due to these cause and conditions, “we greatly rejoice for having attained what we never had before.”
Due to these cause and conditions, we greatly rejoice for having attained what we never had before: Because they were bestowed with this prediction of the causes and conditions to attain Buddhahood, they felt great joy in their hearts for having what they never had before.
These were the causes and conditions. They all felt great joy because they had received predictions of Buddhahood from the Buddha. The causes and conditions of future Buddhahood began from that moment. They were able to form their resolve. With determination in their hearts, naturally, they felt great joy. This was something they never had before. They now knew that they were truly Bodhisattvas. As long as they formed aspirations, they would be able to become Bodhisattvas.
Only now do we know that we truly are Bodhisattvas: This shows that they did not know it in the past. They worked so hard and suffered such afflictions. After [the Buddha] opened the provisional to reveal the true, they already understood clearly that they truly were Buddha-children. Because of this, they were able to receive predictions from the Buddha. Therefore, they felt infinite joy.
It is quite simple to be a Bodhisattva. As I often say to everyone, when we benefit sentient beings with every action and with every word, encourage people to do good deeds and give of ourselves to others, this is the conduct of a Bodhisattva. Thus, we should know [this]. We “did not know it in the past. We worked so hard and suffered such afflictions.” Because we keep forgetting the past, we constantly remain in this unenlightened state. But the Buddha, starting with limited teachings, has continually guided us until now. When the time and capacities were mature, He opened up the provisional to reveal the true and began to teach the Lotus Sutra. They saw Sariputra, the four great disciples as well as Purna Maitrayaniputra. They heard so many teachings taught using both True Dharma and parables, direct teachings, indirect analogies etc. They now understood very clearly; they were completely clear that “they truly were Buddha-children”. We are actually truly born of the Buddha’s speech. So, we are all [born] from the Dharma. The Buddha taught the Dharma with His speech, and when we take this Dharma to heart, the wisdom-life of our Dharma-body grows. Thus, we truly are Buddha-children. “Because of this, they were able to receive predictions from the Buddha. Therefore they felt infinite joy.” Thus, they received predictions from the Buddha and all felt great joy.
The following sutra passage states, “At that time Ajnata Kaundinya and others, wishing to restate their meaning, spoke this verse, ‘All of us heard the supremely peaceful and calming sound of bestowing predictions. We rejoice in gaining what we never had before. We prostrate to the Buddha of infinite wisdom.”’
Ajnata Kaundinya and the others spoke this verse to express their remorse and repentance as well as their feelings of gratitude and joy. Having finished speaking, because it was so important, they hoped everybody would remember it better. Thus, to “restate their meaning, [they] spoke this verse.” They will now repeat it again in verse. In this way, Ajnata Kaundinya and the 500 Arhats, in order to be cautious, used verse form to reiterate the previously expressed meaning. They continued to say, “All of us heard the bestowing of predictions that was supremely peaceful and calming.”
All of us heard the bestowing of predictions that was supremely peaceful and calming: They again stated that they felt fortunate for now being able to understand. All of them could hear the predictions bestowed by the Buddha that made their minds peaceful and calm. Supremely peaceful and calming: This refers to Sakyamuni Buddha giving them predictions of Buddhahood. With this, they gave rise to joy in their hearts.
This is what they were all like. Listening to the Buddha calmed their minds. Although they would still require a long time, countless lifetimes, even with such a long time ahead, the Buddha had now already put their minds at ease. They trusted the Buddha’s [prediction] that they could truly attain Buddhahood in the future. The Buddha’s prediction made them feel calm and peaceful. Hearing these predictions of Buddhahood, all of them felt great joy. They felt very happy and “fortunate for now being able to understand,” They were filled with joy. Now they had attained predictions of Buddhahood from the Buddha. “All of them could hear [the predictions].” Now they could also hear the Great Vehicle Dharma and the great, direct, supreme Bodhi-path. This “made their minds peaceful and calm”. It made their minds very peaceful and very joyful. Upon hearing the bestowing of predictions of Buddhahood from the mouth of the Buddha, their minds were very calm and peaceful. This was the joy and the peace and calm that the Buddha gave them. They could now deeply believe that they would attain Buddhahood in the future. So, they were “supremely peaceful and calm”. This was because Sakyamuni Buddha had told them they would attain Buddhahood. Thus, they felt great joy. “We rejoice in gaining what we never had before. We prostrate to the Buddha of infinite wisdom.”
We rejoice in gaining what we never had before. We prostrate to the Buddha of infinite wisdom: Those in the assembly rejoiced for having what they had never had before. They prostrated at the feet of the Buddha, the One with infinite Wisdom, the World-Honored One of 10,000 virtues.
In the past, we were ignorant and thus wasted time. Now that we have formed aspirations, our mind is very peaceful and joyful, and we have no more doubts. We have decided to go among people and transform sentient beings. So, with great joy in our minds and with the utmost reverence, “We prostrate to the Buddha of infinite wisdom”. Sakyamuni Buddha has infinite wisdom, so He is called “the Buddha of infinite wisdom”. Thus, “Those in the assembly rejoiced for having what they had never had before.” With such joy and reverence in their minds, “they prostrated at the feet of the Buddha”. This was their way of showing their utmost respect. With their foreheads, they one after another touched the Buddha’s feet. So, they prostrated at the feet of the Buddha, “the One with infinite Wisdom, the World-Honored One of 10,000 virtues”. This was a way to pay their supreme respect to the Buddha. They praised the Buddha as the One with infinite Wisdom, as the World-Honored One of 10,000 virtues. He was respected by everyone in the world and was replete in wisdom.
So, dear Bodhisattvas, since we have already formed aspirations and have faith that we can become Bodhisattvas, we must carefully protect our intrinsic nature. Our intrinsic nature is definitely everlasting. From Beginningless Time until now, it has neither increased nor decreased. We must safeguard it. Not only should we safeguard it, but we must also keep advancing. As we listen to the teachings, we must form great aspirations; with a change of mindset, we can form great aspirations to be Bodhisattvas. This is all up to us. Do we have the resolve to practice? are we willing to go from the state of unenlightened beings to walking the Bodhi-path and attaining the awakening of the Buddha? Are we willing to do this? if we are willing and have such aspirations, then we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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