Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Seeking the Buddha’s Predictions of Buddhahood (勤修行者 願得佛記)
Date: September.01.2017
“Diligent practitioners use their wisdom to observe world-transcending virtuous and blessed karma. When we clearly understand the truth and the path of Suchness, we give rise to the thought of freeing ourselves from defiled conditions in the mundane world. We make use of this thinking in order to transcend the world. We follow the Buddha’s teachings and aspire to receive the Buddha’s predictions of Buddhahood.”
We must be mindful in understanding the Dharma. When we listen to the Dharma, this is very important! Listening to the Dharma, we must take it into our minds. “Diligent practitioners use their wisdom.” If we do not take the Dharma to heart, how are we going to increase our wisdom? So, to increase our wisdom, we must listen. After listening, we must take [the Dharma] to heart and earnestly contemplate. This is “listening and contemplating.” After listening to the Dharma, if we do not mindfully contemplate it, we will not be able to comprehend the wondrous principles of the Buddha-Dharma. After listening to it, we must then let it circulate in our minds, earnestly contemplate it. We must not let it go in one ear and out the other. We must listen to it and place it in our hearts. We must apply it in our minds and earnestly contemplate it. Can we apply the Dharma in our lives, put it into practice in our interactions with people, matters and things? If we can apply the Dharma to worldly matters and things, then we are applying what we learned. So, in listening to the Dharma, we must apply what we hear. This is true spiritual cultivation. This is what is meant by listening, contemplating and practicing. We practice to cultivate our minds and character. Starting from listening to the Dharma, we keep the Dharma in our minds, and in our work with and interactions with people, we earnestly reveal our self-cultivation. Cultivating our minds and correcting our behaviors is called spiritual practice. This is wisdom. [We need to] use the Buddha-Dharma to transform our wisdom-lives and perfect our wisdom. If we have wisdom, then naturally, in our interactions with people and in dealing with things and matters, [we] “observe world-transcending virtuous and blessed karma.” How should we do that? When we interact with people, are these people our beneficial friends? Or are they our harmful friends? If they are beneficial friends, then they are assisting conditions for us. They can help us complete our spiritual practice by showing us the right direction. These are beneficial friends. They are able to share our aspirations and mission.
We can learn from each other and encourage each other. These people are all beneficial friends. What about harmful friends? If they are harmful friends, then we should earnestly observe them. But we have to be very careful. If we can help them to turn their thoughts around and transform evil into goodness, of course, that is the best. However, if they are stubborn and we cannot change them, then we ourselves must uphold our practice of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, wisdom of listening, contemplating and practicing. We can take them as negative assisting conditions; they remind us to be vigilant. They too [might be] listening to the Dharma, but when they listen to the Dharma, they fail to use it as a check on their daily living. Thus, their behavior goes off track. Of course, we should try to advise them. If we cannot persuade them to turn back, we simply must protect ourselves. This is just like when the Buddha was about to enter Parinirvana. Ananda hurriedly came to ask the Buddha, “Buddha, in the Sangha, there are still stubborn bhiksus who do not accept the teachings. While the Buddha is still alive, they are already hard to train. Once the Buddha enters Parinirvana, how will we lead them to follow the rules of the Sangha?” The Buddha sighed [and said], “We must rely on everyone’s compassion. Guide them mindfully. If you can lead them to change, this creates countless merits. If you cannot convince them to change, then you can only be forgiving and ignore them.” This was when the Buddha was about to enter Parinirvana. When faced with these people who were unable to uphold precepts, He could do nothing but sigh. So, before the Buddha entered Parinirvana, He also said that as long as the Buddha-Dharma is in the world, people in the world can utilize these principles, the Dharma of the Right Path. The Buddha-Dharma is wondrous medicine for treating afflictions and ignorance in the world. It is the best medicine for saving the world. It is the best method to save the world. No heretical teachings can destroy the true principles of the Buddha’s teachings. This is because they are true principles. They are the true principles of all things in the world; regardless of the time or the environment, nothing can destroy these true principles. But what made the Buddha sigh was how “The lion’s parasites eat the lion’s flesh.” This is just like a lion. In the forest, the lion is the king of all beasts. When other animals see the lion, they quickly flee from him. They do not dare to offend him. When they hear the lion’s roar, when the lion lets his voice be heard, all animals will quickly hide. They do not dare cross him.
Yet on the lion’s own body, there are fleas, “the lion’s parasites”. On the lion’s body, in his hair and his pores, the fleas live and grow. They bits the flesh of the lion. This was why they Buddha sighed. In the future, what can destroy the Buddha-Dharma is not non-Buddhist teachings, but its own practitioners, those who do not have proper and right views of the Buddha-Dharma. When people’s thinking has deviated and they have misunderstandings regarding the Dharma, that is what harms the Buddha-Dharma. This is like how, when Ananda was 120 years old, He overheard a young bhiksu chant a verse that was clearly wrong. It was a very minor error, but it caused a great deviation in the Dharma. He corrected [the young bhiksu], but the young bhiksu’s master would not admit [any error]. He even said, “Ananda is old. His memory is failing, and his wisdom has regressed. There is no need to listen to Ananda.” Because of this, Ananda had a realization. He was advanced in age, 120 years old. His fellow practitioners in the Sangha had all passed on one by one. This was just like a forest. All the trees together can shield against the wind, and the trees can protect the earth. But as the trees fall one by one and are gone, the ability of a single, lonely tree to block he wind and protect the earth is very weak. When Ananda thought about this, he thought, “What is the use of remaining in the world?” So, He decided to seek his final rest. Indeed, when Ananda saw that, in his own Sangha, the Buddha-Dharma that was passed down by word of mouth had deviated, that it was not corrected but retained those errors, he could not bear to hear and see this. Furthermore, subject to the laws of nature, he had truly become old. We can see that the Right Dharma at that time was only passed down by word of mouth. Most of the time this was how the Dharma was transmitted. So, there were deviations and mistakes. After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, as Ananda was passing down the teachings and leading the Sangha, he too would sigh helplessly.
In any case, for Ananda, from [the time] he met the Buddha and listened to the Dharma until he passed away, 100 years had gone by. He became a monastic at 19 and became the Buddha’s attendant at 20. As for the teachings of the previous 20 years, the Buddha reiterated them for Ananda to hear. Ananda was by the Buddha’s side, attending Him, for almost 30 years. Think about it; when Ananda was 50 and the Buddha was 80, He entered Parinirvana. After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, [Ananda] started to compile the teachings. He started compiling the teachings at 50 and lived until he was 120 years old. During this time, from the time he began to compile the teachings and people began passing them on by word of mouth until the Buddha-Dharma began to lost its shape and show slight deviations, only 70 years passed. Therefore, whether the Buddha-Dharma can be correctly passed down depends on our mindfulness and wisdom. We must earnestly observe and consider how to ensure that [what we create] is true, world-transcending blessed karma. We must teach and guide. We cannot only practice for our own benefit. We must go among people. When we go among people, we must not let their afflictions and ignorance pollute our minds. We must have a world-transcending sprit as we do our work in the world, as we spread the Buddha-Dharma in the world. Only when we have a world-transcending spirit can we maintain the purity of our minds.
So, why does [monastic] spiritual practice require leaving one’s family and loved ones? Leaving one’s family and loved ones means that the afflictions of family will not entangle us. If we are one person, we can end this all at once and thoroughly, mindfully accept the Buddha’s teachings. We can focus solely on passing down the Buddha’s teachings to future generations. The defiled love of family relationships will no longer entangle us. This allows us to focus completely on the Buddha-Dharma and on serving humanity. This is called doing work in the world with a world-transcending spirit. This is called “world-transcending virtuous and blessed karma.” Blessed karma must be cultivated among people. “World-transcending” means not being tainted by worldly desires. This is to be world-transcending. So, “We clearly understand the truth and the path of Suchness.” We should always clearly understand “the truth and the path of Suchness”. “The truth” is the true principles. “Suchness” refers to returning to our nature of True Suchness, completely understanding the true principles of conditioned phenomena and thus entering the truth of unconditioned phenomena. How do conditioned phenomena converge and form? They are formed from the aggregation of desires from afflictions and ignorance.
In modern society, technology is very advanced. Because of our desires, we do many things that destroy the earth. We take energy and resources from the earth without restraint in order to make these things. Nowadays, everyone’s life is very convenient. Transportation is convenient. In particular, we all have cellphones in our hands. We do not need to go anywhere. Whit a simple dial on the phone right here, the other person’s image appears in front of us. As we are talking to them, we also appear in front of them. This “transportation in the palm of your hand” is very convenient. But do we know where these convenient things actually came from? This is how we sentient beings are. Even though everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, once we understand the principles of conditioned phenomena and know how to put these things together, we stop at nothing to obtain things and put them together into tangible things. This is conditioned phenomena. Every object has its own workings, its own principles. We destroy this tangible [land], these tangible things that all originally contain these principles, then obtain [their resources] and reassemble them. How many things need to be assembled to make a cellphone? This is first destroying, then reassembling. This is what we sentient beings do when we understand the principles of matter; we destroy these things to extract and refine them into [raw materials]. But we are destroying vast areas just to obtain a tiny bit of material. Isn’t this what happens to the mountains, rivers and land? So, we need to understand this. If we do not understand, we might think that there are now plenty of material resources. Then we become extravagant. We use as much as we like and quickly replace things. This is the karma we ordinary people create. We destroy nature; we destroy the land. This ignorance.
We have lost our wisdom; what we use is our small-minded cleverness, which ends up causing large-scale harm. It only benefits sentient beings’ [desire for] convenience, satisfying the desires of sentient beings. This is all it does. However, it causes great harm to nature. This is ignorance, not understanding the true principles of unconditioned phenomena. We should truly “clearly understand the truth and the path of Suchness”. We have come to live in the world, so we should follow the principles of the world in our daily living; this is also a way of life! Since ancient times, our [ways of life] have been changing. Are we actually advancing? In fact, we are causing destruction, but we are completely unaware of this. As Buddhist practitioner, we must understand this. We must be very clear on this. So, “We clearly understand the truth and the path of Suchness”. We should thoroughly understand principles and return to the path of True Suchness. We can then clearly understand that we must cherish our wisdom-life. Truly, we need to develop our wisdom-life. Wisdom-life is wisdom. We must learn how to develop it.
So, “[We must] free ourselves from defiled conditions in the mundane world”. We must free ourselves from the mundane world, from the defiled conditions in this mundane world. Defiled conditions in the mundane world refers to what we mentioned just now. [The pursuit] of satisfying humanity’s [desires], of satisfying our own desire for profit, for fame, wealth and so on, are all defiled conditions. These [defiled conditions] are what bring about the deluded karma of birth and death. This is how we are in this world; we have these defiled causes and conditions. We must earnestly, quickly and thoroughly understand the true principles of the Buddha-Dharma and free ourselves from the defiled conditions of this mundane world. Defiled conditions [disturb] the still waters of True Suchness. The intrinsic principles of our nature of True Suchness are like still water, but ignorance disturbed this still water, creating the defiled conditions of the mundane world and stirring up waves in samsara’s sea of suffering. People now are truly [suffering] from the imbalance of the four elements of the macrocosm and from the imbalance in people’s minds causing manmade calamities. See how people today are really at the juncture of life and death. As this happens, do we know where we are going? We do not know! The world is filled with unbearable suffering. So, we need to understand, “Clearly [understand] the truth and the path of Suchness”, to give rise to the thought of freeing ourselves from defiled conditions in the mundane world.
So, we have to “make use of this thinking in order to transcend the world”. We must earnestly cultivate contemplation, follow the Buddha’s teachings and aspire to receive the Buddha’s predictions of Buddhahood. This happened in the Buddha’s era. Everyone was looking forward to it. When the Buddha was starting to enter the Great Vehicle teachings, He began to bestow predictions of Buddhahood on His disciples. This was in the text of the sutra. Now, the Chapter on Those at and beyond Learning is about how the Buddha, while He was alive, wanted to confirm for us that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Previously, 500 disciples had already received predictions of Buddhahood. He also told Venerable Kasyapa, “The 1200 disciples can attain Buddhahood as well. Pass [this message] to them for me”. Next, those at and beyond the stage of learning would all receive predictions of Buddhahood. At this time, they all received predictions of Buddhahood. This showed that all who enter the Buddha’s door and practice the Buddha-Dharma can attain Buddhahood in the future. This is the meaning contained here.
Let’s look at the [previous] sutra passage. “At that time, Ananda and Rahula gave rise to this thought”.
At that time, Ananda and Rahula had heard the Buddha bestowing predictions of Buddhahood on so many disciples. At the time, Ananda and Rahula were known and recognized by everyone. Ananda was the Buddha’s attendant. Rahula was the Buddha’s son. At this time, everyone had had their names called and had received predictions of Buddhahood. “Why has my turn not come yet? It should be soon!
“At that time, Ananda and Rahula gave rise to this thought, ‘We often thought to ourselves that if we could receive predictions, we would be very joyful’”.
It should happened very soon. “Immediately they arose from their seats and came before the Buddha. They prostrated with their heads at His feet and together spoke to the Buddha”.
Ananda and Rahula, these two, came before the Buddha. they were about to ask the Buddha to bestow predictions of Buddhahood on them. We have discussed Ananda before. Rahula [is a Sanskrit name] which means “repeated obstructions”. He was the Buddha’s son. Why was he called “repeated obstructions”? [This was because] he had obstructions.
Rahula: His name meant “repeated obstructions”. He was the Buddha’s son. When the Buddha wanted to become a monastic, His father told Him, “If you have a son, I will allow you to follow your aspirations.” Because of this obstruction of having a son, He postponed becoming a monastic.
Even since a young age, the Buddha had felt there were many contradictions in life. He saw the impermanence of birth, aging, illness and death. He also saw the inequality between the four castes. He felt that there should be no [differentiation between] the four castes. “The rich and noble live in lixury while the poor suffer so greatly. All humans should be equal. If should not be this unequal. Moreover, there is birth, aging, illness and death. How can this principle be explained?“ His every thought was on becoming a monastic, to help everyone resolve the doubts in their mind, to help everyone be free from birth, aging, illness and death and to help everyone in the four castes become equal. When everyone is equal with each other, the world can be at peace. How could He guide people in the world to understand this? He Himself had to understand it first. So, the only way was to single-mindedly seek the principles. Thus, He wanted to become a monastic.
But His father, the kind, was not willing to let Him have the lay life. In the end, [the king] felt helpless and said to Prince Siddhartha, ”Wait until when you have a son yourself to pass on the throne to. Then I will allow you to become a monastic.” This matter caused Siddhartha great torment. He wholeheartedly wanted to leave His loved ones and become a monastic, but His father had this condition. So, He could not do anything. Once Yasodhara become pregnant, the prince prepared to leave the palace to become a monastic. However, although Yasodhara was pregnant, she did not give birth in [40 weeks]; Rahula remained in the womb for six years. It took six years before Yasodhara gave birth. So, everyone began discussing this. The prince had already become a monastic. How did Yasodhara, after six years, give birth to a child? Everyone thought that she had been unfaithful. They wanted to sentence her to death and so prepared a fire pit. They dug a hole and put firewood inside. They started the fire and forced her to jump into the fire pit while holding her son in her arms. This was [the penalty] for women being unfaithful; the law of the country could not allow it. Even though everyone was disheartened, this was the law of the country, so they could not do anything. As this was happening, as Yasodhara approached the fire pit, the flames suddenly turned into red lotuses, lotuses that seemed to carry her. The fire went out. This is one of the stories in Buddhism.
Did this actually happen at that time? Let us not talk about this right now. However, Rahula we carried in the womb for six years. Six years after the Buddha attained enlightenment, King Suddhodana asked the World-Honored One to return to Kapilavastu to transmit the Dharma. At that time, Rahula was still young. He was innocent and undefiled. He was young, but he was very mischievous. Many people pampered him with love, so he was very mischievous. But then he saw the Buddha. everyone wanted to know if Rahula was really the Buddha’s son. They brought him outside. There were lots of monastics there they wanted to see whom he would approach, which one was his father. Surprisingly, Rahula was able to walk over to where the Buddha was and deeply prostrate to Him. After that, everyone believed in the familial relationship between father and son. They believed in this even more. So, it was because Rahula obstructed both his father and his mother that his name was “repeated obstruction”. This was Rahula’s name. he was in his mother’s womb for six years. When the Buddha attained Buddhahood and returned to the palace six years later, he was still young. The Buddha, during this time, felt that Rahula was very young. As the king’s grandson, in the future he would govern the country. But the child was still so young. In the future, how was he to lead the citizens and govern the country’s affairs? There would probably be no way. So, the Buddha decided to have Rahula become a monastic. Rahula really liked the Buddha. When the Buddha was expounding the sutra, [Rahula] would always follow him closely. By the Buddha’s side, he too would listen to the Dharma. When the Buddha left the palace to go to other places, he also wanted to follow. He followed him back and forth, very innocently, but he was always by the Buddha’s side.
So, the Buddha, when He returned to Kapilavastu, told the king that he should let Rahula become a monastic. Now, the king had already clearly understood the Dharma. If his grandson were to become a monastic, although he felt very sad, he would not oppose it. In fact, it was Yasodhara who found it most difficult to let him go, but she too could do nothing. Because of this, the Buddha asked Sariputra to be Rahula’s teacher and Maudgalyayana to shave Rahula’s head. Sariputra taught Rahula the Dharma. This was basically having two teachers. [Rahula] was Sariputra’s disciple, while Maudgalyayana shaved his head. This was Rahula; he was also the first novice monastic. This was Rahula.
Rahula: He was in His mother’s womb for 6 years and became a monastic as a child. The Buddha asked Sariputra to be his tutor and teach him to uphold the novice’s precepts.
There are many later stories about Rahula as well. In the Buddhist Sangha, he practiced patience. He [mastered] esoteric practice. He practiced quietly. He had the skill of patience. We can explain more about him later. In this way, Rahula became the first novice of the Buddha’s Sangha.
So, “Ananda and Rahula gave rise to this thought.” They said, “We often thought to ourselves.”
[They] gave rise to this thought, “We often thought to ourselves”: The two great disciples simultaneously gave rise to this thought. “In our minds, we often thought to ourselves.”
They were considered tow of the great disciples. It was time for the Buddha to bestow predictions of Buddhahood, and Ananda and Rahula were both always by the Buddha’s side. They were known and recognized by all. They were also the Buddha’s relatives; they were very close. Of course, they were people that everyone knew. So, they were called great disciples. The two of them both had this same thought. “In our hearts, we probably both often had this kind of wish. Sariputra received predictions from the Buddha. Kasyapa received predictions from the Buddha. Purna Maitrayaniputra and the others, the 500 disciples, received predictions of Buddhahood. Throughout this process, in our minds, we had this kind of thought, that very soon, we would also be able to receive predictions of Buddhahood from the Buddha.” [Thus,] “If we could receive predictions, we would be very joyful.” The time for the Buddha to bestow predictions on them should be quickly approaching. This meant that “The Buddha must be bestowing predictions on us very soon.”
If we could receive predictions, we would be very joyful: They thought, if the Buddha would bestow predictions upon them, would it not be a great joy? Joy: This means to celebrate in happiness. Since they had not yet received predictions, they felt unsettled and uneasy. Thus, they were worried and unhappy. They thought, if they could receive predictions and be ranked among the sages, would it not be a great joy?
“Since they had not yet received predictions, they felt unsettled and uneasy.” They knew that the Buddha should soon bestow predictions on them. But the Buddha had not yet done it, so their minds were still uneasy. Although they knew that they could definitely receive predictions, their names were not called yet. “The Buddha did not bestow predictions on me yet. My mind is still not at peace.” So, “They felt unsettled and uneasy.” Their minds were still unsettled, so they were worried and unhappy. Their minds were not very happy, since everyone had received predictions already. If the Buddha could bestow predictions on them, they could then put their minds at ease. They could then be happy, and their minds could open up. Otherwise, “I still feel very depressed now before the Buddha bestows predictions on me. He has not called my name yet. I clearly know in my heart I have a part in this but my name has not yet been called. They thought, if they could receive predictions and be ranked among the sages….” This means that if they could receive predictions, they could be [ranked among] these people, among Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa and the others. They could feel that they had truly received the Buddha’s recognition, that in the future they would attain Buddhahood. There would be no differentiation. Everyone can attain Buddhahood. “Being ranked among the sages” is being equal to these great disciples. Although in spiritual practice, people should not make such comparisons, people always have this kind of mindset. They still had this kind of mindset, still had a “self”. Why else would Ananda say, “Thus have I heard?” everyone was still attached to the self. “How come the Buddha has not called my name to bestow predictions on me?” If [the Buddha] called on them, it would be like [when He] called on Sariputra. It would be like [when He] called on Mahakasyapa, Katyayana and the others, like [when He] called on Purna Maitrayaniputra. The Buddha praised Purna Maitrayaniputra to let everyone know that, if their names were called, they could be ranked as equal to everyone else. [Everyone] understood this. So, because of this, if He bestowed predictions on them, they would definitely be happy. “Would it not be a great joy?” Their hearts should become very happy. Because of this, after everyone received predictions, after the 500 disciples received predictions, they came out to speak to the Buddha. [These two] had not yet received predictions. But they knew that soon the Buddha would call their names, so naturally they came before the Buddha. So, “Immediately they arose from their seats and came before the Buddha. They prostrated with their heads at His feet and together spoke to the Buddha.”
Immediately they arose from their seats and came before the Buddha. They prostrated with their heads at His feet and together spoke to the Buddha: They had a request, so they left their seats and came forward. They prostrated with their heads at the Buddha’s feet and both spoke in one voice to the Buddha.
The two came before the Buddha and [paid respect] with utmost reverence. “They had a request” meant that they wanted to ask for teachings and that they requested the Buddha to bestow predictions on them. They left their seats and came forward, meaning they stood up from their seats and came before the Buddha. “They prostrated with their heads at the Buddha’s feet.” This shows that they were very respectful. After they paid respect to the Buddha, “[They] spoke in one voice.” The two of them spoke at the same time. They wanted to, with the utmost sincerity, make this request of the Buddha. “Venerable Buddha! You already bestowed predictions on everyone. The only name you did not call was my name. Not only was my name [not called], there are many others who have not yet received predictions of Buddhahood.” This was spoken with great reverence. For themselves and for the people after them, they asked the Buddha to understand what was in everyone’s minds. Only after receiving predictions would their minds then be at ease. Before receiving predictions of Buddhahood, people’s minds were not yet at ease. They expressed this with great reverence. This was what happened in the Buddha’s Sangha it would probably be the same in our world now. When engaging in spiritual practice, although everyone had transcended the world, they all still had a sense of “self”. They still wanted the Buddha to personally call their names and tell them that they would attain Buddhahood in the future. Actually, they clearly knew that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. If everyone practices according to principles, then everyone can thoroughly awaken to the true principles of the universe. They definitely knew this. But while the Buddha was still alive, they wanted the Buddha to call their names and put their minds at ease.
Since ancient times, people’s psychology has been the same. Even spiritual practitioners who have attained realizations have this kind of mindset. So, this is our ordinary mindset as humans. So, we must put effort into being mindful. We trust in the future it will be the same for us. There will be a lifetime where we will come before the Buddha and receive predictions from Him. Perhaps we were among the 500 disciples, or the 1200 disciples and have already received predictions from the Buddha. now we still have countless lifetimes where we still have to engage in spiritual practice over and over. After the Buddha bestowed predictions, He would say, “For countless kalpas in the future, you still have to continue to practice. to attain Buddhahood in the future. In the same way, we are also like this. so, we must always be mindful. We must be mindful in our daily living. This way, we can take the dharma and the Buddha’s true principles to heart. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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