Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Eldest Son, Foremost in Secret Practice (密行第一 諸佛長子)
Date: October.04.2017
“In spiritual practice, cultivate calm contemplation, count the breath and observe the mind. We must be single-mindedly focused in our resolve and continue to abide peacefully with every thought. We must not allow our minds to be scattered. This is called peacefully abiding in the Buddha-Dharma.”
What must we do for the Dharma to enter our minds? We must engage in spiritual practice. What method should we use in our practice? We should cultivate calm contemplation. Our mind must constantly be in calm contemplation. We must not let [our thoughts] become scattered. Usually in our minds, in our perspectives and thinking, we constantly have discursive thoughts. Our thoughts keep connecting with various states, whether these states are present or past. A matter may have already passed, but we still keep that matter in our minds, unable to leave these thoughts behind. Our minds are distracted by external things. We drag the past into the present and continue to fret over it on into the future. Our minds do not rest even for a moment. Thus, in the past, present and future, our thoughts are very scattered. Most important in spiritual practice is dismissing discursive thoughts of the past and letting go of thoughts of the future while seizing the present moment. Actually, we talked about this yesterday. The future is in fact the present, and the same is true for the past. In an instant, the present becomes the past, and with a snap of our fingers we are already in the future. [The future] has become the present. In this way, our time keeps passing. Yet our mind and our thoughts never rest. Time leaves no tangible trace, but it always remains in our thoughts, disturbing our minds. We should make good use of this moment and [think of] how to take the Dharma to heart. How did we come to have this human life? How will we leave from here? In between, how can we, in our body and mind, unite the principles with [our nature of] True Suchness? How can we bring [our nature of] True Suchness to unite with the true principles? This is something very important. But as soon as our minds are distracted, [our nature of] True Suchness and the principles are scattered throughout different times and throughout the various stats surrounding us. How can we bring them together?
We must first train ourselves to collect our minds. So, we must practice. We need to let our minds quiet down; our minds must be unmoving. We must earnestly unite our body and mind and practice contemplation. To achieve this contemplative state, we must first train our habits so that our habit it to return to our own minds. This is why we should practice counting our breath. [We can do this] each morning, at any time [during the day] or before we go to bed. Whenever we have time, as we sit down, we should sit up straight and regulate our breathing. We begin by exhaling from our “dantian,” a point [three fingers below our navel]. Starting from that place, we follow our breath as we exhale, and then simply inhale again. Each breath out and in gives us a count of one; in this way, we bring the speed of our breathing under control; how we exhale, where our exhalation originates, that is where our mind must be focused, at the point of origin, our dantian. Just like that, from that point, we slowly exhale and then inhale again. However long we exhale, we then immediately inhale [the same amount], returning to our dantian. Exhaling and inhaling, we regulate the length of each breath. As we breathe like this, we can naturally use this kind of meditation to start observing our mind; has it wandered off somewhere? No, it has not! It is entirely [focused] on our body, on our dantian and on our breath. The time it takes us to exhale and the time it takes use to inhale should be unified. Our mind and body become one; our thoughts become unified with the counting.
When our thoughts are scattered, before we even count to ten, they will have wandered off somewhere else. A mind like this is scattered. If we can make it from one to ten, or from one to 100, both are fine; it depends on how much time we have. Whether we count from one to ten, or to 20 or 30, it is all fine. We can also start over again after ten. In this way, our thoughts will not wander off elsewhere. This is meditating by counting the breath. Depending on how much time we have, we decide on a number and practice until our minds can reach that number without deviating in the process. This is meditating by counting the breath. As e count our breaths, we observe our minds.
Where do our thoughts go? We must earnestly control our thoughts and practice calm contemplation. We need to calm our mind in our daily living. Otherwise it will be wild and unruly, racing around without restraint. To bring our mind to a state of oneness, we must earnestly train it. So, “We must be single-mindedly focused in our resolve.” We must focus on our resolve and not be scattered. This is what we said yesterday. Our mind must be focused on our resolve, our body and mind unified. This must be the same when we do things; we must maintain our initial aspirations. So, when we form an aspiration, we should be determined to carry it out accordingly. An aspiration made 50 years ago has 50 years later taken tangible form. In fact, 50 years have already passed, half a century [of Tzu Chi’s history] which started form that one aspiration. Once we had forced that aspiration, we single-mindedly focused on our resolve. This is how we have walked our path. [Step by step], our love and compassion have been entirely [devoted to] this world. With one common goal in this world, we have united our strength. Everyone has remained single-mindedly focused in their resolve, and thus, infinity has arisen from one. All of us have remained single-mindedly focused in our resolve without becoming scattered; thus, we have traveled this path. By the same reasoning, when any thought begins to rise, and we have oriented it in the right direction, we must remain fixed in or aspirations; this means our minds must be focused. This is how we engage in spiritual practice. So, we should mindfully seek to experience this. Everything in our lives can be spiritual practice, and every place is our spiritual training ground. All people, matters and things are teachings, infinite Dharma-doors that appear before us. All people [we encounter] are infinite Dharma-doors appearing before us. Every place is our spiritual training ground. As long as the direction of our mind is correct, that mind is our most genuine place of practice. So, we must “continue to abide peacefully with every thought”. We must peacefully abide in our resolve. This is the case for all our goals in life. In spiritual practice, our goal is to focus single-mindedly on completely eliminating our ignorance, afflictions, evil conduct and unwholesome habits and to turn toward diligence, to be focused without distraction and advance without retreating. To benefit sentient beings and to widely transform beings is why the Buddha came to this world and taught us sentient beings. We need to let our minds settle, fixing them in the right direction. We must no longer reproduce afflictions but make our minds as clear as crystal. In the midst of turbidity, when we are surrounded by all kinds of evil turbidities, we must not lose this crystal-like purity. Our nature of True Suchness is like crystal; such is the purity of its essence. As we roll it about in the dust of this world, this crystal will still remain clean. We just need to quickly wipe it off, and it will be completely clean. It will not become contaminated by filthy things. As we learn the Buddha-Dharma, this is a very important skill to master. This is what we must cultivate and practice.
In our spiritual practice, we must constantly take in [the Dharma] to return to our nature of True Suchness; we must use all kinds of methods to adjust our body and mind and our behavior and actions. In this way, the “3000 demeanors” and “80,000 subtle practices” are all cultivate through continuous practice. Thus we must go back to spiritual practice, meaning we must earnestly “be single-mildly focused in our resolve and continue to abide peacefully with every thought. We must abide peacefully in our intrinsic nature of True Suchness, in this pure crystal. This nature is as pure as crystal; it is not contaminated by turbidities around us. So, “We must not allow our minds to be scattered.” We must take good care of our minds, as we do when we practice meditation by counting our breaths. Novice practitioners must first learn to control their minds. Whether it is sitting and counting to 100, counting to 1000 or 10,000, we do not allow [our thoughts] to scatter. The count of [each breath] is clearly made, without giving rise to distractions in between. This is how we train our minds to focus so our thoughts do not become scattered. This is called “peacefully abiding in the Buddha-Dharma”.
If we can practice to the point where, just like when we practice sitting meditation, our minds do not run wild, then, at all times, we can focus on our resolve without becoming scattered. This is [truly] engaging in spiritual practice. If we can calm our minds and not let them scatter, we can single-mindedly uphold our aspirations. This is the meaning of “spiritual practice”. So, we must all mindfully comprehend this, comprehend how to uphold our practice of the “3000 demeanors and 80,000 subtle practices”.
Yesterday we talked about “secretly engaging in Bodhisattva practices”. We must earnestly uphold this mindset. This was Rahula’s secret practice. It was because he upheld this mindset and controlled his mind that he could [master] the 3000 demeanors and 80,000 practices. No matter what Dharma the Buddha taught, [Rahula] took it to heart. When he went among people, no one noticed, but the way he cultivated himself within was to practice everything the Buddha taught. He did not ignore any of the teachings. As he went among people, with the 3000 demeanors, he did not dare to become undisciplined. He remained humble in his dealings with others. He dared not show the slightest bit of arrogance, nor did he dare to doubt the Dharma in the slightest. His roots of faith were deep. He was never arrogant toward others, nor did he harbor any greed, anger or ignorance. Someone without arrogance is soft-spoken and mild. After taking the Dharma to heart and living within the Sangha, he had absolutely no greed nor any defilements. He treated people gently. When we have taken the Dharma to heart, how can we be affected by ignorance? He was without any of this. So, the Five Turbidities in his mind had all been completely eliminated. His afflictions and ignorance were all gone. With this conduct, of course, in all his actions, through “the 3000 demeanors and 80,000 subtle practices”, even his most subtle habitual tendencies had been completely eliminated. While no one in the assembly could comprehend Rahula’s state of mind, the Buddha understood it. So, many people discussed this, saying, “Rahula is very young, and he is also the Buddha’s son. Everyone knows him, but when will he ever be able to attain the fruit of Arhatship?” Everyone was discussing this, but the Buddha knew. The Buddha knew that, because Rahula entered the Path as a child, he would be able to, already at a young age, quickly attain the fruit [of Arhatship]. He had completely eliminated his afflictions and ignorance and swept away his habitual tendencies through the 80,000 subtle practices. He had severed [the roots of] ignorance, and he could thus quickly realize the fruit.
So, yesterday we mentioned how the Buddha gave him a gentle reminder about the Five Aggregates. “You must clearly understand that “temporary unions of the Five Aggregates are impermanent. You must make good use of your body and mind to realize this”. [Rahula] then very mindfully sought to understand. The body is a temporary union of the four elements. As for form, this bodily form is impure. He earnestly contemplated why people act just for the sake of their body. This body is our greatest liability; it is because of this body that so much negative karma is created. This shows people do not understand the principles. When we thoroughly understand the principles, [we realize that] this body is very unclean but it is for this unclean, impure body that we perpetuate humankind’s creation of karma. Think about it; [we experience] birth, aging, illness and death. When we suffer from illnesses, our entire body is very unclean. Spittle, mucus, phlegm etc. are all unclean. Even [when we are healthy], our bodies every day excrete dirty things from within, let alone when we are ill. If our body has an injury, if there are boils, sores and such, they are all unclean; there are many such things. They smell; as they swell and rot, there is a stench. Even while we are alive, the body rots and stinks; this is to say nothing of when we die. Once we die, the entire body becomes swollen and maggots begin to grow in it. This body is so filthy; it is so unclean.
Yet, just for the sake of this body [people] create so much karma. Murder, theft, adultery, lies etc. are all karma created by the body. Contemplating this, Rahula thought, “Indeed! Why are people so focused on their bodies? The body suffers from so many discomforts, and so many impurities. There is moreover feeling, perception, actions, consciousness etc. We create so much karma out of ignorance. We contaminate and ruin the earth, and we even destroy the intangible moral principles. This karma is created due to our bodies and minds, which are inseparable from the Five Aggregates.” “Yes, the Five Aggregates lead to the 62 Views of the past, present and future. So we must earnestly practice the ‘three Fours, two Fives, Seven and Eight’; we must quickly make use of these methods and contemplate how the Buddha teaches us, how to practice the Dharma He gives us with Right Efforts and Right Mindfulness. We must earnestly apply these in our lives”.
After this through contemplation, [Rahula] attained this realization. He truly eliminated all afflictions. The Buddha’s teachings had, like pure water, cleansed him completely. His entire body felt free and at ease, and he entered a state of calm contemplation. Completely at ease, he attained the fruit. This is a review of what we discussed yesterday.
Of course, this was [due to his cultivation of] “the 3000 demeanors and 80,000 subtle practices.” He had developed this foundation through his spiritual practice and was then given a reminder by the Buddha. The principles of the Five Aggregates was something the Buddha taught regularly. So why did He now suddenly mention to [Rahula] that he must earnestly seek to understand the principles of the Five Aggregates, impermanence and emptiness? As soon as the Buddha mentioned this point, [Rahula] mindfully looked within. See, his causes, conditions and capabilities had matured, and he attained the fruit of Arhatship. This is how Rahula [cultivated] the 80,000 subtle practices, meaning he eliminated his habitual tendencies and exhibited the 3000 demeanors. In his interactions with people and dealings with mattes, he abided entirely by the precepts. This is the character of a spiritual practitioner. We must mindfully seek to understand this.
The previous sutra passage says, “In future lifetimes, he will meet countless billions of Buddhas and be the eldest son to each. ‘He will single-mindedly seek the path to Buddhahood. As for Rahula’s secret practice, only I can know it.”
The Buddha was the one who best understood Rahula. At such a young age, could attain the fruit, the fruit of Arhatship. Attaining the fruit of Arhatship showed that in his mind, he had fully eliminated all discursive thoughts and impurities. His mind was completely clean. This is why, in the future, Rahula will still be able to engage in spiritual practice are likewise be Their eldest son. It will be the same as now, in Sakyamuni’s era, in His spiritual training ground, when Rahula in his practice [has accomplished] the 3000 demeanors and 80,000 subtle practices. As long as he is diligent in taking [the Dharma] to heart, he will be that focused. The Buddha understood this about Rahula.
The next sutra passage says, “He manifests as my eldest son to show all sentient beings his countless trillions of merits and virtues, these are immeasurable. He peacefully abides in the Buddha Dharma to seek the unsurpassed way.”
So, “At my Dharma-assembly in this life, Rahula manifests as my eldest son. This is to let everyone understand that all sentient beings are equal; a person’s age does not matter. When he was very young, I led him onto the Path, and he entered it with childlike innocence. This was also to let everyone know that worldly recognition, wealth and status are all illusory. What I awakened to as the Buddha was something I certainly wanted my relatives to be able to awaken to as well. [I hoped] they would not crave recognition, wealth or status in this world. [As the king of] a nation, one has the duty to work hard for its people. Not only must one work hard for the people, one must also educate the people. This is easier said than done! People all belong to different classes, and they all contend to attain their desires. This is not something a king is able to remedy. As long as a country exists, there will always be outsiders who try to invade. Inevitably, [the king] also wishes to expand his own borders and will thus encroach upon others. Such endless competition is the source of all wrong-doing in this world.”
Having awakened, the Great Enlightened Buddha asked his own dear son, who could have inherited the throne, to leave [the palace] and join the Sangha to engage in spiritual practice. Because of His utmost love for [Rahula], He wanted him to engage in practice as well. This shows the truth of practicing this path. Truly engaging in practice is life’s greatest blessing. To attain true blessings, blessings and wisdom, one must live in the Sangha. He also wanted [Rahula] to know that only by engaging in practice as a monastic would he no longer be perpetuating afflictions and ignorance on into future lives. Thus, [He made Rahula] a role model, so that even the Buddha’s disciples, even His royal family members, even His aunt and Yasodhara could all be led to earnestly engage in spiritual practice. The Great Enlightened One’s path awakening is such a perfect, flawless road. So, “Among all the Buddha’s disciples, Rahula was foremost in secret practice.” He manifested many actions when defied the Buddha’s discipline.
Among the Buddha’s disciples, Rahula was foremost in secret practice. He manifested many actions which defied the Buddha’s discipline, thus drawing the Tahtagata’s admonition. With these causes and conditions, he transformed countless sentient beings.
In the past, [Rahula] was very naughty and mischievous. However, after a [stern] lesson from the Buddha, he never again violated the Buddha’s rules. Before, he transgressed; now, he did not. When he drew the Tathagata’s admonition, [it was because] he used to defy the rules; he was very mischievous. Thus, he received the Buddha’s very stern admonishment. Only then was he able to understand, and he deeply regretted his past mistakes. By sincerely repenting, he corrected his faults. “With these causes and conditions, he transformed countless sentient beings”. This refers to the appearance he exhibited; if he had not been so undisciplined, how could he have received such a severe admonishment from the Buddha? If he had not been like this in the past, he would not have come to this big turning point. The instance when [a monk] threw his clothing and alms bowl outside served to train him. Because he had changed, he exhibited patience, tolerance and forgiveness; he did not take issue with the person. This conduct serves as a model for all of us. So, although you could say that several days ago I told you a story, it was not a story; it was an instruction. Rahula manifested this appearance, sharing a familial relationship with the Buddha as the Buddha’s son. But when it came to spiritual practice, they had a master-disciple relationship. What kind of admonishment could the Buddha use to teach such a small child? He used a wash basin when [Rahula] washed His feet to teach and admonish him. It is like our Three-in-One celebration that combines Mother’s Day and Buddha Bathing Day. The foot-washing [ceremony] alone touches to so many people! This is also a manner of teaching. The Buddha taught Rahula a lesson, using the opportunity when he washed His feet. With a foot washing basin, He was able to help Rahula thoroughly awaken and turn his life around. There was also the time when he was walking on the road with Sariputra, and they encountered the group of bandit beggars. He was able to endure [their abuse], and from this he gained thorough understanding. Although this story took place in [the Buddha’s] time, it should serve as a [lesson] for us. This is Dharma that we can make good use of today. This too is part of the Dharma-treasury. This like how we now have many Tzu Chi volunteers who humble themselves to serve with great love. Every story can be written down [and used], just like this story [from the sutra]. They can likewise be used to educate and transform. These causes and conditions [can be used] to teach infinite sentient beings. We make mistakes, receive teachings and then correct ourselves. This process is an opportunity to teach disciples like that. Whether we are lay practitioners or monastics, we can all apply these [lessons]. So, the meaning of “discipline” is to “firmly uphold the precepts and vigilantly maintain one’s demeanor”. We must be very prudent and uphold our demeanor.
Discipline: Firmly upholding the precepts and vigilantly maintaining one’s demeanor to eliminate all evils is called “elimination through discipline”. The Buddha established precepts to help people guard against wrongdoing and stop evils. They are admonishments for us to properly conduct ourselves and interact in society.
Every time any of my monastic disciples go out, I will always remind them, “You must earnestly uphold your demeanor!” Indeed, when it comes to our demeanor, we must vigilantly uphold it. This is because our personal conduct should itself be a teaching for others. Take Bhiksu Asvajit as example. Simply because the way he walked, when Sariputra saw him, he was shocked and moved. [Sariputra] quickly told Maudgalyayana, “We have found one! We have found a practitioner whose master is the Great Enlightened One, the World-Honored One!” See how Bhiksu Asvajit, simply by walking, inspired in Sariputra, Great Wisdom Sariputra, such admiration. We can see how important our demeanor is! So, upholding our demeanor can eliminate all evils because it amounts to keeping the precepts. Precepts can eliminate all evils. If we pay close attention to every movement of our body, people will not dare to act mess around with us. This is guarding against wrongs and stopping evils. This is discipline, which we use to eliminate all evils. The Buddha’s precepts can help us guard against wrongs and stop evils. So, they are also called “admonishments”. They admonish us all to conduct ourselves and interact in society according to the proper discipline. These are our rules; we need a dignified demeanor. Our demeanor is demonstrated through our physical composure. We must carefully uphold our demeanor. Now, when it came to Rahula, “He manifested as my eldest son to show all sentient beings….” In this life, Rahula was the son of a prince and the grandson of a king. The Buddha said, “He manifest as my eldest son to show all sentient beings….” [He did this] to help everyone understand. All fathers hope for their children to succeed. The Buddha was also a father, but what He wanted for his son was not to obtain authority in the world, but to obtain the world’s true principles. So, He led his son into monastic life.
He manifested as my eldest son to show all sentient beings: Today he manifests as my eldest son to teach all sentient beings in the world.
“Today he manifests as my eldest son.” In fact, Rahula had been a spiritual practitioner in the past as well. Now, he came to this world with this affinity with his father, [the Buddha]. He manifested this father-son affinity here to “teach all sentient beings in the world”. He wanted those with worldly views to understand. He wanted those with worldly views to understand. When the prince wanted to become a monastic, the king said, “You must have a child before you can become a monastic.” See, this is how worldly people look at things. So what if He had a child? Didn’t He still lead His son to become a monastic? True principles are true principles. The value of the true principles is far greater than that of all things with names or appearances. So, this was to be a kind of teaching for us sentient beings. So, [he showed] “his countless trillions of merits and virtues; these are immeasurable.” This was a method for transforming sentient beings.
His countless trillions of merits and virtues; these are immeasurable: His merits and virtues accumulated through secret practice number in the countless trillions. They are beyond calculation.
So, “His merits and virtues accumulated through secret practice…”. Rahula “secretly engaged in Bodhisattva practices while appearing externally as a Hearer.” He had the same nature of True Suchness as others; he was very clear on this. But in coming to this world and through his experiences as a young child etc. he came to be an example to educate others. After receiving [the Buddha’s teachings], he began engaging in spiritual practice, receiving the Dharma and secretly practicing. Thus, he accumulated the merits of the 3000 demeanors and 80,000 subtle practices. In this way, he continually accumulated [merits] and eliminated many [afflictions]. He completely eliminated all his dust-like afflictions. “[They] number in the countless trillions. They are beyond calculation.” It is a number that cannot be counted. So, “He peacefully abides in the Buddha-Dharma to seek the true unsurpassed way.”
He peacefully abides in the Buddha-Dharma to seek the unsurpassed way: He peacefully abides in the Dharma of all Buddhas to seek the true, unsurpassed way.
Rahula had already settled his mind. “He peacefully abides in the Dharma if all Buddhas”; he began to make his mind settle. He did not only abide peacefully in the present; the Buddha-Dharma of infinite trillion future Buddhas all abided in his mind. “Seeking the true, unsurpassed way” means that his mind was at peace. With a peacefully mind, he could single-mindedly focus and peacefully abide. In this life He was like this, and in the future he would remain just as settled.
So, “He shows all sentient beings his countless merits and virtues. He peacefully abides in the Buddha-Dharma to seek the unsurpassed way. He seeks the Dharma and transforms others. His causes are perfect and his fruits are complete.”
This is what Rahula will be like in the future. “The Path that the Tathagata attains is unsurpassed by all.” He will attain Buddhahood. The path to Buddhahood is supreme and unsurpassed; [it leads to] supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment. Thus, it is called supreme. In the Lotus Sutra’s Chapter on Skillful Means, there is a passage that we have already discussed, “I shall set aside the skillful for the direct, teaching only the unsurpassed way.” The unsurpassed way is universal and perfect enlightenment. In the past, He taught the Small Vehicle Hearers with all kinds if skillful means to help those who did not understand the Dharma, those whose minds were scattered, to slowly gain control of their minds and gradually understand the Dharma’s principles. Once their causes and conditions matured, the Buddha began to set aside the skillful for the direct. He no longer kept dancing around the subject but taught them properly. “This is the principle I want to tell all of you. As Buddhist practitioners, your goal is to attain Buddhahood. The process of attaining Buddhahood is inseparable from the Bodhisattva-path. You must go among people, and in doing so, you must not allow your minds to be contaminated.” As I mentioned earlier, our mind must be like a crystal, rolling in the dust of the world, but not being contaminated by any evil turbidity. As we return, it is still very clean crystal. This is the same principle. This was the focus of Rahula’s spiritual practice, and he had now already nearly completed his path.
He peacefully abided in the Buddha-Dharma, and since his mind abided there, he would never again lose his aspiration. So, everyone, are our minds peacefully abiding? If we peacefully abide, we will not retreat. If we do not peacefully abide, our minds will retreat. So, our mind must not become scattered. How can we unite our body and mind as one? Of course, in our everyday life, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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