Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Safeguarding and Promoting Right Dharma (護持正法 誓願弘宣)
Date: October.11.2017
“The Dharma delivers people across the sea of samsara, and thus it is likened to a bridge. If the bridge of Right Dharma were to be destroyed, our Dharma-feet would no longer be able to walk further. We must safeguard Right Dharma so it will abide in the world. We must make vows to promote Right Dharma.”
We must be mindful. Only if everyone is mindful can Right Dharma abide in the world, so we should take the Buddha-Dharma and apply it in our daily living. “The Dharma delivers people across the sea of samsara.” Indeed, life in this world is short. What method should we earnestly apply to cross the sea of samsara? In the end, how long will we live? When a thought goes astray, unwholesome thoughts take us into the waves of the sea of samsara. This is extremely treacherous. If we can find out how to safely cross this sea of samsara, we must use that method to cross it. Therefore, the Dharma is like a bridge. If we want to go from this shore to the other, we need to cross the river or the sea. Some seas are narrow. For some inland seas, crossing from one side to the other is possible with a long bridge. Otherwise we can use boats. If the sea is vast, we use boats to cross it; if it is a river, we use a bridge. Right Dharma is like a bridge. If the bridge were to be destroyed, it would be as if “our Dharma-feet would no longer be able to walk further.” It is like two feet that can no longer walk forward. This is saying that if we establish Right Dharma, going from this shore to the other shore would not be difficult at all. If this bridge of Right Dharma, which can take us to the other shore, is destroyed, even if we have two feet, we will not be able to cross.
This is the same principle. In our regular lives, we must understand that the Buddha-Dharma is like a great sea. In our daily living, we often talk about the mind and our thoughts. In the world, between heaven and earth, the sky is vast and the land is spacious, but the span of one thought is so short. Our life within this vast space in the universe is also truly quite insignificant and brief. With this insignificant [life], within this vast universe what exactly can we do? However, one single person, just one insignificant person among the multitudes of sentient beings, or even just a few people, can have an impact on the majority. Life is painfully short, and one thought may lead us astray. If we influence the majority of people to have proper thoughts, naturally what we are doing in this world is benefiting sentient beings. If we lead [their thoughts] astray, in the same way, we are creating pollution and turbidities in this world. If we cause people’s perspectives to go astray or to be mistaken, Right Dharma will be diminished in this world. Once it is diminished, it will be destroyed. When the Buddha was in the world, He was very worried about this too.
One time, the Buddha was in Jeta Grove in the kingdom of Sravasti. At that time, Venerable Mahakasyapa lived in the Western Grove in the kingdom of Sravasti, a different place from where the Buddha lived. The Buddha led the assembly in this place, and Kasyapa led the bhiksus who were in that place. Since there was limited space and many monastics, they had to live separately, in different places. The Buddha lived in Jeta Grove and Venerable Kasyapa lived in Western Grove, in Visakha hall. So, they lived in these two places. At that time, Kasyapa, that is Mahakasyapa, decided one evening to go to where the Buddha lived, to Jeta Grove. When he saw the Buddha, he prostrated to Him with sincerity and reverence. The Buddha said, “Come, Mahakasyapa. Sit here. You are the one leading the bhiksus over there. Is everyone doing well? Is everyone safe? Is everyone practicing according to the Dharma?” He asked Mahakasyapa these questions. Mahakasyapa answered the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha! I recall that in the beginning, in my youth, when I came to follow You, when You were transforming sentient beings, as soon as everyone joined the Sangha they followed the rules and practiced according to teachings. You established very few rules, but everyone was good at following them. This was how they engaged in spiritual practice. Time has gradually passed. After these few decades, the number of bhiksus in the Sangha increased. You gradually instituted the precepts. However, the number of people upholding precepts and practicing according to the teachings seemed to have gradually decreased. In the past, the Buddha’s rules were few and spiritual practitioners many. Why is it that now there are many spiritual practitioners, but few upholding the precepts? Will this harm the Buddha-Dharma in any way?” This was Venerable Kasyapa’s worry in the Sangha, his worry for the Sangha. Reading this sutra passage, I started to worry as well. During the Buddha’s lifetime, over those few decades, the Buddha began leading the assembly to engage in spiritual practice. There were very few rules, yet there were many people following the rules and engaging in spiritual practice. Why is it that, after decades, as the Buddha gradually started to institute precepts, fewer people would carry them out and the people who could put the rules into practice were fewer in number? This was Kasyapa’s concern.
We can tell that just from this passage. What was the Buddha’s answer? Let us take a look right now. The Buddha’ s answer was, “Kasyapa, you are right. This is indeed the case. The number of monastics has been increasing. However, as they did not know [to follow] the rules, their habitual tendencies began to go astray and they developed more erroneous perspectives. People’s habitual tendencies differ as must as their faces; as people who are all different gather together, we will discover all kinds of different habitual tendencies. As people brought the habitual tendencies which had permeated them into the Sangha, gradually, more and more mistakes occurred. Therefore, I had to keep instituting precepts.” Precepts are instituted because of mistakes. The more people there were making mistakes, the more rules had to be instituted. This is because of sentient beings’ turbidity of life. As sentient beings start their life in the world, they are not aware that life is painfully short; they just do not understand such principles. Born into the world, they influence each other in their relationships. So, thoughts of desire, greed, anger and ignorance, these afflictions, gradually accumulate and become habitual tendencies in their daily living. As a result, there is turbidity in their life. They have so many habitual tendencies, and they bring all of them into the Sangha. So, there are accumulations, accumulations of habitual tendencies, of afflictions and ignorance. Each person has habitual tendencies in life that they brought here, thus we influence each other. “When I see you, it makes me unhappy. When you see me, you are dissatisfied.” Then, with this kind of interaction, people cause afflictions and ignorance to arise in each other. These attitudes gradually develop into the turbidity of sentient beings. The multitudes of sentient beings brought their habitual tendencies into the Sangha. This is the turbidity of sentient beings. As the turbidity of sentient beings slowly accumulates over time, it becomes more severe. This becomes the kalpa of turbidity. With time, the habitual tendencies of these many people will build up. These had built up over this period time. That means each person had their perspective, which results in the turbidity of views. People’s perspectives go in opposite directions, so there is the turbidity of views. This is the reason that sentient beings turn toward the unwholesome. As all this builds up, it develops into the Five Turbidities. The Sangha is also made up of people. Sentient beings come together in the Sangha. In the Sangha, they may gradually develop these habitual tendencies. So, the Sangha has to establish rules, these numerous rules. The hope is that everyone can abide by the precepts, eliminate habitual tendencies and guard against unwholesome tendencies. It is for this reason that there are so many precepts nowadays. This was the Buddha’s answer. But Venerable Kasuapa became even more worried. “If that is the case, how can we safeguard the Buddha’s Right Dharma?” The Buddha answered in this way. “For the Buddha-Dharma to abide in the world, everyone needs to earnestly follow the rules. As monastic practitioners, we need to have a better understanding of the Dharma and be focused; we must put our efforts into absorbing the Buddha-Dharma so that in our minds we can establish this bridge of Right Dharma. If this bridge of Right Dharma, can be firmly established, then sentient beings on this shore of ignorance can cross with their own two feet. From their ignorance, they can cross to the other shore. The other shore is the shore of wisdom”. By turning ignorance into wisdom, they establish the appearance of Right Dharma.
Therefore, in becoming a monastic, one goes from leaving one’s family and loved ones to using one’s two strong, healthy feet to walk over this bridge to reach the other shore. On the other shore is a group of spiritual practitioners. Amidst the severe turbidities of this world, they formed aspirations and made vows. In this way, they built the bridge of Right Dharma to walk to the other shore, to display the banner of Right Dharma. This is just like how, in the land where Ananda will attain Buddhahood in the future, the banner of Right Dharma will be fluttering. That is why we need monastics. Monastics safeguard the Dharma, which is precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. After becoming a monastic, the first thing is to uphold the precepts, to follow the precepts taught by the Buddha and earnestly accept them. We must settle our minds and abide peacefully in the Sangha. We uphold the Buddha’s teachings and rules and the teachings He gave, and thus grow in wisdom. This is how monastics can ensure that Right Dharma will abide in this world. however, if monastics refuse to follow the rules, then the bridge of Right Dharma will be destroyed.
“The lion’s parasites eat the lion’s flesh”. The Buddha was very worried about this. Other animals dare not attack the lion. However, on the lion’s own body little bugs will begin to grow and will bite the lion’s flesh. This is what the Buddha was worried about. Because the myriads of sentient beings cause severe turbidities, the Buddha wanted renounce His lay life and engage in spiritual practice. After He attained enlightenment, He [created] the Sangha. His goal was to help sentient beings enter the Sangha to form great aspirations, make great vows and carefully abide by the rules. These are the rules for being a good person. We must earnestly purify [our minds] and demonstrate this in our daily living with our demeanor and our characters. We take the Dharma we hear to become one who hears, one who teaches and one who transmits the Dharma, transmitting Right Dharma in the world. These are the two feet, which are blessings and wisdom. We must cultivate blessings as well as wisdom. We go among people to create blessings and cultivate wisdom in the Sangha. These are the two feet of blessings and wisdom. The bridge of Right Dharma can be destroyed; if the spiritual practice of the Sangha deviates, it is as if the bridge of Right Dharma is broken. The monastics living in [the Sangha] will not know how to develop their wisdom and will be unable to take the Dharma to heart. Then, how will they be able to go among people to benefit them? They will not be able to.
So, each of us must take responsibility for this. Outside the Sangha, lay disciples, lay practitioners, must also protect the Dharma. The Sangha is the heart of the Buddha-Dharma. We must find a way to use Right Dharma to establishing a set of sound rules, to use it to establish a sound appearance. Only in this way can be Buddha-Dharma, Right Dharma, forever abide in the world. So, if the bridge of Right Dharma is broken, if it is damaged, if our spiritual practice or demeanor looks poor, our spiritual practice will deviate. In the time of the Buddha, this was already happening in the Sangha. Otherwise, Venerable Kasyapa would not have asked the Buddha this question with such concern. In the past, there were few rules and many true spiritual practitioners. Now, the Buddha had established so many precepts, yet there were few true spiritual practitioners. They do not mind their appearance or demeanor. There are more and more people like this in the Sangha. When I think of this sutra passage, I am deeply worried. In the Buddha’s time, Venerable Mahakasyapa was worried, and so was the Buddha. How long would Right Dharma last? They were really worried. We are more than 2000 years removed from the Buddha’s era; how is the Buddha-Dharma now? Still, we must believe that the Dharma abides in people’s minds. Everyone simply must be willing to make vows; everyone must be willing to [help Right Dharma always abide in the world. It all depends on us, on whether we maintain our dignified demeanor. Take the [monastic] summer retreat for example. On the first day, the area of activity was defined. Although there was no fence, the Dharma master would show us the boundaries of the area on the first day. “This is as far as you can go. Do not go any further”. Though this was an intangible boundary, it was tangible in our minds. We knew that our body had to stay within this area. For this period of three months, we had to put effort into focusing our minds in this space. This intangible boundary could be upheld with discipline of the mind. On the first day of the summer retreat, this had to take place. It is different nowadays. People frequently gout for no reason. Aren’t there many people like this today?
Dear Bodhisattvas, the Dharma lies in us. [Protecting] Right Dharma falls within our responsibilities. The way we behave is being watched by others. When our demeanor is dignified, people who see us will find us respectable. If our demeanor does not follow the rules, if we show a poor appearance outside, we are the ones harming Right Dharma. So, everyone should have Right Dharma in their minds. “We must safeguard Right Dharma so it will abide in the world. We must make vows to promote Right Dharma.” Each of us monastics has this mission, as do the lay practitioners and disciples.
Last night we heard that Mr. Pen from South Africa brought back three [volunteers]. They are so far away from the Buddha-Dharma. They had never heard of the Buddha-Dharma before, nor did they know about Buddhism. Now they know it. Lay practitioners accepted the Buddha-Dharma and spread the seeds of goodness in South Africa. They serve as an example and benefit the people. By following the rules, they set an example. They likewise have the Three Treasures in their nature. Over there, they developed a group of Bodhisattvas who benefit people in that place. These three have been back for a few days. Seeing the way we live in the abode, listening to the Dharma in the morning, they have taken in this experience. Are all of us having this experience it too? For Right Dharma to abide in the world, It must be applied to our minds. There is no way to say “This is the way to obtain Right Dharma.” To obtain Right Dharma, we must seek out our own hearts. We must truly uphold and practice the Buddha-Dharma with our bodies and minds. The Buddha’s teachings are in our minds and in the way we express our responsibilities with our bodies. This is how we accept and uphold the precepts to enable Right Dharma to abide forever; this is very important.
The Buddha bestowed predictions based on how we engage in spiritual practice. If our spiritual practice runs deep, after we attain Buddhahood. Right Dharma will last a very long time. If our spiritual practice is shallow, the eras of Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance will be short and brief. This is how our spiritual practice affects our world in the future. So, we must be very mindful.
Let us look at the previous sutra passage, “The Tathagata, One Worthy of Offerings, Completely Awakened One, One perfect in Wisdom and Action, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed Guide, Tamer, Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans, and Buddha, the World-Honored One.”
Among the 2000 people, the Buddha also bestowed predictions on those who had just formed aspirations, that they too will attain Buddhahood in the future. They will engage in spiritual practice and attain Buddhahood at the same time. In the worlds of the ten directions, they will attain Buddhahood at the same time. As Buddhas, they will also be replete with the ten epithets.
The next sutra passage states, “Their lifespan will be one kalpa. The magnificence of their lands, their Hearers and Bodhisattvas and eras of Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance will all be the same.”
These 2000 people will attain Buddhahood in the future, and the lifespan of their Buddhahood will be one kalpa. This is much shorter than that of others, just one kalpa. However, one kalpa, if we think about it is a long time in terms of a human’s age. When the average human lifespan is ten years, it increases by one year every 100 years until the average human lifespan is 84,000 years. Then because of the things humans do and their severe turbidities, [their average lifespan] decreases by one year every 100 years until the average human lifespan is ten years again. This one cycle of increase and decrease is called “one small kalpa”. Therefore, their lifespan will be one small kalpa. One small kalpa, if we calculate it out, is already a long time for the human world. “The magnificence of their lands, their Hearers and Bodhisattvas and eras of Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance will all be the same.” Their lifespan will be one kalpa. “Their lifespan [of] one kalpa” and the magnificence of their lands are all circumstantial retributions. This is called circumstantial retribution.
Their lifespan will be one kalpa: This means one small kalpa. The magnificence of their lands: This is the appearance of their circumstantial retribution.
Buddhas likewise come to the human realm. In the human realm, They likewise have a [limited] lifespan. How long will their lifespan be? One kalpa. The magnificence of their lands depends on their circumstantial retributions, on both circumstantial and direct retributions. Their affinities with sentient beings is a manifestation of circumstantial retribution. For example, when Prince Siddhartha was born in the Saha World in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, he was the prince of that land. Sakyamuni Buddha was replete with the 32 Marks of the Buddha. This was His circumstantial retribution in this world, this kind of wealth, this kind of appearance. So, the land and the “Hearers and Bodhisattvas are the appearances of their circumstantial and direct retributions, as are “Right Dharma, Dharma semblance” and the length of their lives in the world. If their blessings are great, there will be many Bodhisattvas and [long eras] of Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance. If their blessings are not very great, there will be Hearers and Solitary Realizers. The people they transform will be [practicing] the Small Vehicle. There may be more Hearers, Small Vehicle practitioners, or more Bodhisattvas. The era of Right Dharma may be longer, or the era of Dharma-semblance may be longer. As there 2000 people engage in spiritual practice, the blessings, wisdom and karmic forces they cultivate will determine their karmic retributions as Buddhas. “[They] will all be the same.” These 2000 people will be the same, based on now they cultivate blessings and wisdom. Their lifespan after attaining Buddhahood and their eras of Right Dharma and Dharma-semblance depend on their blessings, on the number of good affinities they formed and the number of sentient beings they transformed.
Will all be the same: As their merits and practices were similar, their retributions will be the same. Finally, in the lands of the ten directions, they will also attain Buddhahood simultaneously, sharing the same epithet of Treasure Appearance Tathagata. Therefore, He also bestowed predictions on them at the same time.
So, “Their merits and practices were similar. Their spiritual practice is about the same level; they have no particular specialty. They are about the same. Therefore, their retributions, the karmic effects they experience, will be about the same. Their spiritual practice is about the same, so their retributions are about the same. “Finally, in the lands of the ten directions….” In the course of their spiritual practice, at the end, they will simultaneously attain Buddhahood in the lands of the ten directions and “share the same epithet. Their name will be “Treasure Appearance Tathagata.” They will share the same epithrt.
So, the Buddha simultaneously bestowed predictions on them instead of doing it individually. The 2000 people were not very different, so they received predictions at the same time and will have the same epithet. This is how the Buddha bestowed predictions on these 2000 people. Clearly, the merits and practice of the 2000 people were just average. However, since they engaged in spiritual practice, they will also attain Buddhahood.
The next sutra passage states, “At that time, the tWorld-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke this verse, ‘For these 2000 Hearers now present before me, I bestow on all the prediction that they will attain Buddhahood in the future.
These people should be able to attain Buddhahood in the future. They will all have the same epithet and be called “Treasure Appearance Tathagata.” They will all transform sentient beings with their spiritual powers.
To supplement what was not mentioned in the prose, [the Buddha] restated this meaning, adding how these 2000 people would transform sentient beings.
At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke this verse: He described how these Treasure Appearance Tathagatas will all transform and deliver sentient beings through their spiritual powers. This supplements what was not mentioned previously in the long-form prose.
These 2000 people stood to one side before the Buddha. this is because these people were all with Ananda and Rahula at this Dharma-assembly at the same time.
For these 2000 Hearers now present before me: an assembly of 2000 was now before the Buddha standing to one side.
The Buddha had, for Ananda and Rahula, based on their past spiritual practice and current status, explained very clearly what will happen to them. However, there were still these 2000 people. With His compassion and impartiality, the Buddha bestowed predictions of Buddhahood on them too. Since everyone had such wishes in their minds, “I now bestow on them all the prediction of Bodhi that in a future lifetime they will all attain Buddhahood.
I bestow on them all the prediction that they will attain Buddhahood in the future: I now bestow on them all the prediction of Bodhi that in a future lifetime they will all attain Buddhahood.
Those people all had this kind of thought, and the Buddha understood that. Although these people were so ordinary, they too will attain Buddhahood in the future. “right now they are in front of me, so. I bestow upon them all the prediction that they will attain Buddhahood in the future.
Everyone, this is how compassionate the Buddha is. He first comforted them, “You also need to put effort into earnestly engaging in spiritual practice. although He bestowed predictions on them now, they can still form greater aspirations and make greater vows. Those who received predictions earlier will have lifespans of countless kalpas or lifespans of dozens of kalpas. This was the case for all of them. However, these [2000] people are so ordinary. So, they will have [lifespans of] on kalpas. This one kalpas still verifies that “You will [all] attain Buddhahood someday. If you want to be distinctive and stand out, you will need to form great aspirations, and make great vows. If you are ordinary, then when you attain Buddhahood in the future, you will transform others in an ordinary way and for a short time. In the human realm, that is not short; it is one kalpa. However, it will be much shorter than others. This has to do with our spiritual practice. we also need to know why some people receive so much attention and admiration from others and some live very ordinary lives. Although being ordinary is a blessing, we should be like Rahula and engage in secret practice.
Yesterday these three [volunteers] came to listen as I spoke with a Dharma master. Afterwards, we asked them to share with us. One of them said that the first day they arrived here from South Africa, when they were in the Taoyuan branch office, as they listened to the Dharma in the morning. I happened to be talking about Rahula and his habitual tendencies. Someone translated this for them. They took this to heart and understood that they must earnestly engage in spiritual practice. they made up their minds [to emulate] Rahula’s patience. After [Rahula] received the teachings, when someone threw Rahula’s things out of hos bedroom and took over the bedroom, Rahula did not get angry; he had this kind of spiritual refinement. They felt that this practice is something they should also cultivate.
Think about it, they live in South Africa. They can seldom hear the Buddha-Dharma. They depend on lay practitioners, like Mr. Pan, who went there and took action in that place. A group of lay practitioners formed aspirations and vows to take these seeds and sow them in that land. Those people accepted this and started to listen to the Dharma and practice it. After coming to Taiwan to witness this in person, they were even more determined and thus made great vows. Everyone, we come here to be permeated. How deeply have we been permeated with the fragrance of the Dharma? How many rules have we learned? Venerable Kasyapa was worried; the Buddha was even more worried.
Dear Bodhisattvas, please be mindful. I hope we can help Right Dharma abide, so Right Dharma can always abide in the world. The only way for it to abide in people’s minds is if some people establish it in their mind and put it into practice so that others can see and feel it. Then when we speak, others will accept what we say and when we lead people, others will be touched and change. If we do not change our habitual tendencies, how can we teach and transform sentient beings? What spiritual practice is there to cultivate? Have we corrected our habitual tendencies? That depends on whether we have regularly taken the Dharma into our hearts. Therefore, I really look forward to everyone taking responsibility for all sentient beings in the world and shouldering the family business of Tathagatas. This all depends on us spiritual practitioners. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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