Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Slandering the Dharma Brings Severe Obstructions (護法利益 謗法障重)
Date: November 15.2017
“Reading the sutras, listening to the Dharma, memorizing the text and upholding and reciting the sutras are known as ‘internal practice.’ Outwardly upholding the principles of the right teachings and transcribing the sutras help to continue the passing on of the Right Dharma for the protection and benefit of sentient beings. Slandering the Dharma is the utmost evil and leads to severe obstructions.”
Reading [the sutras], we should understand them. We should read them, listen to Dharma teachings and recite them by heart. We should memorize them in their entirety. We must not just read them and forget them. With the sutras we have read, we need to take every word to heart. In listening to the Dharma, we should mover let a single word leak away; we must memorize all of it until we can recite it all by heart, read and listen until we know it very well. It is not enough to recite it a single time. We also cannot think it is enough to merely listen. That is not how it is. We must listen to the Dharma over and over and continually take what we chant and hear and contemplate it over and over. Through contemplating it, the Dharma becomes engraved in our hearts. In this way, all our experiences of people, matters and objects turns into [realizations of] the true principles. This can only happen when we truly listen to the Dharma and take it to heart.
Upholding and reciting the sutras is called “internal practice”. Whether we listen to the sutras or chant them, this is considered “upholding and reciting”. After reciting them, we need to always keep them in our hearts. This is called “internal practice”. When our thoughts never stray from the Dharma, then we are “upholding and reciting”. This is internal practice.
Externally, we need to uphold the principles of the right teachings. The right teachings are the ones giving by the Buddha. After listening to them, we must practice accordingly. These are the Buddha’s teachings that come to us from the outside, so the teachings that we hear are all correct. Since it is the Dharma the Buddha taught, it clearly is the principles of the Right Dharma. There should be no doubt in our mind of this. we should have deep faith and be without doubts. When it comes to the Dharma taught by the Buddha, we absolutely must have deep faith without doubts.
More than 2000 years ago, the Buddha was in the world and taught the Dharma. Now, more than 2000 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, we rely on the Buddha’s teachings as they have been passed down. There are sutras we can copy and write out, that we can read and recite, teach and listen to. This all goes back to the time of the Buddha. The teachings given by the Buddha were accepted and uphold by everyone and were passed on orally and written down. There is merit and virtue in transcribing [the sutras]. It is not enough to pass them on orally; they must also be transcribed in text.
In the past, printing was not widespread. Early on, people had to copy them, to write them down [by hand]. Some people were so reverent that they even cut into their own flesh to use their blood to write out the sutras. This showed their reverence, how deeply moved they were by the Buddha-Dharma. In reading the sutras and listening to the Dharma, they were so moved, they took every word to heart. In the hope that these sutras would be passed down eternally, they used their own blood as ink in transcribing them. We can see their piety in making offerings to the Dharma and their wish to pass it on for later generations. Think about it; by practicing and upholding the Dharma like this, don’t they deserve our respect? If not for great sages and Dharma teachers who passed on the Dharma in their time, those who transcribed the Right Dharma so it would continue in the world, how would we have sutras to read today? How would there be Dharma to teach? How would we be able to engage in practice?
So, it is said that reciting, copying, expounding and spreading [the Dharma] are all very important. This is all considered safeguarding the Right Dharma to benefit sentient beings. To benefit sentient beings, those in ancient times did all they could in order to pass down the Dharma.
In the previous [repeated verse], [the Buddha] kept hoping we would be able to accept and uphold [the Dharma] and even make offerings to other people who accept and uphold this sutra. We must place great importance on this. When the Buddha was in the world, this is also something He advocated, for all to respect the Dharma upon seeing it and make offerings to those who spread the Dharma as if they were making offerings to the Buddha.
Back when the Buddha was in the world, when He was in the kingdom of Magadha, there is was a family that had five brothers who practiced Brahmanism. Four of them, the eldest, second, third and fourth brothers, all went deep into the mountains to practice Brahmanism while the fifth brother stayed at home to take care of the family business, which was farming. One day while the Buddha was out asking for alms, the fifth brother, who was called Puna, had brought with him a rice ball that he would eat while he was farming. When he saw the Buddha in His magnificence pass before him, he stood up straight. Seeing the Buddha’s appearance, he gave rise to reverence and respect. Before he knew it, he had taken the rice ball he had brought to eat, and grabbing it with both hands, he chased after the Buddha. He kept running until he caught up with Him. He then prostrated to Him and, with utmost reverence and respect, held up the rice ball he had brought to have for lunch. Very reverently, he placed it inside the Buddha’s alms bowl. When the Buddha saw the reverence of this farmer, He offered him a benediction, wishing him an abundant harvest. When he farmer heard [this benediction], he was very joyful. Actually, the farmer had sought nothing in return. He was simply joyful upon seeing the Buddha, and so offered Him his food, but the Buddha gave him blessings for a continuous plentiful harvest. Indeed, from that time on, his crops began to grow and his paddy filled with plump ears of rice. When the time came for harvest and he cut the paddy, surprisingly, after cutting, the crops in front of him, behind him the rice ears were growing out again. The rice ears began growing again! He thought this very strange. “I just cut this paddy but when I turn around to look where I already cut, it is still full of rice ears! How strange.” He cut them down again, but when he looked around, the paddy was again filled with rice! He thought this very strange! When everyone heard about this and came to see, they found it inconceivable. When he cut them again, the same thing happened. After he cut, the rice ears would grow out again. When the king heard of this, he too thought it strange. How could such a thing be possible? The king himself went to try harvesting, and the result was the same. How strange! What could be the reason for this? This kingdom had always been rich in crops and the harvests abundant, but nothing like this had ever happened. The rice grew out again right after it is cut; why did this happen? No one knew. However, this man, Puna, knew in his heart. His four brothers were engaging in spiritual practice deep in the mountains. One day, the four brothers said to each other, “Little brother should have begun harvesting the rice by now. I wonder how the harvest goes this year? Maybe the four of us should go visit him to see how he is doing?” When the four brothers returned, they were surprised at what they saw. Everyone was talking about it, and when they went to see their brother in their fields, they saw that what was being said was true. They asked their little brother, “How have you cultivated the crops for such a wondrous thing to happen? How did it come about?” The little brother replied, “I don’t know either! If you ask me what I’ve done recently. I only remember that one day, while I was in the paddies, I saw the Buddha pass before me in His magnificence and my heart gave rise to joy. He was so magnificent that, before I knew it, respect arose in me. I became very excited and took the rice ball I had brought with me. Very reverently, I brought it to the Buddha as an offering, placing it inside His bowl. I was filled with such joy! It seems the Buddha blessed me with a continually abundant harvest. I wonder if this had anything to do with it?” The four spiritual practitioners thought this inconceivable. “We have constantly engaged in practice for decades, and nothing like this has happened to us! What kind of Dharma could we attain that would make us feel so content and so joyful? Little brother is just a farmer, but the Buddha blessed him so that. He attained such an abundant harvest that even the king and the entire city’s people could get a share if they wanted!” What could be the causes and conditions for there to be such an abundant harvest? So they went to their brother and said, “Come, let us cook this rice. We, too, are willing to go and make offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha”. What was it about the Buddha that had made their little brother so joyful? So, after cooking the rice, the four brothers brought that rice to the Buddha as an offering to Him. When they saw the Buddha, joy arose inside of them as well. Seeing the magnificent Sangha also made them joyful. So, they reverently requested instruction from the Buddha, hoping that the Buddha would offer them teachings. Thus, the first one, the eldest brother, asked the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha, what teachings should I accept? Venerable Buddha, please teach me!” The Buddha told the eldest brother, “All things are impermanent”. The second brother then asked the Buddha, “Venerable Buddha! If I seek the Dharma from You, will You teach me?”. The Buddha [continued], “This is the law of arising and ceasing”. He too was very joyful. The third brother then begged the Buddha for teachings. The Buddha said, “Now arising and ceasing has ceased”. The fourth also hurried to ask, “Venerable Buddha! Please teach me”. The Buddha then said, “This is Nirvana, [true] joy”. The four brothers took in this four-line verse, and all four were able to completely eliminate their afflictions. Their hearts opened in understanding and they attained freedom and ease. They were all very joyful.
So it is said that in upholding the sutras and listening to the Dharma, we do not need to listen to very much. If the Right Dharma can enter our minds, we can mindfully consider it, listen to, contemplate and practice it. the most important thing is to have reverence and respect for the Dharma. By listening to it and engraving it in our mind, we can all make the Dharma our own. This is called Dharma-essence. It will be as if the Dharma had been transplanted into our hearts. This is like when we are unable to produce blood. If there is a healthy person whose bone marrow is a match, it can be transplanted so that we recover our hematopoietic function. This is like what the Buddha told us, that the nature of True Suchness intrinsic in everyone. This is the innate enlightenment of the Buddha. It is intrinsic to us all. It is just that we are confused; our ignorance has covered our minds. Ordinary people’s minds are ill. The Buddha has given us His healthy Dharma-marrow, His Dharma-essence. If we mindfully accept it and do not reject it, naturally that Dharma-essence will, drop by drop, enter our mind. This is how the Dharma will naturally become our own and we will be able to manifest great abilities. This is the power of love. This is like how, since the Buddha-Dharma is in the world, we should mindfully try to experience this Dharma by applying it in our daily living.
The Tzu Chi School of Buddhism and our Dharma-lineage are already widespread in many countries. Take for example Myanmar. In Myanmar in 2008, Cyclone Nargis provided the causes and conditions for Tzu Chi. Through this cause, we nurtured conditions there to spread the Dharma-lineage to Myanmar. We started with disaster relief, with material aid, but then the time came to plant crops. They were all poor farmers who had to borrow the seed rice they would plant. Yet, their harvests were small and the interest on the seed rice they borrowed was high, so they could only just feed themselves. There were even some families who did not have enough to eat. It was because of our disaster relief at that time that we encountered these causes and conditions. We distributed top quality rice seeds to them, very good quality seeds. As they accepted these rice seeds, Tzu Chi volunteers would often go to visit them. Volunteers from Malaysia went to encourage those in Myanmar who formed aspirations. They would meet up with them and frequently go to care for them, sharing Jing Si aphorisms with them. They are also Buddhists, but they would use their harvest to give offerings to the temples. We gave them rice seeds and also gave them Jing Si aphorisms, short sayings. We gave a different saying to each person. They made great use of these, applying the Dharma in their minds. As they farmed the fields, they used Jing Si aphorisms and did not use pesticides. Do you all know this story? All around their fields they would use expressions of gratitude and Jing Si aphorisms, to bless the crops. [The result] was inconceivable. Without using pesticides or fertilizer, their harvest that year was very abundant. Everyone thought it was miracle rice, that the rice seeds were miraculous. Thus, they [wished to] give back. Some gave one bag of grain, while others gave two. They gathered [this rice] together to be given to even poorer people. These too were used as seeds. In this way, gradually a large number of people no longer needed to borrow grain from others.
Tzu Chi volunteers have year after year kept expanding rice seed distribution like this. so, some rice is donated by people upon harvest, and some is rice we have bought more of, which we then donate to others. This is very widespread there now, and none of the farmers there need to borrow rice seeds anymore. Their own crops are abundant year after year. At the same time this is a cycle of goodness, for they keep donating rice seeds to others. This cycle has constantly been turning; this is still the case today.
There is also the “handful of rice” story. Here in Taiwan, we use the bamboo banks, but because they lack money there, instead they put aside a handful of rice every meal. This “rice piggy bank” movement has now been spreading. Now, these farmers can do charity themselves. These poor people can accumulate a lot of rice, so those even poorer will not have to go hungry. See what they have done! They have truly taken the Dharma to heart. From these short Jing Si Aphorisms. They put the aphorisms to endless good use. Their living standards have mow improved, and besides farming, they are now joining Tzu Chi and doing the work of Tzu Chi. 9In 20160 there was a distant area that was affected by severe flooding, and it was then their turn to come together and go to provide disaster relief. As before, Tzu Chi volunteers came together from Malaysia and Taiwan to provide even wider disaster relief. The area they provided assistance to surpassed that of the entire island of Taiwan. They are spreading the Dharma and spreading love. In a relay of love, they keep paying it forward.
By the same token, we protect and uphold the sutras like a Dharma-marrow that is continuously passed down. Sentient beings’ minds are ill; when the Right Dharma is passed down to them, everyone can attain spiritual wealth. The rich become rich [also in spirit], while the poor attain spiritual wealth. In bringing purity to people’s hearts, everyone helps one another. It is like how this time, when the whole of Taitung County suffered significant losses due to Typhoon Nepartak, we could see people helping each other, giving of their strength as well as their love and providing material relief. This is how the Dharma is spread. Thus it says, “for the protection and benefit of sentient beings”. This is creating blessings.
And the opposite? “Slandering the Dharma is the utmost evil and leads to severe obstructions.” The opposite is slandering the Dharma. This causes good thoughts to gradually vanish. “I have heard how Tzu Chi has been criticized for doing such and such. Are you sure you still want to go there?” “I heard that too. I used to donate, but I don’t want to anymore. I have stopped.” There is also a story going around Taitung about a man who used to be a Tzu Chi member, but upon hearing untrue rumors he stopped. He is [now] very remorseful. “When disaster stuck, Tzu Chi volunteers came to help and comfort me. Those were actually all only rumors!” this is why we say, slandering the Dharma severs people’s roots of goodness. This is a something we should mindfully seek to understand.
Let us look at the previous sutra passage. The previous passage says, “You should use heavenly flowers and perfumes as well as clothes of celestial treasures and collections of wondrous heavenly treasures to make offerings to those who teach the Dharma. Toward those who can uphold this sutra in this evil world after I pass into Parinirvana, you should join your palms together to reverently show respect as if you were making offerings to the World-Honored One.”
As we discussed before, this passage says that we need to make offerings to those who accept and uphold the sutras. In making offerings to those who accept and uphold the sutras after the Buddha has left the world, after He entered Parinirvana, the offerings we make should be like those we would offer to the Buddha Himself. Offerings like these should be of the highest quality . actually, what we need is to be rich in love, earnestly practice giving and be very respectful. We must give with reverence and respect.
When our Tzu Chi volunteers provide relief, don’t they give respectfully and reverently? It is just as of they were making offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. This is what we need to learn.
As for the offerings we make, “You should use all superior delicacies and all kinds of clothing to make offerings to the Buddha-children, in hopes of hearing their teachings for just a moment. Those who in future lifetimes can accept and uphold this sutra are dispatched by me to go among people to carry out the Tathagata’s work.”
The offerings we should make are “offerings to the Buddha-children.” These are the Buddha’s disciples who, for lifetime after lifetime, have spread the Dharma in the world. We make offerings to them so that we might listen to the Dharma from them. Even for just a very short time, we need to listen. We must not say, “I don’t have time, I will just make offerings.” This is not correct. Making offerings alone is insufficient; we must also listen to the sutras. However busy we may be, we should find the time to listen to the Dharma, if even for just a moment. Only by listening to the sutras can we attain liberation.
Take the five brothers we just spoke of; one spontaneously gave rise to reverence, and the other four came seeking the Dharma, even if just one phrase. [The Buddha] gave one line each, a verse of four lines, as a teaching to the four [brothers], and the four brothers were all able to open their minds and attain realizations. This came from listening only for a moment, listening just for a very short period of time. So, “Those who in future lifetimes can accept and uphold this sutra….” Merely by listening [for a moment], we will in our future lifetimes be able to accept and uphold the sutra like this because we have already planted the seed. They are “dispatched by me to go among people. To carry out the Tathagata’s work.” The Buddha has passed on this Dharma to His disciples for more than 2,000 years until now. Actually, this is not just 2,000-some years ago; dust-inked kalpas ago, great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra and the 16 princes repeated it. Each had his own disciples who followed him and listened to the Lotus Sutra. After the 16 princes attained Buddhahood, they made it clear to everyone that they should safeguard the Lotus Sutra in the future, should uphold and teach the sutra, transcribe it and so on, in order to continually pass it on. These people are the Buddha’s emissaries, those who are dispatched by the Buddha as His emissaries in the world.
So, when we listen to the Buddha-Dharma, whether we listen, copy, teach, recite the sutras etc., we must earnestly keep every phrase or verse we attain in our heart, and earnestly share what we have attained with others. This is our mission. We have come to the world the Buddha as the Buddha’s emissaries, so we should all have a sense of mission.
The next verse says, “Those who over the course of a kalpa continually harbor unwholesome thoughts and denounce the Buddha with angry expressions commit boundless, grace transgressions. But if people read, recite and uphold the Lotus Sutra, uttering evil words against then for a moment is an even much more severe offense.”
Again, someone might, for a kalpa, “continually harbor unwholesome thoughts.” Over this very long time their mind would be unwholesome. This repeated verse passage is telling us that if there were people like that, people who had reviled the Buddha in the past, they would still harbor unwholesome thoughts.
This again states that those who slander people who uphold read and transcribe this sutra and sever their roots of goodness commit severe transgressions. Thus it says: Those who over the course of a kalpa continually harbor unwholesome thoughts….
While the Buddha was in the world, there were many who reviled Him to His face, who did not accept the Buddha-Dharma and slander those who upheld the Buddha-Dharma. Even the Buddha’s own disciple, Devadatta, left [the Sangha] taking 500 monks with him. He thought of every way possible to damage the Buddha’s teachings and to harm the Buddha. There were so many obstacles hindering the practice of the Right Dharma even during the Buddha’s era, let alone in later generations!
So, those harboring unwholesome thoughts over such a long period of time will still be the same even after the Buddha enters Parinirvana. Their thoughts of slandering those who uphold read and transcribe the sutras, even after the Buddha enters Parinirvana, will continue lifetime after lifetime; they will keep harboring unwholesome thoughts. A kalpa is a very long time. If we harbor unwholesome thought for that long, our transgressions will be severe.
Thus it says, “Those who over the course of a kalpa continually harbor unwholesome thoughts….” This refers to a very long time, from the time the Buddha comes into the world until He enters Parinirvana. For such a long time, they harbor negative thoughts. With unwholesome thoughts, they “denounce the Buddha with angry expressions”. They use all kinds of methods, tangible and intangible, to slander the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, because of their slander, “they commit boundless, grave transgressions”. People like this truly commit boundless transgressions.
[Those who] denounce the Buddha with their expressions commit boundless, grace transgressions: This refers to those who, with angry expressions, denounce the Buddha. Those people who denounce the Buddha will face boundless retributions for their transgression.
These “angry expressions are visible things. We can see when people are unfriendly, when their expressions are angry. When Tzu Chi volunteers are outside, some people criticize them. With an angry demeanor, they scold them to their face and so on. The Buddha was reviled like this when He was in the world. So, “They commit boundless, grave transgressions. Their transgressions are profound and deep, creating very severe negative karma. “But if people read, recite and uphold the Lotus Sutra….” After the Buddha had entered Parinirvana, if there are people who are willing to read, recite, accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra, “uttering evil words against them for a moment is an even more severe offense”. When they see people reading the sutras, see people copying the sutras, hear people teaching the sutras, see people listening to the sutras and so on, whether to their face or behind their backs, they criticize them with unkind words. “A moment” is a very brief time. Even if it is just with a few words or for just a brief moment, if one reviles people like these with harsh words, then one’s “offense will be even more severe”.
Uttering evil words against them for a moment is an even more severe offense: If for even one moment they denounce those who uphold this sutra, their offense is even greater than those who denounce the Buddha for a kalpa.
During the Buddha’s time, He was slandered. The karma from this is severe. After the Buddha has entered Parinirvana, if people, when they see those who are willing to uphold [the sutras], angrily insult them to their faces or do all sorts of things to them, these people are uttering evil words against them for a moment. They slander them, even if briefly. “Uttering evil words” refers to slander. Slandering someone like this, criticizing them harshly, is called “uttering evil words”. If you abuse those who uphold the sutras, even briefly, your offense would “be much more severe than denouncing the Buddha for a kalpa”. The karma incurred by this is very serious; it is a very severe transgression, even greater than reviling the Buddha for kalpas. When people reviled the Buddha in the past, since “His mind was without hindrances,” it did not affect the Buddha in any way. We explained this earlier. No matter how long someone would scold the Buddha, it never affected the Buddha Himself. However, if those with newly formed aspirations, those not yet form in their spiritual aspirations, are slandered like this, if we abuse them through harsh speech, or start rumor about them, all of this will harm the spiritual aspirations of this person who is upholding the sutras. For this reason, our karma would be more severe than that due to abusing the Buddha Himself. So, our karma would be very severe.
As Buddhist practitioners, when listening to the Dharma we must be very mindful. The teaching that we just heard was already given in the prose section. We should listen very mindfully. This is the repeated verse. Worried we would forget, [the Buddha] repeated what He had already told us. even in the Buddha’s lifetime, others [would denounce] Him like this. this was because there were 96 non-Buddhist religions [in India at the time]. The Buddha prevailed over some of these religions; they were able to accept the Buddha-Dharma and even joined the Buddha’s Sangha. There were other religious followers however more stubborn [in their faith], who remained attached to their deviant knowledge and deviant vows. They were very arrogant and unwilling to accept the Buddha’s Right Dharma. Not only were they unwilling to accept it, a fear arose in them as well, a worry that the Buddha’s teachings would vanquish their own religion. Therefore, they thought of every way they could to slender Him, hoping to put an end to the Buddha-Dharma so that their own religion could flourish. During the Buddha’s lifetime, things like this constantly occurred. There was not only slender by non-Buddhists; it also happened inside the Sangha itself. There were disciples of the Buddha who wished to become the leaders of an assembly, who were hoping that the group they led, would surpass the Buddha’s Sangha. So, they spread rumors outside [of the Sangha] and thought of all sorts of means to undermine the Sangha that the Buddha led. In the sutras, there are many [stories] of how Devadatta tried to injure the Buddha or to destroy His Sangha. There are many stories like this. now we can understand the Buddha-Dharma and especially the Buddha’s original intent. After keeping it in His heart for ever 40 years, He finally started teaching everyone the path to Buddhahood, that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. “How amazing! How amazing! All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” This was the first thing the Buddha said after He attained enlightenment. He hoped everyone could realize this, but it is easier said than done. For more than 40 years, He had to patiently and gradually guide them. Time was running out for Him and the day was coming when He Himself would pass on following the laws of nature. So, [the teaching] He had kept inside, that “All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom was what He wished for everyone to know. The true principles of all things abide inside the human mind. He wished for everyone to understand this, but He encountered many obstacles. So, as Buddhist practitioners who wish to attain Buddhahood, we certainly will need to pass many tests. To uphold, recite and transcribe the sutras, to listen to and transmit the Dharma, we must have firm spiritual aspirations, listen without Leaks and take every word to heart. Then, the true Dharma-essence will be able to nourish our wisdom-lives. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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