Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Teaching with Impartial Wisdom (平等大慧 教菩薩法)
Date: January.11.2018
“The Tathagata’s ever-abiding Dharmakaya guides us directly to the reward-body of True Suchness. Because of His wisdom, the Buddha wanted to help sentient beings know and see this and eventually enter the Buddha’s understanding and views and realize and enter the great cause of the Buddha’s lifetime.”
We must be mindful! Recently, I have been talking about the emergence of the stupa of treasures. The stupa is an appearance; we must uses appearances to understand principles and use principles to understand appearances. We need to mindfully seek to experience this. As for “the Tathagata’s ever-abiding Dharmakaya,” I have been explaining to everyone that the Tathagata’s Dharmakaya is the true principles. It is all-pervading; there is no thing which does not contain its own true principles. The true principles are also within our heart; they are our nature of True Suchness. Thus, “the Tathagata’s ever-abiding Dharmakaya” can be found everywhere. It “guides us directly to the reward-body of True Suchness.” The Buddha’s one great cause was to help us understand the true principles, in particular, that everyone innately possesses the reward-body of True Suchness. The principles are inherently intangible, [so] we make analogies with the appearances and substances of things so that everyone can understand what form our True Suchness really takes. This is the Buddha’s wisdom. The Buddha used wisdom to enable sentient beings to learn the Buddha’s understanding and views.
[He] hoped that everyone could arrive at and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views. This was the Buddha’s mindful effort. He hoped we would enter and realize His understanding and views. Thus, the Buddha came to the world to open and reveal so that we can realize and enter. He opens and reveals [the Buddha’s views], and it is sentient beings who must realize and enter. So, with the “reward-body of True Suchness.” “True Suchness” means that it “has infinite merits and virtues,” so it is called “the reward-body of True Suchness.”
True Suchness: Because it has infinite merits and virtues, it is called the reward-body of True Suchness. The ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature is the storehouse of infinite merits and virtues. Furthermore, the essence of the Dharmakaya is true and natural. Thus, it is called the Dharmakaya of True Suchness.
Our intrinsic nature of True Suchness already contains all merits and virtues. Where does our goodness arise from? It comes from our intrinsic nature, our nature of True Suchness. Where does our hidden potential lie? It also lies within our nature of True Suchness. Where do our abilities come from? They come from our nature of True Suchness as well. We are constantly using this true essence, but we do not in the slightest bit experience how our nature of True Suchness has always been present in our daily living. It is replete with infinite merits and virtues. All the abilities we use in our daily living, or simply speaking, all of our physiological functions, the condition of our bodies, our thoughts and our actions all come from our essence of True Suchness manifesting its functions and abilities. So, it has infinite merits and virtues. Everything we create, our ability to speak, if we want to talk or act or move, all is [possible because of] our physiology. Thus, our physiological functions are also a principle, one of the principles. They contain so much.
Our altruistic potential and abilities are exerted through our physiology. However, as we make use of our physical body, our nature or True Suchness, our ability of greatest goodness, remains covered over by our ignorance. Although we want to exercise our abilities, our potential is obstructed by our ignorance. This is like having a bodily illness, which inhibits the function of our bone marrow. Can we be cured? Yes, we can. With advancements in science and technology, we are now able to transplant matching bone marrow from a healthy individual to [the patient]. The marrow is very healthy, and the patient can use [the transplanted marrow] to begin to carry out their own body’s function of producing blood cells.
As ignorant, unenlightened beings, we must also borrow from an external source. When we take the Buddha’s principles to heart, we can activate our power of merits and virtues, our virtuous potential. We must exercise our most wholesome and clever wisdom, the power of the Buddha’s understanding and views. This is the “reward-body of True Suchness,” that which we all innately possess. It is also [known] the Dharma-nature, “the ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature.”
So long as we can eliminate our ignorance and our dust-like afflictions, [we can reveal] “the ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature.” This is wisdom. This wisdom is contained within our True Suchness; it is vast and boundless. Our capacities, merits and virtues are all contained within the True Suchness of our Dharma-nature. So, this is called “the ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature.” The ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature is contained within “the storehouse of infinite merits and virtues.” This is our nature of True Suchness. Its infinite merits and virtues are [in] the storehouse of infinite merits and virtues. This treasury of infinite merits and virtues contains the ocean of True Suchness of our Dharma-nature. They are one and the same. “Furthermore, the essence of the Dharmakaya is true and natural; thus it is called the Dharmakaya of True Suchness.” Everyone possesses this intrinsically, yet we are not aware of it; we have not yet discovered it. [However], the essence of the Dharmakaya can be found in our daily living; it is inseparable from our lives. It is just that we have not experience this yet. It “is true and natural.” True means natural and sound. A natural life is true. If we live grounded lives, live each day naturally, True Suchness will always be one with us. So, this is the Dharmakaya of True Suchness. In all actions, we must act in accordance with the Dharma and the principles. We must make an effort to be mindful in our daily living.
I often tell everyone that our every action and every word [must reflect] our Dharma of True Suchness. If our nature of True Suchness loses its function, we become incoherent in our speech; we do not know what we ourselves are talking about. We will be in a confused state. This is not normal or sound. If every day we live natural, balanced lives, this is our nature of True Suchness functioning normally in our daily living. We must use the Dharma around us to guide and inspire us. We all innately possess [this True Suchness]; it is just that we are covered by ignorance. Thus, we must rely on Dharma outside ourselves to teach us. So, we need to accept [the teachings]. We must correct all our wrongdoings; if our actions offend others, we need to change our behavior. We need to change ourselves to accommodate how others live rather than [expecting] others to accommodate us. We need to live as one with everyone. This is our everyday spiritual practice; it is called the “Six Points of Reverent Harmony”. We need to make use of the Buddha’s teachings to educate ourselves. [We need to observe the] precepts. We must refrain from doing what we should not do, and refrain from behaving how we should not behave. We must observe precepts, have discipline and [the proper] demeanor. In our daily living, we must accept the Dharma to reveal our nature of True Suchness. We must live normally, like ordinary people. This is what it means to be “true and natural. This is “the essence of the Dharmakaya.” Our Dharmakaya is this simple. We need to control ourselves, for we must not violate the precepts or rules. We must not lose our demeanor. This is “the reward-body of True Suchness.” In our actions and behavior, we must take good care of ourselves, because our nature of True Suchness has “infinite merits and virtues.”
We all have this precious thing, but we do not know about it. This is truly a pity. Everyone, we must mindfully comprehend this! “Because True Suchness has infinite merits and virtues, it is called the reward-body of True Suchness.” We must all cherish this in ourselves. In our daily living, we innately have the ocean of merits and virtues of our Dharma-nature of True Suchness. We are full of wisdom. It is just that our minds are covered by ignorance. Thus, our treasury of infinite merits and virtues cannot exercise the essence of the Dharmakaya. Instead, our demeanors, actions and other dignified appearances as destroyed by us ourselves. Therefore, we need to be very vigilant. True Suchness is not particularly special; it is here in our daily living. I hope we can all understand that we need not go far to seek out the Dharmakaya of True Suchness. At that time, in this place, everything is the Dharmakaya of True Suchness. All the forms [life takes] are encompassed by the Dharma of True Suchness.
The previous sutra passage says, “From the Heaven of the Thirty-three, there fell a rain of Mandarava flowers in offering to the stupa of treasures. All the various heavenly beings, nagas yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas…”
Here it describes how heavenly begins scattered flowers as offerings to the stupa of treasures, to dignify the appearance of this Dharma-assembly. The Dharma-assembly was so magnificent. Along with these heavenly beings, those from the Heaven of the Thirty-three and the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings all came. There were also “nagas, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinaras” and “mahoragasJ”, the eight classes. All eight classes of Dharma-protectors were there; they all came to this world. The Buddha had already taught and transformed them, so they had become the Buddha’s Dharma-protectors. Now, they had all gathered there.
The sutra passage continues, other than Dharma-protectors, there were also “humans and non-humans, trillions in all, who “used all kinds of flowers, incense strings of jewels, banners and canopies and music to make offerings to the stupa of treasures and praised it reverently.
This tells how even the heavenly beings from beyond the human realm all came to scatter flowers and make offerings, to say nothing of humans. Along with humans, there were many other beings, thus there were “trillions in all.” Beings both visible and invisible to the human eye all came to this Dharma-assembly. In the sky and on the ground, trillions of them in all made offerings with utmost reverence. “[They] used all kinds of flowers, incense, strings of jewels, banners and canopies and music to make offerings to the stupa of treasures and praised it reverently.” Tangible objects and intangible sounds were all [presented] at this Dharma-assembly. These items were gathered from all directions. [From this], we can see the magnificence of the Dharma-assembly.
So, “They used various flowers, incense, all kinds of treasures, banners and canopies and music to make offerings to the stupa of treasures. Thus, full of reverence, they all paid their respects and praised it.
Praised it reverently: They saw it and gave rise to good thoughts and a reverent mind. They respected the stupa of treasures and thus began to praise it.
After witnessing its appearance, “they saw it and gave rise to good thoughts.” The offerings dignified the Dharma-assembly and made those present feel uncontrollable joy. From deep within, virtuous thoughts arose. This was a very inconceivable state. No matter how irritated their minds were, how jumbled their thoughts or how much resentment or anxiety they had, when they arrived at this Dharma-assembly, they felt that they could settle all of their afflictive emotions, their resentful state of mind and other such discursive thoughts. This state allowed them to forget all of their afflictions and helped them to give rise to joy and thought of goodness. The atmosphere of [the assembly] was able to subdue sentient beings’ stubbornness, afflictions, ignorance and discursive thoughts. So, “They saw it and gave rise to good thoughts. After witnessing this state, they naturally gave rise to a sense of joy and thoughts of goodness. So, they naturally “gave rise to a reverent mind” and “respected the stupa of treasures.” The [emergence of] the stupa of treasures bears witness, is testimony, to the fact that the Lotus Sutra expounded by the Buddha is the complete body of all Buddhas. The Dharmakaya is found in this sutra. The true principles it contains are the medicine that can cure this world.
Because of this, the stupa of treasures [emerged] to bear witness, to confirm this, and these heavenly beings came to attest to this, and to dignify the Dharma-assembly and make offerings to the stupa of treasures. They all showed mutual reverence and harmony. The Buddha taught us that in a place of practice, we must [uphold] “the Six Pints of Reverent Harmony. With our bodies and minds, thoughts and actions, we must uphold the Six Points of Reverent Harmony. We should all understand this; we need to praise and respect each other. The principle is the same. Many Treasures Buddha coming to bear witness is also [a form of] respect. As all the Dharma-protectors descended from heaven to dignify the Dharma-assembly, this is also a form of respectful reverence.
All of this was to allow the people there to give rise to praise. In the atmosphere of that assembly, the air was fragrant and flower scattered. This state inspired joy and admiration in all those present, so they gave rise to thoughts of goodness and reverent minds.
This refers to Sakro-devanam Indra, the King of the Heaven of the Thirty-three, Trayastrimsa Heaven. Because this heavenly [being] was the king of the heavens closest to the world, he first presented this rain of flowers as an offering. The remaining eight classes of Dharma-protectors and fourfold assemblies each followed their reverent heart to make offerings to the stupa of treasures and praised it reverently. Through body, speech and mind, they also made offerings of virtuous karma.
This state shows how the king of the Heaven of the Thirty-three. Sakro-devanam Indra mobilized all of the eight classes of Dharma-protectors to come to this place and make offerings to the stupa of treasures to dignify the Dharma-assembly. Sakro-devanam Indra was the great Dharma-protector of Shakyamuni Buddha. He is the king of the heavens closest to the world. There was a period of time when the Buddha’s cousin, Devadatta, first began to follow the Buddha as a monastic, yet his mind was still covered by ignorance, and He was filled with terrible anger, ignorance and arrogance. Although he was learning the Buddha’s teachings, in his heart, he was unswayed by Sakyamuni Buddha. he was disobedient and refused to accept the Buddha’s training and teaching. Later, he left the Buddha and turned against Him. He incited King Ajatasatru to issue a decree that no one in the city was permitted to make offerings to Sakyamuni’s Sangha. Even if they came to ask for alms, no one was allowed to give food to the Sangha. If anyone gave food to the Sangha, they would be punished by the law of the land. Many of the citizens normally loved, respected and made offerings to the Buddha. When they suddenly received this national decree, that they had to stay away from Sakyamuni Buddha and could not make offerings to Him, not even food, everyone was frightened. They cried out in sadness and anger. They had to accept this decree, but although they accepted it, they could not bear it. How would the Buddha’s Sangha sustain themselves? People were sad and angry. They felt indignant but did not dare to speak out. The sound of their cries affected the Heaven of the Thirty-three. [Their cries] shook the Heaven of the Thirty-three frightening Sovereign Sakra. What karmic conditions could possibly cause so much sorrow and misery in the world that it could shake Trayastrumsa Heaven? What had happened? With his heavenly eye, he saw that it was Devadatta who had betrayed the Buddha and turned his back on the principles. It was he who incited Ajatasatru to cut off Sakyamuni Buddha’s food supply.
So, [Sovereign Sakra] immediately mobilized the heavenly beings to go before the Buddha. There, the requested to make offering to the Buddha their entire lives. Yet the Buddha was silent. He would not accept their lifetime of offering. The Buddha had come to the world to teach and transform sentient beings. sentient beings needed the Buddha to form affinities with them and to give them the Dharma. The Buddha wanted to help sentient beings create blessed affinities. So, He did not accept the heavenly beings’ lifetime offering to Him. Sakro-devanam Indra then said, “[Without if we] make offering for 50 years?” But Buddha did not accept. “How about making offerings for five years?” The Buddha would not accept that either. “How about five months?” The Buddha still refused. Finally, Sakro-devanam Indra said, “In that case, how about we make offering to you for five days?” The Buddha accepted [this offer]. So, for five days, the heavenly beings transformed the Bamboo Grove Abode into a city dignified with the Seven Treasures. It was truly majestic, just like a palace. Its surroundings were bright and resplendent. It was an extraordinary sight. Heavenly beings made reverent offerings holding alms bowls of gold and silver. At dawn, when daylight was about break, from inside hi tower, King Ajatasatru looked towards the Bamboo Grove abode from afar and wondered, “How could it be so extraordinary? How could the light of dawn be of such extraordinary color? It looks as though [heavenly beings] have descended from heaven to make reverent offerings.” It tooked as magnificent as a heavenly palace. From the top of this tower, he peered from afar into the Buddha’s Bamboo Grave abode. As he looked down upon the abode, he suddenly gave rise to a sense of remorse and regret. Then, he began to reproach Devadatta. “What a great fool you are! How could you use this deluded teaching to get me to cut off the Buddha’s food supply and prevent these citizens from drawing near and making offerings to Sakyamuni Buddha?” The ministers took this opportunity to tell the king, “All your citizens are resentful. Everyone harbors resentment over this. You’re your majesty issued this decree the citizens resented you for it. If the people resent you, the kingdom is in danger! At that moment, king Ajatasatru revised his decree immediately to encourage his people to make offerings to Sakyamuni Buddha. For five days’ time, during those five days, the Buddha accepted Sakro-devanam Indra’s offering. Sakro-devanam Indra created such a sight that king Ajatasatru lifted his ban. That king Ajatasatru lifted his ban. From this, we can see that Sakra-devanam Indra is the Buddha’s great Dharma-protector.
So, this is we must mindfully comprehend. Wherever the Buddha-Dharma abides, the Dharma-protectors, heavenly beings and dragoon-gods will all be there as well, even though the Buddha said that those who expound this sutra, all Buddhas share the same path, and all heavenly beings protect the Dharma.
We must have faith in this. For this reason, all the heavenly beings to this stupa of treasures, Many Treasures’ stupa which came from another world. Similarly, the Dharma-protectors also made offerings by scattering flowers. In addition to Sakro- devanam Indra, “The remaining eight classes of Dharma-protectors and fourfold assemblies each followed their reverent heart to make offerings to make offerings to the stupa of treasures and praised it reverently.
Along with the heavenly beings, the remaining eight classes of Dharma-protectors also came with sincere reverence. With their reverence, although they did not offer material things, they made offerings to the Buddha by expressing their reverence through wholesome karma of body speech and mind. [Those gathered] were both human and non-human. The Dharma-protectors used the utmost reverence of body, speech and mind, their conduct, to make offerings.
The following sutra passage says, “At that time, from the stupa of treasures came a great voice that said in praise, ‘Excellent! Excellent! Sakyamuni, the World-Honored-One, can use great impartial wisdom to teach the Bodhisattva Way.”
This passage tells us that a great voice emanated from the stupa. We just described how the stupa appeared and how the Dharma-protectors came to express their welcome, make offerings and dignify the Dharma-assembly. Now, a voice came from the stupas of treasures to praise Sakyamuni Buddha and bear witness to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flowers Sutra He taught, the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flowers Sutra which Sakyamuni Buddha was teaching. He confirmed that this was opening the provisional to reveal the true; it was not false. The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flowers Sutra that the Buddha was teaching was opening up the provisional. This confirmed that although He gave provisional teachings in the past, the teachings were still true and not false; they guide sentient beings into the teachings. If He did not start guiding sentient beings using limited teachings, how would they ever reach the perfect teachings?
As we mentioned yesterday, He brought them into a room of treasures, where everything inside was precious. But there was still another door in this room where the true treasure lay. This is just like our sixth, seventh and eight consciousnesses. If we want to inspire thoughts of goodness in our eight consciousness, we must first eliminate our afflictions and ignorance. If we can clear away our afflictions and ignorance, our ignorance, afflictions and dust-like delusions, then our ninth, purest consciousness, our Buddha-nature, will be unlocked. Thus, by opening up the provisional teachings [He gave] before, He opened the door for us to enter [and find] the True Dharma. So this confirms that the previous teachings also revealed the truth; the true teachings were also contained within. Although He opened up the provisional, he opened it to prove that they were true and not false. The provisional teachings in the past also contained the true Dharma. But now, He was teaching the true and not false, the Great Dharma of the One Vehicle which is what the Buddha now taught, the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra.
Thus, “At that time, “from the stupa of treasures came a great voice.” At that moment, a voice emanated from the stupa. At that time, from the stupa of treasures came a great voice: When all of the heavenly beings made offerings, suddenly a great and wondrous voice came from the stupa. Voice: This means that from the stupa, a voice came and spoke words of praise.
“When all of the heavenly beings made offerings, a voice came from the stupa of treasures. when the heavenly beings came to make offerings, this created a magnificent atmosphere. People’s hearts were full of joy, and they were all inspired to form thoughts of goodness. Their thoughts were kind and harmonious. The environment was wholesome and dignified. It was at this time that the voice [was heard] coming from the stupa. Thus, “when all of the heavenly beings made offerings, a great and wondrous voice suddenly. A wondrous voice emanated from the stupa and began to speak words of praise.
[It] said in praise: Excellent! Excellent! Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One: He again praised Him as excellent, praising [the Buddha] for being able to give the provisional and also praising Him for revealing what is true.
Excellent! Excellent! This was truly excellent “Sakyamuni, the -honored One…” He repeatedly praised Him for being able to apply the provisional. Before, He had given the provisional teachings to transform sentient beings and guide them to enter the door to the treasury of the Right Dharma. This was the praise of the past Buddha for the current Buddha, for the excellent sequence in which He expounded the Dharma. Before, He had opened the door of skillful means, and now, the past Buddha praised the current Buddha for revealing the true. In revealing the True Dharma, He “used great impartial wisdom. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. All sentient beings are equal “He can use the Buddha’s views and understanding of how the Buddha and sentient beings are intrinsically equal in nature. This is great wisdom.” Thus the Buddha began to teach everyone that sentient beings, the mind, and the Buddhahood’s nature are all intrinsically equal. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature]. This is what the Buddha tole us, this is the Buddha’s understanding and views. In what the Buddha saw and understood, He had already become enlightened, and He had become one with the universe. He wanted to offer these truths to sentient beings. [He wanted] to help them understand that everyone intrinsically possesses this vast, great wisdom. By teaching sentient being like this, Sakyamuni Buddha wanted everyone to understand that we are all replete with this great wisdom equal to the Buddha’s great impartial wisdom.
Great wisdom: this was attained in the place of enlightenment. The Buddha saw that sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature and can all attain Buddhahood. This is called great impartial wisdom.
This is talking about the place of enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra that the Buddha taught is what He attained in the place of enlightenment. This place of enlightenment is one of great wisdom. So, wherever the Lotus Sutra is present, this is our place of enlightenment of great wisdom. Thus, “The Buddha saw that sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature.” Do you still remember? The Buddha’s first words when He attained enlightenment were, “How amazing! How amazing! All beings possess the Buddha’s nature of wisdom.” This is the first sentence the Buddha said after attaining enlightenment. Thus, “The Buddha saw that sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature.” Everyone possesses Buddha-nature, “and all can attain Buddhahood." Since everyone has Buddha-nature, everyone is able to attain Buddhahood. Thus, “This is called great impartial wisdom." This is great impartial wisdom.
Impartial: At the same level, with nothing higher or lower, equal without difference. Everyone intrinsically possesses this principle within their consciousness. What was called “amazing” is that all sentient beings are equal.
The meaning of impartial is that everything is at the same level, with nothing higher or lower. Everyone is equal to each other; we are “equal without difference." There is no difference between the Buddha and sentient beings. The Buddha’s wisdom is no higher than ours. There is no difference between us and the Buddha. The only difference is that we are covered by ignorance. This is the only difference between us and the Buddha. If we eliminate our ignorance, we are equal to the Buddha. Thus, impartial means at the same level, with nothing higher or lower; we are equal without difference. We all intrinsically possess this principle. We possess it “within our consciousness." Our ninth consciousness is something we all have, and True Suchness is stored within it. The Buddha has already opened the doors of the Eight Consciousnesses for us in order to help us understand that we have a ninth consciousness, which is our pure and undefiled nature of True Suchness. Thus [He said], “How amazing! How amazing! All sentient beings are equal." However, we are covered by ignorance. We need to refine and train ourselves. We must start as Hearers, then Solitary Realizers then form great Bodhisattva-aspirations to accept and practice the Bodhisattva Way and walk the Bodhisattva-path. So, “Teaching the Bodhisattva Way” [means] “Tathagatas from the ten directions” “teach their disciples
who have the capabilities of Bodhisattvas the supreme and wondrous Dharma.” All the Buddhas of the ten directions are like this. It was not just Sakyamuni Buddha. We need to mindfully comprehend this “At this assembly, the Buddha…” This assembly refers to the Vulture Peak assembly.
At this assembly, the Buddha, on behalf of all sentient beings, taught about various good and evil phenomena and conditioned and unconditioned phenomena. Though the forms of these teachings differ, in reality, He taught nothing but the Bodhisattva Way.
“On behalf of all sentient beings,” He “taught about various good and evil phenomena.” [The Buddha] explained for us, “This is evil; do not do it. This is good; you must do it.” Conditioned phenomena are all created by human beings. He also explained unconditioned phenomena to us. Unconditioned phenomena are the laws of the nature. This is what He explained to us. “Though the forms of these teachings differ in actuality, they teach nothing but the Bodhisattva Way.” Though the forms of these teachings differ, their Dharma does not differ in any way. They all teach the Bodhisattva Way. When we engage in spiritual practice, we must ultimately go through the Bodhisattva Way. That means we must gain experience among people to refine and temper ourselves until we completely eliminate our ignorance. Once we are pure, our pure ninth consciousness, the amala consciousness, will appear. Therefore, as Buddhist practitioners, we need to be truly mindful. In our daily living, we need to be mindful of our conduct, our thoughts and our speech. We need to be mindful of all of these things. Our nature of True Suchness is a part of our lives. Why are we unable to find it? This is because of our ignorance. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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