Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Our Enlightened Nature of True Suchness
(含識同具 真如覺性)
Date:January.12.2018
“This verifies that earlier, when [the Buddha] opened up the provisional to reveal the true, it was true and not false. Great wisdom is what we obtain from the place of enlightenment of our own nature. That which is called impartial is our heart of great compassion. The nature of sentient beings is equal with no difference between high and low.”
We must be mindful! We must put our hearts into understanding more, getting more involved and gaining more realizations. In the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, the Buddha began teaching about the appearance of the stupa of treasures. When the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra, the stupa appeared as a testimony to how the provisional teachings that Sakyamuni Buddha had given in the past more than 40 years had now been shown to reveal the Great Dharma which is true and not false. Many Treasures Buddha and the stupa of treasures appeared as a testimony that the provisional teachings of the past taught both existence and emptiness in equal measure; they contained both the Small and the Great.
Now, in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha classified and unified them all, distinguishing between the Small, Middle and Great Vehicle Dharma and clearly explaining them each to us. In this way, He opened up the provisional to reveal the true. This is like how in the previous parable, He brought us into the storehouse of treasures to make it known to us that there are innumerable treasures there. The treasures inside are of every kind and form. He kept guiding us along to show us another door. He opened this door, [saying], “Come, everyone, take a look. The value of the Dharma you have studied in the past, cannot match the treasure that is revealed before you now. This treasure truly has infinite value. Compared to all the other [teachings], this is even more valuable.” This is the pure essence of the Dharma. In the past, I used another analogy; if a person’s [bone marrow] has lost its function to produce blood cells, it will affect this person’s ability to survive. With the development of medical science, we have learned how to do bone marrow transplants. It is the same idea. We sentient beings are born with the ability to produce blood cells. However, if we become ill and lose this ability, we need to find a matching [donor]. When a match is found, we can do a transplant. Blood-producing [cells] from one person, bone marrow or peripheral blood [stem cells], these [essential cells], are harvested and transplanted to the patient. The person who donates their marrow stays healthy, and the person who receives it can recover their lost ability to produce blood. They can now replenish it. After recovering this ability, they too become healthy. In the same way, the Buddha provides us with the essence, the marrow, of the Dharma. We sentient beings suffer from ignorance; this is having an illness in our minds. Our hearts are full of dust-like delusions, and ignorance and afflictions plague us every day. So, we are lost; we have lost our way.
Today, as we listen to the Dharma, it is just as if it was supplementing our lost blood-producing function. We must not reject it once we receive it or it will have no effect. Then, even though a healthy person has donated their marrow to us, we still remain [ill]. The principle is the same. This very healthy Buddha-Dharma has been given to us, but although we have accepted it, we are still being constantly influenced by the external world. Thus, we may become infected again and be unable to recover our health. The principle is the same. We should know that finding a matching donor is not an easy thing. Out of hundreds of thousands of people, a patient may only be able to match with one or two of them. In the same way, the Buddha has to [accommodate] our capacities. For the Dharma to match our capacities is also not an easy matter. Once it is able to match our capacities, we must develop deep faith in it and accept it. We cannot keep allowing external ignorance, afflictions and delusions to make us lose our way, to cover our extremely precious nature of True Suchness.
So, this ancient Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, had made a vow. “In the future, in any world, as long as a Buddha manifests and teaches the Lotus Sutra to His Dharma-assembly, my stupa of treasures will appear there.” It will do this as testimony. We have previously discussed the principles of the stupa of treasures; I believe they were quite clearly explained. We should all mindfully contemplate this. These tangible forms [correspond to] great, intangible principles. Thus, He used tangible forms to represent the principles. Whether the height or the width or the adornments surrounding [the stupa] etc., these all contain Dharma. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this.
Thus, it [appeared] as a testimony to the provisional teachings given in the past. But the true Dharma He now revealed is true and not false. The Buddha now began to present the perfect, Great Dharma of the One Vehicle; this is the Lotus Sutra. He wanted to show us the great wisdom inherent in our own nature. This great wisdom is our intrinsic nature of True Suchness. This is “what we obtain from the place of enlightenment.” The great wisdom of our intrinsic nature is the Dharma we obtain from the place of enlightenment. Where is this place of enlightenment? It is the Bodhimanda, the place where Sakyamuni Buddha engage in spiritual practice. Beneath the Bodhi tree, He looked up at the star in the night, and in that instant, He obtained the Dharma that let Him return to His nature of True Suchness. This happened in an instant. “That which us called impartial is our heart of great compassion.” The Buddha’s heart is one of great loving-kindness and compassion. “The nature of sentient beings is equal.” He realize that sentient beings’ natures are all equal. All animals and all sentient beings have the same nature. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” They are equal, with no difference between high and low. This is our nature of True Suchness. Everyone intrinsically possesses this nature of True Suchness. This is “equally contained in our consciousness.” It is contained within our ninth consciousness. This consciousness is the pure and undefiled nature of True Suchness. Everybody has it. It is stored in our ninth consciousness, which comes after the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness takes in everything [we experience] in the world, both the past and the present. In this way, it is constantly being polluted. The karma we created in the past is accumulated in our eighth consciousness. Recently, I have kept telling everyone this in the hope that we will all put our hearts into comprehending it. It is because of this that we sentient beings always remain confuse. We remain unable to comprehend the wondrous, profound principles of the universe. We have no way to comprehend these. This is because before our eighth consciousness, our five senses connect with the sense objects, our sixth consciousness takes them in [and contemplates] and our seventh consciousness [forms attachment]. Thus, we create all kinds of karmic forces which are accumulated in our eighth consciousness. The karma that we carry with us from past lives manifests as karmic conditions in this life and increases our ignorance, causing us to accumulate even more karma. We must be very mindful of this. In this lifetime, the only blessed condition we have is that we have come in contact with the Dharma. Since we have encountered the Dharma, we must awaken our intrinsic nature. Since these wondrously subtle causes and conditions have matured, allowing us to realize how the Dharma continues on and how karma is created! Once we thoroughly understand the karmic law of cause and effect, we must make an effort to joyfully accept our past karma. We cannot keep recreating these conflicts, pilling up more negative affinities and creating more evil karma; we must not do this [Instead, we must] “eliminate karma as conditions arise and avoid creating more disasters.” Since we created negative conditions in the past, in this lifetime we must avoid further entangling ourselves in these negative affinities. If we do not, in our next life we will remain tangled up in these negative conditions.
So, we must eliminate karma as conditions arise. When we take a step back, our world opens up. Past negative conditions naturally disappear. After negative conditions have disappeared, we must create more blessed conditions. If we want blessed conditions, we must to extensively create affinities. So, we must make use of our causes and conditions, accept the Great Vehicle Dharma and go among people to serve. So, this nature of True Suchness is something “all beings innately have.” “It is equally contained in our consciousness.”
All beings innately have a nature of True Suchness. It is equally contained in our consciousness. With a tranquil and clear mind, at the instant His eyes met the light of the star, He exclaimed, “How amazing! All sentient beings in the world intrinsically have the same enlightened nature of True Suchness as the Tathagata.”
It is “contained in our consciousness,” but where is that? In a “tranquil and clear mind.” As He connected with the starlight in that moment, the Buddha, in His place of enlightenment, was in a state of tranquility. He closed His eyes; He was in a very calm state. His mind was perfectly tranquil and clear. Suddenly, as He opened His eyes, the light of the star shining before daybreak and the clear, tranquil state of His mind connected with each other. This happened in an instant; in a flash, He connected with that shining star. [He said], “How amazing! How amazing! All sentient beings in the world intrinsically have the Tathagata’s nature of all-encompassing wisdom. This enlightened nature of True Suchness is equal in all Buddhas and in sentient beings. Sentient beings’ ocean of enlightened wisdom is the same as that of all Buddhas. We must very mindfully seek to comprehend this perfectly tranquil and clear state of mind. With this tranquility and clarity, whenever we look at something, we can see through to the principle it contains. This is the same principle as when the Buddha’s gaze met the starlight. The Buddha, in His awakened state, understood that all sentient beings have the same great wisdom in their minds. So, having realized this, He began to go among sentient beings with a heart of loving-kindness and compassion. He hoped only that each one of us can comprehend that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and that we can all attain Buddhahood. This is the Buddha’s compassion for us. He has been making every effort since innumerable kalpas in the past. During the [time of] Great Unhindered Buddha, He received the Great Vehicle Dharma, and over so many lifetimes, He has constantly practiced [this Dharma] by going among people to create good affinities and [helped us] transform afflictions of Bodhi. When we go among people, we are tempered and trained to purify afflictions so they turn into Bodhi. As we cultivate the Buddha-Dharma, we understand that we have afflictions, so we must find ways to put an end to them. Our afflictions are created as we go among other sentient beings. The feeling we experience lead us to create afflictions. Now we understand that the things we come in contact with cause great numbers of afflictions, which make us create more karmic forces. These two mutually create each other.
Now that we understand this, we must go among people to eliminate karma as conditions arise and avoid creating more disasters. In our interpersonal relationships, we must think, “I am grateful. This situation helps me grow in wisdom. I am willing to put forth my effort and form good affinities with sentient beings.” This is what the Buddha wants us to learn, to “Refrain from all evil and do all that is good.” He wants us to start upon the Bodhisattva-path; this is how the Buddha dedicated himself to this world.
Let us look at the previous sutra passage. “Humans and non-humans, trillions in all, 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.”
Both heavenly beings and Dharma-protectors came. There were humans of this world, heavenly beings and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors floating in the air; they had all come. How many in total? They were trillions in all. Those who were visible were human; those who were invisible were dragon gods and Dharma-protectors floating in the air, the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. The number of beings there was immense; they were countless beings, trillions of them. They used flowers, incense, strings of jewels and so on to make offerings to the stupa. Expressing their reverence and respect, they came to praise the stupa of treasures as it appeared to dignify Sakyamuni Buddha’s Dharma-assembly.
So, “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 was Many Treasures Buddha praising Sakyamuni Buddha of the Saha World. He was praising the Buddha for [coming to] the Saha World, this world that must be endured. Sakyamuni Buddha was able to come to this stubborn and hard-to-tame world and use great impartial wisdom to teach these stubborn sentient beings to practice the Bodhisattva Way. This is not easy! This was how Many Treasures Buddha called out from inside the stupa of treasures with a subtle and wondrous voice.
Next, as we continue reading, [the sutra] says, “The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flowers Sutra that is safeguarded by all Buddhas is what He teaches to the assembly.”
The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra that is safeguarded by all Buddhas is what He teaches to the assembly. Indeed, indeed, it is as Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, teaches. It is all true.
This was the voice emanating from the stupa of treasures. It praised the Buddha for being able to, in the Saha World, use his impartial mind and great wisdom to teach the Bodhisattva Way. The Bodhisattva Way is what all Buddhas safeguard in Their minds. All Buddhas share the same path; all Buddhas safeguard the Lotus Sutra, this wondrous Dharma. [The Buddha] used this Great Dharma, the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flowers Sutra, to teach this assembly, the stubborn sentient beings of the Saha World. “Indeed, indeed, it is as Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, teaches. It is all true.” This section is telling everyone, “It is indeed like this! It truly is!” This is a testimony. In the phrase “Thus have I heard”, the words “thus” indicates, “Truly, it is this way. Really, it is this way.” It affirms that [the sutra] is neither false nor illusory; He told the assembly that it was true. He earlier praised Sakyamuni Buddha for teaching the Bodhisattva Way to stubborn sentient beings.
Now, “Indeed, indeed” is a testimony. It affirms that everything Sakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One, taught is true. This is what Many Treasures Buddha came for, to affirm that “The Great Vehicles’ wondroud Dharma of the One Reality is extremely profound.
The great Vehicles’ wondrous Dharma of the One Reality is extremely profound. [All Buddha] safeguard it and keep it in mind and do not careless reveal or teach it. For all Bodhisattvas. They expound the Great Vehicle Sutra known as the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, and teach the Bodhisattva Way.
All Buddhas share the same path. Each Buddha safeguards [the Lotus Sutra] and keep it in mind; They will never forget this. However, whenever a Buddha teaches the Dharma, although They keep the Great Vehicle Dharma in mind, They all begin by giving provisional teachings. All Buddhas, in Their minds, are mindful of, safeguard and protect the wondrous Dharma. Thus, They safeguard it and keep it in mind, always protecting this Dharma.
This describes all Buddhas, past and present Buddhas as well as all future Buddha. For them all, this wondrous Dharma is what They safeguard and keep in mind. “[They] do not carelessly reveal or teach it. It cannot be taught randomly. When the timing, the person or the place is not right, under any these conditions, They will not teach it. They will definitely wait for the right timing and the appropriate setting with sentient beings of suitable capabilities. Only then will a Buddha teach it. This is to say that hearing this Dharma. Is not a simple matter. This Dharma is what the Buddha has safeguarded, the Dharam He absolutely had to teach in coming to the world to transform beings. Now, the Buddha did not have much time left, His lifetime was that of people in this world, and He did not have much time left. So, He had to teach it. This Dharma that He guarded and kept in His heart had never been casually taught in the past. But now was the time; these people’s capabilities were more or less ready. If He did not teach it, then this Dharma would not be passed on. Thus, the time to teach had definitely arrived.
So, at this time, “For all Bodhisattvas, He expounded the Great Vehicle sutra. At that time He started [teaching] the Great Vehicle Dharma “known as the Sutra of Infinite Meanings.” He began with the Sutra of Infinite Meanings. Everyone definitely needs to read this sutra. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is the doorway to the Lotus Sutra. Great Vehicle sutras are always to be practiced through infinite meanings. Although this sutra is extremely profound, it is inseparable from the Dharma of this world. So, the Sutra of Infinite Meanings inspires us to form Bodhisattva-aspirations; we should all read it. “[He] taught the Bodhisattva Way.” He taught us how to walk the Bodhisattva-path. “It is safeguarded by all Buddhas. All sentient beings [must believe this].”
This means that Many Treasures Buddha came to affirm that this is what all Buddhas guard in their minds. Now, that Sakyamuni Buddha was teaching it, “All you sentient beings should have faith in and praise the Dharma of the Great Vehicle Sutra.” We must mindfully accept [this Dharma]; we must earnestly put into practice and praise the Dharma taught in this sutra.
It is safeguarded by all Buddhas. All sentient beings must have faith in and praise its inconceivable merits and virtues. All Buddha safeguard in their minds this Wondrous Lotus Flower.
So, it speaks of “its inconceivable merits and virtues.” These truly are inconceivable merits and virtues. What “all Buddha guard in their minds is none other than this Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra.” We all must believe this. This was what Many Treasures Buddha came to this Dharma-assembly to bear witness to He came to help us see the importance of the Lotus Sutra. This is the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, His entire body.
So, the sutra says, “The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra that is safeguarded by all Buddhas.” That which “is safeguarded by all Buddhas is great wisdom. The Buddha used great wisdom to guard this sutra. This wondrous Dharma is what all Buddhas guard in Their pure hearts. That purity is a state of tranquility and clarity. What Their hearts of great wisdom safeguard was this wondrous Dharma. This is something truly precious! “The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra” that They safeguard “is what He teaches to the assembly.” He taught it to the great assembly.
The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra is what He teaches to the assembly: The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra which gives rise to wondrous fruit is what He taught individually to all sentient beings.
“With gives rise to wondrous fruit” refers to His hope that those at the assembly could, from Bodhisattva-seeds, reach the state of the wondrous fruit of Buddhahood. To attain the wondrous fruit, we need “the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra”; we must practice along the Bodhisattva-path. He started with the Sutra of Infinite Meanings which is in response to [the needs of] suffering beings in this world. This is the opening of the Lotus Sutra. This is [the path] we must first walk in order to comprehend the principles contained in the Lotus Sutra. So, “[This] is what He taught individually to all sentient begins.” For such profound and wondrous teachings, we must truly comprehend the Bodhisattva-path before we can understand the fruit of Buddhahood.
“Indeed, indeed” is saying that “Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One used compassion and skillful means.” He used compassion and skillful means to patiently guide them. This means using all kinds of skillful means.
Indeed, indeed: It means that Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, used compassion and skillful means. He indeed taught this way to sentient beings.
“Indeed, indeed” means “This is the way it is! It is truly correct. This is the way He guides us. He “indeed” teaches this Dharma to sentient beings. Although they are skillful teachings, the True Dharma is contained within them. By teaching the provisional in this way, He paved the road so that He was now able to reveal the True Dharma. This is the meaning of “indeed”.
Indeed: One, this is indeed the nature of the Dharma. This praises what the Buddha teaches as true. Two, it is indeed in accord with capabilities. This praises how the Buddha’s skillful teachings in the Five Periods were always suitable for [sentient beings’] capabilities.
“Indeed” means, “One, this is indeed the nature of the Dharma.” It is singular, not dual. This is the True Dharma; the truth is there is only the One. “One, this is indeed the nature of the Dharma.” The Dharma’s nature is like this. The Buddha was “praising what the Buddha teaches.” With these Buddhas, the present Buddha praises the Buddha of the past, and the past Buddha praises the Buddha of the present. So, “One, this is indeed the nature of the Dharma.” They are both Buddhas. The past Buddha and the present Buddha are both Buddhas. The present Buddha came to teach and the past Buddha praised [His teachings] as true. So, one Buddha praises another. “Two, it is indeed in accord with capabilities.” One, this is indeed the nature of the Dharma. Two, it is indeed in accord with capabilities. This is the nature of the Dharma; one Buddha praised the other. Two, it is in accord with capabilities. Capabilities refer to “praising the Buddha’s skillful teachings in the Five Periods.” Throughout the Five Periods, He taught with skillful means. From the Avatamsaka, [He taught] the Agama, Vaipulya and Prajna and then the Lotus period, when He returned to the Avatamsaka [state], the tranquil and clear state of the Buddha. These are “His skillful teachings in the Five Periods.”
Next it says, “It is as Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, teaches. It is all true.” What Sakyamuni, the World-Honored One, taught was all true. Everything that Sakyamuni taught is entirely true; there is not falseness in it. In every period, He held firmly to the truth, whatever the capacities of sentient beings and whatever the time. How long did the Agama period last? How long did He teach the Agama? He expounded the Agama [teachings] for 12 years. The Vaipulya period lasted eight years. During this time He patiently guided [sentient beings]. In those 12 years He taught about “existence,” the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links. Sentient beings’ ignorance and afflictions take the form of suffering. This suffering is created by our minds; it manifests when our karma matures. This is beyond our control. This creates the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. Causes, conditions, effects and retributions continuously cycle like this. During these 12 years of “discussing existence,” He helped everyone understand that, since Beginningless Time, our nature of True Suchness has been polluted lifetime after lifetime with layer upon layer of afflictions. This is beyond our control.
However, our intrinsic nature still remains. So, while “discussing existence,” while discussing the law of karma, [He also taught that] throughout all these many past lifetimes, our nature of True Suchness is still with us. However, we allow our ignorance to keep snowballing. This is just like a snowball; the more it rolls the bigger it gets. The more [karma] we create, the more afflictions and ignorance we have. Our world goes through formation, existence, decay and disappearance. These follow the karmic forces of sentient beings. After the beginning of the world, and the beginning of humankind, karma was continuously created as time ceaselessly passed by. In [the phase of] “existence,” gradually, we continue to create karma. In this way, the earth is slowly being destroyed. This is “decay,” the kalpa of decay. This continues until the four elements become so imbalanced and people’s minds are so discordant that the world enters the turbidity of the kalpa of decay. The evil world of turbidities is the result of sentient beings endlessly creating karma. Just like a snowball, our collective karma becomes heavier and heavier. So, we will suffer more and more retributions in the form of disasters and calamities. This is all within [the teachings of] “existence”. If we can mindfully understand this, [we find that] the Agama teachings actually contain the Great Vehicle Dharma. So, after 12 years passed, the Buddha quickly continued the process of entering the Great Vehicle Dharma.
Take for example the lay disciple Vimalakirti, who spoke during the Vaipulya period. During the eight years of the Vaipulya period, [the Buddha] guided lay disciples as well to form aspirations to walk the Bodhisattva-path. It is not only monastics who should engage in spiritual practice and cultivate the Great Vehicle. Lay disciples should be like Vimalakirti, who was able to teach the Great Vehicle Dharma. This is called the Vaipulya period, the period of the Vaipulya teachings. But eight years later, the Buddha still let people know that they had to open their hearts to share the Dharma with everyone. Thus, He shifted to the Prajna teachings. We must not have attachments or arrogance. In life, we never really own anything; [there is] formation, existence, decay and disappearance, birth, aging, illness and death, arising, abiding, changing and ceasing. Life is short. Everyone must quickly seize the moment and go among people to obtain wisdom and form good affinities. So, He patiently guided us to be able to see wondrous existence in true emptiness and true emptiness in wondrous existence. This means that we must not deny the law of karma. Causes and effects definitely exist, and the law of karma contains True Suchness.
So, previously, the Buddha told the story from the time of Great Unhindered Buddha in the Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City. This was to eliminate sentient beings’ attachments. However, He also needed to lead people to the wondrous existence of True Suchness, to our everlasting intrinsic nature. This was very important. So, “This is like when the Buddha taught about all sorts of evil phenomena, such as karmic retributions and hell and so on.” The Buddha would also talk about these. For example the Earth Treasury Sutra is also a Great Vehicle sutra, a Vaipulya sutra. [That sutra] likewise speaks of the many evil [retributions] in hell, how sentient beings do evil and in so doing reap evil karmic retribution. So, talking about the many kinds of retributions of suffering in hell, “His purpose was to help sentient beings first turn evil into goodness.” When we refrain from all evil and do all good, we will “receive blessed retributions.” This is the karmic law of cause and effect.
This is like when the Buddha taught about all sorts of evil phenomena, such as karmic retributions and hell and so on; His purpose was to help sentient beings first turn evil into goodness, receive blessed retributions and grow our roots of goodness. Then we will gradually be able to form the karmic conditions to transcend this world. When we practice and fulfill the world-transcending Dharma and form great aspirations, we will be able to move directly toward the unsurpassed Bodhi-path.
In this way we “grow our roots of goodness. Then we will gradually be able to form the karmic conditions to transcend this world.” This means we must grow our roots of goodness and eliminate evil karma. Only then can we discuss the causes and conditions for transcending this world. How can be liberated from the Six Realms? “We [must] practice and fulfill the world-transcending Dharma.” We must practice continuously. To become a doctor, you must first be a medical student, then an intern and then a doctor in residency before you can become an attending physician. This is the same principle. We must learn in sequence.
So, [we must] “form great aspirations.” Now we must all form great aspirations, so that “we will be able to move directly toward the unsurpassed Bodhi-path.” This is also like “the various provisional teachings that He taught to accord with sentient beings’ capabilities." He taught these various teachings to accord with the capacities of sentient beings.
It is also like the various provisional teachings that He taught to accord with sentient beings’ capabilities. They were true; they were all illusory skillful means to return us to the true Dharma of the One Vehicle. So from the stupa came a great voice praising the way He taught the provisional to reveal the true; [His teachings] were all true. This was in order to fully verify this sutra.
“They were true; they were all illusory skillful means to return us to the One Vehicle.” From this we understand that these come from the One Dharma of True Suchness. They are illusory, because there is so much ignorance that has covered up our minds. So, we must eliminate this ignorance before we can make use of skillful teachings to before we can make use of skillful teachings to return to the One Vehicle Dharma. We must understand this. “So from the stupa came a great voice praising…." A great voice emanated [from within the stupa], “praising the way He taught the provisional." This refers to how Sakyamuni Buddha taught the provisional to “reveal the true." Sakyamuni Buddha used this process to reveal the True Dharma. “[His teachings] were all true. This was in order to fully verify this sutra.” This was the purpose of the stupa of treasures manifesting at the Dharma-assembly; it came to bear witness to Sakyamuni Buddha’s process [of teachings], how He first used skillful means and later revealed the true. He first taught the provisional and then revealed the true. All [those teachings] were true. “He taught the provisional to reveal the true.” This all was to affirm the True Dharma. “[His teachings] were all true.” The reason for the stupa of treasures to appear was to be a testimony to everything in this sutra. We must constantly be mindful. The stupa of treasures on Vulture Peak is in our hearts; we do not need to go far to seek it. However, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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