Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Seeking People to Spread the Dharma (普告大眾 為法求人)
Date: March.05.2017
“He addressed the entire assembly, seeking people to sustain the Dharma forever, ‘Who can do this here, in this world so difficult to endure? This is the original land where the World-Honored One formed aspirations and attained the fruit. This is the original land where the assembly heard the Dharma and received predictions.’”
We must mindfully seek to comprehend this passage. The door of the stupa had opened. From inside the stupa, Many Treasures Buddha gave His praises and asked Sakyamuni to quickly expound this sutra. Sakyamuni Buddha had entered the stupa, and Many Treasures Buddha yielded half His seat. Sakyamuni Buddha sat cross-legged on the lion’s throne. These two Buddhas sat together on the same seat and were soon about to teach the Dharma. Sakyamuni Buddha was about to address the entire assembly. We have already begun to listen to [this part]. Why did He need to hurry? The ancient Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, hoped that Sakyamuni Buddha would quickly teach the [Lotus] Sutra. “I came to hear the Dharma. I came for the sake of hearing the Dharma. You have opened the door of the stupa. The Buddha’s manifestations have all gathered. Quickly, hurry and teach the sutra.” Without hesitation, Sakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa. Many Treasures Buddha yielded half His seat to Him. He quickly sat in lotus position and began to address the entire assembly.
What this means is that both past and present Buddhas had the same intent; They wanted to make use of Their time and quickly spread the Dharma. So, He addressed the entire assembly. This is because He sought people to sustain the Dharma forever. Many Treasures Buddha had already attained Buddhahood in the past. So, why did He express a desire to seek the Dharma? He asked Sakyamuni to quickly teach this sutra. So, clearly the Dharma had to be spread quickly. Moreover, Sakyamuni did not hesitate to address the entire assembly. These two Buddhas came together for the sake of the Dharma. The Dharma had to be quickly passed down to be sustained forever. It must be sustained forever, but for those who receive the Dharma, this depends on whether they are willing to make this great aspiration. They must also be willing to put it into practice; they must be able to comprehend the great path and form the supreme aspiration. This is seeking people to spread the Dharma. He taught the Dharma in the hope that it would enter people’s hearts. Then those who heard the Dharma would be able to take it to heart and practice it by transforming sentient beings. This was the Buddha’s original intent. The present and past Buddhas were both like this. Both past and present Buddhas had the same intent. Hearing, teaching and requesting the Dharma are all done with the intent of passing it down. They hoped others could listen to it, accept it and be able to put it into practice also. This is seeking people to sustain the Dharma by passing it down continually into the future. So, He was seeking capable people. Thus [He asked], “Who can do this, in this world so difficult to endure?” Who can do this in this world of endurance?
We have been continuously mentioning that the Hearers and Solitary Realizers were scared. They feared that the Buddha would ask them to form great aspirations and walk the Bodhisattva-path. They were terrified, terrified of this Saha World. It is suffering, unbearable suffering. So, when it came to their goal in listening to the Dharma, as they knew life truly is suffering, they knew suffering is caused by their own accumulated karma. [Suffering] accumulates due to all sorts of karma. This accumulation causes our many forms of ignorance and afflictions to multiply endlessly. The karma we have created brings so much suffering in this life. It is beyond our control. Through spiritual practice, they realized that these afflictions and ignorance had been carried forward from the past, creating the karmic conditions of their suffering. They understood this principle. So, in listening to the Dharma they always wanted to quickly eliminate their afflictions. They did not want to form any more worldly connections with sentient beings. They did not want to contrive affinities with sentient beings. They did not want to form negative affinities with sentient beings. They felt it was better to avoid sentient beings and seek only to benefit themselves and engage in their own spiritual practice. So, they were not willing to accept this [mission]. This is what we have been discussing all along. We should all be clear on this part.
It does not matter which analogy the Buddha used, whether it was the [parable] of the burning house or the many [metaphors] in the Chapter on Parables. Whether it was poisonous snakes or wild beasts, [He used] this dilapidated environment [filled with] vile creatures in the hope that we could all identify suffering and quickly liberate ourselves from it. To be quickly liberated from our suffering and eliminate our afflictions requires diligence. We must be diligent and temper ourselves by [learning to live] amidst the filth and mud without becoming contaminated by it, just like lotus that emerges from the mud. So, He used all kinds of methods to encourage us not to fear going among people. To benefit ourselves, we must benefit others; it is only by going among people that we can train ourselves to remain uncontaminated. This is an essential skill for us to master. We cannot shy away from it. So, this is how He continually encouraged us. He used all of these methods, yet we only gradually [began to] comprehend this.
In the Chapter on Faith and Understanding, [we] began to form aspirations; He continually encouraged us to make vows. In the Chapter on Medicinal Plants, [it relates how] flowering plant, small plants, big trees etc. take in moisture according to their capacities. This is how He continually used the Dharma to teach and transform us. He hoped that we would all comprehend it. So, we have all been able to understand this. We must form great aspirations to willingly actualize the Six Paramitas. The Six Paramitas are giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence etc.; although there are six methods, they must be adapted to sentient beings’ countless capabilities. So, to be able to respond to their capabilities we must use many methods. Every method we use must create blessings. As for giving and upholding the precepts, when we go out to serve others, our minds must still abide by the rules. We must control our minds. We do not act for fame and fortune. We do not strive for power or fame. We are simply serving others. In our minds, we use precepts to guard against wrongs and stop evils. When serving others, we must still guard our minds. We cannot deviate in the slightest. “A slight deviation takes us far off course.” Many of those who do good deeds do them for the purpose of gaining recognition. This is wrong.
So, we must take this “wrong” and [make it right] by upholding the precepts and carefully guarding even our slightest [thoughts]. This is how we give and uphold the precepts. We must give to others, while at the same time, guarding our minds well. We practice giving without any expectations. This is a very simple phrase. “Giving without expectations” means that we uphold the precepts in our giving. We not only give without expectations, we must also be grateful. The person who gives must have an even more humble attitude then the one who receives. Bowing to them shows that we are giving out of love. By subduing our own minds, we can practice giving, upholding the precepts and also patience. No matter how difficult it is, we still advance. No matter how tired we are, we still continue to benefit society. We willingly serve those who suffer. By creating blessings among people, we can also hone our own skills. In this way, we continue down the path of giving, precepts, patience and diligence, with no fear of difficulties. Although it is very tiring, and though we encounter many interpersonal conflicts, we must still apply our power of Samadhi and exercise our wisdom to distinguish clearly what is right from what is wrong. Only then can we continuously advance on this path. We do not stop; we continue going forward.
So, we Buddhist practitioners must walk the Bodhisattva-path in this world that is difficult to endure. Bearing the unbearable is “enduring”. The world that must be endured is hard to bear; it is “so difficult to endure”. In this world that is difficult to endure, we must temper our minds and hone our skills. In order to sustain the Dharma forever, we must engage in practice in this Saha World. The World of endurance truly is our spiritual training ground.
In heaven, we cannot attain Buddhahood. In hell, the suffering is too great to engage in spiritual practice. This can only [be done] in the human realm, which has both suffering and joy. We just need to awaken our love. Even though sentient begins in this world are stubborn and hard to tame, we must always continue to go among people in order to hone our true skills. So, here, [the Buddha] was seeking people. “Who is willing to receive this teaching and willingly go among people?” [Thus, He asked], “Who can do this, in this world so difficult to endure?” This world is “the original land where the World-Honored One formed aspirations and attained the fruit.” The World-Honored One, Sakyamuni Buddha, made a vow. He vowed to engage in practice to transform sentient beings in the Saha World and attain Buddhahood in the Saha World. This was Sakyamuni Buddha’s vow. So, this is the original land where He made aspirations and attained the fruit. He made vows and formed aspirations to [abide] in this world of endurance and engage in spiritual practice for many lifetimes. Suffering sentient beings are in need of dedicated Bodhisattvas. A dedicated Bodhisattva’s spiritual training ground is whether sentient beings are suffering. So this is how the Buddha attained Buddhahood in the Saha World. This is the training ground where He honed His resolve and the original land where the assembly heard the Dharma and received predictions. It was in this world that Sakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood; that is why sentient beings can hear the Dharma. If Sakyamuni Buddha had not come to this world to engage in practice, attain enlightenment and teach the Dharma, how would we have teachings to listen to? So, because there is Dharma for us to hear, we are able to take it heart and pass the Buddha-Dharma on to others. Thus, we transform more sentient beings. Indeed, we are Buddhist practitioners. Only in this place that requires utmost endurance can we truly engage in spiritual practice.
Take Africa for example. In Africa, there are places that truly require endurance. Oh, how they suffer! This is not just due to economic hardships. In Africa, there are so many countries and most of them are impoverished. It is very difficult to make a living. Because of poverty, there is civil unrest and poor public safety. So, they are many adverse conditions which cause them great suffering on a daily basis. To engage in practice in the midst of suffering is very difficult. However, now we have seen that, amazingly, although it is hard to endure, [our volunteers] endure it. They are spreading the Buddha-Dharma [there]. They go among sentient beings and transform them. They have already [reached] several countries. Now there are eight countries in Africa that have Tzu Chi volunteers. The Bodhisattva seeds have already been planted in these places. In the nations [we reached] most recently, Tzu Chi volunteers are sowing [new] seeds. This is in Sierra Leone and Namibia. We have seen that the seeds there have begun to give rise to aspirations. To get to Namibia from South Africa, you must take three different buses. The journey is 2350 kilometers one way. Round trip it is 4700 kilometers. So, one round-trip journey takes six days. It is very difficult. On this bus journey, there is not even any water to wash your face. So, it is very difficult. But our South African Bodhisattvas are very willing [to go]. In the beginning, several of our Bodhisattvas from Taiwan, Michael Pan and several others, led the local volunteers for the first and second round-trip journeys. The third time, it was completely done by local South African volunteers who took on this mission. They made great efforts to visit house after house. They did not fear dirty looks from people; they were simply willing to mindfully serve others. The surroundings were very bad. Everywhere they went, they stopped to stand or sit around [with people]. No matter where they went, whether it was three people, five people or tens of people sitting around, [these Bodhisattvas] would begin talking to them. There under the trees, they would tell them about Tzu Chi’s spirit. Truly, they [did this] everywhere they went; every place was their spiritual training ground. Once the people there felt moved, from that point on, they looked forward to [visiting] South Africa. How did this group of adorable Bodhisattvas come to be trained? They appealed to them saying, “If you want to know [more], you have to come to South Africa. Go there and see how we carry on [our mission]”. So, there were some who wanted to go. In the end, three of them went to South Africa. It was very difficult. They also had to make a journey of several days. When they arrived, they did not rest; our volunteers in South Africa treated them as returning family members, enthusiastically welcoming them. They all got up very early before 4 am. The hosts quickly got out of bed and boiled water early in the morning so they could quickly wash up. At exactly 5 am they listened to the Dharma. Someone was responsible for recording [the English translation]. This is how they did it. Every day they listened to the recordings and watched the videos. Could they understand my voice by listening? They could not understand [my voice], but they had a [recorded] translation in English. That was “Wisdom at Dawn”. [They listened to] 10 or 20 minutes of Wisdom at Dawn. After this, they held a study group. In their study group, the things they heard from listening to the recording, were [reviewed] and discussed amongst them. This time, those from Namibia not only visited three villages during the day, but they also observed the home visits and learned how to treat poor and suffering people. After getting a grasp [of their circumstances], they joined in to serve with [local volunteers].
Next, [volunteers] showed them how to be self-sufficient by planting vegetables in Great Love gardens and how to look after AIDS orphans. Then they began to give them time for reflection where everyone could share their insights and the things they learned throughout the day. Early every morning they had a study group after listening to the morning Dharma talk. Then, they would discuss for an hour or two. After their discussion, on one of the days, they had a time for [sharing] where everyone listened to each other’s insights. They shared their insights from my lecture and their study group, from the cases they visited and the care recipients they served. After listening, they had [this] discussion. Of the three volunteers from Namibia, one was [named] Teofilus. He was a very reverent Christian. He asked [the group], “Love, I already have love. I have love in my heart, but I have nothing I can use to care for others. What can I do? I am unable to help others. What can I do? Michael Pan said to him, “You can provide warmth. Give people a warm shoulder to learn on, one that they can rely on. We may not have anything material to give, but we can provide a warm shoulder for them to rely on. this is the best method”. Then he went on to share with them how, at the very beginning, the south African [volunteers] did not have money or material resources either. He shared how they led this group of enthusiastic Bodhisattvas. He even shared with them how they cared for [cases] who were ill and suffering, and how, with little, money and resources, they were able to cross able to cross the border into Swaziland to transform people there and help [recruit] volunteers in Swaziland also. This is what Michael Pan explained to them. For these three, it was as if they struck gold! Because they comprehend this, they understood how to care for others. Having listened to this teaching, the [South African] volunteers’ experiences and the fruits of their practice, they were all joyful.
So, the next day happened to be Sunday, and on this third day, this reverent Christian, [Teofilus], asked, “Where is the local church?” Among them was Tzu Chi [Gladys Ngema], [one of our] “black pearls,” who shared with him that, “The true church is in our hearts. We all have a church in our hearts where we can offer reverent prayer at any time.
So, with this church in our hearts, as long as we put [our faith] into practice with our actions, we can join together in love and make every place a church for Tzu Chi volunteers”. This is how Gladys answered him. He felt this really made sense. This reverent young man took out his pocket Bible. He thought, “That’s right!” He opened his Bible to this verse, to the passage that says, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit”. This is a passage in the Bible. He has faith that. Tzu Chi is a good seed, so of course its good causes [will bear] good fruit by accomplishing [acts of] great love. By accomplishing these, we benefit many people; this is also the [Christian] spirit of caritas.
So, this is how he got started [with Tzu Chi]. As they were leaving, having been there for four full days, he promised upon their departure that, “Once I return to Namibia, I am determined to mindfully do Tzu Chi work. I will take these seeds of love to Namibia and sow them there. What dedication!
We can see hoe impoverished these people are. Moreover, they live in a place of great suffering. There is a world that is difficult to endure. When we talk about life there, we can see it is truly like this. we see them when they return here and with today’s technology, we can also see very clearly what their lives are like there. Their world seems entirely different from ours. Their world is very difficult to endure, yet they continue to form aspirations there. In that place, they are beginning to practice the Bodhisattva-causes. They want to sow good seeds there. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. They have already awakened to this [principle]. Practicing the Bodhisattva-causes will absolutely bear the karmic reward of attaining Buddhahood.
So, in this land, [they] “form aspirations and attain the fruit” in their original land. Now, the assembly heard the Dharma and received predictions in [the Buddha’s] original land. This was where Sakyamuni Buddha made vows, formed aspirations, enganed in practice and attained Buddhahood.
Presently, we sentient beings are able to listen to the Dharma and engage in spiritual practice because the Buddha passed on the Dharma. How can we not continue to pass this Dharma on? the Buddha is already seeking people to spread the Dharma. How can we not admit and recognize that we are those leaders whom the Buddha called on and was seeking? We must acknowledge this to ourselves, that we are the leaders the Buddha is seeking. We are the ones who must spread the Dharma. We must be mindful.
The previous sutra passage says, “’Our only wish is that the Tathagata will use His spiritual powers to enable us all to stay in empty air’. In that instant, Sakyamuni Buddha used His spiritual powers to receive the entire assembly in the empty air.
Sentient beings [expressed] this wish. They asked the Buddha, “Please guide us so that we too may rise like the Buddha into the air”. Their hope was for the Buddha to receive the entire assembly in mid-air.
The following sutra passage continues, “In a great voice, He addressed the entire fourfold assembly. ‘Who can, in this land of Saha, widely teach the Wondrous Lotus Sutra?”’
Now the Buddha had begun to speak in a great voice. [Speaking from] so far up in the air, of course He had to use a very loud voice. The Buddha’s spiritual state as He taught is far away from our unenlightened state. So, the Buddha had to use a very loud voice to address the entire fourfold assembly. The fourfold assembly was composed of both lay people and monastics. So, the Bodhisattva-path is for both laypeople and monastics to form great aspirations and actualize their great vows. We can practice the causes of the Bodhisattva-path regardless of whether or not we are monastics. So, “Lay Bodhisattvas have great wisdom”. It is not only monastics who must practice the Bodhisattva-path; it is even easier for laypeople to practice it.
In a great voice, He addressed the entire fourfold assembly: This explains how He entrusted the task of disseminating [this sutra]. Sakyamuni spoke in a great wondrous voice to address the entire fourfold assembly, seeking people to spread the Dharma.
This explains how He entrusted the task of disseminating [this sutra]. Whatever He needed to say or express, the Buddha had already told us, as He had taught the Lotus Sutra for seven years. Teaching it straight through, how many years did it take [to reach this point]? It must have taken a while. So, the Buddha was nearing the end of His worldly lifespan. He needed to entrust [His mission] and give His final teachings to everyone so that He could hand it all over to them. This Dharma, the Lotus Sutra, is the perfect teaching. It explains both emptiness and existence; all of the most wondrous, perfect teachings are contained within the Lotus Sutra. So, He needed to entrust it to them to ensure that this sutra would be passed on. Thus, Sakyamuni Buddha [sought someone] to entrust with disseminating it.
“Sakyamuni spoke in a great wondrous voice to address the entire fourfold assembly”. Thus, He “sought people to spread the Dharma”. So, He had to entrust everyone with the task of taking this Dharma and passing it down. They could no longer just listen to the Dharma; now they had to teach and spread the Dharma also. So, the Buddha sought people to spread the Dharma using His great voice.
At the end of teaching all the sutras the Buddha needed to entrust the Dharma He had taught to His disciples, so that it would be circulated far and near and sustained throughout the ages. This is what it means to entrust [the Dharma] to His disciples.
“At the end of teaching all the sutras the Buddha” needed to entrust the Dharma He had taught to His disciples”. Having already taught this sutra, He now had to hand it over to each one of them and made His instructions clear. So, when His manifestations were gathering, this [meant] the Dharma was to return to its place so that He could pass it on. The Dharma had to be clearly explained and handed over to them. So, “It would be circulated far and near and sustained throughout the ages”. They had to spread it far and near. [Today, it has been spread] both far and near; the Great Vehicle Dharma spread from Mainland China to Taiwan. Now, it has spread from Taiwan to the whole world. This is “circulating far and near”. From Sakyamuni Buddha’s time, over 2000 years ago, it has reached our time, and we must continue passing it on into the future. It is “sustained throughout the ages”. Open and spacious means it is far and near. “Far” is any place that is far away. “Near” is all places surrounding us. Right now, people all over the world are listening to the Dharma. Everyone is practicing according to the teachings, practicing them in their daily living as they go among people. This is what “entrust to His disciples” means “Who can, in this land of Saha, widely teach the Wondrous Lotus Sutra?”
The Buddha was going to enter Parinirvana. This [passage] indicates that before long, He had to enter Parinirvana. He had grown old, and His life was in accord with worldly lifespans. His lifespan in this world was 80 years. So, since His time had nearly come, “He addressed the entire assembly; the time to persuade and recruit people to pass on the Dharma and spread the causal practice was right now”. He began to earnestly exhort everyone to form great aspirations and make great vows. To “recruit” is to enlist many people, not just a small number of them. He wanted a large number of people to all form great aspirations and make great vows. By persuading and recruiting them like this, we can see how earnest the Buddha’s intent was. The Buddha had grown old, and [He was worried]. Would the Dharma be able to be transmitted? This [weighted heavily] on the Buddha’s mind. “[The time] to pass on the Dharma and spread the causal practice was right now”. This was the most critical time.
Everyone had listened to the Dharma, but had the Dharma entered their hearts? Was the Dharma-wheel turning in their minds? Had they turned from their unenlightened state to enter the state of noble beings? In each of us there is a stupa on Vulture Peak. Has our stupa emerged? Has this stupa emerged from the earth, from the ground of our minds?
In South Africa, Gladys was able to explain to this young man from Namibia that, Tzu Chi volunteers’ church is in their hearts. Love can be found everywhere, [so the world] is Tzu Chi volunteers’ spiritual training ground. They have already begun to speak and act like this. And what about us? We do not know, “Who can do this [in this] the land of endurance? This is where the World-Honored One, formed aspirations to carry out His vows”. He formed aspirations, made vows, engaged in practice and attained the fruit in this land of endurance. It is “where the assembly listened to the Dharma”. This is the land where they received predictions. In this Saha World, sentient beings are stubborn, yet the World-Honored One endured many lifetimes here.
In South Africa, [when our Durban volunteers] traveled to Namibia, they did not fly there; they took the bus. The journey is 4700 kilometers round-trip, and still they went back and forth like this to transform these seeds. As they traveled back and forth, these seeds also began to spread. Good trees produce good seeds. By going to spread seeds in that place, each one gave rise to infinity. So, shouldn’t we, who live in this peaceful place, also form great aspirations and make great vows? This is a land of endurance. What is hidden in the world is suffering. [The world] is full of suffering. Our human ignorance and afflictions especially cause torment to our bodies and minds. Due to birth, aging, illness and death, our time is limited; this is truly suffering. There are many vows that cannot be realized in one lifetime. It takes [many lifetimes]. If our minds are not firm at this time, will we still be carrying this kind of vow into the next life to continue on the Bodhisattva-path? We still do not know.
So, now is the time that we must be determined in our vows. We must act on this vow by practicing the cause and attaining the fruit in this land of endurance. So, “The assembly listened to the Dharma” and received predictions in this land. This is the same Dharma that we sentient beings in this land must also listen to, that we must take to heart and that we [must use] to eliminate the suffering sentient beings. We should quickly dedicate ourselves to this.
Also, the sentient beings of this land are of sharper capabilities than those in other lands. Before long, Venerable Sakyamuni would enter into Parinirvana, so the time to formally entrust the Dharma had arrived.
“Also, the sentient beings of this land are of sharper capabilities than those in other lands.” In this land, this land of suffering, there are seeds that have very sharp capabilities. We can see there is also much suffering in Namibia. South Africa has hardships, and in Namibia there are even more hardships. Look at how they have awakened even faster than us. Because we live in a very good environment, our minds fluctuate and many desires entice us. There are interpersonal conflicts between people etc. In that land, they do not take issue over much, so their capabilities are very sharp. So, their “capabilities are sharper than those in other lands.” In that land that must be endured, it is even easier to accept this Dharma. So, “Before long, Venerable Sakyamuni would enter into Parinirvana.” The time to entrust it had come. This is the Buddha’s mindfulness. There at that place, He very earnestly hoped that those who heard the Dharma could truly take it to heart. This cannot be half-hearted; it must be sincere. We must be earnest, with sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. We do not listen to the Dharma just for fun. We listen to develop our wisdom-life. In each of our hearts, there is a stupa on Vulture Peak. Has the stupa in our hearts emerged? Has the door of the stupa opened? Have the past and present Buddhas come together? [Of all this], we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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