Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Promoting the Sutra in the Era of Dharma-decay (末世弘經 當發大願)
Date:March.14.2018
“Promoting the sutra in the era of Dharma-decay cannot be done without many lifetimes of vows. We must openly declare great vows to ensure the Dharma will long abide. The ancient Buddha made a vow to come from far away to hear this sutra. I made a great vow to teach this sutra and gather my multiple manifestations.”
This is all describing the great vow of a Buddha. Every Buddha has His own vow. Since we, any one of us, are learning the Buddha’s teachings, we should also have a vow to attain Buddhahood. Since we are learning the Buddha’s teachings and we wish to attain Buddhahood, we likewise must make vows like this. We should vow to transform sentient beings. We should vow to give of ourselves among people. Our vow should be to enter the world. This is the spirit that is inseparable from this sutra. The Lotus Sutra is called the perfect teaching. The Lotus Sutra is called the way to Buddhahood. If we listen to this sutra, then we should promote this teaching. This path is a road, a road that we must walk ourselves. We are now in the era of Dharma-decay, also called the era of Dharma-degeneration. In this era of Dharma-degeneration, promoting this sutra and the Dharma and being able to walk this road is very difficult. It “cannot be done without many lifetimes of vows.” We absolutely need the power of these vows. Lifetime after lifetime, we need to have the power of these vows. If we do not have the power of vows, if we do not sustain them like this for lifetime after lifetime, if they are cut off, it will be difficult to take them up again. So, every Buddha [retains His vows] over the course of many lifetimes. We should not let them lapse or let there be gaps or obstacles; we cannot stop. We must also make vows for lifetime after lifetime. If we do not continue this vow lifetime after lifetime, we will never attain Buddhahood. This is telling us all that if we make vows, we cannot let them be interrupted. Our vows must be uninterrupted for lifetimes; we must make great vows that last a long time, lifetime after lifetime.
So, when it comes to vows, we must speak them, say them out loud. This means that when we make a vow, we must do it like this, “We must openly declare great vows.” For many lifetimes, we have always formed vows in each life. Thus, in our last lifetime, we made a vow for this lifetime, and in this lifetime, we will again make a vow for the next one. This way, lifetime after lifetime, we can continually hold on to our vows; we can form vows in every lifetime. To form vows in every lifetime, we need to ordinarily be forming vows every day. This must go on uninterruptedly. So, if we can do this, we will have these great vows lifetime after lifetime. If we are forming vows in every moment, then we can “ensure the Dharma will long abide.” When it comes to our vows and practice, our vows and practice must be in tandem, so if we are forming vows, then we must be remembering the Dharma. If we are remembering the Dharma, then it means naturally in our daily living, we will never be far from the Dharma.
So, a “lifetime” is a period of time. In the world, time passes from day to day. Time in the world passes moment to moment and lifetime to lifetime, no matter where it is. Thus we say it “cannot be done without many lifetimes of vows”. Therefore, “We must openly declare great vows.” If we have established this vow in our own heart, then we should declare it out loud, for saying it out loud is what makes it a vow. Otherwise, it stays in your mind. You think, “I’ve made a vow inside,” but you have not told it to others. If you say it out loud speak out loud the vow inside your heart, then you naturally will practice what you preach every day. Whatever you say you will do, you will just keep doing it every day. If you do that then you will “ensure the Dharma will long abide.” Then the Dharma will remain eternally in the world. So, “The ancient Buddha made a vow to come from far away to hear this sutra.”
This was the Buddha from ancient times. Who was the ancient Buddha? It was Many Treasures Buddha. When He had attained Buddhahood countless kalpas before, He had made such a vow He entered the stupa of treasures with the vow that wherever in the world the Lotus Sutra was being taught, His stupa of treasures would emerge in that place. As long as it was a place with this sutra, His stupa of treasures would appear in that place. This was that ancient Buddha’s vow. He would “come from far away to hear this sutra.” He would come in order to hear the sutra. He was ancient, from a very long time before, but HE still came, because in that place they were teaching the Lotus Sutra. the time had come for Him to emerge.
“I made a great vow to teach this sutra and gather my multiple manifestations”. When it says “I” here, this was Sakyamuni Buddha who taught the Lotus Sutra in the world. So, Sakyamuni Buddha said, “I made a great vow, therefore I teach this sutra”. He had already taught the sutra to this point, with the three cycle of teaching the Dharma. Sentient being could not understand, so He taught then to help them totally understand, understand everyone has intrinsic Buddha-nature, that the Buddha’s wisdom is profound, subtle and wondrous. They understood, so they escaped the burning house. They also knew this was a conjured city, so they left their attachment to the conjured city. They had already received predictions of Buddhahood. These “three cycles of teaching the Dharma” are very important; everyone should understand them.
The conjured city was the Prajna era. Having made it to that point, they were without any attachments to anything, because they knew everything was empty. They understood all emptiness and all existence; when it comes to all emptiness there is wondrous existence in emptiness. They had achieved complete realization of this. The Buddha had been bestowing predictions on them. This is the Buddha’s one great cause for coming to this world.
So, Sakyamuni Buddha said, “I made a great vow” He had come to complete it, by opening and revealing the Buddha’s views and understanding to sentient beings so they would awaken and enter them.
Therefore, because of this great vow, the Buddha came to the world. He had already completed the three cycles of teaching the Dharma, and Many Treasures Buddha’s stupa had now appeared. So, He had to gather His multiple manifestations, and They all came at the same time. This was testimony to Many Treasures’ vow.
It is also affirms that the Buddha’s perfect teaching was now complete, complete and perfect. The Buddha’s multiple manifestations had already spread throughout the lands of the ten directions; at this time now had to return. They all had attained Buddhahood. The Dharma had helped them achieve fruition. They absorbed it into their minds, then exercised the ability to spread the teachings and went among people to transform sentient beings. now group by group they were returning to bear witness.
This is in the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, and helps us understand that everyone had already comprehended the Dharma, that their nature of True Suchness had probably already emerged in this moment, when the teachings were gathered together. They had given of themselves among people. They were effective; they had demonstrated their efficacy. They had transformed sentient beings, saved and transformed sentient beings. in the world, the Dharma had already begun to demonstrate its potential, its function. They had already been spread throughout the openness of space. Now was the time to affirm this Dharma and all come together in this open space.
These are the things that this passage repeatedly talks about. This is what we should understand clearly. If we do not comprehend these things, then when it comes to our nature of True Suchness, there will be no way for it to emerge. The stupa of treasures within us will have no way to manifest itself. Because the three cycles of teaching the Dharma had already been accomplished, they were able to escape from the burning house, had most likely escaped from the conjured city and had probably already realized this “wondrous existence”. So, they attained predictions. this was already the time of perfect completion.
So, there were three three Buddhas. There was the past Buddha. the past Buddha was Many treasures Buddha, everyone’s intrinsic nature of True Suchness since time immemorial that had revealed itself. Sakyamuni Buddha, who manifested an appearance in response to conditions and came to this world in order to attain Buddhahood was now teaching the sutra to everyone. Sakyamuni Buddha too had manifested in order to teach the Lotus Sutra.
At this time, He quickly gathered together so many people in order to affirm that the Dharma can save the world. The Dharma is wondrous medicine that can save the world. This is what the present Buddha demonstrated. The Buddha’ multiple manifestations from all ten directions gathered together. They had been dispersed in other places, transforming and delivering sentient beings, demonstrating their potential for goodness by delivering sentient beings. they all likewise came together. So, we speak pf “three Buddhas”.
This will be explained shortly in another passage. The most important thing is to have vows. Every Buddha in the past has vows. The Four Great Vows are the universal vows the universal vows that every Buddha makes. Any Buddha that comes to the world always has the Four Great Vows. These are, “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings. I vow to eliminate endless afflictions. I vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors, I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” These are the universal vows of every Buddha. so, they made vows like these, “giving rise to unsurpassed Bodhicitta, seeking the path to Buddhahood and transforming sentient beings”. This is “making great vows and aspirations. These are also known as the Four Great Vows. Everyone understands these Four Great Vows.
So, we should understand that there are countless sentient beings, and we vow to deliver them all. We must now all do this, otherwise can we engage in spiritual practice?
Our spiritual practice depends upon our transforming ourselves as well as others. The Lotus Sutra continually tells us that it is not about benefiting ourselves; we have already experienced the Buddha-Dharma, so we should go on to benefit others. It is by benefiting others that we truly practice our original vow. In fact, we should be very clear that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. For us to able to attain this human form is something that we should rejoice over. We should hasten to make great vows and go among people to deliver sentient beings. Having understood the Dharma ourselves, we should help everyone else to also understand the Dharma. We should deliver and transform sentient beings; this is our responsibility as spiritual practitioners. This is what people need. Actually, the Buddha told us that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, even animals. Animals also have this Buddha-nature! So, we were just saying, [vows] must remain unbroken for a lifetime.
On the internet, there is a story about the animal kingdom. Animals are truly amazing. There is a dog who takes cares of his master. His master is disabled. When he was young, he was an outstanding solider, but he had an accident and could not walk well after that. He lost the use of one of his legs. However, he has this dog, a big one, a large breed called a Schnauzer. He gave him the name Lemon and he and that dog live together. That dog, seeing his master disabled and unable to get around easily, will do work for his master. What does he do? He carries water for his master. How does he carry water? As soon as he gets up in the morning, he takes a water bucket in his snout. The then runs with the bucket in his mouth to a place with what looks like an old well, a place where they draw water. He then hangs the bucket on the post and to get the water he pulls on the pump handle, until the water comes out. When the bucket is full, he grabs the bucket with his snout, and returns like that, providing his master with a day’s supply of water. Furthermore, his master lives alone. He has a patch of land that he tills, but it isn’t easy for the master so this dog farms for his master, he plows. You can see him using a plow. He is a large breed of dog and he holds on to the plow by putting his two front paws on the handle then using the strength in his paws to push it. The dog does this every day for his master; he fetches water and hoes the weeds. He never stops to rest, even for a day. Seeing this, his master’s heart went out to him. Sometimes the dog’s mouth would blead because he uses his mouth to do all those things; especially fetching water would make his mouth bleed, and the master could not bear it. But this dog…. One day the master asked someone if they could take the dog away. It was hard enough being a dog, bur for him to have to do all of those painful things made his master very sad. So, he wanted to get rid of him; he asked someone to take the dog away. But the dog ran back on his own! He had a strong sense of duty and would not leave his master’s side. When he got up in the morning from early in the morning, he would start doing work like this. He would not leave his master’s side. This was to repay his master, because when this dog was very small, he had been abandoned. He was abandoned when this man claimed him and brought him home. Because his master had had an accident, he was disabled in one leg, so the dog took his master’s place in doing so many household chores, doing so many things. This is really very moving. This was passed around a lot on the internet, passed around so much that everybody has seen it. Several hundred thousand people have already seen it. That dog, despite the karma he may have created in the past, must have also made a vow in the past, too, a vow to give of himself among people. Although he was reborn as a dog, for the sake of his disabled master, whose life was very difficult, he did so many things on his master’s behalf. Sometimes, if it was snowing, you could see him biting down onto a rope, pulling things behind him, returning on the snow with a sled. This dog, in all four seasons, through spring, summer, autumn and winter, goes out to buy things for his master. He goes holding the money in his snout. The vendor already knows what the dog’s master needs and that this is how he helps his master. It would be rare to find a human like this!
See, the dog is able to do all those things! What of us humans? So, our power of vows must last lifetimes; no matter the lifetime, wherever we may be, our vows must always continue uninterrupted. Our vows must remain unbroken in every lifetime. Whether we are born human, or born in the form of an animal, we can likewise contribute to humankind. This is the power of love; this is also what we call the power of love. It is not only humans who have the power of love; even animals have this power, this ability, this altruistic potential to help.
See how the Buddha taught us the Dharma, how He taught us of the way of life of all things in the world, taught us the way of life of humankind, taught us the way of life of animals, of heavenly beings and humans, of life in hell. No matter what realm of living beings it is, the nature of True Suchness exists within all. It is just that we create karma, afflictions and ignorance, then without control face retributions according to our karma. We suffer retributions according to karma. If we can take more of the Dharma to heart, and not only take it to heart, but also put it into practice, our practice will parallel our vows. We will have faith, vows and practice. We should believe in the Buddha’s principles, should form aspirations and make vows then go and put these into practice, with faith, vows and practice. We listen to the Dharma; we listen, contemplate, then put it into practice. Spiritual practice consists of the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. These all require the Three Flawless Studies. Faith, vows, practice, listening, contemplation and cultivation, the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we cannot afford to let any of the nine leak away. Otherwise, even if we listen to the Dharma, in a moment of carelessness, afflictions, ignorance and karmic forces will drag us off to the animal realm. In the animal realm, if you have made vows in the past, even while in the animal realm, you will not forget these vows. You will not forget your initial aspiration and you can still repay humans.
See, this is a very amazing world, which confirms what the Buddha taught us. This is also a kind of testimony, just like the manifestation of the stupa of treasures. It is a testimony to the Dharma the Dharma the Buddha taught us. He spoke of heaven and hell, of the human and animal realms and so on; all of these phenomena appear in the world so that we can see them. Can we really not believe in them? So, with faith, we can make vows, and making vows we put them into practice. So, these are the Four Great Vows. “I vow to deliver countless sentient beings. I vow to eliminate endless afflictions. I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood”. Everyone should clearly understand these.
Come, let us quickly look at the previous passage. “Their bodies emit a wondrous fragrance that pervades the lands of the ten directions. At sentient beings permeated by it are so joyous that they cannot contain it. It is like a great wind blowing the branches of small trees. Through these skillful means they enable the Dharma to long abide.”
It is like when the wind blows; the fragrance of the Buddha’s virtue can waft for great distances and perfume this vast space so all can smell it. This is the Buddha’s virtue. Sentient beings can smell the Buddhas virtue and experience [the power of] the Buddha’s virtue. This is merit and virtue that has been cultivated since Beginningless Time. This virtuous fragrance, when a spiritual wind blows, can be smelled by all sentient beings. Smelling the fragrance of the Buddha’s virtue and hearing the Buddha’s teachings most likely makes everyone very joyful. It is like a strong wind blowing tiny branches; when the wind blows, the leaves all shake. It is a beautiful scene. It is a beautiful moment when they begin to move. “Through these skillful means, they enable the Dharma to long abide”. Trees need air, they need moisture and soil. When they have these things, trees are able to flourish in the world. The Dharma is like this, like a seed in the earth that has already grown into a big tree.
The next sutra passage says, “I told the entire great assembly that after I enter cessation and deliverance, whoever is able to safeguard, uphold, recite and teach this sutra should declare their vows now before the Buddha”.
He was encouraging everyone that if they had a vow, they should speak it out, for only by saying it out loud would they have a way to put it into practice. So, “I told the entire great assembly that after I enter cessation and deliverance”. As the Buddha will enter Parinirvana, everyone must reassure the present moment and quickly give voice to their vows. Vows must be spoke out loud. The Tathagata will soon enter Parinirvana, so they should make vows about how they will walk in order to put the Buddha’s mind at ease.
I told the entire great assembly that after I enter cessation and deliverance…: He told all those in the assembly that the Tathagata would enter Parinirvana. Cessation and deliverance is Nirvana. Cessation: This is the cessation of the three delusions, the delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and the delusions of ignorance. Deliverance: This means to transcend fragmentary and transformational samsara, the two kinds of samsara.
This cessation and deliverance is Nirvana. Cessation means bringing to cessation the delusions of views and thinking, dust-like delusions and delusions of ignorance. These are the three kinds of delusion. These afflictions and ignorance are a lack of understanding; this lack of clarity is also a kind of delusion. So, there are infinite kinds of afflictions and infinite kinds of ignorance. These are just like dust. This is how we unenlightened beings are. After attaining Buddhahood, the Buddha spent His life [teaching]. He lived for 80 years and taught the Dharma for 49 of them. During those 80 years, as He transformed so many sentient beings, His mind was very clear, His vies and thinking had no dust-like afflictions. In His life, He never had them. For He had eliminated all of them For many lifetimes, He had been engaging in spiritual practice He manifested in this lifetime, appeared as a human, engaged in spiritual practice and attained Buddhahood. This was merely a manifestation, just like the conjured city. So, it is said He had no afflictions, and furthermore no ignorance. He absolutely had no delusions. So, this was cessation. The Buddha had eliminated these in His lifetime. When the time came, He indicated that He would soon enter cessation. At it is, the Buddha is beyond arising or ceasing. He only manifested the appearance of cessation and deliverance for sentient beings.
Cessation is tranquility and clarity, a return to tranquility and clarity. So, when ignorance is totally eliminated, then this is called cessation and deliverance. It is also called Nirvana. “This means to transcend fragmentary and transformational samsara”. He had already delivered Himself, meaning He had already transcended fragmentary samsara. We ordinary people experience fragmentary samsara, [lifetime by lifetime]. It is beyond our control; it comes fragment by fragment. Will we ultimately be born in human form? Or will it be as a heavenly being? Or will it be in the animal realm? Each fragment depends on the karma we create. So, He had put an end to “fragmentary samsara” as well as “transformational samsara”. There was no longer any arising or ceasing. He was always in Samadhi; in tranquility and stillness there are no more of the fluctuations associated with fragmentary and transformational samsara, the two kinds of samsara. There are none. Who can safeguard, read and recite this sutra? Who will be able to safeguard it? Everyone had to say their vows out loud; who would be willing to uphold, read and teach this sutra? Who would be willing? This required everyone to form aspirations. They could not just form aspirations inside; they also had to say them out loud. Vows must be spoken out loud. So, they “made vows to uphold, read, recite and expound the sutra”. We should be mindful!
In the Chapter on Dharma Teachers, isn’t upholding, reading, reciting and expounding all very important? Now the Buddha wanted everyone to quickly make vows. Everyone had to make vows and speak them out loud. The vows they formed inside, had to be announced through their speech.
To safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma: They Right Dharma is the true teachings of the Four Noble Truths and so on. This means that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, by means of their great compassion, safeguard and uphold the Tathagata’s Right Dharma so that no maras or heretical teachings will be able to disrupt them. They help all sentient beings to have right faith, listen joyfully and spread and circulate the Dharma widely, bringing inexhaustible benefits.
So, “To safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma” we need the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links. This is the foundation. Everyone should be very clear on these teachings. Do not say, “The Lotus Sutra is the perfect teaching I will just start with the Lotus Sutra. That is good enough” No. We must begin from the foundation; if you do not understand life’s suffering, how can you ever hope to form great aspirations or make great vows? How will you be willing to go about getting rid of your afflictions and ignorance? How will you be willing to one by one understand the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence or the karmic law of retribution? You must first start from the Four Noble Truths, then go on to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. Once these have been carefully understood, then one can gradually go about forming aspirations, making vows and going among people. One should move gradually toward this great aspiration. So, when it comes to the Four Noble Truths, the 12 Links and so forth, to the “Twelve Divisions of Tripitaka,” we should be very mindful of all of these. These “true teachings” are what “all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas by means of Their great compassion safeguard and uphold, the Tathagata’s Right Dharma”. This is the great compassion of every Buddha; They hope that everyone will vow to become Bodhisattvas, form Bodhisattva-aspirations to uphold the sutra, to safeguard the Dharma taught by the Tathagata. This is the aspiration all of us should form. With the Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha, we should now safeguard and uphold the teachings, so that they circulate in the world, so they can purify people’s hearts and inspire all to practice according to the Dharma, to go among people to give of themselves. This is the Buddha-Dharma that we should uphold “so that no maras or heretical teachings will be able to disrupt us”. Maras and heretical teachings cannot disrupt us. We can live together in harmony with everyone else. We will lead others to approve of us, regardless of religion, for benefitting everyone and awakening everyone’s minds so we can work together in giving to the world. Thus, none of these “maras or heretical teachings will be able to disrupt us”. These things cannot disturb us; in fact they can become our strength. Sentient beings have the Tathagata’s wisdom-nature. It is just that our causes and conditions are different; we have deviated. So, we should put effort into being mindful in taking these causes and conditions and bringing them all back together. This is what it means to transform sentient beings. Do not reject others. We need to always bear in mind that all beings have the Tathagata’s nature of wisdom. So, we will not become disturbed by maras or heretical teachings. We must also “help all sentient beings to have right faith and listen joyfully,” help them also to be able to joyfully accept the right faith, help them to also be able to joyfully listen to the Dharma, even to the point where we can “together spread and circulate the Dharma widely”. This will “bring inexhaustible benefits”.
So, “Declare your vows now before the Buddha”. This is what the Buddha told them, that they should take advantage of the opportunity while the Buddha was still in the world, for it was nearing the time when He would enter cessation and deliverance. They should take advantage of that chance before He entered Parinirvana. Everyone should hurry to express themselves, to express their vows, their heartfelt wishes; these are what they should quickly express. So, “Declare your vows now before the Buddha”.
Declare your vows now before the Buddha: Now before the Buddha, they must make solemn vows. Promoting this sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration cannot be done without making vows, so He had them declare their vows.
“Now before the Buddha, they must make solemn vows”. They were to quickly make vows before the Buddha so the Buddha could have peace of mind. The Buddha has already begun handing the teachings over to us, and since the Buddha is entrusting them, we should seize upon this chance to put the Buddha’s mind at ease. Then He will be able to rest easy knowing that His teachings will continue to circulate, that they will be transmitted over long periods of time. This was what the Buddha hoped for, that everyone would come before Him and speak out the vows that were in their hearts.
So, He hoped all would make vows before Him, speak their vows out loud. It was not enough to just have them in mind; they had to speak them out. So, “Promoting the sutra in the era of Dharma-decay cannot be done without many lifetimes of vows.” To spread the sutra in an era of Dharma-decay, to spread the Buddha-Dharma, especially the Right Dharma, is not at all easy. We have to have very determined vows, otherwise, we will never be able to continue on.
So, as Buddhist practitioners, we must be determined in our aspirations, in our aspirations and in our minds. If our thoughts are correct, we will not deviate from the direction of the path. If our thoughts deviate, a slight deviation can take us far off course. The difference between being reborn as a human or a dog may lie in a single thought. Perhaps that was the case with that dog named Lemon. He was born in the body of a dog, but still he has Buddha-nature; he too has an intrinsic nature of True Suchness. He certainly had affinities with his master in a past life. They most likely had a karmic connection. What was their karmic connection? In this lifetime he is repaying his master. He was born as a dog, and while still very little, he was thrown away, abandoned by someone at birth. His master, in a thought of compassion, picked him up and brought him home, then he loved him and raised him. The dog’s size is very large, it is a big dog. As it happened, his owner had an accident and became disabled, so it became difficult for him to move. See how this dog is repaying his master; it became the dogs role to help his master in his daily living, carrying water for him and helping him plow weeds in the garden.
Tell me, is this not karma? This is both the animal realm and the human realm. Both humans and animals share this common nature of True Suchness, so it is quite amazing! The Buddha taught us all of the principles in the world until we were all very clear. In the world now, even things happening very far away, wondrous matters, are quickly spread universally so that many people can see them. This happens not just through writing, but also through pictures; not just through pictures, but also through videos. Now with cell phones, everyone has a camera, so when they see some marvelous thing, they can immediately capture it with the touch of a button, just like how the Buddha opened the stupa of treasures with just a touch, so that we would be able to see. It doesn’t matter how far away things are. So, we are fortunate to live in a world like this. We are also very fortunate to hear the Buddha-Dharma as we do, and for so many stupa doors to be opened that enable us to see the world. We can say that this is the true reality of the world of sentient beings. What we should teach now is the Dharma of ultimate reality, the Dharma of the one true reality. This is something that we can understand very clearly now. So, everyone, be mindful to faithfully accept it and put it into practice. Let us always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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