Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Making Great Vows to Practice the Bodhisattva-path (發弘誓願 菩薩因行)
Date: March.16.2018
“When it comes to promoting the sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration, those without the power of great vows will be unable to engage in the causal practice. So, He had them form aspirations and make vows. The ancient Buddha’s original vow was to listen to this sutra. Venerable Sakyamuni’s great vow was to teach this sutra. The multiple manifestations gathered from afar, wishing to open the stupa and see the ancient Buddha, Many Treasures, who journeyed on His vows, and the present Buddha, Sakyamuni.”
For so many days, we have been talking about these passages, the meanings they contain and the stories behind them. The era of Dharma-degeneration refers to our present time. The world we are living in now is the era of Dharma-degeneration. In this world of Dharma-degeneration, the principles have gradually been lost; they are no longer in people’s minds. For young people of today, when we talk to them about family values, they are no longer willing to listen, and moreover, they have no interest in them. When it comes to the present era of Dharma-degeneration, “Dharma” refers to the principles. The principles are gradually approaching an end; they are about to disappear. During this era, to promote the sutras and discuss moral principles seems very difficult. If we speak at length to them about principles, people today do not have the patience to listen.
I often hear young people say, “Please make it more simple. It is best if you can finish explaining it within two to three minutes.” What they want to read and learn from is writing that take two or three minutes to read or four- to five-minute educational clips. [Otherwise,] they say it is too much. They quickly reach their fill. People today are often self-satisfied. They quickly feel they already have enough. They are unwilling to take in the principles and will thus only scratch the surface, gaining a little bit of superficial [knowledge]. But when it comes to pleasure or entertainment, their [interest] is unlimited. People today are just like that. Regarding the Dharma and the principles, they have no patience.
Just take a look at this section of the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures and the previous Chapter on Dharma Teachers. Neither of them are lengthy passages; however, we have discussed them for a very long time, repeating them every single day. We must still be mindful of how to “immerse” [ourselves] in this Dharma. This is like using gradual irrigation, letting the water enter slowly. For a piece of rock that is dry, we likewise need to let water slowly permeate it, until this rock contains water. This is called “immersion”. No matter how stubborn we are, [the Buddha] still hoped this Dharma could moisten and nourish our minds.
Thus, in these passages, whether the long-form prose or the repeated verses, the text continues to be like this; repeated words continue to appear. To explain the teachings, many principles are needed, and worldly appearances have to be connected with the principles, to be connected with very profound principles. We must use appearances to connect principles. Therefore, we need to listen patiently and mindfully seek to comprehend.
So, promoting sutras is very difficult. If we do not have the power of great vows, we will be unable to engage in the causal practice. What is the causal practice? The causal practice refers to the causal practice of Bodhisattvas. Beginning from the Chapter on Dharma Teachers, the phrase “causal practice” continually appears. In particular, in the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, [it mentions] actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions, the casual practice of Bodhisattvas. When we are replete with and have perfected the causal practice of Bodhisattvas, we can then move toward the stage of fruition. How do we accumulate [these causes]? Lifetime after lifetime, we must not forget our original intent. This power of vows began from when we made great vows dust-inked kalpas ago. For lifetime after lifetime, we must not forget our initial aspirations and vows. As we discussed yesterday, the Four Great Vows are the universal vows of all Buddhas, as well as the fundamental great vows, of spiritual practitioners. Any spiritual practitioner who wants to learn the Buddha’s teachings and attain Buddhahood must actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions.
Actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions is inseparable from “loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.” These are all the actions of Bodhisattvas, the road Bodhisattvas need to walk along. This is called “the causal practice”. Only through the causal practice of Bodhisattvas can the fruit of Buddhahood be attained. So, especially during the era of Dharma-decay, if we teach the principles at length to people, they will not be interested enough to listen.
Also, I often hear some young people say that nowadays, the internet is very popular. Sometimes, I tell them, “On the internet, can’t we use some principles to replace the unwholesome and groundless things online? Can’t we replace them with the principles, so everyone can have more opportunities to connect with [these principles?” They all answered me with this remark, “[Yes,] if it is two or three minutes and does not exceed 100 words.” Without exceeding 100 words and speaking only for two to three minutes, how will we teach? How can we convey the principles? This is [the reality of] today. It shows how people now are very self-satisfied. They are fill of arrogance and self-satisfaction, so naturally they cannot take in these principles. During the Buddha’s time, this had already been stated. “When it comes to promoting the sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration, those without the power of great vows will be unable to engage in the causal practice.” This is the era of Dharma-degeneration. To promote the Buddha-Dharma, we must make great vows; we must make great vows for it to be possible. It is only by making great vows that we can engage in the Bodhisattva’s causal practice. This requires hard work. So, He had them form aspirations and make vows. The Lotus Sutra constantly teaches us to form aspirations and make vows. We need to make vows, especially as [according to] the Lotus Sutra, we must [vow to] meet the ancient Buddha. The ancient Buddha is our intrinsic nature; since Beginningless Time, we have had this nature of True Suchness. The most important thing in spiritual practice is to return to our nature of True Suchness and connect with our nature of True Suchness. In every person now, there is a stupa on Vulture Peak. The teachings we have heard are gradually inspiring us. In our state of mind, the stupa of treasures has also emerged from the ground of our minds. We await the opening of the stupa door in order to see the entire body of Many Treasures Buddha.
Therefore, everyone needs to “form aspirations and make vows”. “The ancient Buddha’s original vow was to listen to this sutra.” The ancient Buddha, Many Treasures Buddha, could also be described as the Buddha within our hearts, as our original vow. Through the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, [Sakyamuni Buddha] wanted to awaken us [to this vow]. Therefore, the ancient Buddha, this Buddha within us, also needed to listen to this sutra. “The ancient Buddha’s original vow was to listen to this sutra. Venerable Sakyamuni’s great vow was to teach this sutra.” Sakyamuni Buddha formed His aspirations and made vows like this. Since the era of the 16 princes, lifetime after lifetime, His vows and practice [were focused] entirely on attaining Buddhahood and expounding the Lotus Sutra. After attaining Buddhahood, His original intent was to expound the Lotus Sutra. It was just that sentient begins’ capabilities were dull, so He had to wait until this time to expound the Lotus Sutra.
So, this was Venerable Sakyamuni Sakyamuni Buddha’s great vow was to expound this sutra in order to inspire the Buddha within us to manifest. So, the multiple manifestations “gathered from afar, wishing to open the stupa”. The multiple manifestations represent how, after listening to the sutra, we must gather the Dharma together and keep it from leaking away; we must gather it all together. So, we must see “the ancient Buddha, Many Treasures, who journeyed on His vows.” We must come to see Many Treasures Buddha, who represents the teachings we retained. We must let the stupa that journeyed here upon our vows emerge; we must let it emerge.
So, [we must see] “the present Buddha, Sakyamuni”. As for the present Buddha, Sakyamuni, His Dharma has already entered our minds. Wherever the Dharma is, it is as if the Buddha is present. If we can take this Dharma to heart daily and put it into practice, it will be like Sakyamuni Buddha appearing in front of us. This is where we need to be mindful. As Buddhist practitioners, we need to be constantly mindful.
We must understand the intent of the three Buddhas. He encouraged all Buddha-children not to fail to live up to [the intent of] the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. He earnestly entrusted us, saying we must form great vows.
We must understand the intentions of the Three Buddhas. Yesterday, we discussed how the three Buddhas are Many Treasures Buddha of the past, Sakyamuni Buddha of the present and the multiple manifestations from the ten directions. These are called the three Buddhas. The goal is to encourage “all the Buddha-children,” who are Buddhist practitioners, to never forget nor fail to live up to the diligent efforts of the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. He came to the world with this one great cause, so we cannot let Him down. This is a very difficult process, so everyone needs to be very mindful. Expounding the Dharma is also hard work. The Buddha’s one great cause was nothing but for all sentient beings to understand His teachings and comprehend His original intent. The original intent in His mind is for everyone to [discover] their nature of True Suchness. The is the Buddha’s dedication. He is the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. Thus all three Buddhas gathered together; Many Treasures Buddha manifested, and the Buddhas from the ten directions also came together. That means the flawless Dharma had been gathered in its entirety. We should not fail to live up to the intent of Sakyamuni Buddha, who came to the world as the guiding teacher of the Three Realms and the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings. Now, since Sakyamuni Buddha “earnestly instructed us” and reminded us, “we must form great vows”. Everyone must form aspirations and make vows. Do you understand? Although the rain is very heavy, everyone please listen mindfully.
The previous sutra passage states, “Many Treasures Buddha, though He entered Parinirvana long ago, by means of His great vow, roars like a lion. As for Many Treasures Tathagata and the many manifestations of myself who have gathered, you must all understand this intent”.
Many Treasures Tathagata came and was also aware the Buddha would soon enter Parinirvana. Thus, with many Treasures Buddha’s power of vows. Many Treasures Buddha came to this place. The Buddha also wanted to give His best effort. Many Treasures Buddha also came. In this way They mindfully reminded us; the Buddha continually gave us instructions. So, we must all clearly understand this intent. Since it is raining so heavily right now, I want to first share something with everyone. By developing aspirations and making great vows, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
This year (2016), Tzu Chi’s 50th anniversary is also the 25th anniversary of Tzu Chi USA. Therefore, all branch offices of Tzu Chi USA really put in a lot of effort and held celebrations. With everyone’s dedication, they overcame a tremendous amount of difficulties. Just look at New York; on October 16, [Tzu Chi volunteers] held a “Thousands of Helping Hands” charity concert. It was a spectacular event. It was held in the world-famous. Lincoln Center in New York City. This venue can accommodate more than 2600 people. This large concert was a huge success. From Wuhan, China, a disable people’s performing arts troupe came to perform “Thousand-Hands Guanyin”. This was no easy feat. People who came to attend this music concert included high officials from the government, and ordinary citizens also attended as well. It was truly a magnificent [concert]. Tzu Chi volunteers had made preparations for this event for almost 10 mouths. They had been preparing since the beginning of the year in February. During this process, they experienced many difficulties. With patience, they overcame these difficulties one by one. With each meeting, they considered the issues that might have caused difficulties and eliminated them one by one. Through these meetings, they encouraged each other. With each meeting, [they learned] how to work together harmoniously as a team and how to accomplish [this event], delegate tasks and work with unity, concerted effort, teamwork and so on. After a period of time, they decided on the direction of the event. Once the made the decision, they began to prepare the programs. Tzu Chi volunteers presented a musical adaptation; they entered the sutra treasury by joining in the musical sutra adaptation. They also had to call upon people from all levels of society to help accomplish this event. Therefore, everyone took on a heavy burden; their responsibilities were great. They also needed to rehearse. They needed to rehearse [two songs]. “From Vow to Action” and “Fulfilling My Dream”. For both “From Vow to Action” and “Fulfilling My Dream”, they had to stage and rehearse everything, and they also had a drum team. In total, they had three to four programs that they had to rehearse. They divided the greater New York area into four sections for the rehearsals that would only come together one the day of the concert. As I witnessed this process, I was really moved from the bottom of my heart. Everyone took on responsibilities. Chi Duo (George Chang) said that for this occasion, they had to use all of their efforts to overcome these many difficulties and eliminate the obstacles one by one. They turned these many obstacles into the power that drove them forward. As it turned out, on that day, after several months of effort, the concert was truly a great success. In particular, due to our international presence, [the audience] in New York could see [footage of] Tzu Chi volunteers [working] in many countries. The countries [Tzu Chi] had visited and provided aid relief to included the audience’s home countries, so the audience was also very moved.
For example, there was a group of Ecuadorian immigrants, and one of them was a state supreme court justice. This time, she mentioned that she had never participated in any fundraising events. This supreme court justice said she had never attended any [fundraising] events. However, this time, she had seen that we had gone to Ecuador. After Tzu Chi volunteers visited Ecuador, they returned to the US and visited the Ecuadorian immigrant neighborhood. [They shared how] after the earthquake in Ecuador, Tzu Chi volunteers went there to lead a Cash for Relied Program. They showed how after the earthquake, in the disaster area, they mobilized the locals to clean up and how, from a state of afflictions and helplessness, they led the locals out and brought smiles to their faces. They also showed how Tzu Chi volunteers empowered the locals and helped them recover their vitality. The journey was recorded, and they brought [the documentary] into the Ecuadorian immigrant community to share it with them, everyone was touched, the judge said she was really moved, and so she attended this concert. She witnessed how after the earthquake in Ecuador, the conditions were miserable, and how, after Tzu Chi volunteers entered the country, they were able to help the country tremendously and help that place recover its vitality. This is what moved these Ecuadorian immigrants. Many of them also came to this concert. At the event they showed [footage] of many places, and even showed, the recent major disaster in Haiti. The hurricane caused severe damages to Haiti, so they called on everyone [to help]. There are many things to be done in the world, so we hope that everyone can give rise to this heart of compassion.
Normally, in the Lincoln Center’s [Metropolitan] Opera House, people are not allowed to use their cellphones. However, this concert was the first time ever that people were allowed to use their cellphones. They called on everyone; if anyone was willing to give and help those who were suffering around the world, they could use their cellphones to donate. On that day, they really made donations using their cellphones. Suring this concert, with more than 2600 people, just the funds collected from cellphones alone totaled US$ 1.6 million, which is more than NT$ 50 million. This was a charity concert worthy of its name.
During this charity concert, in particular, Mrs. Lin [Shih Shu Mei] from Chung Mei Pharma in Taiwan went to support her granddaughter, who was the MC od the concert. The grandma was also inspired by the concert. She used her cellphone to donate US$ 10,000. Everyone in the concert saw that, so they quickly announced her name to inspire others’ generosity. Mrs. Lin from Taiwan to attend [this concert] and formed a great aspiration. This was how this charity concert was such a success.
Actually, there are many touching stories from this event. This is the power of vows. They had all rehearsed; during the practice of the musical adaptation, they practiced drums and making announcements. They also had to practice “From Vow to Action” and also “Fulfilling My Dreams”. All of this required true effort. They rehearsed with mindfulness.
Among the volunteers was Mr. Lai. He is now 81 years old. Surprisingly, he most often serves as a media volunteer. At the age of 81, he still takes on work as a media volunteer. He takes pictures! Many moments of our history in the world were recorded by him. He was also a major contributor to Tzu Chi’s archives. In the middle of July, his wife passed away. This couple shared the same teacher, path and mission. This sudden low of his beloved wife caused great sadness for him.
However, during these months [of preparation], he was never absent. Although he lose beloved wife in that period, he never stopped practicing the musical adaptation. Because he needed to guide others; at the age of 81, he still shouldered many responsibilities. He was also one of the coordinators. Starting in February, he constantly had meetings, constantly delegated tasks and constantly shouldered responsibilities. While he took on these tasks, in the middle of July, his wife passed away, during that time, he also had to look after his [sick wife]. After his wife passed away, he endured [this sadness] and persevered. With his patience and perseverance, he eventually accomplished his tasks. Everyone praised him. He said, “Since we decided to follow the Master, we should take the Master’s vow as ours. The path our Master wants to walk on is the path we should walk on. for lifetime after lifetime, I must follow Master’s footsteps. This is his vow. After hearing this story, I was joyful as well. After he encountered this [hardship], he was able to overcome it without letting it affect his power of aspirations; the power of his vows was not compromised. He also said that for the love of his wife, he must double his efforts [on her behalf]. Thus, he is very earnest. This year, he is already 81.
Everyone, please always be mindful! Now, the rain has begun to stop, but our time is also nearly up. In summary, this is how life is. In the era of Dharma-degeneration, promoting the sutras is very difficult. For quite a while just now, the rain was so heavy, so the noise was very loud. I had to use all my energy [to speak]. It was very tiresome. Only after I mentioned that more than 2600 people had donated and formed their aspirations and was about to talk about the vows of Mr. Lai did the rain truly stop. This shows us how important vows are! We need to give our dedication and love to the sentient beings in suffering. We need a lot of people, many people who are willing to give of themselves with joy. Only then can we accomplish [our missions]. Therefore, “When it comes to promoting the sutra in the era of Dharma-degeneration, those without the power of great vows will be unable to engage in the causal practice”. The principles are right here. Truly, it is [precious] that everybody has this peaceful period of time [to be here], so I can talk to you all with ease. Everyone needs to earnestly seize this moment. Our time is almost up. My time in the world is also almost passed. The meaning is the same.
So, we need to overcome this; we need to overcome many difficulties. We need to make great vows. In the face of so many difficulties, we all need to be very mindful. “We must understand the intent of the three Buddhas”. Many Treasures Buddha represents the nature of True Suchness that we have intrinsically possessed since Beginningless Time, lifetime after lifetime. The Buddha came to the world for one great cause, to awaken our nature of True Suchness. Sakyamuni Buddha [wanted to] awaken our intrinsic Buddha-nature. Therefore, Sakyamuni Buddha came to awaken our intrinsic Buddha-nature. The Buddha-nature we have intrinsically possessed since ancient times, lifetime after lifetime, has been awakened by the present Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha. He has expounded many teachings; the Buddha’s Dharmakaya has been mindfully taught to everyone universally.
Everyone also transmitted the Dharma themselves and demonstrated the function and effectiveness of the Dharma. The multiple manifestations of the Buddha are the Buddha’s teachings. As the Buddha’s teachings are spread out, they can exercise their function to transform people and save lives. Many sentient beings are suffering. One by one, they have been relieved of suffering. Those who help them must overcome many obstacles. They make vows and willingly give of themselves. They must use the Dharma is giving of themselves. Those who are saved are saved because they received the Dharma. This is because all of us have Buddha-nature. The concert in New York awakened love in so many people and awakened the Buddha-nature of many. At the very least, it planted a cause or a seed and touched the Buddha-nature in people’s minds. As a result, people who donated using their cellphones contributed from US$5 to US$10, US$100, US$1000. As these contributions accumulated, there was US$1.6 million donated within a single concert. As drops of contributions came together from more than 2600 people at the concert, this was accomplished. This was the first time [mobile donation] was used. It was truly remarkable.
Dear Bodhisattvas, forming aspirations is not hard. With a thought and with a touch of a finger, we can open the door to our minds. This is like opening the door to the stupa of treasures. The Buddha inside our minds can exercise this love. Although [the act of donating] was brief, [it has left us] the seed, which is the causal practice. The cause is the seed. This seed has started to expand. I hope this concert in New York helped the more than 2600 people understand that they could use their cellphones to make donations every month. Then, providing aid and relief will not be difficult. With just a touch on our cellphone every day, even for just a few US dollars or some change, if we contribute every day, it will become a great force in saving lives. [This concert] was also a significant [effort] to inspire and mobilize people. I am really moved and very grateful. Al right, dear Bodhisattvas, we must put our hearts and love into everything; please always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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