Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Promoting the Sutra with Sincerity and Reverence (虔敬弘經 供養三佛)
Date: March.19.2018
“When we safeguard, uphold and expound this sutra and promote it with sincerity and reverence, we are making offerings to the three Buddhas. The intent of all Buddhas is to aid all beings. If we expound this sutra and help propagate the Noble Path, we will live up to [the Buddha’s] charge and resonate with the Buddha-mind.”
We must seek to mindfully comprehend this! “[We must] safeguard, uphold and expound this sutra and promote it with sincerity and reverence.” We should think to ourselves, “Over this time, has the Buddha been entrusting [the sutra], reminding us and leaving instructions for us?” He values [this sutra]! He puts great value into this sutra, which must be earnestly passed down in the world. So, He continuously reminds and leaves instructions for us to safeguard, uphold and expound this sutra. We must expound this Dharma. We should not simply store [the sutra] in the sutra library or leave it on the bookshelf. We must take it out to read it and understand its principles. We must earnestly accept and uphold it ourselves. Then, we must [share] the insights we gained through accepting and upholding [the sutra]; we must earnestly share them with and explain them to everyone. When we read the contents of the sutra, we are filled with Dharma-joy. When we put it into practice, it is as if the Dharma enters into our hearts. Every cell in our body gives rise to Dharma-joy; our heart becomes very joyful. Thus, sometimes, we tell everyone that “even our cells are smiling.” This is how filled we are with Dharma-joy.
We should share our joyful hearts with everyone and guide them to experience this together with us. To experience this, we must work together so that we can experience this Dharma-joy together. Because [we have] this sutra, we must reverently promote it and advance it so that it can be passed down. If we can do this, “We are making offerings to the three Buddhas.” As for the three Buddhas, Many Treasures Buddha is an ancient Buddha, a past Buddha from a very long time ago. The present Buddha is Sakyamuni Buddha, who came to this world to expound the Dharma and to finish [teaching] the Lotus Sutra so that now we can read and recite the sutra, accept, uphold and put it into practice. These are Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. Then, there are His multiple manifestations from throughout the ten directions, who represent the true principles of the universe that pervade the Dharma-realms in the ten directions, encompassing the whole universe; they are all the True Dharma.
The Buddha explained them to us, so we must understand them very clearly. Thus, in the four cardinal and intermediate directions and above and below, everything contains the true principles. These true principles are the Buddha’s many manifestations throughout the ten directions; they are the Dharmakaya. These are all true principles, which we must revere and respect.
“The intent of all Buddhas is to aid all beings.” All the principles [taught by] awakened Buddhas and Bodhisattvas teach us to aid all beings, save sentient beings and cherish all life. These are all the true principles. Be it tangible or intangible, everything [exists] to teach the Dharma to us, benefit us and nourish our wisdom. So, we must respect all things in the world and all true principles. Whether it is the past, present or future, we must respect all things in the world. These are the principles.
The Buddha represents enlightenment and awakening, and, by the same token, the true principles. These are the three Buddhas, the past Buddha, the present Buddha and the Buddhas of ten directions. We must respect all these true principles. These teachings are all for the benefit of sentient beings. So, if we teach this sutra and help propagate the Noble Path, naturally, all Dharma will be able to flourish. We just need to understand this sutra thoroughly. In the past, the Buddha spoke of existence and emptiness; now He completed the teaching of the Middle Way, so everything became completely clear. This means that expounding this sutra enables [us to use] all teachings from all sutras to respond to capabilities. People accept the Dharma according to their capabilities. Upon accepting it, we must put it into action. Since the Dharma can resonate with our faculties, if sense organs, sense objects and the Dharma can connect together in this manner; everyone is capable of comprehending it, and naturally, our mind will be able to completely understand [all principles]. When we completely understand all principles, everything we do will be in accordance with the laws of nature and in harmony with the principles of the world. These are the harmonious teachings of this sutra; we must put effort into mindfully [learning them].
If we expound this sutra and help propagate the Noble Path, and make it thrive, “We will live up to [the Buddha’s] charge and resonate with the Buddha-mind.” The Buddha’s charge is what the Buddha reminded us of and the instructions He left for us. We must not let Him down or let His journey to the world be in vain. The Buddha came to the world to engage in spiritual practice; He manifested this appearance. Actually, He had attained enlightenment long ago; He had already realized the principles long ago. To adapt to us sentient begins in the future, He had to manifest this appearance in the Saha world. Thus He became a crown prince in the palace. He chose [to be born in] the palace to help people in the future to understand why someone as high up as a prince, who enjoyed all the pleasures and blessings the world [had to offer], would become a monastic. He did not renounce the lay life because He had no other choice or was suffering. It was not because of that; He became a monastic because His wisdom was transcendent. Prince Siddhartha had transcendent wisdom. He witnessed the impermanent in the world, the suffering in the human realm, the inequality in the lives of human beings and animals and the different castes of people and so on. This was [due to] people’s discriminating minds. Moreover, people did not understand cyclic existence, and furthermore, they could not comprehend the law of karma. Thus, the Buddha used all kinds of appearances and His journey [to help people understand]. Though spiritual cultivation was hard work, He still persisted; He persisted in His resolve, persisted in His vows and aspiration and upheld His precepts. In [practicing] like this for so many years, He endured what others could not endure. This was His journey; [He wanted to] let everyone understand and see that there was such a process.
In the historical records, there was such a Buddha in the world. His journey of attaining Buddhahood was the spiritual cultivation of wisdom and great vows. Thus, during the Buddha’s life, He left behind a place of extraordinary riches and endured a long period of challenges. The Dharma never leaked away from His mind. He saw the entire world, studied other religions, learned their teachings and their methods of teaching. He took whatever pieces were right and wrong and brought them all into His mind. He eliminated the unsuitable principles to extract the true and pure principles. Then, He engaged in earnest contemplation. This journey resulted in His attainment of Buddhahood and enlightenment. As soon as His mind awakened, the universe was so tranquil and clear to Him. In that moment, His mind was tranquil and clear, and His body and mind became one with the universe.
So, for the three Buddhas, by returning to the nature of True Suchness. They have had since the past, They could now attain all the principles in the world and take them in into Their hearts. They comprehended all these principles that encompass the whole universe. These are all the principles of matter, the true principles, the principles of life; there are many of them. They were completely collected into the Buddha’s ocean of enlightened wisdom. Throughout His lifetime, He followed the workings of the world as the seconds and minutes constantly passed by. The Buddha followed all beings’ capabilities to patiently guide them. He discussed “existence” and emptiness. Finally, He brought “emptiness” and “existence” together [and taught] “wondrous existence in true emptiness”. This perfect teaching of the Middle Way is the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha did not have much time left in this world, so He quickly began to expound the most important part of the Dharma and bring it to conclusion. Then, He began to remind them, leave instructions for them and entrust them [with the Dharma].
So, “We will live up to [the Buddha’s] charge.” We should not fail to live up to the Buddha’s dedication. Everyone sentence of His final teachings was to remind and leave instructions for us. We must not let Him down. So, “We will resonate with the Buddha-mind.” We must truly resonate with the Buddha-mind. We have listened to so much [of the sutra]. From the Introductory Chapter, Chapter on Skillful Means, Chapter on Parables, Chapter on Faith and Understanding and so on, we have come a long way, so we should resonate with the Buddha-mind.
This means that to engage in Bodhisattva-practice is to promote and uphold the Right Dharma, proclaim its wondrous meanings and spread and disseminate it widely so that the seeds of Buddhahood will never end. As stated in the sutra, those who love and take joy in the Right Dharma and often delight in expounding it, reading it, reciting it, transcribing it, contemplating its meaning, propagating it widely and helping to spread it are called Dharma-protectors.
So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend how we must “engage in Bodhisattva-practice”. To engage in Bodhisattva-practice is to “promote and uphold the Right Dharma”. We must promote the Buddha’s teachings. We must accept and uphold the Buddha’s Right Dharma and continually “proclaim” it. We must continually promote it and explain the wondrous principles of the Dharma. So, we must spread it. “[To] spread and disseminate it widely”, means we must earnestly spread and propagate it widely; “the seeds of Buddhahood [must] never end”. We must continually spread the seeds so the seeds of Buddhahood will never end. The seeds of Buddhahood refer to the Buddha-Dharma, which must not end. It is just like the sutras.
As stated in this sutra, there are “those who love and take joy in the Right Dharma”. We must love and take joy in the Right Dharma “and often delight in expounding it”. We must nurture this thought and often be joyful. If we have a chance, we must quickly expound it. So we “often delight in expounding it”. In our daily living, we should “read it, recite it and transcribe it. When we transcribe the sutra, the words can be stored forever. Every time we transcribe it, this naturally reinforces our memory. Thus, by understanding its meanings, we can “propagate it widely”. We must earnestly share, proclaim, expound and spread the teachings.
Thus, “[those] helping to spread it are called Dharma-protectors”. [People] like this are called Dharma-protectors. We must really put our hearts into this. Whether reading, reciting or transcribing [the teachings], this will all be very helpful to us. As we ourselves accept the benefit, we must continually proclaim it to others, so they too have this opportunity to read, recite and transcribe it. Also, we can announce it to let everyone understand. After understanding it, naturally, they can put it into practice. Following the teachings in the sutras, they can aid and benefit all beings. Sentient beings are suffering, so we must form great aspirations and make great vows to help and benefit sentient beings. When we understand the Dharma, naturally, we will put it into practice; we will be able to take action. We must mindfully comprehend this and in this way, help propagate the Noble Path. Truly, the teachings passed down by noble beings must continuously be promoted and upheld. We must live up to the Buddha’s intent and the instructions He has left us. If we can resonate with the Buddha-mind, if we can unite the Buddha-mind, naturally, we will not fail to live up to the teachings He passed down to us. We should be put it into practice. We can practice ourselves and guide everyone to practice. This is what we must put our mind into.
Next, let’s look at the previous sutra passage. “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”.
When it says “That Many Treasures Buddha”, this is the Buddha still placing emphasis upon Many Treasures Buddha. That Many Treasures Buddha is the ancient Buddha. The principles we intrinsically have are represented by Many Treasures Buddha. “Though He entered Parinirvana long ago", although it has been a long time, He still maintained the power of His vows. So, at the place where [the Buddha] expounded the Lotus Sutra, the stupa of treasures appeared. [Many Treasures Buddha] roared like a lion. He spoke with a great love voice from inside the stupa of treasures to testify. As [Sakyamuni] opened the stupa of treasures, [Many Treasures] asked Sakyamuni Buddha to quickly expound this sutra. Otherwise, They would run out of time. “I came here specifically to listen to the sutra”. This was Many Treasures Buddha’s vow from the past. He wanted [Sakyamuni Buddha] to now quickly express this sutra’s content and the true principles within. This is what it means to roar like a lion. These are the true principles; these true principles encompass the universe. So, “As for Many Treasures Tathagata and the many manifestations of myself” means “It includes me, Sakyamuni Buddha”. This is what the sutra stated. “The many manifestations who have gathered” had all gathered from the ten directions. This encompasses a very profound meaning. So, just the stupa of Many Treasures alone has taken us such a long time to discuss. This is because everyone must understand. Many Treasures Buddha’s intent in coming and Sakyamuni Buddha’s intent in expounding the Dharma and gathering all the Buddhas from throughout the ten directions. We must clearly understand these many intents.
The next sutra passage continues with, “Of all you Buddha-children, who can safeguard the Dharma? You should make great vows to enable the Dharma to long abide. These who are able to safeguard the teachings of this sutra are making offerings to myself and to Many Treasures”.
So, He said, “all you Buddha-children”. Everyone should listen to this. Who is willing to safeguard the Dharma? Everyone should know that spreading the Dharma and expounding the Dharma is very laborious. Is anyone willing to [do it]? They must be willing to mindfully seek to comprehend the meaning of the Dharma. They must be willing to comprehend the Dharma with such dedication and expound and spread and spread this sutra throughout the world. This is a very difficult thing, just like right now, the rain pours heavily in waves. It is laborious to teach the sutra, if you do not listen to the sutra mindfully, you will not be able to hear it. If you hear, can those in the back hear clearly? The person expounding the sutra is already doing her best, but those who listen to it must be very mindful. If those who want to form aspirations do not listen to the Dharma, the Dharma cannot be passed down. We must mindfully listen to the Dharma; only when we [understand] it clearly will we be able to spread it. Thus [He asks], “Who can safeguard the Dharma? Only through earnest listening and taking the Dharma to heart can both sides, who have worked very hard to attain this Dharma with great difficulty, continue to pass it down.
So, we must understand [the Dharma] “He summoned the entire assembly” to ask them. He summoned everyone in order to ask the entire assembly, “Who is willing to earnestly uphold the sutra? is it difficult? Is everyone willing to expound this sutra, so that this sutra, no matter the circumstances, can continue to be propagated and passed down? Is everyone willing [to do this]?” He asked everyone, “In your hearts, are you willing to form aspirations? Who can safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma for me?” The Buddha inquired in this manner, “I work so hard to expound the Dharma. Is everyone being mindful? Are you willing to take the Dharma to heart? Who can continue to safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma for me? The Buddha-Dharma is now in the world, exercising its potential to save lives in the world. It has been like this for a long time. Can it continue to be passed down?”
Of all you Buddha-children, who safeguard the Dharma?: He summoned the entire assembly to ask them, “Who can safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma for me, and promote and spread it to sustain it forever?
This was the Buddha’s dedication. He worried that the Dharma would come to an end, that if difficult circumstances arose, the Buddha-Dharma would come to an end. This was the Buddha’s concern; so He asked, “Who can safeguard and uphold the Right Dharma for me, promote and spread it to sustain it forever?”
How can we sustain [the Dharma] forever? The Buddha put His heartfelt effort into this. “You should make great vows to enable the Dharma to long abide”. [I] hope that everyone can make great vows, so the Dharma can be everlasting and can long abide in the world. So I must ask everyone, “Have you formed aspirations and made vows?”
You should make great vows to enable the Dharma to long abide: Action is like pigment. Our power of vows is like glue. Ink without glue is not strong. Vows without action are mere empty speech. Actions without vows are neither strong noe lond-lasting. Only when our actions and vows support one another will we be able to achieve something.
“Action is like pigment. Our power of vows is like glue. Ink without glue is not strong”. If there is no glue in the ink, it will not stick when we paint with it. Thus, the ink must be mixed with glue. If it is mixed with glue, the colors can be mixed together, and then it can be painted on the wall or on paper. There must be ink and glue so that we can paint with it. Look at the many paintings from the past, especially the classical paintings that illustrate the sutras. We can see them, as many people have now published them. Now, some of them are still in Dunhuang’s caves. Although some of them are damaged or eroded by the wind, when people go to document them, though there are imperfections, the pigments are still there. Thus, “Action like pigment”.
When we are practicing, we must take the Dharma to heart and apply in our actions. The Buddha teaches us the “Four Infinite Minds, loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Through our great vows, we demonstrate our loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity in the world. With unconditional loving-kindness, we create blessings for all sentient beings. this is like a color painting of life. Sentient beings are in suffering. We must be mindful and use pour wisdom. no matter how poor or full of suffering a place is or how difficult it is [to help], as long as material goods can be delivered there, we must be mindful and use our wisdom to deliver them safely. [This way,] what these sentient beings need can be delivered into their hands and can save their lives. This is like the process of painting. This painting needs glue mixed [with ink]. Whatever shapes we are painting and whatever colors we want to use, when ink is mixed [with glue] and painted on, the image will remain. Otherwise, [if we] only mix the ink with water, although we can still paint, it will soon fade away. Water colors will soon fade away. Only with glue can it be long-lasting.
The principle is the same. The Dharma must be transmitted mindfully for it to be everlasting. So, “vows without action” are false and empty. When we talk without action, we are just talking; we are not putting [our vows] into practice. Then, whatever we say will be empty. “Actions without vows are neither strong nor long-lasting”. We may say, “OK, I am inspired by your action. I will help you and offer my strength”. But, without vows, this will shortly pass. The joy we take in others’ merits and virtues will pass, and we will lack the power of vows. Thus, we need both actions and vows; only with both vows and action can we be firm [in our resolve].
Thus, “Only when our actions and vows support one another will we be able to achieve something”. Our actions and vows must support each other for us to achieve anything. Then, this achievement can be sustained forever.
For those willing to protect the Dharma, the Buddha advised and instructed them to make great vows, which can enable the Right Dharma to long abide in the world. The ancient Buddha made a vow to listen to this sutra. [Sakyamuni] made a great vow to teach this sutra. The multiple manifestations gathered from afar, wishing to open the stupa.
Thus, “for those willing to protect the Dharma,” if we are willing to protect the Dharma, “the Buddha advised and instructed them to make great vows”. The Buddha advised all of us. He asked us first, “Are you willing?” Then, He encouraged and enticed us again. So, all of us must make great vows, “which can enable the Right Dharma to long abide in the world”. [He] hopes that the Right Dharma can forever abide in the world. Thus, “the ancient Buddha made a vow to listen to this sutra”. The ancient Buddha is Many Treasures Buddha in the stupa of treasures. The same power of vows still remains. “The Buddha made a great vow to teach this sutra”. Dust-inked kalpas ago, at the time, Sakyamuni Buddha was one of the 16 princes. The 16 princes asked Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha to expound the Lotus Sutra. [They made] the vows at that time to teach the sutra again in the future. This analogy shows how, since a long time ago, from that era until now, Sakyamuni Buddha still spared no effort in expounding the sutra according to His vow. This was His vow lifetime after lifetime. Now, He had attained Buddhahood and was expounding this sutra. “The multiple manifestations gathered from afar”. All the many manifestations, the Dharma, had gathered here. [Those] who listened to the Dharma and used it to save and transform sentient beings had also gathered here. The Buddha left instructions for them again and asked if they would forever pass on [the Dharma]. This is the meaning [of this verse]. At that time, the Buddha called back these multiple manifestations who had scattered everywhere to apply the Buddha’s teachings and save and transform sentient beings. These people had also returned. “The multiple manifestations gathered from afar, wishing to open the stupa”. They wished to open this stupa of treasures and hoped to furthermore see the ancient Buddha.
Now, the Buddha’s teachings were in their minds. They transformed and saved sentient beings and exercised all kinds of [abilities]. They really hoped to see the ancient Buddha, to truly discover the ancient Buddha from long ago, Many Treasures Buddha in the stupa of treasures. This is also the nature of True Suchness that we all intrinsically possess. As Buddhist practitioners, we continuously learn in hopes that we can return to our nature of True Suchness. Thus, there are “those who are able to safeguard the teachings of this sutra”.
Those who are able to safeguard the teachings of this sutra: We must understand the three Buddhas’ intent, and on no account should we fail to live up to their extremely profound and wondrous intent. I pray that all the Buddha-children will make great vows.
“We must understand the three Buddhas’ intent”. If we are all willing to safeguard and uphold this sutra, we should understand the three Buddhas’ intent and the meaning behind it. What does Many Treasures Buddha represent? What does the present Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, represent? What do the Buddha’s multiple manifestations from the ten directions represent? If we can comprehend all this, naturally, we will be willing to safeguard the teachings of this sutra. We will be able to thoroughly understand the teachings of the sutra; give of ourselves to help others. We must mutually spread and pass on the teachings, “and on no account should we fail to live up to their extremely profound and wondrous intent”. We should not fail to live up to such an extremely profound and wondrous [intent]. We must clearly understand the intent behind the Dharma. Thus, “I pray that all the Buddha-children will make great vows”. Sakyamuni Buddha’s greatest hope was for all His disciples to truly form aspirations and make great vows. This was Sakyamuni Buddha’s greatest wish. “[You] are making offerings to myself and Many Treasures”.
[You] are making offerings to myself and Many Treasures: This sutra describes the actions of [Sakyamuni] Buddha and Many Treasures. Following the Buddhas’ actions is considered making offerings to the Buddha.
If we can truly comprehend [the teachings], we are making true offerings with true reverence. This heart of reverence is the true offering to Sakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Buddha. They did not ask us for anything but for us to be reverent as we seek to comprehend the subtle and wondrous meaning of this sutra’s content. They did not ask us for anything but for us to comprehend it, then take it in to develop our wisdom-life. They did not ask us for anything but for us to develop our wisdom-life so we can also propagate [the Dharma] to all sentient beings in the world. We take the Dharma as pigment for our painting. This pigment can be mixed with glue and spread throughout the world. We must truly take action and exercise the power of our vows to help all sentient beings. This is Sakyamuni Buddha’s vow. Thus, “This sutra describes the actions of the Buddha and Many Treasures.” Now, in this sutra, what this passage describes is for us to understand the [actions] of Many Treasures Buddha and Sakyamuni Buddha. In fact, with the principles, it explains matters to help us understand the principles. The principles are like this, and by using such a story, we can understand them. This is what it means to use analogies. These are the true principles. Thus, “Following the Buddhas’ actions is considered making offerings to the Buddha.” We follow the Buddha’s actions; the Buddha teaches us in this way, so we faithfully accept and practice [the teachings]. We should not fail to live up to the Buddha’s intent. The Buddha came to the world to manifest this appearance. He used worldly matters, His worldly lifespan, worldly people, matters, things, His lifespan, age and time, to manifest this appearance and expound these principles so that we can all understand. Once we understand, [we will know] we are all equal to the Buddha and will learn from the Buddha. We learn [to practice] the Buddha’s actions, His speech, His understanding and the way His “mind encompasses the universe and the boundless worlds within it.” All sentient beings in the world are contained within the Buddha’s original intent. Thus, the Buddha is “the kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings and the guiding teacher of the Three Realms.” His intent was for this alone. He did not want sentient beings to give Him anything in return. Although we often talk about “making offerings,” the best offerings are following the Buddha’s teachings, accepting His teachings, taking them to heart, applying them to our actions and benefiting ourselves and others. These are the best offerings. Thus, the Buddha hopes that we all make offerings of conduct. The Buddha has also made offerings of conduct for all Buddhas. The Buddha also hopes that the offerings everyone makes. This is the Buddha’s hope. Thus, in the Chapter on Dharma Teachers and the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures, the Buddha began to remind us and leave instructions for us so that everyone will understand that they must pass down this sutra. The places where the sutra is are [just like] our minds. When there is Dharma in our minds, when places have the Dharma, these will be places for Many Treasures Buddha’s stupa to appear. The Chapter on Dharma Teachers says that wherever the Lotus Sutra is, a stupa can be built. It may not even be necessary to build one, since it is already there. This has been discussed in the Chapter on Seeing the Stupa of Treasures. So, in this passage now, the stupa emerged from the ground. This means that the Dharma is in everyone’s mind. It is also time for the stupa of treasures to appear. The Buddha’s entire body is inside the stupa of treasures. We must understand this thoroughly. Thus, we must understand the meaning within. I hope everyone can be mindful. The rain has been so heavy these past two days. Expounding the sutra is hard work [and the rain] is here again. In summary, I hope everyone makes more effort to understand. Even though listening to the Dharma is also hard, as it enters our hearts, it enters our cells; these are our Dharma-cells that will develop our wisdom-life. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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