Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Our True Nature of Innate Enlightenment (借龍宮事 顯本覺理)
Date: May.02.2018
“In stillness or in motion, noble beings act according to [sentient beings’] capabilities. They transform beings to demonstrate the teachings to benefit sentient beings. Now [the Buddha] used [Manjusri’s] transforming of those in the dragon palace to reveal the principles of innate enlightenment with its ocean-like nature. For this reason, they came from the ocean palace to join the assembly. Manjusri possessed such great wisdom. How could unenlightened beings fathom him?”
We need to be mindful! In their actions, noble beings act in accord with people’s capabilities in order to transform them. In everything they do, they reveal the teachings, so as to benefit sentient beings. Manjusri Bodhisattva, in the past, had already attained Buddhahood as Honorable Dragon King Buddha, and even during the time of Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha, it was the same. Of the 20,000 Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddhas, the final Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha, before becoming a monastic, was a king, and before becoming a monastic he had eight sons. After having these eight princes, that king left the lay life, engaged in practice and attained Buddhahood. When the princes heard the king had become a monk, engaged in spiritual practice and already attained perfect, universal enlightenment, that he had awakened to the true principles of all things in the universe, then those princes too began to take delight in the Buddha-Dharma. They, too, relinquished their royal standing and became monastics at the same time. The time they became monastics was also the time when Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddha began teaching the Dharma. In the end, the eight princes were entrusted to Wondrous Light Bodhisattva, who is the present day Manjusri Bodhisattva, in order to educate them.
When the eighth prince eventually attained Buddhahood, He was named Burning Lamp Buddha. This Burning Lamp Buddha also taught Sakyamuni Buddha. From this we can deduce what kind of a person Manjusri Bodhisattva was, what kind of a Bodhisattva he was. He had already attained Buddhahood so long ago. He had already taught so many Buddhas, so many Bodhisattvas that had become Buddhas. Think about it; now Manjusri Bodhisattva was at the assembly of Sakyamuni Buddha, to assist at His place of practice. He had come to help Sakyamuni Buddha transform sentient beings.
Yet, even though he had once attained Buddhahood very long ago, he was now just another Bodhisattva, there as a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha. This is because all Buddhas share the same path. Amongst themselves, they all share the same impartial principles. They assist one another, for they have only one objective among them, which is to transform sentient beings, to teach sentient beings. They all help one another to succeed. This is really amazing! We all often discriminate based on class. “My position is already quite high. When my term is done, I will step down but for me to come back and assist you as your subordinate is something I cannot do. I used to be your boss, for me to now become your subordinate world be a situation impossible for me to accept.” People say, “Such and such person had once held such and such position. If we want to hire him now, we must give him a position that is the same as what he had before. That is the only way we can hire him.” This is the way that most people think. Look at noble beings; even just Manjusri Bodhisattva had in the past already taught so many Buddhas. Speaking of the principles or speaking from the perspective of our world, Burning Light Buddha, in a lifetime long ago, had taught Sakyamuni Buddha and had bestowed predictions of Buddhahood upon Sakyamuni. Yet now Manjusri Bodhisattva had come to sit at the feet of Sakyamuni Buddha, with the title of Bodhisattva. He had been Burning Light Buddha’s master, yet now had returned to become a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha. If we all think about this, isn’t there a principle behind this? This is a cyclical principle; with this principle, life after life, he continued to transmigrate in this way. This is the Great Vehicle Buddha-Dharma. The Great Vehicle Dharma teaches principles.
No matter who it is, if one acts according to these principles, comprehends these principles, teaches these principles to sentient beings, then one is an enlightened person. When someone’s karmic conditions mature, everyone will come together to help him succeed; lifetime after lifetime, this cycle continues.
It is the same for us humans; how do we know that our present children and grandchildren were not perhaps our ancestors in the past! Yet, because we do not understand this principle, we are unenlightened, our emotions remain confused. Yet with noble beings’ enlightenment, with their awakened nature, they use the principles to transform sentient beings. They have no hindrances or attachments. They can clearly discern the principles. Anyone can attain Buddhahood; you just need to understand the principles, then you too are a Buddha! Everyone is a Buddha. This is the clear principle, something we unawakened begins do not understand. We turn grace towards us into enmity; we always go against moral principles. This is merely confusion from [transmigrating]; once our lives are over, though we simply go to the next, we become confused and disrupt [our relationships]. Because of this, in our world now, people’s relationships are in great chaos. What was once a relationship of love and gratitude has now turned into one of hatred and resentment. There is so much of this. This is confusion; this is how it is. Being awakened is different. So, “In stillness or in motion, noble beings act according to [sentient beings’] capabilities.” In their every action, in motion and in stillness, they accord with sentient beings’ capabilities. Sentient beings in this evil world now, in this evil world of the five Turbidities, are very stubborn! For Sakyamuni Buddha to transform sentient beings in this evil world of the Five Turbidities would not have been easy. He needed to have many noble beings all gather together in order to come assist, to come to help. Isn’t this what Sakyamuni Buddha did? His karmic conditions had matured to the point where He manifested the attainment of Buddhahood. Manjusri was there and so was Guanyin, the past Clear True Dharma Tathagata. They too were there in the world then. Everyone chants the name of Guanyin [Bodhisattva]. Guanyin universally delivers sentient beings, thus she manifests an appearance in the world in order to assist at the Dharma-assembly. This is how noble begins come to the world. They accord with sentient begins’ capabilities in motion and in stillness; this is how they come to the world to transform sentient beings. They “transform beings,” which means they adapt to the type of begins when teaching them. So, “They transform begins to demonstrate the teachings to benefit sentient beings.” They come to deliver sentient beings. No matter what kind of thing it is, all things contain an abundance of principles. Whether large trees or small plants, all have abundant principles within them. When the Buddha came to this world, this is how He taught us to recognize everything, how He helped everyone really understand this and know to cherish all things in the world. This is to say nothing of recognizing the nature of our interpersonal relationships. This was the great wisdom of the Buddha. If it were only the strength of Sakyamuni alone, that would not be enough, so he needed the assistance of those Bodhisattvas around him.
When you look at these passages on Devadatta in the sutra, they are very deep. Devadatta understood the principles, but his nature was very stubborn, hard to tame. So many times, he went against the Buddha and went against the principles. He understood the principles, but he acted contrarily to them. This is how he was. Though he received retributions in his own lifetime and fell into hell alive, the Buddha still bestowed predictions upon him. He predicted that after attaining Buddhahood, how would transform many sentient beings, he would remain in the world for a very long time. This led people to feel, with this kind of principle, how could they discern good and evil clearly? The Buddha was compassionate. He worried that in this chapter, some might become doubtful and lose faith which might lead them to slander [the sutra], so right now. He relied on Manjusri Bodhisattva’s wisdom. Manjusri’s wisdom was foremost among all of the Bodhisattvas, so it was up to him to show how Devadatta was able to receive such a great predictions from the Buddha. When Manjusri Bodhisattva appeared, he did not speak again of Devadatta, but rather talked about how he had come from the dragon palace.
When the Buddha began teaching the Lotus Sutra, Manjusri Bodhisattva was present. That was when everyone was having doubts. It was Maitreya Bodhisattva who asked Manjusri to clarify things, to try and settle everyone’s minds down so they could give rise to faith. This was at the start of the Lotus Sutra, in the Introductory Chapter. Only Manjusri Bodhisattva had the ability to explain the origin of these causes and conditions, to explain this one great cause. Only Manjusri had the qualifications to do this. And afterwards? Where did Manjusri Bodhisattva go? We did not hear about Manjusri in between. However, the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra over a period of seven or eight years. Of course Bodhisattvas still went everywhere spreading the Dharma and transforming beings. They had to go deliver sentient begins. Manjusri had gone to the dragon king’s palace. The great ocean is also in the Saha World, on this planet. So, Manjusri Bodhisattva was still in the Saha World. During this time he was free; he came and went as he pleased. When the conditions and capabilities were right, he would go to transform sentient beings according to their capabilities. So, whenever noble beings act, they act in accord with capabilities in order to transform beings. At this time, when the Buddha was in need, when He needed to resolve their doubts, Manjusri Bodhisattva returned from the palace in the ocean to the main assembly, the Vulture Peak Assemble. Now “[The Buddha] used [Manjusri ’s] transforming of those in the dragon palace”. He did it “to reveal the principles of innate enlightenment with its ocean-like nature”.
So, he came from the dragon palace. There is a meaning behind this. First, he wanted to help everyone dispel doubts, so they would have no confusion. He wanted to resolve their doubts. So, he promptly appeared at that time. Because Many Treasure Buddha had come to hear the Dharma, Sakyamuni had, for Many Treasures Buddha’s sake, gathered together all His multiple manifestations. He did this for Many Treasures Buddha’s sake. He gathered together all the teachings. Since the teachings had been gathered, why did He then teach the “Chapter on Devadatta”? This was to help everyone understand that when it comes to ancient and present Buddhas, all Buddhas share the same path. Their principles are the same. This is the One Vehicle Dharma, where good and evil are treated impartially. Everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. This is the principle. However some people wondered, since spiritual practice takes such a long time and Devadatta was so vile, why then did the Buddha bestow a prediction of Buddhahood upon him? To resolve their doubts in regard to this was very difficult; it was difficult indeed. So, when it came to the One Vehicle principles, those subtle and wondrous teachings are impossible for us, as unenlightened beings, to completely understand right away. Because of this, Manjusri, from the dragon king’s palace, right away [appeared to] use matters and appearances in order to explain and help rid everyone of their doubts. He said, “I have come from the ocean, where there are sentient beings like this, and I went there to teach them the Dharma. While I was there I transformed a great many sentient beings who have now come”.
From yesterday, we know that from the ocean dragon’s palace many lotus flowers emerged, and on each lotus platform sat a Bodhisattva. They came one by one to the Vulture Peak Assembly to demonstrate the ocean-like nature. The stupa of treasures represents how there is a Vulture Peak Assembly within each of us. This is now the One Great Vehicle Dharma. Since the Buddha had gathered together all of His multiple manifestations, everyone should be clear about the wondrous Dharma of the One Great Vehicle. Devadatta, despite his good or evil actions, still had that nature of True Suchness. What is contained in that nature of True Suchness is the seeds of Buddhahood; it is the Buddha-nature.
This was to help everyone understand clearly that he had the special circumstances of lifetime after lifetime never becoming separated from the Dharma. This is because he always listened to the Dharma. He just did not act in accordance with it. He knew all about the principles, but he acted contrary to these principles. If he could turn from always going against the principles… all the principle already existed inside him. This is why as sentient beings we must rid ourselves of afflictions and ignorance. Are these afflictions and ignorance really that hard to remove? It is very simple. This is the passage that is coming later, the news that Manjusri Bodhisattva had brought back from the ocean palace.
So, this helps us to understand this ocean-like nature. So, this is to “reveal the principles of innate enlightenment with its ocean-like nature. For this reason, they came from the ocean palace to join the assembly”. This principle is intrinsic to everyone. It is something everyone should clearly understand. The ancient Buddha had come and Sakyamuni Buddha had gathered together all of His multiple manifestation. Good and evil were clearly revealed in this place. Evil people can attain Buddhahood too; this is a true principle. So, it was impossible for some to understand that principle of innate enlightenment, so this is the message that Manjusri Bodhisattva brought from the ocean palace to the assembly. Manjusri was replete with great wisdom. “How could unenlightened beings fathom him?” His wisdom was not something we ordinary people are able to fathom, not something we can measure.
In the Introductory Chapter, Manjusri was at the assembly, so why does it say He come from the ocean? The dragon palace was still in the Saha world, close to Vulture Peak, so it does not say that he went anywhere. In stillness or in motion, noble beings act according to [sentient beings’] capabilities. They reveal both the provisional and the true and both the intrinsic and the manifest. The dragon palace reveals the ocean-like nature of innate enlightenment. The stupa of treasures represents that which is intrinsically in the ground of the mind. The principles and path of the ancient and present Buddhas are all the same. Manjusri and Wisdom Accumulated both revealed the wondrous truth.
So, in the Introductory Chapter, Manjusri Bodhisattva was at that assembly. Why do we say that he came from the ocean? Because “The dragon palace was still in the Saha world, close to Vulture Peak”. Therefore, “It does not say that he went anywhere. Since Manjusri Bodhisattva had come to the Saha world, he wanted to help Sakyamuni Buddha transform sentient beings. Sakyamuni Buddha was teaching the Dharma there at Vulture Peak, and Manjusri had gone to the ocean to transform the sentient beings there. That too was in the Saha world, so why do we need to say he came or went? Therefore, “It does not say that he went anywhere”. This is especially so, since. “In stillness or in motion, noble beings act according to sentient beings’ capabilities”. Whether noble beings are moving or still, they always accord with everything in the world. When causes and conditions ripen, they will go to meet them. Noble beings come to the world to transform sentient beings. It was not just Sakyamuni Buddha, but also those Bodhisattvas surrounding Him, those with great capabilities, Bodhisattvas with great causes and conditions in the world. “They revealed both the provisional and the true and both the intrinsic and manifest”. Here, both provisional and true are revealed. The provisional refers to skillful means, the true to the One Vehicle. This is how those Bodhisattvas helped the Buddha to teach and transform sentient beings. They manifest refers to things that have happened Manjusri Bodhisattva was also a person, also born in the same era as Sakyamuni Buddha. He had come to deliver sentient beings. He too had a physical form. As he delivered people or expounded the Dharma there were these matters and appearances. These are what we call the manifest. This refers to skillful means. The intrinsic refers to the principles. We have continually talked about this. He had brought them in through skillful means or through the door of the true teaching. These are all methods that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas use to deliver and transform in the world. “The dragon palace reveals the ocean-like nature of innate enlightenment”. The dragon palace reveals that everyone possesses the ocean of enlightenment of True Suchness. The dragon palace refers to our ocean-like nature; this is our innate enlightenment. Everyone possesses this intrinsic nature.
“The stupa of treasures represents that which is intrinsically in the ground of the mind in the grounds of our minds, we all intrinsically have a Vulture Peak stupa”. The stupa of treasures is a metaphor for something intrinsic to our minds. So, “The principles and path of the ancient and present Buddhas are all the same”. There was Many Treasures Buddha in ancient times, then there was our fundamental teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha. Their principles are the same, because all Buddhas share the same path.
“Manjusri and Wisdom Accumulated both revealed the wondrous truth”. These two Bodhisattvas at that assembly were just about to begin reveling the most subtle and wondrous principles. What comes next is the meeting between these two Bodhisattvas where they will engage in dialogue. It was time to reveal these principles. So, what comes next is a very long passage where true principles of the Great Vehicle will be revealed.
The passage we explained previously says, “At that time, Manjusri, sitting upon a thousand petaled lotus flower as large as a carriage wheel, along with the Bodhisattvas who accompanied him, also sitting upon jeweled lotus flowers, rose up out of the great ocean and emerged with ease from the dragon king Sagara’s palace”.
When Manjusri Bodhisattva returned to Vulture Peak, he was not alone; he was together with a group Bodhisattvas. They emerged from the ocean upon thousand-petaled lotus flowers. They emerged from the ocean, then from mid-air, slowly floated over.
The text below says, “[They were] abiding in the empty air”. They rose out of the ocean then up into the air. So, “They came to Vulture Peak”. Descending from the lotus flowers, they went before the Buddhas and made prostrations with their heads at the feet of the two World-Honored Ones.
These lotus flower had emerged from the ocean and kept rising up until they were floating in the air. Slowly, they floated towards Vulture Peak, to the place where Sakyamuni Buddha was expounding the Lotus Sutra. So, it says, “Abiding in the empty air, they came to Vulture Peak”.
Abiding in the empty air, they came to Vulture Peak: They each used their spiritual powers to abide in the empty air and gradually came to Vulture Peak, where Sakyamuni was.
So, “Descending from the lotus flowers, they went before the Buddhas and made prostrations with their heads at the feet of the two World-Honored Ones.
Descending from the lotus flowers, they went before the Buddhas and made prostrations with their heads at the feet of the two World-Honored Ones: Manjusri and the other Bodhisattvas descended from their lotus thrones and went before the two World-Honored Ones”. This was Many Treasures Tathagata and Sakyamuni Buddha. This is because the two World Honored-Ones were still sitting together at that time inside the stupa of Many Treasures.
This was a beautiful scene. There were so many lotus flowers, each with a Bodhisattva riding atop, descend from the air to Vulture Peak. Stepping down from their lotus platforms, they came before the Buddhas, then prostrated at Their feet. They “made prostrations [to] the two World-Honored Ones”. Everyone should still remember when Sakyamuni Buddha opened the door to the stupa. As soon as the door opened, Many Treasures Buddha yielded His seat. He gave half of His seat to Sakyamuni Buddha. Once Sakyamuni Buddha sat down, Many Treasures called upon Sakyamuni Buddha to quickly teach this sutra. “I came to hear this sutra”. You are know teaching the sutra, so I came. Come, come sit here “Quickly, continue on!”
So, Sakyamuni Buddha, while in the stupa, taught the Chapter on Devadatta. In this passage of the sutra, the two Buddhas were inside the stupa. In other words, that ancient Buddha came to bear witness to the Great Vehicle Dharma. This was truly fantastic! So, seeing that Devadatta had received predictions of Buddhahood, Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva began reminding Many Treasure Buddha, “We should really be getting home!” Sakyamuni Buddha started persuading them to stay, because the Great Vehicle Dharma’s true principles of the method of the intrinsic were still not clear to everyone. He needed to hurry make use of Manjusri’s causes and conditions [of returning] to quickly continue teaching the essence of the Great Vehicle Dharma. He wanted them to understand what was most essential. So, He stopped Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva, saying, “Wait a moment. Manjusri Bodhisattva, from the Saha World is about to return. You can meet one another and converse. You can meet each other briefly”. It was at this time that the lotus flowers began appearing. They gradually began arriving at Vulture Peak and touching down there. This was such a fascinating scene. Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva saw it and felt, “Indeed! How magnificent!” Manjusri Bodhisattva had transformed those sentient beings; his wisdom had to be difficult to imagine. So, they again began to settle down. Was this just Wisdom Accumulated alone? There were others, many more in the assembly listening, thinking it was hard to imagine. The principle is the same. So, as Many Treasures Tathagata and Sakyamuni Buddha, the Two World-Honored ones there at that time were still sitting together in the stupa, this was how it was at that moment. They were both in the stupa, those two Tathagatas.
Many Treasures Tathagata embraced and delivered all the Buddhas of the past, while Sakyamuni embraced, delivered, taught and transformed all sentient beings who will attain Buddhahood from now into the future. Thus, it says they “made prostrations with their heads at the feet of the two World-Honored Ones”.
So, “Many Treasures Tathagata embraced and delivered all the Buddhas of the past.” Many Treasures Buddha had already attained Buddhahood a long time ago. He had attained Buddhahood because he wanted to transform many sentient beings. He had also taught many to attain Buddhahood. So, Many Treasures Tathagata’s principles had already embraced and delivered a great many. He had transformed and delivered many who had already gone on to attain Buddhahood. These were past Buddhas. As for the present Sakyamuni Buddha, He “embraced, delivered, taught and transformed all sentient beings who will attain Buddhahood from now into the future”. This was Sakyamuni Buddha. Over the course of many lifetimes, everything He did was for sentient beings. There were several chapters in the past, like the Chapter on Bestowing Predictions, where He had already made predictions for a great many disciples! Those receiving predictions from the Buddha had grown in number from a few to many. These disciples too would be able to attain Buddhahood in the future. They had been transformed by Sakyamuni Buddha.
So, they “made prostrations with their heads at the feet of the two World-Honored Ones”. Of these two Buddhas, one had transformed sentient beings in the past, one was transforming right then and there. He would continue to do so into the future, for His responsibilities were not yet fulfilled. He was teaching and transforming right then. In this period of time, in this era of a turbid and evil world, the sentient beings Sakyamuni Buddha will teach and transform are still many. The two Buddhas were together in the stupa of treasures, sitting on the same seat. So, Manjusri Bodhisattva, as soon as he descended from his lotus throne, went quickly over to the Buddha’s stupa to prostrate before the two World-Honored Ones in order to pay his respects.
Look at Manjusri Bodhisattva, who was already such an accomplished Bodhisattva. Upon returning from another place, he still acted in accordance with etiquette by prostrating himself at the feet of the Buddhas. This etiquette is the Great Vehicle Dharma. It means all Buddhas share the same path. This is the etiquette of impartiality. This shows that Buddhas, great noble beings who have attained Buddhahood, have the etiquette of Buddhas.
So, the next passage says, “Having finished paying his respects,” Manjusri went to where Wisdom Accumulated was. “They greeted one another, then sat to the side”.
He had already demonstrated appropriate respect he had shown it. He had finished paying his respects, already reverently paid respect to those Buddhas. He expressed “I’m returning from my leave. I’ve returned again to Vulture Peak”. After that, He went over to Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva. He knew what Sakyamuni wanted, because the Buddha had already had Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva stay. He wanted him to meet Manjusri Bodhisattva. So, now that Manjusri Bodhisattva had returned, after having paid respects to the Buddhas, He turned and went over to where Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva was and they greeted one another.
Bodhisattva to Bodhisattva, they both asked after one another, each greeting each other according to etiquette. So it says, “They greeted each other”. After that, they “then sat to the side”. After having asked after one another, they went over and sat themselves down, so they could converse more seriously. So, “[He] greeted the World-Honored Ones then went to Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva”. This was how they greeted one another.
The two great Bodhisattvas each came here from a different place to meet at this assembly. When Manjusri finished paying his respects to the Buddha, he went to greet Wisdom Accumulated and then sat down. Thus began the causes and conditions of the following [series of] questions and answers.
“The two great Bodhisattvas each came here from a different place to meet at this assembly”. These two Bodhisattvas each came from different directions. Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva came from the land of Many Treasures Buddha, in the east, and had emerged from the earth, but Manjusri Bodhisattva was in the Saha World, helping the Buddha teach and transform sentient beings. Now, he emerged from the ocean palace. So, they came from different places; one emerged from the earth, the other emerged from the ocean palace. So, they came from different places to the Vulture Peak Assembly where they could meet each other. When Manjusri had finished paying respect to those Buddhas, he then went over to Wisdom Accumulated where they greeted and asked after each other. Then they sat down together to talk between themselves. This is where they will begin to go into principles in the following sutra passages.
Manjusri possessed such great wisdom. How could unenlightened beings fathom him? He was absent from the assembly because he was transforming beings in the ocean. This is in accord with the principles. Bodhisattvas have no substance or appearance, no appearance of moving and no appearance of going or coming. They can visit all the Buddha-realms without moving from their original land.
Manjusri Bodhisattva had been “absent from the assembly because he was transforming beings in the ocean.” This is how it should have been. He was could have been there, yet everyone was unaware of when exactly he had arrived in the dragon palace to transform sentient beings. Sakyamuni Buddha had for years continued expounding the Lotus Sutra at Vulture Peak, but Manjusri Bodhisattva had already gone off to transform beings elsewhere, from the land down to the ocean palace. He went to transform sentient beings there all because those sentient beings’ capabilities and their karmic conditions had matured. Now he had come to deliver and transform there at the Vulture Peak Assembly, to bring this great opportunity to fruition. For this great opportunity, he led [those beings] to emerge from the ocean to help those on the land understand, and so that the Bodhisattvas from other realms could understand as well. This was Manjusri Bodhisattva; with his great wisdom, he came to help at that Dharma-assembly, came to the Saha World. This Bodhisattva had no substance or appearance, no appearance of moving, coming or going. This is because the principles of the Great Vehicle Dharma extend throughout the universe.
So, “They can visit all the Buddha-realms without moving from their original land.” Bodhisattvas can go anywhere to deliver sentient beings. They do not necessarily have to say, “I am going to go to that place,” since the principles are universal throughout all Dharma-realms. Any place can be a place where those Bodhisattvas transform sentient beings. These are the Great Vehicle principles. On land, Bodhisattvas teach the Dharma like this, but even in the ocean, in the dragon palace, they deliver sentient beings like this too. Those on the land and those from the ocean came together, because the principles are all in people’s hearts; there is a Vulture Peak Stupa in our heart, an ocean-like nature of True Suchness in our heart. So, we should be able to bring these all together. Having said all this, doubt may still remain in people’s hearts, so we should go on and listen further. Let us keep on listening to the passage below. Because of this, when Wisdom Accumulated wanted to return home, Sakyamuni Buddha had him stay. He had him stay since otherwise, he still would have had doubts. Actually, He was not all that worried about Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva’s doubts as much as worried about the doubts of those who were there listening to the Dharma. If he had returned then, then this passage would have ended here, and this chapter would be finished.
What follows was still needed for emphasis, before anyone could clearly realize the principles of the Great Vehicle Dharma. The Buddha put great effort into expounding this sutra, into transforming sentient beings who are so stubborn and hard to train. I ask you all to always train yourselves. Going to train others is difficult; we just need to train ourselves, to train our own minds. Remember, “In each person there is a stupa on Vulture Peak” “We can practice at the foot of that stupa.” Remember, we all have the nature of True Suchness. Our ocean-like nature of True Suchness is so vast. It is everywhere and abundant with principles. It is intrinsic to us all, so we just need to always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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