Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha-Nature Is Equal in All (佛性平等 微妙廣大)
Date: May. 10.2018
“With clear wisdom, we will faithfully accept the Right Dharma which illuminates without obstruction. This means that when we listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we must have a broad understanding and clearly comprehend its meaning. With these merits and virtues, we will uncover our intrinsic nature and root of wisdom. Our body and mind will be fiercely sharp. We will be able to engage in purifying practices and tame and purify our mind.”
We must mindfully seek to comprehend this! “With clear wisdom, we will faithfully accept the Right Dharma which illuminates without obstruction.” We learn the Buddha’s teachings in order to inspire our wisdom. For wisdom to arise in our minds, we must take the Dharma to heart. In order to take the Dharma to heart, we must have faith. We absolutely must have faith.
Life is spent in confusion; there are so many things we do not know. We cannot understand because our wisdom has not yet awakened. Our wisdom has not yet awakened because we have not taken the Dharma to heart. If we take the Dharma to heart, naturally our wisdom will awaken. To take the Dharma to heart, we must first have faith. We must thoroughly believe in and accept the Right Dharma; only then will we be able to inspire our wisdom. We can then illuminate without obstruction all people, matters and things and find ways to unify matters and principles.
During the last few days I have been talking about the importance of unifying matters and principles. If we only talk about the principles with no matters or appearances to confirm them, we will be unable to clearly convey them. Manjusri Bodhisattva and Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva wanted to help everyone first have deep faith and a clear understanding of these principles. If they could have deep faith, they would be able to accept the Dharma, which would enable them to awaken their wisdom. This was the goal of these two Bodhisattvas. One taught the principles and the other requested teachings, asking questions on behalf of us sentient beings. But to teach the principles and ask for teachings, there needed to be appearances; matters and appearances had to be manifested to patiently and skillfully guide us. The matter of teaching and transforming [the beings in] the dragon palace in the ocean was explained through the principles which were then proven by the actual events. This was how Wisdom Accumulated sought to get to the bottom of these matters to help us understand them even more clearly.
So, “This means that when we listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we must have a broad understanding and clearly comprehend its meaning.” This is to help us all broaden our understanding as we listen to the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is extremely profound and subtle. It is very profound, very subtle and intricate. Its principles are very intricately connected. There is not even the slightest gap left between them. [The Buddha-Dharma] contains only true principles. It is extremely subtle and intricate, so intricate that it is truly wondrous. It is as wondrous as being able to see the world in a speck of dust. These principles cannot be seen, but they [pervade] the entire universe.
Usually, when we look at things, we see everything very clearly. But in fact, in this bright, well-lit space, there are many microorganisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The macrocosm contains many clearly visible things that can be seen with the naked eye.
For those very small, very tiny things, we can use a microscope to magnify them. Then we can see them too. But there are also things that cannot even be seen with a microscope. This space and energy are [measured using] quanta. Isn’t this what science uses nowadays? These are truly very intricate principles. We must have faith in them and understand them.
Listening to the Dharma also requires such a meticulous mindset and very deep faith. Since the principles are so deep, our faith and understanding must be just as deep. In terms of what we accept, we must be just like [the Buddha]; we too need to accept these very profound principles. This way, everyone can know that to listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we must be like this. “We must have a broad understanding and clearly comprehend its meaning.” It is very broad, very profound, very subtle and very intricate, and we must seek to comprehend all of it. So, “With these merits and virtues, we will uncover our intrinsic nature and root of wisdom.” If we can work hard, merits and virtues are what we attain through our efforts. Because the principles are like this, we must truly put in the effort.
What is apparent in our relationships with people and in how we deal with matters are our actions. These are seen and experienced by others. [Our actions] must come from our hearts, from a very meticulous mindset of sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness.
“Sincerity” is to express our sincere thoughts to people. We cannot actually see “sincerity,” but it is [perceived in] how we treat others. We must serve others with very mindfully sincerity. This is very subtle. This [sincerity] cannot be seen; it is very fine. We often say, “All things are created by the mind.” The sincerity in our minds can be seen in how we give for the sake of people, maters and things. This is very expansive. There are so many people. This world is not just made up of you and me. It is not just about those that [we know]. There are also those that you and I do not know. They do not know [us] either. It is not just on a small scale. There are also those we do not know. This is on a large scale.
In this world, on this planet alone, there are five continents. There are different people, different countries, different ethnicities and different religions. Though the human race is so vast, we still need to maintain this meticulous and sincere mindset and serve everyone in this world. This is having “broad [understanding]”. The Buddha-Dharma treats the entire human race with the same broad and all-encompassing sincerity and love. This is toward the entire human race. But does it stop at human begins? The Buddha speaks of sentient beings. How many kinds of sentient beings are there in this world? There are microorganisms, plants, animals and human beings.
There are so many of these principles. All of these beings have their own habitats among the Six Realms and Four Forms of Birth. We have to [embrace] all of these. So, we must have a “broad understanding”; we must understand them all. We must know all of these meanings and principles. So, it is very profound. The Buddha-Dharma contains and explains so many things. So, by putting in effort, [we attain] merits and virtues. It is not just about knowing something. Within the scope of this knowledge, we must also [know to] take action and be bake to do it. This is “attainment”. So, “merits and virtues” [refers to] the merits and virtues we have attained.
“With virtue comes attainment.” We work hard and attain this virtue. This is [done by] going out to serve others. So, “With these merits and virtues, we will uncover our intrinsic nature and root of wisdom.” We must work hard to thoroughly understand this. Naturally, this is “uncovering” [what is within]. Our minds are full of afflictions and ignorance. Our Tathagata-garbha nature, our nature of True Suchness, is covered by so much ignorance and afflictions. Now, we must uncover it. Otherwise, how could our wisdom shine forth? So, we must understand the Buddha-Dharma a very deeply; we must have a very broad, complete understanding. Then we will be able to learn. We must work hard to uncover this so that we can thoroughly understand [the Dharma] and uncover its meaning.
So, we all have a root wisdom within our Tathagata-garbha nature. As for the afflictions, ignorance and dust-like delusions just mentioned, to eliminate them all requires us to put in a lot of effort and constantly treat others with sincerity. We must keep a meticulous mindset. We must have correct thoughts, right thoughts, right views, right understanding, right mindfulness, right thinking etc. When we act with right conduct and rid ourselves of afflictions and ignorance we will no longer make mistakes. Instead, we will be able to serve all sentient begins in the world with sincerity. We must serve them all. This is how we accumulate merits and virtues and eliminate afflictions and ignorance.
As we continually eliminate, we will continually accumulate merits and virtues. This is the cultivation of merits. “Internal cultivation brings merit, and external practice brings virtue.” This is how it is. All sentient beings in the world includes all beings of the Six Realms and Four Forms of Birth. If we are able to serve them like this, our hearts will constantly be wide-open and very joyful. Although this world is full of suffering, when we let go of our own small self, we stop warring about [illness, aging and death]. When we go among people, however much effort we can expend, that is how much energy we put forth as we serve others.
Thus, “The mind is without hindrances; there are no hindrances, so there is no fear”. We no longer worry about beings subject to the laws of nature. We have so many Bodhisattvas doing good things. Although they are ill themselves, they still go among people to serve. This is no longer worrying about being subject to the laws of nature. They clearly understand the laws of nature. They have no worries for their own body, but when it comes to all sentient begins of the world, whatever strength or ability they have, that is how much effort they put forth to serve. This is how, through their everyday practice, they eliminate afflictions and accumulate merits virtues. This is the method we must use.
So, “With these merits and virtues, we will uncover our intrinsic nature and root of wisdom”. We must eliminate ignorance and afflictions and uncover our Tathagata-garbha nature. This innate wisdom-nature is something we all intrinsically have. Only like this can we reveal our root of wisdom. So, “Our body and mind will be fiercely sharp. We will be able to engage in purifying practices”. If we can keep moving forward step by step, we can uncover our innate root of wisdom in our mind and in our body. Our body is a vehicle for spiritual practice. Do we still remember how. Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva said that dragons are arrogant by nature and that a dragon’s body is not a vehicle for spiritual practice? This is what Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva said. He then continued, “When you went to the dragon palace to teach and transform, were the beings there able to accept the Dharma? “If they were able to accept it, how much did they [understand]”? He said this because that kind of sentient being’s body is not a vehicle for spiritual practice. Only in our human realm can we engage in spiritual practice. This is because our human bodies are vehicles for spiritual practice. By putting the teachings into action, we can serve people of different nationalities and different ethnicities.
As long as we are willing and sincere, we can go out and give of ourselves for others. This is [using] our bodies. We need a body in order to help others. But the Buddha went beyond [the thinking that only] human beings’ bodies are suitable vehicles for spiritual practice. He believed all sentient beings have Buddha-nature.
This is the slight difference between “wisdom” and supreme wisdom”; this is where a Bodhisattva and a Buddha still differ slightly. Manjusri Bodhisattva was a past Buddha who manifested [in this world]. Manjusri Bodhisattva was, in fact, a past Buddha. So, he was able to go to the dragon palace to teach and transform. All sentient beings have Buddha-nature, so all sentient beings can be transformed!
Thus, “Our body and mind will be fiercely sharp. We will be able to engage in purifying practices and tame and purify our mind”. All sentient beings, no matter their physical form, can engage in spiritual practice. So, there is no distinction between the bodies of different species. We just need to have merits and virtues. When we sincerely engage in practice to eliminate our ignorance and inspire our innate root of wisdom, naturally, “Our body and mind will be fiercely sharp. “We will be able to engage in purifying practices and tame and purify our mind”.
What this [sutra] passage is telling us is that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. We must mindfully listen and comprehend this. We can then use this wisdom to thoroughly comprehend and illuminate without obstruction. We will not be hindered by this discrimination between species. We must eliminate ignorance. Without afflictions or ignorance, [our minds] will be free of hindrances. Then, naturally, we will have no obstructions.
This is something we must mindfully seek to comprehend. The next [sutra] passage demonstrates how the dragon girl could quickly attain Buddhahood.
There was a daughter of the dragon king Sagara who had just turned eight years old. This shows that even in the innocence of youth, one can have such wisdom of great foresight. With clear understanding and sharp capabilities, she perceived the capabilities of sentient beings and taught accordingly. She attained all great dharani-doors. She completely upheld the entire treasury of wondrous Dharma, deeply penetrated and understood and was replete in the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. In an instant, she was replete in virtues and swiftly attained realization. This all returns to the vas One Vehicle.
Manjusri Bodhisattvas wanted to testify to everyone. “There was a daughter of the dragon king Sagara, who had just turned eight years old. This shows that even in the innocence of youth, one can have such a wisdom of great foresight”. This child was very young and moreover a dragon girl from the dragon palace. She was only eight years old, yet she had this kind of wisdom. “With clear understanding and sharp capabilities, she perceived the capabilities of sentient beings and taught accordingly”. She could perceive capabilities and teach accordingly even though she was only eight years old. “She attained all great dharani-door”. She had already attained the great dharani-door. “She completely upheld the entire treasury of wondrous Dharma, deeply penetrated [the Dharma], understood and was replete in the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom”.
Thus, “In an instant, she was replete in virtues and swiftly attained realization”. This means that in an instant, very quickly, she was replete in virtues. So, she was able to very quickly attain the Buddha-fruit; she could very quickly become enlightened. “This all returns to the vast One Vehicle”. This is the teaching of the One Buddha Vehicle. If we are mindful about understanding this, we will naturally “show compassion to all equally”. Even this dragon girl, who was so young, had such broad, vast and far-reaching wisdom. She could understand the principles. Her capabilities were very great, so she was able to attain the great dharani-door of total retention. Everyone should remember this “Great dharani” means to “retain and uphold the treasury of all wondrous Dharma”. The great dharani-door is to retain and uphold.
This is what we usually call “the Four Siddhantas,” the ability to retain and uphold. How do we go among and transform sentient beings? We need to have this great dharani-door. With “all great dharana-doors, we are able to retain and uphold all Dharma, upholding all wisdom.
In the past, we have often talked about the door of training and upholding “Retain all teachings, uphold all goodness.” This is the great door of retaining and upholding; it means to deeply enter [the Dharma]. For this, we must “understand precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.” To “retain teachings and uphold all goodness, we must understand “precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.” Not only must we understand them, but we must also very rigorously uphold the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, the Three Flawless [Studies]. Wasn’t there a very long period of time when I shared with everyone about the Three Flawless Studies? So, we must mindfully seek to understand this.
Everything in the Lotus Sutra is contained within [the Three Flawless Studies]. We must mindfully seek to comprehend them and engrave them into our hearts, then naturally we will not forget them. That way, we will have this wisdom, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. As long as we do not violate the precepts, we will not have any afflictions. Without afflictions, naturally we will have Samadhi. With Samadhi naturally we will have wisdom. Once we attain wisdom, naturally, in an instant, we will be able to understand all things very clearly. In an instant, we will understand everything. We will have done everything that must be done, will have given what was needed; we will be replete in [all this].
So, we will “replete in virtues”. We will understand and be replete in these virtues. We will be replete in all the causes and virtues of Bodhisattvas. In this way, no matter what it is, we will understand it very clearly. Ultimately, the broad and vast Dharma of the One Vehicle will, once encountered, naturally provide a thorough understanding of all things. Since we did this in the past, naturally, we will also be able to accept it and attained a thorough understanding. This “door of retaining and upholding is the Four Siddhantas; this is retaining all teachings.
There Four Siddhantas: 1. The worldly life siddhanta. 2. The individual siddhanta. 3. The curative siddhanta. 4. The supreme meaning siddhanta. The Four Siddhantas encompass the entirety of the twelve divisions of the Buddhist canon and the 8,4000 Dharma-treasuries. The ultimate reality is without appearance and free of contradiction.
“Siddhanta” refers to “giving universally”. In all things, we need to practice giving. “Retaining all” means doing it universally. We need to practice giving, putting it into action. We must use our actions to go out and serve others. This is “universal giving”. So, “The Four Siddhantas encompass the entirety of the twelve divisions of the Buddhist canon and the 8,4000 Dharma-treasuries.” These all [reveal] the ultimate reality. They are all free contradictions. They are all part of this dharani-door of “retaining all teachings” and “upholding all goodness”. The dragon girl was already able to attain this. “She attained all great dharana-doors. She completely upheld the entire treasury of wondrous Dharma. This is all within the Four Siddhantas. She had attained them all, so, because of this she “deeply entered [the Dharma] and understood and was replete in the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.” Everything that we do returns to the initial practice of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. By eliminating afflictions, we open up our wisdom. Thus, naturally we will instantaneously attain thorough understanding of the principles and be replete in virtues. We have already been accumulating virtue for a long time, actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions. We are already walking this path. So, this is “swiftly attaining realization.” We can very quickly attain this. In an instant, very quickly, we can attain Buddhahood.
This is comes back to the broad and vast teachings of the One Vehicle. I hope everyone can understand this. So, in the previous sutra passage, “Wisdom Accumulated asked Manjusri, ‘This Sutra is extremely profound, subtle and wondrous. It is treasure among all sutras, a rarity in the world. Could there be any sentient beings who, by earnestly and diligently practicing this sutra, have been able to swiftly attain Buddhahood?’”
This is what Wisdom Accumulated Bodhisattva asked Manjusri Bodhisattva. “This is such profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma. It is a treasure among all sutras. Moreover, you said that in that place, you only taught the Lotus Sutra. This is a treasure among sutras! In fact, there are many sentient beings who are very diligently practicing it. But will doing this allow them to quickly attain fruition? Are there those who, by practicing this cause, will attain this fruit? Is it really that easy?” That is what he asked.
So, next, Manjusri Bodhisattva begins talking. “Manjusri said…. This is manjusri’s answer. “There is a daughter of the dragon king Sagara who is only eight years old. She has sharp roots of wisdom. She excels at understanding all capacities, deeds and karma of sentient beings and has attain dharani.”
This daughter of the dragon king was only eight years old, but she had such wisdom and sharp capabilities. Moreover, she already understood whether the capabilities of sentient beings were dull or sharp and whether sentient beings’ deeds were good or evil. This daughter of the dragon king knew all of this.
This sutra passage explains how “The dragon girl has accepted and uphold this Lotus Sutra. With clear and thorough comprehension, she has realized the one true wondrous Dharma of the Great Vehicle. So, she was able to “directly attain Bodhi.”
This is how it is explained to us. The practice that this dragon girl engaged in was to always uphold the Lotus Sutra. She deeply believed in and thoroughly understood the principles of the Lotus Sutra and moreover put them into practice. After putting [this Dharma] into practice, after actually doing it and experiencing it, she understood that these principles are “the one true wondrous Dharam of the Great Vehicle.” She not only thoroughly understood the principles she had also already “actualized the Six Paramitas in all actions.” This is “directly attaining Bodhi” and walking the Bodhisattva-path. This was Manjusri Bodhisattva’s reply. This was the wisdom of the dragon king Sagara’s daughter. The daughter of the dragon king was only eight years old, yet she had such great wisdom. She “had great wisdom”; this wisdom was very great. “Her capabilities were sharp and bright”. Her capabilities [resonated with] her intrinsic nature. She was very smart and wise. She had such sharp capabilities, even though she was only eight years old. This also shows that there is no difference between the Four Forms of Birth, womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born and transformation-born. Moreover, regardless of one’s appearance, there is not even a difference in age. See, a person’s age does not necessarily matter. This young girl was only eight years old. She was still in a “young and ignorant age”.
If she were a human being, what would she know as an eight-year-old? She would only be in primary school. The teachers would still need to instruct her. She would still be ignorant in every subject and would still not understand things very well. So, she would need to start going to school so that the teachers could instruct her. As an eight-year-old, if she were a human being, she would be in about second or third grade. Yet she had this kind of wisdom. Speaking of eight-year-olds, we have a group of little Bodhisattvas.
Yesterday, many of our staff’s children who are between three and six years old joined in the sutra musical adaption during yesterday afternoon’s year-end blessing. It is the same with them! They also joined the musical adaption of the Medicine Buddha Sutra. They were so cute! There were also the young volunteers from our Jing Si Bookstores; they did the same. They had memorized the entire sutra [adaptation]. Many of them even made vows, dozens of them.
This time, at the year-end blessing ceremony, they all gathered together to take refuge. They could even recite the Ten Precepts. I asked, “Do you know what it means to take refuge?” “Yes, to turn from darkness to the light! Darkness is evil; we cannot do evil. Light is goodness; we must do more good”. This was how they answered me. I said, “In that case, what rules do you need to follow? Do you know?” “Yes! The Ten Precepts”. Wow! They began to recite the Ten Precepts. This group was even younger than eight. There were seven-, six- and five-year-old children. They also understood the meaning of “taking the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts”. They could even recite the Three Refuges. We should know that age is not a factor. There is also no difference between different kinds of beings. We really need to have faith in this.
So, this dragon girl was eight years old. She was at “a young and ignorant age”. Yet even at this ignorant age, she had such great wisdom. So, with such “sharp roots of wisdom, she had clear wisdom and sharp capabilities and was able to observe capabilities properly”. She had very thorough wisdom, so she could understand all things. Her capabilities were extremely, fiercely sharp. They were not dull, they were very sharp. When the principles were taught, as soon as she heard them, she understood. Hearing one, she understood ten, one hundred or one thousand. [This was all from] hearing just one principle. We have discussed this before. This is an extremely profound principle; teaching it is very hard.
It truly is a subtle and intricate principle. To be able to analyze it is almost impossible. But in this sutra, we encounter such an event. [The dragon girl] completely comprehended and understood. With one principle she could respond to all things. This is having sharp capabilities; very quickly, [after hearing] just one principle, “by grasping one truth, she understood all truths”. The principle is very subtle and intricate and extremely profound. “By grasping one truth, we understand all truths”. This is having “sharp roots of wisdom”. You say one thing, and I understand it. Whatever it is, I can understand it. This is having sharp roots of wisdom. So, “She had clear wisdom and sharp capabilities and was able to observe capabilities properly”. She completely understood all capabilities.
She excels at understanding all capacities, deeds and karma of sentient beings and has attained dharani: She excelled in perceiving all sentient beings’ various capabilities and clearly understood their different karmic deeds. She attained the door of retaining and upholding.
So, “She excels at understanding all capacities, deeds and karma of sentient beings and has attained dharani”. Because she understood all principles as soon as she heard them, when it came to anything that sentient beings did, she clearly knew whether it was good or evil. This is because she had already attained dharani, the door of retaining and upholding.
Moreover, regarding sentient beings’ good and evil karma, with the door of retaining and upholding she could comprehend sentient beings’ various capabilities and their various difficulties. [She knew] which teachings to give and how to transform sentient beings. She thoroughly understood all of this. So, “She excelled in perceiving all sentient beings’ various capabilities”. She understood all sentient beings’ capabilities as well as all “their different karmic deeds”. So, she attained dharani, the door of retaining and upholding. Thus, she already had “much wisdom”. She had sharp capabilities and great wisdom. She was extremely, fiercely sharp. By grasping one truth, she realized all truths; she understood them all. Even for extremely profound and subtle principles, after hearing just a little bit, she could thoroughly understand all principles spread throughout the universe; she was already clear about these principles.
So, she had “much wisdom” as well as sharp capabilities. “With sharp capabilities and much wisdom, she excelled in perceiving the capabilities of sentient beings and the positive or negative karma that they had created”. She understood sentient beings’ capabilities and whether the karma they created was good or evil. So, “When it came to the meaning of the sutra she could retain and uphold it”.
When it came to the meaning of this sutra, she retained and upheld it in its entirety. She understood and retained all goodness and upheld all Dharma without any Leaks. This is the Great Vehicle Dharma. The power of this wisdom is such that it truly can [reach] everywhere. We should be able to comprehend that sentient beings’ capacities and nature have nothing to do with the type of their body. Among all kinds of sentient beings, this wondrous principle is present.
There was a very amazing story about a dog, a news story that came out of Ukraine. There was an injured dog, and another dog kept her company. The injured dog was between the train tracks and was unable to leave that place. The other dog, because [the injured dog] was unable to leave, stayed there, caring for her. At the time, it was snowing very heavily. There was a lot of snow. This dog was there between the tracks with a lot of trains coming and going. She was injured, and it was snowing heavily. So the other dog used his body to keep [the injured dog] warm, covering her with his body. When a train approached, this dog quickly pressed the injured dog down. The two dogs were pressed together, pressing down like this as the train passed over them. At the time, two full days had elapsed. After two days, someone finally saw them. Someone was driving a car and saw from a distance that there was something on the train tracks. It seemed something was there, something moving. So, he went to take a closer look and in this way happened to see that dog lying in the snow, covering the other dog’s body. Seeing a train coming, the dog quickly pushed his head down so the two dogs were stretched flat to the ground. The train passed over them high above, so they were not hurt. The person saw this. Later, he heard someone say that this had gone on for two days. This person quickly rescued the two dogs. He put the dogs in his car to transport them. After putting them in his car, he saw how the healthy dog still covered the injured dog, using his body to provide warmth to her. The person who rescued the dogs was very touched.
In a photo [we can see] the two dogs in the car. One is injured and the other is fine. This was reported in the news. It happened in Ukraine. Think about it! These are animals. An animal can have this kind of loving heart, refusing to abandon his companion. It truly is very touching, especially since the situation was so dangerous. If a train were to come, [most dogs] would hurry to run away. Since his companion was unable to flee, he could at least have hurried to save himself. But not only did he not run off, he quickly pushed his friend’s head down and pressed his own body on top of hers so that the train could safely pass over them. In such danger, to sacrifice one’s [safety] for a friend is something we see also in the animal realm! Think about it! This nature is in us all.
The Tathagata-garbha nature is intrinsic to all sentient beings. Look at the dragon girl from the dragon palace in the ocean. She was eight years old, at such a [young] age. How old was this dog? We do not know. We only know he had this wisdom. So, all sentient beings can attain Buddhahood. According to the law of karma, all it takes is that we become replete in our causal practice, replete with blessed karmic causes. We will then naturally eliminate ignorance and afflictions. With our pure intrinsic nature, we will thoroughly comprehend the principles. Then we will be able to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, we must all always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)