Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Attain the Wisdom of All Dharma (修持此經 至一切智)
Date: September.27.2018
“All-encompassing wisdom is what the Buddha uses to completely understand the universal and specific appearances of all things. It is the true wisdom of True Suchness that eradicates false delusions. It combines both the wisdom of all Dharma and wisdom of all paths. Thus it is known as all-encompassing wisdom.”
We must be mindful. In every thought, every minute and every second, we must be watchful of our thoughts. Every thought arises in the span of an instant, in a split second. As Buddhist practitioners, we must not neglect our spiritual cultivation. All the way down to every instant, every second, we must guard our minds and remain resolute. When it comes to wisdom, we must guard it well with great focus, concentration and mindfulness; we must be able to concentrate our wisdom and keep it from dissipating.
So, in every minute, every second and down to every last instant, we must guard our wisdom well. As for “all-encompassing wisdom,” all-encompassing wisdom is Buddha-wisdom. “The Buddha completely understands the universal and specific appearances of all things. It is the true wisdom of True Suchness” than can “eradicate false delusions.” This is very important! Everyone, the direction of our spiritual practice lies right here. [In seeking] all-encompassing wisdom, we hope that we can become like the Buddha and completely understand all things. All things in the universe have both universal and specific appearances.
[Yet,] we often say that the true principles have neither substance, form nor appearance. Indeed! The true principles cannot be seen. If we wanted to touch them, there would be nothing for us to touch. So, they have neither substance nor form. However, the principles of substance are everywhere. Since they are everywhere, how do we reach them? If we travel along a path in a precise direction without deviating, then we can reach our destination. To travel in the right direction until we reach our destination, until we reach our destination, we must be very mindful.
A slight deviation will take us far off course, and we will not be able to see the principles at all. So, to walk the path without deviating in the slightest, we need to rely on our wisdom. When we truly concentrate our minds and keep ourselves from deviating from this direction, we are acting in accordance with the principles. This is like the Buddha, who completely understands the universal and specific appearances of all things with the true wisdom of True Suchness. We must engage in spiritual practice. We must bring the path we have walked and the places we have learned about back to our intrinsic nature and connect [our experiences] with the true principles. When we do not deviate from any principle, we will be heading in the right direction. Only in this way can we, step by step, return to our true wisdom of True Suchness, which refers to universal appearances. We return to the true principles of universal appearances. To return to the true principles, to True Suchness, we must first “eradicate false delusions.”
What is “false”? We often use a large, round mirror as a metaphor for our minds. When it comes to this large, round mirror, are we making an effort? Are we mindfully wiping it clean at all times? If we work hard to keep it clean, then this mirror will always remain clean and pure. When a clean mirror reflects external states, instantaneously, the moment those states appear, the image in the mirror, free of distortions, will appear in our minds. But this mirror might get fogged up, becoming dusty and foggy. Why would this mirror get fogged up? Because we do not pay it any attention; we are unwilling to put in the effort and take the time to wipe it clean. These principles are so simple, so why do we talk about them so often? Indeed, the principles are all very simple. We hear about these simple principles all the time. And yet, we always neglect them. If we reach out our hands, we can wipe clean the mirror of our minds. However, we are unwilling to reach out our hands. Instead, we allow our mirror to become defiled by external dust and filth.
How can indolent people work hard enough to see true principles? Of course, they cannot do this. So, the Buddha teaches us that we must be diligent and focused, without any complicated thoughts. We must diligently advance. Although we cannot see this path and there is no actual ground to walk on, as long as we guide our minds toward the right path and do not deviate in our direction, then, naturally, the principles will appear before us. We can move forward step by step as long as we do not deviate in our direction. The Bodhi-path is very straight; so long as we do not deviate from it, we can feel at ease as we walk along this direct and unwinding road. So, are our minds at ease? How can we put our minds at ease? We must have faith in ourselves. Do we have faith in ourselves that we are working hard? When we have faith that we are working hard, that we have not deviated from the path before us, then, naturally, we will have utmost faith in ourselves. If we do not deviate at all from the path we walk, then we can advance forward upon it to reach the ultimate reality of all phenomena, their universal appearances, their ultimate reality. So, regarding our true wisdom of True Suchness, we must always guard it well and always work hard. Constantly, in every moment, we must work to eliminate our afflictions and ignorance.
Whether it is in an instant or in a second, we must guard our thoughts well so that we do not allow external afflictions to enshroud our minds. In our daily interactions, we should be very clear on how to deal with people and matters. When something occurs, we should know which method to use to quickly help others. For what has not yet occurred, we should always take precautions.
In the universe, as the Buddha constantly reminds us, we are within the Three Realms, where our afflictions are like an enormous net. We are like fish swimming in the water. Fish often cluster together in schools. A fisherman holds onto a large fishing net and waits for the right moment. Then, he takes the bait, which smells and tastes good [to the fish], scatters it [across the water] and waits for a school of fish to come. Very swiftly, the fisherman casts this fishing net in an instant. This net is very large. When he casts this single net into the vast sea and brings it back in, none of the fish will be able to escape! This is just what we sentient beings are like; even though the sea is vast and the sky is open, we humans prefer to cluster around our “desires”. Within desire, ignorance forms a net. Due to our ignorance, our minds are all full of desire. Thus, everyone is bound together by this net. This is known as the collective karma of sentient begins. When causes and conditions arise, this net is pulled back, and we are unable to escape from this fishing net. We cannot break free from it. It is we who weave this net that binds us. Sentient beings individually create karma; together, this becomes their collective karma. Right now, in our world, why do we keep saying that the atmosphere is polluted? I always say that this pollution comes from human begins and our desires. These desires have no end, so we constantly seek to fulfill our desires. Though something may not be a daily necessity, though it might not be essential at all, we desire it.
So, when our eyes see it, our eyes connect with this external object. Our eyes see it and connect with these external objects. Our consciousness produces these desirous thoughts which compel us to buy these objects. We want to own them. Do we end up using these things? No, we do not.
We see in the news how so much clothing gets recycled every single day. I saw in a news report on Da Ai TV about recycling. For the things that are currently being recycled, less and less people are recycling them. In the past, people recycled the old clothes that they had worn for a long time. When they wanted to get rid of old clothes, they would turn to clothing brokers to pitch them up and organize them.
These clothes were then taken to be sold in poorer countries. This is just like how, 50 or 60 years ago, when Taiwan received aid from the USA, we also used to receive this kind of clothing. From the US or other places, it would be shipped internationally as aid. We would also see old clothing in second-hand stores. Everyone loved these recycled clothes. They were inexpensive, made of quality material and could be bought cheaply. For charity organizations, these clothes could also be used in relief work. This was what it was like before, about 60 or 70 years ago. Now, there is more and more [clothing]. When we take a look at recycling stations, our own recycling stations also have a lot of clothing. When we take a closer look, so many of the clothes are so beautiful! And when we touch the fabric, the material is very nice! If we look through them mindfully, we find entirely new brand name clothes that have not even had their tags removed. Why are these clothes being thrown away and recycled in the first place? These clothes are piling up in second-hand clothing recycling centers. Now, they even need to spend money to send the clothing to be incinerated.
In the recycling stations, we also find many pieces of clothing with their tags still attached being recycled. In the past, these clothes could be sold to places like Africa, such as South Africa. [Our volunteers] there say that many people, many young people, are unwilling to wear clothes like these that we send from Taiwan. This is becoming more and more prevalent. Plus, the people there have a larger body type. Taiwanese sizes are gradually becoming unsuitable for them.
Moreover, if they want to send the clothes somewhere further away, they say that the route is too long and the cost of shipping is too high. In the past, [these clothes] could be sold to places such as East [Asia], mainland China, Manila, the Philippines or Malaysia. This was in the past; they used to be able to ship them out like this. But now, Africa is considered to be too far away because the shipping costs are too high. They have no choice but to pile them up at recycling centers and spend money to incinerate them.
Seeing news like this makes me feel very heartbroken. This is the collective karma of sentient beings. Haunted by our desires, we purchase entire wardrobes, and then, after a little while, we clear out everything we do not use. We see that young women and teenage girls are like this as well; we open their closets to find piles of clothes. We say, “You have so many clothes!” they respond, “I still need this other piece of clothing. I do not like any of these. I have to go out and buy more clothes”. Their wardrobes are perpetually lacking the next piece of clothing. This is the way sentient beings are.
We are wasteful, and we create so much karma. We see that our resources are constantly disappearing, but people are not even using them. Our desire compels us to buy them, but we just wind up incinerating them in the end. This becomes our collective karma. So, we pollute the air and the earth because our minds are polluted in the first place. So, we sentient beings are constantly weaving this net. We weave this net, then trap ourselves in it. This is how we create collective karma. This is due to our false delusions. Our mind is full of deluded thoughts. We delude ourselves and weave an enormous net of ignorance that we cannot escape from, leading to so much suffering.
So, as for all-encompassing wisdom, all-encompassing wisdom is the Buddha’s level of wisdom. To reach the Buddha’s level of wisdom, we must first achieve the wisdom of all Dharma and the wisdom of all paths. The combination of the two. The combination of the two is called “all-encompassing wisdom”. We must very mindfully seek to understand this. “All conditioned phenomena” have both universal and specific appearances, these two types of appearances.
All conditioned phenomena have both universal and specific appearances. The appearance of impermanence and the appearance of no-self are universal to all phenomena, thus they are known as “universal appearances”. Earth having the appearance of solidity and water having the appearance of wetness are known as “specific appearances”.
This [concept] of “all conditioned phenomena” is something I have been talking about over and over again lately. I hope we will all take the Dharma to heart and always remind ourselves to be vigilant. What is it that we want to create? Do we want to create karma and ignorance form our afflicted actions? Or do we want to cultivate ourselves and benefit others, creating all sorts of good karma and good affinities to benefit sentient beings? This is why we must always heighten our vigilance. “Conditioned phenomena” have two kinds of appearances, universal and specific appearances. “The appearance of impermanence and the appearance of no-self are universal to all phenomena”. Thus, they are called “universal appearances”. As for universal appearances, if we can make use of wholesome conditioned phenomena, we will be able to understand the principles. Once we understand the principles, we will understand that impermanence is a true principle.
Not only will we understand impermanence, we will also comprehend [the concept of] no-self. The world is impermanent. The people that we knew in our past, where are they now? Let us calm our minds, think a bit, and reflect a little about the people that we have known who are very familiar to us, our close family and our good friends. Where are these people now? When we mindfully contemplate them, including the elders of our elders, what we see is impermanence! We should carefully contemplate our lives in the past, our youth and teenage years, compared to the present.
In the past, we were by our parents’ side. [Look at] the age of our parents, our grandparents, the entire family. Compared to back then, what are they like now? What about ourselves? How has our appearance changed? Has it not been constantly changing? It is changing without us even realizing it! There is impermanence, thus there is no self. At what time are we our [true] selves? There is no self. I do not need to say much about this. Everyone should carefully and mindfully pay attention to this and understand this. This is so close to us. The principles of birth, aging, illness and death are all around us and inside us. These are very obvious principles. When it comes down to the appearances of impermanence and no-self, is everyone putting them to use? Those who understand principles will apply them. Those who do not understand the principles do not care about them, so they do not know them. This lack of knowledge is the true illness. Lack of knowledge is the true delusion. If we understand this, then we can begin to eradicate this delusion. False thoughts and deluded thinking are what we must gradually eliminate. When we reduce our afflictions and ignorance, then, with our knowledge and wisdom, with awareness [gained with] knowledge and understanding [gained with] wisdom, we will gradually draw toward the direction where the path is clear. We must work hard at this.
So, when the (Suhua) highway is blocked, they need manpower and large machines, working inch by inch and foot by foot to clear the road. This is very arduous. Workers must brave this dangerous road to clear the road so that people can pass through. Spiritual practice is the same. We must have patience to be able to endure this world of ours. How do we control these desires, so that they no longer entice us? We must patiently endure all desires in this world. We must not embrace our desires. Only then will we be able to clear away these desirous thoughts which breed ignorance. Then, we will be able to concentrate on earnestly engaging in spiritual practice so that we can understand impermanence and no-self. Then, the principles of ultimate reality will become clear to us.
“These are universal to all phenomena”. The workings of our [world] can be very subtle and intricate at times. We will get lost, and our thoughts will not be as clear. So, our thinking must be very clear. If our thinking is unclear, we will never attain the principles. So, we must seek to comprehend and understand these worldly appearances of impermanence and no-self. There was a time when the rain was out control. There were disasters everywhere. Sudden mudslides came crashing down, and flood victims were everywhere.
For a few (in 2017), in the north and in the central and southern mountain areas, there was one disaster report after the other. We heard that our Living Bodhisattvas got involved right away. This is their spiritual ground. In their place of diligent practice, they cannot bear to let sentient beings suffer, so they immediately mobilized to help people in these circumstances. It did not matter if the mudslides had crashed into their homes or basements; [our volunteers] dropped everything [to help]. Whether they knew [those affected] or not, everyone mobilized all the same; they divided themselves into teams and gathered together to quickly clean up. Everyone mobilized to help clear out [debris] and clean. This unbearable environment was once a place where people lived in peace and joy but suddenly, impermanence struck. The imbalance of the elements brings rain and water out of balance, which leads to disasters. There are Living Bodhisattvas who can immediately go to help others restore their clean environment and restore what was buried in mud. If something is polluted, they can clean it and restore it to its original state so that everyone can be at ease and safely get through [the disaster]. This is how Bodhisattvas save sentient beings.
So, when sentient beings are suffering, this is when Bodhisattvas must be diligent and work hard. This is their spiritual training ground. Otherwise, when I kept saying in the past that. “Bodhisattvas arise because of suffering sentient beings, everyone would have been unable to understand this. They world is our spiritual training ground because there is impermanence. When will these hardships occur? We do not know. Bodhisattvas must understand this first so that they have no [sense of] self. With no [sense of] self, they will [not] say, “is this my family? Do I know him this person or not?” With no [sense of] self, we will not discriminate between appearances, and we will always help suffering sentient beings. In this way, we will have a great spirit, of selflessness. When impermanence strikes this world and sentient beings suffer. Bodhisattvas must quickly devote themselves to remove their suffering. So, we must have the spirit of selflessness, and we must be able to comprehend the impermanence of the world. This is being a Bodhisattvas. [Knowing] what is “universal to all phenomena,” Bodhisattvas can act on this as they actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. When I see the actions and activities of Tzu Chi volunteers, these Living Bodhisattvas, I always think that this is the moment of their “true diligence”.
They are devoting themselves to serving others and eliminating the suffering of sentient beings. what if there is a place where there is no water to cook with, or no gas or electricity? The volunteers quickly prepare lunch boxes; they package each one very neatly and deliver them there. By the time they receive them, they are still hot, and this warms their heart.
There are some people who receive them and say, “This is the tastiest food I’ve had in my life!” Indeed, this is due to their sincerity. Bodhisattvas deliver the food, clean up their environment. This is the great spiritual training ground for Living Bodhisattvas to diligently practice in. They are very inspiring. This is called “true diligence”.
“[These] are universal are universal to all phenomena, thus they are known as ‘universal appearances’”. These are the universal appearances of phenomena. What about the “specific [appearances]?” “Earth having the appearance of solidity and water having the appearance of wetness are known as ‘specific appearances.” This means there are distinct differences. Earth is solid, while water is wet. We are able to see and differentiate between these. Thousands of different substances have their own distinct appearances. We humans are the same, we have different names and each person has their own appearance and their own habitual tendencies. This is just like how on the land there are different types of material things with different appearances. Some are wet in nature, some are dry in nature and so on. These are specific appearances. The principles are all the same, and we must distinguish between the substances they form. So, we must understand very clearly that we must do more than read the Dharma; we must seek to personally experience it.
The precious sutra passage states, “He sees his army of sages and noble beings battle with the mara of the Five Skandhas, the mara of afflictions and the mara of death and have great accomplishments. They eradicate the Three Poisons, transcend the Three Realms and destroy the net of maras. At that time, the Tathagata is also greatly delighted.”
Seeing that everyone is so diligent, the Tathagata is delighted. Accomplished in battle, everyone has worked hard and attained something. So, they have already eradicated the Three Poisons. The three poisonous thoughts of greed, anger and ignorance have been eliminated. They have overcome these. So, in regards to the net of maras, we, too, have broken through it. The Buddha sees His disciples working so hard, so He is also very joyful.
The next sutra passage is as follows. “This Lotus Sutra can lead sentient beings to the wisdom of all Dharma. People in the world who bear much resentment find it difficult to believe in. I never taught this before, but now I will teach it.”
This section corresponds with the earlier passage about the pearl in the topknot. This Lotus Sutra can lead sentient beings to the wisdom of all Dharma: This corresponds with the analogy about giving the pearl. Now He taught this Wondrous Lotus Sutra that can lead those who practice and uphold it to the stage of the wisdom of all Tathagatas.
Now it is saying that although the Buddha taught so much Dharma over the last 40 years, the final [teaching], the Wondrous Lotus Flower Sutra, had not been taught yet. He had not taught this True Dharma yet. Hence the analogy of “the pearl in the topknot”. “Now He taught this Wondrous Lotus Sutra that can lead those who practice and uphold it to the stage of the wisdom of all Tathagatas”. The Lotus Sutra teaches everyone that we must be very mindful as we walk upon this path. The Buddha had already explained all of the obstacles [on the path]. For 42 years, the Buddha continuously advised everyone and taught everyone that we must eliminate ignorance, that the world is full of suffering and that we must protect our wisdom-life. For 42 years, He taught this constantly. Right now, we are protecting our wisdom-life, and we understand that these obstacles are [created by] our ignorance. We understand all of this. Now our wisdom-life is starting to grow. Now we must all begin to earnestly walk this path. “The Lotus Sutra can lead those who accept and uphold it to the stage of the wisdom of all Tathagatas”. The Buddha hopes we can all return to our nature of True Suchness. So, “the wisdom of all Dharma” means that “regarding all phenomena, we can know and understand the principles and essence of all things and the universal and specific essences and appearances of all things”.
Wisdom of all Dharma: This means that regarding all phenomena, we can know and understand the principles and essence of all things and the universal and specific essences and appearances of all things. This is the Buddha-wisdom. In the Chapter on Parables it says, “[Some] earnestly practice with diligence and seek [wisdom of all Dharma], Buddha-wisdom, natural wisdom [and] untaught wisdom”.
All principles have their essence. We must understand the essence and appearances of the principles. Regarding all universal [appearances] and all specific appearances, we should understand them clearly. This is called “Buddha-wisdom”. In the Buddha’s wisdom, He understands all things. The principles of all things in the universe are one with the Buddha-wisdom. So, the Buddha completely understands “the universal and specific essences and appearances of all things”. “This is the Buddha-wisdom”.
In the Chapter on Parables, it says, “Practicing earnestly and diligently, they seek [wisdom of all Dharma], Buddha-wisdom, natural wisdom and untaught wisdom”. This was discussed in the Chapter on Parables. Everyone must practice earnestly and diligently. What we seek is wisdom of all Dharma, Buddha-wisdom and natural wisdom. In this natural state, we will naturally come to understand all principles. We will even have untaught wisdom and fully understand the Dharma without being taught. This is because we all intrinsically possess Buddha-nature; we are equal in wisdom to the Buddha. We should comprehend this for ourselves.
“People in the world who bear much resentment find it difficult to believe in”. This is what it is like in the world. “The people in the world who” “bear much resentment toward it” find it difficult to attain, believe in and accept.
They do not want to faithfully accept it and will resent it. This is like when we know that there has been a disaster somewhere and we try to give them our help, but sometimes people will obstruct us and say, “We don’t need it” This will create obstacles for the people who are waiting for help, and the people providing the help, if they are not as experienced, [will think,] “Alright, if you don’t need help, that’s fine”. Then, this spiritual training ground for Bodhisattvas will be one place short. So, we must have a sincere mindset as we continue to work hard. There are also [situations where people say,] “Oh my! We really need help here!” “Please come!” When we arrive, we provide assistance right away. Not only do we help them clean up, at the same time, we also provide meals in lunch boxes. When they can eat a hot meal, [they say] “This is the tastiest meal of my life! Oh my goodness! Thank you, thank you!” Just a single person can help many people and help them accept help from other people. This is someone who will guide and accompany our volunteers to help others. Some people know the importance of quickly asking for help on the behalf of many others. However, some people think, “We do not need you” This is the way the world is. This kind of interaction is obstructed like this. This is how the world is nowadays. Thus, people find it difficult to attain, believe in and accept [the Dharma]. They cannot accept [the Dharma] because they are obstructed by their karmic conditions.
Therefore, they have “much resentment”. This is like 5000 people who left the assembly. Now, in this place, we use this as a metaphor for those 5000 people who left the assembly. They are the people who did not want to keep listening to the teachings. So, naturally, they left the assembly. They did not want to accept the Dharma, so they left.
Much resentment: This is like 5000 people who left the assembly and still had much resentment and jealousy. Difficult to believe in: This is like the people of average and limited capabilities who only began to have faith and understanding through parables and causes and conditions. The 5000 people who left the assembly “still had much resentment and jealousy”. Not only did they leave the assembly, they also harbored much resentment and jealousy because they did not listen to the Dharma. They did not listen to the Dharma, so naturally, they could not eliminate their ignorance. Thus, they had much resentment and jealousy. They really did! Therefore, we must listen to the Dharma so that we can open our minds. As for “difficult to believe in,” this is like what we said earlier about great, average and limited capabilities. For some people with great capabilities, they can accept the Dharma, but people of average or limited capabilities cannot accept it. From the [stories about] causes and conditions in the Chapter on Parables and the Chapter on Faith and Understanding we can comprehend this. We should look back to recall what was said before. Continuing on, “People with much resentment find it difficult to believe in”. This is “because all people in the world fall into the net of maras”.
People with much resentment find it difficult to believe in: Because all people in the world fall into the net of maras, they cannot five rise to faith in this sutra. When they do not have faith in it, they doubt it.
Why do they have so much resentment? Why is it hard for them to believe? They cannot believe that people are good. This group of people is so pure and simple; they give without expectations, so what is there to be doubtful of? It is because they have resentment in their hearts that they are unwilling to believe. This is because they have already fallen into the net of maras and are trapped by afflictions and ignorance. They cannot escape it. Thus, they are trapped in the net of maras.“ They cannot give rise to faith in this sutra.” Because of this, they are unwilling to believe the principles that are within this sutra and unwilling to accept them. So, “When they do not have faith in it, they doubt it.” They have a net of doubt; they have arrogance and doubt. This mindset of arrogance and doubt comes from the fact that they find it difficult to believe. This comes from their resentment and jealousy. So, they create this net themselves and contain themselves within it, not giving rise to faith. So, since they do not have faith, they doubt. Thus, they have many resentments and slander. Not only are they doubtful, but they also want to slander. They are unwilling to accept the principles, but also want to slander them. In this way, the net of maras traps them again. “I never taught this before, but now I will teach it.”
I never taught this before, but now I will teach it: Since it is difficult to believe in, He never taught it before. Now that they were able to believe it, He would teach it.
Because sentient beings were still in the net of maras, He did not teach it before. “Since it is difficult to believe in, He never taught it before.” Because these principles would be of no use to them if He taught them, He did not teach them. So, by this time, right now, we must put them into practice, put them into action. Now, the Buddha has already taught the Lotus Sutra. After 42 years, He taught the true principles. “Now that they were able to believe it,” because they would believe it, “He would teach it.” Because the causes and conditions had matured, the Buddha began to teach it.
The next sutra passage states, “Manjusri, the Lotus Sutra is the supreme teaching of all Tathagatas. Among all the teachings, it is the most profound and is to be bestowed at the very end.”
This also states that this sutra is very subtle and wondrous. It is the foremost Dharma-door of all Buddhas.
Manjusri, the Lotus Sutra is the supreme teaching of all Tathagatas: This sutra is subtle and wondrous and the foremost Dharma-door of all Buddhas.
Because all Buddhas share the same path, in this place, the Buddha called to Manjusri again. This sutra is the same path that all Buddhas share. All Buddhas view it as the foremost Dharma-door; it is the most precious teaching. This is why every Buddha, in the end, must expound the Lotus Sutra. “Among all the teachings, it is the most profound.”
Among all the teachings, it is the most profound: Of all the teachings that have been taught, are being taught now and will be taught in future, this is the foremost. In the Chapter on Skillful Means, it says, “He has realized profound Dharma that has never been known before and teaches according to what is appropriate. Yet the direction of His mind is” “hard to understand.”
Of all the sutras ever taught, this sutra is the most profound and the most subtle and wondrous. So, of all the teachings that have been taught, are being taught now and “will be taught in future, this is the foremost.” This sutra is the foremost. In the Chapter on Skillful Means, it says, “He has realized profound Dharma that has never been known before, and teaches according to what is appropriate. Yet the direction of His mind is hard to understand.”
Let us all try to recall what was said before. So, “[It is] to be bestowed at the very end.” [It is] to be bestowed at the very end: At the end, at the Vulture Peak Assembly, in order to open up the provisional and reveal the One True Dharma and to explain that the Three Vehicles all enter the one Buddha-nature, He then bestowed it.
“At the very end,” at the Vulture Peak Assembly, the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra“ in order to open up the provisional and reveal the One True Dharma and to explain that the Three Vehicles all enter the one Buddha-nature.” Everyone could see and understand it very clearly. In this place, the Buddha opened up the provisional and revealed the One True Dharma. He taught this One True Dharma to help Three Vehicle practitioners understand that all Dharma is equal and that there is no Great or Small Vehicle. We all must enter the Buddha-nature of the One Vehicle together. The Buddha-nature is intrinsic to us all. “The mind, the Buddha, and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” Everyone can attain Buddhahood. He had expounded this Dharma, taught this wondrous Dharma for everyone to understand. This Dharma is the supreme treasure. He has bestowed this treasure upon us all so that we will all be able to attain it. Mindful people have the causes and conditions and they have this kind of mindset, so they will resonate with the Buddha’s intent, comprehend and practice the Great Vehicle Dharma. People like this will be able to experience this Dharma very intimately. They will attain and accept it. Once the Dharma is taught, it is up to us to put it to use. For those who make use of it, it is the greatest treasure in their hearts. For those who do not make use of it, it might as well be a pile of garbage. So, I hope that everyone will always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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