Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Turning the Dharma-wheel (成無上道 而轉法輪)
Date: October.12.2018
“The Buddha expounds the Dharma and transforms [sentient beings] like the wheels of a cart turning. This can be called turning the Dharma-wheel. This can turn unenlightened beings into noble beings and crush all afflictions. This is known as turning the Dharma-wheel. Because the Buddha teaches the Dharma like the turning of a wheel, the Dharma enters sentient beings’ hearts.”
We must be mindful! The Buddha expounds the Dharma and transforms [sentient beings] like the wheels of a cart turning. Thus, this is called “turning the Dharma-wheel.” In this analogy, as the wheel turns, it crushes all kinds of afflictions, “turning unenlightened beings into noble beings.” So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this.
Why did the Buddha come to the world? We clearly know it was for His one great cause. This one great cause is inseparable from us sentient beings. Sentient beings live with so much suffering. This suffering comes from afflictions and ignorance. There are many causes for our afflictions. The world is impermanent and full of suffering. Speaking of impermanence, spring, summer, fall and winter occur in nature, and there are birth, aging, illness and death in the course of a human life. This is impermanence. This is the law of nature. Speaking of the four seasons, gradually, as we have entered this period, this era of the evil world of turbidities, we can clearly sense that the four seasons have become imbalanced.
In the past, the four elements of the laws of nature were in harmony. Due to the harmony of the four elements, natural resources were abundant. Back then, these resources sustained human life, because we lived simple lives. It was a very simple cycle. Spring, summer, fall and winter formed a simple cycle. The resources of the earth were naturally abundant. Nowadays, our material goods in life appear to be more abundant than before.
However, these material resources are processed; they are heavily processed and manufactured into goods. This is not a natural [process]. These are manmade [products] that necessitate destruction to be produced. Because destruction must happen before production, this leads to abnormalities [in nature]. The climate of the world is in disharmony, and mountains and rivers of the earth have been distorted. Thus, there are extreme weather patterns. This is how everything is interconnected. This also happens to the human body, which experiences birth, aging, illness and death. These things happen very naturally. No matter how natural these things are, [we will suffer from] parting with those we love and meeting those we hate. Along with birth, aging, illness and death, we all have the Eight Sufferings. In our lives, do the Eight Sufferings follow a fixed schedule? No. Because we sentient beings have each created different karmic forces, the length of our lifespans are different. Within this lifetime, the karmic retributions we receive are also different.
So, there are countless variations. The same applies to people’s lifestyle. There are also imbalances. These imbalances come from greed, anger and ignorance. Our manifold afflictions lead to differences in wealth and social status, illness and suffering. In the world today, everything, from our lodgings to our food, is imbalanced and heavily processed. The food we eat nowadays is not the way it was in the past, with seasonal grains and seasonal fruits and vegetables. This is no longer the case. Throughout the year, we can enjoy the same greens and the same fruits. Why is that? They are all enhanced to grow rapidly. They are all processed. With the advancement of science and technology, we can cultivate produce and so on that are constantly providing harvests.
In summary, in response to the world, the Buddha came to the world to give teachings. To widely teach the Dharma in the world, He must teach the Dharma from a starting point so that one can give rise to infinity. One principle requires many different approaches and analogies. Actually, if we understand just one principle, we can penetrate all principles. Unfortunately, due to sentient beings’ afflictions and ignorance, they have countless entanglements. So, the Buddha must use one principle through countless different approaches to patiently guide and transform us. This one principle is very simple, that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Once we awaken our intrinsic nature of. True Suchness, we will immediately understand. Isn’t this very simple? In life, whether it is the vast universe or a microcosm, they all come together with the one true principle, which encompasses the principles of all things in the universe. It should be easy to understand this. When we bring this “simplicity” back to our lives, we can naturally live a simple life. With this simplicity, we can then thoroughly understand the principles.
However, at this moment, we [have access to] so many principles, but all of these sutras and treatises are solely to help us eliminate our afflictions. We must open up and let things go. We should not keep afflictions and ignorance inside our minds. We must thoroughly understand the karmic law of cause and effect. Year after year, lifetime after lifetime, we constantly live amongst defilement. We keep reproducing these defilements. We brought them along ourselves. In the past, we did not understand the Buddha’s compassion. He explained this one principle, and, according to people’s many different capabilities, devised different methods to teach them. So, [the Dharma] must be like a wheel that is constantly turning in the same way. The [wheel] must turn constantly so that this Dharma can be widely spread. Only then can we purify this complex turbidity.
This is just like growing rice. Planting a seed is very easy. We use methods to plant the seed in the soil. When the seedings begin to grow, we need to till the soil. After we till the soil and the water and fertilizer are sufficient, we then need to transplant the seedlings. After that, we must continuously cultivate and tend to the crops until it is time to harvest. We used to harvest by hand. Now, we just need to drive a vehicle to harvest them by machine. Now, because we have started using machines as we harvest, we drive the vehicle over the soil. See, these vehicles also use wheels. In the past, after we harvested the rice, we placed the unhusked rice in a manual fanning mill operated by pedaling a lever. This barrel that threshes the rice is also round. We must constantly pedal to keep it turning. Once threshed in the machine, the rice grains are separated from the stalks, and our come grains of rice. Only [after husking] do the grains of rice become white rice.
By the same principle, the Buddha also started from the beginning. People planted the rice by hand, letting one [grain] give rise to infinity. Using manual labor, we need these round wheel-like [machines] to turn in order to separate the grains from the husks. These grains can then be used to provide nutrients to people. This is just like the Dharma. The Dharma is like a seed. It is constantly going through cycles. We keep the seeds, but what they produce is used to provide nutrients to people. Therefore, we should never lose these seeds. People today still depend on grains like these to sustain their lives. [Harvesting] these gratings cannot be done without wheels. From transportation to machines, every mechanical object needs [wheels] to turn and operate. In the same way, “[The Buddha expounds the Dharma] like the wheels of a cart turning.” It is like wheels of a cart turning. We use a wheel as an analogy for how the Buddha turned the Dharma-wheel. The Dharma must also be turned in this way. “It can turn unenlightened beings into noble beings.” It turns unenlightened begins into noble beings. Inside the minds of ordinary beings, we intrinsically have the pure nature of True Suchness. However, we have contaminated it. Now, we have become ordinary begins. Now, as unenlightened beings, we create so much ignorance. We therefore, endure all kinds of suffering. The Buddha could not bear to see sentient beings suffer. So, He utilized the Dharma lifetime after lifetime, following sentient begins to this world. Time and again, He returned to the world, using the Dharma to teach and transform all beings. In the hope that ordinary beings can also become noble begins one day. This was how He spent such a long time. So, this wheel can crush. It can crush our afflictions. Our afflictions are like hard shells. We must crush this hard shell. Just like when we eat peanuts, we have to remove the shell. There are many foods where we must break open their shells so that we can eat the seeds inside. In the same way, when we want to plant peanuts, we need to first crush the shells. Then, we can plant the seeds in the soil. The principle is the same.
Thus, to eliminate ignorance is to “turn the Dharma-wheel”. The purpose of the Dharma-wheel is to crush al obstacles and afflictions. We need to understand the Buddha-Dharma. Having afflictions in our mind is like having a shell that blocks it. The seeds inside are unable to exercise their potential. “Because the Buddha teaches the Dharma like turning a wheel, the Dharma enters sentient begins’ hearts.” Indeed! Without the wheel turning, how can this cart move? If the wheels are not turning, we will always remain here. If we want to go to the other side, to the noble realm of the Buddha, we need these wheels to transport us there. This is the Dharma-wheel. We should understand the “Dharma-wheel” very well.
In the world, there will always be matters and principles, as well as causes and conditions. The causes and conditions all have their corresponding matters and principles. Without matters, there would be no mundane world. The mundane world exists because there are matters. In the mundane world, there are families and so on, [including] married couples, children, parents, generation after generation. There are others and ourselves, friends, people we love and so on. All of these people constitute these “matters”. All these matters are inseparable from the matters of this world. So, without these matters, there would be no matters of the mundane world, and without principles, we cannot awaken to the truth. Only through matters can there be principles. They exist in relation to one another.
These principles are the truth. We need to be mindful. So, if we understand both principles and matters, we will have unhindered understanding of both the truth and worldly matters. When lay people accept the Buddha-Dharma, they can also understand the principles. They can also apply the Buddha-Dharma in the world. They can benefit themselves and others. To benefit ourselves and others is to practice the Bodhisattva-path. People in the mundane world can also do good deeds. This is an absolute principle. Right now, in this world, there are Tzu Chi volunteers in many countries taking on responsibilities to relieve suffer.
Look at Haiti. In the past, it was a land that was rich and prosperous. Because of people’s attachments and the desire among people, prosperity became a thing of the past for Haiti, and the present reality is extreme poverty. In the past, in Haiti, we established a karmic connection. In [the commune of] Cite Soleil, we carry out distributions annually. Cite Soleil has a very high crime rate. Since Haiti is overall a very poor country, there is a lot of crime, especially in Cite Soleil. Normally, people are afraid to enter the limits of Cite Soleil. However, Tzu Chi volunteers could not bear to see these poor among the poor suffer. They are tough and stubborn, living with high crime rates and great poverty. So, we chose this place to carry out distributions every year.
Now, we can see people orderly lining up to pick up their goods. A priest led a group of university students to help carry and distribute the rice. Truly, Tzu Chi volunteers have planted seeds in Haiti that are now sprouting. After a little more than four years, the local began to join us in volunteering at that place.
A Taiwanese businessman in the Dominican Republic wanted to donate 10,000 pairs of shoes. In early June 2017, [our volunteer] James Chen visited [Haiti] again, preparing to distribute these shoes. When James Chen arrived, he first shared with everyone about how Taiwan, in early June of 2017, experienced disastrous heavy rains. He shared “Life Wisdom” videos with everyone there. From the video, they saw Tzu Chi volunteers walking on the road. Someone made the point of stopping to come ask, “Are you Tzu Chi volunteers? I know you are Tzu Chi volunteers. I just want to say ‘Thank you’”. They showed this video to them. They saw Tzu Chi volunteers helping locals to sweep and clean and me telling them, “We need to pave the road with love. Every inch of the road is paved with love. Tzu Chi paves the road with love so that it is smooth for people to walk along”. Everyone heard and saw the video. They witnessed people’s gratitude toward Tzu Chi volunteers. “Since you are Tzu Chi volunteers, I just want to give you a hug and express my gratitude”. This video was present to the people in Haiti.
Local volunteers were really moved by the video. “This is what Tzu Chi is like. There are so many volunteers who are so disciplined and give of themselves to help others”. So, the locals further awakened their love, formed aspirations and made vows. This is an example of worldly matters. We are using the Dharma and worldly matters to teach and transform them. These people have all comprehended and understood this and want to change. In the sharing, some of [the locals] said, “In the past, everything was about myself, my family, what I wanted, what I craved for [and so on]. I had a lot of resentment”. A volunteer shared about his past. He only cared about himself, his family, the things he wanted, and the things he craved for. Whenever he could not get what he wanted, he became resentful. So, that was his mindset. Thus, what he did in the past was all very bad behavior. He said most people are like this, so the entire nation is in poverty and has high crime rates. People’s lives are full of suffering. This is due to negative causes and effects.
Now, everyone should understand this. Nowadays, everyone knows to promote “the spirit of the bamboo banks”. They formed aspirations to “do one virtuous deed every day”. That is how they started. One volunteer said, “I need to carefully protect [this bamboo bank]. When I protect this bamboo bank, I also protect my good thoughts. Doing one good deed every day is what he wants to put into practice. There are many touching stories there. These are matters of the mundane world, between people and families, afflictions that people create themselves etc. Therefore, the entire nation and its people have become extremely chaotic. This brings great suffering.
So, we must turn this around. There is still hope to help them. After hearing the stories of several volunteers, I found their words to be very moving. Over there, they also inspired the wealthy to join. One man followed the Tzu Chi volunteers into Cite Soleil. He said he used to be very afraid of approaching that place. Now, with the Tzu Chi volunteers, he could enter with peace of mind. Being able to personally hand the goods to others, according to him, was a feeling more joyous than indulging himself at home. So, after he participated in this, he felt that his life was very rich and that he was very blessed. In the past, he was richer than others. Now, he is richer than his past self because he is joyful and content. The Dharma has turned the wheels of his mind, so he feels different. Therefore, we need to mindfully comprehend this.
The previous sutra passage states, “Those Buddhas’ bodies will be golden in color, with dignified marks from 100 blessings. They will listen to the Dharma and teach it to others. So, they will always have these good dreams. They will also dream of being kings who abandon their palaces, families, followers and their supreme and wondrous Five Desires. They will do to the place of enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree and sit upon the lion’s throne. After seeking enlightenment for seven days they will attain the wisdom of all Buddhas.”
I have already explained all of this. This dream is very long. All the teachings emerge in this dream-stat. the Dharma and the future states we seek. The Dharma and the future states we seek can all be found in this dream.
The sutra passage continues, “Having attained the unsurpassed path, they will rise and turn the Dharma-wheel. They will teach the Dharma for the fourfold assembly. For trillions of kalpas, they will teach the flawless, wondrous Dharma, transforming countless sentient beings. after that, they will enter Parinirvana, like the smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished.
In our dream, we are in such a beautiful environment, listening to the Buddha’s teachings. We can also teach the Dharma to other people and even engage in spiritual practice in this tranquil environment. Though spiritual practice, we can also attain the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. Having “attained the unsurpassed path,” we can “turn the Dharma-wheel”. We are truly the Dharma-wheel. This is a dream. Although this is a dream, we are still “contemplating and meditating” in Samadhi.
Having attained the usurpassed path, they will rise and turn the Dharma-wheel: They will contemplate and meditate in Samadhi, and then rise from this subtle, wondrous, extremely profound state to expound the Dharma for sentient beings and turn the Dharma-wheel. Attaining enlightenment and subduing maras are two of the Eight Aspects.
Since there are so many teachings, how can we spread these teachings? This is a very subtle and profound state. It requires to “contemplate and meditate in Samadhi”. This means our minds should be very tranquil and clear. Our minds need to be steady and focused there to contemplate these teachings. All of the teachings are subtle and wondrous. They are tranquil and clear, free from any flaws or impurities. This is a state that is extremely profound and wondrous. In this state of Samadhi, we contemplate how to expound the Dharma for sentient beings and how we can turn the Dharma-wheel. This is all in the state of Samadhi in the dream, and that is how we contemplate [these things]. In this dream, [we can] “attain enlightenment and subdue maras. These are two of the Eight Aspects of Attaining. Everyone needs to mindfully seek to understand “the Eight Aspects” further. What are the Eight Aspects?
The Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment: 1. Descending from Tusita heaven. 2. Entering the mother’s womb. 3. Being born. 4. Renouncing lay life. 5. Subduing maras. 6. Attaining enlightenment. 7. Turning the Dharma-wheel. 8. Entering Parinirvana.
As the Buddha manifested in the world, He wished to let us know whrer He came from He came from Tusita Heaven. Tusita Heaven is a place dedicated to training Bodhisattvas who will attain Buddhahood in the future in this world. Once we have actualized the Six Paramitas in all actions, before attaining Buddhahood, we will be born into Tusita Heaven. Now, Maitreya Bodhisattva is also in Tusita Heaven. Time and again, he returns to the world to assist in places of spiritual practice. This is the state of Tusita Heaven. Bodhisattvas actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions. In the future, they will be Tusita Heaven before they attain Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood, they need to “descend from Tusita Heaven”. This means they must come to the world. When they come to the world, where will they head to? Where will their direct and circumstantial retributions be? [For the Buddha], they were in the palace. The prince was born in the palace. “Entering the mother’s womb” means being conceived. That is the second aspect.
The third aspect is “being born”. The prince was born. The entire nation celebrated this joyfully. the fourth is “renouncing lay life”. After [the prince] was born, when he was young, he started to [have questions] about life. Why are there birth, aging, illness and death in the world? Hwy are there people who suffer so much in the world? So, he began to understand that there ae inequalities and afflictions. There were still profound and wondrous principles in the world that he had yet to break through. So, he was determined to renounce the lay life. Therefore, he became a monastic and engaged in spiritual practice. Of course, the journey as a monastic practitioner. Was very difficult. He decided to sit beneath the Bodhi-tree and began to quiet his mind to enter Samadhi. For seven days, he “subdued maras”. At that moment, when he was about to quiet his mind, many illusory states kept appearing continuously in his mind. So, he needed to exercise the power of Samadhi to subdue the army of maras. “Attaining enlightenment” is how, after taming the army of maras, he was able to attain enlightenment. His state of mind became tranquil and clear. He became one with the principles of the universe and the nature of True Suchness. This is “attaining enlightenment”. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha turned the Dharma-wheel. In the end, the Buddha spent 49 years expound the Dharma. At the age of 80, He “entered Parinirvana”. These are the Eight Aspects of the Buddha’s life. Staring with His descent from Tusita Heaven, He eventually entered the tranquil and still state of Parinirvana, which neither arises nor ceases. These are the Buddha’s Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment. This is what He went through. So, why did the Buddha come to the world?
The following sutra passage states, “They will teach the Dharma for the fourfold assembly.” For one great cause, He “opens and reveals” [the Dharma] for sentient beings to “realize and enter” the Buddha’s understanding and views. It is for them to realize and enter the path of the Buddha’s understanding and views. This is to help everyone follow along this road. The Buddha opened this path so everyone can walk along it.
They will teach the Dharma for the fourfold assembly. For trillions of kalpas, they will teach the flawless, wondrous Dharma, transforming countless sentient beings: In their dreams, throughout trillions of kalpas, they will constantly expound the wondrous Dharma for the fourfold assembly. They will transform sentient beings in their dreams.
So, it says, “throughout trillions of kalpas”. It takes trillions of kalpas, a very long time, to “teach the flawless, wondrous Dharma”. After such a long time, [the Buddha] wanted to teach [the wondrous Dharma] so everyone can take the Dharma to heart instead of hearing it and letting it leak away. The goal is to help everyone keep the Dharma in their hearts and their lives. Therefore, speaking of matters and principles, we must bring matters into resonance with the principles every day. Only then can we keep the Dharma in our minds and return it to our eighth consciousness. That is the pure and undefiled Dharma. This is not the karmic consciousness, it is a return to the truly pure ninth consciousness.
So, He “taught the flawless, wondrous Dharma”. The Buddha taught the Dharma layer by layer to help everyone understand that this can be accomplished in the world. However, there are afflictions. When people practice this Dharma with afflictions in their minds, when they bring the Dharma amidst afflictions as they strive to help others, they will inevitably have bias toward each other. This is called “the turbidity of views”. The turbidity of views is one of the Five Turbidities. The turbidity of views becomes afflictions. The afflictions then enter our lives. Therefore, the Buddha wants us to be “without Leaks”. We must apply the Dharma as we help others. We need to eliminate our afflictions. As we are giving and practicing the Bodhisattva-path, we must not keep having so many interpersonal conflicts. If we do, we are only halfway there. This is especially because our afflictions will be more than usual when we serve others.
So, we need to be very vigilant. Being able to be vigilant is being “without Leaks”. By reducing our afflictions, we increase our Dharma. To reduce our afflictions and increase our Dharma, we must be without Leaks so that we can take the Dharma to heart and use it. All the matters in the world are Dharma for us to learn.
Like I just said, Haiti has these causes and conditions and such suffering, but Haiti also has the Dharma to turn this around. In the same way, it takes a long time to expound so many teachings. The Buddha has spent trillions of kalpas, never giving up throughout such a long time, to patiently guide sentient beings. Layer by layer, He helped everyone remember the Dharma. Recently, I have been telling everyone that we need to store the teachings in our memories. When we store the teachings in our memories, we will not have any Leaks. If these teachings are not stored in our memories, then they have leaked away.
Therefore, with this method and long-lasting patience, He taught us the Dharma over and over in hopes that we can all enhance our memories and put the teachings into practice. In this way, we can transform sentient beings. This is how we sentient beings are living in a dream. We have been in this dream for trillions of kalpas. It is as though we just had a dream that lasted for trillions of kalpas.
So it says, “They will teach the Dharma for the fourfold assembly”. Indeed, the Buddha expounded the Dharma for sentient beings for 49 years. From Him starting to teach the Dharma to entering Parinirvana, this can be said to have been about 50 years. He had to reveal to us that the 50 years He spent were equal to only one day in the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Since dust-inked kalpas ago, the Buddha repeatedly returned to the world to transform sentient beings for this one great cause. He [came] just for one goal, to keep sentient beings from letting the Dharma leak away. The Buddha repeatedly returned to the world over a very long time. It was just like having a dream that lasted for trillions of kalpas.
During that time, “He constantly expounded the wondrous Dharma for the fourfold assembly”. It was like “He transformed sentient beings in their dreams”. During their dreams, in a short period of time, He had to expound the Dharma of trillions of kalpas. Actually, these trillions of kalpas are accumulated over dust-inked kalpas. The principles regarding time, space and the universe are all encompassed within. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this. The Chapter on the Parable of the Conjured City discusses this extensively. Please, everyone, recall it and remember it.
Then the sutra passage states, “After that, they will enter Parinirvana, like the smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished”.
After that, they will enter Parinirvana, like the smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished: After their worldly conditions for transforming sentient beings have ended, they will enter Parinirvana. This is like how, when the oil is exhausted, the lamplight is immediately extinguished. This represents dreaming of entering Parinirvana.
Transforming sentient beings takes a very long time. When it comes to “the worldly conditions for transforming sentient beings,” the Buddha’s lifetime in the world was also limited. For any of us, although we dream of spiritual practice and attaining enlightenment, our worldly conditions will end very quickly. These “worldly conditions” will end. The mundane world only exists through matters. This is why the Buddha must descend from Tusita Heaven to enter the palace, the mother’s womb and so on. So, He spent His entire life going through “the Eight Aspects”. Everyone needs to go through this process to attain Buddhahood. We also need to go through the process of birth. We also need to be born in a certain family, in a certain environment, from our aspirations, renounce the lay life, engage in spiritual practice and so on.
In the same way, we also need to go through this process with form and appearance. This process will be over as quickly as a dream. It is “like the smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished. After our conditions for transforming sentient beings have ended, we will enter Parinirvana”. We will then enter Parinirvana. Human life is simply that short. It is the law of nature. Even the Buddha must follow the same law. At the age of 80, He had to prepare; His worldly affinities had come to an end, and He was about to enter Parinirvana. This is just how if the oil is running out, the lamplight will soon be extinguished. This represents “dreaming of entering Parinirvana”. We also dream about entering Parinirvana ourselves.
Life is like a dream; a dream is like life. We all have a last day in our lives. This is something all of us have in common with the Buddha. However, the Buddha has already attained enlightenment and which neither arises nor ceases. How about us ordinary beings? As ordinary beings, we still do not know where we will go at the end. So, we must immediately seize the time to remember this dream. Is it a good dream or a nightmare? Even if it is a nightmare, we must understand the karmic law of cause and effect. So, we must not let the Dharma leak away. We must keep it in our hearts and our memories. We must keep the Dharma in every thought and implement it in our daily living. Regardless of our environment, the Dharma is always in our lives.
“The smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished” represents how, “Having transformed all the sentient beings who must be transformed, those Buddhas immediately enter Parinirvana”.
Smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished: Having transformed all the sentient beings who must be transformed, those Buddhas immediately enter Parinirvana. As Bodhisattvas practice and advance diligently until [principles and matters] resonate with each other, many fruitions will appear in their dreams.
This dream state is an analogy. Back to reality, the Buddha was about to enter Parinirvana. “Bodhisattvas practice and advance diligently until [principles and matters] resonate with each other.” These Bodhisattvas were engaging in spiritual practice until these matters and appearances began to resonate with principles. As we discussed in the beginning, without matters, there would be no mundane world. Without principles, we cannot see the truths. Therefore, the truths must be revealed through matters and appearances.
Matters and appearances are inseparable from the world. Thus, as we practice diligently, we must unite the principles with matters so matters and principles can resonate with each other. Many fruitions are revealed in our dreams. When we engage in spiritual practice, we are planting the causes. What will the future outcome look like? It can be found in our dreams.
All their future fruitions already exist in their present dreams. Likewise, their present fruitions have also existed in their past dreams. All the appearances of all fruitions can be found in sentient beings’ dreams. To speak of it further, a dream is certainly a dream; how can it be real? Our future fruitions are certainly in a dream, but our past fruitions are also like smoke disappearing after a lamp is extinguished, so how is this any different from a dream?
Speaking of “all their future fruitions,” what we are practicing today will become fruitions in the future. [They] "already exist in their present dreams.” In our present dreams, we regularly keep the Dharma in our minds. We contemplate it in the day and dream about it at night. Our every thought is on our spiritual practice, dwelling in virtuous Dharma. Therefore, when we are sleeping at night, we will have dreams. “Likewise, their present fruitions have also existed in their past dreams.” Speaking of our present fruitions, what is the current status of our lives? Are we happy or are we suffering in our lives? Between life and death, are we happy? Or are we suffering? This depends on our past lives. So, “present fruitions” are what we have attained in this life. Whether they are good or bad depends on our past. [They] “have also existed in their past dreams.” They are accumulated in our bad dreams in the past. These dreams are our lives. Because of what happened in our past dreams, we have these consequences today. Our past lifetime is like a dream. Since it has already happened, we have now attained the present fruitions. “All the appearances of all fruitions can be found in sentient beings’ dreams.” All [of these dreams], good dreams and bad dreams, are included. Our entire lifetime is just like a dream. This is how fast it passes.
Furthermore, a dream is just a dream; how can we treat it as reality? So, it is actually not real. The future fruitions are all in our dreams. Our present life is like a dream, “but our past fruitions are also like smoke disappearing after the lamp is extinguished.” Whatever karma we created in the past, the past is in the past. We created our present fruitions. So, they are also just another dream. From a dream in the past, we now receive its fruitions in retribution. Right now, we engage in spiritual practice, and what we create is also in a dream. Have we awakened or not? Have we turned good things into delusions or have we transformed evil into enlightenment? We need to mindfully seek to comprehend this.
The following sutra passage states, “If people in a future evil world teach this supreme Dharma, these people will attain great benefits, such as those aforementioned merits and virtues.”
“After the Buddha enters Parinirvana, there will be people in the era of Dharma-degeneration who can teach this supreme Dharma.” That supreme Dharma is the Lotus Sutra, from which people can attain great benefits.
If people in a future evil world teach this supreme Dharma: After the Buddha enters Parinirvana, there will be people in the era of Dharma-degeneration who can teach this supreme Dharma. The supreme Dharma: This refers to the Wondrous Lotus Sutra.
“These people will attain great benefits, such as those aforementioned virtues and merits.” As I mentioned before, there are many merits and virtues in the dream. “Those who expound the Dharma will certainly attain the most wondrous and extensive benefits.”
These people will attain great benefits, such as those aforementioned merits and virtues: Those who expound the Dharma will certainly attain the most wondrous and extensive benefits that are inconceivable, as mentioned previously. Great benefits refers to the two kinds of peace and joy, peace and joy while awake and peace and joy while in dreams.
What we will attain in the future is reality. So, even if it is a dream, we need to make it a beautiful one. [Our benefits] will be “inconceivable, as mentioned previously.” Actually, the Dharma is intangible and formless, but we need to take it into our hearts. It is actually very subtle and wondrous. Speaking of “the great benefits,” this refers to “peace and joy while awake.” When we wake up after sleep, we are very happy. When we have a good dream, we are so happy. [There is also] “peace and joy while in dreams.” During the day, we are happy after we wake up. When we go to bed at night, we are very happy for having a dream like this. So, at any moment, we should always have this thought. Whatever we contemplate during the day, we dream of at night. The joy we have during the day will be brought into our dreams. When we wake up, it is reality. Truly, we are very joyful living in the Dharma. Life is like a dream and vice versa.
The Buddha explained such a beautiful dream to us. Do we live our lives like a dream, or do we turn this dream into reality? Everyone, this is why we must engage in spiritual practice. How do we transform evil into goodness? How do we practice the Bodhisattva-path with peace and joy? It is inseparable from practices, methods and directives. In the Chapter on the Practice of Bringing Peace and Joy, what are the methods [of binging peace and joy]? What are the Four Practices? What are the Three Directives? During this time, we all need to always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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