Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Our Hidden Potential within the Seed of the Path (潛能共存 含藏道種)
Date: October.29.2018
“In the shared space between heaven and earth, all living beings coexist. On the path to awakening we attain Bodhi together and share the same Dharma-joy with each other. We all have hidden potential in our minds and uphold the course of our nature of True Suchness. The ground splitting open represents opening the manifest to reveal the intrinsic, where Bodhi, the seed of the path, is stored.”
We must mindfully listen to this! “In the shared space between heaven and earth, all living beings coexist.” In our world, all creatures live under the same sky and on top of the [same] earth. Aren’t we all living in the same world? Between heaven and earth, this is the shared space where all living beings coexist. So, we must live together and love each other in this space between heaven and earth. We should be able to realize and comprehend this. “On the path to awakening, we attain Bodhi together and share the same Dharma-joy with each other.” We should understand that only during this time when we live in the human realm can we understand the principles. As for us and all living beings in the world, by which principles of life did we all come to exist? Based on these principles, how were we born? How do we pass down the principles? According to these principles, every person in their daily living has to wake up every day and begin to do things. These actions are each person’s routine in daily living. In our routine, we all share the same [needs for] food, clothing, housing and transportation. In everyone’s daily living, we cannot escape the need for wearing clothing or the need for food to eat. We all require a place of shelter to be able to stay, rest or go about our lives. We need spaces and roads for us to move around. This is all of our daily living. It is a universal law that none of us can escape. We must understand how we were born and how we should live.
In our daily living, apart from these universal principles, our ways of life are very different. The ways of life differ due to causes, conditions and our thoughts. By our causes and conditions, we face different environments. Some people work in an office with air conditioning [for the summer] and heating for the winter. Their lives are very comfortable. This is their way of life. Some people are outside when it is hot, doing very laborious work. These are their causes and conditions. This is their way of life. People have different ways of life [due to] their differing causes and conditions. What about our mindsets? Can those who have a comfortable and relaxed life understand those who do heavy work? Without these people, how are these comfortable environments possible? Without these people, how could we have such spaces? When we are enjoying comfort, we should think about these people doing hard labor. With this mindset, if we are wealthy and live in comfort, we can help others.
With a single change in perspective, we can give rise to empathy. With empathy, we learn to be grateful, give of ourselves, go among people and help them. For those who are in hardship, with the understanding that giving is a blessing in life, [they can view] their physical work that creates our environment as a blessing also. Since this is the environment they were born into, they can be at peace with their situation. This space gives them a chance to do things with their physical strength to make this environment possible. They provide for everyone’s needs in life so they do not need to feel inferior. They should honor the potential of their own lives. If they can do this, their mindset can be harmonious. There will not be resentment or greed in their minds. If we can do this, then “On the path to awakening, we attain Bodhi together.” Everyone must understand that our daily living is [affected by] causes and conditions, by our mindset.
With the karmic law of cause and effect, once we change our perspective, naturally our minds will turn toward the Dharma and our minds become tranquil. “On the path to awakening, we attain Bodhi together and share the same Dharma-joy with each other.” We should know the karmic law of cause and effect and recognize the value of our strength in life. Naturally, we will then be content with what we have and be joyful.
We often say, “Thank you for your hard work! Ah! We feel happy and blessed!” Indeed, helping others is hard work, but with a single change in perspective, [we can say], “We feel blessed!” Being blessed is feeling happy and joy. How come we can serve so joyfully? How come we can feel so happy? We respect our own life and realize that helping others brings happiness. How can we do this? By being empathetic and understanding principles. We have been given a method to change our perspective so that we can be empathetic and understanding. We are joyful every day because we open our hearts and are understanding. Because we have the Dharma, “We uphold our mission and follow the path; then our path will be great.” Knowing where this Dharma comes from we can share this with everyone. “Although I do such hard work, I am joyful.”
For example, one of our Bodhisattva-volunteers comes from a wealthy family. She has four or five maids in her home, but she had forgotten how to smile. Then, she came to the Abode. In the Abode, everyone gets up very early in the morning and our life is very simple. As everyone did chores, she followed along, moved chairs, wiped tables and swept the floor. She was joyful. This is what she said to me. “When I was at home, I had forgotten how to smile. But when I come here, I am joyful.” Indeed, although her environment was comfortable, without the Dharma, she forgot how to smile. So, we should ultimately return to a simple environment. In a simple environment, we can make contact with ordinary people, observe all kinds of suffering in the world and return to our [true nature]. We are truly blessed!
Helping others is a joyful thing. Although our surrounding are like this, our state of mind is happy. This is due to our Dharma-joy. We should share our Dharma-joy with everyone. Why are we so joyful, even in these surroundings? Why are our minds at ease? This is a very simple life. Our minds are free, so with contentment, we are always happy and filled with Dharma-joy. “On the path to awakening, we attain Bodhi together.” In our minds, there is a path to awakening that we can walk on. When we can walk feeling free and at ease naturally, we are filled with Dharma-joy. So, “We all have hidden potential in our minds and uphold the course of our nature of True Suchness.” Everyone has hidden potential in their minds; this is our nature of True Suchness.
We all have infinite capabilities, but many of us have lost them, because these capabilities have been covered by afflictions and ignorance. So, our capabilities have been buried deeply. Yet we all still have this hidden potential, our potential for goodness and the intrinsic nature which we originally have. So, “We all have hidden potential in our minds.”
Some people are very capable while others are unable to do anything. Those who are capable develop their skills regularly because they exercise their capabilities through their work; they are putting them to use. Those who cannot do anything. So, they have lost their capabilities. Speaking of people nowadays, why do they go out and buy food from street vendors every day? In our houses, are there no stoves or kitchens? Yes, there are, but they do not know how to cook or how to use a pot. They do not know any of these skills. They have lost this ability. People in the past started learning these things at a young age. Girls learned to do chores when they were around seven or eight. Nowadays, there are even 27 or 28 year-olds who do not know how to do chores. So, in the ground of our minds, our hidden potential has been deeply buried. It is covered deeply by ignorance.
So, “We uphold the course of our nature of True Suchness” which is covered by ignorance. If we have the Dharma now, we can continuously apply it in our daily living. Then in the shared space between heaven and earth, we understand how all life coexists and how [everyone] should respect each other. “On the path to awakening, we attain Bodhi together.” The path to awakening is the Bodhi path. We have walked on this path, so we have gained many realizations. We can go among people and share the Dharma-joy with them to help everyone understand that we all intrinsically have the nature of True Suchness in the ground of our minds, we all have our hidden potential. If we understand this, naturally, we will have the Dharma in our minds. Speaking of the Dharma, we must “uphold the course”. With the Dharma, we can make use of the Dharma to neatly organize [things] by its rules and principles. What material is this? What biological sources did it come from? What about its physical properties? These [properties]are what enables its course. This is “upholding the course”. The principles are all clear and logical; they let us return to our nature of True Suchness. We understand how to open up this path and where it leads. We “uphold the course of our nature of True Suchness”. We all intrinsically have it. We must earnestly engage in spiritual practice every day to accumulate all seeds of causes and conditions. We have talked about the Eight Consciousnesses. The first Five Consciousnesses connect with external states. Once these connect with the sixth consciousness, we give rise to thoughts and begin to differentiate, contemplate and take action. This may be an act of goodness or an act of evil due to greed, anger and ignorance. We create karma with our actions. Every day, the outcomes of our actions are stored in the eighth consciousness. The seeds of good and evil karma are all found in the eighth consciousness. So, in regularly practicing the Bodhisattva-path, we must go among people to guide sentient beings or bring them with us to go among people and eliminate sentient beings’ suffering. Through giving, together we form. Dharma-affinities, form virtuous affinities, create blessings and so on. These are all stored in our eighth consciousness. This is called “actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions”.
We “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions,” and after accumulating them for a long time, they are all stored in our intrinsic nature. Our hidden potential and nature of True Suchness are all found there. “Actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions” means continuously maturing on the Bodhisattva-path.
At this time, “The ground splitting open represents opening the manifest to reveal the intrinsic”. This refers to the ground of our minds. Our seeds have emerged. What kind of seeds have we accumulated that have split the ground open? Their sprouts have emerged and grown. This is “where Bodhi, the seed of the path, is stored”. The ground splits open because of these things, these seeds, which are our Bodhisattva-aspirations. Our Bodhisattva-aspirations have appeared. The footprints we have manifested throughout the past are emerging at this moment. [Due to] our actions in the past, our intrinsic nature is appearing. As our intrinsic nature emerges, it will be very obvious. In the eighth consciousness, in the storehouse consciousness, what is stored are seeds of goodness. This is our intrinsic nature.
In short, in the shared space between heaven and earth, living beings coexist and walk on the same path. We must constantly share our Dharma-joy with others to help them thoroughly understand the hidden potential in their minds and how to coexist with everyone. When we can uphold the course of the Dharma, uphold the precepts and discipline ourselves, our nature of True Suchness will always coexist with us in our daily living.
By actualizing “the Six Paramitas” in our daily living, we will constantly accumulate seeds of goodness. This is our hidden potential, our Bodhi and our seed of the path. Once “the wisdom of all paths” emerges, we will have very clear understanding as we walk the Bodhisattva-path, and we will not make any mistakes. So, we must be mindful.
The previous sutra passage says, “After these Bodhisattvas had emerged from the ground…”. The seeds of positive affinities we accumulated in the past have emerged. “…they each went to the wondrous stupa of Seven Treasures in empty space where Many Treasures Tathagata and Sakyamuni Buddha were”.
After these Bodhisattvas had emerged from the ground, they each went to the wondrous stupa of Seven Treasures in empty space where Many Treasures Tathagata and Sakyamuni Buddha were. Once they arrived, they prostrated to the two World-Honored Ones with their heads at Their feet. Then they went to the lion’s thrones beneath the trees of treasures where the Buddhas were and also paid their respects to all of Them.
After everyone emerged from the ground, they were in this empty space. The “empty space”, as we remember, symbolizes walking the Middle Way, which is not above, below, left or right. They gracefully floated to the stupa of treasures. In the stupa of treasures, there were two World-Honored Ones. Of these two World-Honored Ones, one was a past Buddha and the other was the present Buddha; one was Many Treasure Buddha of the past and the other was Sakyamuni Buddha of the present. Once [the Bodhisattvas] came to this stupa of treasures, they “prostrated with their heads at Their feet”. The stupa of treasures was in the air, so these Bodhisattvas were in the air. They prostrated to the Buddha there. This is proper etiquette. “Then they went to the lion’s thrones beneath the trees of treasures where the Buddha were and also paid their respects to all of Them”. After paying respect to the two World-Honored Ones they also paid their respects to all the Buddha’s manifestations on the lion’s thrones.
This was the scene after these Bodhisattvas had emerged into empty space. This is a very beautiful scene to imagine. There was the wondrous stupa in the air and the Bodhisattvas that emerged. There was also the etiquette shown in that place, abundant with both principles and propriety. When etiquette and principles converge, this is called the “proper course”. This is the proper course of Bodhisattvas.
The next sutra passage says, “They circumambulated clockwise three times, put their palms together in reverence and, with all Bodhisattvas’ many methods of praise, uttered their praises. They then stayed to one side and joyfully gazed upward in admiration at the two World-Honored Ones.
They circumambulated clockwise three times”. After paying respect to all the Buddha’s manifestations beneath the trees of treasures, they continued to follow proper etiquette. The etiquette in India at that time was, after paying respect, people would circumambulate. This is like how we circumambulate the Buddha. In this way, they circumambulated Them clockwise three times; they had to circumambulate clockwise three times. They also “put their palms together in reverence”. With all Bodhisattvas’ many methods of praise, [they] uttered their praises”. They praised [the Buddhas] in the many ways that all Bodhisattvas’ praise each other. Thus, we often say that we must praise each other, overlook the bad and bring out the good. This is [how we show] our virtue.
They circumambulated clockwise three times, with all Bodhisattvas’ many methods of praise, uttered their praises” after prostrating, ey circumambulated clockwise. In accord with the path of the heavens, just like the sun and the moon, to show their reverence through etiquette. All Bodhisattvas always use many methods of praising the Buddha to reverently praise the Buddha.
So, “After prostrating their circumambulated clockwise in accord with the path of the heavens. This is how celestial bodies [move]. They followed this principle and etiquette circumambulated clockwise to the principles. So, it is “just like the sun and the moon. The sun and the moon also revolve like this. Earth also revolves like this. All celestial objects in the universe orbit and revolve in this manner. Things in the universe revolve like this. So they “showed their reverence through etiquette”.
They follow etiquette and principles of nature. The sun, the moon and planetary objects revolve in the same direction. In this manner, they circumambulated clockwise. This was displaying propriety through etiquette and a reverent demeanor. We must learn all of this; this is our etiquette.
“All Bodhisattvas always use many methods of praising the Buddha to reverently praise the Buddha. Bodhisattvas praise each other, but they not only praise each other, their ritual is also directed to the Buddha. they share the same etiquette in how they praise the Buddha. this is the same as our regular etiquette.
So, with these “many methods of praise, they praised how broad and profound. “Many Treasures’ power of vows was.” With many methods of praise, they praised Many Treasures’ great vows.
Many methods of praise: They praised how broad and profound. Many Treasures’ power of vows was in going everywhere to hear the Dharma. They praised the fundamental teacher expounding according to capabilities and never giving rise to fatigue. They praised the multiple manifestations’ wondrous uses of spiritual powers in responding freely.
We should still remember the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy with our bodies, speech, minds and vows. Indeed! All Buddhas need to [practice] like this. This is how They attain Buddhahood. When we engage in spiritual practice, we must also do the same. In our spiritual practice, we must pay attention to our physical actions. We must do good deeds with our bodies we must praise people and say kind words in speech and, with our minds, we must be content, understanding and think of good things. Moreover, when it comes to vows, we have to make vows, our vows must be profound and firm. These are the “Four Great Vows, I vow to deliver countless sentient beings, I vow to eliminate endless afflictions, I vow to learn infinite Dharma-doors” and I vow to attain unsurpassed Buddhahood.” This will take a very long time. So, our vows must be firm.
Thus, everyone praised how broad and profound Many Treasures Buddha’ power of vows was. These are the Four Great vows. He was replete in “the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy”. His vow was for His entire body to enter the stupa. Wherever there is a Buddha expounding the Lotus Sutra, Many Treasures Buddha will manifest in Hs stupa, manifest His body and speak to bear witness. This is Many Treasures Buddha’s great vow. So, “going everywhere to hear the Dharma is their praise for Many Treasures Buddha.
Then they also praised Sakyamuni Buddha. “The fundamental teacher” is Sakyamuni Buddha. they praised how Sakyamuni Buddha endured in the Saha World. He was patient with these sentient beings. With patience to endure, based on sentient beings’ different capabilities, He “expounded the Dharma according to capabilities and never gave rise to fatigue. Although sentient beings’ capabilities are dull, Sakyamuni Buddha never gave rise to fatigue. He still continuously taught according to sentient beings’ capabilities. Though they are stubborn and hard to train the Buddha still trained them with patience by using all kinds of methods. For 42 years, He patiently guided them and saw what capabilities they had. The Buddha never gave up on them. He accommodated sentient beings and taught according to their capabilities. this is the Buddha’s patience toward sentient beings. He never gave rise to fatigue. This is why they praised Sakyamuni Buddha. They also praised the multiple manifestations’ wondrous use of spiritual powers. The Buddha’s manifestations also represent Sakyamuni Buddha’s spiritual. They can spread throughout the ten directions and go among people to transform sentient beings. They have the same aspirations as the Buddha. They also transform people according to capabilities. These are the wondrous uses of spiritual powers. They accommodate sentient beings on any path to awakening, so there is nowhere They do not exist and no being They do not transform. These are the Buddha’s manifestations. In any space, with any sentient being, They ae willing to transform them according to their capabilities. these are Sakyamuni Buddha’s manifestations. Because Many Treasures Buddha was coming to the Saha world to bear witness, [Sakyamuni Buddha] called His manifestations from the ten directions to return to Vulture Peak to listen to Many Treasures Buddha’s testimony. This was also the moment when He was about to “reveal the intrinsic. So, He gathered His manifestations from the ten directions beneath the tree of treasures. With their spiritual powers, they act in response to sentient beings and manifest everywhere. This is reason why they praised the Buddha’s manifestations beneath the trees of treasures. So, this is why we must earnestly comprehend that the Dharma is everywhere. We can uphold it so that, wherever we go, these laws and discipline are everywhere. So, “many methods of praise” are all part of the Dharma. Next, “They then stayed to one side”.
They then stayed to one side and joyfully gazed upward in admiration at the two World-Honored Ones: Having properly paid their respects, they stood to one side and joyfully and happily gazed upward in admiration at Sakyamuni and Many Treasures.
After praising Many Treasures Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha and His manifestations, everyone gathered in the same direction to face the two Buddhas, the two World-Honored Ones. So, this is a matter of etiquette. “Having properly paid their respects, they stood to one side”. Together they were “joyful and happy”. Everyone gazed upwards in admiration. They admired Sakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Buddha.
The next [sutra passage] continues, “All these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, starting from when they first emerged, used all Bodhisattvas’ many methods of praise to praise the Buddhas. The time that passed was 50 small kalpas.”
This period of time is very long! When they finished praising Them, 50 small kalpas had passed. These Bodhisattvas that emerged were all great Bodhisattvas who had formed aspiration. They were Bodhisattvas with a firm direction.
All these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, starting from when they first emerged: At the start, those who emerged from the ground were countless great Bodhisattvas taught and transformed by Venerable Sakyamuni long ago. This is used to explain the cause of their quantity.
At the start, “Those who emerged from the ground were the countless great Bodhisattvas taught and transformed by Venerable Sakyamuni long ago”. They were from countless kalpas ago, from Great Unhindered Wisdom Superior Buddha’s spiritual practice ground where the 16 princes taught the Dharma to them. These people continuously carried on [the mission]. This had continued for a very long time. There were countless Bodhisattvas patiently transforming sentient beings for lifetime after lifetime. “This is used to explain the cause of their quantity”. Now, we continue to discuss “their quantity”. We previously talked about “quantity,” by describing how many sands of the Ganges River. From numerous sands of the Ganges River, [the quantity] continuously decreased to “one”. This was the process of transforming retinues. There were truly many of them.
So, “[They] used all Bodhisattvas many methods of praise to praise the Buddhas”. They kept using all kinds of methods to continuously praise Them for a long time. This is what the Bodhisattvas did. “The time that passed was 50 small kalpas.
[They] used all Bodhisattvas’ many methods of praise to praise the Buddhas. The time that passed was 50 small kalpas: With sincere reverence, they paid respect to and praised the two World-Honored Ones for a long, everlasting time. This was the long time that passed.
This means that these Bodhisattvas continuously praised the Buddha for a long time. It was a very long time! Thus, with this praise, what were they praising? What does this mean? This shows that “With sincere reverence, they paid respect to and praised the two World-Honored Ones”. This was a very long, everlasting time. It was a long time that passed. Their hearts continuously praised [Them]. Indeed, they praised the Buddha-Dharma.
There are two aspects of Dharma: 1. Being able to uphold one’s own nature. This means all things uphold their own nature. When it comes to form and so on, this nature is permanent and unchanging. 2. Giving rise to superior understanding according to the rules. When it comes to impermanence and so on, these give rise to the understanding of the impermanence of life and so on.
There are two aspects to the Dharma. One is “being able to uphold one’s own nature”. The Buddha taught us to help us understand all the phenomena of the world, with or without appearance. There are so many phenomena. What exactly is the Dharma? The Dharma has no appearance or substance, but we can say, first, “being able to uphold one’s own nature”. With this method, we can uphold our own nature. This means that “All things uphold their own nature”. In fact, everything we see with our eyes and all these material objects have their own nature. Every object contains its Dharma, its principles and its own nature. We have often talked about this in the past.
So, “When it comes to form and so on,” there are different materials of every description, shape and color. They all have an unchangeable nature. They all have their own intrinsic nature. This is the principle. Every object has its physical principles. Humans have our own physiological principles. Animals have their biological principles. In summary, their appearances are different, so their principles are different. But every appearance has its own nature, its own principles. They all have their own principles. Thus, “This nature is permanent and unchanging”.
Second, “giving rise to [superior understanding] according to the rules” refers to the Buddha’s manifestation. His manifestation “gives rise to superior understanding”. This is how He explains the Dharma. When we see material things, we see their “forms,” but we do not know the principles within them. As for people, when we see them, what does their intrinsic nature of True Suchness look like? So, He needs to find a way to make analogies and analyze it so that we can understand it and know, “Ah, so this is what the principles are like! So, these are the retributions from virtuous and evil causes! We came to the world without any control! Ah, this is how it is!” This is the Dharma. So, “when it comes to impermanence and so on,” if there were no phenomena [displaying] “permanence” or “impermanence,” how could we explain impermanence? Thus, we often say that our intrinsic nature is unchanging and everlasting. It has not changed since ancient times. “The intrinsic” will never change, but “the manifest” will change. Everything in the world is changing and impermanent, And it all undergoes formation, existence, decay and disappearance. So, we often say that all things are empty and impermanent. Suffering, emptiness and impermanence are analyzed through the Dharma. In this world of suffering, emptiness and impermanence, what is everlasting?
The everlasting principles are the true principles. This is why we must always use various methods, analogies and descriptions to teach. Bodhisattvas’ everlasting aspiration is to “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions.” How do they walk on this path? As they slowly walk on this path, they will gradually attain [accomplishments]. What are those [accomplishments]? They attain five kinds of wisdom, the Five Wisdoms of Bodhisattvas.
The Five Wisdoms of Bodhisattvas: The wisdom of thorough understanding. The wisdom of continuing thoughts. The wisdom of standing firm. The wisdom of harmony and unity. The wisdom of fulfilling wishes. 1.The wisdom of thorough understanding. The wisdom of awakening as if from a dream and thoroughly understanding all Dharma. 2.The wisdom of continuing thoughts. The wisdom of being able to remember past matters and never forget them.
First is “the wisdom of thorough understanding.” It is “the wisdom of awakening as if from a dream and thoroughly understanding all Dharma.” When we are dreaming, we have no control. When we wake up from a dream, we realize that it was just a dream and we have real matters to deal with today. Dreams are illusory, and now we are awake. The principle is the same.
The second is “the wisdom of continuing thoughts.” This is “the wisdom of being able to remember past matters and never forget them.” This refers to our memory. Thus, we always say that, when we listen to the Dharma, we must remember it. Although we cannot remember our past lifetimes, at least when we listen to the Dharma in this lifetime, we should reflect more often on it, so we will not forget. This is the wisdom of continuing thoughts. As we now listen again to what we heard before, we must quickly recall it. In this way, the Dharma connects [in our minds]. Wisdom of thorough understanding is to be able to understand previous teachings and continuously remember them. What we discuss and listen to now, we must continuously commit to memory.
The Five Wisdoms of Bodhisattvas: 3.The wisdom of standing firm. The wisdom of establishing right conduct and getting others to practice and learn from it. 4.The wisdom of harmony and unity. The wisdom of contemplating all Dharma and harmonizing with others according to affinities.
Third is “the wisdom of standing firm. The wisdom of establishing right conduct and getting others to practice and learn from it.” This is the wisdom of standing firm. We awaken ourselves and others. As we ourselves understand this Dharma, we establish this wisdom. Then we must to among people with right conduct, so we can help everyone to do the same. Thus, they can cultivate and learn this wisdom and understand the Dharma.
The fourth is “the wisdom of harmony and unity.” We must “contemplate all Dharma and harmonize with others according to affinities.” We must understand the law of causes and conditions. If we start by teaching on causes and conditions, people cannot understand it. So, we must form more good affinities with people, be at peace in all of our encounters and so on. Our mindset must be focused on our aspiration; only then will we be able to attain “the wisdom of harmony and unity.” We contemplate all Dharma and harmonize with others according to affinities. In interpersonal relationships, we need mutual harmony and unity in all matters.
Then, the fifth is “the wisdom of fulfilling wishes. The wisdom of fulfilling wishes” is “the wisdom of being able to completely satisfy all our wishes and desires.”
When we follow this wisdom, we will have no desire unsatisfied. If we are always content with everything in our daily living, then we will be very joyful. This is being “completely satisfied.” We are satisfied with everything. Like this, our minds will be most joyful. This is “the wisdom of fulfilling wishes.”
So, we say that “Bodhisattvas can hear and uphold the teachings, keeping them in mind without forgetting.” If we can listen to the Dharma, make use of it, always remember it and not forget it, naturally, we can always go among people and “expound the Dharma fearlessly with infinite wisdom.” This is the principle we must apply to attain the Five Wisdoms of the Bodhisattva. We must also apply them to understand how all lives in the world coexist. If we can understand this, we can clearly understand these latter Five Wisdoms. Bodhisattvas are filled with seeds of goodness which emerge from the ground [of their minds]. This is “the intrinsic.” The intrinsic substances of this seed contains abundant power of love. When we give it causes and conditions, it will seize these conditions and naturally, “One gives rise to infinity, and infinity arises from one.” With that capacity, it can expand to infinity, and it can also return to one seed. The analogy of the sands of Ganges River and the seeds of trees are to help people thoroughly understand the principles.
So, dear Bodhisattvas, our spirit and power are always within the space of a single thought. Therefore, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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