Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The All-Pervasive Mind Returns to the One (一念周遍 而歸於一)
Date: November.01.2018
“The one mind is a mind of one thought. All-pervasive, it reaches throughout the void unhindered. When it disperses, it responds to all things. When it gathers, it forms a single thought. Thus, whether good or evil, everything is caused by this mind. As the mind intrinsically contains all Dharma, it can bring all things to fruition. In the Three Realms there is no other Dharma; everything is created by the one mind.”
When it comes to the “mind,” we all must always be mindful of it! “The one mind” is a mind of a single thought. So, this is why I constantly say to everyone, “Always be mindful!” Indeed, “thought” refers to the direction we head in. This word [encompasses] everything from the unenlightened mind to the state of Buddhahood. The Buddha-mind is the mind of sentient beings. “The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different in their nature.” Isn’t this precisely the mind we are talking about here? Those whose minds are defiled are ordinary beings. Those whose minds are pure are great awakened noble beings and sages, those who have attained Buddhahood. This all depends on the mind. The mind is also the Dharma.
It is “all-pervasive, so it reaches throughout the void unhindered.” It is everywhere; there are no principles the mind does not contain. So, we must be very mindful. Wherever we apply our mind, the Dharma will be there. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. So, when it comes to the mind, “when it disperses, it responds to all things.” As long as we are willing to be mindful, [we can see that] the span of a single thought contains countless teachings; a single thought is thus all-pervading. Nothing is impossible as long as we can think of it. In our thinking, we must be mindful. The Chinese character for “thinking” has the character for “mind” beneath the character for “appearance”. We must be more mindful in our thinking. “Thinking” means [engaging in] contemplation. We must earnestly contemplate our lives, our direction and how to accomplish our aspirations. This is very important.
Where do our aspirations ultimately lie? We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. As for the mind, “When it disperses, it responds to all things.” The mind is very versatile, yet we always neglect it. We set it aside and do not put it to use. So, we must earnestly put [our minds] to use. Otherwise [we would fail to live up to] our minds’ great capacities. If we focus our minds on a single thought, what would this single thought in our minds be? Where is our focus? If we do not care about anything else, then what do we actually care about? When we focus our mind, if it is pure, then our focus is very good. What is worrisome is if we focus on unwholesome thoughts. Focusing on unwholesome thoughts in improper and it also harms us. It is harmful to everything we do. We need to collect our mind and focus it so that it does not become defiled or scattered. When the mind is dispersed, it responds to all things, and our understanding can become all-pervasive. As long as we are mindful, the power of our mind will permeate the universe, meaning it thoroughly understands all things and is present in all places. This is how we can use our minds. So, our mind is what we must truly do well to care for. “Thus, whether good or evil, everything is caused by this mind.” All that is virtuous comes from this mind; all that is evil also comes from this mind. Good and evil both come from the mind. So, we must use our mind earnestly; we must use it well. We must not waste it or neglect it like we do. When we use it, we should not use it for unwholesome [purposes]. We must earnestly make good use of our mind because both good and evil come from it.
So, “The mind intrinsically contains all Dharma; it can bring all things to fruition.” The mind is inherently replete with all teachings. All the Dharma is within the mind. It is impossible to engage in spiritual practice without using the mind. It is impossible to draw near to the Dharma without the mind. So, we must be mindful to draw near the Dharma and mindfully apply it to benefit other people. The mind can put all Dharma to practice. There are abundant [teachings] that can benefit many people. This is like how we all do our very best to mindfully [devote] ourselves to others. When people come to seek the Dharma, we mindfully tell them [what we know]. If they are willing to be diligent, we can mindfully try to guide them. This is how we influence people.
It is like that group of Taichung Bodhisattvas who came in turns to spend time here at the Abode. They said they wanted to return here to engage in spiritual practice for short periods, to engage in short-term intensive practice. Before they returned home, they shared their experiences here. They shared how they mindfully did chores to maintain the Abode. The Dharma masters leg them in doing chores at the Abode. They [volunteer] said, “There are so many weeds. The weeds crowded out the turmeric we planted. All we could see was weeds.” Then the monastics told them, “We must be careful when [removing] the weeds. We must pull the weeds out by their roots, but we must be careful when digging them out, because as we dig out the grass, the earth will come up with the roots. We have to be careful, for the roots of the weeds are entangled with the turmeric roots. If we are not careful, when we pull them all out, we might damage the turmeric roots or completely pull them out along with the weeds.” They told them to be very mindful in doing this. Indeed, the roots of the weeds were entangled with the turmeric roots. They thought, since the weeds were so thick, they could cut the weeds down the middle first so the weeds were not so thick, and then they could dig out the roots of the weeds. The monastics told them, “Oh no, we must not do that. If you do, you will damage the leaves of the turmeric.” They could not do that. They had to dig them out very gently and carefully. They finally dug out all the weeds, so that all that was left was the turmeric. [One of the sisters said], “What a shame! After we dug out the weeds, we saw how the weeds crowding out the turmeric [deprived] the turmeric of nourishment. It seemed the turmeric roots were affected or perhaps they had been exposed. If we would not quickly use soil to properly bury the roots, the turmeric plants might die.” In the process of pulling weeds, they discovered that the weeds are like ignorance; the roots of ignorance grow deep. We wanted to plant turmeric for it is beneficial to health and very useful. So, wanting to cultivate this turmeric, we mindfully planted it. Yet, after we planted it, the weeds easily began to crowd it out. If we had not diligently removed the weeds, the turmeric would not get enough nutrients. This is because the weeds took up the nutrients from the soil. Because of this, the turmeric did not get enough nutrients. When the volunteer pulled out the weeds and saw that the turmeric was malnourished, she pitied the turmeric and thought, “How can we use natural fertilizer to help it?” So, they needed to do more work to make sure the soil [covered] the roots. They needed to ensure that these turmeric plants’ roots were well-covered and connected to the soil.
A volunteer shared, “When it comes to our minds, according to what I’ve heard from the sutra. Master says, ‘They Bodhisattva-seeds emerge from the ground of our mind.’ The ground of our mind needs Bodhisattva-seeds, we must earnestly sow the seeds of goodness. Before these seeds can sprout in the ground of our minds, it must break through the soil. This depends on whether this seed has enough nutrients and strength to germinate and break through the soil. The soil must also be very clean for the seed to smoothly grow up. Only then can the seed turn into a sprout and grow into a tree.” When we understand this principle, we begin as unenlightened beings, with our minds like a field that requires effort [in order to cultivate it]. Only then can these seeds simply [be sown] into the soil and absorb its nutrients. Connecting with [the resources] from above, they get the sunlight and water they need to help them function. Thus, the volunteers were able to [connect] [the Dharma] with [the principles of] how plants grow. This is why I constantly tell everyone, “We must always be mindful!” We can understand when we are taught like this. “When the monastics lead us in chores, we can begin to comprehend the teachings.”
Indeed, this is called being mindful. If we are mindful when listen to the Dharma, we will remember the Dharma in our mind. Then, when we act, with every movement, we will be able to connect it to our environment. This is how the volunteers realized the Dharma. Someone also shared, “Master tells us about ‘all-encompassing wisdom’. We use our Five Consciousnesses when we go outside to do chores at the Abode. We observed the weeds, observed the natural world, observed the soil and so on.” She remarked, “The Five Consciousnesses arise when the Five Sense Organs come into contact with the Five Sense Objects.” They knew this so well. After listening to the Dharma, they took the Dharma to heart, so when they came into contact with these states, they were able to comprehend it. She said, “It is true! As we pulled the weeds, we had to observe very mindfully. That is ‘profound discerning wisdom’. If we were not careful, we would pull out the turmeric roots too if we were careless. So, we must stay focused and mindful in analyzing and listening [to the Dharma], then we must work hard. This is ‘profound discerning wisdom’. When we realize profound discerning wisdom, we felt pity [for all living things]. Why else would that Dharma-sister say, ‘How pitiful!’?” She just made that comment. ‘How pitiful!’ I asked her, ‘What is pitiful’?” She replied, ‘The turmeric is so pitiful. It’s been crowded out by the weeds for so long. Without sufficient nutrients, the plants are dying’.” So, those who stood beside her heard her comment, “How pitiful!” This was shocking to them. This is the “universal equality wisdom” that I discussed. When it comes to plants and people, we often say about people, “How pitiful! They are malnourished. Their bodies are so pitiful” and so forth. We can have the same attitude toward plants.
Indeed, this is “universal equality wisdom”. After everyone shared, I said, “You are correct! What you are now talking about is great perfect mirror wisdom. You have realized this from that environment. During the past few days under the hot sun, you have persevered in communing with nature while you were caring for that garden where we grow our crops”. While they were removing the weeds, they were eliminating afflictions and ignorance. As we can see, that plot of land is now clean. The patch of turmeric we are trying to grow is now looking very beautiful. “Look at the place where we imprinted our effort. All the troubles that you had at that time have now been completely eliminated. When you look at that patch of turmeric, your mind-mirror is reflecting upon that place. Now that you have left that garden, your minds are very clean. With minds freed of defilements, you are joyful. You can now return home filled with Dharma-joy”. This is true.
Whenever we work mindfully in nature, we take all these natural states into our minds. “The one mind is a mind of one thought. All-pervasive, it reaches throughout the void unhindered. “All-pervasive” means that wherever we put our mind, wherever we go, we bring this mind with us there.
Right now these volunteers are listening to the Dharma talk in Taichung. They are listening to the Dharma there as I am speaking here. When I talk about that turmeric garden, in this present moment, their minds, as their ears are listening to my lecture here, have now returned to that patch of turmeric. I believe as they listen daily to the Dharma, the state of their mind now has become like a mirror. This reflects how our Roots and Dusts interact with the states wherever we are. This is our great perfect mirror wisdom. In our “universal equality wisdom, profound discerning wisdom and “all-encompassing wisdom”, one mind compasses everything. So, we should not listen to each teaching individually, but we must be able to connect them as a whole. This means that we have to remember them and imprint them upon our minds.
“As the mind intrinsically contains all Dharma, it can bring all things to fruition”. All Dharma is intrinsically within our mind. It is as if a book is imprinted in our mind. We only need to open [the book] and all these things will come out. “In the Three Realms there is no other Dharma; everything is created by the one mind”. Everything is created solely by the mind. All that we do or create comes from the mind. This is the guiding principle we discuss every day to help everyone first understand the “essence” [of the teachings]. We should be very mindful of the Dharma’s essence.
“Now [what we seek] is the path to enlightenment of unsurpassed Bodhi attained by the Buddha. This is what we are pursuing now. In the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, there is a description of “Bodhisattvas as numerous as the Ganges’ sands, with various causes and conditions, seeking the path to Buddhahood”. We now continue to discuss the many Bodhisattvas there. By now there were numerous Bodhisattvas there at Vulture Peak, listening to the Buddha teach the Lotus Sutra. Some came from other lands and some emerged from the ground. Since the stupa of treasures appeared in the air, Sakyamuni Buddha entered it and sat together with Many Treasures Buddha inside the stupa. Nothing had changed; they were still inside. There were Bodhisattvas from other lands, those who emerged from the ground, as well as Bodhisattvas from that place who had all come one after the other. There were so many Bodhisattvas there, as numerous the sands of the Ganges River.
At the assembly, Maitreya Bodhisattva represented all those Bodhisattvas in asking the Buddha for teachings. We discussed this sutra passage previously. As we continue to recall from the past, in the Introductory Chapter, we began to see. “Bodhisattvas as numerous as Ganges’ sands, with various causes and conditions, seeking the path to Buddhahood.” This is what we recall from our memory of the past.
In particular, it also states in the Chapter on Skillful Means, “All of those World-Honored Ones gave teachings of the One Vehicle Dharma to transform countless sentient beings and lead them to the path to Buddhahood”.
We should recall this as well. This happened in the Chapter on Skillful Means. There were already many sentient beings whom the Buddha transformed. We were speaking several days ago about the Bodhisattvas who came to great the Buddha. They asked Him, “Are You healthy? Are sentient beings easy to transform?” The Buddha replied, “I transformed these sentient beings before. I taught and transformed them previously, so they are very easy to transform, and they listen to me”. We should still remember this. We are about to combine what we discussed before with this situation that we are discussing now. In our “one mind”, we must always remember this Dharma. We need to connect the meaning of the Dharma that we discussed previously with [the teachings] that come later. How do we connect them all together? This is especially [important because] every passage always leads us to the reality [of our lives]. This is not a vague or empty discussion of theories and principles. Actually, this is meant to help us return to the reality of the world. We must put what we learn to use. These teachings and principles we are learning should be applied in our daily living. So, we must mindfully seek to put these teachings to good use, and we must connect them all together.
The previous sutra passage states, “This great group of countless trillions of Bodhisattvas has never been seen before. We wish for the Two-footed Monored One to explain this.
This is what Maitreya Bodhisattva said in hopes that we will truly realize and understand. If there are still things that we do no clearly understand, we should quickly ask questions. What we do not understand is called “doubts”. Where did these Bodhisattvas come from? What did they come for? Having come here, where [will they go]? These things were still not clear. This was what Maitreya Bodhisattva was thinking, so, putting himself in the others’ positions, he said, “On behalf of these many Bodhisattvas, this is what everyone’s minds wish to know. We have these doubts, so o ask the Two-footed Honored One [to explain]”. This [refers to] the World-Honored One; “Two-footed” means that He is replete in both blessings and wisdom. Thus, He is called the “Two-footed Honored One”. What Maitreya really wanted to know was where all these Bodhisattvas had come from.
Where did they come from? What causes and conditions brought them together? They have immense bodies, great spiritual powers, and inconceivable wisdom. their resolve and aspirations are firm and they have the great power of patience. Sentient beings take joy in seeing them, so, where did they come from?
“What causes and conditions brought them together? They have immense bodies, great spiritual powers. Why were people so joyful when they saw them? They had “inconceivable wisdom”. Their wisdom seemed inconceivable. It was indescribable, impossible to describe and truly inconceivable. “Their resolve aspirations are firm. Just by looking at them, [we know] these Bodhisattvas’ resolve and the aspirations are firm. This is what people felt just by looking at them. “They have the great power of patience. It was clear they had strong power of patience. “Sentient beings take joy in seeing them. Whoever saw these Bodhisattva felt joy. Upon looking at them, people gave rise to joy. One could discover so much just by looking at them. It was as if the kinds of virtuous conduct had appeared there before them.
People took joy in seeing these five kinds of virtuous conduct. “So, where did they come from?” where in fact had they all come from? So, “Each of those Bodhisattva…”.
The next sutra passage states, “Each of those Bodhisattvas leads a retinue that is countless in number, as numerous as the Ganges’ sands. Some of those great Bodhisattvas lead retinues as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers. These great multitudes seek the path to Buddhahood with one mind.
This sutra passage goes on to say that these many Bodhisattva had arrived there, each with their own retinue in tow. Each of the Bodhisattva brought along a retinue. The numbers in their retinues were impossible to count, so their numbers were said to be as numerous as the “Ganges’ sands”. “The Ganges’ sands expresses how their number was impossible to count. He used “the Ganges’ sands” as a metaphor. So, the numbers in the retinues that each had brought along with them were so great, they seemed as numerous as the Ganges’ sands. “Some of those great Bodhisattva lead retinues as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers. These great multitudes seek the path to Buddhahood with one mind.” Some of those Bodhisattvas were great Bodhisattva. Those great Bodhisattva had all brought retinues with them that numbered as many as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers. “These great multitudes seek the path to Buddhahood with one mind.” There were so many of these Bodhisattva and each of those Bodhisattva had retinues as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers. Clearly these are difficult numerous to describe. They are astronomical numers.
Some of those great Bodhisattva lead retinues as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers. These great multitudes seek the path one mind: Each of these Bodhisattva led an assembly as numerous as the Ganges’ sands. These assemblies all sought the path to Buddhahood with one mind.
So, “Each of these Bodhisattva led an assembly as numerous as the Ganges’ sands. These Bodhisattva “led” the others. They were leaders who led the others. Those Bodhisattva led assemblies as numerous as the sands of so many Ganges Rivers. They were evidently great Bodhisattvas. They must have been very experienced Bodhisattvas to be able to deliver so many Sentient beings. So, “These assembly were all of one mind”. Each and every one of them was single-minded in seeking the Buddha-Dharma. That was how focused they were in seeking the path to Buddhahood.
The next sutra passage goes on to say, “These great teachers as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers have all come to make offerings to the Buddha and to safeguard and uphold this sutra. those who lead [retinues] as numerous as the sands of 50,000 Ganges Rivers are even more numerous than those mentioned earlier.
Their numbers were very great. They must have been great teachers, great Bodhisattvas, to be able to transform so many sentient beings. those they had led there were as numerous as 60,000 Ganges Rivers’ sands. We can see that the Dharma-assembly was huge, for such large numbers of people to come listen to the Buddha-Dharma. Furthermore, they came not only to make offerings to those Buddhas, but also to safeguard and uphold this sutra. They wished to listen to the sutra and safeguard it. Many of them had come to safeguard this sutra. so, as we said before, wherever the Dharma is taught, there will be many Dharam-protectous there!
We must not view this space as empty. In fact, we must constantly be reverent while we are present in this space. We must be careful with our speech. Every word we speak should be virtuous because this spiritual training ground has an infinite number of Dharma-protectors. Some of them have form and some do not. There are humans that we can see and other dharma-protectors that we cannot see, like Bodhisattva and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. So, we must always be mindful. Therefore, we should not think, “These numbers in the sutra are as many as the sands in the Ganges. With so many Bodhisattvas there, how could there have been enough space for them? Indeed, that was what I thought at the start, but after thinking about it more deeply, we must truly comprehend the “mind”. The “mind” responds to all things, for it reaches throughout the void unhindered. People are listening to the Dharma everywhere since it “reaches throughout the void unhindered”. This is what we need to mindfully comprehend; we must have faith in this. So, “These great teachers as numerous as the sands of 60,000 Ganges Rivers have all come to make offerings to the Buddha”. this expresses the sincerity and reverence as the came to listen to the Dharma. Moreover, it conveys their willingness to safeguard this sutra. wherever the Dharma was taught, that is where they would safeguard it. “those who lead [retinues] as numerous as the sands of 50,000 Ganges Rivers are “even more numerous than those mentioned earlier. These are great numbers.
The senior Bodhisattvas led retinues as numerous as the sands of 50,000 or 60,000 Ganges Rivers. They all came to make offerings because they wished to serve the Buddha and uphold the sutra.
This conveys their “seniority”. “Senior” refers to the leading Bodhisattvas. When Maitreya Bodhisattva described what was happening, he mentioned the “senior Bodhisattvas”. Do we still remember this? There were four Bodhisttvas who were senior leaders, the teachers of their assemblies, and their retinues were as numerous as the sands of 50,000 or 60,000 Ganges Rivers. So, they were all there to make offerings to those Buddhas and uphold the sutra. These numbers all have meanings that we should try to understand. Actually, when it comes to any knowledge, if we can understand numbers, then we can understand the principles. Nowadays, we live in a digital world. Digital and electronic [devices] are very common. They all depend on numbers. Computers are all inventions that depend upon numbers. Medicine too is dependent on numbers. So, numbers [were even relevant] to the Buddha more than 2000 years ago. So for this topic, He helped us mindfully [understand] these numbers.
Numbers can be very simple; if we are simply talking about numbers, there is not much to say. However, numbers can represent many truly subtle and intricate principles. So, there are many principles which follow. If we extend our discussion to the sciences, it will be too broad [a scope]. We come to understand these numbers are infinite because they “reach through the void unhindered when dispersed” and they pervade our space. These great principles are all contained within “the one mind”. Discovering these numbers, calculating them and describing them requires “the one mind”.
The next sutra passage continues, “Some lead disciples as numerous as the sands of 40,000 or 30,000, 20,000 or even 10,000, 1000, 100 and so forth, all the down to a single Ganges Rivers, or one-half, one-third, one-fourth, or one trillionth thereof, down to one in ten million nayutas or trillions of disciples.”
There were so many of these disciples. Starting with a large number, it continuously decreased. Do we still remember this? We talked about this a few days ago. The numbers started high. This is in the prose section, where they were first described as being many, from several tens of thousands of Ganges Rivers. It uses the metaphor of the “Ganges’ sands”. It uses these numbers; 60,000, 50,000, 40,000, 30,000, 20,000, 10,000. The number decreases until it reaches [the amount of] sand in a single Ganges River. From the amount of sand in one Ganges River, it decreases again by half, which becomes a third, which is again reduced to a quarter. Thus, it keeps decreasing like this. [The number] keeps on decreasing continuously until it has decreased to “one trillionth thereof”. From so many disciples, they steadily decrease until they number in the “trillions of disciples”.
Or one-half, one-third, one-fourth, or one trillionth thereof, down to one in ten million nayutas or trillions of disciples: The aggregate of form in the world undergoes countless trillions of changes, but returns to one.
The aggregate of form in the world, is always deteriorating. The aggregate of form describes how everything that has form is constantly undergoing infinitesimal changes. So, we often say, “The four elements all are empty,” and “the five aggregates all are empty”. Isn’t this the truth? [Among] form, feeling, perception, action and consciousness, “[the aggregate of] action” is also like this! We often speak of “action and consciousness”; action, consciousness and consciousness of action refer to the aggregate of action. An “aggregate” is something that accumulates. There are so many of these “aggregates”. There is such a great number of aggregates, so many aggregates that their numbers are impossible to calculate. This is like when I just came outside. The sun had not yet risen. There was only a dim light, but before I knew it, the sun had already risen high. The light was different then. When did the sky become bright? People often say, “The sky became bright before we knew it” or “The sky became dark before we knew it”. These both happen in the span of seconds. So, when it comes to the “aggregates,” the “aggregate of action” happens constantly, without us even knowing it. Things are continually disappearing. Within our bodies, our cells also continuously arise and disappear very quickly. They arise and disappear at a rapid rate. This is why we age. How does the body deteriorate? How does it become old? The body’s cells are continually arising and disappearing. This is the “aggregate of action”. In our bodies, our physical bodies, the “aggregate of action” is always at work. [It also happens] to external things, even for this bonsai before me. If we leave it for a few days without any water, the plant will wither and dry up. We say that it withers and dries up, but the process that happens is the continuous [effect of] the “aggregate of action”. These “aggregates” are continuously changing. These things that have come together are continuously undergoing change, continuously moving along and transforming. So, there are millions of changes [happening]. In the span of a second, there are millions of changes [that happen]. Within things, there are millions of changes. There really are millions of them. There are not only millions of changes but “ten thousand trillions” of changes ten thousand trillion is a “zhao,” too many to possibly describe, but it all eventually return to zero. We keep talking about these great numbers, but in the end, they return to zero.
The sutra passage continues, “There are also those with down to half a billion [disciples]. These [teachers] are even more numerous than those mentioned earlier There are also those with one million down to ten thousand, one thousand, one hundred, fifty, ten, all the way down to three, two or one [disciple].”
These numbers continuously decrease “in sequence”. The number continuously counts down, “from the many to the few, gradually decreasing until eventually reaching zero”. This is what is happening here. I kept wondering how we can analyze these numbers. We analyze them like this, “in sequence”. They start from a great number and then they keep decreasing. What point do they decrease to? They gradually decrease “until eventually reaching zero”. In the end, they reach zero. This is like the speed of light in the darkness. In the winter and the fall, when I leave my room, the sky is still dark. Sometimes I can see that the moon has not gone down yet. I come out to the hall to sit here and teach, and as the moon slowly sets, the sun rises and it is now dawn. I am always reminded of how fast the speed of light is. This is a principle; there is wondrous existence in emptiness. It is what we call “wondrous existence in emptiness.” When we look at the sky, we watch as the moon and the sun take each other’s place, orbiting in this way.
From morning, evening, noon and so forth, every day ends at [midnight,] the zero hour. Then, it starts all over again from zero. Isn’t every 24-hour day like this? When it reaches midnight, that is when it “eventually reaches zero.” When 12 months come to an end, they have “eventually reached zero,” and then it begins again.
In summary, this is how life is; we should be mindful in every second. Each of our thoughts “reaches throughout the void unhindered.” They are all-pervasive; they are present in all places. Our minds go everywhere. When we mention Argentina, Brazil or anywhere else in the world, in less than a second, my mind is there. Wherever it may be in the world, we can reach throughout the void unhindered. Technology is also very advanced “Come, please take a look for me. We have a videoconference with this country.” We can instantly videoconference with any country in the world, whether [our volunteers] are in Argentina or in Nepal or wherever they are. As long as I think of a place, I can make a phone call to the people there. When the call is connected, that person will appear before me, and so will the things that surround him. All of this will appear before me.
When I was in Taipei, there was a lay practitioner there in the hospital in critical condition. I was concerned about his condition, so when he recovered and was in a hospital ward, he said he wanted to put my mind at ease by having me take a look at him. He was in our Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital talking to one of our Dharma masters on the phone. He asked to let me look in on him. When they gave me the phone, I could see him and I could talk with him. When I gave the phone back, they told me, “Master, he can see you too.” I said, “Can he see me?” They told me, “He can!” His image immediately showed on the screen, and he said, “I can see you! Look Master, we are talking together!” So, this is how I feel, anytime and [wherever we are], there are ears and eyes on the walls. “We are always being watched.” This is today’s technology! The more we develop our technology, the more seriously we are destroying our climate etc. because we are destroying our resources. There is both “benefit” and “harm” in this. We “benefit” because of these conveniences, but in the process we destroy nature. The profound wonders in life have all disappeared. We no longer see them as profoundly wondrous. Everything is now exposed. For people nowadays, they value what is in front of them less and less, so they bring less and less value to their lives.
So, we must earnestly seize the present moment. As we gain more wisdom to develop these things, their value to us is steadily decreasing. We must still make good use of our time and always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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