Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Bodhisattvas with Might and Virtue (威德菩薩 其從何來)
Date: November.14.2018
“Having the power of subdue all evil is called ‘great might’. Having the merit of safeguarding the virtuous Dharma is called ‘great virtue’. The great might and virtue of Bodhisattvas come from upholding their power of vows. They each cultivate virtue according to their nature and head in the direction of perfect enlightenment.”
We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. We often hear the words “might and virtue”. People of might and virtue are able to lead sentient beings. Speaking of might and virtue, what is “might”? “Might” is “having the power to subdue all evil.” “This is called ‘great might’.” How do we subdue negative habitual tendencies, evil thoughts and evil deeds? We must mindfully transform them. The way we transform them is inseparable from sights and sound. “Sights” refers to our appearances. Some people engage in spiritual practice every day. They cultivate internally over many years, so when people see their appearance, there is an aura of might, virtue and dignity. This is like how the students of Confucius described his appearance as “gentle but strict, mighty but not aggressive.” He was gentle but had a very mighty demeanor. This is called “might and virtue.”
According to the Buddha-Dharma, might and virtue must be cultivated over many lifetimes. We must engage in cultivation for a long time to develop such virtue. When we are cultivating and practicing, we cultivate internally and practice externally. When we cultivate ourselves, we gain merits. To gain merit, we must put in the effort. We must constantly put in the effort, making sure we do not get distracted. We must [focus] our minds on practicing the Dharma in our daily living. This is what it means to put in the effort.
We must take the Dharma to heart and actualize it in our daily living to experience it [personally] by bringing together mattes and principles. Those who listen have the Dharma, and those who practice have the principles. In this way, we can unite the principles with matters. Then, in our lives, we will naturally have a gentle demeanor. We will not treat people with force or aggression, so people will not feel scared. They will not be scared, but they will not dare to be careless either. This is using might and virtue to subdue people. The Buddha was like this. He had a dignified demeanor and was strict and mighty, but He did not cause people to feel scared. There were many people who enjoyed drawing near to Him.
As soon as they saw Him, naturally, they did not dare to give rise to evil thoughts. This is what it means to subdue, to subdue these evil forces. So long as they thought of, saw or drew near to Him, naturally, their past negative habitual tendencies would gradually be eliminated. This is having the power to subdue all evil. Having such power is called “great might”.
In addition, “Having the merit of safeguarding the virtuous Dharma is called ‘great virtue’.” As we are able to attain the virtuous Dharma, we must constantly safeguard it. As Buddhist practitioners, we must safeguard the Dharma. Only by safeguarding the Dharma can we spread the Dharma. Since it is the Dharma, listening to it makes us joyful. We respect and take joy in the Dharma, so of course, we must safeguard the Dharma. We must put it into practice. This is what the Dharma teaches us. We must apply this Dharma to our [actions]; we must not do things that go against the Dharma, because when people know that we are learning the Dharma, they will watch our behavior. If we [uphold] the Dharma well, then our behavior will be good. This is called “safeguarding the Dharma.”
We must not [claim] we are applying the Dharma and make others think, “You are not someone who learns the Dharma! What you learn teaches you to be like this. Your habitual tendencies are still present, and thoughts of evil are still in your mind. There are thoughts of evil in your mind, and these are the kinds of actions you take. This is the Dharma [you follow].” Is this really what the Dharma is like? The Buddha taught us to conduct ourselves with a dignified demeanor, [displaying] virtuous Dharma through our demeanor. The Buddha has always taught us to truly take the Dharma to heart. We must put it into practice in our daily living. Our demeanor in itself teaches the Dharma; our appearance teaches the Dharma. In our spiritual practice, why do we need to gather in a monastic community? Spiritual practice centers teach us the Dharma. Does this mean that in a spiritual community, we must constantly speak to teach the Dharma? No, it does not. As for the environment of a spiritual community, where does this come from? This environment comes from the spiritual practitioners’ appearances and their way of life. This enables people who enter into this spiritual community to break free from the troubles of the external world and from worldly afflictions and turbidities.
When it comes to their state of mind, as people enter the spiritual community, their state of mind will naturally break free from the external world of disturbances and confusion. This is what is known as a spiritual community. This is called “situational teachings”. This is education that comes from our environment. These teachings from our environment occur among people; [they come from] interpersonal relationships, mutual respect and the harmony and joy [they bring]. So, there are the Six Points of Reverent Harmony for a monastic community.
The Six Points of Reverent Harmony create a landscape of situational teachings. As people see this environment, when they see this landscape, their hearts will be influenced by its teachings. This is what it means to be a spiritual community.
So, we say, “safeguard the virtuous Dharma”. The state of the environment is also safeguarding the virtuous Dharma. This state comes from the sights and sounds between people. When the sights and sounds demonstrate the Six Points of Reverent Harmony, this is the best Dharma in the monastic community. In this monastic community, people will come by, pass through and be transformed by it. Naturally, they will understand what the Buddha-Dharma is like. This is called the nourishment of the Buddha-Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha-Dharma. For this nourishing Buddha-Dharma, they safeguard the virtuous Dharma so that once people arrive, they will be influenced by this pure, undefiled and guileless atmosphere. This is safeguarding the virtuous Dharma.
Do we need to [physically be] in this environment to safeguard the virtuous Dharma? Everyone’s mind is a spiritual training ground. We have always said that in the ground of everyone’s mind, we must truly form aspirations so that the virtuous seeds will grow from the ground of our minds. With this field of seeds of goodness, we can let “one [seed] give rise to infinity”. For this power of merits and virtuous, we must engage in spiritual practice every day. How do we engage in spiritual practice? We do so in our thoughts. Our thoughts are the most virtuous seeds. Every thought of goodness is a seed of goodness. The words we speak and the kind thoughts we have are all seeds. When others listen and take it to heart, we can transplant and sow this seed of goodness in the ground of their mind. Then, they will bring this seed back and let it become one with the ground of their mind. Naturally, with this seed in their mind, the seeds of goodness will grow again.
This is how we safeguard the virtuous Dharma. From our minds, our actions and the Dharma we listen to, we must make us of what we hear. We must make use of it in the self-cultivation that we practice. With the self-cultivation we put into practice naturally, we can draw near to people and give them a sense of goodness. With that goodness, we can subdue our evil thoughts. If our good thoughts are strong, even when others have evil thoughts in mind naturally, the strong energy of our goodness will make their evil thoughts slowly fade away. This is an atmosphere.
So, we must put mindfully seek to develop this atmosphere. This atmosphere is the demeanor we cultivate. Whether we are in the monastic community or just talking with people on our own, we must always have this demeanor. Naturally, we can have “the power to subdue evil” and “the merit of safeguarding the virtuous Dharma”. Thus, this is called “might and virtue”.
Of course, we must build up to this mindfully. How long did the Buddha spend building up to this? He did this over many lifetimes and kalpas. He has already attained “great might and virtue”. Bodhisattvas are the same; They constantly build up from small acts of goodness to great acts of goodness. We say that “Many grains of rice make a bushel and many drops of water make a river.” Many drops of water can become a river with pure water. This means we must build up to this drop by drop. Spiritual practice is built up over every minute and second until it becomes a long time of practice. “This great might and virtue of Bodhisattvas comes from upholding their power of vows.” Bodhisattvas are like this; they also accept the Buddha’s teachings. They are all the same in this.
Now, at Vulture Peak, they all gathered together. There were so many Bodhisattvas, as numerous as the sands of countless Ganges Rivers. These people were “Bodhisattvas of great might and virtue” because they upheld the power of vows. They built up goodness bit by bit and continuously engaged in spiritual practice over a long time. Thus, because of this power of vows, they built up “great might and virtue”. This came from their body, speech, mind and power of vows.
So, for every Bodhisattva, “They each cultivate virtue according to their nature and head in the direction of perfect enlightenment.” Everyone accumulates their spiritual practice and attains virtue. Because of their spiritual practice, because they put effort into their internal cultivation, they externally express a dignified demeanor and [good] habitual tendencies. This is very natural. When people see them, they give rise to joy.
“As they see and listen to them, they feel joyful.” This is called “might and virtue”. These are people of perfect virtues. Bodhisattvas strive for perfect virtues and “perfect enlightenment”. Bodhisattvas are called “awakened sentient beings”. They are still learning; they are sentient beings who continuously walk toward the path of enlightenment. Their goal is to attain Buddhahood. So, in order to reach the state of perfect enlightenment, they cultivate virtue. The direction that Bodhisattvas who cultivate their virtue head in is “perfect enlightenment”; they head towards “perfect enlightenment”. This is describing to us that these Bodhisattvas had built up a lot. They came having built up merits and virtues; they constantly built up these virtues. So, they had might and virtue. So, spiritual practice is constantly built up like this over time. In the beginning, we must give rise to thought; this is called “forming aspirations”.
So, we often see people saying, “Wow! You truly formed great aspirations!”. In fact, speaking of forming aspirations, the most important part of spiritual practice is to form aspirations. Since we formed initial aspirations, in every second of every minute, we must remember that initial aspiration. The moment when we formed our initial aspiration was the time we were the most enthusiastic. If we constantly maintain such an enthusiastic state of mind, we can diligently advance in the direction toward which we formed our aspirations. So, we must diligently advance in that direction. We must [maintain] our initial aspiration in our every thought and continuously advance forward diligently and proactively.
In spiritual practice, it is most important to form aspirations. Only by forming aspirations can we have a direction; only when we have a direction can we reach the fruit of the path. We must form aspirations to walk the path and also be able to help others form aspirations. These aspirations are assisting conditions. Thus, we must take joy in the Buddha’s great wisdom and give rise to Bodhicitta.
Ordinary people like us are very proactive when we first form aspirations .As ordinary people, we are proactive with our initial aspiration. We are filled with reverence and love and [the desire] to seek and follow [our aspirations]. But his [proactiveness] gradually eases and becomes lax. Although we are still headed toward this path, we are taking it slowly. In this way, we are no longer proactive, and in the end, we will fall behind others. So, proactiveness is called diligence. Among the Six paramitas, there is “diligence”. There are giving, uphold precepts and diligence. Although Bodhisattvas engage in spiritual practice lifetime after lifetime, they cannot stop being diligent. Being diligent means [maintaining] our initial aspiration and being proactive. We must be focused without discursive thoughts and advance without retreating. When we keep our initial aspirations in our hearts without any discursive thoughts, this is called being “focused”. We must “advance”, proactively advance forward. This all requires us to maintain our initial aspiration without discursive thoughts.
This means that we must never waver from our initial aspiration; we must be free of discursive thoughts. When advancing forward, we must never slow our pace; we must keep advancing step by step. This is called “diligence”. To Bodhisattvas, this diligence is their general direction. So, they [practice] giving, upholding precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom, these Six Paramitas, and “actualize them in all actions”. They use countless methods to transform people, but their duty is to uphold their principles and direction. This is diligence.
We must have all Six [Paramitas]. This is called a “direction”. With a “direction” we can then attain the fruit of the path. So, we must all make vows. “We must form aspirations to walk the path”. We should form aspirations to head toward this path. Since we have found this path, we must advance forward. We must “also be able to help others form aspirations”. We must not just be diligent ourselves. We should all be diligent together. We must diligently head toward the path and help everyone advance toward it together. As we form aspirations ourselves, we also hope for others to form aspirations with us. “These aspirations are beneficial conditions”. We must form aspirations like these so we can grow our good affinities every day. This way, our good affinities can continue to grow every day. Then, we can constantly widely transform sentient beings. Everyone who sees us will be joyful; they will draw near to us and will be able to eliminate thoughts of evil and unwholesome teachings. This is the most important teaching for us to bring purity to people’s hearts. We formed aspirations, so “We must take joy in the Buddha’s great wisdom”.
Therefore, we must seek the Buddha-Dharma and “take joy in the Buddha’s great wisdom”. We must seek the great wisdom of perfect enlightenment equal to the Buddha’s. We must constantly “give rise to Bodhicitta”. When we see so many Bodhisattvas seeking the Buddha-Dharma and accepting the Great Vehicle Dharma that the Buddha taught the Bodhisattvas, we must be even more diligent. How can we truly attain the Buddha’s teachings? We must actualize them in our daily living. Our present environment is different from that of the Buddha’s era.
Now, sentient beings are suffering, and they have severe mental conditions. Sentient beings are suffering more now, and the world’s population is growing. In the Buddha’s era, the population was not very high around the world. How about now? So, of course there is “suffering, the truth of suffering”. The suffering that the Buddha saw in the world did not end. As the world’s population grows, the suffering grows with it. As the world’s population increases, so does the suffering. So at this time, we cannot only seek to benefit ourselves. We must practice the Bodhisattva-path. So, previously, we talked about many large numbers. There were so many Bodhisattvas that they could not even be counted using the numerous sands of the Ganges River; they were incalculable. Even if numbers continuously decreased to half or to one-trillionth of [the Ganges’s sands], they were still incalculable.
There were so many Bodhisattvas who formed aspirations. In fact, each Bodhisattva [symbolized] a teaching. Each Bodhisattva [represents] a teaching that we are about to learn. This is how they are described.
So, the previous sutra passage mentioned, “There ae those who come alone without a retinue, taking joy in solitude. They all come to the place of the Buddha, and they are even more numerous than those mentioned earlier”.
This means that those who were alone and without a retinue also came to Vulture Peak. These people are even more numerous than those mentioned earlier. From those who came with many people to those who came alone, they came as “a jostling crowd”. [Those who came alone] were even more numerous.
With such great multitudes, if someone were to tally their number, after kalpas as numerous as Ganges’ sands, they still would not know it completely.
“With such great multitudes, if someone were to tally their number…”. With so many people, if someone were to count them [one by one], it would be impossible to do so even “after kalpas as numerous as Ganges’ sands”. Even if we [measured the time] in “Ganges’ sands,” it would be such a long time; one grain of sand counts as one kalpa, and one kalpa is several billion years. So, even after such a long time, we would still be unable to finish counting them. We cannot understand how great the number is. This shows that there is so much Dharma. How much Dharma is in the world? Just within the space we see, whether they are Dharma-protectors, goblins and monsters or the eight classes of Dharma-protectors, there are many who listen to the Dharma in this place.
The Buddha mentions “all living, moving beings”. Whether we see them or not, they are all within this space. So, we must be vigilant in everything, in giving rise to the slightest thought, in our speech and more. Like people said in the past, “There are spiritual beings three inches above us”. Whether we say good words or harsh words, everything that we say is recorded. Every one of [our words] is a seed. When you let a seed of evil enter someone’s heart, this perpetuates an act of evil. One the other hand, with phrases that help people joyfully accept the virtuous Dharma, [the seeds] also grow intangibly.
So, we accept the Dharma. So, we accept the Dharma in our surroundings, because everything that we say takes the form of a seed that enters our minds. [These seeds] are infinite.
The following sutra passage continues to state, “As to this group of diligent Bodhisattvas of great might and virtue, who expounded the Dharma for them and taught them until they reached attainment?” Who helped them form initial aspirations? What Buddha-Dharma did they praise and promote? “Whose sutra did they accept, uphold and practice? Which Buddha’s path did they cultivate and practice?”
It was Maitreya Bodhisattva who asked the Buddha on behalf of so many Bodhisattvas, “Why did so many Bodhisattvas suddenly emerge from the ground?” Everyone had this doubt in their minds. For what causes and conditions had they come? Maitreya asked the Buddha on everyone’s behalf. So, previously, there were so many questions. [He asked] “As to this group of diligent Bodhisattvas of great might and virtue…. Venerable Buddha, now we see so many [Bodhisattvas] who captivate our minds and make us give rise to great joy in our minds when we see them”. They are all diligent Bodhisattvas with might and virtue. How did these diligent Bodhisattvas come to be? How are they so dignified, diligent and have such might and virtue?
How do people become subdued just by looking at them? “For what causes and conditions did they come?” Because these Bodhisattvas all had great might and virtue, they had to be very diligent people.
As to this group of diligent Bodhisattvas of great might and virtue: These numerous great Bodhisattvas had great might and virtue and diligently practiced and advanced. They were dignified, so they had might. They had loving-kindness, so they had virtue. They could subdue [evil], so they had might. They could embrace others, so they had virtue.
So, “They are dignified, so they have might”. Spiritual practitioners appear very dignified to others. Imperceptibly, through their physical conduct, other will feel a sense of submission. “I want to do something, but I am afraid to do it in front of him”. It is this kind of great might and virtue. They not only have great might and virtue but also loving-kindness. So, naturally, people will be subdued by them. “They can subdue [evil], so they have might”. They can embrace others, so they have virtue. They are spiritual practitioners with might and virtue. Whom do they follow as their teacher? Who is their teacher? Who expounded the Dharma for them? What kind of Dharma did they accept to help them engage in such great spiritual practice and [achieve] such might and virtue?
We see might and virtue not only through their conduct. In all directions, they too must have “taught [others] in their spiritual practice so that they attained the fruit of the path”. This is why he brought so many people here. Who was the teacher of these Bodhisattvas? Who was the teacher of these Bodhisattvas? What Dharma did [the teacher] teach them to help them succeed and go on to teach other people and bring so many retinues of followers? These were their doubts.
Who expounded the Dharma for them and taught them until they reached attainment?: Whom did they follow as their teacher? Who had expounded the Dharma for them, taught them in their spiritual practice so that they attained the fruit of the path? He asked who was the one who had expounded the Dharma and taught them. This means that, having attained the benefit from listening and contemplating, they had to have a teacher that they follow, So, who was the one whose teachings they follow, the one who had opened their obstructed minds?
He asked [the Buddha], “Those who expounded the Dharma and taught others had to have attained great benefits for themselves, so who was their teacher?” They had to have attained great benefits, attained great Dharma, listened to it, mindfully contemplated it and given rise to this Dharma in their mind and the ways to teach it. If this was not the case, how could they go on to transform so many people? This is not something that can be fully understood without being taught. They had to have a teacher. How did he teach the Dharma to them? What kind of teacher did they follow? [Maitreya Bodhisattva] kept asking Him, “Who was the teacher of these Bodhisattvas?” From which Buddha did these Bodhisattvas receive their teachings so that they had such a great direction and opened their obstructed minds?” This is such a broad path, but there are many weeds. There was a direction, a guiding direction, that helped them understand which direction to walk in. So, they worked hard to clear away the weeds. Once they were removed, indeed, there was a path. This is what we call “sudden clarity”. After clearing the weeds, there was suddenly a broad path. Since they knew to open this path, there must have been someone who pointed them in the direction? Who was this person? Where did this direction lead to? So, “Who helped them form initial aspirations? What Buddha-Dharma did they praise and promote?”
Who helped them form initial aspirations? What Buddha-Dharma did they praise and promote? : Which Buddha’s teachings did they usually praise and promote? Who helped them form their initial aspirations? This means in a 90,000 miles journey south, the first step is most important. So, who was their guide?
Who helped them form initial aspirations? Who was this person? The person whose Dharma they praised and promoted showed them the direction, and now they always praised the path and the Dharma. This is like our Tzu Chi volunteers doing Tzu Chi work. Our “Dharma-lineage and School of Buddhism” gives us a direction. How do we open the path and how do we walk on it? We also have a direction. This is called our “School of Buddhism”. Our objective is to head in this direction. We must have this lineage and the guidance of this direction.
Then, everyone begins to work hard, opening this broad path. The principle is the same. In order to spread this Dharma-door, we need an objective. If we want to advance this Dharma-door, we need the Dharma-lineage; we need a direction so that we can spread the Dharma. So, we must “praise and promote” and spread the Dharma; we should just do it.
So, as these Bodhisattvas came now, Maitreya kept asking about the Bodhisattvas’ origin and how they came to be. “Who helped them form initial aspirations?” Where did they begin to form aspirations? Why were there so many people walking all the way down the path like this? We must understand that a road of many miles also begins with the initial step. To walk many miles, we must take our initial step.
Whether it is 90,000 or 100,000 miles, we must take our initial step. There must be a guide to show them how to walk in that direction. “Whose sutra did they accept, uphold and practice?” Which sutra did they accept, uphold and practice? Which paths did they take? “Which Buddha’s path did they cultivate and practice?” Which Buddha gave them this method to help them form initial aspirations?
Whose sutra did they accept, uphold and practice? Which Buddha’s path did they cultivate and practice?: Whose sutra did they accept, uphold and put into practice? Which Buddha’s path did they cultivate and put into practice? They praised and promoted the Buddha-Dharma to benefit others. They accepted, upheld and read the sutra to benefit themselves. In cultivating and practicing it, they had to have a teacher from whom they accepted the teachings. May I ask who the teacher they follow is?
“The sutra is a path” To have this sutra and a path to practice, whose [guidance] did they receive from the start? “Whose sutra did they accept, uphold and put into practice?” Where did it come from? “Which Buddha’s path did they cultivate and put into practice?” Which Buddha was He? Which Buddha began to guide these Bodhisattvas to form their initial aspirations? Where did their initial aspiration come from? So, “They praised and promoted the Buddha-Dharma to benefit others. They accepted, upheld and read the sutra to benefit themselves”. Praising and promoting the Buddha-Dharma benefits others. As we constantly spread the Dharma, we are benefiting others. As we constantly read and listen to the sutra, we are benefiting ourselves. To benefit others and ourselves, we must continuously engage in spiritual practice. So, we must “seek the Dharma to transform others”. While we listen to the Dharma, we must put it into practice. Whatever benefits sentient beings, we must do it. There will definitely be ways to do it. How do we accept this Dharma? How does someone teach us, and how do we accept it? There has to be someone who teaches us. If there is no one to teach us, how can we accept [the teachings]? So, “In cultivating and practicing it, they had to have a teacher from whom they accepted the teachings”. They constantly practiced and accepted the teachings. Since they were able to cultivate and learn, there had to be someone to teach them to accept it. “May I ask who the teacher they follow is?” What was the origin of their objective? Who was [the teacher]? [Maitreya] was trying to understand the objective.
The next sutra passage continues with, “These Bodhisattvas have spiritual powers and great power of wisdom. The ground in the four directions quaked and slit open, and they all emerged from within. World-Honored One, we have never seen anything like this before. We wish You will tell us the name of the land from whence they came.”
This means [Maitreya] continuously praised these Bodhisattvas who emerged from the ground. These Bodhisattvas were all extraordinary. They certainly came from somewhere. They did not come from nowhere; they must have come from somewhere. So, [Maitreya] said that these people, these Bodhisattvas, must have had great spiritual powers and great power of wisdom. They were not ordinary people. They must have been Bodhisattvas of [great] causes and conditions.
The first two sentences praise their virtues. Abiding in the air shows their spiritual power. All their methods of praise shows their power of wisdom.
So, how did they come here? With their great spiritual powers and great power of wisdom, they were able to emerge from the ground. The ground suddenly split apart and these Bodhisattvas emerged from it. What kind of power was it that caused so many Bodhisattvas to emerge? In particular, they emerged from all directions, from “beneath the four directions”. He hoped the Buddha could answer these questions.
These Bodhisattvas have spiritual powers and great power of wisdom. The ground in the four directions quaked and split open, and they all emerged from within: They had great spiritual powers and great power of wisdom. The ground split open by itself and they all emerged from the ground. They came from beneath the four directions. He requested and answer as to their origin. This group that emerged did not come from far away, so they must have come from somewhere. He wished that the Buddha would disclose the name of their lands.
So, this group that emerged from the ground “did not come from far away, so they must have come from somewhere.” Where did they come from? There must have been a starting point. No matter where they emerged from, they must have had a starting point. So, “He wished that the Buddha would disclose [the name of] their lands.” He asked the Buddha to explain which land these people came from. What kind of causes and conditions did they have? What was the name [of the land they came from]? This means he asked the Buddha to introduce where these people came from.
This is like when our Bodhisattvas from abroad come to Taiwan, they will all introduce themselves. They will introduce which country they came from, what their names are and the causes and conditions they have for joining Tzu Chi and for the things they have done. They will all introduce themselves. So, the world that the Buddha was in is the same as the world of us sentient beings. “World-Honored One, we have never seen anything like this before. We wish you will tell us the name of the land from whence they came.”
World-Honored One, we have never seen anything like this before. We wish you will tell us the name of the land from whence they came: He said to the Buddha, the World-Honored One, that he had never seen such a thing and wished that the Buddha would tell him the name of the land from whence they came.
“World-Honored One! I have never seen these people before, and I do not know what causes and conditions brought forth this event. How could so many people from all directions emerge from the ground? I have never seen nor met these people. Can the Buddha quickly explain to us where these people come from?”
This is because they “had never seen” such a thing. They had never seen so many people. “We wish you will tell us the name of the land from whence they came.” This was what Maitreya Bodhisattva was looking forward to. He hoped to understand the causes and conditions of their arrival and understand every Bodhisattva’s process of spiritual practice. In their spiritual practice which they had built up over such a long time, what was their source [of inspiration] that enabled everyone to accumulate so much in their spiritual practice? Everyone engaged in spiritual practice, and their minds were filled with Dharma that made people curious. Where were their causes and conditions? [Maitreya] asked Sakyamuni Buddha to introduce them well.
Indeed, how would [the Buddha] introduce so many people? The Buddha was about to begin introducing them one by one. This was to help everyone understand the Dharma, the main content. So, this is called “the method of the intrinsic,” or the “intrinsic.” He taught “the method of the manifest” in the past and now “the method of the intrinsic” in order to explain how to return from appearances back to the principles. So, having brought together so many appearances, He had to begin to earnestly explain the principles it encompassed. We must truly work hard. In our daily living, we must understand the source of the Dharma. Now, we must “understand old Dharma with new insight.” For several years, I kept saying that Tzu Chi started 50 years ago. Which year did you join us? When you joined us, you did not know our past, so you had to quickly learn about our past origins and where we come from. We must know the source, but we must not abandon the present. Only then can we [clearly understand] our lineage and objective.
So, the principle is the same. Now, we must also work hard. I encourage everyone to truly seek the Dharma and take it to heart. So, as I hear how everyone is listening to the Dharma, I feel very relieved. By the same principle, Sakyamuni Buddha must have had this mindset. Not only does everyone listen to the Dharma, but I can also see them earnestly putting it into action. What they do benefits [people]. [The missions of] charity, medicine, education and humanistic culture are all benefiting people in the world. [Each mission] has its own methods, so that must understand one another and become one with one another. Likewise, Tzu Chi volunteers “practice the four missions as one,” so how can we still say that we do not understand the past or that we do not know about the present? So, as we listen to the sutra, we must also pay attention to every present day. Whether they are matters in the world or in Tzu Chi, we must thoroughly understand them all. So, every minute and every second, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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