Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Maitreya Is Abide to Ask about Great Matters (彌勒能問 佛之大事)
Date: November.20.2018
“The Buddha appeared for one great cause. He manifested to open and reveal His understanding and views for sentient beings to realize and enter. For the Lotus Assembly, the Buddha’s understanding and views were the one great matter. He used the manifest to reveal the intrinsic and returned to the source.”
Everyone must be mindful! [The Buddha] appeared in this world for one great cause. I have often talked about this. Sakyamuni Buddha only came to this world for one great cause. This one great cause was for the Buddha to open and reveal to sentient beings that everyone intrinsically has the Buddha’s understanding and views. So, He wished for everyone to “realize and enter the Buddha’s understanding and views.”
The Buddha wanted everyone to know that we ourselves have the same nature of True Suchness as the Buddha. He also wished that we ourselves could realize and enter [this understanding]. Since the Buddha has opened and revealed it, sentient beings should then realize and enter it. “To realize and enter” is to [attain] understanding and views equal to the Buddha’s. This is the Buddha’s greatest hope for His disciples and His greatest purpose for coming to this world. This means that “the mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are no different [in their nature].” The Buddha initially realized that the nature of sentient beings’ minds is equal to the Buddha’s. So, [He] wished for everyone to [reach] the same state of mind as His own.
Thus, we must not take ourselves lightly. We must not become dependent on the Buddha. Instead, the Buddha wants to tell us that we have the same capabilities as [Him]. We should not be dependent on another person. He hopes for everyone to become self-reliant and to know that we ourselves have this capability. These principles were [revealed] at the Lotus Dharma-assembly. The Buddha [came] for this one great cause. He wanted to make it clear to everyone that all sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature.
So, the purpose of the Lotus Assembly was “the Buddha’s understanding and views [which were] the one great matter.” This was His main goal for coming to the world and His one great cause for expounding the Dharma. The Buddha wished to express the sole purpose of His coming to this world, which was to expound the Lotus Sutra. He wanted everyone to know that in order to go among people, we all need confidence in ourselves, in that we can transform sentient beings. Before transforming sentient beings, we [must realize that] we intrinsically have Buddha-nature, the nature of True Suchness and [true] wisdom. Our capabilities are quite sufficient. He tells us to be confident, to give rise to self-confidence. This is the Buddha’s one great cause. He hopes that everyone can earnestly realize this for themselves. The Buddha had only spoken of His past. “He used the manifest to reveal the intrinsic and returned to the source.” [He explained] His past like this. Since Beginningless Time, throughout many lifetimes, for sentient beings’ sake, He ceaselessly came to this world. Every time He came to this world, He left His manifestations. So, He constantly spoke about past karmic causes and conditions. These past causes and conditions left behind [achievements] and footprints.
So, “He used the manifest to reveal the intrinsic.” Is everyone clear about His past? As for the Buddha’s present lifetime, everyone knows that the Buddha came from the royal palace in Kapilavastu. Everyone knows about His birth and His process [of growing up]. These are all called “manifestations”. He then attained Buddhahood, had many encounters and so on, accumulating [teachings] for over forty years. This was His current lifetime.
During the Lotus Dharma-assembly, He talked about the past, the time before that and further back in the past, prior to the start of Beginningless Time. There was no end. He kept revealing the manifest for everyone to clearly understand. This is not only true for the Buddha; each of us is the same as the Buddha. We too had our past lifetimes infinite lifetimes ago. The only difference is that the Buddha dedicated countless lifetimes [to helping] sentient beings. What about us ordinary people? We have no control and are born through karmic forces. Out of our own desires, we fight and grasp for our own sake, creating much ignorance. So, [negative] karmic forces keep entangling us, and we are in this world beyond our own control.
We had many past lives, as the Buddha did. The difference is that the Buddha had a purpose. He constantly returned on the ship of compassion, journeying on the power of His vows. So, He is called the Tathagata, who journeys on the Dharma of True Suchness to come to this world. He is called the Tathagata; as He repeatedly came and went, He has never departed from the Dharma-nature. With His bright and clear Dharma-nature, He thus comes [to this world]. What about us? We have lost our Dharma-nature, so we create [negative] karma due to our ignorance. Confused, we suffer lifetimes of retributions. This is the only difference. We have had many lifetimes, and the Buddha has also had many lifetimes. The only difference lies in [our ignorance]. So, we must be very mindful not to be delusional anymore. We must quickly establish our confidence promptly put this path into practice and walk forward to catch sight of our intrinsic nature again. This is the goal of our spiritual practice. So, “He used the manifest to reveal the intrinsic.” With His understanding of the past, now [He continued] to reveal the intrinsic nature of the Buddha, the Tathagata, and how He journeyed to this world. We must mindfully seek to comprehend and understand how the Buddha returned to His source. We must be mindful.
How do we reveal the intrinsic and return to our source? It is through [correcting] our “consciousness”. We must recognize how we use our consciousness to connect with external conditions, which results in so many confused transmigrations in the Six Realms. This is all due to the consciousness of our mind.
When our consciousness is unclear, we give rise to ignorance according to conditions. “Views come from the eye-consciousness.” This is called understanding and views. With the Buddha’s understanding and views, He came to this world in order to open and reveal them for [sentient beings] to realize and enter. Ordinary people’s understanding and view are confused, while the Buddha’s are clear and bright.
Understanding comes from the mind-consciousness. Views comes from the eye-consciousness. Or what we deduce is called views, and what we awaken to is called understanding. Also, the Three Kinds of Wisdom give rise to understanding. The Five Eyes give rise to views. All of these are the functions of wisdom.
How can we return our confused views and consciousness to greater clarity? We must be very mindful. We must seek out and pursue those “views”. As we go among people or in living our lives, we use our consciousness to connect with these external conditions. We use our “consciousness” to [properly] distinguish things and then apply [our wisdom]; this is called “all-accomplishing wisdom”.
Are we also profoundly discerning? When we thoroughly analyze things, are we craving these things with an ordinary mind of desires and greed, devising ways to grasp and obtain them? Or, [seeing] sentient beings full of suffering, do we determine what materials they really need at this moment and quickly give of ourselves to help them? We must know the suffering of sentient beings and the extent of their needs. We should use our consciousness for careful contemplation. This is called “profound discerning wisdom”.
This is just like Tzu Chi USA’s CEO and Deputy CEO, who came back to report on Sierra Leone. Several thousand people there were trapped in an emergency situation. How could we quickly deliver relief goods to them? We had to think quickly. We had to [estimate] the time and cost of delivering [supplies] from the US, as well as the time and cost of delivering them from Taiwan. So, I told them, “You should find out the details clearly, make the calculations and assess accordingly.” “Yes, we did the calculations. Just to cover the emergency and practical needs, including instant rice, blankets etc., just for these people, we will need about 14 days’ worth of supplies. Freight alone will cost several million Taiwan dollars.” Hearing this, I wondered if this was too costly. Freight alone would cost so much. Was this feasible? If we ship by sea, it would take more than 50 days, nearly two months. But their emergency situation will last for about another two weeks. For these 14 days, these goods were what they needed to survive. What could we do? We contemplated further. We knew that the 100 tons of rice from Taiwan had already arrived. Yes, that had arrived. Should we put it to use right away then? Yes. [However], they had no pots or pans at all. Maybe we could buy them locally, large and small pots and utensils. We could buy these utensils locally. The rice had arrived. Other charity groups came and provided manpower. So, we supplied the rice and the pots, and they did the cooking right away. With our large and small pots, they used wood that they obtained locally and rocks for support; they were able to sustain themselves. So, we bought the pots locally for them so they could put them to use. The [flood] had washed away everything, leaving the survivors with nothing. [Giving them the pots] was the same as giving them furniture, and the rice [arrived] in time for them to use. Then, for the materials that could wait, we shipped them by sea. For urgent life-saving goods, we shipped them by air.
This is how we could save money and how materials could arrive in a timely manner. As those ten or so days were an emergency period, we had to think about how to achieve the purpose of this aid. So, we connected our consciousness with these external states. We considered how many people were suffering and what their needs were during those over ten days of the emergency phase. We had to supply all of that [in time] so that they could be safe and sustain their lives. Thus, we profoundly discerned and contemplated how these goods could be utilized. Those people’s lives are equal [to ours], whether they are near or far [from us]; even when they suffer from disasters, their lives are equal [to ours], so we must use profound discerning wisdom to urgently and quickly give our help. It is all about our consciousness, how we utilize it on our Bodhisattva-path how we utilize and employ it. Within our views and consciousness, we contemplate deeply for the sake of others. That is our nature of True Suchness, which is great perfect mirror wisdom. We can contemplate prospects far away and fully grasp their conditions. Only when we understand what their needs are can we devise ways to fully [satisfy] them. This requires the Four Wisdoms to act in parallel. This is the consciousness of views.
Understanding comes from the mind-consciousness. Views come from the eye-consciousness. Or what we deduce is called views, and what we awaken to is called understanding. Also, the Three Kinds of Wisdom give rise to understanding. The Five Eyes give rise to views. All of these are the functions of wisdom.
“Understanding and views” are what we must first comprehend. So, we must have understanding and views, and then we must take action. This takes common understanding, vision and action. These all need to be occurring in parallel. So, “What we deduce is called views”. We should earnestly seek and determine how to utilize these materials and how to help these people. All of this [requires] profound discerning wisdom. So, “What we awaken to is called understanding. Wow, I know the required amounts. This is the number of people there. I know the amount of relief goods we must send in”. This is “understanding”. “Also, the Three Kinds of Wisdom give rise to understanding. The Five Eyes give rise to views”.
The Three Kinds of Wisdom are wisdom of all Dharma, wisdom of all paths and all-encompassing wisdom. Combined, the Three Kinds of Wisdom are called Buddha-wisdom. The Five Eyes are physical eyes, heavenly eyes, wisdom-eyes, Dharma-eyes and Buddha-eyes.
These are called the Five Eyes. We ordinary people have physical eyes. Heavenly beings have wisdom-consciousness, so they have heavenly eyes. Practicing Hearers and Solitary Realizers have wisdom-eyes. Bodhisattvas have already transcended and see themselves and sentient beings as one. They deeply comprehend the Dharma of sentient beings in this world. As Bodhisattvas, they have Dharma-eyes. These also differ from the state of the Buddha, [who has] great perfect mirror wisdom. It is like a bright, clear and perfect mirror. This is called Buddha-eyes. The Three Kinds of Wisdom and the Five Eyes, “all of these are the functions of wisdom”.
These are all the functions of wisdom. The wisdom of ordinary people and that of the Buddha are far apart, whereas the wisdom of Bodhisattvas and that of the Buddha are much closer. This is the process of our spiritual practice.
“In the Nirvana [period], Buddha-nature is the one great matter”.
In the Nirvana [period], the Buddha-nature is the one great matter. In the Avatamsaka [period], the Dharma-realm is the one great matter. In the Prajna [period], the cause and effect of attaining Buddhahood is the one great matter.
The Lotus Sutra represents the spiritual training ground where the Buddha prepared to enter Parinirvana. This Nirvana is tranquility, meaning His mind is very still and does not waver. This is the state of the Buddha, forever in Nirvana, a state of tranquility and clarity. Nirvana is not [what is attained] when a Buddha’s [physical body] passes away. Instead, it is after attaining enlightenment that His mind enters the state of tranquility and clarity, [meaning that] He returns to His Buddha-nature. The Buddha returning to His nature is the one great causes. He also wished for sentient beings to return to the Tathagata’s nature of True Suchness. When was this intrinsic nature discovered? It was during the Avatamsaka Assembly. When the Buddha awakened and became one with the universe, became one with the universe, that was the state of Avatamsaka. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the ten directions fully manifested to celebrate that in the Saha World, Shakyamuni Bodhisattva had attained Buddhahood. He had attained Buddhahood in the Saha World. When the Buddha attained enlightenment, His spiritual state was [revealed] at the Avatamsaka Assembly.
Next, “In the Prajna [period], the causes and effect of attaining Buddhahood is the one great matter. Prajna means wisdom. To have wisdom is to apply the Avatamsaka-Dharma, which retains all teachings by “retaining all teachings and upholding all goodness”. The Buddha makes use of this Dharma, the principles behind all things in the universe. He wholeheartedly wanted us sentient beings to comprehend and understand it. So, He returned to this world, concealed the true and gave the provisional, and began to expound suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Actually, He had to draw near to people so they could comprehend the Buddha’s intrinsic nature. To engage everyone’s intrinsic Buddha-nature, He had to start teaching from the beginning, how sentient beings created sources and causes of suffering over many lifetimes, resulting in so many retributions of suffering. The Buddha presented the results of these retributions so everyone could understand. [Using] what they could see and experience made the principles easier to understand. As the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, He was ready to reveal the intrinsic which was His one great cause for appearing in this world. We must understand the meaning behind this He wanted to open and reveal this so that sentient beings could comprehend, realize and enter His understanding and views. So, having His understanding and views is our goal. We must mindfully comprehend the previous passage.
“World-Honored One, where did this group of infinite and boundless asankyas of Bodhisattvas come from? At that time, all the Buddhas spoke to their attendants, Good men, wait just one moment”.
At that time, many attendants accompanied the multiple manifestations of the Buddha. There were many manifestations of the Buddha, so there were also many Bodhisattvas who followed. Seeing a boundless number of Bodhisattvas appear from the ten directions, everyone had doubts in their minds. So, they asked their own teachers, the Buddhas whom they were close to, “Where did they all come from?” The Buddhas each replied to their respective attendants. “All the Buddhas spoke to their attendants”. They replied to their respective attendants, “Wait just one moment, this is a great matter. It was a great matter because the Buddha was about to reveal the intrinsic”. The manifest had now passed. At that moment, the great matter was to everyone understand the direction of their spiritual practice. The Buddha revealed the manifest to this world in order to transform sentient beings. He had used skillful means in the past. Only now was He starting to reveal the intrinsic. So, everyone needed to mindfully listen to what the Buddha had to say. At that moment, after those Buddhas replied to their attendants, immediately following that [They said], “There is a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva”. Who was this? It was Maitreya.
There is a Bodhsiattva-Mahasattva whose name is Maitreya upon whom Sakyamuni Buddha has bestowed predictions of attaining Buddhahood after Him. He already inquired about this matter, and the Buddha will answer it now. You should be able to hear it because of this.
Sakyamuni Buddha had already bestowed His prediction upon Maitreya Bodhisattva. So, [Maitreya was the one] attaining Buddhahood after Him. Maitreya Bodhisattva was introduced as the one, after the Buddha had [entered Parinirvana], after Dharma-semblance and Dharma-degeneration, who would be the next Buddha. That is when Maitreya Bodhisattva will attain Buddhahood. So, this Bodhisattva, while Sakyamuni Buddha was presently [teaching the Dharma], was still a Bodhisattva. This Bodhisattva, as the previous passage clearly stated, inquired of the Buddha on behalf of all Bodhisattvas. “He already inquired about this matter”. He had already asked about everything. “The Buddha will answer it now”. Now, the Buddha began to answer.
The next passage states, “At that time, Sakyamuni Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva, ‘Excellent! Excellent! Ajita, you are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters.”
Sakyamuni Buddha was delighted, hearing that Maitreya Bodhisattva asked regarding precisely what He was about to say. This was [how deeply] they resonated. So, the Buddha said to Maitreya Bodhisattva, “Excellent! Excellent!” “Ajita!” Who is Ajita? It is Maitreya Bodhisattva, of course Maitreya Bodhisattva also has another name, “the Loving One”
Ajita: Maitreya Bodhisattva had long been cultivating a mind of compassion, long entered the practice of compassion and cultivated Samadhi of compassion. It means “unsurpassed”. He was also called “the Loving One”.
Maitreya Bodhisattva had long been cultivating the practice of compassion, always treating sentient beings with compassion. He had practiced Right Dharma and transformed sentient beings with a heart of compassion. He had practiced with compassion and cultivated the Samadhi of compassion. So, [his name’s] meaning is deep and extensive. So, “It means ‘unsurpassed’.” He mindfully [practiced] solely “compassion,” to have “unconditional loving-kindness and universal compassion”. How did he work towards this? How did he up uphold it? Its meaning alone is already very profound, vast and great. So, “It means unsurpassed”. This was the subject Maitreya Bodhisattva focused on in his practice.
So, over the course of countless kalpas, this subject had been his direction. This is why he is also called the Loving One. “You are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters”.
You are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters: This refers to asking about what path was praised, accepted, upheld, cultivated and practiced by the Bodhisattvas who came.
Maitreya Bodhisattva had such a state of mind to consider sentient beings in all matters. Now, so many Bodhisattvas were focused on wanting to understand the manifest of the past and the intrinsic of the present. The many people came with their own causes and conditions. What were they? So, “This refers to asking about what path was praised, accepted, upheld, cultivated and practiced by the Bodhisattvas who came”. What spiritual practice did they engage in? Where did they come from? Was this all that he was asking about? In fact, what Maitreya Bodhisattva asked was not so simple. He not only asked about the Bodhisattvas reason for coming. There was more. He was also going to ask about “the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood, the enlightened state,” which is “the intrinsic”.
When Maitreya inquired about this, he asked not only about the causal practice of those Bodhisattvas, but also about the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood, the enlightened state. Thus, He said it was the Buddha’s great matters.
The attendants asked their Buddhas, “What are the causes and conditions of these Bodhisattvas?” Actually, the most important thing Maitreya Bodhisattva wanted to ask was about the process of spiritual practice and the goal of attaining the fruit of Buddhahood. This was very important to Maitreya Bodhisattva. How do we practice to accumulate virtue? This was Maitreya Bodhisattva’s question. If our virtue or affinities with sentient beings are lacking, the time it takes to attain Buddhahood will be very long. This was Maitreya’s [own] one great cause. He understood Bodhisattvas’ spiritual cultivation, but how do actions accumulate into virtue? External cultivation results in accomplishments, while internal cultivation results in virtue. External cultivation means doing good deeds and forming affinities with sentient beings, but internally, we must learn how to [connect] our mind to virtuous practice through listening and action so we keep deepening our affinities with sentient beings. This requires us to unite our minds and actions, our minds, the Dharma and our actions, as one. Otherwise, we are just listening.
We may know many texts, and we may be able to discuss them well, but we have not cleared the path. As for the scenery along this path, how do we pave and clear this path so that it is very solid and steady? When it comes to walking and clearing this steady path, we have not yet carried this out in action. We only know the direction by hearing from others, or we walk on the road others have paved smoothly. We have only enjoyed the scenery along the way, but we have never actually experienced the feeling of paving the road [for ourselves]. So, this was what [Maitreya] wanted to ask about, those feelings, the roots of virtue and how to pave the path inch by inch with love. We pave the road inch by inch. This kind of scenery in our minds accumulates into virtue, which is what Maitreya Bodhisattva wanted to understand.
These are “virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood, the enlightened state”. We must also listen carefully. This is what Maitreya wanted to ask. Throughout the Buddha’s practice, when He was close to attaining Buddhahood, how did He reach the fruit of Buddhahood and truly experience those feelings and virtues? Indeed, as we said before, “We pave every inch of the road with love”. It is like paving a road. We lay down a number of bricks together. Every inch of the road is paved with our love. These are the “virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood, the enlightened state”. We should understand this clearly and completely, not just superficially. “I know, I know”. We must not be like this; [our understanding] should be well grounded. That is why it is “the Buddha’s one great cause”. When we have a road to walk on, we definitely have principles to expound. When we have principles to expound, we definitely have ground to stand on. So, are we standing on the ground? This is the most important thing. So, “You are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters”.
You are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters: This is opening up the manifest nearby to reveal the intrinsic faraway. He benefited all beings in the Three Periods, transforming them endlessly. This is the great matter of carrying on the past to inspire those who come later. Maitreya is the one who will succeed the Buddha, and because he did not recognize that group emerging from the ground, he asked this question and released the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas. Thus, He praised him by saying “Excellent” twice to show the beauty of ultimate goodness.
Being able to ask the Buddha about such great matters is not easy. So, “This is opening up the manifest nearby to reveal the intrinsic faraway”. He opened the manifest nearby to reveal the intrinsic faraway, which [means] far away and long ago. How was the intrinsic established? So, he asked again, “How did the Buddha begin to know the direction and how to clear and pave the road?” Clearing the way and paving the road must begin with the first step.
Once we know the direction, we must truly begin to clear the way and pave the road. So, [when it says], “You are able to ask the Buddha about such great matters,” these great matters [were] about how this road should be built, which he asked the Buddha. So, “This is opening up the manifest nearby to reveal the intrinsic faraway”. He opened the manifest nearby to reveal the intrinsic faraway. Being so far away, what is the intrinsic? So, “He benefited all beings in the. Three Periods, transforming them endlessly”. Throughout lifetime after lifetime, He transformed [sentient beings] ceaselessly and without rest. So, “This is the great matter of carrying on the past to inspire those who come later”. This is what he wanted to ask. [As for] carrying on the direction of the past and beginning to build the road, how do we follow it to transform sentient beings? How do we teach and transform those who come later? This is the same [question we must ask]. We must mindfully seek to understand this. We should not just say, “I know, I know! I’m good at teaching the Dharma!” Only knowing how to talk is useless. We must also be able to put it into practice. When we can teach and practice, we [can become] those who listen to, practice and teach the Dharma. Whatever we say, we should put it into practice. So, listening should be followed by action.
“Maitreya is the one who will succeed the Buddha, and because he did not recognize that group emerging from the ground, he asked this question”. Although Maitreya, for many lifetimes, had been coming to this world for spiritual practice, he did not recognize anyone among the Bodhisattvas who emerged [from the ground]. This shows that Sakyamuni Buddha, in [using] the manifest to transform others, has left countless footprints and transformed countless people. So, in this place, [Maitreya] seized the moment and asked how He had transformed so many people. How did He form so many affinities? So, [he] “released the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas”. Because of this question, Sakyamuni Buddha would later provide numerous responses, with “the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas. Thus, He praised him by saying ‘Excellent’ twice”. Sakyamuni Buddha praised Maitreya Bodhisattva, “Excellent! Excellent question! Now that you have asked, the Dharma I will be teaching now will reveal the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas.”
In the Chapter on Skillful Means, the Buddha also responded to Sariputra. But, for Sariputra’s three requests, the Buddha responded by refusing three times. With Maitreya’s question, the Buddha responded with “Excellent! Excellent!” This was because the conditions were ripe. He could begin to expound the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas, as the conditions were now mature. In the Chapter on Skillful Means, the conditions were not yet ready. So, [He said,] “Stop, stop, stop” He refused three times. At this moment, the conditions had become mature. So, He praised him, saying, “Excellent” and “released the extremely profound wisdom of all Buddhas”. This is how it began. “Thus, He praised him by saying ‘Excellent’ twice”. This meaning shows the Bodhisattvas’ and the Buddha’s intent, to praise “the beauty of ultimate goodness”. He praised the beauty of ultimate goodness.
In summary, we should understand that the Buddha came to this world for only one simple matter. As for us, our minds are so chaotic and confused. We can see how profound and wondrous the Buddha’s wisdom is and how deep sentient beings’ afflictions and ignorance are. The Buddha had to spend a very long time to teach and mobilize many people to bear witness and respond to questions with wisdom. Have we understood this? It is fine if we still do not understand. Everyone is already clear about the manifest that we discussed previously. Later, when it comes to intrinsic, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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