Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Disciplining the Threefold Karma Subdues All Evil (調伏三業 制諸惡行)
Date: November.27.2018
“We must be disciplined in regard to our body, speech, mind and vows and subdue all conduct that creates negative karma. Also, we must tame the evil maras so that they will not cause afflictions and disturbances. We must conquer our minds. Discipline helps us attain ultimate liberation. For the gentle and accepting, [the Buddha] disciplined them with the Dharma. For the stubborn, He subdued them with mighty strength.”
We must be mindful to deepen our comprehension. We must discipline our body, speech and mind and establish great vows. Haven’t we heard this constantly lately? This is what it says throughout the Chapter on the Practice of Bringing Peace and Joy up to the Chapter on Emerging from the Ground. We are still reviewing the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy. The Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy are part of our everyday lives. They are inseparable from our everyday lives, inseparable from our speech and appearance and inseparable from our bodily conduct. All our actions and thoughts are inseparable from our body, speech and mind. They are with us in every moment and every second; they are always with us in life. After all, how we live our life is a way of engaging in spiritual practice. The Buddha-Dharma the Buddha taught us is for us to practice in our daily lives. If our thinking goes in the right direction, there will never be a moment when we are not practicing right speech, right conduct and right contemplation. We will always be practicing on the path of Right Dharma.
This is our spiritual practice. The Dharma has always been hidden within our lives. In our bodies and in our lives, time, space and the Dharma are united as one. As long as we engage in spiritual practice, as long as we are mindful, is there ever a time when we do not need our bodies? Is there ever a time when we do not need our mouths to speak? Is there ever a time when we do not need to use our minds? We can never be without them! We are inseparable from our body, speech and mind. There is no time when we can escape [from them]. They follow our body; wherever we go, that is where we will end up. The Dharma will always be with us, so long as we keep our spiritual practice in mind. The Dharma is everywhere, throughout space and time. If we focus our minds, then all we do becomes spiritual practice.
When we use our body, speech and mind to do the right thing by doing conditioned good deeds and make great vows, we are engaging in the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy. This is how we must earnestly discipline ourselves. If we are disciplined with regard to our body, speech and mind and firmly establish the Four Great Vows, then we will naturally be able to subdue any conduct that creates negative karma. Once [these four practices] are firmly established they will become our goal in life, our direction.
Then, we will naturally be able to subdue any conduct that creates negative karma. When it comes to good and evil, if we are determined to do good, we will solidify our strength so that we cannot be tempted [to do] evil. If we regularly subdue afflictions and ignorance, once they are subdued, we will be certain to never [engage in] conduct that creates evil karma. When we subdue [our afflictions and ignorance], we will never create negative karma again. We will “refrain from all evil.” We will not do evil anymore. We will “do all that is good.” The conditioned good deeds we do through our bodies, speech, minds and vows will constantly grow. We will do good deeds in all that we do; we will constantly use our body, speech, mind and vows to help others, and we will no longer engage in “conduct that creates negative karma.” “Also, we must tame the evil maras so that they will not cause afflictions and disturbances. We must conquer our minds.” Most worrisome of all is the mara of afflictions inside us. In fact, maras do not exist outside the mind. Maras are inside the mind. These evil maras, which are afflictions and ignorance, will disturb our minds. Regardless of how others may look at us, as long as our body, mind and conduct are upright, then no ignorance or external conditions will be able to influence our minds. Conversely, if we do not work hard enough, when people in society who do not understand start to cause trouble for us, they will influence our minds. As long as we have faith in our selflessness and have faith in what we do, we are practicing right speech and right action. With right speech and right conduct in all we do, we are enacting conditioned good deeds. Then our mind will always be upright and will not be enticed by external disturbances. We will have faith in ourselves as well as others, and others will have faith in us and faith in the Dharma as well. We will never allow external disturbances to influence us again. So, when we remain upright, no wind can rattle us. Naturally, the evil winds of the maras will pass right by. So long as we keep maras from arising in our mind naturally, they will not encroach from the outside. So, we must truly “tame the evil maras so that they will not cause afflictions and disturbances. We must conquer our minds”. Before the Buddha attained perfect enlightenment, He sat down to engage in careful contemplation. Once His body and mind because pure, suddenly, His mind was in turmoil as many [illusory] states surged forth before Him. These illusory states and illusory images kept arising before Him. He had to use His power of Samadhi and power of mindfulness to truly steady His body, speech, mind and vows. In this way, He steadied Himself. Whatever illusions appeared before Him, His steady mind remained unshaken until those illusory thoughts, states and images had all disappeared. As long as the mind remains undisturbed by these appearances, these states will naturally disappear on their own. When the Buddha reached the point where He was completely at peace with these states, His body and mind opened up. He became tranquil and clear, with vows as vast as the universe. His state of mind became one with the universe.
This was the moment of His enlightenment. He conquered the maras of His mind. This is known as subduing all maras. While sitting there very serenely amidst these illusory thoughts and delusions, His mind remained very steady, for He remained unattached to these appearances. He no longer gave rise to deluded thoughts. By maintaining this state of mind, those illusions were unable to imprint themselves upon His mind. They could not disturb His mind. His mind was pure, and the illusory mara-states had disappeared. When the mara-states disappeared, His mind opened instantly, becoming tranquil and clear. His “vows vast as the universe, He remained unwavering for countless kalpas”. Through this perseverance, He subdued so many maras. In this state of Buddhahood and enlightenment no afflictions or ignorance could ever disturb the Buddha’s mind again. So, “Discipline helps us attain ultimate liberation.” He had already attained complete liberation. He had disciplined all deluded and distorted thoughts. He had completely eliminated all mara-states. Thus, His mind had become liberated and was always gentle and accepting. This brings us to “gentle and accepting,” which describes the Buddha’s great compassion. He became “guiding teacher of the Three Realms” and “Kind father of the Four Kinds of Beings”. He kept returning here, using these methods to teach sentient beings. What methods did He to teach sentient beings? He also used “loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity”.
How did He discipline us? With the Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy and by taking “great compassion as the room” and “gentleness and patience as the clothing”. He used methods like these to teach us. We have heard these teachings before. Do we always take these teachings to heart? We must be gentle and accepting. We must teach in the same way as He did, by being gentle and accepting. People who are gentle and accepting are able to accept the teachings. When we guide them and teach them, they are capable of being very devoted. Hearing one thing, they understand 10 things. Those with even sharper capabilities hear one thing and understand as many as 100, 1000 or 10,000 things. With just little bit of guidance, they can understand a great many things.
People like this “excel at acceptance”. For people of these capabilities, whatever we teach them, they will accept it very willingly. Not only are they docile and obedient; when they hear the Dharma, they know they must accept it and apply it. This is what it means to be gentle and accepting. Not only must we be gentle, we must actually accept the teachings. We must accept them, apply them in our lives and among people and find ways to use them to accomplish good deeds amidst conditioned phenomena. This is what it means to be “accepting”. When we accept the Dharma, we receive the teachings willingly. People like this are “disciplined through the Dharma”. They adeptly apply this Dharma and constantly teach others, saying, “Since you understand this, let me tell you about some other practices. Let me teach you more. This is how to practice the Small Vehicle, how to overcome circumstances and dealt with people and matters. Next, I will teach you about life’s suffering, about how all things are conditioned and how we should treat others.
Did you encounter difficulties with someone? We will analyze this with unconditioned Dharma. Do not let them worry your mind. The unconditioned Dharma [teaches us] to let go.” This is what it means to be “gentle and accepting”. We can teach others like this so they understand. This is using the Dharma to teach them.
And if someone is “stubborn”? If someone is very stubborn, what do we do then? When someone is stubborn, it means that they are headstrong and have a bad attitude. No matter how we teach them, they remain the same. So how ca they possibly accept the Dharma? They are so headstrong; what can we do? For people who are headstrong like this, not only is it impossible to train their speech and conduct, but their minds are unable to accept [the Dharma]. So, what can we do with people like this? We must “subdue them with mighty strength”. We need even stronger methods if we hope to instruct them. Just like a teacher instructing their students, we must never give up on them. Depending on the student, if they are accepting, we can teach them easily. If they are joyful and considerate, we can teach them easily so that they learn how to cultivate their talents. If they are headstrong, sometimes, we just need to ignore them. Isn’t this what Sakyamuni Buddha told Ananda? “Do not respond to them; ignore them. Of course, you should try to lovingly accommodate them, but if all else fails, you must ignore headstrong people like this”.
Or maybe they need an awakening blow. These are all methods of teaching them. Sentient beings are stubborn and headstrong. The Buddha painstakingly taught and transformed them in the world. We must mindfully seek to learn [from Him]. These are the methods we must mindfully seek to learn. The Buddha has taught us how to correctly engage in the practices of body, speech and mind. If we practice right conduct and keep our mind and thoughts upright, then naturally, when it comes to our actions, all the actions we take will be right actions. If we are able to uphold right conduct, right action and right mindfulness, then how could we ever make a mistake? So, we must understand that, if we are to do what is right, then we should do it in earnest and make vows to do this. If we can do this, our afflictions and negative karma will gradually disappear on their own until they are all gone. When thoughts of goodness come constantly, one after another, we will constantly do good deeds, and we will definitely not engage in evil thoughts or evil conduct.
Once we completely subdue them, we will not create any negative karma. This is only natural. With right thinking, right views and right conduct, how could illusory maras ever disturb our minds? They will be gone. These thoughts that disturb our minds will be completely eliminated. Afflictions and ignorance will also be completely eliminated. We will have nothing to be ashamed of; we will naturally be able to discipline ourselves. It is this discipline that enables us to attain “ultimate liberation”. We will never give rise to afflictions or commit wrongdoings ever again.
Our bodies and minds will be free and at ease, and we will naturally attain “ultimate liberation”. When we are willing to learn the Dharma, we can be taught quickly and easily. When we take the Buddha’s teachings to heart, we will encounter no difficulties at all. It will all seem natural to us. Because it will seem natural to us, we will definitely take the Dharma to heart. Once we accept the Dharma, it will teach us and transform our [lives] into a life of the Buddha-Dharma. In everything we do, in all that we say, we will be living in the Dharma. We will naturally be accepting, and we will no longer be so stubborn. We will have disciplined our body and mind. These are the methods the Buddha taught us, so this is what we must put into practice. We must do what is right. We must do it with determination. If it benefits others, we should just do it.
In the previous sutra passage, [the Buddha] said, “The supreme Dharma that I have attained…”. This is the supreme Dharma for disciplining our bodies and minds. This is the Buddha-Dharma.
The supreme Dharma that I have attained is extremely profound and beyond analysis. As such, I must expound it now, and you all must listen single-mindedly.
The Buddha’s teachings are very profound, but no matter how profound they are, we still need to take the Dharma to heart. Only by taking the Dharma to heart will we have any way to enter its profound subtlety and wondrousness. If we do not take the Dharma to heart, because the Buddha’s teachings are so profound, they will seem incomprehensible profound to us and will be very difficult for us to analyze. This is because when it comes to the Dharma’s texts, meanings and ideas, they are all very difficult to explain. This is to say nothing of the principles, which cannot be explained through words. This what it means to be “beyond the reach of language”. We might use language to explain, saying “These words are the Dharma”, but by the time we speak these words and the sound of our voice fades away, where has the Dharma gone?
Thus, it is “beyond the reach of language”. When we hear the Dharma spoken out loud, we must absorb it and engrave it in our hearts. How do we engrave this [in our hearts]? If we open up our chest, we will not find it carved there. This is all a figure of speech. The Dharma is there in our memories. It is in our memory, our consciousness. So, we must earnestly listen to the Dharma and take it in. We must listen with intent for it to enter our consciousness as a seed, into our storehouse consciousness. Only then will we truly understand the Dharma. Then, when we hear the Dharma, we will say, “Oh! I know what this is talking about!” The principle is the same. Otherwise, how will we know what “tranquility and clarity” means? What is “tranquility and clarity”? These two words describe what it will be like when we have eliminated all our afflictions. This is easier said than done! We have ignorance, afflictions and delusions; how do we explain this? We only need two worlds, “tranquility and clarity”. This is the spiritual state of the Buddha; however, as unenlightened beings, we all have ignorance, afflictions and delusions inside us. These three things bring us so much pain, lifetime after lifetime. How do we eliminate lifetimes of confusion? We need the Dharma. If there are no seeds of the Dharma in our storehouse consciousness, it will go in one ear and out the other. So, we must mindfully seek to memorize the Dharma so that its seeds will enter our storehouse consciousness. This is the only way we will be able to recall it to apply it in our daily life. This is very important. So, this Dharma, “the supreme Dharma [the Buddha] attained” is extremely profound; it is inconceivable and cannot be analyzed. It cannot be analyzed through language or described in words. It is inconceivable and very profound. Though we might try to describe it, when it comes down to it, it is very profound. When we say it is “profound,” what does this mean? It means that we can never explain it in full.
So, He said, “As such, I must expound it now”. The Dharma was so profound, so what could He do? The Buddha told them, “I will now begin teaching. Now that there are so many Bodhisattvas here, I will now officially begin to teach. However, if I am going to teach, everyone must make sure to listen mindfully and listen well”. The Buddha urged them once again. These teachings are so important that everyone had to pay very close attention and put effort into mindfully accepting them.
So, “At that time, the World-Honored One, having spoken these verses…”. These verses were a continuation of the [earlier] long-form prose. He had already discussed this previously in verse, but now the Buddha, once again, “said to Maitruya Bodhisattva, ‘Among this assembly, I now proclaim this to all of you’.” Now I will truly take this Dharma, the teaching of the intrinsic, and open this door of the intrinsic. Before, I helped you enter the first Dharma-door. I used the first Dharma-door to teach you, revealing it to you. These Four Practices of Bringing Peace and Joy, how did they come to be? In every one of my lifetimes in this world, there are always been humans like these and stubborn sentient beings like these I had to form great aspirations, make great vows and uphold them persistently. This is how, lifetime after lifetime, I dealt with these many stubborn sentient beings. In this world so difficult to endure, I had to have this patience to make it through.
So, [He said], “Ajita, these Great Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, numbering in infinite and countless asankyas, have emerged from the ground”. This is something you all have never seen before.”
“Maitreya, let me tell you, these many, many Bodhisattvas you see now have emerged from the ground. You have never seen any of them before. As for their karmic conditions, I will tell you about them now.
So, in the next passage, He continued on to say, “In this Saha World, when I attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, I taught, transformed and guided these Bodhsiattvas, disciplining their minds and helping them form the will to practice.
Now He began to teach Sakyamuni Buddha began to explain how He had come to be Sakyamuni Buddha and taught and transformed [these Bodhisattvas].
He explained that this Dharma had never been heard or seen before, and now they would be able to hear it. He said that these Bodhisattvas were the Bodhisattvas He had personally taught and transformed after He attained enlightenment in this world.
These Bodhsiattvas, who were so numerous, had been transformed by Him in the past. He had taught and transformed them in the past. The Bodhisattvas from the present did not know the Bodhisattvas from the past; this was only natural. Now, He wanted to introduce them to these people. He would now reveal this Dharma that had never been heard or seen before to the present Bodhisattvas.
This was the Dharma He had used to teach the Bodhsiattvas He had taught in the past. The people from the present [assembly] had never heard or seen it before. This is like when Tzu Chi started using the bamboo banks. Back then, we wondered, “How can we start Tzu Chi?” What I did was tell them, “If it would bring you joy to take refuge with me, then I will tell you, you must do the things I want to do. I have an aspiration, this is what I want to do. If you want to be close to me, then you must be willing to do as I do. You must go and urge everyone to save a little bit of money every day. It should not affect their food budget or their family’s [daily living]. This is how you can do a good deed. You can go to your friends and relatives and urge them to do this. If you are willing to do this, then we can form affinities with one another.”
You should all know this story by now. In the beginning, I have vowed not to take on any disciples. Yet, as karmic conditions would have it, people kept requesting to take refuge with me. It was also amidst these circumstances that I realized the suffering of sentient beings. That pool of blood will always remain in my mind. The memory of the woman who had labor complications was clearly imprinted in my mind, and this is what led me to think, “What can I do to help people?” There were people then who wanted to take refuge with me. I did not want to take them in, but they were so sincere, and that bloody scene was still fresh in my mind. So, this is why I said to them, “If you are willing to take refuge with me, then you must do what I really want to do. Everyone’s common aspiration is to do good deeds. As long as it does not affect your family’s daily living, if we can save up money like this, we can use it to do good deeds”. This is how the causes and conditions came to be, thus giving rise to the era of the bamboo banks.
This is the story. Do my disciples nowadays know this story? There are still a lot of people who do not know it. With our present situation, do we still need to use a method like this? Our present situation does not really call for this, but if we want to promote our spiritual ideals, this is very effective in other countries. “The spirit of the bamboo banks” has been implemented internationally. Because of these [bamboo banks], we have a way to talk about the past and how such small [contributions] can save lives. The poor who receive aid themselves can also give small amounts. Then they can say, “Wow! This came from such small [donations]. This means that I can save someone too”.
This gives them a chance to form aspirations. According to the law of karma, this also allows them to plant seeds for blessed conditions. From a psychological standpoint, when they know that this aid is accumulated from such small donations, they will think, “I can also do good deeds!”
Look at Africa, where our [volunteers] also rely on this method. They collect locally and put it to use locally. For people without any coins or cash, without even 50 cents to give, without even the tiniest amount of money, they can save a mouthful of rice instead. In this way, they can help others too. This way of looking at things will inspire them to take advantage of this opportunity. We still need to tell this story; otherwise people now would have no way at all to hear about the way things used to be. This was also the case in the Buddha’s time. There were so many people, how could the Buddha have taught them all? In the over 40 years [He had been teaching], how could He have led them all? The Buddha had a lot of people [following] Him near the end. There were five in the beginning, and by the very end, He had so many disciples. His later disciples did not necessarily know what Dharma the Buddha had taught to His disciples over 40 years ago. So, they did not know about the past yet. He taught the Dharma according to capabilities, timing and opportunities; He always based [His teachings] on this. So, when the Buddha was at Vulture Peak, at that point, He wanted to reveal how the past causes and conditions of the Dharma had come to be. The present assembly had never heard this before, so He had to repeat it for them. We always say we must “understand old Dharma with new insight” so that there will never be a point where we do not recognize the past. At Vulture Peak, Maitreya Bodhisattva led the others in saying, “We know nothing about the past. We do not recognize any of these people”. Now the Buddha was about to expound teachings that they had never heard or seen before. The Buddha was about to teach, so “Now they would be able to hear it”. Now they would be able to hear these things. Today, we want to ask, “How was our school of Buddhism established? When was Tzu Chi founded? How was our school of Buddhism established? What does the international situation look like? How many Bodhisattvas are there in that place, making use of their environment to help others?” We must listen to the sutra, but we should also come to understand how our school of Buddhism and Dharma-lineage came to be.
This is the Bodhisattva-path for Living Bodhisattvas. The Buddha taught the Bodhisattva Way. Now we wish to unite the past with the present. So, what [the Buddha] meant in this sutra passage was, “These Bodhisattvas are the Bodhisattvas. I personally taught and transformed after I attained enlightenment in this world. They are these Bodhisattvas who emerged from the ground just now, whom you say that you do not recognize. These Bodhisattvas are the sentient beings I kept coming to transform when I began my spiritual practice in the Saha World. When my causes and conditions ripened, I attained Buddhahood in this place. These Bodhisattvas are [people] I taught and transformed long ago. I transformed them throughout many lifetimes”. This was how Sakyamuni Buddha introduced these people by saying, “These are also my disciples. Our karmic conditions go back a long time ago. I have had affinities with them all since the distant past. One after another, their karmic conditions have ripened and now they have begun to come to fruition”. This is how these disciples came to be there. They all had affinities with Sakyamuni Buddha.
In the sutra passage, [the Buddha] said, “In this Saha World, when I attained Anutara-samyak- sambodhi…”.
In this Saha World, when I attained Anutara-samyak- sambodhi…: In this world, the Buddha formed aspirations to engage in spiritual practice and attained supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment.
The Buddha told Maitreya Bodhisattva, “If you want to know where these Bodhisattvas came from, then I will tell you. They are the ones that, after I began to engage in spiritual practice in the Saha World, once I had already attained supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment, I always kept teaching”. So, “I taught, transformed and guided these Bodhisattvas, disciplining their minds and helping them form the will to practice”.
I taught, transformed and guided these Bodhisattvas, disciplining their minds and helping them form the will to practice: He taught and transformed those Bodhisattvas in their state of fruition. He used the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom to gently discipline them into Samadhi, helping them to form the will to practice. This is also called a “spiritual aspiration,” the aspiration to seek the unsurpassed path.
He formed affinities all throughout the past. Even after He attained Buddhahood, He still guided them constantly by using the “teaching of the manifest,” the various methods of analogies, causes and conditions and so on to teach the Dharma. He continuously revealed the teachings of “the manifest,” and kept on [teaching them] like this. These Bodhisattvas were already disciplined in both body and mind. Hence, “He taught and transformed them in their state of fruition”. They had already reached fruition. By then one could see the effect of their cause. They all had already been transformed. They all had formed aspirations to walk the Bodhisattva-path, and they had fulfilled this path. “Actualizing the Six Paramitas in all actions,” they had attained accomplishments upon this path. Thus, “He taught and transformed them in their state of fruition”. Their karmic conditions had already ripened. They had already been successfully taught and transformed. “For these Bodhisattvas, He used the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom to gently discipline them into Samadhi”. Their bodies and minds were already very disciplined, accepting and gentle, and they were replete in this wisdom. They all took “great compassion as the room,” “gentleness and patience as the clothing” and “the emptiness of all phenomena as the seat”. All of these Bodhisattvas were replete in such Samadhi and wisdom. He had “helped them form the will to practice”. This refers to their spiritual aspirations, their will to practice. Having taken all these teachings to heart, they were replete in the “aspiration to seek the unsurpassed path”. What they saw then was the fruits of their transformation. This is what they were like now. In the past, they had been unenlightened beings, but through a very long course of earnest discipline and transformation, they had now become like this. They were already very accomplished. Thus, “The Buddha helped them form ultimate, supreme aspirations”.
The Buddha helped them to form ultimate, supreme aspirations. He taught and transformed them, disciplining their minds. He guided them, helping them form the will to practice. This answered the questions about who had expounded the Dharma for them and taught them and who had helped them form aspirations.
For these people, their every thought was focused on this path. With the ultimate teachings within their hearts, they were able to realize this Dharma, attain ultimate liberation from ignorance and subdue all their afflictions. So, these people had all been “taught and transformed” by Him. “It is I, Sakyamuni Buddha, who, throughout countless kalpas in the past, have continuously taught and transformed these sentient beings I have affinities with. Now I have attained Buddhahood, and these Bodhisattvas have become accomplished.” He had “disciplined their minds.” He had gradually disciplined them. They all completely understood the Dharma. He was now about to teach and had also formed great aspirations and the will to practice the unsurpassed path. Their spiritual aspirations very firm. “[I] guided them. These people were all transformed by me. Throughout long kalpas, I have continuously transformed them, helping them form the will to practice.” Their will to practice was very firm. This was all in response to Maitreya’s question. He responded by saying, “These Bodhisattvas were all trained by me.” Who taught them?
The Buddha answered them, “I taught them.” “They are all my disciples. Through my teachings, they formed aspirations to practice the Bodhisattva-path.” This took a very long time. This was the meaning of the Buddha’s reply. [This is] “the Dharma the Lotus Sutra teaches.”
This means the Dharma that the Lotus Sutra teaches is pure, bright and clear. It speaks only of the principle of the Middle Way. It has no bias toward emptiness or illusoriness and has no appearances of flaws or defilements. It is the perfect and immediate wondrous teachings of the One Vehicle. It is harmonious, gentle and accommodating, so it is called a gentle and patient discipline.
We must understand that the Lotus Sutra contains. All of the teachings in the Lotus Sutra are pure, bright and clear. All it discusses is the principle of the Middle Way. All the Lotus Sutra discusses is the principle of the Middle Way. It is unbiased because it teaches the Bodhisattva Way, which harnesses our worldly aspirations but with a world-transcending spirit. We transcend the world, using the spirit of “unconditioned Dharma” to go into the world and do conditioned good deeds. This means going into the world to transform sentient beings. While we are in the world, we must use the world-transcending unconditioned Dharma. In the ultimate state of peace, we will return to a state of tranquility and clarity. This [state] is “pure, bright and clear. It speaks only of the principle of the Middle Way.” It speaks neither of “emptiness” nor “existence.” It only teaches the Middle Way. This principle of the Middle Way is all about the Bodhisattva Way. “It has no bias toward emptiness or illusoriness.” “Emptiness” refers to the principle of emptiness, and “illusoriness” refers to “existence.” All tangible things are illusory. It does not talk about these things. It has none of these “flaws and defilements.” There is nothing dirty about it; it is completely clean. It is both the “perfect teaching” and the “immediate teaching.” The Buddha teaches us that the principles are inherently perfect. We all have “all-accomplishing wisdom,” “profound discerning wisdom,” “universal equality wisdom” and “great perfect mirror wisdom.” [Our wisdom] is perfect, and we can immediately become Buddhas because we intrinsically have Buddha-nature. So, everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. We just need to see others with the Buddha-mind to see how everyone is a future Buddha. “Thank you for helping me fulfill my spiritual cultivation. I respect you because you too will attain Buddhahood in the future.” So, we must have gratitude and respect.
“Although you are all still unenlightened beings, I willingly give of myself with selfless love.”
So, with gratitude, respect and love, we must give of ourselves to the world. So, “It is the perfect and immediate wondrous teachings of the One Vehicle.” This is the One Vehicle. It is the perfect teaching, the immediate teaching. It is “harmonious, gentle and accommodating.” It is a “gentle and patient discipline.” In the sutras, when the Buddha taught the Bodhisattva-path, He was very gentle and accommodating as He taught sentient beings. So, we should know that sentient beings are inherently Buddhas. Through the immediate teaching, since we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature, everyone can attain Buddhahood. If we can just earnestly discipline ourselves in body, speech and mind and engage in the Four Practices of Brining Peace and Joy, naturally, the karmic forces of our evil conduct will completely dissipate, and our minds will return to a state that is gentle and accepting, where we will become tranquil and clear. So, we must always put effort into being mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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