Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Encouraging Others to Go and Listen to the Dharma (勸同往聽 聞得體解)
Date: June.24.2019
“In the span of an instant, the thoughts [of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas] can reach unhindered throughout kalpas such that long kalpas seem like instants to them. Regarding the perfect, immediate, subtle and wondrous One Vehicle Dharma, unenlightened beings think of it in terms of short instants. How can this compare to [thinking in terms of] long kalpas? In the eyes of past Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they saw everything that appeared before them from the view of perfect enlightenment and thought of everything as countless Buddha-lands. From this, we can know [the difference between] thinking in instants and thinking in kalpas.”
When we hear this, it seems extremely profound. The unenlightened state [seems very distant from] the state of the Buddha. When we seek to investigate the Buddha’s state, it is truly very profound. Actually, the Buddha’s state is not [different]. [The difference is] the Buddha’s wisdom, with which He understood the true reality of both time and space. When we often talk about “trillions of kalpas,” this is not just empty talk, an analogy or something that lacks any real substance. It is just that we are unenlightened beings, who can only see what is in front of our eyes. We can only see what is right in front of us. What we understand are things in front of us, so our range [of understanding] is not very broad. The Buddha and the Bodhisattvas have awakened [their minds] and can see things clearly, so their state [of mind] is different from ours. Thus, “Kalpas seem like instants to them.” All Bodhisattvas can immediately understand what a Buddha teaches as their perspectives are so broad and vast. [They can see] the length of time and vastness of space, so they think in terms of long kalpas.
“Long kalpas” means a great length of time, yet it is like an instant to them. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are unconstrained by the length of time. The Buddha often told us that a hundred thousand kalpas [pass] in an instant. In a flash, they can understand the universe, space, time, matters and objects, both in the past and the future. The state of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is such that they are able to be unhindered. However, as unenlightened beings, all we can talk about is the present. We do not know what happened in the past, and we are even less able to predict [the future]. The time we wish to understand is just the few short decades of our present lifetime, for we know nothing about our past lifetimes. Why are there so many things that do not go the way we want? We ourselves do not know how we came to accumulate so many afflictions. We have no idea how we came to accumulate our personal habitual tendencies, which cause us to feel connected to some people and disconnected from others. Why is there such a great disparity? How have our personal issues accumulated? We also do not understand what we experience now. So, what about the future? What will happen? We are unable to know this as well. This is because we have no way to understand [the nature of] time and this world. The Buddha’s state of mind was such that “long kalpas seemed like instants to Him”. He [described] things that had happened millions of kalpas in the past, an [incredibly long] time ago. He often described the past as well as [events yet to come] millions of years in the future, thousands of kalpas in the future. This is the Buddha’s state [of mind]. So, when it comes to all things that exist throughout the Dharma-realm of the universe, “the perfect, immediate, subtle and wondrous One Vehicle Dharma,” not only did He analyze these principles for us, He even helped us to understand the past, present and future. This state of Buddhahood is so perfect and complete! Worldly matters and objects, time and space are all encompassed within the Buddha’s enlightened nature. After His enlightenment, He could analyze the Dharma for everyone any time. “Wow! What a wondrous state of mind!” When the Buddha awakened, He lamented for unenlightened beings since they are so weak. What they [understand] is only very little, and they spend every day afflicted, taking issue over things.
I hear of more and more people like this. “How come you are so busy? My business is growing bigger! Ah! Is this necessary? Set a few things aside!” “I cannot set them aside!” This is a conversation we often [hear]. This happens all the time. When successful business people come to converse with me, this is what I always say to each of them. Whenever any successful businessperson comes to speak with me, these are the things I tell them. They may say, “Master, I really admire Tzu Chi. I would like to focus more on [participating].” [I tell them], “You can! You can concentrate on it right now!” They say, “I cannot do it just yet. I am still trying to expand my business now.” This is what I tell them, “It is not necessary.”
“You have [more money] now than even several generations can spend.” They say, “That may be true, but this is how I am as a person. I have to keep my business going. I still must take care of my employees. The families of my employees also depend upon me for their livelihood.” I tell them, “Are you saying that without you, they would not be able to live? Better to let them settle their family situation and allow them spend their lives well by taking advantage of their youth to go find [another job]. The world is very big, and there are many [opportunities]. They naturally have the ability to make a living.” I could give them many other reasons, but of all the things I could tell them, these are the only words they will listen to. And do they listen to me? It is still hard for them. “I understand your reasoning, but I just can’t put it aside!” It is true, when all is said and done, they just cannot put things aside. This is the way people are. When it comes to the Dharma, “the perfect, immediate, subtle and wondrous One Vehicle Dharma,” we “unenlightened beings think of it in terms of short instants.” We are very short –sighted. If we just talk about the vastness of space, the length of time and how many afflictions we have in this world [but do not take action] how can we put aside our afflictions and return to our nature of True Suchness? Yet, regardless of who we are, these principles are very precious. Even though we wish to mindfully realize them, we are still occupied with worldly matters.
[We feel] we still have time, that our present business affairs are more urgent. We care only about the present. This is how ordinary people think about things; we have many worldly affairs yet unfinished, so we feel it is most important to do what is urgent right now. There is money to be made now, so we keep wanting to expand our businesses. This is the same principle. It is the same for every ordinary person. Because we do not continue to listen to the true principles, we cannot comprehend what the Buddha taught regarding the difference between “long kalpas” and “short instants.” With every thought, unenlightened beings take issue about things in each moment and become covered by ignorance and afflictions. This is how we are.
However, the minds of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not like this. They can explain all phenomena, including material things and time, very clearly to us. So, we must earnestly seek to comprehend this, otherwise [our journey] from ordinary beings to noble people will be far too long.
So, it will take long kalpas. In the Buddhist sutras, those kalpas often number in the trillions. As unenlightened beings, the things in front of us cause us many afflictions. How can brief instants like these compare with those long kalpas? How can we unenlightened beings be able to approach the Buddha’s state of mind? The Buddha told us that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. He told us that every person has the nature of True Suchness, which always exists within us; it is in our bodies and minds, and we are never separate from it. Yet, how can we compare the distance between the Buddha’s nature of True Suchness, [His] innate enlightenment, and our own state? “How can this compare”? It is incomparable. “In the eyes of past Buddhas Bodhisattvas.”
Speaking of the Buddha’s [time] in the past in terms of time in this world, He is more than 2,000 years removed from us, but during His time, He observed sentient beings with the Buddha-eye. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas all look at sentient beings with the eye of compassion. This is how they view sentient beings, but it is different from our own view. They look at us like this and they say, “The principles are clearly like this. This is what I told you. I look forward to the time when you can understand this.” Yet, we cling to our delusions and do not awaken. Looking at things through the Buddha-eye, “they see everything that appears before them from the view of perfect enlightenment.” From a Buddha’s or a Bodhisattva’s point of view, every single thing that appears before them is exactly the way it should be at the time is exactly the way it should be at the time. This is a Buddha’s and Bodhisattva’s state of mind. They see things using their wisdom. So, with their state of mind, they always “think of everything’s as countless Buddha-lands.” When the Buddha taught the Dharma in the Saha World, He often used past Buddhas or countless Buddha-lands as analogies and so on. He even made predictions for His disciples, often saying things like, “After billions or trillions of years, so and so will attain Buddhahood and will in the future abide in the world for several thousand or several tens of thousands of years.” In His state, the Buddha [could see] that, after engaging in spiritual practice, those disciples in the future would also be able to become accomplished. Their perspectives would be the same as Sakyamuni’s and the other Buddhas’. It is with this perspective that they will look at the world, time and the universe. This is not at all like ordinary beings’ state, nor ordinary beings’ [sense of] time. We should really believe this. With the Buddha’s wisdom, they spoke of time in a very real way. When it comes to our astronomy, the analogies we often employ are very real. When we talk about how one day in Trayastrimsa Heaven equals 100 years here on earth, everyone thinks of this as a myth. There are also heavens where, if you go high enough, one day for them equals 1000 or [even] 10,000 of our years.
Speaking even more practically, astronomers have sent us a certificate. Up in the sky, in space, there is an asteroid that is named Tzu Chi. It is internationally recognized by astronomers. They observed this asteroid that still had no name. from Taiwan, a group of astronomers proposed to give it a name recognized internationally. [Due to] Tzu Chi’s help and contribution to the world they proposed to name this asteroid “Tzu Chi”. This [name] was recognized internationally. It was also published in a journal, confirming that this asteroid really exists in space. I was very curious about his asteroid. Although I received the certificate, I still wanted to ask them, “How far is that asteroid form Earth? How long does it take in our years for it to make one revolution around the sun?” Compared to [Earth time], it takes five years and seven months for it to revolve on time around the sun. If you compare our asteroid named Tzu Chi with our planet Earth, five years and seven months will pass on Earth before it will complete one year’s revolution around the sun. Once it makes one revolution around the sun, five of our years will have passed. This is a fact, due to the environment in space and that time. So, this is something scholars speak about “1000 years on earth is one day in heaven”, is not just a myth. It is true! It is definitely not just a myth. So, we must really believe that the spiritual world of the Buddha encompasses the entire universe. Regarding space and time, there was nothing the Buddha did not understand, let alone the human world. [Due to] sentient beings’ mindset in this world, they accumulate [karma], but where did their karmic cycle of causes and effects begin? Is it really only a matter of knowing about our present lifetime? A very long time ago in our past, we created causes that resulted in ignorance continually accumulating. This has resulted in the retributions of ignorance and habitual tendencies. These are true principles; we must believe them.
So, the way that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas look at things, “They see everything that appears before them from the view of perfect enlightenment. Whatever a situation entails, according to their perspective, [they say], “My goodness! Why be afflicted? Let it go! Your afflictions have accumulated in this way, and this is the reason why you are suffering now.” Even if the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas analyze things clearly like this for us, we still cannot see the bigger picture. These are [the differences between] the realms of Buddhas and sentient beings.
So, “[They] think of everyone as countless Buddha-lands”. Looking at everyone in the world, [in this] impure land of unenlightened beings, [they see that] it can be transformed into the pure land of all Buddhas. If everyone could see the bigger picture, concerning this small planet of ours, by expanding our vision, [we could] see it as countless Buddha-lands. This is what could bring us all together to become one with the world. So, I often say that a single dust particle is [like] a world or a nation. So, we can use a dust particle as an analogy for our world. One dust particle is one world. We talked all about this in the past, but are we able to believe it? Ah! It is up to us to believe it or not, but in any case, there is truth to this principle. So, as for sentient beings’ momentary [thinking] or the long [-term thinking] of the Buddha, perhaps it is in terms of the Buddha’s long kalpas that we should view this world’s momentary changes. The Buddha was very clear about this. It is just that we are obstructed by our present [concerns].
So, we must all mindfully seek to comprehend how to compare instants in terms of long kalpas. We can thus reason by analogy [to understand] the Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas’ state of mind. So, we should mindfully seek to comprehend how insignificant we are as people and how brief our time is here. Our lives only last a few decades, which is indeed a very brief period of time. Our perspective is very insignificant if we compare it to the Buddha’s expansive perspective [which is seeing] in terms of long kalpas. So, the things we know are truly limited.
This is what makes us unenlightened beings! Time is so short. How can we compare our perspectives and memories to those of the Buddha? So, I often lament, but I also have a lot of praise for the wisdom of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I can only lament that I myself am an ordinary being with a very narrow, very small, state of mind. This is why I must continue to work harder.
The previous sutra passage says, “They may even share their seats to let others sit. These are their merits and virtues. When they are born again, they will attain the seat of Sovereign Sakra, the seat of King Brahma or the seat of a wheel-turning sage king”.
Here [it says that] if we listen to how the Buddha teaches the Dharma, we will be able to joyfully take it to heart. We have made vows like this to listen to and expound the Dharma, and we also wish to transmit it. Yet, listening to the Dharma, understanding it and expounding it is not easy at all! So, we should rejoice in others’ accomplishments. We should all be able to do this to enable everyone to listen to it together. “I cannot explain it to you now. Come! Let me take you to listen”. Do we all remember? When we wanted to promote bone marrow donation, those elderly Bodhisattvas were very passionate. One sister in the market held a small poster in order to tell everyone, “Today in such and such place, not far from our market, they are talking blood for blood testing to find matches for future bone marrow donations”. People picked up [her pamphlets] and asked her, “Grandmother, what does it say inside?” “Ah! I don’t know. Come, [it is] just over there”. However, no one wanted to go there. She suddenly became inspired and, as she stood there, she yelled, “Help! Help!” everyone turned around “Grandmother, what’s wrong?” “Come, come! Follow me and you will see”. A large group followed her. At that time, our hospital’s nurses and blood bank technicians were there, and they began to explain to them. “Come young people, let me explain to you. You have a chance to save people with a single thought”. “Come!” Then, a few commissioners and a few technicians, as well as our nurses, came over to explain [bone marrow donation] to everyone. Some young people were passionately inspired. “OK! The chances of finding a match are very small. [We just need to] draw some blood. No problem!” They would draw 10cc of blood. So, as long as we unenlightened beings can willingly form an aspiration, it does not matter if we can explain it or not. As long as we form an aspiration, we will be like that elderly Bodhisattva who aspired to bring people in. If we cannot explain, we can let others explain it so that people can clearly understand. The principle is the same. As for these people who want to guide others to hear the Dharma, although they understand it well themselves, they simply rejoice in seeing and hearing others [explain it]. When someone teaches the Dharma, although I may understand very well myself, there still may be others who do not understand, so I must quickly invite them in by saying, “Come, come! Come listen to the Dharma!” Whether it is a Dharma-master or a lay person who is teaching the Dharma, those people have formed the aspiration to quickly lead others to listen to the Dharma.
So, we may be sitting or standing. We may be standing or sitting; many people stand while listening to the Dharma. There may be some who feel that, “I already understand very well, but maybe this person has not yet heard it. Here, I will give you my seat. Please sit so you can peacefully hear the Dharma”. Whether we bring someone in or share our seat with them so that they can sit down, there is merit and virtue in all of this. It is all to help others be able to succeed in comprehending the great path. This requires us to form an aspiration. If we understand the Buddha-Dharma and comprehend the great path, then we will naturally form the supreme aspiration. By striving to invite others and give up our seats to them, we are “taking refuge in the Buddha”. [We must] “comprehend the great path and “form the supreme aspiration” as well as “[make vows for] all living beings”. Everyone knows the Three Refuges. So, we have talked about the merits and virtues of these before. “When they are born again, they will attain the seat of Sovereign Sakra”. Our wish to enable everyone to take joy in listening to the Buddha-Dharma will [bring] blessings. Blessings like these are like the heavenly blessings that Sovereign Sakra enjoys. When we see an increasing number of people understand and take joy in the Buddha-Dharma, we also enjoy this for ourselves. When we quickly rise to allow someone to sit, we so to help their mind to be at peace. To see them listening peacefully and joyfully, we who have given up our seat also feel joyful. When we are reborn, we will feel joyful and happy, just like Sovereign Sakra. Not only is there Sovereign Sakra, there is also King Braham. His realm is different; his blessings are even more his blessings are even more profound.
Next, a wheel-turning sage king can not only listen to the Dharma in the world, he can also advance the Buddha-Dharma through his worldly position. We will also be like a king leading his people, like a wheel-turning sage king. This is a very grounded sense of enjoyment. Like this, we will always be very joyful; whatever happens, we are always very joyful, without hindrances or afflictions. I believe this is the greatest joy. Being able to make it so that everyone is very peaceful and stable and the Dharma can enter their hearts, this is what I believe is the most joyful thing. Otherwise it is like when someone tells me, “I love doing Tzu Chi’s work. I would love to dedicate myself totally to it.” “That is great! You can do it!” “Alas, I cannot put things down tight now.” Although people like these earn a lot money, though they have many chain stores and their enterprise is spread throughout the world, they still have many afflictions. How can they be happy? The clothes they wear are no different from others’. What about eating? They eat at the same table, and they do not eat any more than other people. How come [someone like this] has so many more afflictions than other people? Everyone has their own state of mind, and everyone’s views are always different.
The next sutra passage says, “Ajita, suppose, also, that there are people who say to others, ‘There is a sutra called the Lotus Flower. Let us go listen to it together’. Taking this advice, they go listen to it, even for just an instant.
We can more or less understand this passage. The Buddha is calling out again, calling out to Ajita. That is, the Buddha was calling out to Maitreya, while also asking everyone to listen carefully. By calling out his name, He wanted everyone to listen carefully. “Suppose, also, that there are people who say to others…”. There are also others. Previously it mentioned those who encourage others to listen and give up their seats. Now, there are still others who quickly go to tell other people that a sutra like this exists, called the Lotus Sutra. Those like these “[speak] to others,” [meaning] they encourage people from afar. “Come! Come and listen. There is a sutra called the Lotus Sutra”. They introduce them to the sutra and the utility of its wondrous teachings, encouraging people to come listen. In this way, they sincerely inviting others to listen [to it]. [Thus], “Wherever the Dharma is taught, people will sincerely invite others to help them learn about it”.
Ajita, suppose, also, that there are people who say to others…: Wherever the Dharma is taught, people will sincerely invite others to help them learn about it.
As long as people are expounding the Dharma, and what they are expounding is the Lotus Sutra, even if we are far away, we should encourage others to go listen to them with complete sincerity. We should encourage others with complete sincerity so that everyone will realize that they should go listen to this sutra, called the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. The Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra is the key sutra all Buddha wish to teach. “Come! Everyone, quickly come and listen.” Thus, in far-away places, they painstakingly and sincerely coax other people to come and listen to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. “If you go, I will accompany you”. I am not simply telling you to go. “Come! If you go, I will go with you!” This is like many of our Bodhisattvas. “This person is truly dedicated! I will immediately open up my schedule so that I can bring him over at once! He is very motivated and wants to understand Tzu Chi even more deeply. I told him that when he has time, I will definitely make time to come with him”. There really are many people like this. They let people know that Tzu Chi is in Hualien and that they should know about the Jing Si Abode in Hualien, that they should come here to learn more. These are our commissioners who wish to guide people to form aspirations. They also make special trips to accompany people. They are people who practice the Bodhisattva-path, the path that is found in the Lotus Sutra.
“There is a sutra called the Lotus Flower. Let us go listen to it together”. Taking this advice, they go listen to it, even for just an instant: They encourage others to go listen to it together. Through listening, they will comprehend it, and then they will also encourage others to go so that even for just the span of an instant, they will be able to hear the Dharma being taught.
“There is a sutra called the Lotus Flower. Let us go listen to it together. If you go, I will accompany you.” “Taking this advice, they go listen to it, even for just an instant”. This is how they came with them. “Since this is what he told me, I believe him. He is my good friend, so I believe what he says I will go together with you to listen, whether we listen for a long or short time” So, “They go listen to it, even for just an instant”. This means that “They encourage others to go listen to it together” “If you go, I will go along with you.” “Or perhaps you can accompany me when I go”. They are good friends. So, after listening to it, “Through listening, they comprehend” when new people listen, they take joy in it; deep in their hearts, they realize the wonder of the Dharma. They feel in their hearts that it is useful, and [after applying] it, they will naturally go invite others. “Then they will also encourage others to go.” “Now it is my turn to bring someone. I must invite someone else. Come! Someone else brought me in the past. Now I will go with you.” Thus, after listening to the Dharma, our minds can genuinely understand it. If we can listen to it, we will rejoice. We may only hear a short passage. “Just try to listen. If it appeals to you, listen a little more. If it does not appeal to you, then we will not stay long. It does not matter!” So, “They go listen to it, even for just an instant, and are able to hear the Dharma being taught”. If we get tired of listening, then it is ok to listen only for a little. This is how we must mindfully encourage others.
Accompanying others to go listen to the Dharma for an instant is such a small thing, yet its benefits are tremendously great. When our mind implicitly comes to resonate with the mind of noble beings and our body abides together with the Dharmakaya, our body and mind will become extraordinary, and we can realize the fruit of the path.
“Accompanying others to go listen…” If we accompany someone to go and listen “to the Dharma for an instant, it is such a small thing, yet its benefits are tremendously great”. If we bring someone to listen and spend just a little time to go, the benefits are actually very great. If we bring someone along, perhaps we may later hear that this person has formed great aspirations and has become able to transmit and teach the Dharma. Perhaps this person may greatly benefit the world. Accompanying them [may provide] the karmic conditions for them to form great aspirations. The benefits are very great [when one] promotes the Buddha-Dharma. So, “Our mind implicitly comes to resonate with the mind of noble beings and our body abides together with the Dharmakaya”. After hearing the Dharma, although our minds remain unenlightened, by hearing the Buddha or Dharma master teach it, our minds naturally begin to silently and subtly resonate with it in earnest. Our minds have already accepted the Dharma; they have accepted it so deeply that we will transcend the world, time and space. Those who have deep wisdom will comprehend the great path and form supreme aspirations as soon as they hear it. So, it says, “When our mind implicitly comes to resonate with the mind of noble beings…”. These are the minds of ordinary and noble beings. Where is the source of the Dharma? Though it has been passed down like this to us, no matter for how long, as it passed from one person to the fiftieth, that fiftieth person who spreads the Dharma will reach [the state] of the first one who taught it. If the Dharma has not deviated, then when someone listens to it now, to the Dharma spread by “the fiftieth person,” then he can also resonate with the very same Dharma that the first person taught. As for the Dharma the Buddha taught, no matter how it is passed down, as long as it remains accurate, when people listen to it later, their state of mind will resonate with the state of mind of noble beings. The will naturally resonate with the Buddha-mind, and they will understand the Buddha’s principles. They will begin to resonate with them. So, “Our body abides together with the Dharmakaya”. As for the Dharmakaya the Buddha passed down, if that Buddha-Dharma remains true while it is in the world, then it is the same as the Buddha’s Dharmakaya being in the world. At this time [we view the Buddha] as a great compassionate father. We still take the Buddha as our guiding teacher. After more than 2000 years, we still call the Buddha our teacher. Isn’t this what [this passage says]? “When our mind implicitly comes to resonate with the mind of noble beings and our body abides together with the Dharmakaya…”. This is true joy! As it says here, we will be very joyful. “Our body and mind will become extraordinary”. Whether physically or spiritually, we will feel extraordinarily joyful. Whether we bring others to listen or we are brought along by others, as long as our minds resonate with the Dharma, we resonate with noble beings’ state of mind and the Buddha’s Dharmakaya. [Our minds] are the same, very extraordinary. So, “We can realize the fruit of the path”.
Dear Bodhisattvas, when we encourage people to listen to the Dharma, it truly brings us infinite merits and virtues. The distance between the mind of an unenlightened being and the mind of a noble person is especially great. The way the Buddha sees things, He can observe time, space, people’s relations and the universe, for [His mind] is one with the world and time. This is how instants become long kalpas. As unenlightened beings, we are limited by the afflictions [caused by] the people, matters and things before our eyes that cover our minds in ignorance. The Buddha’s mind “encompasses the universe and embraces the boundless worlds within it.” This is different [from our minds]. Unenlightened beings [think] only of “me,” putting themselves first. The Buddha’s mind is a state of total emptiness, encompassing the universe and the infinite worlds within it. It includes time and the world. So, this is a noble being’s mind. How can we listen to the Dharma so that [our minds] can resonate with the mind of a noble person? How can we comprehend the Buddha-Dharma? We [do this by] physically going among people with a loving heart to deliver sentient beings. Whether we expound the Dharma or save sentient beings in suffering, how do we “relieve their suffering” and then “expound the Dharma for them”? Are we working on accomplishing this state? We are! I tell everyone, “We are working on it!” It is just that we are not yet completely clear on how to resonate with the Dharma.
This is like Mr. Kusuma in Indonesia. “Master says that, with the Lotus Sutra, we can pave a path for [others] to walk on.” As he went along, he reflected, “Wow! This is what I have already been doing! These are the principles of the Lotus Sutra!” It is true! These are the principles. “This path is a road to walk on.” This sutra is a path. The sutra is a path; that path is a road to walk. How have we managed to walk along this path? We must earnestly reflect on this. We must now make an effort to listen to the sutra; by listening, we can understand even better exactly what it is that we have been doing. Now, what should we be doing without delay? We must empty out our [sense of] self and never take issue over things with others. We [must] place importance on human lives. We give of ourselves for the sake of human lives. After listening to the Dharma we can understand what we are actually doing. So, everyone, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)