Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Walking the Path with a Straightforward Mind (直心向道 勤行持善)
Date: July.16.2019
“[Through the interplay of] our Six Roots, the Six Dusts and our Six Sense-Consciousnesses, we seek pure merits and virtues. We must walk the path with a straightforward mind and diligently practice and uphold goodness. When we never become indolent, this is known as ‘Constant Diligence,’ which is [also the name of] the recipient of the teachings in this chapter.”
Bodhisattvas, we must be diligent! Diligence is the most important direction for Buddhist practitioners. As Buddhist practitioners, if we are not diligent, it is like going to visit a close relative; if we walk in place, there is no way we will arrive just by thinking. We still need to pick up for feet and walk. Only then can we reach the true source that we are seeking. So, we must take action; we must be diligent and put the teachings into action. We must walk upon the path in order to reach [our destination]. We must begin with a diligent mindset.
“[Through the interplay of] our Six Roots, the Six Dusts and our Six Sense-Consciousnesses, we seek pure merits and virtues.” It truly is a very blessed thing for our bodies to be replete with the Six Roots. When we are replete with the Six Roots, our appearance will be very harmonious and perfect, and we can fully make use of our abilities in this world. We cannot be lacking in our Six Roots. The Six Roots are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. We see all manner of shapes and forms, and we give rise to joy. When we see a road, [we may wonder], “Is that road over there connected to this one? What is between them? Is there a creek or a ditch lying horizontally in between?” If we do not look carefully as we walk on a straight road, if we do not see the horizontal ditch, it is very dangerous. So, our eye-root allows us to recognize our direction and to recognize things in the external world and so on. Whether things are long or short, square or round, pretty or ugly, we perceive them with our eye-root. So, our eyes are very important.
We must also “walk the path with a straightforward mind.” It is not just about our eye-root; what this part is discussing is our Six Roots. Besides the eyes, there are also ears. If we are unable to hear, our world will be without sound, and we will be unable to interact with people. This would already be an obstacle. So, our ears must be able to hear, to hear ourselves speak, hear others when they talk to us and hear all the different sounds of nature. This is our ear-root.
When it comes to our nose, apart from using it to breathe, [we can smell] if something is fragrant or foul. So, our nose-root is also very important.
Our tongue-root makes us think of eating and lets us know if something is sweet or salty. Our tongue-root moves very freely and makes it convenient for us to speak. These are all parts of our bodies. Then, we have our body-root. Without this body, where would our five sense organs go? We need the body. With our bodies, with our arms and legs, we also need our minds. With our minds, we feel that this path is flat and easy to walk upon. Our minds direct us to go ahead, and our feet will move forward. When we see something, we feel that we want to acquire it. Our minds give rise to the thought, and our hands reach out to take this thing that we like, to enjoy the beauty of a flower and so on. All of this is directed by our mind. This is called our mind-root. So, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind together are called the Six Roots. These Six Roots must be pure.
This way, we can easily make use of our Six Roots and also create all merits and virtues. Because we can put them to use easily, how are we to use them? We must “refrain from all evil and do all that is good.” Our mind-root can constantly help remind us to not do bad things. As for good deeds, we must form aspirations [to do them]; We must diligently advance with our body and mind and do the things that we should do. These are all accomplished with our Six Roots. Everything that we wish to do in our lives requires our Six Roots. The Six Roots help us accomplish everything in our lives. So, since we are replete with our Six Roots, we must “walk the path with a straightforward mind”. Since we have formed aspirations, we must make aspirations to learn the Buddha’s teachings, the Buddha’s path to awakening. On this path to awakening, we must begin by purifying our Six Roots, following this path wholeheartedly and walking the Bodhisattva-path. We must go among people and steadfastly continue forward without going astray. By continuing straight on the Bodhisattva-path, we will naturally attain what we seek, supreme, universal and perfect enlightenment, the sake spiritual state as the Buddha. This certainly depends on our merits from “walking the path with a straightforward mind and diligently practicing and upholding goodness.” Since we have made aspirations to go forward, we cannot be indolent. We must earnestly advance with diligence.
This is the direction of our spiritual cultivation. It is very important for us to advance diligently.
A group of Bodhisattvas shared their experiences in South Africa [in 2018] [interacting] with Bodhisattvas there. Whether ethnic-Chinese businessmen or local Bodhisattvas, everyone interacted with one another and shared what they have witnessed. Tzu Chi volunteers from eight countries in Africa all gathered together in Johannesburg for introductory and advanced training. Amazingly, a Taiwanese businessman living in South Africa and also one of our Tzu Chi volunteers, Mr. Li Qinglong, along with his wife, formed aspirations [to donate a piece of land]. They had made their business successful and bought a piece of land. This piece of land has great potential for future development. Now, the government has already made plans and opened a major road through there; it is also not far from the airport. Besides being conveniently located, it is in a populated area. It is a metropolis. His piece of land is over four hectares in area. His business is in car imports. After he imports these cars, he needs to have a safe building to keep them in. He needs to store them somewhere after importing them. He has several of these storage areas. All of them are thousands of square feet in space; they are huge. So, he thought that Tzu Chi could also make use of this place. He started thinking, “I am getting old. I should start scaling down my business. I can donate this space to Tzu Chi. It is very useful.
This is like taking this space “to make one big Bodhisattva spiritual training ground.” In this place, although the conditions are still quite difficult just [by giving] that empty space, Mr. Li was very considerate. In that big space, He had completely cleared out [items from the shelving units]. After cleaning it up a little, it became an open sleeping area. There were two bunks and, and it was very safe. They were also very mindful; they prepared very comfortable bedding. [The sleeping area] was clean and roomy. This place also had a very beautiful environment. We see that, as they held their training there, unlike before, they no longer had to set up tents, outside, nor did they lack access to bathrooms and face inconvenience in every aspect. Bodhisattvas came from ten countries. There were also Tzu Chi volunteers from Taiwan; these Bodhisattvas also arrived. So, this was a great spiritual training ground. This is all due to causes and conditions. [Mr. Li] had just only told me, “I want to donate my land to Tzu Chi. Master, please accept it.”
At first, I was really worried. It was so much land. What could we use it for? It turns out, the Bodhisattvas there had already made arrangements. How can we help the poor in Africa to realize their riches? How can we turn poverty into wealth? There are many young people with wisdom there who are very kind and pure-hearted. How can we train these young people so that everyone has love and is willing to serve society? To do this we need a place like this training center. Just as I was thinking of this, a Living Bodhisattva appeared. He donated such a good piece of land to us and we were able to put it to use immediately. The local ethnic-Chinese businessmen saw how Tzu chi volunteers and our experienced Taiwanese businessmen persist in doing Tzu Chi’s work. They are very diligent. Previously, I have often spoken of [what it was like] over 20 years ago. It really was a tough path, yet they were not afraid of difficulties and opened up this path. Although the road was rough, they wholeheartedly and diligently advanced forward, pushing aside all kinds of difficulties. They pushed them aside, and at the same time brought out the first, second, third groups [of Bodhisattvas] and so on, a [big] group of Bodhisattvas. They have a lot of wisdom. Although they seem to be older, they are very pure-hearted. They are very loving, very wise and very kind. It was with these qualities that they encountered Tzu Chi and were very willing [to help others]. We often see on Da Ai TV this group of volunteers in white skirts and blue shirts white collars. We can see this group going into the villages and climbing up hills. Even if [the conditions] are very difficult and transportation is inconvenient, they exercise their love. How do they climb up? It is indescribable. How do they come back down? They have a lot of wisdom. On the hill, it is quite far to have to walk all the way around [to get down]. So, they place cardboard on the slope. They sit on the cardboard and slide all the way down. It really is creative.
But in addition to using this as their means of transportation, they also find great joy in it; it is as if they were in their childhood, playing effortlessly in this world. Yet, those Bodhisattvas, rich in great love, really are very diligent. The place they live in is very dilapidated. Our volunteers from Taiwan really admire them and testified to how they endure hardships, wholeheartedly advance diligently and give of themselves to do good without seeking anything in return. [The volunteers there] are free and at east. [Volunteers from Taiwan] saw this.
Mr. Cao from Taiwan often does international disaster relief. On this trip to South Africa, he was very joyful. He was so happy to work with this group of Bodhisattvas. One of our commissioner Bodhisattvas also testified how, in that place, she really did see those who are spiritually rich, as if they were in heaven. The people are poor, very impoverished, yet she saw the joy in their minds. She saw that, as they went to visit the poor, they were singing while walking. She asked them, “What are you singing about?” They were singing about great love, about serving without expectations and great love. They were so happy. They started singing when they started walking, singing as they walked on the rough roads. Yet, they were very happy going to the homes of those who needed help. Just like us in the Taiwan, they were very diligent [in the helping others]. They swept, cleaned and organized things, washing whatever that needed to be washed. They also helped bathe [people who needed bathing]. They care for those who are poor or suffering from illnesses. Their minds are without hindrances, and they are very happy. [Volunteers from Taiwan] saw this [The African volunteers] were like in heaven, content and without worries. When asked, they had no complaints at all such as, “I do not have enough” or “I am lacking this thing”. They had no complaints at all. They were smiling and joyful all day. What is even more touching is that they have the willingness to serve. That willingness to serve is something that we can understand; they are also at peace with poverty and take joy in this path.
A lot of people shared how, in that environment, what we see everywhere truly is great poverty, but we also see the most joyful group of people. This is unimaginable. So, by seeing such diligent Bodhisattvas, we should be even more courageous to diligently advance. So, the Dharma we are going to talk about now is about diligence. The recipient of the teachings is Constant Diligent Bodhisattva. “When we never become indolent, this is known as ‘Constant Diligence’. This is the name of the recipient of the teachings in the chapter”. So, we need to remember this. Now we must begin to pay earnest attention to our Six Roots, Dusts and Consciousnesses. We must always have pure merits and virtues. We cannot spread conflicts with our mouths, and our ears do not need to listen to defiled things. These examples [apply to] all Six Roots. We must earnestly encourage people to speak good words. We must earnestly listen to the sutra and encourage others to listen to it, too. It is the same principle. We “walk the path with a straightforward mind and diligently practice and uphold goodness”. We must always go in the direction of doing good and never become indolent. This is called “constant diligence”.
The future recipient of the teachings is Constant Diligence Bodhisattva. All of us are able to be a Bodhisattva who is constantly diligent. This is what this chapter is about, and we will continue talking about it. We must pay mindful attention to this passage.
“At that time, the Buddha said to Constant Diligence. Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, ‘Suppose there are good men or good women who accept and uphold this Lotus Sutra, reading it, reciting it, expounding it and transcribing it’”.
We just talked about Constant Diligence Bodhisattva. The Buddha felt that upon entering the Chapter on the Merits and Virtues of Dharma Teacher, it was necessary to have a recipient of the teachings. To teach the Dharma according to people’s capabilities, the Buddha needed to find someone with the capabilities to receive [the teachings]. This is like how He was talking to Maitreya Bodhisattva before because Maitreya Bodhisattva is going to attain Buddhahood in the future. Now Constant Diligence Bodhisattva had suitable capabilities for this sutra passage and could be a recipient of the teachings.
This describes those who can personally cultivate and uphold the Dharma while also advising others to take joy in it and the merits and virtues they attain by practicing and upholding it in this way. According to the amount [they cultivate], they will gain just as many [merits and virtues]. Thus, He had Constant Diligence Bodhisattvas, serve as the recipient of the teachings to teach this to the assembly.
Constant Diligence Bodhisattvas was a great Bodhisattva. So, the Buddha had Constant Diligence Bodhisattva server as the recipient of the teachings. He helped everyone focus their attention. They had to pay attention with all Six Senses, sit up with their bodies, pay attention with their ears and observe with eyes to find out who Constant Diligence Bodhisattva was. They looked to see who it was. The Buddha began to call to [Constant Diligence Bodhisattva], so everyone quickly tried to see who the recipient of the teachings was. The Buddha focused the Dharma He wanted to teach toward this person. This was also a reminder for everyone to focus their Six Senses to earnestly listen. “This describes those who can personally cultivate and uphold the Dharma while also advising others to take joy in it and the merits and virtues they attain by practicing and upholding it in this way. According to the amount [they cultivate], they will gain just as many [merits and virtues]. Thus, He had Constant Diligence Bodhisattva serve as the recipient of the teachings”. Constant Diligence Bodhisattva was suited to be this kind of person. Previously, the Buddha did not point out who this kind of person was. Now, in this chapter, the Buddha began to do so. He clearly let everyone know about [on who] could accept and uphold the teachings. not only does he himself advance diligently, but he also encourages others to be diligent and to rejoice for others. So, the merits and virtues attained are like those of Constant Diligence Bodhisattva. “According to his practice…”. How did he engage in his practice? Did he do so diligently? Or did he do it in a perfunctory manner, meaning he did it only when he had to and stopped otherwise? Did he engage in perfunctory spiritual practice, and practice in name and appearance only? No. He engaged in true practice, not just practice in name and appearance. He did not simply have the appearance and name of a monastic and called himself a spiritual practitioner. No. When he became a monastic and engaged in spiritual practice, he was one who truly accepted and upheld the Dharma. He already had a Bodhisattva’s heart and was a true practitioner. It says “according to the amount [they cultivate]”. How much was his true desire to cultivate and how many merits and virtues did he attain from truly engaging in spiritual practice? “According to the amount [they cultivate], they will gain just as many [merits and virtues]”. Our diligence is not dependent on how diligent we say we are; no. We attain only as much as we do; we attain how much we cultivate. “Thus, He had Constant Diligence Bodhisattva serve as the recipient of the teachings”.
Constant Diligence Bodhisattva had already engaged in much spiritual practice and attained much, so he was able to be a model for everyone else. Thus, he was the recipient of the teachings and [was known as] Constant Diligence Bodhisattva. [The Buddha] used this to remind everyone. So, [the Buddha] said, “Suppose there are good men or good women who accept and uphold this Lotus Sutra, reading it, reciting it, expounding it and transcribing it”. These are five things that [people practice]. Here, [the sutra talks about] kind-hearted people. There are two groups of [monastics], bhiksus and bhiksunis. There are also two groups of lay practitioners, upasakas and upasikas. They are all referred to as good men and good women. Together, they make up the fourfold assembly. In fact, [the fourfold assembly] includes monastics and lay practitioners, both of which include [male and female] groups. “If they constantly keep it in mind, and maintain a diligent mindset” means that they should constantly keep these thoughts in their minds, remembering how we must cultivate the Dharma. This is how we must advance diligently.
“Always” means that, over a very, very long time, we must always cultivate and uphold the teachings. There are five methods of spiritual practice that qualify one as someone. These [five methods] are the fundamentals.
If people constantly keep it in mind, maintain a diligent mindset and cultivate and uphold it always, they will practice five methods. Accepting and upholding: They persevere in upholding the principles without fail. Reading: They are familiar with the text and clearly understand its truths. Reciting: They chant, recite and engrave its meaning into their memory. Expounding: They explain the meaning of the text and illustrate its principles and direction. Transcribing: They elegantly describe the subtle and wondrous Dharma. These are the five practices of Dharma teachers.
In our spiritual practice, the first thing we need is persistence in upholding the Dharma’s rules. So, “to accept and uphold” means that we must “observe the Dharma’s rules without fail”. We are spiritual practitioners. When it comes to our duty and what we should and should not do, we must be very clear on the Dharma’s rules. Following the rules and disciplines is [obeying] the Dharma’s rules. We must read [the sutra] again; we must constantly read it because the Dharma is compiled in the sutras. This is the Buddha encouraging the people of the future. The Lotus Sutra was also [compiled] by people in the future. For us in the present, whether [the intent of] those who compiled the sutra or the Buddha’s intent, [their hope was] that we always have firm resolve. We must constantly read and engrave the lines and words in our hearts. Although when the Buddha was alive, there was nothing written for us to see and no transcribers on site, the sutras compiled later on encourage us, “This is what the Buddha said when He was alive”. It is already edited into a book. So, you must earnestly read the words that are recorded here”. So, we read what has already been written down. We have these words for ourselves to reference. So, through the text, we must earnestly connect with the principles and understand the content of the principles. They are familiar with the text and “clearly understand its truths”. We must understand the principles within very well and should not stop at just reading. We must also recite. Reading is done silently. If we silently read, after we are done reading, we may forget it. We must still recite it. Whether it is the long-form prose or the verses, we must read them aloud. If we read them aloud, we will be able to always remember them and engrave in our minds the meaning behind the sutra passage. We will be able to recall it. By reciting it aloud, we are not only engraving it in our minds; in fact, by reciting it aloud, the eight classes of Dharma-protectors can also [understand] what the Buddha-Dharma is actually like. Because of our sincerity, the words of our heart reach and are heard by all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. Thus, we must recite the sutras aloud. We must also expound them. [We must] “explain the meaning of the text and illustrate its principles and direction”. We may read or recite the sutras, but in addition to reading and reciting, we must also expound them. Because the sutra passage is very profound, we must expound it so that everyone can understand it. We read and recite it for ourselves, but when we expound it, others can hear it and understand it as well. It also helps us refresh our memory. This is the advantage [of expounding].
We must also transcribe [the sutra]. To transcribe is when, after we are able to tech the Dharma, we transcribe the Dharma we teach into words. Then, we will be able to elegantly describe “the subtle and wondrous Dharma” even more. After [others] explain the Dharma we listen and take it to heart. We are able to teach the sutra, and after teaching it, we can make it into a book. Book after book, we are able to write it out and. Book after book, we are able to write it out and make content even more subtle and intricate. We make use of written words to describe the most intricate, subtle and wondrous Dharma in our minds. If we are able to write it out, it is an even greater benefit to later generations. These are “the five practices of Dharma teachers”.
They “accept and uphold this Lotus Sutra, reading it, reciting it, expounding it and transcribing it”. We mentioned this previously. We must work hard to accept and uphold, read, recite, expound and transcribe [the sutra]. When it comes to these different [aspects], if we are replete in all five, this is what it means to be a Dharma teacher. Dharma teachers practice these five important methods. Their spiritual practice does not depart from this.
They [carry] their causal seeds from their past lives inside themselves, and outside themselves rely on the Buddha-Dharma permeating them. Through constant, diligent practice, they whole-heartedly seek the Dharma.
“They [carry] their causal seeds from their past lives inside themselves and outside themselves rely on the Buddha-Dharma permeating them”. We have mentioned this to everyone previously. Everyone engaged in practice in their past lives, so our minds “carry our causal seeds from our past lives inside”. In our past lives, we already planted these causes. We already sowed these seeds. We have this cause, and in addition, we have external conditions. Outside ourselves, we rely on our affinities with the Buddha-Dharma and earnestly listen to it. After listening to the Dharma, we are able to take it to heart for a long time and constantly advance diligently. This is how we “whole-heartedly seek the Dharma”. For Buddhist practitioners, this is what is most important in our spiritual cultivation. So, “Each chapter originates” “from its own karmic conditions”.
Each chapter originates from its own karmic conditions: The Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, the Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues and the Chapter on the Merits and Virtues of Joy all contain the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood. Those who are not Bodhisattvas of Equal Enlightenment are unable to understand these. This is why the Buddha spoke to Maitreya.
Every chapter has its causes and conditions. Now we will begin talking about the merits and virtues of Dharma teachers. For example, starting from the teachings from the 16th chapter, on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, we can fully sense that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. For our True Suchness to converge with the Buddha’s innate enlightenment, we must begin [by understanding] the Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan. He engaged in spiritual practice over countless kalpas in the past, so we continually spoke of His infinite lifespan. Not long after we finished the Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, I brought up the idea of ‘lifespan treasury”. The Buddha said that He has an infinite lifespan, which refers to His infinite Dharmakaya. As long as we take the Buddha-Dharma to heart, it does not matter how old we are in the world; what matters is how much Dharma we have accepted. Now, we must still seize the time and make use of our life to realize the Buddha’s teachings, taking the Buddha’s Dharma into our minds and turning it into our wisdom-life. I hope that everyone has an infinite lifespan. The Buddha’s lifespan is infinite. After this [chapter], there is the Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues. The Chapter on Distinguishing Merits and Virtues distinguishes our merits and virtues in the way we engaged in spiritual practice. There is also [the Chapter on] the Merits and Virtues of Joy. We have just concluded the Chapter on the Merits and Virtues of Joy. We engage in practice and encourage others to do so, and we must also take joy in it. We must have this broad and open mind to accept all. We must advance diligently in our internal cultivation and external practice; these are [explained] in the Chapter on the Merits and Virtues of Joy. These few chapters have entered the teachings of the intrinsic. They “all contain the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood”. From this point, [the sutra] is about the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood. How do we cultivate ourselves to be able to converge with the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood? This is something we must listen to very mindfully. The words may appear to be just as they are, but each word contains profound meaning. So, they “all contain the virtues of the fruit of Buddhahood”. The content of the sutra passages hides within it our True Suchness and the Buddha’s innate enlightenment and reveals the virtues of Buddhahood. We must mindfully seek to understand this. “Those who are not” “Bodhisattvas of Equal Enlightenment are unable to understand these”. Those who are not Bodhisattvas of Equal Enlightenment cannot understand it. So, the Buddha had to have great patience and give many teachings in this sutra that are suitable [for people to understand]. It is like what we were just talking about with those Bodhisattvas from South Africa. On the outside, they live in great poverty. Yet, after encountering the Buddha-Dharma, they are able to joyfully serve others, living in impoverished places as if in heaven. They serve others and practice peacefully and joyfully. So, they are still ordinary people subject to the law of cause and effect. How many blessing did they have in the past? Those who are blessed may be born into a wealthy [place] in society. Those who have wisdom, but lace blessed causes may be born in [impoverished] places.
However, when external conditions come together, once they encounter the Buddha-Dharma, they can be very happy and follow and uphold the Dharma. They willingly join in to cultivate themselves and encourage others to do so. We also heard them say that they conducted themselves with great etiquette. Furthermore, they sang [a song about] the Buddha at the Vulture Peak Assembly. Just like that, they sang they verses [inspired by] the Lotus Sutra. This is their method of spiritual practice, their way of advancing diligently. Sentient beings are all equal in their nature of True Suchness. This must connect with the Buddha’s mind. Everyone can engage in spiritual practice and attain the virtues of Buddhahood. This is what we must know, comprehending the principles through external matters. This is the teaching of the intrinsic.
Prior to the 15th chapter, the sutra was about matters; from this point on, it is all about principles. We truly must [attain] virtues equal to the Buddha’s. This is what [the sutra] explains for us. In the past, Maitreya Bodhisattva was the recipient of the teachings because Maitreya was a Bodhisattva of Equal Enlightenment and was about to attain Buddhahood. So, someone with that kind of capability is able to comprehend the sutra [passages] that come in the teaching of the intrinsic. From this we can know that, Constant Diligence Bodhisattva [mentioned now] is also a Bodhisattva of Equal Enlightenment. Now in the Chapter on the Merits and Virtues of Dharma Teachers, Constant Diligence Bodhisattva is the recipient of the teachings.
Of the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the 16th chapter is one of the four most important chapters. It tells of how the Tathagata attained Buddhahood a long time ago, and how His lifespan is inconceivable. This is known as opining up the manifest to reveal the intrinsic. It is at this point in the sutra where [the Buddha] set aside His Nirmanakaya, with which He manifests the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment, and revealed the intrinsic [body] that actually attained Buddhahood in the distant past.
So, of the 28 chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the 16th chapter, on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, is one of the four most important chapters of the 28 chapters in the Lotus Sutra. So, everyone must remember this and be mindful. The Tathagata attained Buddhahood distant kalpas ago. “His lifespan is inconceivable.” The Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan tells how He engaged in practice in the past. Thus, the Dharma is infinite. “This is known as opening up the manifest to reveal the intrinsic.” Beginning with the Chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan, [the Buddha] eliminated the skillful means from the past. He set aside the manifest and focused on entering the intrinsic. So, “It is at this point in the sutra where [the Buddha] set aside His Nirmanakaya, with which He manifests the Eight Aspects of Attaining Enlightenment.” According to the needs of this world, just like us in this world, He manifested as a human. “[He] revealed the intrinsic [body] that actually attained Buddhahood in the distant past.” Here, He revealed that He had engaged in practice throughout distant kalpas. It is in the 16th chapter on the Tathagata’s Lifespan where the shift happens. This shows that the Buddha had actually attained Buddhahood a very long time ago. So, we must mindfully seek to comprehend this. The Buddha manifested in this world relying not only on causes and conditions but also on His true abilities. He had engaged in practice since long ago, all the way up to the present; when sentient beings’ causes and conditions were mature, He manifested in this world. We must clearly understand this principle and remember to “diligently advance.” This is our first step in entering the teaching of the intrinsic now. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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