Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Dharma-essence Nourishes Our Wisdom-life (法髓甘露 滋潤慧命)
Date: July.26.2019
“When we take in the Dharma-essence of the Wondrous Lotus Flower, we must carefully break down the teachings as if every drop were ambrosial dew, enabling us to nourish our wisdom-life, uphold the sutra and awaken our understanding. Because of water, the earth can sustain the myriad things. The body’s marrow makes blood and keeps us alive. When we accept and uphold the Dharma according to the teachings, it will live on forever.”
Let us be more mindful, for time is passing quickly. If we do not seize the day, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. So, we must earnestly seize the present moment. As time passes, our lives are fading away. So, every day, we must do what we should, listen to the Dharma, take it to heart and integrate the Dharma we hear into our daily lives. Then, when we strive to seize our time each day and earnestly and mindfully make an effort to learn the Dharma, we can implement the Dharma we learn in our lives. When it comes to worldly matters in our lives, the Buddha-Dharma will [help us] transcend them. Once we know how to align matters with principles like this, our time will never be wasted. This is the benefit that learning the Dharma brings to our lives. So, when we “take in the Dharma-essence of the Wondrous Lotus Flower,” we must always “carefully break down the teachings as if every drop were ambrosial dew.” Every single word, every single principle, we must absorb, drop by drop, as if it were morning dew. We all know now that climate change is happening, and that dry places have grown even drier. Watching the news [recently], the first thing I saw was a scene from a nation [where it is] very dry, so dry that nothing was growing there, and the earth was cracked.
I immediately thought, “Wow! If this place had just a little water, how wonderful that would be!” While I was still thinking about this, another country [appeared on the screen which was] filled with water! The rain brings so many hardships there. The water there had risen above their chests, and adults were holding children above their heads. What about the elderly? Young people were carrying them on their backs; they were in a panic! This was all caused by water. There is too much water in some places, and absolutely no water in others. This is what is most worrisome. The presence or absence of water can both lead to disasters. It would be best if it were evenly distributed. If the rain were distributed more evenly, there might be peace throughout the world. So, as we listen to the Dharma now, [we are] just like the earth, in need of water. Just as we need [to drink] water every day, we must absorb some Dharma-water every day, too. When we read the sutra, it is like we are being nourished by Dharma-water. This is what I have always told everyone, that “the Dharma is like water”. It is as if the Dharma-water nourishes our lives. When we describe it like this, it helps us to see its importance so that we can really be mindful of our Dharma.
Yet, if we now were to think a little more clearly about the macrocosm of the world, water is what all beings in this world, including we humans, truly need. But [the amount] we need must be just right. It is the same for us as we learn the Dharma; of the 12 divisions of the Tripitaka, how many of those sutras do we need to read? How many are there? If we [have] “only broad learning and love for the path, the path will be hard to attain.” We may want to read this and read that or wish to absorb every single one of them. Because the Dharma is just like water, for our life’s sake, for our wisdom-life’s sake, we may want to store up all this Dharma-water. Yet, if we think about it like this, it was the Buddha who told us that, “With only broad learning and love for the path, the path is hard to attain.” If you think, “Today I will find something else to listen to, something that will satisfy me,” if we go from one thing to another, then our minds will never settle on one single path of teachings. Then, we will be wasting our time, and the Dharma will never truly enter our hearts. We need to utilize this Dharma, applying it in our lives so that we will be able to realize,
“Oh! It’s like that! So that’s how it is! I understand now.” In the world, we see people suffering from so many layers of difficulties. Why are there such contradictions? Why do people reject others in their minds? Why can’t people ever come together? Why are people so unable to return to the one mind? Things are so complicated, we need the Dharma that can transform people. We need a teaching that truly does this. Moreover, if we have no such teachings, or if we learn too many of them, if there is too much to remember or if it becomes overwhelming, then it is like we are flooded with water. When we cannot grasp them well, [though] we love this teaching and that teaching, [we will never know] which teaching to apply. Whenever there is a great flood, people lack clean water to drink. Throughout the world, we have helped with this in many countries. There have been many places that have been inundated by flooding, to which we have sent water. [These floods] are just like when we want to try and do everything or want to learn and practice every teaching, [but] it turns out that we cannot accomplish a single thing. Worry will engulf our minds to the point that it becomes a bad habit, and then we are bound to make many severe mistakes. This is why it says, “with only broad learning and love for the path, the path is hard to attain.” Most important for us is to “uphold our mission and follow the path, then our path will be great.” [We must concentrate on] one thing by focusing on just this sutra. Try to mindfully understand the principles that lie within this sutra. Then, as I have told you before, “The sutra is a path.” Which path are we walking now? “The Tzu Chi path of working with people in the world.” How are Tzu Chi things done? With an expansive view of the world and of all the myriad suffering beings in it. Isn’t everything we do, “For the Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings”? The Buddha became enlightened while in the world. How can we be patiently guided by the Buddha’s enlightenment? For more than 40 years He taught like this, and then He changed direction. He had to hurry, for not much time remained. What He chose [to teach] was the Lotus Sutra, for wherever there is a Buddha, the path of each Buddha is the same. Their one objective after attaining Buddhahood is to teach the Lotus Sutra.
Sakyamuni Buddha was the same. For 42 years, He adapted to the capabilities of sentient beings, [before] changing [direction in order to] begin to freely carry out Hid original intent, to teach the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is the essence. It is the essence of all the teachings, as well as the king of all teachings. We are now on the path of the Lotus Sutra. Moreover, we have already entered the teaching on the intrinsic. Can the Dharma in the teaching on the intrinsic bring us into contact with our own Dharma-nature? Can the essence of the Dharma bring us in touch with our own nature of True Suchness? We must truly be mindful of this. What we are talking about now is our Jing Si Dharma-essence Wondrous Lotus Flower. It is that I merely teach the Lotus Sutra. Before that, we take action to benefit all beings. For 40 or 50 years, we [learn] what sentient beings are like, and then I return to teach the Lotus Sutra. So, this Lotus Sutra of ours is completely relevant to the world. We should listen and learn about it, and then we should apply it in the world. So, after listening to it, we must always bring it into our daily living. This is what I tell everyone every day. I hope that we will “take in the Dharma-essence of the Wondrous Lotus Flower.”
For the past few years, we have used “calm contemplation” to teach in our Jing Si Abode. What we teach is the worldly Dharma, which is the Dharma the Buddha taught. This is the Buddha’s intent. So, we must expound the Buddha’s true intent, which is the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra. The Buddha came to save the world, which includes all suffering sentient beings. The Buddha wanted us to know that this is a polluted world in which everyone takes this pollution into their hearts out of ignorance. The world is polluted. There are many temptations people fight for, and moreover, craving and lust arise in their minds for material things. The future we get from the Buddha’s time, the more that humankind’s [understanding] if the Dharma [continues to] degenerate. During this era of Dharam-degeneration, the Dharma gradually disappears. In an era of Dharma-degeneration like this one, the True Buddha-Dharma gradually disappears. This is what we must be worried about.
Sometimes when I hear people share, I do not hear the [Dharma’s] essence [in the act]. Where is the marrow if there is no essence? It is like when someone cannot make enough blood; no matter how you try and supplement it, you can never make enough blood. Taking even more medicine, you still cannot make enough blood. Then, you have to search for someone who matches your marrow type and then use scientific medical technology to transplant the marrow into your own body. What a hardship it is. After the marrow has been introduced, will it be accepted by the body? In the event it is rejected, nothing can be done. This is just like our wisdom-life. Our wisdom-life is just like this. We are listening to the Dharma because our body has already caught a serious illness. We have all encountered many difficulties. When our spirits are filed with much ignorance and many afflictions, it is as if our body’s ability to make blood has already been compromised. Trying to enhance it and taking more [medicine] are equally ineffective. [But] once we receive a bone marrow match, it is then that we can really purify [our body] of our past ignorance and, without the influence of external distractions, earnestly and pure-heartedly contemplate it. This is the Dharma we must apply in the world. This is our Dharma-essence. It becomes our wisdom-life, the Dharma-lineage we wish to pass on. This is how we should all be thinking, otherwise it will indeed be very difficult. So, [the teachings] tell everyone to “take in the Dharma-essence of the Wondrous Lotus Flowers”. What we are talking about here is our Jing Si Dharma-essence Wondrous Lotus Flower. We should remember this clearly. In the process, “we must carefully break down the teachings as if every drop were ambrosial dew”. You see, it is not just a matter of explaining the sutra text. [We must understand] worldly people, the worldly Dharma and how suffering accumulates in the world, [also]. Since we have formed aspirations to go among people, we must first come to understand them. Seeing so many hardships in the world, we must seek to understand them through astronomy, geography and worldly matters, gathering everything together in order to be able to carefully analyze it. This helps everyone understand why, in a society filled with temptations and complications, it is so difficult for us to change how we think so we continue to have the same habitual tendencies and the same kinds of afflictions. Why can’t we think clearly? This is what happens when sentient beings have accepted the Dharma, but it never really gets into their marrows. This is why sentient beings are so difficult to transform. And this “marrow”? We must think, “Is it refined? Is it pure?” It all depends on the environment we are in. When it comes to the Dharma, how do we “carefully break down the teachings?” How do we let others know about them? How do we help others understand them? This all depends on people’s capabilities and on the timing and karmic conditions; are all of these things present? We must be clear about all of this. So, our ability to transform people will always depend on the circumstances. This is also very important. Are we earnestly accepting and upholding the teachings ourselves? Have we thoroughly broken down the teachings and taken them into our hearts? The Buddha’s Lot us Sutra is so wonderful! He said so Himself when, after more than 40 years. He began to freely express His original intent.
In the past, He use skillful means to influence people, [but] now, here was the True Dharma. This is the only True Dharma. So, we must all be mindful to grasp its essence before it can truly enter into our lives, before the Dharma can enter our lives, like drops of sweet nectar. Isn’t this what it says in the Chapter on Medicinal Plants? If the earth dries out, if it never rains, the trees and the grass will dry up and wither. If it only rains a little, and if all they can get is one drop of rain, then it will be just like nectar. Will we have the karmic conditions to encounter a drop of that dew? If we do, it will “enable us to nourish our wisdom-life”. If we want it to “enable us to nourish our wisdom-life”, then we must be mindful of it, mindful to earnestly listen to the Dharma, and focus our minds with singular resolve. We were lacking water before, but now that the rain has come, we must not have any obstacles. This is important. Every drop is like ambrosial dew, and every drop of water serves to nourish our wisdom-life. This is what we need to be mindful of. So, why do we so many listen to the sutra, yet never really grasp its essence enough so that it can nourish our wisdom-life. It is because we are not focused. As we engage in spiritual practice in our chaotic world, we will hear so many noises and become so polluted by our turbid environment. This will make it difficult for us to concentrate on spiritual practice here. It takes a lot of effort for us to listen to the Lotus Sutra. The teaching of the manifest in the Lotus Sutra is now already behind us. If, for some reason, we are unable to focus on this teaching of the intrinsic, how will drops of Dharma become ambrosial dew? If [so], how can we nourish our wisdom-life? Let us use the analogy of the dirty water, and how a cloth becomes dirty when placed in it. If you take out that dirty cloth and ask someone. “Give me one or two drops of ambrosial dew on it”, [it would remain filthy]. In any case, we really need to be mindful to maintain the purity [of our minds]. Like in the transplant case we just talked about, even if we have a match and try to transplant the healthy bone marrow into our body, if we do not quickly destroy the contaminating pathogens and the source of disease, t hen even if the bone marrow goes into our body, it will never be of any use. It is the same principle. So, we must be very mindful to clear out our mind.
When we focus on seeing the Dharma or focus on discussing the Dharma, then it “enables us to nourish our wisdom-life”. What method should we use to do this? [We must] “uphold the sutra and awaken our understanding”. We [must] constantly learn during this time by “upholding the sutra and awakening our understanding”. Have we taken what we heard today to heart? Let us put effort into being mindful of what we hear and encounter [in the world around us]. “Because of water, the earth can sustain the myriad things”. This is like the pure water that we need here on earth. Rainwater is pure; a moderate amount of rainwater spreads out and protects the earth. The earth’s crops need this water to nourish them. When those seeds are in the earth, it is because the water and earth elements both come together that they can develop. They need both air and heat as they develop, just as they need water and earth. Only when the four elements are harmonized can you see the earth grow green and verdant. This is what happens to the earth when it is nourished by water. And when it comes to our physical lives? “They Body’s marrow makes blood and keeps us alive”. Without blood, we cannot continue living. So, we need bone marrow to live. We need marrow to stay alive. “When we accept and uphold the Dharma according to the teachings, it will live on forever”. Through our searching, we have found the Buddha’s original intent, the Lotus Sutra that He taught, which is the path shared by all Buddhas. Each Buddha safeguards this sutra in His heart, for this is the only sutra that extends the Dharma’s wisdom-life.
All Buddhas are like this. This is very important, and it has not been easy [to reach this point], more than half-way through the sutra. We are already past “the teaching on the manifest”. So, what about “the teaching on the intrinsic”? During the teaching on the manifest, many people, by listening joyfully, were able to change their lives and perspectives. Of course, the teachings are very effective.
Still, as spiritual practitioners, if we wish to truly eliminate our afflictions and develop a pure way of living, how can we afford not to take this marrow into our lives and [use it] to develop our wisdom-life? The only time when we can absorb the Dharma is while we are alive. If our life is over, and we have not made good use of our time, then how could we have ever heard the Dharma? We still need to be mindful that.
“When we accept and uphold the Dharma according to the teachings, it will live on forever”. If we are earnest and sincere about attaining the One Dharma, then this is the key for us to successfully learn it. So, we need to be mindful.
Those who abide in the state of neither thought nor absence of thought abide always in wondrous, calm contemplation. This heavenly state is supremely tranquil and wondrous; it is nothing like the coarse thinking found in the world below. Thus, this is known as the state of neither thought nor the absence of careful thought. Those who abide in the state of neither thought nor the absence of thought abide always in wondrous, calm contemplation.
“This heavenly state is supremely tranquil and wondrous.” There will be more on this later, but what this is explaining to us now is how, when it comes to living our living with the Dharma, we can learn to accept the Dharma and incorporate it into our living. Each day when we think of the Dharma, our imagination may run wild. “Isn’t this correct? Is it ok not to think about this?” We still have to think about things. “What sort of things are you thinking about?” Of course, there are many worldly affairs, many things we may wish to use, things we may wish to do and so on. There are many ignorant things in the world. “My goodness! As a Buddhist practitioner, these are things I never think about. It’s good you never think about them. If you do not think about them, what exactly are you thinking about?” “Nothing! I’m not thinking about anything. If you don’t think about things, then how do you go on living?” When you eat your meal, you must think of your hands; one hand holds the bowl while the other holds the chopsticks. When your bowl is empty, do you want more rice? You go get more rice! When you have more rice, do you want more food? You take more food! These are the actions that we must take as we go about living, and we need these kinds of implements. All sorts of things must come together if we are to take in the nourishment we need to sustain our lives each day. We even need to think carefully about things like these. When we think of our bowl of rice, we ought to know exactly where that bowl of rice came from. This is what it means to think carefully. We do not need to think that much about the external conflicts we have with others, but if we think carefully about things, then the different things in the world all have a place from which they have come.
Isn’t this what it tells us in the Treatise on the Five Contemplations? When we eat, we think of where our food came from, and how difficult each drop of oil and each grain of rice is to come by. We must understand [ourselves]; what do we do with the life still remaining to us? With the nutrients we absorb from our food, what ae we going to do with our lives? Of course, we must [put them to use] for the Buddha-Dharma and for sentient beings, for we vow [to help] all beings escape suffering. This is also something that we must think carefully about. “[Not abiding] in the state of neither thought nor the absence of thought [means] we must not let our imaginations run wild when it comes to worldly things; there are just too many of them.
Further, it is not as if we must not think at all, but we should not think about useless matters. If we were to think of all those things, with life as impermanent as it is, what kind of life would that be in the end? If we are suddenly gone or suddenly fall ill to the point where we cannot do the things we want to, then all of those things we were thinking suddenly become useless, as well. Perhaps all a healthy person thinks about is benefiting oneself and harming other people. This kind of thinking is totally useless it only increases our afflictions and ignorance. So, we should not think of unnecessary things. We must not think of things like these, but it is not as if we should not think at all. It is just that we think very carefully. We go about thinking very meticulously.
So, when it comes to our thinking, we “abide always in wondrous, calm contemplation”. We should always be mindful to think clearly.
When we talk about “meditation,” in fact, “meditation” means “calm contemplation”. Calm contemplation refers to Samadhi, which means “concentration”. When we enter Samadhi, when we enter the concentration of Samadhi, then this is “calm contemplation”. So, when we are here listening to the Dharma, we should also be thinking clearly and “abiding always in wondrous, calm contemplation”.
What do we mean by this? This means the Peak Heaven we discussed before. If is the highest, uppermost heaven. This heavenly state is supremely tranquil and wondrous. The thinking of heavenly beings there is very transcendent. They do not aim to feel pleasure in that heaven. That level of heaven there is extremely pure and wondrous; their minds are very pure there. It is not like our heavy thinking here on earth, like everyone’s thinking here on earth, so coarse and so heavy. [Our thinking] is coarse. If we do not know the importance of learning how to select which teachings to apply then we can be said to have “coarse thinking”. Everyone is immersed in coarse thinking.
So, there is “neither thought, thoughts about things we should not think about, “now the absence of careful thought”. It is not that we try not to think at all. We do wish to consider things very meticulously. When you sit in meditation and enter Samadhi, it is not that you are not thinking; you enter into very subtle and intricate thinking. So, “Those who abide in the state of neither thought nor the absence of thought abide always in wondrous, calm contemplation”. This just means that, during our daily living, we keep the Dharma constantly in mind and that we apply it in our daily living. This is essential. I hope everyone will be very mindful of this.
The previous sutra passage says, “These people will attain 800 merits of the extraordinary eye. Thus dignified, their eyes will become extremely pure. With their eyes they received from their parents at birth, they will see all throughout the trichiliocosm and within and beyond Mt. Meru, or Mt. Sumeru, and the Iron Ring”.
We talked about this before. We have “800 merits” of the extraordinary eye. This is how we see things with our vision. Only by knowing how to look at things can we learn to select which teachings to apply. So, we still need to be mindful. When we talk about our vision and the merits of the eye root, we need to put effort into using it, for only by using it can we gain its merits.
The verse of the following sutra passage says, “As for all the other mountains, forests and waters of the great seas and rivers from the Avici Hell below to the summit of existence above and all the sentient beings in between, they will see all of this. Though they have yet to attain heavenly eyes, their physical eyes will have these powers”.
[This passage] is telling us that these are not just things we see before us, not just things we can see with our vision. This is letting us know that there is a vision that transcends that of unenlightened beings and that is learned through spiritual practice. I have told everyone before about the Five Eyes, [meaning that], whatever the circumstances, we can thoroughly see through and analyze things. This depends on our perspective, on the way in which we look at things. We are still talking about our eyes. In addition to our eyes, there is the mind. There is the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and then comes “the mind”. Together these make up the Six Roots. The “mind” is what receives [the information] when the five sense organs encounter sense objects. After this, [we] “focus [our] attention”. If this arising mind is pure, then whatever phenomena our eyes see, our point of view, our perspective, will be pure. This is what we need to learn to absorb. Although the heavenly eye can see the mundane things of this world, the Dharma-eye can see through all of the different ways people live in the world. The wisdom-eye can analyze everything and breaks everything down into emptiness. Even though it can do all this, the vision of the Buddha-eye is limitless.
In short, everyone’s perspectives are different. When we employ our perspectives, ways of thinking or ways of seeing things, thee all depend on our sixth root; this is the mind root that follows the first five. If our mind root is pure, then the way we see things will be pure. If our mind root is not pure, then the way we see things will be only what we see with our physical eyes. This is what we must mindfully realize. This is not all we will see; we will also observe exquisite things in different environments. Those will be “all other mountains, forests and waters of great seas and rivers”.
As for all the other mountains, forests and waters of great seas and rivers…: This is how the Lotus Sutra of the Great Vehicle carefully breaks down the [Buddha’s] teachings. Each drop of the Dharma is like an ambrosial dew that nourishes our wisdom-life. As we uphold the sutra and awaken our understanding, all Dharma will clearly manifest before us.
Mt. Sumeru is a general name. We should really take a look at all the things within Mt. Sumeru, all the other mountains, forests, as well as the great seas, for there are so many things [within it]. It is like how the Great Vehicle Dharma “breaks down the teachings”. This means we have to go back and carefully break down and analyze them, just as the Great Vehicle Dharma analyzes them, “as if every drop of the teachings were ambrosial dew enabling us to nourish our wisdom-life, uphold the sutra and awaken our understanding. All Dharma will clearly manifest before us”. Actually, these things are all before us. The real True Dharma lets us know so many things. We should concentrate on understanding them.
“From the Avici Hell below to the summit of existence above,” [refers to how] we not only know all of the many things in this world, [but] we can also see through to hell. “Below, they can see all the way down to hell. Above, they can see the palaces of Peak Heaven. Across, they can see everything in the world. There is nothing that they do not understand”.
Even as unenlightened beings, we can see all these things with the anatomical eye we were born with. We can know the suffering of hell as well! There are lots of hellish sufferings that we can also understand. Only when we know the sufferings of hell can we sincerely engage in spiritual practice. We realize fully the suffering going on in hell. Moreover, we also know the happiness that exists in the Peak Heaven. However, despite the happiness of those beings there in that Peak Heaven, they always maintain their bodies’ purity. They never become defiled by desire. How do we learn to do this? Seeing the world in its entirety, we understand it all.
The mountains, forests, rivers, seas, Avici Hell and the summit of existence all have both horizontal and vertical dimensions. Certain karmic forces, causes and conditions lead to certain retributions and places of birth. This means that depending on the kind of karmic causes and conditions [we create], we will attain that kind of retribution and be born into that kind of place.
“The mountains, forests, rivers, seas, Avici Hell and the summit of existence” are all what we were just talking about. It says they all have horizontal and vertical dimensions. This is saying is that, when it comes to our “karmic forces, causes and conditions,” they will “lead to certain retributions”. What we receive depends on what we create. We reap what we sow. “This means that depending on the kind of karmic causes and conditions [we create], we will attain that kind of retribution and be born into that kind of place”. Depending on what happened in the past, our retribution is to be here, now. Where we go in the future depends on what we do now.
In particular, as for “all sentient beings in between, they will see all of this. They will be able to see all sentient beings within the great chiliocosm with the power that comes from upholding the sutra. Without ever moving their body, they will be able to traverse all Dharma-realms”.
We never need to go anywhere. We only need to open our hearts. The heart has its own eye, and if the eye of the heart is ultimately pure, we can see clear to heaven and all the way to hell. We mostly understand all the different ways that sentient beings live there. This is the eye of the Buddha, the Buddha-eye. Perhaps Bodhisattvas have the wisdom-eye, or heavenly beings have the heavenly eye. We can do all of these things even now as unenlightened beings.
Though they have yet to attain heavenly eyes, their physical eyes will have these powers: The physical eyes cannot see far. The heavenly eyes can see both within and beyond the great chiliocosm. Now, with the power that comes from upholding the sutra and deep faith and understanding in the true principles, they will attain the powers and capabilities of the transcendent sense organs. Thus, the physical eyes can achieve the merits of heavenly eyes.
“Though they have yet to attain heavenly eyes, their physical eyes will have these powers”. Even if we have not yet attained the heavenly eye, if we think clearly now about the essence of this sutra, if we are thoroughly conscious of it, we need not go out of our way to seek the heavenly-eye, the wisdom-eye, or the Dharma-eye. We do not need to seek any farther for them. This lifetime is limited, but as long as we can think through things clearly, we will be just like this, lifetime after lifetime. This all depends on the resolve we have right now. If we are not determined, if all we have is “broad learning and love for the path,” then how much more time will we have here, how much more time to seek these things? Thus, I invite you all focus on using the Dharma. Now, through our power of upholding the sutra, we are able to focus on this sutra. How do we listen to it? How do we analyze it? Once we analyze it, how do we implement it? How do we use it in our relationships with others? This is what we will come to understand clearly. So, “[with] deep faith and understanding in the true principles, they will attain the powers and capabilities of the transcendent sense organs.” We will have the very extraordinary root, the eye-root for us to see. With our “physical eyes we can achieve the merits of heavenly eyes.” So, we do not need to seek much more. Everyone, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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