Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Joyfully Listening to the Dharma Opens the Mind (歡喜聞法 心開意解)
Date: September.23.2019
“Our mind must be full of sincere devotion and reverent thoughts. Once we hear the Dharma, we will be able to pass it down in turn and carry on the Buddha’s teaching of the Bodhisattva Way. We must listen to the Dharma, teach the Dharma and also spread the Dharma.”
Let us listen and contemplate this mindfully. There is not a single day when I do not mention the mind. I even end each day’s [lecture] with, “Always be mindful!” The mind is very important indeed. Just look at how, right from the beginning, I began by telling everyone about “the mind”. “Our mind must be full of sincere devotion and reverent thoughts.” Our mind must always be full of sincere devotion, and we must always have reverent thoughts. If our mind lacks sincere devotion, then we cannot do anything in earnest. Spiritual practice is our one great cause, our one great cause in life, for as human beings, we must [learn] how we arrived here. Whether we ask ourselves or others, “How did we get here? No one knows where we came from,” will always be the answer. Asking anyone, “How did you get here?” they will answer, “I don’t know.” Where were we before we were born? We have no idea how we came to be in this world, into this particular family, with these parents and these siblings, with these karmic conditions. When we were young, did we have the favorable conditions to grow up in a [good] family? Or perhaps our karmic conditions were different; perhaps we were separated when we were young, or something [similar]. We will never be with anyone forever in life; when we come to this world, we gather together, we meet each other and then we part ways. This is the natural course of life. Nothing lasts forever; that would be impossible! Even if we tried to make our bodies last forever, to [stop them] from aging or becoming ill, we have no way to get them to stop. We cannot even control our own bodies, not to mention other matters in this world. As long as we remain unable to find our own direction in life, our lives will be such that “no Dharma can transform us.” So, we have no choice but to look deep within our minds. We must look deep within our minds to find our direction [in life].
This is not easy, but we have searched our minds and found our direction [in life]. Since we are on the same path and are headed in the same direction, we must always [maintain] this same mindset. Our minds must be full of sincere devotion. All religions talk about sincere devotion. Faith and sincerity are essential to human life. We must have faith in others and treat them with sincerity. We cannot do without these rules of human conduct. How much more so for us Buddhist practitioners; as we listen to the Dharma, we must be wholly sincere, full of sincere devotion and reverent thoughts. Since there are so many of us who do not understand how we came into this life, at the very least, we must understand the things we must do today to be able to understand our future in any way. So, we must work hard to be mindful, with minds full of sincere devotion. We must always understand what we are doing with complete clarity. To do what we should do to help this world requires a reverent mindset. Moreover, to succeed in what we do without making any mistakes, and to consistently [avoid] making mistakes, we must learn by listening [to the Dharma]. “Once we hear the Dharma, we will be able to pass it down in turn.” We need a direction, a lineage, so that we never go off track, by following the guidelines of the Dharma. The Dharma the Buddha gave us is the teaching of the Bodhisattva Way. The main tenets of the Bodhisattva Way are “loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.” We must have loving-kindness to benefit sentient beings. We must have compassion to feel for the suffering of sentient beings. When we have loving-kindness in times of peace, we can benefit others. When we can create blessings for others, this is due to our loving-kindness for sentient beings. “Loving-kindness” means having unconditional loving-kindness for people totally unrelated to us. We must also give everyone the opportunity to benefit others and the opportunity to hear the Dharma as well. Living peaceful lives as we do now, we must also help others to increase their blessings and gain wisdom. [To do this] in times of peace is called “great loving-kindness.” When we help everyone find happiness, then from amidst their happiness, they can also go create blessings for others. We should always encourage others to do good and try to inspire love in them. This comes from listening to the Dharma. Only by getting people to listen to the Dharma and helping them pass it on to others can we truly create blessings for this world.
I heard that in the [Tzu Chi] hospital in Xindian, Superintendent Chao called upon everyone, saying. “I cannot bear it! I cannot bear [that there is] long-term hunger and poverty in Africa. Now [in 2019], they have suffered [another] severe disaster. How will they get through this difficult crisis?] So, he started to call upon everyone there to team up and hold a concert at Xindian [Tzu Chi] Hospital’s Jign Si Hall. Everyone, whether they were patients, doctors, [Tzu Chi] commissioners or members, would come. The purpose of the concert was to call everyone together and raise awareness for this group of people in a far-away place, who have spent many years in poverty, living in a world of darkness. Now, they have been struck by another terrible catastrophe and are facing unbearable suffering! He called upon everyone to awaken the love in their hearts. So, two young people there, after they started listening to Wisdom at Dawn, immediately came up with a song, which they sang at that concert. They lyrics are very moving. They led everyone along to sing it together. The whole place became very lively [as they sang], “We reach out our to let love flow.” The song flowed [very nicely], and the rhythm also very moving. Everyone at the concert swayed back and forth to the rhythm. They sang the song over and over to help everyone take this love into their hearts by memorizing the melody, in the hope that everyone by taking these loving thought s to heart; they would be able to act on them as well. During that concert, they were able to inspire everyone to gather their love together, bit by bit. Indeed, everyone reached out their arms, letting their love flow. How do we make sure that this river [of love] will flow on forever? A single day’s event is not enough. It takes a very, very long time. We have seen such terrible suffering in Africa; with every photo and video they bring back, I have wondered, “How could this possibly be part of this world? How could anyone possibly survive there? Is this the human word? Or is this hell?” “Earth Treasury Bodhisattva!” I could not help but cry out inside, “Earth Treasury Bodhisattva! Have you opened the door to hell? You must release the sentient beings in hell. They have spent such a long time trapped behind hell’s doors, enduring so many hardships in this sunless world of darkness. Their suffering is unbearable!” If we open the doors, the sunlight will shine in, and perhaps they will be able to come out. Moreover, when the sunlight shines in, we will be able to see this disaster that has caused the hardships of poverty in the world, the loss of loved ones and the helplessness [of the people there]. [What I have just] described call all be witnessed in that place; this has all manifested there. Is there any way we can help them at this time, to save them during this time of crisis? Will we be able [to help them] in the future? Is there any way for us to bring peace to these homeless people and bring stability to their lives? Can we do it? So many people there have lost loved ones forever, while others have been separated from those they love. Some had to go back to see if their members are still alive. Could they find them? They hope to find them [alive], but if not, they at least want to give them a decent burial. When I saw them speak, I though, “These are [our fellow] human beings!”
People are the same everywhere. [They want their loved ones] to rest in peace. It is true! This disaster [in 2019] has causes tremendous damage. Now that this tragic hardship has befallen them, what are the survivors to do now? Their homes are in ruins. The walls have toppled and roofs have collapsed. How are they to live in these conditions? We keep seeing more and more suffering there.
So, we must reach out our arms and let our love flow. Many drops are needed to form a river. They must come together drop by drop. “Drops of water flow together to form a river.”
Drops of water flow together to form a river. We set sail upon the ship of compassion to universally deliver all suffering beings. Our doctors cure illness and save people, relieving them of suffering. They cannot bear to see the poor people in Africa suffering from disasters.
Only when “many together to form a river” will we be able to “set sail upon the ship of compassion and universally deliver all suffering beings.” If we are mindful, we can understand this. In our [hospital] in Xindian, “Our doctors cure illness and save people, reliving them of suffering. They cannot bear to see the poor in Africa suffer from disaster.” Superintendent Chao and our Tzu Chi volunteers have formed a common aspiration. He has inspired them to join together under this aspiration. Two youths named LI Renfu and Gao Yuan have composed a song. “Let us reach out our arms and let love flow”. Of course, it is a whole song, but they repeated this verse over and over again until everyone could sing it, and everyone started swaying along. Watching them moved me so deeply. It made me think about how, if we want our love to flow, then many drops must come together to form a river. Without many drops to form a river, how would it ever flow into the sea? The ship of compassion delivers all who suffer. This requires many drops of love to come together.
Dear Bodhisattva, the power of love comes from many drops. I hope that “once we hear the Dharma, we will be able to pass it down in turn”. When we listen to the Dharma and witness it with our e yes, we must form aspiration at once, using the sincerity and reverence in our hearts. Once we have listened to the Dharma, we will be able to make use of it right away. This is also “carrying on the Buddha’s teaching of the Bodhisattva way.” The Buddha t aught the Bodhisattva Way. He came to the world to teach the Bodhisattva Way. “We must listen to the Dharma, teach the Dharma and also spread the Dharma”. He taught us to listen to the Dharma, He taught us to teach the Dharma, and He taught us to spread the Dharma. Bodhisattvas must pass on the virtuous Dharma in the world. This requires both sincere devotion and reverence. So, I ask everyone to always be mindful!
The previous sutra passage says, “At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate His meaning, spoke in verse, ‘Their tongue-root will be pure, and they will never experience bad tastes. All the food they eat will turn into ambrosial dew. With a deeply pure and wondrous voice, they will teach the Dharma in assemblies, using various causes and conditions as analogies to guide the minds of sentient beings. Everyone who hears them will rejoice and prepare the finest offerings’”.
The World-Honored One restated His meaning like this, telling of the purity of their tongue-roots. If we are mindful, our tongue-root will be pure. The tongue-root is not just for tasting food. Although our tongue has this ability, it is not just for eating. Most importantly, it is for speaking. We must eat simply and be easily contented with what we eat. “All the food they eat will turn into ambrosial dew”. We eat not for the flavor, but to nourish our bodies so that we will be healthy enough to do thing, to engage in spiritual practice and do good deeds in the world. So, our bodies also need nutrients. We must eat for nourishment, not for taste. We should be grateful that we are able to eat, for with gratitude, everything [taste] like ambrosial dew, which nourishes our bodies and enables us to do [good] deeds for the world. Naturally, we [must] eat very simply. Most important is that we have “deeply pure and wondrous voice”. When we speak, we hope the precious Dharma will issue form our mouths. By manipulating our tongue-root, we can make this deeply wondrous sound and can teach the Dharma to an assembly. We can sue various karmic conditions as analogies.
For example, as I am teaching the Dharma, we have also heard about how, in Xindian, a large group of Bodhisattvas, these doctors, held this [concert] to save them from suffering and called upon everyone to gather their drops of love together. This is “using the Dharma to transform others”. We use various analogies and [skillful] means to guide and transform sentient beings and inspire love in everyone. “Do you know what the purpose of love is? Just look at these suffering people in Africa! Now is the time for you to show your love to save those people there”. These are their karmic conditions. We use these causes and conditions as analogies to show how we can put our love into action; there are practical things that we can do. This is how we guide the hearts of sentient beings. “Everyone who hears them will rejoice”. Hearing these stories, they were deeply saddened, and rejoicing in their merits and virtues, everyone in that place contributed like this. This is just like “preparing the finest offerings”. With such sincere devotion, we take action. Once we listen to the Dharma and accept it, we must go even further to spread our love by putting the Dharma into action to help others. Thus, the ultimate offering is to give of our own wealth to rescue sentient beings. This increases the richness of our wisdom-life and [helps it] to grow. We must mindfully seek to understand this.
When we listen to the Dharma joyfully, we will become open-minded and understanding. We will all attain Dharma-joy and present our purifying practices as offerings. This is the main idea of the previous passage, [which is then] restated in verse.
“We listen to the Dharma joyful”. By listening to the Dharma, we will have an opportunity to do good deeds. So, by listening to the Dharma joyfully, “we will become open-minded and understanding”. What else would we need to seek? Life is impermanent. We do not know when [impermanence] will strike or in what form, but since we have seen people in suffering, we are capable of going them there to help them as people who create blessings for others. So, helping others brings us joy, making us open-minded and understanding. Witnessing suffering, we recognize our blessings and also become capable of helping others. So long as we listen the Dharma, what afflictions could possible remain? What resentments could possible remain unresolved? What could possible keep us from eliminating our afflictions? Once we listen to the Dharma, we can let them all go. This is what the Buddha-Dharma has been telling us form the beginning, that cause determines effect, that the law of karma applies to everything we say or do and that the seeds we planted in the past [have borne] our present fruits. What could possibly be the value behind piling up grievances to drag us into our future lives? We must let them go. If we ae able to do this, we will maintain utmost sincerity and a pure mind, and we will be free of resentment, afflictions, greed, anger and delusion. Once we are rid of these, we can devote ourselves anew, mentally and physically, with pure minds, making offerings in this way.
[In this way, we can] express, “I have taken your words to heart. I am also putting them into action”. This is the greatest offering of all. We often talk about “growing pour wisdom-life”. Our lives us by over the course of time, but our wisdom-life is [with] us in the present. By eliminating all our afflictions, understanding the principles and putting the Dharma into practice, this is how we grow our blessings and wisdom. This is what it means to make true offerings. Pure offerings serve to grow our wisdom-life. The Buddha teaches us to walk the Bodhisattva-path. When we walk the Bodhisattva-path with sincerity, we are making sincere offerings to the Buddha. Where is the Buddha? He is inside each of us. Once we have returned to our nature of True Suchness, the greatest offering we make to ourselves is to grow our wisdom-life. This is our [spiritual] nourishment.
We often talk about “nourishing our wisdom-life”. To “nourish our wisdom-life,” we must have the karmic conditions to help others; [the good deeds we do] return to [us] and thus, they “nourish our wisdom-life”. This enable our wisdom-life to grow. This is known as “presenting our purifying practices as offerings”.
In fact, they will all come back to us. This all return to us [in the form of] our wisdom-life. ”This is the main idea of the previous passages,” [restated] in this verse. This verse passage explain the previous long-form prose [section].
So, here, the verses restates it, saying, “Heavenly beings, dragonsm yaksas, asuras and so forth, all with a reverent mind, will come together to listen to the Dharma. Should those who teach the Dharma wish to fill the trichiocosm with their wondrous voice, it will reach wherever they wish it to reach”.
This verse means that when we teach the Dharma, if we lack the profound, wondrous power of vows, if we do not teach according to capabilities, who would ever willing listen to the Dharma? To give just a single teaching requires deep determination. We must take the Dharma to heart, and once it is in our hearts, we must implement it in our lives. What does “in our lives” mean? We must experience it in the world. We must [relate] the Buddha-Dharma to our worldly experiences. We must teach the Buddha-Dharma in conjunction with worldly matters, according to [peoples’] capabilities. The nature of our capabilities does not solely determine our understanding of the Buddha-Dharma. We also able to apply the Dharma. Once we are able to put the Dharma into action, experience it and realize it for ourselves, once we have realized it, we will become open-minded and understanding. Then, we can apply it to help others. As we circulate the principles like this, we can adapt to people with higher capabilities and encourage them to teach the wondrous Dharma. This is our source for teaching the Dharma, which enable us to teach [it] and pass it on. We learn to teach the Dharma by listening to [it]. Listening to, teaching and spreading the Dharma must all be done in accordance with capabilities.
If people do not understand what we are saying, we may teach something simpler, but people of sharper capabilities may think, “This is not worth listening to. There is no use spending time listening to this”. Naturally, if it does not suit their capabilities, they will not come to listen. If what we teach is too profound, people of duller capabilities will not understand. “I do not understand this. I’d better go back to work.” They will not want to come listen either. So, to teach the Dharma, [we must make] profound, wondrous vows, and our minds must be prepared. We must [be familiar with] ample worldly matters, as well as the profound teachings.
Heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, asuras and so forth, all with a reverent mind, will come together to listen to the Dharma: If Dharma teachers lack the profound and wondrous [power of vows] to teach according to capabilities, who could ever be willing to come listen and accept [their teachings]? Because the Dharma is profound, wondrous and accords with capabilities to enter deep into peoples’ hearts to transform them, dragons and yaksas revere it.
Worldly matters that are used to explain the profound Dharma are called “analogies”. We use these causes and conditions as analogies. Using all kinds of karmic conditions, we can illustrate these very profound teachings. We use stories like these the Dharma. We must explain it [in such a way] that people can make use of it, for only those with the capabilities suited for it will be willing to listen to the Dharma. Otherwise, who would be willing to come hear the Dharma? If we teach but no one listens, it is because we lack the karmic conditions.
According to the Introductory Chapter’s Six Fulfillments, for there to be people who teach the Dharma, there must be people who listen to the Dharma; only then will the Dharma-assembly be complete. This is the same idea. “Because the Dharma is profound, wondrous and accords with capabilities to enter deep into peoples’ hearts to transform them, dragons and yaksas revere it”. This is why dragons and spirits all revere it. Thus, the Dharma must be wondrous, for it is not only humans who listen to the Dharma. In fact, the eight classes of Dharma-protectors are all listening to the Dharma together too. This is why we must mindfully seek to experience and understand [the Dharma], for only then can we realize it deeply.
“Should those who teach the Dharma wish to fill the trichiliocosm with their wondrous voice, it will reach wherever they wish it to reach.”
Should those who teach the Dharma wish to fill the trichiliocosm with their wondrous voice, it will reach wherever they wish it to reach: People who teach the Dharma, despite remaining where they are, wish to fill the trichiliocosm with their wondrous voice. Because their minds encompass the universe, their wondrous voice will also follow along to pervade the universe.
Those who teach the Dharma like this, despite remaining where they are, hope that the sound of their voice while teaching the Dharma will be able to pervade the trichiliocosm. A single voice, resounding from one place, can be heard throughout the trichiliocosm. This is what we wish and hope for, that the sound of our voices “will reach wherever we wish them to reach”. So long as we have this aspiration, then it is possible; it is not impossible. This is just like how, with today’s technology, as I am speaking here, my voice can be heard in so many counties!
For example, during this terrible disaster in East Africa, we are calling people to action from here, and our words are spreading across this wide world. In one country after another, they hear it, and then they start taking action as well. I believe that my voice will spread farther and wider every day, and I hope that in these African countries, our power to save people will grow stronger. This is the direction we are moving in now.
The Dharma the Buddha taught over 2000 years ago is the same Dharma we need to put to use now. So, how can a single voice reach throughout the trichiliocosm? “Because the mind encompasses the universe”. We must open up our minds wide. “The mind encompasses the universe and the boundless worlds within it”. The Buddha teaches us to expand our minds to encompass “boundless worlds”. Wherever it may be, we must open up our minds wide to that place.
So, next it says, “We must know that the term ‘trichiliocosm’ is just another name for the Five Skandhas”. Now, we must trace it back to the source.
In addition to spreading the Dharma to the world’s sentient beings so that everyone can hear it, we must return to this passage, which says, “We must know that the term ‘trichiliocosm’ is just another name for the land of the Five Skandhas. It is inseparable from the slightest thought”.
It is inseparable from a single thought, “within a single mind”. By returning to this [initial] aspiration, “it will [thus] reach wherever [we] wish it to reach”. In fact, this single thought can pervade all lands [if we have] this kind of mindset.
This verse passage continues, saying, “The great and small wheel-turning kings, along with their thousand sons and retinues, with palms joined and reverent minds, will always come to hear and accept the Dharma. Heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, raksas and pisacas, also with joyful minds, will always take joy in coming to make offerings”.
We must listen mindfully to this verse passage, for it discusses the wheel-turning sage kings. “The great and small wheel-turning kings, along with their thousand sons and retinues…”. We have discussed all of this before. [Their] entire retinues will all come with them, will palms joined to listen to the Dharma, to listen to the Dharma’s wondrous sound and reverently take it to heart.
The great and small wheel-turning kings, along with their thousand sons and retinues, with palms joined and reverent minds, will always come to hear and accept the Dharma: Kings and their retinues, for the sake of the wondrous Dharma, will also come reverently to hear and accept it with palms joined.
There will also be “heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, raksasas and pisacas”. They are not humans, but they will also come and listen. These non-human sentient beings are the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. Non-human sentient beings also come to listen to the Dharma.
Heavenly beings, dragons, yaksas, raksasas and pisacas: Heavenly beings and yaksas are sentient non-human beings. Raksasas: They are vicious, evil and fearsome monsters. Pisacas: They are said to be life-sucking demons that deed on the life-force of sentient beings to nourish themselves.
“Raksasas” are vicious and evil monsters that are very fearsome, but they also know about the Buddha-Dharma, and they also need to come listen to the Dharma. Then, there are “pisacas”. These are “life-sucking demons”. Even beings like these will come listen to the Dharma with joyful minds. So, even evil monsters like these, as well as those who “feed on the life-force of sentient beings,” which means they consume people’ energy; even spirits like these will all like come to listen to the Dharma. “Also, with joyful minds,” they will “always take joy in coming to make offerings”. They will always be happy to come make offerings. These are the eight classes of Dharma-protectors. There are all sorts of beings like these who will joyfully come to make offerings. When it comes to the Five Sakandhas we just mentioned, this is entirely about us. Starting from our bodies, our every cell must be able to absorb the Dharma. The Dharma must permeate us both physically and mentally. Our thoughts must be virtuous; our every thought should be virtuous. [It must permeate] every concept in our minds [and extend] throughout our entire body. How many cells do our bodies contain? The nucleus of our every cell should be imbued with the subtlety and wondrousness of the Dharma. This is the virtue of the Dharma’s subtlety and wondrousness. Its virtues of unity and harmony can truly cause our whole bodies to harmonize with all things in the world. From within the body to the vast world beyond it, wherever there is disharmony in the world, wherever people suffer from disaster, we must inspire others who enjoy peace, health and blessings to quickly go to create blessings and offer help. In our relationships with others, this is what it means to be harmonious and unified. Only when the macrocosm of the world is at peace will the microcosms of our bodies be healthy. So, when we see hardships and disasters in the macrocosm, we, [as our own] microcosms, must unite together to provide our limitless assistance. If we see people living in inhuman conditions, what can we do to undertake the vow of Earth Treasury Bodhisattva and go there to help them? This is the Bodhisattva Way taught by the Buddha. I hope that everyone will form great aspirations and make great vows. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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