Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Lotus Sutra Preface(4) 法華經序(四)
Date: March. 21, 2013
Lotus Sutra Preface (4)
Every day we talk about repenting and making vows. Indeed, to repent is to constantly self-reflect. After we have acted, do we sincerely confess all that we have done in the past? After confessing everything, have we reformed our mental and physical behavior? If we can correct everything, in addition to our physical behavior, won’t our minds then often give rise to good thoughts without any deviant, evil thoughts? Have we reached this level of repentance and purification? After we have repented and purified ourselves, we can then make vows. As we make vows, we need to understand that a slight discrepancy makes the difference between going in the right or wrong direction. We make endless vows. We may pray that if a certain good thing happens to a family member, we will then vow to be vegetarian on his behalf, or vow to do good deeds, or we will vow to … These are conditional vows, vows for desires, vows for something in return. These kinds of vows are misguided. We have to give unconditionally for it to be a vow. We need to be selective in the vows we make. We have many wants, so we have endless expectations and will never be satisfied. The suffering in our lives comes from wanting something more, wanting something better. These kinds of pursuits can be described by an old saying, “Mountains are not as tall as our list of wishes.” This is like asking, “Is this enough?” “Not yet.” “Here’s more. Is this enough?” “Not yet.” This goes on and on. Our minds never feel that anything high is ever high enough, or anything deep is ever deep enough. Therefore, this mind is a bottomless pit of greed, and thus we live in indecision.
Which direction should we take in our lives? How do we walk the path we have vowed to take? We are at a loss. “Is this the correct path for me to choose?” “Is it beneficial for me?” We keep standing there indecisively. However, time keeps passing by. Isn’t this a waste of time? Before the Buddha expounded this Dharma, He had already realized the true principles of the universe. So He began by speaking the True Dharma, the Avatamasake Sutra(華嚴), which described the Buddha’s spiritual state. But sentient beings did not have the capacity to understand it. Why? Their minds were full of greed, afflictions and discursive thoughts, so they were unable to realize this state. Thus, the Buddha had to guide them gently and patiently for 40 years. Consider this span of 40-plus years. Can every person last for 40-plus years? Time keeps passing by. When we come in contact with the Buddha, can we reach him directly and comprehend the Buddha-mind? If so, then seeing the Buddha and hearing the Dharma is not in vain, because we immediately comprehend it.
However, we ordinary beings are such that we have to go through these skillful means. Yet can such skillful means really allow us realize the Dharma? How much time must be wasted in this way? So, during this time, the Buddha began to speak the Lotus Sutra, which is beyond speech.
To expound the Lotus Sutra without speech, He sat down and entered the state of the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings and returned to His Buddha-mind. At that moment, He wanted to eliminate the provisional, the skillful. He wanted to take back these skillful means and replace them with the True Path, so in that place, He radiated light. Because the Lotus Sutra was beyond speech, it was not expressed in words, but through a spiritual state. At the assembly, everyone stared at each other, not knowing what was going on. Then, as the Buddha began speaking the True Dharma, 5000 people left their seats.
This happened while Buddha was still there. He saw these people leave. As He began speaking about True Path, 5000 people left. The Buddha felt very sad. However, it was good that they left because their capacities were not yet mature, so they were not ready to accept this teaching.
So, it was good that they left, and those who remained could accept these teachings. But could they really? Consider what the Buddha saw after all these people heard His Dharma. How many people were willing to walk the Bodhisattva-path in this world and be responsible for saying others?
No one dared to stand out and say, “I will bravely take on this burden.” This indecisiveness is not limited to people of the present time. Even when the Buddha was alive, when He expounded Dharma Himself, was He able to truly awaken people’s minds, lead them to realize the Buddha-mind, and devote themselves to humankind? Indeed, it is not very easy.
Now, let us speak of modern people and their indecisiveness. If one wants to learn Buddhism, one must choose between Hinayana and Mahayana (小乘或大乘). Does one practice to solely benefit oneself or does one seek to benefit others? People also feel indecisive about methods of spiritual practice. This is how we lose our true nature and transmigrate through cyclic existence in the Six Realms.
毫釐之差善惡分途
求願無窮因不滿足
無從選擇光陰消逝
迷失真心流轉生死
A slight discrepancy determines whether we go in the right or wrong direction.
Boundless desires originate from insatiability.
Time passes as we remain indecisive on which course to take.
When our true nature is lost, we transmigrate through cyclic existence.
This indecision is what we need to repent. Actually, it is not that difficult to nurture a loving heart. We do not need to make vows in a specific way; we just need to have a loving heart, which is by itself a vow to purify our minds. We did not know we were wrong. We were wrong in the past, but now we will begin to cleanse and reform ourselves and quickly change our attitude toward living. This is the right way. This is how we make a great vow. In our daily living, if we can nourish a loving heart, then we will make no mistakes.
In Master Lian-Chi’s Essay on Not Killing (蓮池大師「戒殺文」), there is a story called “Receive Blessings After Rebirth.” He wrote that in Suzhou City, there was a man named Wang Da-lin.
He was very charitable, especially in releasing captured creatures as an act of merit. He greatly cherished living creatures. Sometimes, he saw children playing at capturing crickets by pouring water on the ground, or catching bugs, etc. If Wang Da-lin saw children playing with these tiny living creatures, he would kindly gather the children and explain his beliefs to them because he wanted the children to treasure all beings. He would even use money, candies, etc. to create good relationships with them so he could persuade them to not hurt other living creatures. This is like applied education. All the children in the village liked him. All the parents and the elders were grateful to him because he was teaching their children for them. When children feel compassion and love, they naturally know to be filial. Everyone respected him. When he was 61 years old, he suddenly became gravely ill. The doctors had already told him to make his funeral preparations. At this time, he suddenly heard a voice. This very clear voice said, “Because you often released captured creatures and cherished all living beings with great loving-kindness and compassion, because you constantly persuaded others to release living creatures, the intangible merits you have accumulated will now extend your lifespan and blessings.” So Wan Da-lin lived to be 97 years old, with five generations of his lineage in the same household. He passed away peacefully. Remember, he was not seeking any reward. He just had those thoughts, those loving and compassionate thoughts to cherish living beings. Furthermore, he did not only do it himself, he taught everyone, from the children to the whole village. So his blessings and lifespan were prolonged.
Always consider the importance of your mindset. Therefore, we say we need to make vows and dedicate merits. We mentioned previously,
【法華經 序品第一】
至心懺悔
弟子眾等
與一切眾生
從無始以來
迷失真心
流轉生死
We vow to repent. We disciples and all sentient beings, since Beginningless Time, have lost our true nature and transmigrate through cyclic existence.
We have all lost our true nature and are only willing to make vows in return for things. But our mind was originally loving. Our mind was originally filled with unlimited and tremendous vows. It was filled with kindness and Great Love, which are great vows. But we have lost that state of mind, so we now transmigrate through cyclic existence.
【法華經 序品第一】
六根罪障
無量無邊
圓妙佛乘
無以開解
一切所願
不得現前
The transgressions of the Six Roots are boundless and hinder us from understanding the perfect and wondrous Buddha-vehicle. All that we hope for will not come to be.
The transgressions of the Six Roots arise when greedy thoughts com in contact with the Six Dusts. Our Six Roots give rise to the Six Consciousnesses. This leads to many greedy thoughts. These greedy desires are endless, “boundless” and “hinder us from understanding the perfect and wondrous Buddha-vehicle.” This vehicle points the mind to its true nature. With this perfect and wondrous Dharma, we could return to our true nature, but we are hindered from understanding and “All that we hope for will not come to be”. We only know to seek things, and not all of these pursuits will be successful. There is an old saying, “Of 10 things, 8 or 9 will be unsatisfactory”. This is because we are lost, we really ask for too much. Therefore, “All that we hope for will not come to be”.
【法華經 序品第一】
我今禮敬
妙法蓮華經
以此善根
發露黑惡
過現未來
三業所造
無邊重罪
皆得消滅
Today we pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. With these roots of goodness, we openly confess our dark evils, so the boundless, grave transgressions created with the Threefold Karma in the past, present and future will all be eliminated.
“Today we pay respect to the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra”. Now we have begun to receive the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra. The Buddha has pointed out the True Path to seeing our true nature. This True Path is the Bodhisattva-path, so we must cherish it. When we are chanting the Lotus Sutra Preface, we bow to every word. Every word is a treasure, so we must sincerely and mindfully understand the Buddha’s mindset. We cannot just recite the Sutras, we need to realize whether or not we have applied it. Have we attained the state of the Buddha-mind? Therefore, whether we bow and chant the Sutra of Infinite Meanings or the Lotus Sutra, “with these roots of goodness, we openly confess our dark evils.” If we really study the Sutras, we will gradually nourish our roots of goodness. As the roots of goodness grow, our Wisdom-life will grow. As the roots of goodness continuously grow, we will “openly confess our dark evils”. This is repentance. Out of ignorance, we constantly make mistakes. Out of ignorance, we constantly make mistakes. These mistakes are what we need to openly repent. Once we make a mistake, we need to quickly correct it. Once we have corrected it, we do not need to be afraid of other people knowing our mistakes. This is how we can be cleansed. This is open repentance. We dare not make the same mistakes. This is repenting what was “created in the past, present and future by the Threefold Karma.” 「過現未來，三業所造」This refers to the past, to what we have done, or to the incorrect, deviant or evil thoughts that arise now because we are not taking good care of our minds. Once a thought arises in the mind, we must quickly repent. So “past, present” 「過現」 means that the past has already happened, so whatever mistakes we make now, must be quickly terminated. As for the future, we need to quickly change the direction of our Threefold Karma. We must always speak good words with our mouths, do good deeds with our bodies, and think good thoughts with our minds. The past has already happened, so now we cannot allow our Threefold Karma to create more evil. If we commit evils again, we commit “boundless, grave transgressions.” 「無邊重罪」These transgressions will be very severe. If we have reformed, then “boundless, grave transgressions will all be eliminated.” 「無邊重罪，皆得消滅」
【法華經 序品第一】
身心清淨
惑障蠲除
福智莊嚴
淨因增長
Our bodies and mind will be pure, we will eliminate delusions and obstacles be dignified by blessings and wisdom, and seeds of purity will increase.
“Our bodies and mind will pure.” 「身心清淨，惑障蠲除」Our minds will be free. Even though we have committed wrongdoings, we have admitted them all. Then no matter what others says, we will still be very free and at ease. We are not afraid of being criticized because we have admitted our mistakes. We have now corrected them all, so “our bodies and mind will be pure.” 「身心清淨」Defilements and ignorance will never return, so the mind is purified and “we will eliminate delusions and obstacles.” 「惑障蠲除」When we have completely eliminated ignorance, we are naturally dignified by blessings and wisdom “and seeds of purity will increase.” 「淨因增長」Good causes and conditions will keep appearing. Good people are drawn together and will help each other succeed. Therefore, seeds of purity will increase. What we see will not defile our minds. Everything we hear will be good words. All the people we are with will be good people. Even if someone wants to harm or tempt us, we will be surrounded by beneficial friends. Perhaps with this greater strength, we can transform those without right views and bring them in to join us. So, in our daily living, we vow to thoroughly nourish all good thoughts and actions and purify our minds. Once we purify our minds, we can attain even what we do not seek. This natural way of living benefits humankind and can also be used to educate others. This is a natural and uncontrived vow which is a great vow. Everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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