Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Dharma-nature is Everlasting and Endless 法性延綿不斷
Date: March. 27, 2013
時空無終竟
萬物法性本具延綿
本來就是
法本來無法可說
是謂真空妙有
There is no end to time and space. The Dharma-nature of all things is inherent and lasting. It has always been so. There is essentially no Dharma to speak of; this is true emptiness and wondrous existence.
The universe is endless and boundless. When it comes to all things in the world, where there is an object, there is Dharma. The number of things that exist equals the amount of Dharma, which is encompassed within them. So when we speak of “Dharma”, we can find Dharma in everything and this has been true from Beginningless Time until now, so this is truly profound and truly understanding its source impossible. In the Buddha-Dharma, we speak of Beginningless Time because no starting point can be found. As for the future, there is no ending for the future, either. That is the vastness and boundlessness of it. So we need to know. “There is no end to time and space, the Dharma-nature of all things is inherent and lasting.” The nature of all things has always existed and will last continuously.
This is true even in our daily living, in the foods we cannot live without. It is this simple. Take a grain like rice, which came from the seeding, that turned to unmilled rice, to rice. Rice is what people eat. In fact, this grain of rice is derived from endless generations of rice; its Dharma-nature has been passed down month by month, year by year, and its life will continue, everlasting. This is the Dharma-nature of the grains. As long as there is still a seed, then “one” gives rise to infinite seeds and infinite seeds arise from “one”. That is its everlasting nature. The nature of all species is to extend continuously. So this has always been the case. Dharma has been passed down. As the Dharma is passed down, so Dharma is beyond description. What more is there to say about Dharma? Is there actually Dharma in a seed? Yes, there is. We all know this seed provides humankind with food. Without grains, can humankind survive? No, we cannot survive. The land provides humans with all things. To increase the number of things, how do we make the seed sprout? How do we help it bear fruit? There has to be causes and conditions for there to be fruit, enough to supply us all. This is all wondrous Dharma.
So it is said, “There is essentially no Dharma to speak of.” In our daily living, everything encompasses profound Dharma-seeds. We do not treat them as Dharma, we just use them in our living. So what is there to discuss? When we do not feel lacking, when we feel abundant, we are not aware of them because we have been using these things continuously. This is like a cycle. These constant cycles provide a constant supply and a source of constant wealth for men. So when we are rich in resources, we never pay attention and we never discuss them. So what Dharma is there to speak of?
But we are Buddhist practitioners, we must exhaustively explore cause and effect, explore how these karmic retributions came about. We need to know the origin of all things, especially of humankind. Humans come to this world and all things support our living, so why do we suffer from afflictions? We create conflicts over all things, then conflicts create more causes, which then bring about more conditions. So “cause bring effects, effects create causes.” This is an endless cycle. This makes the world very complicated. Complications arise when sentient beings become deluded and create karma. Unenlightened thoughts give rise to karma, if we are unenlightened and become deluded, then we are ignorant. Because ignorance arises from those delusions, the principles are unclear and therefore we antagonize each other.
Then what can be done? So over 2000 years ago. Prince Siddhartha was born in India. His birth and life were similar to ours, for the Dharma-nature of all things. He had parents, too. He was born in the palace. There were slaves in the palace, who were untouchables. Between the nobles and the untouchables, there was a distinction in status and wealth. That is the reason a thought occurred to the prince to seek the answer to why such differences exist between humans in this world. He also wondered about inevitable sufferings, such as birth, aging, illness, and death. Would worldly pleasures last forever? Even if an object could last forever, humans still experience birth, aging, illness and death, therefore everything is constantly changing. Moreover, material objects are also temporary and impermanent.
Therefore, with all these contradictions, he wanted to explore and penetrate their intrinsic nature. Will all things last continuously or do they have a limited existence? Why do their visible forms change constantly? Consider a flower or a blade of grass. Has the flower always existed? Before it blossomed, it existed as a bud. Before it was a bud, it was only a seeding. But before the seeding existed, it was only a seed. This seed existed because a flower blossomed and then bore this seed. Did the seed come first or did the flower come first? How did this thing's inherent cycle come about? So we need to explore the inherent nature of all things in the world, the Dharma of all things and the cycle of Dharma. The Dharma has its embodiment and its uses. When the Dharma-embodiment is put into use, it takes on a form. So from the beginning, Manifested Forms are impermanent; they will arise and cease.
The source of the Dharma will not arise or cease. It is ultimately limitless and endless. This is called “nature”. Because there is a “nature”, there is an “embodiment”. Where there is an embodiment, there is a form. So when a form begins to exist, it will arise and cease. This is the form of arising and ceasing. Indeed, all the stages of arising and ceasing express their inherent Dharma-nature.
Consider humans’ birth, aging, illness and death. How did we come to be born? We often say that we have an affinity with our parents. Once we created these conditions, there was naturally this effect. When this karmic fruit ripened, our affinity with our parents led us to be born into this family. This is Circumstantial Retribution (依報). Based on the causes and conditions of our parents, we were born into our family as retribution. This is Circumstantial Retribution. But we also experience Direct Retribution(正報). Though we may have been born into a poor family, if we created blessings in the past, perfects other karmic connections will guide us out of these conditions. In our lifetime we experience many changes, so nothing is definite. Even if we are born into a rich family, we may not remain wealthy forever.
I remember many years ago, there was a pair of sisters from the Philippines. They were born to a very poor family. These two girls were conjoined. Because of their affinities, benefactors appeared in their lives. Those were Tzu Chi volunteers. This case was reported to Tzu Chi volunteers, so they went to meet the family. Then they brought the sisters to Taiwan. Tzu Chi has hospitals in Taiwan. Everything from the equipment in the hospital to our doctors was brought together by this karmic connection to help physically separate these sisters. Their livers were linked, but luckily they had two hearts. So we used a lot of manpower, attention, wisdom, materials, hospital facilities and devices, many causes and conditions converged so the twins could be surgically separated. We took care of them for a long time. After several months, these sisters started leading separate lives. After physical rehabilitation here, they could each walk on their own, eat their own meals, and play with their own toys. When they left the hospital, they were carried out separately back to the Philippines.
Since this karmic connection was created, Tzu Chi volunteers moved them from the mountains to a city in the Philippines. They lived close to the Tzu Chi volunteers, who treated them like family. Volunteers helped their father find a job, and their mother eventually joined Tzu Chi. These two children grew up in the Tzu Chi environment. Who would have ever imagined this? There is no history of conjoined twins in the family. These causes and conditions changed their family’s lives, affected their parents’ jobs, and changed the fate of these conjoined twins. This was truly inconceivable.
So this kind of Dharma-nature is indeed everlasting. Now that these conjoined sisters have been separated, what will their lives be like in the future? Though causes and conditions brought then here, though they were born on the same day, will their futures be the same? It is unknown. What is unknown? What scripts they wrote in their past lives. I often say that though they were born conjoined, they will go their separate ways and may not share the same fate. Since we separate them physically, that meant had the conditions to come here so we could help them. But as for their future, that depends on their past, the karma they created respectively. So there is Circumstantial Retribution, they will face Direct Retribution. This is known as karmic retribution and this is the Dharma. This kind of intangible Dharma is therefore everlasting.
You and I created a karmic connection in the past, so now live together every day. Our common course is “Jing Si, a path of diligent practice.” Every morning we meditate and clear our minds. In this place, we all nurture a wondrous lotus in our heart, a wondrous lotus flower. In the Evil Would of Five Turbidities, “Tzu Chi is the Bodhisattva-path in the world.” We need to join Tzu Chi and go into the world to walk the Bodhisattva-path. Because we have this past karmic connection, we can make the same vows and develop this aspiration. Without these karmic connections, today we would not have this opportunity here to purify each other, to interact with each other, and create infinite Dharma. If you were not here to hear the Dharma, why would I be teaching it today? So we mutually motivate each other. And after hearing this, we need to motivate ourselves. We need to listen, contemplate, and practice.
Reflect on what I said today. What is the origin of this flower? Did the seed come first, or did the flower come first? Perhaps we need to explore the blade or the flower. When we work in the vegetables garden, we sow seeds. If a vegetable seed and not have soil and water, if it was isolated from those conditions, what can it produce? Nothing. It remains a seed.
So the Dharma-nature is wondrous, it requires the convergence of many causes and conditions. This nature is continuous and everlasting. So essentially, there is no Dharma to speak of. We must be very clear on all Dharma and the concept of causes, conditions, effects and retributions, which are all part of Dharma-nature. We are all born with an intrinsic nature, one equal to the Buddha’s. Why have we not attained Buddhahood after the Buddha explained so much? Because karmic retributions prevent our minds from eliminating afflictions. Our mind is not yet clear, so the lotus flower has not manifested.
So everyone, there is essentially no Dharma to speak of and this is true emptiness and wondrous existence. True emptiness and wondrous existence are embedded in Dharma-nature. Before a certain cause and condition manifest, the Dharma-nature already exists. It was waiting for causes and conditions to ripen, ten its Dharma-form will appear. Once this form begins to exist, its appearance will arise and cease, which is the continuous cycle of all things. Everyone, as we learn Buddhism, we see how profound the Dharma is. If we want to understand, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
