Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: End Suffering by Seeking the Path (解苦滅集求於道)
Date: July. 16, 2013
We should “recognize and understand that the cause of suffering is accumulation. To be free from suffering and to end that accumulation, we must seek the Path. People disturb their own minds due to ignorance.”
Indeed, we need to recognize suffering. With each passing day, whatever favorable or unfavorable things we encounter in our daily living may disturb our minds. This is also suffering! There are various kinds of suffering, in our external conditions, in the way we live and in the way we feel in our hearts. Are these sufferings internal or external? Where does such internal and external suffering come from? The Buddha has explained to us that the accumulation of various kinds of internal and external causes and conditions creates suffering.
We know that by accumulating [karmic causes], we reap the fruits of these seeds of suffering. So, we need to investigate how much suffering we have accumulated through ignorance and afflictions. How can we cease this? We must practice the Path. The Buddha transformed people as He traveled and always taught according to their capabilities. This was solely to help people free themselves of their disturbances and return to the brilliance of their intrinsic nature.
Once, during the Buddha’s time, He was at a summer retreat for the Sangha in the Kingdom of Sravasti for three months. After three months, the summer retreat ended, so He left the place where it was held and led a group of bhiksus and bhiksunis to continue traveling and teaching. They traveled from Sravasti to Magadha. Besides the bhiksus and bhiksunis, there were also kings and ministers, those who had sincere faith in the Dharma. This very long procession traveled along the road. At the time in Magadha, there lived a respected elder named Bhadrapala. He had heard that the Buddha was coming. He admired the Buddha-Dharma and knew that to be able to receive the Buddha’s teachings would be a blessing. So, he recruited a group of 500 elders to welcome the Buddha to Magadha. When the long procession was about to arrive, he stood and watched the solemn and orderly procession slowly approach them.
These 500 elders saw the Buddha’s solemn and dignified appearance. Even without hearing His teachings, a sense of reverence and respect naturally arose in their hearts. Furthermore, their minds suddenly felt refreshed. All their afflictions and discursive thoughts were eliminated. Simply by seeing the procession and the dignity of the Buddha, their minds were naturally purified.
As the Buddha slowly approached, this group of elders knelt with utmost reverence to welcome Him.The Buddha walked ahead slowly while they followed.When the Buddha reached the place He would stay, this group of elders quickly came forward.After the Buddha sat down, the elders paid respect and prostrated to Him.They gave speeches to praise Him and shared how they felt when they saw Him approach.Each of them expressed their joy.They also expressed that upon seeing the Buddha, they were able to let go [of their afflictions].The Buddha was very joyful upon hearing this.To reinforce the experience, He told these elders, “Why do people have so many afflictions?Actually, you can immediately let them go as long as you understand the causes of these afflictions.”
The Buddha then explained that there are ten things that cause us to disturb ourselves.Once our minds are disturbed, much suffering will naturally accumulate.Of these disturbing things,
biologically, there is birth, aging, illness and death.
Psychologically, we have worry, sadness, suffering, afflictions, distress and cyclic existence.
These are the ten kinds of self-disturbances.
The first eight kinds of physical and psychological afflictions distress us.Fears of birth, death, aging and illness constantly arise in our minds.These afflictions arise, abide, change and cease.
After understanding what distresses us, how do we let go?It is truly lamentable that these very subtle afflictions cause us to remain in cyclic existence in the Six Realms and the Three Destinies.
They are the sources of suffering.
Therefore, we need to practice the path to the cessation of suffering.To eliminate suffering, we need to practice on this path.What is this path?Surely, we must abide by and practice the Buddha’s teachings.The Buddha has paved this great Bodhi-path, this very straight and broad path, so we can walk on it.So with body and mind, we must take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.Then we are called Buddha-sons.
The next passage says, “For those who are Buddha-sons, who engage in various practices and seek unsurpassed wisdom [all Buddha] expound the pure path.”
As Buddha-sons, we are very sincere in seeking the Buddha-Dharma and developing our wisdom-life.Thus, we are called Buddha-sons.To develop our wisdom-life, we need spiritual food to nourish it.This food is the Dharma, so we need to absorb the Buddha’s various teachings.
We need to seek the Buddha-Dharma with utmost sincerity.If the Dharma enters our hearts, we must put the teachings into practice.We must “engage in various practices”.If the Dharma enters our hearts, we need to uphold and practice it.
We cannot just listen to it and then let it pass.It is not enough to store the teachings in our heart. We must manifest them in our actions and put them into practice.This is to “engage in various practices” for the sake of “seeking unsurpassed wisdom”.
What we are pursuing is unsurpassed wisdom. Every day, we hear of ways to end afflictions. In order to end afflictions, we must find their sources. It seems like we hear this every day, but have we eliminated our afflictions yet? Do we still have a mindset of gain and loss? Do we still have interpersonal conflicts? We must ask ourselves this. If we still do, then the Dharma has been constantly leaking away. So if we do not develop our wisdom, then Dharma will leak out. Thus, we must keep pursuing unsurpassed wisdom. If there are people who are willing to work hard to engage in various practices, diligent people who pursue unsurpassed wisdom, the Buddha will “expound the way of purity”.
For instance, Bhadrapala brought 500 people to welcome the Buddha. Just from seeing the Buddha, they became diligent. Seeing how diligent they were, the Buddha told them that the source of affliction lies in these ten kinds of self-disturbances. This was what the Buddha asked of His disciples. As long as they sincerely requested the teachings, He gave them meticulous analyses. This means that for the Bodhisattvas in the Three Realms, the Buddha expounded the pure path of unsurpassed Bodhi. The Buddha taught according to the capabilities of the Bodhisattvas in the Three Realms. Earlier I mentioned that the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra so that Hinayana practitioners, Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas can move beyond self-interested spiritual practice. He encouraged them to turn from the small to the great, which means to let go of their Hinayana practices and move toward the Mahayana teachings.
So, the Mahayana sutras are for those in the Three Realms who have developed Bodhicitta, so they can be taught the purifying Bodhi-path. So, He taught this for those who seek the unsurpassed way. For those who “seek unsurpassed wisdom,” the Buddha expounded the pure Dharma. Hinayana practitioners are still selfish and have attachments to ending their own afflictions and to purifying their own minds. Every one of us should seek purity of mind, but if we seek only for our own benefit, we will still have afflictions. Only by working among people can we thoroughly understand the cause of worldly sufferings. Only by seeing how afflictions arise in others can we understand how to let go and be free of conflicts when we become afflicted.
Indeed, we must work among people. Isn't it said that “infinite Dharma will become readily apparent”? If we do not engage with countless people, we will not see the infinite Dharma. So, infinite Dharma is found among people. Only after we experience this can our wisdom truly manifest. So, to truly practice the unsurpassed path and to cultivate unsurpassed wisdom, we must eliminate the ego and purify ourselves. On top of purifying ourselves, we must also help others purify themselves. When others are pure, then we can be as well. How can we be at peace? Only when everyone is at peace. If others are not at peace, how can we be at peace? If we wish everyone to be at peace, we need to seek to free the world of disasters. This is the ultimate solution for the cause of suffering.
What the Buddha taught us was to turn away from the small toward the great. So this phrase, “turning from the small to the great” means to turn those who practice the Hinayana around so they can practice the Mahayana.
So, the Lotus Sutra states it is very important to “set aside the provisional for the true.” The skillful means teach that, “If you practice this, your mind will be pure.” Although these teachings are very good, it is even better to purify your mind while helping others become pure. This is called turning from the small to the great. This is the pure path that we must understand. In order to teach the purifying path, the Buddha began with the principles of purification. This helps us purify our minds so that we can [gain] prajna, which is wisdom. This wisdom is non-arising and non-ceasing. But non-arising and non-ceasing wisdom must be used to develop our potential amidst wondrous existence. So, we cannot focus on emptiness. That would be biased. Solely seeking our liberation from birth and death is also biased. So we must manifest the emptiness of unsurpassed wisdom amidst wondrous existence. In this wondrous existence, we can apply the wisdom of non-attachment to turn our minds around. In the wondrous existence of this world, there are all kinds of appearances. When we apply wisdom to transforming our attachments to the appearances in this world and thus manifest our pure and wondrous wisdom, that is called perfect harmony. This is also called perfect enlightenment.
The next passage states, “Manjusri, as I dwell here, I see and hear such things, and a thousand million other things Numerous as they are, can you please now speak of them in brief?”
Who is saying, “As I dwell here”? Maitreya Bodhisattva. At the Lotus Dharma-assembly nobody knew what wondrous. Dharma the Buddha would teach after He entered Samadhi and began radiating light. No one was able to understand this.Do you remember, when Maitreya Bodhisattva was the initiator and sought out a responder，who was the one that answered? Manjusri Bodhisattva. His question for Manjusri Bodhisattva led to the previous passage. Maitreya Bodhisattva first said, “In the past, I know that the Buddha came in such a way.”
“Manjusri Bodhisattva, as I understand, this is what I have seen and heard of the Buddha.” “Such things” are what was said earlier “A thousand million other things” still remain. There were still many things for Manjusri Bodhisattva to explain to everyone. So, this was why Maitreya Bodhisattva asked Manjusri Bodhisattva to give teachings.They were the initiator and responder at that place and in that state.
Eveyrone, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we must have aspirations like Maitreya Bodhisattva. Although we have a general understanding, what was the motive behind this teaching? Why did the Buddha come to this world? When He was expounding the Dharma in this world, how did He teach according to capabilities?Actually the compassionate. Maitreya Bodhisattva already knew everything. But in order to strengthen everyone’s faith, he respectfully invited Manjusri Bodhisattva to give an explanation to everyone. This is the meaning of the previous passage.
In our daily living, all environment, matters, people and objects are there to each us the Dharma. The teachings can be readily found in them. As I have shared with everyone, all things in the universe contain the truth.
If we can mindfully deal with external conditions, we find that whatever conditions we encounter can become subtle and wondrous Dharma. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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