Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Remain Unwavering in Your Spiritual Aspirations (安住道心不動搖)
Date: July. 26, 2013
How do we determine whether the course of our life is correct? We can start by learning the Buddha’s Way. If we begin by learning His Way and never deviate from it to the end, we will never stray from this path. Then this becomes the course we have chosen for our lives. Since it is the right path, we cannot make even the slightest deviation. A slight deviation will lead us far off course. So, we are very thankful that we can encounter the Buddha-Dharma in our lives.
Where there are sentient beings who can be transformed, there are Buddha to transform them. Where there are Buddhas, the Dharma will be expounded. After Dharma is expounded, there will be disciples. Then the disciples begin to practice. Practices that begin must ultimately end someday.
Now that we have encountered the Buddha-Dharma, we are sentient beings who can be transformed. Since we are open to being taught, we can be transformed by the Buddha. We are “sentient beings who can be transformed.” Out of the many sentient beings, only humans can accept the Buddha’s teachings. It is difficult for the Buddha to expound the Dharma to other living creatures. So since we are born human, we should feel lucky. For us to encounter the Buddha-Dharma is not easy, not to mention being able to accept the teachings and transform. Some encounter the Buddha-Dharma but do not necessarily accept the teachings. Some people may hear it but do not become joyful. Not only are they not joyful, they may even slander it.
Though these people may be born human again, they will not have the karmic conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma. They are also ones who cannot be transformed. So, we are very fortunate to be born human and able to accept Buddhist teachings. Therefore, we are sentient beings who can be transformed. “There are Buddhas to transform them.” Since there are sentient beings who can be transformed, there are those who can teach them. In this case, Buddhas are those who can transform and teach people. Since there are people who can be taught, there are those who can teach them. It is just like how there are students because there are teachers. When there are teachers, then there are students. By the same principle, when there are transformable sentient beings, there are Buddhas to transform them.
Then there are Buddhas, the Dharma will be expounded. The Buddha came to this world for one great cause, to guide all sentient beings to realize and understand His wisdom. He wanted us to understand that everyone has a Buddha-nature equal to His. He helps sentient beings realize and understand that they all intrinsically have Buddha-nautre.This is the Buddha‘s goal for coming to this world.
However, even after sentient beings know that they themselves have Buddha-nature, it is still not easy to truly experience, develop and exercise it truly experience, develop and exercise it. So, the Buddha continued to expound the Dharma diligently and absolutely did not give up on sentient beings. Therefore, He keeps coming to this world to transform sentient beings.
As Earth Bodhisattva said, “I will not attain Buddhahood till hell is empty.” He was emulating the Buddha’s vows. Therefore, Earth Treasury Bodhisattva made a special vow to deliver all sentient from beings from hell and transform realm of suffering into a pure land. This is Earth Treasury Bodhisattva’s great vow.
Certainly, the Buddha vowed to transform all sentient beings in the three realms. In particular, sentient beings in the Saha World suffer the most. But because [they are] in the Saha world, He is able to transform them. So as long as they uphold the Five Precepts, they will not lose their human forms.
If they really practice the Ten Good Deeds, they can be born in heaven. Clearly, there are those born in heaven, and those with human form, but the ones who can experience and understand the Buddha-Dharma will transcend heaven and be liberated form the human realm. In heaven, people indulge in all pleasures. However, when they deplete their blessings, they will also descend into the three lower realms. When heavenly blessings are depleted, they are not necessarily reborn in the human realm.
So, to be born in heaven to indulge in pleasures is not the ultimate goal. The disadvantage of heaven is that there is no Buddha-Dharma to hear. Because the Buddha manifested in this world, we are very blessed to be born here and to have the opportunity to hear His Dharma.
Since we accepted the Buddha-Dharma, we need to be very grateful. It enables us make great vows, not to cultivate heavenly blessings, but to surpass the heaven realm and be liberated from the heaven realm, too.
Actually, with this human form we can walk the bodhisattva-path. When Buddha come to this world, Bodhisattvas definitely must come as well to assist the Buddha. Previously, I mentioned that when one Buddha appears in the world, thousands of sages also appear.
Hear, sages refer to Bodhisattvas. For example, Maitreya, Manjusri, Guanyin, Universally Worthy all showed up at this Dharma-assembly.Even Earth teasury Bodhisattva was there.Therefore, when the Buddha comes to this world, many Bodhisattvas come to assist Him to teach and transform sentient beings.So, when there are sentient beings who can be trabsfirnedm certaubly Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who can transform them will come to this world.
So where there are Buddhas, the Dharma will be expounded, and because we take Dharma to heart, we engage in spiritual practice.“Where there are Buddhas, the Dharma will be expounded.After Dharma is expounded there are disciples.”So at the Vulture Peak assembly, consider how many of the Buddha’s disciples gathered there solely to hear Him expound Dharma.So it is said, where there is a Buddha, the Dharma will be expounded.Then there are disciples to hear and accept the teachings.“Then the disciples begin to practice.”
There is a moment when they begin to aspire to spiritul practice.
When their karmic connections allow then to meet as teacher and disciple, that [moment] is called the beginning.From expounding the Dharma until the teachings are accepted, from beings touched to aspiring to take action, all this has a beginning,“Practices that begin must ultimately end someday. When this begin, we should try to maintain it from beginning to end. In the past, I spoke about the intrinsic and the manifested Buddha. We all leave a trace in this world. For ordinary people this is called Fragmentary Samsara. I often say that we bring nothing with us when we die except karma. The Karmic connections between us and our parents were already formed. With the karmic connections from previous lives, we come to a particular family, to a particular set of parents. Then we share the collective karma of this family. However, starting from that moment, whether our lifetime is long or short, eventually it will end.
So in life, all phenomena are always of one nature. However, “one nature” refers to both life and deat and to karmic connections, etc., in life.Although [things in] the world are very complicated, they all have a beginning and an end. Therefore, actions that begin must ultimately end. It is the same for all things. So, all phenomena are of one nature. They all begin and end. Although [we] are the same, we cannot make even the slightest deviation. A slight deviation will lead us far off course. This also applies to spiritual practice.
Once we accept the Buddha-Dharma, we must be accurate on our course. Though every day, I say something similar, this the true principle contained in what I say. A slight deviation will lead us far off course. So we must persevere from beginning to end. Every day, we wake up and hear the drum and bell, then go to the Great Hall. We are very orderly and we all stand at our assigned spots. At the sound of the hand-bell and wooden fish, we move accordingly without and deviation.
However, after we hear the teachings, the day begins. Once the day begins, we need to deal with the people, matters and objects of this specific day. Will the people , matters and objects of this day cause us to give rise to afflictions? What circumstances will we encounter? We do not know. So, for this entire day we must not allow our thoughts to arise and stir. This is called “upholding vows”. Thus our minds will not deviate from the beginning to the end. There is a moment when thing begin and one when they end. So, we should always remain unwavering and return to our Buddha-nature. Therefore, we focus on the beginning of every day and every matter. We must be very mindful.
Where there are sentient beings that can be transformed, there are Buddhas to transform them. Where there are Buddhas, the Dharma will be expounded. After Dharma is expounded, there will be disciples. Then the disciples begin to practice. Practices that begin must ultimately end someday.
So the Buddha started to give teachings in this world. Maitreya Bodhisattva truly understood this so he spoke the aforementioned verses. The process of the Bodhisattva- practice is giving, upholding precepts, having patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. As we are practicing these, we need to make offerings to the Buddha. When the Buddha expounds the Dharma, many come to listen. They come not only from the human realm, but from the heaven realm too.
“All heavenly beings and dragons and gods, humans and non-humans [came] with incense, flowers and instrumental music, constantly making offerings”.
They made offerings at all times, which showed their happiness and attainment of Dharma- joy. After all the heavenly beings, Dharma- joy humans and non-humans hear the teachings, if they can thoroughly comprehend the teachings, they will be very joyful, just like making offerings of incense, flowers and instrumental music with a joyful mind.
Next , “Manjusri, all these Buddha-sons made offerings to the sariras by adorning the stupas and temples. The natural state of the land is exceptionally wonderful and exquisite, like when the flowers open and unfold on the king of heavenly trees.”
This says that whether one was a heavenly being or human, when the Buddha was still in this world, one made offering with these tangible things. When the Buddha was alive, He could receive tangible offerings. After He is no longer here, offerings are made to sariras.
Past Buddhas had sariras too. For example, after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, King Ashoka 84,000 stupas as an offering.
Consider modern-day Thailand, Burma or Sri Lanka. In its earliest days, the Buddha-Dharma was brought to these countries. In order to make offerings, in order to make offerings, they built stupas and temples. Adorning temples, similar to reverently sculpting Buddha statues, represents the reverence and respect in humans’ offerings to Buddhas. So making offerings to sariras and adorning stupas and temples dignifies those of practice.
So, in the natural state of this land, temples and stupas are everywhere. They demonstrate that people here believe in the Buddha-Dharma are very reverent. “The natural states of the land” means they naturally express respect to the Buddha-Dharma.
“Exceptionally wonderful and exquisite” refers to how, when people see them, they feel happy. Like when the flowers open and unfold on “the king of heavenly trees”.The king heavenly trees is described this way in the sutras: In the 33 Heavens, there is a tree called the parijata tree. Its roots are as deep as 50 yojanas. Besides being deeply rooted, the trunk is also 50 yojanas tall. Its branches and leaves also spread out to 50 yojanas. The fragrance of its flowers travels as far as 50 yojanas.
Moreover, this tree is bright and can radiate light for 50 yojanas. It is the Sovereign Sakra’s favorite tree. Furthermore, many heavenly beings frequently play music and dance this tree. As flowers rain from the sky, humans and gods make offerings and play music. This shows that in this world, whether one is a human or god, one will be very happy. So I often tell everyone that we need to be very reverent and project our voices and thoughts out toward heaven. This is the reverence we should always feel. When we are always joyful, naturally heavenly beings are also happy. This shows the flourishing of the Right Dharma. When the Right Dharma flourishes, the number of good people will naturally increase. People’s minds can be purified, and they will be transformed and enter the Buddha-Dharma. Then naturally this world can be peaceful.
However, the beginning and end are very important. All the start of each day, how do we take care of our minds? When the day eventually ends, how do we deal with matters? There is a beginning and an end to all people, matters and objects. Whether or not our minds can be as the Buddha taught and whether or not our spiritual aspiration can remain unwavering are very important. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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