Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha’s Light Is Penetrating and Broad (佛光所照甚深遠)
Date: October. 29, 2013
Time passes quickly. Truly, it waits for no one. So, we must work hard to seize the present.
The Sutra of Infinite Meanings states, “His Brahma-voice thunders in eight ways and is wondrous, pure, profound and far-reaching. The Four Noble Truths, Six Paramitas and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are expounded according to the minds and karma of sentient beings.”
When we recite the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, we are familiar with this passage. A Brahma-voice describes the Buddha’s voice. Indeed, Brahma-voice is a pure and undefiled tone. Brahma represents Brahma Heaven, the highest heaven in the Three Realms. This heaven is very pure. Not only are the bodies of beings there pure, the surroundings and the voices are pure as well. Brahma means pure. The Brahma King in Brahma Heaven has five kinds of pure tones. The Buddha also has this kind of pure voice, which is part of His 32 Marks. One of those marks is called “Brahma-voice”. He has more than live pure tones; He has eight.
In the Brahma Heaven, there are five kinds of pure tones. The Buddha’s voice is similar. Therefore, one of the 32 Marks is a Brahma-voice. The Eight Tones of the Buddha’s Voice: Of the eight pure tones, the first is a “beautiful tone”.
The Buddha has a very beautiful voice. His voice opens people’s hearts and makes [His words] easily understandable. Second is a “soft tone”. A soft tone can tame sentient beings. Even though sentient beings are stubborn, the Buddha still teaches them. When stubborn sentient beings hear Him, they know that the Buddha is transforming them, but they feel that His voice is soft and full of warmth and love. So, this is called a “soft tone”. Another is a “harmonious tone”. When the Buddha speaks, people think His voice is just right. He does not speak so softly that people cannot hear Him clearly. His voice also never seems loud or coarse, nor is he ever noisy. Not at all. His voice sounds just right for everybody. This is called a “harmonious tone”. Fourth is a “respectful and wise tone”. When people hear the Buddha’s voice, they can feel His respect for them. When they hear His voice, a sense of respect also arises in their hearts. Because of the Buddha’s wisdom, they respect one another. This is a “respectful and wise [tone]”. He is respected because He has respect for sentient beings. Then naturally sentient beings will also respect the Dharma He expounds.
This is the wisdom of the Buddha.
Fifth is a “non-effeminate tone” .The Buddha had the appearance of a great man. A great man speaks with a manly voice. And then, an “unerring tone” He makes no mistakes. The Buddha’s enunciation and pitch perfect. So, when people hear it, they do not mishear things. When some people speak, they cannot enunciate words properly. That gives it a very different meaning. But the tone of the Buddha’s voice is high when it should be high and low when it should be low. Thus there are no mistakes, and people do not mishear Him.
Seventh is a “deep and far-reaching tone”. This means that the Buddha’s words contain very profound meanings contain very profound meanings. Our words should be clearly understood by other people and should help them understand that these phrases contain very profound meanings. Though the meanings are profound, they can still hear and understand them. This is “deep and far-reaching.” A phrase can have an effect on the present, and it can also have an effect on the future. It can profound meaning. In particular, [these words] do not go away once they are spoken. They can be passed down for thousands of years. This is called “deep and far-reaching.”
Eighth is an “inexhaustible tone”. When the Buddha speak, His throat does not get dry, and thus he can speak for a long time. Teaching seem to spring forth from Him, so He can speak without pause for a long time and people will happily accept His Dharma and spread His teachings to each other. This is called an “inexhaustible tone.” There was never an instance in which [He had to stop and did not know what He would say next to connect with what He had said before]. Never. His words spring forth like a fountain. Much Dharma has emerged from the Buddha’s wisdom and voice. This is the Buddha’s Braham-voice, a pure voice. The Brahma-voice is one of His 32 Marks.He has eight pure tones.
That is why at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra, there is a passage stating, “That profound and wondrous Brahma-voice is what they joyfully heard.”
This was a passage that described the Buddha’s voice as pure and wondrous. Not only that, it is what people joyfully heard. Everybody is happy to hear it. The Sutra of Infinite Meanings stated, “The Braham-voice thunders with eight tones,” so the Buddha’s voice truly moves people’s hearts. Even though He also has a “soft tone” and so on, it is profound and wondrous and can influence many people like “a clap thunder that rings through the heavens.” When thunder strikes, people in very far off places can hear it. But His voice is not as thunder, which can be scary. The Buddha’s voice is soft and harmonious and can go straight into people’s hearts and influence them.
From the past to the present, the Buddha’s voice still remains in our hearts and minds. It is still circulating and will never fade.Not matter how much time passes, the Dharma will exist forever. The Buddha expounds the Dharma with a voice that is “wondrous, pure, profound and far-reaching”.
“The Four Noble Truths, Six Paramitas, and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence are expounded according to the minds and karma of sentient beings”. Consider these [three teachings]. As I have mentioned before, the Buddha gives teachings in a sequence. When He fires became enlightened, He turned the Dharma- wheel for the for the five bhiksus. Because they were beginners, the Buddha taught them the Four Noble Truths. For Pratyekabuddhas, He taught the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, so they could continue to ponder how they came to live this life and how the karma they created and conditions they attracted led to the retributions in this lifetime. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence began when “ignorance” led to “volitional formation” and consciousness,” which eventually led to birth, aging, illness and death, the span of a lifetime.We go from birth, aging, illness to death. After we die, our “volitional formation” takes us to the next place. This the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence. With it, we can carefully think about how life comes and goes, how karmic retributions and karma accumulate. This is the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence.
After people understand the Four Noble Truths, and Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, they form great aspirations and make great vows. Then the Buddha teaches them the Six Perfections, which are the Six Paramitas. Using these six methods, they can cross from the shore of ordinary beings to the shore of saints. Thus, these are called the Six Paramitas.
The Four Truths and 12 Links of Cyclic Existence are expounded to suit beings' minds and karma.
“Expounded according to the minds and karma of sentient beings”. This means that the Buddha teaches according to the capabilities and causes and conditions of sentient beings.He expounds the Dharma according the capabilities. Since we want to learn the Buddha's way, we must sincerely listen to the teachings. We must practice the Dharma through our actions. This is the way to truly show how wondrous the Buddha's methods of teaching are. This is also how we use our bodies to influence others and spread the Buddha-Dharma.
The following passage states, “Also seen were Bodhisattvas practicing giving, patience and so forth. They numbered as many as the Ganges' sands, and were illumined by the Buddha's light”.
The Buddha's light helped us see that many people were working hard in their practice. Whether they live deep in the mountains, alone or among other people, they practiced the Dharma and applied it to their actions. The Dharma was in their actions. So, the Dharma must be part of our daily living. Therefore, we practice giving. So, this is called “giving”. If we do not practice giving and only talk about being kind and compassionate, what good is that?
To have loving-kindness and compassion means we must practice giving. We do so through our actions, with all our heart and ability. This is not easy. We must be patient and work very hard. The more we do, the more some people become irked. This is because ordinary people are jealous of the capable and virtuous. We must withstand the fact that “ maras will always stay ahead of the virtuous”. We need to endure these challenges. Maras wear us down. They come to trouble and challenge us. Therefore, we must endure insults. If we “practice giving, patience and so forth, we are Bodhisattvas.
Practice giving, patience and so forth.” Patiently endure shame, humiliation and vexations without feeling anger or hatred. Patience is the pure land of a Bodhisattva. Internally, they can peacefully endure. Externally, they can face humiliating conditions. This is called patience.
How do we become Bodhisattva? We must practice compassion and relieve suffering and do it thoroughly so that everyone can be peaceful and happy, and those suffering will be saved and at peace. This is not that easy, so we must be able to endure insults. Are there many people like this? Very many. The Lotus Sutra states that they numbered as many as the Ganges bands, and were illumined by the Buddha’s light. Since the Lotus is the way to Buddhahood, if we learn the Buddha’s Way, we will become a Buddha one day. The Buddha clearly said that we all have Buddha-nature, so we can all become Buddhas. If we all become Buddhas, how many Buddhas will there be? As many as the sands of the Ganges River. But can this many people actually physically practice patience and giving? This depends on whether people are willing to overcome all obstacles.
So, the light of the Buddha’s wisdom will always shine on all things in this world, but we must seize the moment. The light of Buddha’s wisdom shines on forever, but our life is limited. “If we do not transform ourselves in this life, in which lifetime will we be able to do so?”
So over our limited lifespan, the light of the Buddha’s wisdom will shine upon us ceaselessly. But can we let this light into our hearts in time? Can we completely have the Buddha in our minds and the Dharma in our actions?
So, “by practicing giving, we can accumulate infinite blessed karma.”By often practicing giving, we can cultivate blessings and wisdom for our current and future lives.
We must give all we have. There are six methods, or Six Perfections, There are six methods, or Six Perfections, [which begin with] giving. Our practice of giving can be accumulated. If we cannot complete our practice, we will continue in the next lifetime.
But, can we do it in the next lifetime? That depends on whether our resolve is firm. Based on the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence, if we are firm in our spiritual aspirations, our initial thought as we head toward rebirth can precisely direct us onto a path that allows us to continue our spiritual practice in the next life and for many lifetimes to come.Depending on our causes and conditions, we may accumulate countless blessed karma. So, “by often practicing giving, we can cultivate blessings and wisdom”. We must now diligently listen to teachings and practice the Dharma through our actions.
Then we will naturally accumulate blessings and wisdom. So, when we are learning the Buddha’s Way, the Buddha must be in our minds and the Dharma must be in our actions. We must work on protecting this Dharma like we are guarding a brilliant pearl. We must thoroughly illuminate ourselves and also let the light of our wisdom shine on others.The Buddha has a light of wisdom, as do all of us.
So, if our minds are close to the Buddha’s mind, then we will awaken ourselves and others and have perfect awakened conduct. This is just like a brilliant pearl. As I often say, we work “together like a crystal sphere of perfect harmony”.
If we unite our minds with the Buddha-mind, we will be as pure as crystal. Those are the same principles. So, everyone please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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