Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Do Good Deeds, Meet Countless Buddhas (行眾善業見無數佛)
Date: November. 20. 2013
The value of practicing the path to enlightenment lies in Bodhisattvas transforming people. We must do more good deeds and give to and benefit others. We must say more good words and bring others onto the path by working with them.
We must have this aspiration when we engage in spiritual practice. Engaging in spiritual practice is inseparable from having great aspirations, awakening ourselves and others and having perfect awakened conduct. The mission of transforming sentient beings is our duty as spiritual practitioners. How do Bodhisattvas transform sentient beings? By doing more good deeds. If we constantly do good deeds, we create good karmic affinities with others. The best way to create good affinities is through giving.
Sentient beings experience much suffering and lack many things. We can make up for the deficiencies of others by giving them what they need. This is what we mean by doing good deeds. If [they] need material resources, we will give it to them. If [their] minds are deluded or afflicted, we should also go help and support them to activate their inherent wisdom. These are ways of giving and benefiting others. As long as the things we do benefit the world, then they are all good deeds and we are walking the Bodhisattva-path. This is the way to benefit others. We do not just benefit others with material things. We may give them advice, open the doors to their hearts and [resolve] their afflictions. We must also say more good words.
All teaching depends on listening to sounds. So when we speak, we want people to feel that every word is Dharma. If they can accept and take every word, every teaching to heart and manifest them in their everyday actions, that is because the words we have spoken are all Dharma. If people treat our words as the Dharma, that is because we have a positive karmic connection with them.
As I have said before, for those we have good karmic affinities with, every word we speak is the Dharma. For those we have no karmic affinities with, every word we speak creates disputes. If good words are spoken without sincerity, they become flattery. So, we must widely create good karmic affinities with others. When our minds are sincere every word we speak is the Dharma.
Therefore, we must “say more good words” and “widely transform others by working with them”. We must transform all sentient beings. The most important things in life happen between birth and death. But if we do not understand people, matters and objects in this lifetime, if we are confused and stray from our course during the few decades of this life, we will create much karma.Therefore, we need to widely transform others.If we encounter the right occasion and conditions at any point in any person’s lifetime, we should quickly “transform others by working alongside them”.
If we have karmic affinities with them, we must bring them in to do good deeds with us.
This is how we use loving-kindness to relieve and transform sentient beings.
This is bringing others onto the path of enlightenment by working with them.This is very important, so I hope everyone realizes the principles of spiritual practice.
Earlier I also discussed how.Seeker of Fame Bodhisattva, “often visited the great clans, cast aside his recitations”.He was lax and craved offerings of wealth.However, he formed many good karmic affinities.So, [it says].“Yet he also did many good deeds.”
Though he was lax, though he cast aside his recitations, he still did many good deeds.
Because of this, he had these roots of goodness.So it is stated,
“Yet he also did many good deeds that [enabled] him to meet countless Buddhas and make offerings to all of Them.” “Accommodating [sentient beings] , he walked the great path and perfected the Six Paramitas.”
Because he had [roots of] goodness, he had the karmic affinity to meet not just one Buddha, but countless Buddhas.This may refer to the 20,000 [Sun-Moon-Lamp Buddhas] who, like him, also developed roots of goodness and karmic conditions over successive lifetimes.He came after 20,000 Sun-Moo-Lamp Radiant Buddhas.So, do countless Buddhas only refer these 20.000?There were actually countless Buddhas in the past.This number is [just representative].I hope when hear this we realize that his roots of goodness were his karmic conditions for meeting Buddhas.
Where are the Buddhas?I often say, “we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.If we use a Buddha-mind to see others, then everyone is a Buddha.”If we have a kind heart, then everyone we see is kind.A kind intrinsic nature is a Buddha[nature].So, good people often meet other good people.Those who do good deeds will often end up with others who do good deeds.With roots of goodness and good thoughts, we are not far from our intrinsic nature.
Fellow Bodhisattvas, we must respect every single person we encounter in our daily living, as if each person is a Buddha.If we can achieve this as we encounter people every day, we “[can] meet countless Buddhas”.So after learning the Buddha’s Way, we need to open the doors of our minds and understand we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.This applies to us and those we interact with.We are all the same.So, we must constantly nurture Buddha-nature so we do not lose it.
In our daily living, knowing that we and others all have Buddha-nature, we have the confidence to transform others by working with them.If we are attached to the texts, we will only learn that long ago in the past, Maitreya Bodhisattva was one of these 800 disciples.If [this is all we learn], we distance ourselves from the state we want to cultivate.We truly need to cultivate the path to enlightenment.The things we learn from the sutras must be taken to heart so that they are applied to our daily living.
By listening to the principles this way, we can then connect them to our daily lives. So, doing many good deeds will naturally enable us to meet countless Buddhas. Next, “he made offerings to all of Them. Accommodating [sentient beings]. Making offerings is giving. There are three types of giving; giving does not have to be material. Giving of fearlessness and of the Dharma are also types of giving and offerings.
If we can achieve this in our daily living, we always “accommodate [sentient beings]”. We do so according to our surroundings, whether it is [giving] people what they need or doing things [for others]. When we see and encounter such situations, we must seize the moment to give. This is what it means to walk the great path.
“Perfected the Six Paramitas” refers to perfectly fulfilling the Six Paramitas. We all know the Six Paramitas, which are giving, [upholding] precepts, patience, diligence, Samadhi and wisdom. These are all inseparable from our everyday actions. So, this sutra passage is bringing [the Dharma] closer to us and into our daily living. When the Dharma enters our minds, it will also be in our actions.
Good karma: All good behavior or cultivation of the field of blessings, such as the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds, and other positive actions.
So from the two words “good karma” alone, we know that with these good actions, we are cultivating the field of blessings. Everything we do in this world will sow seeds in the fields of others' minds. If we sow a good seed and form a good karmic affinity with others, then naturally they will take in the words we say, and the people we want to guide will follow us. This field of blessings is created by the seeds we sow the good deeds we do.
Aside from giving, good karma also comes from self-discipline, like upholding the Five Precepts and Ten Good Deeds. You all know what those are, and I constantly say that we must remember them. With our bodies, we must not commit acts such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying or drinking alcohol. Laypeople need to be very cautious about this. The karma of killing does not only result from personally killing but also creating assisting conditions for killing or indirectly killing. In our daily living, we crave tastes, so we consume the lives of many sentient beings. If we want to eat something, someone has to supply it for our consumption this requires massive killing and massive breeding. This pollutes the land. Pollution of the air and land causes imbalance of the four elements.
The imbalance of the four elements results in great losses for people and in ruined and destitute families. Many disasters arise from people's daily living. [Breaking] the Five Precepts alone indirectly creates disasters in the world. So if people understand the importance of upholding the Five Precepts, we know that “killing” does not only refer to directly committing killings. Our consumption of animals is the indirect cause [of their deaths]. This is killing. As for stealing, we need to eliminate our greed. Because of greed for something we cannot produce ourselves, we resort to theft.
Theft results from the rise of greedy thoughts, which causes stealing and robbery. This also creates bad karma.Lust also a form of greed. If spouses do not abide by their fundamental duties, the husband does not act as a husband. If the husband keeps a mistress outside the home, then the wife also has an extramarital affair and the children become rebellious, disobedient and unfilial. If this happens, a family cannot be at peace. In order for a family to be harmonious, there must not be any sexual misconduct or rule breaking, including family rules. When one person breaks a rule a second person will say, “If you can do that, I can too.” Then a second person breaks the rules. For the second generation if their parent quarrel, they become mixed up in that. See, this is what happens when a family does not abide by rules. These problem can arise from sexual misconduct. Things that should not happen are deviations, so they are misconduct incorrect and improper.An act of sexual misconduct alone can cause [so may problems] for the family.Then the children will be disobedient and cause trouble outside the home.They develop this mindset toward society and the world.This is why they create karma.
Lying is the same. Our every word creates karma Illnesses enter through the mouth and disasters emerge from the mouth.There are four karma of speech.The opposite of the Ten Good Deeds are the Ten Evils.Three are related to the body, four to speech and three to the mind.These add up to ten total.If we can do good deeds, we do good with our body, speech and mind, do good deeds and say good words.If we do not engage in lying, flattery, gossip or harsh speech, then naturally we will speak good words.
At the same time, we should constantly restrain our minds.We must prevent our minds from giving rise to greed, anger and ignorance.These are good actions.In the Five Precepts, aside from not killing, stealing, committing sexual misconduct and lying, we must also not drink alcohol.Drinking alcohol disrupts our nature.When we cannot control ourselves, we will commit the Ten Evils.So, the Ten Evils and the Five Precepts are basically the same, and the Ten Good Deeds are just more detailed.If people can uphold the Five Precepts, they simultaneously practice the Ten Good Deeds.
So, when we uphold the Five Precepts, Ten Good Deeds, we are doing many good deeds.We discussed earlier, “Yet he also did many good deeds”.If we can do many good deeds well, it will “[enable us] to meet countless Buddhas and make offerings to all of Them.Accordingly, [we] walk the great path and perfect the Six Paramitas”.
These things are all a part of us and all around us.We can constantly achieve them.So when we listen to sutras, we must see them around us and not think of these events as far from us because they happened so long ago.So, we should always be mindful
(Source: Da Ai TV - Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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