Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha’s Power is Fearlessness (佛力無所畏)
Date: January. 01. 2014
“Sentient beings are stubborn and foolish. All Dharma is extremely profound. All Buddhas tactfully use extraordinary skillful means to enable all sentient beings to reverently accept and practice these teachings.”
This helps all of use self-reflect. Among the many kinds of sentient beings, we are fortunate to attain human form. Even more fortunately, we have listened to the Buddha’s teachings. However, we are still confused and foolish. All Buddha’s teachings are very profound. We continue to feel how profound they are. Actually, the original [teaching] is very simple. But because we sentient beings are lost and unawakened, we cannot realize the Buddha’s original [teaching]. So, the Buddha used the Dharma to pave a path for us to go from [the state of] ordinary people to one of enlightenment. However, our faith is still insufficient, so we dare not go forward. Therefore, all Buddhas have used many skillful means to teach extensively, all to enable sentient beings to attain realization. So, [we must be reverent]. As long as the mind is wholly sincere, it becomes our spiritual training ground. Since we believe the Buddha’s teachings, if we sincerely accept and practice them with a straightforward mind, we will make progress. Of course, this requires reverence.
So, [we must] “respectfully believe and practice the teachings.” I hope we can all receive the Buddha-Dharma with this mentality. The Buddha already used Dharma to pave the path, so we must have faith and walk forward, step by step. If we do not have faith, even if the most precise, true, wondrous Dharma appears before us, we will not have the confidence to take in this Dharma.
So, in the Sutra of 100 Parables, one of the passages contains this short story. There was a very poor person. He was so poor that he wholeheartedly wished for just one thing, to attain worldly treasures. One day, while walking in the open fields, he came across a chest. He gently opened it just a crack and saw that it was filled with priceless jewels, so he was very happy. He looked around to see if someone had lost it and was coming back to look for it. He waited, but not one came looking for it. So, he thought, “Perhaps I can take these jewels with me.”So, he flipped the lid of the chest wide open.Opening it, he saw that underneath the cover there was a person inside.He hurriedly stepped aside and immediately said, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“I did not know that the jewels in this chest are yours.I did not realize you were in the chest.”He kept apologizing and then ran away.Actually, this is an analogy.
The jewelry was just jewelry.The cover was just a cover.How could a person be hidden inside?It was simply a mirror.The mirror was in the cover [of the chest].Once we open the chest, the mirror appears and reflects our image.However, we do not recognize ourselves, we do not realize the mirror is reflecting our image.This man saw himself as a stranger, so he could not claim those treasures.His own appearance was unclear to him, as well.We ordinary people are like this, are we not?We do not even recognize ourselves.Our true self is the clear and awakened Buddha-nature, which is equal to all Buddhas'.
I constantly mention “great perfect mirror wisdom”.Inside our hearts, there is a mirror like this.But we allow this mirror to become blurry, and we do not regularly look in this mirror, so we do not know who we really are.Actually, all Dharma is also within us.
Wisdom I stored in our intrinsic nature.This analogy should be very obvious, so we can understand it.
Earlier, I also mentioned that “the Hero of the World is unfathomable.Among heavenly beings and humans of the world, among all sentient beings, none can understand the Buddha.”
For us sentient beings, the Buddha clearly manifested in the world and taught us the [truths] He realized after.He attained enlightenment.When He first became enlightened, the Dharma He expounded could not be realized by heavenly beings or humans.So, how could that be possible for ordinary sentient beings?Sentient beings, which are all living beings, cannot even fathom it.So, we must be very mindful.
Humans and heavenly beings are closest to Buddhas, particularly humans.If we fall and become other kinds of sentient beings, then accepting the Buddha-Dharma will be even harder.We must treasure this life that enables us to encounter the Dharma.
As for the Buddha, we must be very grateful that He continuously returns to the Saha World to deal with unyielding sentient beings.He has to have the power of great patience.Without great patience, how could He transform sentient beings?So, “the Buddha’s power is fearlessness”.
The Buddha’s power is fearlessness.Liberation, Samadhi and all His other realizations, cannot be fathomed by anyone.
Though sentient beings are unyielding, though humans, heavenly beings and living beings still cannot realize the Buddha’s [Dharma], the Buddha’s power is still fearless.He still stands in front of multitudes of sentient beings to give teachings.
The Buddha’s power is fearlessness: It is said the Tathagata attained unsurpassed enlightenment and was endowed with unsurpassed wisdom.
Among all beings, He roared like a lion, turned the wondrous Dharma-wheel and attained great freedom.
The Tathagata truly has supreme, universal enlightenment and unsurpassed wisdom. Among all beings, He roared like a lion. By expounding the Dharma, He turned the wondrous Dharma-wheel and “attained great freedom.” He is already at peace and at ease. Therefore, the Buddha’s power is fearlessness. He is endowed with a mind that is at ease and free of hindrances. Because if we have hindrances and are already difficult to transform and so unyielding, how long will it take? In this era, we see formation, existence, decay and disappearance. There are increasingly more sentient beings, more turbidity, stronger afflictions, more natural and manmade calamities. After all, sentient beings are still lost. So, what is these to do? The Buddha does not worry about these things. He just has compassion and unlimited patience. Therefore, He still remains “among all beings and roars like a lion.” He still loudly proclaims the Dharma so pervasively that everyone can hear it. Not only can everyone hear it, they can feel it and find it useful. This is from the Buddha’s power of fearlessness.
He continuously “turns the wondrous Dharma-wheel and attains great freedom.” Certainly, He has a great sense of freedom. Therefore, the Buddha’s power is fearlessness.
[However difficult] sentient beings are, from the Buddha’s [perspective], He is at ease through beings understanding. The Buddha is very understanding. What does it mean to be understanding? Being understanding gives us the strength to become liberated. Right now, we multitudes of sentient beings have many afflictions. Today, if we hear someone criticize us, we feel very uncomfortable because we cannot understand it even when we try. Clearly, we were trying to do this, how could someone else criticize us? We find this unfair, so afflictions arise, and we create bad affinities with that person.
If someone talks behind our backs, the next time we see him, we will become unhappy. This cycle of resentment arises because we ordinary beings cannot be understanding. Since we do not have understanding, how can we attain liberation? Therefore, we cannot be liberated. But the Buddha is liberated and at ease, so He has the power of fearlessness. He has this power because He has wisdom and understanding and is thus at ease and liberated.
“Liberation: Sentient beings are trapped in cyclic existence, so they cannot attain liberation. Noble beings have attained liberation, so they are not trapped in cyclic existence. Liberation means freedom.”
We ordinary people all transmigrate within the Six Realms and cannot be liberated. Even if we are born in heaven and are immersed in pleasures, once we deplete our blessings, we will still have to face our retributions. Karma comes from humans, ordinary beings. We ordinary beings are the source of all negative karma. Because we create a lot of bad karma, we habitually end up in the hell, hungry ghost, animal, and asura realms. This is what we ordinary people do. We create [karma], so we cannot be liberated from cyclic existence.
“Noble beings have attained liberation, so they are not trapped in cyclic existence”. Those who are already noble beings have attained liberation and will not travel through cyclic existence again. As for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there are many Bodhisattvas who return on the ship of compassion.
Many of them have already become Buddhas, but they come to world to assist at Sakyamuni Buddha-assembly to help and save sentient beings.
In summary, we need to know that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are all noble beings, so they are not trapped by cyclic existence. But they are sympathetic and compassionate toward sentient beings and cannot bear to let them suffer. So, it is not cyclic existence that brings them back to this world. They are no longer subject to it; they are liberated and free. So, “the Buddha’s power is fearlessness.” He is liberated and free, so His strength is fearlessness. So, “the Buddha’s power is fearlessness, [with] liberation and Samadhi.” To be liberated, one must have Samadhi.
“Samadhi: a tamed, straight and settle mind. With focus and tranquil thinking, we settle the mind on one place. With focused thinking, we can single-mindedly abide by our resolve and spiritual aspirations.
Samadhi is about “taming, straightening, setting. Taming is about controlling our minds. Sentient beings have monkey-minds and thoughts that run all over the place wild horses. Therefore, our minds cannot settle down.
So from the beginning, we must learn to rein in our wild and unruly minds.A straightforward mind is a spiritual training ground. If our minds can be tamed, we can believe and accept the Buddha-Dharma. So, we must be focused “With focused and tranquil thinking, we settle the mind on one place.”
Our minds need to be focused on cultivating the fields of our minds. I often say the Chinese character for “thinking” is [the characters for “field” and “mind”]. We must work hard to clear the weeds from a field just as we must clear discursive thoughts from our minds. The mind really needs to become tranquil and clear so that it can settle on one place.This is how we “tame and straighten.”
If our thinking can be focused, we can then “single-mindedly abide by our resolve and spiritual aspirations.” As for our resolve, since we have formed these aspirations and want to learn the Buddha’s Way, we must make great vows. This resolve is something we must hold on to and constantly be mindful of.
So, “tranquil thinking is clear and open” “Being clear, our serene wisdom is illuminating. Being open, there is nothing we cannot penetrate.”
If our thinking can really be tranquil and clear, our minds will become illuminated. We can be like the person who opened. We can be like the person who opened the treasure chest.When we see ourselves in it, won’t those jewels be ours? Our reflection has always been in this mind’s mirror, but we just have not realized it.
So, when our tranquil thinking is clear and open, our serene wisdom is illuminating, and naturally our minds will be very calm and still. It is like a mirror that is very clear. Being open, there is nothing we cannot penetrate. Out of all the things in the world, what can’t we understand completely? So, as we are learning the Buddha’s Way, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
