Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Give Rise to Great Power of Faith (當生大信力)
Date: January.21. 2014
“The Buddha speaks truly and honestly. All He says comes from His Tathagata-garbha. He sets aside the provisional and directly teaches the One Vehicle Dharma. He transcends faults and eliminates wrongs to be pure and untainted.”
The Buddha is one who speaks the truth. He does not exaggerate or lie. Everything He says is True Dharma; He absolutely does not lie. He has always taught from His heart, His Tathagata-garbha. Although He taught skillful means in the past, it was because He was teaching according to sentient beings dull capabilities. The Buddha really wished to speak [directly], but considering that they did not have the capability to accept it, He established skillful means for them. However, they were still true teachings given out of His compassion.
But now, what we are learning is something more important. Previously we were taught how to be good people, how to [apply] the Dharma in this world. This next section helps us by pointing directly to our hearts, so we can realize our nature. Now [the Buddha] wants to tell us about our very pure and clear nature, which is truly wondrous. Therefore, now He must set aside the skillful for the direct which means He set aside provisional teachings, which are skillful means. He hopes we can all instantly attain Buddhahood, understand the mind and realize our true nature. He wishes for nothing more than for us to already have His knowledge and views.
In the past, I have said that His knowledge and views were difficult to understand. Now, He wants to allow us to directly understand His knowledge and views. For us to understand the Buddha’s wisdom, He now “teaches the One Vehicle Dharma” and no longer [divides them into] Three Vehicles. If we come together and board the ship of compassion, we can cross from this shore of the opposite one on this very big and stable ship. This is what the One Vehicle Dharma is like.
Therefore, “He sets aside the provisional and directly teaches the One Vehicle Dharma.” After completely understanding the Dharma that has been taught so far, we must “transcend faults and eliminate wrongs” and leave the past behind. We ordinary people have many afflictions, so the Buddha used various methods to help us gradually let go of these afflictions. We should clearly recognize our past transgressions and wrongdoings. Therefore, we must begin transcending faults and completely eliminating wrongdoings. Then we will not commit the same mistakes. Thus, we will be “pure and untainted.” In the past, He taught various methods, but now He is returning to that which is singular and untainted.
In the past, He taught various methods, but now He is returning to that which is singular and untainted.In the past, we said sentient beings have both good and evil [tendencies]; they have all kinds of habitual tendencies.Now, we tell sentient beings that they must let go of the negative ones and move toward the virtuous ones.
When past afflictions and ignorance are eliminated, their minds will no longer be cluttered and will [return] to their pure nature.So, “He transcends faults and eliminates wrongs.”
I hope that all of us can follow this example.Starting right now, we need to let go of our cluttered minds.As for the wrongs we have committed, we must immediately eliminate them.
Therefore, this passage in the sutra states, “Sarputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ.In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to great Power of Faith.”“After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time,the true and real must be spoken.”
Now, [the Buddha] was about to give completely focused and pure teachings.So, He called to Sariputra again.Indeed, Sarputra was foremost in wisdom among His disciples.Aside from listening to the Buddha’s teachings, he also shouldered another responsibility, which was traveling to transform sentient beings.Though he still practiced [self-awakening], he also had to pass on the Buddha’s teachings.
For a period of time, the Buddha was in the Kingdom of Varanasi.There were two men there who were originally very enthusiastic about the Buddha-Dharma.But gradually, their views on the Dharma became distorted.How did this problem arise?It turned out they were disciples taught by Sriputra.So, Sariputra taught them methods to help them focus their minds and cultivate their spiritual practice.But these two men, even after quite some time, still could not thoroughly understand the true essence of the Dharma; their hearts were still confused and distracted.
The Buddha immediately summoned them.After He asked about their lifestyle, He found out they had different jobs.One was an artisan specializing in gold ornaments, such as jeweled crowns and precious vessels.He created gold ornaments with skillful precision.The other’s work was related to weaving.Before anything could be woven, the raw material used for fabrics in the past, sisal hemp, had to be broken down and turned it into yarn, which was then washed.He was the person who spooled the yarn, so the sisal hemp could be woven into cloth.Their jobs were completely different.
Sariputra had taught the yarn spooler breath-counting meditation and taught the jewelry maker skeleton meditation, which did not suit the nature of their work.
[Sariputra] did not give them teachings that suited them.
Regarding their methods of spiritual practice, the Buddha told them, “You are using the wrong approach.There is nothing wrong with these teachings.They just do not suit the capabilities of these people.”So, he switched their methods.Because breath-counting meditation suited a meticulous mind, the jewelry maker could use it to focus his mind.It was similar to the delicate methods he used to make gold ornaments, so this method of practice suited his work.
As for the yarn spooler, he started his work every day by cutting the sisal. This was a lot like field work, and there were many stages to this process. This was very hard work. Those who do physically demanding work should engage in skeleton meditation. While alive, people have physical strength, the strength of their body, but after they die, only a pile of bones remains. This [method] closely relates to the body and its strength and helps one understand what is left in the end, that all that remains is a pile of bones. After Buddha adjusted their methods of practice, they each went back and practiced diligently, attaining realizations soon after. The Buddha was mindful in matching the teaching to the capability.
When this happened, the Buddha told everyone, “Even Sariputra, who is foremost in wisdom, when trying to teach according to capabilities, still makes errors. So, all of you must take the Dharma into your hearts very carefully”. The nature and habitual tendencies of sentient beings, their capabilities and practices, must be closely matched. [Creating this connections] takes wisdom. The Buddha taught suitable skillful means, so there are wondrous provisional and wondrous true teachings. Even the skillful means came from His heart, His Tathagata-garbha. So, this is skillful wisdom, which contains wondrous provisional teachings that can be given according to capabilities.
Sentient beings' capabilities are too diverse, so He has devised many other methods to help us. This method is effective for some but ineffective for others. The principle is the same. So, among the Buddha's disciples, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom. The True Dharma of the One Vehicle the Buddha was about to the teach was to help His disciples advance to the next level and return their minds to their [true] nature. The person this teaching suited was Sariputra, so the Buddha called to him again. “Sariputra, you should know the words of all Buddhas do not differ”. By calling Sariputra, He was actually telling all His disciples to listen carefully.
The words of the Buddhas: All Buddhas teach the Dharma from Their Tathagata-garbha. All Buddhas teach in this way.
“The words of all Buddhas do not differ”.Sakyamuni Buddha and all the Buddhas He had drawn near to in the past, those countless, infinite Buddhas, all gave the same teachings. Past Buddha taught what Sakyamuni Buddha was now teaching and what future Buddhas will also teach. They all expound the same Dharma; there is no difference.
As for the Dharma expounded by the Buddha, the Lotus Sutra was the only one that discussed the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle, which was personally realized and attained by Buddhas.
“In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas” and to what the Buddha was about to say, “one must give rise to great Power of Faith”. Now I want to say that we must all give rise to the Power of Faith. Not only must we believe, we also need strength. With the Root of Faith, we can go beyond limited capabilities and wisdom and develop great capabilities and wisdom. Nor can we have limited roots and powers; we must have great roots and powers.
So as for “faith,” we must have great faith and great power, great Power of Faith. What was taught in the past was Dharma that was acceptable to beings of various capabilities. What is now taught can only be accepted by people with great capabilities.
One must give rise to great Power of Faith: Spiritual practitioners cannot progress without the Power of Faith. By growing the Root of Faith, one can destroy all evil beliefs.
So, we need to give rise to great Power of Faith. Thus, “one must give rise to great Power of Faith.” Now that we believe in the Buddha’s teachings, we must give rise to faith, which gives rise to power.
This is similar to the embodiment and power described in the Ten Suchnesses. Therefore, we must have faith. “After the World-Honored One’s Dharma has been around for a long time, the true and real must be spoken. The Dharma of the World-Honored One, Sakyamuni Buddha, has [been in his mind] since He realized the true principles of all things in the universe over 40 years ago. He then taught for over 40 years, which was a long time.
In this world, that is considered a very long period of time. Now He had to begin teaching the True Dharma. In the past He taught skillful means.
Now He pointed directly to our minds, so we can our nature. In the past, He pointed out how our minds were filled with discursive thoughts an illusions. Now, He is not just targeting our discursive thoughts and delusions.He is doing more than that. Discursive thoughts and delusions, after so many years, have probably been slowly washed away. The defilements and ignorance in our minds have like been gradually reduced.
Now He wants to directly give true teachings, so we must exercise our great Power of Faith. When we understand that true words of Buddhas do not differ, we know that “All Buddhas teach the Dharma from Their Tathagata-garbha. All Buddhas teach in this way.”Past Buddhas taught this and the present Buddhas teaches the same thing. This is because all Buddha share the same path. We must clearly understand that past and present Buddhas do the same thing. So now, we are in the era of the Lotus Sutra, when the only principles discussed are the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.
From now on, we will discuss the Dharma expounded by the Buddha and the principles of the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle because the Buddha is going to expound the Lotus Sutra. And in the Lotus Sutra He discusses the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle.
The ultimate reality is not a manifestation of our minds; it is our nature. Our intrinsic Buddha-nature is the ultimate reality. This was realized by the Buddha Himself over 40 years ago when He suddenly saw the morning star in the night sky, which awakened His wisdom and united Him with the universe. This Dharma is what He personally attained. So, the words of all Buddhas do not differ.
“In response to the Dharma taught by Buddhas, one must give rise to great Power of Faith.” We must use our most sincere Power of Faith to accept the principles of the One Vehicle taught in the Lotus Sutra.
Therefore, we must contemplate what kind of great Power of Faith we should use to receive the teachings that point directly to our minds, so we can see our nature.
Thus, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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