Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Hearers Diligently Eliminate Habitual Tendencies (聞法精進除習氣)
Date: February. 06. 2014
“What the Tathagata taught was heard by the assembly. The Buddha expounded the One Vehicle Dharma verbally. By listening to it, sentient beings attained realizations; this is called hearing.”
We know about Hearers. For us to understand the teachings, we have to take it in through our ears. In the past, the Buddha used His mouth to speak the Dharma to sentient beings, who then used their ears to listen to teachings. So, “what the Tathagata taught was heard by the assembly.” The Buddha had to speak, so people could have the opportunity to listen. The Buddha taught according to capabilities and gave teachings that sentient beings could accept. This demonstrated the Buddha’s wisdom and the pains He went through to transform people.
Time waits for no one, and the Buddha’s heart had guarded the teachings He wanted to give ever since He attained enlightenment. After 40-plus years, He had to share it. So, the Buddha taught the One Vehicle, which is singular [truth]. As we learn the Buddha’s Way, to realize the true wondrous Dharma.
So, the Buddha wanted everyone to know that the ultimate goal in learning His teachings is to realize the teachings of the One Vehicle, the ultimate truth. So, the Buddha gave the One Vehicle teachings through speech. The skillful means of the past were also spread through His voice and wisdom. The words came out from His mouth for everyone to hear and accept. And at this moment, when He was giving the One Vehicle teachings, He also taught verbally, so sentient beings could take them in and attain realizations and understanding.
After listening to it and saying, “I know [this teaching,]” we must also understand it. So, we must listen, contemplate and practice. After listening to and taking in [the Dharma,] we must really contemplate it, so we can penetrate and realize it. This is learning. Initially after the Buddha attained enlightenment, the first time He expounded the Dharma was to transform the five bhiksus. The teachings they received from the Buddha began with the Four Noble Truths. But this was not the Buddha’s original intent. Yet, it came from His wisdom. He originally intended to tell these five people, “I have attained enlightenment and realized wisdom as boundless as the vast universe. My present state of mind is like the Avatamsaka Dharma-assembly, a state of tranquility and clarity.”
But the Buddha [knew] that these five people could not accept that; this consideration revealed His wisdom.We often tell the story of the five bhiksus, of how it all started.
After Sakyamuni Buddha left home, the king [was worried about Him].So, he quickly sent five people to persuade the prince to return.Yet, Prince Siddhartha was firm in his resolve to be a monastic.No matter what his five elders said to him, his spiritual aspirations remained firm.On the contrary, when he told them about the true principles he wanted to pursue, these five were drawn in.So just like that, they became determined to follow him in seeking out these ideal true principles.
So, they visited many [teachers].They spent five years trying to understand the true principles.But, after the first five years [of traveling], they realized they were not finding the ideal teachings that the crown prince sought.So, they then followed the prince as he gave up asking [these teachers] and went to find a place to engage in spiritual practice.
So, these were the six years of ascetic practices.
After six years, the prince also felt these ascetic practices would no help him understand how all things in the world seem to conceal and contain both existence and non-existence, true “existence” and impermanent, empty “non-existence”.He just could not overcome this small hurdle.
Once Prince Siddhartha felt that this was wasting time, he decided to abandon ascetic practice and find a different path.But first he had to wash away the dust and dirt that had accumulated from the many years he spent in ascetic practice.After so many years of ascetic practice, he had exhausted his physical strength.Therefore, when he stood up after bathing, he fainted.Then he accepted some milk from a shepherdess.With this goat milk, his strength was restored.To help him, the shepherdess pulled him up and gave him a bowl of goat milk.As the prince gratefully accepted it, those five people came upon him.From after they saw their young prince accepting offerings from a woman.The two were very close together.
So, when the five saw them, they became suspicious.They started to look down on and feel disrespect toward the prince they had been following.Therefore, the five of them left the prince and agreed to find a place where they could continue their spiritual practice.
The place they found was Deer Park.
The five people stayed there and continued their spiritual practice.When Prince Siddhartha saw from a distance that the five had turned and left, he knew what was happening.He felt that engaging in spiritual practice alone would free him of burdens.
So, he found a place near the Niranjan River, under a big tree.He chose a rock and vowed,“If I do not penetrate the truth of all things in the universe, if I do not attain perfect enlightenment,I will never leave this place.”This was how he began to continuously contemplate and carefully ponder the various principles behind all things in the natural world.After a period of 21 days,sunddenly,before daybreak,he opened his eyes and looked straight at a star in the sky.His mind connected with the star,and he became enlightened.After [attaining enlightenment],he really wanted the eight classes of Dharma protectors to realize His state of mind,but they could not.So,in that instant,He thougnt about entering Parinirvana.
As He was thinking this, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas immediately manifested to comfort Him. They told Him this happened to past Buddhas, too. To teach the Dharma in the world, They had to exercise wisdom and establish skillful means.Since Beginningless Time, this has been the path of all Buddhas. Because of this, He changed His mind and went to Deer Park. When He arrived at Deer Park, the five people saw from a distance that their crown prince had returned. They chose to pay no attention to Him. They slighted their prince. But as He came closer, an indescribable feeling came over them. The five people could not help but approach the Buddha. Together, they knelt and prostrated. They reverently asked Him to give them teachings. “What wondrous principles have you realized? Venerable prince, please tell us.”
From the start, He talked about suffering. So, the truths of suffering, causation, cessation, and the Path were taught at this time. The Buddha told them, “I have attained perfect, universal enlightenment, I have realized Annutara-samyak-sambodhi, supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment. I am the Great Enlightened One, no longer the crown prince from Kapilavastu.” From then on, everyone called Him the Great Enlightened One, the Buddha or the World-Honored One. This was when He began teaching the Four Noble Truths and gave three turns of [the Dharma-wheel].
Ajnata Kaundinya was first to attain realizations. So, this passage once again describes the karmic conditions between the Buddha and Ajnata Kaundinya. The sutra always mentions “1250 people”. As I have said, the Buddha, over five years, transformed 1255 people. Among them, five were Ajnata Kaundinya and his companions.
In the second year, He transformed Yasas, the third year, the three Kasyapa brothers, and the fifth year, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana. So, over five years, “1250 people” joined the Buddhas retinue.
Thus, the Tathagata gave teachings suitable for sentient beings’ capabilities. He had to do this even for Yasas, the three Kasyapa brothers and Sariputra and Maudgalyayana. They were representatives of spiritual practitioners of that era. When Yasas was a layperson, he was a young man from a wealthy family and really wanted to pursue true principles. He brought 49 friends with him to take refuge in the Buddha-Dharma.
The three Kasyapa brothers were well-respected in their country. Altogether, they led 1000 disciples in taking refuge. Maudgalyayana and Sariputra each had 100 disciples. Though they were foremost in wisdom, even spiritual practitioners such as them yielded to the Buddha’s wisdom and came to take refuge with the Buddha. So, He was gradually followed by both Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas.
So, we commonly use “1250 people” to represent the Sangha. This is how it is often recorded in the sutras. No matter how many people there were, it just mentions “1250 people.”At this time, there were also many “Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas.”
[There were also] those who aspire to be Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, bhikshus, bhiksunis, upasakas and upasikas. Each had the following thought.
Besides the 1250 people, there were many who formed aspirations and became Hearers in order to comprehend the Buddha-Dharma. There were also others who did not achieve understanding only through listening. They used their wisdom to meticulously contemplate the principles of the world and gradually realize them. They were Pratyekabuddhas. People who made these aspirations, whether seasoned or newly inspired, gradually joined the Sangha. They were all Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas.
Who were these Hearers? Hearers were those who listened to the Buddha verbally give teachings. Perhaps they “used the Four Noble Truth as their vehicle.” Their way of engaging in spiritual practice was to use the Four Noble Truth as their foundation.
Every single Hearers, when they listened to teachings, used the Four Noble Truth as their foundation.So, they “used the Four Noble Truth as their vehicle” the truths of suffering, causation, cessation and the Path. Life is really full of suffering, and we accumulate the causes of many difficulties.
Now that we are engaging in spiritual practice, we know these true principles. It comes from the accumulation of causes. “Causation” is a result of the law of karma. What method can we use to bring about the “cessation” of this suffering? What method can we use to cultivate the Path to its cessation?
[when sentient beings suffer,] they continuously recreate their sufferings, afflictions, and the sources of karmic forces. These are being continuously replicated. This is why humans suffer. The Buddha comes to the world solely to help people understand this matter. This teaching is something we all think we know. But knowing it is one thing, thoroughly comprehending it is another.
So, we still cannot change ourselves completely because changing habits is very difficult. So, fellow Bodhisattvas, as we listen to the teachings every day, we must improve every day. Even when the teaching is the same, we must continuously deepen our understanding. That is the correct attitude toward listening to the teachings. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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