Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: May He Teach the Suchness of Truth (願為如實說)
Date: March. 10. 2014
“Persist in planting the roots of goodness and establishing the foundation of virtue. Fully realize the source of the Tathagata-mind. The absolute nature of True Suchness is as deep and expansive as the sea.”
This is saying that spiritual practice is not just the work of one lifetime. We must actually spend a very long time on continuously accumulating [good karma] in order to extend our roots of goodness and foundation of virtues farther and deeper. Didn’t the Buddha do the same thing? For countless billions of kalpas, lifetime after lifetime, He continuously returned to the world on the ship of compassion. We must realize that the Buddha, for the sake of sentient beings, never stops coming back. We must learn to “fully realize the source of the Tathagata-mind.” What is the source of the Tathagata-mind? “The absolute nature of True Suchness.”
True Suchness is true principles, the most subtle, wondrous, supreme, perfect and universal enlightenment. This is the source of the Tathagata-mind, and as I tell you every day, it is something you and I intrinsically have. All of us, including you and I, all have the same nature as the Buddha, the intrinsic nature of True Suchness. However, we do not yet fully understand this because Buddha-nature is profound and “as deep and expansive as the sea.”
Not only is it “as deep and expansive as the sea,” it is also as vast and endless as the universe. This is the boundlessness of the Buddha’s enlightened state of mind. When our nature of True Suchness is awakened, our state of mind will be that broad, that deep and expansive. The Buddha’s “realization” completely transcended true and false. He completely penetrated everything and nothing could obstruct His knowledge and views. We ordinary people are influenced by our mental states as we realize and perceive our surroundings. When it comes to people’s tones, expressions, matters, objects and so on, we follow our unenlightened feelings. But the Buddha’s “feelings” bring enlightenment, full and complete understanding. This is the Buddha’s spiritual stateadopted change.
Thus, the many people at the Lotus Dharma-assembly had widely varying capabilities. Therefore, Sariputra was asking [questions] on behalf of those who could not fully comprehend the Buddha’s enlightened state. He asked the Buddha to teach the ultimate Dharma so they could attain a more thorough understanding. Thus everyone was very reverent and respectful. They put their palms together and looked up at the Buddha’s honorable countenance.There was a sense of expectation.
The next section of the [sutra] states, “We pray He will speak with wondrous tones, for it is time to talk of the suchness of truth.Heavenly beings, dragons, spirits and others, numbering as many as the Ganges’ sands [are here] along with.Bodhisattvas seeking the Buddha’s teachings.”
This verse [describes everyone’s hope that] the Buddha would answer.Sariputra’s request and speak with subtle and wondrous tones to teach the extremely profound, subtle and wondrous Dharma.“It is time” means at that moment, [they hoped] He would immediately give teachings and “talk to the suchness of truth.Venerable Buddha, please be at ease.Whatever You want to say in Your heart, no matter how profound it is, just say it all.”Right now, they were all hoping to hear the words in the Buddha’s heart that He wished to speak.
So, “suchness of truth” is about “the appearance of True Suchness.It is taught as such; it is the nature of ultimate reality.”
“Suchness” is the truth; it is without illusion or falsehood, explaining the true principles of reality.How can we examine “the appearance of True Suchness,” the appearance of the Dharma?The Buddha had to use many methods to continuously explain the principles behind appearances.Take those in academic world for example.People study biology, physiology and so on.All these scientific systems of thinking have different [approaches] and objectives that require detailed analyses and explanations.But for the Buddha, all things in the universe, all appearances and all principles are understood.This is “the appearance of True Suchness”. “It is taught as such.”The Buddha wanted to convey it thoroughly.To teach it, He had to analyze it [for us].These is a phrase for this, “It’s a long story.”Still, it had to be “taught as such”.It requires a lot of thought to thoroughly explain all of these true appearances so that everyone can understand clearly.
Because all appearances have a nature, we talk about natures and appearance.So, the nature and appearance of ultimate reality had to be taught as such.This is something that requires a lot of thought to explain.The speaker must expend a lot of effort, and the listeners must focus their minds.The speaker and listener need to concentrate and focus in order to realize the appearance and nature of ultimate reality and [how] it is taught as such.Only then can people connect with the principles.
Next, let us discuss “suchness of truth”.Suchness means universal.Truth means not illusory.
Since we want to practice Great Vehicle teachings, we must have a universally impartial view of all sentient beings, things, people, matters, objects and principles.
This is what we must realize.So, suchness is universally impartial.We talk about discerning wisdom and impartial wisdom.With wisdom, we can see things impartially .
With impartial wisdom, we will not discriminate between people based on fame, fortune and status.We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and Tathagata-wisdom within. So, the word “suchness” refers to the Tathagata’s intrinsic wisdom and universal Buddha-nature.
Therefore, “suchness” means True Suchness, which is universal. True means not illusory. It is not false and is absolutely true. We often talk about true emptiness, which does not mean that nothing exists at all. Not at all. This concept contains very subtle and wondrous principles. So, we call it true emptiness.
I often ask this question as an example. “Do you still remember your home?” No matter how many of you are sitting here, right not all of you are recalling your home in your minds. When this image surfaces in your minds, I cannot see it, but you are feeling it. How can this place contain all of your homes? [These images] are really empty; they are in your minds. But there is wondrous existence in true emptiness. Our thoughts and feelings are very fleeting. [When asked,] “20 years ago, where were you?” We can all recall the answer very quickly. For me, even something from 40 years ago, the first thing that Tzu Chi worked on, can still very quickly surface in my mind. See, this does not take long at all, just one quick thought.
No matter how long ago things happened, we can recall it this quickly. So, the principles of true emptiness and wondrous existence have always existed, and the answers are always true. So, we should not say that the things we cannot see do not exist. They absolutely exists. They are the “truth”.
Principles that are not illusory are truth. Truth means not illusory; it refers to the True Suchness of ultimate reality. It is also “to contemplate the ultimate reality of all things.”
So, the principles of “the True Suchness of ultimate reqlity” must be contemplated with our wisdom.Earlier, I said that “suchness” is universal. “Truth” means not illusory. The principles of true emptiness and wondrous existence are “the True Suchness of ultimate reality”. How are these principles to be “taught as such”? This is what Sariputra hoped for, that the Buddha would speak the wondrous Dharma in His heart and quickly teach it as such. Everyone was waiting respectfully. How many people were there?
“Heavenly beings, dragons, spirits and others, numbering as many as the Ganges’ sands showed there was a great number of people, especially those who came from faraway places. ”
“Numbering as many as the Ganges’ sands” means there were very many people. Other than the people we could see, there were also heavenly beings, dragons, ghosts, spirits and so on, so there were many others. Besides spiritual practitioners from this world, there were also those who came from afar, from other worlds. It was not only sentient beings of the Saha World. These heavenly beings, gods and dragons all gathered there.
So, “Bodhisattvas seeking the Buddha’s teachings were those with great capabilities.”
On that occasion, there were also those who had made Bodhisattva-aspirations. How many were there? [They] “numbered around 80,000.” This means that there were very many. “ Bodhisattvas seeking the Buddha’s teachings numbered around 80,000. And, from billions of lands, wheel-turning sage kings have come. With palms pressed together and sincere hearts, the complete path.”
This section describes the majority [of people,] even those who came from afar, “And, from billions of lands, represent [all the lands in] the universe and of the past, preset and future. The large number of lands signified a very broad and expansive space.
As for “wheel-turning sage kings, who were they? “Wheel-turning sage kings always rule the world with Right Dharma.
Wheel-turning sage kings have come: Wheel-turning sage kings always ruled the world with the Right Dharma, so their people did not kill, steal or commit any transgressions and evils. They widely bestowed the grace of their rule, so each person had what they needed. This was the reason they were admired by all their people and called a sage king.
So, over a long period of time, they ruled the world with the Right Dharma. Not only did they love their people, they also promoted the Right Dharma across all societies in the world. they were called “wheel-turning sage kings.” They turned the Dharma-wheel and really cared for their people. When there were these kinds of kinds, people did not kill nor steal. They created a truly radiant and peaceful world. these truly benevolent and virtuous people governed their lands by using Right Dharma. This brought peace to their people. Bestowing grace and favor on people this ways is like using rain to moisten the world.
Each had what they needed; this beings a sense of security to everyone. Therefore a king who was revered and respected by all of his people was called a “wheel-turning sage king.” Even people like this had “palms pressed together and since hearts.” They very sincerely put their palms together. They waited respectfully in this way because they “wished to hear of the complete path.”
In the past, the Buddha taught with skillful means. Now He was about to teach the most perfect truths that He had been safeguarding in His mind. So, they were wholeheartedly reverent and simple wished to listen to the Buddha expound the Dharma without reservation, to fully explain it, “teach it as such.”[They wished] for Him to completely teach the “suchness of truth. This was what Sariputra requested on behalf of all sentient beings.
I also hope that every one of us feels a sense of urgency to understand the True Suchness of our nature and to penetrate the principles of ultimate reality. We must be even more mindful. Everyone’s spiritual practice depends on this mindset. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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