Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Open, Reveal, Realize and Enter (開示悟入)
Date: May. 14. 2014
“The Tathagata gave teachings to the assembly. He freely carried out His original intent by revealing His knowledge and views. The mind and Buddha do not differ [in nature]. To return to our original nature, we must take the Bodhisattva-path.”
This is telling everyone that Sakyamuni Buddha’s one great cause for coming to this world is to give teachings to sentient beings. He comes to teach them so that they can all understand how to return to their intrinsic nature. During the 40-plus years prior to this, He utilized skillful means to establish various kinds of teachings because sentient beings’ capacities were such that they could not accept His knowledge and views, His perspective and understanding. So though the Buddha gave teachings through various provisional skillful means to teach sentient beings to return [to their nature,] there is only one path that leads to the source. We must take the Bodhisattva-path to truly realize the Buddha’s knowledge and views. His original intent is something we must each comprehend. However, to realize it, to return to our intrinsic nature, we must take the Bodhisattva-path.
So, in conclusion, the Buddha comes to teach His knowledge and views, which are to have loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity and to walk the Bodhisattva-path. The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings do not differ [in their nature]. Our minds, the Buddha’s mind and the minds of all sentient beings need to be one. Together, they are known as the Buddha-mind. This is the principle the Buddha comes to proclaim.
Today, we continue to discuss how the Buddha once again said to Sariputra,
“Sariputra, all Buddhas want to solely teach the Bodhisattva Way because They wish to reveal all Buddhas’ knowledge and views to sentient beings.”
He was so sincere. “All Buddhas want to solely teach the Bodhisattva Way.” We must know that all Buddhas of Three Periods, of the ten directions and of this moment, all do the same thing in this world. “All Buddhas share the same path,” which is to “solely teach the Bodhisattva Way.” They only come to teach the Bodhisattva Way. However, sentient beings have deeply rooted attachments and a thick layer of ignorance. So, all Buddhas do the same thing and teach through various skillful means. This is all for only one reason, to teach sentient beings to walk the Bodhisattva-path. Only through the Bodhisattva-path can we return to our intrinsic nature; this is the path spiritual practitioners must take.
If we are to become one with the Buddha-mind and return to our nature of True Suchness, we must walk the Bodhisattva-path.We must walk the Bodhisattva-path.Though He utilizes countless, boundless means to teach infinite sentient beings, all these methods are all part of one path, which is the Bodhisattva-path.“They wish to reveal all Buddha’s knowledge and views to sentient beings.”They teach us all to walk the Bodhisattva-path, so we can truly understand.Their knowledge and views, what They know and what They see.Only by walking the Bodhisattva-path can we see its scenery.If we do not walk this path, we will not have the knowledge and views of the beautiful scenery along the path.We simply cannot experience it.
So, the Buddha compassionately guides us to take the path He has walked and brings us to see the state He has seen.He guides us toward comprehension and to attain realizations, so we can fully realize the true principles of all things in the universe.The Buddha’s compassion is such that His mind encompasses the universe; He uses such an open heart to care for all beings.Therefore, all of us must be grateful to Him and accept His teachings.
So, “teach the Bodhisattva Way” has two explanations.
Teach the Bodhisattva Way.“Bodhisattva” used to mean a sentient being with great spiritual aspirations or a sentient being with spiritual aspirations.
“Bodhisattva” now means a greatly awakened sentient being or an awakened sentient being.Those who seek the Path with great aspirations are sentient beings with spiritual aspirations.Those who seek the Path for great awakening are called greatly awakened sentient beings.
Bodhisattva used to mean “a sentient beings with great spiritual aspirations” or “a sentient being with spiritual aspirations”.These are called “Bodhisattvas”.The Sanskrit word Bodhisattva means an awakened sentient being.“Awakened” is having “great spiritual aspirations”.“Sentient being” is a “living being”.So, sentient beings with spiritual aspirations are not necessarily human.
Actually, I have often shared that “sentient beings” are in all of the Six Realms, and they all have an awakened intrinsic nature.In the Buddha’s Jataka Sutra, it mentions many times that even an ant has an awakened nature; a honeybee has the same awakened nature, and a spider also has this kind of awakened nature.
Another word for awakened is “Bodhi”, “-sattva” means sentient being.
All living beings have sentience and feelings; thus they are sentient beings.
“Great spiritual aspirations” also means Bodhi.“The great Bodhi-path is straight”.Once we know that this path is the right one, as we walk on it , we must also take others along.This is how we become “sentient beings with great spiritual aspirations” or “sentient beings with spiritual aspirations”.
A Bodhisattva may be in a state of having achieved, of achieving or of having not yet achieved [Buddhahood].One who has achieved is one with “great spiritual aspirations”.One who is achieving, or has not yet achieved it, is one who has “spiritual aspirations,” which are intrinsic to everyone.The current translation of [bodhisattva] is “greatly awakened sentient being” or “awakened sentient being”.Actually, the meaning is the same.
“Greatly awakened sentient beings” are Bodhisattvas who have awakened and then work to awaken others.They are those who have realized this path, then vowed to extensively transform sentient beings. They are “greatly awakened sentient beings”. They are “greatly awakened sentient beings”. Others, after understanding what the truths really are, form aspirations and make vows. Thus, they are “awakened sentient beings”.
After they have this understanding and begin to form aspirations, they are “those who seek the Path with great aspirations”. They seek the Path and make great aspirations, so they are “sentient beings with spiritual aspirations, those who seek the Path with great aspirations”. In forming aspirations, they form great aspiration, they do not seek to only benefit themselves. After achieving [their aspirations], they also help others do the same. The path will always be the same length; if we walk by ourselves, it is that long; if we walk it with others, it is still that long. The more people we walk with, the broader the path will be. If we walk it alone, the path will be narrow and harder to walk. So, we must forge a great, straight, Bodhi-path. When many people walk this straight path together, of course it will be easy to walk.
If we all receive teachings and share the same resolve, then the world will be truly peaceful and harmonious. Then wouldn’t life be very simple? Is it really that complicated?
In this world, everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, so can’t this world be a pure land? This is why we learn the Buddha’s teachings.
So, all Buddhas “wish for sentient beings to realize all Buddhas’ knowledge and views and wish to enable sentient beings to enter all Buddhas’ knowledge and views”.
The Buddha’s compassionate original intent was to make use of His knowledge and views to awaken sentient beings. His spiritual state was tranquil and free, and He wished sentient beings would have the same state of mind. He wished that everyone would enjoy the same boundless awakened state. This was the Buddha’s greatest hope for us, and He gave teachings for this purpose.
He “wished to enable sentient beings to enter the Buddha’s knowledge and views”. He hoped sentient beings could realize and enter them. In “realizing” something, we think, “Oh, so this is how things are!” “Entering” means fully taking the Dharma to heart.
Take medical treatments for example; some people have leukemia, so their bodies cannot produce blood cells. But under the doctor’s guidance, they may be implanted with healthy bone marrow. Once they receive it, they can regain their health because their own bodies have recovered the ability to produce blood cells. The principle is the same; our lives are like this. The Buddha is also like a great healer. Our bodies can originally produce blood cells, but with a momentary imbalance in our bodies, we may lose the ability to make blood cells. If a healthy person, one who we have good affinities with, has bone marrow that can be transplanted into us, we can then recover our ability to produce blood cells.
Our wisdom-life is also the same. All of us originally had this [illuminating] ability but our ignorance blocked off this illumination, causing us to lose our ability. So, [taking in] the Buddha’s teachings is like receiving a transplant of healthy Dharma-marrow, which allows all of us to recover our own intrinsic potential and functions, as well as our intrinsic nature.
So, the Buddha comes to develop our wisdom-life. This is His purpose for coming to this world. so, for sentient beings He “opens and reveals in the hopes that we can “realize and enter.”
Open, reveal, realize and enter: He opens and reveals the Buddha’s knowledge and views so others may realize and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and views. These words convey why the Buddha comes to this world.
So, “He opens and reveals the Buddha’s knowledge and views.” This means He helps all of us by teachings, “You must know that you intrinsically have the Buddha’s knowledge and views. You must enter them to learn more.” So, this is to “open and reveal.” Thus allows sentient beings to “realize,” which is to understand or know. But it is not enough just to “know,” without also applying them. After we know, we must practice.
To a patient, the doctor may explicitly say, “You have this illness, you must receive this treatment.” “I know this.” During the course of treatment, the diseased cells in the body must be destroyed. So, the body must endure pain for a period. If the patient is determined and accepts, So, the body must endure pain for a period. If the patient determined and accepts, he will suffer for a period of time. But after dealing with this hardship, the new bone-marrow is injected into and more easily accepted by the body; it will not be rejected.
Some Buddhist practitioners are attached to the teachings. They do not understand how to promptly accept and apply the Right Dharma, so they seek shortcuts and easy paths.Thus, although they know they are sick and know that this illness is dangerous, they are unwilling to go thought the treatment. If this is the case, even if they are given blood transfusions, they will only [help them temporarily]. There are many people who cannot find a match, so they rely on blood transfusions to extend their lives for a short period of time. But only when they recover their ability to produce blood can they be considered truly healthy again.
But the same principle, for our wisdom-life to grow, Dharma-essence must be injected into our minds. In order to grow our wisdom-life, we must go through this period [of treatment]. Our prejudices and false views must be eliminated. We must have Right Knowledge and Right Views and understand the law of karma. Only then can the Buddha’s teachings truly be realized and enter our minds.
Once we achieve this understanding, we can accept the Buddha’s teachings. Consider the Buddha’s compassion; He wishes to fully transfer His enlightened state and the methods to attain it to us. If we do not accept them, we may know but have not internalized [teachings] .For some time, I have been telling everyone to listen, contemplate and practice as we cultivate precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. These are all very important.
So, we must listen. Having listened, we must earnestly contemplate, then diligently seize opportunities to put [the Dharma] into practice .The Buddha guides us toward the path that we must take, which is the Bodhisattva-path It is the path the Buddha has taken. So, to “enter the Buddha’s knowledge and views” is to put His original intent into practice.
Everything that the Buddha taught conveys that His intention for coming to this world was one of loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity. Life after life. He works to relieve sentient beings’ suffering and help the reach a place of security, happiness and peace. That is a place where they can eliminate their unenlightened views and understanding and thus attain the Buddha’s knowledge and views.
The Buddha’s knowledge and view: Those with such knowledge and views know the wisdom of the principles and see the True Dharma The True Dharma is unconditioned and non-discriminating. To explain the principle of unconditioned Dharma, He revealed distinctions to discuss this knowledge and view. So, the Buddha kindly opened and revealed the Dharma for sentient beings to realize and enter.
“Those with such knowledge and views know the wisdom of the principles.” To attain wisdom requires true principles, not limited knowledge and views. We must deeply penetrate things to attain great realizations and wisdom, which is all-encompassing wisdom. This is “knowledge”. This wisdom, all-encompassing wisdom, is always in line with the principles. This is the state of all-encompassing wisdom. “See the True Dharma, which is unconditioned.”After understanding true principles, we will know that they are unconditioned; they are all natural [principles]. Because we sentient beings are ignorant, the Buddha utilizes various skillful means, conditioned Dharma, expressions, analogies, verbal teachings and other methods. These various teachings are conditioned Dharma; they still require making use of things such as people, matters and objects to help everyone understand the principles.
If we can truly see the Absolute Truth, [we will find that] “True Dharma is unconditioned.” We have always had it; it is a natural part of us. We are all born with a pure intrinsic nature; this is unconditioned Dharma, which is very natural “[True Dharma] is non-discriminating”. To explain unconditioned principles, He revealed distinctions.
We originally knew this, but we sentient beings are such that one ignorant thought leads us to draw countless distinctions and create various interpersonal conflicts. So, the Buddha has to use various methods to present different appearances in order to explain His knowledge and views. He utilizes various methods to draw analogies and explain various principles.
This is the Buddha’s compassion in coming to “open and reveal”.
“The Dharma is for sentient beings to realize and enter” .To “open and reveal” shows the Buddha’s compassion. The Dharma must be willingly accepted.
If we willingly accept it, we will “realize” it and allow it to “enter” our mind. Then we will have Dharma. If we only just listen and let it pass, then we will never be transformed by the Dharma.
If the Dharma cannot enter our minds, how can we be transformed? People in the past would say, “No Dharma can transform me”. But the Buddha never gave up because sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature, and the truth is still within them.
So, how can we say, “I cannot transform”? With His compassion for sentient beings, He comes to “open and reveal” in the hopes that someday, sentient beings can “realize and enter”. So, we must always be more mindful
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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