Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Single-mindedly believe and understand the Buddha’s Teachings (一心信解 受持佛語)
Date: June. 10. 2014
Safeguard the clear and pure mind and extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets. When the mind is pure, it can correspond to all things. When it is focused and refined, we are single-minded. “Safeguard the clear and pure mind.”
We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature; we all have this truly pure, undefiled and tranquil mind. If we can safeguard this mind that was originally clear and pure, we can “extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets.”
For this, we must go among and develop good karmic affinities with people. We must constantly accumulate blessed conditions and constantly be vigilant of our own minds to avoid the defilements caused by evil thoughts. Evil thoughts are greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt. These five things alone naturally lead us to give rise to countless ignorant thoughts. So, we must always be mindful and safeguard our pure and clear minds. We must promptly, diligently and “widely accumulate” [blessings and wisdom].
It is often said, “Everything accumulates over time.” In every second, the arising of our thoughts and everything we do continuously accumulates and we may accumulate blessed causes and conditions. If we are not diligently practicing during this time and instead give rise to evil thoughts and commit evil actions, those will accumulate as bad karma. So we must aspire to “extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets.” We must always safeguard our minds. “When the mind is pure, it can correspond to all things. When it is focused, it can be refined.” If the mind is pure, it is mirror-like, much like clear water. If our mind is truly pure and clear, we can clearly understand everything. Then when we deal with things, we will not make any mistakes. So, we must always maintain the clarity of our minds so it can “correspond with all things.”
“Refined” means our minds must be refined and not discursive. So our mind must be refined and focused. “When it is refined and focused, we can be single-minded.” Most importantly, we must be very mindful; we cannot let our minds become scattered at all. This is a spiritual training ground. But we must remember, the mind we are cultivating, our mental training ground, is very important. There is not only a physical practice center, but a mental one as well.
If we safeguard our mental training ground, naturally our physical practice center will be well-attended and well-organized. In the Buddha’s time, He also taught disciples based on different situations. One time, He traveled and taught with Ananda and Kasyapa by His side. One day, when it was almost noon, they saw, not too far way, a melon farm. The Buddha said to Ananda, “Ananda, look, there is a melon farm. Please ask them for a melon to quench our thirst and hunger.” Hearing this, Ananda immediately headed for the farm.
In the melon farm was the woman in charge. As Ananda approached the farm, this woman appeared to be very unfriendly.Before Ananda even began to speak, she stared at him with a mean look.Ananda was still very friendly.With his palms together, he said, “Please give me a melon.The Buddha is over there.It is noon and He is thirsty, so we hope you will give us a melon.”
Before Ananda could finish, the woman started to curse at him, and drove him out.
“I don’t want to see you here.You must leave now.”She was not willing to give even a single melon and instead, chased him out.Ananda had no choice but leave immediately the Buddha smiled and said to Kasyapa, “Kasyapa, you ask.”Kasyapa thought, “Amanda is young and dignified, like by everyone who meets him.If he was cursed at when asking for a melon, then how can I, an older man, possibly beg for and receive a melon?But if the Buddha specifically asked me to go, there must be a reason behind that.”
So, he faithfully accepted and did what the Buddha told him to do.So, he walked to the melon farm.When this woman saw Venerable Kasyapa coming from afar, naturally, she began walking toward him and met him in front of the melon farm.With palms together, she courteously greeted him.This woman was very happy; she immediately brought out a very big melon, offering it with both hands and with gratitude.After this mutual expression of gratitude, Venerable Kasyapa left the melon farm.He found this inconceivable.“Why was this woman so happy when she saw me that she gave me such a beautiful and large melon?”
He went back to the Buddha and said, “Venerable Buddha, there must be a reason for this.”The Buddha said, “Yes, let me explain the underlying causes and conditions.”
Countess Kalpas ago, there were two bhiksus walking along, one of them in front of the other.The young bhiksu walking in front smelled a stench, and when he looked.He saw a dead cat by the side of the road.Under the blazing sun, [the body] emitted a stench and [attracted] bugs.This bhiksu covered his nose and could not help but say, “The dead cat smells horrible.” After saying this, he pitched his nose and kept walking.
As the other spiritual practitioner passed by, he also smelled this stench and saw the cat.
He felt great compassion and approached the cat, helping it to take refuge.At the same time, he said to the cat, “Transcend the animal realm and return as a human, in a positive realm.”Then he dug a hole and buried the cat.
As this point in the story the Buddha said, “Ananda, do you know who the bhiksu was who walked by first?”Ananda understood and lowered his head, “Veneralbe Buddha, I know that was probably me.”Then, [the Buddha] turned to Kasyapa.“Kasyapa, the one who saw that dead cat and felt sympathy, that compassionate bhiksu was you.In your past life, you helped this cat take refuge and be born into a virtuous realm, so she could transcend the animal realm and be born human.So upon seeing you, she was happy and wanted to repay you with an offering.”
We must remember this in our daily living.In this world, sentient beings must treat each other well and get along.If our minds are pure, everything we see develops our sense of goodness.If our minds are focused, we will have a Buddha-mind.So, we must take good care of our minds.
The sutra text states, “Sariputra, you and the others should single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha.”
Yesterday I also explained that we must sincerely believe and understand because the Buddha reiterated this by saying,Sariputra, you and the others. Calling on Sariputra is the same as calling on all of us, all His disciples. Because “you and the others” means Sariputra and the others should “Single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha”. After listening, we must practice.
“In the words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles; there is only the One Buddha Vehicle.”
Everyone needs to know that “in the words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false”. With this, the Buddha guaranteed, “Everything I said is true”. Sometimes when I speak I say, “You have to believe that I am telling you the truth”. Sometimes I would say this, too. At that time, when Buddha was speaking, He was also worried everyone would think that the Dharma He was teaching was just skillful means. He also worried that people would think that since He taught skillful means in the past, He was still teaching skillful means now. The Buddha thought people might be thinking this, so He told everyone again that they should “single-mindedly believe and understand, accept and uphold the words of the Buddha. In the words of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false. There are no other vehicles”.
They give no other teaching: “there is only the one Buddha Vehicle”. You may think I am repeating yesterday’s teaching. You are right; I am repeating it to help everyone believe and understand it more clearly. Regarding “faith,” we must give rise to faith upon hearing the Buddha’s teachings. If we listen to the Dharma without faith after hearing it once, we will not want to listen again because we do not believe in it.
So I often say, “Faith is the source of the Way, mother of merits”. So, faith is extremely important.
Faith and understanding: When we listen to the Buddha give teachings, first we have faith, then understanding. When it comes to faith and understanding, people who are beginners have faith and those with sharp capabilities have understanding. This is having faith and understanding.
“When we listen to the Buddha give teachings, first we have faith. Right at the beginning we must establish faith. “Then understanding” means once we have faith, naturally we will want to understand the contents of the Dharma. This part is “faith and understanding”. “First believe, then understand”. After we listen, we mindfully try to understand what we heard. This is “faith and understanding”. “First” particularly refers to how “people who are beginners have faith”. Beginners are people who just formed aspirations. So, faith is necessary at the beginning. “Those with sharp capabilities have understanding” as beginners develop faith. “Sharp capabilities” are those with more wisdom. They know they must really try to understand this, not just believe in it. They try to deepen their understanding. First we develop faith; if we do not have faith, we will not want to understand.
So, those with wisdom will try to understand. This is “faith and understanding.” The Buddha-Dharma requires both. At the same time, we must go beyond that to “accept and uphold”. We must “accept and uphold the words of the Buddha”. To accept is to receive. To “receive” is to take in. When we faithfully accept what the Buddha says, we receive it and take it in. This is what the Buddha said, what He taught, so I reverently and directly accept the Dharma He taught. People who accept it, receive it and take it in. When we receive the Buddha’s teachings, we must accept it wholeheartedly accept and uphold, the words of the Buddha.
“People who accept it take it in. People who uphold it remember to practice it. They put in the effort to focus and advance. With the Power of Faith, they accept it. With the Power of Thought, they uphold it.”
To “uphold” is to “remember to practice”. After accepting the Buddha’s teachings, we must always keep it in mind and remember it. To uphold it is to always remember it, to keep the Buddha’s teachings in mind. If we can remember and take the Dharma to heart, we “put the effort to focus and advance”. If we take the Dharma to heart, naturally we make an “effort to focus and advance”. When we world hard to focus and advance, this is “accepting and upholding”. “With the Power of Faith, we accept it”. Only when we put the teachings into practice are we keeping the faith. If we do not keep the faith, we will soon forget that initial inspiration. We cannot let this happen. “With the Power of Faith, we focus and advance.” We must persevere. “With the Power of Thought, we uphold it.” This is part of the Five Spiritual Roots and Power.” With the Power of Thought, we will persevere. So, faithfully accepting and practicing the Buddha’s teachings is that we practitioners must do.
The Buddha said, “The worlds of all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, there is nothing false”.
This guaratees to everyone that what the Buddha says is correct.
All Buddhas come to the world for one great cause. To “open and reveal” so sentient beings can “realize and enter” the One Vehicle Dharma. All Buddhas share this same goal. Since Their one great cause is to teach the Dharma to sentient beings, how can Their words be false? That is impossible.
[The Buddha’s words are not] false: The one great work of all Buddhas for sentient beings to realize and enter the ultimate One Vehicle must not contain anything false. All Budhas are Great Enlightened Ones. They speak the truth. They do not speak falsehoods.
“All Buddhas are Great Enlightened Ones. They speak the truth. They do not speak falsehoods.” Wasn’t this written in the Diamond sutras? What about us? We are just ordinary people. We have not attained realizations, so we cannot understand the Buddha’s intent so we cannot understand the Buddha’s intent.
Therefore, we must work hard [to understand Him]. We must not suspect that when the Buddha comes to this world, He only teaches skillful means. We must not have such doubts. As I have said before, skillful means are “wondrous provisional teachings.” He utilized these subtle and wondrous means to guide everyone in the same direction. We must be on the same course, which helps us step onto this great Bodhi-path.
So, we must not doubt the methods the Buddha taught us. We must have faith to receive and understand that the Buddha’s One Buddha Vehicle is the True Dharma. We must faithfully accept and practice the Buddha’s teachings. We must uphold, which is to faithfully accept His Words. We must believe that the Buddha’s words are absolutely not false.
He “speaks the truth, speaks the actual,” and does not speak what is false.” So, we must believe in the Buddha’s teachings. This is what He continuously reminds us.
Subhuti, the Tathagata is one who speaks the truth, who speaks the actual, who speaks what is such, who does not speak what is false, who does not speak what is not so. The Diamond (Vaira) Sytra.
Over 2000 years ago, when the Buddha spoke directly to His disciples, He took their minds into consideration. Each person’s habitual tendencies and thinking were all different. So with great compassion, He continuously reminded them to believe in the wondrous Dharma of the One Vehicle. The wondrous One Vehicle Dharma has always been in our hearts and He utilized methods to guide us to it.
We have to believe this and safeguard our clear and pure minds and extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom. Single-mindedly believe and understand in order to realize what the Buddha is saying. The Buddha comes to the world for one great cause. What does He want to teach us? To have clear and pure minds, to extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom.
To walk this path, we must have assets. Consider the Buddha on His travels. When the time came, He also needed to quench His thirst and hunger. So when He traveled, He also needed [assets], not to mention ordinary people like us. To walk this Bodhisattva-path, we must have assets for our wisdom-life. When we earnestly practice the Bodhisattva-path, we extensively accumulate blessings and wisdom as assets; they arise when we work with sentient beings when we put [teachings] into practice. Among sentient beings, we must maintain the purity of our minds so it correspond to all things. Our minds must be refined and focused. When we single-mindedly remain pure, we realize our pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature. So we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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