Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Follow the Sutra Back to Our Hearts (契經即道依路歸心)
Date: June. 24. 2014
Sutras can be used to explain principles. The sutras’ teachings are boundless and extensive. When all actions are in line with principles, we cultivate ourselves and train others perfectly. The sutras are a path, a road that leads us back to our hearts.
Sutras contain infinite principles. When we listen to and explain sutras, it is all for one purpose, which is to understand the principles. To understand principles, we must learn them from sutras. Sutras contain a broad range of principles, particularly extensive and deep ones.
So, “sutras can be used to explain principles, [their] teachings are boundless and extensive.” After the Buddha attained enlightenment and understood the truth of all things in the universe, all these expansive and endless principles became a part of His [understanding]. How was He able begin teaching these expansive and endless principles one by one to everybody? He had to establish methods of teaching. The more teachings there are, the more pervasive they will be. Everything around us [contains] principles, this is something we must realize. There are so many principles in the world. After they are taught, they must be practiced. It was because of the Buddha’s compassion that, after attaining enlightenment. He gave teachings to sentient beings. Thus, we must all put His teachings into practice so that “all actions are in line with principles.” We must practice according to the Buddha’s teachings and His analysis of the principles contained within.
What is the ultimate purpose of these principles? These principles resolve the why’s, the questions on everyone’s minds. Those who seek to sincerely engage in practice ask the same questions the Buddha did before He began to engage in spiritual practice. We have likely asked the same why’s. Not only have we asked why in the past, even now, we still frequently ask, “Why are things this way?” or many other why’s. So, to resolve these why’s, we must put the teachings into practice. To explore these questions, we practice according to the Buddha’s teachings. If we are mindful, naturally we will learn the principles behind them. “I understand now.” After we understand, we must act accordingly, so “all actions are in line with principles.” Only by putting them into practice can we truly experience the Buddha’s state of mind after He attained enlightenment.
The state of mind we experience during the process [of attaining enlightenment] comes from having “actions in line with principles.” “We cultivate ourselves and train others perfectly.” This was the way the Buddha shared the principles. It was as if He was paving a road for us, then leading us to walk this road back [to our hearts.] This is the Buddha’s wisdom. The various methods and processes of spiritual cultivation that He teaches us are all to show us how to re-focus our minds. This is how we “cultivate ourselves and train others perfectly.”
Regardless of our capabilities and wisdom, as long as we can realize these principles, we can all return to our original state of mind.Then we can “cultivate ourselves and train others perfectly.”“The sutras are a path, in following this road we return to our hearts.”
Sutras indeed contain many principles.With these principles, we can pave a road that everyone can travel.
“The sutras are path, in following this road we return to our hearts.”“A sitar,” “a path” and “a road” are actually the same thing; they lead us to a truth that we can all understand.So, we must realize that “the sutra is a path,” and a “sutra” encompasses many principles.“Sutra” is describing the place where all principles are found.The laws of nature, the natural ways people live and so on, are all contained in sutras.
In this world, in any place, [people] can accept these teachings.These teachings can pervade the entire world and all things in the universe.As long as we practice according to the teachings, we will find them to be very suitable principles.No matter how we engage in spiritual practice, as long as we go in the right direction, our road will be a prefect, direct path.
So, “the sutras are a path;” they are a road.By following this road, we can return to our pure intrinsic Buddha-nature.So, we must learn attentively.This one word, “sutra,” can be explained in many different ways.
We briefly discussed this passage yesterday.“With all conditions, analogies, expressions and skillful means.I enable all to rejoice.”
In His wisdom, when the Buddha taught, He used various causes and conditions as analogies.Now, a large group of Bodhisattvas from mainland China have gathered here.
They did not come here to sight-see.They used their prime vacation time during the Mid-Autumn Festival to come [to Hualien].
In recent years, Tzu Chi seeds have been planted all over mainland China.When we sow seeds there, [the local] people can see, encounter, volunteer with and experience Tzu Chi.So, now they used this time to come to Taiwan, to return to their spiritual home.We listened to them share about how they encountered Tzu Chi and about their spiritual journey after they joined us; it was truly moving.
The elderly Bodhisattvas [made a deep impression].After the Sichuan earthquake, when we went there [for disaster relief], they heard about us and began to interact with us.They are all in their 70s.Traveling one way from Dazhou to Chengdu was a seven-, eight-hour bus ride for them.So, they had to lease a house in Chengdu to more conveniently do Tzu Chi work there.They did everything from recycling to cooking.
Then they traveled from Chengdu to Luoshii to join the study groups.
They did this every month.Each trip took a very long time.I really felt that karmic conditions are what brought us together.This would not have been possible without the earthquake in 2008.They have been volunteering since that time and have never thought about giving up.They have been diligently practicing, and now that they are finally in Taiwan, they are so happy!Their sharing was truly touching.Some of them live in Yichun, China.It is a place of extreme poverty.The route from Shanghai to Yichun goes from wide to narrow roads, from the plains to the mountains.In the mountains, it crosses streams and goes over rugged trails; it is a hard journey.
When Tzu Chi volunteers took this route 1６, 17 years ago, it was very strenuous.
Then they had to convince the local people to go from suspicion to disbelief, from disbelief to belief, from belief to affirmation, from affirmation to acceptance.
Tzu Chi volunteers have been leading by example and accompanying them for 16, 17 years already. Back then, some children could not go to school because their classrooms were unsafe on the verge of collapsing. Tzu Chi volunteers tirelessly rebuilt these classrooms. Many of those children have now already graduated from college or are attending college. There are over 200 of these students. A local official had been working with us even before his retirement, and now retired, he is a full-time Tzu Chi volunteer. He is also here right now. Their sharing was really touching. Their resolve took them from sutras to this path, then to the road to the birthplace of Tzu Chi. What the felt in their hearts while they were led them to make vows.
Yesterday, some people even vowed to be vegetarian. On top of quitting smooking, drinking and gambling, they will also become vegetarian. Consider how all this came about because of many various karmic conditions, and because people put teachings into action. They used their honesty, integrity, faith and steadfastness to pave this road. As they walk this path, they are very happy and “enable all to rejoice”.
No matter how far away they were or where they were from, they arrived together and happily shared their experiences. Even though they have been working very hard, they were clearly very happy. The more they did, the happier they were. Things did not always go their way. They encountered many difficulties, in everything from their environment to their interactions with others, to mental obstacles as well. They faced all of these. However, after overcoming these obstacles, they all rejoiced. This kind of sharing helps us realize that when we first begin to pave a road, the process takes a lot of hard work, but once we have done so, there will be many conditions and methods to help people return to their nature of True Suchness, one of genuine kindness and love for all sentient beings. This is really not easy at all.
So, it is said, sutras can explain true principles. If we comprehend the Dharma through the sutras, we can find wondrous ways to apply the Dharma. Then naturally, this kind of teaching can pervade everything. So, we must take advantage of the power of various methods. If all things are in line with principles, we will cultivate ourselves and train others perfectly. This is how we return to our intrinsic nature. All this requires the use of various methods.
“With all conditions, analogies, expressions and skillful means, I enable all to rejoice. Perhaps I may speak of sutras, gath, previous lives of Buddhas, or things that have never been.”
“Sutras” are what we discussed yesterday.“Sutras” are corresponding texts. They correspond with the wondrous truths that all Buddhas have realized, as well as with the capabilities of sentient beings. This is what sutras are. Sutra can be compared to a thread that strings together the meanings of the Dharma. Think about how, within these past few days, we saw many people of different nationalities, ethnicities and languages share the same philosophy and direction. If feels as if this thread strings them together. All the principles are collected in one place. This is why sutras [are compiled], so the principles do not scatter, but are concentrated together.
Then there are gathas. Gathas can be translated as “hymns”. We must recite sutras, not only read them. We must recite them aloud. If we say, “Everyone, recite sutras” but are unwilling to open our own mouths and make sounds, then there is no hymn. We must sing these words out loud. We memorize the sutras, so the words enter through our eyes, reach our hearts, and come out of our mouths. Then it will be a hymn. We must really sing the hymn out loud. If we do not really take it to hearts and sing it, we will quickly forget it, and the principles will not penetrate our minds. Therefore, we use recitation as a method of teaching. For instance, in Indonesia, people use Jing Si Aphorisms to learn Chinese. Young people attending Islamic boarding schools want to learn Chinese. Though they are Muslim, they want to learn Chinese. Students do this through Jing Si Aphorisms because they are easy to read and recite. They contain [useful] principles, though they are very short. Each word and phrase contains principles. So when they read the Jing Si Aphorisms, they also recite them aloud in Chinese. We have heard about these students reading Jing Si Aphorisms aloud in Chinese. Not only can they read, they can also converse with us in Chinese.This comes from reciting; we can only learn a language correctly if we practice it out loud. In this world, these are so many languages. Languages are designed for people to communicate with each other. We also learn principles and so on through the spoken word. To start a conversation, we need to speak out loud.
Therefore, a gatha takes teachings in prose and condenses them into short sentences.
Every morning, I also always begin with short verses that have the same number of characters in each line. Earlier, I used lines of four characters “Sutras can be used to explain principles” has only four characters [in Chinese], but to explain it takes a long time. However, if we summarize them, we can convey them in a few words. This is what gathas can do. It is also called a direct verse, with fewer characters and lines. Only short and direct lines are considered verses. Only concise explanations of principles are considered hymns or gathas.
Gatha is Sanskrit for hymns. It is also called a “direct verse”. So, teachings are taught directly in verses instead of the longer prose forms.
If we skip the longer prose and earnestly chant the sutra verse by verse, we can memorize these short verses to understand the abundant principles contained in them. These are called gathas. Sometimes, we recite the Surangama mantra as part of our morning recitation. We begin with lines from the Surangama Sutra. These lines from the Surangama Sutra which precede the Surangama mantra are verses Ananda said in praise of the Buddha, used to [introduce] the mantra.
They are only a few words, “Wondrous dharani of the unmoving Honored One” “the Surangama rarely appears in this world” These verses can just roll off our tongues. This is the purpose of a hymn. When we memorize these short verses, we can learn the principles contained within. Everybody, gathas are found in sutras, which are corresponding texts, “corresponding with the minds of all Buddhas” and Their principles, as well as “corresponding with the capabilities of sentient beings” [Gathas] come from the prose in the sutras. When those teachings are simplified, they are easier for people to remember.
So, we sing and recite gathas and verses. We must always remember that this is how we learn. To learn the principles in the Dharma, to practice according to them, we must remember and take each word to heart.
By doing so, in the sutras we find this path,which lead us to a road.From a road,we can find the path back to the sutras, and return to our intrinsic Buddha-nature. Therefore, all of us need to walk this path. This is why we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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