Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Buddha’s Vow (佛陀的心願)
Date: August. 04. 2014
We often say that spiritual practice is not about mastering skills, but about eliminating our bad habitual tendencies. This is very important. The Buddha comes to this world because of the vows He made. When He engaged in spiritual practice in the past, He spent many lifetimes eliminating His habitual tendencies. “Refrain from all evil, do all good deeds.” He eliminated all evil habitual tendencies and nurtured kind-hearted habits. This is spiritual practice. Making vows is very important.
Thus, “by forming aspirations, we vow to transform sentient beings. By developing understanding, we enter the Buddha’s wisdom. By always being content, our minds are at ease. By taking the Dharma to hearts, we feel infinite joy.”
Aspiring and vowing to transform sentient beings is our fundamental duty as spiritual practitioners. Sentient beings experience much suffering. When we encounter the Buddha-Dharma, and become liberated from our afflictions, we must also teach others how to become liberated like us. Eliminating afflictions from our minds is something we can all accomplish. When people suffer, we can provide guidance. When they are in need, we can provide assistance. These are ways to transform sentient beings. If we constantly nurture these wholesome habits, naturally, “by developing understanding, we enter the Buddha’s wisdom. Wisdom is the freedom we gain by being understanding.” We all know this Jing Si aphorism by heart. Also, when we are always content, our minds will be at ease. If we are at ease, naturally, we will feel a sense of freedom. In this state of mind, we can take the Dharma to heart. Once the Dharma enters our hearts there is no affliction that can defile them. Our minds will be replete with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, which will safeguard them. In the face of various interpersonal conflicts, our hearts will already be protected by precepts. If, in facing interpersonal conflicts, our minds are unmoved, how can we be tempted?
Our minds will remain unmoving. This is important for our spiritual practice. We must form aspirations, develop understanding, always be content and take the Dharma to heart. Then we can vow to transform sentient beings, enter the Buddha’s wisdom, be at ease and feel infinite joy.
No matter how we engage in spiritual practice, as long as we develop this mindset, this intention, we can change our habitual tendencies. We just need to form aspirations and make vows. I once saw a very adorable child making vows; I could feel her strong conviction. This young Bodhisattva lives in Penang. In Penang, there is a Tzu Chi Great Love Kindergarten that is thriving. In Penang, aside from doing charity work, [Tzu Chi] also offers medical services. We operate a dialysis center that offers the service for free. To fund this, Tzu Chi relies on local community resources. At the same time, we offer a quality kindergarten education. Many parents want to send their children to our kindergarten [because] our teachers are teaching with wisdom. The kindergarten is becoming overcrowded, so it needs to be expanded. The dialysis center needs financial resources, and expanding the kindergarten also requires funds. How can we teach children about charity? One of our colleagues, a teacher, had a moment of inspiration. She saw that some students were very pampered.They were five, six years old and still drinking from feeding bottles.
So, the teacher actively thought about this.She told them, “Don’t you want to do good deeds?There are many poor people.You have seen them.You have seen how hard dialysis is on them.Even young children can do good deeds.Are you willing?”“We are.”
“So when you go home, ask your mom to donate a handful of rice every day.”“OK.”
“But you must put it in your feeding bottle, then donate that amount of rice every day.”
“Ask your mom to put the rice in your bottle, then bring that bottle of rice to school the next day so you can pour it into this bucket.Can you do that?”“We can.”
One of them was a young girl around five years old.After one week of doing this, she felt that she still preferred drinking from a feeding bottle.So after a week, she told her dad, “Dad, I still want to drink from a bottle.When drinking from a cup, the water goes down too quickly, so I still want to use a bottle.”Her dad told her, “You have done this for a week.People worldwide have seen you in the news.Master has also seen you.”She told her dad, “Master can’t see me from that far away.”Her dad said, “OK.”
So, he washed her feeding bottle, poured in some soy milk, and placed it on the table in front of her.The child looked at that bottle of soy milk for a long time and kept thinking about it without touching it.Then she said, “Master, I thought you couldn’t see me, but it turns out you can. I’m sorry.”So, she did not drink the soy milk from the bottle.
Then she turned toward her younger sister and said “If you don’t stop drinking from the bottle, you cannot come to my kindergarten.”Her younger sister was confused.She looked at her again and said, “Do you want to donate a bottle [of rice]?”Her younger sister said, “I do.”“Then you can’t drink milk from it again.”“OK.”
In this very simple way, a five-year-old taught a three-year-old to quit.So, her three-year-old sister also quit this habit.Of the four kindergarten classes, there were 30 children who could not part with their feeding bottles.They just could not quit.But by using this method, one after another, they quit the habit.Then very quickly, within a week, they collected 74 jars of rice, large jars.
These 74 jars of rice were collected from the handfuls of rice from each child, each day.
This rice was then sold at a charity auction for money to help people.Think about this; isn’t this how, “by making aspirations, we vow to transform sentient beings?”Adults can form aspirations and vow to do good deeds.Children are also capable of this.Besides helping them do good deeds, we teach them that helping people is a good thing.They can also eliminate bad habitual tendencies in this way.If three-and five-year-olds can do it, then why can’t we?
When we learn sutras and the Buddha’s Way, as long as we mindfully listen and can take the Dharma to heart, putting it into practice is not hard.So, the Buddha meticulously gave teachings.We ordinary people have habitual tendencies that make it easy for us to become indolent.When the Buddha was teaching, He would sometimes have to wake everyone up.
The sutra text we discussed yesterday states, “Sariputra, you should know.”
[When He said,] “Sariputra” , everyone woke up.He wanted them to know that, “in the past [He] took a vow”.He had formed aspirations and made vows, so they must also begin to diligently practice and make vows.He “wished to enable all sentient beings to be no different from us.”
“Us” refers to Him and to all Buddhas.All Buddhas share the same path.They hope all sentient beings will return to their intrinsic nature of True Suchness and be no different from all Buddhas.This was the sutra text we discussed yesterday.Today, we will talk about how.
“That vow, made long ago, has now been perfectly fulfilled.For I have transformed all beings, leading them onto the path to Buddhahood.”
The Buddha hopes that we can all be like Him, in particular, having” that vow, made long ago”.In the presence of countless past Buddhas, He continuously formed vows and aspirations.Throughout His spiritual practice, He has been earnest and diligent. In this way, life after life, His resolve has remained strong. This was what He was like in the past, and He wanted everyone to know this.
“That vow, made long ago: The Buddha’s initial vow was to transform all beings. Now, there are so many sentient beings, how can He fulfill that vow? When people’s capabilities have matured and they can be transformed, He transforms them. This is how His vow is fulfilled.
“That vow, made long ago”. The vow made by the Buddha in the past up to today has never changed. So, ‘the Buddha’s initial vow was to transform all sentient beings”. Initially, when the Buddha first aspired to engage in spiritual practice, His first thought was to make a vow. This vow was to “transform all beings”. “All beings”, aside from those in the human realm, in clued those in the heaven, hell, hungry ghost, animal and even asura realms. The sentient beings of the Six Realms are part of “all sentient beings”. “Now there are so many sentient beings”.
Some people said, “Venerable Buddha, You have vowed to transform all sentient beings, but now here are so many of them. How many can actually listen to the Dharma from You?” Compared to all sentient beings in the world, they are a small percentage. The Buddha vow is to transform all sentient beings. But to reach “all sentient beings” is easier said than done. How many people can actually hear the Buddha-Dharma?
In once told everyone that in a small city of 90,000 people, one third heard the Dharma and saw the Buddha. Another third never saw the Buddha, and only hear others talking about how the Buddha was teaching near the city. The last 30,000 people not only never saw Him, they had never even heard of His name. You see, that was just in one small city. The Buddha-Dharma we are discussing now is what the Buddha hoped would reach all sentient beings on in this world. To reach all sentient beings is not easy at all. There are so many sentient beings, how can His vow be fulfilled?
The Buddha said, “My vow has now been perfectly fulfilled”. How is that possible? So many have not yet been transformed; how could He say His vow has been fulfilled? How could that be possible? How could that be possible? “When people’s capabilities have matured and they can be transformed, He transforms them”. This is all the Buddha can do. Those whose capabilities have matured now and are able to be transformed are the ones He transforms. Thus, He does all He can. Sometimes we see that people’s habitual tendencies are so hard to change. Again and again, we try to counsel and teach them, but their habitual tendencies continuously manifest. So we can comfort ourselves by recalling that in Buddha’s lifetime, there were people like this in the Sangha. So, how could people like this not exist in our modern society? We do all we can, then let them be.
Sometimes I also think this way. So, in this part of the [sutra] text, we know that the Buddha said, “My vow has now been perfectly fulfilled”. How can this be? He made such a great vow and out of these numerous sentient beings, those who truly accept and practice the Dharma are so few in number. The Buddha could only, in the present moment, do all that He could do transform those whose capabilities had already matured. That is how His “vow is perfectly fulfilled”. Many things were beyond His control, so He did all He could. Thus, “my vow has been perfectly fulfilled”. Can it really be fulfilled? After all, time is limited, and the world is so vast. He did His best to walk, do and say, everything that He could.
So, “He fulfilled His desire to seek the Dharma”. All He could do was give the teachings; there also had to be people with karmic affinities. When they pursued and attained the Dharma, the Buddha felt satisfied.
“[His vow] has now been perfectly fulfilled: He fulfilled His desire to seek the Dharma. When His original vow is perfectly fulfilled, He can completely eliminate the ignorance of sentient beings and can fulfill all the aspirations of sentient beings.”
So, “He fulfilled His desire to seek the Dharma”. Sakamuni Buddha Himself had fulfilled His vow to seek the Dharma. Now He waned to transform sentient beings, based on their karmic connections. When these people mindfully seek the Dharma, they are willing to accept teachings from Him. This is how He fulfils His vow. Thus, He continuously “sought the Buddha’s Way” and also, life after life, “transformed sentient beings”. In each lifetime, the Buddha continuously sought to do this. In each lifetime, He gave everything He had. All this happened because He formed aspirations, made vows and did His best to carry them out. That was it.
Thus He “eliminates ignorance of sentient beings” to “fulfill all aspirations of sentient beings.” This is the Buddha’s vow. He wants to help them eliminates their ignorance and find a way for to form aspirations. Not only must they form aspirations, they must also carry then out and fulfill them.
So, aspirations require resolve. Have we made a vow? When we have the resolve and the vow, are we carry them out? In Tzu Chi, we carry out the four Missions. They allow people to fulfill vows of charity. “Are you willing?” “I am.” “We need to help people, [we need] a hospital. Are you willing to support it?” “I am.” Then they dedicate themselves to charity work or become hospital volunteers to show their support.“Education is the hope of the world.” “Are you willing to be a part of it?” “I am.” These are all “vows.”
Therefore, sentient beings experience many types of suffering. If we can form aspirations we can vow to transform sentient beings to help them eliminates their ignorance and manifest wisdom in their living. We can help their wisdom-life grow so they can eliminate afflictions.
For I have transformed all beings: the Buddha transformed sentient beings according to capabilities and timing. Their capabilities and the teachings must resonate, and then they must diligently practice in order to enter the path to Buddhahood.
For I have transformed all beings means the “Buddha transformed sentient beings.”
He must determine whether these sentient beings’ capabilities are sharp or dull; if they were sharp, He used a more direct mindset and teaching to get to the point. For sentient beings with dull capabilities, He taught with analogies, expressions and causes and conditions.
This is “according to capabilities and timing, which means according to people, time and place. “Their capabilities and teachings must resonate.” That is, their capabilities and the teachings must resonate for people to accept the Dharma.
Then it must “be diligently practiced.” After hearing the Dharma, we must earnestly listen, contemplate and practice. To diligently advance. When the Dharma is in our lives we [are led onto the path to Buddhahood]. Then it must “be diligently practiced.” After hearing the Dharma, we must earnestly listen, contemplate and practice to diligently advance.When the Dharma is in our lives we [are led onto the path to Buddhahood]. So, the Buddha transforms all sentient beings to lead them all onto the path to Buddhahood.
Leading them all onto the path to Buddhahood: The path to Buddhahood is the enlightened Bodhi-path. A path is what leads somewhere. The Buddha’s wisdom connects perfectly and is unobstructed, so it is called a path.
“leading them all onto the path to Buddhahood.” This path is the enlightened Bodhi-path. A “path” is something that leads somewhere. If it did not lead there, it would not be a road. Only when it is connects can it be a road. Without a road, we have to make a long detour. So, to go from here to there, we need to have a “path,” a path to reach the state of noble beings from an unenlightened state.
So, “a path is what leads somewhere. The Buddha’s wisdom connects perfectly and is unobstructed. It is not blocked, so the road is completely unobstructed and open.” If we are not obstructed, this is a path. As we go from the state of ordinary beings to the state of the Buddha, to that state of mind, we must go from the road we walk to the path, and then from the path into the sutras.
So, we must [connect everything] back to our daily living. Through our daily living, we can prove that this road is unobstructed, that the principles are unobstructed, that the Buddha-Dharma is also unobstructed. The Buddha-minds is connected to ordinary minds, ordinary minds to the Buddha-mind. The mind, the Buddha and sentient beings are all connected and are no different [in nature]. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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