Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Seize the Rarely Encountered Dharma (佛法難遇應把握)
Date: August. 06. 2014
In this lifetime, when we encounter the Dharma, we must cherish it. We should know, “Like finding a hole in a plank floating on the sea, it is not easy to find. We must seize present causes and conditions and not miss this chance.”
We must all the mindful and think about how attaining the Dharma in this world is indeed extremely difficult. If we take a look around the world, how big is this planet? How big is the population already? On top of this land and beneath the skies, the places where Buddha-Dharma can be heard, where the Buddha’s teachings are widespread, are unfortunately very few. People who do not understand the Dharma or have not heard it are still the majority.
Even in places where the Dharma is present, is everyone there fortunate enough to encounter it? Or to hear and uphold the teachings in time? How many of those people are there? We say [finding the Dharma] to “like finding a hole in a plank floating on the sea; it is not easy to find.” It is as if, in a boundless ocean, there was a wooden plank with a hole in the middle. As this piece of wood floated on the sea, a turtle also swam in that vast ocean. As he swam in the ocean, he suddenly raised his head and actually stuck it through the hole in this plank. This is such a rare occurrence.
In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha also made this analogy. Encountering the Buddha-Dharma is as likely as the turtle’s head encountering the hole in that plank. He somehow managed to stick his head through that hole. For this to happen is truly not easy. The odds of us really listening to and encountering the Dharma are the same. It is really not easy. Since it is so hard to attain, once we have attained it, how can we not cherish it? People living in this world spend their lives cherishing wealth. They greatly cherish money and wealth and consider gems precious items. They call them precious stones. Clearly, these things are just rocks, but they treat them as very valuable things. What is their function? They serve no function at all. This is just how people’s minds work. They think these are worth a lot of money, so they are very valuable. A simple piece of paper can be a bill of such high denomination. But how much is it actually worth? In our daily living, we treat [money] as something very valuable. People work themselves to death to expand their careers and businesses in order to accumulate more wealth. This causes them to be very exhausted.
In the Buddha’s lifetime, similar things also happened. When the Buddha was staying at Jetavana, one day, King Prasenajit came to visit. For him to kneel down to prostrate was very hard. To get back up, he also needed assistance. Why is this? The Buddha said, “I saw you wheezing and breathing very rapidly, and you are having trouble moving around.” “Yes, what has happened to me? Why am I continuously gaining weight?”
The Buddha gave King Prasenajit the following verses, “One must often reflect on oneself. When one eats and drinks the proper amount, the body has a lighter burden and suffers less. Digesting the proper amount leads to a long life.”
After King Prasenajit heard this, he turned his head and saw a guard named Mana standing nearby.“You must memorize it for me.Before I eat every meal, you must recite this verse to me and I will reward you 100 gold coins every day.”
Then, the Buddha also taught him some ways to live a healthy life, such as methods for controlling his appetite, and having the proper perspective on all material objects in this world.
Once they returned, the young man, Mana, stayed by the king’s side every day.Before the king ate each meal, Mana would always recite these verses.The king would say, “I know, I know.”In this way, the king controlled his diet.After a period of time, the king’s body returned [to good shape].After he lost some weight, he was very happy.
He came before the Buddha again, bowed and prostrated.He could move freely.The king came to thank the Buddha, “I am grateful to You for giving me a healthy body.”
The Buddha then said to him, “From now on you must take good care of yourself.”
If you can control your desires, you are cherishing and safeguarding yourself.From now on, besides controlling your diet, you must also benefit sentient beings and faithfully accept and practice the Dharma.”
King Prasenajit was grateful for His teachings.In the Buddha’s lifetime, the Buddha and the king were like friends, and were also like master and disciple.The Buddha cared about the king and the king faithfully accepted and practice His teachings.
We must promptly seize this kind of karmic conditions.This shows how the Buddha always used various analogies and expressions as teachings, or taught according to capabilities.
So, regardless of whether we are giving or receiving teachings, we must all take advantage of and not miss out on good karmic causes and conditions.If we are all mindful, when we hear the Dharma we quickly share it with everybody.This is how we seize the opportunity to teach.People who hear us must also seize this chance to accept teachings.
If we continue to teach the Dharma to others, then the Buddha-Dharma will pervade the world and everyone can make use of it.Therefore, for people’s minds to be in harmony, we must use Right Dharma.
So, the Buddha said, “If whenever I met sentient beings, I ultimately taught them the path to Buddhahood, those lacking wisdom would be confused.Deluded, they would not accept the teaching.”
This is the Buddha’s vow.When He meets sentient beings, He wants to teach the path of enlightenment to all of them.Whether we sentient beings can accept it or not depends on our capabilities and habits.If our habitual tendencies are very strong and our capabilities are very dull, even if the Buddha papered to teach the Dharma, we still could not awaken our wisdom.
“Lacking wisdom, [we] would be confused.”Is the timing not yet right.Are the karmic conditions not mature enough?Even if the Buddha appears before us, we still cannot awaken our wisdom.Therefore, we are still deluded and confused.
So, “deluded, [we] would not accept the teachings.”We are very stubborn.There were many sentient beings like this in the Buddha’s lifetime let alone more than 2000 years later.The Buddha is no longer physically in the world, but the Buddha-Dharma is still here.Can we accept it in time?The Buddha is not in this world, but as long as Right Dharma remains, we can all follow this path.The Buddha has already paved this road for us.As long as we follow this road, from beginning to end,As long as we follow this road from beginning to end, we will not go astray.
If we are not willing to walk this road, not willing to follow rules to move forward, we will stand at the crossroads and never reach [our destination], because we are deluded by the forks in the road. So, we must turn our minds around. In the Buddha-Dharma, this is “turning the Dharma-wheel”. In order to “turn the Dharma-wheel”, people’s minds must turn as well. So, we must really value Right Dharma. Not only must we value it, we must also take it into our minds. Not only must we let it enter our minds, we must put it into practice.
“I ultimately taught them the path to Buddhahood”. The Buddha freely expressed His original intent, teaching the true One Vehicle Dharma safeguarded in His mind. This helped everyone realize that this is the path to enlightenment, to ultimate reality. This helped everyone understand. So, the Buddha teaches the path to Buddhahood. [As He taught the path], He did not conceal anything and made everything known to all of them so they could know how to be diligent, and attain Buddhahood. This comes from the Buddha’s expansive mind, His great compassion and selfless great love.
Therefore, we must accept [the teachings] with great reverence. This is because the Buddha “ultimately taught them the path to Buddhahood”. These few simple words touch me very deeply.
What is the path to Buddhahood? It is the path to enlightenment.“A path is what leads somewhere”.We also have similar saying, “Buddha-wisdom is perfect and unobstructed”.
Unobstructed means it is very open. As long as we start from here and confidently move forward, this road will absolutely reach its destination, leading us from the state of unenlightened beings to the state of noble beings. One kind of path is the way to Buddhahood. There are three kinds of paths.The first is one attained by Hearers, the second is [attained] by Solitary Realizers and the third is attained By Buddhas.
There are three kinds of paths:
1.Those attained by Hearers.
2.Those attained by Solitary Realizers.
3.Those attained by Buddhas.
Now we speak of the unsurpassed Bodhi-path attained by Buddhas; it is the path to Buddhahood.
Hearers, as we all know, attained realization by listening to the Four Noble Truths. Second, Solitary Realizers attained realizations by connecting to the Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence or [by observing] the changing seasons. In the vast universe, they comprehend the principle of impermanence. In their interactions with others, through causes and conditions, they realized the principle of how people come to and leave this world.Why were they born in this world? Why do they have to age, grow ill and die? The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence is a process that begins with the mind-consciousness. This “consciousness’ connects to “name and form” and each connects to the next. So, they put in a lot of effort to attain the state of non-arising and non-ceasing. Only by attaining this state, can they transcend the cycle of birth and death. This is the path that Solitary Realizers seek and attain.
However, the Buddha believes this is only part of the process. So, the Buddha opened up a third path, which is what Buddhas attain, Their great realizations. Not only do we know [the Four Noble Truths], the various causes and conditions that lead us to and from this world, but we must fully realize the principles of all things in the universe. Therefore, this is the realization and path attained by the Buddha.
To attain Buddhahood through this path, Hearers and Solitary Realizers must change themselves and enter the Bodhi-path. What kinds of people walk the Bodhi-path? Bodhisattvas. This Bodhi-path is paved by the Buddha, the Great Enlightened One. He has already paved this path with great realizations, great love, great compassion and great wisdom. By exercising compassion and wisdom. He paved this Great Path. He hopes all of us can shift from Small Vehicle teachings to the Great Vehicle teachings. So, “the unsurpassed Bodhi-path attained by all Buddhas” is the path we are going to discuss. It is the unsurpassed Bodhi the Buddha attained and the path to perfect enlightenment. So, it is the path to Buddhahood.
“Those lacking wisdom would be confused”. Those who lack wisdom are confused because sentient beings, lifetime after lifetime,gave rise to ignorance that create ignorance that obscures their ability to think wisely.
“Those lacking wisdom would be confused: Because sentient beings, lifetime after lifetime, ,gave rise to ignorance that create ignorance that obscures their ability to think wisely,they develop unwholesome habits, cannot discern the improper from the proper, and are stubbornly attached to biases.“
We ordinary people can only see what is before us. The words people in front of us are saying their facial expressions and the actions they take cause our minds to give rise to thoughts. Everything we can see and hear will confuse our thinking. This is because we are “obscured by ignorance”. Our wisdom has been obscured.
Therefore, our thinking is confused. So, we “develop unwholesome habits, cannot discern the improper from the proper.” We are all permeated by unwholesome habit; these confuse our views and thinking. Everything we see inspires our thinking, so we “cannot discern the improper from the proper”.
This is why we always say that we must clearly understand right and wrong. The great conflicts and troubles of this time are created by humans. In summary, when it comes to our interactions with others, the mistakes we make will result in effects that cause us tremendous worry in this world. The evil world of the Five Turbidities will become more and more chaotic. People’s minds are stubborn. We are “stubbornly attached to biases”. Since we have already gone astray, we must heighten our vigilance. “Deluded, they would not accept the teaching” Because our minds have already gone astray, we become more entrenched in delusion and confusion, so deeply that we cannot pull ourselves out.Thus, we cannot accept teachings, the Buddha’s teaching of Right Knowledge and Right Views. We cannot accept them because of our delusion.
Deluded, they would not accept the teaching: Being mistaken about matters and principles leads to confusion. This also causes them to sink into the vast sea of cravings and desires and the mountains of fame and wealth.
“Being mistaken about matters and principles,” means we are mistaken about the way things work. We are mistaken because of lack of knowledge. Some people know they are mistaken, but since they are already mistaken, they simply continue on the wrong path. We persist in being mistaken because we are attached and stubborn.
Thus, we sink further into delusion and confusion. What are we sinking into? The sea of cravings and desires is really big and vast. In the sea of desires, there is a wooden plank with a hole. In this sea, for a turtle to stick his head through the hole is very unlikely. Surrounded by the sea of desires, only this plank can save him.
This turtle is very lucky to not only encounter this plank, but to also stick his head through its hole. This is so very unlikely. If people are sinking in a sea of desires or stranded on a mountain of recognition and wealth, is it easy to be saved from this sea or this mountain? Will pulling ourselves out of this vast sea be easy at all? If we walk into the mountains, and get lost, will it be easy to find our way out? These are very difficult things to do.
So, we must take good care of our minds. Encountering the Buddha-Dharma is such a difficult thing to do. When we listen to the Buddha-Dharma, we must be mindful and really hold on to it. We must not lose our aspirations at all. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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