Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: All Buddhas Establish Skillful Means (諸佛設方便)
Date: October. 01. 2014
The Buddha appears in this world and, according to the afflictions of sentient beings, teaches them ways to eliminate their ignorance. These are the skillful means of all Buddhas.
Out of His compassion, the Buddha manifests in this world. Because people have many afflictions, the Buddha needed to come here and teach according to sentient beings’ afflictions and capabilities. His only purpose for doing this is to enable sentient beings to eliminate their countless afflictions, one by one. This is the Buddha’s compassion. Sakyamuni Buddha was not the only one like this. All past, present and future Buddhas are the same. They teach sentient beings by establishing skillful means.
Do you remember? Before He revealed [the Lotus] teachings, the Buddha radiated light that illumined 18,000 Buddha-lands. It seemed like they all appeared at Vulture Peak. Why did He manifest this auspicious appearance that was so out of the ordinary? Everyone looked at each other and asked, “Why is the Buddha different today?” So, Maitreya Bodhisattva sought someone to ask. Who was the one he chose? Yes, Manjusri Bodhisattva. Manjusri Bodhisattva had lived among countless past Buddhas. He had also accepted the teachings of all Buddhas and helped to spread the Buddha-Dharma.
The last of 20,000 [Sun-Moon] Lamp Radiant Buddhas had eight sons, the eight princes. Those eight princes were taught by Manjusri so they could successively attain Buddhahood. So, we know that in the past, Manjusri Bodhisattva had already been a Buddha. Then he appeared during the lifetimes of many subsequent Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to help teach at their [Dharma-assemblies].
Now, as Sakyamuni Buddha was about to expound the Lotus Sutra, Manjusri shared his experiences with past Buddhas and revealed how “all Buddhas share the same path.” Every Buddha is the same. Their main goal in coming to this world is to purify people’s minds and help them eliminate the afflictions and impurities of the mind. This is how “all Buddhas establish skillful means.”
At present, [the Buddha is] Sakyamuni. We always say, “our fundamental teacher Sakyamuni Buddha”. “Fundamental teacher” means He is our teacher, so we must practice according to His teachings. “Guiding teacher of the Three Realms” also refers to Sakyamuni Buddha and the desire, form and formless realms. This refers to the tangible world and how the sentient beings living in it are in the desire realm; all of us have desires in this world filled with desire and turbidity. This is called the desire realm. The Buddha appeared in the desire realm to establish many different methods in the hopes we can all recognize that suffering begins with desire.
So, this is the “causation” [of suffering]. After teaching the truth of suffering, He spoke of various behaviors in the world. Then He used the things people pursue when they act in these ways and the karma that they create as a result [to explain] that these causes create conditions of suffering. So, the endless accumulation of karmic retributions creates this world of suffering.
At the volunteer assembly each morning, don’t I talk about this?No matter how far from here a country may be, we can clearly see their suffering from here.[Technology] allows us to understand how causes for natural disasters have accumulated.They come from our collective karma.
What causes man-made calamities?According to the Buddha-Dharma, it is the mind.
We create collective karma, so dangerous evils accumulate in our hearts causing endless manmade calamities.There are many other things we can understand.
[The Buddha’s] detailed analysis shows us that everything results from the workings of our minds.
“An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. External states lead to the Six Coarse Marks.”An ignorant thought gives rise to the Three Poisons of greed, anger and ignorance or continues on to become the Five Poisons.The Five Poisons also create the Five Turbidities.Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt cause the creation of all of the world’s turbidities.This all comes from the arising of one thought.
When this single thought of desire arises, at the beginning, it is this big; it ceaselessly multiplies as we go through endless cyclic existences.We continue to cycle and it continues to multiply.This then cerates our world.This is the desire realm.
After we understand the Buddha-Dharma, our desires will naturally lessen and we can slowly purify the desire realm.After it is purified, we still live in a realm of “forms”.All kinds of things exist in the form realm, but our minds will not give raise to desire in response to them.We will clearly distinguish right from wrong, so we will not give rise to [afflictions] out of confusion.Therefore, none of the forms in the world can disturb our minds once we can see them clearly.This is the form realm.
The form realm also can be transcended.Forms can be used to help people.We may have many things, but not only do we not greedily cling to them; we can give all we have to anyone who needs it.Even if we have nothing else, we still have our body and our strength.We can use our body to actively practice giving and helping those who need help.This is the formless realm.
When our perspective is very clear and pure, we can even transcend the desire and form realms to make positive contributions to this world.These are the Three Realms as I explain them.In this world, we can engage in spiritual practice.The Buddha came to this world because He attained enlightenment here.But He had long been enlightened.
If so, why did He still come to this world?He did this to enable sentient beings in the desire realm [to eliminate] their afflictions.So, the Buddha went among the people to understand their worldly afflictions.
Then, according to those afflictions, He gave specific teachings to address them.It was not enough to just teach, He also helped us to experience [His teachings].Through these experiences, we realize that walking the Bodhisattva-path and helping people give us a wonderful feeling.
Sometimes, during the [volunteers’] morning assembly, we see people who have donated their bone marrow.[The procedure] requires general anesthesia, but some people are still willing to do it.Free of attachment to their body, [they say,] “If I can save a life, I’m willing to do this.”Thus, “to teach them to eliminate ignorance” means teaching people to eliminate the ignorance of being attached to a physical body.
Our body is a physical body.This physical body has unlimited vitality.To contribute this vitality, we must have wisdom.We can use wisdom and wisdom-life to assist our physical body in giving to others.This comes from the teachings.Sentient beings are most attached to “form,” to material things, yet the Buddha taught us to give even the material substance of our body.
So, in the sutra, it states “He head, eyes, bone marrow and brain were all given to others.”Many teachings from the Sutra of Infinite Meanings are about how to eliminate the notion of “form” and how to clearly distinguish right from wrong. When we understand these things we will no longer greedily [linger] in the desire realm. We must also transcend the attachment to form in the form realm and achieve equanimity. Giving with equanimity is unconditional and is a practice of the Three Spheres of Emptiness. The Three Spheres of Emptiness is about not having attachments. As long as we can give and we feel that those being helped have been saved, we will be filled with Dharma-joy. We will attain this.
Helping people like this is very joyful. Sometimes, when bone marrow donors come, I would ask, “Does it hurt? You must be tired! I am grateful to you”. They would say, “No, it just hurts for a moment. But it felt so good to save someone!” Isn’t this transcending [form]? This is taking something from our beloved physical body and giving it to others. So, this is transcending the desire, form and formless realms completely. This is what the Buddha came to teach us.
Not only Sakyamuni Buddha, all Buddhas in the past also taught the same by establishing various skillful means. So the previous section of the sutra states,
“With all Buddhas of the past, whether during Their lifetime or after They entered Parinirvana, if people have heard Their teachings, they will have realized the path to Buddhahood.”
We must all pay attention to these verses, “With all Buddhas of the past, whether during. Their lifetime or after They entered Parinivana”. For a very long time, sentient beings have received the teachings of past Buddhas, and at this moment, they are receiving Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. They still have the will to listen to the Dharma, and they listen to it.
Previously, we discussed that in the period of the Five Solidities, in the era of Dharma-semblance, people built stupas and temples. Sentient beings, after the era of Right Dharma Era had passed, lived in the era of Dharma-semblance and continued to pass on [the Dharma]. They still had the perseverance to listen to it. “They have realized the path to Buddhahood”. This was done gradually over time. Though they did not practice very earnestly, they listened to the teachings with reverence and so continued to accumulate realizations until finally, they “realized the path to Buddhahood”.
Now, the next passage of the sutra discusses, “the World-Honored Ones of the future”. The previous passage discussed “all Buddhas of the past”. There have been many Buddhas in the past. They passed down the principles and the Buddha-Dharma unceasingly until the time of Sakyamuni Buddha. When Sakyamuni expounded the Lotus Sutra, He was preparing to enter Parinirvana before long. So, Sakyamuni Buddha also talked to everyone about “the World-Honored Ones of the future”. Aside from the present Buddha, Sakyamuni, there will be
“the World Honored Ones of the future, who are limitless in number. All of these Tathagatas will also teach skillful means”.
All past Buddhas used skillful means. In the present, Sakyamuni Buddha likewise used skillful means. The World-Honored Ones of the future also will use skillful means. In the past I also discussed the Nine Divisions of Teachings of the Buddha. He used nine methods to teach skillful means. But these skillful means must have a conclusion at the end. The most correct instruction is the One Vehicle Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
Whether in the past or in the future, all Buddhas teach skillful means. Teaching with skillful means is the path shared by all Buddhas.
This is “to transform sentient beings so they may transcend all affliction and penetrate the Buddha’s knowledge and views”.
This is the One Vehicle. The Buddha taught the Three Vehicles in the past. Now the Buddha has brought them back to the One Vehicle. Does everyone know what the Three Vehicles are? Hearers, Solitary Realizers and Bodhisattvas. Which of these leads to Buddhahood? The Bodhisattva [-vehicle]. So everyone must know that Hearers understand the Dharma by listening to the Buddha, or to the Buddha-Dharma, if they are somewhere far away from the Buddha. They understand the principles and can experience many different states [of mind]. Thus they realize that life is indeed impermanent. The impermanent world is empty and full of suffering. In the face of this suffering and emptiness, what method can we use to eliminate this suffering and pierce this emptiness? Where are the true principles of emptiness? These are [the questions of] Solitary Realizers. They only know suffering and emptiness, but they do not understand that there is also wondrous existence. So, these Solitary Realizers have come in contact with external conditions and thus realized the impermanence of life. So, the Buddha taught everyone that in the world there is suffering, emptiness and impermanence.
After they understood, and eliminated afflictions, they had to go beyond this. We must not only care for ourselves, but also benefit others.This is walking the Bodhisattva-path. When we reach the end of the Bodhisattva-path, we ultimately attain Buddhahood. This is what the Buddha mindfully taught sentient beings. We should know that all of us abide in the Dharma and should be able to immediately understand it. However, though we abide in the Dharma, we cannot comprehend it. This is like a person who has been walking outside on the burning ground under the hot sun.Sweating profusely, he was soon dehydrated. Almost our of water and very thirsty, he needed to find water to drink. He found someone to give him guidance, “You need water? Go in that direction, there is a small stream where you can get water to drink.”
This thirsty person who needed to drink water then walked in that direction. When he saw water, he felt joyful. As this tiny stream of water continued to flow, he quickly reached out to cup the water in his hands. He held it and said, “Enough, that’s enough, but the water continued to flow out.”
Again he said, “Enough” Yet the water continued to flow. The person who had pointed the way to water had follow behind to make sure he had gone in the right direction and arrived safely. When that person got there and saw him standing there, he wondered, “Why is he just holding the water?He said he’s thirsty, why isn’t he drinking?” So the man spoke up, “Aren’t you very thirsty?Why are you holding it and not drinking it?”
He said, “This handful of water is all I need, but the stream keeps flowing endlessly.How can I drink it?”
The man behind him said, “You’re foolish, just drink however much you need.” But he was stubborn, “I will only take the amount of water I require.I want to drink only what I need, but it just keeps flowing.” This is like our present spiritual practice. Some people know life is full of suffering and they can attain liberation with spiritual practice. But by deviating only slightly [from the Path], they stray toward deviant teachings. Then they may think, “I want to practice to attain liberation now.Why are there so may Buddhist teachings?This will take three great asankya kalpas.When will I ever complete my spiritual practice?The Buddha-Dharma requires upholding precepts, being vegetarian and following many other rules.I can’t possibly follow them all.Following so many rules and walking such a long path is also impossible.I would rather take a shortcut.My goal is to just attain something immediately.That is good enough for me.”
A person like this is foolish and deluded. We may not want to eliminate our afflictions and ignorance and only think about what we want to attain. The Buddha-Dharma helps us to understand that Buddhahood is not granted to us by the Buddha; He can teach us how to eliminate our ignorance and afflictions so our pure intrinsic nature can surface.
When our pure intrinsic nature surfaces, we will naturally “comprehend the great path.” “To comprehend the great path”, we must “make an unsurpassed resolve.”
All things in the universe are one. This is the Buddha’s unsurpassed truth. Dear Bodhisattvas, in learning the Buddha’s Way, we must truly always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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