Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Ten Powers of the Tathagata (如來十力)
Date: October. 21. 2014
“The various consciousnesses of the mind each cling to conditions. When conditions arise, causes lead to effects. When effects mature, retributions manifest; this is an unchanging law. This is the cycle of how cause leads to effect.”
This is what I want to share with everyone; our daily living is inseparable from mind and consciousness. Each of our consciousnesses clings to the conditions of our daily lives. Aren’t our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, each clinging to conditions? With our eyes, we see external conditions. As we sit here, with my eyes I see all of you sitting in a very orderly manner. This makes me very happy. This is how the eyes see form. The eyes connect to the forms of all the phenomena in our surroundings. What I see is your orderly appearance. What you see are the words behind me. Our eyes are connecting to different forms. The ears connect with sound.
Right now, the objects my ear-roots are clinging to are the sound of my own voice, the chirping of the birds outside and the distant sound of a passing train. Many sounds are being heard at this time as my ears cling to these conditions. This is how our mind and consciousnesses work. Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body cling to the objects of form, sound, smell, taste and touch. This is how, in our daily living, “the various consciousnesses of the mind each cling to conditions.” Eyes cling to conditions of form. Ears cling to conditions of sound. So, “each clings to conditions.
When conditions arise, causes lead to effects.” Each condition that we cling to has its own cause. For example, in daily living, many people crave certain tastes. Recently, I have said that people are greedy for certain tastes. We clearly know that we should cherish the lives of sentient beings and eat vegetarian meals. But some people either do not know this principle, or they know it but cannot control themselves because they crave the taste. People eat, smoke, drink, chew betel nuts and do other things that are harmful to their health. They know, but they cannot control themselves. So, “When conditions arise, causes lead to effects.”
We continually hear the stories shared by our hospital volunteers. The causes of illness lie in these conditions; the patients could not break away from their cravings for a particular taste. They cannot cut themselves off from things they have smelled, tasted or touched, so they cannot help but cling to these conditions and take these things into their bodies. The effect of this is physical illness. Some young people crave sensory pleasures, fun and so on. They do not accept their parents’ guidance and instead seek instant gratification, thus creating disharmony in their families. This is the effect. Those who are not filial or who create bad karma do not understand cause and effect, so they do not change. [They may think,] “So what? If I do it, it’s not a big deal.” But they have created so much bad karma that “when effects mature, retributions manifest.
There will certainly be retribution; it is just that the time has not yet come.” The accumulation of these causes will lead to effects. In the end, there will be retributions. This is an unchanging law.
So, “cause leads to effect”.This is a cycle, the cycle of cause and effect.The workings of our daily lives are inseparable from our minds and consciousnesses.If we do not train our minds, our mind-consciousness will cling to external conditions.When we cannot control this, we will be tempted to cling to conditions.When we cling, we create [negative] causes.These causes may then lead to effects.Once these effects mature, retributions manifest.“This is the cycle of how cause leads to effect.”So, we must be mindful.
The Buddha gave teachings by using various causes and conditions.The following passage we are looking at is what the Buddha said, “They utilized various causes and conditions, analogies and expressions to teach through suitable skillful means.”
As we discussed previously, the Buddha gave the Nine Divisions of teachings with various causes and conditions, and analogies and expressions.These are all skillful means.
Skillful does not mean they are not true.Skillful means are true teachings that explain profound principles in simple terms or use matters as analogies.Analogies are drawn to describe profound Dharma so that we can understand the profound principles through worldly appearances and phenomena.So, the Buddha used “analogies and expressions to teach through suitable skillful means”.
He taught according to sentient beings’ capacities and their causes and conditions.
Through using the various matters and appearances of the world around them, He drew out the most profound principles.
Out of compassion, the Buddha established skillful means according to the roots and powers of sentient beings, according to their capabilities.But these are still part of the Bdudha Vehicle.
Because of the Buddha’s compassion, [He taught] according to the roots and powers of sentient beings.We have the Five Spritual Roots and Five Powers.Some people have sharper capabilities, so they are more intelligent.For people with a deep Root of Wisdom, not only will they realize and understand, they will also put the teachigns into practice.These are the ones with sharper capabilities. Because they are smarter and brighter, their “powers” are stronger.This depends on faith, diligence, thought, Samadhi and wisdom.These are the Five Spritual Roots and Powers.
The Buddha comes solely to unlock our wisdom by helping us undertsand fundamental teachings like the 37 Preactices to Enlightenment.They are very fundamental teachings which help us to truly realize the Buddha-Dharma, help us engage in spiritual practice and enhance our capabilities and wisdom-life.This is the power of the 37 Practices to Enlightenment.
So, the Buddha, out of compassions, taught according to roots and powers of sentient beings.He established various skillful means according to sentient beings’ capabilities, but these teachings never deviated from the path to Buddhahood.
Therefore, the Buddha is replete with ten kinds of powers.
The Buddha is replete with ten kinds of powers:
First, the power of knowing right or wrong in all conditions.
Second, the power of knowing all karmic retributions in the Three Periods.
Third, the power of knowing all stages of meditation and liberation.
Fourth, the power of knowing the faculties of all beings and whether they will attain large or small fruits.
Fifth, the power of knowing all kinds of understanding.
Sixth, the power of knowing all kinds of states.
Seventh, the power of knowing all paths.
Eighth, the power of knowing from having unobstructed heavenly eyes.
Ninth, the power of knowing past lives flawlessly.
Tenth, the power of knowing [how to] forever eliminate habitual tendencies.
First is “the power of knowing right or wrong in all conditions”.I often say that when we speak to someone we must consider the person, time and place.We may want to share a specific teaching with this person.Is this the suitable place for doing that?Is this the suitable time?Discerning all this requires the power of knowing.So, we need “the power of knowing what is right or wrong in all conditions”.We need to know how to teach the principles of all things according to capabilities, matters, people and so on.This is a power of knowing.
Second, we should have “the power of knowing all karmic retributions in the Three Periods”.The Three Periods are not only about past lives.As every second passes, there is a new “past,” a new “present” and a new “future”.When we try to understand the Three Periods, they can extend as far as countless kalpas in the past or countless kalpas into the future. But we must believe that they are also in this present instant. In this instant, we carry with us the past [karmic] causes we have created and accumulated up to this moment. If we do not seize this moment [to do good], we may once again commit evil, say the wrong things, do bad things and so on. [Their effects] will be felt long into the future. The [causes of] transmigrating in the Six Realms are created by our speech and actions in this short, present moment. So, we should know that if, in our past or present, many things have not gone as we wished, that is probably because we created negative karmic connections in the past. Once we know and understand this, we can open our hearts and be understanding, and not take issue over the past. What was lost has already been lost, we should not remain attached to what was lost or what we cannot attain.
If we did not create blessings in the past, we may not attain anything in the present. If we did not benefit others in the past, we may attain very little or quickly lose what we gain. This is because of our past. If we can open up our minds, we will not have so many “losses” or “weak karmic connections” that we continue to keep in our hearts. Not being able to release these creates afflictions. When afflictions arise, our wisdom will become more deeply submerged. We must seize every moment to continue to grow our wisdom-life, so we must unceasingly eliminate afflictions. This is what we must seize the moment to do.
If we can really seize the moment, in the future we will have less [bad] karma and fewer afflictions. And further in the future, if we are more diligent now, we will have even greater wisdom. Thus, we must understand all karmic retributions of the Three Periods. If we seize every moment to benefit others, we will receive blessed retributions in the future. This is a definite truth.
Third is “the power of knowing all stages of meditation and liberation”. To understand meditation and liberation, we must begin with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. We should know this by now. In the past I have told you about “the perfection of precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberated views and understanding”. Our daily living must not deviate from these practices. So, we must focus on upholding them. We must uphold precepts and follow the path, then our path will be great.
Our resolve must be firm for us to advance in learning the Dharma every day. Only by doing this will our wisdom be unlocked. Once that happens, we can become liberated and perfect our liberated understanding and views. “Carrying firewood and water are all meditation”. These are all skills to master. This is the Buddha’s third power of knowing.
Fourth is the “power of knowing the faculties of all beings and whether they will attain large or small fruits”. Look at our capabilities. In our living, we create things every day. What are we creating? We are creating karma. Some people create bad karma; some people create good karma. Those who create bad karma have accumulated negative causes, negative conditions. Those who create blessed karma have done good deeds, formed good connections and received good retributions. What we do depends on our capabilities. If we can take in the Dharma, we can put it into practice. By doing great deeds, we will certainly attain great blessings. By being more diligent, naturally we can attain great wisdom.
Fifth is “the power of knowing all kinds of understanding”. As we listen to the Dharma or interact with people and matters, we must be understanding. If we are not understanding, everything we deal with will become an affliction everything we deal with will become an affliction. So, we must be understanding, that is the only way we will be accommodating we will constantly form negative karmic connections with other people. The Buddha taught us to have “all kinds of understanding”. We need to be understanding of all worldly matters and principles. Only by being harmonious as we deal with matters and people can we be in harmony with principles. This is what we achieve by being understanding.
Sixth is “the power of knowing all kinds of states”. Sentient beings each live in their own worlds with their own ways of life. This is something I often say. I hope everyone can respect all living beings so we can experience the states they are in. when a bird chirps, I believe he is very happy. In this place with singing birds and fragrant flowers, the bird has his own way of life, his own state. So, if we mindfully experience this, we will cherish all beings in this world.
Seventh is “the power of knowing all paths”. Sentient beings are lost, so the roads they are on lead nowhere. The roads they have chosen are the wrong ones those who are lost are fearful and unsettled, so ignorance flourishes in their minds. We must have “the power of knowing all paths”. We must walk on the right road because we will end up wherever that road takes us. This is the law of karma in the Six Realms.
Eighth is “the power of knowing.” This is what our eye-root can see and understand. Ordinary people’s perspectives revolve around taking everything as their own. The perspective of a noble being is to serve the world. Whether we have a strong or weak mindset depends on our perspectives.So, we need “unobstructed heavenly eyes.” Heavenly eyes can see comprehensively and thus understand the karmic conditions of all beings. We must also try to do this.
Ninth is “the power of knowing past lives flawlessly.” This is the spiritual power of knowing past lives People say, “Eight or nine of ten things will not go according to our wishes.” We must understand how we wrote the script for our present life during our past lives and how the kind of karma we crated brought forth our current conditions.
So, if we can understand this, we have the power of knowing past lives. Everything that happens in this present life is definitely connected to the past. If we can thoroughly understand this, we can reduce the afflictions in our minds. With fewer afflictions, our power of knowing will grow. Instead of lamenting the past, we must earnestly live in the present.
Tenth is “the power of knowing [how to] forever eliminate habitual tendencies.”
Don’t I often talk to you about this? What do we cultivate in spiritual practice? [Elimination of] habitual tendencies. People’s minds differ as much as their faces. I often say, “people’s habits differ as must their faces.” People’s minds are ultimately the same, they are Buddha-minds. The Buddha’s mind is pure, so our intrinsic Tathagata-nature should be the same. But our habitual tendencies are different, just as our faces differ from person to person. Thus, we must eliminate our habitual tendencies and return to our pure intrinsic Tathagata-nature.The Buddha had the power to eliminate tendencies, so He taught sentient beings to do the same thing.
The power of knowing [how to] forever eliminate habitual tendencies:
This is having the wisdom and power to forever eliminate all remnants of delusions so they will never arise again.
We must “eliminate all remnants of delusions” to eliminate all illusory thinking along with the delusion of ignorance, one by one. Only by eliminating habitual tendencies can we eliminate ignorance.Then we will know the origin of true wisdom. This is most important as we learn Buddha’s Way.
Dear Bodhisattvas, to learn the Buddha’s Way, we must clearly understand how, in our daily living, our minds and consciousnesses cling to conditions, At the beginning of each day, we must be aware as we connect with sound, form, smell, taste and touch and so on.We experience all this starting in the morning.
So at the beginning of each day, we must think of methods to allow us to grasp this. To what extent do we need this power over [our consciousness]? I believe that if we all listen to, and immerse ourselves in the Buddha-Dharma, then in our daily living, we will clearly know the direction that we need to go in. We recognize our course very clearly. We must also eliminate our habitual tendencies in order to eliminate our ignorance. So, everyone please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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