Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Awakening Our Minds Illuminates the True Path (自心覺照真實道)
Date: November.25. 2014
“The great Bodhi-path is direct; it is the same from the past to the present. With sincerity and the right mindset, we vow to develop the Root of Faith and realize ultimate truth.”
In learning the Buddha’s Way, we must make great aspirations. The great Bodhi-path is direct and has been the same since ancient times. For endless, incalculable kalpas, from the distant past, up until the present and into the future, its principles remain the same. The Bodhi-path has always been direct and will never lead us astray.
So, we must reverently learn the Buddha’s Way. With sincerity and the right mindset, we make vows. We must even deepen and extend our Root of Faith. Then we can realize the principles of ultimate truth. The principles of ultimate truth are what we seek. These true principles are the way for us to get closer to the Buddha’s enlightened state of mind. This is the path that we seek. The path that we seek is the great and direct Bodhi-path.
The Buddha once gave His disciples this teaching. During His lifetime, He traveled up and down the banks of the Ganges. In the kingdom of Magadha, King Bimbisara saw the Buddha arrive and immediately dedicated some land for the purpose of building the Bamboo Grove abode.
One day, the Buddha led His bhiksus around the land, through the surrounding forests. The Buddha sat down and the bhiksus sat around Him. He was about to expound the Dharma to them. In this spot, many leaves had fallen to the ground. So, the Buddha casually scooped up a handful of leaves, cupped them in His palms and said to the bhiksus, “Bhiksus, look here. Are there more leaves in my hands or are there more leaves in the rest of this forest?” The bhiksus responded without hesitation. “Venerable Buddha, how can the number of leaves in your hands possibly compare to the number of leaves from all of the trees in this forest?” The Buddha then kindly told the bhiksus, “Indeed, how can the number of leaves in my hand possibly be compared to the number of leaves in the entire forest? However, I am telling you that the subtle and intricate Dharma that I have realized, the teachings in my mind that I want to share, are like the leaves of this vast forest. Actually, they are far more numerous. Yet the Dharma that I have been able to share with everyone thus far is no more than [the leaves that I hold in my hand].
So, as I am teaching, though I give many proper teachings and truths to help everyone understand, though you can all understand so much Dharma, what you have been able to accept and realize amounts only to this [handful of leaves].”
Hearing this form the Buddha, the bhiksus said to Him, “Venerable Buddha! We are truly putting our hearts into comprehending the Dharma You are teaching. Though our capabilities are limited, we have accepted Your teachings and gradually we will be able to comprehended them. In addition to listening and understanding, we realize that You still have so much Dharma that You want to teach us.”
The Buddha then replied, “All teachings ultimately return to one thing. If you can comprehend it, you can comprehend the many teachings that I have not yet shared with everyone. As long as you realize ultimate truth, that realization will encompass all proper views, proper understanding and Right Dharma.”
The bhiksus heard this and found it inconceivable that there were still so many teachings remaining, and that ultimate reality encompassed so much.If everyone can realize this, they can [attain the same state as ] the Buddha.So much Dharma has entered the Buddha’s sea of enlightenment.This is inconceivable.
The Buddha said, “This is intrinsic to all. This is not unique [to me]. It is just that everyone must mindfully realize it.”It is so simple; “Mindfully realize it.”We can realize the Buddha’s enlightened nature.Regarding His enlightened nature the Buddha Himself has already told us that we all intrinsically have [this nature].From ancient times until now, from the past, to the present and into the future, we all intrinsically have it; this is the truth.
However, the accumulation of ignorance and so on has covered our nature of True Suchness.
We engage with the world around us every day with a nature of True Suchness that has been covered by layers of ignorance.This is how connect with external conditions and experience form, sound, smell, taste and touch.We are using our unenlightened intellect to create these distinctions.
Our true wisdom is buried underneath; while we act from that layer of ignorance that covers our nature of True Suchness.So, I constantly remind everyone that the purpose of spiritual cultivation is to eliminate our habitual tendencies.By eliminating them, we brush aside our ignorance.Once our ignorance is brushed aside, our wisdom will naturally surface.
At any time, the Buddha is always contemplating.He appeared on this world with one goal, “to teach Buddha-wisdom”.He wanted to take the Dharma that He has realized, this sea of enlightenment, which, after His enlightenment, was filled with the truths of all things in the universe, and deliver it into the minds of all sentient beings.
Therefore, I had this thought.The reason why the Tathagata appears is to teach Buddha-wisdom.And now the time is exactly right.
This is the reason the Buddha comes to the world.He has only one goal, one great cause, which is “to teach Buddha-wisdom”.He wanted to share with everyone the wisdom He attained after His enlightenment.The Buddha is one who is enlightened.He wanted to help everyone realize the wisdom of an enlightened state.This was His one great cause in this world.After over 40 years had passed, the Buddha said, “Now the time is exactly right.”
In the past, sentient beings’ capabilities varied, with great, average and limited capabilities.The Buddha could not deliver the Dharma in His mind in its original form into the minds of every person, so He had to “give the provisional and conceal the true”.
He concealed the ultimate truth and extensively taught provisional, skillful means extensively taught provisional, skillful means.After doing this for over 40 years, He “opened the provisional to reveal the true”.
In opening up the provisional teachings, He was telling everyone that they must know these images are like illustrations that have been drawn.He pointed out the yellow, red, black, scarlet, white, all kinds of shapes and colors.We can recognize them, but if we open this door, we can see the practical things behind it.This was how He “opened” and “revealed”.
If we open up this layer and see through these labels, we will find the Dharma-treasure of ultimate truth that lies within. Thus, the Buddha “opened” and “revealed” so that we can comprehend and “realize”. Then we understand that what we have known before were just the labels. Now we need to realize the Dharma and the ultimate truth of Dharma-nature. This is what we must awaken to and realize.
Once we have “entered” and understood the Dharma, once we comprehend it, we must quickly take it to heart. Our nature cannot be awakened simply by listening to other people’s realizations; we need to internalize that awakening, to take in the sea of enlightenment. The Buddha comes into the world to do one thing to teach us this wisdom so we can clearly understand.
For the previous 42 years, He “gave the provisional and concealed the true”. Now it was time to “open the provisional an reveal the true”. He could no longer conceal the ultimate truth, as it was His original intent. Previously, He kept telling everyone that the Dharma He wanted to expound had been concealed in His mind for over 40 years. He never felt that sentient beings could comprehend it. If He taught it, they would not be able to realize it, and instead would slander it and prevent other people from understanding it. Instead they would create karma of speech, commit evils and so on. So, He waited until the time was right, until sentient beings’ capabilities [were mature]. This was now the time for Him to teach. The next sutra passage begins with,
“Sariputra, you should know, those with dull capabilities and limited wisdom, the arrogant ones attached to appearances, cannot believe this Dharma”.
This is talking about the past 40-plus years. During that period of time, those who learned and practiced the Dharma had limited capabilities and very limited wisdom. Due to their dull capabilities, even if He were to teach the ultimate truth, They could only [see] what was in front of them. “I see these difficulties. I only seek [to resolve them]”. This shows dull capabilities and limited wisdom. Their seeking was limited by their limited wisdom. So, people with limited wisdom clung to appearances. “Thus they could not faithfully accept the Great Dharma of the One Vehicle”. They could not faithfully accept it. Not only could they not faithfully accept it, the Buddha was afraid “they might slander the Dharma and fall into the evil realms”. If they slandered the Buddha-Dharma, they would fall into the evil realms. Their capabilities had not yet matured, so the Buddha concealed the true. He did not teach the ultimate truth for more than 40 years after His enlightenment because of these considerations. His intent was on protecting sentient beings, preventing them from slandering the Dharma when they could not understand it. Otherwise they would fall into the evil realms. Because their capabilities were not yet mature, He gave provisional teachings and taught with various metaphors and analogies to guide them.
“Prior to this, spiritual practitioners had dull capabilities and limited wisdom. Like ordinary people, they were attached to appearances and replete with arrogance. Thus they could not faithfully accept the Great Dharma of the One Vehicle. [The Buddha] was afraid they might slander the Dharma and fall into the evil [realms]. Since their capabilities were not mature, the Buddha did not teach this at that time.”
Next He said, “I now rejoice and have no fear. In this assembly of Bodhisattvas, I shall set aside skillful means for the direct, speaking only of the supreme path.”
Because “now the time is exactly right”, the time had arrived and sentient beings’ capabilities had slowly matured. He was joyful He could now reveal His intent. In the past, the Dharma was concealed in His mind. Now He could open His mind and reveal His intent without worrying that they could not accept it and would slander it. He no longer had to worry about that He was not “joyful and without fear”. With peace of mind, He “shared His intent joyfully and without fear”. He could teach with ease. This was because “He knew all Buddha-children had developed a sense of respect”. They were all Buddha-children.
“The Buddha shared His intent joyfully and without fear because He knew that all Buddha-children had developed a sense of respect. He knew that they had listened to the Dharma, that they had sharp capabilities and great wisdom. They had let go of all attachments and no longer clung to appearances, so they were not arrogant and could believe in this Dharma”.
Buddha-children are those who had heard the teachings from the Buddha’s speech and are thus born to the Buddha. By hearing the Buddha’s Dharma, they accepted the teachings and grew their wisdom-life. Because these disciples had accepted His teachings and developed their wisdom-life, He called these disciples “Buddha-children.” Isn’t this endearing? These are children of the Dharma who have accepted the teachings, so they are called Buddha-children. Having already accepted the Buddha-Dharma, they had deep respect, “sharp capabilities and great wisdom.”
Their capabilities were sharp, no longer dull, and their wisdom had grown. As everyone’s wisdom grew, their ability to realize the Dharma was advanced and they began to let go of their attachments. They “let go of all attachments and no longer clung to appearances.” Because they had let go of all attachments and no longer clung to appearances, “they were not arrogant and could believe in this Dharma.” If they had attachments and arrogance, naturally they would slander the Buddha-Dharma and not be able to accept it. Those with limited capabilities and wisdom had developed great capabilities and wisdom, so they could now realize the Buddha’s teachings.They let go of their attachments and were also free of arrogance, so they could wholeheartedly accept the Buddha-Dharma.
They could “practice the Great Vehicle, the Great Dharma that benefits all beings” .
The Buddha saw that His disciples could accept the teachings and furthermore work to benefit all sentient beings with the Great Dharma. So, the Buddha was joyful He was happy to teach the One Vehicle Dharma. This describes the Buddha’s state of mind.
When He saw that His disciples not only listen to the Dharma but could put it into practice, this was the moment He had waited for. This was the time for teaching them True Dharma.
So, the Buddha was joyful and without fear because He could begin to share the Dharma He originally had intended to teach and finally have those teachings, thus He did so “joyfully and without fear.” “Unafraid they would have limited capabilities,” He no longer worried that limited capabilities would lead people to slander the Great Vehicle.
Now there was no need for Him to worry .Those people would not “commit transgressions and fall into the evil realms.” This Dharma would not cause them to commit the transgression of slandering it and lead to their falling into the evil realms.
So, He said “Today I am joyful and without fear.” The Buddha freely expressed His original intent and taught the Bodhisattvas Way. He began to carry out His original intent to teach everyone to walk the Bodhisattva-path. This is the ocean of wisdom in His mind.The potential to realize the Buddha’s wisdom comes from our awakened nature. Everyone also benefits all beings on His behalf. This helped them to walk the Bodhisattva-path.
He now “set aside the skillful for the direct.” “Thus, as He wished, He taught the True Path.” “He no longer taught according to capabilities.” He no longer taught only what they understood. From this point on, skillful means were set aside. Right and wrong were clearly distinguished. This right thing to do is to walk the great, direct Bodhi-path.
Now, this is what we must do. Thus the Lotus Sutra states, He “set aside the skillful for the direct speaking only of the supreme path.” We just discussed this. As Buddhist practitioners, we must find a way to awaken ourselves and illuminate our state of mind to see the ultimate truth in ourselves so we can be in harmony with the Buddha’s truths. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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