Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Deep Faith Will Lead to Buddhahood (深信當作佛)
Date: December.12. 2014
“The Buddha gave skillful, provisional teachings in order to teach the True Dharma. With analogies, causes and conditions, He guided people according to capabilities. Those of great, average and limited capabilities can thus all understand the meaning of the Buddha Vehicle.”
Whichever methods the Buddha used, He was always teaching the True Dharma.Though these teachings were called skillful, provisional teachings, every one of them, whether He employed analogies or explained causes and conditions, still conveyed true principles. For example, the general term for a person is “human”. But each one of us has a different name. We each have different karmic conditions, and each have our own families. Each family lives in different conditions. So, we are all called “human” and all have karmic conditions, but we each have our own causes and conditions. Our causes and conditions are different from others. But this true principle underlies them just the same. Depending on what we actions take over the course [of our lives], we will face the corresponding consequences. This is True Dharma. This helps us to quickly understand that Buddha-nature is pure and undefiled. With Buddha-nature, as we work with others, we can deal with complicated relationships while maintaining a pure state of mind.
Then when we are among people and witness their suffering, we can give unconditionally to help them. This is the Bodhisattva-path. We must work among the multitudes of people to train our minds not to give rise to [afflictions] when we encounter external states. Then we have a mind that is pure, non-arising and non-ceasing. Although the Buddha gave provisional teachings, He did this to teach the ultimate truth, the One Vehicle Dharma.
So, “With analogies, and causes and conditions, He guided people according to capabilities.” Since everyone’s capabilities are different, He used analogies to help them understand. If the analogies still did not help them understand, He then drew on causes and conditions. So, Buddha sutras contain many such teachings. The Jataka Sutra, the sutra about the Buddha and His disciples’ karmic conditions, describes His past lifetimes, as well as present causes, present conditions, future effects and future retributions. This is all True Dharma. But we must know how to truly apply these skillful means to return to our nature of True Suchness.
So, “those of great, average and limited capabilities can thus all understand the meaning of the Buddha Vehicle.” From the beginning, we need to understand that these skillful means have always contained True Dharma. If we believe that, naturally these teachings of “analogies, and causes and conditions” will be clearly understood as methods of guiding us to enable us to steadily walk this path and awaken the pure and undefiled great love inside us so that we will go among others and help them. This path is the Bodhisattva-path. With it, people of great, average and limited capabilities can thoroughly understand the principles of the Buddha Vehicle. We must all clearly understand this. The previous sutra passage begins with, “Sariputra, you should know”.
Sariputra, you should know, the Dharma of all Buddhas is like this. By means of trillions of skillful means, I teach the Dharma that is suitable. But those who do not study it will never come to understand this.
The Buddha addressed Sariputra as a way of reminding everybody to focus their minds and listen carefully. Everyone should know that “the Dharma of all Buddhas is like this.” All past Buddhas taught the Dharma in this way, by giving skillful and provisional teachings. Because sentient beings had varying capacities, He had to give skillful and provisional teachings.The present Buddha, Sakyamuni, taught this way, and all past Buddhas also taught in this way.So, “by means of trillions of skillful means,” the Buddha taught according to capabilities with many different kinds of methods.
He “[taught] the Dharma that is suitable” by skillfully speaking to them according to their capabilities. “But those how do not study it, will never come to understand this”.There are those unwilling to listen to the teachings and unwilling to accept the Buddha-Dharma.If they are unwilling to accept it, then, of course, they will be unable to understand.
Thus, “they will never come to understand this”.They cannot understand.So, even if clever people encounter the Dharma, but do not accept it, nothing can be done.The Buddha was always saddened that these people were stubborn and hard to teach.
The next sutra passage states, “Since all of you already know how the Buddhas the teachers of the world, work by giving suitable skillful means, you should have no further doubts. Let your hearts be filled with joy, knowing that you will attain Buddhahood.”
In this passage, the Buddha said that all Buddhas came to this world to teach, and every one of them devised suitable means according to sentient beings’ capabilities.This was how They connected with all beings.These “suitable and skillful means” include the way the Buddha continually returns to this world.Over 2000 years ago, when causes and conditions had matured, the Buddha manifested in this world to describe the suffering here and how He began to engage in spiritual practice and how He attained enlightenment.After He awakened, He wanted to describe His spiritual state.
The Buddha’s manifestation in this world, His causes and conditions, became our model of spiritual practice.This gives us something to talk about “More than 2000 years ago, In the kingdom of Kapilavastu…”Actually, this is also a form of skillful means.
He manifested this tangible appearance as a basis to help us understand the origin of the Dharma.Before the Buddha manifested the attainment of Buddhahood, He had repeatedly returned to this world.After He manifested enlightenment and taught the True Dharma, He still repeatedly returned to this world.
So, we always say that.Buddhahood can only be attained in the human realm, because guiding teachers and here among us.In the Lotus Sutra, Never-Slighting Bodhisattva always told others, “I dare not belittle any of you because every one of you can become a Buddha.”This indicates that all of us in the world have Buddha-nature.Perhaps, in this group of people, Sakyamuni Buddha is coming and going among us.Therefore we must always express gratitude to whomever we meet, whatever their appearance.
Whether they are our virtuous friends, or whether they create adverse or favorable conditions for us, we must always show our respect and gratitude.If our [conditions] are adverse, we will become unhappy.But we still must be grateful to them foot helping us to discipline our minds.Do our minds react to these external conditions?Perhaps we allow things we find pleasing to give rise to a sense of happiness.
Happiness can also cause us to lose focus and to allow desires to arise in our minds.
This can also disrupt our minds.Whether we encounter favorable or adverse conditions, we must take good care of our minds.Caring for our minds is where we engage in spiritual practice.
Everything in our external conditions can help us engage in spiritual practice.These are “suitable and skillful means”.In this world, everything is constantly teaching the Dharma to us.All people, matters and objects are teachings.Therefore, we must have faith.“You should have no further doubts.”We must not have any more doubts or delusions.
We must always remind ourselves that in our surroundings, everything is our teacher and everywhere is a place for spiritual cultivation.If we are in this state of mind, we can deeply believe in the Dharma without any doubts.This is the only way to sustain our spiritual aspirations.
“Let your hearts be filled with joy, knowing that you will attain Buddhahood.”We must understand that no matter what the conditions are like, whether they are adverse or favorable, they are opportunities for spiritual cultivation.If the Dharma is always in our hearts, then the joy we experience here will be Dharma-joy.
If everything that we encounter is a teaching, happiness will arise in our hearts. That happiness is not one that comes from external states eliciting our desires, no. It is happiness from understanding truths. This is Dharma-joy.
We should be very happy that we have encountered the Buddha-Dharma and taken good care of our hearts. We ourselves know that we will attain Buddhahood. “Knowing that you will one day attain Buddhahood” means that in the future we will awaken and reach the same spiritual state as the Buddha, one that encompasses all things in the universe and is tranquil and clear and as pure as crystal. After attaining enlightenment and realizing that ocean of enlightenment, we will forever be carefree and at ease.
So, “knowing that we will attain Buddhahood”, we must still engage in spiritual practice. These suitable and skillful means must be a part of our spiritual cultivation. We must reverently and respectfully believe this.
“With utmost reverence, we must respectfully believe that the Buddha, for the sake fo the one great cause, skillfully gave provisional teachings according to capabilities. Ultimately, the provisional and the true are the same thing, without a doubt.”
The Buddha’s one great cause is something we must believe in with utmost respect and reverence. The Buddha manifested in this world for one great cause and “skillfully gave provisional teachings according to capabilities.” Responding to our different capabilities, He gave provisional teachings. These skillful means are wondrous and provisional. They are skillful and wondrous Dharma.
“Ultimately, the provisional and the true are the same thing, without a doubt”. The “provisional” and “true” are actually the same thing. Whatever your name is, ultimately we are all “human”. “Human” is the general term for all of us. However, these general terms, these labels, contain true principles, the nature of True Suchness. In order for this true nature to manifest, it must do so through the appearance of things. They are the only means for us to return to the true principles. Thus the provisional and the true are the same.
The “provisional” will ultimately lead us to be one with the “true”. I constantly hope that everyone can understand that though there are many analogies and labels in the Lotus Sutra, the most important thing is that they lead us back to the True Dharma. I have continued to repeat this. With this sutra, I hope that all the names and labels will not cause us to neglect the True Dharma. The True Dharma must be heard through our ears. So, the Buddha said to His disciples, “You have long listened to the Buddha give provisional teachings and gradually advanced, accepting these teachings accordingly.”
“They had long listened to the Buddha give provisional teachings and gradually advanced accepting these teachings accordingly. At this point they were turning from the Small Vehicle to the Great. Since they knew they could attain Buddhahood, they should respect and have faith in all Buddhas as teachers for this world, since They manifest here to teach suitable skillful means.”
Everyone had been listening to the Buddha teach. For over 40 years, He gave provisional teachings. With these skillful means, He slowly advanced from the Agama to the Vaipulya, from the Vaipulya to the Prajna, and only then reaching to the Lotus. the Lotus teachings were meant to return us to the state of the Avatamsaka. The Avatamsaka state is the great ocean of Dharma. “Ocean” signifies a vast and fathomless state. Such vastness is like the universe.
In the past, people could not fathom what a universe was, so He used “great ocean” as a metaphor for something that is very open and vast. Everyone’s awakened nature is one with the entire universe. But the Buddha had to use “springs”, and “rivers”, until the “great ocean” [of Dharma could be taught]. He used these different types of waters as analogies. Whether a spring, pond, stream, river or ocean, all are water. He used these various kinds of skillful means in order to “gradually advance” from the small to the great. To get to this point, He moved from the limited to the great teachings. Now, He turned from the Small to the Great, from the Small Vehicle Dharma to the Great Vehicle Dharma. This is something we should understand. If we all “know [we] can attain Buddhahood”, we know we will return to our intrinsic nature and will be Buddhas in the future. So, we must respect and have faith in all Buddhas as the teachings for this world. We must believe that the present Buddha, Sakyamuni, and all past Buddhas have come to this world to be guiding teachers.
“They manifest here to teach suitable skillful means.” They come into this world for one great cause. Even Manijusri Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva and Guanyin Bodhisattva are already among us in this world, guiding us with wisdom and love. “You should have no further doubts. Let your hearts be filled with joy, knowing that you will attain Buddhahood. The Buddha assured us over and over that we will all be able to do this in the end; at the end of the Bodhisattva-path lies Buddhahood.
You should have no further doubts. Let your hearts be filled with joy, knowing that you will attain Buddhahood: Since the vulture Peak Assembly, when He sat in meditation and radiated light, everything He has earnestly taught was to remind us of this. With the right opportunity and with confidence, we should have no further doubts. When we can deeply believe and not doubt the Dharma, our hearts will give rise to great joy, knowing that we will attain Buddhahood.
So, “Since the vulture Peak Assembly, when He sat in meditation and radiated light, everything He has earnestly taught [was for this.” This refers back to the beginning, to the Introductory Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Everyone should still remember that a lot of time was spent describing the state of the Lotus dharma-assembly. A great number of people came, many bhiksus, many Bodhisattvas, many kings and so on. They all gathered together at this time. They were eager to listen to teachings. The Buddha was seated there, then He entered Samadhi and radiated light. Meanwhile, everyone waited in joyous anticipation until they began to have doubts in their hearts. When would the Buddha began to teach the Dharma?
Do you remember what happened at the beginning? Maitreya knew what was in their minds, so, he sought out a suitable person [to answer], which was Manjusri Bodhisattva. The two of them engaged in a dialogue there, and Manjusri Bodhisattva described many states from the past. This was [the start of] the Vulture Peak Assembly. The Buddha radiated light as He sat in meditation, and with this unspoken Lotus Sutra, He guided people through one state after another. At this point, He had finished describing the state in the Introductory Chapter and moved on to the state after that, the Chapter on Skillful Means. That is the part of the sutra we are at now.
The Buddha continued to describe skillful and provisional teachings, which have never deviated from ultimate truth. Even at this point, He continued to remind us that we must pay careful attention to this. Everyone must place great importance on the teachings from the Lotus Dharma-assembly, which is the True Dharma we are now discussing. The Buddha continued to remind us to take great care in remembering this. “With the right opportunity and with confidence, means that as people listen to the Dharma here, their capabilities and the Dharma must be in accord. “[They should have no further doubts.” Then they “can deeply believe and not doubt the Dharma.”
The Buddha hoped that we can keep the Dharma in our mind and behave carefully in all conditions. Everywhere is a place for spiritual cultivation. We must take care of our minds as we interact with people, matters and objects. We must all believe this. We should all know that, at this point, everyone should already know that, “we will attain Buddhahood” because we all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness that is pure, undefiled and clear as crystal.This is our intrinsic nature. We must not allow people and matters to further defile it. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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