Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Children of the Buddha Eliminate Doubts (佛子斷疑而起行)
Date: December.25. 2014
“Through listening, contemplation and practice, with precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we realize the Buddha’s understanding and views and put them into practice. Thus we recognize our nature of True Suchness and are born into the Tathagata’s family.”
After hearing the Dharma through our ears we must then take it to heart. After we take it to heart, we must put it into practice. After listening to the Dharma, we must earnestly contemplate it and must earnestly accept and uphold it. We must also cultivate the Three Flawless Studies, precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.
Precepts can prevent all unwholesome deeds. We must avoid doing unprincipled things. Precepts allow us to have discipline in our actions. Samadhi comes from taking the Dharma to heart so that neither fame, wealth nor pleasure can shake our resolve or tempt us. That is a state of Samadhi. To develop Samadhi, we must have wisdom. Without wisdom, when we hear something in our external conditions and it makes us unhappy, our minds will quickly give rise to [afflictions]. When we see something we dislike, we immediately become angry. This means we are not in Samadhi.
Sometime, we must ask ourselves, why am I so impulsive? That is because our [power of] Samadhi is not strong enough. Why did I give in to my habitual tendencies again? If we reflect upon ourselves, we know it is because our wisdom is insufficient. As we look at the things happening around us, we cannot yet see with the same perspective as the Buddha. In learning the Buddha’s Way, we must learn to develop His perspective. He clearly understands people, matters and objects. As soon as He encounters something, He can discern whether it is right or wrong. The Buddha’s [mind] is like a clear mirror that reflects everything. Red, black, white, crimson and other colors are immediately identifiable in the reflection. This is the Buddha’s understanding and views.
When we realize His understanding and views and the Dharma that He taught, we must faithfully accept and practice it. This because our wisdom. With everything we encounter, after we listen to and understand the teachings, we need to put them into practice. Whatever the Buddha has instructed us to do, we must follow it exactly. This is “putting into practice”. We cannot just listen. If we do not put the teachings into practice, listening to them is of no use.
If we have been bad-tempered in the past, we must change our ways. We must make changes right away so we do not continue to repeat our mistakes, over and over. If we make changes gradually, it will be too late. In learning the Buddha’s Way, the Dharma we hear needs to be applied to our daily living right away. We must stop doing the wrong things and immediately start to do the right things. So, we must be very mindful. Only in this way, can we “we realize our nature of True Suchness.”
I have often mentioned the innocence of children. Their intrinsic nature is so pure. Undefiled by worldly matters, they can see things very clearly and can act in a very reasonable manner. This shows that our nature of True Suchness does not change with age. Actually, it has nothing to do with our age. It is something we have always had. So, we must mindfully realize the Dharma to clearly discern right from wrong. We must always remember that the nature of True Suchness is intrinsic to all and that we are “born into the Tathagata family.” Everybody belongs to the Tathagata’s family. We previously discussed the passage,
“It was not until today that I realized that I am a true child of the Buddha,”born from the Buddha’s mouth and transformed by the Dharma; I have realized my part in the Buddha-Dharma.”
This is the previous passage.Though Sariputra had followed the Buddha for decades, and accepted the Buddha’s teachings, after he heard that “all things arise due to cause and conditions and all things cease due to cause and conditions,” he just remained in the state of the Small Vehicle and never thought about moving forward.
Up until now, he had been very upset.“I formed these aspirations a long time ago. Why have I remained in this state?”Now he understood that the Buddha opened the Three to reveal the One.He now set aside the Three Vehicles to completely focus on the One [Vehicle].When Sariputra understood this, [he thought,].“Today, I finally know I am the Buddha’s child.”He realized that, he too, could carry on the Buddha’s [mission of] teaching sentient beings; he could form great aspirations, make great vows and walk the Bodhisattva-path.
He began to have confidence in himself and understood that by making aspirations, he would also walk the Bodhisattva-path.Thus he was a true child of the Buddha. Born from the mouth of the Buddha and transformed by the Dharma, because his wisdom grew after he took the Dharma to heart.Thus he had “realized [his] part in the Buddha-Dharma”.
The Buddha-Dharma was already in his mind and he was gradually developing bits and pieces of the Buddha’s understanding and views.This was how well Sariputra understood the Buddha.
He next sutra passage states, “At that time, Sariputra, wishing to restate his meaning, spoke in verse, saying, Hearing the sound of this Dharma, I have obtained what I never had before. My heart is filled with great joy and I have eliminated the web of doubts.”
Sariputra had already described how, in the Dharma he had accepted in the past, he had stopped at [the state of] the Small Vehicle.After hearing the Buddha open up the provisional to reveal the true, at first he was distressed and had doubts and regrets.But when he understood what he heard, things finally became clear to him.Thus he attained joy he had never had before.
[So he said,] “It was not until today I that realized that I am a true child of the Buddha, born from the Buddha’s mouth and transformed by the Dharma. I have realized my part in the Buddha-Dharma.”This came from his joyful state of mind.“Wishing to restate his meaning, [he] spoke in verse.”
Actually, it was those how compiled and edited the sutras, hoping to make the Dharma clear to everybody, who restated Sariputra’s meaning one more time.
Those who compiled and edited sutras knew the Dharma was profound and wondrous.Afraid that people might miss out on teachings, they restated them in verse.
This passage states that.“Sariputra wished to restate his meaning.”It was likely those who edited this sutra who has this good intention of wanting to describe Sariputra’s feeling again.So, we should recognize the great importance of this section, which includes the previous passage.Worried the Dharma we hear might leak out, and hoping we can all realize the wondrousness of this Dharma, it says he “wished to restate his meaning”.
He said again, “Hearing the sound of this Dharma, I have obtained what I never had before.”
Sariputra spoke these words on behalf of everyone.These words not only reflected his own mindset, but also represented everyone else’s.They also felt happy after hearing it, so they formed great aspirations, made great vows, engaged in great practices and entered the Bodhisattva-path.This shows that he and everyone else were very happy, and that that happiness came from completely eliminating their doubts and worries.
Sariputra and others listened to the Dharma and became happy.They eliminated all doubts and regrets and attained what they never had before.
If we have doubts, are unclear about the principles or cannot understand what someone is saying, these may become mutual misunderstandings.If we cannot clearly understand the Dharma, it may lead us to give rise to afflictions.Now, Sariputra and all the bhiksus finally understood the complete meaning behind those 40-plus years of teachings.
Originally, [the Buddha came] for one great cause, to help everyone thoroughly understand that we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature and that we were originally pure. But things in the world tempted us [to go astray]. Out many desires for things have covered our pure intrinsic nature. In order for our intrinsic nature to manifest, we must avoid being covered by these impurities. So, we must put the teachings into practice and make use of our innate wisdom to go among people to transform them. To save and transform sentient beings, when they need material assistance, we must provide them with what they need. When sentient beings’ minds are not open and are weighed down by afflictions, we must exercise our wisdom to help them eliminate their afflictions and to inspire the goodness in their hearts. This meets their spiritual needs.
Whether they need tangible goods or intangible principles, we must exercise our wisdom to meet their needs. So, this kind of giving has to happen among people. The ability to prevent our pure intrinsic nature from being defiled by interpersonal complications is also a skill that is developed among people.
We often say that afflictions are like a raging fire in a furnace. Having transmigrated in the Six Realms and faced so many afflictions, we are like very finely crafted objects that have become a useless pile of metal. In order to restore this pile of metal back into those intricate objects, the metal must be thrown into the furnace so the fire can temper it. The metal has to be tempered and hammered so the impurities can be eliminated. Then it will become pure steel and iron again. So, to eliminate our doubts, we must interact with people and learn to sustain our Samadhi and wisdom.
If we can maintain our Samadhi and wisdom, others will remind us, through our interactions, that we must guard against wrongs and stop evil. They will constantly remind us to not allow what we hear or see in the world to trigger our habitual tendencies. If that happens, we will remain tainted by ignorance.
I often teach with simple saying such as, “Don’t use other people’s mistakes to punish yourself”. Don’t punish yourself for other people’s mistakes. when we see someone make a mistake or hear someone say something wrong, we must not give rise to discursive thoughts. Our minds must stay calm. Regardless of how others treat us, we must not misunderstand them; we must truly understand them. We must realize the Buddha’s understanding and views, the perspective with which He sees and hears people. The Buddha can clearly discern things. With our ordinary understanding and views, we think, “I don’t like what you said, so I’m angry”. This kind of misunderstanding happens when ordinary people listen to other ordinary people speak. This is how people misunderstand each other. So, we must eliminate our doubts and regrets.
Once we eliminate our doubts and regrets, we will naturally be very happy and filled with Dharma-joy. Seeing other’s mistakes, we must remind ourselves to be vigilant. Seeing other’s merits, we must earnestly seek to learn from them. This is how we diligently develop our wisdom-life.
Sariputra and others completely understood that they must go among people to learn to manifest their intrinsic Buddha-nature, while not letting their surroundings affect them. Having completely understood this, they had “eliminated all doubts and regrets”. At this point, we can comprehend how, in the past, the Buddha had begun with the most basic teachings to gradually help us to safely go among the people. “All things arise due to causes and conditions. All things cease due to causes and conditions”. So, we do not need to cling to anything. What we learned in the past led us to the practice of the Bodhisattva-path. “[Those teachings] are also very important. They are not redundant. They are very applicable.
So, I always talk about “the wondrous in the provisional”. Actually, this road was also paved by the Buddha to help connect us to the Bodhi-path. The same principle applies to us. We talked about the Buddha’s first teaching, suffering, it causation, cessation and the Path, and the universal vows of the Buddha and of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. These universal vows are the Four Great Vows. So, we form great aspirations and vows for the purpose of saving those who are suffering. However, sentient beings still have habitual tendencies, afflictions and ignorance.
Thus we must aspire and “vow to eliminate endless afflictions”. This deals with the cause of suffering. As the Buddha explained in the past, the cause of suffering is accumulation. We have aspired to walk the Bodhisattva-path, so we must enter this furnace of accumulated afflictions and ignorance and must temper ourselves to eliminate these afflictions.
We should not treat other people’s afflictions as our own, and we need to promptly eliminate our afflictions. So, the Four Noble Truths and the Four Great Vows can be linked to each other if we understand them. The Four Noble Truths were the first provisional teachings and the Four Great Vows were the beginning of revealing the universal vows of ultimate reality. When we look at these side by side, they are truly wondrous.
We see the wondrous in the provisional, the wondrous Dharma of ultimately reality. Therefore, we should have no more doubts. All doubts must be eliminated. Only when our minds are free of doubts can we attain what we never have before. This is how the previous sutra passage describes the mindset Sariputra.
There is a passage from the Introductory Chapter, “Should they have doubts or regrets, the Buddha will help resolve them complety so that none remain.
This is the ultimate reality of the One Vehicle. The beginning of the Lotus Sutra was about eliminating everyone’s doubts. So, starting in the Introductory Chapter, the Buddha opened up the Three to reveal the One. The Buddha clearly said, “Should they have doubts or regrets, the Buddha will help resolve them completely so that none remain.” This was the time to eliminate all doubts. So, in the Lotus Sutra, [the Buddha ] hopes we no longer have any doubts. People living in this world must eliminate their doubts.
So, “My heart is filled with great joy and I have eliminated the web of doubts. At that moment, Sariputra’s heart was filled with joy because his web of doubts [was gone]. That web is like a fishing net. Once trapped, not a single fish can escape. So, afflictions trap us like a net. When we are told, “Change your habits!” All of us say, “That is difficult! I will change gradually.” This is how we are trapped by a net and cannot free ourselves. If we have not eliminated our habitual tendencies, we cannot become liberated.
As long as we have not resolved these afflictions, we cannot take the Buddha-dharma to heart. Only once we have fully severed the web of doubts can we open up our hearts. Otherwise, this web will prevent [the Dharma] from entering the door to our hearts.
Doubts and delusions are hard to escape. Having them is like being trapped in a web. When he heard the Buddha open up the provisional to reveal True Dharma, his heart was filled with great joy and he eliminated all webs of doubts he had in the past.
So, when we listen to the Buddha open up the provisional to reveal the true [we can realize] True Dharma. When we truly listen with our hearts, we will take the Dharma to heart. As the Dharma has truly entered our heart, we must now move ahead swiftly. We must not give rise to any new doubts and must completely eliminate all our old doubts.
Everyone, we must eliminate our doubts in order to take the True Dharma to heart. Actually, those early provisional teachings contained wondrous principle. This is because the Buddha has always wanted us to form great aspirations and make great vows to go among the suffering in this world. As we all create karma and experience suffering, when we go among them, He did not want us to be influenced by them. He hopes we can all turn our afflictions into Bodhi so we can temper ourselves to manifest our pure intrinsic nature.
In order to sharpen a piece of iron, it has to be refined in a great furnace. After it has been hammered many times, the iron can eventually become something useful. The same principle applies; in order to manifest our intrinsic nature, we must train ourselves by interacting with people. Therefore, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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