Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Praising the Buddha’s Magnificent Marks (讚佛莊嚴相)
Date: January.01. 2015
“One hundred good deeds create one blessing. One hundred blessings create one magnificent Mark. Thirty-two hundred great blessings create the magnificent Thirty-two Marks.”
We frequently mention the 32 Marks of the Buddha. These are the appearances people see when they come in contact with each other. As we interact with other people, we see their appearance. When we see another person’s appearances, does it make us feel happy? When other people see our appearance, do they feel a sense of aversion? Toward the same person, some people will have no feeling, while others will feel a sense of aversion, while yet others feel a strong sense of attraction. Ultimately, this is due to their karmic affinities. To be well-liked by people, we must create good karmic affinities. Good [affinities] come from good [deeds]. In our past and present lifetimes, we have done things to benefit this person; we have treated this person well. If we do this for only a few people, that means we form good affinities with only a few people. If many people [feel happy when they see us], it means in the past we created many good affinities and did many good deeds. This is why many people feel grateful toward us.
I continually say that in all things, we must start with ourselves. Consider the Buddha’s 32 Marks. That is quite a number of Marks. How did He attain so many? First let me explain that “one hundred good deeds create one blessing.” We must accomplish 100 good deeds in order to create one blessing. Then we need 100 blessings to create one magnificent Mark. So, we must accumulate 100 blessings for others to see a magnificent appearance. This comes from karmic affinities.
For 100 blessings, how many good deeds do we need? 100 good deeds create one blessing and 100 blessings create one magnificent Mark. This mean we need to accumulate 100 blessings in order to create one magnificent Mark. Therefore, how many good deeds do we need for 32 Marks? Tens of thousands of them to create the hundreds of blessings needed. This tells us how many blessings and good deeds we need to achieve these appearances. Goodness is the most beautiful. Those with goodness in their hearts are seen as beautiful by everyone.
Regardless of their looks, they are well-liked. Some people are very good looking, but if they are not very well-liked, others are not pleased to see them. These people have no Marks and no affinities. Some people do not have good looks, but others still want to be near them. These are the people with Marks. What happens when we see the Buddha? If we have [good] affinities with the Buddha, we will respect Him. We will feel reverent when we see Him and joy will arise in our hearts. If we have any afflictions or complaints, our hearts will open when we see Him and those emotions will be resolved.
Simply seeing the Buddha’s appearance will bring us happiness. Clearly the Buddha has, over many lifetimes, widely created good and blessed affinities. As we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must understand how people relate to each other. Some people, when [they put on a lot of make-up] not only will not attract others, but many even cause them to feel repulsed.
For people, natural is beautiful. Does embellishing their physical appearance really make people seem more likeable? If people genuinely give of themselves, sincerely do good deeds and benefit others, they will be respected and liked by everyone.
So, over trillions of kalpas, over an immeasurable amount of time the Buddha continuously helped people. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas benefit people in this way, so benefiting people is very important. Among the disciples of the Buddha, Sariputra was foremost in wisdom. However, he did not open up his mind. So, at the Lotus Dharma-assembly, he “cried in bitter self-reproach. Why did I continue to believe that it was enough to practice for my own benefit? Why didn’t I think to form great aspirations when accepting the Buddha-Dharma?” therefore, he felt sad because he felt that he had deceived himself.
“Ah,” I cried in bitter self-reproach, Why have I deceived myself? I and the others are also Buddha-children and have also penetrated the Flawless Studies. Yet, in the future, we cannot proclaim the unsurpassed path.”
The Buddha treated His disciples impartially. Arhats, Hearers and Bodhisattvas are all disciples of the Buddha and are all Dharma-children. But they created distinctions among themselves. Thus, “I and the others are also Buddha-children and have also penetrated the Flawless Studies.” In response to the Buddha’s teachings, they had completely eliminated their afflictions. Once we eliminate our afflictions, we must benefit others. Only then can we be Bodhisattvas. Only if we become Bodhisattvas can we share the Buddha-Dharma with everyone. Then we can eventually attain Buddhahood and transform many sentient beings.
This was now the goal Sariputra wanted to pursue. At the Lotus Dharma-assembly, besides hearing the Buddha’s wondrous voice, when his eye-root connected with the Buddha, he praised Him,
“You have a golden form and thirty-two [Marks], the Ten Powers and all the liberations. We are all learning the same Dharma, but we have not attained these things.”
Sariputra continued to sigh to himself, regretting that he still had his old mindset. But upon seeing the Buddha’s magnificent form, this praise came from his heart. “You have a golden form and Thirty-two [Marks], the Ten Powers and all the liberations. This was his praise of the Buddha’s magnificence.
Remember, when the Lotus Assembly began, the Buddha radiated light as He sat in stillness. That kind of radiance, that kind of appearance, was a great shock to everyone. Not only did they feel moved, they were in awe. Such was the power of the Buddha’s magnificence it truly touched people’s hearts. His golden form represented the supreme blessing. We said that 100 good deeds creates one blessing and that 100 blessings creates one Mark. The Buddha already possessed all 32 Marks, which is the most perfect human form. So, He had the 32 Marks and a golden form. Gold is the most precious substance in the world, so it represents the supreme blessing.
You have a golden from and Thirty-two [Marks], the Ten Powers and all the liberations: This is praise for the Buddha’s magnificent Marks. The golden form and the Thirty-two Marks, are an expression of supreme, unsurpassed and infinite blessings. The Ten kinds of powers and wisdom and all the liberations refer to the ten kinds of powers possessed and used by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
The Buddha was praised for already having done so many good deeds. Out of so much love, he benefited others and had accumulated [blessings] to achieve the 32 Marks. This is the utmost, supreme praise. Actually, this was not the extent of His goodness and blessing. This was not all. However, this praise expresses how He was supreme and unsurpassed because He had perfected the 32 Marks. This was quite a feat.
He also had “the Ten Powers and all liberations.” The Ten Powers are ten kinds of wisdom that Buddha and Bodhisattvas possess, which can eliminate our afflictions, one by one.
Let us first understand the 32 Marks. The Marks are an expression of virtue. He had such virtue. So when people saw Him, reverence and respect would arise in their hearts. When people saw the virtues that He physically manifested in His body, respect arose in their hearts. These 32 Marks extended from His head to the bottom to His feet. As we have explained in the past, there is a contour at the bottom of our feet, but the bottoms of the Buddha’s feet were flat. [The Marks started there and went up to] the protuberance on His head; He had a fleshy protuberance.
“The Thirty-Two Marks: A Mark is an expression of virtue that enables people to observe the Buddha’s virtues in His body and thus give rise to respect and admiration. Beginning with His flat-bottomed feet and going up to the fleshy protuberance on His crown, these are the Thirty-two Marks of the Buddha.”
We see this in drawings of the Buddha sometimes. They demonstrate His magnificence. Some people have a bit of a protrusion on their heads, but as for the Buddha, these Marks extended from the top of His head to the bottom of His feet. His four limbs, five facial features and other body parts are all endowed with great Marks. So when people saw Him, they would realize that, to attain Buddhahood, they must achieve this flawless appearance, so that people would feel happy upon seeing them. From His crown to the bottom of His feet, “these are the Thirty-two Marks of the Buddha”. These are the Marks of His perfect appearance.
Sariputra then continued to explain that the Buddha gave the same teachings to everyone. The One Dharma spoke to practitioners of all Three Vehicles, of all three capabilities. But people who have determined that they have average capacities or limited capacities cannot fully accept the Great Vehicle Dharma.
So, in the text, as Sariputra praised the Buddha’s 32 Marks, the Ten Power and all the liberations, His magnificent appearance and His great wisdom, at the same time, he also reflected on himself. “We learned the same Dharma but could not attain the same [realizations]”. He and many others listened to teachings there, He and many others listened to teachings there, yet could not accept them. Therefore he could not attain this Dharma.
What is this Dharma? The Bodhisattva Way taught by the Buddha, the process of attaining Buddhahood. The Buddha constantly explained how people could attain Buddhahood and how everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. We ordinary people are covered by afflictions as we continuously go through cyclic existence. The way for us to eliminate afflictions is to put an end to them.
For this reason the Buddha taught many principles. The goal of putting an end to afflictions is to help manifest our nature of True Suchness. For the nature of True Suchness to manifest, we must go among people. Each person is a sutra. Each person manifests the appearance of suffering. Only when we observe suffering in the world will we come to understand that suffering comes from the many afflictions that we create. Only by putting the teachings into practice can we realize this and thus be able to go among people and give, while keeping our minds undefiled. This is spiritual practice, the Bodhisattva-practice.
In the past, Sariputra, Arhats, and Hearers all thought that this was too hard. Actually, everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature. Why do we need to travel to Vulture Peak? But if we have afflictions or ignorance in our minds, we will remain in the state of Hearers and Arhats, so we cannot attain the Bodhisattva Way.
“He had long followed the Buddha but had not attained [the same realizations], so he felt very sad that he had missed out on the Buddha’ s infinite knowledge and views. He also knew that all Dharma is within one’s own mind and self-nature. Achieving the wisdom-body is not something one can do on another’s behalf.”
“If we do not give rise to diligence and sincerity, even if we encounter Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, we will still not benefit”. This was what he lamented. We must be very sincere and diligent. This sincerity and diligence must be brought out from deep within our hearts. We all intrinsically have Buddha-nature. We were inherently born with goodness. However, we refuse to exercise this goodness. Our intrinsic nature is as pure as crystal but we are unwilling to let our radiance shine.
So, “if we do not give rise to diligence and sincerity, even if we encounter Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, we will still not benefit”. Though we may meet many Buddhas, we still cannot accept the Great Vehicle Dharma, so we cannot put it into practice, either. If we do not form aspirations, how can we put it into practice?
Thus we understand that “sentient beings’ perceptive minds can engage in self-transformation”. We all have our mind-consciousness; We all have our mind-consciousness; our Six Roots connects with the Six Dusts in our external conditions.
“Sariputra knew that sentient beings’ perceptive mind can engage in self-transformation. In the past he encountered countless Buddhas, so why could he still not attain Buddhahood?”
As each Root connects with the Dusts, as some sense object is seen by our eyes, it immediately manifests in our mind-consciousness. What we perceive is called Dust, or phenomena. This is how the mind and consciousness work. You are all listening to the Buddha-Dharma. The Buddha taught this Dharma and now I have further analyzed and explained the intention behind it. Have you accepted it? After you have accepted it and understood it, it is not enough to just know, you must also put it into practice. Then do you understand it? Can you now eliminate your afflictions? If we understand, the starting today, we will change our habitual tendencies. This is true understanding. This is true self-transformation.
Have we formed good affinities with others? Have we shown kindness to others? If we understand, then starting today, we will transform negative affinities into positive affinities. We need to avoid improper relationships and have enlightened love instead. Once we understand and put the Dharma into practice, we will achieve self-transformation. If we have not awakened or transformed ourselves, no matter how many Buddhas we pay respect to, or how many sutras we chant or how many Buddhas we meet, [the Dharma] will be of no use to us. If we had the affinities, in our past lives, since Beginningless Time, we may have encountered many Buddhas.
However, we are still ordinary people. This shows that we have not acted out of genuine sincerity and are still unable to attain Buddhahood. Taking the Dharma to heart begins with practice. If we have not changed our [habitual] tendencies, we must quickly correct them. We must be diligent and sincere. This diligence and sincerity must be brought out from our hearts.
So, “They learned the same Dharma but could not attain the same [realizations].” Sariputra and the others had listened to teachings along with Bodhisattvas, but they had not made Bodhisattva-aspirations, so they still could not realize their state and take the journey of walking the Bodhisattva-path. Their minds were still not prepared.
For decades, the Buddha kindly established teachings [Sariputra] was there with those who received teachings. They learned the same teachings, so why couldn’t he understand the Buddha’s intent and attain the [same realizations] or receive the blessing to attain Buddhahood?
For decades, out of His compassion, the Buddha devised many teachings. For the 84,000 afflictions in sentient beings, He responded with 84,000 teachings to transform them all.
So, the Buddha devised teachings for them because He was kind and compassionate. Sariputra said that many followed the Buddha and received teachings. They all learned the same Dharma. Regardless of the methods the Buddha used or the capabilities He was teaching to, everyone listened to the same Dharma. Those who formed great aspirtions realized the Bodhisattva-path. Those who sought to only awaken themselves still remained at the state of Hearers and Solitary Realizers. This was up to each of them.
So, if they all learned the same Dharma, why did he stop at this state? “Why couldn’t he understand the Buddha’s intent? Having followed the Buddha for many decades, how could his mind still be so distant from the Buddha’s mind? Why couldn’t I understand the Buddha’s intent and attain the [same realizations]?” He could not understand the Bodhisattva-path and had not received a prediction of Buddhahood. Sariputra brooded about how he had wasted so much time.
Dear Bodhisattvas, we are not “Bodhisattvas in name only. We must truly aspire to walk the Bodhisattva-path, so we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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