Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Give Provisional Teachings, Abide in True Wisdom (妙權方便安住實智)
Date: January.16. 2015
“With flawless Samadhi and wisdom, our minds will be clear and pure. This inconceivable state is deep and far-reaching. The wondrous provisional is also the true; thus it is called subtle and wondrous. Thus we can peacefully abide in true wisdom and teach this Dharma.”
We often say that we engage in spiritual practice to eliminate afflictions. Afflictions are also called Leaks. Leaks allow things to flow out. We listen to good teachings, but after hearing them, we may forget. This is because our afflictions continue to multiply. Thus, we remain the same as before. Our habitual tendencies still remain. This is why we have Leaks. How can we take the Dharma to heart without allowing it to leak out? To do this we must put in head work as we engage in spiritual practice. This means that we must work hard on practicing precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are the Three Flawless Studies. This means if we abide by precepts in our actions and have Samadhi in our hearts, we will have wisdom in our minds. Precepts guard against wrongs and stop evil. They prevent evil thoughts from entering our minds and keep us from committing wrongdoings in the world around us; this is what precepts can do. This is because, within each of us, we have various habitual tendencies. These habitual tendencies cause us to lose our sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. Perhaps there is also arrogance or anger in us. If people have these emotions in them, coming together to do things will give rise to severe afflictions and many obstacles.
Thus we must begin with refining out characters. We must uphold precepts to protect our minds. We must interact with people and deal with things with sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness. We must not interact with people with a mind of greed, anger, ignorance or arrogance. If we can form an organization with this spirit, it will be the best kind of organization. This is why we must engage in spiritual practice.
A monastery is a group of spiritual practitioners. In a community of spiritual practitioners, everyone must truly engage in spiritual cultivation. Everyone must value the precepts. Only when there are precepts in our lives can our minds be calm and focused. So, we must cultivate precepts, then Samadhi. With precepts and Samadhi, we can gain wisdom. If we cultivate precepts and Samadhi, then we will definitely have wisdom. Because our minds guard against wrongs and stop evil, we can prevent unwholesome and discursive thoughts from arising. Thus our behavior will be free of mistakes. We will be at peace, with a clear conscience, and naturally our minds will be pure like water. If the water is calm, it can clearly reflect the sky, the stars, the moon and so on. This is because precepts can help our minds achieve a state of Samadhi so they can be like still water that clearly reflects all phenomena. This is what we call wisdom.
When we apply wisdom to our surroundings, we will be able to see things very clearly and separate out [the truth in] interpersonal conflicts. Then we naturally do not make mistakes. So, “with flawless Samadhi and wisdom, our minds will be clear and pure.”
“Flawless” means that [with no Leaks] the Dharma will remain in our hearts and in our daily living. So, if we live according to the Dharma then the Dharma will not leak away. If the Dharma is applied in all our interactions, then our minds will be pure. This is truly inconceivable. Why is it inconceivable? Because it is very profound. The Buddha became enlightened when [His mind] converged with the universe.So, wisdom must pervade the universe and all the Dharma-realms, encompassing all things, sentient or non-sentient.
Sentient includes humans and all living beings.Non-sentient refers to various things in the world, mountains, rivers and so on.
These are non-sentient.Sentient or non-sentient, everything contains very profound Dharma.
Look at all the things in the world.Each of the various grains have different effects on our bodies.Their nutrients can keep us healthy.They can be prepared into delicious food.See, isn’t this also Dharma?The food that grows from the land can provide us with an abundance of Dharma.If we think about this, isn’t this very subtle and wondrous?These principles have existed since Beginningless Time.No matter how much time has passed, the principles [remain].People’s minds, natures and temperaments have caused interpersonal conflicts since ancient times.When different habitual tendencies come together, afflictions arise in the world.
We engage in spiritual practice so that we can understand these afflictions.Everywhere in the world, regardless of the place, humans and sentient beings have their distinct habitual tendencies.So, no matter how much time has passed, or how vast the space is, peoples’ troubles and afflictions are the same.
This is also inconceivable.
We want to return a pure state of mind, but this is inconceivable.
It is also inconceivable to us.So, what methods, how many teachings, do we need [to understand this]?In this vast world and universe, among these multitudes of people, what is the Dharma that can be adapted people’s understandings to help them refocus their mind on precepts, Samadhi and wisdom?What is the Dharma we can use to purify our minds?It can actually be very profound.
So, the Buddha adapted the teachings according to the various afflictions of sentient beings by using many different kinds of principles.Thus the inconceivable, very profound principles could be reached starting from the simple and, in this way, be suitable for sentient beings.
So, “The wondrous provisional is also the true; thus it is called subtle and wondrous.”Within the teachings of skillful means are hidden the true principles.If we do not understand spiritual practice and are biased and cling to a certain teaching, then we will be like Sariputra.Because he learned helpful principles, he became biased and attached to them.He was attached to the principles of “true emptiness”.He understood this principles well but he still did not thoroughly comprehend the principle of “wondrous existence,” therefore there was a deficiency in his wisdom-life.
The Enlightened One was wise, so whatever He tells us, we must try to understand.After we understand, we must reflect and awaken, reflect on ourselves and awaken to the truth.If we can do this, though wondrous provisional teachings are skillful means, [we will realize] they contain True Dharma.This is subtle and wondrous. If we can do this, we will understand that with spiritual practice, our minds peacefully abide.
Where can they peacefully abide?In ultimate wisdom.Ultimate wisdom is the wisdom of True Suchness.This is the only way we can understand the Dharma and be able to share it with other people.
During the Buddha’s lifetime, there was a Brahmin practitioner who had gradually come to understand that Sakyamuni Buddha’s teachings were really great.So, he wanted to abandon his Brahmin practices.
One day he came before the Buddha and asked.“World-Honored One, in the future, how many Buddhas will appear in this world?”
The Buddha replied, “In the future, those who will become Buddhas will number as many as the sands of the Ganges.”
After hearing this, he felt at peace.“When I come back as a human in future lifetime, I can practice the Buddha-Dharma then.”
He was quite satisfied and went home.
But halfway home, he thought, “I only asked how many will become Buddhas in the future, but did not ask how many had attained Buddhahood in the past.”So, he hurried back to ask Sakyamuni Buddha replied, “Those who have attained Buddhahood in the past are as innumerable as he sands of the Ganges.”
Upon hearing this, this Brahmin practitioner suddenly came to a realization. “Indeed, those who had attained Buddhahood in the past are as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, yet I had not encountered even one before. Though there will be innumerable future Buddhas will I encounter any of Them? Since I never encountered one in the past, I don’t know if I can meet one in the future. Right in front of me is the Great Enlightened One, Sakyamuni Buddha. Why don’t I seize this moment to immediately engage in spiritual practice?”
He made this decision and asked to take refuge with the Buddha and become a monastic. The Buddha smiled and happily accepted him. “Welcome, bhiksu”. Just like that, this Brahmin practitioner worked hard on his spiritual practice and peacefully abided in ultimate wisdom. He knew he must purify his mind. So, free of discursive thoughts and distractions, he focused his efforts on spiritual practice. This is what we must strive to do in our own spiritual practice.
Since we did not attain [realizations] in the past and do not know what the future will bring, why don’t we seize this moment? We peacefully remain in this pure state of mind as we receive the Buddha’s teachings. So, the passage we previously discussed states,
“The Buddha, by means of various conditions, taught with analogies and skillful verbal teachings and led my mind to be as calm as the sea. As I listened, I severed the web of doubts.”
This is the previous sutra passage. With the Buddha’s mind, there is not anything in the universe that He does not know. So, the Buddha, with a pure heart and wisdom as vast as the sea, taught according to sentient beings’ capacities. Sariputra now should have already severed his web of doubts. So in the next passage, he said,
“The Buddha says that in the past, countless Buddhas who entered Parinirvana have abided in skillful means and likewise given such teachings”.
The Buddha had always said that there have been many Buddhas, countless numbers like the sands of the Ganges. An incalculable number of Them have already appeared in this world. Every Buddha who appeared in this world peacefully abided in skillful means. They likewise taught skillful means.
When Confucius taught, he also gave examples of what happened in ancient history. He just described; he did not create. The things he talked about were what happened in the past. The same principle applies to what I am teaching now, which is what Sakyamuni Buddha taught in the past. So, what I am describing, relating to you now,
is what the Buddha recounted in the past. Sariputra described how the Buddha spoke of the past, saying that Sakyamuni, like [past Buddhas], “first taught the provisional then the true”.
The Buddha said that past Buddhas also taught skillful means for the sake of expounding the Dharma in this world. The present Buddha, Sakyamuni, did the same, using skillful means to guide sentient beings. Only at the end did He “open up the provisional to reveal the true”. Because sentient beings have had these habitual tendencies for a very long time, the Buddha had to teach according to their capabilities and habitual tendencies. So, He used skillful means, but actually taught the true path.
“He heard the Buddha explain that He opened up the provisional to reveal the true, and that all Buddhas of the Three Periods shared the same path. They abided in skillful means and what “They proclaimed were also skillful teachings, which was also the true path. Thus, this was all to teach the pure Dharma.”
These skillful means are actually teaching the true path; they all contained the principles within them. This is like the practical objects we use in daily living. Everything from food to clothing, housing or transportation contains very profound principles. So, within all skillful means and within everything we use there are very profound principles of matter and of life. This is something we must experience and realize.
“Thus, this was all to teach the pure Dharma”. All past, present and future Buddhas first teach with skillful means, then reveal the True Dharma to everyone. Because of this, [people] could understand. “Upon hearing this, [he] realized that this is the true path”. Only then did he begin to understand that though what the Buddha taught in the past was skillful means, it actually contained true principles.
“Upon hearing this, He realized that this is the true path. So, great happiness arose in his mind. Abiding in wondrous, provisional, skillful means, he fully eliminated his doubts and regrets. This is how he entered the true wisdom of the Tathagata.”
The Buddha had talked about true emptiness, which actually contains the True Dharma of wondrous existence. It was just that Sariputra did not understand. So now, great happiness arose in Sariputra’s heart. Previously he only understood one aspect of it. Now he was quite clear about both sides. Similarly, when we have two healthy feet, we can step forward and make great strides to advance. The principle is the same. It is not enough to just cultivate wisdom, we also need to cultivate blessings. “One cannot be lacking in roots of goodness, in blessings, virtues and karmic connections”.
If we want to see True Suchness, we must have great roots of goodness, blessings, virtues and karmic connections. Only then can we return to our pure intrinsic Buddha-nature.
Sariputra understood this now, so great happiness arose in his heart. His heart gave rise to happiness and abided in wondrous provisional means. His mind was already at peace and all past doubts had been completely eliminated. If we want our minds to be focused, we must eliminate doubts so that we can peacefully listen to the Dharma. If we do not thoroughly believe it, then our minds will often give rise to doubts. Thus, we must eliminate all doubts and regrets to enter the true wisdom of the Tathagata.
So, when everyone listens to the teachings, I hope they will listen with sincerity. If we can take the Dharma to heart, we can immediately see all things and matters with a sense of respect. All things have living principles within them. We should not think that things are non-sentient and are made to be used by sentient beings. Is the floor sentient or not? Is the roof sentient or not? They are non-sentient, why? Because no matter how we use them, they will not react to us in any way. We can change them however we like, and they take on the form we choose for them. But actually, they contain very profound principles within them. These profound principles exist within.
Think about a thick-trunked tree, whose trunk is so big we have to hold hands to wrap ourselves around it. It grew from a tiny seed that was planted. Then causes and conditions converged; there was sunlight water, earth and air. Only when these causes and conditions converged did this tiny seed sprout and grow into a sapling. Then it grew from a sapling into a small tree and finally into a thick-trunked tree. After it is cut down by people, it can become lumber. Lumber can be used to produce many products. In construction, it is used to build houses, so it is a kind of building material. When these materials are placed on the ground, we call them “the floor”. When placed above us, we call them “the ceiling”. Their labels are different; this just depends on how we decide to use them. They can be used at people’s discretion. If we understand these principles, we will feel very grateful. How much hardship did that tree have to weather in order to become a thick-trucked tree? If we can understand the principles behind how it arises and how it is used, if we can understand this, we will all cherish all things.
So, the principles can lead us back to our intrinsic nature. If we realize and understand all of them , we will have the wisdom to cherish all things in the world. This is the true wisdom of the Tathagata. The same principle applies.
So everyone, we must mindfully listen to teachings. “From seeing one corner, we can understand the other three”. We must use this skill to understand things. Then there will be no Dharma we cannot understand. So, I hope that everyone abides in the flawless studies of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom and applies the Dharma in their daily living. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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