Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Abiding in True Wisdom, We Realize the Great Path (安住實智 體解大道)
Date: January.27. 2015
“When we abide in true wisdom, we can understand all Dharma. When we realize the great path, we will go among the people. We will forever remain on the path of the One Vehicle for the one great cause of the unconditioned Dharma.”
Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must be mindful. Our minds must abide in true wisdom. If we can calm our minds and abide in true wisdom, then naturally we can understand all Dharma. We have talked about abiding in true wisdom before. We must sever the web of doubts to abide in true wisdom. True wisdom is the Buddha’s wisdom. If we can attain the Buddha’s wisdom, then we can understand all Dharma.
Aren’t we learning the Buddha’s Way so that our path may be unobstructed? Ordinary people are lost and confused. When it comes to knowing what we are doing and what its outcome will be, we are completely lost, unware and [always] worrying about gain and loss. This makes us ordinary people.
Is what we are doing now right or wrong? We still have many questions; so, this is the web of doubts. Similarly, when we engage in spiritual practice, we have already made up our minds to do so, yet as we walk this road, we might wonder, “How can the road be so long? By walking this road can we truly reach our destination?” This is what ordinary people [think]. Though we have chosen the correct path, as we walk on it, we feel tired, and question how far we have to go. This is because we do not yet understand. We do not just [question] how far but also whether we will reach the destination. This is the web of doubts. This is why it is easy for indolence to arise. Not only do doubts obstruct us, we also become indolent, we feel that the road is long, so when it comes to making progress, we feel like we do not have enough energy. This indolence arises in our minds. This is because our minds are not truly abiding in the Buddha’s true wisdom.
If we can eliminate the web of doubts, we will leave indolence behind and our minds will be the Buddha-mind. If we eliminate our confusion, our pure nature of True Suchness will manifest. Then how can the road be long? The [destination] is right in front of us.
For example, there was a group of people who made a special trip here from Malaysia. They were all very happy; after their training [camp], they came to the Abode yesterday afternoon. They knew that they could not speak with me individually, so each family composed a letter for me. They wrote these letters to me, which then filled two big boxes. When they delivered these boxes, I opened them and pulled out one letter from among all of them. I asked them, “Who wrote this letter? Is this person here?” The lay practitioner who wrote the letter was present, so everyone told him, “Why don’t you read this letter out loud?” He said that this letter was written by his wife. So, he would read it for her.
This is the man who, several years ago, when he was certified [as a Faith Corps member], cried a tear that dropped onto my hand.
He is a very diligent volunteer.He had shared in the past that when he first joined Tzu Chi, he watched everything on the Da Ai Channel, be it “Life Wisdom” or “Wisdom at Dawn,” and also read the Jing Si Aphorisms.Whether he read or heard something, he would be moved and could not help but cry.
When he came here to be certified, at the training camp, he heard everyone share about their various experiences in Tzu Chi and about how Bodhisattvas [-volunteers] went among the suffering.When he heard this, he was very moved and he cried.
On the day he was certified, there was already an air of sadness about parting ways after the ceremony.
As someone who had always been close to my heart and been very earnest about his Tzu Chi work, [that day] he aspired and vowed to be diligent.At that time, his compassion and wisdom came together in his heart.As he was being certified, as I [pinned the badge on him] and handed him the red envelope, one of his tears happened to fall onto my hand.
After the ceremony that day, I shared, “There is a lay practitioner whose tear fell onto my hand during certification. When such a reverent teardrop fell onto my hand, I could not bear to wipe it away.”This time he told me, “I was more moved after [I was certified].”He had also shared this story the day before.
Everyone said, “It is such a coincidence that Master picked out your wife’s letter. “ I asked, I asked, ”Is your wife here?”
He said, “Yes, but not in this room. Come, read this letter on her behalf.”
Before he could begin, his wife suddenly walked in.So I said, “The two of you are of the same heart. Your compassion has resonated with mine, so that is why, among all these letters, I happened to pick this particular one.”This is all about the heart.
Among those many people [who were] here, he had very special circumstances.As his tears fell one landed on my hand; this happened a few years ago.
Then this year, when these letters were written, his wife wrote one on their behalf, and it was chosen to be read.This was the same person.Their compassion resonated with mine, so incredibly, [I picked out their letter].
Yesterday morning at the Jing Si Hall, he had also gone on stage to share his firm faith in Tzu Chi and in my teachings.So in summary, the power of the mind is inconceivable.We should abide in true wisdom to understand all Dharma.If our minds can abide peacefully, we will understand everything.Among those many people who were here, it was their letter that I picked.Our compassionate hearts resonated with each other.This is also inconceivable.
In this way, when our minds can connect, we can comprehend the great path.Everyone, we should learn the Dharma.Only when our minds abide peacefully can we understand the Dharma.
Only when we understand the Dharma can we can realize the great path.The Buddha’s teachings, His wisdom, are the true principles of all things in the universe.So, we must not only understand all the matters and things in our daily living, we must understand all the principles as well.After we understand, we must go among people.
We cannot just know and understand, cannot have so many great teachings and not share them with others.We must realize the Buddha’s mind.The thought He had safeguarded in His mind was to deliver the Dharma into the minds of sentient beings.This is transmitting the Dharma.The Buddha transmitted it to His disciples; Then His disciples had to contuse to transmit it into the minds of all sentient beings.This is why we must realize the great path and go among the people.
At the same time, the Dharma we want to learn is also found among people.This must be the scenery of our state of mind.
What is the scenery of the spiritual path of the Bodhisattvas?
The Bodhisattva-path is very broad.If there were no grasses, flowers, trees or woods on the side, if none of these phenomena existed, wouldn’t this road be like an endless desert?Therefore, to walk the Bodhisattva-path, we must go among people.
This is because, in everyone’s life, each has experienced the Dharma and principles, including the principle of the truth of suffering. There are the very obvious afflictions that have accumulated because of people’s habitual tendencies. People’s suffering is what Bodhisattvas encounter on their spiritual path. This is why we know to move forward by putting one foot forward and lifting the other. The only way to eliminate our past delusions is to keep walking forward. This is how Bodhisattvas abide purely in true wisdom and give of themselves to all people. This is “realizing the great path”.
“We will forever remain” means they will always be this way. The Buddha comes to this world and “forever remains on the path of the One Vehicle”. As He interacted with sentient beings, there was only one Dharma that He safeguarded in His mind, that everyone can attain Buddhahood, that everyone intrinsically has Buddha-nature, that everyone has a crystal-pure intrinsic nature. This is the path of the One Vehicle; this is the wisdom of One Reality. This is something we all intrinsically have. “We will forever remain on the path of the One Vehicle”.
As we listen to the Dharma, we must put it into practice as well. [We must act for] “the one great cause of the unconditioned Dharma”. The one great cause is to help all sentient beings. We want to help them understand the unconditioned Dharma. We cannot see this Dharma, but principles exist in this intangible state. Many of these hidden principles are inconceivable and indescribable; there are so many of them. The previous passage states,
“At that time, the Buddha told Sariputra, I, now amidst the great assembly of heavenly beings, humans, sramanas, Brahmins and others, declare that in the distant past, I have been in the presence of two trillion Buddhas, and for the sake of the unsurpassed path, I have constantly taught and transformed you”.
The Buddha proclaimed to everyone that throughout the lifetimes of two trillion Buddhas, He had spent this long period of time building affinities with everyone by [teaching] them the Dharma. When He was one of the 16 princes, he did the same thing. During His time with these many Buddhas, as each of Them entered into Samadhi, He went out and taught sentient beings. This was now He was able to attain Buddhahood; it took such a long period of [spiritual practice]. At the Lotus Dharma-assembly, this was what the Buddha openly told people. He had engaged in spiritual practice for so long.
In those lives, Sakyamuni had been one of 16 princes. Now, after attaining enlightenment, He is called Sakyamuni Buddha. In the era of the 16 princes, He had formed good affinities with His disciples-to-be. So, in this era, they could be born of Sakyamuni’s teachings, and the Buddha could continue to teach them. The next passage beings with the Buddha saying,
“You, throughout the long night, have followed me and received my instruction. I have used skillful means to guide you so that you could be born of my teachings.”
“You” refers to Sariputra and everyone else. These disciples had already formed good affinities with Him in the time of the 16 princes, and these affinities extended to the present day. At that time, everyone was [abiding] within this Dharma while at the same time living through the long night. The “long night” refers to a state of ignorance and darkness.
“You, throughout the long night, have followed me and received my instruction: The “long night” refers to a state of ignorance and darkness. Sariputra had been immersed in the afflictions of cyclic existence when he followed the Buddha and received His instruction.”
At night, before the sky brightens, we cannot see the roads outside clearly, nor can we make out the things in our external surroundings. We call this state the “long night”. When ordinary people are walking outside at night if they do not have lamps lighting their ways, it is very dangerous. The long night we speak of right now is an analogy for ignorance. It is a dark state of mind. When ordinary people are in a state of ignorance, this is how dark their minds are. The Buddha told Sariputra that this was just like how Sariputra had been during the time of two trillion Buddhas. Sakyamuni Buddha was still engaging in spiritual practice, until His spiritual cultivation led Him to be one of the 16 princes of Supreme Penetration and Wisdom Buddha. After that Buddha entered Samadhi, each of the 16 princes went out to teach and transmit the Dharma. Those who had karmic affinities with them would listen to their teachings.
Therefore, at that time, Sariputra, and all of us in the present day, had an affinity with Sakyamuni Buddha. We have followed Him and received His teachings, lifetime after lifetime.
The following passage states, “I have used skillful means to guide you so that you could be born of my teachings”. He used various skillful means to guide us to be born of His teachings. The skillful means He guided us with were the provisional Dharma of the Two Vehicles. He used the Two Vehicles, the Hearer and Pratyekabuddha [vehicles]. These were the various provisional teachings. He used to guide sentient beings. Through this we know that Sariputra had followed the Buddha for lifetime after lifetime and could never bear to be apart from Him, while the Buddha continued to patiently guide him. Clearly, the road to Buddhahood is very long. If we do not change our mind or awaken, then our minds will forever remain in the long night.
I have used skillful means to guide you so that you could be born of my teachingsp. The Buddha used the provisional Dharma of the Two Vehicles to guide Sariputra. This is how Sariputra gradually entered the Path.
This is an analogy for how Dharma-children’s wisdom-life grows “Dharma-children are born of the Buddha’s mouth.” Have we all taken the teachings the Buddha spoken into our hearts?
Who knows how may lifetimes it has been? Over 2000 years ago, we were born in His lifetime. We have listened to Him teach and followed Him, lifetime after lifetime. Now we still have that affinity. Though we are 2000 years removed from that time, our roots of goodness and [Bodhi-]seeds are still with us. So, His Dharma-children’s wisdom-life grows. They are born from the Buddha’s mouth and transformed by the Dharma. Thus they realize their part in the Dharma. This was mentioned in a previous passage.
His Dharma-children’s wisdom-life grows.They are born from the Buddha’s mouth and transformed by the Dharma. Even if [Sariputra] had not yet eliminated his delusions of views and thinking, the Dharma he heard became seeds and causes, which were planted in his consciousness and will never deteriorate. Moreover, today he truly realizes that he is truly a child of the Buddha. This is real and not illusory or false.
The same principle applies here. The Buddha spent so much time using skillful means and provisional teachings to guide us, but it was all in the hopes that after passing through the long night, the rays of daylight would appear.
At this moment, the first light of the morning has already gradually begun to appear. Seeing the glimmer of dawn, we know it is morning. The sky is becoming bright. This Dharma was gradually manifesting. The outside world can now be seen more clearly. Sariputra had followed the Buddha for a long time. Though he had not yet eliminated his delusional views and thinking, he was always listening to His teachings. That seed still remained within him, just as it still remains within us. That seed is in our consciousness. They are in our storehouse consciousness and will never deteriorate.
Sariputra had now truly awakened. He felt that “he was truly a child of the Buddha.” He felt that “he was truly a child of the Buddha.” “This is real and not illusory or false.” Because his wisdom-life had grown, the Dharma spoken from the Buddha’s mouth had been taken into his heart; he experienced it and transformed it into wisdom-life. Because in his life, he had taken the Dharma to heart, even as his physical life grew shorter over time, his wisdom-life grew within the Buddha-Dharma.
So, “he is truly a child of the Buddha.” “This is real and not illusory or false.”
Dear Bodhisattvas, when we engage in spiritual practice, we must form Bodhisattva-aspirations. The Bodhisattva state of mind can only be attained among people. Therefore, we must not forget the Buddha’s teachings. As we receive the Dharma among people, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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