Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: We Must Never Forget Our Original Vows (莫忘本弘願)
Date: January.28. 2015
“The Buddha described His past teachings, which had now been forgotten. Now He spoke to the assembly again to clarify that in the past, He had taught the Bodhisattva Way, but because of their Leaks, they had forgotten their original vows.”
This explains that, in the past the Buddha was always teaching mindfully. But some people, the majority of people, quickly forgot the teachings after hearing them. This was what “the Buddha described”. In the previous sutra passage, the Buddha again described the past; He was constantly reminding us. For instance, He spoke of His “past teachings” and how, in the presence of two trillion Buddhas, He had engaged in spiritual practice and guided people to understand the deeply profound principles of the Buddha-Dharma. He did not only do this for one lifetime, but for an incalculable number of past lives. He did all this for the sake of one thing, to help us develop the clarity of mind to see our intrinsic nature.
This Dharma is so simple, but He had to spend such a long time to unceasingly teach it. This kind of description tells everyone that this has happened over a very long time, over many lifetimes. After He taught it, it was quickly forgotten.
In the [sutra], Sariputra was representative [of the assembly]. When he described his own mindset, he was expressing what many other people all wanted to say. They all had karmic conditions to follow the Buddha for who knows how long of a time. In the past, the Buddha taught them unceasingly, yet in this lifetime they still remained in the state of the Small Vehicle. This was what Sariputra and the others felt.
So, the Buddha began proclaiming the following at this assembly. He wanted everyone to clearly understand that, “in the past, He had taught the Bodhisattva Way.” Over many past lifetimes, He had been in the presence of two trillion Buddhas. Over this long time, what He was constantly taught was the Bodhisattva Way. He wanted everyone to value the Bodhisattva-path. But we humans [cannot], “because of [our] Leaks”. Because of our ignorance and afflictions, greed, anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt, etc., we cycle back, one lifetime after another. For an unknown number of lifetimes, we have endlessly given rise to afflictions. These afflictions arise from habitual tendencies; thus we have Leaks.
Though we have had the karmic conditions to encounter the Buddha-Dharma life after life, we retain the characteristics of ordinary people so we reproduce thoughts of afflictions more often [than thoughts of the Dharma]. For example, laypeople do things for the sake of their family or for their careers, and so on. They are so busy they do not have much time. After they hear the Dharma, [they think], “It makes sense and makes me happy. I should change my habitual tendencies. I should diligently [practice] the Dharma.” But the time they spend listening to the Dharma in comparison to the time they spend being busy is quite small, and of course, the time they spend reproducing afflictions is greater. This is why sentient beings have many Leaks and much ignorance, and why so little pure Dharma has been able to penetrate their minds. This is true even for monastic practitioners. Their morning routine is to listen to the Dharma, but the time they listen is less than an hour.The rest of their day is very busy with interacting with people and dealing with matters with afflictions from their environment in their minds.We can also compare these amounts of time.
As we go about our work, inevitably one person will say, “This plant will look better here.”And then someone also will say, “No, it won’t.”“It will look better if we put some bamboo here.”In the fields, [one says,].“Today we will plant amaranth seeds.”But another will say, “No, we should plant water spinach.”
A small matter such as this can turn into a dispute between people.What difference does it make whether we plant amaranth or water spinach?To grow either, we need to sow seeds.The field has already been plowed, all we need to do is plant the seeds.
Why argue over things that are so similar?This is unnecessary.
“If you think this is good, that is fine.”When things are pretty much the same, if neither is wrong or will take us astray and the results will be the same, then both parties should give a little.Then there will be harmony and we will not need to engage in disputes.
Recently I have heard some lay Bodhisattvas-volunteers share about their short-term retreat at the Abode.In the fields, they realized that the monastics teach according to capabilities.When they hit rocks while hoeing the fields, [the volunteers say,] “There are so many rocks!”[The monastics would say,].“Indeed! This is what our minds are like. When we find a rock in this field, we must quickly pick it up and set it aside. Then the vegetables can grow beautifully.”
Hearing this, the volunteers thought, “This makes a lot of sense. This is just like my daily living. Sometimes if I encounter difficulties, I feel very annoyed. I am annoyed with the things around me, but I do not reflect on myself and examine the field of my own mind. These afflictions were already inside of me and not caused by external things.”
Dharma Masters who are good at guiding people will bring the Dharma into these farming methods.[Guided in this way,] the volunteers feel very happy.This is why I say that our daily living cannot deviate from the Dharma.If our minds deviate from the Dharma, we will experience Leaks.We will give rise to afflictions again and then fall back into the ways of ordinary people.We will give rise to more ignorance.This is because after accepting the teachings, we quickly lose them; we forget them.
During this period of time, the Buddha constantly described and explained how He had taught people in the past.Over such a long period of time, He formed connections with everyone by devising teachings for them over many lifetimes.But every single teaching was all about encouraging everyone to walk the Bodhisattva-path.Only by doing that would they have the chance to return to their pure intrinsic nature.Lifetime after lifetime He did the same thing.His disciples had had the karmic conditions to accept these teachings life after life, but they quickly forgot them.
So, when we hear the Dharma right now, we must clearly understand the essential points.We need to remember that we already have an affinity with the Buddha.That is why we continue to learn and review the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha.
In the past we already had the affinity to engage in spiritual practice with Him.So, in this lifetime, we must seize every moment.Since we can hear the Dharma, we must take it to heart and abide in the Buddha’s wisdom.We cannot allow external conditions to disturb our spiritual aspirations.
So, the previous sutra passages states, “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.”
The Buddha had already spent a long time engaging in spiritual practice.At the same time, He taught everyone unceasingly.
However, while He engaged in practice and at the same time taught everyone, we still remained lost in the long night, the long night of ignorance.When we ordinary people hear the Dharma although we seem to understand, we really do not.What we do understand, we feel that we cannot put it into practice; it seems very difficult.This is the long and dark night of our minds, like the darkness at night, before dawn.We bring our ignorant and ordinary mind with us when we receive teachings.
This is why the Buddha said, “I have used skillful means to guide you so that you could be born of my teachings”. Everyone is still asleep, unable to awaken, or they are still lost in that long night, because they have not eliminated their afflictions. This means that the first glimmers of dawn have not yet appeared in our minds. This is what we call the long night. This is the state of mind in which we have not eliminated our ignorance; in this state we receive the Buddha’s teachings. And so the following passage states,
“Sariputra, in the past, I taught you to vow to follow the path to Buddhahood. But you have completely forgotten this. And then they say that you have already attained Nirvana”.
The Buddha again reminded Sariputra that, after such a long time, the glimmers of dawn had not yet surfaced in his mind. “Sariputra, in the past, I taught you to vow to follow the path to Buddhahood”. During the time of the two trillion Buddhas, the Buddha was engaged in spiritual practice. At that time, the Buddha created many affinities with people. In the presence of those two trillion Buddhas, He always did the same thing; He sought the Buddha’s Way and transformed sentient beings. The sentient beings transformed by Him then followed Him, lifetime after lifetime. At this assembly, He began to teach everyone that they must “vow to follow the path to Buddhahood”. As they engage in spiritual practice, they must make great vows to do great things. “Great vows” are the vows to transform sentient beings and to attain Buddhahood. We can do this because we have followed the Buddha in spiritual practice. You and I, in our past lifetimes, formed karmic connections with the Buddha. We have been on that road right up to the present. But over this long period of time, as the Buddha said, “You have completely forgotten this”. He continued to lead everyone, hoping that they would make this kind of vow, but everyone had forgotten again.
“And then you say that you have already attained Nirvana”. Up until that lifetime, they had the karmic affinity to be together and continue to learn from the Buddha. But, they still clung to emptiness and existence, so they had not achieved a perfect [awakening]. They only sought self-awakening and had not yet aspired to awaken others. Forming aspirations is easy; persevering is hard.
We quickly forget this resolve. The reason people quickly forget is, “if your vows are not deeply rooted, you set aside the Great to learn the Small”.
“Because your vows were not deeply rooted, in the course of your spiritual practice, you set aside the Great to learn the Small. Halfway there, you completely forgot. So, now you claim to have already attained Nirvana. In the past, I taught you to vow to follow the path to Buddhahood. Yet now you have completely forgotten it and set aside the Great to learn the Small, causing you worries and regrets.”
If our root of faith is not deeply and firmly anchored, we may learn easily, but after we learn we quickly forget. Thus we lose that original aspiration. Over the course [of our spiritual practice], when any kind of afflictions or ignorance in our surroundings influence us, our minds waver and go astray. This is why we “set aside the Great”. We form a great aspiration, then lose it and go back to cultivating ourselves for our own awakening and our own benefit. This happens when the period of time is long but our vows are not deeply rooted.
Recently I have been sharing with everyone that we must never forget our initial aspiration. We must not forget our state of mind when we made those vows. This is very important. Small children can understand this, let alone us older spiritual practitioners. Everyone, we must mindfully protect this [resolve]. We must not forget it again as we practice.
“Now you claim to have already attained Nirvana”. We cannot assume that by practicing that way we will achieve this result. The Buddha never stopped telling us that He taught us to vow to walk the path to Buddhahood. However, we have forgotten, and so we have worries. We are worried about our method of spiritual practice, about whether in the future, we will be able to eliminate our afflictions. We still have not clearly understood. This was what the Buddha, amidst the assembly, openly told everyone.
“And now, He proclaimed to the assembly: You who have made the Great Vows must not forget your initial aspiration. The Buddha, for a very long time, has always delivered sentient beings with the Great Vehicle of One Reality.”
In the past, this was how He guided us and this was how He taught us.He taught us to form great aspirations and vows. We must go among people to develop this state of mind. For example, [in Tzu Chi] if Bodhisattva-volunteers are dedicated, if they are enthusiastic about world affair and helping humanity, they will not be afraid of hard work and will wholeheartedly contribute. Lay Bodhisattva-volunteers can do this, so can monastic practitioners. The greater their aspirations are, the more dedicated they will be to other people and the more they will understand worldly matters. “The Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from the workings of the world.” We can verify the workings of the world, along with the Buddha-Dharma. Based on this, though practicing the Great Vehicle seem to be very hard work, internally, we must safeguard a pure state of mind, while externally, we must go among the people to teach them.We must sow the seeds of the Buddha-Dharma. We must sow the seeds of the Buddha-Dharma but remain unaffected by our surroundings. Whether wind, rain or blazing sun, we must not let these conditions cause us to lose our aspiration to help other people.
The greater our aspirations, the less we are afraid to work hard. The more we tirelessly give, the greater the harvest we reap from our work. This is a kind of realization. So, the Buddha told Sariputra that for a long period of time in the past, His original intent had been to teach the Bodhisattva Way.This was what He said to Sariputra. He hoped that Sariputra, as well as everyone else, would be able to seize the opportunities, over the course of their spiritual practice, to also benefit other people and not lose their aspirations again halfway through. He was saying that, this was what He taught in the past, but they had forgotten it. So, now He was going to remind them again, and they must not forget it in the future.
Ordinary people often form aspirations then give up, then form aspiration, then give up. They are constantly forming aspirations and constantly giving up.When this is the case, no matter how long we take, we find it hard to truly realize the Dharma. Everyone, as we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must make an effort to learn it mindfully. Otherwise, every day we will listen, form aspirations and then forget again every day. We will go through this cycle every day. In this life time we form aspirations, then in the next we are tempted by phenomena to fall back into the characteristics of ordinary people so that ignorance and afflictions cover our minds once again.Then we allow the pure resolve to engage in spiritual practice to leak away again. This is the cycle we keep repeating, lifetime after lifetime.
Now in this current lifetime, we do this day after day, year after year. We keep listening to the Dharma, keep allowing it to leak away and keep giving rise to more afflictions. Think about this; how long do we have to wait to be one with the ocean of the Buddha’s enlightenment?
Dear Bodhisattvas, as we learn the Buddha’s Way we must remember that the Buddha has already taught us the Bodhisattva Way.This teaching must always remain in our hearts. All the scriptures are ultimately about teaching s to walk the Bodhisattva-path. We must not allow this to leak away, nor can we forget our original vows. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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