Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Follow the Path with a Firm Resolve (質直無偽 志念堅固)
Date: February.13. 2015
“We sincerely follow the path without falseness. Firmly maintaining the integrity of our minds, we will not deviate. With deeply rooted faith, we walk the Bodhi-path. On the steadfast path of wondrous Dharma, we attain great perfect mirror wisdom.”
I continually talk to everyone about faith, steadfastness, sincerity and integrity. These are fundamental to our character. “Only when we perfect our character can we attain Buddhahood; only when we perfect the path of being human can we complete the path to Buddhahood.” So, when we engage in spiritual practice and learn the Buddha’s Way, we must first learn what it means to be human. If we can be a good person, and continue to walk on the proper path without deviating from our course, then this road will take us near to the state of Buddhahood. So, we must diligently bring out our sincerity as we interact with people and deal with matters. In our every thought, we should be sincere. “With utmost sincerity, all Buddhas will manifest.” If we are always sincere, then the Buddha, all Buddhas, will naturally be in our minds. Then there will be nothing false in our minds; our minds will be very grounded. Therefore, we must “sincerely follow the path without falseness.”
In our interactions with each other, we must not be deceptive. We cannot say one thing and then do something else. That is not right. When what we say comes from deep sincerity, we will bring out that truthfulness in what we do. All in all, when we sincerely follow the path, we will naturally not do things that are misleading or false, and all of our actions will be true and genuine. We must also maintain the integrity of our minds. With the proper state of mind, our direction is correct. A slight deviation can lead us far off course, so we must take good care of our minds, protecting our sincerity and our integrity. If we are firmly in the right mindset, then we will not deviate.
“With deeply rooted faith, we walk the Bodhi-path.” We must have deeply rooted faith. Since we have these causes and conditions and have chosen to follow the Buddha-Dharma, this is our blessing! We do not know how many lifetimes it has taken for us to now hear the Right Dharma and walk the right path. So, we should have great faith in the Dharma. Our faith must be deep; our Bodhi-roots must be planted deeply and must extend out widely. This is how the Bodhi-tree will flourish and produce bountiful fruits. Each fruit can produce infinite seeds.
For example, after Sariputra spends a very long time creating karmic connections, won’t that bring him to a magnificent land, and won’t that land be filled with those who have formed great aspirations and made great vows, to walk the Bodhisattva-path, those who have Bodhisattva-aspirations? He has to spend a very long period of time in his efforts to teach and transform others and form good karmic connections with them. So, if a Bodhi-seed can extend its roots deeply and extensively, then this Bodhi-tree will forever be laden with seed-filled [fruits]. All this comes from that original seed. We have talked about this previously.
So, “With deeply rooted faith, we walk the Bodhi-path. On the steadfast path of wondrous Dharma, we attain great perfect mirror wisdom.” With sincerity, integrity and faith, we follow the path without falseness and have firm resolve without deviating. With deeply rooted [faith] we walk the Bodhi-path. This is a very solid and reliable path, which we pave through the world until we get closer to the Bodhi-path.When our afflictions disappear one by one, our wisdom-life will surface, bit by bit.
The more we earnestly polish this mirror, the brighter its surface will be and the more accurately it will reflect the world around us.
The Buddha-Dharma is indeed wondrously profound.
I saw a passage illustrating this in the sutra text.[it described] people who were inspired by having the causes and conditions to indirectly receive the [blessings].They had the causes and conditions to joyfully do things with others, and thus also create merits and virtues.
This story took place 500 years after the Buddha entered Parinirvana,At the time, India was made up of many small kingdoms.Among them were two kingdoms ruled by two kings.
In kingdom A, the king believed in the Buddha-Dharma.
Because he believed in the Buddha-Dharma, he made offerings to the Buddha and to the Sangha.The other king believed in Brahmanism.On a particular occasion, this king felt the desire to hold Brahman religious ceremonies on a grand scale, so he used a large amount of money and treasure to make banners, 500 banners, which were all very valuable.
This king then announced, “If anyone can carry the banner and lead this procession, and if they are able to wave the banner in a dignified and exciting manner. I will give each person who can do so one of these priceless banner. There are 500 total. ”
In a nearby kingdom, there were very many poor people.
Everyone hoped to try their hand, so these poor people started to assemble until about 500 were gathered there.Once the 500 people were gathered together, they began to rehearse ways to make this procession look very dignified.
Since these 500 were now all together, they set off [to find the king].The road was long, so they had to walk for a very long time.
After walking for a few days, they had spent all their money but as they still had a long way to go, they wondered what to do.
Someone suggested, “We are close to the kingdom whose king found faith and joy in the Buddha-Dharma. He makes offerings to the Sangha every day and is always giving things away. If we takes shelter with the Sangha, we will have temporary food and shelter. While we are there, we can also accept offerings. Once we save up enough money to travel, we can then set off again to the Brahman kingdom.”
Everyone agreed this was a good plan, so these 500 people went to the Sangha.In this Sangha, the leader of the Bhiksus had already attained the fruit of [Arhatship].While he was in Samadhi, he understood where these 500 people came from.These 500 people, countless kalpas ago, had lived in the era of Vipassin Buddha.There was an elder at that time who reverently made offerings to the Sangha and to the Buddha.Each time the elder got ready to make offerings, his 500 house servants were all very joyful and immediately and diligently prepared the best things in the house to offer to the Buddha.
These people, from that time on, reaped the blessings that came from the offerings made by the elder and the merits and virtues of their joy in this giving.Thus they were born in heaven.Once the merits created by taking joy in another person’s giving had been depleted through enjoying heaven, they returned to the human realm and fell into a state of poverty.
However, their faith and positive causes still existed. Because of this faith and these positive causes, they had this karmic condition.So, though they lived in poverty, in their quest to obtain those valuable banners, they had the causes and conditions to draw near the Buddha-Dharma against
The bhiksus [who led this Sangha] was an arhat, and he quickly seized this opportunity to help these 500 people shave their heads right away and become monastics. Sometime after these 500 people became monastics, when the king was about to make offerings to the Sangha, this Arhat brought the 500 people to receive offerings. When they went to receive them, everyone felt very happy. They still had the hope that after they had received the offerings, they still might be the ones to obtain those banners in the future.
However, this Arhat understood that they had not completely eliminated this greed from their hearts. So, the arhat spoke to these 500 people. “Since you now have the appearance of a bhiksus, you must, with utmost sincerity, follow the path in a straightforward manner, without any deception.
You should know that one grain of rice from our benefactor is as grand as Mt. Sumeru. If you do not attain realization in this life, if you do not understand these principles, you will toil as an animal in the next life to repay this debt”.
After these 500 people heart this, at that moment, they became very vigilant. “Since we have already shaved our heads, we should truly make an effort and engage in spiritual practice for real. We must follow the path with utmost sincerity”. Though it happened so long ago, with only the cause of taking joy in another’s deed, drawing near the Buddha-Dharma and listening to the Buddha give teachings, from this alone, they attained long-lasting blessings of being born in heaven. The causes and conditions of that faith continued to exist. Therefore, we must deeply cherish this seed of faith. So, we should always be mindful of the Buddha-Dharma.
The previous sutra text states, “In the presence of countless Buddhas they cultivated Brahma-conduct. They constantly received the praise of all Buddhas and constantly cultivated Buddha-wisdom, so they are replete with great spiritual powers and know well the door to all Dharma”.
The Buddha praised Sariputra and the Bodhisattvas in that land for having, in the presence of countless Buddhas, cultivated purifying practices. Thus, each Bodhisattva was replete with great spiritual powers and knew well the door to all Dharma.
The following sutra passage states, “They are upright, free of duplicity and firm in their resolve. Such Bodhisattvas as this will fill that land.”
These Bodhisattvas had already entered the door to the Buddha’s wisdom. They had entered the Buddha’s wisdom because they were upright, free of duplicity and firm in their resolve.
“The Buddha then called out, “Sariputra, the lifespan of Flower Light Buddha will be 12 small kalpas, not counting the time He spends as a prince before attaining Buddhahood. The lifespan of people in that kingdom will be eight small kalpas.”
Earlier we discussed “upright without duplicity”. To be “upright” is to be proper. If we have a proper mindset, pne replete with faith, steadfastness, sincerity and integrity, naturally, we will be free of flattery. Without duplicity, we will not flatter others nor curry favor with them. With genuine moral character, we help other people. With firm resolve and good character, we can be a good example for other people. This resolve must be firm.
“The upright are proper and free of duplicity. They are straightforward and do not flatter and are firm in their resolve. The path to Buddhahood is in realizing and understanding sentient beings’ [nature] that all sentient beings intrinsically have a pure and clear nature of True Suchness.”
The path to Buddhahood is in realizing and understanding sentient beings. We must all realize and truly understand the Buddha’s teachings. We must experience the truth that all sentient beings intrinsically have Buddha-nature.
So, “upright, free of duplicity and firm in resolve means that our minds must be sincere and our path must be proper. When our minds are upright, meaning that we are sincere, and our spiritual aspirations are proper and straightforward, our minds will peacefully abide in a pure land.”
If we all have sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness, then the world will be a pure land that we can peacefully abide in. “Sariputra, the lifespan of Flower Light Buddha will be 12 small kalpas”. The Buddha said to Sariputra, “In the future, when you attain Buddhahood, how long will our lifespan be?” 12 small kalpas. In this Saha World, what was the lifespan of Sakyamuni Buddha? 80 years. But a kalpa is much longer, as was discussed repeatedly a few days ago. One small kalpa is made of one increasing ad one decreasing kalpa. An average lifespan of 84000 years decreases all the way down to 10. Then from 10 years it increases all the way back up to 84000. Based on this, we can calculate how long a small kalpa will last. The time he spends as a prince before attaining Buddhahood is not counted. This means that the time before he becomes Flowers Light Buddha does not count toward this.
Clearly, in the future, Sariputra will spend countless eons of time in the process of spiritual practice and in this process, he will be born as a prince. As a prince, he will be countinue his spiritual practice. How much time will all this take? The time before attains Buddhahood is not counted in the 12 small kalpas, these many lifetime of spiritual practice.
Not counting the time He spends as a prince: this shows that Flowers Light also sets aside the throne to become monastic. Before he attains Buddhahood, he spends lifetimes learning and studying. After he attains Buddhahood, he lives a lifespan of 12 small kalpas. The time he spends as a prince cultivating the Path is not included in this number.
From this we understand that spiritual practice requires us to have a lot of patience, so we can pave a road successfully from this world to the Bodhi-path. Think about it, that will be the land of the future Buddha, Flower Light.
“The lifespan of people in that kingdom will be 8 small kalpas. In that land people’s lifespan will be 8 small kalpas. These pwople will accept the teachings and have exceptional blessings and wisdom. Not only will they see the Buddha and hear the Dharma, they will enjoy a lifespan of 8 small kalpas.
This will happen during the time when Flower Light Buddha attains Buddhahood. Since the Buddha’s lifetime, over 2000 years have passed. From that time up to the present, Sariputra has also not left the human realm. Because he received the Buddha’s prediction, he must go among people in the world to continuously cultivate blessings and wisdom by doing good deeds and giving blessings. By doing good deeds and benefiting others, he will form many good karmic connections.The number of people he forms good affinities with will grow over these many lifetimes. Then in the future, they will become Bodhisattvas in the land of Flower Light Buddha. Everyone, we all have a part in this. As long as the Dharma that the Buddha taught, this Dharma-lineage, can be carried on forever, we will not deviate from the Buddha’s teachings.
Forming karmic affinities with these future Buddhas whom the Buddha taught and one by one gave predictions of Buddhahood to is not difficult. As long as we sincerely follow the Path without any falseness, we will truly be able to “firmly maintain the integrity of our minds [and] not deviate.”
At this level, with deeply rooted faith, we walk the Bodhi-path.” If we can achieve this, naturally, on this steadfast path, our perfect mirror wisdom will manifest.
Everyone, learning the Buddha’s Way requires this sincerity. If we have sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness, then we will steadily walk toward a pure land we can abide in. we will complete the path to Buddhahood through our practice.
In learning the Buddha’s Way, we must be mindful. As we do good deeds and benefit others, we can feel very happy right now, not to mention what we will feel like in the future after accumulating them over countless eras.After such a long time of accumulating [blessings], we will also be in a place with long lifespans, abundant material goods and a good environment where we can diligently advance and can constantly see the Buddha and hear the Dharma. This is the direction we are moving in.
So, I hope everyone can always have sincerity, integrity, faith and steadfastness and always be mindful in daily living. We must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
