Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: With Profound Virtue, Abide in the Right Dharma (厚德住正法)
Date: February.24. 2015
“We must firmly resolve to hold fast to our vows. By upholding sincerity, integrity and faith, we can reach the True Dharma. We walk the Bodhi-path in a gentle and genuine manner. To walk this path, we must go among people.”
When we resolve to engage in spiritual practice, we must uphold our vows and follow the path. Therefore, our resolve must be very firm and we must hold fast to our initial aspiration, that very first thought.
Recently I have been talking to you about initial aspirations. Our initial aspiration must be to deliver sentient beings, [the first of] the Four Great Vows. To deliver sentient beings, we must eliminate our own afflictions. To eliminate our own afflictions, we must learn the Buddha’s teachings. When we understand the Buddha-Dharma and go among the people, we will see all kinds of worldly matters. When we can connect them to the principles, this will develop our wisdom-life. I hope that our wisdom-life will never stop growing. When we unite matters with principles, one day, our wisdom-life and the universe can also be one. That is when we will attain a great awakening.
So, we must maintain our sincerity, integrity and faith. If we can uphold sincerity, integrity and faith, we will naturally reach the True Dharma. When we face [different situations] with our fellow spiritual practitioners, we need to be true, sincere and proper in the way we treat one another. This shows how the Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from the way we live in the world. There is a saying, “Only when we have perfected our character can we attain Buddhahood.”
Therefore, if we seek the Buddha’s Way because we want to attain Buddhahood, we have to spend a very long period of time, lifetime after lifetime, refining our character. As we interact with people, we must always “walking the Bodhi-path in a gentle and genuine manner.” This is how we interact with everyone when we go among people. Then everyone will be drawn to us because of our gentle manner. A gentle demeanor is something people can see. Being genuine comes from our heart, so we must be upright and straightforward. These are valuable qualities in a person and can help us perfect our character.
If we walk the Bodhisattva-path with a mind that is gentle and genuine, then we will awaken and attain Bodhi on this path. Walking the path to awakening will take us to our goal.
Every day, we must walk this path, follow the road that we should follow and do the things that we should do. When we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must have a clear goal. We must head toward this goal every day and every moment. We must never turn away from this path. The road that we walk and the things that we do must not be apart from other people. Walking the Bodhisattva-path among people is the true spirit of learning the Buddha’s Way.
We normally think, “The people I should transform are those I have karmic connections with.” Of course, the Buddha has also said, “The Buddha transforms those He has karmic connections with.” If we have no karmic connections with people, does that mean we shouldn’t transform them? Not at all. If we have no karmic connections with them, then we must find a way to draw near them and create [good] karmic connections with them, transforming animosity into gratitude. This is not impossible.
A very long time ago, there was a monastic practitioner, an elderly bhiksu. One day he left his temple and went to the city. When he was on his way home, it was already dusk and the sky was almost dark, but he still had a long way to go.
Suddenly, there was thunder, lightning and heavy rain. This rain would likely not stop any time soon,so the monk felt that he must find shelter to be safe.In the haze of the rain, there seemed to be a house in the distance.This made him very happy, and he called for them to open the door.
“It is raining so hard. Would you allow me into your home to take shelter from the rain?”This doorkeeper answered, “You should leave quickly. My master has no [fondness] for the Sangha. Whenever a monastic or spiritual practitioner comes, he says that he feels no connection with them, so I believe he won’t take you in.”
The old monk begged him persistently, until the doorkeeper said, “I will go inside and ask my master. Only with his consent would I dare to let you in.”While he went in to ask, the old monk stood outside the house in the pouring rain.After a long time, the doorkeeper finally returned.He said, “I’m sorry. I spoke to my master and asked him, but he will not allow it. I’m sorry, but you must leave now.”The old monk was at a loss, so he said to the doorkeeper, “Please let me in, I won’t enter the house. I’ll wait in the corridor, under the eaves of this corner of the house. Can you let me just huddle there for a while?”
He said, “It’s best that you do not, because my master has a negative affinity with the Sangha,”Since he could not even huddle under the eaves, the monk decided to travel through the night in the pouring rain.
By the time he arrived back at the temple, it was the middle of the night.It was still pouring heavily.This was how things went.Three years later, the master of that house took a concubine.He really adored and doted upon this new concubine of his.She was very kind and like paying her respects to the Buddha.
So, this man accompanied her to the temple.At the temple, as his concubine started paying he respects, he looked around.Why was his name written over there?It was on an alter honoring great benefactors.He thought that this was strange.There was young monk sweeping the floor, so the man asked him, “Excuse me, why is my name on this altar honoring great benefactors?”
The monk said, “I don’t know whose name that is. Three years ago, my master came back in the middle of the night, soaking wet from the rain. I only heard him say that. Today, there was a benefactor with whom I had no karmic connection with. After he said that, I saw him write something. Then he put this plaque on the altar for honoring great benefactors. Every day, my master pays his respects and prays for negative affinities to turn into good ones.”
Upon hearing this, the man felt very remorseful.“That’s right! Three years ago, my doorkeeper came in and told me that an elderly monk was outside in the rain and would like to take shelter at my house. How could I have felt such an aversion toward monastics? Not only did this monastic not harbor a grudge, he even put my name on the altar and prayed for my longevity and wellbeing.”
The more he thought about this, the more remorseful and repentant he felt.From then on, the man became a great benefactor of the temple.This was a wealthy man, the owner of that big house.
So, we often say that we must form good karmic connections with others and walk the Bodhisattva-path.We should show compassion to all equally.Toward those who have helped us, we should be grateful.Toward those who were unwilling to help us or may have even slandered us, we should also be respectful.We must love all sentient beings equally.This is how we show compassion to all equally. Because there was no karmic connection, he needed to resolve that negative affinity and create a positive karmic connection.So, he is a role model for us.
Although this is only a story, this is the type of mindset that we spiritual practitioners must have.So, we should “walk the Bodhi-path in a gentle and genuine manner.”
To walk this path, we must go among people”. I hope everyone can spend a long period of time doing good deeds, benefiting others and forming good karmic connections. This way, in the future, [these people] will be our spiritual family when we attain Buddhahood. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
The previous passage states, “In the presence of countless Buddhas, they will learn well the Bodhisattva-path. Great saints such as these will be transformed by Flower Light Buddha”.
In the future, Sariputra will become Flower Light Buddha. In Flower Light Buddha’s lifetime, His place of spiritual cultivation will be filled with Bodhisattvas. They all have great aspirations and great vows and we still continue to progress diligently, preparing to go among people and transform them, lifetime after lifetime. These beings will all be taught and transformed by Flower Light Buddha.
So, “That Buddha, while still a prince” means that, before Flower Light Buddha attains Buddhahood, this noble will “renounce his kingdom and worldly glory”.
“That Buddha, while still a prince, will renounce his kingdom and worldly glory. In his final body, he will become a monastic and attain Buddhahood”.
In the Lotus Sutra, we read about the 20,000 Sun-Moon-Lamp Radiant Buddhas who, one after another, manifested in the human realm. Because They all unceasingly did good deeds, unceasingly benefited others and unceasingly formed good karmic connections, by the time They reached the lifetime in which. They would attain perfect enlightenment, They would be replete with blessings. Once Their blessings were sufficient, They would be born into the most noble family in the entire kingdom. This is why we must make an effort to do good deeds, benefit others and form good karmic connections. Beings born as a prince signifies high noble status. They “renounced kingdom and worldly glory”. Each was born into a noble household, then renounced this noble life and sought the path to attain Buddhahood. They did this in their final body. The next sutra passage states,
“Flower Light Buddha will abide in this world for a lifespan of 12 small kalpas. The people of His land will have a lifespan of 8 small kalpas. When that Buddha enters Parinirvana, the Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas, widely transforming sentient beings”.
Flower Light Buddha will abide in this world for 12 small kalpas; His lifespan will be 12 small kalpas, which is a very long time. One small kalpa is already difficult to calculate, much less 12 small kalpas. “The people of His land will have a lifespan of 8 small kalpas, which is also a very long tiem. So, “when that Buddha enters Parinirvana, the Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas, widely transforming sentient beings”. When that Buddha enters Parinirvana, the Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas. This is a long time. Thus the Right Dharma can transform many sentient beings.
“With Flower Light Buddha’s long lifespan, With Flower Light Buddha’s long lifespan, He will abide in the world for 12 kalpas. The people who share the circumstantial retribution to live in His land will enjoy blessings. To live during that Buddha’s lifetime, they must have exceptional blessings and virtues. Not only do they live in the same era as Him, they can see Him, listen to and attain the Buddha-Dharma and can enjoy a lengthy lifespan of 8 kalpas.”
When Sakyamuni Buddha came to this world, because the karma of the world’s sentient beings was very severe, His lifespan could not be very long. Only when sentient beings have great blessings can the lifespan of a Buddha be very long. Because the Buddha came to the Saha World, His lifespan was like that of the humans here. So, the Buddha only lived for 80 years. This was what happened to Sakyamuni Buddha. After the Buddha entered Parinirvana, the Right Dharma abided in the world for 500 years. So, everyone practiced according to the teachings. The monastics lived a life very similar to the Buddha’s when He first started. This was true spiritual practice, so there were many who attained realizations.
After 500 years passed, it became the era of Dharma-semblance. This era lasted for 1000 years, and then it gradually. This is the era that we are in now; this is the era of Dharma-degeneration. In the Saha World, sentient beings’ karma is very severe. So, the Buddha-Dharma is very short-lived.
The life of Flower Light Buddha will be long; it is a blessed retribution to be born in that era. When we speak of “kalpas”, we explained that the average human lifespan becoming 84,000 years depends on the karma of sentient beings. The lighter our karma is, the longer our lifespan and greater our blessings. The more [bad] karma we create, the more severe our defilements and the shorter our lifespan and the fewer our blessings in the world. In this deteriorating world, there will be more and more poverty.
So, in the world we live in now, we see so many natural and manmade disasters, so many countries where the people cannot get by. This is due to our collective karma.So, “[people] who live in His land will enjoy blessings.” “[They] live during the Buddha’s lifetime.” They are indeed very blessed. Their blessings must be exceptional; not only do they live during the Buddha’s lifetime, but they can also meet Him and interact with Him.
Actually, when the Buddha comes to the world, not everyone will necessarily see Him, even if they live during the same era. You have all probably heard this example that I have shared. In a city of 90,000 people, only 30,000, one third, knew about Him, saw Him and heard the Dharma. Another 30,000 knew about Him, but did not see Him or hear the Dharma.The remaining 30,000 did not know about Him, see Him or hear the Dharma. See, to live in the same era as the Buddha, to personally see Him and hear Him teach the Dharma truly requires a very great blessing. Not only will they live in the same era as Him. Not only will they live in the same era as Him, but they will also be able to hear Him teach. Their blessings will truly be great.
In particular, some will enjoy a long lifespan of 8 small kalpas. Those who live in the same era as Flower Light Buddha are indeed truly blessed. After this Buddha enters Parinirvana, Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 kalpas widely transforming sentient beings.
That Buddha’s lifetime will be 12 small kalpas. After that Buddha enters Parinirvana, the Dharma will initially flourish. People can experience it through direct awareness. This is the era of the Right Dharma. The Dharma will then spread throughout the world. The Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas, widely transforming sentient beings.
The Dharma will really be flourishing, so in accordance with these guidelines, people will use these methods of spiritual practice. So, “in accordance with” refers to direct awareness.By engaging in spiritual practice in accordance with the Right Dharma, they can experience the truth taught by the Buddha. This happens during the era of the Right Dharma. Then the Dharma will spread throughout the world.
The Right Dharma will abide for 32 small kalpas and transform many beings. Even though that Buddha enters Parinirvana, people can still earnestly practice, as if He is still there, and the Dharma will still be transmitted. Among the Three Treasures, the Dharma Treasure depends on [the transmission of] the Dharma to be maintained.Even though the Buddha is not here, the Dharma sustains His presence here. So, the Right Dharma could abide in the world for 500 years because it was healthy and flourishing. So, the Dharma Treasure was sustained for 500 years.
Right Dharma: It is the proper teachings of the Path. Principles that do not deviate are called proper. This is the Dharma Treasure from among the Three Treasures. Its essence is the teachings, principles, practices and realizations.
“Its essence is the teachings, principles, practices and realizations.” Those with teachings, those with principles, those who truly engage in spiritual practice and those who have truly attained realization are the four valuable things that help Right Dharma abide in this world. The multitude of sentient beings need the Buddha-Dharma for this world.
Thus, turning the Dharma-wheel and bringing the Dharma among the people depends on us all sharing the same mission and having a firm resolve. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
