Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Make Offering of Harmony and Reverence (和敬供養盡形壽)
Date: February.25. 2015
“With the right mindset and Right Dharma, our path will always be right. With long-lasting compassion and great love, we will walk the Bodhi-path. To make offerings of harmony and reverence, we completely dedicate our bodies and life.”
Our minds must be oriented in the right direction. If our mindset is correct, then we will not go astray. In Confucianism, Confucius also made a point to talk about “illuminating luminous virtue.” We must “thoroughly study things to understand their principles.” For us to find a way to illuminate luminous virtue in this world, we must [study] all principles and all matters and things to thoroughly understand them.
To be able to “illuminate,” we must first seek knowledge, must first understand. Then with “luminous virtue,” we can penetrate our intrinsic nature. When we learn the Buddha’s Way, isn’t this what we are doing? We all intrinsically have a nature of True Suchness. This Buddha-nature manifests as the most penetrating “luminous virtue”. Therefore, for us to “illuminate luminous virtue,” we must clearly understand all external states, matters and things.
After we clearly understand them, we must be sincere and have the right mindset. To be sincere, we must “understand the principles”. When we give to others with utmost reverence, our minds are free of discursive thoughts; we simply do our best to help each other out of the goodness in our hearts. This is how we cultivate ourselves. If we have the right mindset and are sincere, when we do things, everyone will affirm our efforts. If we are in the right state of mind, then the Dharma [we learn] will naturally be right. This is how we engage in spiritual practice.
On the path of spiritual practice, we must walk in the right direction. Then naturally, with long-lasting compassion and great love, we walk the Bodhi-path. We must do this for a long time, life after life. Each Buddha that comes to the world has this characteristic; He extends His compassion because He will never abandon sentient beings. No Buddha is willing to give up on them. They have affinities with sentient beings, so They extend Their compassion and spread great love. This is how They do good deeds and benefit others to form good karmic connections. This will take a very long time.
Thus we say that long-lasting compassion and great love is our Bodhisattva-path. How do we step onto this broad and correct Bodhisattva-path? When do we begin? We must begin right now. As we listen to the Dharma, we must form aspirations right away. Then how do we express that we have begun? By making offerings of harmony and reverence. Harmony and reverence are the offerings we make. When we interact with others, we must do so harmoniously and with reverence. With harmony and reverence between us, we completely dedicate our bodies and life, not only in this lifetime, but also in lifetime after lifetime in the future. We will continue this through all of our lifetimes, starting now. When the way we lead people and handle matters brings other people happiness, clearly those people have shared the same aspiration, mission, path and practice in the past.
So, if the same thing can make all of us happy, then that means we have formed good karmic connections in the past. Will these connections extend into the future? Yes. So, lifetime after lifetime, we must make the same vows, the Four Great Vows. These are not for just one lifetime, but for lifetime after lifetime. Then in each lifetime we will practice together and live together. We will practice reverence and harmony.
“When I see how you help me, I’m grateful to you and I’m very willing to help you. I will respond to what you propose and help you.”When we help each other and act in concert, there is a sense of harmony and unity of purpose.When our hearts and minds are connected, engaging in practice in this spiritual community will bring us happiness every day.This comes from “harmony and reverence”.
Offerings of “harmony and reverence” take place in a monastic community.We completely dedicate our bodies and our life to learning and practicing the Buddha-Dharma.If we are willing to dedicate our bodies and life, why wouldn’t we be able to make offerings of harmonly and reverence to each other?
Our society also needs harmonly and reverence and so families.
We must vow to do this, starting with ourselves; this is the way it should be.
There was once a village outside of a small town in rural Korea.
In this village, everyone lived a very simple life.They were not very well-off and they lived along narrow and winding streets.
These streets led all the way up into the hills.There was one particular street, which was so narrow and winding that at night people frequently had accidents.It was easy to stumble and fall there.
In the cluster of houses at the end of this street, there lived a family.The family’s house was very run down.But even so, every night when the sun went down, one would hear an old woman calling her husband’s name and asking, “Did you turn on the light outside?”And her husband would reply, “This is such an important matter, how could I forget to turn it on?”
Actually, both of them were blind.Why would an elderly couple who could not see need to turn on the light?Because the street they lived on was very narrow.They often heard people tripping on things and then falling down.So, whether or not the light was on did not make a difference to the two of them, but for the people who could see, this was a great help.
One year, it snowed a lot.There was an old man who lived up in the hills who pulled a cart up this street.The cart was piled high with burned charcoal.He brought this cart of tiny pieces of charcoal all the way up to the doorway of this couple’s home.
Then he dumped to the contents on the ground and slowly spread them.He spread this all the way down the street.
In the morning, the elderly couple opened the door and said, “It is not even light out and someone has already covered the streets outside with something that will keep up from slipping and falling as we walk; we feel so grateful. If not for this person, after a large snowstorm, this steep road becomes very slippery. We are so grateful; which kind person laid out this path for us?”
You see, what a heartwarming story this is!This shows people’s mutual reverence and respect.This shows how they cherish this relationship and display their love for each other.This is the way life works.It can be very simple to help others.
We must understand the needs of others and then apply the Dharma, apply our methods, to do our best to meet those needs.
In the previous passage, the Lotus Sutra states, “Flower Light Buddha will abide in this world for a lifespan of 12 small kalpas. The people of His kingdom will have a lifespan of 8 small kalpas. When that Buddha enters Parinirvana, Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas, widely transforming sentient beings.”
Flower Light Buddha is the name of the Buddha Sariputra will become. He will live for 12 small kalpas, which is a very long time. The lifespan of people of that land will be 8 kalpas, which is also a long time. When that Buddha enters Parinirvana, Right Dharma will abide in the world for 32 small kalpas. That is a long time. A world like that will be so radiant; it will be so blessed. This is what we cultivate in our spiritual practice; this is the kind of world we hope to achieve. We hope that in the future the world will be like this. Next,
“When the Right Dharma becomes extinct, Dharma-semblance will last 32 kalpas. That Buddha’s sariras will circulate widely, heavenly beings and humans everywhere will make offerings to them. The deeds of Flower Light Buddha will be as I have stated”.
The Right Dharma will abide for 32 small kalpas. After the Right Dharma recedes, Dharma-semblance will last for 32 small kalpas. During that time, “The Buddha’s sariras will circulate widely”. In our world, which Sakyamuni Buddha’s sariras, King Ashoka, according to legend, vowed to build over 80,000 stupas so people can make offerings to these relics.
In the Saha World, there was really a king like this, King Ashoka. Several years ago, I heard about a stupa built for Sakyamuni Buddha that was discovered somewhere in Myanmar. Also, a few years ago, the Buddha’s tooth also came to Taiwan. This is also one of His sariras. During the era of Dharma-semblance, these objects were preserved [and venerated].
So, during the era of Dharma-semblance, images [of the Buddha] were prevalent. Both in the human and the heaven realm, everyone respected and made offerings [to these images]. So, “Heavenly beings and humans everywhere will make offerings to them. The deeds of Flower Light Buddha” refers to what Flower Light Buddha will do. “When Right Dharma becomes extinct. Dharma-semblance will last 32 kalpas”. That will be a very long time.
During the era of Right Dharma, the teachings, principles, practice and realization will all be correct. The Buddha personally gave these “teachings”.
All of these “principles” were spoken by Buddha. Those who receive the teachings will then put them into “practice”. Whatever the Buddha taught will be what they put into practice.
For example, when Sakyamuni Buddha led His monastic disciples in spiritual practice, He also had to guide them step by step. Those who did not understand had to continue to listen. Was the Buddha only teaching the Dharma for the monastics, or was He teaching it for the world? They listened very mindfully so they could take it to heart and keep it in mind. They even put it into practice and manifested the Dharma in their actions. This was how, with both body and mind, they sincerely engaged in spiritual practice.
So, there were many who attained “realization”. This is the process of teachings, principles, practice and realization. All four were present in the era of Right Dharma, or when the Buddha was in this world. People “experienced it with direct awareness”. “Direct awareness” is experiencing the present situation. The people, the Buddha, the Dharma were all present in that moment, so they could “experience it with direct awareness”. Thus everyone had a tangible example to follow, and people were able to put Right Dharma into practice and attain realization. There were many spiritual practitioners who were able to do this.
But after the Buddha left this world, “the ancient noble beings were farther away”.
“After noble beings become farther away, people can analyze [the Dharma] with relative awareness for a seeming effect”. This is Dharma-semblance.
Because the Buddha left, there was just relative awareness. The Dharma is like this, in the past, people practice like this. As esteemed monks and great sages gradually passed away, the people who followed them could only analyze things with relative awareness. “It was more or less like this”. The difference is like saying, “I’m almost as tall as you are. No. you’re not, you’re a little bit shorter”. This kind of comparative analysis is called “relative awareness”.
In the past, the Dharma was like this, so we try our best to learn it as it was taught; this is called Dharma-semblance. But how do we try to learn what was taught? All we can do is try our best and use our imaginations to come up with an image of the Buddha.
After the era of Dharma-semblance came the era of Dharma-degeneration, which is the era we are in now. So, after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, during the 500 years of the era of Right Dharma, people were able to practice according to the Buddha’s original teachings, as they were still very close. Teachings, principles, practice and realization were put into action. But after these 500 years, there was an era lasting 1000 years when the Dharma that was being practiced resembled the Right Dharma. It was similar, very close.
Whether through building stupas or temples, or by creating sculptures and so on, Dharma-semblances flourished. So, this was the era of Dharma-semblance.
The three periods are Right Dharma, Dharma-semblance and Dharma-degeneration. The 500 years after the Buddha’s Parinirvana was the period of Right Dharma. For 1000 years after that, the Dharma people practiced resembled Right Dharma, but was not Right Dharma. So, it was called the era of Dharma-semblance. Thus, it is said, “Since ancient times, many noble beings and sages understood the path to Buddhahood and transmitted the noble teachings.” “The Buddha’s images were respected, as if He was present.Thus, this era is called Dharma-semblance.Since ancient times, many noble beings and sages…”
Ancient times refers to an era when people were very simple and pure. They delighted in acquiring knowledge and learning the Buddha-Dharma. After learning about impermanence, they sought liberation. So, when they understood and believed something, their faith would be deep. This was what noble beings and sages were like. Whether it be Sakyamuni Buddha or Confucius, Lao Tzu or Mozi and so on, that era was when most of these sages appeared. When it came to learning , or the Dharma, they were all very earnest and worked very hard.
People who sought and learned the Buddha-Dharma “understood the path to Buddhahood and transmitted the noble teachings.” “The Buddha’s images were respected, as if He was present.” The Buddha’s images were respected, as if He was present Confucius also said to “respect gods, as if gods were present.” Of course, as Buddhist practitioners, were respect the Buddha, as if He is here. This kind of reverence and love is what we Buddhist practitioners should have.
So, Flower Light Buddha will live in that world for 12 kalpas. It will be such a long time.But though His lifespan will be long, He still eventually enter Parinirvana.
This is why “the Buddha’s sariras will circulate widely.” His body, His body’s remains, the bones that He left behind and other parts of the body He left behind are called “sariras.” These “sariras” were formed through (His) cultivation of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Everyone respected them and recognized how precious they were.
So, in the Treatise on Great Perfection of Wisdom, they are described thus. Bone fragments are “sariras of the physical body.” After the body is cremated and bones scattered, these pieces are also called sariras. What about sutras? They are “sariras of the Dharmakaya.”
Even though His physical body is gone, the Dharma still remains. Teachings are the sariras of the Dharmakaya. So, we talk about the Dharma-essence of the wondrous Dharma of the path to enlightenment. For the path to enlightenment, the wondrous Dharma is its essence. The Dharma-essence is in the lineage and the Dharma-lineage must be passed on.
The deeds of Flower Light Buddha will be as I have stated: The wondrous Dharma of the path to enlightenment, the essence of the lineage, will be passed on like a series of lamps that are successively lit to clearly illuminate all things. Transmitting wondrous Dharma extends this radiance.
The present Buddha passed it onto Sariputra and bestowed a prediction of Buddhahood upon him In the future, Flower Light Buddha will pass it on to Firm and Complete Bodhisattva and bestow a prediction upon him in the same way. We can clearly see that the essence of this wondrous Dharma of the path to enlightenment is transmitted through the Dharma-lineage. This is like lighting a series of lamps, so they can light the way. This is how the wondrous Dharma is passed on Passing on this wondrous Dharma sustains and expands its radiance.
So, with the right mindset and Right Dharma, we will always ravel on the right path Long-lasting compassion and great love are the Bodhi-path. In our daily living, we must “make offerings of harmony and reverence” by “completely dedicating our bodies and life.” This is how, in our lives, we transmit the Dharma-lineage like Buddhas. For the sake of harmony in the world, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
