His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – June 13, 2021
His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne, and expounded on “Scroll 17, ‘Amitayus Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 5, Section 1)” of the Ratnakuta Sutra.
“I had instructed monastics to check up on the explanations of several Buddhist terms. Here is one: ‘Narayana’, also called ‘Narayana Vajra’, is classified as a ‘Vajra strong man’ in the system of Buddhism, and is one of Dharma protectors.
‘Forbearance One, Forbearance Two, Forbearance Three’ means ‘forbearance of sounds, forbearance of suppleness and forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas.’
‘Listening to all Dharmas to know that they are in the nature of Emptiness and Non-emptiness.’ If the state of Emptiness has not been attained, this quote is very difficult to understand. All phenomena, whether they are sounds or forms, are matters of their causal conditions, and when they arise and cease to exist, all are in the nature of Emptiness. ’To know that they are in the nature of Emptiness and Non-emptiness’ is explained this way. Those who have been practicing the Bodhisattva Path know very clearly that at the moment when anything occurs, it starts to change. At the same time, it also begins ceasing to exist; the noumenon is in Emptiness. ‘Emptiness’ does not mean ‘nonexistent’; rather, a thing in itself has its own causal conditions which arise and cease to exist, and is not forever unchanged. This situation includes phenomena of sounds.
‘In the nature of …. Non-emptiness’ means although changes of a thing are in Emptiness, the form of the thing itself is not, and this is because, for a sound, we can clearly hear or listen to it. If you think that sounds are in Emptiness, the conditions for you to hear them will not arise. Then the situation will become ‘in the void’.
In the Madhyamaka Sastra, Bodhisattva Nagajuri spoke of ‘not existing, not empty and not in the middle of the two, either’. This means towards any happening, the mindset of a practitioner who cultivates the Bodhisattva Path is this: knowing that the phenomenon in itself is in the nature of Emptiness. Even our listening to the Dharma expounded is also demonstrated in the mention of ‘to know that they are in the nature of Emptiness and Non-emptiness’. On the one hand, if you have attained Buddhahood, you do not need to listen to or practice the Dharma anymore; on the other hand, if you have not become a Buddha yet, and are still living in a place for an ordinary person, or are still a Bodhisattva, you will still need to listen to the Dharma. There must be an affinity that makes you want to listen to the Dharma. When this affinity arises, right then and there, starting at that moment, it ceases to exist. Even for the Dharma, it cannot eternally be unchanged. Shakyamuni Buddha had once said that after the Age of Dharma Decline ends, in 12,000 years, the Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha will no longer exist on earth. Even as this Dharma had been taught by Him, when the affinity has come to an end, such Dharma will also not exist.
The saying, ‘to know that they are in the nature of Emptiness and Non-emptiness’, also means the noumenon is in Emptiness and the form exists. When one wants to grasp the standard meanings, one does not get them by going through one’s thinking, examining continuously the sources or proving the explanations with sutras. One cannot realize the state of Emptiness through one’s little experiences in meditation practices either. The attainment is to be achieved through practicing the Bodhisattva Path, from ‘path of accumulation’, ‘path of preparation’ and ‘path of vision’ to ‘path of cultivation’, which can only be reached after the first three paths have been mastered. If one has not practiced ‘path of accumulation’ and ‘path of preparation’ to perfect completion, one can never be in ‘path of vision’ (‘seeing’ of Emptiness). ‘Path of vision’ does not mean ‘seeing’ the principles of the Dharma (In Chinese, ‘principle’ consists of two words, with the first one being ‘path’.) or ‘seeing’ the path to reach Buddhahood. The reason for all Bodhisattvas to truly become Bodhisattvas is having realized the state of Emptiness. If Bodhisattvas do not understand or cannot be in control of state of Emptiness, not only are they unable to get themselves liberated from birth and death, they cannot help sentient beings on that either.
The words, ‘forbearance of sounds’, are about the sounds from what we have listened to on all Dharmas. Here, ‘Dharmas’ refers to ‘the Dharma’ that has been mentioned in sutras. However, for practitioners who have been practicing the Bodhisattva Path, the ‘sounds’ does not mean just ‘the sounds of the Dharma’; it means all sounds that can be heard in the universe. The reason for us to listen to any Dharmas is that, right then and there, we need such a Dharma method to benefit others by benefiting ourselves. We have been listening to the Dharma. If a karmic retribution is manifest in our practicing processes, this particular Dharma that we have learned is then at an end, ceasing to exist. It is just like before we have been reborn in the Pure Land, and before we have passed the reincarnation’s sea, we need a boat to cross it. The Dharma is a boat, and once you have been carried over the sea to the opposite shore in this boat, you no longer need it. This also demonstrates the meaning of Emptiness.
‘Unfathomable’ means that the definitions of the Dharma and Emptiness cannot be contemplated or understood by our life knowledge, experiences or philosophy. The phrase of ‘No fright and no fear’ is explained in this way. When people hear of the saying that ‘all Dharmas (phenomena) are in Emptiness’, some of them will be afraid and say, ‘Obviously, the purpose of my reciting the Buddha’s name is for me to “go” to the Land of Amitabha. Yet, you have said that all things are in Emptiness, so does it mean now I don’t need to recite the Buddha’s name?’ They are afraid. Some people think, ‘You consider that all phenomena are in Emptiness. Then what is it for that I do so much (practicing) homework every day? I don’t need to do it.’ These are false views. The quote of ‘No fright and no fear’ refers to the fact that in Dharma practices, there are some processes that cannot usually be understood, accepted and done by ordinary people.
‘A believer accepts and holds.’ This means one should believe in the Dharma, unravel the confusion in one’s sensibility of doubt, accept and abide by the rules, and be in control.
‘Accepting joyfully and getting in smoothly; learning, practicing and abiding by the Dharma; being like sounds abiding in nowhere; this is called “forbearance of sounds”.’ ‘Joyfully’ here is not about happiness or delight. It is about our mindset that we should accept, not resist, or give any of our explanations. ‘Getting in smoothly’ means, in the power of virtuousness, you get into your pure, original essence very smoothly. ‘Learning, practicing and abiding by the Dharma’ is to explain that when you are learning and practicing a certain Dharma method, your mind should abide by it. It is like when you hear a sound you cannot find where it stops. Although you are able to locate the source of the sound by its vibrations in the space, you do not know where it stops; the sound can be in anywhere. It is just like the Dharma that it is everywhere, but it does not mean the Dharma is set in any form without changes. Its principle is still this: All phenomena arise from conditions and are in Emptiness in nature. This is called ‘forbearance of sounds.’
‘Forbearance of suppleness and going along with stillness.’ ‘Going along with stillness’ means you should go along with causes, conditions, karmic retribution and your karma to continuously practice the Dharma. In the processes of learning Buddhism and doing practices, there are frequently hindrances occurring, and they will appear in several types. One of them is about hindrances brought forth by one’s own karma having been created in past lifetimes, including obstacles in aspects of thoughts and bodily health. Hindrances of another type are given by your karmic creditors from accumulated past lifetimes. There is also the kind of hindrances called ‘hindrances of knowledge and of affliction’. When hindrances occur, we will make excuses for ourselves, explaining why we do not want to learn Buddhism, or do practices; we think that all the wrongs are done by others, or by our guru, and all the faults are theirs. This is exactly not ‘going along with stillness’.
‘Going along with causes and conditions’ does not mean no matter what things happen we just go along with them very pessimistically. The phrase means that whether causes and conditions are good or negative, your mind is always in stillness. It will not be influenced by such conditions to affect your practicing the Dharma. Your mind is quiet and will not be moved. You will not get very angry because other people have undermined your learning of Buddhism. You will not feel that you have practiced very well either just because there are many things around you that are in better conditions recently. If you get angry in the former occasion or feel good in the latter one, your mind is not in stillness.
‘Viewing all Dharmas with equality and right thoughtfulness.’ In our mind, we look at all phenomena ‘with equality and right thoughtfulness’. Reciting the name of Amitabha all day long or speaking of believing in cause and effect does not mean the person doing it has ‘right thoughtfulness’. The real meaning of this term is understanding and realizing Emptiness, and knowing its importance to the learning of Buddhism. Only when you can attain enlightenment in Emptiness, can you accomplish these: mastering the ‘Wisdom of the Equal Self-Nature’, viewing ‘all Dharmas (phenomena) are in Emptiness’ with an impartial mind, and regarding all persons, circumstances and objects with an indiscriminating mind. Impartiality or indiscrimination means that all persons, circumstances and objects are subject to the principle of ‘causal conditions arise and cease to exist’, therefore, their noumena are equal. For example, today a person is very rich but one day he or she will certainly become poor; today someone is having much power and authority but one day this person will definitely not be in such status anymore. Based on the concept of Emptiness mentioned in Buddhism, in aspect of the noumenon, all phenomena are equal but their forms might not be. What have been described here are about Emptiness.
‘Not going against Dharmas.’ This means we should not go against all methods that had been taught to us by the Buddha, such as getting liberated from birth and death and reincarnation, and attaining Buddhahood. ‘Not going against’ means to be obedient. Do not think of your own methods. Do not concoct your own pretexts, thinking that what realization you have attained are different in methods from what had been taught by the Buddha. This is precisely ‘going against Dharmas’. Besides the rule of ‘not going against Dharmas’, we cannot break laws of all governments in the world.
‘Going along and getting deeply into it.’ means you should go along with your causes and conditions so as to get deeply into Dharma methods that you have been practicing. Do not do ‘going along’ based on your daily schedules, in situations like, ‘I am very busy today, so I will “go along with it”’; or, ‘I won’t be busy tomorrow, so I will “go along with it”.’ You should follow what have occurred, or will occur, to you or around you every day, and go along with your causes and conditions to do your practices on the Dharma. For example, there is pandemic of coronavirus now, and people are not allowed to have gatherings. We need to go along with the environments, following the government’s regulations on prevention procedures. However, we are still getting deeply into having the Dharma expounded (through telecasts); we have just gone along with our causes and conditions. Do not force yourself to say that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will bless and protect us, so we can still gather for pujas as usual. That is not right; that will be breaking the law.
‘All Dharmas are pure and straight to the minds.’ The original essence of all phenomena you have seen, heard or felt is pure, without distortion. Such phenomena change just by changes in causes and conditions. Even if you have gone through many thoughts or have used whatever methods to make things happen, they will not appear if causes and conditions are not manifest. Then again, if causes and conditions are not at their end, and if you want to eliminate them, there is nothing can be done.
The saying of ‘A straight mind is the Bodhimanda’ does not mean that one speaks in a manner of much honesty and frankness, and is not afraid of offending people; rather, the term refers to a person’s concepts towards the Dharma. All that had been taught by the Buddha about the Dharma are to benefit sentient beings; no words spoken by the Buddha were meant to harm them. Your guru has taught you the Buddha’s teachings by paraphrasing what He said; such acts of the guru are also benefiting sentient beings. If their minds are not just, what they have heard about the Dharma will be changed in their minds and come out as other thoughts.
The Dharma taught by the Buddha is not to satisfy some people’s desires kept in their heart. All the methods spoken by the Buddha are in the hope of helping sentient beings attain Buddhahood. Of course, before one has attained that, one needs to go through stages of practices. If there are many distorted reasons, your own desires or thoughts in your mind, such a mind is not just. Then the pure Dharma cannot get into your heart to make you feel wholehearted, and will be changed, coming out of your mind as another ‘product’. Many people have lots of misunderstanding about the Dharma. They take its principles out of context, seizing one or two terms or sayings in the Dharma to explain it. Of course, one or two of these can explain the Dharma, too. However, if the person explains it with an impure or unjust mind, then the explanations spoken by such a person is not pure Dharma.
The definition of ‘pure’ is that the words explained are having no beneficial effects on this person. What have been spoken by him or her are all based on what the Buddha had taught, in the hope that these teachings will exhort, guide and help sentient beings be able to get liberated from birth and death, leaving the reincarnation’s sea of suffering. If sentient beings have accepted this concept, any Dharma they have listened to will naturally be pure. If they have not accepted the concept, and still have their own thoughts, the Dharma that has been reaching them (through teachings), no matter how pure it is, will be changed.
‘A straight mind is the Bodhimanda’. ‘A straight mind’ does not mean that there are no lies spoken to others; it means that what has been contained in your mind is the Dharma. All thoughts or contemplations in the mundane world are in Emptiness, and are continuously changing. These things cannot help us attain Buddhahood or get liberated from birth and death. Only the Dharma teachings can. When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, He did it with ‘a straight mind’, wanting to help us get liberated from birth and death. When your mind is not just and there are many distorted or wrong thoughts in it, such Dharma cannot get into your mind. Then you will be unable to attain enlightenment from the Dharma taught by the Buddha.
‘Differentiating Dharmas and practicing the viewings with equality.’ This means to transmit different practicing Dharma methods based on sentient beings’ different root capacity. The transmissions are done this way not because there are differences in Dharmas; it is because sentient beings have different karma. Such differences generate different Dharma methods so as to help sentient beings counteract their affliction. However, the Dharmas’ noumena are equal in that there are no differences in terms of size or depth.
‘Getting deeply and thoroughly into it is called “forbearance of suppleness”.’ Practicing ‘the viewings with equality’ ‘deeply and thoroughly’, with the second phrase meaning possessing enough of all resources, is called ‘forbearance of suppleness’. The meaning of this is listening to your guru and doing whatever he or she has been teaching you to do. Do not play on gimmicks; otherwise, you will not be in suppleness.
‘Forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas; not seeing Dharmas arising; not seeing Dharmas ceasing to exist. If there are no arisings, there are no ceasings existed, and if there are no ceasings existed, there are no arisings. This is called “Forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas”.’
The phrase, ‘forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas’, is very difficult to explain. Previously, when I was practicing methods of Exoteric Buddhism, I sat in meditation every day. One day when I was doing it, I said very clearly these words in Mandarin, ‘There is no arising of one Dharma, nor is there ceasing to exist of a Dharma. The arising of Dharmas is from the motions of the mind.’ I am a Cantonese so I should have said them in Cantonese, but they were uttered in Mandarin. Although I had said these sentences but there were no answers on explanations for them. I was not like some people who might have thought, ‘I have mastered my practices; the Buddha and Bodhisattvas have then communicated with me, letting me speak out something to teach sentient beings.’ I did not think this way. I thought that perhaps when I did my practices in a prior lifetime, I remembered those words very well; however, for the contents’ true meanings, I had not distinctly gotten them through my practices.
Later, I asked advices about those words from some abbots or monastics who had an appellation of ‘Master’. Some of them wrote down those words but they did not answer my questions about the meanings. Some spoke of their own views, but all such views were not what I thought of on the words; I more or less knew what their meanings are. That was the situation until I met the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. I asked His Holiness’s instructions about those words and he said, ‘You are to practice the Mahamudra then.’ At that time, I asked His Holiness if I needed to read the Madhyamaka Sastra first. He said, ‘No. You don’t need to. Once you have mastered the practices of the Mahamudra, you will know what the “Meditation on the Mean” means.’ I did not read the Madhyamaka Sastra. After practicing the Mahamudra, I have more or less realized the meanings of those words, ‘There is no arising of one Dharma, nor is there ceasing to exist of a Dharma. The arising of Dharmas is from the motions of the mind.’ These sentences should have come from the Mahamudra, too.
A practitioner who has truly been enlightened and attained the state of Emptiness does not ‘see’, in his or her mind, phenomena having occurred or having been eliminated. Such a practitioner also knows clearly that if there are no arisings, there are no ceasings either. If you have not given rise to the sense of affliction, you don’t need to do things to make it cease to exist. Simply speaking, if you do not get afflictions created in you, you will not fall into their reincarnation. If there are no births, there are no deaths, thus births and deaths do not occur independently. ‘If there are no ceasings existed, there are no arisings.’ If we are afflicted and we have deliberately eliminated such an affliction, then there will be another one generated.
It is also mentioned in the Diamond Sutra that when Buddhist practitioners have learned further on Buddhism, they should abandon even the right Dharma, let alone non-Dharma. The Dharma is like a boat. When we have really been enlightened, such a learning tool, the boat, is no longer needed, not to mention those methods that cannot get us liberated from birth and death. The Heart Sutra is also about Emptiness. The Heart Sutra is derived from the Great Prajna Sutra, which is about the wisdom of Emptiness.
With the wisdom of Emptiness, one is to understand very well that all the issues of birth and death have been our afflictions produced and accumulated through lifetime after lifetime. When we have given rise to afflictions, of course there will be ceasings existed for afflictions. If we are to eliminate them, there will be another one generated, which will then be gotten rid of again. If one can attain realization in Emptiness, knowing that afflictions are caused by one’s own greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt, then this person can decrease the numbers of afflictions created, even turning a blind eye to them. This is because if one knows that afflictions are Emptiness, one will not continuously create or increase many of them. Only in this way, one can use the wisdom of Emptiness, or the Dharma in Emptiness, to benefit and help sentient beings. This is called ‘forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas.’
To put it simply, if you have not been in the state of Emptiness or cannot attain realization in Emptiness, you will only know the Buddhist terms of ‘forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas’, ‘arising’, or ‘ceasing to exist’. For the phrase ‘no arisings and no ceasings existed’, you can just recite it but you are unable to do its practices. The ‘no arisings and no ceasings existed’ is like those sentences I spoke, ‘If the mind is motionless, there are no arisings and no ceasings; when the mind is in motion, arisings and ceasings are generated.’ If the mind is in motion all day long, then many phenomena of arising-and-ceasing will continuously appear. If the mind’s motions have decreased, such phenomena will decrease, too. Then your afflictions will also decrease. The phenomena of arising-and-ceasing around you are not given to you by anyone, or helped by anyone for you; they are created by yourself.
Now we possess the karmic body – this body of ours. It is the source of afflictions. The karmic body means all good and negative karma created in accumulated past lifetimes have been manifest, and the manifestation of this is the appearance of our physical body. During the short decades of life, the good and negative causes and conditions have been produced and manifest unceasingly to this body. If we have not been practicing the Dharma, and even if our bodies have enjoyed many kinds of good fortune of the mundane world, such good fortune shown is just from good karma created in accumulated past lifetimes, and is the manifestation of karmic bloom in this life. After this is developed, negative karma and negative causes done in accumulated past lifetimes also have opportunities in this life to become manifest in karmic retribution or in karmic bloom.
For practitioners, this is different. They know clearly that the reason karmic body appearing in this mundane world is for either collecting debts or repaying debts, and is either repaying kindness or taking revenge. Hence, their minds are unmoved. Being still does not mean that these practitioners do not breathe or wear clothes, or are not hungry; rather, it means their minds of doing practices will not be disturbed or moved by any matters having occurred due to causes and conditions, and the minds will be fixed upon and abide by the Dharma. Whether casual conditions have arisen or ceased to exist, such a practitioner will just deal with or face them with an ordinary-minded attitude. As for related karmic retribution, the practitioner will not specially care for it. This does not mean he or she will not look out for it; the practitioner will still pay much attention to it.
It is like the situation of the construction of the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Monastery. The project has been through many processes, like finding a plot of land at the beginning, designing for various construction stages, and passing the environmental impact assessments, et cetera. If there are no good causes which have been continuously created with great efforts, there will naturally be no good conditions that have appeared. This is also because I have created many good causes in my past life and this life. That is why when I have started doing this Buddhist activity – getting our monastery built – many good causes and conditions have naturally occurred; I have had no need looking for them. Then, it was also because of the help granted to me by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that this construction project has been doing well. I have not implored Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Dharma protectors for their help; I have just kept my mind unmoved. I understand very well that if things are customary, reasonable and legal, they will definitely be done as planned; if matters are not in such states, they will certainly fail to be done as expected.
Originally, there was no tap water at the monastery site. I instructed the members of Monastery Affairs Team of our Center, who are in charge of such matters to handle the issue. They informed me of many solving methods which would cost a lot of money. Then I told them to discuss the matter directly with Taiwan Water Corporation. In the monastery area, there were also a few homes without tap water. It was then discovered that the government had an infrastructure plan for that area. Thus, if the monastery project personnel took the lead to apply for getting tap water, Taiwan Water Corporation would be able to set up water pipelines for the monastery as well as those few homes just mentioned. It was only that the pipelines would need to pass through the land of the monastery. All these had been coming about because my mind was unmoved. I firmly believed that there must have been other ways to get the needed tap water. This was especially so because the purpose of constructing the monastery is to benefit sentient beings and to continue the Dharma lineage; Bodhisattvas and Dharma protectors of heavens will definitely help me if there are issues.
The money to support our monastery construction project has come from sentient beings; such money cannot be spent rashly. The solving of this tap water issue has saved the project almost seven or eight million NT dollars. This amount of money would have been spent had I done the proposals suggested by the Monastery Affairs Team. I remembered that several years ago the government had planned to spend NT$800 billion for improving and constructing public facilities in every place that such facilities had been insufficient. Hence, I thought there should be ways for us to get benefits from the plan. At that time, I didn’t tell the Monastery Affairs Team that there should be some kind of financial subsidy from the plan for us. Later, in the discussion of the matter, it turned out that such a subsidy was indeed available. Why had I thought of it and team members had not? It was because they had wanted to get things done quickly; otherwise, they were afraid to be scolded by me. My mind was unmoved though because I was only thinking how to save money for sentient beings. Of course, this was a good concept. I am unwilling to say that the concepts of those disciples (team members) were negative; rather, their ideas were contrived. When my good concept arose, I could then think of many things. Those disciples only wanted to show off their abilities, letting me know how remarkable they were. Their minds had always been moving, so their pure, original essence disappeared; the so-called memory in their Eighth Consciousness vanished, too. Thus, they didn’t think of an alternative that the tap water issue could be handled this way.
In order to get our monastery built, I donated a sum of money from the sale of my house a while ago. Recently, another house of mine had been bought by my disciple. Again, I am preparing to donate the money from this sale to the monastery project. Why could I get my thoughts clearer? Because of my immovable mind, I had been able to see that some things could be solvable. Those disciples were unable to see things clearly because their minds and behavior had been complicated. They had always wanted to take credit for themselves and to tell me, ‘I am capable.’ In fact, learning Buddhism is not a passive undertaking but a very good thing to do. If you can keep your mind immovable, you will naturally see all things very clearly that have been done by people of this mundane world. On the phrase, ‘forbearance of non-arising of Dharmas’, not only is it much needed in your practices, but also helpful in your ordinary life.
‘The sixth samadhi.’ It means the sixth of the Seven Universal Factors of Awakening.
Awakening means awareness. There are 51 mental factors in humans. Each mental factor controls a certain awareness of our greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. The so-called Awakening is the awareness we can sense, and is not about feelings scattered around, like many branch-like details, in our minds. Awakening is consciousness produced by our nervous system. Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and consciousness produce sound, sight, smell, taste, touch and idea through this nervous system, letting our pure realization get confused and lost. However, our physical body is full of nerves, and it is impossible to make them non-existent, therefore, we are to do the practices of Seven Factors of Awakening so as to let us be in control or in grasp of our nervous system.
There are many nervous systems in our body that our minds cannot willfully control; it is not possible that these systems will do whatever ways we want them to do. When they make a physical ache, the body feels aching; when they get a part of the body itching, that part itches. We cannot ‘tell’ the systems stopping to make these itches or aches because we are used to reacting to such bodily experiences. When our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness have been engaged in any external or internal influences, an awareness will arise immediately, which makes our brain cell function right away. It then ‘informs’ all systems in our body instantly and ‘notifies’ them what to do.
How have these things been happening? It is because we have been afraid of being harmed through lifetime after lifetime; we have wanted all things but not wanted to be in any disadvantages. This is why we have trained ourselves to be amazing in that the sensitivity level of our nerves is more incredible than measuring instruments. We have done these on our own. Through our lifetime after lifetime, in our minds, there is a sense that we do not want to be harmed. We have then disciplined ourselves to be very sensitive about anything occurring internally (in our body, mind or emotion) or externally (in phenomena). It is like that we will feel aching or itching when there is just a mere rustle of leaves or grass in the wind. The sensibilities in us have all come from our own training to ourselves. Such nerve reactions cannot be controlled as your mind has been fastened by them.
Many people know that I have scoliosis. It is reasonable to say that people with scoliosis would be in great pain. It is impossible for them to sit in meditation or walk very fast. Nevertheless, why can I have made my current painful situation not been felt by me? This is because, after going through the practices of sitting-in-meditation, I have some degree of control over my nervous system.
There is a dislocated vertebra in my neck. Reasonably speaking, I should not feel well about my whole body, including the discomforts in my heart, brain and high blood pressure, et cetera. I have been continuously feeling unwell to this day since I was in my 20s. Now as a disciple of mine has given me treatments a little, I feel better. It will be very difficult to heal completely though because it has been like this for more than 40 years. Also, it is from my karma of past lifetimes. However, through my conducting retreats for many times, I am able to control my nervous system within a certain range; as a result, my normal bodily functions have not been affected by my physical discomforts. If I had gone through a ‘normal’ nervous system, like the one other people have, I should have been unable lifting my head and should have worn a metal back brace. The reason that I have still lived to the age of 74 like this, besides my having constantly and diligently worked on my practices, is certainly my having received the blessings from the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and my guru. Such blessings make me still have the physical strength and capabilities to continue learning and practicing Buddhism and expounding the Dharma.
In ‘when our minds of true knowledge abide by the state of meditation’, the ‘true’ here does not mean the ‘true’ in the phrase of ‘true and false’ expressed in the mundane world; rather, it means that our pure, original essence is ‘true’ – real. Except for the pure essence of the Buddha, everything is false. In the Dharma, the definition of ‘false’ refers to the condition that things change and they will not remain unchanged; as long as they can alter, they are ‘false’. If our minds can very clearly abide in our pure, original essence, the chances of their moving about on thoughts or emotions will be very small. If there is no such abidance, with minds moving all day long, then when they move just once, affliction is given rise once; it just depends on whether the affliction is light or heavy.
The several Buddhist terms I have expounded today are very difficult for you to completely understand because you have not yet done your practices to reach the level that you can comprehend such states described. Still, at least you can realize that the Dharma taught by the Buddha is definitely not to satisfy our current desires in the world. All that had been taught by Him are to let us, during our practicing processes, attain enlightenment and Buddhahood soon so as to benefit a great number of sentient beings.”
Now I will continue to expound the Ratnakuta Sutra.
“Sutra: ‘When that upright man practices the Bodhisattva Path, he often protects the contents of the spoken languages and does not let those contents harm others and himself.’
If what you have spoken are on the aspects of goodness, those words can benefit yourself and others, too. Do not misunderstand that when I scold someone, I do a negative act. If my scoldings to people are of help to their learning Buddhism, all such scoldings are good acts. What we speak out to others are very important. Even if what you say today are all about the Dharma, and if you mislead sentient beings so that they do not know the importance of getting liberated from birth and death, or they are misled to do things towards the mundane methods or towards the ways of falling into reincarnation, all the words you have said are not good ones, even if those words are Buddhist terms.
Karma of speech is very important. If you have spoken one sentence wrong, such an action will affect you and your practices through lifetime after lifetime. Being right or wrong mentioned here is not about flatteries and enticements of this world. (If one flatters or entices others, one’s speech is right; otherwise, the speech is wrong.) It means within the system range of the Dharma, what we say have not deviated from the subject of helping sentient beings, and this will naturally benefit others by benefiting ourselves. This is because after others have listened and accepted what we have talked about, they will be helped in their learning of Buddhism.
Sutra: ‘If they enter the King’s cities or villages, although they see sights their minds are not contaminated; they do not love or hate as they have pure minds.’
Many monastics, including those practicing the Bodhisattva Path, used to conduct their retreats in the mountains or forests as they needed to. They might have opportunities going into big cities or to places where people lived together. Although they saw dazzling, colorful sights, many beautiful sceneries, and lots of things they had not seen before, their minds would not give rise to greed or attachments just because they had seen many different kinds of things with their eyes.
With a pure mind, you will not think of possessing a person, or feeling jealous of the person when you cannot have him or her. People behave the same ways like these: After seeing someone or something to their liking, they would want to take the person or the thing into their possession. If they cannot do that, they will want to destroy this person or this thing. Such behaviors are not good.
Sutra: ‘At that time, Bodhisattvas already started practicing Dana Paramita themselves. They could also get others practicing almsgiving, and onto the practices of Sila Paramita, and then even those of Prajna Paramita.’
When one has mastered the practices on Dana Paramita (almsgiving), while doing practices, one can get others to give alms and make offerings with wisdom. Paramita means the wisdom of Emptiness or methods of handling things. The acts of giving alms, bestowing things to people or making offerings need to be done with wisdom. It is not that you just follow blindly on what other people do on such things. When people have money for doing these deeds but have not done them right, it is not good. Wisdom is needed to get things done right.
If Sila Paramita (observance of precepts) has been practiced to perfect completion, Prajna Paramita (wisdom) will be given rise to. The practitioner will then use the wisdom of Emptiness, attained through his or her practices, to deal with many things.
Sutra: ‘The early types of two practices have both been reached perfect completion. These will attain accomplishment in such roots of virtue. Then, wherever such a person is born, there are countless nayuta of hundreds of thousands of termas that will naturally gush up.’
Once Sila Paramita and Prajna Paramita have emerged, and your practices are in perfect completion, you will achieve accomplishment in many roots of virtue. Then, wherever you are born, ‘there are countless nayuta of hundreds of thousands of termas that will naturally gush up.’
There are terma masters in Tibet; it seems that they have not been heard of in this generation. Terma masters keep some very secret Dharmas with them which are not transmitted publicly; only Bodhisattvas can learn them. Terma masters will hide such Dharmas, or even related Dharma instruments and sacred objects, in caves, trees, water, or even in the air. When a right person shows up, such termas will appear. This means that if you have mastered the practices of two Paramitas (Sila and Prajna), no matter where you are born, there will be termas revealed and given to you.
What have been taught in sutras are all about Exoteric Buddhism. When it comes to Tantra, it can only be learned through pith instructions and through practices by conducting many retreats. Sometimes many yidams’ citta (essence of the Dharma), for some reason, needs to be transmitted by pith instruction, but such transmissions had been decreased in number and even discontinued. Even yidams have known that such occasions might happen in that, during certain time period, there are not enough of good affinities present; then such a Dharma should not appear. As a result, yidams will hide it, waiting for the right time. When the good conditions are sufficient, and a real practitioner appears, termas will be gotten into his hands, letting him benefit more sentient beings.
In Tibet, in the past, all terma masters had great good fortune. You might say, ‘Who knows if what this terma master has found is about a real or a fake Dharma?’ The Dharma text this master had found must be authenticated and approved by some great practitioners, who will review such a Dharma text to determine if its contents have been in accordance with the Dharma truth and principles. If not, this Dharma text is a fake. At the present time, in my experiences, I have not heard of any terma masters appearing in the past few decades. Even if there are termas remaining now, they are ones having been found by past terma masters. For example, currently, a few of Dharmas that I am going to perform or practice are termas.
Not to mention seeing the Dharma text of a terma, it is even very difficult for you to listen to such a Dharma. If you don’t have enough of roots of virtue, you will not get such a Dharma so you cannot master the practice of it; then sentient beings will not be able to listen to it either. Shakyamuni Buddha went out of His way to say this quote, and explained it very clearly that for the Dharmas, besides those that had been taught by Him, there are some secret Dharmas from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of past lifetimes; such Dharmas are all hidden. Some people think that there are no termas or Tantra, however, these are mentioned in The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra. Why did Shakyamuni Buddha speak of them? It is because in the Land of Amitabha, at the end, if you do not practice Tantra, it is impossible for you to attain Buddhahood. It is indicated in sutras that ‘When a Bodhisattva has attained the state of the Tenth Ground (Bodhisattva’s Dharmakaya – Dharma-body), this Bodhisattva will be exhorted by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in ten directions to practice Tantra.’ Why? Because if you (assuming you were that Bodhisattva) don’t do that, it will take too long for you to attain Buddhahood. When other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas see that you are only a few steps away from becoming a Buddha, they will advise you to practice Tantra. For Tantric practitioners, the sooner they attain Buddhahood, the sooner they can benefit more sentient beings.
Is there Tantra? Yes. It is hidden in sutras and is spoken of occasionally. If one has not learned Tantra, one really does not know what the termas are that Buddha talked about.
The phrase, ‘will naturally gush up’, means that it will be like spring water that gushes up to you.
Sutra: ‘Also, making countless, innumerable, unfathomable, unequal and boundless types of sentient beings abide by Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhicitta (Supreme Enlightenment).’
After Bodhisattvas have obtained termas, they can make countless sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment; the sentient beings encompass all types of them in the Six Realms, whether born from eggs, from wombs, from moisture, or by transformation. The appearances of such Great Bodhisattvas, through their practices of the termas, make sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment, letting them be able to practice and learn Buddhism, and not to suffer.
The mantra of Parnashavari is to placate these countless and boundless sentient beings so that they will not suffer and be afflicted with worries. Chanting this mantra does not mean to eliminate these sentient beings (because of their causing pandemic of coronavirus); rather, with Parnashavari’s compassion, bodhicitta, power of merits and boundless roots of virtue, the chanting is to make these innumerable sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment. It is not meant to make them practice to attain Buddhahood; it is to make them abide in the space of great compassion and wisdom in the practices of the Bodhisattva. In this way, these sentient beings will not continue emerging to harm humans. Humans’ karma of killing is too heavy; these sentient beings have come back to this world to take revenge on humans.
Now, for this disease (coronavirus), if you want to eliminate it or drive it away, it does not mean it cannot come back. As long as human beings cannot refrain from killing, and continue to do it, eat meat, or entertain, and so long as there is still a virus existing, the coronavirus will return again. Nowadays, scientists say that viruses have thoughts; if you want to deal with viruses, they will become more ferocious and infections will spread faster and faster. In fact, such viruses are consciousness of those sentient beings killed by humans, and the purpose for such consciousness being here is to take revenge. If there are more eager attitude or methods you have to counter them, they will be more revengeful. Then, there will be variants appearing later, which will have stronger capability to spread, much more than the viruses found at the beginning, just like the variant discovered in Britain now.
‘Abide by Supreme Enlightenment’ is not what you think that things are done after sentient beings have been liberated; rather, it is to make them abide in the great seas of compassion of Great Bodhisattvas, and let sentient beings’ hatred disappear. Once hatred is gone, whether sentient beings are in reincarnation or are reborn, at least their negative consciousness will be transformed into good one. That is what Bodhisattvas are for.
Many people think that the Dharma method of Vanquishing in Esoteric Buddhism is very amazing. In fact, this method of Vanquishing is also about Supreme Enlightenment. It is not to kill all ‘enemies’; it is to eliminate the hatred in their hearts with the power of compassion. Only in this way, can such sentient beings be abided by Supreme Enlightenment. If this Bodhisattva does not have enough of roots of virtue and does not have termas, there are no ways to make these sentient beings abide by such an enlightenment.
If just by relying on reciting sutras could have made these countless, boundless and unequal sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment, Shakyamuni Buddha would have said so. Although in many sutras, Shakyamuni Buddha had said that by reciting a certain sutra, one would get some kinds of results, but what He had taught were about practicing matters. Only in this section of the sutra, this is very clearly indicated: Because this Bodhisattva has, in accumulated past lifetimes, mastered the practices of Sila Paramita and Prajna Paramita to perfect completion, and attained many roots of virtue, no matter where such a Bodhisattva is born, there will be termas revealed and given to the Bodhisattva, letting the Bodhisattva be able to benefit a vast number of sentient beings.
It is like my situation. In this life, there are many Dharma instruments of mine that have not been found by me; instead, they have shown up unaccountably. Also, the Dharma instruments I use now are relatively old, and I have not sought out for them deliberately. They are also termas.
Sutra: ‘Such boundless Bodhisattvas give rise to wonderful practices, make offerings, and attend, to World Honored Ones until Bodhisattvas themselves attain Buddhahood.’
Many Bodhisattvas have done such great deeds of ‘virtuous Dharmas’. Even before Great Bodhisattvas attain Buddhahood, they need to make offerings, and attend, to all World Honored Ones (Buddhas); these acts need to be done continuously and cannot be stopped until Great Bodhisattvas attain Buddhahood. Do not think, ‘Today I am a practitioner, so why do I need to make prostrations to my guru? Why do I need to listen to him?’ You don’t think you need to be obedient to him. You think that when you have problems you will then ask for your guru’s help; otherwise, there is no need to listen to him. You also ask yourself, ‘Why do we have to do whatever he has said?’
What is mentioned here about ‘attend’ means whatever the guru has said, we need to do them; it is not taking time to see or wait. If we are like that, we are not doing ‘attend’, nor do we make offerings. ‘Make offerings’ and ‘attend’ mean doing them continuously and for the former, it is nothing to do with how much money you offer. The terms mean that when your guru puts forward some matters, as long as he has not taught you to break laws, you should act immediately on these matters.
Whatever the guru speaks of are right. Disciples should simply follow what have been said by the guru, and that will be right for them. Here is an example. When Venerable Tilopa was teaching Naropa, Tilopa asked Naropa to jump off a cliff, and Naropa did it immediately without a word. This was attending to a guru. At another time, Tilopa wanted Naropa to touch a royal concubine and Naropa followed the instruction; the result was that Naropa had been beaten half to death. And nowadays? I don’t even dare to think of such methods; if I want you to do them, you will all leave me and the Center. Whatever a teacher (in this case, your guru) says, they are all correct. If you think they are wrong, that person is definitely not your guru, and you are certainly not the person’s disciple either. You are an ordinary person then, and you and the guru just interact with each other a little; that is all. For making offerings to one’s guru, besides making them in money or materials, the most important part is attending to your guru.
Sutra: ‘All these cannot be known by spoken languages with their differences.’
For the offerings made, and services provided, by Bodhisattvas to Buddhas, we cannot know by spoken languages how much Bodhisattvas have done. For example, for the offerings I have made to His Holiness, I myself cannot even remember how many times or how much I have made. How am I able to tell you then? Here is another example. I have made offerings in support of Drikung Kagyu monasteries, and again, you don’t know how many such monasteries there are. I will not tell you the answer either. It is because this is something I should have done originally.
Sutra: ‘Or, being Chakravartin, Sakra, Suyama, Tusita, Nirmanarati, Paranirmita-vashavartin, or great brahman Devaraja, they can all attend, and make offerings, to Buddhas, and are also able to implore the Buddha to turn the Dharma wheel.’
Even if the persons are not Bodhisattvas, but have attained the status of Chakravartin, Sakra (the Jade Emperor of Heaven), Tusita (in the Heaven of Bodhisattva Maitreya), Paranirmita-vashavartin, or great brahman Devaraja (in a heaven of non-Buddhist religions), they can all attend, and make offerings, to Buddhas; they are even able to implore the Buddha to turn the Dharma wheel.
Sutra: ‘Or, being kings of Jambudvipa, elders, magistrates, brahmans or kshatriyas, et cetera, people in different classes of the caste are able to make offerings to Buddhas respectfully.’
Even if a person is on earth and has become a king, a high-ranking official, a religious person, or a kshatriya (a member of an aristocratic class in India), no matter what class of the caste the person is in, this person is able to make offerings to Buddhas respectfully. This means as long as you have previously attained accomplishment in the Bodhisattva Path, even if you are reborn in heavens or on earth, you will not forget making offerings to Buddhas respectfully, and you will continuously do that.
Sutra: ‘Also, they can expound countless Dharma methods. Thenceforward, they abandon forever the mundane world and attain supreme enlightenment.’
These persons can also expound the countless and boundless Dharma methods in the Dharma, and such methods are those to get one liberated from birth and death.
Sutra: ‘However, that Bodhisattva can make offerings to the utmost with superior and wonderful clothes, bedding items, food and medicine to all Tathagatas for them to abide in comfort and joy.’
In ancient India, it was very difficult to find bedding items for sleep. One could only find a straw mat, and a better one was a piece of wooden board. It was very difficult to find comfortable bedding things to sleep on because there were no materials or resources available to make such things. This was why clothes, bedding items, food and medicine had been provided as offerings. ‘To the utmost’ means that one is to make offerings with all those things, we have just mentioned, with one’s whole life.
Sutra: ‘All kinds of such roots of virtue are in perfect completion, and cannot be described with any limits by spoken languages.’
It is very difficult to explain thoroughly on how many deeds of attaining perfect, complete roots of virtue that Bodhisattvas have done. I don’t remember either how many of them I have done. Recently, I did a few of them again (by donating food to pandemic prevention public services).
Sutra: ‘From the mouth, there is often a wonderful fragrance of sandalwood emanating. Such a fragrance universally scents countless and innumerable nayuta of hundreds of thousands of worlds. Then from all pores, an aroma comes forth, surpassing the superior and wonderful fragrances of flowers in the Human and Heaven Realms, like nilotpala flowers. Wherever the places the person is born in, this person’s form and appearance are good, dignified, solemn, auspicious and are in perfect completion.’
Bodhisattvas never have bad breath. If they have attained a Bodhisattva’s Dharmakaya (Dharma-body), when they expound the Dharma, the fragrance emanated from their mouths can be smelled over the whole universe.
From the pores of Bodhisattvas, there will be an aroma emanating. Such an aroma is more fragrant than the scents of flowers in the Human and Heaven Realms, and it is not of a sandalwood incense, nor is it of perfume. If a person has an aroma issuing forth, such a fragrance definitely comes from the practices the person has done. Once there was a person, for the purpose of demonstrating his having mastered a high level of cultivation, who scented his clothes first by sandalwood incense before seeing people. On nilotpala flowers (blue lotus), their aroma cannot be smelled on earth. Such an aroma is like that of sandalwood incense, but is not it; this aroma is also like a floral scent but is not that either. The aroma is emanated from pores with a very slight fragrance. When one smells it, one will feel very comfortable with the scent.
The person’s look is dignified, and is not ugly. The face looks more handsome and it does not have disfigurements. The ten fingers and four limbs are both intact and complete. The skin is not in very fair complexion, but is smooth; it is not what we call ‘pretty’ though. A dignified look will not have a crooked nose; the nose is straight, and the nostrils are not exposed outward. According to physiognomy, a person with such nostrils is stingier. My nostrils are exposed outward a little, so I am very generous when I give out my money; it is like a situation that I have helped someone getting his whole monastery built. Not long ago, the Drikung Kyabgon Chungtsang needed a sum of money; I made the offering to him immediately without another word.
Sutra: ‘Also, obtaining the resources of the Paramitas naturally with ease. All things for using or taking are all over places and without shortages. Things, as jewels, fragrant flowers, banners, silk coverings, superior and wonderful clothes, food, liquid medicine, and the precious objects needed for termas, will all flow out naturally from the palms of Bodhisattvas.’
The ‘….Paramitas naturally with ease’ in the quote means there is no need to deliberately think of getting things; they are naturally to be had. From this, it is very clear to everyone of you that when you have mastered your practices, you will have all things. These come from the practices you have done. ‘All things for using …. are all over places and without shortages.’ All the jewels, fragrant flowers and banners will appear and be given to you. The best clothes, food, supplies and liquid medicine are all superior and wonderful, and they are there for you naturally. You don’t need to look for them; people will make them as offerings to you.
‘….And the precious objects needed for termas’ means when performing some Dharmas with certain Dharma methods, some treasures are particularly needed; only with them, can we do the performances. When such situations occur, termas will help you find such treasures for you. You don’t need to specially buy them. They will naturally appear. For example, I wanted to make an offering of a bowl, made of lapis lazuli, to His Holiness. I had been thinking about it for a dozen years but I could not find it. Lapis lazuli is a gemstone produced in Afghanistan. Previously, there had been wars going on in Afghanistan for a long time, so this gemstone had not been available. It has a characteristic in that it is easy to have fissures. Hence, for the size of the bowl I wanted, at least a very large of rough stone of lapis lazuli was needed. Then this stone could be cut open into a square and be gouged out into a bowl. Only a few years ago, did I suddenly have good causes and conditions to obtain a piece of lapis lazuli, and then I had it made into a bowl; it was an offering I made to His Holiness. He then instructed that this bowl would become a lineage of the Drikung Kagyu in the future. This had come out in a natural way. Afterwards, such a stone has not been seen; it is quite strange. It is just like what have been mentioned in sutras.
The quote of ‘….will all flow out naturally from the palms of Bodhisattvas’ means when one’s practices have attained accomplishment to the level of Amitabha, by opening one’s hands, all things will flow out from one’s palms. Of course, I cannot do this sort of thing. However, if someday I am capable of doing it, I think all of you will lie on your stomach on the ground, hoping more things will flow out of my palms for you.
Sutra: ‘From the pores of the body, all the music of the Human and Heaven Realms flows out. Because of such causes and conditions, the music can make countless, innumerable and unfathomable sentient beings abide by Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhicitta (Supreme Enlightenment).’
What flows out from the pores of a Great Bodhisattvas is not sweat, but is the music of the Human and Heaven Realms. Such music makes countless and innumerable sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment. In the so-called Human and Heaven Realms, the music in the Heaven Realm is different from that of the Human Realm. Then in this mundane world, there are many kinds of music, too. The music of the Human Realm mentioned here means the music which is close to that of Heaven Realm.
When heavenly beings come to meet with Bodhisattvas and the Buddha, there will be music approaching because such music can let many sentient beings abide by Supreme Enlightenment. It has been mentioned earlier that when a person has mastered the practices, he or she will naturally have these things appearing in the world. If the person has attained accomplishment of a Great Bodhisattva and is reborn in the Land of Amitabha, when this person stretches out his or her hands, things will naturally flow out of the hands. Thus, if we are attuned to yidams, we will have anything naturally.
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara once said that if you learn Buddhism and do practices in accordance with the Dharma principles, you will not be without meals to eat, medicine to take, clothes to wear or a place to live in. The mention of these is based on this section of the teaching. This is because once Avalokiteshvara extends his hands, things will flow out from them. These things are not to be given to you directly though; rather, it means you will get them through some people’s hands and through some causes and conditions. It was like the situation I was in. Before, I was so poor that I had no money to buy food; although I had eaten lunch, there would be no supper for me on that night. Nevertheless, I had never passed through more than one day without any meals. There would naturally be money showing up for me.
Hence, you need to believe – believing in the Dharma and your guru. If you have made up your mind to do your practices, there will be no dead ends. Even today if you think that you have reached a dead end in your life and your lifespan is close to the end, still, there is no dead end for you because Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara will come to lead you. After they have taken you, is there a dead end for you? No, there is none. If we fall into the Hell Realm, that will really be a dead end. If you fall into that realm, it is unlike your idea that you will only spend 10 years there and then come out just fine, as a true man. Once you have fallen down there, it will be lasting a few hundred years if your karma is light; if it is heavy, the time duration will start at 1,000 years, and will increase by ‘thousand-year jumps’. I have also known that there are some ghosts that have still been in hells for more than 800 years but have not entered into fetus yet as to be reborn.
Do not keep on thinking that you are still young, and you can wait until you have completely finished doing your things. Then, after that, you will practice diligently. Life is impermanent! Originally, all of you had been living a good life, but suddenly, the pandemic of coronavirus has emerged. Who could have thought of it? Every one of you wishes to see me in person but you cannot do it because of government rules; people are not allowed to have gatherings. When we have truly taken refuge as a Buddhist, we should have a determination to learn the Dharma and do practices. If you have not come to such a decision and have continuously wished to ‘dig out’ something from your guru, or hoped your guru treating you nicely, you are just wasting your own time.
Sutra: ‘“Ananda, now I have expounded the origins of Bodhisattva Fa-Chu’s practices.” At that time, Ananda said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, for that Bodhisattva Fa-Chu, one having attained accomplishment in bodhicitta, was he in the past, will he be in the future, or is he in the present and in other world?” The Buddha spoke to Ananda, “Go towards the west from here, and pass through 10 trillion lands of Buddhas.”’
The Buddha said to Ananda, ‘I have explained Bodhisattva Fa-Chu’s practicing directions, karmic retributions obtained and the processes of his masteries.’ In this way, the Buddha and Ananda, as a master and an apprentice (a teacher and a student) brought about this matter through their questions and answers. Why didn’t the Buddha speak of it quickly in a clear and direct way? It was because He would not talk if there was no such affinity. Only when there was someone asking questions or imploring for things, would the Buddha speak. It is like our reciting the words of ‘the Dharma wheel turns constantly’. After Shakyamuni Buddha had attained Buddhahood, there was no one imploring for the Dharma wheel turning constantly. It was at first a demon king imploring the Buddha that He was not to live too long. Afterwards, heavenly beings came to the Buddha imploring Him to turn the Dharma wheel. This is why in later generations like us, we recite those words every day, imploring the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and gurus to keep turning the Dharma wheel.
If there was no one imploring, such a condition would not arise, therefore, in representation of sentient beings, Ananda implored the Buddha for an answer, and asked about Bodhisattva Fa-Chu’s having attained Buddhahood. Was he in the past, is he in the present or will he be in the future? The Buddha told Ananda to go to the west from the current place (it can also be said that going from that place in India to the west), passing through 10 trillion lands of Buddhas. One land of a Buddha is equivalent to one Milky Way Galaxy. Human beings cannot go through 10 trillion lands of Buddhas at all. It has already been such a toil for us to get to Mars, not to mention going to such a faraway place indicated in the quote. If you do not have the majestic, miraculous power of Amitabha, you cannot go there.
Sutra: ‘In there, there is a world named Utmost Bliss, where Bhikkhu Fa-Chu has attained Buddhahood with a name of Immeasurable Life. He is now expounding the Dharma and countless Bodhisattvas and Sravakas surround him respectfully.’
In there, there is a place named the World of Utmost Bliss, where Bhikkhu Fa-Chu has attained Buddhahood with a Dharma name of Immeasurable Life. Here, the Buddha mentioned very clearly that a Buddha’s name for Bhikkhu Fa-Chu is Immeasurable Life, not Amitabha. If what we usually call ‘Amitabha’ were a Buddha’s name for Amitabha, Shakyamuni Buddha would have said so. Why did He say Immeasurable Life, not ‘Amitabha’? Actually, ‘Om ami dewa shri’ is the mantra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. Amitabha is not this Buddha’s Dharma name. Yet, we generally call Amitabha as Immeasurable Life, because Amitabha’s longevity is immeasurable; in it, there are no arising and no ceasing to exist. Also, Amitabha’s Dharma era is timeless, and it exists continuously. That is why Amitabha is called Immeasurable Life.
The Buddha of Immeasurable Life is now constantly expounding the Dharma, and countless Bodhisattvas and Sravakas listen to him right there respectfully.
Sutra: ‘Ananda, that Buddha’s bright light illuminates universally lands of Buddhas, and these illuminated lands are countless, innumerable and unfathomable. I will briefly explain it now. The light illuminates the East, on lands as many as sand in the Ganges, as well as the South, West, North and intermediate directions including the zenith and nadir. Except for places having already received the blessings of Buddhas’ original vows and their majestic, miraculous powers, all lands are illuminated by candles.’
The Buddha said that the Buddha of Immeasurable Life’s bright light ‘illuminates universally lands of Buddhas, and these illuminated lands are countless, innumerable and unfathomable.’ His light can ‘illuminate the East, on lands as many as sand in the Ganges’. Simply speaking, this Buddha’s light can illuminate all lands of Buddhas in the ten directions of the Dharma Realm. ‘Except for places having already received the blessings of Buddhas’ original vows and their majestic, miraculous powers, all lands are illuminated by candles.’ In ancient times, there was no electricity, so candles were used for getting the brightest light.
Sutra: ‘In Buddhas’ lights, maybe one xun, or one yojana, or even nayuta of hundreds of thousands of yojanas of lights are added, and maybe there are lights illuminating universally lands of Buddhas.’
One xun (about 1.8 meters) is a little more than one zhang, in the traditional way of measuring. In the quote, the phrase, ‘or one yojana, or even nayuta of hundreds of thousands of yojanas of lights that are added’ (one yojana is about 11.2 kilometers), was about weights and measures. Maybe all the lands of Buddhas can be illuminated.
Sutra: ‘Ananda, because of these, the Buddha of Immeasurable Life also has different names. They are Immeasurable Light, Boundless Light, Detached Light, Unhindered Light; King-of-Illumination-with-Dignity-and-Solemnity Light, Loving Light, Joyful Light, Observable Light, Unfathomable Light, Nonequivalent Light, Uncountable Light, Reflecting-and-Covering-Sunlight, Reflecting-and-Covering-Moonlight, Covering-and-Grasping-Sunlight-and-Moonlight. His light is bright, pure and immense.’
The Buddha said that the Buddha of Immeasurable Life has other names, such as ‘Immeasurable Light, Boundless Light, Detached Light, Unhindered Light; King-of-Illumination-with-Dignity-and-Solemnity Light, Loving Light, Joyful Light, Observable Light, Unfathomable Light, Nonequivalent Light, Uncountable Light.’ These are all other names of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life.
Sutra: ‘Universally letting sentient beings feel joyful and happy in body and mind, and also letting devas, nagas, yaksas and asuras, et cetera, in all the rest of lands of Buddhas, obtain felicity and joy.’
This means if sentient beings can understand about this light, their body and mind will feel peaceful and happy. In addition to sentient beings, in all the lands of Buddhas, devas, nagas, yaksas and asuras, et cetera (meaning devas, nagas and others of eight groups of non-humans) will all ‘obtain felicity and joy’.
Sutra: ‘Ananda, I have expounded that Buddha’s bright light. I cannot explain it to its utmost in the time of the completion of one kalpa. The Sravakas are unable to count and understand the light’s boundaries, even if there are full of the bhikkhus in nayuta of hundreds of thousands of numbers and they all have supernatural powers with ease like Great Maudgalyayana.’
Shakyamuni Buddha said even if He was to explain such bright light with His great, awe-inspiring and supernatural powers, He could not explain it to its utmost in one kalpa.
In the land of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, there are many monastics. They are all like Maudgalyayana, having supernatural powers with ease. Maudgalyayana was called ‘the number one in supernatural powers.’ He was ‘the number one’ in five types of such powers. He had them all except for the power of ‘understanding of the eradication of afflictions.’
Sutra: ‘In the morning, traveling through a great chiliocosm, and then in an instant, returning back to the original place.’
With supernatural powers, one can go to any place in a great chiliocosm (a great universe of 1 billion small worlds), and come back in an instant.
Sutra: ‘There have been nayuta of hundreds of thousands of years. We are to calculate the total number of countless Sravakas during that time, who were at the first assembly of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. We know that they possess supernatural powers to their utmost and until their nirvana. They do not know one point, out of 100, about what had been expounded by that Buddha, and on that, they also do not know one thing, out of thousands of hundreds, or even to that of Upanisad.’
For those great arhats and monastics, as long as they get to the land of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, their own longevity will be immeasurable.
The Buddha just started expounding the Dharma. All these bhikkhus with great supernatural powers do not understand completely on all things about the Buddha. Because they have not attained Buddhahood, they could only know a little on what the Buddha said. The meaning of the term, ‘Upanisad’, needs to be checked.
Simply speaking, if you have not achieved attainment of being a Bodhisattva or of fruition of a Buddha, and even if you have great supernatural powers like those possessed by Venerable Maudgalyayana, having them with you until your nirvana, after you have met with the Buddha, you only know a little about how He had been able to attain achievement of fruition of a Buddha. The ‘quantity’ of that limited knowledge is just a little out of, say, 100 things or of 1,000 things. You cannot understand them all.
Now, up to this point on what we have been talking about, Shakyamuni Buddha did not mention the name, ‘Amitabha’. We have been muddle-headed to regard ‘Amitabha’ as a Buddha’s name and have recited it for more than 1,000 years. We should call the name as the Buddha of Immeasurable Life or the Buddha of Immeasurable Light. If we want to chant the mantra, we will chant the mantra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life. Since we should believe in what the Buddha had taught, of course we should act based on what have been mentioned in sutras. So far, through what I have been talking about on this section, I have not read in this sutra that the Buddha spoke of ‘Amitabha’; He only said that Bhikkhu Fa-Chu became the Buddha of Immeasurable Life; the Buddha did not say that Bhikkhu Fa-Chu was ‘Amitabha’.
Originally, in the Sixteen Visualizations of the Pure Land transmitted by Shakyamuni Buddha, the mantra of Amitabha must have been taught. In the Amitayurdhyana Sutra, there are mentions of Sixteen Visualizations, but only the term of each one of them is indicated. There are no explanations on how to visualize them. Nevertheless, no matter how they are to be visualized, if Tantra has been practiced, the chanting of mantras is definitely necessary. Thus, it should have been that after the time these three words, ‘a’, ‘mi’, ‘de’, had been spread to ‘middle earth’ – China – maybe because this sutra had not been translated into Chinese, the ‘a, mi, de’ had been chanted as a Buddha’s name. Of course, this is also okay. There is nothing to say against it because it is the mantra of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life; it will also be fine in chanting it. It is like the case of the mantra of Avalokiteshvara. It is the Great Six-Syllable Mantra, but we still call this Bodhisattva as Avalokiteshvara; we do not use the mantra’s name, Great Six-Syllable Mantra, as his name.
About the name and the mantra of Amitabha, in terms of the Dharma, they cannot be said to be wrong. There might be partial differences because of passing of time and translations. No matter what, there are no differences as long as you recite the name or chant the mantra with a pure mind. However, if we talk about sutras, Amitabha is not mentioned in them. Although there is a sutra called The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra, it is about another method of ‘going’ to the Pure Land, and had been expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha. As such, the name of Amitabha is called.
Nonetheless, in here, the Buddha introduced the Buddha of Immeasurable Life to us, and expounded, from the beginning to the end, about how Bhikkhu Fa-Chu had practiced, made vows, become a Bodhisattva and what his deeds were afterwards, et cetera. There were no explanations though about how he had done his practices to attain accomplishment. However, these Forty-Eight Vows are, in fact, helping us get the directions of our practices. If we clearly understand these vows, there will be higher opportunities of our ‘going’ to Amitabha’s Pure Land. In the sutra’s later section, ‘Amitayus Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 5, Section 2), there is no mention of Amitabha either; it is indicated though that even Bodhisattva Maitreya came and listened to the Buddha’s teachings.”
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Updated on March 19, 2022