His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – April 17, 2022

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne, and expounded on “Scroll 20, ‘Immovable Tathagata Assembly’ (Chapter 6, Section 2, Part 5: Merits of Nirvana) of the Ratnakuta Sutra.

“Sutra: ‘At that time, the Venerable Sariputra also thought of this, “The World Honored One had already spoken of that Immovable Tathagata has been attuned to right equality and right awareness, and in his practices of the Bodhisattva Path he had attained boundless merits. The World Honored One had also said that in that land and in Sravakas and Bodhisattvas there, there are auspicious, meritorious activities that are immense and solemn.”’

The term ‘nirvana’ does not mean the Buddha had died. It is very difficult to explain the term in words, and in details, the true state of nirvana. Simply speaking, after any of a Buddha has become a Buddha, such a Buddha has his own Dharma era, which refers to how long he will live in this world. Every Buddha is different. For example, for Shakyamuni Buddha, between the time of His having attained Buddhahood and His leaving the earth, there were only a short period of decades. Other people view this as His having entered nirvana. However, did the Buddha leave the earth? No, He did not. If He had left the Saha World (this solar system), these sutras, Buddha statues, stupas, pagodas, temples, and practitioners would not have existed. Although it seems that Shakyamuni Buddha’s physical body has left the Saha World, His original vows, power of merits and Dharmakaya (Dharma-body) have still been in such World, and have taught the Dharma and provided guidance to all sentient beings continuously.

Nirvana occurs when causes and conditions of a particular Buddha have reached a certain level; other methods are needed to benefit sentient beings. Then this Buddha will not demonstrate the existence of his bodily form again which sentient beings wish to see. It is like when a Buddha statue has been looked at now, it can also represent a bodily form of Shakyamuni Buddha. Before, there was a Buddha statue in Afghanistan, the largest one in the world at the time, and it was blown up by dynamite, indicating that in that area, the Buddha’s bodily form does not exist anymore. The definition of nirvana is not that the Buddha has died. The Buddha is ‘non-arising and non-ceasing-to-exist,’ so can He be dead? Also, this does not mean the Buddha will no longer look after the land where He made His vows. Rather, He felt that as He had already taught the Dharma, there are many Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas, and they, after having continuously received His lineage, have been teaching the Dharma and providing guidance to sentient beings. Thus, the Buddha does not need to appear in His bodily form to teach.

In this lifetime, in order to teach the Dharma and provide guidance to sentient beings on the earth, Shakyamuni Buddha was born on the earth in a bodily form for such purposes. When He felt that He had transmitted the Dharma, and such affinities had also been in perfect completion, He then entered the state of nirvana. This means the affinity of the need for His teachings of the Dharma and providing guidance in person, and in a bodily form, had ceased to exist. Nevertheless, His Dharma-body still exists. Why are the merits of nirvana mentioned here especially? Do not misunderstand that the Buddha had died. If the Buddha could have died, then He could have also been born. In Han ethnicity, people call a Rinpoche in Tibet as a ‘living Buddha,’ and this term has been popular since Qing Dynasty (1636 to 1912). However, there are no Buddhas being alive or Buddhas being dead; the only differentiation on Buddhas is whether they have entered the state of nirvana or not.

‘At that time, the Venerable Sariputra also thought of this, “The World Honored One had already spoken of that Immovable Tathagata has been attuned to right equality and right awareness.’ Here Sariputra had a thought. Shakyamuni Buddha had already said that Immovable Tathagata has been able to be attuned to right equality and right awareness and to attain the fruition of a Buddha. This is because that when he was ‘in his practices of the Bodhisattva Path,’ his merits had been boundless. Hence, in order to attain Buddhahood, one must practice the Bodhisattva Path which cannot be skipped in one’s practices. One cannot say, ‘So-and-so has bestowed assurance to me to be a future Buddha; I am exactly a Buddha.’ This is just bestowing assurance of future attainments. As you have been practicing the Bodhisattva Path, you are qualified in the future for being able to have a name of a certain Buddha. Why do we need to make vows to be in the Land of Amitabha? It is because there are no conditions whatsoever now on Earth to let us attain Buddhahood. Even if you want to practice the Bodhisattva Path, and if you are in an old age, there will not be enough time for you to accumulate sufficient merits to attain the fruition level of a Bodhisattva in this life.

So, learning or practicing the Bodhisattva Path is still in theory basically. Has one been really doing the practices? It is very difficult to do. If our minds can be good or if we can do good things, it is already not easy for being like that, let alone mastering practices to have such a fearless, or giving-all-away, spirit of a Bodhisattva. This is very hard to practice indeed. There are some older believers saying that they want to implore taking refuge in me, and to practice the Bodhisattva Path. I am not stopping them from practicing this Path, but the issue is that there is not enough time for them to do it. However, if they have made vows to be reborn in the Pure Land, I, as their guru, will certainly help them. Even if I pass away, my vows still exist so long as you have a complete respect for your guru and a full confidence in him. When I am alive, you have listened, diligently practiced to be reborn in the Pure Land, and dedicated all the merits to that land. Right before you pass away, if you have continuously implored help from your guru, the guru will surely assist you. Some people have said to you, ‘Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche is old now. Come over to my place here to learn; I am younger than he is.’ This kind of a talk is specious because that person is just younger than me but has not mastered the practices on such vows. What do you follow this person for? We need to see what a guru’s vows are.

Here in the sutra quote, there is an emphasis especially placed on the merits of Immovable Buddha being immeasurable and boundless when he had been practicing the Bodhisattva Path. It is also mentioned in the quote that in his land of a Buddha and ‘in Sravakas and Bodhisattvas there,’ there are auspicious merits. All the good activities they have done ‘are immense and solemn.’

Sutra: ‘”Again, I wish World Honored One will expound here on that Buddha’s nirvana and what have been the deeds and their processes done by his emanations.”’

Sariputra wished that Shakyamuni Buddha would expound the changes and transformations that had been made through all ‘deeds and their processes done by his emanations’ after Immovable Tathagata’s nirvana.

Sutra: ‘At that time, the World Honored One knew what thoughts that were in Sariputra’s mind and then He spoke to him.’

In this section of the sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha and Sariputra, as two of them being guru and disciple, had shown us continuously about their supernatural power of mind-reading. Sariputra did not speak. It was just that in his pure awareness-nature, his every thought was for sentient beings and for the remembrance of the merits of all Buddhas. Therefore, his thoughts were pure. So long as such thoughts arose, Shakyamuni Buddha knew them absolutely. Some people have come here and asked me, ‘Do you know what I am thinking about?’ I have answered that I do not know. It is because your thoughts are not like those of Sariputra. All your thoughts are bizarre and unaccountable, and are about some good things that you want for yourself. Thus, if I know what you think, I certainly will pretend that I do not know, not to mention that I do not want to know the nonsense of your things. What do I want to know them for? Rather, I would like to know such things like those that Sariputra was thinking about.

Some people have knelt in front of me to implore the Dharma. Then I know whether this person is truly imploring it or is faking the act. Yesterday, a disciple of mine came to implore the Hundred-Syllable Mantra, one of the requirements of the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices. I could have told this person that, absolutely, I would not transmit this mantra to him because I have known his mind. I instructed him to have a talk with monastics and members of the Board of Directors of this Center. That was just to console him a little. I did that because I have been aware that he has no respect in his mind. His attitude was like that I certainly need to transmit that Dharma method to him. I did not sign a contract with you indicating that I must transmit the Dharma to you, so I did not promise that disciple to give him what he wanted. Why do I have to transmit the Dharma to you? Then you will say to me, ‘Since you do not transmit the Dharma to us, we will leave you and the Center.’ Okay! Thank you! I am grateful to you! Your mind of imploring the Dharma is like this: ‘I will certainly get this method transmitted to me. After I have finished practicing the first stage of a certain Dharma method, I want to get its second stage to practice on.’ If you think that, well, wait then! You will think that ‘I have completed doing the required number of times – 110,000 – of grand prostrations, so you need to transmit the next one, the Hundred-Syllable Mantra, to me.’ Wait slowly for it then! The Dharma text does not mention that after finishing the practice on doing grand prostrations, the Hundred-Syllable Mantra is surely to be transmitted. Why is this not mentioned? Because it depends on you! You will say, ‘In other Buddhist centers, if a Dharma method has been implored, it will be transmitted.’ Go there and join in with people there then! I am very difficult to deal with because I have achieved accomplishments starting at the level of being a believer; I am not a reincarnated Rinpoche. If you implore the Dharma with your set of ways, I absolutely will not give you transmissions. What is this kind of set? It is the disrespect for the Three Jewels. It is like this: ‘If I think of it, you need to give it to me. If I kneel in front of you and say what I want, you need to give me that too.’

I have told you so many stories about how honorable people of the past had implored the Dharma, and how I have implored it. Then, how have you implored it? I have let you do things too casually. In other Buddhist centers, the transmission of the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices is very expedient and simple. You can go there to get such a transmission. Do not remain here. I am not afraid to have no disciples. You are outrageous! Your tone of imploring the Dharma is like this: ‘Rinpoche, I have completed the practice of this Dharma method, and you need to transmit other ones to me.’ When have I owed you things? You are the ones who owe me. Yet, now it seems that I owe you. You think that if I do not transmit the Dharma, I am not a Rinpoche. Contrarily, I will not transmit the Dharma to you.

It is mentioned here that when Sariputra had a thought arisen, the Buddha knew what it was. To put it simply, when they spoke of the Dharma, they were in the state of meditation entirely. Their talks were not for some things or some merits; there were no such subjects at all. The talks were there just for helping sentient beings.

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, on the day when Immovable Tathagata entered the nirvana of prajna, his emanations, from his Nirmanakaya (emanation-body), spread over all worlds. He has expounded wonderful Dharmas in hells. He has subdued countless sentient beings with the Dharma, and they should all attain the fruition level of an arhat.’

Then, Shakyamuni Buddha spoke thusly: ‘Sariputra, on what you thought of, I am going to tell you about them now.’ There are these words in the quote: ‘on the day when Immovable Tathagata entered the nirvana of prajna.’ Why is the term ‘prajna’ shown here suddenly? It means Immovable Tathagata’s nirvana is ‘the nirvana of prajna’ – a nirvana with wisdom. This also indicates that his bodily form will not be a ‘fixation’ in his land of a Buddha. His Dharma-body has been in all the trichiliocosm. He has also expounded Dharmas in hells. He has subdued innumerable sentient beings with the Dharma. So long as Immovable Buddha has spoken of the Dharma, he can subdue countless sentient beings, and let all of them being able to ‘attain the fruition level of an arhat.’

Sutra: ‘However, at this moment, only after some practitioners had obtained a fruition, did he enter nirvana. There is a change in the number of those, who are in attaining the accomplishments of “non-learning” before, and the number has changed and increased right on this day.’

There is this sentence in the quote: ‘However, at this moment, only after some practitioners had obtained a fruition, did he enter nirvana.’ When Immovable Buddha was about to enter nirvana, ‘There is a change in the number of those, who are in attaining the accomplishments of “non-learning” before, and the number has increased.’ This explains that the number of those, who have previously mastered the practices of ‘non-learning’ and attained a fruition level, has increased. People of ‘non-learning’ are not those who have not learned the Dharma; rather, they have already learned it and reached a level that there are nothings more for them to learn. This means they have achieved accomplishments in the state of non-cultivation, the last stage of the Bodhisattva Path. When Immovable Buddha entered nirvana, at this time, the number of those, who have achieved accomplishments in the state of non-cultivation before, has increased a lot suddenly. At the time of this Buddha’s nirvana, because these people are praising his merits, their own merits have been enhanced unexpectedly. If they have not attained accomplishments originally, such an enhancement of their merits will make them achieve attainments. Hence, ‘the number of those, who are in attaining the accomplishments of “non-learning” before, has increased’ a lot suddenly.

Sutra: ‘When Immovable Buddha bestowed assurance of future enlightenment to the Great Bodhisattva of Fragrant-Elephant, he said this to the Bodhisattva, “After I have entered nirvana, you should be a Buddha called Golden-Lotus Tathagata, and have been attuned to right equality and right awareness.” Furthermore, Sariputra, in that land of a Buddha for Golden-Lotus Tathagata, the number of Sravakas with merits is not different from the number of such Sravakas in the land of Buddha for Immovable Tathagata.’

Shakyamuni Buddha was a lot of fun when He expounded the Dharma. In earlier parts of this section in the sutra, Sariputra asked Him about Immovable Buddha, and then in later parts of the section, there was another Buddha, called Bodhisattva Fragrant-Elephant at the time, appearing. When Immovable Buddha entered nirvana, in that process, he ‘bestowed assurance of future enlightenment to the Great Bodhisattva of Fragrant-Elephant’ first, and ‘he said this to the Bodhisattva, “After I have entered nirvana, you should be a Buddha.”’ This is equivalent to the Dharma lineage of Immovable Buddha passed on to the Great Bodhisattva of Fragrant-Elephant, who, after having attained Buddhahood, is called ‘Golden-Lotus Tathagata, and has been attuned to right equality and right awareness.’ ‘In that land of a Buddha for Golden-Lotus Tathagata, the number of Sravakas with merits is not different from the number of such Sravakas in the land of Buddha for Immovable Tathagata.’

Sutra: ‘Furthermore, Sariputra, when Immovable Tathagata entered the nirvana of prajna, at that time, all the earth shakes universally. In all the trichiliocosm, there are sounds of the shocks roaring, and the sounds have penetrated upwards, even to the Heaven of Akaniṣṭha. When the sounds are heard in heavens, heavenly beings immediately know that Buddha has entered nirvana.’

When a Buddha is entering nirvana, there will be sounds produced. At such time, the earth will shake. However, these kinds of shocks are not from earthquakes. Earthquakes will make people have fear in their minds. These shocks are to let us know that there are changes in things. Even in the trichiliocosm, such shocks will produce roaring sounds, which are able to reach upwards to the Heaven of Akaniṣṭha.

Sutra: ‘Furthermore, Sariputra, in that land of a Buddha, all bushes, forests and medicinal herbs lean towards where Immovable Tathagata entered nirvana. At that time, all heavenly beings scatter flowery garlands, different incenses, and clothes on that Buddha. There are fragrant flowers scattering and surrounding in a circle at a height of one yojana. Furthermore, Sariputra, when he entered nirvana, in the trichiliocosm, all devas, nagas, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras and mahoragas have joined the palms of their hands together towards Immovable Tathagata, and paid obeisance to him.’

The Buddha spoke to Sariputra that when Immovable Buddha entered nirvana, in that land of a Buddha, all trees, bushes, forests and medicinal herbs ‘lean towards where Immovable Tathagata entered nirvana.’ All the phenomena that have been talked about now also appeared at the time when Shakyamuni Buddha entered nirvana. This should be mentioned later in the sutra.

From such phenomena, we are to know then whether a Buddha is entering nirvana or not. One occurrence is a great and universal shaking of the earth. The shocks make sounds appear. Then, all the trees and grasses will lean towards one direction (the direction of this Buddha’s nirvana). ‘At that time, all heavenly beings scatter flowery garlands, different incenses, and clothes on that Buddha.’

At that time, in the whole world and the trichiliocosm, all devas, nagas and others of eight groups of non-humans ‘joined the palms of their hands together’ towards that Buddha, and ‘paid obeisance to him.’ From that part of the quote, we can see that these eight groups of non-humans are not just in the Saha World; they are in the whole Dharma Realm or the whole universe. On these eight groups of non-humans, some have protected and supported the Dharma, and some have not. In Esoteric Buddhism, there is a yidam specializing the Dharma methods that are to subdue these eight groups of non-humans, letting them help the matters of the Dharma. It is just like what that disciple, a member of the Monastery Affairs Team, had said when sharing a story before the puja started today that there are many things I can handle. That is not because of the power I possess but because of the help from devas, nagas and others of eight groups of non-humans. Why have they helped me? The reason is not that I have practiced very well. Rather, in one of the retreats that I have conducted, there was a yidam I practiced on, and that yidam deals with these eight groups of non-humans especially. If devas, nagas and others of eight groups of non-humans have protected and supported a certain practitioner, this practitioner’s Buddhist activities will be run more smoothly.

Sutra: ‘By the miraculous power of that Buddha and other Buddhas, all other heavens can see that he has entered the nirvana of prajna.’

In other worlds of heavens, they are not worlds of Buddhas. However, by the miraculous power of Immovable Buddha and other Buddhas, heavenly beings there can see that Immovable Buddha has entered nirvana.

Sutra: ‘For seven days and seven nights, these heavenly beings harbored sorrow and distress. They did not take playful things and entertainments of the Human and Heaven Realms, and had no thoughts of desires either. They spoke to one another, “For the world’s bright light, Immovable Tathagata has been as eyes of sentient beings. Now he has taken nirvana. How can it be this fast?”’

‘For seven days and seven nights, these heavenly beings harbored sorrow and distress. They did not take playful things and entertainments of the Human and Heaven Realms.’ They did not want to enjoy themselves. When retreats are conducted, one of the rules is that the practitioners conducting the retreats are not allowed to watch television or receive phone calls. This is then related to what has just been described in the quote about having no enjoyments in some circumstances. When the Eight Precepts Retreat is conducted, the participants cannot sing; they cannot ‘take playful things and entertainments,’ and they cannot have fun.

The Buddha said that ‘For the world’s bright light, Immovable Tathagata has been as eyes of sentient beings.’ What are these eyes? They are the Dharma eye, the eye of wisdom and the Buddha’s eye. Sentient beings can know the Dharma not because they want to learn it sincerely; they want to practice the Dharma but they cannot do it either just because they are respectful of it. The reason is that all Buddhas have been as our eyes. What does this mean? Even if you want to read a sutra, and even though someone has expounded it to you before, how are you going to find it if you have no affinities with this sutra? Even supposing that you have found it, you will not read it; granted that you have read a page or two, you will stop reading it. It is because there are no affinities between you and this yidam. Hence, the Buddha has been as our eyes – the Dharma eye, the eye of wisdom and the Buddha’s eye. So long as your mind is pure, you will certainly, in this life, have opportunities to listen to the Dharma, read sutras, see Buddha statues, and encounter a guru. Many people think that it is very convenient nowadays to do these things through a telecast. Such a viewing is just an extension of science, making a telecast a convenient way for you to ‘attend’ a puja. However, such an ‘attendance’ does not represent that you will surely experience those things just mentioned. If there are no blessings from the Buddha, then, unaccountably, you will not learn Buddhism.

In many countries on Earth, there are no Buddha statues, sutras, or practitioners. Why? It is reasonable to say that as the Buddha and Bodhisattvas are very compassionate, they should have liberated all sentient beings. Nevertheless, those sentient beings, who have not been liberated, do not have the affinities and good fortune to be helped. Even if the Buddha and Bodhisattvas appear in front of such sentient beings, these people will not feel it, nor will they know it. Yet, have the Buddha and Bodhisattvas forsaken them? No, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas have not. They still bless sentient beings continuously. It is just like that in our practices of Vajrayana, we pray every day that sentient beings can be liberated from birth and death. When I chant mantras, do I see all sentient beings? No, I do not. It has been the help of the Buddha and yidams that has spread my vows all over the trichiliocosm. If your relation with a yidam is not good, and even if ‘the Dharma eye, the eye of wisdom and the Buddha’s eye’ possessed by the yidam have continuously led you, you will not ‘see’ them. What does it mean in saying ‘a relation is not good’? It is like what happened yesterday that a disciple came to implore a Dharma method from me. I felt that his relation with me was not good because he talked to me in a tone of giving instructions. He thought, ‘You must tell me this.’ Read sutras to see how things are written there!

‘Now he has taken nirvana. How can it be this fast?’ This is a part of last quote and it means ‘Why has he suddenly taken nirvana today in such a fast way?’

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, if Great Bodhisattvas, from this world or other worlds, are reborn in that land of a Buddha after their lives end, or if they are born there now, they will all receive, and be bestowed, the assurance of Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi (Supreme Enlightenment). The number of such Bodhisattvas cannot be counted in hundreds. That number is counted in thousands and hundreds of thousands.’

The Buddha spoke to Sariputra, ‘Sariputra, if Great Bodhisattvas, from this world or other worlds, are reborn in the land of a Buddha for Immovable Tathagata after their lives end, or if they are born there now, they will all receive, and be bestowed, the assurance of Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi (Supreme Enlightenment).’ Because they are born there, they will very naturally receive, and be bestowed, the assurance of future attainments from that Buddha. They will attain Supreme Enlightenment absolutely. It means one will transform oneself from an ordinary person to a sacred person immediately. The definition of ‘sacred person’ is not what people think. In sutras, when ‘sacred’ is mentioned, the minimum level for a person being ‘sacred’ is that the person can break away from the cycle of birth and death and no longer reincarnate. Also, this person has already started practicing from the methods of attaining the fruition level of a Bodhisattva. All these factors will get the person receiving, and be bestowed, the assurance of Supreme Enlightenment. Unlike us, such a practitioner does not need to come to the earth continuously for practicing to attain Supreme Enlightenment. It is the same in the Land of Amitabha. So long as one is reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land, one will receive, and be bestowed, the assurance of Supreme Enlightenment first. This is because that if one does not have bodhicitta, on all the Dharmas that Amitabha has expounded in his pure land, one cannot understand them even after having listened to them. Or, one has listened to them but has not gotten them through one’s head.

The disciple, who came yesterday to implore me for a Dharma method, did not have bodhicitta, precisely. He implored the method for himself. Since he was imploring it like that, his attitude was very arrogant. He would certainly say, ‘No, I am not arrogant.’ That was what he said indeed. I, as his guru, knew very well that he was quite arrogant. What was he arrogant in? His thought was that ‘Today, the situation is that others did something wrong before and that error let me be unable to practice. Now, I have not made mistakes, so when I have come to implore you for a Dharma method, you need to give it to me.’ This was exactly the arrogance that I am talking about. Why did those people make the error before? That was his collective karma. He did not admit it. It then became those people’s error which harmed him and made him unable to learn the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices. He thought, ‘Now, as I have completed the practice of doing grand prostrations, I can receive the transmission of the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices from you.’ This was precisely the attitude of haughtiness and arrogance. So, the monastic, whom this disciple had talked to, was deceived by him, right? (The monastic answered, ‘Yes, that was right. I was deceived.’)

The minds of sentient beings are unfathomable. This is what the Buddha and Bodhisattvas have mentioned. The term ‘been deceived’ just described does not mean this disciple was bad. Rather, I have expounded so much of the Dharma but he has not listened and gotten that through his head. He still has this concept: ‘What I want is to advance my practicing stage to a higher level. I am different from you. You have only finished the practice of doing grand prostrations. I have completed the practice of the chanting of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra. Then I want to advance my practicing stage again.’ If you have not practiced the Bodhisattva Path, you cannot advance your stages in practicing. If you do not have the mindset prepared to learn that path, you cannot have those stages advancing either. What are Bodhisattvas? They are awakened sentient beings. All of us are sentient beings but we have not attained realization. What kind of realization have we been in then? We have realized that we are foolish enough to be in the reincarnation’s sea of suffering, going round and round continuously without being able to come out of it. Today, one is to realize that by following one’s guru to learn Buddhism one will get opportunities to leave reincarnation of the mundane world. You still have not realized this though; you persist, still, obstinately in knowing Dharmas. It is mentioned in the Diamond Sutra that when we have practiced further in later stages and truly attained realization in Emptiness, we can cast aside the so-called Dharmas, let alone non-Dharmas (matters of non-Dharmas).

The saying of ‘Right Dharma can be cast aside’ does not indicate that you do not need to recite sutras, chant mantras or do grand prostrations. It means you should not be attached to the Dharma. Thus, in our practices, we have practiced a generation stage and a completion stage. At the final stage, we need to visualize that we ourselves have ‘become’ the Emptiness – all the worlds of sentient beings have ‘changed’ to Emptiness. This is precisely letting us not to be attached to the Dharma. If you are attached to the idea that there is the Dharma in you, the highest level that you can master your practices at is being an asura. You cannot attain a fruition level of a Bodhisattva because you are attached to the thought that you yourself have the Dharma in you. Dharmas are just tools. Today, if we want to do some things well, we will need tools to do them. After we have finished the jobs, do we still need these tools? We will then put them aside or give them to others to use. Nevertheless, such tools are not possessed by us; they are for us to utilize on some work. It is not that because of the tools we have, we are more amazing than other people.

Why is there a need for the Buddha speaking of Dharma? It is not that the Buddha controls or persuades us with the Dharma; rather, He uses it to subdue our minds having karmic hindrances that have been heavy. The term ‘to subdue’ means letting every one of our original, selfish thought become this eventually, ‘think of the Buddha, of the Dharma, of Sangha and of sentient beings.’ There is no thinking of oneself. The word ‘think’ here refers to your thoughts. (Translator’s note: This is to distinguish the word of “think” from the word of ‘read.’ In Chinese, both words have a same written form, and are pronounced the same, as nian.) All of you can check it out every day on what your thoughts are. Of course, as you are ordinary people now, you cannot have every thought being ‘think of the Buddha, of the Dharma, of Sangha and of sentient beings.’ The ‘think of Sangha’ includes the thinking of your guru. You are not able to do, successfully, the thinking of those just mentioned. However, have you done them? If you have, the number of issues you face will decrease. If you have not, and if you just think of yourself, your daughters-in-law, your sons, this or that thing, how can you have been learning Buddhism? Those monastics sitting there now are included in such a situation too as they think of attaining enlightenment every day. They have this thought that ‘I want to think about mastering my practices to achieve attainments.’ This is also showing a mind of attachments.

So, for all what have been expounded in the sutra today, they are not to let you have a superstition that the Buddha is a deity. Instead, these have been mentioned to you: the transformation, or a change, of a mindset and the determination or clearness of one’s mind to learn the Dharma. Hence, in that land, the number of those having been bestowed the assurance of Supreme Enlightenment is not in hundreds or thousands; the number of such Bodhisattvas is countless.

Sutra: ‘Sariputra, these hundreds of thousands of Great Bodhisattvas have been attuned to enlightenment, and have attained realization. They have been counted in the number of Tathagatas, and are all included in the number of the count of Buddhas. All of those who have been counted in the number of Buddhas possess all the immeasurable essence of wisdom. If there are Great Bodhisattvas who should be born in that land of a Buddha, all will also be included in the number of the count of Tathagatas, and so forth.’

The sentences in this quote are quite amazing. They refer to the subject that has been mentioned just now: ‘think of the Buddha, of the Dharma, of Sangha and of sentient beings.’ If these are thought of, then the number of all the Great Bodhisattvas will be counted in the number of Tathagatas. These Tathagatas are ‘all included in the number of the count of Buddhas.’ They ‘possess all the immeasurable essence of wisdom.’ I mentioned last week that all Buddhas are the same – there are no differences in them. It is just that their vows are different. To put it simply, why do we need to make our dedications to Supreme Enlightenment? Because it is the tool that all Buddhas have relied on to attain Buddhahood. Thus, if you make such dedications, you will be in the number of the count of Buddhas, and gradually, your wisdom will be indistinguishable from that of the Buddha. There is no need to implore for it, however, this does not mean you do not need to do it. Rather, you are not to deliberately implore for these: ‘Unlock my wisdom; let me have wisdom; get me to understand the Dharma through my learning.’ There is no need to implore for them. So long as your thoughts are correct, you will be all right.

In this section of the sutra, it is mentioned very clearly that if we are reborn in the Land of Amitabha, we will be the same too. In that land, you will first receive, and be bestowed, the assurance of Supreme Enlightenment. Then, these Bodhisattvas, as you being one of them, will be quite easily attuned to (having attunement in) enlightenment, and attain realization (achieving the understanding of it). They will be counted in the number of Tathagatas. What is the difference between Bodhisattvas and the Buddha? Bodhisattvas are awakened sentient beings because they still have a tiny bit of affliction. What is it? It is the affliction of benefiting sentient beings. Why had Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara transformed later from a Buddha into a Bodhisattva after having originally attained Buddhahood? It was because Avalokiteshvara needed this little affliction to liberate sentient beings. As the Buddha is motionless, the deeds of liberating sentient beings are done by Bodhisattvas. The teacher of Bodhisattvas is the Buddha – the Buddha teaches them. It is like that many people like to be near His Holiness. However, His Holiness teaches Rinpoches, and if you are not a Rinpoche, how can His Holiness teach you? Here is another example with the same concept. Many people like to be near a professor. Nevertheless, if you are an elementary school pupil, what do you want to be near him or her for? This does not mean you are not allowed to be near a professor; rather, being near such a person will be of no help to you.

It is spoken of very distinctly here that if you have not attained Supreme Enlightenment, the number of Bodhisattvas, of their group you being in, cannot be counted in the number of Tathagatas, or included in the number of the count of Buddhas. All of those who cannot have been counted in the number of Buddhas cannot possess all the immeasurable essence of wisdom either. It does not mean such numbers are small, like one, two, three or four; rather, they refer to ‘all’ in that Buddhas in the ten directions are all together. So, it is mentioned in sutras that when the Buddha sees a sentient being who is willing to make vows to practice the Bodhisattva Path, the Buddha will certainly come to protect this person. These have been described in the several sentences of last sutra quote. When you are included in those numbers mentioned, you are in the same land as the Buddha; as such, He surely will protect you. This protection does not mean making you not to die, letting you live a good life, or getting your wishes fulfilled. It could be opposite that maybe He will bring forth all the negative matters you have. Why? Because you need to get them solved and pay them off in this life. Then, when all your ‘debts’ are paid off, you do not need to come back to this world.

Do not think to repay your ‘debts’ in your next lifetime; there might be interests to be added to such ‘debts’ then. Nowadays, interests have already been added to what you have borrowed, and people will not know how much the bank interests will be added 10 years later. Similarly, when you come back to the world in the next lifetime, interests will be added again to your ‘debts.’ Hence, things taught by the Buddha absolutely cannot be understood by human knowledge and experiences. The Buddha had said that your being born in this life is not because of your wish to be here; you have been brought here by your karma. In karma, there is good one and negative one. Therefore, in this life, there are completely good karma and negative karma appearing alternately. The so-called a-good-luck, a-bad-luck or a-great-luck-in-every-ten-years is exactly what has been resulted from the continuous turns and rotations of one’s karma in this life. When karma is ‘moving’ or ‘working,’ and if there is no Dharma existing, our hearts and minds will be naturally, and very easily, led to move by our karma.

It means if one encounters good things and after having gotten them, one will want to obtain better things. Then, these occurrences will lead to move this person’s greed, and make it become stronger and stronger. When you come across things that are not good, you will blame this or that, thinking people in the whole world owe you something; you are the only one who is right and others are all wrong. Then, your sense of hatred will arise, which will make your karma of next lifetime even heavier. Why is this a Dharma concept that one needs to pay off all the ‘debts’ one owes in this life? It is because if you have no such a concept and do not conduct yourself and handle things towards this direction, and when there are any good or negative deeds appearing to you, they will only increase the burden of your karma of next lifetime. This is not a good thing for you. When a good deed happens, you will know that after it appears, it will surely end; it is not eternal. Thus, do not worry about this situation either that you will have no meals to eat or money to spend the next day. Only those being as relentless as this can learn Buddhism well.

Before, when I learned Buddhism, I had no money to buy food, but I did not worry about being unable to do prostrations because of lack of physical strength as there was no food for me to eat. At that time, it was summer and was very hot. I dared not turn on the air conditioning because I was afraid that if I did, I would not have money to pay the electricity bill. If it was not paid, there would be no lights in the home. I still did grand prostrations as usual though. Some people might say that it would be all right to turn on the air conditioning for that day to make a bet that things about electricity would be fine. However, I just did not want to do it so I made prostrations as before. I might have been in Fire Hell before, and it is also possible that I might ‘go’ there in a certain lifetime. It was very toilsome to do grand prostrations in such a hot weather, but at least I repaid a little ‘interest.’ How can I be like you? That is why you cannot master your practices. At that time, I knew my financial condition was close to collapse so I cut up my checkbooks and credit cards. How about you? You would probably write checks first and then do financial arrangements to cover the checks, or use credit cards continuously in installment purchases or payments. You might have a dozen credit cards with you and owe money to credit card companies alternately. I am different from you in conducting myself and handling things. I cut up my credit cards first so that I would not keep on owing money to others. Only those being relentless like this can learn Buddhism well. What are they relentless about? This type of relentlessness is shown towards oneself, not towards other people. Such a person knows about his or her own karma, and needs to accept it. Only in this way, the person’s future can be changed.

Many people envy me that, at the age of 75, I live a better life than others. Do not envy me. I had been through hardships with much suffering; you have not experienced what I had suffered before. For those present here, you have not had such an incident that after having lunch, there is no money for you to get a supper. All the monastics present have not endured such a hard time either; I had though. I had endured my hardships with much delights because it must have been that in one of my past lifetimes, I had been reluctant to make offerings and give alms. So, the suffering of ‘being poor’ appeared in this life. If I had not mastered the practices of Supreme Enlightenment in my past lifetimes, then in this life, I absolutely would not have had such wisdom to judge my life. Why are you so smart? Because you do not have Supreme Enlightenment. Therefore, you are all smart babies. Among you, one is smarter than the next one, or one is more capable of using me than the next one. What are the problems then? It is not that you are in the wrongs; rather, because you are humans, you behave as humans do. However, for becoming a Bodhisattva or attaining Buddhahood, such an attainment must be achieved through practices mastered from a status of being a human. As there are many faults in humans, the Dharma teaches us how to face our own faults, amending them step by step. Do not resist this process. Do not think that ‘The Dharma is irrelevant to me. It is only because now I have issues, I have sought the help of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Wait to see what I will do then after I become all right!’ These kinds of concepts are not right because you still think in human concepts; you do not accept cause and effect, karmic retribution or causes and conditions.

If we can accept them, and even if we suffer the most at some time, we will not feel that there is no future for us. Likewise, even if we feel the moment is the saddest for us, we will not feel that we cannot get over such sadness. Then, even if you really cannot overcome it, it is still your karma, and you nevertheless need to face and accept it. When this karma is manifest, you will pass your difficulty and be all right. Why have I spoken of so many things regarding yourselves today? It is because you have not been bestowed the assurance of Supreme Enlightenment. So, you certainly cannot obtain ‘all the immeasurable essence of wisdom,’ all the Five Wisdoms or all things contained in the sacred sea of merits. What are you going to do when you do not have these types of wisdoms or merits? You really should listen. Do not view the Dharma with your own thoughts. The saying of ‘the greatness of the Dharma’ does not refer to ‘the Buddha is great;’ rather, the Dharma teaches us how to face our own lives which are unsure or uncertain.

The unsureness or uncertainty of your life includes these few things: you do not know how, or when, you will die; you do not know whether your future will be good or bad; you do not know how you have gotten your sickness. You do not know all these things. You will then rely on your doctors, your studies, on this or that. Why do you not know the answers about your life? It is because you do not believe in your karmic retribution or your karma. You do not believe that all things are changing either. Thus, we humans all live in fear. Do not say that you are not afraid; you are much scared. If you are not, why have you come here to learn Buddhism? It is precisely because you have fear. After you have learned the Dharma, such fear will disappear naturally. Even if people have done any negative acts towards us, we are not just accepting them; rather, we are to think totally that ‘this is also about Emptiness, and they do not understand it but I need to.’ Then, naturally, we will not be angry and hurt our own bodies. People’s anger will hurt their own bodies because people cannot let go certain points of views. Why do they cling on their views? It is also because they are too self-centered with the sense of ‘attachment to self’ that is too strong.

I have spoken to you a little more of these today because the world is in upheaval. The fighting going on in foreign countries now has been so fierce. Both sides fighting in a war are in the mode of ‘attachment to self.’ One side thinks that its country is right while the other side deems the same too for its own country. When both sides view the other side being wrong, then the war between them begins. How to break away from ‘attachment to self’? It can only be done by dual operation of Emptiness and compassion. What is Emptiness? It does not mean nothingness. Rather, we need to believe that all things are impermanent. What is impermanence? It means there is not one thing that will remain unchanged in the mundane world. All happenings are impermanent. We are to believe that first. Then we will believe all occurrences are the manifestations of our karma that we had created in our past lifetimes. In order to make our future lifetimes transform to become good ones, we are to start now to get preparations and to ‘store’ them. Do not wait and then regret at the time of our death for not doing them.

Many people feel that learning Buddhism is hoping that, when they have encountered some issues that are difficult to overcome and to get over with, they will receive the help from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas to get the issues solved. This is the superstition of believers in general. As you have started learning Buddhism, your modes of contemplation and your logic of thoughts will be different from believers. When, and after, you can make such a decision to learn Buddhism, your destiny will certainly be transformed and changed. It will be impossible not to. If your destiny has not been transformed or changed yet, it means your mind has not changed in that your merits have not appeared and your good fortune has not accumulated.

All of you need to understand one thing. The fact that you can listen to the Dharma expounded in this life is surely not because of there being certain reasons. It is absolutely because you had listened to the Dharma taught through lifetime after lifetime. Then, in this life, the affinity has arrived. As such an affinity is here now, you need to grasp this opportunity for the learning. Do not think that it is all right that you can wait for a few years and will see what happens then. Things will change in a few years. Who would have thought that it was perfectly all right before that all disciples could have come to pujas but now there are only 500 of them who are allowed to attend. The situation has changed. All the government restrictions on coronavirus pandemic have been eased except the rules of such gatherings. We do not know if it is because that some officials have forgotten about easing these rules or if our karma is too heavy that not every disciple can come. We do not know. Nevertheless, this has proved one thing that sentient beings do not have enough of good fortune. They cannot see their guru in person when they wish to. Do not think that if you want to see me, you will see me. Unaccountably, you cannot. It is not that I do not wish to see you. Even a concert is allowed now to be held; every type of gathering is open to the public but only this kind, like a puja, is not allowed. As one can well imagine that in the Age of Dharma Decline, sentient beings’ karma has been heavy. Even when they want to learn Buddhism, they have not been given opportunities to learn it.

Do not say these: ‘Wait until I understand; wait until I have time; wait until I have paid off my debts; wait until I …. whatever.’ You have waited until your coffin is in front of you, but even at that time, you are still waiting, and still not believing in the Dharma. Do not think that if you say a few nice words, I will not scold you; even in those kinds of situations, I will still scold you as usual. So long as you are unwilling to learn Buddhism on any day, and even though there will be no advantages to me by scolding you, I will still scold you just the same.”

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Updated on July 5, 2023