Flower Adornment Sutra – Chapter 9

Flower Adornment Sutra

Commentary: Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (宣化)
Chinese translation: Tang Dynasty by the Tripitaka Master Shramana Shikshananda of Khotan
Vietnamese translation: Bhikshu Thích Minh Định

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Chapter 9 – Light of Enlightenment

 

Why is there radiance? Because one cultivates Prajna, radiance manifests. What is awakening? It means enlightenment. When sentient beings see the radiance, they give rise to an awakened mind. This is the ninth chapter of the Flower Adornment Sutra, so it is called “The Ninth Chapter on Radiance.”

 

At that time, the World-Honored One emitted a hundred billion rays of light from beneath the wheel marks on both feet, illuminating this great trichiliocosm.

Commentary: After the Buddha Shakyamuni finished expounding the Chapter on the Four Noble Truths, a hundred billion rays of light streamed from beneath his two feet, illuminating the entire three-thousand-great-thousand world system. The feet are the lowest and most humble part of the human body, but because wisdom is impartial and makes no distinction between high and low, the most honored light streamed from beneath the Buddha’s two feet.

One Mount Sumeru, one sun, one moon, and one set of four great continents make up one world. A thousand worlds gathered together make a small thousand-world system; a thousand small thousand-world systems gathered together make an intermediate thousand-world system; and a thousand intermediate thousand-world systems gathered together make a great thousand-world system. Because it has three thousand, it is called a three-thousand great-thousand-world system.

 

A hundred billion Jambudvipas, a hundred billion Purvavidehas, a hundred billion Aparagodānyas, a hundred billion Uttarakurus, a hundred billion great oceans, a hundred billion Cakravāḍa mountains, a hundred billion births of Bodhisattvas, a hundred billion renunciations of Bodhisattvas, a hundred billion attainments of perfect enlightenment by Tathāgatas, a hundred billion turnings of the Wheel of Dharma by Tathāgatas, a hundred billion entries into Nirvana by Tathāgatas, a hundred billion King Sumeru Mountains, a hundred billion hosts of the Four Heavenly Kings, a hundred billion Thirty-Three Heavens, a hundred billion Yāma Heavens, a hundred billion Tuṣita Heavens, a hundred billion Nirmāṇarati Heavens, a hundred billion Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavens, a hundred billion Brahmā Host Heavens, a hundred billion Ābhāsvara Heavens, a hundred billion Śubhakṛtsna Heavens, a hundred billion Bṛhatphala Heavens, and a hundred billion Akaniṣṭha Heavens. Everything within them is clearly manifest.

Commentary: There are one hundred ức (one ức is ten thousand times ten thousand) realms of Jambudvipa (the Southern Continent), one hundred ức realms of Purvavideha (the Eastern Continent), one hundred ức realms of Aparagodaniya (the Western Continent), and one hundred ức realms of Uttarakuru (the Northern Continent). There are also one hundred ức great oceans and one hundred ức Mount Sumerus. One hundred ức Bodhisattvas descend from the inner court of Tusita Heaven to be born in the human realm. One hundred ức Bodhisattvas renounce the world and practice the path. One hundred ức Tathagatas attain perfect enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree. One hundred ức Tathagatas turn the Wheel of Dharma and teach sentient beings. One hundred ức Tathagatas enter Nirvana amid groves of twin sala trees. This is the process of the Buddha’s eight aspects of attaining enlightenment.

Those eight generals are:

1. Descending into the world.
2. Residing in the womb.
3. Emerging from the womb.
4. Renouncing the world.
5. Subduing Mara.
6. Attaining Perfect Enlightenment.
7. Turning the Dharma Wheel.
8. Entering Nirvana.

There are one hundred billion Mount Sumerus. There are one hundred billion hosts of the Four Heavenly Kings (on Mount Sumeru: in the east is the Heavenly King Who Upholds the Realm, in the south the Heavenly King Who Increases and Grows, in the west the Heavenly King of Vast Vision, and in the north the Heavenly King of Much Learning). There are also one hundred billion heavens of the Thirty-Three (that is, the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, because in each of the four directions there are eight heavens, and there is one in the center; hence it is called the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. It is also the heaven ruled by the heavenly king—Śakra in Buddhism, the Jade Emperor in Daoism, and God in Christianity—all of whom dwell in that heaven. Although the names differ, in fact they are the same person). There are also one hundred billion Yāma Heavens (translated as “Good Times,” because in that heaven, the opening and closing of lotus flowers mark a day and night). There are also one hundred billion Tuṣita Heavens, translated as “Joyfully Content,” because the beings in that heaven are joyful and content. Bodhisattvas who are next in line to become Buddhas all dwell in that heaven’s inner court. The Bodhisattva Maitreya, who will descend in the future, is there now. There are also one hundred billion Nirmāṇarati Heavens (the heavenly beings in this heaven fulfill their desires, magically creating various amusements for their enjoyment). There are also one hundred billion Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavens (this heaven is infinitely blissful; its beings can transform the heavenly music of other heavens into their own. The demon king Pāpīyas dwells in this heaven).

Again, there are a hundred billion Brahmā heavens (the beings in these heavens have very pure minds and no thoughts of desire. They have the appearance of children and bodies the color of silver. There are males but no females, and all are born through transformation). There are also a hundred billion Light-Sound Heavens (the beings in these heavens not only radiate light from their bodies and minds, but their wisdom also radiates light. The light they emit is red; they use it to carry out the Buddha’s work and to teach and transform sentient beings). There are also a hundred billion Pervasive Purity Heavens (the beings in these heavens attain pure, genuine, wondrous bliss. Because they are so blissful, they can easily lose their resolve for the Path). There are also a hundred billion Great Fruit Heavens (these heavens are divided into two kinds of meditative practice. Those who cultivate the meditative concentration of non-Buddhist paths are reborn in the No-Thought Heaven; those who cultivate the meditative concentration of Bodhisattvas are reborn in the Five Nonreturning Heavens). There are also a hundred billion Ultimate Form Heavens (this is the highest heaven in the Form Realm. Those with keen faculties who practice meditation can directly leave the Three Realms; those with dull faculties must pass through the Four Heavens of Emptiness—the Formless Realm—before they can leave the Three Realms). All the heavenly realms of the gods, like these, appear with great clarity.

 

Just as here, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, is seen seated on the lion throne in the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. Within its hundred kotis of Jambudvīpas, a hundred kotis of Tathāgatas are likewise seated in this way.

Commentary: Just as in the Saha World, one sees the World-Honored Buddha seated upon a lion throne of lotus treasure, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. In another hundred kotis of Jambudvipa worlds, there are also a hundred kotis of Tathagatas seated upon lion thrones of lotus treasure, turning the Dharma wheel and teaching and transforming sentient beings.

 

All this was due to the Buddha’s spiritual power. In each of the ten directions, there was a great Bodhisattva, each accompanied by bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence. Their names were Bodhisattva Manjushri, Bodhisattva Awakening Head, Bodhisattva Wealth Head, Bodhisattva Jewel Head, Bodhisattva Merit Head, Bodhisattva Eye Head, Bodhisattva Diligence Head, Bodhisattva Dharma Head, Bodhisattva Wisdom Head, and Bodhisattva Worthy Head.

Commentary: This is all entirely due to the Buddha’s spiritual power. In the worlds of the ten directions, each direction has a great Bodhisattva. Each great Bodhisattva, together with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, gathers with them and goes to the bodhimanda of Shakyamuni Buddha to hear the Buddha expound the Flower Adornment Sutra.

There are ten Bodhisattvas; their names are:

1. Bodhisattva Manjushri came from the eastern world of Golden Color. He is the mother of the Buddhas of the three times and also serves as the teacher of the Buddhas. The Sutra of the Womb says: “In the past, he was Shakyamuni’s teacher; now he is the Buddha’s disciple.”
2. Bodhisattva Awakening Chief came from the southern world of Wonderful Color. He is foremost among the Bodhisattvas of awakening and has attained unobstructed wisdom.
3. Bodhisattva Wealth Chief came from the western world of Lotus Color. He teaches sentient beings with the wealth of the Dharma, is foremost among the Bodhisattvas, and has attained the wisdom that dispels darkness.
4. Bodhisattva Jewel Chief came from the northern world of Champaka Flower Color. He does not separate ultimate truth from conventional truth, is worthy of esteem, and is foremost among the Bodhisattvas.
5. Bodhisattva Merit Chief came from the northeastern world of Blue Lotus Flower Color. He fully comprehends the merits of the Tathagata manifesting and teaching the Dharma, and is foremost among the Bodhisattvas.
6. Bodhisattva Eye Chief came from the southeastern world of Golden Color. He uses fields of merit to illuminate the path; like the eye in relation to the body, he is an equal field of merit, and has attained ultimate wisdom.
7. Bodhisattva Diligence Chief came from the southwestern world of Jewel Color. Through the profound right teachings, he diligently cultivates the ten thousand practices and attains supreme wisdom.
8. Bodhisattva Dharma Chief came from the northwestern world of Vajra Color. He employs many Dharma methods, all of which, though numerous, are right practices. By putting them into practice, one can attain freedom; thus he is foremost.
9. Bodhisattva Wisdom Chief came from the world of Crystal below. He uses the Buddha’s aids to enlightenment, which, though immeasurable in number, have wisdom as their foremost principle, and can purify the ten thousand practices.
10. Bodhisattva Worthy Chief came from the world of Equality above. He follows the single pure path of the Buddhas of the past and the Buddhas of the future. Because goodness is his own nature, he is called Worthy.

 

The lands from which these Bodhisattvas came were: the Golden-Colored World, the Wondrous-Colored World, the Lotus-Flower-Colored World, the Campaka-Flower-Colored World, the Utpala-Flower-Colored World, the Golden-Colored World, the Jewel-Colored World, the Vajra-Colored World, the Crystal-Colored World, and the Equal-Colored World.

Commentary: Those ten great Bodhisattvas came from their own lands to the Buddha’s abode to form the influential assembly. The names of those worlds were mentioned earlier in the “Names of the Tathagatas” chapter. In the east is the world of Golden Color; in the south, the world of Wondrous Color; in the west, the world of Lotus Color; in the north, the world of Campaka Flower Color; in the northeast, the world of Blue Lotus Flower Color; in the southeast, the world of Golden Color; in the southwest, the world of Jewel Color; in the northwest, the world of Vajra Color; below, the world of Crystal Color; and above, the world of Equal Color.

 

These bodhisattvas had all cultivated the pure Brahma conduct in the presence of Buddhas, namely: the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom, the Buddha of Unimpeded Wisdom, the Buddha of Liberating Wisdom, the Buddha of Dignified Conduct Wisdom, the Buddha of Bright Sign Wisdom, the Buddha of Ultimate Wisdom, the Buddha of Supreme Wisdom, the Buddha of Sovereign Wisdom, the Buddha of Brahma Wisdom, and the Buddha of Observing Wisdom.

Commentary: Those ten great Bodhisattvas, countless kalpas ago, practiced the Bodhisattva Way to benefit living beings. They were always in the presence of all the Buddhas, respectfully bowing to them, extensively making offerings, and cultivating pure conduct. To cultivate pure conduct means to practice pure methods, focusing the mind single-mindedly so that miscellaneous thoughts do not arise. Purity means eliminating all defiled thoughts completely. Purity also carries the meaning of sweeping away, just as dust in a house must be swept up and cleaned away. Cultivating pure conduct is the same: sweep away all the dust within the mind. What is this dust? It is wrong understanding and wrong views, a wild and unruly mind, thoughts that do not abide by the rules, and so on. People know only how to sweep the dust in their homes, but do not know how to sweep the dust in their minds. The mind contains many filthy, impure delusions and miscellaneous thoughts. If they are not swept clean, the Bodhisattva Way will never be fulfilled. Therefore, one must constantly turn the light inward and reflect, return to one’s own mind, and keep the mind from becoming indulgent or acting arbitrarily. Giving rise to thoughts of awakening—that is cultivating pure conduct.

The Chapter on the Names of the Tathāgatas mentions ten Buddhas in the worlds of the ten directions.

1. In the eastern direction, in the world of Golden Color, there is a Buddha named the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom. This Buddha dwells in the realm of Eternal Still Light, serene and unmoving. Though unmoving, He knows everything throughout the universe. He possesses right knowledge and universal knowledge, and therefore His wisdom is vast and great. Every one of us is endowed with this immovable wisdom, yet we have all forgotten it. It is like when we are dreaming: none of our learning can be put to use. Thus, the Buddha of Immovable Wisdom causes sentient beings to recall the immovable wisdom they inherently possess, enabling us to return to our source, leave delusion behind, and return to enlightenment.
2. In the southern direction, in the world of Wonderful Color, there is a Buddha named the Buddha of Unimpeded Wisdom. This Buddha’s wisdom has no obstructions; there is nothing He does not know and nothing He does not see. This wisdom belongs not only to the Buddhas; we sentient beings all possess it as well. Sadly, we do not know how to use it, and so we are confused and upside down.
3. In the western direction, in the world of Lotus Flower Color, there is a Buddha named the Buddha of Liberating Wisdom. This Buddha possesses the wisdom of liberation. Liberation means being free from all obstructions and attaining true freedom. Everyone possesses this wisdom, but because of attachment and deluded thoughts, we do not attain liberation. When we attain the wisdom of liberation, we realize the five eyes and six spiritual powers.
4. In the northern direction, in the world of Campaka Flower Color, there is a Buddha named the Buddha of the Wisdom of Majestic Deportment. This Buddha possesses the wisdom of majestic deportment: “majesty” means awe-inspiring, and “deportment” means worthy of respect. Hence the saying: “In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, maintain the four great deportments.” The ancients said:

“Walk like the wind,
Stand like a pine,
Sit like a bell,
Lie like a bow.”

When walking, be like a gentle breeze passing by, leaving the water’s waves undisturbed—not like a storm wind that darkens heaven and earth. When standing, keep your body straight like a pine tree, standing upright on your own, neither leaning east nor falling west, neither thrusting forward nor collapsing backward. When sitting, sit upright like a great temple bell, without moving; let your mind be free of false thoughts and naturally still. When lying down, assume the auspicious posture: place your right hand on your thigh and your left hand beneath your head as a pillow, with your body shaped like a bow.

This is a brief explanation. To speak more broadly, there are “three thousand dignified deportments and eighty thousand subtle practices.” In short, be careful in everything you do, and always pay attention to your surroundings. For example, if someone is meditating, close the door without making a sound; walk without making a sound, too. Otherwise, you may disturb the meditator and agitate their mind. Hence the saying:

“Better to stir the waters of a thousand rivers
than to disturb a Daoist’s heart.”

Those of us who cultivate the Way must ensure that every gesture and action, every word and deed, accords with the standards of the three thousand dignified manners and eighty thousand subtle practices. We must not obstruct others in cultivating the Way. I hope everyone will observe this and not be heedless.

5. In the northeastern direction is the world of Utpalavarna, where there is a Buddha named Buddha of the Wisdom of Luminous Marks. That Buddha has the wisdom of luminous marks and clearly understands the true nature of all dharmas. The true nature is signless and does not cling to marks. Therefore, there is the saying:

“Sweep away all dharmas; leave behind all marks.” Because characteristics arise delusively from the mind, when they are not clung to, they are empty; therefore, they are the true characteristics—that is, the real characteristics.

6. In the southeastern direction, in the world of Golden Color, there is a Buddha named Buddha of Ultimate Wisdom. This Buddha possesses ultimate wisdom, which is also fundamental wisdom, not subsequent acquired wisdom. The purpose of our cultivation of the Way is to seek ultimate wisdom; when this wisdom manifests, it is awakening.

7. In the southwestern direction, in the world of Jewel Color, there is a Buddha named Buddha of Supreme Wisdom. This Buddha possesses supremely wondrous wisdom, a wisdom that is unsurpassed and can transform the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms.

8. In the northwestern direction, in the world of Diamond Color, there is a Buddha named Buddha of自在 Wisdom. This Buddha possesses the wisdom of freedom. Freedom means that the mind is free from afflictions and attains an unobstructed state.

9. In the lower direction, in the world of Crystal Color, there is a Buddha named Buddha of Pure Wisdom. This Buddha possesses pure wisdom. Purity means being free from faults and evil conduct, and free from defiling afflictions.

10. In the upper direction, in the world of Equal Color, there is a Buddha named Buddha of Contemplative Wisdom. This Buddha possesses the wisdom of contemplation, contemplating that the true nature of all dharmas is neither arising nor ceasing.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised his voice and spoke this verse, saying:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, all the Manjushri Bodhisattvas (his emanations throughout every Dharma assembly of all the Buddhas; wherever a Buddha preached the Dharma, he went to participate and influence the assembly) simultaneously spoke from each Buddha’s Dharma assembly, expounding the wondrous Dharma of the Avatamsaka Sutra.

Someone asked, “So, ultimately, how many Bodhisattvas Manjushri are there?” Bodhisattva Manjushri has only one body, yet can manifest hundreds of thousands of millions of bodies. However, Bodhisattva Manjushri remains unmoving in his original place, while his manifestations appear throughout the Buddha lands in the ten directions. This is the principle:

“One is all; all is one.”

For example, wherever there is water, the moon appears. Hence the saying:

“A thousand ponds have water; a thousand ponds have the moon.”

Again, for example, imagine a room with four walls, with mirrors fitted all around, above and below, filling the room. If a person stands in the middle of the room, their image appears in every mirror, producing many images of them. Thus it can be shown that however many mirrors there are, that many bodies appear.

 

If one sees the True Awakening
Liberation, free from all the outflows
Unattached to all worlds
That is not the realization of the eye of the Way

Commentary: Manjushri Bodhisattva, in all the Buddhas’ places of enlightenment, speaks at the same time about bodhi and afflictions. Bodhi means the path of awakening, while afflictions mean karmic obstructions. Since afflictions arise from emotions, wherever there are afflictions, there are karmic obstructions. Out of compassion for sentient beings, Manjushri Bodhisattva explains how to cultivate the path of awakening, bodhi, and how to sever the karmic obstructions of afflictions.

Thus it is said: If someone sees the Rightly Awakened One (the Buddha), that person has attained liberation, is free from all ailments, and is inwardly free from all outflows and outwardly unattached to worldly conditioned phenomena. But these two states are still not ultimate, because they still involve being free or not free, and attachment or nonattachment—all relative opposites. If there is neither being free nor not being free, neither attachment nor nonattachment, then one has gone beyond all duality. To reach this state is to truly understand worldly phenomena.

There is neither separation nor nonseparation; this is sweeping away all dharmas. There is neither attachment nor nonattachment; this is being free of all characteristics. As for the realm of the Buddhas, there is neither separation nor nonseparation, but rather transcending worldly feelings and leaving behind views. It goes beyond the feelings of ordinary people and is free from their knowledge and views; therefore, it is said that the realm of the Buddhas is inconceivable.

Only upon reaching this realm does one attain the original substance of all Buddhas. If one says that the Buddhas have left behind all outflows, one still has not deeply penetrated and understood the Buddhadharma. If one says that the Buddhas have ended their attachment to worldly phenomena, one likewise does not understand the Buddhadharma, for the Buddhas remain in the world to teach and transform living beings. Though they are in the world, they are not subject to the delusion of ordinary people.

The Buddha sweeps away all dharmas and is free of all characteristics. There is neither attachment nor nonattachment; there is neither separation nor nonseparation. This is the ultimate truth; therefore, it is said that one clings to nothing throughout all lifetimes.

If one says that the Buddha still has something to be apart from and something not to be apart from, something to cling to and something not to cling to, that is a dualistic teaching, not the ultimate truth. Therefore, it is said that this is not realization of the eye of the Way. The eye of the Way is true wisdom.

What is liberation? It is attaining true freedom, without constraints, and coming and going at will. Why are we not free? Because we are tightly bound by the ropes of deluded thoughts and attachments, so our actions are not free and we do not attain liberation.

What are the outflows? They are the habitual tendencies and faults we have had since time immemorial. For example, craving wealth is an outflow related to wealth; craving sensual pleasures is an outflow related to sensual pleasures. Craving fame is an outflow related to fame, and craving profit is an outflow related to profit. An outflow means something is not complete. Anything that does not conform to the rules and standards is an outflow.

Some people give rise to false thoughts in their minds: “Eating rice is an outflow; wearing clothes is an outflow; sleeping is an outflow. So what is without outflow? Eating rice is an outflow, but everyone has to eat rice; there is no one who does not. Everyone has to wear clothes; there is no one who does not. Everyone has to sleep; there is no one who does not. Food, clothing, and sleep all have outflows. We should be without outflows. But if we do not eat rice, we will starve to death. If we do not wear clothes, we will freeze to death. If we do not sleep, we will die from sleep deprivation. If you say these three things are outflows, then I firmly object; I do not agree with this teaching.” Who can go without eating? Who can go without wearing clothes? Who can go without sleeping? Still, don’t have too much or too little; you must keep to the Middle Way. For example, when eating, it is enough to eat until you are full. Don’t let idle thoughts arise, wondering whether the food is nutritious or not. Clothes are for keeping out the cold; it is enough to be warm. Don’t wear new clothes every day to attract people’s attention and make them admire you. To have such thoughts is to have outflows. Sleep is for dispelling fatigue and illness. Sleeping too much is also an outflow; sleeping too little is also an outflow. What is just enough—not too much and not too little—has no outflows. In short, being happy is an outflow; getting angry is an outflow; love is an outflow; hatred is an outflow; the seven emotions are outflows, and the six desires are outflows. To have outflows without being subject to outflows is to be without outflows. Still, being without outflows has not yet reached home, because there is still such a thing as being without outflows. If there is neither such a thing as being without outflows nor anything that does not leak, only then is it ultimate.

Now briefly explain what it means to be heartbroken.

Joy: You should not rejoice in the first place, but if you do, that is an outflow. It is like someone has died and you keep laughing—that is not right.

Anger: Seeing people follow the rules, you get angry and scold them, calling them rotten eggs who know nothing about freedom and are bringing suffering upon themselves. This makes everyone grow tired of you.

Who: When people are holding a wedding ceremony, you come and make a loud scene, crying and saying that they shouldn’t get married. Anything used improperly is an outflow.

Elder: When people experience misfortune and feel afraid, you not only fail to comfort them, but also say unkind things. That’s not right.

Love: When you see someone, you say, “I love you,” making them uncomfortable and self-conscious, so they no longer pay you any attention.

Cruel: When you see someone, say, “I hate you,” making them unhappy, or even angry, and causing them to argue or trade insults with you.

Desire: Desire never ceases, but it must be kept within limits. Do not be insatiably greedy; one should not give in to craving. If you have craving, that is an outflow.

Before these seven emotions arise, one is in the Middle Way. So, when it is fitting to rejoice, rejoice; when one would normally become angry, do not become angry. Whoever can do this has the opportunity to attain enlightenment. As we cultivate the Way, we should be patient and not lose our temper. Let us learn from the conduct of Bodhisattva Maitreya, enduring what the people of the world cannot endure.

What is worldly dharma? It is a dharma that has form and characteristics. The Diamond Sutra says:

“All conditioned phenomena
Are like a dream, an illusion, bubbles on water.
Like dew and like lightning,
Contemplate them in this way.”

Conditioned phenomena are worldly phenomena, just like morning dew that vanishes when the sun rises.

 

If one knows the Tathāgata,
That his essence and marks have no existence,
And through cultivation attains clear understanding,
That person will soon become a Buddha.

Commentary: If someone knows the eight manifestations of the Buddha’s attainment of Buddhahood, and knows how the Buddha practiced in the causal stage in the past, and how he cultivated blessings and wisdom, they will understand that the Buddha is originally formless, yet there is nothing that is not a form, and that the essence and marks have no place where they can be found. To understand what it means for them to have no place where they can be found, one must cultivate all Dharma methods. Only then can one fully understand the Buddha’s realm, which extends throughout space and pervades the Dharma Realm, present nowhere and yet everywhere. Yet its essence and marks are quiescent, without form, without marks, and nowhere to be found. If that person understands how the Buddha practiced and how he became a Buddha, then by practicing in accordance with the Dharma, that person will surely attain the Buddha Way soon.

 

Able to see this world
His mind does not waver
The same is true of the Buddha’s body
He will become a sage of supreme wisdom.

Commentary: One can perceive worldly dharmas and awaken to supramundane dharmas. It is not that one must leave the world to find something separate and outside it called the supramundane. If one had to leave worldly dharmas to find separate supramundane dharmas, then there would have to be two people: one an ordinary person, and one on the way to becoming a Buddha. But there is only one person, who is either an ordinary person or a Buddha. Whether an ordinary person or a Buddha, both are sentient beings; there are not two kinds.

That is why the sutra says, “The mind does not move”: it is not deluded by distinctions, nor caught up in clinging to false thoughts. The Buddhas of the ten directions and sentient beings are, in their source, of one essence; the only difference is awakening or delusion. Through complete cultivation of great wisdom, one becomes a Buddha. Without cultivation, one is an ordinary person, filled with afflictions.

Worldly dharmas and supramundane dharmas are of one kind. If you understand, worldly dharmas are themselves supramundane dharmas. If you do not understand, supramundane dharmas are themselves worldly dharmas. It is in turning a thought, turning back and transforming oneself, that one sees the scenery of one’s original ground. Such a person will naturally become the most supremely wise and outstanding being—that is, a Buddha.

 

If, with regard to the Buddha and the Dharma,
the mind realizes their equality,
and dualistic thoughts do not arise,
one will enter the inconceivable state.

Commentary: If someone clearly understands that the Buddha and the Dharma are equal, without distinction, and are one in essence, that person will attain the state of Buddhahood. When there is no Buddha in the Buddha, one is originally Buddha. Once one has become a Buddha, there is no need to rely on the Dharma. At that point, one reaches the level of:

“Cultivation with nothing to cultivate; realization with nothing to realize.” 

At the level of no cultivation and no attainment, one can say that there is no Buddha and no Dharma. But while ordinary beings are still practicing, they absolutely cannot say that there is no Buddha and no Dharma. Therefore, until one has reached an equivalent level, one must absolutely not say that there is no Buddha and no Dharma. This is because one has clearly understood that Buddha and Dharma are equal and are one. Only upon reaching that level can one say that nothing at all is needed.

If neither Buddha nor Dharma exists, one becomes an ignorant outsider. Outsiders maintain that nothing exists at all. When the two thoughts of Buddha and Dharma are not present, and there is no discriminating mind regarding Buddha and Dharma, attaining that state means ascending to the inconceivable fruition—that is, Buddhahood.

 

If one sees the Buddha and the body
Abiding equally and peacefully
Abiding nowhere, with nowhere to enter
One will become one who is hard to encounter.

Commentary: If someone can see the Buddha and sentient beings, then [they see that] “Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—the three are not different,” and are all equal. Yet even while abiding, there is nowhere to enter. Whoever attains this way of seeing will attain the state of one who is difficult to encounter and difficult to see—that is, a Buddha.

 

Form and feeling are without number,
Perception, formations, and consciousness are likewise.
If one can know them thus,
One will become a Great Muni.

Commentary: This verse discusses the principle of the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. Form means all appearances. Feeling means sensation. Perception means deluded thoughts. Mental formations mean actions. Consciousness means all forms of discrimination—between good and evil, right and wrong, black and white. If you can transform consciousness into wisdom, you will attain realization. If you cannot transform consciousness, and use the discriminating mind to distinguish all dharmas, then consciousness is still wreaking havoc! The form aggregate and the feeling aggregate have no number (to have marks of differentiation is to have number); the perception aggregate, the formation aggregate, and the consciousness aggregate are likewise without number. If one understands that the five aggregates do not fall into any number, then in the future one will attain Great Quiescent Extinction—that is, Buddhahood.

If someone has right knowledge and right view, they will not be bound by the five aggregates. Instead, they will contemplate and see that all five aggregates are empty, and will soon become a Buddha. The reason we do not become Buddhas is that we cannot contemplate and see that all five aggregates are empty; day after day, we remain within the five aggregates. Now, to know that the five aggregates have no number—that is emptiness. Seeing them as empty will lead to Buddhahood.

 

Worldly and supramundane views
All are transcended
And skillfully knowing the Dharma
One will become Great Radiant Splendor

Commentary: Seeing the mundane world and the world beyond it, all transcend coming and going. If one skillfully knows all dharmas and practices all dharmas, one will become a Great Luminary—that is, a Buddha.

The Sixth Patriarch Huineng said:

“The Buddha-Dharma is in the world;
Awakening is not apart from the world.
To seek bodhi apart from the world
Is like looking for a rabbit’s horns.”

The Buddha-Dharma encompasses worldly phenomena; enlightenment is attained without leaving the world. To separate oneself from worldly phenomena and seek the Dharma of enlightenment elsewhere is a mistake. It is like looking for horns on a rabbit’s head—they can never be found.

 

If, with regard to All-Knowledge,
You give rise to a mind of dedication,
And see that the mind is unborn,
You will attain great renown.

Commentary: If, in the midst of all wisdom, one gives rise to the aspiration to dedicate merit to Bodhi—that is, dedicates one’s merit and wisdom to all sentient beings throughout the Dharma Realm—yet still feels that nothing has been done, remains unattached, and has no self-seeking mind, then one observes one’s own mind without giving rise to a mind of dedication. If one can break free of attachment to merit, one will attain the Greatest Name—that is, become a Buddha.

There are four types of merit dedication:

• Turning from self toward others.
  Turning from cause toward effect.
  Turning from phenomena toward principle.
  Turning from the lesser toward the greater.

A brief explanation is as follows: **Turning from oneself toward others:

1. Dedicate one’s own merit and virtue from giving to all beings throughout the Dharma realm, dedicating it for the sake of sentient beings. If one has wisdom, one should vow to give one’s wisdom to sentient beings, enabling all sentient beings to attain all wisdom.
2. Turning from cause toward result:** As we practice at the causal stage, we hope that in the future everyone will attain Buddhahood, and that all beings throughout the Dharma realm will together realize the Buddha Way.
3. Turning from phenomena toward principle:** At present, in all the practices we undertake, we willingly dedicate them to the supreme, quiescent principle of all Buddhas.
4. Turning from the lesser toward the greater:** At present, our minds are very narrow and our thinking shallow. We must make a vow to expand our minds until they are as vast as the Dharma realm, reaching everywhere like empty space, encompassing the myriad forms, with nothing they cannot contain. If we previously practiced the Lesser Vehicle, we should now turn toward practicing the Mahayana Dharma.

 

Sentient beings are without birth,
And likewise without destruction.
If one attains such wisdom,
One shall attain the unsurpassed path.

Commentary: If one clearly understands the true nature of all dharmas, one sees that the Buddha neither arises nor ceases, and that sentient beings likewise neither arise nor cease. This is because mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are not different from one another. There is neither arising nor destruction. With such wisdom, one does not cling to anything. There is no self, nor anything belonging to the self; no one who practices, nor anything to be practiced. In the future, one will attain the unsurpassed Buddhahood.

 

In the one, comprehend the immeasurable,
In the immeasurable, comprehend the one,
Understand clearly their co-arising,
You will attain fearlessness,

Commentary: One is few; the immeasurable is many. The one unfolds into many, and the many return to the one. Therefore, the one gives rise to the immeasurable, and the one is not inherently one. The immeasurable returns to the one, and the many are not inherently many. They arise together and are unhindered by one another; therefore, it is said that within the one, one understands the immeasurable. The immeasurable comes from the one. If there were no one, there would also be no immeasurable; if there were no immeasurable, there would also be no one. The absence of one is the number “0.” When we study the Buddhadharma, we are studying the number “0.” When we reach “0,” we return to the source, leaving delusion behind and returning to enlightenment.

Within the infinite, discern the one; the one gives rise to the infinite, and the infinite returns to the one. If one thoroughly understands the principle of mutual arising, one will soon attain Fearlessness—at the very least, becoming a Great Bodhisattva, and ultimately, if one goes further, attaining Buddhahood.

 

Then, the light passed through this world and illuminated the ten Buddha lands in the east. The south, west, and north, the intermediate directions, above, and below were likewise illuminated. In each of those worlds there were a billion Jambudvīpas, extending as far as a billion Akaniṣṭha heavens. All that was within them was clearly revealed.

Just as here one saw the Buddha, the World-Honored One, seated on the lion throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha lands, so in each of those worlds there were a billion Jambudvīpas and a billion Tathāgatas, likewise seated. By the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions a great Bodhisattva came to the Buddha’s presence, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha lands. The great Bodhisattvas included Mañjuśrī and others; the lands from which they came included the Golden-Colored World and others; and the Buddhas they had formerly served included the Tathāgata Unmoving Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, radiance streamed from beneath the Buddha’s feet, extending beyond that world and illuminating ten Buddha-lands in the east. The same was true in the south, west, and north, in the four intermediate directions, and above and below—in the other nine directions of that world. In every world in the ten directions, there were a hundred kotis of Jambudvipa realms, extending all the way to a hundred kotis of Akanishtha Heavens. Everything in them was made completely visible by the radiance streaming from the Buddha’s feet.

Just as here we see the World-Honored One, the Buddha Shakyamuni, seated on the Lotus Treasury lion throne, sitting cross-legged and turning the great Dharma wheel, teaching and transforming sentient beings, with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the atoms in ten Buddha-lands coming together to the Buddha’s abode and surrounding him, so in every world in the ten directions there are a hundred kotis of Jambudvipa realms and a hundred kotis of Tathagatas, likewise seated cross-legged on Lotus Treasury lion thrones.

All this is entirely due to the Buddha’s great awe-inspiring spiritual power. Thus, in each direction throughout the worlds of the ten directions, there is a great Bodhisattva, accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the atoms in ten Buddha-lands, who assemble and go together to the Buddha’s abode to hear the Buddha expound the wondrous Dharma. Those great Bodhisattvas are Bodhisattva Manjushri and the others. They come from their own lands, namely the Golden-Colored World and so on, as previously described. Each great Bodhisattva makes offerings to the Buddha and serves that Buddha. Those Buddhas are the Tathagata of Unmoving Wisdom and the others. And so on: there are nine other representative great Bodhisattvas, nine other worlds, and nine other Tathagatas.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, each before the Buddhas, simultaneously raised his voice and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, throughout all places, the Bodhisattva Manjushri of Great Wisdom was present in every Buddha’s place of enlightenment, simultaneously proclaiming the following verse.

 

Sentient beings without wisdom
Are harmed by the poison of craving,
For their sake, seek Bodhi;
Such is the Dharma of all Buddhas.

Commentary: What causes sentient beings to be born in the evil age of the five turbidities? It is because of craving. Hence, it is said:

“If attachment is not strong, one is not born in the Saha world;
if karma is not pure, one is not born in the Pure Land.”

All afflictions arise from craving. Sentient beings are harmed by the poison of craving because they lack wisdom. With great compassion, the Bodhisattva Manjushri pours forth the wondrous nectar and unsurpassed ghee, using the wisdom of a straightforward mind to instruct all sentient beings. Why are we deluded? Why are we so confused? Because our ignorance is so deep. With ignorance, formations arise; with formations, consciousness; with consciousness, name and form; with name and form, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases, contact; with contact, feeling; with feeling, craving; with craving, grasping; with grasping, we must act for the sake of what we possess, and in succession there arise birth, aging, and death. This is the principle of the twelve links of dependent origination arising together. Because sentient beings lack wisdom, they are harmed by the poison of craving.

Attachment has the following nine examples:

1. As if still owing a debt: Love is like a debt one still owes and has not fully repaid. For example, the remaining habitual tendencies of the Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas have not been completely severed. As long as love has not been completely severed, it is like being in debt. Therefore, those who cultivate the Way must clearly understand the dangers of love. It not only harms the body but also wounds the mind. Be careful—remember, remember! One false step brings a thousand years of regret, and there will never be any way to undo it.
2. Like a female Rakshasa: Female Rakshasa demons are very cruel at heart. They often eat the little female Rakshasas they themselves have given birth to, and even eat their own husbands. This symbolizes how love can cause people to undergo birth and death. With birth and death, one will fall into the three evil paths: the paths of animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings.
3. Like the stalk of a lotus: Hidden beneath the lotus stalk is a poisonous snake. Those who admire the beautiful lotus and go to pick it will be bitten by the poisonous snake. Love can keep people from escaping birth and death. The lotus stalk is an example of the five desires—wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—and love is an example of the poisonous snake. If one craves the five desires, one will be bitten by the poisonous snake.
4. Like unwholesome food: If one is forced to eat food one does not like, one may become ill, die, and fall into the three evil paths. Love is like this too: if one pursues it by force, one will lose one’s life.
5. Like a prostitute: This refers to a woman who sells her soul. Such a person destroys wholesome Dharma and is pursued by the demon of impermanence. When her life is taken, she will fall into the three evil paths.
6. Like the Māluṅkya creeper: It can tightly bind ordinary people who have lost the wholesome Dharma, causing them to become deluded and die. After death, they fall into the three evil paths, suffer endlessly, and cannot be liberated.
7. Like a sore containing rotten flesh: Love is like a sore with rotten flesh inside. If the sore is not completely cleansed, it will ripen and produce worms. Gradually, the worms will consume the Dharma-body and wisdom-life, and the person will also lose their wisdom, thereby falling into ruin.
8. Like a storm: A storm can blow down trees, and love can uproot the roots of bodhi. Love is truly frightening! Who knows how many people have been ruined by it—losing their reputations, even seeing their families shattered and loved ones lost—yet they still fail to recognize that this is the foremost transgression.
9. Like a comet: A comet is inauspicious, because its tail shines with a fierce light and looks like a broom. When a comet appears, the world is not at peace: if there is no calamity of war, then there is another calamity, such as famine. Love can cut off all roots of goodness and cause people to fall into the three evil paths, just as a comet is inauspicious.

All the Buddhas of the three ages in the ten directions, in order to save and deliver sentient beings harmed by the poison of love, exhort them to aspire to bodhi and advocate methods for severing desire and eliminating love. They cause them to transform the mind of lust and love into the mind of bodhi. The mind of lust and love is delusion; the mind of bodhi is awakening. Why are we deluded? Because we are bewildered by love, and all sentient beings delight in love and do not oppose it.

 

Universally sees all dharmas,
Abandoning both extremes entirely;
Having attained the Way, never regresses,
And turns this incomparable wheel.

Commentary: By contemplating all form dharmas, mind dharmas, mental concomitant dharmas, non-associated dharmas, unconditioned dharmas, and so forth, and understanding all dharmas through cultivating the definitive meaning of the Middle Way, one can relinquish the two extremes of existence and nonexistence: one does not fall into the extreme of nonexistence, nor into the extreme of existence. This is the Middle Way. By not clinging to either existence or nonexistence, and seeing the true nature of all dharmas, one realizes the fundamental principle of the Middle Way. One’s spiritual practice will then attain its aim, and one will never regress. Non-regression is divided into three kinds:

1. Non-retrogression in position: Practicing the Bodhisattva path without regressing to the teachings of the Two Vehicles.
2. Non-retrogression in practice: One simply practices and advances, courageously and diligently, without the slightest laziness, and so will not fall back.
3. Non-retrogression in thought: Arouse the mind of great Bodhi—seeking the Buddha’s path above and liberating sentient beings below. The Buddha constantly turns the incomparable great Dharma wheel. This is supreme and unsurpassed, enabling sentient beings to attain Buddhahood.

 

Inconceivable kalpas
Diligently cultivating all practices
For the sake of liberating all sentient beings
This is the power of the Great Sage.

Commentary: For countless lifetimes, right up to the present, we have been lazy and heedless. We still harbor doubts about the Buddhadharma and are not courageous and diligent in our practice. When we encounter the true Dharma, we make no effort to cultivate it; when we encounter false teachings, we rejoice as if mad and strive to study them. The Buddha was not like this. Throughout immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable great kalpas, by day and by night, in all six periods, He diligently and vigorously cultivated every Dharma practice. He practiced diligently because He wished to liberate all sentient beings from suffering and bring them happiness. Only after attaining Buddhahood did He have the power to liberate and teach sentient beings. This is the power of the Great Sage, which is also the power of the Buddha.

One day, while Shakyamuni Buddha was still alive, he picked up a handful of earth and asked his disciples: “Tell me, children: do I have more land in my hands, or is there more land in the great world beyond?” The disciples replied, “There is very little earth in the Buddha’s hand, and much earth outside, upon the great earth.” – The Buddha then said, “Do you know? Those who attain a human body are as few as the soil in my palm; those who lose the human body are as many as the soil on the great earth.” We study Buddhism for only five minutes and lack a steadfast, constant mind. That is why we continue to transmigrate through the six realms of rebirth. Sometimes we fall into the hells, sometimes we ascend to the heavens, sometimes we become Asuras, sometimes animals, sometimes ghosts, and sometimes human beings. But being born human is no easy matter. Therefore, there is a saying:

A human life is difficult to attain; now I have attained it.
The Buddha’s teachings are difficult to hear; now I have heard them.
If I do not liberate myself in this life, when will I do so?

We are very fortunate to have a human body. Do not look down on the mission of being human; we must follow the Bodhisattva path and make the welfare of all sentient beings our guiding principle. We must not be selfish and seek only our own benefit, thinking only of ourselves—grabbing what benefits us and avoiding what harms us. Such behavior is unacceptable. We must understand clearly that because we did not practice in past lives, we are suffering now; if we do not practice in this life, we will suffer even more in the next.

 

Teacher who subdues the hosts of demons
Valiant and invincible,
Expounds the wondrous meaning within the light
Out of compassion, thus it is.

Commentary: A Spiritual Teacher is one who guides sentient beings; that is, a Buddha. He guides sentient beings who follow misguided paths back to the right path, and leads evil sentient beings onto the path of goodness. He guides sentient beings to understand birth and transcend death, to abandon delusion and return to awakening, to leave darkness and follow the light, and to bring forth the bodhi mind, turning from phenomena toward principle. That Spiritual Teacher is Shakyamuni Buddha.

When the Buddha was beneath the Bodhi tree, about to attain perfect enlightenment, Mara King Papiyan learned that a Great Enlightened One was about to attain the Way in the world, and was overcome with great fear. As the Buddha’s power grew, Mara’s power diminished. Therefore, Mara King Papiyan used every kind of force to destroy the Buddha’s spiritual practice. He led his retinue to all four sides of the Bodhi tree, attempting to disrupt the Buddha’s practice and intimidate him.

At that time, the Buddha radiated a stream of white light and entered the Samadhi of Superior Resolve and Loving-Kindness. Within the mark of that stream of white light, all kinds of radiance appeared, and within the various lights, all kinds of emanation bodies appeared. This radiance reached upward to the heavenly realms and downward to the hells. Then all the demon sons and grandsons, the demon subjects and demon troops, felt their limbs grow powerless. They could not lift their heads or even open their eyes, so they retreated.

The King of Demons again sent three beautiful demonesses to use their beauty to disturb the Buddha’s serene mind as he practiced. The demonesses came beneath the Bodhi tree and assumed alluring forms to seduce the Buddha, hoping to make him lose his composure and abandon his spiritual cultivation. The Buddha then caused a beam of white light to shine upon them. As the radiance fell on the demonesses, they turned into ugly, aged old women, with filth flowing from their nine orifices. Seeing how hideous and repulsive they looked, the three demonesses thought, “We look so terribly ugly, and yet we still want to seduce the Buddha?” Then they went away.

The Buddha’s white halo possesses inconceivable might, and so it often subdues all heavenly demons and non-Buddhist followers. The Buddha is a sage of great wisdom, great humanity, great courage, and great valor; no one can surpass his spiritual power. In his radiance, he can manifest wondrous supernatural powers and functions beyond description, using the samadhi of compassion to subdue demons. It is because the Buddha is compassionate that he can subdue demons in this way.

 

With that mind of wisdom,
He shatters all the obstacles of affliction;
In a single thought, he sees all;
This is the Buddha’s spiritual power.

Commentary: Through the power of wisdom, the Buddhas can overcome all the afflictive obstructions of sentient beings. There are 84,000 kinds of afflictions, and the Buddha taught 84,000 Dharma doors to counteract them. When the afflictions are eliminated, they transform into bodhi. Why don’t sentient beings have wisdom like the Buddha? Because they have the obstruction of afflictions.

In a single thought, all 84,000 Dharma gates are complete. In a single thought, one can overcome 84,000 afflictions and hindrances. This is made possible by the Buddhas’ great awe-inspiring spiritual power and blessings. As long as you reform evil and turn toward good, turn from the Lesser Vehicle toward the Greater Vehicle, and practice according to the Dharma, you will experience such a response.

 

Strike the drum of the true Dharma
Awaken the worlds of the ten directions
Cause all to turn toward Bodhi
Such is the power of mastery

Commentary: When the Buddha turns the great Dharma wheel, it is like beating the drum of the true Dharma. Why beat the drum of the true Dharma? To awaken sentient beings throughout the ten directions and the seas of worlds, inspiring them to give rise to the great aspiration for Bodhi and never regress. This is possible through the Buddha’s sovereign spiritual powers, enabling all sentient beings to leave delusion behind and return to enlightenment.

 

Does not destroy the boundless realms
Yet travels through countless lands
Wherever there is existence, is unattached
That one is as free as a Buddha.

Commentary: Without moving from his fundamental nature, the Buddha does not move from the place of enlightenment, yet reaches throughout the Dharma Realm. The Buddha sits beneath the Bodhi tree, while his Dharma body reaches to the boundless Buddha lands. This is a realm of being that is not being, and emptiness that is not emptiness. Therefore, one does not cling to being, nor does one cling to emptiness. Not clinging to being is true emptiness; not clinging to emptiness is wondrous existence. Those who attain such a realm are all as free and at ease as the Buddha.

The Dharmakaya of all Buddhas is without form. Though formless, it is like space: space pervades everywhere. Space has no boundaries, and neither does the Buddha-body. Space is formless, and the Buddha is formless as well. Therefore, it is said:

“If anyone wishes to know the realm of the Buddha,
Let them purify their mind until it is like space.”

Therefore, it is said that the ultimate is always pure. Hence, there is the verse:

“The pure moon of the Buddha-Dharma
Always traverses the utterly empty sky.
When the defilements in sentient beings’ minds are purified,
The image of Bodhi appears within.”

If your thoughts are always on the Buddha, a joyful mind will arise. This is the complete power of the Buddhas’ vows, which causes you to feel joy.

 

The Buddhas are like empty space
Ultimately, they are ever pure
Recollecting them gives rise to joy
Those vows are complete

In every hell
For immeasurable kalpas
For the sake of liberating sentient beings
One can endure this suffering.

Commentary: A Bodhisattva is one endowed with great wisdom. Therefore, he lets go of his small self and fulfills the great self of sentient beings. For the sake of benefiting himself and others, awakening himself and others, and liberating himself and others, he practices the Bodhisattva path. He fears no suffering and is deterred by no difficulty, vowing to endure suffering for the sake of sentient beings. As the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha vowed:

“If I do not enter the hells, who will?”
“Until the hells are empty,
I vow not to become a Buddha.”

Thus, he is always in hell with sentient beings, hoping that they will awaken, give rise to bodhicitta, and soon leave the sea of suffering. Through immeasurable kalpas, he never tires of teaching and transforming sentient beings, liberating them all. To enable all sentient beings to understand birth and death and escape from them, to leave suffering and attain joy, he endures every kind of suffering in hell, thinking:

“Endure suffering, and suffering will end; Enjoy good fortune, and good fortune will end.”

Therefore, we should be wholeheartedly willing to endure hardship. With a compassionate heart, a Bodhisattva bears unbearable suffering in order to liberate sentient beings. That is the true spirit of a Bodhisattva; that is truly practicing the Bodhisattva Path! The Bodhisattva uses the four methods of embracing to teach and guide sentient beings. These four methods are giving, affectionate speech, beneficial action, and working together. Now let us briefly discuss the four methods of embracing.

Giving: Bodhisattvas teach and transform sentient beings, sacrificing themselves for others and giving their own benefits to those in need. The giving of Bodhisattvas includes external and internal possessions. External possessions are money, jewels, lands, wives, and children. Internal possessions are the head, eyes, marrow, brain, skin, flesh, sinews, and bones. Although they give internal and external possessions, the three spheres are empty, and they do not cling to anything. The three spheres being empty means that there is no giver, no recipient, and no object given. Although Bodhisattvas give, they are free from the appearance of giving. They do not have the ordinary people’s way of publicizing themselves: “Do you know? I paid for that big temple to be built; I paid for that bridge to be built.” That is advertising; it is clinging to the appearance of giving. Although there is merit and virtue, it is only slight. Bodhisattvas do not keep thoughts of their meritorious deeds in their minds. Once the deed is over, it is gone; they absolutely do not publicize it.

Kind speech: When Bodhisattvas practice the Bodhisattva path, they are gentle and pleasant toward all sentient beings. They absolutely do not get angry or use harsh, abusive language to scold people; even more, they do not slander others, speak ill of them, sow discord, pick at their faults, look for things to cause them trouble over, or talk about their shortcomings. They bring forth a joyful mind. “Kind” here means caring for and protecting sentient beings; it also means speaking good and wholesome words.

Beneficial action: Whatever Bodhisattvas do, they benefit sentient beings. Their words, deeds, gestures, and actions all serve as models for sentient beings. Hence the saying, “Use your own conduct as a model,” so that sentient beings will follow it. They inspire sentient beings to feel respect and reverence, and to believe that the words spoken by Bodhisattvas contain the truth.

Identity in action: Bodhisattvas wish to save all sentient beings, so they take up occupations like those of other people and live alongside them, so that the people will feel a sense of closeness. For example, if Bodhisattvas wish to teach and transform sentient beings, they may appear in the role of students, influencing those students to bring forth the resolve for bodhi and to learn the unsurpassed Way. If Bodhisattvas wish to save laborers, they may appear in the role of laborers and go among them, inspiring them to bring forth the resolve for bodhi. If Bodhisattvas wish to save farmers, they may appear in the role of farmers, influencing them to bring forth the resolve for bodhi and learn the unsurpassed Way. If Bodhisattvas wish to save merchants, they may appear in the role of merchants and inspire them to bring forth the resolve for bodhi. Bodhisattvas observe what causes and conditions will enable them to save others, then appear in that form to save them. This applies not only to humans but also to animals. In the past, Shakyamuni Buddha once appeared as the king of the deer to teach and transform his fellow deer, and he also inspired a king to stop eating venison.

 

Not sparing one’s body and life,
Constantly protecting all the Buddha-Dharma,
With a selfless mind, gentle and well-tamed,
One can attain the Tathāgata’s path,

Long ago, when Shakyamuni Buddha traveled everywhere in search of the Dharma, he spared neither body nor life, giving himself up for the Dharma. One day, he encountered a Rakshasa demon and heard it recite half a verse:

“All conditioned phenomena are impermanent; they are subject to arising and ceasing.”

This is saying that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. Why are they impermanent? Because they are phenomena of arising and ceasing. They arise and then cease, cease and then arise again, without ever stopping. Shakyamuni Buddha, while practicing the Bodhisattva path in the causal stage, heard this and knew it was a Buddhist verse, but there was still another half of the verse that the rakshasa had not recited.

— The Buddha then asked the Rakshasa demon, “You haven’t finished reading; there must be two more lines. Could you please read those two lines to me?”

– The Rakshasa demon said, “All right! But I am hungry and have no strength left to recite it. If you sacrifice your body as an offering to me, I will recite it for you to hear.”

— The Buddha said, “I promise you. But I have one condition: first, recite it aloud so I can carve it into the tree and preserve the true Dharma for future generations, so that they may practice in accordance with the Dharma. Only then may you eat me. Is that acceptable?”

– The Rakshasa demon said: “Of course! Listen carefully:” “When birth and death have ceased, Nirvana is bliss.”

It also means that once the suffering of birth and death has ended, Nirvana is happiness.

At that time, the Buddha carved into a tree with a knife:

“All conditioned things are impermanent;
They are subject to arising and passing away.
When arising and passing away have ceased,
Stillness is bliss.”

After finishing the carving, the Buddha thought to himself, “Over time, even an ancient tree can easily decay. It would be better to carve it into stone, where it would last longer and bring more people benefit from the Dharma.”

– Therefore, he said to the rakshasa demon, “I have decided to offer my body to you and will absolutely not regret it. Please wait a little longer while I engrave this verse on a stone, so that people in future generations may all have the opportunity to hear it. Would that be possible?”

– The Rakshasa Demon said, “Your intention is very kind, worthy of respect and admiration! I’ll wait until you’ve finished carving it, and then I’ll eat you.” The Buddha carved the verse into the stone. Then He closed His eyes and waited for the Rakshasa Demon to come and eat Him, His mind completely at peace. After waiting a long time without hearing a sound, He felt very puzzled and opened His eyes to look. The Rakshasa Demon was nowhere to be seen. He looked up into the sky and saw a heavenly being. It turned out that the heavenly being had transformed into a Rakshasa Demon to test whether the Buddha truly would forget Himself for the sake of the Dharma. At that moment, the heavenly being smiled and departed.

A Bodhisattva who practices the Bodhisattva path does not spare their own body or life in protecting the Dharma taught by all the Buddhas. A Bodhisattva has no mark of self, nor anything regarded as belonging to the self; their mind and thoughts are gentle, not stubborn or hard. They treat everyone with kind words. Only by practicing without a sense of self and by keeping the mind gentle can one realize the path cultivated by the Buddha.

 

At that time, the light passed through ten worlds and universally illumined a hundred worlds in the eastern direction. The south, west, and north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below were likewise illumined.

In each of those worlds there were a hundred koṭi Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred koṭi Akaniṣṭha Heavens. Everything therein was clearly manifested. In each and every Jambudvīpa, one saw the Tathāgata seated on a lion throne within a lotus treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas whose number equaled the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands.

All this was due to the Buddha’s supernatural power. In each of the ten directions, a great Bodhisattva came to the Buddha, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas whose number equaled the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. The great Bodhisattvas were named Mañjuśrī and others; the lands from which they came were named Golden World and others; and the Buddhas whom they had formerly served were named Tathāgata Unmoving Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, light radiated from the Buddha’s feet, passing through ten worlds and illuminating all the hundred worlds in the east. The same was true in the south, west, and north, and in the four intermediate directions, above and below—in all six directions. In the worlds of the ten directions, there were a hundred kotis of Jambudvipa realms, extending up to a hundred kotis of Akanistha heavens. All the worlds appeared within that light. In every Jambudvipa realm, one saw Shakyamuni Buddha seated upon the Lotus Treasury Lion Throne, turning the great Dharma wheel and teaching sentient beings. Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha lands surrounded the Buddha. This was due to the great spiritual power: in each of the ten directions, there was a great Bodhisattva who, together with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha lands, gathered and came to the Buddha’s abode to listen to him teach the wondrous Dharma. Those ten great Bodhisattvas were Manjushri Bodhisattva and the others. They had each come from their own lands, namely the Golden-Colored World and so forth, as previously described. They served the Buddhas in their respective lands, namely Buddha Unmoving Wisdom and the others, as previously described.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised their voices and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, countless Manjushri Bodhisattvas at the bodhimanda of each Buddha simultaneously spoke the following verse.

 

The Buddha realizes that the Dharma is like an illusion;
Penetrating understanding, without obstruction;
The mind is pure, free from all attachments;
Subduing all sentient beings;

Commentary: All the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time clearly understand that all phenomena are like illusions and transformations, without any real substance. The Dharma is a remedy for the afflictions of sentient beings. If sentient beings had no afflictions, the Dharma would not be needed. The Dharma is like medicine: because sentient beings suffer from the afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion, they must take the medicine of precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Once the illness is cured, there is no longer any need to take the medicine.

The Buddhas clearly understand the principle that all dharmas are neither empty nor existent, and thus they can attain unobstructed understanding. Only those with wisdom can understand it; the ignorant are obstructed. If a person with wisdom does not understand that all dharmas are like illusions, they will become attached, which is also attachment to dharmas. If they do not understand the principle of non-obstruction, they will likewise be obstructed by attachment—that is, deluded attachment. With the virtue of wisdom, there is nothing to attain; with the virtue of severance, there are no obstructions.

Attachment rooted in wisdom is clear attachment; attachment rooted in delusion is confused attachment. The clear-minded have clear attachment, and the confused have confused attachment. In short, everyone has attachment. If one had no attachment, there would be a way. What way? One could turn the light around and reflect inward, seek within oneself, and transform the state of abandoning awakening and conforming to the dust into the state of abandoning the dust and uniting with awakening.

When the mind is pure, one can be free from attachment to wisdom and from attachment to delusion; there is neither attachment to phenomena nor attachment to a self—one is free from all attachments. The Buddha said, “All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous qualities of the Tathāgata, but because of false thoughts and attachments, they cannot realize them.” If no ignorance remains in the mind, it will be pure and undefiled. Once it is pure, one will naturally be free from all false thoughts and attachments.

The Buddha is fully endowed with the three virtues:

1. The virtue of wisdom: It can dispel ignorance and attain Prajñā.
2. The virtue of severance: It can eradicate afflictions and attain Nirvāṇa.
3. The virtue of benevolence: It can deliver sentient beings and bring them peace and happiness.

When these three virtues are perfected, the Buddha is able to subdue all sentient beings throughout the Dharma realm.

 

Or some behold him newly born,
His wondrous form like a golden mountain;
Dwelling in this final body,
Forever the Moon among Men.

Commentary: This verse speaks of the eight aspects of the Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment. Some may have seen the Buddha at the time of his birth, his body a beautiful golden color, like an inconceivable golden mountain. This was his final birth, forever becoming the moonlight of the world. The moon shines throughout all lands, while the Buddha’s radiance shines throughout the minds of all sentient beings. Hence, there is a verse:

“The Buddha-Dharma is a pure moon,
Ever traversing ultimate emptiness.
When the defilements in sentient beings’ minds are purified,
The image of Bodhi appears within.”

That is, this teaching: When the Buddha was born, he knew how to walk. His feet stepped on lotus flowers, and he walked seven steps in each of the four directions. Then he pointed his left hand to the sky and his right hand to the earth and said: “Above the heavens and below the heavens, I alone am the honored one.” “Above heaven and below heaven—that is, in the human realm—I, the Buddha, am the most honored. Why is this said? Because sentient beings hold their own birth, death, and destiny in their own hands. Hence the law of cause and effect: ‘You reap what you sow.’ No one understands this principle clearly; only the Buddha understands it clearly. Therefore it is said, ‘I alone am honored.’”

 

Either seeing him walking in meditation
Endowed with immeasurable virtues
Mindfulness and wisdom both skillful
The gait of a lion among men

Commentary: Or some people see that when the Buddha was just born, he took seven steps, thereby possessing immeasurable merits and virtues. His blessings were complete, his wisdom was complete, and he possessed great wisdom in full. Therefore, he used skillful expedient methods to teach sentient beings, causing them to abandon delusion and return to enlightenment. The Buddha’s way of walking was that of a Great Man—the gait of a lion.

 

Or see dark-blue eyes
Observing the ten directions
At times manifesting playful laughter
To accord with the desires of sentient beings.

Commentary: Or there are sentient beings who see the Buddha’s face as deep blue, clear and transparent like the four seas, surveying all ten directions, to the very ends of empty space and throughout the Dharma Realm. The Buddha is always in samadhi, unmoving in suchness, lucid and ever-bright, neither joyful nor sorrowful. Yet sometimes the Buddha also smiles. Why? To accommodate the wishes of sentient beings and make them rejoice, he manifests the sign of a smile.

 

Or behold the lion’s roar
A body of peerless excellence
Manifesting the final birth
All that is spoken is true.

Commentary: Or there are sentient beings who see the Buddha turning the great Dharma wheel, teaching and transforming sentient beings, and uttering the lion’s roar. Great Master Yongjia said:

The lion roars;
fearlessly, he expounds.
All beasts that hear it have their brains shattered.
Fragrant elephants flee in panic, their mighty strides faltering;
heavenly dragons listen in silence, filled with joy.

When the Buddha expounds the Dharma, it is like a lion’s roar, causing heavenly demons and non-Buddhist adherents who hear it to tremble with fear. When a lion roars, all the beasts are thrown into panic and terror, their souls scattering; even great elephants lose their dignity. The heavenly dragons and the eight classes of beings hear the Buddha’s voice as he expounds the Dharma and are all filled with joy, bow to the Buddha, and protect and uphold him. The Buddha has the thirty-two marks of a great person and the eighty minor characteristics of beauty. Such a supreme and extraordinary body of a great man is without equal. This was his final birth, in which he manifested the attainment of Buddhahood. All the Dharma spoken by the Buddha is true Dharma, without the slightest falsehood.

 

Or seeing someone renounce the household life
Liberated from all bonds
Practicing the deeds of the Buddhas
Always delighting in contemplating quiescence.

Commentary: Leaving home means leaving the house of afflictions, the house of ignorance, and the house of the Three Realms. Everyone has ignorance, and it is not easy to dispel. To transcend the house of ignorance, one must leave the house of ignorance. Because the house of worldly life contains many afflictions, one must leave the house of afflictions. Beings in the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm are all caught in the six paths of rebirth, being born and dying again and again, forever without end; therefore, one must leave the house of the Three Realms. If one does not leave home, one is bound by everything and cannot be free. Not being free means having afflictions; having afflictions means being ignorant; ignorance gives rise to delusion, creates karma, and brings retribution. By leaving home, one attains liberation, and liberation means there are no bonds.

Or some people saw the Buddha renounce the household life. After the Buddha renounced, he became free from all bonds of affliction. He practiced the various disciplines practiced by the Buddhas, sat in quiet meditation and contemplation, and continually contemplated the bliss of tranquil cessation.

 

Or see [one] seated at the place of enlightenment
Awaken to and understand all dharmas
Reach the other shore of merit.
Delusion, darkness, and afflictions are exhausted.

Commentary: After the Buddha renounced worldly life, he traveled everywhere in search of virtuous teachers. After six years, he had found no one, so he went to the Snow Mountains and practiced austerities for six years, but still did not attain the Dharma that brings an end to birth and death. Finally, he sat on the vajra seat beneath the Bodhi tree and meditated in silence for forty-nine days. On the evening of the eighth day of the twelfth month, he saw the morning star rise and attained enlightenment; at that time, he attained the Dharma that brings an end to birth and death.

Or some people see the Buddha sitting at the Bodhi site, teaching and transforming sentient beings. After the Buddha attained enlightenment, he awakened to all dharmas and thoroughly understood them, then taught all dharmas for the sake of sentient beings. The Buddha’s merit and wisdom were complete, and his virtues perfected. Having reached a state of neither deficiency nor excess, he attained the merit of reaching the other shore. The Buddha swept away the darkness of ignorance, delusive thoughts, and afflictions. At that time, afflictions had transformed into bodhi.

 

Or behold the victorious hero
Fully endowed with great compassion
Turning the wondrous Dharma Wheel
Liberating immeasurable sentient beings.

Commentary: Or some people see the Buddha manifesting the supreme marks of a Great Man (the thirty-two marks and eighty auspicious features). The Buddha is endowed with great compassion, regarding all sentient beings as his own parents and children. He constantly turns the unsurpassed, wondrous Wheel of the Dharma to teach and transform immeasurable sentient beings and save immeasurable sentient beings. Those who have been saved attain the four virtues of Nirvana: true bliss, permanence, self, and purity.

 

Or see the Lion’s Roar,
Its majestic radiance is most extraordinary,
Surpassing all the worlds,
Its supernatural powers are unparalleled,

Commentary: Or some people see the Buddha expounding the Dharma like a lion’s roar. The Buddha’s great awe-inspiring virtue, great wisdom, and great supernatural powers are all exceptionally supreme, surpassing every worldly force. No one can compare with the wondrous workings of the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

 

Either see the mind in stillness
Thus the lamp is forever extinguished
Manifesting all kinds of supernatural powers
The Ten Powers act in this way.

Commentary: Or some people see that the Buddha is always in stillness. The Buddha constantly cultivates the Dharma of stillness. The Dharma of stillness is the Dharma of cessation. Like a worldly lamp, it never goes out, forever. The Buddha possesses all kinds of spiritual powers; this is an inconceivable realm. The Buddha has the Ten Powers and can manifest all kinds of wondrous functions, wonders beyond description.

 

At that time, the light passed through a hundred worlds and shone everywhere throughout a thousand worlds in the East. The same was true of the South, West, and North, the four intermediate directions, above, and below. In each of those worlds were a hundred kotis of Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred kotis of Akaniṣṭha Heavens. Everything therein was clearly manifested.

In each of those Jambudvīpas, one saw the Tathāgata seated upon a lotus-treasury lion throne, surrounded by bodhisattvas as numerous as the motes of dust in ten Buddha-lands. By the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was a great bodhisattva, each accompanied by bodhisattvas as numerous as the motes of dust in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence. The great bodhisattvas were Mañjuśrī and others; the lands from which they came were the Golden-Colored World and others; and the Buddhas they had previously served were the Tathāgata of Immovable Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, radiance streamed from beneath the Buddha’s feet, passing beyond a hundred worlds and illuminating all the thousand worlds in the east. The same was true in the south, west, and north, in the four intermediate directions, above, and below. In the worlds of the ten directions, there were a hundred kotis of Jambudvīpa realms, all the way up to a hundred kotis of Akanishtha heavens, and they all appeared within it. In every Jambudvīpa realm, the Buddha Shakyamuni was seen seated on a lion throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. This was due to the Buddha’s majestic spiritual power. Thus, in each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, and each great Bodhisattva, together with Bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, assembled and came to the Buddha’s place to draw near to him. Those ten great Bodhisattvas were Bodhisattva Manjushri and the others. They came from their own lands, namely the Golden-Colored World and the others, as previously stated. The Buddha in those worlds was the Tathagata of Immovable Wisdom and the others.

 

At that time, the Manjushri Bodhisattvas in all realms, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised their voices and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, everywhere at each Buddha’s place of enlightenment, simultaneously uttered a voice expounding the following verse.

 

The Buddha in the profoundly deep Dharma
Penetrates what has no equal
Sentient beings cannot understand
Expounds it in order

Commentary: After the Buddha attained Buddhahood, he fully understood all 84,000 profound and wondrous Dharma-gates without any obstruction. Among the beings in the nine Dharma realms, none has wisdom equal to the Buddha’s, for the Buddha’s wisdom knows and sees everything. Because sentient beings are ignorant, they do not understand the Buddha-Dharma. Out of compassion for sentient beings, the Buddha taught the Dharma to them with great kindness, offering teachings in stages. First, for beings of dull faculties, the Buddha taught the Small Vehicle and the principle of “existence.” Then, for beings of sharp faculties, he taught the Great Vehicle and the principle of “emptiness.” Finally, for beings of sudden faculties, he taught the One Vehicle Dharma of the Middle Way: true emptiness and wondrous existence.

After the Buddha attained enlightenment, he first preached the Flower Garland Sutra for the great Dharma-body beings (Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages). After that, he preached the Āgama Sutras for those of the Lesser Vehicle. Later, he preached the Prajñā Sutras for those of the Great Vehicle, and finally the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra. In this way, he gradually revealed and explained to sentient beings the true principle of all dharmas.

 

My self-nature has never existed;
what is mine, too, is empty and still.
How then do the Tathāgatas
come to have such bodies?

Commentary: What I believe to be myself is my body. The Buddha has no self, so the self I believe in has never existed. If no nature exists, where could there be a self? There is no self, nor anything belonging to a self. “Self” means attachment to self; “what belongs to the self” means attachment to phenomena. Since there is neither attachment to self nor attachment to phenomena, how can one say that all Buddhas have bodies with form and appearance? The Buddha is formless and signless, neither present nor absent, neither empty nor existent; therefore, the Buddha is everywhere.

 

The liberated one, endowed with wisdom and conduct
Numberless, incomparable
Measured by all the people of the world
Seeking a fault is impossible to achieve.

Commentary: Liberation means being free from all attachment. If one is not attached, wisdom will be perfected; this is illumination. Merit and virtue will also be perfected; this is conduct. These are attained through cultivation. When both merit and wisdom are perfected, one is a Tathagata. The Buddha’s wisdom and merit are immeasurable, and no one can equal them; no person in the world can compare with the Buddha. In the study of Buddhist logic, there are three kinds of valid cognition:

1. Direct perception means present understanding by which one assesses what is before one.
2. Inference: When one uses principle to make a comparison, the matter naturally becomes clear. For example, seeing smoke beyond a mountain, one knows there is a fire; seeing horns over a wall, one knows there is an ox.
3. The testimony of the sages: The Sutras, Vinaya, and treatises contain the words of sages. By using them to assess the principles expounded by non-Buddhist schools, one can know that they are false knowledge and false views. If one wishes to find what is incorrect in these three means of knowledge, it is impossible; there is simply no way to find it.

The Flower Adornment Sutra speaks of the fifty-two stages of a Bodhisattva’s practice: the Ten Faiths, Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications, Ten Grounds, Equal Enlightenment, and Wondrous Enlightenment. However, the Tiantai school holds that these are the stages of Bodhisattvas of the Separate Teaching, not of Bodhisattvas of the Perfect Teaching. The masters established the stages of a Bodhisattva’s practice as the six stages of identity, which are also called the six identities of the Buddha.

1). In principle, everyone is a Buddha. Why have we not become Buddhas? Because we cling to appearances, with attachment to self and attachment to dharmas, and so have not yet become Buddhas.

There is a verse that says:

“Whether moving or still, in principle all is right;
In advancing or withdrawing, in matters there is separation from what is not;
Brightly, brightly, following things away;
Vastly, vastly, not knowing the way back.”

Movement and stillness mean walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. If one clearly understands the principle of movement and stillness, they are all right. If one does not clearly understand the principle, they are all wrong. At that point, movement is not right, and stillness is not right either. “Acting” means going forth and doing; “withdrawing” means gathering in. Their meaning is likewise movement and stillness. Speaking in terms of phenomena is not right. Since the principle is right, phenomena are wrong. “Mingming” means not knowing or understanding: the error lies in not knowing or understanding, in running wild after material desires and failing to keep to one’s proper duty. “Miaomiao” means being confused. The error lies in confusion, in not knowing how to return, drifting away and forgetting to come back. This means that our own nature is originally like the Buddha’s, but because we have fallen into conditioned phenomena, we now appear as sentient beings. Conditioned dharmas are phenomena; the unconditioned dharma is principle. Thus, one should turn from phenomena toward principle.

2) The Name Itself Is Buddha: Now that we have heard the name of the Buddha, we know that sentient beings and Buddhas are equal; the only difference is that Buddhas have already attained Buddhahood, while sentient beings have not yet done so. But when we hear the name “Buddha”—when we hear the names of the Buddhas of the ten directions—we then recite the following verse:

“Just now I heard a soundless tune.
This hearing is an undying song.
Now I know the matter just as it is,
Yet regret my own delay.” That means you have just heard a song without sound, and now you are hearing an immortal song. Only today have you learned to cultivate, so in the future you may become a Buddha. Immediately leave delusion and return to awakening; bring forth the bodhi mind. This is the path to Buddhahood. You must turn the light inward and reflect: I have let time pass wastefully—it is truly regrettable.

3). Contemplative Practice Is Buddha: Contemplative practice means contemplating the true aspect of all the dharmas one cultivates. Only by cultivating through the power of contemplation can one attain Buddhahood.

There is a verse:

“Thought after thought, illumine the constant principle;
Mind after mind, dispel the dust of illusion.
Contemplate everywhere the nature of all dharmas;
Without trace, extinguished, without truth.”

This means always single-mindedly using mindfulness to contemplate. What does single-mindedness mean? It means single-mindedly contemplating the principle of the eternally true. With every thought, one completely clears away delusions and eliminates the illusory dust and defilements. Then the true mind will manifest. Why don’t we accord with the true mind we inherently possess? Because we keep generating deluded thoughts; when deluded thoughts abound, dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning—all six—appear. Therefore, we must put an end to illusory dust and contemplate the true aspect of all phenomena. The farther we depart from those false things, the farther we depart from this truth. Where there is truth, there is falsehood; where there is falsehood, there is truth. When there is neither falsehood nor truth, we reach the realm of still emptiness, and so see that all phenomena are still and empty.

4). Semblance-identity with Buddha: This means there are some signs of becoming a Buddha, but one has not yet become a Buddha; it is only a semblance. It is like forging iron: although it has not yet been made into a useful object, the iron itself is hot. Once it has reached a certain heat, there is a chance it can be made into a useful object.

There is a verse:

“Though I still cling to the four abodes,
The six sense objects are not yet fully purified.
Because there is a film over the eye,
I see red flowers in the sky.”

The four abidings are the desire realm, the form realm, the formless realm, and the delusions of views and thoughts—the four things that abide in delusion. The self means having no obstruction. Although one breaks through the barrier and passes through, the six sense objects have not yet been purified. It is like an eye with a defect, seeing yellow flowers or red flowers in the sky. This state is still not ultimate; one has merely received a little good news and has not yet reached the utmost.

5). Buddha in Partial Realization: This means breaking through portions of ignorance and thereby realizing a portion of the Dharma body. It also means breaking through the forty-one grades of ignorance, seeing a portion of Dharma-nature, and attaining the forty-one stages of the Bodhisattva path.

6). Buddha in Ultimate Realization: This means truly becoming a Buddha. It also means breaking through all forty-two grades of ignorance, reaching the stage of Wondrous Enlightenment, and realizing wisdom that is perfectly complete and ultimate.

There is a verse:

“From the beginning, what was true was actually false;
Today, what was false is true.”

From beginningless time until now, abandoning the true for the false, forsaking awakening and joining with the dust, delusion has arisen from the true. Hence:

“With one thought of non-awakening, the three subtle aspects arise;
When attached to the realm of appearances, the six coarse aspects grow.”

Only now do we know that delusion is real: return to the source, recognize delusion and return to enlightenment, leave behind the dust and unite with awakening, and return to our original state. Thus, delusion too is real: return to the Buddha-nature already within us. There is no special, wondrous method; our own nature already fully possesses Buddha-nature. All that is accomplished is the Buddha inherent in us—not a Buddha who comes from outside.

Delusion of view is craving and attachment arising in response to objects. As soon as one sees an object, craving and attachment arise. When one sees an object, one is unclear-minded and deluded by what one sees. Seeing means seeing with the eyes; these are all external objects. For example, you see a movie advertisement at a theater, announcing what’s showing there today. After seeing the advertisement, you think, “I have to go see it”—that is being carried away by the object. After watching the movie, you still don’t want to leave; you want to watch another movie, perhaps even three or four. That is being deluded, craving and attached to the movie. That is delusion of view.

Thought-delusion means being confused about principle and giving rise to discrimination; it is also delusion in thought. When the mind thinks things over carefully, what is it thinking about? It is thinking about the principles. The more you think, the less clear things become; the less clear they become, the more you think, until your head grows foggy and your mind confused. You do not eat or drink, and forget everything. Being deluded about principle, you give rise to discrimination. Is this right or wrong? Is this black or white? Unable to distinguish right from wrong or good from evil, you enter a samadhi of delusion. This is not right concentration. You think with a deluded mind, and so you become confused.

If a practitioner cuts off the eighty-eight grades of delusions of view in the Three Realms, they attain the first fruit of Arhatship. If they cut off the first six grades of thought-delusion in the Desire Realm, they attain the second fruit of Arhatship. If they cut off the remaining three grades of thought-delusion in the Desire Realm, they attain the third fruit of Arhatship. If they completely cut off the eighty-one grades of thought-delusion in the Three Realms, they attain the fourth fruit of Arhatship. This is the Small Vehicle: practitioners cultivate step by step and attain the stages of fruition. Those of the Great Vehicle can attain the stage of enlightenment from the very first arousing of bodhicitta—that is, they can go directly from the initial stage of the Ten Faiths to the stage of Equal Enlightenment.

 

The Buddha is not the worldly aggregates
The realms and bases are birth-and-death dharmas
The enumerated dharmas cannot establish [him]
Therefore he is called the Lion of Men

Commentary: After the Buddha attained Buddhahood, the worldly five aggregates were already empty, and he had transcended the dharma of the five aggregates. The dharmas of birth and death within the eighteen realms and twelve bases cannot be established through enumeration; therefore, he is called a Buddha. The realm of the Buddhas cannot be investigated through dharmas with their various enumerations; therefore, his epithet is Lion among Men. He is the lion among humans, surpassing the beings in the nine Dharma realms.

 

Its nature is originally empty and still
Inner and outer are both liberated
Apart from all deluded thoughts
The peerless Dharma is thus

Commentary: Buddha-nature is inherently pure and quiescent. The mind within and the body without are free of attachment. That is, there is neither attachment to self nor attachment to phenomena; both forms of attachment are empty. Therefore, inwardly contemplate the mind and find no mind; outwardly contemplate the objects of perception and find no objects. Contemplate the mind as no-mind, and the mind attains liberation; contemplate objects as no-objects, and objects attain liberation. The Buddha is free from all delusions and all thoughts. We sentient beings take delusion to be real, but in the Buddhas neither truth nor delusion remains. Thus, they are beyond the path of words, and there is no realm in which the mind operates. The Buddha attains the incomparable Dharma—that is how it is.

 

Essential nature is ever unmoving
No self, no coming or going
Yet able to dwell in the world
All the boundless are subdued.

Commentary: The Buddha’s essential nature is suchness: unmoving, lucid, and ever-bright. Because it is empty and still, it does not move. The Buddha has fundamentally left the self behind; being selfless, there is neither coming nor going—no coming or going, no arising or ceasing. The Buddha uses the unconditioned Dharma to awaken all the worlds, causing beings in the world to wake from their dreams. All boundless sentient beings are completely subdued and bring forth the bodhi mind; in the future, they will attain the unsurpassed Way.

 

Ever blissful, contemplating nirvana
One aspect has no second
His mind neither increases nor decreases
He manifests immeasurable supernatural powers

Commentary: The Buddha constantly contemplates the aspect of quiescent extinction. This aspect is one alone; absolutely, there are not two. The Buddha’s mind neither increases nor decreases. Though it neither increases nor decreases, within the realm of quiescent extinction the Buddha still manifests immeasurable spiritual powers to teach and transform sentient beings, causing them to bring forth the bodhi mind. Those who study Buddhism and cultivate the Way cannot attain the supreme fruition if they do not bring forth the bodhi mind. It is like a tree that blossoms but bears no true fruit: it is of no benefit at all.

 

Not creating all sentient beings
The workings of karmic retribution and causal conditions
Yet able to understand without obstruction
Such is the Dharma of the Well-Gone One

Commentary: Sentient beings have all kinds of causes and conditions and engage in all kinds of actions, creating karma and experiencing its consequences. The Buddha is not subject to such circumstances, yet fully understands that realm. Without moving from the place of enlightenment, the Buddha pervades the entire Dharma Realm, observing the karmic causes and effects and retributions of sentient beings in order to teach and transform them. Such is the Dharma of the Well-Gone One (the Buddha).

 

All sorts of sentient beings,
Transmigrating throughout the ten directions,
The Tathāgata makes no distinctions,
Liberating boundless kinds

Commentary: All sentient beings in samsara are born and then die, die and then are born, drifting back and forth through the worlds of the ten directions. The Buddha makes no distinctions; he does not say, “I will teach the sentient beings in this direction, but I will not save those in other directions.” The Buddha has no such discriminating mind. Whether sentient beings have an affinity with him or not, he regards them all equally and makes no distinction between one and another. He uses skillful means to save sentient beings without number, enabling them to leave suffering and attain happiness.

 

The Buddhas are of true-gold hue
Nonbeing pervades all existences
According to the beings’ wishes,
They teach the Dharma of quiescent extinction

Commentary: All the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time are adorned with auspicious marks and truly golden in color. Although the Buddha has no form or marks, he manifests everywhere throughout the three realms and twenty-five planes of existence. Regardless of their kind, the Buddha goes forth to teach and transform sentient beings. Using nonexistence to manifest realms of existence, he accords with the preferences of sentient beings and expounds for them the pure, quiescent, unconditioned Dharma—which is also the Dharma of permanence, bliss, true self, and purity.

 

At that time, the light passed through a thousand worlds and illuminated ten thousand worlds throughout the eastern direction. The southern, western, and northern directions, the four intermediate directions, above and below, were likewise. In each of those worlds were a billion Jambudvīpas, up to a billion Akaniṣṭha Heavens; everything therein was clearly manifested.

In each Jambudvīpa, one saw the Tathāgata seated upon a lotus-treasury lion throne, surrounded by bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. By the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there came one great bodhisattva, each accompanied by bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, to the Buddha’s presence.

The great bodhisattvas were Mañjuśrī and others. The lands from which they came were the Golden-Colored World and others. The Buddhas they had previously served were the Tathāgata of Immoveable Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, radiance streamed from beneath the feet of Shakyamuni Buddha, passed beyond a thousand worlds, and illuminated ten thousand worlds in the east. The same was true in the south, west, north, and the four intermediate directions, as well as above and below—in all six directions. In each world in the ten directions were a hundred billion Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred billion Akanistha heavens. All the worlds appeared completely within it. In each Jambudvīpa, one could see Shakyamuni Buddha seated on the Lion Throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. By the Buddha’s supernatural power, a great Bodhisattva in each of the ten directions, together with an assembly of Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, gathered and came to the Buddha’s abode. Those great Bodhisattvas included Manjushri and others, who came from the Golden-Colored World and others. The Buddha in that world was named Immoveable Wisdom Tathagata and others.

 

At that time, the Bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī in all places, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised their voices and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, Bodhisattva Manjushri, in the presence of the Buddha, simultaneously spoke aloud the following verse. This verse is addressed to the Bodhisattvas.

 

Arouse the mind of great compassion
Rescue all sentient beings
Forever transcend the human and heavenly hosts
Such work should be done

Commentary: What is the mind of great compassion? It means giving happiness to all sentient beings and relieving all their suffering. When the mind of great compassion arises, thoughts of unconditional great loving-kindness and great compassion that sees all beings as one will arise. One lives among sentient beings without distinguishing between one and another. I often say to you:

“Truly acknowledge your own faults.
Do not speak of others’ faults.
Others’ faults are your own faults.
To see all as one body is called great compassion.”

If you are always aware of your own faults, you will not criticize the rights and wrongs of others, much less comment on their faults. See others’ faults as your own and recognize that you are all one; that is the mind of great compassion.

If all sentient beings are regarded as one body, then all sentient beings will be saved and protected, forever freed from the three realms. Wholesome karma of this kind should be cultivated. Meritorious karma of this kind should be cultivated. The karma of the Path should be cultivated.

 

The mind always has faith in and delights in the Buddha
Its mind is irreversible
Draw near to all the Tathāgatas
Such actions should be done

Commentary: In thought, one should always have faith in and take joy in the Buddha. At all times, the mind devoted to cultivating the Way must not regress. Those who walk the Bodhisattva path have faith in the Buddha, draw near to the Buddha, and make offerings to the Buddha; their minds will never regress. One should undertake this practice of drawing near to all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times.

 

Delighting in the Buddha’s virtues
Their minds never retreat
Abiding in cool, clear wisdom
Such deeds should be done

Commentary: If one aspires to become a sage, one can become a sage. If one aspires to become a hero, one can become a hero. If one aspires to the Buddha’s merit and virtue, one will attain the Buddha’s merit and virtue. Therefore, there is a saying: “A determined person will surely succeed.” As long as you have the aspiration, you will surely achieve it in the future.

What are the Buddha’s merit and virtue? They are awakening oneself and awakening others, benefiting oneself and benefiting others, liberating oneself and liberating others. When awakening oneself is complete, one has wisdom. When awakening others is complete, one has merit and virtue. Having gained benefit from the Dharma, one also teaches others to gain benefit from the Dharma—that is, expounding sutras and teaching the Dharma. Having attained liberation, one also teaches others to attain liberation. This is the Buddha’s merit and virtue.

If our aspiration is to attain the merit of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas’ cultivation, we must follow the practices they cultivated in the past; only then can we attain their merit. The basic requirement for learning the Buddhadharma is that our minds never turn back. We must have patience and the courage to press forward, never retreating, no matter the cost. Only then can we abide in cool wisdom, free from the heat of afflictions. Hence the saying:

“See nothing that is contrary to propriety.
Hear nothing that is contrary to propriety.
Say nothing that is contrary to propriety.
Do nothing that is contrary to propriety.”

If something is contrary to propriety, do not become entangled in it; good deeds such as these should be done.

In every deportment,
Always remember the Buddha’s virtues.
Day and night, without interruption,
Such a practice should be undertaken.

The four major postures—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down—must all follow the proper rules; one must never lose one’s dignified comportment. Hence, there is a saying:

“Move like the wind
Sit like a bell
Stand like a pine
Lie like a bow.”

In the four major dignified postures, constantly recollect the Buddha’s virtues, without interruption through the six periods of day and night; one should undertake this practice.

One must have long-standing faith in the Buddha’s merits and take long-standing delight in them. If one wishes to know the Buddha’s merits, it is no easy matter. This sutra says: Thoughts are as numerous as dust motes;
The realms of the worlds can be counted;
The waters of the oceans can be drunk dry;
Space can be measured, and the wind bound;
But the Buddha’s merits and virtues cannot be fully told.

What is impossible can all be accomplished, but can anyone know how much merit the Buddha has?

 

Contemplate the boundless three times
Learn the virtues of that Buddha
With a mind never weary or tired
Such is the deed one should perform.

Commentary: The three periods are the past, present, and future. Contemplate the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods: how did they cultivate themselves and attain Buddhahood? They refrained from all evil and practiced all good. Refraining from all evil brings merit; practicing all good brings wisdom. When merit and wisdom are perfected, one will attain Buddhahood. If the Buddhas had not cultivated themselves in the beginning, they would now be just like us, still ordinary people. Why did the Buddhas attain Buddhahood? Because they diligently cultivated precepts, concentration, and wisdom, thereby extinguishing greed, anger, and delusion. Therefore, there is a saying:

“Through three asamkhyeya kalpas, cultivating merit and wisdom;
Through a hundred billion kalpas, cultivating the marks of excellence.”

Only after cultivating merit and wisdom for immeasurable eons and perfecting merit and virtue did one attain the thirty-two marks of excellence and the eighty auspicious features adorning the body.

In ancient times, when the Buddha practiced the Bodhisattva path, he sacrificed himself for others and forgot himself for the Dharma. He would not commit even an evil deed as small as a speck of dust, and he would do even a good deed as small as a speck of dust. Hence the saying: “Do not neglect small acts of goodness, for they become great goodness; do not commit small acts of evil, and great evil will not result.” The Buddha’s merit and virtue are immeasurable and boundless; throughout all future ages, they can never be fully described.

If we believe in the Buddha, we must learn from the Buddha. In the past, while practicing the Bodhisattva path, the Buddha did not fear suffering or hardship. Why? Because the Buddha knew that enduring suffering would bring it to an end, while enjoying blessings would exhaust them. So the Buddha willingly bore suffering and patiently endured it. In cultivation, he practiced austerities that others could not. Hence the saying: “What is difficult to cultivate, he cultivated; what is difficult to practice, he practiced.” This is the Buddha’s merit.

When the Buddha cultivated the Way, he always benefited others at his own expense. It brought him no benefit, but benefited others; that is why he became a Buddha. When the Buddha practiced the six perfections and myriad practices, he never grew weary or retreated. We must learn the Buddha’s fearless spirit. If we grow weary while studying the Buddhadharma, we cannot escape the Three Realms. If we wish to escape the six paths of rebirth, we must not grow weary. At every moment, we must not grow weary; enlightenment can come in an instant. But if we grow weary even for a single second, we will lose the opportunity to become enlightened. Then all our previous efforts will have been in vain. How frightening! That is why it is said:

“Everything is a test
Let’s see what you do
Faced with the situation, you don’t know what to do
You have to train again from the beginning”

That is the principle. The work of the Way, the work of virtue, and the work of practice must all be carried out sincerely. When we study the Way, we cannot look for an easy way; we must keep our feet firmly on the ground and cultivate in accordance with the rules. Cultivate one inch, and you gain an inch of merit; cultivate one foot, and you gain a foot of merit. As the days and months go by, grains of sand will gather into a pagoda. Hence the saying:

“He cultivates, he attains; she cultivates, she attains.”

This is a very sound observation.

 

Contemplate the body as its true nature
All things are utterly quiescent
Free from self, without attachment to non-self
Such karma should be performed.

Commentary: The Buddha’s body cannot be measured by conditioned phenomena. For the Buddha’s body is suchness, and suchness is the true aspect. The true aspect is also without aspect. Though without marks, there is nothing that is not a mark. The vast universe and its myriad phenomena are all manifestations of the true aspect. Yet the fundamental substance of the true aspect cannot be found by searching. Why can it not be found? Because it is without marks. Being without marks, it neither arises nor ceases, neither increases nor diminishes, and is neither defiled nor pure. It sweeps away all dharmas and is apart from every mark; therefore, the true aspect is called signless.

Because the true nature is without characteristics, every arising thought and mental movement is a Dharma of quiescent extinction. Quiescent extinction means having neither form nor characteristics, and being apart from the self that is a false combination of the four great elements. Our bodies are made up of the four elements of earth, water, wind, and fire. Skin, flesh, sinews, and bones belong to earth; body heat belongs to fire. Blood, pus, sweat, and urine belong to water; breath and air belong to wind. This body is formed through the conditions of the father’s essence and the mother’s blood. If analyzed carefully, it is made up of elements joined together; fundamentally, there is no “self” that exists. If one is apart from the self, there is no attachment to self, nor attachment to what belongs to the self—that is, no attachment to phenomena. Only when attachment to self is absent and attachment to phenomena is absent does one accord with the principle of quiescent extinction. This is how one should practice the path.

 

Equally contemplate the minds of sentient beings
Give rise to no distinctions
Enter into the true realm
Such actions should be performed

Commentary: Equanimously contemplate the minds of all sentient beings. Thus it is said, “The eyes of compassion look upon sentient beings.” Without the four marks of self, person, sentient being, and life-span, one regards all sentient beings equally and does not give rise to various discriminating thoughts. In this way, one enters the realm of truth. This practice of the Way should be diligently cultivated; one must not be lax or heedless.

 

Raise all the boundless realms,
Drink all the oceans,
With this spiritual power and wisdom
Such deeds should be done.

Commentary: Fully contemplate the boundless worlds and drink up all the water in the four seas. Such supernatural powers and wisdom are vast and boundless. A spiritual undertaking such as this should be pursued.

 

Contemplate the nature of all lands
Forms and non-form
All can be known
Such karma should be done.

Commentary: Contemplate all the Buddha realms: those with form and material characteristics are conditioned; those without form or material characteristics are unconditioned. Forms and appearances, whether with or without material characteristics, are all very complex, yet all can be known. Such a path of practice should be cultivated.

 

Dust motes in the lands of the ten directions,
One dust mote is one Buddha,
All can know their number,
Such deeds should be done,

Commentary: In every particle of dust throughout the worlds of the ten directions, there is a Buddha seated within, turning the great Dharma wheel and teaching and transforming sentient beings. One can know them all completely, and know how many Buddhas there are. This is the kind of spiritual practice one should undertake.

 

At that time, the light passed through ten thousand world-systems and universally illuminated a hundred thousand world-systems in the east. The south, west, and north, the four intermediate directions, above and below, were likewise illuminated. In each of those worlds were a hundred koṭis of Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred koṭis of Akaniṣṭha heavens. Everything within them was clearly revealed.

In each of those Jambudvīpas, all saw the Tathāgata seated upon the lion throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. By the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence. The great Bodhisattvas were named Manjushri and others. The worlds from which they came were named the Golden-Colored World and others. The Buddhas they had originally served were named the Tathāgata of Immovable Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, the light of Śākyamuni Buddha radiated from the soles of his feet, passing through ten thousand worlds and illuminating ten thousand worlds in the east. The same was true of the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below. In every world throughout the ten directions, there were a hundred billion Jambudvīpa realms, up to a hundred billion Akanistha heavens. All of them appeared there. In every Jambudvīpa realm, the Tathāgata could be seen seated upon a lion throne in the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands. Through the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands, who gathered together and came to the Buddha’s abode to draw near to him. The ten great Bodhisattvas included Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and others. They came from worlds such as the Golden World. The Buddha in that world was named the Tathāgata of Immovable Wisdom, and so on.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, before all the Buddhas, simultaneously raised his voice and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, Bodhisattva Manjushri was at the Buddha’s place of enlightenment, and all at once he spoke aloud, reciting the following verse.

 

If by majesty, virtue, appearance, and lineage
one sees the Tamer of Men among people,
that is a distorted vision caused by diseased eyes;
such a person cannot know the supreme Dharma.

Commentary: If one sees the Buddha through his physical form, great majesty and virtue, great supernatural powers and might, and noble birth, that is an eye disease; everything one sees is an inverted appearance. It is like wearing tinted glasses and seeing all appearances as false. Therefore, it is said:

“Because there’s a film over the eyes,
no roses can be seen within.”

This is an eye disease, which is why one sees red flowers and yellow flowers in the sky. If one has such inverted thoughts, then this is not the ultimate Dharma, nor does it clearly reveal the supreme, wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas. If it is not in accord with the Dharma, it does not accord with the Buddha’s principle.

We who cultivate the Way must eliminate inverted notions if we wish to become Buddhas. Why? Because Buddhas and sentient beings are equal. A Buddha has no sense of pride or superiority, does not regard his own race as noble, and does not arrogantly pride himself on possessing great spiritual powers and great wisdom. He is no different from sentient beings: he manifests according to their minds and teaches and transforms them in accordance with their capacities.

Indian Brahmanism created a mythology claiming that the Great Brahma King gave birth to four kinds of people, thereby establishing four castes. In reality, this was a means by which the intelligent could rule the ignorant. From the mouth of the Great Brahma King were born the Brahmins (clergy); from his shoulders, the Kshatriyas (royalty). These were the upper classes. From his thighs were born the Vaishyas (merchants); from his feet, the Shudras (slaves). These were the lower classes. At that time, the castes were sharply distinguished, and the aristocracy did not associate with the lower classes. According to legend, members of the lower caste (the indigenous people, that is, black people) had to carry bells on themselves when they went out. When members of the upper caste (the clergy and royalty, that is, white people) heard the bells, they would flee, believing that seeing someone from the lower caste would make the day inauspicious.

What is the Master Who Tames and Governs? It is the Buddha. “Tame” means to harmonize; “govern” means to control. How does he harmonize? He harmonizes the afflictions of the three realms and attains the bodhi of the One Vehicle. Harmonizing afflictions into bodhi is like roasting tea: when the five flavors are blended, the tea suits the palate, and everyone can have a taste. The Buddha harmonizes sentient beings in the same way: by harmonizing their afflictions, he turns them into bodhi sprouts that will bear bodhi fruit in the future.

What is charioteering? In ancient times, chariots were pulled by either two or four horses. The charioteer needed skill to control the horses, making them move forward or backward. Only then could the chariot unleash its power and defeat the enemy. Ancient education integrated civil and military training, so the Six Arts were chosen as the subjects to be taught. Students had to master all six skills before they could graduate. Here is a brief overview of the Six Arts for reference.

Ritual: That is, rites of propriety. In marriage, sacrificial offerings, and burials, there are ceremonial observances; hence the saying: “Three hundred rites of propriety, three thousand forms of dignified conduct.” In all dealings, one must be courteous and considerate; when meeting people, one must observe proper etiquette. Courtesy is civilized; discourtesy is barbaric.

Music: That is, music. Anyone who goes to school must study music. Not only must one have the ability to appreciate it, but one must also have the skill to perform it. Since music can cultivate a person’s character, it must be a subject of study. When Confucius studied music, for three months he could not taste the flavor of meat. He devoted himself entirely to his studies, and so, when he ate, he could not taste the food.

Archery: This means shooting a bow. In ancient times, people used bows and arrows as weapons. From a hundred paces away, one could shoot an enemy dead; with the skill to hit the mark a hundred times out of a hundred, one could be called a master of martial arts. When the country is at peace, archery can train the body; when the nation is at war, archery can defend the country.

Horsemanship: This means riding horses. It is a specialized skill: one must understand a horse’s nature in order to ride it. One must know tactics in order to drive a chariot. This knowledge must be thoroughly understood, and one must have experience to put it into practice.

Writing: This means writing characters. In ancient times, people used knives to split bamboo into writing slips, and used lacquered rods to bind silk into scrolls. Later, they made brushes from hair for writing. Students used calligraphy as a distinguishing mark. Beautiful handwriting showed that one was learned, so people in ancient times also devoted themselves to practicing calligraphy.

Arithmetic: This means counting and calculating. One must not only understand ritual, music, archery, horsemanship, and writing, but also know how to calculate—for example, how to calculate area and volume. Nowadays there are computers that can calculate astronomical figures; this came about through the development of calculation. By the Song dynasty, students were divided into civil and military tracks: those who studied the civil arts did not practice martial arts, while those who practiced martial arts did not study the civil arts. This custom produced scholars who never moved their limbs and could not distinguish the five grains, as well as warriors who were brave but had no strategy.

 

The Tathagata’s forms and all his marks, and so on
All the worlds cannot fathom
For countless nayuta kalpas, together they ponder
The forms, marks, majesty, and virtue grow ever more boundless.

Commentary: The Buddha’s bodily form possesses the thirty-two marks of a great man and eighty beautiful characteristics, and is thus majestically adorned with auspicious marks. All beings in the world cannot fathom what the Buddha’s ultimate form is like. Through countless koti nayutas (innumerable) kalpas, as one tries to measure the Buddha’s marks, the more one measures them, the more abundant the Buddha’s physical characteristics become, and the more abundant the Buddha’s majestic virtues become—limitless and boundless, increasing without end, impossible to comprehend. Why? Hence it is said:

“If anyone wishes to know the Buddha’s realm,
They must purify their mind like empty space.”

Although empty space is devoid of anything, everything is contained within it. This means that within true emptiness there is wondrous existence, and within wondrous existence there is true emptiness. True emptiness is not empty, and therefore there is wondrous existence. Wondrous existence is not truly existent, and therefore there is true emptiness. True emptiness is not empty, and wondrous existence is not truly existent—the principle lies here. Therefore, it is said that the Buddha’s form is like empty space, without boundaries.

 

The Tathagata does not take form as its essence;
Rather, the formless is the Dharma of quiescent extinction.
The bodily marks and dignified bearing are all complete;
All in the world see him according to their wishes.

Commentary: The Buddha’s Dharma body is without form or appearance. Although it has no form, where is there not form? All mountains, rivers, and the great earth; houses, towers, and pavilions; and sentient beings born from eggs, wombs, moisture, or transformation are all part of the Buddha’s Dharma body. Yet one cannot definitively seek out where the Buddha’s Dharma body is, because it is nowhere and everywhere, pervading all places.

The Buddha always abides in tranquil extinction. One cannot seek the Buddha through forms, nor through formlessness. Why? Because the Buddha is like space. Space cannot be apprehended; therefore, space is said to be the Dharma of tranquil extinction.

Although the Buddha’s body is without form, the four dignified modes of deportment manifest before us, clearly and completely. Whenever sentient beings in the world sincerely rejoice in the Buddha, the Buddha will appear before them, allowing them to see him and fulfilling their wishes. Why? Because the Buddha always accords with the minds of sentient beings. Whenever sentient beings have something they seek, the Buddha will surely answer their requests, causing them to feel joy.

 

The Buddha-Dharma is wondrous and immeasurable
No words can reach it
Neither compounded nor uncompounded
Its essential nature is quiescent and extinct, devoid of all characteristics

Commentary: The Sixth Patriarch Huineng said:

“The Buddha-Dharma is in the world;
Awakening is not apart from the world.
To seek enlightenment apart from the world
Is like searching for a hare’s horns.”

The Buddhadharma is within the world. Without awakening, it is worldly dharma; with awakening, it is Buddhadharma. Awakening is not apart from worldly dharma. To awaken to all the myriad things and principles in the world, seeing that they all interpenetrate without obstruction, is to truly understand the Buddhadharma. If one leaves worldly dharma and seeks bodhi elsewhere, it is like looking for horns on a rabbit’s head—impossible to find. Everything in the world is speaking the Buddhadharma. To understand is Buddhadharma; not to understand is worldly dharma. Therefore, there is a saying:

“Seeing things clearly, one awakens and transcends the world;
Seeing things in delusion, one falls into the cycle of samsara.”

Whatever you encounter, awaken to it, and you will leave this world. Whatever realm you encounter, if you are deluded by it and cannot turn your body around and get past it, cannot turn your head back and get past it, you will lose your way, no longer knowing east from west, north from south. In that case, you will surely fall into the cycle of rebirth.

All that is good and evil in this world is speaking the Dharma, teaching people to awaken. Good people speak the good Dharma; evil people speak the evil Dharma. Everyone is manifesting in bodily form to expound the Dharma. To recognize this is to understand that

“the Buddha Dharma is in the world; awakening is not apart from the world.”

Not to recognize this is to “seek bodhi apart from the world, like looking for a rabbit’s horn.” One is deluded, the other awakened. The deluded are sentient beings; the awakened are Buddhas.

The Buddhadharma is subtle to the utmost, wondrous to the utmost, and truly inconceivable. Is the Buddhadharma said to be many? Many, yet not many. Is it said to be few? Few, yet not few. Say it is many, and it becomes one; say it is one, and it becomes many. One and many are not two—there is truly no way to state an exact number. The wondrous Buddhadharma is this:

“The path of speech has ended;
the realm of mental activity is no more.”

That is also:

“Free from the marks of verbal expression,
Free from the marks of names,
Free from the marks of mental cognition,
Free from all marks.”

To be free of all marks is to be in accord with all dharmas. If you are not free of all marks, you cannot clearly understand all dharmas. Where are all dharmas? They are in the human realm. If you seek them by leaving the world, you will never find them.

Whatever words are spoken, they cannot go beyond the ultimate truth of the Dharma. The Dharma is quiescent, so it is said not to accord. Its original nature is quiescent; quiescence is unmoving, and the unmoving is emptiness. Only emptiness is unmoving. So what does quiescence accord with? How, then, can one say it does not accord? Why? Because its own nature is quiescent—that is the Dharma Body. Yet the Dharma Body manifests according to the preferences of sentient beings. How, then, is this not in accord? If it were not in accord, how could it respond to the minds of sentient beings? Therefore, it also accords with the minds of sentient beings. This is speaking of the Dharma Body: the Dharma Body is like space. Although space is empty, it gives rise to all things. All affairs and things arise from space.

Speaking in terms of the Dharma body, it is like space, pervading everywhere—neither present nor absent anywhere. Speaking in terms of the reward body, it arises through causes and conditions and is brought to completion through cultivation. It is like gold fashioned into a Buddha statue: the statue is entirely gold. Speaking in terms of the transformation body, causes and conditions are precisely not causes and conditions. It is like an image: one says it exists, yet no form can be grasped; one says it does not exist, yet a dark image remains. The transformation body manifests in response to all the things sentient beings seek and appears in order to teach the Dharma.

In short, with form there is harmony; without form, there is no harmony.

The essential nature of the Buddhadharma is tranquil cessation. It cannot be expressed in words or fathomed through thought; this is the wondrous realm that cannot be described or conceived.

 

The Buddha-body is unborn, transcending conceptual elaboration;
It is not a collection of aggregates, nor a distinct Dharma;
With the power of mastery, one will certainly see the Buddha;
Its activity is fearless, beyond the path of words;

The Buddha’s body is unborn and undying, and transcends all conceptual elaboration (every arising of thought and mental activity is conceptual elaboration); that is, it seems real yet is empty. Hence, there is the saying:

“Frivolous discourse destroys the eye of wisdom,
and thus one does not see the Buddha.”

The bodies of sentient beings are formed through the illusory combination of the five aggregates. But the Dharma body of the Buddhas is not formed by the accumulation of the five aggregates. The Buddha’s Dharma body has no six faculties, six sense objects, six consciousnesses, eighteen realms, or other such distinct dharmas. One must cultivate the deeds of the Way in order to attain the power of freedom. Once one has attained this power, one will be able to see the Buddha’s Dharma body. This realm, where one acts without fear, is beyond words and beyond mental activity; it is also the sweeping away of all dharmas and the leaving behind of all marks.

 

Body and mind are all equal
Inner and outer are all liberated
For endless kalpas, abide in right mindfulness
Unattached, bound by nothing.

Commentary: The body belongs to the outside, and the mind belongs to the inside. Therefore, it is said:

“Within, contemplate the mind, and the mind has no mind.
Without, contemplate forms, and forms have no form.
From afar, contemplate things, and things have no thing.”

Within, there is no body or mind; outside, there is no world. This is body and mind both being equal. Body and mind are empty and still; within and without are both liberated. Liberation means having no attachments. Liberation is right mindfulness; right mindfulness is right concentration and right meditative absorption—in other words, samādhi. When right mindfulness is present, one abides in samādhi for all eternity, without attachments or hindrances. Since everything has been let go, the mind is unbound; therefore, there is no fear, and one is free from deluded thoughts and dreams. If you return to the source, you will see the scenery of your original ground. Only then are you truly at ease!

 

One whose mind is pure and luminous
Whose deeds are free from defilement and attachment
The eye of wisdom encompasses all
Vastly benefiting sentient beings;

Commentary: A pure mind means having no more false thoughts, no more ignorance, no more selfishness, and no more afflictions such as greed, anger, and delusion. A pure thought is great radiance, illuminating and seeing that the five aggregates are all empty, and delivering one from all suffering and calamity. Whoever purifies their mind knows the realm of the Buddha. Therefore, there is a saying: “If anyone wishes to know the realm of the Buddha, let them purify their mind like the empty sky.” If the delusions of views and thoughts, the dust-and-sand delusions, and the delusions of ignorance are completely eradicated, then thoughts will become pure and wisdom will manifest. Why do we lack the radiance of wisdom? Because we have too many selfish desires, which obscure that radiance and turn us into ignorant darkness. In that state, we cannot recognize the deluded realm. How can we turn darkness into light? First, we must be utterly selfless and impartial. This means having no mark of self, no mark of others, no mark of sentient beings, and no mark of life span. Then self and others are one, and the Dharma realm is one great whole. Next, we must have no selfish thoughts, be upright and radiant, and think not of ourselves but of everyone. That is the conduct of a Bodhisattva.

These two lines of poetry express a very sound principle:

“The caged chicken has food, but the soup pot is near;
The wild crane has no food, but heaven and earth are vast.”

That is to say: The chicken is in the coop. Though it has rice to eat and water to drink, when the time comes, it will be killed and made into food for humans. The crane, though it has no rice to eat, has the vast expanse of heaven and earth and can roam the universe as it pleases, unconstrained and unattached—truly carefree, truly at ease! We who have left home should take heaven and earth as our lodging place and the four seas as our home; we should not have a fixed abode. If we have a temple, we may eventually become attached to it.

A Zen master once said, “Last year, though poor, I still had a place to plant an awl; this year, I am so poor I have no place even to plant an awl.” This way of thinking is truly liberating and free, truly wondrous beyond description. We should learn from this Zen master: apart from an alms bowl and three robes, we should seek nothing at all. Money is something external; we do not bring it with us when we are born, nor take it with us when we die. If you have money, use it to do many meritorious deeds. Sponsoring the printing and distribution of a sutra or a book, and spreading the Buddhadharma, also brings immeasurable merit—more than building a grand temple or a large pagoda.

An enlightened person has no attachments or defilements in anything they do. What is defilement? It is greed for wealth and lust for physical beauty. If you cannot let go of wealth, you cannot eliminate defilement; if you cannot let go of lust, you cannot completely eliminate defilement. If you do not want to be defiled, there is only one way: break through the two barriers of wealth and lust, and all of empty space and the Dharma Realm will become places where you can make your home. We who practice the Way should remember this! Wealth and lust are two barriers; if we can break through them, we will no longer be attached to anything. We monastics should reflect and examine ourselves.

The monastics at Kim Son Temple know that money is an impure thing, so some observe the precept against handling money—that is, they do not touch money with their hands.

I have a disciple from a very wealthy family. He is his parents’ only son, but he has no interest in their wealth. His parents introduced him to a girlfriend, but he refused that too. Determined to renounce the world and cultivate the Way, he went to Jinshan Temple to practice, so I specially gave him the Dharma name Heng Kong.

One day, his parents called him and asked, “Do you need money? We can send some to you.” He did not accept money from them. He observed the precept concerning money, was not fond of wealth, did not covet beauty, and was not attached to these things. Conduct like this will certainly lead to attainment.

The eye of wisdom pervades everywhere; without attachment, it can bring great benefit to all sentient beings.

 

One body becomes countless;
Countless become one again;
Fully understanding all the worlds;
Manifesting forms throughout all things;

Commentary: One Buddha body can manifest as countless bodies, and countless bodies can return to one body. This is the realm of the Buddha. We must understand “one gives rise to countless”: this is the principle that one and many are unobstructed. “Countless become one”: this is the principle that many and one are unobstructed. This is also the realm of mutual unobstructedness. It is a realm in which phenomena are unobstructed, principle is unobstructed, principle and phenomena are unobstructed, and phenomena and phenomena are unobstructed. This is also the realm described in the Flower Garland Sutra.

The Buddha clearly knows the minds of all sentient beings in the world and teaches and transforms sentient beings in the nine Dharma realms. He does not shrink from toil or fear hardship, but adapts to the thoughts and wishes of sentient beings, manifesting every kind of form and filling all places.

Today we will talk about a teaching outside the Avatamsaka Sutra. What teaching? The teaching of “money.”

Why is money the dirtiest thing in the world? Some people count money using saliva. Saliva contains countless tiny germs. Who knows how many people’s saliva the money has passed through, or how many kinds of germs are being transmitted? Clearly, the more money is handled and counted, the dirtier it becomes. Yet some people love money as much as their own lives. This is knowingly doing wrong. Some people even sacrifice their lives out of greed for money. This is enough to prove just how powerful money’s demonic influence is.

The Chinese created their characters through a great deal of ingenuity. Chinese characters consist of pictographs, indicative characters, associative compounds, phono-semantic compounds, derivative cognates, and phonetic loans. Every character falls within these six categories. For example, the character for “money” (钱) is an associative compound. It consists of the character for metal (金) and two characters for ge (戈, a spear). There is a verse that says:

Two halberds vie for gold, their murderous aura running high;
Everyone has already transgressed and fallen into turmoil.
Those who know how to use it transcend the Three Realms;
Those who do not will find their karma hard to escape.

That is to say: Money is made by casting gold, and people wield spears to fight over it. Each side struggles and tries to seize it from the other, creating a murderous atmosphere that reaches to the clouds. Everyone suffers untold troubles for the sake of money. Those who know how to use money do many meritorious deeds, benefiting others and themselves; they will then transcend the Three Realms and no longer undergo birth and death. Those who do not know how to use money use it to commit evil deeds and fall into the three evil realms, never to attain liberation. You must understand that money is something that harms people and must not be coveted.

Why do we wish to leave home and cultivate the Way? It is because we wish to be free of craving for wealth and sensual pleasures, and not to cling to wealth or sensual pleasures. From then on, in every movement and action, we should constantly turn the light inward and reflect, gathering the mind so it does not wander outward. As the days and months pass, the mind becomes pure as a mirror, and good and evil become clear of themselves. Only then can we leave the Three Realms and transcend birth and death. This is the original intention of leaving home. If we cannot give up wealth or sensual pleasures, then we betray that original intention.

People in this world earn money for their children and think of every possible way to accumulate wealth for them. But they do not realize that leaving money to their children and grandchildren can bring disaster. If they leave no money to their children and grandchildren, then, on the contrary, they will have no worries. Thus, there is a saying:

“If your child is like you, what’s the point of leaving money behind?
If your child isn’t like you, what’s the point of leaving money behind?”

If the children are more capable than their father, leaving them money is of no benefit at all. If they are not as capable as their father, leaving them money instead teaches them to indulge in pleasure and squander it—isn’t that harming one’s descendants? Those who have money and use it to perform many good deeds, benefit the world, and help others have immeasurable merit.

We monastics should not only refrain from coveting wealth, money, and beauty, but also keep delusive thoughts from arising. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, we must keep such thoughts under control. How? By following just one practice: either reciting the Buddha’s name or chanting a mantra. Talk less and recite the Buddha’s name more; when your recitation brings about a spiritual response, you will awaken and attain wisdom. Hence, there is a saying: “Let the first thought die;
only then will the Dharma body come alive.” Therefore, those who practice the Way must always keep themselves in check. Hence:

“Remember impermanence,
Do not be heedless.”

Use these two sentences as a warning, and you will naturally reflect on yourself. I hope everyone observes the precepts carefully.

 

This body has no source from which it comes
Nor any place where it accumulates
Because sentient beings discriminate
They see the Buddha in various forms.

Commentary: This body may be the Dharma body, the reward body, or the transformation body; it is not fixed. This body has no form, and one cannot contemplate the Buddha by means of form. The Diamond Sutra says:

“If one sees me through form,
or seeks me through sound,
that person follows a misguided path
and cannot see the Tathagata.”

Again, it is said:

“The Tathagata comes from nowhere and goes nowhere; therefore, he is called the Tathagata.” This is the realm of a body without form. This body is not formed by the accumulation of the five aggregates, nor does it come from the twelve sense bases or the eighteen elements. The Buddha certainly has no form at all, so why do sentient beings see the Buddha as having the thirty-two marks of excellence and the eighty auspicious characteristics? This is in accordance with discriminating minds, or unwholesome minds. In order to inspire sentient beings to give rise to the bodhi mind, the Buddha manifests various kinds of bodies, increasing their joy and admiration. This is the Dharma-gate of skillful means.

A man wants to find a beautiful woman to be his wife, and a woman wants to find a handsome man to be her husband. This proves that everyone delights in beauty, not ugliness. People are of one mind in this; their minds accord with this principle. Everyone hopes to have a beautiful wife or a handsome husband. This is human nature, and it is only natural and right.

Someone raises the question: “Teacher, why do you lecture on this subject when you give sutra lectures?” You say, “If we don’t talk about this, what should we talk about?” The ancients said, “The Way of the gentleman has its beginnings in the relationship between husband and wife.” In this world, there are only men and women. Only after there are men and women can the world be created. Here, I want to make it especially clear that these men and women are not Adam and Eve, nor were they created when God fashioned men and women out of mud and brought them into this world. These are all children’s stories. So, ultimately, how did men and women come to be? There isn’t time to explain it now. In short, this world came into being through the union of husband and wife. Once there is husband and wife, there are father and son, brothers, and oneself and others. Male and female are yin and yang. Therefore, there is a saying: “One yin and one yang are called the Way; apart from yin and yang, the Way cannot come into being.” It is also said: “A solitary yin does not give rise to life; a solitary yang does not grow.” This is the natural principle. When we cultivate the Way, we must return to our source. A man who cultivates the Way should return from “the emptiness at the center of Li” to “Qian’s three solid lines.” A woman who cultivates the Way should go from “the fullness at the center of Kan” to “the six broken lines of Kun.” Qian (the Qian hexagram) represents men, and Kun (the Kun hexagram) represents women. Men must return to the state of pure childhood, and women must return to the state of pure maidenhood. Men should be like Sudhana, the Youth, and women should be like the Dragon Girl. They were all pure boys and girls who had returned to their source. We too must cultivate the Way in this manner, preserving our childlike state. Then it will be easy to realize the pure Dharma body.

Because sentient beings have discriminating minds and distinguish between good and evil, good and bad, right and wrong, black and white, and all sorts of other things, the Buddha manifests all kinds of bodies in accordance with their minds, enabling them to see the Buddha’s body. Therefore, there is a saying:

“Thousands of ponds hold water,
Thousands of ponds hold the moon.
Ten thousand miles without a cloud,
Ten thousand miles of blue sky.”

The Buddha manifests in transformed forms according to the kind of being. When the water of sentient beings’ minds is pure, the Buddha appears within it. Why can’t we see the Buddha’s body? Because our selfish desires are too strong and our ignorance too deep, wisdom does not manifest. When the mind’s water is muddy, even if the Buddha is there, he does not appear.

Ignorance is darkness, and wisdom is light. Where there is ignorance, there are afflictions; where there are afflictions, there is foolishness; where there is foolishness, there is darkness; where there is darkness, there is no light; where there is no light, there is no wisdom; and where there is no wisdom, one cannot see the Buddha. All of these are interconnected. To see the Buddha’s body, one must diligently cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom, thereby eliminating greed, anger, and delusion. Then the Buddha’s body will naturally appear, manifesting itself to teach the Dharma to the practitioner.

 

The mind that discriminates the world
This mind is without existence
The Tathāgata knows this Dharma
Thus one sees the Buddha’s body

Commentary: Discrimination is the deluded mind; non-discrimination is the true mind. The minds of sentient beings discriminate, distinguishing all worldly phenomena. The wondrously luminous true mind is empty; hence it is said to be a mind that has no place where it exists. This true mind is also neither present nor absent. All throughout space and pervading the Dharma realm are manifestations of this true mind.

The Tathagata realizes the principle and substance of true suchness—that is, the “ever-abiding true mind, the intrinsically pure and luminous essence.” By clearly understanding this Dharma, one sees the Buddha’s Dharma body.

 

At that time, the light passed through a hundred thousand worlds, illuminating a million worlds throughout the eastern direction. The south, west, and north, the intermediate directions, above, and below were likewise. In each of those worlds there were a hundred million Jambudvipas, extending up to a hundred million Akanishtha Heavens. Everything therein was clearly manifested.

In each of those Jambudvipas, they saw the Tathagata seated upon the lion throne within the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. By the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was a great bodhisattva, each accompanied by bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence.

The great bodhisattvas were Manjushri and others. The countries from which they came were the Golden-Colored World and others. The Buddhas they had formerly served were the Tathagata Immovable Wisdom and others.

Commentary:  At that time, the radiance passed through hundreds of thousands of worlds and illumined a million worlds throughout the east. The south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below were likewise illumined. In each of those worlds were a hundred kotis of Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred kotis of Akaniṣṭha Heavens, all of which were clearly manifested. In each of those Jambudvīpas, the Tathāgata was seen seated upon a lion throne of lotus treasury, with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands gathered together and coming to the Buddha’s presence. Those Bodhisattvas included Mañjuśrī and others, who came from the Golden-Colored World and other worlds; the Buddha of that world was named the Tathāgata Immovable Wisdom, and so forth.

At that time, Śākyamuni Buddha emitted a beam of light from beneath His feet. It passed through ten thousand worlds and illuminated one million worlds throughout the eastern direction. The same was true of the southern, western, and northern directions, as well as the four intermediate directions, above, and below—the six directions. In each world in the ten directions were a hundred koṭi Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred koṭi Akaniṣṭha heavens. All the worlds within them were entirely revealed. In every Jambudvīpa, Śākyamuni Buddha was seen seated upon the Lion Throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-worlds.

It was entirely through the Buddha’s great spiritual power that, in each of the ten directions, a great Bodhisattva, together with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-worlds, came to the Buddha’s abode to draw near to Him. These ten Bodhisattvas were Mañjuśrī and the others. They came from their own lands, namely the Golden-Colored World and so forth, as previously described. The Buddhas in those worlds were named Immovable Wisdom Tathāgata and so forth.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised his voice and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, countless Bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī, each in the assembly of a Buddha, spoke the following verse in unison.

 

The Tathāgata is supremely free
Transcendent, dependent on nothing
Endowed with all virtues
Delivering from all realms of existence

Commentary: The Buddha is the most free and at ease; this is not something one can attain on one’s own without entering into it. It also means being able to follow one’s heart and have things go as one wishes: whatever one wants, that is how things are, without any limitations—true freedom. If we can be masters of ourselves, we have no afflictions, are not swayed by circumstances, do not give rise to deluded thoughts, and do not cling to things; all of that is freedom.

The Buddha transcends the world and has no place to rely on. The Buddha is endowed with all merits and virtues, liberating beings from the three realms and the twenty-five planes of existence. The twenty-five planes of existence are:

Four continents, four evil destinies
Brahma heavens, the six desire heavens
The No-Thought Heaven, the five Pure Abodes
The four formless realms and the four dhyanas

In the Realm of Desire there are fourteen realms: the four great continents, the four woeful destinies, and the six heavens of desire.

In the Realm of Form there are seven realms: the Heaven of the Fourth Meditation (the Great Brahmā Heaven), the Heaven of No Perception, and the Five Pure Abodes (the Heaven Without Affliction, the Heaven Without Heat, the Heaven of Good Vision, the Heaven of Good Manifestation, and the Heaven of the Ultimate Form).

In the Formless Realm there are four realms: the Four Heavens of Emptiness (the Heaven of the Sphere of Infinite Space, the Heaven of the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Heaven of the Sphere of Nothingness, and the Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception).

We all remain within these twenty-five realms, not yet freed from birth and death.

 

Unstained, with nothing to cling to,
Without thought, with nothing to rely on,
Its essential nature cannot be measured,
All who see it praise it.

Commentary: The realm of the Buddha is neither defiled nor attached; it has no form, feeling, perception, volition, or consciousness, and no place on which to rely. The Buddha’s essential nature cannot be measured. All who see the Buddha praise him. To see the Buddha without seeing the Dharma is not truly to see the Buddha; seeing the Dharma is truly seeing the Buddha.

After the Buddha had gone to Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to teach the Kṣitigarbha Sutra to his mother, Lady Māyā, and then returned to the human realm, Bhikshuni Lotus Color—the foremost among the nuns in spiritual powers—saw the Buddha first and therefore considered herself fortunate. The Buddha said to Bhikshuni Lotus Color, “You were not the first to see me; Subhuti was.”

At that time, Venerable Subhuti was mending his robe in the monastery and did not go outside to welcome the Buddha. Yet Subhuti welcomed him with his mind, and welcomed him with the Dharma. He was foremost in understanding emptiness, and he was the one who requested the Dharma in the Diamond Sutra. The sutra says:

“If one sees me in form,
Or seeks me through sound,
That person follows a deviant path
And cannot see the Tathagata.”

That is, this principle.

 

Radiance is universally pure
All dust and defilements are cleansed away
Unmoving, free from the two extremes
This is the Tathāgata’s wisdom

Commentary: The Buddha’s luminous wisdom purifies the Dharma realm, cleansing it of all the defilements of emotional attachment so that no bonds of affection and love remain. Cutting off desire and removing attachment is a Dharma method for returning to the source (restoring our original state of being one in essence). We should cultivate this method. Do not fall into either of two extremes; do not fall into the two views of annihilation and permanence—this is the Middle Way.

Those who cling to annihilation say, “When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out; nothing remains.”

Those who cling to permanence say, “A person who dies will still be a person in the next life; a dog that dies will still be a dog in the next life.”

Both kinds of outsiders deny cause and effect, rejecting the law of cause and effect. The Buddha remains unmoved, free from the side of emptiness and the side of existence; this is the Buddha’s wisdom.

 

If one sees the Tathagata,
With body and mind free from discrimination,
Then, in all Dharma,
One forever transcends all doubts and hindrances.

Commentary: If someone sees the Buddha, both body and mind are free from discrimination. Seeing the Buddha as empty space, that person understands all dharmas without obstruction and forever puts an end to all doubt and impediment.

When we cultivate the Way, we must practice according to these four major steps: faith, understanding, practice, and realization. We must have no doubts not only about the Buddha, but also about the Dharma. We must believe that the Dharma spoken by the Buddha is all based on experience. The Dharma spoken by the Buddha consists of teachings through which the Buddha personally passed through those states and awakened to the Way.

We study the Buddhadharma—that is, we learn the method by which the Buddha attained Buddhahood.

 

Within all worlds,
Everywhere the Dharma wheel is turned,
Without inherent nature, with nothing to turn,
The Teacher expounds through skillful means.

Commentary: In all the worlds of the ten directions, everywhere Buddhas abide, turning the great Dharma wheel, beating the great Dharma drum, blowing the great Dharma conch, and teaching and transforming sentient beings. The Dharma inherently has no self-nature; in its original essence, it cannot turn the Dharma wheel, and so it does not turn it. Rather, the Buddha uses various skillful means and Dharma teachings to expound the Dharma.

 

With regard to the Dharma, have no doubt,
Completely sever all conceptual proliferation,
Give rise to no discriminating mind—
This is mindfulness of the Buddha’s bodhi.

Dharma is a method, an expedient means for teaching and transforming sentient beings. This expedient means is offered for the sake of people. If there were no people, there would be no Dharma either. The Dharma was spoken by the Buddha. The Buddha is no longer in the world, yet the Dharma still remains in the world.

Sentient beings are less inclined to believe the Dharma than to harbor doubts. What evidence is there? For example, someone introduces a friend to you, first telling you how honest and loyal he is, how educated he is, and how good he is. After hearing this, you will surely become suspicious and want to investigate. This is because your faith is insufficient. This is speaking of wholesome Dharma.

If someone says that a certain person has bad character and is extremely wicked—not filial to his parents, not loyal to his country, and untrustworthy toward his friends—you immediately believe it wholeheartedly, without doubt, and do not need to investigate. This is speaking of evil Dharma.

When someone tells you about the Right Dharma, you immediately raise doubts: “Is there a Buddha? Are there Bodhisattvas? Are there Arhats?” But when someone tells you about heterodox Dharma, you believe it at once and even join their organization and become their slave. Yet you still do not realize that others are exploiting you. Such a person is truly pitiful! Or, have no doubts about the Buddhadharma; cultivate precepts, concentration, and wisdom, and forever put an end to all forms of idle speculation. Idle speculation includes:

Inverted frivolous argumentation.
Harmful frivolous argumentation.
Contentious frivolous argumentation.
Frivolous argumentation that distinguishes the superiority and inferiority of others.
Frivolous argumentation about distinguishing skills and crafts for making a living.
Frivolous argumentation attached to worldly wealth and power.

Inverted frivolous argumentation: When something is originally black but you say it is white, that is turning right and wrong upside down. It is plainly “right,” yet you argue with someone and use forceful words to twist the reasoning, claiming it is “wrong.” This is inverted frivolous argumentation. In other words, it means making arguments contrary to reason and speaking falsely, without truth.

Harmful frivolous argumentation: “Harmful” means throwing away. For example, you perform meritorious deeds, and someone says you are foolish: “What use is doing meritorious deeds? Meritorious deeds don’t provide food—will they fill you up? Meritorious deeds don’t provide clothes—will you be warm? There’s no such thing as merit! This is a way of deceiving people. You see monastics soliciting donations and teaching people to give, but they themselves don’t give.” This is distorted reasoning; it harms and throws away merit. You should understand that only through merit can one have blessings and wisdom, and only when blessings and wisdom are complete can one become enlightened.

Contentious frivolous argumentation: To contend is to argue; to vie is to compare who is superior or inferior. It means competing with others to win or lose and comparing oneself to see who ranks first. Thus, there is this saying:

“Contention is a mind of winning and losing,
Contrary to the Way.
When the mind gives rise to the four marks,
How can one attain samadhi?” A person with a competitive mind is contrary to the Way and incompatible with both the Way and the Dharma. If they engage in debate, they will give rise to the mind of the four marks—the mark of self, the mark of others, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of lifespan. How could they attain samādhi? They cannot attain true concentration and wisdom, and will become doubtful about the Dharma.

Discriminating between victory and defeat—idle talk: Distinguishing what is good or bad in other people, who is better or worse, right or wrong. This is like a crow perched on a pig’s back: it sees that others are black, but does not see that it is just as black. It is also like washing other people’s dirty clothes: one sees that their clothes are dirty, but does not see that one’s own clothes are dirty.

Discriminating about skills for making a living—idle talk: The moment discriminating thoughts arise, that is idle talk. It is like a student who graduates and then regrets that they should not have studied literature, or should not have studied philosophy. If they had studied medicine at the beginning, they could be a doctor now. If they had studied law at the beginning, they could be a lawyer now, and their life would be more prosperous. Only after finishing university do they start thinking about skills for making a living; this is idle talk.

Clinging to worldly wealth and food—idle talk: This means being attached to the five worldly desires: wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. Just look at how many people in the world have lost their lives for wealth, ruined their bodies for sex, brought themselves to ruin for fame, harmed themselves for food, or wrecked themselves for sleep. This is clinging to worldly wealth and food—idle talk.

If there were no such idle talk, the discriminating mind would not arise. Having no discriminating mind is to be mindful of the Buddha and bodhi. Without a discriminating mind, great wisdom will unfold. Why do we have no wisdom? Because our discriminating mind is too strong. When someone praises you, you become exceedingly happy. When someone criticizes you, you become exceedingly sad. How can you learn the Way like that? How can you cultivate? If you want to reach the state of being unmoved by the eight winds, you must see everything as one; only then is it awakened mindfulness, only then is it true cultivation. But this does not mean being like a person made of mud or wood, without any awareness.

The Eight Winds are praise, criticism, hardship, joy, gain, decline, getting, and losing. These eight winds are what worldly people love and hate, and they often stir people’s minds; hence they are called the Eight Winds. A practitioner who cultivates to the point of remaining unmoved in suchness, lucid and ever-bright, will not be shaken by the Eight Winds. Even if gold and silver are placed before them, their resolve will not change; even if a sharp blade is raised over their head, they will not alter their aspiration. This is a vajra-like conviction.

 

Clearly understand the distinctions among dharmas,
Do not cling to verbal expressions,
There is neither one nor many,
This is called following the Buddha’s teaching

Commentary: When a person is born, the mind knows yet does not know, understands yet does not understand—it is a clean, blank sheet of paper. If there is a virtuous spiritual friend or an enlightened master to teach and guide them, they will soon illumine the mind and see their nature, and attain realization. They will clearly understand the distinctions among the dharmas. This Dharma does not cling to the appearance of words. Because there are no words, there is no discrimination. Not discriminating among dharmas is the aspect of quiescent extinction. The Dharma of the aspect of quiescent extinction does not cling to words. Therefore, it is said:

“The mouth wants to speak, but no words come;
the heart longs for connection, but thought is no more.”

At that point, that is, the state of: “The path of words has come to an end, and the place of mental activity has ceased.”

At that time, there was neither one nor many. There was no one, because the one was not one; there were no many, because the many were not many. In this realm, neither one nor many is established. This is the teaching that accords with the Buddhas.

 

Among the many, there is no single nature;
The one, too, has no many;
Thus, both are relinquished;
Universally enter the Buddha’s virtues;

Commentary: Speaking of the beginningless, there is no beginning; speaking of the endless, there is no end. Therefore, it is said:

“Neither beginning nor end
Neither one nor many
Neither large nor small
Neither inside nor outside”

This is zero, which is also infinity. Having no beginning means there is no beginning, just as the first line of the Qian trigram in the Eight Trigrams is zero; the second line is also zero; the third line is still zero. This zero is as vast as the Dharma realm and as small as a mote of dust. It is so vast that there is no outside, and nothing is greater than it; so small that there is no inside, and nothing is smaller than it. This zero is neither one nor many: it is one yet not one, many yet not many. To say it is one is still not to say it is one. To say it is many is still not to say it is many. To say it is not one, it is small with no inside. To say it is not many, it is vast with no outside. One does not become one, and many does not become many; all are encompassed within zero. Within it is true emptiness; though it is true emptiness, there is also wondrous existence. Therefore, there is a saying:

“True emptiness is not empty;
Only then is there wondrous being.
Wondrous being is not being;
Only then is there true emptiness.”

What is in this zero? Looking, we see nothing. Although nothing can be seen, we cannot say there is nothing. Within this zero is wondrous existence. To cultivate the Way is to cultivate this zero. This is called the circle of infinity, emptiness reaching its ultimate point.

This zero is the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, the original face, the inherently complete nature, and also the Great Bright Treasury. If one cultivates successfully at this zero, it transforms into the Great Bright Treasury. If the Great Bright Treasury is destroyed, ignorance gives rise to the Three Subtle Aspects (the karmic obstruction, the transforming aspect, and the manifesting aspect), and the zero transforms into one. When there is no one, it remains zero forever; no matter how many zeros are added, there is still no number to speak of. Now this zero breaks into one; add a zero and it becomes ten, add another zero and it becomes a hundred, add another and it becomes a thousand, and add another and it becomes ten thousand. Thousands upon thousands, tens of thousands upon tens of thousands, all arise from zero. Before this zero transformed into one, it was without beginning; now that it has transformed into one, adding zeros means it is without end. Even if one adds zeros filling all of space and pervading the Dharma Realm to this one, one still could not finish adding them. Therefore it is called “without end,” meaning that there is never a time when it comes to an end.

Heaven, upon attaining the One, is clear; when heaven returns from the One to zero, it is bright and clear. Earth, upon attaining the One, is at peace; when earth returns from the One to zero, it is secure. A person who attains the One is a sage; a person who cultivates from the One to the great treasury of luminous clarity and returns to the source is a sage. Why are we not sages? Because we have not yet attained the One. Therefore:

“Attain the One, and all things are accomplished.” Once one has attained a (virgin), everything is accomplished. Nothing else is needed. Hence the saying:

“What had to be done has been done;
I will take no further birth.”

Why do we have birth and death? Because we destroy the great luminous treasury, breaking zero into one; once there is one, there are afflictions. The great light encompasses everything, so it is said that among the many there is no single nature. Many means many; because there is no single nature, it is both many and not many, not many and yet many. One, too, is not many.

This principle is not easy to understand clearly, so what should we do? We need not give rise to discriminating thoughts or make an effort to count: “This is one; that is many.” Do not cling to numbers. That is why it is said that both are to be relinquished. Relinquish one, and relinquish many as well. If you do not cling to one or many, there is no discriminating mind, and you enter fully into the Buddha’s merits and virtues, which are no different from the Buddha’s own merits and virtues.

We all have a discriminating mind: when we encounter objects, discrimination arises. Thus, there is the saying, “Craving and attachment arise when one encounters objects”; this is delusion of view. “Discrimination arises from being confused about principle”; this is delusion of thought. There are eighty-eight categories of delusion of view and twenty-one categories of delusion of thought. If we no longer cling to anything, we will attain the merit and virtue of the Buddha.

The one and the many mutually depend on one another and mutually serve as root and branch. Or the one is the root and the many are the branches. Or the many are the root and the one is the branch. Or the one depends on the many, and the many depend on the one. There are four meanings:

The Meaning of Mutual Accomplishment
The Meaning of Mutual Destruction
The Meaning of Mutual Existence
The Meaning of Mutual Cessation

**The meaning of mutual accomplishment:** One and many are established together and exist together. The one assists the many, and the many assist the one. They exist together; both here and there are present. That is, the one becomes many, and the many become one. These are the first two lines: “Among the many there is no nature of the one; in the one, there are no many.” There is no one within the many—that is the many. There are no many within the one—that is the one. This is the meaning of the one and the many being established together.

**The meaning of mutual destruction:** When one takes over the other, both are lost. If there is one, there cannot be many; if there are many, there cannot be one. The one and the many obstruct each other, become powerless, and can neither exist independently. This is the third line: “Thus, both are relinquished.” Neither of the two exists. This is the meaning of the one and the many destroying one another.

**The meaning of mutual existence:** They exist together, rather than existing alone. The one is used to assist the many; yet the many are not destroyed, and remain just as many as before, though it is through the one that they become many. The many are used to assist the one; yet the one is not destroyed and continues to exist. But when the one is gathered into the many, although the one is subsumed within the many, they still exist together. The many do not hinder the one, and the one does not hinder the many. This is the meaning of the one and the many existing together.

**The meaning of mutual cessation:** They cease completely together, and neither remains. This differs from the meaning of mutual destruction above: when the power of the one is used to assist the many, the many cease to exist; when the power of the many is used to preserve the one, the one ceases to exist.

Next, the principle of the one and the many is analyzed further and can be divided into ten meanings:

One stands alone.
Two appear simultaneously.
Both disappear together.
自在自在? [No, source “Tự tại vô ngại.” = Freedom without hindrance.]
Coming and going without moving.
Powerless, they sustain one another.
This and that do not know one another.
Their functions draw upon one another.
They have no inherent nature.
Ultimately, they are beyond words.

**One stands alone:** This means that the two dharmas, one and many, are both absent. Within the many there is neither one nor many. Within the one there is neither many nor one. Although the one is absent, it nevertheless exists. Although the many are absent, the many nevertheless exist. One is one, and many are many. This is the principle of one standing alone.

**Both appear simultaneously:** Know that the one contains the many, and know that the many contains the one. There is neither one nor many; there are neither many nor one. There is neither before nor after: one and many appear at the same time. It is like the horns of an ox and the horns of a goat, which both appear at the same time.

**Both disappear:** They are neither together as one nor together as many; both are absent. Why? Because both are relinquished. This is the principle of both disappearing together.

**Freedom without hindrance:** Without making anything, one is free. Hence the saying, “Without entering, one attains it naturally.” Whatever the mind desires, it is as it wishes. If one wishes for one, then it is one; if one wishes for many, then it is many. This is freedom without hindrance. The one can, of course, become many, and the many can, of course, become one. This is the principle of the freedom without hindrance of one and many.

**Coming and going without moving:** The one enters into the many, yet the one still exists within the many. The many enter into the one, yet the many still exist within the one. Therefore, coming does not move, and going does not move. It is like two mirrors, in which the image of one person is reflected in both mirrors. This is the principle of one and many coming and going without moving.

**Powerless, they sustain one another:** Because the one contains the many, the many have no power to sustain the one. Because the many contain the one, the one has no power to sustain the many. They sustain one another, yet are powerless together. This is the principle of their being powerless yet sustaining one another.

**This and that do not know one another:** Because one and many depend on one another and have neither substance nor function, the one does not know the many, and the many do not know the one. Bodhisattva Jue Shou said in a verse:

“Dharmas do not act,
Nor do they possess an inherent nature.
Therefore, all these dharmas
Do not know one another.” Phenomena have no function of their own because they have no inherent nature. Therefore, all worldly phenomena are entirely unaware of one another. This is the principle that the one and the many, this and that, do not know one another.

**Mutual Functioning of One and Many:** This means that within one is understood the immeasurable, and within the immeasurable, one is understood. They help one another: one helps many, many help one, and they function together. This is the principle that one and many mutually function.

**No Inherent Nature:** Because they arise together and borrow from one another—you borrow from me, and I borrow from you—neither one nor many has an inherent nature. Neither has any inherent nature at all. This is the principle that one and many have no inherent nature.

**Ultimately Beyond Words:** To speak of one or many is to engage in frivolous discourse, so one must be free of the marks of words. One cannot say that it is one; one cannot say that it is not one; one cannot say that it is both one and not one; nor can one say that it is neither one nor not one. Hence the saying, “Separate from the four propositions, and cut off the hundred negations.” Going beyond the four propositions, nothing can be said; whatever is said is not right. One cannot say that there are marks, nor that there are no marks; one cannot say that marks enter marks, nor that non-marks enter non-marks: they interpenetrate one another completely. For this reason, the mouth wants to speak, but there are no words to speak; the mind wants to grasp at conditions, but there are no conditions to grasp at. Why? Words are no more, and all thought has ceased as well. This principle, this realm, cannot be understood simply by speaking of it. Yet if one does not speak of it, it cannot be understood. It is spoken of so that sentient beings may cultivate the Way and realize the ocean of fruits of their inherent nature. Only then can they understand the principle of one and many: it was originally just so. The principle of purity and defilement is likewise.

 

Sentient beings and lands,
All are quiescent,
Without reliance, without discrimination,
Able to enter the Buddha’s Bodhi.

Commentary: Sentient beings are the primary recompense, and lands are the dependent recompense—these are the two kinds of recompense, primary and dependent. Viewed from the Buddha’s perspective, all sentient beings and all lands are quiescent and extinct. There is neither dependent recompense nor primary recompense; all is utterly still and unmoving, with nothing to rely on and no distinctions. Only in this way can one enter the Buddha’s path of enlightenment.

 

Sentient beings and realms
Are neither one nor different, and cannot be apprehended.
To observe skillfully in this way
Is called knowing the meaning of the Buddha-Dharma.

Commentary: Sentient beings are the sentient world; lands are the vessel world; and the Buddha is the world of true enlightenment. These are the three worlds. Sentient beings are living beings—that is, animals with feelings and blood and vital energy. Minerals and plants are insentient beings. Lands are like a vessel that contains sentient beings; that is, they are mountains, rivers, earth, houses, and rooms. The Buddha is one who is truly enlightened and can skillfully contemplate, making no distinction between one and many. Originally, there is neither one nor many. One and many are not different; both are ultimately unattainable. One cannot find the one, nor can one find the many. If the mind makes no distinctions, then one can skillfully contemplate this wondrous principle. Only then can one fully understand the meaning and principles of the Buddha Dharma.

 

Then the light passed through a million worlds, universally illuminating a hundred million worlds in the east. The south, west, and north, the four intermediate directions, above and below, were likewise. In each of those worlds were a hundred million Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred million Akaniṣṭha Heavens. Everything within them was clearly manifested. In each of those Jambudvīpas, they saw the Tathāgata seated upon a lion throne in a lotus treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. All through the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there came one great Bodhisattva, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas numbering as many as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, to the Buddha’s presence. The great Bodhisattvas included Mañjuśrī and others; the lands from which they came included the Golden-Colored World and others; and the Buddhas they had formerly served included the Tathāgata of Unmoving Wisdom and others.

Commentary: At that time, Shakyamuni Buddha emitted a radiance from the soles of both feet. It passed beyond a million worlds and illuminated a hundred million worlds throughout the east. The same was true of the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below. In each world in the ten directions were a hundred million Jambudvīpas, extending up to a hundred million Akanistha Heavens. All the worlds within them appeared clearly. In each Jambudvīpa, Shakyamuni Buddha was seated on a Lotus Treasury Lion Throne, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. By virtue of the Buddha’s great spiritual power, in each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. They gathered together and set out for the Buddha’s abode to draw near to him. Those ten Bodhisattvas were Manjushri Bodhisattva, and so forth. They came from the Golden Color World, and so forth. They served the Buddhas, the Tathagatas of Immovable Wisdom, and so forth, as described.

 

At that time, the Mañjuśrī Bodhisattvas in all places, each before a Buddha, simultaneously raised their voices and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, throughout all places everywhere, countless Bodhisattvas Manjushri, each at a Buddha’s place of enlightenment, simultaneously spoke aloud and expounded the following verse.

 

Unexcelled wisdom, the Dharma boundless;
Surpassing the sea of all realms, reaching the other shore;
Lifespan and radiance, both beyond compare;
This is the skillful-means power of the meritorious one.

Commentary: The Buddha’s merit is incomparable, the Buddha’s wisdom is unsurpassed, and the Buddha’s Dharma power has no bounds. The Buddha transcends the realms of the Three Realms and has reached the other shore beyond birth and death. The Buddha’s lifespan and Dharmakaya are without beginning or end; the Sambhogakaya has a beginning but no end, while the Nirmanakaya has both a beginning and an end. This verse refers specifically to the lifespan of the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, which is incomparable. The Buddha’s radiance is also infinite. Through perfecting merit and virtue, one attains Buddhahood; this is the Buddha’s use of expedient means.

 

All the Buddha-Dharma is clearly understood;
Constantly contemplating the three times without weariness;
Though responding to circumstances and realms, making no distinctions;
This is the skillful-means power of the Inconceivable One.

Commentary: Shakyamuni Buddha clearly sees the Dharma of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and three periods of time. The Buddha constantly contemplates the Dharma of the Buddhas of the three periods, never growing weary. Although he also contemplates in accordance with the realms, he makes no distinctions among any of them. The realization of Buddhahood in this way is inconceivable; this is the power of the Buddha’s skillful means.

 

Delights in contemplating sentient beings with the thought that they do not arise
Sees all destinies with the thought that there are no destinies
Ever abides in meditative stillness, with the mind unbound.
This is the skillful-means power of unobstructed wisdom.

Commentary: The Buddha greatly delights in contemplating sentient beings, watching over them, and teaching and transforming them. The Diamond Sutra says: “All kinds of sentient beings—whether born from eggs, born from wombs, born from moisture, or born by transformation; whether they have form or are formless, have perception or lack perception—I will cause them all to enter the nirvana of complete extinction, without remainder.” Although the Buddha liberates all sentient beings, he is not attached to the idea of liberating sentient beings. Because he is unattached, it is said that he forms no such thought. The Buddha sees all sentient beings in the four evil realms, weighed down by heavy karmic obstructions and enduring all kinds of suffering. Yet the Buddha sees even the most evil sentient beings as future Buddhas, and so he sees the realms without forming thoughts.

The Buddha always abides in tranquil meditation, without attachment or deluded thoughts. All afflictions are absent, so the mind is not bound. When the mind is not bound, there are no obstacles either, and unobstructed wisdom is attained. This state is possible only through the power of the Buddha’s skillful means and blessing.

 

Skillfully comprehends all dharmas
With right mindfulness, one should cultivate the path to Nirvana
Delights in liberation, free from discontent
This is the skillful-means power of the One of Quiescent Extinction.

Commentary: All things in the world are expounding the Dharma: sentient beings expound the Dharma of sentient beings, and insentient things expound the Dharma of insentient things. The fragrance of flowers and the songs of birds are all teachings of the Dharma. Hundreds of birds sing in the sky, while countless fish swim beneath the water. Green mountains and white clouds, yellow flowers and emerald bamboo—all are skillfully expounding the Dharma. Hence the saying, “Use skillful means to guide sentient beings.” This also means to discern people’s capacities and teach accordingly; only then can sentient beings understand all the Dharma. To understand all the Dharma, one must delve deeply into the treasury of scriptures, and then one’s wisdom will be as vast as the sea. Practice in accordance with the Dharma and maintain right mindfulness—that is, turn the light inward and reflect. Do not stray onto the wrong path; diligently cultivate morality, concentration, and wisdom, and proceed toward Nirvana, the Dharma of non-arising and non-ceasing.

Liberation means attaining freedom from birth and death and being able to control birth and death: if one wishes to live, one lives; if one wishes to die, one dies—not by committing suicide, but by coming and going freely. Hence the saying: “Know where you came from and know where you are going.” When coming, one knows clearly; when going, one also knows clearly. When one cultivates to this level, one can take hold of birth and death and be master of oneself. One acts according to one’s own wishes, is not constrained by time, and attains true liberation, thereby leaving behind all unequal things. This is the great power of skillful means of the one who has attained tranquil extinction.

 

Able to exhort others toward the Buddha’s Bodhi
Pursuing omniscience in accord with the Dharma Realm
Skillfully transforming sentient beings to enter the truth
This is abiding in the Buddha-mind through the power of skillful means

Commentary: Since we ourselves have already aroused the aspiration for bodhi, we must also encourage others to arouse the aspiration for bodhi and direct them to cultivate all-wisdom throughout the Dharma Realm. Only then can we attain wisdom. With wisdom, we can observe the causes and conditions of sentient beings and skillfully teach them, enabling them to understand that worldly phenomena are impermanent, suffering, empty, and without a self, and thereby give rise to the supramundane qualities of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. If everyone aroused the aspiration for bodhi—seeking the Buddha Way above and transforming sentient beings below—all disasters in the world would cease, and wars would naturally come to an end.

The Buddha-Dharma is not fixed. When sentient beings cannot be transformed through wholesome means, they must be transformed through unwholesome means. What does it mean to transform them through unwholesome means? Some sentient beings endure suffering to the utmost and come to feel that everything in the world is impermanent; or they encounter sudden calamities and misfortunes, and come to feel that suffering is inherently oppressive. Only then do they arouse the bodhi mind. To the good, one teaches the good Dharma; to the wicked, one teaches the wicked Dharma. All these various Dharma methods teach sentient beings to awaken, so that they awaken to the circumstances they encounter and do not become deluded by or attached to them.

I often say: “Everything in the world is expounding the Dharma. Whether through wholesome or unwholesome means, everything is teaching sentient beings to arouse the bodhi mind. A tiger teaches the Dharma of tigers, a cat teaches the Dharma of cats, and so on. Every gesture and action teaches sentient beings, helping you understand that cause and effect and retribution are never off by the slightest bit. Once you understand this, you enter the truth.”

Skillfully guiding sentient beings into the true essence of principle means putting into practice the Buddha-mind’s abiding great compassion, great loving-kindness, great joy, and great equanimity. This is the power that arises from the Four Immeasurable Minds.

 

He enters into all the Dharma taught by the Buddha;
His vast wisdom is unobstructed;
He has fully attained the practice of every realm;
This is the power of skillful means cultivated by the Sovereign;

Commentary: The Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time expound eighty-four thousand Dharma methods. Each one is thoroughly understood and deeply entered, and vast wisdom is realized; in all of them, there is no obstruction. All the realms of the Buddhas and all the Dharma methods are cultivated to the utmost. Therefore: “All the taints have been exhausted, the holy life has been established, what had to be done has been done, and there will be no more rebirth.” How does one attain freedom? Through cultivation. Without cultivating, one can never attain this power of freedom through skillful means.

 

Eternally abiding in Nirvana, like space
Manifesting in accord with the mind, reaching everywhere
Here, relying on the signless, it takes form
The skillful means of one who reaches what is hard to reach.

Commentary: The Buddha always abides in the Realm of Eternally Quiescent Light, just as space abides everywhere. Space has no boundaries, and neither does the Buddha’s Dharma body. Thus, it pervades every place. In accordance with the thoughts of sentient beings, the Buddha manifests in order to deliver them. There is nowhere the Buddha does not reach. This is taking the formless as the basis for manifesting forms; it is the true principle and reality. The Buddha has attained the fruition of perfect self-awakening, and the practice of awakening is likewise perfected. Thus, “the three awakenings are complete, and the myriad virtues are fulfilled,” and this power of skillful means is brought forth.

 

Day and night, sun and moon, years and kalpas;
The world’s beginning and end, its signs of formation and destruction;
All such recollections are fully understood;
This is the skillful-means power of the wisdom of time and number;

Commentary: Buddhist scriptures often speak of the six periods of day and night. The day is divided into morning, noon, and evening. The night is likewise divided into early night, midnight, and late night. This is the method used in India to measure time.

In China, a day was divided into twelve periods, represented by the twelve Earthly Branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. The daytime began at the Mao hour—that is, at sunrise. The nighttime began at the You hour—that is, at sunset. Midnight, twelve o’clock at night, is the Zi hour. Noon, twelve o’clock in the day, is the Wu hour.

Today, a day and night are divided into twenty-four hours. Although the systems of calculation differ, the time is the same.

A month has thirty days, and a year has twelve months. One kalpa is sixteen million seven hundred ninety-eight thousand years. “Kalpa” is a Sanskrit word, translated as “division of time,” that is, the demarcation of time. Kalpas are divided into small, intermediate, and great kalpas. Twenty-four small kalpas make one intermediate kalpa, and four intermediate kalpas make one great kalpa. The world has four kalpas: formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness. The kalpa of formation lasts twenty small kalpas; the kalpa of abiding also lasts twenty small kalpas; the kalpa of decay likewise lasts twenty small kalpas; and the kalpa of emptiness also lasts twenty small kalpas. For a world to form and be destroyed takes one great kalpa. It forms and is destroyed, ending and beginning again. When this world is destroyed, another world forms; the cycle continues without end, flowing on forever.

At present, we are in the period of decline of the ninth small kalpa in the kalpa of abiding, and human beings’ lifespan has reached seventy years. What is the period of decline? Starting from a human lifespan of 84,000 years, every hundred years it decreases by one year, and people’s height decreases by one chi. When the human lifespan has declined to thirty years, sentient beings are full of deluded, upside-down views and commit all ten unwholesome deeds. At that time, no rain falls, the land becomes parched, and no grain grows. Sentient beings live on grass roots and tree bark. Countless people die of hunger. This is another famine calamity.

When the lifespan declines further to twenty years, epidemics spread, and medicines and treatments are ineffective. Why do epidemics occur? Because people’s minds have become extremely wicked: filial piety has vanished entirely, and they neither respect teachers nor honor the Way. In response to the karma they have created, evil people die of disease, while good people survive. This is the epidemic calamity.

And when the human lifespan is only ten years, sentient beings have become utterly depraved. How do they become depraved? Even as little children, they have sexual desire and seek companions of the opposite sex. They are no different from pigs; as soon as they are born, they have sexual desire. At three or four years old, they marry, and before reaching ten, they die. At that time, people slaughter one another; grass and trees become blades and are turned into weapons for killing. People make no distinction between kin and strangers: whoever they see, they kill, and the world becomes frenzied. Those who remain flee into the mountains. After such a period of people killing one another, hardly anyone is left. This is the weapons calamity.

At that time, people’s minds turned toward goodness and gave rise to remorse. Their spiritual light turned inward, and their wisdom gradually increased; they no longer had the greed, anger, and delusion they had before. Human lifespans began to increase again. Every hundred years, they gained one year of life and one cubit in height, until their lifespan reached eighty-four thousand years, where it stopped. One such cycle of increase and decrease is an eon. In a small eon, there are three minor calamities. In a great eon, there is one great fire calamity, which burns up to the Heaven of the First Dhyāna. After seven great fire calamities, a great flood calamity occurs, inundating as far as the Heaven of the Second Dhyāna. After seven great fire calamities, a great wind calamity occurs, blowing as far as the Heaven of the Third Dhyāna. Those who cultivate meditative concentration and reach the Heaven of the Fourth Dhyāna are no longer threatened by the three great calamities.

The world is inherently without beginning or end. But when zero is broken open and becomes one, a numerical sequence has a beginning, though it still has no end. Just as after the number one, no matter how many zeros are added, they can go on being added forever. This refers to the principle of the characteristics of beginning and end, formation and destruction.

The earth takes twenty minor kalpas to form. Sentient beings dwell in it for twenty minor kalpas, after which it disintegrates for twenty minor kalpas; its destruction and return to emptiness take twenty minor kalpas. The earth has the four phases of formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness. Human beings, too, have four phases: birth, abiding, change, and extinction. Birth lasts twenty years (the period of education); abiding lasts twenty years (the period of career); change lasts twenty years (the period of transformation); and extinction also lasts twenty years (the period of illness and old age). No one can escape the scope of these four phases. A year has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Spring is the period of birth, summer the period of abiding, autumn the period of change, and winter the period of extinction. This is the phenomenon of the four phases of birth, abiding, change, and extinction within a year.

In the Buddha’s wisdom, all those matters of time are completely understood in a single thought. This is wisdom concerning time and numbers, which brings forth the power of skillful means.

 

All sentient beings have birth and death,
Form and formlessness, perception and non-perception,
All names are fully known,
This abides in the inconceivable power of skillful means.

Commentary: All sentient beings are born and die. The Buddha thoroughly understands all sentient beings with form and without form, with perception and without perception, and all their names. This is the inconceivable power of skillful means and wisdom that he has attained.

Sentient beings can be divided into three major categories:

Classified by birth, there are four kinds: egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and spontaneously arisen.

Classified by form, there are two kinds: form and formlessness.

Classified by consciousness, there are three kinds: beings with perception, beings without perception, and beings with neither perception nor non-perception. These are the nine kinds of sentient beings.

 

Past, present, and future worlds
All spoken words are fully understood,
And know that the three times are all equal;
This is the skillful means power of Incomparable Understanding.

Commentary: The past, the present, and the future are called the three times. The speech of sentient beings is extremely diverse; no matter how intelligent you are, you could never learn all the languages of the world. But the Buddha has great wisdom. He does not need to learn all languages, yet understands them all completely. The Buddha knows on his own without a teacher, and comprehends fully without studying. The Buddha also knows that the three times are all equal. Although the three times are alike, they are unattainable. Why? Because the mind of the past is unattainable, the mind of the present is unattainable, and the mind of the future is unattainable. This incomparable insight of wisdom also gives rise to the power of skillful means.

 

At that time, the light passed through one hundred million worlds and universally illuminated one billion worlds in the east. The south, west, and north, the intermediate directions, above and below, were likewise so. In each of those worlds there were ten billion Jambudvīpas, extending up to ten billion Akaniṣṭha Heavens. Everything contained therein was clearly manifested.

In each of those Jambudvīpas, one saw the Tathāgata seated upon a lion throne in the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas equal in number to the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands. All this was due to the Buddha’s spiritual power.

In each of the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas equal in number to the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence. The great Bodhisattvas included Mañjuśrī and the others; the lands from which they came included the Golden-Colored World and the others; and the Buddhas whom they had formerly served included the Tathāgata of Unmoving Wisdom and the others.

Commentary: At that time, light from beneath the feet of Shakyamuni Buddha passed through one hundred million worlds and illuminated all ten hundred million worlds in the eastern direction. The same was true in the south, west, and north, as well as in the four intermediate directions, above, and below. In every world in the ten directions, there were one hundred million Jambudvīpas, up to and including one hundred million Akanishtha Heavens. All the worlds appeared within it. In every Jambudvīpa, Shakyamuni Buddha was seen seated on a lion throne in the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands. Through the Buddha’s spiritual power, a great Bodhisattva from each of the ten directions, together with Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands, gathered and came to the Buddha’s abode to draw near to him. Those ten great Bodhisattvas were Manjushri Bodhisattva and the others. They came from the Golden-Colored World and so forth. The Buddha in that world was named Immovable Wisdom Tathagata and so forth.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, before each Buddha, simultaneously raised his voice and spoke these verses:

Commentary: At that time, everywhere, countless Bodhisattva Manjushris residing at the assembly place of each Buddha simultaneously spoke aloud, expounding the following verse.

 

All cultivate vast austerities,
Diligent day and night, never weary,
Having crossed what is hard to cross—the lion’s roar,
Universally transforming sentient beings is this practice

Commentary: While at the causal stage, the Buddha practiced immeasurable and boundless austerities. One could say that throughout the three periods of time and across the ten directions, wherever one looks, the Buddha practiced austerities. What does it mean to practice austerities? The Buddha practiced austerities on Snow Mountain for six years, eating only one sesame seed each day to sustain his life. These austerities were the most painful and difficult. Day and night, he diligently and assiduously practiced without weariness or slackening. The Buddha practiced great and extensive austerities, and thus deeply moved sentient beings. Sentient beings are inherently stubborn and difficult to tame, but because the Buddha was fully endowed with virtue, they came to have faith upon hearing the Dharma and practiced in accordance with it.

The Buddha expounds the Dharma from his mind like a lion’s roar. The lion’s roar is also called a definitive pronouncement: it definitively proclaims that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature and can all become Buddhas. This saves the icchantikas (those who do not believe in the Buddha’s Dharma). It definitively proclaims that there is no self. This saves all the non-Buddhists (those who seek the Dharma outside the mind). It definitively proclaims that desire is suffering and impure. This saves the heavenly demon Papiyan. It definitively proclaims permanence, bliss, self, and purity. This saves the Hearers (Arhats). It definitively proclaims the mind of great compassion. This saves the Pratyekabuddhas (Solitary Realizers). It definitively proclaims the Tathagata’s unobstructed great wisdom. This saves the Bodhisattvas (those who have brought forth the bodhi-mind). Thus, the Buddha universally transforms sentient beings—every single one of them. Whatever the Buddha does is for the sake of saving and teaching sentient beings. This is the work of a Buddha. Only when all the sentient beings who are ready to be saved have been saved does the Buddha enter great Nirvana.

The rise and decline of the Buddhadharma depend on the karmic obstructions of sentient beings. When sentient beings’ karma is heavy, the Buddhadharma is no longer present. When their karma is light, the Buddhadharma flourishes. Sometimes the Buddhadharma flourishes very quickly and also vanishes quickly; sometimes it flourishes slowly and vanishes very slowly. All of this is determined by the karma of sentient beings.

Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in the Saha World. Some people believed in the Buddha, while others heard the Buddhadharma but did not believe. Even during the True Dharma age, there was also the Semblance Dharma and the Dharma-Ending age. During the Semblance Dharma age, there was also the True Dharma and the Dharma-Ending age. During the Dharma-Ending age, there was also the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, but the Dharma-Ending age was more prevalent.

Considered separately, there are the True Dharma, the Semblance Dharma, and the Dharma-Ending age. Considered together, within each Dharma age there are different degrees of True, Semblance, and Ending Dharma. For example, even in the age of True Dharma, among people who are plainly alike, some believe in the Buddha while others do not. Those who do not believe in the Buddha see only his dignified and splendid appearance; this is the Semblance Dharma age. Even when the Buddha was still alive, there were many sentient beings who could neither see him nor hear the Buddhadharma; this was the Dharma-Ending age. In the Semblance Dharma age, some people genuinely cultivated, attained fruition, and awakened; this was the True Dharma age. Some people never heard the Dharma or saw the Sangha; this was the Dharma-Ending age.

We are now in the Age of the Decline of the Dharma. Because the Dharma is nearing extinction, the True Dharma is scarce, and the Semblance Dharma is not abundant either. Because sentient beings’ faculties are such that they do not believe in the Buddha’s Dharma at all, or do not understand it correctly, they become doubtful. They distort right and wrong, calling the True Dharma the Age of the Decline of the Dharma, and calling the Age of the Decline of the Dharma the True Dharma. Therefore, this era is a dangerous time, causing people’s minds to become deeply confused. A moment’s carelessness can leave one lost in a fog five miles wide, bewildered and unable to find one’s way—to know east from west, north from south. This is what it means to be muddleheaded and foolish.

My view of the Buddhadharma—or, rather than calling it the Buddhadharma, we could call it the mind-dharma of sentient beings—is that Buddhism is the most subtle psychology and the ultimate truth, all of which accords with reason. In short, we believe whatever accords with reason; whatever does not, we should not believe. Since we are studying the Buddhadharma now, we must seek the truth and delve deeply into the treasury of the sutras.

To study the Buddhadharma is to study the Dharma of sentient beings. First, we must understand what the thoughts of sentient beings are. Sentient beings’ thoughts are that we ourselves do not understand, and do not wish to teach others to understand either. So it is not called the Buddhadharma, but the Dharma of sentient beings. Buddhist sutras could also be called the sutras of sentient beings.

Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are three yet one, one yet three. Do you believe what the Buddha says? Then we say we believe in the Dharma of the mind. Do you not believe in the Dharma of the mind? Then we speak of the Dharma of sentient beings. The Buddha speaks of the Buddhadharma, the mind speaks of the Dharma of the mind, and sentient beings speak of the Dharma of sentient beings. You may believe in whichever Dharma you wish; if you do not believe, there is nothing more we can do. That is simply how it is in the age of the Dharma’s decline.

 

Beings transmigrate through the sea of craving and desire
Bound by the net of ignorance, pressed by great sorrow
The courageous noble one cuts them all off
The vow, too, is naturally this practice

Commentary: Sentient beings are formed through the provisional coming together of causes and conditions. They are born in four different ways: from the womb, from eggs, from moisture, and by transformation. Womb-born beings include four-legged animals; egg-born beings include two-legged birds; moisture-born beings include many-legged insects; and transformation-born beings include butterflies. Womb-born beings grow inside their mother’s womb and are then born. Egg-born beings develop in eggs outside their mother’s body through warmth and are then born. Moisture-born beings arise from eggs in damp places, naturally brought forth by warmth. Transformation-born beings arise by transformation, as when a chrysalis becomes a butterfly.

Among beings in the six realms, heavenly beings and hell beings are born by transformation. Human beings and animals are womb-born. Asuras are born in all four ways: from the womb, from eggs, from moisture, and by transformation. Hungry ghosts are either womb-born or transformation-born. Lower animals are born in three ways: from eggs, from moisture, and by transformation; higher animals are womb-born.

Because sentient beings have craving and desire, they drift in the ocean of birth and death and cannot easily escape the sea of suffering. There are five causes: Deep Waters: The sea of sensual desire is extremely deep. Anyone who falls into it will, no matter what, ultimately be swept along by its waves.

Swift Waves: In the sea of sensual desire, there are enormous waves, which make it easy to lose one’s way in delusion and impossible to escape the sea of suffering. The men and women of the world are weighed down by such profound ignorance that they talk of love and passion. When their love is unsuccessful, they resolve to commit suicide. This means being swallowed and killed by the sea of sensual desire. Afterward, they undergo the suffering of birth and death in the cycle of rebirth, or remain forever as wandering ghosts and wild spirits. Anyone who commits suicide will never be reborn.

Darkness: This is ignorance. Drowned beneath the waters of sensual desire, one becomes confused. The light of wisdom does not appear; instead, a dark and deluded path emerges. One becomes even less able to find the way and cannot reach the other shore, but spends the whole day drifting in the sea of birth and death, without attaining liberation.

Entanglement: Like a silkworm spinning silk and binding itself, one cannot escape the sea of sensual desire. Why? Because fish and insects cling to things and are trapped in the net of love. Thus they drift in the sea of sensual desire, rising and falling with the waves—sometimes ascending to heaven, sometimes living among humans—and continue to circulate without end.

Sorrow and Anxiety: When trapped in the sea of sensual desire and unable to escape, one becomes anxious and is oppressed by painful feelings. As a result, one loses wisdom and strength. All kinds of living beings remain trapped and have no way out.

Because the Buddha diligently practiced all kinds of austerities and strove forward with courageous vigor, he completely severed the defilements of the sea of sensual desire and transformed them into the light of wisdom. If living beings wish to have wisdom, they should vow to learn from the Buddha and completely sever all thoughts of sensual desire. This is the truly beautiful way to act.

 

The world is heedless, attached to the five desires;
Without true discernment, it experiences all manner of suffering;
Those who follow the Buddha’s teachings always collect their minds;
Vowing to ferry beings across is their practice;

Commentary: All sentient beings constitute the world of sentient beings; mountains, rivers, and the great earth constitute the world of material things; and all sages constitute the world of right enlightenment. Here, “world” refers only to the world of sentient beings, because sentient beings are heedless, do not abide by the rules, and cling to the five desires. What are the five desires? They are wealth, beauty, fame, food and drink, and sleep.

A person attached to wealth is greedy and never knows when to be satisfied. Even with gold and silver piled up like mountains, they still are not content. In the end, they come empty-handed and go empty-handed; only the karma they have created follows them, and they are reborn according to that karma.

A person attached to beauty is infatuated with it and longs for it, believing that beauty is the most precious thing in the world. In the end, they gain nothing, or ruin their body and reputation, and ultimately have nothing left. Here, “beauty” refers to men and women.

A person attached to fame wants to make a name for themselves throughout the world, and so uses every kind of method to raise their reputation. They may do famous deeds so that everyone knows them and they become a person of the highest renown; or they may become a politician, an educator, or a great philanthropist. But in the end, they cannot escape death.

A person attached to food believes that delicacies from the mountains and the sea are the most nourishing foods, and eats them to strengthen the body and prolong life. Who could know that this gives rise to all kinds of illnesses? Too much fat, for example, causes the brain to become congested and the intestines to become fatty. One may develop high blood pressure or diabetes, and end up dying early—going to meet the King of Hell first.

A person attached to sleep may be able to let go of wealth, beauty, fame, and food—the four things—and not crave them. But they cannot let go of sleep; they still cling to it. They sleep during the day and at night, sleeping all day long, becoming muddled and doing no work of benefit to society. Living in such a daze, they do not know how to escape the sea of suffering. Among the five aggregates, attachment to sleep becomes the third hindrance, obscuring the nature of the mind so that wholesome Dharma cannot arise. There is a saying:

“Money, beauty, fame, food, and sleep—
Hell’s five rooms.”

However, sentient beings all cling to the five desires, failing to understand that they have no real substance and are illusory appearances. Because their understanding is unclear, they become attached and create many karmic obstacles; in the future, they will certainly undergo suffering as retribution. Therefore, “giving rise to delusion, creating karma, and undergoing retribution”—these three are interrelated.

When practicing Buddhism, one should generally focus and discipline one’s mind, avoid giving rise to deluded thoughts, and not crave the five desires. Remember impermanence, do not be heedless, and make vows to guide and liberate sentient beings. These are practices one should undertake.

 

Sentient beings, clinging to self, enter birth and death
Seeking its limits, they cannot be found
Serving the Tathagata everywhere, they obtain the wondrous Dharma
For their sake, he expounds it, revealing this practice

Commentary: All kinds of sentient beings cling to a self and to what belongs to the self: “This is me; that belongs to me.” But where, exactly, is this self? From the top of the head down to the soles of the feet, nowhere can we find a self that exists. Since there is no self, why still cling to one? The word “self” is merely a general name for the person as a whole; “head,” “body,” and “limbs” are specific names. The self is a false, illusory designation. It cannot act as master or control the actions of the body’s parts. When we grow old, we cannot control our eyes and keep them from becoming dim, our ears from becoming deaf, our teeth from falling out, or our hair from turning gray. When we are ill, we cannot control the afflicted part and keep it from hurting, our appetite from declining, our movements from being impaired, or our speech from becoming difficult. When we die, we have even less control. If King Yama tells you to go at the third watch, you cannot make yourself arrive at midnight. Thus it is clear that the body fundamentally does not belong to us. If it truly belonged to us, we could say so and be its master. If we cannot control it, then it is neither “me” nor “mine.” We cannot even control our own body, much less things outside it. Therefore, do not cling to anything.

There is a proverb:
“People who live to seventy have always been rare.
First subtract childhood, then old age.
The time left is not much,
And half of it is spent sleeping and resting.”

The standard human lifespan is seventy years. From childhood to the age of twenty, one achieves nothing at all; those years must be subtracted. Then there are twenty years of old age, when one is not much use either; those years must also be subtracted. That leaves only thirty years, and half of that time is spent sleeping and resting. After calculating it all, only fifteen years remain. What development can there be during that period? What can one accomplish? Therefore, it is said: “Born in delusion and die in delusion.” One passes through life and departs empty-handed. Those who do good deeds are born in the heavenly realms; those who do evil deeds descend to hell. Those who do moderately good deeds are born as human beings; those who do moderately evil deeds fall into the animal realm.

Someone asked, “Venerable Master! If you put it that way, then people can do nothing at all and just let things develop naturally.” Thinking this way is also wrong. In fact, one still has to go and do things. What should one do? One must do good deeds and not do evil deeds. Therefore, there is a saying: “Choose good deeds to follow; correct what is evil.”

If you are attached to the self, or to what is yours, you enter birth and death. If you wish to find the bounds of birth and death, you cannot; they are unattainable. Therefore, devote all your strength to serving the Buddha, and only then can you attain the wondrous Dharma. You must always gather your mind and vow to proclaim the Buddha-Dharma on the Buddha’s behalf, spread Buddhism, and continue the Buddha’s wisdom-life. This is what we must do.

 

Living beings, unsupported, are bound by illness
They continually revolve in evil realms, giving rise to the three poisons
A great fire with fierce flames burns them incessantly
To purify the mind and deliver them—that is his practice

Commentary: Sentient beings have nowhere to rely on, and so give rise to all kinds of illnesses caused by ignorance and afflictions. They are constantly bound by them and cannot attain liberation. Because of ignorance and afflictions, they create karma; having created karma, they must undergo its results. Those who create wholesome karma receive wholesome results; those who create unwholesome karma receive unwholesome results, sinking into the four evil paths. If greed, anger, and delusion—the three poisons—arise, creating the three kinds of karma, then one falls into the four evil paths of asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell, to suffer the results of suffering. If, while in an evil path, one still does not repent for one’s karmic obstacles, but instead increases greed, anger, and delusion, then one’s wisdom will be confused and obscured, like the sun hidden by clouds and thereby plunged into darkness. The fire of ignorance burns with tremendous force and intensity. Its flames rise three thousand zhang, burning all the way up to the First Dhyana Heaven. This fire of ignorance grows hotter and hotter as it burns, consuming the entire forest of merit and virtue. Using a pure mind and the light of wisdom to liberate sentient beings in the four evil paths is the good deed one ought to perform.

 

Sentient beings, deluded, lose the right path;
They constantly follow crooked paths and enter dark houses;
For their sake, they kindle the great lamp of the true Dharma;
Ever shining with light—this is their practice;

Commentary: Because sentient beings are deluded by ignorance, they are taught to follow the right path, yet they follow the wrong path instead. Hence the saying:

“Heaven has a path, but no one takes it;
Hell has no gate, yet people seek it out themselves.” Or:

“Likes eating, likes drinking, likes dancing,
Loves gambling, beautiful women, and smoking opium.”

This is a deviant path. They know how to behave this way without anyone teaching them; they do not need to learn. But if they are taught how to practice, how to uphold the precepts, how to recite the Buddha’s name, and how to meditate, they do not want to practice according to the Dharma; they either do so reluctantly or merely put on a show. In short, if they do not practice in earnest, they will not follow through; instead, they are always taking the deviant path and doing what is improper.

These beings will enter a dark house (ignorance), which is also hell. They are deluded and inverted, like silkworms spinning silk and binding themselves, unable to see the light. For their sake, we must kindle the lamp of the true Dharma to illuminate the minds of beings, enabling them to leave suffering, attain joy, understand birth, and escape death. This lamp of the Dharma will forever shine in the dark house of beings. This is what those who walk the Bodhisattva path ought to do.

 

Sentient beings drift and sink in the sea of the realms of existence;
Their sorrow and suffering are shoreless, and they know not where to go.
For their sake, he builds the great Dharma boat,
Enabling them all to cross over—this is his practice.

Commentary: We are like specks of dust in the void, tossed up and down, drifting along according to karma and undergoing its retribution. Thus, sentient beings rise and fall within the Three Realms and twenty-five planes of existence, never resting for a moment. Throughout the seas of realms, there are many things that do not go as we wish; sorrow, worry, suffering, and distress have no end. The Three Realms. We sentient beings lack true knowledge, and so are constantly deluded, doing absurd things that go against reason. As a result, we do not see our original true face, do not illuminate the mind and see our nature, and cannot return to our source. Sentient beings and all Buddhas are originally the same. Hence, there is a saying:

“Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—
all three are no different.”

Sentient beings are deluded, and so they have not yet become Buddhas; the Buddhas are enlightened, and so they have become Buddhas. What are sentient beings deluded about? Delusion means failing to clearly understand the truth, or failing to clearly distinguish the right path from the wrong one. Thus they mistake black for white, lose sight of the truth, and pursue illusions. What are the Buddhas enlightened about? They are enlightened to the true aspect of all phenomena; they see their original substance and nature, their original face. Sentient beings are foolish and deluded about the truth, chasing after illusions. At times they become frenzied and lose their reason. In this way, they can easily stray onto a dangerous, deviant path and encounter perilous situations—truly something to pity.

Why must the Buddha expound the Dharma? Out of compassion for sentient beings. Sentient beings are like flies, flying about aimlessly everywhere, unable to find a way out and not knowing how to escape the three realms. So the Buddha built a great bridge of Dharma, enabling sentient beings to cross from this shore of birth and death over the great bridge of Dharma and reach the other shore of Nirvana. This is what practitioners should do.

 

Sentient beings, ignorant, do not see the root;
Deluded, foolish, and crazed amid peril;
The Buddha pities them and builds a bridge of Dharma;
He leads them upward through right mindfulness—this is his practice.

Seeing all sentient beings on a perilous path
The suffering of old age, illness, and death constantly presses upon them
Cultivating immeasurable skillful means
Vowing to surely deliver them all is this practice

Commentary: Why must the Buddha cultivate the Way? Because he sees all sentient beings on perilous paths, being harmed by poisonous snakes and fierce beasts. Sentient beings in the six realms of cyclic existence undergo the four great sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death. These sufferings are inherently oppressive, with no way to escape them. Therefore, the Buddha cultivated all expedient Dharma practices and vowed to save all sentient beings from the perilous paths of the three realms and help them attain great peace and bliss. This is what practitioners of the Way must do.

 

Hear the Dharma, believe and understand without doubt;
Realize the nature of emptiness and stillness, and fear nothing;
Take forms in the six realms, throughout the ten directions;
Teach all deluded beings—this is his practice.

Commentary: Those with great wholesome roots, upon hearing the Dharma, have absolute faith in its truth and give rise to no doubt. They clearly understand that their own nature is inherently empty and still, and feel no fear. The Buddha, in accordance with the various kinds of sentient beings, appears in the six realms, manifesting among sentient beings throughout the ten directions and in every place, teaching and transforming deluded, stubborn beings so that they may leave behind the darkness of the Three Realms and attain a luminous pure land. This is what those who cultivate the Way must do.

 

At that time, the light passed through ten kotis of worlds, universally illuminating in the eastern direction one hundred kotis of worlds, one thousand kotis of worlds, one hundred thousand kotis of worlds, nayuta kotis of worlds, one hundred nayuta kotis of worlds, one thousand nayuta kotis of worlds, one hundred thousand nayuta kotis of worlds, and so on, countless, immeasurable, boundless, unequaled, incalculable, inexpressible, inconceivable, immeasurable, and unspeakable—all the worlds throughout the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space. The southern, western, and northern directions, the intermediate directions, above, and below were likewise illuminated.

In each of those worlds were one hundred kotis of Jambudvīpas, up to one hundred kotis of Akanistha heavens. Everything therein was clearly manifested. In each of those Jambudvīpas, one saw the Tathāgata seated on the lion throne of the Lotus Treasury, surrounded by as many bodhisattvas as there are dust motes in ten Buddha-lands.

All this was due to the Buddha’s spiritual power. In each of the ten directions there was a great bodhisattva, each accompanied by as many bodhisattvas as there are dust motes in ten Buddha-lands, who came to the Buddha’s presence. These great bodhisattvas were such as Mañjuśrī. The lands from which they came were such as the Golden-Colored World. The Buddhas whom they had formerly served were such as the Tathāgata of Unmoving Wisdom.

Commentary: At that time, radiance streamed from beneath the feet of Shakyamuni Buddha, passing beyond ten kotis of worlds and illuminating throughout the eastern direction a hundred kotis of worlds, a thousand kotis of worlds, a hundred thousand kotis of worlds, nayuta kotis of worlds, a hundred nayuta kotis of worlds, a thousand nayuta kotis of worlds, and a hundred thousand nayuta kotis of worlds. It extended throughout countless, immeasurable, boundless, incomparable, incalculable, indescribable, inconceivable, immeasurable, unspeakable worlds—throughout the entire Dharma realm and realm of space, all worlds. The same was true in the south, west, north, and the four intermediate directions, as well as above and below—in all six directions. In every world in the ten directions were a hundred kotis of Jambudvīpas, up to a hundred kotis of Akanishtha Heavens. All of these worlds appeared within the radiance beneath the Buddha’s feet.

In every Jambudvīpa, Shakyamuni Buddha was seen seated upon the Lotus-Treasury Lion Throne, expounding the profound and wondrous meaning of the great Dharma of the Flower Garland Sutra. Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands surrounded the Buddha. By the Buddha’s great and awe-inspiring spiritual power, in each direction of the worlds in the ten directions there was a great Bodhisattva, each accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles in ten Buddha-lands. They gathered together and came to where the Buddha was, drawing near to him. Those ten great Bodhisattvas were Manjushri Bodhisattva, and so forth. They came from worlds such as the Golden-Colored World, and the Buddhas in those worlds were Tathagatas such as the Immovable Wisdom Tathagata.

 

At that time, in every place, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, each in the presence of a Buddha, simultaneously raised his voice and recited this verse:

Commentary: At that time, countless Bodhisattvas named Manjushri, everywhere and in each Buddha’s assembly, simultaneously spoke the following ten verses.

 

With a single thought, universally contemplate immeasurable kalpas
Neither coming nor going, nor abiding
Thus clearly know the affairs of the three times
Transcend all expedient means and attain the Ten Powers.

Commentary: Whenever we ordinary beings contemplate something, we struggle greatly with our thoughts, spend a great deal of time calculating, and use a great deal of mental effort trying to work it out. Nowadays, however, we have computers—and they, too, bring many complications. Even so, the Buddha’s wisdom surpasses that of a computer by tens of thousands of times! In a single thought, the Buddha can observe all things throughout the ten directions, the three periods of time, and countless eons. That single thought neither comes nor goes nor abides. It illuminates time and space and sees clearly all things of the three periods of time. The Buddha transcended all skillful means and attained the Buddha’s ten powers. Throughout countless eons, the Buddha diligently cultivated morality, concentration, and wisdom—that is, extinguished greed, hatred, and delusion—and only then realized the three bodies, four wisdoms, five eyes, six supernatural powers, ten powers, and so forth.

The three bodies are:

Dharma body: It is formed by gathering the principles of the Dharma as its body—the wondrous principle of true suchness. Like space, it therefore pervades all places; hence, it is “nowhere and everywhere.”

Reward body: It is formed by gathering wisdom as its body. When all afflictions have been purified, a body of merit and wisdom is attained.

Response body: It is formed by gathering conditions and affinities as its body. When there are conditions for delivering beings, it manifests an emanation body to do so—like the moon appearing in water, or sound echoing through an empty valley.

The four wisdoms are:

Wisdom of Accomplishing All Actions: Accomplishes all actions.
Wisdom of Wondrous Observation: Uses wondrous wisdom to contemplate all realms without giving rise to discriminating thoughts.
Wisdom of Equality: Has no thought of self or others and universally helps all sentient beings.
Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror: Can manifest all characteristics that are neither empty nor existent, and also manifests all conditioned and unconditioned dharmas.

The five eyes are:

Heavenly Eye: Above, it surveys the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; below, it sees the Avīci Hell.

Flesh Eye: This flesh eye is not the eye of an ordinary mortal, but a different eye. It can see people, ghosts, spirits, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas.

Wisdom Eye: The eye of wisdom, which fully comprehends the principle of true suchness and the real mark.

Dharma Eye: It can survey all of empty space and the Dharma Realm; within every single mote of dust are the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the sutras.

Buddha Eye: It shines throughout the three thousand great thousand worlds; there is nothing it does not know and nothing it does not see.

The six spiritual powers are:

Heavenly Eye: Seeing heavenly beings and all realms.
Heavenly Ear: Hearing heavenly beings speak and hearing celestial music.
Knowledge of Others’ Thoughts: Knowing the deluded thoughts arising in other people’s minds.
Knowledge of Past Lives: Knowing the causes and conditions of other people’s past lives.
Supernatural Powers: While in meditation, traveling freely as one wishes, without restriction.
Extinction of the Outflows: All outflows are completely extinguished; one attains the ultimate and proceeds directly to Nirvana.

The Ten Powers are ten powers of wisdom:

The power of knowing what is possible and impossible: Knowing the principles and non-principles of all things.

The power of knowing the karmic consequences of the three periods: Knowing the causes, effects, and karmic retributions of all sentient beings throughout the three periods.

The power of knowing meditation, liberation, and samadhi: Knowing all meditative concentrations, the eight liberations, and the power of samadhi.

The power of knowing superior and inferior faculties: Knowing all faculties, whether superior or inferior.

The power of knowing all kinds of understanding: Knows the various understandings of all sentient beings.

The power of knowing all kinds of realms: Knows the different realms of all beings in the world.

The power of knowing all paths leading to their destinations: Knows that practicing the five precepts and the ten wholesome deeds leads to the human realm or the heavens, while practicing the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path leads to Nirvana.

The power of knowing with unobstructed divine vision: Knows the births and deaths of sentient beings and their wholesome and unwholesome karma, observing them with divine vision without obstruction.

The power of knowing past lives and the undefiled: Knows the past lives of sentient beings and knows undefiled Nirvana.

The power of knowing the permanent ending of habitual tendencies: Knows that all delusions and residual habitual tendencies are permanently severed and do not arise.

There are also ten powers. They are:

Great power.
Supreme power.
Immeasurable power.
Power of great majesty and virtue.
Difficult-to-attain power.
Nonretrogression power.
Firm power.
Indestructible power.
Inconceivable power.
Immovable power.

There are also ten powers:

Power of the indestructible body and life.
Power of the pores to contain and uphold.
Power to contain the great and the small.
Power of自在 use of samadhi.
Power to constantly expound the Dharma everywhere.
Power of virtuous marks to subdue demons.
Power of the perfect voice reaching everywhere.
Power of an unobstructed mind.
Power of the subtle Dharma Body.
Power of perfected practice and wisdom.

 

Throughout the ten directions, the good name is unrivaled;
Forever free from all calamities, always joyful;
He goes everywhere among all lands,
Widely proclaiming this Dharma.

Commentary: The names of all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions are incomparable to the Buddha’s name. This auspicious name forever frees one from all calamities and unwelcome afflictions, and continually brings forth joy and good fortune. It reaches all the Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions, where the Buddhas proclaim the wondrous Dharma and teach sentient beings, inspiring them to arouse the bodhi mind, practice the supreme path, and swiftly attain enlightenment.

For the benefit of sentient beings, they make offerings to the Buddha; for the benefit of sentient beings, they make offerings to the Buddha.
According to their intention, they obtain a corresponding fruit; as they wish, they obtain a corresponding fruit.
With regard to all Dharmas, they know them in accordance; in all Dharmas, they know accordingly.
Throughout the ten directions, they manifest spiritual powers; throughout the ten directions, they manifest spiritual powers.

For the sake of sentient beings, so that they may leave suffering and attain happiness, we therefore make offerings to all the Buddhas of the three periods of time in the ten directions. Making offerings to the Buddhas is like attaining the fruition of Buddhahood. If one thoroughly understands every one of the eighty-four thousand Dharma doors, one will attain unsurpassed wisdom. One can receive and understand all principles without difficulty. This wisdom clearly knows the true characteristics of all dharmas, reaches throughout the Buddha-lands in the ten directions, and manifests great awesome virtue and spiritual powers. Who can be like this? Only Shakyamuni Buddha can. In the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was at the causal stage, he practiced all kinds of Dharma doors; therefore, he attained such wondrous spiritual powers and functions.

 

From the beginning, when making offerings to the Buddha, the mind is gentle and patient.
Entering deep meditation, contemplate the nature of the Dharma.
Universally exhort sentient beings to awaken the mind of the Way.
Through this, swiftly attain the unsurpassed fruit.

Commentary: From the very beginning, when one gives rise to the bodhi mind and makes offerings to the Three Jewels, one’s mind is very gentle and patient. It is not forceful, but gentle; not violent, but patient. Only in this way can one enter deep meditation and attain true right concentration and meditative absorption. Shallow meditation is not firm, and at times one may develop a mind that retreats. With deep meditation, one remains constantly in meditative concentration and often contemplates the true nature of all dharmas. Buddhism is a religion that is not selfish: one gives rise to the bodhi mind oneself and also widely encourages others to do so. Having awakened oneself, one also teaches others to awaken. Having attained the supreme, wondrous fruition oneself, one also enables others to attain the supreme, wondrous fruition.

Gentle patience is a virtue of those who cultivate the Way. If you truly practice cultivation, you will surely attain success in the Way. Put simply, it means not getting angry. Thus, softness overcomes hardness, and softness can defeat strength. Remember! Do not harbor thoughts of revenge; that is patience. When things do not go as you wish, you must endure; when people slander you, you must endure; when you encounter disputes and gossip, you must endure. The ancients said: “Be patient for a little while, and the waves will calm and the winds will still; take one step back, and the sea is beautiful and the sky is blue.” I often say:

“Patience is a priceless treasure.
People don’t handle it well.
If you know how to use it,
everything turns out well.”

If one has cultivated the practice of forbearance, one will certainly succeed in cultivating the Way; without it, success will not come easily.

A cultivator of the Way must have both primary practices and supporting practices. Primary practice means constantly cultivating oneself; supporting practice means helping others cultivate, inspiring them to give rise to the Bodhi mind and resolve to follow the unsurpassed Way.

If you have no discriminating mind in offering support, and no mind that picks and chooses whom to support, then you regard everyone equally, whether close or distant. If you believe me, I will encourage you to bring forth the mind for the Way; if you do not believe me, I will still encourage you to bring forth the mind for the Way. Directly encouraging others to bring forth the mind for the Way and cultivate is a supporting condition; indirectly, it also helps one cultivate one’s own path. In this way, one establishes merit, virtue, and words.

If we ourselves are doing well, we also want others to do well. If we have gained benefit from the practice, we also want others to gain that benefit. If we have attained wondrous fruition, we also want others to attain wondrous fruition. This is the spirit of compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity in Buddhism.

 

In the ten directions, those who seek the Dharma have unwavering hearts;
Cultivating merit brings it to completion;
The two marks of existence and nonexistence are entirely eradicated;
This person truly sees the Buddha.

Commentary: A practitioner of the Way must seek out and consult fellow cultivators, and request guidance from an enlightened teacher—that is, seek a virtuous spiritual guide to instruct and transform them. They must go throughout the worlds in the ten directions; wherever there is a virtuous spiritual guide, they must go there to seek the Dharma, so that they may clarify the mind and see their true nature. What is a virtuous spiritual guide? Anyone who diligently cultivates precepts, concentration, and wisdom is a virtuous spiritual guide. What is an evil spiritual guide? Anyone who is possessed by greed, anger, and delusion is an evil spiritual guide.

To affirm existence is to have a self-satisfied mind; to deny it is to have an inferiority complex—either way, there are still the two aspects of self and other. Do not fall into nonexistence, and do not fall into existence. To fall into nonexistence is to be boundless; to fall into existence is to be bounded. To be on neither of the two sides of “nonexistence” and “existence” is the Middle Way. The Middle Way is true emptiness giving rise to wondrous existence. Wondrous existence gives rise to true emptiness; true emptiness and wondrous existence cannot be separated. If one calls it true emptiness, is there not also wondrous existence? If one calls it wondrous existence, is there not also true emptiness? Therefore: “True emptiness does not obstruct wondrous existence;
wondrous existence does not obstruct true emptiness.” We cultivate the Way—that is, we cultivate true emptiness and wondrous existence. Without true emptiness, one cannot become a Buddha; without wondrous existence, one cannot practice. If there is no cultivation, what is there to cultivate? Because there is wondrous existence, we practice. Originally there is nothing (true emptiness); once one cultivates, there is something (wondrous existence). True emptiness is not empty, and so there is wondrous existence; wondrous existence is not existence, and so it is called true emptiness. Sweep away the two marks of existence and nonexistence, and then, “Originally there is not a single thing; where can dust alight?” Don’t add a head on top of your head; don’t ride a donkey in search of a donkey. Don’t be like Yajñadatta, who looked in a mirror, saw a head in it, and thought he had no head of his own. He then went mad and asked, “Where has my head gone?” He ran to a crossroads and asked whoever he met, “Have you seen where my head is?” This is what it looks like to be foolish and go mad. His head had not been lost, yet he said he had no head. This is what it means not to understand the principles of existence and nonexistence, the two marks. If one sweeps away all dharmas and detaches from all marks, that is one’s “original face.” This is truly seeing the Buddha—seeing the Buddha of one’s own inherently true nature.

People in ancient times endured countless hardships. They were unafraid of difficulties and wholeheartedly sought the Dharma, forgetting themselves for its sake. They kept pressing forward and absolutely never turned back. For example, when the Great Master Xuanzang went to India to seek the Dharma and became stranded in the middle of the desert, he made this vow: “Better to go to the Western Paradise and die
than return to the Eastern Land and live.” Such a resolve to seek the Dharma is truly great! With such sincerity, no matter how arduous and miserable the circumstances, one will absolutely never change one’s aspiration to seek the Dharma. However, to attain the Dharma, one must also have merit and virtue in order to reach perfection. If one has the Dharma but lacks virtue, one will encounter demonic obstacles. These include heavenly demons, earthly demons, human demons, demons of wealth, demons of lust, inner demons, outer demons, and so on. Demons come to test you because you want to cultivate. If you do not cultivate, there will be no demons. Some people say, “If that’s the case, then I don’t dare cultivate.” If you do not cultivate, you will not attain the Way or accumulate merit and virtue. Those who cultivate the Way are the most precious people in the world. Therefore: “Where there is the Way, everyone practices it;
where there is virtue, everyone shows respect.” A person of virtue is respected and admired by everyone. Therefore, one must cultivate the Way and cultivate virtue. When one’s virtue is fully perfected, one is called a Buddha.

Why can’t we become Buddhas? Because our morality has not yet been perfected. When it is fully perfected, we cannot become complacent (arrogant). Why? Because fullness brings loss, while humility brings benefit. If you feel you are greater than anyone else, then there is no hope of becoming a Buddha.

It is like the followers of other religions: they say that God is the greatest, that there is only one God, and that no one else can become God; others can only be God’s slaves. One cannot go against God’s will or act contrary to God’s work, because God is autocratic, dictatorial, coercive, unequal, and hierarchical. Therefore, no one is allowed to become God; only He Himself can be God.

As for worldly presidents, anyone can become one, provided they have talent and serve the people; then they are qualified to be elected president. Buddhism is the same: anyone can become a Buddha. As long as one diligently cultivates, one can become a Buddha. If one refuses to cultivate, one absolutely cannot become a Buddha. That is why Buddhism is said to be equal, and Buddhism is great.

It is not like the idea of God: no matter how one cultivates, one cannot become God; one can only be a slave. Such an idea is absolutely contrary to reason. This is not slander; it is an inquiry into the truth. Only truth is equal, and only truth is democratic. Democracy is not privately owned; it belongs to the people. Truth is held in common, not held exclusively.

 

Go everywhere to the lands of the ten directions;
Widely expound the wondrous Dharma, advancing its meaning and benefits;
Abide in ultimate reality, unmoved;
This person’s merit is equal to the Buddha’s.

Commentary: Those who cultivate the Way must arouse a vast aspiration to teach and transform all sentient beings, encouraging every sentient being to diligently study the Buddha Way. They must also forget self and others and be free of self. Though they teach and transform sentient beings, there are no sentient beings whom I teach and transform. Fundamentally, there is no self. The merit of every act, every word, and every deed must all be dedicated to the sentient beings of the Dharma realm. They go throughout the lands in the ten directions to teach and transform sentient beings, expounding the wondrous Dharma far and wide. The wondrous Dharma is Dharma suited to one’s capacities: if it is not suited to one’s capacities, then even what is wondrous is not wondrous; if it is suited to one’s capacities, then even what is not wondrous becomes wondrous. They foster meaningful endeavors to benefit all sentient beings; therefore, “Whenever there is something beneficial, it must be brought into being.” This means using every expedient means to teach and transform all sentient beings.

Only with the power of concentration can I abide in true reality (the truth), attain suchness unmoving, and remain lucid and ever-bright. In the face of circumstances, be free of mind, yet able to transform them. In short, if one is not turned by circumstances, one will not be shaken. If this is truly so—if one has the power of concentration, remains unmoving, and is not shaken by any circumstances—then that person’s merit is like the Buddha’s.

 

The wondrous Dharma wheel turned by the Tathagata
All are factors of Bodhi
If one hears it and then awakens to the nature of Dharma
Such a person will always see the Buddha

Commentary: The Tathāgata comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. That is, he comes yet does not come, and goes yet does not go; therefore he is called the Tathāgata. The Buddha’s teachings are said to comprise the Three Baskets and the Twelve Divisions. The Three Baskets are the Basket of Sutras, the Basket of Vinaya, and the Basket of Abhidharma. The Basket of Sutras reveals the training in concentration, the Basket of Vinaya reveals the training in precepts, and the Basket of Abhidharma reveals the training in wisdom. The Three Baskets of Sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma are the three trainings free from outflows: precepts, concentration, and wisdom. The Buddha’s Dharma is the method of diligently cultivating precepts, concentration, and wisdom—that is, of extinguishing greed, anger, and delusion. The Twelve Divisions do not mean that there are twelve collections of sutras; rather, the scriptures spoken by the Buddha are divided in content into twelve sections. What are the twelve sections? First, here is a verse:

“Long prose, repeated verses, and independent verses;
Parables, causes and conditions, and spontaneous utterances;
Accounts of past deeds, past births, and unprecedented events;
Expansive discourses, discussions, and predictions.”

**Long Prose:** The sutras contain long prose passages, line after line, and therefore this is called long prose.

**Repeated Verses:** Verses are used to repeat the preceding prose, making the meaning of the sutra easier for people to understand and remember.

**Isolated Verses:** These are verses that stand alone. The sutra text before and after them has no connection to them; instead, several verses suddenly appear in the sutra, as in the *Dhammapada*.

**Parables:** A principle of the Dharma is explained by means of an example—using something to illustrate a particular matter.

**Causes and Conditions:** What causes and conditions led to the teaching of a particular sutra? For example, the *Shurangama Sutra* was taught because Venerable Ananda was enchanted by Matangi’s Brahma mantra and lured to her home, where she wanted to destroy his precept-body. The Buddha knew of this while in samadhi and sent the Bodhisattva Manjushri to uphold the Shurangama Mantra and go ahead to rescue Venerable Ananda from the woman’s danger.

**Spontaneous Teaching:** When someone requests the Dharma, the Buddha speaks; when no one requests it, the Buddha does not teach the Dharma. The only exception is the *Amitabha Sutra*, which was taught without anyone requesting it. Why? Because no one knew the state of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, so no one asked for the Dharma. Out of compassion for sentient beings, the Buddha taught this Dharma-door, which is easy to practice and easy to realize.

**Accounts of the Past:** These may be accounts of Shakyamuni Buddha, great Bodhisattvas, or great Arhats in past lives—their undertakings in cultivating the path, propagating the Dharma, and benefiting beings.

**Birth Stories:** All the accounts concerning either the Buddha or Bodhisattvas in this life.

**The Unprecedented:** A Dharma that has never been taught before and that no one knows. For example, the six kinds of shaking or the eighteen transformations of spiritual powers are Dharmas never heard before.

**Expansive Teachings:** This refers to the proper and vast text of a sutra, such as the *Flower Garland Sutra*. In this sutra, the small and the large contain one another, and the one and the many do not obstruct one another. This is an inconceivable state.

**Discussion:** Studying all the principles and meanings of the sutras, discussing them, and drawing out the truth.

**Prediction:** The Buddha gives predictions to Bodhisattvas or Arhats. The Buddha says, “In a future life, in which world and during which kalpa will you become a Buddha? What will your Buddha-name be? How long will you live?” For example, long ago, when Shakyamuni Buddha was cultivating the Bodhisattva Path, he once encountered Dipankara Buddha traveling along a muddy road. He used a knife to cut his hair and spread it over the road so Dipankara Buddha could pass without dirtying his feet. That Buddha then predicted to him: “In a future life, you will become a Buddha named Shakyamuni Buddha, dwelling in the Saha World.”

When the Buddha turns the wondrous Dharma wheel, he is expounding the principles of the Twelve Divisions of the Tripitaka. Whenever sutras are explained and the Dharma is taught, the wondrous Dharma wheel is being turned. The Dharma wheel is round and cannot stop turning. Look! The great river flows every day. Here at Gold Mountain Monastery, we explain sutras every day—that is, we are building a great Dharma bridge, building a great Dharma boat, and turning the wondrous Dharma wheel.

In the place of practice, planting the seed of bodhi yields the fruit of bodhi. Whoever awakens to this Way has a share in it. Once you have heard this, you will clearly understand the true aspect of all dharmas and the dharma-nature of all dharmas. The true aspect of dharmas is true emptiness. Yet within true emptiness there is wondrous existence. One who awakens to this true meaning will constantly see the Buddha’s Dharma Body.

 

Not seeing the Ten Powers as empty and illusory;
Though seeing, not seeing, like a blind person looking;
Discriminating and grasping at appearances, one does not see the Buddha;
Only by ultimately letting go of attachment can one see.

Commentary: One may see the Buddha’s ten powers, but must not abide in them. One must see without attachment; only then is it true seeing. If one does not see the Buddha’s ten powers as empty, like illusions, like transformations, like flowers in the sky, and refrain from clinging to them, then one abides in the Buddha’s ten powers, believing them to be truly existent. That is, although one may see the Buddha’s ten powers, one does not understand that they are empty and inherently formless; one has not yet truly comprehended them. Not seeing them means not understanding them. Not understanding is like being blind and unable to see anything. If one sees only darkness and cannot see the light, it is as though one cannot see at all.

However, seeing the Ten Powers does not mean clearly understanding their wondrous function. Why do I say this? Because one may see or not see, and may think that the Buddha has the Ten Powers or does not have the Ten Powers. All of this is working on the level of appearances and using a discriminating mind to grasp at the Buddha’s form. This is failing to see the Buddha of one’s own inherently pure nature, and failing to see the Buddha’s true Dharma body. If one lets go of all attachments, one will truly see the Buddha’s Dharma body.

 

Sentient beings differ in myriad ways according to their karma.
The inner and outer realms of the ten directions are difficult to see in their entirety.
The Buddha’s unobstructed body pervades the ten directions.
It, too, cannot be seen in its entirety.

Commentary: The Buddha’s luminous wisdom extends to the ends of empty space and throughout the Dharma Realm. The dark karmic obstructions of sentient beings likewise extend to the ends of empty space and throughout the Dharma Realm. Karmic obstructions have no real substance or form. If they had form, the karmic obstructions of a single sentient being would fill all of space.

The karma of sentient beings varies in all kinds of ways. There is good karma and bad karma. Good karma brings good results, and bad karma brings bad results. This is the law of cause and effect, not wrong in the slightest.

Speaking of this, I’m reminded of a funny story. In Chinese custom, when the Lunar New Year arrives, every household hangs Spring Festival couplets bearing auspicious words to mark the coming of spring and wish that everything will go as one hopes. Temples hang Spring Festival couplets, too. One year, when I was sixteen, I casually wrote the four characters “Wisdom as vast as the sea” and hung them on the wall.

My senior brother saw it and kept reading, over and over: “Wisdom is like the sea, wisdom is like the sea,” without stopping.

Behind him, I said, “Your karmic force is like the sea!” — As soon as he heard this, the fire of ignorance flared three zhang high. Angrily, he said, “You look down on people too much! The New Year is almost here, and you’re scolding me—my karmic force is as vast as the sea!” – I said, “Please don’t get angry, senior brother. I say your good karma is as vast as the sea. What do you think?” Hearing that, he laughed.

– I said, “Senior Brother doesn’t have even a little meditative concentration. What kind of Dao can you practice? You must forget wholesome karma and unwholesome karma alike; only then can you practice the Dao.” Seeing him stunned, with his mouth shut and unable to say a word, he later went around saying, “That teacher truly has wisdom. A single word can make someone angry, and a single word can also make someone happy.” I hope that those of you who study the Buddha’s teachings will not be swayed by circumstances, but will instead be able to transform them. That is what it means to truly have the power of concentration. The karma of sentient beings, within and without throughout the ten directions, cannot be fully perceived. The Buddha’s Dharma Body is likewise unobstructed and pervades the ten directions; like the karma of sentient beings, it cannot be fully perceived. The principle is the same.

 

Just as in space are immeasurable realms
Coming and going not, pervading the ten directions
Arising, forming, ceasing, and decaying, with nowhere to rely
The Buddhas pervade empty space in just the same way.

Commentary: Just as within empty space there are immeasurable, boundless realms, yet they neither come nor go, while pervading the ten directions, so too the four phases—arising, formation, cessation, and destruction—have no place to depend upon. The Buddha’s Dharma body pervades empty space in the same way.

 

END OF CHAPTER 9