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SUTRA: Outline: This is part three of larger section "using the three carts" and it is titled "suiting the wishes of the children. Commentary: Sariputra now I will tell you if there are living beings who inwardly possess the wisdom nature...This means that in past lives they heard the Buddha speak the Dharma and therefore they have the seeds of wisdom within them. Before they followed the Buddha and studied the Dharma-doors of the Three Vehicles, so now they have the wisdom nature within them. And hearing the dharma from the World Honored One...In former lives they listened to the Buddha teach the dharma. This represents the first of the three types of wisdom: the wisdom of hearing. If you just hear it but don't believe or accept it you can't attain benefit. Once you have heard it you have to deeply believe it, without having any doubt. So the text says, Believed and accepted it. You must believe and uphold it. If you can believe and accept and uphold it diligently make progress. Diligent refers to the second kind of the three types of wisdom: the wisdom of considering. You diligently consider the dharma and are vigorous. This vigorous progress represents the third of the three types of wisdom: the wisdom of cultivating. Wishing quickly to escape the triple realm. If one can be diligent and make progress one quickly can escape the desire, form, and formless realm. Seeking nirvana for themselves. Paying no attention to anyone else they just want to succeed in their own cultivation and forget it. They are called those of the sound hearer vehicle. Because they only wish to enlighten themselves and benefit themselves they are called the Sound Hearer Vehicle. They are like the children, the thirty children, who sought the sheep cart and thereby escaped from the burning house. Hearing, that there were sheep carts outside the door, they ran from the burning house and were saved. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** COMING IN 1978 The Dharma Flower Sutra, Volume III, Expedients. Sakyamuni Buddha tells Sariputra that he has an door to wisdom which is difficult to understand and difficult to enter and which those of the Two Vehicles do not know about. Sariputra asks repeatedly for the Dharma, and the Buddha admonishes him to cease asking. Upon third request, however, the Buddha consents to speak but warned that those of overweening pride will not want to hear this Dharma. Sure enough, as soon as the Buddha begins to reveal the univerality of the Buddha-nature in all its aspects, five thousand leave the assembly. The Venerable Master Hua’s commentary offers vivid narrative and insights into these events and this wonderful Dharma. Volume also includes English translation of Ming Dynasty Master Ngou-i's outline. With One Heart, Bowing to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, subsequent volumes of the bowing monk's daily records, photographs, news articles, and letters surrounding their journey to eliminate calamities and disasters. The Sound Hearers are compared to sheep because they just care about themselves. They are only interested in their own welfare. They end birth and death for themselves, and pay no attention to others. They don't worry about the rest of the flock they just run right ahead. That's the Sound Hearer Vehicle. SUTRA: IF THERE ARE LIVING BEINGS WHO HEAR THIS DHARMA FROM THE BUDDHA, THE WORLD HONORED ONE, AND BELIEVE AND ACCEPT IT, DILIGENTLY MAKING PROGRESS, AND WHO SEEK FOR THEMSELVES SPONTANEOUS WISDOM, DELIGHTING IN SOLITUDE AND FOND OF STILLNESS, DEEPLY UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSAL-CONDITIONS OF ALL DHARMAS, THEY ARE CALLED THOSE OF THE PRATYEKA BUDDHA VEHICLE. Commentary: If there are living beings who hear the dharma from the World Honored One, the Buddha, and believe and accept it without any doubts. Someone asked me if the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas could give us faith. Does our faith come from ourselves or do the Buddhas bestow it upon us? There are many ways to look at this question. However, we will say that faith arises from yourselves. It is definitely not something given to you from the outside. It is not like those of other non-Buddhist religions who say that God gives you faith. Faith arises only from within you. Others can't give it to you. If others could give you faith, that would be like someone else eating lunch for you and your getting full. It doesn't work that way. In the same way faith can't be gotten from the outside. If you have faith, you will get the food of Dharma and be filled with it. If you don't have faith, and others try to give you faith, well, it's not your own faith! You won't get "full." Principles must be explained clearly. For example, one might ask if others can cultivate on your behalf. No. It's said, Eat your own food, fill yourself; End your own birth and death. Faith works the same way. You have to give rise to it yourself. No one can do it for you. Diligently make progress, seeking spontaneous wisdom. This means very spontaneously and naturally giving rise to wisdom. How do they give rise to it? Delighting in solitude and fond of stillness. They cultivate by themselves in solitude and they are fond of stillness and very pure. They don't like a lot of noise and commotion. Deeply understanding the causal conditions of all dharmas, they have profound understanding of the causes and conditions behind the production and extinction of all dharmas. So they cultivate the 12 causal conditions and through a thorough and complete and ultimate understanding of them they gain attainment. They are called those of the Pratyeka Buddha Vehicle. They are like the children who sought the deer cart and thereby escaped from the burning house. They are like the kids who thought the deer cart the elder offered was the most fun. Deer are independent. They don't need anyone to help them. Pratyeka Buddhas are independent, too. When a Buddha is in the world, they are called Condition-enlightened Ones. When there is no Buddha in the world they are called Solitary Enlightened Ones. They like to be alone; they like things quiet. And they profoundly understand the causes and conditions underlying all dharmas. Pratyeka Buddhas cultivate and certify on their own. The Sound Hearers and Pratyeka Buddhas are known as the Two Vehicles. SUTRA: IF THERE ARE LIVING BEINGS WHO HEAR THE DHARMA FROM THE BUDDHA, THE WORLD HONORED ONE, AND BELIEVE AND ACCEPT IT, EARNESTLY CULTIVATING WITH VIGOR, SEEKING ALL WISDOM, THE BUDDHA WISDOM, SPONTANEOUS WISDOM, THE UNTUTORED WISDOM, THE KNOWLEDGE AND VIEWS OF THE THUS COME ONE, HIS POWERS AND FEARLESSNESSES, PITYING AND COMFORTING LIMITLESS LIVING BEINGS, BENEFITTING GODS AND HUMANS, SAVING ALL, THEY ARE CALLED THOSE OF THE GREAT VEHICLE. BECAUSE THE BODHISATTVAS SEEK THIS VEHICLE, THEY ARE CALLED MAHASATTVAS. THEY ARE LIKE THE CHILDREN WHO SOUGHT THE OX CART AND THEREBY ESCAPED FROM THE BURNING HOUSE. Commentary: If there are living beings who hear the dharma from the Buddha, the World Honored One, who follow the Buddha and cultivate the Way and believe and accept it, earnestly cultivating with vigor, seeking all wisdom. All wisdom means they want wisdom regarding all transcendental and worldly dharmas. The Buddha wisdom, the wisdom of the Buddha which those of the Two Vehicles do not possess. Spontaneous wisdom was explained previously as sought also by the Pratyeka Buddhas. The untutored wisdom; Most people take this as wisdom which is gained without a teacher but that is wrong. Untutored wisdom is something only the Buddha has, because the Buddha is the leader of gods and humans and no one acts as his teacher. Therefore his wisdom is "untutored." This is just the Buddha wisdom. All Wisdom, Buddha Wisdom, Spontaneous Wisdom, and Untutored Wisdom are all terms used to describe the Buddha Wisdom. Although four types of wisdom are named, in reality they are all the great, perfectly enlightened wisdom of the Buddha. The knowledge and vision of the Thus Come One seeking the knowledge, of the Thus Come One refers to the Wisdom of all Modes and the vision of the Thus Come One refers to the Buddha-eye. His powers and fearlessnesses refers to the Buddhas Ten Wisdom Powers and Four Fearlessnesses. Pitying and comforting they have pity on all living beings and make them happy. They bring forth hearts of great compassion pitying and comforting limitless living beings. Benefiting gods and humans; They benefit the gods in the heavens and the humans below. Saving all. They want to deliver all beings. They are called those of the Great Vehicle, Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas. Because they seek this vehicle, The Great Vehicle; They are called Mahasattvas, Great Bodhisattvas. They are like the children who sought the ox cart and thereby escaped from the burning house. They sought the great ox cart and so got out of the burning house. SUTRA: "SARIPUTRA," JUST AS THAT ELDER SEEING ALL HIS CHILDREN SAFELY ESCAPE THE BURNING HOUSE TO A PLACE OF FEARLESSNESS, AND CONSIDERING HIS OWN UNLIMITED WEALTH, GIVES TO ALL OF THEM A GREAT CART, SO THE THUS COME ONE, IN THE SAME WAY. IS THE FATHER OF ALL LIVING BEINGS, AND WHEN HE SEES LIMITLESS THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS OF LIVING BEINGS USING THE GATEWAY OF THE BUDDHAS TEACHING TO GET OFF THE FEARSOME AND DANGEROUS PATH OF THE SUFFERING OF THE TRIPLE WORLD, AND ATTAIN THE BLISS OF NIRVANA, HE HAS THIS THOUGHT, "I HAVE LIMITLESS, BOUNDLESS WISDOM, POWER, FEARLESSNESSES, AND SO ON—THE COMPLETE STOREHOUSE OF THE BUDDHADHARMAS—AND ALL OF THESE LIVING BEINGS ARE MY CHILDREN. I SHOULD GIVE TO ALL OF THEM A GREAT CART." Outline: This is part three: Fitting together the giving to all a great cart. It has two divisions of which the first: 1) the avoidance of danger and the equal giving, and the 2) fitting the two together. "Sariputra," Just as that elder, seeing all his children safely escape the burning house to a place of fearlessness..."Sons" means the thirty sons talked about earlier as well as the five hundred people. And considering his own unlimited wealth gives to all of them a great cart. So the Thus Come One, in the same way, is the father of all living beings, and when he sees limitless thousands of millions of living beings using the gateway of the Buddha’s teaching to get off the fearsome dangerous path of suffering of the triple world and attain the bliss of Nirvana...The Triple World is the world of desire, the world of form, and the formless world. After you get out of the world of desire, then you have no more desire. Once you transcend the realm of form, there is no more form. Once you get beyond the formless realm, then there is no thought either. Everything in the Triple World is suffering. Here the text says not only that it is suffering, but that it is also very dangerous. Why is it dangerous? It is like a place that is overrun with thieves. The thieves are the six senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. These six thieves rob you of the precious treasure of your own original wisdom. But if you can turn them around, the six senses can act as Dharma Protectors, too. I will give you a simple analogy: For example, say there were some thieves who got tired of being thieves and decided to join the police force. Because they used to be thieves, they know very well where to go to look for thieves and they make very good policemen. They know all the sneaky thief tricks and can arrive at the scene of the crime before the criminals even get there! So it is with the six senses if they are turned around. The eyes that once ran after beautiful forms no longer are fooled by them. The ears quit running after fine sounds; the nose doesn't seek fragrances; the tongue doesn't crave fine flavors; the body doesn't run after things to touch; and the mind isn't preoccupied with dharmas. In this way they stand guard over the treasure of your original wisdom and they have become Dharma Protectors. Now, in the Triple World there are many thieves. They are sneaking up the alleys, coming up the main highways, crawling in the windows, and leaping over the back fence. Would you say this is dangerous or not? The Triple World is indeed fearful and dangerous place to be, in addition to being a place of great suffering and misery. The Buddha sees all the living beings using the teachings of the Buddha to walk right out of this suffering, dangerous world. And attain the bliss of Nirvana. In the Triple World there is no real happiness; there is nothing but suffering and it is very dangerous. It is like standing on the edge of a deep abyss or walking on thin ice. What is meant by standing on the edge of a deep abyss? It's like standing on a cliff, which hangs a hundred thousand feet right over the ocean. It's real easy to fall over the edge and lose your life. It's also like walking across some very thin ice—easy to fall right through into the water and also lose your life. That's what being in the Triple World is like. It's like being in a burning house--dangerous, dangerous. The Buddha leads us out of danger to the joy of Nirvana, to the happiness of Nirvana--unproduced, undestroyed, not defiled, not immaculate--permanence, bliss, true self, and purity. Quite an advantage and he has this thought, I have limitless, boundless wisdom, powers, fearlessnesses, and so on. The complete storehouse of Buddhadharmas-and all of these living beings are my children. I should give to all of them a great cart. The Buddha gives rise to the thought, "Now that I have become a Buddha, my wisdom is limitless and boundless. It is endless for the taking and inexhaustible in its use. I also have ten powers and four fearlessnesses." The phrase "and so on" refers to the Dharma Treasury of the Buddhas, that is, the Four Truths, the Six Perfections, the Twelve Conditioned Causes, and the Thirty-seven Wings of Enlightenment. Since the Buddha has the complete storehouse of Dharma, he decides to give to all his children a great cart, the Great Vehicle. SUTRA: NOT ALLOWING ANYONE OF THEM TO GAIN INDIVIDUAL EXTINCTION, BUT CROSSING THEM OVER TO EXTINCTION BY MEANS OF THE EXTINCTION OF THE THUS COME ONE. COMMENTARY: I shouldn’t let them gain individual nirvana. I should lead them all to attain the Thus Come One's Nirvana so they can be just like the Thus Come One. I shouldn't allow them to attain simply a "doctrine of one-sided emptiness." I should make sure that they all attain the perfect, supreme doctrine of true emptiness. SUTRA: HAVING ESCAPED THE TRIPLE WORLD, ALL THESE LIVING BEINGS ARE GIVEN AS PLAYTHINGS THE BUDDHAS' DHYANA CONCENTRATIONS, LIBERATIONS, AND SO FORTH, ALL OF ONE MARK AND ONE KIND, PRAISED BY THE SAGES AND PRODUCTIVE OF PURE, WONDROUS, AND FOREMOST BLISS. COMMENTARY: When all these living beings get out of the Triple World, they all get Dhyana concentrations of the Buddhas and the Liberations of the Buddhas--the very finest toys. You haven't attained that happy state of Dhyana concentration yet, but once you do, ah!, then you'll be like children playing with new toys. Lot's of fun! Lot's of fun! All of one mark. What is one mark? It is the Real Mark. The Real Mark represents the first of the Three Virtues, the virtue of the Dharma Body. Above, much principle has been discussed-the Thirty-Seven wings, Six Perfections, Four Truths, Twelve Conditioned Causes. Now, the Analogies Chapter is about to be finished and the Three Virtues are used to cap it off. So the text says "All of one mark." They are all of the Real Mark. The Real Mark is without a mark. However, there is nothing, which it doesn't mark. All marks arise out of the Real Mark. This is to say that within True Emptiness, Wonderful Existence arises. Wonderful Existence--you can't see it. That is why it is called "Wonderful." You can't hear it, you can't smell it, taste it or touch it either. Your mind's thoughts can't know of it. It is the Real Mark, the Virtue of the Dharma Body. One Kind. This refers to the Wisdom of all Modes, a kind of wisdom. The Wisdom of all Modes, or all kinds, represents the second of the Three Virtues, the Virtue of Prajna. Praised by the sages and productive of Pure, Wondrous, and Foremost Bliss. This refers to the third of the Three Virtues, the Virtue of Liberation. This Dharma is praised by the Buddhas throughout the ten directions. It gives rise to clear, pure, subtle, fine happiness. This happiness knows no suffering. The absence of suffering is just liberation, the Virtue of Liberation. Such is the inconceivable storehouse of the Three Virtues. BUDDHIST TEXT TRANSLATION The Amitabha Sutra, 204 pages, $8.00. Spoken without request, this Sutra describes the Pure Land of Amitabha and attests to the efficaciousness of reciting that Buddha's name to gain rebirth there. Commentary by the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hua abounds with scores of lists—from the five means of deviant livelihood to the eight great freedoms of the self; from the three poisons to the twelve ascetic practices. Of special interest are the descriptive accounts of the names, lives, personalities, and events of the Great Arhats and Bodhisattvas found in the Sutra. |