Chapter 10: Masters of the Dharma

Sutra:

“Medicine King, you should know that after my extinction, those who can write out, uphold, read, recite, make offerings to and explain it for others, shall be covered with the Thus Come One’s robes and shall also be protected and held in mind by the Buddhas present in other directions. These people have great powers of faith, powers of resolution and vows and the power of good roots. Know that these people shall dwell together with the Thus Come One and shall have their heads rubbed by the hand of the Thus Come One.”

Outline:

H2. Praising the people. 

Commentary: 

Medicine King, you should know that after my extinction, those who can write out, uphold, read, recite, make offerings to and explain it for others.Shakyamuni Buddha says that while he is in the world a lot of people will be jealous of The Dharma Flower Sutra. To say nothing of what it will be like after the Buddha enters Nirvana. Although he says this still, “Medicine King, you should know after the Buddha enters Nirvana, those who can write out, uphold, read, recite, make offerings of incense, flowers, food and drink, and explain The Dharma Flower Sutra to other people, setting forth its wonderful doctrines, shall be covered with the Thus Come One’s robes.”

These five kinds of Dharma Masters shall be covered with the Thus Come One’s kashaya or sash. This is like when people recite the name of Amitabha Buddha and recite to the point of “reciting and yet not reciting, not reciting and yet reciting.” When they attain this state, they can see Amitabha Buddha come and rub the top of their heads and cover them with his sash. This means that in the future they are certain to be reborn in Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss. Now, if one can receive and uphold The Dharma Flower Sutra, the Thus Come One will cover them with his sash, too. What is more, they shall also be protected and held in mind by the Buddhas present in other directions. Not only will Shakyamuni Buddha cover you with his sash, but the Buddhas in the ten directions will protect you and keep you in mind at all times, lending you their support and helping you to develop great wisdom.

These people have great powers of faith. This “greatness” of the power of faith is not that which is spoken of in relation to “small.” It goes beyond the relative into the realm of the absolute. There is nothing that compares with the greatness of their powers of faith. The Buddhadharma is like the great sea. It can only be entered by means of faith. If you have no faith, you cannot get into the Buddhadharma. Of faith it is said,

Faith is the source of the Way

The mother of merit and virtue.

It nurtures all our good roots. If you have faith, you will have merit and virtue. If you have no faith, you will have no merit or virtue. If you have faith, you will be able to cultivate the Way. If you have no faith, you will be unable to do so. Therefore, faith is the most important factor in cultivation. If you can receive, uphold, read, recite, write out, and explain The Dharma Flower Sutra, that means you have great powers of faith. If you lack great powers of faith, you will not be able to do these things. To the word faith, we add the word “power” and this means that one has no doubts; one has only faith. Powers of resolution and vows. Once you have faith, you must set up your resolve and determination. With great determination, you then make “vows.” Those vows should be as solid as stone and as durable as iron. These are the vows you need, vows to receive and practice The Dharma Flower Sutra.

Faith alone is not enough if you do not wish to cultivate. And the power of good roots. Why are you able to have faith and determination in your cultivation? It is because of your good roots. The power of good roots refers to the seeds of Bodhi which were planted many lifetimes and many eons ago. Your good roots then grew day by day. If you had no good roots, you could never encounter The Dharma Flower Sutra.

You should know that these people who can receive, uphold, read, recite, write out and explain The Dharma Flower Sutra, shall dwell together with the Thus Come One—it is just the same as if you were living with the Buddha—and shall have their heads rubbed by the hand of the Thus Come One. This is called “getting rubbed on the crown of the head.” It is a gesture of the utmost compassion and fondness.

The Buddha often rubs the crowns of living being’s heads. If he has affinities with someone, he will pat them on the head. In this way the Buddha infuses them with his awesome virtue and eradicates their obstacles. This is referring only to being patted on the head. It does not mean that he bestows predictions on them. If he does both, then that living being has a chance to become a Buddha in the future.

When you cultivate, sometimes in meditation you might feel that there is something crawling around on top of your head, like maybe a little bug or something. When you have this feeling, what is actually happening is that the Buddhas of the ten directions have come to pat you on the head. You should give rise to even more faith and vows, and truly practice the Buddha Path. Why? It is because the Buddha is being so kind to you and helping you out, and if you do not give rise to great resolve, you will be showing ingratitude towards the Buddha.

Sutra:

“Medicine King, in any place where this Sutra is spoken, read, recited, written out, or stored, one should build a Stupa of the seven jewels, making it high, broad, and adorned. It is not necessary to place sharira in it. Why is this? Within it already is the complete body of the Thus Come One. To this Stupaone should make offerings of all kinds of flowers, incense, beads, silk canopies, banners, vocal and instrumental music, honoring and praising it. If people should see this Stupa, bow before it, and make offerings to it, you should know that they are close to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.” 

Outline:

H3. Praising the place.

Commentary: 

Medicine King, in any place, that is in all places regardless of where they are, where this Sutra is spoken, explained, read, recited, written out or stored,wherever the Sutra is, one should build a Stupa of the seven jewels, making it high, broad and adorned. You should not just make a small Stupa. Before, I told you the story of a dwarf, a man during the time when the Buddha was in the world. The little man is only three feet high but five feet wide. He looked strange, but he had a beautiful voice. Someone asked the Buddha how he could look so strange yet sing so well. The Buddha told him, “In a former life, limitless eons ago, a man was making a jeweled Stupa. This man objected, saying, ‘Why are you making it so high? No one will even be able to see the top, for heaven’s sake! Make it a little broader and a little shorter so everyone can see it and bow to it!’

As a retribution for his discouraging words, life after life he was born as a dwarf. So, if you see short people, you can guess that in a former life, they probably criticized the making of a Stupa. The reason for his bell like voice was because, when the Stupa completed, he hung a bell in the tower.” So after this, if someone is building a temple, you should not object to its size saying, “Why don’t you make a smaller one? There are not that many people in this area anyway.” In general, the higher and bigger temples and Stupas are the better. Stupas are defined as “high, manifest places,” or as “square graves.” Anyway, since he hung the bell in the Stupa, he had a lovely voice. This should illustrate that if we want a beautiful voice we should hang a bell in a jeweled pagoda.

It is not necessary to place sharira in it. The jeweled Stupa should be studded with lustrous jewels, which shine both day and night. If you have some sharira, you can put them in of course, but if you do not, you need not go all over looking for some to put in. Why is this? Within it already is the complete body of the Thus Come One. If there is a copy of this Sutra in the Stupa, then the true body of the Buddha is there. To this Stupa one should make offerings of all kinds of flowers, incense, beads, silk canopies, banners, vocal and instrumental music. To this jeweled Stupa, you should make offerings of flowers, incense, beads, silk canopies, banners, and instrumental and vocal music.

We sing songs and chants in praise of the Buddha. We really have no way to express completely our reverence for the Buddha and our sincerity, so we just use songs which everyone likes to hear to express our appreciation of the Buddha’s merit and virtue. The Dharma is not cultivated to accomplishment by means of one method only. There are eighty-four thousand Dharma-doors. One can realize Buddhahood by the use of any one of them.

Honoring and praising it.If people should see this Stupa, bow before it, and make offerings to it or even nod their heads even just slightly or raise one hand as a gesture of respect, you should know that they are close to, they are not far from anuttarasamyaksambodhi, the Buddha fruit. So in the future we should all make a vow, a vow together to make a jeweled Stupa for The Dharma Flower Sutra. We should make it as high as possible—higher than the Empire State Building! It should be the tallest Stupa in the world.

If we make a vow, then we can do it. It depends on how determined we are in our vow. Determination means you set your will to accomplish something, and you do not stop until you do.

When I left home I made a determined vow. I said, “In the future I am certainly going to spread Buddhism throughout the entire world. I will bring Buddhism to every place where it is absent now. Not only will I spread the Buddhadharma, but I will spread the true, orthodox Buddhadharma.” Now, I have not fulfilled my vows yet. When there is Buddhism in all worlds, not just this one, then my vows will be fulfilled. It is not enough to have Buddhism throughout just this one world. All of you who make vows and are determined in them will certainly succeed.

The eighth day of the fourth month is the Buddha’s birthday (May 10,1969). It is the most important Buddhist holiday, so we are having a celebration and everyone should do word-of-mouth advertising, that is, tell all your relatives and friends. In the afternoon at 2:00 we are going to perform the Liberation of Life Ceremony. Why do we do this? First of all it is illustrative of “non-killing” and the compassion of the Buddha’s teaching. It is said,

If in this life you do not cage birds,
In the future you will not be put in jail.

In the ceremony, we release birds from their cages so they can be free to fly. Doing this insures that in future lives we will not be put in jail. Secondly, if you liberate creatures, others will liberate you. You may think, “I am no bird. I do not need to do this.” Maybe you are not a bird now, but you have forgotten about the times in the distant past when you were a bird. All of us, in former lives, have been everything there is to be. We have all been ants and mosquitoes. On a larger scale, we have been emperors, generals, everything! However, greed, hatred, and stupidity have covered up your self-natures so you cannot remember these things.

There are twenty days left until the Buddha’s birthday and everyone should get busy and advertise. Do not wait for the TV and radio to do all the work. You should all be TVs and radios. Spread the word!

Sutra:

“Medicine King, many people, both at home and left home, practice the Bodhisattva Path. If they are unable to see, hear, recite, write out, uphold, or make offerings to The Dharma Flower Sutra, know that these people have not yet skillfully practiced the Bodhisattva Path. If they are able to hear this Sutra, then they will be able to skillfully practice the Bodhisattva Path.” 

Outline:

H4. Praising the cause.

Commentary: 

Medicine King, Shakyamuni Buddha continues, many people, both at home, that is laymen and laywomen, and left home, that is Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, practice the Bodhisattva Path. Both lay people and left-home people can practice the Bodhisattva Path.

What is the Bodhisattva Path? It means benefiting other people. It means benefiting oneself and benefiting others. It means being able to put yourself aside to help others, giving the advantages to other people and taking the disadvantages upon oneself. The Bodhisattva Path is like water: Water benefits all things but never boasts of its merit. All living creatures, whether they are born from wombs, eggs, moisture, or transformation, depend upon water for the maintenance of their life. Without water, they cannot live. But water itself does not boast of its merit saying, “I have helped you so much. My merit is great indeed.” Those who practice the Bodhisattva Path should be this way. Do not think, “I have helped living beings and so I have merit.” Lao Zi said,

“The highest goodness is like water. Water well benefits all things and yet does not contend. It goes to places people despise and so it is close to the Way…”

Water flows right into lowly places, places where no one would like to live. When you practice the Bodhisattva Path, you must give the merit to others and take the mistakes upon yourself.

“But then I will not have any merit,” you object. The more you give the merit to others, the greater your merit becomes. On the surface, you are giving the merit away, but underneath, in the realms of true principle, it remains yours. People who do not understand how to cultivate are always struggling to grab the spotlight, to be number one, and to make sure everyone knows who they are. People who understand true principle do not seek recognition. It is said,

“Good done for show is not truly good.
Evil done in secret is great evil indeed.”

Bodhisattvas do not want people to know about their good deeds. If they make mistakes, they do not care if people find out.

The Bodhisattva Path means benefiting oneself and benefiting others. It means benefiting others more than yourself, and even benefiting others at your own expense. Bodhisattvas practice the Six Perfections and the Ten Thousand Practices: giving, holding precepts, patience, vigor, dhyana samadhi and wisdom. In giving, you should give to other people. Giving does not mean to tell other people to give things to you! You cannot complain and say, “I am one of the Triple Jewel. How come nobody makes offerings to me?” Holding precepts also means that you hold them yourself. It does not mean that you go around telling other people to hold precepts.

Patience means you yourself are patient, not that you tell others to be patient. Vigor also means that you are vigorous, not that you tell others to be vigorous and remain lazy yourself. You cannot think, “I have already become a Bodhisattva and so I do not need to be vigorous. I will just tell the new Bodhisattvas to be vigorous. I am an old Bodhisattva, so I do not have to be vigorous.”

As to dhyana samadhi, you must cultivate it yourself. You cannot pester people and say, “Hey! Why don’t you have any dhyana samadhi?” Finally, you yourself must have Prajna wisdom. You cannot tell others to cultivate it and fail to cultivate it yourself.

The Six Perfections are not to be practiced for one day. You must practice them every single day and never rest for even a second. Practicing the Bodhisattva Path means that you are busy working everyday. Busy doing what? Teaching and transforming living beings. Living beings are drowning in the sea of suffering. Unless you push yourself a little, how are you ever going to be able to save them all? There is no time for naps! There is no time for false thinking! So the text says, “Many people, both at home and left home, practice the Bodhisattva Path.”

If they are unable to see, hear, read, recite, write out, uphold, or make offerings to The Dharma Flower Sutra, know that these people have not yet skillfully practiced the Bodhisattva Path. They practice the Bodhisattva Path, but their foundation is not solid, and they have not perfected their practice. If there are those who practice the Bodhisattva Path and are able to hear this Sutra, then they will be able to skillfully practice the Bodhisattva Path. We are now able to hear, see, uphold, read, recite, and write out The Dharma Flower Sutra. The only thing to be feared is that you will not wish to practice the Bodhisattva Path. If you practice it, you will certainly perfect it. Once you have done so, the Buddha Path is then realized as well.

Sutra:

“If living beings that seek the Buddha Path get to see or hear The Dharma Flower Sutra and, having done so, receive and uphold it with faith and understanding, know that these people have drawn near to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.”

Outline:

H5. Praising the fruition.
I1. The proximate fruit. 

Commentary: 

If living beings that seek the Buddha Path get to see or hear The Dharma Flower Sutra and, having done so, receive and uphold it with faith and understanding. Having heard the Sutra, they give rise to wisdom. Since they have wisdom, they then believe in and understand the wonderful doctrines of The Dharma Flower Sutra. Since they deeply believe and understand, they then receive it with their minds and uphold it with their bodies. You should know that these people,having come in contact with the Sutra in this way, have drawn near to anuttarasamyaksambodhi, they are very close to the Buddha-fruit, the utmost right and prefect enlightenment.

Sutra:

“Medicine King, it is like a person who is thirsty and in need of water. Although he digs for it on a high plain, all he sees is dry earth, and he knows the water is still far off. He continues efforts without cease and eventually sees moist earth and then mud. He is then certain that water must be close at hand.” 

Outline:

I2. Setting up the analogy. 

Commentary: 

The Buddha now gives us an analogy: Medicine King, it is like a person who is thirsty and in need of water. He is thirsty. His throat is so dry, it is smoking. To say nothing of tea, he would be satisfied with just a little water! Although he digs for it on a high plain, digging a deep hole looking for water, all he sees is dry earth. This refers to people whose ignorance, afflictions, view of self, and arrogance are as high as Mount Sumeru, it is very difficult. In the same way, arrogant and self-satisfied people who wish to cultivate, may cultivate and cultivate, but all they will see is “dry earth,”—that is, they will only attain to the stage of “dry wisdom.” “Dry wisdom” means that they have a small measure of wisdom, but it is not great, just small. They have not obtained the water of the Dharma nature; they have not truly opened up their wisdom.

And he knows the water is far off. He obtained a small amount of dry wisdom, a state that is somewhat inconceivable. When he sits in meditation, he thinks, “When I meditate I feel my self-nature is emitting light! I feel pure in body and in mind, no others, no self. This is not bad at all!” That is dry wisdom when you think, “It is not bad!” “Not bad” it may be, but one still has not truly opened up one’s wisdom. One has not broken through the black energy barrel—ignorance. One thinks, “Strange, how could I be in such a wonderful state? Surely I am to become a Buddha. It is not all a trick. I have now obtained something I never understood before.” One has seen a bit of “dry earth.”

And he knows that the water is still far off. The true wisdom of the Buddha, the water of the Dharma-nature’s wisdom is still far away. He continues his efforts without cease. This is the most important phrase! It means he does not stop cultivating. He continues his work mindfully and never thinks, “Today lotus, tomorrow peony.” He changes his mind. As the saying goes:

Sun it for one day.
Freeze it for ten.

It would be better if you just do not set it out to sun! This is like someone who cultivates for one day and then sleeps for ten. He continues his efforts without cease.” He cultivates without ceasing. He is forever vigorous day and night. He is vigorous during the day and vigorous at night. He is always vigorous 24 hours a day. He works hard on his cultivation, investigating Dhyana and meditating non-stop. “He continues his efforts without cease,” means that he is vigorous in the six periods of the day and night. He continues his efforts, day after day, digging and digging and eventually he sees moist earth, he obtains a bit of the water of the Dharma-nature, and then mud, he certifies to the first, second, third, and fourth fruits of Arhatship. He is then certain. Having certified to the fruit and attained some of the “flavor,” he is assured that water must be close at hand. He knows that he will certainly become a Buddha and gain the water of the Dharma nature.

There is a story about Confucius, the Chinese sage. Even though he was a sage, in his day he had to undergo a lot of hardships. When he was teaching in Xing Tan, present day Shan Dong , he had over 3,000 disciples. Of the three thousand, most of them would come and go their various ways, but 100 of them were his close followers and went with him everywhere. Shakyamuni Buddha had 1,250 close followers; Confucius had about one-tenth that many. At any rate, his followers went with him as he traveled from country to country, and so the hosts would have 125 or so mouths to feed.

At that time, he was lecturing all across the land, teaching his disciples of government and he became an official in the country of Lu. Within three months time he had things so well regulated that it was possible to leave gold laying in the street, and no one would steal it. He taught all the people not to be greedy. Also, at night you did not need to lock your door. America used to be like this too, very well governed. No one cared if they locked their doors or not. Now, that would never do.

At the very least you have to have dead bolts on the doors. In any case, within three months, the country of Qi got jealous. “This is terrible. If this goes on, we are finished!” So they thought of a plan and made a gift to the King of Lu of concubines—sort of like present day movie stars. They could sing, dance, and do all kinds of things. The King of Lu spent three days and nights in their company, without showing up at Court for three days. Confucius was so disgusted at the degenerated behavior of the King and he left, taking his disciples with him. He talked to the other nobles, thinking they would employ him, but no one wanted to listen to him.

It is that way today too. If you try to tell people the truth, they do not want to hear it. If you tell them something false, they are delighted. Because Confucius always told the truth, he became very unpopular. They gave him a lot of respect, but they did not employ him. He was too “straight.” He would not let the rulers get away with anything.

He kept on travelling and came to the border of the countries of Chen and of Cai and ran out of offerings. No one gave him anything to eat, and he had no money or food. He was unwelcomed in both countries. After three days of no food, he was sick from hunger and could not even stand up. Confucius said, “What are we going to do now?” One of his disciples suggested, “Fan Dan has food!” Fan Dan was a beggar who stored the rice he had begged in a big barrel, like a grain silo. “Let us go borrow some from him.”

“Who shall we send? All of you are weak from hunger!”

Zi Lu bravely stepped forward. “I will go!” he said, “I am not sick. A little hunger does not bother me.”

“Okay,” said Confucius, “go ahead.” When Zi Lu reached Fan Dan’s place, he said, “Hey, Fan Dan, my brother, I am Zi Lu, a student of Confucius, and I have come to borrow some rice. Our group is stuck at the borders of Chen and Cai with nothing to eat. We know you have rice, and so we would like to borrow some from you.”

Fan Dan said, “All right, but only if you can answer my question.” Then he spoke a verse expecting Zi Lu to finish it for him:

What is more?
What is less?
What is happiness?
What is distress?

Zi Lu thought a moment and then said,

Stars are many.
Moons are few.
Marriage makes you happy.
Death makes you blue.

“No!” Fan Dan said, “That is not the right answer.” Zi Lu thought, “I matched it perfectly. What makes you say it is not right?”

“You do not make sense, you crummy beggar.” But Fan Dan did not shell out the rice and Zi Lu was not about to steal it, so he ran back to Confucius and said, “No luck. Fan Dan—that beggar—is totally unreasonable. He gave me a couplet to match. I gave a good answer, but he rejected it. He just did not want to give us the rice in the first place!”

Confucius said, “What did he say?”

Zi Lu said, “He asked me, in this world,

What is more?
What is less?
What is happiness?
What is distress?”

Confucius said, “Well, how did you answer him?”

I said,

“Stars are many.
Moons are few.
Marriage makes you happy.
Death makes you blue.

What is wrong with that? It is perfectly all right. It is great!”

Confucius said, “No, you are wrong.”

Zi Lu did not dare contradict his teacher. Confucius said, “You go back to Fan Dan and tell him this:

Petty men are many;
Sages are few.
When we get the rice, we are happy;
When we have to return it, we are blue.”

When Zi Lu said this to Fan Dan, Fan Dan nodded his head in approval. “Your teacher is much more advanced than you are. That is fine.” And he gave him the rice. They ate only rice, no vegetables, for several days. Then a tall black general showed up and ran into the garden intending to murder them. Zi Lu had eaten his fill and was feeling even more courageous than usual. He started fighting with him. Although he was strong, he could not outfight the big general. Confucius was standing in the doorway watching all this and he said, “You,” using Zi Lu’s other name, “Go for his throat.” Zi Lu got the hint and slit the man’s throat. As it turned out, it was not a human being, after all, it was a giant fish and it filled up the whole garden. Confucius and his disciples had rice and fish then, and none of them starved to death.

Zi Lu’s strongest point was that he was delighted to hear people criticize him and tell him of his faults.

Sutra:

“The Bodhisattvas are also like this. Know that those who have not yet heard, not yet understood, or not yet put into practice The Dharma Flower Sutra, are still far from anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Those who have heard and understood, thought upon, and put it into practice certainly should be known as coming near to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.”

Outline:

I3. Correlating the analogy to the Dharma. 

Commentary: 

Bodhisattvas are those who practice the Bodhisattvas’ way. The Bodhisattvas are also like this. They are like those mentioned in the previous analogy. Knowing that those who have not yet heard, not yet understood, or not yet put into practicethe inconceivably wonderful Dharma door of The Dharma Flower Sutra, are still far from anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Although they may practice the Bodhisattva Path, if they have not heard The Dharma Flower Sutra, understood its doctrines, or cultivated according to them, they are very far away from the Buddha-fruit.

You should know that those who have heard and understood, thought upon, and put it into practice. This represents the three types of wisdom: the wisdom of hearing, the wisdom of thought and the wisdom of cultivation. The wisdom of hearing arises when one hears the principles in the Sutras. The wisdom of thinking refers to wisdom arising through contemplating the doctrines and decreasing one’s false thinking. If you had no wisdom, if you were stupid, you would not be able to cultivate according to The Dharma Flower Sutra. Not only would you be unable to cultivate, you would not even be able to think about it, and in fact you would not even have a chance to hear The Dharma Flower Sutra. It is through the three types of wisdom, hearing, thinking and cultivating that one enters Samadhi.

Certainly should be known as coming near to anuttarasamyaksambodhi.Because they understand genuine principle, The Dharma Flower Sutra “opens the provisional and reveals the real.” There is nothing false in it. Therefore, those who understand The Dharma Flower Sutra have great good roots and great wisdom. If they did not, they would not have the opportunity to hear it. You should not think that it is easy to come and listen to the lectures on the Sutra. It is extremely difficult. You must make yourself quiet inside and listen to the Sutra—that is an inconceivable state. However, your habits from many lifetimes and many eons are heavy. You may want to listen to the Sutra, but sometimes you have false thinking.

One person told me that they felt as if they were two people. One wanted to listen to the Sutra the other did not! A war was going on between them. Well, the one of you that wants to listen to the Sutra, that is your original nature. The one of you that does not want to hear the Sutra is your old habits that make it impossible for you to subdue your mind. You should examine yourself closely and ask yourself, “Just who is this person who wants to listen to the Sutra, and who is this person who wants to indulge in false thinking?” When you have figured it out, you will not listen to those old habits anymore. You should know that the one who does not want you to listen wants you to fall, to get off the track and fall into the three evil paths. The one that wants to listen wants to keep you on the Path and keep you from the three evil paths. So pay attention! Do not get confused by your habits.

Sutra:

“What is the reason? The anuttarasamyaksambodhi of all the Bodhisattvas belongs to this Sutra. This Sutra opens the expedient Dharma doors. It demonstrates the true, real mark. The storehouse of the Dharma Flower Sutrais deep, solid, recondite, and far-reaching. No one could reach it except that now, the Buddha, in teaching and transforming the Bodhisattvas and bringing them to accomplishment, demonstrates it for their sakes.”

Outline:

I4. Showing the nearness of Bodhisattvas to it. 

Commentary: 

What is the reason? Why is anuttarasamyaksambodhi near to some and far away from others? The anuttarasamyaksambodhi of all the Bodhisattvas belongs to this Sutra. It is all included within The Dharma Flower Sutra. All the Bodhisattvas are born from The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. The realization of the supreme Buddha fruit comes from this Sutra as well. The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra is the mother of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions.

This Sutra opens the expedient Dharma doors. It opens up all the expedient Dharma doors—they are not used anymore. It demonstrates the true, real mark. It points to and instructs us in the wonderful doctrine of the true mark. It points out the principle substance, that which is complete within all of us. The principle of the real mark is not obtained from the outside. Every single person is complete with it.

As to the principle substance of the real mark, on the part of all the Buddhas, it is not “more.” On the part of living beings it is not “less.” It is the same in all of us. Most people, however, turn their backs on enlightenment and unite with the dust. Thus they do not know that they have the real mark. The Buddha shows us how to turn our backs on the dust and unite with enlightenment, in this way realizing the true mark.

The storehouse of The Dharma Flower Sutra is deep. It is deep because the Sutra is complete with limitless meanings. It is like the great sea, deep and unfathomable. Solid means that there are no heavenly demons or outside ways who could harm the Sutra’s wonderful Dharma. Recondite means that the doctrines of The Dharma Flower Sutra are exceedingly abstruse and hard to fathom. They are secret and hard to see. They “hide out,” as it were, like Heng Yin who cultivates on the stairs where no one can see her.

Far-reaching, for living beings to reach the Buddha-position, they must pass through nine stages—the nine Dharma realms. They are still a long distance away from the tenth Dharma Realm, the Dharma Realm of Buddhas. Therefore, no one could reach it because it is so far away. It is not easy for people to reach the level of The Dharma Flower Sutra. The Dharma Flower Sutra tells us that in the future everyone will realize Buddhahood. This is not easy to believe or understand. Except that now, the Buddha opens the provisional and reveals the real. He does away with provisional Dharma and points to the real path.

In teaching and transforming the Bodhisattvas and bringing them to accomplishment, demonstrates it for their sakes. He speaks The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. So the Great Master Zhi Zhe read The Dharma Flower Sutra to the part where Medicine King Bodhisattva burned his body as an offering to the Buddhas and the text said, “This is called true vigor. This is a true Dharma offering.” As he read these lines he entered samadhi. In samadhi he saw the assembly at Vulture Peak still in session. It had not dispersed. Shakyamuni Buddha was still lecturing The Dharma Flower Sutra there on Vulture Peak, and he was listening.

Not only was Great Master Zhi Zhe in the Dharma Flower Assembly, but perhaps you people were there too! So now, although you are Americans, you have this chance to hear The Lotus Sutra in Chinese! With translation! This is an inconceivable state. When you lecture on The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, you are supposed to talk about wonderful dharmas. Well, my lecturing The Dharma Flower Sutra for you is in itself a wonderful Dharma. Your listening to it is also a wonderful Dharma. If it were not you would have no way to hear it.

Sutra:

“Medicine King, if a Bodhisattva upon hearing The Dharma Flower Sutra is frightened or afraid, you should know that he is a Bodhisattva of newly resolved mind. If a Hearer, upon hearing this Sutra is frightened or afraid, you should know that he is one of overweening arrogance.”

Outline:

I5. Picking out the bad ones.

Commentary: 

Medicine King, if a Bodhisattva upon hearing The Dharma Flower Sutra is frightened or afraid. He hears lectures on The Dharma Flower Sutra and thinks “Hey, how could this be? It is too wonderful. It is impossible. Is this a demon speaking the Dharma? Is it for real?” and he gets scared out of his wits. You should know that he is a Bodhisattva of newly resolved mind. He gets frightened because he is a newly resolved Bodhisattva who has never heard The Dharma Flower Sutra before. These are the eighty thousand Bodhisattvas Medicine King brought along. Bodhisattvas are of the Great Vehicle, but they get scared if they are just beginners.

If a Hearer, one of the Two Vehicles, upon hearing this Sutra is frightened or afraid, you should know that he is one of overweening arrogance. He thinks, “What is this all about?” Those of overweening arrogance do not believe in anything. They do not believe in their teacher, in the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Sangha. You can lecture and teach with great energy, but they let it all pass in one ear and out the other. Overweening arrogance was the fault of the five thousand people who walked out in the beginning of The Lotus Sutra. The Buddha said, “It is good that those of overweening pride have left. Now, only the best people remain, the most sincere.” The text here refers to these five thousand, and also to those in the future who run off when they hear that the Sutra is going to be lectured. They do not respect their teacher, the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Sangha. All day long, they just do not know what they are doing—they are those of overweening arrogance.

Sutra:

“Medicine King, if there is a good man or a good woman, after the extinction of the Thus Come One, who wishes to speak The Dharma Flower Sutra for the sake of the four assemblies, how should they speak it? This good man or good woman should enter the Thus Come One’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robe, sit on the Thus Come One’s throne, and only then expound upon this Sutra for the sake of the four assemblies.”

Outline:

G2. Demonstrating the model.
H1. The model itself.
I1. The statement.

Commentary: 

Medicine King, if there is a good man or a good woman—perhaps they have left home, or perhaps they are at home. After the extinction of the Thus Come One,after the Buddha has entered Nirvana, who wishes to speak The Dharma Flower Sutra for the sake of the four assemblies. Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, Upasikas, how should they speak it? How should they go about lecturing upon it? I will tell you. This good man or good woman should enter the Thus Come One’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robe, sit on the Thus Come One’s throne, and only then when these conditions have been met, can they expound upon this Sutra for the sake of the four assemblies.

Tomorrow we will discuss what is meant by entering the Thus Come One’s room, putting on the Thus Come One’s robe, and sitting upon the Thus Come One’s throne.

Sutra:

“The Thus Come One’s room is the mind of great compassion towards all living beings. The Thus Come One’s robes are the mind of gentleness and patience. The Thus Come One’s throne is the emptiness of all Dharmas.” 

Outline:

I2. The explanation. 

Commentary: 

If after the Thus Come One’s extinction, you wish to speak The Dharma Flower Sutrafor the sake of the Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas and Upasikas, you must enter the Thus Come One’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robes, and sit on the Thus Come One’s throne. After that, then you can lecture upon The Dharma Flower Sutra.

What is meant by “the Thus Come One’s room?” Does it actually mean the room where he lives? There are a great many people who lecture on the Sutras, but the Thus Come One has only one room. Obviously, they all will not fit. Even though he has spiritual powers with which he can take the limitless into one and expand the one into the limitless, still that is just a temporary arrangement. After a while it is bound to get crowded. Do we move the Thus Come One’s room to the place where you are and give it to you alone to live in? Then where would the Thus Come One move to? Doesn’t he has a lot of rooms? Could he not go somewhere else?”

If he did, then the room he vacates would no longer be “his” room! Besides, all the Dharma Masters are in different countries; they cannot all move to one place to live in the Thus Come One’s room. So ultimately, what do we mean by “the Thus Come One’s room?” All living beings are complete with the “Thus Come One’s room.” They do not all have to move house. Nobody has to relocate at all.

The text says, the Thus Come One’s room is the mind of great compassion towards all living beings. If you have a heart of great compassion, just that is the Thus Come One’s room. With a heart of great compassion, you pity all living beings. If living beings slander you, you do not get angry. If they scold you, you get angry even less. You maintain an attitude of loving kindness towards those who have no affinity with you and an attitude of great compassion towards those with whom you feel as one. “Having no affinity” means that a person is not well disposed towards you. The more they dislike you, the kinder you should be to them.

Kindness means making people happy. To feel as one with living beings means that when living beings suffer, you look upon it as your own suffering, and find a way to relieve them of their suffering. Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva has great compassion. She sees the sufferings of living beings as her own sufferings and rescues people from suffering. If you can have great kindness towards those with whom you lack affinities and great compassion towards those of one substance, then you have entered the Thus Come One’s room.

The Thus Come One’s robes are the mind of gentleness and patience. This means that you have no “fire” at all. Even if one’s disciples bully you, or your children bully you, you do not get angry. One is very compliant and gentle, harmonious and patient. It is not easy to be patient, especially for young people.

Patience does not mean that if the police come and beat me up, I bear it. It means, let us say you are the policeman and the criminal beats you, you do not get angry. It means that when those beneath you treat you unkindly, you can be patient. When your superiors appear upset with you and you can bear it, that does not count as true patience. Let us say your teacher gets mad at you and you do not get mad back; that is not counted as patience. Basically, you are expected not to get angry. But when your peers try to boss you around or get mad at you and you are not moved, that counts as patience.

“All right, then,” you think, “I am going to get mad at one of my friends and see if he can be patient. In this way I will be helping him to accomplish his karma of the Way.”

“Great. You help him accomplish his karma of the Way, but who is going to help you do it? When you get tested, will you be patient? If you can be patient yourself, then you can test others, but if you cannot, you have got no business testing other people. You must perfect yourself first. The robes of the Thus Come One, then, represent patience and gentleness, not blazing ignorance.

The Thus Come One’s throne is the emptiness of all Dharmas. This throne is not the throne on which the Thus Come One sits upon to lecture the Sutras and speak Dharma. All Dharmas are empty.

“Empty?” you say. “Does that mean I am just supposed to forget everything?”

Emptiness does not mean just getting rid of everything. It means to see the emptiness within existence. When it is time to use them, dharmas are there. Otherwise, they are empty. This is like when you cultivate patience, you do it in situations that require patience. Cultivating patience does not mean that you are obsessed with the concept of patience at all times, reciting “Patience, patience, patience,” all day long, and then when something happens that goes against the grain you still get mad, get upset. Say you cannot stand it when people get angry with you and everyday someone comes up and scolds you. You cannot use your patience Dharma then.

When nothing is happening in that area, you do not need to be preoccupied with patience. You must study all dharmas, but realize their emptiness at the same time. If you do not understand that they are empty, you will form an attachment to dharmas. Those who study the Dharma must see people and dharmas as empty. If people are not seen as empty, you will be attached to people. If dharmas are not seen as empty, you will form an attachment to dharmas. Therefore, you must sit on the Thus Come One’s throne to lecture The Dharma Flower Sutra. This means that dharmas must also be made empty. That is the Thus Come One’s throne.

Sutra:

“Established securely in these one may then, with an unflagging mind expound upon The Dharma Flower Sutra for the sake of the Bodhisattvas and the four assemblies.” 

Outline:

I3. Exhortation to cultivation.

Commentary: 

Established securely in these, in the mind of great compassion, the mind of gentleness and patience, and in the emptiness of all Dharmas, one may then with an unflagging mind. I tell you all the time, “Do not be lazy, do not be lazy.” That is just what The Dharma Flower Sutra tells you, too. If you want to lecture on The Dharma Flower Sutra you must not be lazy.

A flagging mind is the opposite of a vigorous mind. With a vigorous mind you may then expound upon The Dharma Flower Sutra for the sake of the Bodhisattvas and the four assemblies. The Dharma Flower Sutra is a Dharma for teaching Bodhisattvas; it is a Dharma of which the Buddhas are mindful and protective. If you lecture on the Dharma Flower Sutra, all the Bodhisattvas, the Bhikshus, and Bhikshunis come to listen. In listening to the Sutra, you should not think it is such a simple matter. You have to be at the Bodhisattva level before you can hear The Dharma Flower Sutra. You must be at the level of the Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas before you can hear the Dharma Flower Sutra.

In speaking the Dharma, why do we say it is the “Wonderful” Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra? When you lecture on the Sutra, all the gods, dragons, and the eightfold division of ghosts and spirits all come to listen. The Dharma rain nourishes all the living beings and so it is said to be “wonderful.”

Sutra:

“Medicine King, from another country, I will send transformed people to gather an assembly of Dharma listeners. I will also send transformed Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas to listen to the Dharma being spoken. All these transformed people, hearing the Dharma, will believe it and accept it, and comply with it without objection. If one speaks the Dharma in an uninhabited place, I will send gods, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, and so forth, to listen to him speak the Dharma. Although I am in another country, I will at all times cause the speaker of Dharma to be able to see me. Should he forget a single punctuation mark of the Sutra, I will remind him of it, causing his knowledge to be perfected.”

Outline:

H2. The five benefits. 

Commentary: 

This section tells of five benefits accruing to the speaker of The Dharma Flower Sutra.

Shakyamuni Buddha calls out, Medicine King, from another country, after I have entered Nirvana from this Saha world, I will go to another country to teach and transform living beings. Although I will be in another country, if there are people who enter the Thus Come One’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robes, and sit on the Thus Come One’s throne, that is, if there is such a Dharma Master who speaks upon The Dharma Flower Sutra, I will send transformed people to gather an assembly of Dharma listeners.

This is the first benefit, that of the Buddha’s sending transformation people. “Transformed” means they are created by transformation. There are two ways to explain it. First, perhaps the Buddha will appoint gods to transform themselves into people. Or perhaps right when the lecture is going on, the people will show up in the audience, and nobody knows where they came from or where they went. Nobody recognizes them at all. Perhaps, they are transformed people sent by Shakyamuni Buddha, but no one recognizes them. Or else you could say that the transformed people look like friends of yours. You see them and think, “Oh, my friend has come to the lecture!” Then when the lecture is over you ask your friend, “Say, didn’t I see you at the lecture last week?”

And he says, “No! I did not go.”

“But I saw you there!” That is a transformation person. Some transformed people are born into the world just for the purpose of attending your dharma lectures when the time comes. Others appear on a temporary basis now and then. They do not come from anywhere or go anywhere. Now do you understand? You are all transformed people! That is why you are here listening to the Sutra now.

“I do not believe it,” you say.

You do not believe it now, but when the time comes for you to believe it, you will believe it. You just do not believe it right now. In the future you will. So much for transformed people.

To gather an assembly of Dharma listeners. What will the transformed people do? They will round up people to listen to the lectures. They will tell their friends and relatives to come and listen to the Dharma. This is like Guo You whose father just called. You should tell your father to come to the lecture—because you are a transformed person! That is your job.

You should know that by bringing people to the lectures you create a great deal of merit for yourself. If they come to the lecture and hear a sentence, which causes them to gain enlightenment, then you will have a share in helping them gain enlightenment. By helping others to become Buddhas, you yourself will become a Buddha—it is unavoidable, in fact. So if you have relatives and friends, brothers and sisters, you should encourage them to come to the lectures. It is very important. You cannot just be an independent Arhat. You cannot think, “I am just going to take care of myself. Why should I worry about them?” Since you enjoy listening to the Sutra lectures, you should tell everyone to come and listen to the Sutra lectures!

I will also send transformed Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, and Upasikas to listen to the Dharma being spoken. So all of you have been transformed to come here and listen to the Dharma. All these transformed people, hearing the Dharma, will believe it and accept it, and comply with it without objection. This is the second benefit that of the Buddha’s sending transformations of the four assemblies. They will not object to the way you lecture on the Sutra. They will not say, “You lectured it wrong! That is not the way to explain it! They will be satisfied with whatever explanation you give.

If one speaks the Dharma in an uninhabited place where no one else is, I will send gods, dragons, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas, musical spirits in the heavens, and asuras who like to fight, and so forth,to listen to him speak the Dharma. This is the third benefit that of the Buddha’s sending transformations of the eightfold division.

Although I am in another country, I will at all times cause the speaker of Dharma to be able to see me. This is the fourth benefit, that of seeing the Buddha. Does this mean the Dharma body, the Reward body, and the Transformation body of the Buddha? Yes. What is the Dharma body? It is The Dharma Flower Sutra. What is the Reward body? It is The Dharma Flower Sutra. What is the Transformation body? It is also The Dharma Flower Sutra. If you get to see The Dharma Flower Sutra, you are seeing the true body of the Thus Come One. In hearing The Dharma Flower Sutra you are hearing the true body of the Buddha. Therefore, you should not look for the Thus Come One outside of The Dharma Flower Sutra. The Dharma Flower Sutraitself is the Thus Come One’s true body.

Should he forget a single punctuation mark of the Sutra, I will remind him of it, causing his knowledge to be perfected. This is the fifth benefit that of gaining “Dharani.” If he forgets some part of the Sutra when he is lecturing, I will remind him so that he will remember it all. You should not get attached and think that the Buddha is actually going to whisper it in your ear. The Buddha will help you to remember it for yourself. He will give you some wisdom so that you can remember what you have forgotten.

“I do not quite believe this,” you say. “Before I believed in the Buddha, sometimes in school I would forget things and then suddenly think of them.”

Well, who reminded you of those things? It was also the Buddha because you have the Buddha’s wisdom and virtuous characteristics, and there is a connection between you and the Buddha. Therefore, whether you believe in the Buddha or not, that wisdom is all through the help of the Thus Come One. That way you will not forget your Sutra texts.

As I said, you are all transformed people. If you admit it, you are. If you do not, you are, too. Those who listen to The Dharma Flower Sutra are all transformed people. That is for sure. The Buddha told us this long ago, and we should not deny it. Not only should we be transformed people, we should be transformed Buddhas. On the 10th of May we are going to bathe the transformed Buddha on the Buddha’s birthday. In the past the Buddha’s birthday was held by Pu Chi. He is too old and does not dare this year.

This year there are real Bhikshus, and Bhikshunis, so the Buddhist Lecture Hall will conduct it. I will not be in charge, but my young disciples will be. I told you long ago that I appointed Guo Ning as Chairperson and Guo Qian as the advisor. All of you transformed people will go there to help the Buddha propagate, transform, and participate in the Dharma Assembly. Those of you who can lecture, should give talks. You cannot act like you are dumb. Those who do not lecture should go and support the Bodhimanda. In the future you will lecture. This year we are going to do the Incense Praise and the Eighty-eight Buddha Repentance. This is the first time this has been done in America. Next year we will do it again.

Sutra:

At that time, the World Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke verses saying,

“One who wishes to get rid of laxness,
Should listen to this Sutra.
This Sutra is hard to hear,
And those who believe it and accept it are also rare.

Outline:

F2. Verse.
G1. General exhortation. 

Commentary: 

At that time, the World Honored One, wanted to make things even clearer, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke verses, saying, these verses arose from his great compassion.

One who wishes to get rid of laxness, which means laziness. Why are people lazy? It is because they like to take it easy. They do not like to move their arms and legs! Their hands do not like to work, and their legs do not like to walk. They prefer to sit or lie down and rest. As a rule, people do not like to quit being lazy. The Dharma Flower Sutra here is talking about someone who does want to give up one’s habit of being lazy. To get rid of laziness, you need a method, a plan. Should listen to this Sutra. If you want to get rid of it, here is the plan. It is not difficult at all. Just listen to The Dharma Flower Sutra. In this way you can get rid of your laziness.

The Dharma Flower Sutra teaches you to be vigorous. When you hear it, you can change. This Sutra is hard to hear. Not just everyone gets a chance to hear The Dharma Flower Sutra. It is very, very hard to come by, and very hard to hear. And those who believe it and accept it are also rare. Should you get chance to hear it, it is then hard to believe it. If you do not believe it, there is no way you can put it to use and gain its advantages.

Sutra:

It is like a person thirsty and in need of water
Who digs for it on a high plain,
And sees only dry, parched earth,
And knows that water is still far off.
Gradually he sees moist earth and then mud,
And knows for sure that water is near.

Outline:

G2. Verses concerning prose text.
H1. Verse about fruition.
I1. Setting up the parable. 

Commentary: 

It is like a person thirsty and in need of water. This represents common people who are seeking the “water” of the Buddha fruit. On the ground of the common person it is very dry, and so one wish to drink the Dharma water and realize the Buddha fruit. Who digs for it on a high plain, digging a well. This represents cultivating the Way. Your cultivation is like digging a well. And sees only, dry, parched earth. This means that because your arrogance and pride are as high as Mount Sumeru, you cultivate coming and going but are always on dry ground. You have not reached moist ground. You are on the ground of dry wisdom. You cultivate, attain a principle, but you are still far from water. And knows that water is still far off. You are still far from Buddhahood, yet you know that eventually you will gain it.

Gradually he sees moist earth and then mud. After you gain dry wisdom you keep digging and gradually you see “moist earth”, that is, you gain a bit of the flavor and advantage of cultivation. “And mud”, means you attain the first, second, third, or fourth fruits of Arhatship. And knows for sure that water is near. You are sure that in the future you will realize Buddhahood. To explain the analogy in terms of the five periods of the Buddha’s teaching, the high plain also represents the Avatamsaka Period. If we want to understand The Avatamsaka Sutra, it is like being on a high plain and digging a well. You dig and dig, but you just cannot understand the Avatamsaka’s principles.

Then, you go to the Agama Period, which is like the dry earth and investigate it. Then you go to the Vaipulya Period. This is like seeing moist earth. The Prajna Period is like seeing mud. The Prajna Teaching is the pivotal point of the teachings where the wealth is passed on from the Vaipulya Period, through the Prajna Period, into the Lotus-Nirvana Assembly. In the Prajna Teaching the Buddha’s “will” is made out. The Lotus-Nirvana Period is the Buddha’s complete body. It is like finding water.

When one begins to cultivate it is very difficult. One feels that one cultivates and cultivates but does not get anything. One learns so much Dharma, and it is still as if there is nothing at all. There is nothing you can grab onto. You cannot see it. You cannot hear it. You cannot even think about it! It is empty any way you think about it. It is very, very difficult. But you still must continue working without cease. You continue working and you still do not get anything! It is like dry, parched earth. Then, after a time, things start to get interesting. One sees moist earth. One goes forward and feels that one has developed some wisdom and obtained the “mud” of Prajna, finally, one certifies to the water of the Dharma Flower, to the doctrines of The Dharma Flower Sutra.

These doctrines are endless. They have no beginning, no end, no inside, no outside. They are not great or small. They are ineffably wonderful, wonderful beyond words. The Dharma Flower is truly wonderful Dharma. Only the word “wonderful” can approximate the doctrines of The Dharma Flower. One who drinks the water of The Dharma Flower will never be a ghost again. What will one become? One will become a Buddha. Why would one become a ghost? It is because one never drank The Dharma Flower water. Why would one become an animal? It is because one never got the mud of Prajna. These birds, you see, never got the mud of Prajna—thus, their bird-existence. You can explain it this way.

There are many ways to explain the doctrines, because they are endless, wonderful Dharmas. We shall now explain the analogy according to the Four Additional Practices: Heat, Summit, Patience, and Highest Mundane Dharmas. Let us say that a person cultivates the Way. He is “searching for water.” He first comes to the position of “heat”. He does not know where it comes from, but it is warm. Eventually, he reaches the position of the “summit,” the highest point. He is “digging on a high plain”. Like a newborn child who does not understand anything, he is at the position of summit and cannot go forward. He just has to sit tight. This is called “patience”. You cannot strike up false thinking and run off, or else you might get caught by demons or ghosts. So you “continue your efforts without interruption.”

At the summit, you have to just stay there and be patient. You can try like Monkey King Sun Wukong and do a somersault across 108,000 miles, but you might not make it back. So even if you want to run, you cannot. You have to remain at the position of patience. Having cultivated at the position of patience, you gain the moist earth and the mud. Then, when you reach the place of water, you are the “foremost in the world.” To be foremost in the world means that you are the most eminent Sanghan in the world. You are an enlightened one as Dharma Master so and so said. This person who has become enlightened is the “foremost in the world.” At the position of “highest of worldly Dharmas,” you get to drink the Dharma Flower water.

You see there are countless ways to explain the Dharma. You could never finish explaining all the doctrines. If you know how to listen to the Sutras, even if I did not explain the principles, you would still understand this principle. For those who do not know how to listen to Sutra lectures, I may talk about this principle and yet they will not understand this principle. “What is he talking about? Water? Mud? Dry earth? Warmth? Summit? Patience? What is “the foremost in world”? What is all this?” you would wonder.

You do not know? Well I do not either!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This afternoon we are going to “liberate life.” Americans see this as strange and wonder why it is done. We do it so that living beings can be free, so they do not have to be kept in cages. We also do it to nurture our compassionate hearts by giving creatures their freedom. By not killing we are cultivating compassion. In letting living creatures go we also cultivate compassion. Our compassionate hearts grow larger everyday until they are as large as the heart of the greatly compassionate Bodhisattva Guan Shi Yin. Guan Yin Bodhisattva do not kill living beings. She always liberated beings, and so she has a great compassionate heart.

We should imitate the great kindness and great compassion of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and liberate life. It is all very logical. If you liberate life it increases your compassion. Liberating life is just liberating oneself. Why? It is because you and all living beings are basically one substance. Living beings and oneself are the same. If someone put me in a cage, would I not be uncomfortable? Would I not wish that someone would let me go? If I were put in jail I would not want to live there. Likewise, I do not like to see birds put in cages. This is because living beings and myself are of one substance. Since I feel this, I want to liberate life.

What is more, you do not know which living being was related to you in a former life. One might have been your father, your brother, or your sister. You cannot know for sure. Perhaps they were your children or your friends. Right now you have not gained the Heavenly Eye or the Penetration of Past Lives so you do not know the cause and effect. When you see these creatures, you feel uncomfortable and want to set them free. Setting them free is not stupid by any means, as some people might think. It is a part of cultivation. There is not just one road in cultivation. There are eighty-four thousand Dharma-doors in cultivation, and every single door leads to the realization of supreme enlightenment. Liberating life is one of them.

In America, in the past, very few people understood this. We are leading the way in this regard and instituting the custom so that people can understand this Dharma. Be careful not to call it “stupid.” If you think that way, you will obstruct your own cultivation.

I just said that we would not want to be locked in jail. I will tell you a true dharma. This is not an analogy. Your own body is, in fact, a cage! You are stuck in your own body, and you can never get out of it. I just discussed the four positions—warmth, summits, patience, and highest of worldly dharmas. You have never reached the summit, patience, or the highest of worldly dharmas. When you make it to the highest of worldly dharmas, then you will have escaped from the cage of your body. You will have “liberated” your own “life.” That is the real liberation of life.

This is some real principle I am telling you here. If you want to liberate your own life you must first liberate these little creatures’ lives. One kind of liberation helps the other kind of liberation of life. Liberating life is a very important part of Buddhist practice. But if you have not understood it, you might think it very ordinary. If you do not cultivate one kind of liberating life, you cannot obtain the other kind. There are many changes and transformations. Do not look upon it lightly. The liberating of life brings great returns on your efforts. Do not criticize Dharma-doors that you cannot understand. Perhaps now you understand, perhaps you do not.

Sutra:

Medicine King, you should know
In this way, those people
Who do not hear The Dharma Flower Sutra
Are very far from the Buddha’s wisdom.

Those who hear this profound Sutra,
Will thoroughly understand the Hearer Dharmas.
This is the king of Sutras
And as to those who hear it and ponder upon it,
You should know that such people,
Have drawn close to the Buddhas’ wisdom.

Outline:

I2. Correlating to the Dharma. 

Commentary: 

Shakyamuni Buddha called out again. Medicine King, you should know, in this way, those people, the ones I just talked about, who do not hear The Dharma Flower Sutra, are very far from the Buddha’s wisdom. You should know that after my extinction, all those people, gods, dragons, or spirits of the eightfold division who do not hear this Sutra will not have an opportunity to become Buddhas. Why not? It is because they do not have the Buddha’s wisdom. It will be a long time before they become Buddhas.

Those who hear this profound Sutra, The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, this profound, far reaching, and wonderful Dharma, will thoroughly understand the Hearer Dharmas. They will understand that the Hearer Dharmas are not ultimate. They will know that those of the Two Vehicles have not reached the ultimate point, but must still go forward. They must cultivate the Bodhisattva Path, the Six Perfections and the Ten Thousand Conducts, for these are the Dharmas for realizing the Buddha Path.

This is the king of Sutras. And as to those who hear it and ponder upon it. You should know that such people have drawn close to the Buddha’s wisdom.Those who hear this Sutra and who then very carefully ponder upon its meaning. This does not mean false thinking. It means thinking it over, meditating on it, like when you think on the topic, “Who is reciting the Buddha’s name?” If you meditate on this topic until you understand it, then you will be enlightened. Now, if you think about The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, wondering, “How can it be so wonderful? Why is it called wonderful Dharma? What does this mean?” A person who does this has drawn near to the Buddha’s wisdom. They are close to the Buddha’s wisdom, but they have not arrived at it yet. When you arrive at it, then you truly

Deeply enter the Sutra treasury
And gain wisdom like the sea.

How does one go about “deeply entering the Sutra treasury?” From the first words of The Dharma Flower Sutra, “This I have heard…” you illumine the real mark of all dharmas with your wisdom, which penetrates it from beginning to end. This does not mean that you merely read it by rote. It means that you understand it and penetrate it completely. You obtain the Dharma Flower Samadhi, like the Tien Tai Master Zhi Zhe who entered the Dharma Flower Samadhi as he read the lines, “This is called true vigor. This is called true Dharma offering.” In this flash of illumination, he understood the entire Sutra.

True recitation of Sutras does not involve the mouth, and a true offering of incense does not involve the hands. One of my disciples said he could not recite the Shurangama Mantra, and now he can recite it line for line. Who is reciting it? Sutras have wonderful Dharma just like this. For a long time he could not recite it, and then one day he thought, “I should be able to do this,” and he did without a single mistake! Reciting the Sutras is also this way. The true way to recite Sutras is not with your mouth. The true way to offer incense is not with your hands. These are just outward ceremonies. If you obtain the “incense offering samadhi” you can offer incense without using your hands.

You say, “What is this Dharma Master trying to say?”

I do not know either! Do not ask me. Not only you are in the dark, so am I. But it does not seem to me that I have said anything at all. Probably none of you believe this.

We say that in true recitation one does not use the mouth. However true recitation is not apart from the mouth either. Real offering of incense does not involve the hands, but it is not apart from the hands either. One does not use them, and one does not ‘not’ use them. What is this? True recitation of Sutras is the recitation of the wordless Sutra. The Sutra which does not a have single word, is not apart from words, and it is not apart from “non-words.” True offering of incense does not involve the hands, nor is it apart from the hands. This is because you use the heart to offer incense. In this way you are offering incense all the time, in the six periods of the day and night, however, the offering of incense does not depend on the hand, and it is not apart from the hand.

Today, one of my confused disciples asked his confused teacher about a confusing situation. The confused disciple did not understand himself. He said, “Sometimes when I talk, it is me. Other times when I talk it is not I. One person has turned into two people.”

Would you call that confused? The confused teacher did not understand what was going on either. The confused teacher did not want to be stumped by his confused disciple, however, so he thought of a confused solution to the problem. He said, “Do not have yourself talk and do not have the other person talk. Have the ‘truth’ do the talking. Whatever part is true, let that part do the talking. You do not use whichever one is false.”

The confused disciple heard this and his confused question answered. His confused teacher clarified his question. Who would have guessed that a confused teacher would instruct a disciple into non-confusion?

Sutra:

One who speaks this Sutra
Should enter the Thus Come One’s room
Put on the Thus Come One’s robes,
And sit on the Thus Come One’s throne,
And fearlessly, in the assembly,
Expound it to them in detail.

Great compassion is the Thus Come One’s room,
Gentleness and patience are the Thus Come One’s robes,
The emptiness of all Dharmas is the Thus Come One’s throne.
Dwelling in this, one should speak the Dharma.

If, when one speaks this Sutra
Someone would slander him with evil mouth,
Or hit him with knives, sticks, tiles or stones
Recollecting the Buddha, he should endure this.

Outline:

H2. Verse about method.
I1. Statement of method. 

Commentary: 

One who speaks this Sutra. ‘To explain The Dharma Flower Sutra after my extinction,’ Shakyamuni Buddha told Medicine King Bodhisattva, ‘one should enter the Thus Come One’s room.’ First of all they must enter the Buddha’s room, put on the Thus Come One’s robes and sit on the Thus Come One’s throne. And fearlessly, in the assembly, one is not intimidated by the size of the audience. Expound it to them in detail, expound upon it broadly and in detail.

What is the Thus Come One’s room? It is certainly not the room he lives in. Great compassion is the Thus Come One’s room. You must have a greatly compassionate heart and vow to save all living beings, helping them to leave suffering, attain bliss, end birth and cast off death, and quickly realize the Buddha Path. Compassion means that one would not deliberately harm even a blade of grass or a tiny bug, an ant, or a mosquito.

The purpose of Liberating Life in Buddhism is for the nurturing of compassion. If you have true compassion you will realize that all living beings are of one substance. Since we are all of the same substance, it is up to us to help creatures gaining their freedom. Yesterday, we liberated some pigeons. Perhaps they were your relatives, father, mother, brothers or sisters, from former lives—it does not matter—they are living beings, and they are suffering so we should help them to gain freedom. That is compassion. Compassion does not mean being compassionate in one situation and not in another. Compassion means a universal concern for the welfare of all creatures. It is not partial to human beings, or animals, or any particular form of life. Compassion should extend to all of existence, to the entire Dharma Realm. This is the Thus Come One’s room—great compassion.

Gentleness and patience are the Thus Come One’s robes. Gentleness means that one is not tough and stubborn. The Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra says, “Stubborn living beings are hard to subdue.” Gentleness is the opposite of toughness.

Patience is the most wonderful of Dharmas. It is the third of the Six Perfections. Patience is of three types: produced patience, dharma patience, and unproduced dharma patience. Produced patience refers to the ability to endure both good and evil treatment by other living beings and to bear what others cannot bear. You must yield when others cannot yield. You can endure hunger, thirst, fatigue, wind, rain, heat, and cold. Cultivating patience and gentleness are like the Thus Come One’s clothing.

Dharma patience means that in your investigation of the Buddhadharma you endure long periods of study. If you have no patience, your mind may become uneasy and impatient. You might think, “I have studied so much Buddhadharma and read so many Sutras and learned so many mantras, but so much remains. I will never get to the end of it.” And you think about quitting.

Or perhaps you have just begun to study and you get anxious thinking, “I will never catch up with the others,” and you cannot be patient. In studying the Buddhadharma you have to be patient. You cannot get nervous or anxious because that is just false thinking. If you have too much false thinking, you will forget everything you know.

There is also the unproduced Dharma patience. What is “not produced”? Ignorance is not produced. This refers to the state in which you view that within the entire three thousand great thousand worlds not a single dharma is produced or destroyed. This kind of vision is extremely hard to endure, but you can bear it. Or say your Five Eyes are about to open, and you have to be patient with a lot of uncomfortable states. You may get headaches or feel that you cannot see anything. You must be patient, pay no attention to the discomfort. Basically, it may be impossible to bear, but you must bear it. If you cannot bear it, you cannot get enlightened. You must not lose patience and get nervous or upset.

The emptiness of all Dharmas is the Thus Come One’s throne. Some people might get an understanding of all the Dharmas and then become self-satisfied. Take care not to do this. Do not think, “I know all about the Dharma. I can lecture The Shurangama Sutra and The Lotus Sutra and The Vajra Sutra. I am a lot more advanced than everyone else.” If you think like this, you have not seen the emptiness of all dharmas. On the contrary, you have become obstructed by the dharmas. Not only have you failed to gain any true understanding of dharmas, you have formed an attachment to them. With such an attachment, you cannot gain the throne of the Thus Come One, that is, the emptiness of all dharmas. If one has an attachment to Dharmas, one cannot obtain the emptiness of all dharmas and “sit on the throne of the Thus Come One.”

Those of you who had never seen liberating life would have first impressions about it. Yesterday we liberated life, and afterwards I asked you each how you felt about it. Once it is done it is done, but still your impressions remain.

Dwelling in this, one should speak the Dharma. One should not have an attachment to self and others. One should not have the mark of self, living beings, others, or a life.

If, when one speaks this Sutra, someone would slander him with an evil mouth.Let us say, while you are lecturing someone comes along and starts yelling at you. Basically, you are doing something meritorious, but this person reviles you for it. Or hit him with knives, sticks, tiles or stones. Recollecting the Buddha, he should endure this. Think of the Buddha’s great compassion, and remain gentle and patient. Remember the emptiness of all dharmas. Since all dharmas are empty, the one hitting you is empty, and you are empty, and so what is there to make you angry? Recollect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Recollect the Buddha and cultivate compassion. Recollect the Dharma and cultivate patience. Recollect the Sangha and cultivate gentleness.

Sutra:

In a thousand myriads of millions of lands
I manifest a pure, solid body,
Throughout limitless millions of eons,
Speaking Dharma for the sake of living beings.

If after my extinction,
There is one who can speak this Sutra,
I will send by transformation the four assemblies,
Bhikshus and Bhikshunis,
As well as men and women of purity,
To make offerings to that Dharma Master.

I will gather living beings there
To listen to the Dharma.
Should someone wish to harm him,
With knives, sticks, tiles, or stones,
I will send transformed people,
To surround and protect him.

Should the speaker of Dharma
Be alone in an uninhabited place
Where it is lonely without a human sound,
And there be reading and reciting this Sutra,
I will then manifest
A pure and radiant body.

Should he forget a single passage or sentence,
I will remind him so he recites it smoothly.
Should persons of such virtue
Preach for the four assemblies,
Or recite the Sutra in a deserted place,
They shall all see me.

Should one be dwelling in an empty place
I will send gods and dragon kings,
Yakshas, ghosts, spirits and so forth
To be listeners in the Dharma assembly.

This person will delight in speaking the Dharma,
And explain it in detail without obstruction.
Because the Buddhas are protective and mindful of him,
He can cause the assembly to rejoice greatly.

Outline:

I2. The five kinds of benefit.

Commentary: 

In a thousand myriads of millions of lands, I manifest a pure, solid body.Shakyamuni Buddha says, “After I enter into Nirvana I will manifest bodies. Throughout limitless millions of eons, speaking Dharma for the sake of living beings. If after my extinction, there is one who can speak this Sutra, The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra. I will send by transformation the four assemblies: Bhikshus and Bhikshunis, as well as men and women of purity–Upasakas and Upasikas. To make offerings to that Dharma Master; to the one speaking the Dharma. I will gather living beings there to listen to the Dharma. I will gather them together to listen to the Dharma.

Should someone wish to harm him; to hurt the Dharma Master with knives, sticks, tiles, or stones, I will send transformed people to surround and protect him, to protect the person from harm.

Although Shakyamuni Buddha has entered into Nirvana, now in other worlds and other lands, he has become a Buddha in order to teach and transform living beings. Now, here in this Saha world when someone speaks The Dharma Flower Sutra, then Shakyamuni Buddha, from other lands, is protective and mindful of that Dharma Master. Not only does Shakyamuni mindfully protect those who lecture on the Sutra, but he also protects those who receive and uphold this Sutra, those who read, recite, and write it out.

This is the Dharma Master Chapter, which discusses the five types of Dharma Masters of whom the Buddha is protective and mindful. Since Shakyamuni Buddha cannot come in person, he sends transformed people and the gods and dragons of the eightfold division. There are five types of Dharma Masters protected mindfully by the Buddha. Ultimately what is a “Dharma Master?”

Dharma is the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. Master means first of all that they take the Dharma as their Master. It also means that they bestow the Dharma upon others. This passage is the final section on verses in the Masters of Dharma Chapter, the tenth chapter of The Dharma Flower Sutra. These verses praise the merit and virtue of Dharma Masters who explain The Dharma Flower Sutra.

Should the speaker of Dharma, “If after my extinction,” continues the Buddha, “there is someone who wishes to speak The Dharma Flower Sutra himself.” Perhaps he decides to do it on his own or perhaps others request him to do it. At any rate if he should be alone in an uninhabited place. This is a Dharma Master who decided himself to live deep in the mountains, perhaps in a cave, in a solitary place, alone where it is lonely without a human sound, an extremely pure place. All day long you never hear a human voice, for a whole month or even an entire year, ten years, a hundred years, you do not hear a human sound.

And there be reading and reciting this Sutra. In such a place it is easy to enter samadhi, to gain dhyana samadhi. Perhaps he reads it, or perhaps he recites it from memory, I will then manifest, right then in this solitary place, I will appear to this cultivator in a pure and radiant body. This pure and radiant body is also just pure wisdom. Pure wisdom means no jealousy or obstruction. It is pure and light. Shakyamuni Buddha will manifest this body. What is the pure and radiant body? It is just The Dharma Flower Sutra. The Dharma Flower Sutra will cause you to give rise to pure wisdom. When you have pure wisdom, then you obtain pure light. With pure light you manifest the pure Dharma body.

Should he forget a single passage or sentence, I will remind him so he recites it smoothly. Perhaps in a dream I will come and tell him, “You forget a word there. Remember to put it in.” Or perhaps the Buddha will remind you when you are sitting in dhyana samadhi and your memory lapses. “How do those verses in the Masters of the Dharma chapter go? Let us see, ‘Should the speaker of Dharma be alone in an uninhabited place, where it is isolated without a human sound…then what? Oh! I remember: And there would be reading and reciting this Sutra.’” You will suddenly remember it.

Actually it is not you remembering it. It is Shakyamuni Buddha in the Land of Eternal Quiescent Light, shining his wisdom light upon you so that you can remember it. Would you not say that was wonderful? It is even more wonderful than buying your own computer! It is faster than a computer, and you do not have to program it or get a print out or anything. The Buddha’s computer is more efficient than ours!

Should persons of such virtue, that is people with pure cultivation and virtuous practice, people without lust, greed, hate and stupidity, people who have morality, samadhi, and wisdom. Preach for the four assemblies, speak The Dharma Flower Sutraor recite the Sutra in a deserted place. They shall all see me. “Me” here, just means The Dharma Flower Sutra. If you recite The Dharma Flower Sutra and obtain the wisdom of The Dharma Flower Sutra, then you have opened the wisdom of the Buddha and attained a vision of the Buddha himself.

Should one be dwelling in an empty place, I will send gods and dragon kings, Yakshas, ghosts, spirits, and so forth to be listeners in the Dharma assembly. Because there are no human beings there, the Buddha will send all the gods and dragons, Dharma protectors and so forth to be the audience. This person will delight in speaking the Dharma and explain it in detail without obstruction. One principle will expand into limitless meanings, and the limitless meanings will return to the one principle. He will be unobstructed—light upon light interpenetrating, like Indra’s net.

Because the Buddhas are protective and mindful of him, of the one speaking The Dharma Flower Sutra, he can cause the assembly to rejoice greatly. Because the Buddha is helping this person speak the Dharma; there is not a single person who is unhappy. They are all happy and delighted. Even if this Dharma Master scolds people, they like to listen to it. Why? It is because he has virtue.

Sutra:

One who draws near this Dharma Master
Will quickly gain the Bodhisattva Path.
One who follows this master in study
Will see Buddhas as countless as the Ganges’ sands.

Outline:

G3. Concluding exhortation.

Commentary: 

One who draws near this Dharma Master who expounds upon The Dharma Flower Sutrawill quickly gain the Bodhisattva Path, the way cultivated by the Bodhisattvas. One who follows this master in study will see Buddhas as countless as the Ganges’ sands. If you study the Buddhadharma with this teacher, you see countless Buddhas. The Buddhas will rub you on the crown and give you a prediction saying, “Good man, in the future you shall become a Buddha,” and so on.

Do you see how inconceivable The Dharma Flower Sutra is? Today we have finished The Dharma Master Chapter.

On the first day of the Summer Session we will start Chapter Eleven: Seeing the Jeweled Stupa. Whoever wants to see a jeweled Stupa should not miss it.

“What is the use of seeing a jeweled Stupa?” you ask.

If you see one then you can live in one, and you will not have to worry about having no place to live!

Originally the Buddha’s birthday is Tuesday, but since everyone works during the week, we are having it on Sunday. If you bathe the Buddha, in the future people will come and bathe you. If you do not, when you become a Buddha no one will remember your birthday! Everything is a matter of cause and effect. Why do so many people remember Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday? It is because in limitless eons in the past, he bathed other Buddhas. Bathing the Buddha now is for the future when you become a Buddha. If you do not want to become a Buddha, you can forget about bathing the Buddha. If you do not care about the result, you do not need to plant the cause. However, if you think, “The Buddha is not bad. He is greatly enlightened and really understands everything. I would like to be like that,” then you should join in and bathe the Buddha.

Basically, the Buddha’s body is perfectly clean and he does not need a bath. The ceremony is a manifestation of our filial thoughts towards the Buddha. “Our teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday has come around. When he was born nine dragons came to bathe him and so we follow their example and bathe the Buddha. We are Buddhist disciples and so we should be filial to our teacher.” One need not give a lot of money in exchange for bathing the Buddha. Since, unlike some places, we do not charge money for bathing the Buddha, our ceremony is really clean. I hope this is clear now. We are not in it for the money.

The Dharma which is transmitted here is the “everything okay” Dharma.

END OF CHAPTER 10