Chapter 16: The Thus Come One’s Life Span

The Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra
Translated by the Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva of Yao Ch’in
A Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

Chapter 16: The Thus Come One’s Life Span

Now we have explained the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra as far as this chapter, the sixteenth, which is “The Thus Come One’s Life Span.” “Thus Come One” is one of the ten titles of a Buddha. Some people who do not understand the Buddhadharma say, “Oh, that is the Thus Come One, the Buddha.”

They think that “Thus Come One, Buddha” is the name for one particular Buddha. Actually, “Thus Come One” is a title given to all Buddhas. All the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time, no matter which one, are called “Thus Come One.” They are all called “One Worthy of Offerings.” They are all called “One of Proper and Universal Knowledge,” “One Who is Perfect in Understanding and Conduct,” “Skillful in Leaving the World through Liberation,” “Unsurpassed Knight,” “Taming Hero,” “Teacher of Gods and People,” “Buddha,” and “World Honored One.” They all have those ten titles.

Now we will discuss the first title: Thus Come One. What is meant by Thus Come One? The Vajra Sutra says: “The Thus Come One does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere. Therefore, he is called the Thus Come One.”

Another explanation says: “He rides on the Way that is actually thus and comes to realize Proper Enlightenment.” “Rides” refers to the wisdom of thusness. “Come” refers to the state of thusness. He uses the wisdom of thusness to contemplate the state of thusness. When the state and the wisdom are both thus, then there is no state and there is no wisdom. That state and the wisdom unite into one. The Way is the cause; enlightenment is the fruition. This is called the perfection of the cause and the fulfillment of the fruition. Because the cause is perfected, the fruition is fulfilled, and so he is called a Thus Come One. “Thus Come One” is one of the titles of the Buddhas.

There are also two kinds of Buddhas and the three kinds of Buddhas. There are also the fundamental Buddha and the discernible Buddha. What are the two Buddhas? They are the true body Buddha and the response-body Buddhas.

“True” means unmoving true thusness: not moving and yet according with conditions. This is setting forth the name based on the substance. As to the response bodies, although they accord with conditions, they do not move. Although they do not move, they accord with conditions.

Let us use an example to illustrate more clearly. The true body is like the bright moon up in the sky; the response body is like the reflecting moon in the water. Because there is the true light of the moon, there can be the reflection of the moon in the water. Although the moon appears in the water, the moon did not travel there; the bright moon in the sky has not gone anywhere. This is described as:

In a thousand pools of water are a thousand pools’ moons.

If a thousand pools have water in them and the water is pure, there will be a thousand reflections of the moon. The thousand reflections of the moon are certainly not a thousand moons that have descended into the water of those pools. But although the moonlight is not the basic substance of the moon, nonetheless, there is moonlight in the pools. Although the moonlight is there in the pools, the moon itself has not come down into the pools. And so it is said:

In a thousand pools of water are a thousand pools’ moons.
Ten thousand miles devoid of clouds is ten thousand miles of sky.

When there are no clouds for ten thousand miles, there will be ten thousand miles of clear sky. The Thus Come One is also like that.

That is, Shakyamuni Buddha came into this world and manifested being born. Although he manifested being born, he did not undergo birth. Although he manifested passing into stillness, he did not pass into stillness. Why not? His basic substance did not move. When Shakyamuni Buddha came into this world:

Without undergoing birth, he manifested being born.
Without passing into stillness, he manifested stillness.

His basic substance, his Dharma body, the true body Buddha, did not move. Therefore, you do not want to think that the Buddha is the same as we living beings are. The Buddha’s coming into the world is not the same as the way we have come into the world. Shakyamuni Buddha, while still in his mother’s womb, was already speaking Dharma for the gods, dragons, and others of the eight divisions of ghosts and spirits. He spoke the Dharma for gods and humans.

Now we shall explain the chapter “The Thus Come One’s Life Span.” “Life” can be explained with the homonym [in Chinese] “feeling,” which is one of the five skandhas. “Life” refers to feeling. “Span” refers to its accumulation in numbers of years. How long is the span of the Thus Come One’s life? It is incalculable—uncountably many years long. This, then, is the chapter “The Thus Come One’s Life Span.”

The meaning of “Thus Come One” is indeed vast. If we were to explain only the word “Thus” and the word “Come” in detail, it would take several years. The meaning of “Thus” is similar to the meaning of “wonderful.” One who is not “Thus” is not “wonderful”; one who is not “wonderful” is not “Thus.” The Thus Come One, then, is also the Wonderfully Come One. To be “Wonderfully Come” is to have not come in the way that we people have. We people do not know how we were born; we do not know how we will die. A Thus Come One knows how he was born, and he knows beforehand when he will enter Nirvana.

Now let us discuss the Thus Come One, with his vast virtue. As the Flower Adornment Sutra Preface says:

He is wealthy with ten thousand virtues,
And cleansed, without the finest dust.

National Master Qing Liang praised the Buddha this way:

Therefore, our World Honored One,
The ten bodies just fulfilled,
Proper Enlightenment first perfected,
Rides vows and conduct all-pervasive.
He unites with empty space in substance and nature,
Is wealthy with ten thousand virtues,
And cleansed, without the finest dust.
The pellucid waves of his deep, sea-like wisdom
Are empty, yet hold a myriad reflections.
The full moon of his glistening, space-like nature
At once scatters into one hundred streams.

This is praising the Thus Come One as he sits beneath the Bodhi tree and speaks the Flower Adornment Sutra.

Without rising from beneath the King of Trees,
He extends to seven places in the Dharma Realm.
He sat beneath the Bodhi tree and spoke the Flower Adornment Sutra. Unhindered by the bounds of afterwards,
He pervades the nine assemblies, as he first succeeds.

Therefore, the state of the Thus Come One can never be completely expressed.

We have already discussed the meaning of the two kinds of Buddhas. There are also the three kinds of Buddhas, Thus Come Ones, which may be called the “Three Bodies of a Thus Come One.” These three kinds of Buddhas are the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. The Buddhas of the past are those who have already become Buddhas; the Buddhas of the present are those who are about to become Buddhas now; the Buddhas of the future are those who have not yet become Buddhas. And so, even those who have not yet become Buddhas are counted as Buddhas.

The three bodies of a Thus Come One are: the Pure Dharma Body, the Perfect Reward Body, and the millions of transformation bodies. The Pure Dharma Body is Vairochana Buddha. Vairochana Buddha pervades all places. There is no place where he is and no place where he is not. There is no place where he exists, and yet there is no place that he does not exist. Well, ultimately does he exist or doesn’t he? He both exists and does not exist.

You say, “The ‘Pure Dharma Body Vairochana Buddha’ that I know must certainly not exist in unclean places. That is because he is pure. Impure places definitely would not house his Dharma Body.”

That is not the way it is. Purity and impurity are discriminations made by people. From the point of view of a Buddha, impurity is also pure. Purity is even more pure. Don’t you remember the three transformations of the land that occurred in the Dharma Flower Sutra? That is an example of purifying impure places. To repeat, the first is the Pure Dharma Body, Vairochana Buddha.

The Perfect Reward Body, Nishyanda Buddha. Translated, Nishyanda means “pure and full.” This body is also pure. As Shakyamuni Buddha was speaking the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra, he manifested the ten-thousand-foot-tall Nishyanda Buddha-body. But those of the Two Vehicles could neither see him nor hear him. Those of the Two Vehicles saw the Buddha as a six-foot-tall Bhikshu. But the Great Knights of the Dharma Body, the Great Bodhisattvas, saw Shakyamuni Buddha as the ten-thousand-foot-tall Nishyanda Buddha speaking the Flower Adornment Sutra. That is why it is said,

They had eyes but could not see Nishyanda Buddha.

Those of the Two Vehicles have eyes, all right; some may have even opened the Heavenly Eye. But they still could not see the ten-thousand-foot-tall body of Nishyanda Buddha.

They had ears but could not hear the Perfect, Sudden Teaching.

They had ears, but could not hear Shakyamuni Buddha speaking the Flower Adornment Sutra.

Once one of my disciples asked me, “Those of the Two Vehicles cannot see the ten-thousand-foot body of Nishyanda Buddha. We are not even up to the level of the Two Vehicles; we have not become enlightened or reached the state of those of the Two Vehicles. How is it that we are able to read the Flower Adornment Sutra?”

That is a good question. The conditions of those of the Two Vehicles had not yet matured. That was why they were unable to see and hear the Great Vehicle Buddhadharma. They could neither see nor hear the Flower Adornment Sutraspoken.

Five hundred years after Shakyamuni Buddha entered Nirvana, Nagarjuna Bodhisattva had learned all the languages of the world; he had mastered them all. And he had already read all the books in the world. Having done so, he went to the Dragon Palace, where he secured the Flower Adornment Sutra and took it back with him. To get to the Dragon Palace, he certainly did not ride in a submarine. He went by way of the state of a sage certified to the fruition. Although he was submerged in the water, the water did not drown him. When a certified sage enters the water, the water will naturally part, opening a path for him, and will not drown him. The state of a certified sage is just that wonderful; it is even more dependable than using a submarine.

When he got to the Dragon Palace, he read the Flower Adornment Sutra and committed it to memory. That was how he brought it back to the world. And so now we are able to see the Flower Adornment Sutra because our conditions have matured. Thus, the Reward-body Thus Come One spoke the Flower Adornment Sutra.

There are also millions of transformation-body Shakyamuni Buddhas. Transformation bodies are sometimes called response bodies. To review:

The Two Bodies are:

1. the true body, that is, the Dharma Body,
2. the Reward Body.

The Three Bodies are:

1. the Dharma Body,
2. the Reward Body,
3. the transformation bodies.

Someone who heard me say that Nagarjuna Bodhisattva went to the Dragon Palace to get the Flower Adornment Sutra had this thought, “I cannot believe something like that really happened. How could a person, without the use of a submarine, go to the Dragon Palace?”

A child of three has no way to know the state of a child of thirteen. A thirteen-year-old child cannot know the state of a young adult of twenty-three. A young person of twenty-three cannot know the state of a mature person of forty-three. A forty-three-year-old mature individual cannot know the state of a person of eighty.

Therefore, since you do not have the requisite level of scholarship or this kind of wisdom, of course you would not be able to believe that such an event could occur. Not only do you not believe, many, many children cannot believe the things that adults do. And while you are still at the stage of disbelief, I have no way to make you believe. You are still too young.

Children do not realize they are children. Once they grow up, they think back, “Oh, during that time of my life, I really had a lot of fun. How could I have put mud in my mouth and eaten it?” And yet they know they certainly must have done that when they were children. That is because young children put whatever they find into their mouths first. It does not matter to them what it is. They pay no attention to whether it is clean or unclean. Children know only how to eat; aside from that they understand very little principle.

If you want to understand, you should investigate the Buddhadharma. After you understand the Buddhadharma, you will come to understand what you now do not understand. Without me telling you, you will understand. Before you have at least investigated the Buddhadharma, you have no basis for belief or disbelief. If you believe, I gain no advantage from it. If you do not believe, I do not suffer any disadvantage. I am propagating the Buddhadharma, and you want to investigate the Buddhadharma. We set aside some time to investigate it together. When we investigate to the point of understanding, there is no need for belief or disbelief.

When you grow up, you do not have the same kind of thinking you had as a child.

“To whom are you talking?” someone wonders.

If you think I am talking to you, then I am talking to you. If it did not even occur to you to wonder who this is being spoken for, then it is being spoken for someone other than you. That other person has nothing to do with you, so you do not need to protest, “I am not a child.”

So you are an adult. Adults should not lack understanding of the things they ought to understand.

Sutra:

At that time the Buddha spoke to the Bodhisattvas and the entire great assembly, saying, “Good men, you should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One.” Once again he told the great assembly, “You should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One.” He again told the great assembly, “You should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One.”

Outline:

F2. Vastly opening and revealing in order to cut off doubts and bring forth belief.

G1. Exhortation to believe.
H1. Three exhortations.

Commentary:

At that time, after speaking the chapter “Welling forth from the Earth,” the Buddha was ready to speak the chapter “The Thus Come One’s Life Span.” This chapter, the sixteenth one, explains how long the life span of the Thus Come One is.

At that time the Buddha spoke to the Bodhisattvas and the entire great assembly. The Buddha addressed all the Great Bodhisattvas in the Dharma assembly and all the rest of the great assembly, including the Bhikshus and the Bhikshunis, the Upasakas and the Upasikas, the gods, the dragons, those of the eight divisions of ghosts and spirits, and all the good men and good women.

He said, “Good men. There are so many of you good young people. You should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One.You should now purify your minds, gather in and guard your minds. In other words, I am telling you not to have false thinking. Do not become weary. When listening to the Sutras, you should give rise to reverence and respect. Do not have false thoughts. During the time you are listening to the Sutras, you must certainly make your minds clear and pure. Most importantly, you must believe. You should understand the Thus Come One’s sincere and truthful words. Whatever the Thus Come One says is true and actual, with not a trace of falseness whatsoever.”

After the Buddha said this to everyone, he probably saw that some people’s minds had wandered off because they were having false thoughts, and so they had not heard what he said. What kind of false thinking were they having? Maybe they were wondering when the Buddha would begin to speak. And so now the Buddha was speaking, but they were immersed in their false thoughts. So even though the Buddha was now speaking, they were not hearing him. But they definitely were not deaf; it was only because they were engaged in false thinking that they were not hearing.

The Buddha saw they were having false thoughts, and so he repeated himself. Once again he told the great assembly, “You should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One. All of you should pay especially close attention to the words the Buddha wants to say to you. Every word is true, actual, and not false. The Buddha is one whose words are true, real, and not false. What the Buddha tells you is the truth.” He told them again, but probably there were still some among the assembly who were not listening attentively. They certainly were not deaf, and yet they had not heard—just because they were not paying attention.

And so the Buddha said it again. He again told the great assembly, “You should believe and understand the sincere and truthful words of the Thus Come One.All of you in the great assembly should be particularly attentive. Believe the Dharma the Thus Come One speaks.

“Before I spoke the provisional and expedient Dharmas in order to teach and transform you. Now I am opening the provisional to reveal the actual. I am not using expedient Dharmas anymore. I am speaking true and actual, not false, Dharma to you. What I am saying now is the truth.”

Sutra:

Then the great assembly of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya, placed their palms together and spoke to the Buddha, saying, “World Honored One we only pray that you will speak. We shall believe and accept the Buddha’s words.” They repeated this three times.

Outline:

H2. Three requests.

Commentary:

Then the great assembly of Bodhisattvas, headed by Maitreya. At that time, among the Great Bodhisattvas, Maitreya Bodhisattva was the leader. He was the senior-seated one, the first-seated. He held the highest rank. They placed their palms together and spoke to the Buddha, saying, “World Honored One, we only pray that you will speak.” Because he was the leader of all the Bodhisattvas, he puts his palms together and said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, right now, our one and only hope is that you will speak for us soon.

We shall believe and accept the Buddha’s words. All of us Bodhisattvas in this great assembly should believe and accept what the Buddha has said. We certainly will not have any doubts. Whatever Dharma the Buddha speaks, we will believe; we definitely will not give rise to doubts. We would not be skeptical anymore. Please, Buddha, speak as soon as possible.

They repeated this three times. After they said it once, the Buddha did not open his mouth. And so they asked again to show that they were increasingly sincere, but the Buddha still did not say anything. He sat silently, and so they requested a third time. That is called a threefold Karmavachana. They made the request three times, which shows how sincere and earnest they were in their request.

Sutra:

Again t hey said, “We only pray that you will speak. We shall believe and accept the Buddha’s words.”

Outline:

H3. Repeating the request.

Commentary:

Again they said, “We only pray that you will speak.” After three requests, they spoke once again. Once again makes the fourth time. We shall believe and accept the Buddha’s words. We in the assembly will certainly believe what the Buddha has spoken.

Sutra:

At that time the World Honored One, knowing that the Bodhisattvas would not stop with three requests, spoke to them, saying, “You should listen attentively.”

Outline:

H4. Repeating the exhortation.

Commentary:

Maitreya Bodhisattva and the Bodhisattvas in the assembly had four times requested Shakyamuni Buddha to speak the Dharma. At that time Shakyamuni Buddha, the World Honored One, knowing that all the Great Bodhisattvas would not stop with three requests—they had already requested a fourth time—spoke to them, saying, “You should listen attentively.” All of you Bodhisattvas, listen well. Pay attention.

Sutra:

Outline:

G2. The answer proper.
H1. Prose.
I1. Opening the near to reveal the far.
J1. Breaking the attachment to the near.

Commentary:

“The Thus Come One’s power of spiritual penetrations —the Buddha’s secret entrances into practice, his spiritual powers, the strength of his secret state—is acknowledged by all gods, humans, and asuras in the world and by the others of the eight divisions of ghosts and spirits. All say the same thing. They say that Shakyamuni Buddha, having left the palace of the Shakyan clan, the palace of the Pure Rice King, his father, and having gone to a place not far from the city of Gaya, about five miles from that mountain city, to sit in the Bodhimanda beneath the Bodhi tree to cultivate, has now attained anuttarasamyaksambodhi. He became a Buddha after sitting there for forty-nine days.

Sutra:

“However, good men, I actually realized Buddhahood limitless, boundless, hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of eons ago.”

Outline:

J2. Breaking the attachment to the near to reveal the far.
K1. Revealing the near.

Commentary:

Actually, that was not what happened at all. What really happened? However, good men, I will tell you about this. I actually realized Buddhahood a long time ago. If you want to talk about how long it has been since I became a Buddha—the time from then to now—there is no way to calculate how long it has been. How long? Limitless greatkalpas, boundless great kalpas, hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotisof nayutas of eons ago—countless, boundless great kalpas ago. It has been an incredibly long time; I cannot tell you exactly how long. All I can do is try to draw an analogy to give you some idea.

Sutra:

“Suppose a person were to grind into fine motes of dust five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of three thousand great thousand world systems. Then, suppose he traveled to the east across five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, and there he deposited one mote of dust. Suppose he continued in this way, traveling to the east, until all the motes of dust were gone.”

“Good men, what do you think? Could the number of worlds he passed through be reckoned or counted?”

Outline:

K2. Analogy to show the length of time.
L1. The analogy and the question.

Commentary:

What is it analogous to? Suppose a person were to grind into fine motes of dust five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of three thousand great thousand world systems. This is talking about such a large number; there is no way to calculate it. He grinds them into dust just as if he were grinding an ink stone. He pulverizes entire worlds, grinds them into motes of dust.

Then, suppose he traveled to the east across five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, and there he deposited one mote of dust. He sets down one minute particle of dust. Suppose he continued in this way, traveling to the east. Every time he passes through five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, he drops one mote of dust. He repeatedly goes on through that great a distance, each time setting down another mote of dust, until all the motes of dust are gone. He sets all the dust motes down.

Good men, Bodhisattvas, what do you think? Could the number of worlds he passed through be reckoned or counted? Would you say that is a great number? Are those worlds many? If you had the best mathematicians and the most advanced technology, could you calculate the sum total?

Sutra:

“We now dwell on the ground of avaivartika, but we cannot comprehend this matter, World Honored One, and so such world systems would be limitless and boundless.”

Outline:

L2. The answer.

Commentary:

Maitreya Bodhisattva and the others, the Great Bodhisattvas, all said to the Buddha—they simultaneously said to the Buddha—”World Honored One, those world systems, that large number of them you just now described, would be limitless and boundless, beyond calculation. There would be no way to use numbers to calculate them. And they would be beyond the power of the mind to know; nor is this something that the ordinary mind can comprehend.

All the Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas—the Hearers and Those Enlightened by Conditions—using their non-outflow wisdom, by means of their wisdom devoid of afflictions and outflows, still could not conceive of them. Although their wisdom is quite lofty, they have no way to know this number. They cannot know their limit or number. They cannot know the range of this calculation. There is no certain number that can represent these world systems, no way to know exactly how many there were.

“We now dwell on the ground of avaivartika. We abide on the ground of no retreat.” Avaivartika is a Sanskrit word and is translated as “the ground of no retreat.” “No retreat” means:

1. Their position was irreversible. They would not retreat to the Two Vehicles.

2. Their conduct was irreversible. They would not retreat to the conduct of those of the Two Vehicles.

3. Their mindfulness was irreversible. They would not retreat to the thoughts of those of the Two Vehicles.

But we cannot comprehend this matter. We cannot figure out this number; we cannot understand this event. World Honored One, such world systems would be limitless and boundless. The World Honored One spoke of so many worlds. They have no bounds and no limit.

Sutra:

At that time the Buddha spoke to the great hosts of Bodhisattvas, saying, “Good men, I shall now explain this clearly for you. If all these world systems—whether a dust mote was deposited in them or not—were reduced to dust motes, and if each dust mote were an eon, the time that has passed since I became a Buddha would exceed even that by hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of eons.” 

Outline:

L3. Showing the remoteness.

Commentary:

At that time the Buddha spoke to the great hosts of Bodhisattvas, saying:Shakyamuni Buddha spoke to the multitude of Great Bodhisattvas, saying, “Good men, I shall now explain this clearly for you. You do not understand, do you? Do not be nervous. Now, at this time, I will clearly tell you.

If all these numberless world systems, whether a dust mote was deposited in them or not—this includes all the worlds in which a dust particle was dropped, as well as the five hundred thousand myriads of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands where a mote of dust was not dropped—now, if all those many worlds, both those lands where a mote of dust was dropped and those where one was not, were taken and ground together and reduced to fine dust motes, and if each dust mote werecounted as an eon, a great kalpa, the time that has passed since I became a Buddha, from the time I realized the Buddha-Way to now, would exceed even that.That number is even more than the number I have just described by hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of eons. The time since I became a Buddha is longer than this calculation of time by hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of eons.

Sutra:

“From that time on, I have always remained in the Saha World, speaking the Dharma to teach and transform beings. Also, in other places, in hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, I have guided and benefited living beings.”

Outline:

I2. Showing how the Buddha benefits beings in the three periods of time.
J1. Speaking of Dharma.
K1. Showing benefits proper.
L1. Showing benefits to beings in the past.
M1. The places in which he has benefited beings in the past.

Commentary:

From that time on, to now, I have always remained in the Saha World. I have always been in this Saha World speaking the Dharma to teach and transform beings. I have been speaking Dharma for living beings, teaching and transforming all living beings. Not only have I been teaching and transforming living beings in this Saha World, but also in other places. I go elsewhere to speak the Dharma for living beings. In hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, I have guided and benefited living beings. I use all kinds of methods, not fearing suffering, not fearing difficulty, to teach and transform living beings.

By “guided” the Buddha means that when he sees a living being, he assesses what that being likes, and then he speaks an appropriate Dharma for him. If the being likes Great Vehicle Dharma, the Buddha speaks Great Vehicle Dharma. If he likes Small Vehicle Dharma, the Buddha speaks Small Vehicle Dharma for him. If he has the faculties of a Hearer, the Buddha speaks the Dharma of the Four Truths for him.

If he has the faculties of One Enlightened by Conditions, the Buddha will speak the Dharma of the Twelve Causes and Conditions for him. For Bodhisattvas, he speaks the Dharma of the Six Paramitas and the myriad practices. Meeting with living beings with all different kinds of faculties, he speaks all different kinds of Dharmas for them. In general, “guided” means he directed and led them. “Benefited” means he did things to help them.

Uncountable great kalpas ago, Shakyamuni Buddha had already become a Buddha. This is why the Bodhisattva disciples he has taken across are so many. They fill up empty space throughout the three thousand great thousand world systems. In the Dharma Flower Sutra, this is the “opening of the provisional to reveal the actual.” Shakyamuni Buddha tells us when he actually became a Buddha. But the time was so long ago that there is no way to calculate it. This is stated in the Dharma Flower Sutra.

The most wonderful and the longest Sutra spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha is the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra. That Sutra was requested from the Dragon Palace by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva. That is why we are now able to encounter that Sutra.

The Dharma Flower Sutra has now been explained to the sixteenth chapter. There are twelve chapters left. I believe the lecture series will be completed soon. After we are finished, if you are not afraid of its great length and are not afraid of failing to understand it, we will explain the Flower Adornment Sutra. If you are afraid of its great length, then you do not have to listen. If you are afraid it will be too much for you, then do not listen. If you think “I only need to study a little Buddhadharma, and that is enough,” then you do not need to listen.

But if you are not afraid of studying more Buddhadharma, you can come and listen. I believe that Guo Yi will not fear its being too much. She has such a good memory that if she gets a chance to remember more, that will be even better. If you are not afraid of there being too much, you can use your prajna-brains, your computer, to remember it. Do not fear it being too big or too extensive. And do not fear the length of time it will take. Consider how long it took Shakyamuni Buddha to become a Buddha—an incalculable amount of time—and he did not fear its being too long.

I believe a big Bodhimanda is being prepared to be the Flower Adornment Way-place. There are very few places in the world where the Flower Adornment Sutra is taught. Those who explain the Flower Adornment Sutra are few, and yet the wonderful advantages of this Sutra are many.

Today I spoke just a few sentences in praise of the Flower Adornment, and the translator got so upset, he broke out in a sweat. I will tell you that I never heard the Flower Adornment Sutra lectured, because there are not many people who can explain it.

“Well, how can you lecture on it if you have never heard it lectured on?” you wonder. I cannot omit lecturing it just because I have not heard it. There are many things I have not heard. If it is the case that such things cannot be done by oneself, then one might just as well become a stone person. If you want to study the Buddhadharma, you must eat your fill of the Buddhadharma. In order to eat your fill, you must eat the Buddhadharma of the Flower Adornment.

If you do not investigate the Flower Adornment, then you would not know of the Buddha’s true wealth and honor. The Flower Adornment Sutra is the Buddha’s true blessings and honor. I am now giving you this little bit of information. After the big Way-place is accomplished and I am happy, I will transmit the big Dharma, the bountiful Dharma, to you.

I will tell you a tale now. Although I have never heard the Flower Adornment Sutralectured before, I myself have lectured it many times. But not in the present; I lectured it in the past. How am I able to know how to lecture on it? Because there are some exceptionally fine writings about it, especially those of National Master Qing Liang. I really like them; I have tremendous affinities with those writings. I read them once and will never forget them; I cannot forget them. That is because I do not want to be like a professor who lectures from his book, holding his book and copying things out of it. And so I am capable of explaining the Sutra to you.

I will tell you another tale. If I forget, National Master Qing Liang will remind me in a dream, saying, “This is how that sentence goes…” He will say:

Opening and disclosing the mysterious and subtle;
Understanding and expanding the mind and its states.
Fathoming the principle and exhausting the nature,
Penetrating the result, which includes the cause.

Sutra:

“Good men, in that interval, I spoke of the Buddha Dipankara and others, and I further spoke of them as entering Nirvana. But those were just discriminations made expediently.”

Outline:

M2. Casting away doubts about the past.

Commentary:

Good men: The character zhu here means many—many good men. Very many good men means there were very few bad men. In fact we can say there were not any, and so the reference is to many good men. That is one way to explain it. The character zhu can also be used as an expletive or auxiliary participle. As such, it can refer to many or to one.

Someone says, “Dharma Master, you have explained this incorrectly. I have always heard the character zhu explained as ‘many.’” Well, now you are hearing it explained as “few.” If we explain this word as an expletive, then the text will read, “Good man.” You, this good man. In that case, the one good man would refer to Maitreya Bodhisattva. Many good men would refer to all the good men, all the Bodhisattvas in the assembly. Now you should understand, and from now on when you encounter the character zhu, you should know it can be explained as “many” or as “one.”

In that interval: In what interval? In the interval when the five hundred myriad kotisof nayutas of asamkhyeyas of three thousand great thousand world systems were ground into fine dust, and then five hundred kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands were passed through and a mote of dust was deposited until all the motes of dust were gone. Then all those lands that were passed through were further ground into fine dust. Each of those fine motes of dust was counted as a great kalpa. “In that interval” is that period of time. How long a time could that interval be? No human being could calculate it.

I spoke of the Buddha Dipankara and others. In the midst of that, I said, “At the time of Dipankara Buddha, I was known as Good Wisdom Bodhisattva.” And I further spoke of them as entering Nirvana. “At the time of Dipankara Buddha, my name was Good Wisdom. When I met Dipankara Buddha, he bestowed a prediction upon me. He said, ‘In the future, you will become a Buddha called Shakyamuni.'” I also said that at such-and-such a time, Dipankara Buddha would enter Nirvana.

But those Dharmas I spoke of were just discriminations made expediently. I will now tell you the truth. What I said was expedient dharma; these causes and conditions, these roots and traces, were spoken in accord with living beings’ faculties. But these were just discriminations made expediently.

Sutra:

“Good men, if a living being comes before me, I observe with my Buddha eye his faith and other qualities, as well as the keenness or dullness of his faculties, and take him across in an appropriate manner.”

Outline:

M3. The appropriate manner in which he benefited beings in the past.
N1. Response.

Commentary:

Good men, if a living being comes before me—he comes to the place where I, the Buddha, am—I observe with my Buddha eye. First I must look into it. What do I look with? I use the Buddha eye to investigate with. What do I look into? I regard his faith and other qualities. “And other qualities” refers to vigor, mindfulness, samadhi, and wisdom. Faith, vigor, mindfulness, samadhi, and wisdom are called the five roots.

I look into it and see if he has the root of faith. I look to see if he has the root of vigor. Does he has the root and power of being diligent and vigorous? Does he has the root and power of mindfulness? Is he mindful of the Buddhadharma? Does he has the root and power of samadhi? In his study of the Buddhadharma, does he study the Buddhadharma today and then tomorrow go to study demonic dharma? Does he study the Dharma of Bodhisattvas today and the dharma of ghosts tomorrow?

What is meant by “ghost-dharma”? Don’t you know? Maybe you have not learned it before, and so you do not know the meaning of the term. It is whatever dharmas one does that one is ashamed to let others know about. They are secret dharma-doors. Secret dharma-doors have within them spirits and ghosts. Be careful! If you do not listen to me, I will send a ghost to punish you. If you fear ghosts, then you have to do the bidding of your teacher.

But first I must state clearly to all of you. I do not have this talent. Do not be afraid of me. If you scold me, I would not send a ghost to make your lips swell up. And so if people scold me, they would not have to go through a retribution such as this. Do not be afraid; I do not have any ghost-dharmas!

Samadhi and wisdom. Wisdom also has its root. If you do not have the root of wisdom, you would not be able to bring forth the sprouts of wisdom. If you have the root of prajna, then you can have prajna sprouts. These five are called roots because they derive their meaning from coming forth and growing.

If you have the root of faith, as soon as you hear the Buddhadharma that the Dharma Master explains, you think, “Oh! The Buddhadharma is really good. I should believe it. People should follow the rules; they should not be lax in following the rules.” You believe, and then every day you follow the rules. Others eat one meal a day, and so you eat one meal a day. Even if someone told you to steal things to eat, you would not do it. Why should you follow the rules? Although you may say eating things is a small problem, do you really think it is a small problem? I think it is a big problem. I you are unable to follow the rules in eating, how much less will you be able to follow other rules.

And so we start with the events of our daily life. We must have rules and regulations in our everyday affairs. You should have a standard, a goal in mind. I definitely want to reach my goal. Whatever I have decided I should do, I will do it. I will reach my goal.

You should not come to the Buddhist Lecture Hall to listen to the Sutra lecture, but once the lecture is over, it is as if it had been so much wind passing by your ears. It passes by and is not retained, nor is it believed. You happen to have some friends who go there, so you just go along to see what it is like. Such people do not come to study the Dharma; they come to “take a look” at the Dharma. One must have faith.

Once one has faith, one must then be vigorous. If you only have faith, and you do not do anything, it is of no use. If you have only the root of faith, and you do not have the root of vigor, you do not have what it takes. You must be vigorous. “When I hear one sentence of Buddhadharma, I put that one sentence into practice. I hear ten sentences, and I put ten sentences into practice. I must be vigorous; I must go forward with vigor.” If you have the root of vigor but you forget to apply it—you do not keep your mind on the fact that no matter what you are doing, you should be cultivating—then that is also of no use. “Today I will be vigorous. I would not eat. I would not sleep. I will bow to the Buddha and be mindful of the Buddha.”

You do that for one day and one night, and you feel very tired. “I need to rest.” As soon as you rest, you sleep for three days straight. You were vigorous for one day and then slept for three. Or maybe you sleep for five, saying, “I am really tired. I think I will sleep for a few more days.” You must keep your mind on what you are doing. “Today I will be vigorous, tomorrow I will be vigorous, and the day after, I will be vigorous.” You should always be mindful of what you are doing and never forget. That is how it should be.

The root of mindfulness: When your mindfulness becomes long-abiding and irreversible, then you give rise to the root of samadhi. Once you have the root of samadhi, then you can have wisdom. Why is it that whenever something comes up, you never understand and are very confused? It is just because you do not have the power of samadhi or the power of wisdom. You have no root of samadhi or root of wisdom, and so you become confused.

When the Buddha sees living beings come, he looks into their five roots. Once the five roots are established, they can turn into the five powers. They are called the five powers because they have a certain kind of strength. The Buddha looks into each living being’s causes and conditions, and he contemplates, “If I speak the Dharma for you, will you believe it? If you believe it, will you practice it? If you practice, will your practice be long-abiding? If it is long-abiding, will it be eternal? If it is eternal, will there be unmoving samadhi?”

He contemplates this. And so he says, “as well as the keenness or dullness of his faculties“—his faith and other faculties: the five roots of faith, vigor, mindfulness, samadhi, and wisdom. “Keen” means sharp, astute. It refers to intelligence. It refers to having the root of prajna. “Dull” means stupid; it means not sharp. If a knife, when used to cut through something, is sharp, then it is said to be “keen.”

But if you use the knife to try to cut through something and you cannot, if it is as if you were using a paper fan to try to cut through wood, then the knife is “dull.” If you use a sharp knife, and with one slice you can cut through it, that is called “keen.” This represents a person’s intelligence. If you are intelligent, then no matter what kind of state you meet with, you will understand it. You will not be turned by the state; instead, you will be able to turn it around. Bad states will turn into good states. Adverse states will turn into favorable ones. You need to have unobstructed eloquence.

“Dull” means stupid. A stupid person can turn a good situation into a bad one; he can turn good matters into bad matters. Why? Because he is stupid. How does one get stupid? You should know. Stupidity comes from not having enough virtuous conduct, from lacking in virtue. That is why people are stupid. How can one become intelligent? By having virtue.

I am now going to tell you something I have told you before. But I know you have all given it back to me already. That is because you are not greedy, and so you do not even want to retain the Buddhadharma. But even though you do not want to retain it, I cannot fail to give it. You can be devoid of greed, but I cannot renounce my resolve to give. Every day I am involved in giving. Every day I speak the Buddhadharma for you, and so I am practicing the giving of Dharma.

Of all the kinds of giving,
The giving of Dharma is the foremost.

I will explain slowly, and you can listen rapidly. Why do I say that? If I lecture too rapidly, you would not hear it clearly, and so I will explain slowly. Why should you listen rapidly? Because once you remember this word, if you do not quickly listen to the next word, you will forget the previous word. And so you need to listen rapidly in order not to forget the first word while trying to hear what follows. That is my advice to you.

As it is said:

Intelligence is aided by hidden virtue.
Hidden virtue leads one along the path of intelligence.
Failing to do good deeds in secret, thinking yourself clever,
You end up outsmarting yourself.

Why are you intelligent? Perhaps it is because in your previous lives you did good deeds. Printing Sutras is a hidden virtue; helping other people is a hidden virtue; making contributions to your country and to society is a hidden virtue; saving a person or rescuing an animal is a hidden virtue. An animal is about to die, and you use some medicine to save its life. The blind pigeon we have here would have starved to death, but you felt sorry for it, and so every day you gave it something to eat. After a while, it revived. Now if you tried to send it away, it probably would not go. Why? There are things here for it to eat. If you did not offer it food, then even if you wanted to keep it here, it would not stay.

Those are examples of hidden virtue. “Intelligence is aided by hidden virtue.” If you are intelligent, hidden virtue is aiding you. “Hidden virtue leads one along the path of intelligence.” “Hidden virtue” is another name for virtuous conduct. It is described as “hidden” because you yourself know what merit and virtue you have done, but other people do not. No one else knows. It is said, “Doing good with the hope others will see it is not true good.” When you do good, it is not necessary for others to know. If you want others to know, then that is not good; that is doing it in order to become known—”bartering for a name and fishing for a reputation.”

“Hidden virtue leads one along the path of intelligence.” When one has hidden virtue, virtuous conduct, one is propelled along the path that leads to intelligence.

“Failing to do good deeds in secret, thinking yourself clever.” Now you do not do virtuous deeds, you do not do good deeds, you do not do things to help other people. Instead, you always want other people to help you. You use your intelligence to manipulate other people, hoping thereby to gain petty advantages. You always try to get a bargain and cannot stand to take a loss.

That is what is meant by “one does not do deeds based in hidden virtue, but merely relies on one’s intelligence.” You use your intelligence to cheat others, even to the point of cheating your own parents. You say, “Give me a little money, and I will go to school.” Your parents believe you and give you a little money, thinking you will use it to go to school. They never guessed you would use it to go gambling or maybe to buy drugs. Or maybe you use the money to go dancing and do other improper things. Those are examples of not doing deeds based in hidden virtue, but merely relying on one’s intelligence.

What happens then? “You end up outsmarting yourself.” One abuses one’s intelligence. If one were not intelligent, one would not be able to cheat one’s parents, cheat society, cheat one’s country, and cheat the people. It is just because one has a little bit of intelligence that one is able to cheat foolish people.

In ancient China the Taoist philosopher Lao Zi, whose name means “the old child” said,

Once the Great Way declines,
there will be humaneness and righteousness.
Once intelligence appears, there will be great deception.
Once the six kinds of immediate relatives are not in harmony,
there will be filiality and kindness.
Once the country is in turmoil, there will be loyal ministers.

Only when the Great Way is gone do people start talking about humaneness and righteousness. When people with worldly intelligence make their appearance, then the world will also see masters of deceit come forth. Because they have intelligence, they will be able to cheat those who lack intelligence. Once families do not get along, then the filial sons and the kind daughters appear. When the country is in chaos, there will be loyal officials.

And according to the keenness or dullness of a living being’s faculties, the Buddha will take him across in an appropriate manner.

Sutra:

“In all places, although the names by which I refer to myself are different and I may be older or younger, I also appear and announce that I am about to enter Nirvana. I also employ various expedient devices, speaking the subtle and wonderful Dharma and enabling living beings to bring forth happiness in their minds.”

Outline:

N2. Bestowing the teaching.
O1. Benefiting by both physical form and sound.
O2. Showing how beings rejoice at the benefit.

Commentary:

For the sake of those he should take across in all places, he personally speaks. Wherever he is, he personally speaks the Buddhadharma.

What is more, he will say his name, “although the names by which I refer to myself are different.” In America he is called by one name. In China he is called by another. In Japan he has yet another name. In Germany, France, in all the places he appears, he goes by different names ,but the person is the same in all cases. And I may be older or younger. Maybe I am an older person, or a younger person.

I also appear and announce. I appear in a body and speak the Dharma. I say, “I am about to enter Nirvana.” He tells his disciples, “I am about to enter Nirvana.” Actually the Buddha has no birth or demise. Within Eternal Stillness and Light, he is always speaking the Dharma. I also employ various expedient devices, speaking the subtle and wonderful Dharma. He spoke the subtle, wonderful, inconceivable Dharma. What subtle and wonderful Dharma? That is what is being explained now. This is subtle and wonderful Dharma. You say, “What I hear is not so wonderful.” That is because you are not full of wonder. If you are full of wonder, then what you hear will be wonderful.

And enabling living beings to bring forth happiness in their minds. Once they are happy, they feel that the Dharma is wonderful. Once you get angry and afflicted, the Dharma is not wonderful. You say, “What is all this talk—telling me to follow the rules? What I dislike most is following rules. The things I hold dearest are my greed, hatred, and stupidity. How can you tell me to give them up? This is really not wonderful. Not the least bit wonderful!” And so they are not happy.

But if you say, “Oh greed, hatred, and stupidity are not good things, and I should not let them be my daily companions. I should renounce them,” then you become happy. That is called wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!

Sutra:

“Good men, the Thus Come One, seeing living beings delighting in lesser dharmas, beings of scanty virtue and heavy defilements, speaks for these people, saying, ‘When young, I left the home-life and attained anuttarasamyaksambodhi.’ In truth, however, I became a Buddha a long time before that. I speak in this way merely as an expedient to teach and transform living beings and to cause them to enter the Buddha-Way.”

Outline:

L2. Benefiting living beings in the present.
M1. Response.
N1. Manifesting his form.

Commentary:

Shakyamuni Buddha addressed them again, saying, “Good men, the Thus Come One, seeing living beings delighting in lesser dharmas.” The Buddha observes the dispositions of living beings. Then he speaks the Dharma for them. When he sees living beings who like the Small Vehicle Dharmas, he teaches them the Small Vehicle Dharmas. If they like the Great Vehicle Dharmas, he teaches them the Great Vehicle Dharmas. That defines “delighting in lesser dharmas.”

Beings of scanty virtue and heavy defilements. “Scanty virtue” means no virtue in the Way. “Heavy with defilement” results from serious karmic obstacles. People of scanty virtue will not be able to believe the Buddhadharma if you speak it for them. Those with heavy karmic obstacles would not believe it either. One must have deep and thick good roots to believe the Buddhadharma.

The Buddha speaks for these people, saying, “When young, I left the home-life.”Because he is speaking expediently to people whose foundations are shallow and whose good roots are scant, he says to them, “I left home when I was nineteen and attained anuttarasamyaksambodhi. After I left home, I gained the Unsurpassed, Proper and Equal Enlightenment.

In truth, however, I became a Buddha a long time before that. If we were to talk of how long I have been a Buddha already, it has been a long, long time. The length of that time is like that analogy I explained before, of five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of world systems of three thousand great thousand worlds. Suppose someone traveled to the east across five hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of asamkhyeyas of lands, and there he deposited one mote of dust. Suppose, then, he continued in this way, traveling to the east, until all the dust motes were gone.

Now if all these world systems, whether a dust mote was deposited in them or not, were reduced to dust motes, and if each of those dust motes represented a great eon, the time that has passed since Shakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha would exceed even that, as stated above.

But I speak in this way merely as an expedient to teach and transform living beings. I am using expedient methods to teach living beings and to cause them to enter the Buddha-Way. I enable all living beings to renounce the deviant and return to the proper, to change evil into good, to turn from the small and go toward the great, and to bring forth the Bodhi mind. It is for this reason that I speak of having left home when young, having realized the Way, having spoken the Dharma, and having taught and transformed living beings.

Sutra:

“Good men, the Sutras proclaimed by the Thus Come One are all for the purpose of saving and liberating living beings. He may speak of his own body, or he may speak of someone else’s body. He may manifest in his own body, or he may manifest in someone else’s body. He may manifest his own affairs, or he may manifest the affairs of others, but all that he says is true and not false.” 

Outline:

N2. Speaking the Dharma.
O1. The teachings of this lifetime.

Commentary:

Good men, the Sutras proclaimed by the Thus Come One are all for the purpose of saving and liberating living beings. The Buddha spoke the Sutras and set forth the Dharma-doors, in order to save living beings. Living beings have 84,000 varieties of afflictions. The Buddha taught 84,000 Dharma-doors to counteract those afflictions. The Buddha works like a physician curing illnesses. If someone has a headache, the doctor prescribes a certain kind of medicine. If someone has a sore leg, he prescribes another kind of medication, and someone with the flu gets yet another prescription. In the same way, the Buddha “prescribes” Dharmas.

To living beings plagued with much greed, he prescribes the contemplation of impurity. He encourages them not to be greedy, and he points out the impurity of desire. To living beings with big tempers, he recommends the contemplation of compassion. To stupid living beings, he prescribes the contemplation of causes and conditions. He uses these various methods to cure the illnesses of living beings.

So the text says, “He may speak of his own body, or he may speak of someone else’s body.” He may speak of his own deeds or of the deeds of another Buddha. He may manifest in his own body, to personally guide living beings, or he may manifest in someone else’s body as a guide. He may manifest his own affairs,talk about his deeds from this and former lives, or he may manifest the affairs of others, relating the causes and conditions of other Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Hearers, or Arhats, as an inspiration to living beings, but all that he says is true and not false. There is nothing false in it at all.

Sutra:

“What is the reason for this? The Thus Come One knows and sees the triple realm as it really is. There is no birth or death, no retreating or advancing, no existence in the world or passage into quiescence. There is no reality or unreality, no likenesses or differences. He views the triple realm as not being the triple realm. Matters such as these, the Thus Come One clearly sees, without mistake or error.”

Outline:

O2. The reason for the Buddha’s skillful teaching.
P1. Illumining the principles of provisional and real to manifest the root.

Commentary:

What is the reason for this? The Thus Come One knows and sees the triple realm as it really is. His knowledge and views accord with truth and principle. The triple realm consist of the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the formless realm. For the Buddha, there is no birth or death, no retreating or advancing. There is no retreating into the triple realm and no transcending of the triple realm.

There is no existence in the world, no birth or passage into quiescence, death. For the Buddha, there is no birth or death. There is no reality or unreality. Common people see the three realms as real. Whatever common people see, they take to be true. They consider even the false to be true. Those of the Two Vehicles contemplate all dharmas as empty marks. They see the three realms as flowers in space, that is, as unreal, nonexistent, and empty. Common people take the three realms to be real; those of the Two Vehicles take the three realms to be unreal.

To the Buddha there is nothing real or unreal, just as all things are contained within empty space but do not obstruct empty space. Empty space does not obstruct the myriad forms of existence, and the myriad forms of existence do not obstruct empty space. This is the principle of True Emptiness not obstructing Wonderful Existence, and Wonderful Existence not obstructing True Emptiness.

There are no likenesses or differences. The Buddha is one, without any distinctions. He views the triple realm as not being the triple realm. He is not like ordinary living beings who view the triple realm as something they must transcend. The Buddha, unlike living beings, does not see the triple realm as the triple realm. To the Buddha, there is no birth, no death, and no triple realm. Matters such as these, the Thus Come One clearly sees. He is one who is truly awakened to all dharmas without mistake or error. The Thus Come One makes no mistakes.

Sutra:

“Living beings have various natures, various desires, various modes of conduct, and various ideas, thoughts, and discriminations. Wishing to lead them to produce the roots of goodness, he employs divers causes and conditions, analogies, and expressions to explain the various dharmas, carrying out the Buddha’s work without respite.”

Outline:

P2. Sudden and gradual potentials.

Commentary:

Living beings have various natures. Each living creature has its own nature. Living beings are born from a complex set of causes and conditions. “Living beings” refers to all living creatures, not just human beings. Each person has a human nature. Each person also has a Buddha nature, a Bodhisattva nature, a Hearer nature, and a Pratyekabuddha nature. And so a human being has the nature of a sage and a common nature—a wisdom nature and a stupid nature. Some people claim, “I am number one.” If you ask them what they are number one in, they say, “I am number one at being stupid!”

Someone else may claim to be foremost in intelligence. Another person might say, “I am number one at being neither stupid nor smart.” Everyone is number one at something, because nobody wants to be number two. Men say, “Men are number one.” Women say, “Ladies first.” These are just attachments formed according to the different natures of living beings.

Dogs have dog natures. Cats have cat natures. Mice have mouse natures; they like to make mouse holes.

Today in the newspaper we saw an article in which some people were asked what animal they would like to be. One person wanted to be a deer; one wanted to be an eagle; one wanted to be a cat, another a dog. One of my disciples probably knows physiognomy. He said, “Look at their pictures. They each resemble the animal they would like to be.” We can ask if any other people want to be animals, too. This is quite a piece of news for the West—people wanting to be animals. Some people in China do, too. Sometimes people can actually turn into snakes if they are too mean and nasty.

Living beings have various natures, and these natures are not fixed. If you would like to be a mosquito that sucks human blood all day long, it is possible. If you want to be a vulture that preys on other animals, that is also okay. Each living being has its own nature.

They harbor their own various desires. Living beings all have hopes and wishes. Some people desire leadership; some want to be officials. Some people desire to be scholars, still others wish to cultivate and study the Buddhadharma. That is a good desire, and you should not get rid of it. Others like to go out to a fine restaurant and eat good food. Some people like to drink wine. Some confused people have the desire to take drugs. Why would anyone want to take drugs? In their confusion they say, “It is not bad. When I’m high, I feel that there is no me, no others, and it is all free and easy contemplation: no emptiness, no form—see the Thus Come One!” So there are all kinds of desires.

Living beings have various modes of conduct. He likes to do this, and I like to do that. Someone says, “You want to study the Buddhadharma? That is really stupid.” Someone who studies the Buddhadharma might criticize another person who likes music, “You are just following the desires of your ears, finding something nice for your ears.” To people who like to see movies, he might say, “You are indulging the desires of your eyes.” Living beings also have various ideas, thoughts, and discriminations. All these living beings have their differences.

And wishing to lead them to produce the roots of goodness, he employs divers causes and conditions, analogies, and expressions to explain the various dharmas, carrying out the Buddha’s work without respite. How are good roots produced? By doing good deeds. If you do evil, you grow evil roots. What is meant by “doing good?” If you were a thief, doing good would mean simply not being a thief anymore. Helping others is doing good, benefiting others and not oneself. For such an incredibly long time, every day, year after year he does the Buddha’s work. He never stops for even a moment.

Now we are cultivating according to the Dharma Flower Sutra, and so we are extremely busy. We get up at four in the morning and go straight through until ten o’clock at night. We are all immersed in the Buddha’s work every day. But be advised: It is better to chat less and recite the Buddha’s name more. There is a saying:

Speak one sentence less of chatter,
one sentence more of the Buddha’s name.
Recite until your false thoughts die and your
Dharma body comes to life.

Sutra:

“Thus since I realized Buddhahood in the very remote past, my life span has been limitless asamkhyeyas of eons, eternal and never extinguished. Good men, the life span I realized when formerly practicing the Bodhisattva path has not yet been exhausted and is twice that of the above number.”

Outline:

L3. Benefiting living beings in the present.

M1. Claiming to enter into stillness without actually doing so in order to benefit those of the future.

N1. In reality there is no cessation.

Commentary

Thus, since I realized Buddhahood in the very remote past, my life span has been limitless asamkhyeyas of eons, eternal and never extinguished. The Buddha’s life span has no birth or death. Thus it is limitless and boundless nayutas of asamkhyeyas of eons: eternal in the Pure Land of Eternal Stillness and Light, not produced and not extinguished.

Good men, it has been such a very long time since I became a Buddha, yet the life span I realized when formerly practicing the Bodhisattva path has not yet been exhausted and is twice that of the above number. It is twice the number alluded to in the above-mentioned analogy, longer than the time since I became a Buddha.

Sutra:

“As I now proclaim that I am about to enter the quiescence, I am not really passing into the quiescence. The Thus Come One uses this passing only as an expedient to teach and transform living beings.” 

Outline:

N2. Announcing impending passage into stillness as an expedient.

Commentary:

As I now proclaim that I am about to enter the quiescence, I am not really passing into the quiescence. The Thus Come One uses this passing only as an expedient, this manifestation of entering stillness, to teach and transform living beings.

Sutra:

“For what reason? If the Buddha were to stay in the world a long time, those of scanty virtue who do not plant good roots, who are poor and lowly, who covet to the objects of the five desires, and who are caught in the net of schemes and false views, seeing the Thus Come One constantly present and not entering stillness, would become arrogant, lax, and indifferent. They would not consider how difficult it is to encounter him, nor would their hearts be reverent.” 

Outline:

M2. The necessity of announcing the passing.
N1. The harm of not announcing the passing.

Commentary:

For what reason? Why does the Buddha, although he does not enter stillness, still announce his cessation? Why does he manifest production and extinction when for him there is actually no production or extinction?

If the Buddha were to stay in the world a long time, remaining long in the world and not entering Nirvana, those of scanty virtue who do not plant good roots would grow even more lazy. Those with heavy karmic obstacles would not plant good roots. They would grow dependent on the Buddha, thinking, “The Buddha is here. I do not need to plant good roots right now. I will get to it later.” They would wait around.

That is why the Buddha manifests entering stillness. Once he has entered Nirvana and people see that they have nothing to rely on, they will get busy and plant some good roots. This is a very obvious principle.

When I was in Manchuria, I had a lot of disciples. I taught them how to cultivate, yet they did not cultivate. Some said they wanted to take their time. Others said, “I do not have time right now.”

After I left Manchuria, I started to get letters that said, “So-and-so, your disciple in Manchuria, did not cultivate before, but now he is cultivating because his teacher is not here. He is working very hard now.”

When I was in Hong Kong, my disciples were pretty relaxed about their cultivation. After I left, they realized how hard it is without a teacher, and they all wrote letters to me asking me to come back. I did not pay any attention to them, however.

People are like that. If you see something every day, you do not think it is important. When it is taken away from you, you realize how important it is. So the Buddha does no remain in the world for a long, long time, because if he did, people of scanty virtue would fail to plant good roots. They would just choose to wait instead.

Those who are poor and lowly also would not plant good roots or make offerings to the Triple Jewel; they would continue to be poor and miserable. Those who covet the objects of the five desires—wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep—would still not give them up. The affairs of the world are just that strange. The “have-nots” are greedy, and those who have everything cannot put it down.

Shakyamuni Buddha, as a crown prince, had a surfeit of all the objects of the five desires, but he put them all down. People who have not had their fill of these objects are greedy for them. Whether a person “has” or “has not” is a matter of karmic retribution. If you do not have good roots and do no good deeds, you would not have a good reward. How can you get a good reward? Plant good roots and do good deeds, then you will reap a good fruit and gain a good reward.

The poorer people are, the greedier they are. People who have a little money are not as greedy. People who are wealthy and are still greedy might as well be poor.

It is said, “Good people do not hate; hateful people are not good. Noble people do not get angry; angry people are not noble.” Sometimes sages get angry, but not really. It is just something they manifest according to certain circumstances. People who get angry are stupid. Truly rich and noble people do not take advantage of situations. People who like to take advantage of situations are poor people. Poor people are always looking for a deal, hoping to benefit themselves. Because they do not plant good roots, they are poor, lowly, and greedy for the objects of the five desires: wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep or forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible objects.

And those who are caught in the net of schemes and false views are greedy for the objects of the five desires. They are always plotting, thinking about how they can appropriate something they want or how they can hold on to what they have. They are opportunistic and take advantage of situations, using wrong knowledge and views. These schemes and false views are like a net that covers up one’s genuine wisdom.

Seeing the Thus Come One constantly present and not entering the stillness,they would become arrogant and lax. They would not follow the rules, and they would act indifferent. If they see the Buddha every day and all the time, If he never enters Nirvana, they get tired of him.

This is similar to how, before coming to the Buddhist Lecture Hall, you thought, “I must quickly go and study the Buddhadharma.” But once you have been here for a few months or a year, you run away. “Studying the Buddhadharma is not that great,” you decide. “It is kind of boring. I would rather go where I can be free and not have to listen to lectures every day. It is too hard getting up so early and not resting until late.”

Before you came here, you were really looking forward to it. Once you have been here studying for a while, you become dissatisfied with the lifestyle, and you get lazy. Perhaps when you first arrived here, you were more vigorous than anyone. You got up earlier and went to bed later than anyone else. You listened to the Sutras regardless of what else was going on. In all respects you were vigorous.

They would not consider how difficult it is to encounter him, nor would their hearts be reverent. Because you are constantly in contact with the Buddhadharma and are always studying here, you are unable to think, “It is really difficult to encounter the Buddhadharma, especially now in the West. No one here in the West has ever really had a chance to study the Buddhadharma. How could I be so fortunate? Here I am so young, and I have met up with the real, true Buddhadharma. It has come here to the West! This is incredibly rare. I do not care if I eat or sleep, but I am certainly going to study the Buddhadharma. Not for just a day or a week or a month or two, but always, year after year, always remembering how rare it is. If I were dead I could not study the Buddhadharma.

So now, while I am still alive I am certainly going to study it.” Think how rare it is to meet with the Buddhadharma. Think of your grandparents and great-grandparents and ancestors for generations back who never had a chance to study the Buddhadharma. Now, all of a sudden, you have the chance! This is called “transcending your ancestors.” Your ancestors never understood the Buddhadharma, but now here you are studying it.

You should not let the Buddhadharma that you are studying pass by like wind blowing in one ear and out the other. You should make an effort to remember it, and not forget it like the verse I taught you during the Shurangama Sutra session that none of you remembered:

Intelligence is aided by hidden virtue.
Hidden virtue leads one along the path of intelligence.
Failing to do good deeds in secret, thinking yourself clever,
You end up outsmarting yourself.

If you cannot remember the things you have learned, you are wasting your time. You should review your lessons every day, go over them each day. For example, before you go to sleep you can reflect, “The Shurangama Sutra lessons—the Youth Moonlight, what samadhi did he study? Was it the water-contemplation samadhi?” Also review your new lessons. Granted all this is false thinking, but this kind of false thinking is helpful in enhancing your Dharma body and wisdom life. The superior person takes the high road.

Do not review your bad habits, thinking, “I used to smoke marijuana. Should I try it again?” If you do, you have entered a demonic state; you have retreated. Do not have false thoughts like that. The things that you did wrong before, you should change. Once you have changed, do not slip back and do them again. Consider how difficult it is to meet the Buddhadharma.

Young people who have been through traumatic experiences should especially bring forth real sincerity and consider how hard it is to encounter the Buddhadharma. Not only have you with your good roots transcended your ancestors, but in hundreds of thousands of myriads of great eons, it is not easy to meet the Buddhadharma. Shakyamuni Buddha’s realization of Buddhahood actually took place uncountable eons ago. And you should know that we have been ordinary beings for an equally uncountable period of time. Think about how long you have wandered in a human body.

Although the situation of becoming a Buddha is, of course, not the same as continuing an ordinary existence, the time factor is similar. Although such a long time has passed before you met the Buddhadharma, consider this: In this world would you say that there are more people who encounter the Buddhadharma or more who do not? Figure it out for yourself. Even in Buddhist countries, many believe in Christianity, right? Even in Buddhist countries not everyone understands the Buddhadharma. Think about how many people do not understand it. They may appear to understand it, but they have not penetrated the doctrines at all. It is not easy to meet up with the Buddhadharma. Just consider how rare it is. “Nor would their hearts would be reverent.” You should respect the Triple Jewel.

If the Buddha remained long in the world, people would not think of the Buddhadharma as rare, and they would not be reverent. Seeing that living beings were not being reverent toward him, the Buddha said, “It is time to go. I am entering Nirvana!”

Hearing that, someone is thinking, “Being a person and becoming a Buddha take the same length of time.” They are happy and say, “That is not bad. I may not get to be a Buddha, but if I can be a person for such a long time, life after life, then I do not need to become a Buddha. I will just be a person, eat good food, wear nice clothes, live in a fine house, buy a good car, a plane—when I am rich, I will go for a vacation on the moon! That would not be bad at all.”

That is a fairly intelligent plan, but you cannot guarantee that it will happen; there is no way to definitely know if you can do it. I said that we have been people for a long time, but that was just an estimate. Actually, during all this time, not only have you been a person, but you have been everything else as well. You have been up to heaven and met God, and entered the earth to see the one in charge of the earth. You have also roamed among human beings, meeting their leaders. You have been all around. In fact, you went to the moon a long time ago, too. You just forgot, just as you have forgotten a lot of things you did as a child. There are even times when you forget the things you do from one day to the next. In fact, sometimes by one o’clock in the afternoon you cannot remember what you did at noon. If you forget the things you do in this life, how much more likely are you to forget the things you did in your previous lives.

We say that the Buddha does not change but accords with conditions, accords with conditions but does not change. He is forever unchanging. But as a person, you can turn into something else anytime. You can turn into a cat, a dog, a little bug crawling around, or a pigeon flying through the air. Take, for example, the article in yesterday’s paper in which people wanted to become animals—cats, dogs, tigers, lions, eagles, frogs, mice, and so forth. Everything is made from the mind alone; you become what you want to be.

“Well, I want to become a god. Can I do that?” you ask.

Yes, you can. You can be whatever you want. Whenever you have a wish and an intention, you can arrive at your aim. Based on this principle, if we want to become Buddhas, we can do so. If you do not want to become a Buddha, you would not. Being a person is very dangerous; being a Buddha is very peaceful. If you like danger, then do dangerous things. If you prefer peace and quiet and happiness, then do peaceful and happy things. 

Sutra:

“For these reasons, the Thus Come One expediently says, ‘Bhikshus, you should know that it is difficult to meet with a Buddha appearing in the world.’ What is the reason? Those of scant virtue may pass through limitless hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of eons, during which time they may or may not see a Buddha.

Because of that, I tell them, ‘Bhikshus, the Thus Come One is difficult to get to see.’ These living beings, hearing such words, will necessarily realize how difficult it is to get to encounter the Buddha and will cherish a longing for him. They will then plant good roots. That is why the Thus Come One, although he does not enter stillness, speaks of quiescence.”

Outline:

N2. The benefits of announcing the passing.

Commentary:

For these reasons, because of the doctrines just discussed, the Thus Come One expediently says… He uses skill-in-means in speaking the Dharma for living beings. “All of you great Bhikshus and Arhats, you should know that it is difficult to meet with a Buddha appearing in the world.” In a hundred million eons, a Buddha may not appear in the world even once.

What is the reason? Those of scant virtue, who do not have good roots, may pass through limitless hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of eons—such a long time, so many great kalpas—during which time they may or may not see a Buddha. If they have good roots, they may see a Buddha. If they do not, then throughout all that time—hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of eons—they will not encounter a Buddha. Consider how difficult it is! Because of that, I tell them, “Bhikshus, the Thus Come One is difficult to get to see.” Those of few good roots and little virtue cannot see the Buddha.

Not only is it hard to meet up with a Buddha, it is hard to get a human body. When Shakyamuni Buddha was in the world, he reached down and picked up a handful of dirt and asked his disciples, “Would you say there was more dirt in my hand or on the great earth?”

The disciples all said, “Of course there are more dirt on the earth; there isn’t very much in the Buddha’s hand.”

Shakyamuni Buddha said, “Those who obtain human bodies are as few as the particles of dirt in my hand. Those who lose their human bodies are as many as the particles of dirt on the earth.”

One may not know this, but some human beings were previously gods, while some came up from the hells, others were animals, and still others were ghosts. You should not think that it is easy to become a human being. It is as rare as the dirt in the Buddha’s hand.

Why do you lose a human body? Because you did not do a good job of being a person. Originally, you were a person, but you acted like a dog or like a being from the hells or like an animal or a ghost, and so you “moved house.” You moved from the path of people to the path of animals.

Then you moved back to the path of people. You just keep on moving house. But once you get to your “new house,” you forget your old one. Why would a person decide he wants to be an animal? Because he has an animal-like nature. This applies especially to people who eat meat. You will start to smell like the kind of animal which meat you eat. Eventually you join up with those animals. It is not easy to be a person.

All these living beings, hearing such words, listening to the Buddha telling them how hard it is to get to meet with a Buddha, will necessarily realize how difficult it is to get to encounter the Buddha and will cherish a longing for him. They will long to meet a Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. And so when they encounter the Buddha, they are extremely happy. When they meet the Dharma and the Sangha, they are also exceptionally happy. They are like thirsty people who, upon gazing at the Buddha, have their thirst quenched.

They will then, simply by virtue of cherishing that thought of longing and thirst, plant good roots. That is why the Thus Come One, although he does not enter stillness, speaks of quiescence. In reality, the Buddha is presently on Vulture Peak speaking the Dharma.