正法華經

Chapter 4: FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING

At that time, the Venerable Subhuti, Katyayana, Mahakasyapa, Mahamaudgalyayana, and others heard this unprecedented great Dharma, which they had never heard before, and saw the Blessed One bestow upon the Venerable Sariputra the prediction that he would attain the unsurpassed, right, and true enlightenment. Both joyful and awestruck, they were greatly inspired. They all rose from their seats, approached the Blessed One, adjusted their robes, bared their right shoulders, knelt, joined their palms, and gazed reverently upon the Blessed One. Their hearts were joyful and lucid, their bodies and minds felt at ease and light, and with minds single-pointed they addressed the Blessed One:

“Revered Great Sage! We are foremost among the Sangha, but we are now old and feeble. We respectfully beseech the Blessed One to enable us to attain nirvana.

In our hearts we have continued to seek the unsurpassed, right, and true enlightenment, but our power of diligence has declined, and we can no longer undertake anything. Formerly, when the Tathagata expounded the Dharma, we sat in due order, composed among the assembly, and listened without daring to become weary or disheartened. At that time, the Tathagata taught the Dharma for our sake.

We attained emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, and even the various Dharmas of the Buddhas. We engaged in no fabrication regarding any dharma and took delight in the deeds of the bodhisattvas. The Tathagata repeatedly encouraged and instructed us, yet with regard to the three realms we desired only to transcend them, always thinking that we had already attained nirvana.

Now our minds have grown weary. When we first heard the Blessed One teach this wondrous doctrine, not one thought of aspiration for unsurpassed wisdom arose within us. Yet now the Blessed One has bestowed upon the sravakas the prediction that they will attain perfect enlightenment, and so our minds are greatly bewildered and astonished at this unprecedented event.

We have obtained a great and wholesome benefit. Only through diligent cultivation have we now been able to hear such a chapter of the sutra. In the presence of Buddhas of the past, we often heard this Dharma; therefore, as soon as we heard it now, we were like people who had obtained immeasurable precious jewels, and our long-cherished aspiration was fulfilled.

Though we now dwell in the world, our minds are fearless; drums and wondrous music sound forth spontaneously, a great lamp shines everywhere, and forests of sandalwood trees diffuse their exquisite fragrance.

“Blessed One! How could we be capable of receiving the great Dharma spoken by the Blessed One? This is what we wish respectfully to ask.”

At that time, the sravakas together addressed the Buddha:

“Long ago, there was a son who abandoned his father and fled, wandering in another region for sixty years. He roamed in all directions seeking food and clothing, constantly oppressed by poverty and hardship, without the least possession. His father happened to travel to that region. He possessed countless quantities of gold, silver, jewels, crystal, lapis lazuli, giant clamshell, agate, coral, and amber, filling all his storehouses. His attendants, carriages, elephants, and horses were beyond counting; his retinue was vast, and the seven treasures were abundant. His monetary receipts and expenditures, his planting and plowing, and the merchants who traded with him were also exceedingly numerous.

“The impoverished and hungry son had to travel everywhere throughout the villages, hamlets, and towns of the country to beg for food. It was then autumn, and the wealthy elder entered the city to inspect his treasure stores. Having long been separated from his son, the father suddenly thought of him, not knowing where his son might be. He reflected: ‘I possess immense wealth filling places near and far, yet I am all alone. If I should die one day, this wealth will be scattered and lost. I wish only to see my son again, provide him freely with food and clothing, and entrust my property to him; then I shall be at peace and free from worry.’

“At that time, the impoverished son gradually arrived at the elder’s house. Standing before its entrance and looking inside, from afar he saw his father seated upon a lion throne made of gold, silver, and precious substances. Brahmins and many others respectfully surrounded him.

There were jeweled curtains strung with gems, within which his father sat, giving orders and assigning duties to people in the various departments. The ground was strewn with all kinds of precious flowers, and hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis in gold were used for eating and drinking vessels. Seeing the elder in such a majestic bearing, the poor son became extremely frightened.

Not knowing who he was, he supposed that this man must be a king or someone equal to a king. Hesitating and not daring to advance, he thought thus and quickly fled.

“When the father saw his son, his heart was filled with joy. He ordered an attendant to run after him and call him back. Terrified, the son collapsed upon the ground and said to the man who had pursued and seized him:

“‘I have done nothing to offend you. Why are you arresting me?’

“The attendant led the son back to the elder. The elder said:

“‘Do not be so afraid. It was for your sake that I established this enterprise with its overflowing storehouses. Father and son have long been separated without seeing one another. Now I am old and feeble; because the bond of love and devotion between father and son is profound, I have brought you into this house.’

“The father did not say this to anyone. Why? Because the father knew that his son’s aspirations were impoverished, humble, and lowly, and that he did not understand the power of his father’s merit. A long time afterward, when the son’s mind had come to understand, his expression had become peaceful, he knew his own name, and he had gradually grown familiar with the precious objects, the elder then said:

“‘This is truly my son.’

“Then, employing skillful means, he told his son:

“‘Now you may do whatever you wish.’

“The impoverished son was greatly astonished at this unprecedented event. He immediately rose and went to a poor village to seek food and clothing. Understanding his son, the father employed skillful means and told him:

“‘You may go freely to them.’

“After the son had gone there, the elder again sent someone to tell him:

“‘Go to that house; they are in need of a carriage driver there.’

“The elder gave him elephants and horses and instructed him to become gradually accustomed to menial tasks. If anyone questioned him, he would reply that he worked as a carriage driver. The father told his son:

“‘You must drive the carriages and horses and manage the precious objects in the house. Whatever you desire, I shall give you.’

“Whatever the son wanted, the father provided in full, just as he had promised. The son then learned to control the horses and carriages, managed the jewels with great care, and even instructed all the people in the household, high and low. From beside a window, the father saw from afar that his son performed his work skillfully. He then removed the old clothes he had been wearing, bathed and washed himself clean, scrubbed himself with his right hand, put on fine garments, adorned himself with precious necklaces, and made his whole body clean and radiant. He said to his son:

“‘From the past until now, have you built up any livelihood or property? Why did you leave me and go elsewhere, thereby suffering hunger, cold, and hardship? I am now old and feeble, and I sincerely counsel you that the time has come for you to take a wife, enjoy yourself, eat and drink, and perpetuate the family’s blessings.

The property I have amassed is beyond measure and is filled with precious things. Do you know this? I have longed for you for many years, yet you went away and associated with bad companions and have only now returned.

You must cast off those habitual faults. I possess an exceedingly precious, luminous wish-fulfilling jewel, which I shall give to you. All the attendants and servants, male and female, young and old—whomever you desire—I entrust entirely to you.

I have always cherished and remembered you, just as a king rejoices to encounter his crown prince.’

“The sravakas together addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! At that time, the impoverished son had been separated from his family for more than sixty years and had wandered everywhere. Only when he reached the elder’s house did he meet his relative. Reflecting upon the time both before and after meeting his father, he remembered in his heart everything he had done.”

At that time, the elder lay upon his sickbed. Knowing that he was about to die, he said to his son:

– My strength is now utterly exhausted. You should inherit my vast estate. All the wealth and precious treasures stored within this house shall be yours to receive; use them as you wish to aid those who are poor and in need.

After hearing his father’s instruction, the son rejoiced beyond measure and vowed to carry it out without breaking his promise. Knowing his son’s resolve, the father personally instructed him. Having first been poor and afterward become wealthy, the son rejoiced all the more, honored his relatives, and paid homage to the Elders. Before the king, the great ministers, and all the people, the father proclaimed:

– May you all know that this man is my son, born of me, bearing this name and this family name. My son left me and wandered from place to place for sixty years, and only now have we met again. He is my son, and I am indeed his father. All my wealth and property belong to my son.

Hearing his father make this proclamation before everyone, the son rejoiced even more and thought: “What blessed merit did I create in a former life that I should now receive this treasury of precious riches?”

The shravakas again addressed him:

– World-Honored One! That wealthy elder is an analogy for the World-Honored One. We shravakas who are still in training are called children of the Buddha. You have long helped us escape the suffering of the three realms, just as the wealthy elder brought his son back and delivered him from birth and death. At that time, World-Honored One, you possessed countless Dharma treasures of the noble ones and, by means of the five superknowledges, removed the obscuring veil of the five skandhas. We constantly and diligently cultivated according to that teaching and attained nirvana, regarding it as the wondrous confirmation. We earnestly sought it without indolence, wishing to attain liberation and tranquility of mind; because our own contemplation had matured, we attained a great deal. Yet the World-Honored One knew that our minds had always relied upon the Dharma we practiced, that we diligently cultivated meditation and constantly delighted in faith. Seeing that we were indolent, of inferior aspiration, undiscerning, and without resolve regarding the Tathagata’s precious treasury of Dharma, the World-Honored One used skillful means to show us clearly that treasury of wisdom. Through it, we were freed from hunger and hardship and received the wondrous confirmation.

Revered World-Honored One! Today we have grown old. The Venerable Mahakashyapa here, for example, was confirmed by the Tathagata long ago as one who would attain liberation.

The World-Honored One has further revealed for our sake the great wisdom and doctrine of the bodhisattvas. We have upheld and practiced it and taught it to everyone. The Tathagata has revealed great virtue and enabled all of us to enter the Tathagata’s teaching.

Why is this? Because the World-Honored One skillfully employed every expedient means, knowing that our aspirations were lowly and that we could not comprehend the profound Dharma, and therefore taught the practice of the shravakas. We feared the dharmas of birth, aging, and death within the three realms, as well as the coarse and base objects of form, sound, scent, taste, and touch.

We wished only to deliver ourselves and did not deliver all sentient beings. We remained far removed from skillful expedients, wisdom, great loving-kindness and compassion, meditative concentration, and samadhi. We knew only the minds of individuals but did not perceive the fundamental roots of all sentient beings.

We were like an utterly impoverished man seeking food and clothing: although the father earnestly wished to bring peace and happiness to his son, the son remained entirely unaware. The World-Honored One used skillful means, revealing teachings according to the proper time, but we did not recognize them. Only now do we know that we truly are children of the Buddha.

We have received the Buddha’s compassionate gift of great wisdom. Why is this? Although we were children of the Buddha, we were lowly, fearful, and weak. Only when the Tathagata saw that our minds rejoiced in and faithfully revered the bodhisattva vehicle did he afterward teach us the great Dharma of the Mahayana. The World-Honored One taught this Dharma for two reasons:

1. For the sake of the bodhisattvas, the Tathagata revealed the Dharma nectar.

2. For those of lowly standing and limited aspiration, the Tathagata encouraged and transformed them, leading them into the wondrous teaching.

It is like that son who had long been separated from his father. Seeing his father from afar along the road and not knowing who he was, he became greatly afraid. Only gradually, after observing his dignified bearing, did he realize that all of it belonged to him.

The Buddha is also thus. We did not clearly understand the great Dharma of the bodhisattvas. Although we were children of the Tathagata, born from the Dharma, we sought only nirvana and had no aspiration to sit beneath the tree at the place of enlightenment, subdue the armies of Mara, and liberate all sentient beings.

We considered ourselves already liberated. For that reason, although today we see and hear, we have not yet attained consummation; we are not true renunciants and have not yet become true shramanas. Today the World-Honored One has revealed his supremely excellent wisdom, and thus we have obtained the Buddha’s precious Dharma.

The Buddha is the father, and we are his children. Father and children share the same essential nature, without any difference. It is like the elder who, as his life approached its end, proclaimed before the great assembly, the king, officials, brahmins, elders, and all the people: “Today I bestow my entire treasury of jewels upon my son.” Hearing this, the son rejoiced as though he had attained something unprecedented.

The World-Honored One is also thus. At first, he temporarily taught the Dharma of the Lesser Vehicle, bringing us peace and happiness. Ultimately, however, he revealed the fundamental teaching to the fourfold assembly of bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas, as well as to all devas and human beings.

The World-Honored One skillfully used expedient means to teach the Dharma of the three vehicles, yet there are not even two vehicles—how much less could there be three? All these shravakas will become Buddhas. Our joy is immeasurable and beyond description.

At that time, the Venerable Mahakashyapa restated this teaching in verse:

Today we

Have heard the sound of Dharma;

Astonished and rejoicing,

We have gained the unprecedented.

For this reason,

Our hearts are filled with joy.

We also know that the Guide’s

Voice is gentle and melodious.

Supremely honored treasures

Have been gathered in great abundance;

Collecting all these jewels,

He bestows them upon us.

We never thought of this,

Nor did we ever seek it;

Now, hearing the profound Dharma,

Our hearts are greatly uplifted.

It is like an elder

Who had a single son.

As a little child, he understood nothing,

Being foolish and deluded.

Of his own accord, he left his father

And went to another country,

Drifting through foreign lands,

Where he encountered many worthy people.

At that time, the elder,

Grieving and longing for his son,

Later heard news of him

And hurriedly set out to search.

He traveled throughout the ten directions,

His heart constantly anxious.

Father and son had been separated

For sixty years.

He inquired of everyone,

Wishing to meet his son.

He then went to another land

And entered a great city.

There he stopped

And built a mansion,

Fully adorned and magnificent,

Where he enjoyed the pleasures of the five desires.

There was immeasurable fine gold

And every kind of jewel,

Precious wealth,

Bright pearls and jade,

Elephants, horses, carts, and carriages,

In exceedingly great numbers;

Domestic animals—cattle and pigs,

Chickens, ducks, goats, and donkeys;

Income, expenditure, and profits

From commerce and farming;

Servants and attendants,

Too numerous to count.

Among the honored and noble,

He had myriads of millions of associates.

He was also beloved by the king,

And his majesty was like that of a sovereign.

All the people

Reverently looked up to him;

Officials, influential people, and relatives

All held him in esteem.

For many reasons,

People came bustling to him;

Those who sought him were so numerous

That they could not all be counted.

Although so wealthy and powerful,

He continually lamented and wept:

“I have grown old,

And my resolve and strength are failing.

My heart constantly thinks

Only of seeing my son.

Day and night I remember and long for him,

Never ceasing for even a moment.

Whenever I inquire and hear news of my son,

My heart grows still more troubled.

My foolish son abandoned me

More than sixty years ago.

The treasuries I possess

And my vast wealth—

If I should die,

To whom could I entrust them

To inherit from me?”

The foolish son,

Destitute and distressed,

Constantly searched for food and clothing,

Wandering from place to place.

Anxious and preoccupied,

He toiled everywhere,

Seeking and living frugally,

Drifting far from home,

Struggling to sustain himself.

Sometimes he obtained something;

At other times, he had nothing.

Beset by hardship in a foreign land

Anxious and deeply troubled

Distressed within his heart

Enduring toil and suffering

Passing through them one after another

He journeyed without rest

Gradually drawing near

To his father’s dwelling.

Wandering back and forth

Seeking clothing and food

Little by little he approached

That very house.

Arriving before its gate

From afar he beheld

The great elder

Seated upon a lion throne

Attended by a multitude

And surrounded by his retinue.

Money and wealth were received and disbursed

And also given in charity;

A great many people

Followed and served him.

Some were calculating

Gold, silver, and precious jewels;

Some recorded documents

And apportioned them among the divisions.

Receipts and expenditures were separately kept,

Their amounts carefully calculated.

At that time, the poor man

Seeing such a scene

Stood by the roadside

Observing what they did.

He thought to himself:

“Why have I come here?

This must surely be a king

Or perhaps a crown prince.

If not, why is it thus?

They will seize and bind me.

If I do not leave,

I shall be forced into service.”

Thinking in this way,

The poor man fled.

The world does not esteem the poor

Nor favor the destitute.

At that time, the elder,

Seated upon the lion throne,

Saw his son from afar

And silently rejoiced.

He immediately sent an attendant

To pursue and detain him,

Saying, “Call that poor man;

Bring him here to meet me.”

The attendant obeyed,

Pursued him, and declared,

“You are compelled to return.”

The man fell to the ground

And, terrified, thought:

“I am being harmed without cause.

Why have I been seized?

What do they want of me?”

The wealthy elder

Saw his son collapse;

He pitied his son,

Who was exceedingly lowly

And did not believe

That the elder was his father,

But still remained suspicious,

Not considering the wealth.

The father gently reassured him

And said to the poor man:

“I have pure gold

Stored here.

I shall provide you

With ample food and drink.

Guard and oversee it,

And attend to the various tasks.

Many of the jewels I possess

Have become damaged and old;

They lie discarded in filthy places,

And no one repairs or uses them.

You may freely

Take them as your own.

My wealth is abundant;

No one could ever use it all.”

When the poor man heard

These words,

He hurried to the place

And obediently carried out the order.

Following the elder’s instructions,

He dared not disobey.

He immediately entered the house

And put its affairs in order.

At that time, the elder,

From within a window,

Observed his son

To see how he worked.

“Although he is my son,

He is exceedingly lowly;

He knows only how to calculate

And direct the carts.”

The elder descended from the upper story

And came down to the ground.

He removed his filthy garments

And changed out of his splendid attire.

He went directly to the place

Where his son was working

And told his son to rise:

“Whatever you may need,

I shall give to you.

It has been very difficult to encounter you.

Out of kindness, render service:

Massage my feet.

Rich and sweet wine,

Food and provisions,

Beds, chairs, and utensils,

Horses and carriages shall not be lacking.

Then I shall also

Find a wife for you.”

The wise elder

Gradually instructed him:

“You should take charge

Of all my affairs.

Because I cherish you,

Let there be no doubt in your mind.”

Gradually, the son

Entered his father’s house.

He managed its trade and business,

Calculated receipts and expenditures,

Allowed nothing to fall short,

And made it prosper more each day.

Going to and fro,

He instructed the servants.

All the precious objects,

Bright jewels and vaidurya,

He gathered and stored

Within the household treasury.

In every place,

He knew how to calculate;

Through reflection, he clearly understood

The profits arising from the property.

Yet because of his ignorance,

He kept only a small store for himself,

Not living as his father did,

But remaining outside.

At that time, the poor man

Thought to himself in solitude:

“No one else possesses

A treasury like mine.”

The father learned

Of his son’s aspiration:

He now considered himself

Endowed with inexhaustible wealth.

He immediately summoned his son

And personally instructed him:

“I wish to entrust to you

All of my property.

Therefore, I tell you:

Everything I possess—

My countless assets,

My livelihood and commerce—”

Then he assembled everyone

Before the king,

The elders, brahmins,

And worthy sages,

And had it proclaimed

To great and small, near and far:

“This is my son.

He abandoned me and fled,

Going to another country

In search of food and clothing,

And suffered extreme poverty.

Only now has he returned.

He and I have been separated

For more than sixty years.

Now, upon coming to this country,

I have at last met him again.

While dwelling in that city,

He had forgotten me;

Seeking a livelihood there,

He happened to come here.

Of all my wealth,

Nothing is lacking.

My present estate

Is exceedingly abundant.

I now entrust it all

To my son.

He shall preserve

His father’s inheritance.”

The son rejoiced

At this unprecedented event:

“I was formerly poor and destitute,

Yet wealth has come to me of itself.”

The father knew that his son’s

Aspiration had been lowly.

Now, having obtained the treasuries,

He dwelt securely.

The Great Guide

Teaches and transforms us.

We, being of lowly aspiration,

Delighted in the lesser Dharma.

The Buddha delivered us

And brought us peace;

Then he bestowed the prediction

That we shall attain Buddhahood.

Abiding here,

He established many practices.

Countless bodhisattvas,

Whose power of wisdom is immeasurable,

Reveal and distinguish

The supreme Great Way.

He praises the various conditions

And employs tens of thousands of parables.

We have heard

That we are children of the Buddha;

Therefore, we should strive to uphold and practice

The supreme Great Way.

Wherever it should be established,

For those possessing the eye of wisdom,

They shall, in this world,

Attain Buddhahood.

For the sake of the World-Honored One,

Practicing in this manner,

We shall nurture and protect

This teaching,

Analyzing and expounding

Its supreme meaning of wisdom,

And thereafter we shall transform

All sentient beings.

Our aspiration

Was impoverished in its thinking.

Even when we heard

The Buddha’s teachings,

We would not arouse

The Tathagata’s wisdom.

Seeing the Most Victorious One

Proclaim the meaning of the Way,

We thought within our hearts

That we had already attained nirvana.

We did not aspire to

Supreme wisdom.

Through hearing the World-Honored One speak

Of the Buddhas of all realms,

We attained a rare understanding

And gave rise to joyful hearts.

Within the quiescent Dharma,

All outflows

Had already been eliminated,

And afterward we would attain cessation.

Because of this way of thinking,

We did not attain Buddhahood.

We exerted ourselves in cultivation,

Diligently eliminating arrogance.

The teaching of the Buddhas,

Subtle, wondrous, and supreme,

We had never encouraged or assisted others to pursue;

We merely abided in nirvana,

Considering it the ultimate,

Supreme and complete attainment.

Having attained the unconditioned Dharma,

We cast off the skandhas and hindrances.

Day and night we diligently

Cultivated the meaning of emptiness,

Escaping the suffering

And afflictions of the three realms.

The World-Honored One instructed us,

Employing various causes and conditions

And various parables,

Fully encompassing all Dharmas,

And expounding the supreme teaching

From which wisdom itself is born.

If anyone

Aspires to attain Buddhahood,

For their sake we bestow

The service of the Dharma.

They attain it, yet we ourselves

Never delighted in it.

The Great Guide,

Throughout the entire world,

Observed all

People such as us,

Who were fearful of these matters.

To benefit us,

He earnestly exhorted and instructed us,

Causing us to believe and delight,

Skillfully employing expedient means

Just like the father.

Just as the elder,

Exceedingly wealthy,

Knew that his son’s aspiration

Was impoverished and lowly,

And only then brought forth his jewels

And bestowed them upon his son;

So the Great Guide

Proclaims the rare Dharma,

Distinguishing and revealing it,

Skillfully employing expedient means.

Knowing that our aspirations

Were lowly and inferior,

He first disciplined our minds

And then bestowed the Great Dharma.

Today we have attained

Immeasurable

Dharmas never attained before,

Like a poor man obtaining wealth.

Through the Buddha’s teaching and transformation,

We attained the precious Way.

Our outflows have been eliminated;

Day and night we cultivate

The moral precepts and meditative concentration,

Receiving and upholding the meaning of the teaching.

Obeying the Guide’s words,

We have now attained

The World-Honored One’s Great Way.

Surrounded by our retinues,

We cultivate with diligence,

Exerting ourselves day and night

In pure brahmacarya.

Relying upon the Dharma King’s

Profound wisdom and awakening,

We have fully attained

The fruit of unsurpassed virtue,

Accomplished in wondrous perfection,

With all outflows extinguished.

Only today

Have we truly become shravakas;

Only now have we clearly heard

The supreme Buddha Way

And the Buddha’s revelation

Of the Dharma voice of perfect enlightenment.

Because we have heard it,

We have transcended fear.

Only today have we become

Those Free from Attachment,

Proclaiming the Dharma of freedom from grasping

To the devas,

Human beings, Mara,

And Brahma,

To all their retinues,

To every class of living being,

And to all sentient beings everywhere;

Establishing them in quiescence

And bringing an end to birth and death

Throughout countless hundreds of millions of kalpas.

The teaching proclaimed by the Buddha

Is exceedingly difficult to encounter;

Surveying the entire world,

Nothing can compare with it.

Today, awakening,

Freed from all transgressions and liberated,

We cultivate with diligence.

Inspired and joyful

We return and

Bow before the Holy One

May our aspirations be fulfilled

As numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Food and clothing

Immeasurable in abundance

Beds and bedding

Pure and clean

Sandalwood

Used to make dwellings

Soft, smooth cushions

Spread upon them

If anyone is ill

Countless medicines

Are brought as offerings

So that they may abide and be delivered completely

Giving for many kalpas

Whatever has been realized

Will never be lost

The Buddha Dharma is lofty and profound

Immeasurable and boundless

Possessing great spiritual powers

Establishing the power of the Dharma

The Buddha is the Great King

Capable of steadfast endurance

Ever cultivating firmness

Consoling, exhorting, and teaching

Always in accord with the proper time

Never abandoning

Aspirations for blessedness

Throughout all lives

The Dharma of the World-Honored One

Possesses great power in every respect,

The supremely victorious Tathagata

Kindles a great radiant lamp

Teaching multitudes of people

Knowing the beings

According to their capacities

Their many different kinds

And whatever they delight in

Through hundreds of thousands of causes and conditions

He reveals the teaching in accord with them,

The Tathagata knows completely

The dispositions and conduct of beings

The thoughts in the minds of others

All living beings

Because of their many faults

Are led to fall into lower states

He manifests the Dharma

And leads them back to wisdom.

*

Chapter 5: MEDICINAL HERBS

Listen to Dharma Teacher Minh-Quang Nguyễn Lê Đức lecture at Hải-Đức Temple at 11:00 a.m. on November 29, 2009. Right-click to download.

At that time, the Blessed One said to Venerable Mahakasyapa and the elder sravakas:

“Well done, well done, Mahakasyapa! You have praised the Tathagata in accordance with reality. Just as you have said, the merit of the Tathagata is many times greater than in the analogy just given—immeasurable, inconceivable, and impossible to calculate by any finite number of kalpas.

No computation whatsoever can adequately measure the Tathagata. The wisdom of the Tathagata is infinite and boundless. No one can fully conceive all the paths the Tathagata has traversed, nor can anyone fathom their source.

The Tathagata penetrates all meanings of the Dharma, observes and knows every thought of beings in the world, comprehends them to their very limits, and distinguishes them all. The Tathagata enables everyone to understand clearly the wisdom of skillful means, encourages and establishes all beings in liberation, and reveals vast wisdom so that beings may enter the wisdom of the Buddha.

“Kasyapa! Suppose that throughout a great trichiliocosm there were medicinal herbs, grasses, bamboo and reeds, and forests of large and small trees, with roots, trunks, boughs, branches, flowers, and fruits—all the many species and different colors growing upon the earth, on high mountains, amid rocky cliffs, hills, springs, ravines, and caves. Then a great rain would fall and thoroughly moisten all the grasses, trees, gardens, and forests. According to its own species, each plant would flourish and grow. Those who do not yet have faith in or reverence for the Tathagata are likewise benefited. Rainwater of a single kind falls throughout the Buddha realm, and all things alike grow upon that earth without distinction.

“The Tathagata, the Perfectly Awakened One, expounds the profound Dharma just as a great rain falls. The Great Sage appears in the world for the sake of all devas, human beings, asuras, ghosts, spirits, and dragons. The Tathagata manifests brilliant spiritual majesty that fills the land, and, appearing here and now before the assembly, raises a mighty voice. Distinguishing the meaning of the teachings through wisdom, he proclaims these words in a voice as majestic as a lion’s:

“‘I am the Tathagata. I shall cause devas in the heavens and human beings throughout the human world who have not yet been delivered to be delivered; those who have not yet been liberated to be liberated; those who have not yet attained peace to attain peace; and those who have not yet realized nirvana to realize nirvana. The Tathagata knows the present life and future lives exactly as they truly are. With omniscient wisdom, the Tathagata can see all things universally, deliver those who should be delivered, liberate those who should be liberated, and bring peace to those who have not yet attained peace. Those who have not yet attained nirvana, the Tathagata causes to attain nirvana. Let everyone come here and hear the Tathagata teach the Dharma.’

“At that time, devas, human beings, asuras, gandharvas, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, and all the others gathered at the place where the Blessed One was expounding the meaning of the Dharma. The Buddha is the true guide who clearly distinguishes the path of wisdom.

The Blessed One said to Kasyapa:

“At that time, innumerable thousands, myriads, and kotis of kinds of beings all came to the Tathagata to hear the Dharma. The Tathagata clearly saw all their faculties and therefore employed the power of great diligence to teach the Dharma. With immeasurable expressions and clear distinctions, he instructed all beings everywhere, enabling them not to lose their original minds but to attain peace and joy free from calamity.

Some attained liberation in this very life; in future lives they would be born in peaceful places according to their wishes, each naturally obtaining such a birth. If some were accustomed to following sensual desire, the Tathagata taught sutras for their sake or enabled them to hear and receive the teaching, distance themselves from acts of greed, and gradually turn toward the path of the Tathagata’s wisdom. By relying upon the immeasurable fundamental power described above and maintaining resolute minds, they accomplished the impartial Dharma-body.

It is like a great rain that moistens and nourishes the entire Buddha realm, causing all things to grow equally without distinction.

“The Tathagata likewise expounds the Dharma of a single flavor, leading to the flavor of liberation, freedom from sensual desire, the attainment of nirvana, and entry into omniscient wisdom. Some may hear, receive, uphold, read, recite, and faithfully observe the Tathagata’s teaching, yet they do not themselves awaken or practice contemplation. Why is this?

“It is because of the former kinds and faculties of those beings. According to what they remember and think—the things they have thought and are thinking that they can do; the deeds they have done, are doing, and will do—where those causes and conditions will ultimately lead them and how the Dharma should be taught to them: only the Tathagata completely sees and knows where and in which realm all these matters occur. It is like rainwater equally moistening the medicinal herbs in a forest—the white, black, blue, and red herbs, whether tall, medium-sized, or short.

“To every class of beings, the Blessed One manifests only a single flavor, leading them into the flavor of liberation and onward to nirvana. He delivers those not yet delivered and brings them to ultimate nirvana, causing them to reach the same realm and the same flavor of Dharma, where their minds are free from fear and attain liberation. The Tathagata teaches and transforms beings, causing them to have joyful faith. He embraces, nurtures, and protects them, enabling them to attain penetrating wisdom. The Tathagata praises, clearly analyzes, and establishes the teaching of the sages and holy ones, just as you, Kasyapa, have said.”

The Blessed One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:

I appear within the world

As the benevolent King of Dharma

Teaching the Dharma for beings

According to what they trust and delight in

With a mighty and majestic resolve

I steadfastly explain and distinguish

Though many beings may receive and uphold it

I do not hastily teach it to them

The Buddha’s wisdom is difficult to understand

If those lacking wisdom should hear it

They would give rise to doubt

And immediately lose their faith

I teach according to their circumstances

And according to what they can bear

I further teach the benefits of the Dharma

Manifesting the true Dharma for beings

It is like a mass of dark clouds

Arising throughout empty space

Raining upon the entire Buddha realm

And covering all the earth

Flashes of lightning shine dazzlingly

Vapor spreads all around

The peal of thunder resounds mightily

And all creatures rejoice

The sun and moon are hidden from sight

The heat is dispelled and coolness comes

For rain is about to fall from the heavens

And clouds spread across the sky

That rain falls everywhere

Pouring down in immeasurable abundance

Rain falls evenly throughout the Buddha realm

Everywhere is thoroughly drenched

At the proper time, the rain pours down

The whole great earth is moistened;

Streams and ravines that had run dry

Are all filled to overflowing

By the penetrating rain.

All the springs rise and overflow;

In open fields and deep caves,

The trees in the silent forests

Put forth fresh, verdant shoots.

Countless medicinal herbs arise;

All varieties of trees,

Great and small, increase and grow.

Medicinal herbs flourish green;

Trees and branches abound in flowers and fruit.

According to their respective natures and kinds,

All are thoroughly moistened.

The great trees,

Their roots gripping the earth deeply,

Grow in perilous places

And dwell there,

Like followers of heterodox paths,

All deluded and ignorant,

Increasing their bonds,

Like elephants in chains.

Thorns, shrubs, grasses, and trees,

Rice seedlings and reeds,

Roots, trunks, branches, and leaves,

And all their flowers and fruit—

The fruit trees grow luxuriant

And receive abundant benefit.

Indebted to the descending rain,

The medicinal herbs gradually grow.

According to their respective species,

Because of that rain,

All are thoroughly moistened;

Their hunger and thirst are satisfied.

According to the seeds planted,

Each kind differs from the others,

Yet when the rain descends,

It is uniformly of a single flavor.

O Mahakasyapa!

The Buddha is also thus:

He appears in the world

Like rain from the heavens,

Pouring down evenly everywhere.

He expounds the Dharma to the assembly,

Bringing forth the practice of truth

To teach and transform sentient beings.

When the Buddha speaks this Dharma,

He causes everyone to hear it

In the presence of all devas

And people everywhere.

The Buddha is the Tathagata,

The Honored One, Perfect in Wisdom and Conduct,

Who skillfully employs expedient means.

Like a shower of rain,

I bring satisfaction

To all living beings;

To those who are deluded and ignorant,

Whose bodies are parched and emaciated,

I remove every suffering and calamity

And grant them great peace and security,

Burning away all craving and desire

And enabling them to attain nirvana.

Devas and human beings

All hear what I proclaim:

Everyone should come

To the place of the Great Sage, the Buddha.

I am the Tathagata,

The incomparable one,

Who disciplines, teaches, and transforms,

And therefore appears in the world.

For the sake of everyone,

I expound the sutras with discernment,

Teaching and liberating myriads of thousands

Of innumerable sentient beings.

The Buddha further explains

Numerous doctrines,

Always practicing impartiality,

Without distinction between this one and that one,

So that they attain liberation,

Extinction, and nirvana.

Whether before the doors of homes

Or elsewhere, he expounds the Dharma and sutras;

This is the establishment

Of a treasury of virtue in the path.

Whether their capacities are high or low,

He teaches them all alike,

Without hatred or affection,

So that craving and desire are eradicated.

I have never spoken

Words that are useless,

Nor have I ever harbored hatred or jealousy

Toward those conditioned by heedlessness.

Employing all teachings,

I expound the Dharma to every kind of being.

Though sentient beings

Are too numerous to count,

I expound the great sutra for them

Without contravening causes and conditions.

Whether walking slowly or swiftly,

Standing in one place,

Or sitting silently,

I always remain in meditation.

Like the king of dragons,

Who sends down abundant, saturating rain

That thoroughly moistens

The entire world,

I manifest and raise clouds of wisdom

And pour down the rain of Dharma,

Proclaiming its wondrous meaning.

Giving medicine according to each illness,

I always expound

The noble and sagely Dharma

For the sake of sentient beings,

Causing all to uphold the precepts,

Like the sky providing cooling shade.

Those who speak falsely

And engage in wrongful conduct,

Yet wish to draw near the Dharma,

Are gradually tamed.

Those who harbor doubt

Abandon all wrong views;

They are exhorted, instructed, and benefited,

And behold the abode of peace and bliss.

They leave inferior states,

And distance themselves from indolence.

According to their aspirations,

I cause them to enter the path;

At the proper time I instruct them,

Causing them all to relinquish

Erroneous thoughts

And follow the Buddha’s practice.

The World-Honored Ones teach,

Pouring down the rain of the Dharma-sutra,

Causing beings to attain

The noble path of Buddhahood.

According to the capacities of sentient beings,

They enable them to hear and receive

The many forms of wisdom of the path,

Establishing the wondrous Dharma through transformation.

Devas and humans follow it,

Their minds and dispositions peaceful and joyful;

Brahma kings, Sakra,

And wheel-turning sage-kings do likewise.

The lesser worlds are also thus.

The various medicinal herbs,

Each of a different kind,

Small, low, and short—

Such are the medicinal herbs.

Kasyapa, listen closely;

I shall explain it all.

Those who employ wisdom to understand

Clearly the undefiled Dharma,

Realize nirvana

And journey to the abode

Of the three knowledges and six superknowledges—

They too are like this.

Through the rain of meditative concentration,

The medicinal herbs of samadhi are nourished.

Some go forth

To dwell amid mountains and forests;

Such persons accomplish

The Vehicle of the Pratyekabuddha.

They practice meditation

And live in pure conduct;

These are called

Medicinal herbs of the middle grade.

If one’s aspiration

Is to seek the virtue of a supreme being,

Vowing, “I shall appear in the world

And become a Teacher of the Path,”

Always practicing diligently

And meditating with one-pointed mind,

This is called

A medicinal herb of the highest grade.

Suppose there is someone

Who wishes to establish the mind in stability,

To rescue and aid beings with loving-kindness and compassion,

And to dwell in solitude,

Quickly attaining the path

And becoming the Most Honored among beings;

Such a one is called a great tree.

By means of this analogy,

One may proclaim

The Dharma of non-retrogression,

Establish the bases of supernormal power,

Practice the faculties and powers,

And cultivate these conditions.

Like medicine that cures illness,

These heroic deeds liberate

Countless hundreds of millions of people.

Appearing at appropriate times

Within that Buddha path—

This is precisely what is called

The greatest forest of trees.

I have always accorded with beings,

Skillfully employing expedient means;

All Buddhas

Do likewise.

They expound the supreme Dharma,

The Dharma of equality,

Like auspicious clouds

Pouring rain everywhere.

With unobstructed supernormal powers,

The Buddha employs this analogy:

Just as medicinal herbs

Grow together upon the earth,

He enables beings to behold

The subtle and wondrous meaning of the Dharma.

The Tathagata has established it

By skillful expedient means,

Using analogies and analysis

To explain the Dharma in its entirety,

Just as the rain

Waters all medicinal herbs.

The Buddha uses the rain of Dharma

To pour upon the entire world,

Bringing abundant peace and security

And universal accomplishment.

He observes each person’s

Capacity to receive and bear the teaching,

Yet the Dharma taught by the Buddha

Is uniformly of a single flavor.

Just as falling rain

Makes no distinction among

Mountains, precipices, grasses, and trees,

Or the spaces between them,

But moistens all the trees

Throughout the ancient forests,

While dense clouds spread in every direction

And fill all lands.

If those in the world

Practice the Dharma of loving-kindness,

They should use this sutra

To fill all under heaven,

Teaching and guiding the world

So that all may attain peace and security.

When heavenly rain falls upon the medicinal herbs,

Their flowers and fruit flourish abundantly;

Those medicinal herbs

Gradually grow.

These signify the arhats,

Whose outflows have been exhausted.

The pratyekabuddhas

Dwell in dense forests;

The Dharma I expound

Is free from defilement.

Countless bodhisattvas,

Whose wisdom penetrates and comprehends,

Practice throughout

All the three realms.

Within the assembly,

They proclaim this great path;

Like those trees,

They daily grow ever greater and more flourishing.

They advance in cultivating the bases of supernormal power

And master the four dhyanas;

Or, hearing the wisdom of emptiness,

Their minds are immediately liberated.

They emit brilliant rays of light

By countless hundreds of millions and thousands;

These are the great trees,

Ever lush and radiant.

Or there are sravakas

Who have not yet attained nirvana;

For their sake, the World-Honored One

Expounds the highest Dharma.

Or, making distinctions,

He explains this Dharma,

Like clouds arising

And raining upon the trees.

The trees and medicinal herbs

Gradually grow ever greater;

The flowers of all beings

Are too numerous to count.

At that very time,

He expounds the Dharma of causes and conditions,

And for everyone

Reveals the Buddha path.

Temporarily employing expedient means,

He expounds the teachings;

All Teachers of the Path

Do likewise.

This teaching that is expounded

Is the foremost Dharma.

All the assemblies of sravakas

Should reverently uphold it.

Practicing in accordance with these conditions,

They shall attain the Buddha’s conduct.

These arhats

Are no different in this respect.

The World-Honored One expounds the meaning

That culminates here:

Those taught through the Lesser Vehicle

Shall all attain the Buddha path.

The Buddha further addressed Venerable Mahakasyapa:

“The Tathagata teaches and transforms beings, instructing them impartially and without bias. It is like the light of the sun shining throughout all under heaven. That light does not choose where it should shine and where it should not shine; whether places are high or low, deep or shallow, ugly or beautiful, fragrant or foul, it illuminates them all equally, without distinction.

“The Buddha is also thus. With the light of wisdom, he illuminates all sentient beings in the five paths of birth and death—bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and sravakas. That wisdom neither increases nor decreases; each sentient being, according to the awakening of their own mind, personally attains the path. Fundamentally, there are no three vehicles; they arise in this manner because of beings’ practices and aspirations.”

Venerable Kasyapa said to the Buddha:

“If there are no three vehicles, how can there be sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas?”

The Buddha said:

– It is like a potter who uses pliable clay to make vessels, whether to hold ambrosial nectar, or butter, milk, sesame oil, or wine and other beverages. The nature of the clay is the same, but when it is fashioned into different vessels, their uses are likewise different. The Dharma of liberation is also thus: equal and without distinction. Yet according to each person’s practice, there are differences of superior, middling, and inferior.

The Venerable Kasyapa again said:

– World-Honored One! Although there are differences, are they the same in the ultimate end?

The Buddha said:

– They will be the same, but only one who is awakened can clearly understand this matter. Suppose a person was born blind and could not see the five colors, the sun, the moon, or the ten directions. That person would maintain that in the world there are no sun, moon, five colors, eight directions, or directions above and below. Even if someone explained these things, he still would not believe. Suppose a skilled physician examined him and discerned the cause of his illness: “Why is this person unable to see? Because he committed offenses in the past, his eyes are now blind and dark and cannot behold the light, while his body is afflicted with a grave illness. What is meant by a grave illness? It consists of the four disorders of wind, cold, heat, and accumulation.”

The skilled physician privately reflected: “Even if medicinal substances were administered for this person’s condition, they could not cure it. On the Snow Mountain are medicines capable of treating those four illnesses. The first is called Manifest, the second Cooling, the third Bright, and the fourth Peaceful; these are the names of the four medicines.”

At that time, out of compassion for the sick man, the skilled physician devised a method and immediately entered the Snow Mountain, gathered the four medicines, combined them, and then soaked and pounded them, using them to treat the blind man until his sight was restored. The skilled physician also employed acupuncture, reduction and supplementation, causing the blind man’s eyes to see clearly, both within and without.

When the man beheld the light of the sun and moon, the five colors, and the ten directions, he truly believed at last and reproached himself: “I was truly blind. Although I had neither seen nor heard, I considered myself fully comprehending. Now that my eyes can see, I realize that I was formerly veiled by ignorance.

Now I can see what is distant and near, high and low, and I am no longer confused.”

At that time, there was a seer who lived in solitude and possessed the five superknowledges. His sight and hearing penetrated everywhere; his body could fly, his mind could know the thoughts of others, and he himself knew the course of his births and deaths from the past until the present. The seer then clearly told that man:

– Do not be arrogant or conceited, thinking that you have attained complete understanding. Because a person remains inside a house with its doors shut and does not go outside, he cannot know all that is outside. You do not know whether others think well or ill of you, nor can you see as far as five or ten leagues. You cannot even hear voices or the sound of drums from twenty leagues away. You cannot walk even twelve leagues by your own strength, nor can you reach the state in which you remember and see the time before your birth, when you were still in the womb, nor can you know it. What have you comprehended that you consider yourself able to see and know everything? I now see that you are truly one who, while in darkness, regards it as light, and while in light, regards it as darkness.

The man asked:

– What must I do to attain that noble wisdom? I beseech you to have compassion and bestow your instruction upon me.

The seer replied:

– You must enter the deep mountains and live alone in a secluded place, eliminating all sensual desires; only then will you attain it.

The man followed the seer’s instruction, left his home, and entered the mountains. Single-minded and wholly devoted, without attachment to sensual pleasures, he attained superknowledges and awakened by himself. Contemplating what he then perceived, he found that it could not be expressed in words. After attaining the five superknowledges, with nothing obstructing him, he realized for himself that his former vision had been veiled by darkness.

The Buddha said:

– I shall explain this analogy clearly. Human beings dwell among the five destinies, under the covering of the skandhas, within birth and death. Not understanding the original nonexistence is called ignorance. From ignorance arise formations; from formations arises consciousness; from consciousness arise name and form; from name and form arise the six ayatanas; from the six ayatanas arises contact; from contact arises feeling; from feeling arises craving; from craving arises grasping; from grasping arises existence; from existence arises birth; and from birth arise aging, illness, death, sorrow, affliction, suffering, and distress. Because offenses accumulate, this is called blindness and darkness. Precisely out of compassion for these people, who ceaselessly wander through the three realms and cannot save themselves, the World-Honored One examines the source of sentient beings’ minds and sees that some are gravely ill and others lightly ill; some have much defilement and others little defilement; some are easily liberated and others are difficult to liberate; some see far and others see near. They bring forth the bodhisattva resolve, attain non-retrogression, are no longer subject to birth and death, and attain Buddhahood, just as a person whose sight has been restored becomes a divine seer. That skilled physician is none other than the Tathagata.

Those who do not bring forth the great bodhi-mind are said to live in blindness. Greed, lust, anger, ignorance, and the sixty-two wrong views are called the four illnesses. Emptiness, Signlessness, Wishlessness, and proceeding toward the gateway of nirvana are called the four medicines.

When the medicines cure the illness, ignorance, formations, name and form, the six ayatanas, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, existence, birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, affliction, suffering, and distress are all eradicated. Their resolve abides neither in good nor in evil. Like a blind person whose two eyes have regained sight, they are called sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, who have ended birth and death, transcended the three realms, escaped the five destinies, and know clearly for themselves that they have attained comprehension and are not mistaken.

When they are about to enter cessation, a Buddha manifests before them and teaches the True Dharma, causing them to bring forth the bodhisattva resolve, neither remaining in birth and death nor abiding in nirvana. They clearly understand the meaning of emptiness within the three realms: all phenomena existing throughout the ten directions are like illusions and conjurations, like dreams, like mirages, and like echoes in deep mountains.

All are without possession; there is nothing to hope for, nothing to grasp or relinquish, neither darkness nor light. Only then do they see profoundly, with nothing they do not comprehend; they perceive phenomena never seen before and clearly understand the source from which all sentient beings arise.

At that time, the World-Honored One restated this meaning in verse:

Just as the sunlight

Shines throughout all places,

Its radiance neither increasing nor diminishing,

Nor choosing the good or the bad.

The Tathagata is also thus;

His wisdom is like the sun and moon,

Transforming beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions,

Without decrease or increase.

Just as that potter

Kneads clay to fashion vessels,

Some holding ambrosial nectar,

Some holding cooking oil or milk.

Originally made from the same clay,

They become different implements;

Yet their essential function does not differ,

And they are named according to what they contain.

People are originally also thus;

There are no three realms or five destinies,

Yet according to their karmic deeds they fall and are born,

Revolving in samsara without knowing it themselves.

Understanding “Emptiness” is called a bodhisattva;

Those of middling capacity are pratyekabuddhas;

Those attached to emptiness, whose wisdom is not yet liberated,

Are called sravakas.

It is like a blind man

Who cannot see the light of the sun and moon,

The five colors or the ten directions,

And maintains that they do not exist in the world.

A skilled physician examines the cause

And sees that four illnesses conceal his sight;

Moved by compassion for him,

He enters the mountain in search of medicines.

He gathers wondrous and efficacious herbs

Called Manifest, Cooling, Bright, and Peaceful;

He soaks, pounds, and combines them

To treat the blind man.

Adjusting the medicines and also applying acupuncture,

He cures the illness and restores the man’s sight.

Seeing the sun, moon, and five colors,

The man then knows that he had been blind and ignorant.

Those who do not understand the nature of emptiness

Continually fall into the paths of birth and death;

Bound by the twelve links of dependent origination,

They do not understand the cause of their illness.

The World-Honored One appears in the world

And contemplates the root of the three realms;

According to the causes from which illnesses arise,

He teaches and transforms all beings.

Understanding “Emptiness” is to be a bodhisattva;

Those of lesser aspiration are pratyekabuddhas;

Weary of and fearing the suffering of birth and death

Thus they fall into the state of shravakas,

Thinking their virtue is lofty,

Unable to understand themselves clearly.

Those who perceive the ultimate

Have no anxious hindrances,

Like a seer

Fully endowed with the five superknowledges,

Who compassionately tells that person:

“You cling firmly to your obstructions

And do not understand the vast and profound.

In darkness you imagine there is light;

While inside, you cannot see outside.

Though there is light, it is still darkness.

A sound may arise dozens of miles away,

Yet your ears cannot hear it.

Perhaps someone wishes to harm you,

Yet you do not know what they are thinking.

If you wish to go several miles away,

You must walk there on foot.

Or when a being is conceived and grows,

You do not know what occurs within the womb.

Only upon clearly knowing the five matters, inward and outward,

Will you attain complete understanding.

Why, then, do you become arrogant,

Thinking yourself supreme above all?”

Those who wish to attain the five superknowledges

Must dwell in a secluded place,

Single-mindedly contemplating and recollecting the Way.

When they comprehend this Dharma,

Uphold the Buddha’s teaching,

Leave home and enter the deep mountains,

And single-mindedly harbor no evil thoughts,

They immediately attain the state of a divine seer.

If they attain the shravaka state

And gain the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle,

They may think their wisdom complete

And equal to the nirvana of the Buddhas.

When they are about to enter extinction,

The Buddha immediately stands before them

And reveals the bodhisattva Dharma:

The three penetrations, free of obstruction,

And wisdom reaching the infinite.

Skillfully employing provisional expedient means,

They attain emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

From these the bodhisattva gives rise to

The four immeasurable minds and the four acts of kindness,

Thereby teaching and transforming sentient beings.

They clearly know that all is like a conjuration,

Like a dream, an illusion, or a mirage,

Like an echo or the trunk of a plantain tree.

The three realms possess nothing;

There is neither grasping nor relinquishing,

Neither darkness nor brightness,

Neither birth and death nor nirvana.

All is equal, like empty space.

Seeing is itself not seeing;

Only then can all things be seen.

Such vision at that very moment

Makes no distinction among the Three Vehicles;

All are entirely equal,

And beings are aided and delivered without limit.

Chapter 6: BESTOWING PREDICTIONS UPON THE SHRAVAKAS

Listen to a lecture by Venerable Minh-Quang Nguyễn Lê Đức at Hải-Đức Temple, delivered at 11:00 a.m. on December 6, 2009. Right-click to download.

At that time, after speaking these verses, the Blessed One addressed all the bhikshus:

“I shall now explain clearly: those shravakas, including Mahakashyapa, have previously made offerings to three hundred billion Buddhas. They must now make offerings to as many Buddhas as before, reverently honoring and serving those Buddhas, receiving the true Dharma, and faithfully upholding and cultivating it. After completing their offerings to those Buddhas, they will attain Buddhahood.

That realm will be called Perfect Radiance, and that kalpa will be called Vast Greatness. At that time, the Buddha will be named Tathagata Great Radiance, the Worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Those to Be Tamed, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. He will abide in the world for twelve intermediate kalpas.

“After that Buddha enters extinction, the true Dharma will remain in the world for twenty kalpas, and the semblance Dharma will likewise remain for twenty kalpas. That Buddha’s land will be utterly pure, without bricks, tiles, thorns, any kind of impurity, mountains, ravines, or pits. It will be supremely pure and blissful, with ground of lapis lazuli, trees made of various treasures, and cords of pure gold stretched among the rows of trees.

Eight roads will intersect one another. The jeweled trees will constantly blossom with precious flowers and always remain luxuriant and beautiful. In that realm there will be innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of bodhisattvas, and the shravakas will also be truly immeasurable.

That realm will be free from evil deeds and government officials. All spirits will constantly and diligently protect the Buddha-Dharma, never acting contrary to it.”

At that time, wishing to restate this meaning, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

I see this bhikshu

With the Buddha’s wisdom-eye:

The present Kashyapa

Will attain Buddhahood.

In a future age,

After innumerable kotis of kalpas,

He will make offerings to Buddhas,

The honored sages among all beings,

Completely fulfilling his service

To three hundred billion Buddhas.

Mahakashyapa,

Whose outflows have been exhausted,

Will perfectly cultivate

The meritorious practices of the three grades

And attain Buddhahood.

He will draw near to the Dharma,

Make offerings to the Buddhas,

Honor the teachers of devas and humans,

And accumulate wholesome practices.

He will attain the fruit of Buddhahood,

Most honored and supreme,

An incomparable one,

A great guide,

A great sage.

That Buddha’s land

Will be foremost and supremely excellent,

Pure and free from defilement.

Whatever auspicious blessings

May be desired

Will all be fulfilled.

Its ground will be purple-gold in color

And adorned with precious things.

There will also be trees

All made of jewels.

Its roads will be magnificent,

Straight and divided into eight ways.

Devas and humans will scatter incense,

Filling every place with fragrance.

At that time, the realm

Will be like this.

All kinds of flowers

Will be hung as ornaments;

Every flower

Will be purple-gold in color,

Radiating light and silvery sounds,

Serving as a model for the Dharma,

Forever wondrous and sublime,

Such as no one has ever seen.

The assemblies of bodhisattvas

Will number countless thousands and myriads;

Their minds and aspirations will be serene and steadfast,

And they will possess great spiritual powers.

The assemblies of sages endowed with wisdom,

Following the sutras of the Mahayana,

Will be beyond calculation,

Numbering myriads of kotis, hundreds of thousands.

Entirely free from all outflows

And steadfastly resolved to uphold the teaching,

There will be assemblies of shravakas

Who possess the Buddha’s supreme Dharma.

Even if one used the divine eye

And wished to calculate and measure them,

The number of those disciples

Could never be determined.

That Buddha will abide in the world

For twelve intermediate kalpas.

The true Dharma will remain

For twenty intermediate kalpas;

The semblance Dharma will also remain

For the same number of kalpas.

Such will be the merit and virtue

Of the Buddha Great Radiance.

At that time, the venerable elders Mahamaudgalyayana, Subhuti, and Mahakatyayana, among others, rose together with one mind. Bowing their heads, they gazed upon the Buddha’s radiant countenance without moving their eyes and reverently prostrated themselves at the Buddha’s feet. Together they recited verses of praise:

Great Hero, free from defilement,

Shakya King of great loving-kindness,

You have taken pity upon us

And proclaimed praise of the Buddha’s practices.

The Buddha now knows our minds;

We pray that, out of compassion, you bestow predictions upon us,

That we may encounter the ambrosia of the Dharma

And bathe in the sound of Dharma.

We are like hungry and thirsty people

Who obtain food of the finest flavor,

Or impoverished people begging for help

Who suddenly receive food from someone.

We are all filled with joy.

Our aspirations have been lowly;

At an untimely moment, we abandoned everyone,

And therefore did not receive predictions.

Because we did not believe in the wisdom of perfect enlightenment,

The Buddha did not bestow them upon us.

Now that we are here,

We are no longer hungry or thirsty.

Seeing the Blessed One encourage and inspire us,

And hearing the most honored Dharma,

We desire only to receive predictions;

Only then will we attain great peace.

May the Blessed One resolve our doubts.

With great loving-kindness and compassionate concern,

Take pity upon those whose aspirations and minds are feeble,

And teach the assembly the ambrosial Dharma.

At that time, the Blessed One knew the thoughts of the elder shravakas and immediately addressed the assembly of bhikshus:

“Bhikshus, you should know this! This great shravaka elder Subhuti will attend upon and make offerings to eight thousand and thirty billion hundreds of thousands of myriads of Buddhas. In the presence of those Buddhas, he will cultivate pure conduct and fully accumulate and perfect merit and virtue.

Thereafter, in the future, he will attain Buddhahood and be acclaimed as a Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Those to Be Tamed, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. That kalpa will be called Jeweled Sound. Throughout that Buddha’s land, various jeweled trees will adorn themselves.

There will be no sand, gravel, bricks, stones, mountains, ravines, caverns, or pits. All the rows of trees will emit sounds that are compassionate, harmonious, and gentle. The people of that land will possess immeasurable wealth, and their houses, chambers, towers, and pavilions will be innumerable.

The assembly of shravakas will likewise be immeasurable and impossible to count in full, and all will have attained the superknowledge of past lives. The bodhisattvas in that land will also number hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis—immeasurable and impossible to count. That Buddha will abide in the world for twelve intermediate kalpas.

After the Buddha enters extinction, the true Dharma will remain in the world for twenty intermediate kalpas, and the semblance Dharma will likewise remain for twenty intermediate kalpas. That Buddha will be seated in empty space and expound the sutras and Dharma for all sentient beings, teaching and transforming innumerable hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas.”

At that time, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

I shall now explain clearly;

All you bhikshus

Should listen attentively

To the teaching proclaimed by the Buddha.

Subhuti,

A disciple of mine,

In the future

Will attain Buddhahood.

He will encounter World-Honored Ones,

His mind and aspiration utterly sincere,

In all, thirty

Myriad thousand Buddhas.

He will remain in the world,

Cultivating and perfuming himself with the practices of the path,

His resolve ever aspiring

To the wisdom of the Tathagata.

In a future age,

When his meritorious practices are perfected,

His countenance will be wondrous,

Endowed with the thirty-two marks,

Radiant and beautiful,

His physical body the color of purple-gold.

That kalpa will be pure,

And his heart ever compassionate.

His land will be peaceful and joyful,

Auspicious signs will appear;

When the myriad people behold them,

They will rejoice with delight.

Together they will all go

To the place of that Buddha.

The sentient beings delivered

Will be immeasurable and countless.

The assemblies of bodhisattvas

Will be beyond reckoning;

Their minds will all be liberated,

And they will never regress.

Hearing the most wondrous Dharma,

Their faculties will be keen and penetrating,

And all will reverently accord with it.

In that Buddha-land,

The assembly of shravakas

Will indeed be immeasurably vast;

Should one wish to know their number,

It could never be determined.

Possessing the six superknowledges and the three penetrations,

They will have great spiritual powers,

Be liberated without obstruction,

And have attained peace and security.

Those spiritual powers

Will be inconceivable.

When that Buddha expounds

The Dharma treasure of all Buddhas,

Gods and humans, as numerous

As the sands in river channels,

Will always join their palms

And take refuge in the Buddha.

That Buddha will abide in the world

For twelve intermediate kalpas.

The true Dharma will remain

For twenty intermediate kalpas,

And the semblance Dharma will remain in the world

For the same number as above.

Thus will it be

For that Great Heroic Teacher.

At that time, the Blessed One again addressed the bhikshus:

“Bhikshus, if you wish to know with certainty what will occur in the future, you must have faith in the Tathagata’s wisdom of impartial discernment. Mahakatyayana, this shravaka disciple of mine, will in the future attend upon and make offerings to eight hundred billion Buddhas. After each Buddha enters nirvana, he will build a stupa forty thousand feet high and twenty thousand feet in length and breadth. Each will be fashioned from precious substances such as gold, silver, vaidurya, crystal, mother-of-pearl, agate, coral, and jade, and he will make offerings with various flowers and incense, blended incense, powdered incense, brocade and silk, banners, and canopies.

“After completing these offerings, he must further make offerings to two billion Buddhas. He will then attain Buddhahood with the name Purple-Gold-Hued Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer by Means of the Dharma, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. His land will be adorned, pure, and level, free from every evil, and renowned far and wide, with vaidurya for its ground.

Countless trees will be adorned with precious cords and lustrous golden brocades and silks draped among them. Their flowers will always bloom in luxuriant profusion and flourish everywhere. That Buddha-land will have no hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals, but only innumerable hosts of gods and humans.

There will also be countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of billions of shravakas and bodhisattvas adorning that Buddha-land. That Buddha will abide in the world for ten minor kalpas. After his nirvana, the true Dharma will remain for twenty intermediate kalpas, and the semblance Dharma will likewise remain for twenty intermediate kalpas.”

The Blessed One then spoke in verse:

All you bhikshus

Should listen attentively

To the voice of that Buddha,

Gentle and auspicious.

Katyayana,

A disciple of mine,

Will make offerings to

Countless Teachers of the Way,

Reverently honoring and serving them

With boundless devotion

Throughout countless kalpas

Beyond all reckoning.

After those Buddhas enter nirvana,

He will build stupas in their honor

And make offerings to the Buddha-stupas

With incense and flowers.

Thereafter, in the future,

He will attain Buddhahood.

His land will be pure,

Without any defilement.

He will teach and guide

Countless sentient beings,

Revealing the path

To all everywhere.

That land will be adorned,

Shedding light throughout the ten directions.

He will become a Buddha

And teach by means of parables.

His name will be Purple-Gold-Hued,

His majestic virtue shining brightly.

He will deliver sentient beings

By hundreds of thousands of myriads of billions.

Countless bodhisattvas

And assemblies of shravakas

Will fill that Buddha-land,

Their multitude beyond measure.

They will constantly cultivate diligence

Within the Buddha’s Dharma,

Eliminating every evil

And utterly ending calamity and affliction.

The Blessed One then addressed the fourfold assembly:

“The World-Honored One now proclaims that Mahamaudgalyayana, this shravaka disciple of mine, will honor and make offerings to eight thousand Buddhas and attend upon countless World-Honored Ones. After those Buddhas enter nirvana, he will build stupas to enshrine their relics, fashioned from the seven treasures: gold, silver, vaidurya, crystal, mother-of-pearl, agate, coral, and precious gems. These stupas will be forty thousand feet high and twenty thousand feet in length and breadth.

He will also make offerings to the Buddha-stupas with countless fine treasures, various flowers and incense, blended incense, powdered incense, brocade and silk, banners, streamers, canopies, and instrumental music. After completing his offerings to those stupas, he must further reverently serve, attend upon, and make offerings to two hundred trillion Buddhas.

“In his final life, he will attain Buddhahood with the name Golden Champaka Sandalwood Fragrance Tathagata, Most True One, Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer by Means of the Dharma, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. His land will be named Delighting Mind, and his kalpa will be named Fulfillment of Joy.

“The world of that Buddha will be beautiful, peaceful, secure, pure, and immaculate. The ground will be entirely made of radiant vaidurya, and all its trees, flowers, and fruits will be composed of the seven treasures. Everywhere there will be flowers formed from precious jewels, providing magnificent adornment. That land will be level and beautiful, replete with every treasure. The Buddha will sit silently and serenely, abide in the samadhi of Immeasurable Meanings, and extensively expound the sutra Dharma for all bodhisattvas. That Buddha will abide in the world for twenty intermediate kalpas. After his nirvana, the true Dharma will remain in the world for forty intermediate kalpas, and the period of the semblance Dharma will be the same.”

The Blessed One then spoke in verse:

Mahamaudgalyayana,

A disciple of mine,

Having relinquished his human body,

Will also attain mastery.

For two hundred trillion

Kalpas in number,

He will make offerings

To all Buddhas and their teachings.

In the presence of those Buddhas,

He will cultivate wholesome practices,

His resolve ever aspiring

To the path of all Buddhas.

He will attend upon and revere

All Buddha World-Honored Ones,

Fully serving

Those Teachers of the Way.

He will also receive and uphold

And propagate the sacred teachings.

Throughout kalpas

Numbering hundreds of thousands of billions,

He will reverently practice in accordance with them

And never transgress.

After the Buddha World-Honored Ones

Have entered nirvana,

He will use the seven treasures

To build stupas honoring the Buddhas.

For the sake of the Tathagatas,

He will construct and restore them,

Using sandalwood

To fashion their beams and pillars,

And offer incense and instrumental music

In homage to the stupas.

In his final life,

When his work is complete,

His speech will be peaceful and wholesome,

And he will be revered by the people.

Cherishing sentient beings,

And acting in this way,

He will attain Buddhahood

With the name Golden Sandalwood.

That Buddha’s lifespan

Will be twenty intermediate kalpas;

For that number of kalpas he will abide,

Possessing such virtuous qualities.

He will expound the Dharma sutras

For all bodhisattvas,

And throughout those kalpas

Discern the true meaning.

The great shravakas,

By myriads of billions of hundreds of thousands,

Will be immeasurable in number,

Like sands in river channels.

Possessing the three penetrations and six superknowledges,

They will have great spiritual powers.

Abiding in the world,

They will attain wondrous powers.

Countless bodhisattvas

Will all be non-retrogressing,

Courageous, faithful, and diligent,

Endowed with aspiration and wisdom.

They will cultivate as described above,

Following the Buddha’s teaching;

Their number will be immeasurable

And inconceivable.

After the Buddha enters nirvana,

His disciples will be countless.

The true Dharma will remain

And spread throughout the ten directions.

The two periods of the true and semblance Dharma

Will each last forty intermediate kalpas.

Before the true Dharma has ended,

The semblance Dharma will already have begun.

The assemblies of shravakas

Will possess great spiritual powers.

The Buddha will encourage them all to establish themselves

In reliance upon the Mahayana,

Never opposing the true Dharma,

So that in the future

They may freely attain Buddhahood.