A Parable

Chapter 3

 

Sutra:

“Then the children all speak to their father, saying, ‘Father, the fine playthings you promised us a while ago, the sheep carts, the deer carts, and the ox carts, please give them to us now.’”

Outline:

N2. The children demand the carts.

Commentary:

This is the section of text which the children all demand their carts. The three carts are an analogy for the positions of the Three Vehicles. Because they wish to obtain the Three Vehicles, they must transcend the three realms. Once one has transcended the three realm, the Three Vehicle fruits are ultimately unobtainable. The Three Vehicles are all the provisional teaching, ultimately unobtainable and non-existent. During the Vaipulya Teaching Period, those of the Three Vehicles were scolded by the Buddha. During the Vaipulya Period, those of the Storehouse Teaching were reprimanded. He told them, “You are withered sprouts and sterile seeds! You are all just self-ending Arhats who only watch over themselves. You are corrupt elements. You have no guts at all. When I teach you, you pay no attention and do not even follow the rules. You do not practice any of the Dharma methods I teach you. You are so lazy!” Thus, he scolded those of the Storehouse and Pervasive Teachings.

Then he spoke in praise of the Special Teaching. He said, “You of the Special Teaching are not bad. You have a bit of spunk.” He rewarded those of the Perfect Teaching, those beings with the potential which is perfectly penetrating without obstruction. “They really cultivate well. Their skill has about matured.”

During the Vaipulya Period the Buddha scolded the partial and the small and praised the great and rewarded the Perfect.

During the Prajna Period of the Buddha’s teaching, a process of selection went on to see which had the Great Vehicle dispositions and which had the Small Vehicle dispositions. All the disciples went through many selection processes. So the Buddha, in several decades, taught and transformed sages who had certified to the fruit, obtaining Arhatship and cultivating the Bodhisattva Vehicle. This was the result of several decades of work.

The Dharma Flower Sutra itself says, “The expedients are not real.” This means that the three types of provisional dharmas taught previously were nothing but expedients. They are not real, actual Dharmas. You should not misunderstand. Before, you were not ready to receive the true Dharma, and so I did not teach it to you. Now, in the Dharma Flower Assembly, the truth is coming out, the genuine Dharma is being spoken. Shariputra very respectfully requested the Buddha three times to speak the Sutra, until the Buddha finally agreed to speak it. The three requests are what is represented in the analogy by “asking for the three carts,” the deer cart, the sheep cart, and the ox cart. They want the Three Vehicles from the Buddha.

Shariputra and the entire assembly were extremely sincere and earnest in their request that the Buddha speak the true Dharma. The three requests refers to the Hearers, the Conditioned Enlightened Ones, and the Bodhisattvas asking for the carts. The children want their toys.

Previously, the three types of provisional dharma were taught; now the one real Dharma is being taught. That is the Great Vehicle, which is for living beings with the Great Vehicle potential. They have brought forth the resolve to cultivate the Great Vehicle, to go from the small towards the great. However, we must realize that during the Vaipulya period those of the Three Vehicles received a lot of scoldings from the Buddha. He taught and transformed them for a long time. Sometimes the Buddha reasoned with them, and other times he upbraided them. However, they did not know what to do. There were living beings then who wanted to seek the Great Vehicle Dharma, but they do not know how to go about asking for it. It was not until the Prajna Assembly, when Prajna was being taught, that “the teaching was passed on and the wealth was bequeathed.” The teaching passed from the Small Vehicle to the Great Vehicle, just as a father will hand down his wealth to his children.

In the Prajna period, when the teaching was passed on, the living beings did not know ultimately whether or not they could obtain the wonderful Great Vehicle Dharma. It was at this point that they got the idea to seek the Great Vehicle. Although the idea arose, they did not understand until the Dharma Flower Assembly when Shariputra earnestly requested three times, speaking up and asking for the carts. Thus, this passage of text is the kids speaking up and demanding the carts. They said, “Father, the fine playthings you promised us a while ago, the sheep carts, the deer carts, and the ox carts, please give them to us now. Daddy, you promised to give us those neat toys. We want them right now!

Sutra:

“O Shariputra, at that time, the Elder gives to all of his sons equally great carts.”

Outline:

M3. Giving all the children great carts.
N1. Statement of giving the carts.

Commentary:

Shakyamuni Buddha calls out again, “O Shariputra, at that time, the Elder give to all of his sons. The sons represent all living beings. Because all living beings are equal, it says, “all of the sons.” Equal means that they are equal with the Buddha. Living beings and the Buddha are equal. Living beings and the mind are also equal. This is an analogy showing that all living beings have the Buddha-nature and all can become Buddhas.

Since the Buddha-nature is the same in all of them, they are all the Buddha’s children. The Buddha’s heart is not particularly fond of any one living being. They are all treated alike. He is extremely compassionate towards all living beings, and so he gives to all of his sons equally great carts. The equal giving of the great carts represent the Buddhadharma as equal, without distinctions. There, it is said, “All dharmas are the Buddhadharma.” The analogy is to the Great Vehicle Mahayana Teaching, the genuine Buddhadharma. It is different from the three provisional dharmas which preceded it. However, the preceding provisional dharmas are also subtle, wonderful, and inconceivable. Although they are provisional dharmas, they were set forth for the sake of the real. They are essentially the same. Thus, he gives them all the Great Vehicle Dharma.

All the sons get a big cart. Though he gives them the Great Vehicle Buddhadharma, each of them in the distant past had their habits and their particular emphasis in study and practice. For example, some had cultivated the Four Truths–suffering, origination, cessation, and the Path–cultivated by those of the Small Vehicle. Some studied the Twelve Conditioned Causes (ignorance leads to activity; activity leads to consciousness; consciousness leads to name and form; name and form lead to the six entrances; the six entrances lead to contact; contact leads to feeling; feeling leads to love; love leads to grasping; grasping leads to becoming; becoming leads to birth; birth leads to aging and death).

Others practiced the Six Perfections (also known as the Six Paramitas–giving, precepts, patience, vigor, Dhyana samadhi, and wisdom). The Truths, Conditions, and Perfections, as well as kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity (the Four Unlimited Thoughts)--these were all practiced. There were also the form dharmas and the mind dharmas. There were opposing and the according dharmas, dharmas of dependent and proper retributions, phenomenal and noumenal dharmas, and dharmas of cause and dharmas of fruition. There were those who cultivated their own dharmas and those who cultivated dharmas of others. There were those who culitvated the dharmas of understanding and those who cultivated dharmas of delusion, that is, dharmas of liberation and dharmas of confusion. There were those who cultivated many or great dharmas and those who cultivated small or few dharmas.

There were those who cultivated dharmas of blessings and those who cultivated dharmas of wisdom. How did they cultivate blessings? In all situations, they took the short end of the deal and did not try to get off cheap. They benefitted others and not themselves. They helped others and did not ask others to help them. If you help others for long enough, you will naturally obtain blessings. Suppose you see a person who has no blessings at all. If he has twenty cents in his hand he is likely to buy something that makes him sick or something that will cause him some other kind of trouble. Why doesn’t he has any blessings? He has never cultivated blessings. Cultivating blessings is not just helping people out. It means also not obstructing people and not causing them to be unhappy with you. If you obstruct others, you are throwing away your blessings.

You may argue, “But isn’t that practicing giving?”

Right. It is giving. If you give away your blessings like that, no one actually receives your gift, and no one gets any benefit out of the transaction.

For example, you give away your blessings by slamming the door when entering the hall where others are meditating, studying, or doing other types of work. If you cause those meditating to jump, keeping them from entering samadhi, then you have just given away your blessings. Or if the sound scatters the students’ concentration as they translate Sutras, then you have just given away your blessings, thrown them away. In general, anything which gets in other people’s way and makes them unhappy is all “giving away” your blessings.

As another example: You have all taken refuge with the Triple Jewel, and bowed to me, such a stupid person, as your teacher. Why do I say that I am stupid? Because I often give rise to afflictions and this is a manifestation of stupidity. How do I give rise to afflictions? Perhaps one of you disobeys. When you took refuge with me, you said that you would offer up your conduct in accord with the teaching. But after you took refuge you just turn your backs on the teaching and refuse to practice it. You reject my teachings and do not obey them. Why did you take a teacher? If you want to study the Buddhadharma, you must do so in a straightforward manner, not just haphazardly.

In China, when Dharma Master Xuan Zang went to India to get the Sutras, he was tormented by demons and suffered considerably to obtain the Dharma. Now, it is very simple to listen to the Sutras and study the Dharma. If you do not study properly, it indicates a lack of virtue and a failure to plant good roots in past lives. That is why you do not study the Buddhadharma seriously and you make your stupid teacher very upset. Last year, I remember there were two disciples to whom I said, “You do a good job. Study the Buddhadharma, and do not give me trouble. If you continue to give me trouble, and fail to study properly, then not only are you failing to support your teacher’s Dharma, but you are destroying it.”

The causes and effects involved with destroying the Dharma bear consequences which are so dangerous they cannot even be spoken of. If you make trouble in a Bodhimanda, made trouble for your teacher, or made trouble for the Triple Jewel, you are “giving away” your blessings, and soon you will have none. If you have no blessings, then you will most certainly not secceed in your cultivation of the Way.

As to cultivating wisdom, one must respect the Sutras. You cannot just read them and expect to develop wisdom. You must treat them with great respect. The Tian Tai Master Zhi Zhe, for example, after hearing only the title of The Shurangama Sutra, bowed toward India, where the Sutra was, everyday for eighteen years, but he never saw the Sutra. In China, Great Master Zhi Zhe was enlightened while reading The Dharma Flower Sutra. There were also many other Dharma Masters who bowed to The Dharma Flower Sutra, The Shurangama Sutra, and to The Avatamsaka Sutra, to every word in them. They bowed once for every word in the Sutra, using an ancient coin, the kind with a hole in it, to mark their place. They bowed to them in that way for their entire lifetime. You can open your wisdom either by bowing to Sutras or by reading them.

I will tell you something that is extremely important, and do not let it go in one ear and out the other: You must practice what you know. You cannot just read the Sutra and think, “I understand the principle,” and let it go at that. You must actually do what the Sutras instruct you to do. The Sutras tell you to get rid of all your faults and you must do that. If you do not get rid of your faults, you might as well not study the Buddhadharma. The Buddhadharma is just that inconvenient. If you think you can study it and hold on to your imperfections, it canont be done. This is one point to which everyone should pay special attention. I am not joking with you. If you do not get rid of your faults and deliberately violate the Dharma’s regulations, then you would be better off not studying the Dharma at all. If you do, you will certainly wind up in the hells.

Another thing, in cultivating the Way, everyone has to watch over themselves and do everything they can to get rid of their habits and faults. I look upon all of you as equal. I am not insisting that you improve instantly, but I hope that you will gradually improve and get rid of your faults. I am deeply concerned for all of you and I watch after you. I worry about your faults more than I do my own, in fact, because I hope that all of you can be better than me. I hope that you will blaze the trail for Buddhism in the West, and be pioneers, as it were. Do not look upon yourselves lightly.

If you speak about dharmas in detail, there are limitless and boundless dharmas, and so it said,

All dharmas are the Buddhadharma.

All you need to do is understand and it is the Buddhadharma. When you do not understand, it is still the Buddhadharma. The only difference is that you do not understand it.

So you have now understood a bit of the meaning of the Buddhadharma. You should go forward and actually practice it. Do not be sloppy about it. The Hearers, the children, all of them had their dharmas which they had practiced in former days, but they were all provisional teachings. They were not the real teaching. Now the real begins. That is why, today, I have told you some real Dharma. No one should be aftraid of making a mistake. Just be afraid you would not correct it. If you do not correct your mistakes, not only do I have no way to help you, but even Shakyamuni Buddha himself could not save you!

The dharmas they studied before were all different, and so the text says, each. Although they were different then, now they are all equal. You all get the Mahayana Teaching.

In the Great Vehicle Dharma:

One includes all.
It is universally perfect, universally accessible.

The Great Vehicle Dharma includes all dharmas. It is complete with all dharmas. All living beings can obtain it. That is why it is called the Great Cart! It is just the Great Vehicle, real wisdom. So the Buddha says, “Shariputra! At that time, the Elder gave each of his sons equally a great cart.” Every living beings gets a cart. There is no partiality and no one is excluded. Everyone gets one. That is why The Dharma Flower Sutra is said to open the provisional to reveal the real. This is the wonderful doctrine of the Great Vehicle.

Sutra:

“The cart is high and wide, adorned with a multitude of intertwining jewels, surrounded by railings, and hung with bells on its four sides. Further, it is covered with canopies, adorned with various rare and precious jewels, strung with jeweled cords and hung with flowered tassels. The cart is heaped with beautiful mats and set about with rosy cushions. It is yoked to an ox, plump and white and of fine appearance, of great muscular strength, that walks with even tread, as fleet as the wind, having also many servants who follow and guard it.”

Ouline:

N2. Explaining the equality of the carts.
O1. Explaining the substance of the carts.

Commentary:

The cart is high and wide: Ultimately, how high and how is it? High and wide describes the appearance of the cart, but the cart itself is an analogy, so no one can tell exactly how high or wide it is. The cart is an analogy for the Great Vehicle Dharma.

Someone once said to me, “That person cultivates the Great Vehicle and that person cultivates the Small Vehicle.” I replied, “How big is the Great Vehicle? How small is the Small Vehicle? How big does it have to be before it qualifies as ‘Great’? How small does it have to be before it is considered ‘small’? Where do you draw the line?”

The Great Vehicle is so high you cannot see its top, and so broad you cannot see its borders. This, again, is an anolgy. High and wide represent the Knowledge and Vision of the Thus Come One. The Knowledge of the Thus Come One is All-wisdom, and the Vision of the Thus Come One is the Buddha-eye. With his vision, there is nothing the Buddha fails to see; with his knowledge, there is nothing does not know. Horizontally, its boundaries encompass the entire Dharma Realm. And how far do the boundaries of the Dharma Realm extend? There is nothing beyond them. No one can discover the borders of the Dharma Realm. Why not? Because the Dharma Realm includes the Three Thousand Great Thousand World systems within it.

Can we measure the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds in terms of numbers? We cannot.

Therefore, horizontally the Thus Come One’s Knowledge and Vision encompasses the borders of the Dharma Realm.

Vertically, it plumbs the depths of the Three Truths. The Three Truths are: the empty, the false, and the middle. These Three Truths include all the Buddhadharmas. Therefore, the Knowledge and Vision of the Thus Come One is complete with all the Buddhadharmas. Thus, the cart is high and wide.

Adorned with a multitude of intertwining jewels: The jewels are hooked together and strung as adornments. There are many different kinds of them strung together to adorn the cart and make it beautiful.

This, too, is an analogy. It represents the ten thousand practices adorning our Dharma-bodies. “Adorned” and “intertwining” means that we must cultivate in order to perfect the Ten Thousand Practices. If you do not cultivate, you cannot perfect them. So the cart is adorned with a multitude of intertwining jewels, and this means that we must reliably practice the methods of the Ten Thousand Practices.

Surrounded by railings: According to the words of the text, we would say that the cart was surrounded by railings on all four sides. Hung with bells on its four sides: These bells made beautiful sounds. These phrases are also analogies, as is the entire chapter. You cannot explain them according to the literal meaning.

The Parable chapter is the hardest chapter in the entire Sutra to explain and the hardest to understand. However, if you deeply enter the principles of the Sutra, then this chapter is the most valuable and the most important to explain. If you can understand the Parable chapter of The Lotus Sutra, you will be able to understand the other chapters very easily.

You could also say that this was the easiest chapter to explain. How is that? If you understand it, it is easy! If you do not understand it, then it is very difficult. In fact, everything works this way.

The railings represent Dharani. Dharani is a Sanskrit word which means “uniting and holding.” The phrase above “adorned with a a multitude of intertwining jewels” referred to cultivation on the causal ground of the Ten Thousand Practices and the resulting fruit of the ten thousand virtues. “Surrounded by railings” represents Dharani.

What are the uses of Dharani? They are limitless and boundless. “Uniting” means that it unites all dharmas; it collects all dharmas together. “Upholding” means that it upholds limitless meanings. Dharani also means that you “unite and uphold” the three karmic vehicles, body, mouth, and mind, and commit no violations. You uphold all the Buddhadharmas. Why do we say that they surround the cart? This means that the Dharani can uphold the ten thousand good deeds. It also supresses the mass of evils. It supresses the mass of evils so that without any outward manifestation, they are all eradicated. It supports all good deeds so they can be done. This is what is meant by saying:

Do no evil;
Practice all good deeds.

The bells make a sound when they are struck or when they move. This represents the Four Types of Unobstructed Eloquence:

1. Unlimited eloquence in speech.
2. Unlimited eloquence in dharma.
3. Unlimited eloquence in meaning.
4. Unlimited eloquence in delight in speech.

As to the first, (Unlimited) Eloquence in Speech, the poem I lectured earlier, “The Return” is a good example of a work by one who possessed this eloquence. Although a recluse, Tao Yuan Ming still wrote this poem. He could not hide away. In fact, even today people still read his work. The things he said were phrased very well, and his words were moving. People who did not believe in the Buddhadharma were influenced to believe through his writing.

The second, (Unlimited) Eloquence in Dharma means that although it may be the same dharma, one can express it in terms of the ten thousand dharmas. Then, one can bring it back to the one dharma.

It is said,

The single root divides into ten thousand branches;
The ten thousand branches return to the single root.

This means that one principle expands into limitless doctrines and those limitless doctrines again return to the one doctrine. Thus,

One is all and all is one.

“All” come into being through the accumulation of many “ones.” There are no fixed dharmas. Whether you speak horizontally or vertically--no matter how you speak—it is still dharma.

The third is (Unobstructed) Eloquence in Meaning. Meaning refers to the principles and what they mean. There are a great many of them. Yet the great number of meanings are just “no meanings.” There is Unobstructed Eloquence in Meaning.

The fourth is (Unobstructed) Eloquence in Delight in Speech. The speaker of Dharma does not speak for those who are not interested. For those who are interested, he speak the Dharma like flowing water. The doctrines he explains are limitless and endless, and he enjoys speaking the Dharma.

Further, it is covered with canopies: Beautiful silks and satins covered the cart. This is an analogy for the Four Unlimited Minds of the Buddha, kindness, compassion, joy, and giving.

Kindness means to make living beings happy. Compassion means to relieve them of their sufferings. Joy means to rejoice in teaching and transforming living beings. Giving means that he gives to all poor living beings. The Buddha has great virtuous conduct, because he has unlimited kindness, compassion, joy, and giving.

Of all the virtuous practices, kindness and compassion are the highest. They are the greatest, and so the Buddha protects all beings. The Sutra says, “With compassion, you can perfect the Ten Powers and Four Fearlessnesses.” This is the Thus Come One’s compassion. The Buddha’s kindness, compassion, joy, and giving are boundless. The canopies represent these Four Unlimited Minds. He cultivates the practices of the Four Unlimited Minds and therefore accomplishes his pure Brahma conduct.

Adorned with various rare and precious jewels. This represents the cultivation of the ten thousand pratices in order to adorn the Four Unlimited Minds. The beauty of the cart means that in the Great Vehicle Dharma one must perfect the Six Perfections and the ten thousand practices, that is, all the Dharma-doors to adorn the Great Vehicle Dharma.

Strung with jeweled cords: This represents the Four Vast Vows:

1. I vow to save the infinite number of beings.
2. I vow to sever the endless afflictions.
3. I vow to study the limitless Dharma-doors.
4. I vow to realize the Supreme Buddha Way.

But the Four Vast Vows are something simply to be recited. You must actually put them into practice. You, personally, must do all you can to fulfill these Four Vows. If you just recite them, that is useless. You must return the light and reverse the illumination and ask yourself: “I have vowed to save the infinite number of beings. Having I saved any? If I have, well, that is the Bodhisattva Way. If I have not, I better start saving them.” However, when you save living beings, you must not become attached to the mark of saving living beings. Do not say, “I saved that one, and that one...” Separate from all marks, for that is the essence of the Dharma.

I vow to sever the endless afflictions. Ask yourself everyday, “Have I severed them or not? If not, I better.” Unless you sever your afflictions, you will never be free of them.

How does one sever afflictions? It is not hard at all. It is not a matter of taking a knife and slicing them off. You should know that affliction is Bodhi. Affliction itself is Bodhi, just like ice is water and water is ice. All you need to do is melt the ice of your afflictions into the wisdom water of Bodhi and you will have severed those afflictions. Do not search for afflictions apart from Bodhi. Do not look for Bodhi apart from afflictions.

They are one thing. If you know how to use it, it is Bodhi. If you do not know how to use it, it is affliction. Why do we say that living beings are the Buddha and the Buddha is living beings? When you have saved all living beings, you are a Buddha. If you have not saved all living beings, you are still a living being. There is no difference between living beings and the Buddha. All you need to do is wake up and then you are a Buddha. When you are confused, you are a living being. Do not search outside of yourself for living beings to save. That is just seeking outwardly. When you have saved all the living beings in your own self nature, then you have saved all living beings.

The Sixth Patriarch’s Sutra says, “I vow to save the infinite number of beings in the self nature.” Why doesn’t it refer to the infinite number of living beings in someone else’s nature? It says, “self nature,” because all living beings are one. There is no “you” or “me” or “them.” All are included within the self nature.

“I vow to sever the afflictions in the self nature.” Note that it says “self” nature. You cannot say, “Hey, you have studied the Buddhadharma for so long, how come you have not severed your afflictions?” If you had severed your own afflictions, you would not see the afflictions of others. When you have severed afflictions, then even when living beings have afflictions, you do not see them as afflictions. You just think, “Well, that is the way living beings are. If they were not like that, they would not be living beings. They cannot change their basic make-up. Living beings are just living beings.”

What about the Buddha? He is just the Buddha! The Buddha is not different from living beings.

Enlightened, you are a Buddha.
Confused, you are a living being.

There is no difference between enlightenment and confusion, either. If you are not confused, you are enlightened. If you are not enlightened, you are confused. There is no real difference. It is just like ice and water.

“I vow to study the limitless Dharma-doors.” “Have I studied them? Ah, all I did today was sleep. I did not do anything.” You did not do anything? You have got to study!

“I vow to realize the supreme Buddha Path.” Have you realized it? No? Would you like to realize it?

“Well, let me think it over...” If you think it over, you will have to wait another three great kalpas. If you do not think it over, you do not have to wait. You can become a Buddha tomorrow, because you do not have to think it over! If you are determined to become a Buddha, you will. Those who are determined are successful. The Buddha is just waiting for you to realize Buddhahood. If you do not want to, the Buddha would not force you to. You must want to cultivate the Dharma and accomplish the Buddha Path. If you have not realized Buddhahood, you have got to cultivate. If you do not cultivate, you cannot arrive at the position of Buddhahood.

Hung with flowered tassels: These represent the Four Methods of Conversion:

1. Giving,
2. kind words,
3. beneficial conduct,
4. cooperation.

It is said,

If you want to lead them to the Buddha’s wisdom,
First bait the hook with something they like!

If you want them to develop the wisdom of a Buddha, you must first determine what it is they like. Then, you give it to them to induce them into the Buddha’s wisdom. For example, people like money. If you give them some money, that is practicing the give of wealth. Then, they will think, “I was broke and he gave me some money,” and they will be very happy. At that time, if you speak some Dharma to them, they will accept it. You put the Dharma in second place, although normally it is first. You did this, because they were not happy and you wanted to make them happy first. You give them a little money, and when they are delighted with it, you speak the Dharma. “Ah, that has principle. It really makes a lot of sense,” they think. That is the giving of Dharma. Then, you give them fearlessness. You say, “Do not worry about it. Everything is going to work out. No need to be afraid...”

Kind words: This refers to compassionate concern, like that of parents for their children. They fear their child will catch cold, or get too warm, or be hungry or thirsty. Children like people to be kind to them and so the parents say, “I like you a lot; I am very fond of you.” This kindness is also present in the Buddhadharma. When you speak, you do not talk about “love,” but just say things they like to hear, things that make them happy. When you speak kindly to them, living beings are attracted to you.

Beneficial conduct is also a way of attracting living beings. It means doing things that benefit living beings.

Cooperation: If you want to teach and transform a living being, you must be the same as he, be his friend. If he is a businessman, you are a businessman. If he is a student, you become a student. In general, you do the same kinds of work that he does. Eventually, you will be able to convert him to Buddhism, to take him from confusion to enlightenment. When Bodhisattvas teach and transform living beings, they are willing to do anything at all. They are more concerned for living beings than parents are for their children. Bodhisattvas practice the Bodhisattva Path, cultivating the Four Methods of Conversion. In this way, they attain four kinds of spiritual penetrations. The Four Methods of Conversion are also called the Four Spiritual Powers. They cause all living beings to be happy.

Living beings may clearly be in error, but the Bodhisattvas want to save them, to take them across. They forgive them, they overlook their faults, hoping that in the future the living beings will be able to reform, hoping that they would not remain sunk in confusion forever. Wait a bit! They do not see the faults of living beings. No matter what kind of mistake a living being makes, the Bodhisattva is compassionate and does not blame him. Those are the Four Methods of Conversion. It is not that they just do those things, but they carry out their work with a miraculous functioning of spiritual powers.

Living beings are taught and transformed without even being aware of it. Sometimes, living beings make mistakes, and without their knowing quite how, their mistakes are corrected, and they are “like new.” They do not know that the Bodhisattva, without any outward manifestation, influenced them with his virtue so that the mind of that being was able to change and reform. Some living beings cannot be so influenced, but the Bodhisattva still does not give up hope that in the future he will change. The Four Methods of Conversion are ineffably wonderful.

We are all living beings. When we think about the compassionate protection afforded us by the Bodhisattvas, we should hurry and and thank them, and tearfully repent of our past stupidity. “The Bodhisattvas are so good to me, and I still do not even realize it.” Thus, in the Sutra text, the phrase, “hung with flowered tassels” is an analogy for the Four Methods of Conversion.

The cart is heaped with beautiful mats: There are beautiful mats spread out in the cart, layer upon layer. This is an analogy for the cultivation of skill in the Dhyanas. Everyday you steep yourself in the cultivation of Contemplative Prajna. Eventually, you will have an accomplishment. “Heaped” means that they are piled up and soft. This represents sitting in Dhyana and attaining the state of “light peace.” This makes you feel especially happy. You feel extremely blissful. In this state, you sit again and again and the feeling keeps returning, without interruption. When you walk, you feel that it is like the wind, not that you are walking fast, but, before you have even taken a step, you arrive at where you are going. It is like a light breeze, and you do not even feel that you are walking.

The gentle breeze passes by,
But there are no waves on the water.

You are sitting there, but you do not feel like you are sitting. Standing, you do not know you are standing. Reclining,you do not know you are reclining. However, this state must be cultivated in order to be obtained. It is a state in which there are no others and no self. You must work hard in order to understand its wonderful advantages. If you do not work hard, you would not be able to know them. I have explained a bit of it, but to taste the true flavor, you will have to discover it for yourself.

Set about with rosy cushions: This is an analogy for the dharma of non-discrimination. There are inner cushions and outer cushions on the cart. The inner cushions are used inside the cart. The outer cushions are used when the cart is stopped. They are used to prop up the front of the cart so that it would not sit right on the ground. This represents the time in cultivation when one applies effort. At this time, movement does not obstruct stillness, and stillness does not obstruct movement. Movement is just stillness and stillness is just movement. Movement and stillness are one substance. When the cart is moving, it moves; when it stops, it is still. Whether it is still or moving, it is the same cart. When we cultivate the Way, in movement and in stillness we are still people. That is what the outer cushions represent.

The inner cushions are used to support the body when it sits or lies down to rest. The resting of the body and mind represents the Single-conduct Samadhi. In the Single-conduct Samadhi, one can give rise to genuine Prajna Wisdom. That is the inner cushions.

Yoked to an ox, plump and white: The ox is tied to the cart. This represents people when they have no outflows. Haven’t I spoken before about the non-outflow Prajna Wisdom? “Yoked to an ox” just means “no outflows.” This is no easy matter. Every habit and fault we have is called an outflow and all our thoughts of desire are outflows. Why don’t we become Buddhas? It is because we have outflows. Why haven’t we become enlightened? It is because we have outflows. Why is our habitual energy so heavy? It is because we have outflows. Why do we have desire? It is because we have outflows. If one has no outflows, then one is liberated. When one has obtained the non-outflow wisdom, if one cultivate the Four Truths, one succeeds in that cultivation. If you hold on to your non-outflow wisdom, you do not do things which reflect deviant knowledge and deviant views. If you cultivate the Twelve Causal Conditions, you realize them and become enlightened. If you cultivate the Six Perfections, you arrive at the other shore. In general, if you can look after your own household, that is what is meant by non-outflows.

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