Universal Worthy's Conduct and Vows

Chapter Forty

 

 

Sutra:

His clan, race, and color, marks and characteristics
With his wisdom are all perfected and complete;
Demons and externalists will have no way to harm him,
And he’s worthy to receive the offerings of the three realms.  

To the regal Bodhi Tree he will quickly go,
And seated there subdue a horde of demons.
Right and equally enlightened, he’ll turn the Dharma Wheel,
To benefit the host of living beings.  

Commentary:

His clan, race, and color, marks and characteristics. "Clan refers to your relatives, to your surname. "Race" means the race of people to which you belong, and "color" refers to whether you are yellow, black, red, or white. "Marks and characteristics" refers to the thirty-two marks and eighty minor characteristics. With his wisdom are all perfected and complete. Your physical characteristics will be adorned, beautiful, and complete, and your wisdom will be great. Therefore, the text reads, "Perfected and complete."

Demons and externalists will have no way to harm him. None of the gods, demons, or adherents of externalist paths will be able to trouble or disrupt you. Why? The inconceivable strength from the ten great kings of vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva will protect and support you.

And he's worthy to receive the offerings of the three realms. You can become one who should receive the offerings of the Three Realms, which means that you have been certified to the fruition of Arhatship and have obtained the position called "Worthy of Offerings."

To the regal Bodhi Tree he will quickly go. You will quickly go to the base of the Bodhi Tree, become a Buddha, and sit in the great Bodhimanda. And seated there subdue a horde of demons. Beneath the Bodhi Tree you will be able to subdue all demons. Right and equally enlightened, he'll turn the Dharma Wheel. You will accomplish the Unsurpassed, Right and Equal, Right Enlightenment, and turn the great Dharma Wheel, to benefit the host of living beings. You will universally benefit all the living beings.

Sutra:

If one can read, recite, receive, and hold on high
Samantabhadra’s vows and proclaim them,
One’s reward only the Buddha’s will know,
And one will obtain Bodhi’s highest path.  

If one recites Universal Worthy’s vows,
Then from just a small portion of one’s good roots,
Everything will be perfected in a single thought,
And the pure vows of living beings will all be fulfilled.  

The supreme and endless blessings from Samantabhadra’s conduct
I now universally transfer.
May every living being, drowning and adrift,
Soon return to the Land of Limitless Light!  

Commentary:

If one can read, recite, receive, and hold on high Samantabhadra's vows and proclaim them: if you are able to cultivate the ten great kings of vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, and red, recite receive, and hold them on high, and also explain them for others, then you will receive a reward that only the Buddhas will know. Only the Buddhas can know and certify this kind of reward. And one will obtain Bodhi's highest path. You will certainly obtain the great path of Bodhi.

If one recites Universal Worthy's vows: if someone can read and recite the ten great vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, then from just a small portion of one's good roots, everything will be perfected in a single thought. In a single thought, everything one seeks will be obtained, and the pure vows of living beings will all be fulfilled. One will be able to fulfill the vows made by all living beings.

The supreme and endless blessings from Samantabhadra's conduct--I cultivate the practices of Universal Worthy, which are especially supreme, subtle, and wonderful doors of practice, and I now universally transfer all the merit and virtue from this practice. I dedicate all the immeasurable and boundless blessings to all the living beings of the Dharma Realm, saying, may every living beings, drowning and adrift, soon return to the Land of Limitless Light! I vow to universally take across and liberate all the living beings "drowning and adrift" in the sea of suffering so that they quickly go to the Land of Ultimate Bliss of Amita Buddha.

CONCLUSION

Sutra:

At that time, when Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva finished speaking before the Thus Come One these pure verses on the great Kings of Vows of Universal Worthy, the Youth Good Wealth was overwhelmed with boundless joy. All the Bodhisattvas were extremely happy as well, and the Thus Come One praised him, saying, “Good indeed, good indeed!”

At that time, the World Honored One proclaimed this supreme Dharma door of the inconceivable state of liberation for all the sages and Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, with Manjushri Bodhisattva as their leader.

Also present were all the great Bodhisattvas and the six thousand Bhikshus who had matured, with Maitreya Bodhisattva as their leader. All the great Bodhisattvas of the Worthy Kalpa, led by the immaculate Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, were present as well.

Commentary:

At that time refers to the time when Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva had finished speaking before the Thus Come One these pure verses. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is a great Bodhisattva among Bodhisattvas, and so he is called a Mahasattva. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva explained the vast and great King of Vows of Universal Worthy which he had made. The ten great kings of vows are as follows:

The first is to worship and respect all Buddhas;

The second is to praise the Thus Come Ones;

The third is to extensively cultivate making offerings;

The fourth is to repent of karmic obstacles and reform;

The fifth is to follow along with and rejoice in merit and virtue;

The sixth is to request the turning of the Dharma Wheel;

The seventh is to request that the Buddhas remain in the world;

The eighth is to always study with the Buddhas;

The ninth is to constantly accord with living beings;

The tenth is to universally transfer all merit and virtue.

After Universal Worthy Bodhisattva finished speaking these pure verses on the great kings of vows, the Youth Good Wealth was overwhelmed with boundless joy. After the Youth Good Wealth had heard about these ten great kings of vows, he jumped for joy. All the Bodhisattvas were extremely happy as well. Not only did the youth Good Wealth become so happy that he jumped for joy; all the Bodhisattvas were happy too. And the Thus Come One, Shakyamuni Buddha, praised Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, saying, "Good indeed, good indeed!" He said, "It's really good that you have explained this Dharma. This is truly good."

At that time, the World Honored One, Shakyamuni Buddha, proclaimed this supreme Dharma door of the inconceivable state of liberation for all the sages and Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, these great Bodhisattvas, with Manjusri Bodhisattva, also known as "Wonderfully Auspicious" Bodhisattva, as their leader. He was a leader among those Bodhisattvas.

Also present were all the great Bodhisattvas and the six thousand Bhikshus who had matured. All the great Bodhisattvas and the six thousand Bhikshus made up the Dharma Assembly, with Maitreya Bodhisattva as their leader. He was the leader of the Bhikshus and great Bodhisattvas. Maitreya is a Sanskrit word. This Bodhisattva is called "benevolent, invincible," and "Ajita."

All the great Bodhisattvas of the Worthy Kalpa. This kalpa of ours is called the Worthy Kalpa. What does "Worthy Kalpa" mean? It means that many sages and worthies will appear in this world. All these great Bodhisattvas, led by the immaculate Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, were present as well. The immaculate Bodhisattva Universal Worthy was at the head of the great assembly.

Sutra:

All the great Bodhisattvas who in one life would be the next Buddhas and who were at the position of anointment of the crown gathered together with all the assemblies of Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, as numerous as fine motes of dust in an ocean of lands, who came from the remaining worlds of the ten directions. They were headed by the great wise Shariputra, Mahamaudgalyayana, and others.

All the great Sound Hearers, along with all the people, gods, and lords of all worlds, as well as dragons, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, humans, non-humans and so forth, and the entire great assembly, upon hearing what the Buddha had said, were all greatly happy, faithfully accepted it, and put it into practice.

Commentary:

All the great Bodhisattvas who in one life would be the next Buddhas: one who in one life will be the next Buddha is called the Dharma Prince; he is of the stage of Dharma Prince. In our Saha world, Shakyamuni Buddha is the Dharma King. When his Buddhadharma passes into extinction, the one who will inherit the Buddha position is Maitreya Bodhisattva. Maitreya Bodhisattva, in one life, will be the next Buddha.

Maitreya Bodhisattva lives in the inner palace of the Tushita Heaven. Before a Bodhisattva inherits the Buddha position, he lives in the inner palace of the Tushita Heaven. Before Shakyamuni Buddha became a Buddha, he lived there, after which he descended from the Tushita Heaven, entered the womb, left the womb, left the home-life, accomplished the Way, turned the Dharma wheel, and crossed over living beings.

When Shakyamuni Buddha was in his mother's womb, he also turned the Dharma wheel, but most people could not perceive this state. They thought that he just spent his time in the womb without doing anything. However, this is not the case: he spoke Dharma for all the ghosts and spirits while in his mother's womb.

Maitreya Bodhisattva will inherit Shakyamuni Buddha's position. Amita Buddha is the teacher in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. When he retires, Kuan Yin Bodhisattva will succeed to his Buddha position in one life. When Kuan Yin Bodhisattva steps down, Great Strength Bodhisattva will succeed to his Buddha position in one life. This is the meaning of "in one life they would be the next Buddhas."

And who were at the position of anointment of the crown: when a Buddha becomes a Buddha, his head must be anointed. The emperors of the past, when they were about to become emperors, similarly had their heads anointed. After they were anointed, they were considered to be the Sons of Heaven. When the Buddha is about to become a Buddha in one life, his position is called both "to become a Buddha in one life" and "Anointment of the Crown."

All the Buddhas of the ten directions anoint with sweet dew the crown of the head of the one to become a Buddha. When Shakyamuni Buddha came into the world, there were nine dragons who anointed his head. This is called the ritual of anointing the crown, and it takes place when one dwells on the position called "Anointing the Crown."

The great Bodhisattvas who in one life will become the next Buddhas and occupy the position of Anointment of the Crown are not just one or two. There are many Bodhisattvas from all the lands of the ten directions who in one life will be the next Buddhas and who are at the position of Anointment of the Crown.

Gathered together with all the assemblies of Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, as numerous as fine motes of dust in an ocean of lands, who came from the remaining worlds of the ten directions. They all came to the Saha world to hear Shakyamuni Buddha teach the Flower Adornment Sutra and to hear Universal Worthy Bodhisattva speak the Chapter on the Conduct and Vows of Universal Worthy. They came from lands as numerous as dust motes in an ocean of lands. Their numbers were inexpressible and incalculable. "All Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas" are very many great Bodhisattvas. They were headed by the great wise Shariputra, Mahamaudgalyayana, and others. there were both Mahamaudgalyayana and the one of great wisdom, Shariputra.

Shariputra was foremost in wisdom. How do we know this? When Shariputra was in his mother's womb, his mother was able to defeat her brother in debate, even though before she was with child, she could not defeat him. Her brother had defeated her in debate every time. But when Shariputra's mother became pregnant with Shariputra, she never lost a debate with her brother. She always won.

Her brother knew that the child in her womb was certainly exceptional, and he said, "He certainly has much wisdom to help you win in debate. You were never so smart before, so it's certain that you have a very wise child in your womb."

From the day of this realization, he reflected that if his sister had a child, he would be an uncle. An uncle defeated in debate by his nephew would lose a lot of face. Therefore, he decided that he must travel about and study the tenets of all the philosophies and religions of his time, so that he could have a proper relationship with his nephew.

How diligently did he study? He did not cut his hair or shave his beard; in fact he did not even have time to cut his fingernails. It was not that he did not want to cut his hair or shave, or cut his nails, but rather that he did not have time to cut them. He was constantly studying the tenets of externalist paths. His fingernails grew so long that they grew in curls, and everyone called him "Long Fingernails, one with long fingernails who cultivated pure practices. He was so busy he did not have time to cut his fingernails. Do you not think that his motivation was great?

Why did he study so hard? He wanted to be able to return home and defeat his nephew, the child of his younger sister. That was his reason

After he studied for a few decades, he returned home and told his sister that he wanted to debate her son. When he learned that his sister did not have here child with her, he asked, "Where is your son?"

She replied, "He has already left the home-life with Shakyamuni Buddha."

When the uncle, whose name was Kaushthila, heard this, he became upset. "How can he leave the home-life with the Buddha? What kind of virtue does the Buddha have that the child would leave the home-life with him? He should study the Way with me. My learning and virtue are the highest. Why did he want to leave the home-life with Shakyamuni Buddha?"

Then Kaushthila went off looking for Shakyamuni Buddha, in order to find his nephew. He wanted his nephew back, but he needed a method to get him back. He could not just ask for him back without a reason. So he decided to debate with the Buddha. He had studied debate; he was a debater, and he was sure he could win.

When he found Shakyamuni Buddha, he asked him, "What do you think you are doing taking my nephew as your disciple? What skills do you have to give you this right?"

Shakyamuni Buddha replied, "I am without any skills. He wanted to leave home with me, so what else could I do?"

The uncle said, "Well, then, I'll debate with you. Let's choose a topic.

Shakyamuni Buddha replied, "What shall we debate? You go ahead and begin."

The uncle said, "My tenet is that I don't accept anything. This is my principle. Whatever you say, I won't accept it."

Shakyamuni Buddha then responded, "Your tenet is that you don't accept anything. Well then, do you or do you not accept your view that you don't accept anything?"

Kaushthila thought, "If I accept this view, I will contradict my original tenet, because I said that I don't accept anything; but if I do not accept this statement, I will have set up a contradiction in the logic of my tenet. If I accept it, I will be defeated, and if I don't accept it, I will still be defeated. What am I going to do?"

Before Kaushthila began the debate with Shakyamuni Buddha, he made a bet that if he lost, he would give his head to the Buddha, but if Shakyamuni Buddha lost, he should return Kaushthila's nephew. When Kaushthila realized his own principle would not stand up, he panicked. He turned around and ran. He ran for almost two hours. How far can you run in two hours? Not too far.

Finally he thought, "I'm a Brahmin. How can I not keep my word? If I said I will give my head, then I will give my head. Why make such a big deal out of it? I should keep my word." So he ran back to see the Buddha.

Shakyamuni Buddha said, "Why have you returned?"

He answered, "Give me a knife."

"Why should I give you a knife?"

"Because I want to cut off my head and give it to you!"

Shakyamuni Buddha said, "What good will it do for you to cut off your head to give to me?"

"Because I said I would." The uncle admitted that he had made this agreement. "I said clearly that if I were defeated, I would give my head to you."

Shakyamuni Buddha replied, "It would be useless to cut your head off to give to me. What can I do with a head? But if you don't cut if off, it might still be of some use. If you keep it on your shoulders, you won't die, and so you can leave the home-life and become a monk. Wouldn't that be better? Why cut if off? Your head is mine now, and I don't want you to cut it off. I want it kept on your body. All you must do is shave it. Shaving your head is equivalent to cutting it off."

Kaushthila said with relief, "Oh! That's agreeable," and he left the home-life and became a monk with Shakyamuni Buddha.

Shariputra's name means "the son of Shari." His name came from his mother's name, which was Shari. Putra means "son." The shari is a kind of Indian bird. The Chinese say it is the egret. That bird's eyes are very beautiful and sparkling. Shariputra's mother's eyes were as beautiful as an egret's, so she was called Shari, and her son was called the son of Shari, Shariputra.

Maha means "great," and so Mahamaudgalyayana was the great Maudgalyayana. Maudgalyayana, also Sanskrit, means both "turnip" and "descended from bean pickers." When his ancestors cultivated the Way, they ate these foods. So his name came from his relatives.

In the Buddha's assembly, Maudgalyayana was the disciple foremost in spiritual penetrations. Both he and the great wise Shariputra were at the head of the assembly of all the great Sound Hearers.

All the great Sound Hearers, along with all the people, gods, ad lords of all worlds. "Sound Hearers" are those who hear the Buddha's sound and enlighten to the Way. They hear the Dharma of the Four Truths--suffering, accumulation, extinction, and the Way--and become enlightened. They are enlightened to the fact that defiling afflictions harm them, and they cultivate accordingly, thus becoming enlightened.

"Along with" means that there were not only Bodhisattvas, Sound Hearers, and Those Enlightened to Conditions in the assembly, but that there were others as well, including people, gods, spirits of the heavens, and lords of all worlds, who are kings of countries, as well as dragons and others.

There are many kinds of dragons. Dragons were people who, when they cultivated, wished for quick attainment but neglected the precepts. So they became dragons. Such people can recite all kinds of mantras, recite Sutras, meditate, and can quickly learn any Dharma door, but they do not hold the precepts. They do not hold the precept against killing; they do not hold the precept against stealing; they do not hold the precept against sexual misconduct; they do not hold the precept against lying; and they do not hold the precept against taking intoxicants. They do not receive and keep the Five Precepts, and so they fall and receive the body of a dragon.

What is more, dragons are angry. Their anger is very great. Why is it that most of them become dragons. Just because of their anger.

Those who study the Buddhadharma should not be lazy. In monasteries, the wooden boards are hit at three-thirty in the morning. A wooden mallet is used to strike a wooden board which produces a sharp sound. When the people hear this, they should all get up. Then the drum is beaten. If you stay in bed when you hear the drum being beaten, you might become a dragon in the future. People who do not honor the rules of a monastery can become dragons; if your behavior is a little worse, you can become a snake. So do not think that being a little lazy is acceptable. If you do not get up in the morning when you hear the drum, you can become a snake, and if you do not rest when you hear the evening bell, you may also suffer a bad retribution.

Dragons become dragons because they do not follow rules. What are dragons? Worms. Dragons are big worms that eat fish and that are eaten by other creatures. I'll tell you about this later.

There are many kids of yakshas: flying yakshas, heavenly yakshas, earth-bound traveling yakshas, and water-going yakshas. Yakshas and dragons are among the ghosts and spirits of the Eight Divisions. Yaksha is Sanskrit; it means "speedy ghost." Yakshas travel very fast. They are fearsome. One yaksha may have ten heads, or ten yakshas might share on head. Is this not strange? One yaksha may have ten legs, or ten yakshas might share one leg. that's how weird they are. They may have three or five legs; their form in not fixed. They might also just be a head or just two legs. They can be extraordinarily weird freaks. If you do not know about them, and you see one, it can scare you to death.

Gandharvas are the musical spirits of the Jade Emperor. These spirits are also known as incense-sniffing spirits. When the Jade Emperor lights his "sinking-in-water" incense, these spirits flock together from all around to smell it, and they play their music there. They are very skilled musicians. They are the incense and music spirits for the Jade Emperor.

Asura is a Sanskrit word which means "incessant fighter." It is also translated as "one without wine." Asuras are incorrigible fighters who are also very ugly. The second name simply means that they do not have any wine to drink. They have the blessings of the heavens without the authority of the heavens.

Asuras are of many kinds, and they can be found among the gods, humans, ghosts, and animals, and in the hells. There are asuras in all the paths of rebirth. An asura is one who likes to fight more than anything else. He likes to fight with words, with his body, and with his heart. He likes to fight with the three karmas of body, mouth, and mind.

Female asuras are extremely beautiful. Not only do men fall in love with them, but when the Jade Emperor himself saw a female asura, he became desirous of her. The Jade Emperor does have some samadhi power, but when he saw the asura woman, whose name was She-chih, he lost it all, to the point that he decided to ask the asura king if he could marry her. The asura king approved of the Jade Emperor's request and gave his daughter to him in marriage. The Jade Emperor was delighted to have such a beautifully heavenly maiden, and so he invited the asura king for a feast. To show the utmost of respect, he used his heavenly armies to welcome the asura king. On the day of the feast, the heavenly armies all turned out in full regalia to greet him.

The asura king was very mistrustful and liked to fight. When he saw the heavenly armies in full battle dress he thought, "Oh, you great Jade Emperor, you want to show off your strength to me, so you have sent out your armies to frighten me. This doesn't make any sense." But although he was very unhappy with the Jade Emperor, he remained quiet.

The Jade Emperor liked to go to the world to hear sages explain the Sutras. There was a particular accomplished sage who explained the Jade Emperor's Mind Seal Wonderful Sutra. He also explained the Sutra on the Three Kinds of Supreme Elixir, the Spirit, and Vital Energy:

Illusive, intangible, and invisible is the Tao.
Support emptiness, protect existence;
In the end you will be successful,
And unite with heaven and earth.
It takes one hundred days to accomplish this.

After they were married, the Jade Emperor's asura wife got jealous when he went out every day to hear Sutras explained.

She asked the Jade Emperor, "Where do you go everyday? Why don't you stay at home?"

He answered, "I go to the realm of people to listen to Sutras. There is one person who lectures the Jade Emperor's Mind Seal Wonderful Sutra, so I go to listen."

The asura woman said, "I'd like to listen, too. Let's go together."

The Jade Emperor said, "You are a woman. You can't go listen to Sutras there. An immortal lectures the Sutras in that place, and he doesn't like women to come."

The asura woman had more doubts and said, "You don't want me to go? You are certainly carrying on with other women."

The asura woman had spiritual powers, so when the Jade Emperor went off in his flying palace to hear the Sutras lectured, she became invisible so he could not see her, and she rode off with him to listen to the Sutras too.

When the Jade Emperor got out of the cart, the asura woman became visible again, and the Jade Emperor said, "What are you doing here?"

She replied, "I've come to listen to the Sutras."

The Jade Emperor took out his whip and beat her, and she cried out. The Sutra-lecturing immortal heard her, and had never heard a woman cry out like this before, and it attracted his attention. When he saw such a beautiful woman, he gave rise to desire. He was moved by thoughts of desire to the point that he could not even lecture Sutras. When he lost his karma of the Way, the Jade Emperor got even more upset, and so he returned home.

After they returned, the asura woman went to see her father and said, "The Jade Emperor has been cheating on me. He goes out and has affairs with all sorts of women. He told me he was going to listen to Sutras, and so I made myself invisible and went with him, but when I appeared he said I was wrong and beat me."

When her father heard this, he got very angry. "How dare he beat you!" He assembled his asura armies and ordered them to attack. They planted their feet on the bottom of the sea and shook the heavenly palace with their fists.

The Jade Emperor's spiritual powers were insufficient to repel the asura king, and so he went to ask Shakyamuni Buddha to help him.

Shakyamuni Buddha replied, "Don't worry. Go back and tell your armies to recite 'Maha Prajna Paramita,' and everything will be fine."

The Jade Emperor returned to his armies, and as soon as they recited "Maha Prajna Paramita," the asura armies were defeated. Why? Because Maha Prajna Paramita is wisdom, and asuras are seeds of stupidity. As soon as they saw the light of wisdom, they were defeated. This is a general explanation of asuras.

Garudas are the great golden-winged p'eng birds. They ate only dragons. Their bodies are huge, with a wing-span of three hundred and sixty yojanas. In the past, they would flap their wings and blow away all the water in the sea, with the water gone, the dragons were exposed, and the p'eng birds would eat them in the same way we humans eat noodles. They would slurp up the dragons just like they were noodles, a mouthful at a time. In one mouthful, a great golden-winged p'eng bird could eat from ten to twenty dragons. Since their wing-span is three hundred and sixty yojanas, the diameter of their mouth must be one hundred yojanas wide at the very lest. It was easy for them to consume a few thousand dragons in a single meal.

After the p'eng birds had been eating both the adult dragons and their young for a long time, the elder dragons went to Shakyamuni Buddha and asked him to save them. "We dragons and our offspring are almost all eaten up," they said. "What can we do?"

Shakyamuni Buddha said, "Don't worry. I'll give you a precept sash. Give each one of your dragons and offspring a thread form this sash. When the great golden winged p'eng bird comes looking for you, conceal yourselves with this thread, and the p'eng bird won't be able to find you.

Then the elder dragons returned home and tore up the sash, giving each of the dragons a thread, and so the golden-winged p'eng birds had no way to find the dragons. Then they too went to the Buddha and said, "You've saved the dragons, but now we have nothing to eat. We're going to starve to death. The great golden-winged p'eng birds will all become extinct! The Buddha's compassion is impartial. You saved the dragons, so now you should save us too."

Shakyamuni Buddha said, "Fine. If today you take refuge with the Triple Jewel, the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and if you follow the precept against killing as well as the other Five Precepts, I will tell my disciples to give you seven grains of rice each time they eat. After this, you will not need to kill." Then the great golden-winged p'eng birds took refuge with the Triple Jewel and became vegetarians, and no longer ate dragons. Although they quite eating dragons, one does not see them any more because there are so few left.

Kinnaras are called "doubtful" spirits, and they also perform music for the Jade Emperor.

Mahoragas are great pythons.

Humans, non-humans, and so forth, include all gods and the entire great assembly. All of those in the great assembly, upon hearing what the Buddha had said, were all greatly happy, faithfully accepted it, and put it into practice. They were all especially happy and believed in this inconceivable Dharma door. They honored it and practiced it.

The principles have not been explained completely, due to a lack of time. I have just given you a shallow explanation. If you want to truly understand the meaning of this Sutra, you should earnestly apply effort in your study. The Buddhadharma is inconceivable, and so it is called "wonderful Dharma." This Chapter on the Conduct and Vows of Universal Worthy is an inconceivable chapter. Therefore, if I were to explain the principles completely, it would take a long time. I have just given the most simple of explanations; if you with to investigate the Buddhadharma further, you should work hard on your own and look into it more.

I don't know whether I have explained the Sutra well or not, and I do not have hopes for good or bad. What is the meaning of this? I have explained as if I have not explained, and you should have listened as if you have not listened. To be without listening and without explaining is the true wonderful Dharma. But if you truly want to reach the point where it is unnecessary to explain and unnecessary to listen, you must understand this wonderful Dharma. Then you will not have wasted your time studying this Sutra.

What is the state of not having wasted your time? Eating is still eating, wearing clothes is still wearing clothes, and sleeping is still sleeping.

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