Universal Worthy's Conduct and Vows

Chapter Forty

 

 

The Second Vow: To Praise the Thus Come Ones  

Sutra:    

“Moreover, Good Man, to praise the Thus Come Ones is explained like this: in each fine mote of dust in all lands throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, exhausting the Dharma Realm and empty space, there are Buddhas as numerous as fine motes of dust in all worlds. Each of these Buddhas is circumambulated by an ocean-wide assembly of Bodhisattvas.  

“With my profound and supreme understanding, I know and see them all. Each of my bodies brings forth a tongue of subtle and wonderful eloquence surpassing the skillful speech of even Sarasvati, the Goddess of Eloquence. Each tongue brings forth an inexhaustible sea of sounds. Each sound emits an ocean of all words, praising and glorifying all the Thus Comes Ones’ sea of all merit and virtue. These praises continue without case to the end of the boundaries of the future. Exhausting the Dharma Realm, these sounds reach everywhere.  

“When the realm of empty space is exhausted, when the realms of living beings are exhausted, when the karma of living beings is exhausted, and when the afflictions of living beings are exhausted, only then will my praise be exhausted. But just as the realm of empty space up to and including living beings’ afflictions are endless, so too are my praises endless. They continue in thought after thought without cease. My body, mouth, and mind never tire of doing these deeds.  

Commentary:

Moreover, Good Man. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva called the Youth “good man,” because he has taken the Five Precepts, cultivates the Ten Wholesome Acts, and cultivates the subtle practices of the Bodhisattva. Although the Youth Good Wealth appears in the body of a youth, in actuality he is a great Bodhisattva, and so Universal Worthy Bodhisattva said, “Good Man, to praise the Thus Come Ones is explained like this. What is the meaning of this vow to praise the Thus Come Ones? Now I will tell you.

In each fine mote of dust in all lands throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, exhausting the Dharma Realm and empty space. “Exhausting” the Dharma Realm:” the “Dharma Realm” includes the Dharma Realm of Buddhas, and the Dharma Realms of Bodhisattva, Sound Hearers, Those Enlightened to Conditions, gods, humans, asuras, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings. These ten together are called the Ten Dharma Realms, and these Ten Dharma Realms are not beyond a single thought; one thought contains the Ten Dharma Realms, and the Ten Dharma Realms contain all the measureless Dharma Realms.

“In all lands.” “Lands” refers to all Buddha lands in each of the fine motes of dust in all worlds. There are Buddhas as numerous as fine motes of dust in all worlds. Each of these Buddhas is circumambulated by an ocean-wide assembly with immeasurable, limitless, and boundless numbers of great Bodhisattvas. “Ocean” represents a multitude, showing that the number of Bodhisattvas is extremely many, like the waters of the great ocean. All of the Bodhisattvas respectfully circumambulate these Buddhas.

With my profound and supreme understanding, I know and see them all. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva says, “I use the most profound and supreme understanding obtained from cultivation of the Way to know and see all of the countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. I should both know and see them.” Knowledge is wisdom, and vision is perceiving the nature of things.

Each of my bodies brings forth a tongue of subtle and wonderful eloquence. My eloquence surpasses the eloquence of all people, surpassing the skillful speech of even Sarasvati, the Goddess of Eloquence. This Goddess is the most superb speaker and can make the most subtle distinctions. “Nevertheless, my powers of discrimination far surpass those of this Goddess.” Universal Worthy Bodhisattva’s unobstructed eloquence surpasses the skillful speech of even the Goddess of the Heaven of Eloquence; it is even beyond the eloquence of the gods.

There are four kinds of unobstructed eloquence. The first is the unobstructed eloquence of phrasing. This means that one’s words flow forth smoothly without impediment, and that one is skilled in debating. The second is the unobstructed eloquence of dharmas.

From one dharma immeasurable dharmas are produced,
And the immeasurable dharmas return to the one dharma.

This saying characterizes the speech of one who has the unobstructed eloquence of dharma.

The third is the unobstructed eloquence of meaning. One who has this kind of unobstructed eloquence can within one meaning explain immeasurable meanings, and then return these immeasurable meanings to the one meaning. The fourth kind of unobstructed eloquence is delight in speaking. Delight in speaking means that one never tires of speaking the Buddhadharma. “The tongue of subtle and wonderful eloquence” refers to a person who is a most capable speaker. Whatever he says, everyone believes, and they enjoy hearing him. If your tongue is not skilled, when you speak, no one will believe you, and no one will want to listen to you.

Each tongue brings forth an inexhaustible ocean of sounds. These subtle and wonderful tongues let fall an immeasurable, boundless, and inexhaustible sea of subtle and wonderful sounds. Each sound praises the Thus Come Ones, and each sound emits an ocean of all words, which means that there is profusion of speech which is nonetheless delightful to hear. All of these sounds and words together are praising and revering all Thus Come Ones throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, praising and glorifying all the Thus Come Ones’ sea of all merit and virtue. They praise and revere the Buddhas with their sea of all merit and virtue. These praises continue without cease to the ends of the boundaries of the future. He continues and never ceases in his praise of the Thus Come Ones. Exhausting the Dharma Realm, these sounds reach everywhere. There is no place in the Dharma Realm where this sound does not totally pervade, and so in every place in the Dharma Realm his sound praises the Thus Come Ones.

When the realm of empty space is exhausted: he praises the Thus Come Ones by saying that when the realm of empty space is exhausted, when the realms of living beings are exhausted, when the karma of living beings is exhausted, and when the afflictions of living beings are exhausted, only then will my praise be exhausted-one then will my praise come to an end. But just as the realm of empty space up to and including living beings’ afflictions are endless, so too are my praises endless. The realms of living beings cannot be exhausted, nor can the realm of empty space, the Dharma Realm, the karma of living beings, or the afflictions of living beings-none of these can be exhausted, and so the sounds of his praises will never cease. There is not time when his praises will cease, but they will continue on in thought after thought without cease. His faculties of body, mouth, and mind never tire of doing these deeds. “I always praise the Thus Come Ones and never give rise to even a thought of being tired, how much the less become worn out.”

The Third Vow: To Extensively Cultivate Making Offerings  

Sutra:

“Moreover, Good Man, to extensively cultivate making offerings is explained like this: in every mote of dust in all the Buddha lands throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, exhausting the Dharma Realm and the realm of empty space, there are Buddhas as many as the fine motes of dust in all worlds. Each Buddha is circumambulated by various kinds of sea-like assemblies of Bodhisattvas. With the power of Universal Worthy’s practice and vows, I am able to deeply believe in and understand them. I can know and see them all. To each I make offerings of superb and wonderful gifts. That is to say, clouds of flowers, clouds of garlands, clouds of heavenly music, clouds of divine canopies, clouds of heavenly clothing, all varieties of heavenly incense, fragrant balms, burning incense, powdered incense, and clouds of gifts such as these; each cloud is as large as Sumeru, the king of mountains.  

Commentary:

Why does the Bodhisattva say, moreover? He has discussed the first two vows, to worship and respect all Buddhas, and to praise the Thus Come Ones, and now he will explain another vow to extensively cultivate making offerings. “Moreover” indicates the beginning of the next vow, setting it apart from the previous sections.

Good Man. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva again calls out, “Good Man, to extensively cultivate making offerings is explained like this.

Now we will discuss the Dharma door of making offerings. What does it mean to extensively cultivate making offerings? You should now be attentive and I will explain this for you.

First, what is the scope of this vow? In every mote of dust in all the Buddha lands throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, exhausting the Dharma Realm and the realm of empty space. “In all” includes everything; it includes the Dharma Realm and the realm of empty space. “Exhausting the Dharma Realm” means reaching to the end of the Dharma Realm, totally pervading the Dharma Realm, and filling up the Dharma Realm. “Exhausting the realm of empty space” refers to totally pervading the realm of empty space and filling up the realm of empty space.

The ten direction are north, south, east, and west-the four directions-plus northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest, the intermediate directions, and above and below. The three periods refers to time, and the ten directions refer to space, to places, and locations. The three periods of time are the past, present, and future, and here they refer to all Buddhas of the past, all Buddhas of the present, and all Buddhas of the future.

“In every mote of dust:” each mote of dust in all Buddha lands can be divided into seven pieces, and one of these pieces is called “a dust mote bordering on emptiness,” or a “mote of dust.” In each of these motes of dust there is a Buddha turning the Dharma wheel. This is called “the large manifesting in the small.” Although each fine mote of dust is so small, each one contains an entire world; and although each world is so large, each one does not go beyond a dust mote. This is an example of what is large manifesting in what is small. The small can also manifest within what is large.

The land of the Jeweled King appears on the tip of a hair,
And sitting in a dust mote he turns the Dharma wheel.

A Buddha land can appear on the tip of a hair, and a Buddha land can appear in a dust mote. Therefore, what is large can manifest in what is small, yet the large does not obstruct the small; what is small can manifest in the large, yet the small does not obstruct the large. The large and small mutually function together; they are totally merged and unobstructed. In fact, the small is the large, and the large is the small. This state goes on infinitely, like many lights which illuminate together and reflect off one another, their light merging into one brightness without any obstructions.

There are immeasurable and uncountable worlds in each dust mote. How can you understand the Buddhadharma when an infinite number of worlds are contained in one dust mote? And in each world there are Buddhas as many as the fine motes of dust in all worlds. Each Buddha is circumambulated by various kinds of sea-like assemblies of Bodhisattvas. Some Bodhisattvas belong to the Vajra Sutra Dharma Assembly; some speak the Dharma Flower Sutra and belong to the Dharma Flower Sutra Dharma Assembly; some speak the Prajna Sutras and belong to the Prajna Sutras Dharma Assembly; some speak the Agama Sutras and belong to the Agama Sutras Dharma Assembly; some speak the Vaipulya Sutras and belong to the Vaipulya Sutras Dharma Assembly; some speak the Flower Adornment Sutra and belong to the assembly surrounding the Flower Adornment Sutras; and some speak the Shurangama Sutra and belong to the assembly surrounding the Shurangama Sutra. Each Buddha is circumambulated by a sea-like assembly of many kinds of Bodhisattvas.

With the power of Universal Worthy’s practice and vows, because of these vows, which are universally cultivated, I am able to deeply believe in and understand them. I give rise to a mind of deep belief and understanding in the Buddha, and in the Buddhadharma, which is like a great sea. If you have faith, you can enter this sea, but without faith, there is no way you can enter and understand it. So it is said,

The Buddhadharma is like a great sea;
Only through faith can one enter it.

I can know and see them all. This means to know and see all Buddhas and Buddha lands manifest in one thought, one thought of wisdom. To each I make offerings of superb and wonderful gifts. I gather up all of the most superb and wonderful things, things which cannot be surpassed, and use all of these to making offerings to all these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. What are these superb and wonderful offerings? That is to say, measureless and boundless numbers of flowers in profusion like clouds of garlands, flowers strung together to make garland cloud adornments, and streamers and pennants, and clouds of heavenly music, all of which are used to make offerings. The Jade Emperor has gandharvas and kinnaras who play music for him, and since music is also a kind of offering, he uses it as an offering to the Buddhas.

When you light incense, it drifts in the air to form a cloud canopy of incense, in the shape of an umbrella which covers living beings. These are the clouds of divine canopies. In the Shurangama Mantra there is the Great White Canopy which appears in space when you recite the mantra. There are never any disasters in any place covered by this canopy, no earthquakes or natural disasters, and also no man-made disasters. There will be no disasters whatsoever.

Clouds of heavenly clothing. The clothing of the gods is very light, like nylon. You might even say that clothing made of nylon is clothing of the gods; it is very light, and beautiful. The Bodhisattva also makes offerings of clouds of heavenly clothing.

All varieties of heavenly incense. In the heavens there are many kinds of incense, and if you recite the Great Compassion Mantra sincerely, the perfume of this incense will manifest. This perfume is not like the fragrance we know, sandalwood and the like, because this perfume is not of this world. When you recite this mantra, all ghosts and spirits use this incense to make offerings. It is your sincerity which causes these fragrances to appear. If you are not sincere, you will not smell it, because the ghosts and spirits will not respond.

Fragrant balms. These are balms which you apply to your body, but they are not the kind of perfume we humans put on our bodies. These are too rare for that. You place them before the Buddhas as an offering.

Burning incense, powdered incense, and clouds of gifts such as these, just like the clouds of incense discussed above, each cloud is as large as Sumeru, the kind of mountains, and is given as an offering. What are the dimensions of these offerings? The size of each of them is as great as Mount Sumeru. What do you say, are these offerings great?

Sutra:  

“I burn all kinds of lamps, butter lamps, oil lamps, and lamps of many fragrant oils. The wick of each lamp is as tall as Mount Sumeru; the quantity of oil in each lamp is equal in volume to the waters of the great sea. With all manner of gifts such as these, I constantly make offerings.  

“Good man, of all offerings, the gift of Dharma is supreme. That is to say, the offering of cultivating according to the teachings, the offering of benefiting all living beings, the offering which gathers in all living beings, the offering of standing in for all beings to undergo their suffering, the offering of diligently cultivating good roots, the offering of not forsaking the deeds of the Bodhisattva, and the offering of not renouncing the Bodhi mind.  

Commentary:

The offerings made by Universal Worthy Bodhisattva are described by comparing them to the size of Sumeru, but how big is Mount Sumeru? Sumeru is Sanskrit and means "wonderfully high." "Wonderfully" here means "inconceivably high." this mountain is surrounded by seven rings of seas and the Four Great Continents, Purvavideha in the East, Jambudvipa in the South, Aparagodaniya in the West, and Uttarakuru in the North. Sumeru is 84,000 yojanas high, and the sun and moon are located half way up its slope, as are the Heavens of the Four Kings. Therefore, Mount Sumeru is taller than the Heavens of the Four Kings. If the dimensions of your offerings are as large as Mount Sumeru, they are inconceivable.

I burn all kinds of lamps. To "burn" means to "light." What benefit is there in burning all kinds of lamps? If you light lamps before the Buddha, keen eyesight is the reward you will obtain from giving this offering. If you do not have keen eyesight, it is because you did not offer lamps. If you cause the space before the Buddha to be bright, then your eyes will be bright.

There are many kinds of lamps, not just one: butter lamps which burn butter made from cows' milk, and oil lamps, which burn common oil. In the Secret School, there is a Dharma called Hu Mo in which the Vajra Master lights a fire in front of himself and recites mantras. He may burn butter in the fire, common oil, clothing, or other articles as offerings to the Buddha. The more valuable the offerings, the more the merit and virtue derived. If one burns gold in the fire, the offering is especially great.

In actuality, it is not the value of the items burned that determines the amount of merit and virtue derived. For example, if you burn gold, it does not necessarily mean that your merit and virtue is great, or if you burn dirt, that your merit and virtue is small. The determining factor is your sincerity. If you can offer most valuable objects with a mind of extreme sincerity, this shows that your mind is true. If you have an honest mind, then there is merit and virtue, but you do not have to burn gold to gain it.

If, on the other hand, you offer up valuables but think, "What benefit is derived from burning these things, since in the end they are destroyed?" this shows you do not have a true mind, and the merit and virtue derived is considerably less. If your mind is true, you can give up anything to the fire. The merit and virtue derived depends upon the sincerity of your renunciation. This is the Hu Mo Dharma and several lamps like this are used in the practice of the Secret School.

In addition to these oil lamps, there are lamps of many fragrant oils including sesame oil lamps. The wick of each lamp is as tall as Mount Sumeru; the quantity of oil in each lamp is equal in volume to the waters of the great sea. Whoever can give offerings with the dimensions of Mount Sumeru and give fragrant oils in quantities equal to the waters of the great sea, according to the Flower Adornment Sutra, has made offerings that are of the dimensions of the Dharma Realm. What does this mean? If you have an honest and true mind when you give offerings, then the quantity will be vast. If your mind is honest, then the quantity will equal a number of worlds equal to the number of sand grains in the Ganges River.

With all manner of gifts such as these, I constantly make offerings. Using many different kinds of gifts in such vast quantities, I will constantly make offerings.

In the past in China, there was a very poor person who bought a catty of oil to offer to the Triple Jewel. He prepared to go to Gold Mountain Monastery the next day to burn lamps before the Buddha. At that time the Abbot of gold Mountain, a "bright eyed one," who had opened the Five Eyes, told the guest prefect, "Tomorrow open the main gate. A great Dharma protector will arrive around ten in the morning to make offerings to the Buddha, and after he has made his offerings, invite him to eat with the Abbot. You should be very polite to this Dharma protector, but don't let him go away."

The next day the grounds were swept and the great mountain gate was opened, and the Abbot put on his long ceremonial robe to greet the great Dharma protector. When he came to bow to the Buddha, the Abbot personally welcomed him, and invited him to eat in the Abbot's quarters.

What kind of person was this Dharma protector? He was so very poor that he could only afford one catty of oil to offer to the Buddha. Why did the Abbot treat a person who made such a small offering so well? Because he had used every cent of his life's savings to purchase the oil.

While this was going on, a rich person who had arrived at the monastery at the same time watched these proceedings and thought, "The Abbot is certainly treating him well." The next day the rich man bought 1000 catties of oil and gave them to the monastery to be burned in lamps, too. He thought that if an offering of just one catty of oil could occasion such good treatment, certainly with an offering of 1000 catties, one would be treated royally indeed.

Before the rich man sent his offerings, the Abbot declared, "Tomorrow, open the side door; a Dharma protector is sending oil to burn in the lamps. Ask him to eat in the guest hall. He doesn't have to eat in the Abbot's room."

The guest prefect did not understand why he was doing this, and after the rich man had paid his visit, he asked the Abbot, "How is it that you opened the main gate for the person who gave only one catty of oil and invited him to eat in the Abbot's quarters, while you didn't open the main gate or even greet the person who offered 1000 catties of oil, and had him eat in the guest hall?"

The Abbot replied, "The one who gave 1000 catties was very rich, and he could have easily given 100,000,000 catties of oil, and so there was no need for me to receive him." Then the guest prefect understood.

So in regard to making offerings, it does not matter how much you give, but you should give with a sincere mind. If your mind is extremely honest, you will obtain merit and virtue, but if your ind is not honest and sincere, even if you give much, you will have very little merit and virtue.

Offerings the size of Sumeru, King of Mountains, are not really as large as Mount Sumeru. It is the mind you produce that is as large as Mount Sumeru; thus your offerings will be of equal dimensions. But if you bring forth a small mind, then the merit and virtue from your offerings will be small.

Universal Worthy again said, "Good man, of all offerings, the gift of Dharma is supreme." The greatest offering is given by lecturing Sutras and explaining the Dharma. The Brahma Net Sutra says, "For every day you lecture Sutras and speak the Dharma, you can eat three ounces of gold." Your offerings of Dharma entitles you to eat food worth three ounces of gold for every day you teach. But we do not want to take this for granted and not feel repentant and go buy rich food to eat if we receive three ounces of gold as an offering. Although justification can be found in the Sutra, you do not want to say with conceit, "It is permissible for me to buy food with three ounces of gold you give me every day as an offering for explaining Sutras and speaking Dharma to buy food." You should not be so conceited.

In the Vajra Sutra it says that if you offer the Seven Jewels in Three Thousand Worlds, this offering is not equal to explaining a four line verse from the Sutra. So of all the kinds of offerings, the gift of Dharma is supreme. The offering of Dharma is the greatest.

Now every day I explain the Sutras so that you can hear the Dharma. This is giving Dharma. Turning the Dharma wheel and explaining a four line verse from the Sutra. So of all the kinds of offerings, the gift of Dharma is supreme. The offering of Dharma is the greatest.

Now every day I explain the Sutras so that you can hear the Dharma. This is giving Dharma. Turning the Dharma wheel and explaining Sutras is using the Dharma as an offering to the Buddhas. It is an offering that encourages others to cultivate according to the teachings.

That is to say, the offering of cultivating according to the teachings. An offering of cultivating according to the teachings is, for example, the teaching of the Paramita of giving, teaching others to give by one's words and actions. Others teach the Paramita of maintaining precepts by cultivating the Paramita of holding precepts. Someone may explain the Paramita of patience. Those who truly understand the Buddhadharma cultivate patience and do not get angry. They cultivate patience to the point that there are no people, no self, no living beings and no life span.

When some hear of the Paramita of vigor, throughout the day and night, they become constantly vigorous, and always cultivate according to the Dharma. When some hear the Paramita of Dhyana Samadhi explained, how one can obtain the Four Dhyanas and the Eight Samadhis, how one can produce all the immeasurable kinds of merit and virtue and perfect all kinds of liberations, they base their cultivations on the Paramita of Dhyana Samadhi. When some hear of the Prajna Paramita, they cultivate wisdom and do not give rise to stupid thoughts.

When some hear an explanation of the Four Noble Truths, suffering, accumulation, extinction, and Way, and are told to know suffering, cut off accumulation, long for extinction, and cultivate the Way, they rely on the Dharma of the Four Truths to cultivate. When some hear about the Twelve Links of Conditioned Causation, they rely on this Dharma to cultivate. Others hear an explanation of the Four Unlimited Minds, kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and renunciation, and they bring forth the mind to rely on the Four Unlimited Minds to cultivate.

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