The Wondrous Adornments of the Rulers of the Worlds

Chapter One, Part Three

 

Sutra:

The Thus Come One saves and protects all in the world.
He manifests before all sentient beings
To quell their misery in the dreadful paths of transmigration.
Sound King enters thus this dharma door .

Commentary:

The Thus Come One saves and protects all in the world. He comes into the world for the sole purpose of saving sentient beings. He manifests before all sentient beings. The Buddha is like the moon in space, and sentient beings are like water. The moon is reflected in the water of the minds of sentient beings. Therefore, the Buddha appears before all sentient beings. You see the moon above your head; I see the moon above my head. No matter how far apart we are from one another, even if we are separated by thousands of miles, each one of us feels that the moon is right above our own head. The Buddha is the same way in that he manifests before all sentient beings. Why? To quell their misery in the dreadful paths of transmigration. He wants to stop, to put an end to the fearsome paths—the three evil paths of hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. The three evil paths are fearsome, but the three good paths are not ideal, either. Therefore, the sutra describes it as “misery.” The distress undergone from revolving in the six paths of rebirth can never be fully described in words. But the Buddha is able to stop this anguish of revolving. Sound King enters thus this dharma door. Yaksha King Sovereign Sound understands this passage into liberation.

Sutra:

Evil karma is a heavy obstacle for sentient beings.
The Buddha unveils wonderful principles to help them understand.
He is as a bright lamp, illumining the world.
Sternly Holding Insignia sees this dharma.

Commentary:

Evil karma is a heavy obstacle for sentient beings. Why do sentient beings fail to become enlightened and realize Buddhahood? Their karmic obstacles are too heavy. This is evil karma, not good karma. How do they create evil karma? The body can commit the three evils of killing, theft, and lust. The mouth can commit the four evils of idle speech, false speech, harsh speech, and divisive speech. Idle speech refers to improper speech that involves deviant knowledge and views, speech that is unclean and inappropriate. For example, men like to engage in improper discussions concerning women, and women like to discuss men in an improper way. False speech refers to lying. Some people might not talk, but once they open their mouths, they start to tell lies. What lies do they tell? They say, “The hens we raise at home lay duck eggs. They lay five eggs at a time, and five ducks hatch from those eggs.” They insist that chickens can give birth to ducks. That is impossible, but they insist upon it. Ignorant country people hear this and say, “This is amazing! In our villages, chickens lay chicken eggs, and ducks lay duck eggs. Chickens would never lay duck eggs. This must be some kind of scientific invention. How did you discover it?” The person replies, “I won’t tell you the secret. If I did, my chickens would no longer lay duck eggs.” That’s to engage in false speech—lying.

Harsh speech refers to scolding people. Some people manage to scold others in a very clever way. They are scolding you, but you cannot even come up with a retort. Obviously, they insist that they are not scolding you. Divisive speech refers to gossiping, bringing up Mr. Li’s problems before Mr. Zhang, and discussing Mr. Zhang’s faults with Mr. Li. It’s one thing if such people do not speak, but once they start talking, they berate others and create schisms. Two people may be good friends to begin with, but after this third individual enters the picture and creates a schism, that friendship is ruined. [Divisive speech is literally “double-tongued” speech.] Although the mouth is small, it has some fantastic talents. It is capable of four evils.

The mind has three evils, three tremendous problems. Just about everyone has those three problems: greed, anger, and delusion. Greed is insatiable: “the more the better.” Anger includes hatred. One finds fault with everybody. Delusion is foolishness. Fools are always doing deluded things. Those are the three evils of the mind.

The three evils of the body, three of the mind, and four of the mouth make ten evils altogether. Such evil karma is a devastating obstruction to the Way.

The Buddha unveils wonderful principles to help them understand. Wonderful principles are wonderful Dharma. These wonderful principles counteract your problems and faults. The Buddha enables sentient beings to understand and become enlightened. He is as a bright lamp, illumining the world. The Buddha appears in the world like a bright lamp, or the bright sun, which banishes darkness. Sternly Holding Insignia sees this dharma. Yaksha King Sternly Holding Insignia understands this state and enters this passage into liberation.

Sutra:

Across the oceans of eons, Buddhas cultivate every practice
And praise all Buddhas of the ten directions.
Hence, their own lofty repute spreads far and wide.
King Wisdom understands thus.

Commentary:

Across the oceans of eons, Buddhas cultivate every practice. This can refer to the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time. The ten directions are east, south, west, and north; southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest; above, and below. The three periods of time are the past, present and future. The Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time include our original teacher Sãkyamuni Buddha. Actually, this line of text is referring to Sãkyamuni Buddha. However, all Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time all realized Buddhahood through cultivating practices for seas of eons. “Every practice” refers to the Six Paramitas and the myriad practices. The Six Paramitas are (1) giving, which counteracts stinginess and greed; (2) holding precepts, which counteracts violation; (3) patience, which counteracts anger; (4) vigor, which counteracts laziness; (5) dhyana concentration, which counteracts the lack of concentration; and (6) prajña, which counteracts delusion. The myriad practices include all practices that benefit sentient beings.

Among all the practices that Buddhas cultivate, the most important one is that they praise all Buddhas of the ten directions. Before every Buddha became a Buddha, he always praised the Buddhas of the ten directions. They all walked that path. They lauded the Buddhas with various praises and songs. If you praise the Buddhas, the Buddhas will also praise you.

Hence, their own lofty repute spread far and wide. Because the Buddha praised the Buddhas of the ten directions, extolling those Buddhas’ titles, the Buddha himself attained a lofty, far-reaching, and great reputation. It is so lofty that all the gods know about the Buddha. It is so far-reaching that the Buddha’s name is known throughout empty space and the Dharma Realm.

King Wisdom understands thus. Yaksha King Great Wisdom understands this passage into liberation. Of the Buddha’s the wisdom powers, one is “the wisdom of knowing what is and is not the case.” The Buddha understands what is logical and what is illogical.

Sutra:

The Buddha’s wisdom is boundless like the void.
His Dharma body is vast, great, and inconceivable.
Accordingly, he appears throughout the ten directions.
Flaming Eyes contemplates thus.

Commentary:

The Buddha’s wisdom is boundless like the void. What appearance does wisdom have? It has no shape or form, just like space. Just as space has no boundaries, wisdom too is boundless. His Dharma body is vast, great, and inconceivable. The Buddha’s Dharma body is vast, without boundaries, and inconceivable, like space. Accordingly, he appears throughout the ten directions. Because the Buddha’s Dharma body is vast and boundless, he appears in worlds throughout the ten directions. yaksha King Flaming Eyes contemplates thus. He deeply contemplates and understands this principle and attains this passage into liberation.

Sutra:

In the midst of all destinies, he proclaims with wondrous sound,
Speaking Dharma to benefit the flocks of beings.
Wherever his sound reaches, the myriad sufferings end.
Vajra Eyes enters this expedient means.

Commentary:

In the midst of all destinies, he proclaims with wondrous sound. Within the six paths of rebirth, the Buddha proclaims Dharma with wonderful and subtle sounds. When all sentient beings hear these sounds of Dharma, they obtain benefit. Speaking Dharma to benefit the flocks of beings. The Buddha speaks Dharma according to the situation, bringing benefit to all sentient beings Wherever his sound reaches, the myriad sufferings of sentient beings end. Once they hear the sounds, they are saved. Yaksha King Vajra Eyes enters this expedient means. He obtains this expedient passage into liberation.

Question: What is meant by passage into liberation? I don’t understand it.

Answer: Your wanting to understand—just that is a passage into liberation. Do you understand? One is free from hang-ups and impediments. One is removed from all delusion. One realizes sagehood and obtains true self-mastery. If you wish to attain liberation, you have to realize the fruition and obtain true comfort and ease. This is not something you can merely talk about or understand just by hearing it. Rather, it’s like eating. You have to put the food in your mouth before you can taste it. A passage into liberation works the same way. After you have attained it, you will understand. If you haven’t attained a passage into liberation, how could you understand? Right now we are merely talking about it. But upon obtaining the passage into liberation, you will enjoy true freedom. You can live if you wish to live; you can die if you wish to die. For example, the Second Chan Patriarch Shenguang was accused of insanity and executed. A sign that he had gained a passage into liberation was that, at his execution, he bled a white, milky fluid instead of regular blood.

If you reach that state, you can be said to have attained the passage into liberation. Even though the Second Patriarch was killed, he felt no pain. He said, “If you wish to kill me, go right ahead!” The Bhikshu Lion was the same way. He entered the passage into liberation. Do you know about the Bhikshu Lion [Àryasimha]? He was a Patriarch from India . He came to a country where the emperor believed in heterodoxy, and the emperor had him killed. A white, milky substance flowed from the Patriarch’s body. It tasted sweet and fragrant. If you drank it, you would become a patriarch, too.

Do you understand now? You have understood the meaning, but you haven’t attained this passage into liberation. Keep on working hard. There’s hope for you. Simply use the ten powers of a common person. Hearers have the ten powers of Hearers, and Bodhisattvas have the ten powers of Bodhisattvas. Common people also have their ten powers. Forge ahead vigorously; do not be lazy, and there is hope.

Sutra:

All profound, vast principles
Can be expressed in a single phrase by the Thus Come One.
Such doctrines pervasively fill the worlds.
King Robust Wisdom is enlightened thus.

Commentary:

All profound, vast principles…The Dharma contains boundless, measureless principles. “The supreme, profound, wonderful Dharma.” There is nothing higher, more profound, more wonderfully subtle than the Dharma. “Is difficult to encounter in millions of eons.” It’s not easy to encounter the Dharma. For several thousand years, practically nobody in Western countries has heard the Dharma, seen the Buddha, or seen the Sangha. They have just begun recently. Actually, several thousand years is a very short period of time. Billions of eons is a very long period of time. Throughout that long period of time, it is not easy for one to encounter the Dharma.

Now the text says, “All profound, vast principles,” which encompasses everything the Buddha has spoken. The Buddha’s orations make up the twelve types of literature in the three baskets of the canon [the Tripitaka]: sutras, vinaya, and Sästras. The twelve types of literature include prose, reiterative verses, etc. All of these are very profound and extensive in meaning. They are extremely vast and profuse, also subtle and fine to the utmost.

Although these dharma doors are wonderful beyond words, they can be expressed in a single phrase by the Thus Come One. In a single sentence, the Buddha can completely proclaim all dharmas. Or you can say that the vast, profound principles of all dharmas stem from a single phrase. The Buddha can explain this vast, profuse meaning with a single phrase.

One is the measureless; measureless are one.
One root divides into a myriad branches.
The myriad branches return to that one root.  

Such doctrines pervasively fill the worlds. These vast, profound principles universally pervade the world. For this reason, the purport of Buddhism is perfectly blended and nonobstructive. There are no boundaries. Therefore I often say to you: It’s not the case that only those who believe in Buddhism are counted as Buddhists and those who do not are not considered Buddhists. It doesn’t work that way.

According to the purport of Buddhism, whether or not you believe in Buddhism, you are still a Buddhist. This is because Buddhism pervades space and the Dharma Realm. Why do we say that you are a Buddhist whether or not you believe in Buddhism? It’s because all beings are endowed with the Buddha nature. Since they are all endowed with the Buddha nature, all of them can become Buddhas. Even if they do not believe in Buddhism now, in the future they will believe in it. Even if they do not believe in Buddhism in the near future, they will definitely believe in Buddhism in the distant future. Not only that, they themselves will definitely become Buddhas in the future. The dharma doors of Buddhism are all-encompassing.

There is not a single sentient being who is outside of Buddhism. Therefore I often tell you that it does not worry me if any of you run away, it only worries me when you come here. If you run away, I can take a break and rest. If you’re here, I have more work. Therefore, I do not fear your running away. Why? You can never run outside of the Dharma Realm. Since you will always be within the scope of the Dharma Realm, you are a Buddhist. Sooner or later you will have to come back. All I have to do is wait long enough for you. If you want to run away now, it’s no problem. Little Guo Fang did not come last night, but tonight she came. It’s the same principle here. Why did she come tonight? Because there’s candy here. Likewise, I have no fear about sentient beings running away. Even if you run away, eventually you will come back, because there is paramita here. Everyone wants to savor paramita, just as everyone likes to eat candy.

If you can become one with space and the Dharma Realm, how vast a scope is that! And so the text says, “Such doctrines as these pervasively fill the world.” King Robust Wisdom is enlightened thus. This is the passage into liberation that Yaksha King Robust Arms understands.

Sutra:

Sentient beings abide in deviant ways.
The Buddha reveals the inconceivable, proper path,
Making everyone in the world into a vessel of the Dharma.
Bravely Opposing Armies enlightens thus and understands.

Commentary:

Sentient beings includes those born from wombs, eggs, moisture, and transformation; creatures which fly, swim, and move; and even vegetation. They abide in deviant ways. Sentient beings are strange. They are skeptical about a proper path that you teach them. They wonder whether it is true or not. But if you teach them a deviant path, they will not entertain any doubts. Towards a deviant path, they believe without doubting. Towards a proper path, they doubt and fail to believe.

What’s meant by a deviant path? It means not holding the precepts. What’s meant by a proper path? It means holding the precepts. People do not hold the precepts against killing, theft, lust, false speech, and taking intoxicants. For instance, if you say to someone, “Come, I’ll treat you to a drink,” they are delighted. Or, if you say, “I’ll treat you to some dope,” they are also delighted. But, if you say, “Let’s go listen to the sutras,” they will probably respond with, “But today I have an important appointment. I would like to go with you, but I cannot cancel that appointment.”

For that reason, we have a saying: “I exhort you to do good, and you don’t have money. Even if you have money, you don’t. But when a disaster hits, you have thousands of dollars. Even if you don’t have money, you do.” In ordinary circumstances, if you exhort someone to donate a hundred thousand dollars to help build a temple, they will say, “No, I don’t have such money.” But when they are kidnapped and a million-dollar ransom is demanded, these people will quickly come up with the money. Even if they don’t have it, they quickly come up with it.

“I wish to discuss wholesome things with you, and you say, ‘I’m too busy.’” Let’s say, you invite someone to go listen to the sutras, and he answers: “Yes, I want to go, but I’m too busy. I don’t have time.”

“But, at the end of your life when you head for the yellow springs (the underworld), even if you’re busy, you’ll still have to go.” When the day comes for you to die, you’ll rush to the underworld where the springs are yellow. No matter how busy you are, you’ll still have to see King Yama. That’s how strange people are. You teach them to abstain from killing and they say, “That’s stupid.” You teach them to abstain from theft, and they say, “Well, that doesn’t really matter.” For that reason, I’ve told you that whoever has the talent can try to steal rice crust from the kitchen. If you teach them how to steal, they are delighted, but if you exhort them to not steal, they have a hard time accepting that. It’s as if their ears are plugged up.

The Sutras say, “Sentient beings abide in deviant ways.” They refuse to listen if you teach them the proper way, but they are glad to listen if you teach them deviant ways. If you say to someone, “Do you have time? We can go watch a burlesque show,” they will be delighted and go with you. Or you say, “Let’s go watch a movie; it’s fantastic!” And they will gladly go with you. But if you invite them to go listen to the sutras, they will not be as delighted. They are born with wrong knowledge and wrong views, and so they abide in deviant ways and refuse to tread a proper path. To put it more plainly, men and women do not behave properly. They do not observe their proper roles.

The Buddha reveals the inconceivable, proper path. Wishing to save these unruly sentient beings, the Buddha points out to them a proper path, which means abstaining from killing, theft, lust, false speech, and taking intoxicants. Just that is the proper path. To take refuge with the Triple Jewel and bring forth the bodhi resolve—that is the proper path. It is inconceivable. If you can walk a proper path and bring forth the bodhi resolve, an inconceivable state occurs. Your offenses will be eradicated and your blessings will grow. Your karma will be exhausted and your emotions will be empty.

Making everyone in the world into a vessel of the Dharma. The Buddha wishes everyone in the world to become vessels of the Dharma. What does that mean? It’s said, “A superior man is not merely a tool,” meaning he is not limited to only one function, like a teacup which can only be used for drinking tea, or a saucer which can only be used for holding a teacup. People are not that way. They are capable of doing many things. Therefore, a superior person is not merely an instrument or a tool, like a teacup that is only used so that people may drink tea. Rather, an outstanding individual has many skills and functions. “Vessels of the Dharma” refers to those who are carriers of the Way. People can carry the Way. They can cultivate, relying on the false to cultivate the true. Do not look upon your stinking skin bag as being that precious. It’s a makeshift house.

The purpose of our living in that house is to cultivate the Way. We are relying on the false to cultivate the true. But don’t become over-attentive to the external trappings of the house, to the point that you ignore the person who lives in it. If the tenant becomes sick or dies, the house is rendered useless. Right now, the tenant of every house is sick. What kind of sickness is it? The sickness of greed, anger, delusion, jealousy, selfishness, laziness, gluttony, and desire for sleep. From morning to night, some people only want to sleep. Having sat down for a while, they say, “Ah, if I get to nap a little, that would be paramita.” Those people attain the sleep paramita. Others attain the eating paramita. Others attain the wearing clothes paramita. Others attain the laziness paramita. Everyone here wants to savor paramita.

The Great Master, the Sixth Patriarch, became a vessel of the Dharma. So did Patriarch Hanshan and Patriarch Dantian. They forged an indestructible body through their cultivation. Although they had a physical body, that body did not decompose or rot after they passed away. They were vessels of the Way.

Bravely Opposing Armies enlightens thus and understands. Yaksha King Bravely Opposing Armies understands this principle.

Sutra:

All the blessed acts done in any world
Are illumined by the Buddha’s light.
The ocean of the Buddha’s wisdom cannot be fathomed.
Abundant Wealth is liberated thus.

Commentary:

All the blessed acts done in any world…Blessings come from doing good works. If you engage in good works, you will achieve blessings, but if you don’t, you won’t obtain blessings. We often say “rewards of blessings,” which implies that blessings come about through doing good deeds. This line refers to the blessings amassed by all those in the world of sentience. Small blessings accumulate until they become profuse blessings. If you do not amass blessings, they won’t come about. Thus we have the saying,

Families that amass good works will certainly enjoy a surplus of good fortune.
Families that amass unwholesome works will certainly suffer an abundance of calamities.

Families that amass good works will enjoy the rewards of blessings. Families that engage in unwholesome deeds will not enjoy the rewards of blessings. “All the blessed acts” means that there is not just one kind, but many kinds of blessings. Because people have engaged in many good works, they reap blessings. I often say to you:

To endure suffering is to put an end to suffering;
To enjoy blessings is to use up blessings.

If you undergo some suffering, you will put an end to them. If you refuse to undergo suffering, your suffering will never end. On the other hand, you might cash in on your blessings. For example, rich people buy expensive, fine clothes; they are cashing in on their blessings. They also buy a fancy house and eat good food. Thus, they enjoy the best in clothes, food, and housing. Then they get themselves a fancy car and ride in it on all occasions, and they never have to walk again. They fear that people will not notice their beautiful limousine, and so they honk their horn, making a lot of noise so that people will notice that it is a beautiful, expensive Cadillac. For example, a Hong Kong movie actress bought a Cadillac that was $110,000 Hong Kong dollars and showed off everywhere with it. That’s called enjoying one’s blessings.

And still, some people feel this is not classy enough. They go on to purchase a yacht or a boat, and go out fishing on holidays, having a lot of fun. That’s enjoying one’s blessings. And, should these people have more money, they can buy their own airplanes. They can fly anywhere they want. But after they are through with enjoying their blessings, after they use up all their money, they don’t have any left. Therefore we say, “To enjoy blessings is to use up blessings.”

Now where do those many deeds of blessings” come from? They are illumined by the Buddha’s light. It’s only because of the aid of the Buddha’s light that we are endowed with blessings and enjoyment. The ocean of the Buddha’s wisdom cannot be fathomed. The Buddha’s wisdom is measureless and boundless like an ocean. There is no way to know or understand it. There’s no way to reckon how great that ocean is. Abundant Wealth is liberated thus. Yaksha King Abundant Resources and Wealth understands this principle and has attained this passage into liberation.

Sutra:

Recollecting how, during countless eons in the past,
The Buddha cultivated the Ten Powers
And was able to perfect every power;
Thus King Lofty Banner understands.

Commentary:

“Recollecting” means reminiscing about past events and always reflecting upon them. What does this yaksha King recollect? He thinks back on past eons, kalpas, very long periods of time reaching into the distant past. Kalpa is Sanskrit and refers to a tremendously long interval of time, estimated to be 139,600 years, but it may be longer or shorter; it’s not fixed. Since it’s not fixed, we can explain a kalpa in terms of a period of increase and a period of decrease.

A small kalpa is made up of a period of increase and a period of decrease. What’s meant by increase? Every hundred years, the average human life span increases by one year and the average human height increases by one inch. When this increase reaches its ultimate point, a period of decrease sets in. Every hundred years, human life span decreases by one year, and human height decreases by one inch. Right now we are in a period of decrease. During Sãkyamuni Buddha’s time, the average life span was 70 years. Now, the average life span is 60 to 65. Although some people live longer, I am talking about the average age. Every hundred years, human life span decreases by one year and human height decreases by one inch. This decrease happens until the average human life span gets down to ten years, and average human height gets down to about one or two feet.

At that time, people will resemble midgets. Nowadays people are protesting that the door handles of most stores are too high, and that these midgets cannot reach the door handles. They are saying that the door handles should be lowered. But then people who are seven or eight feet tall voice the opposite complaint that the door handles of stores are too low. They insist that the door handles be placed higher, so that it would be more convenient for tall people. As you can see, short people and tall people disagree, while we average people have no need to disagree about anything at all.

My feeling on this issue is: with today’s scientific advancements, we might as well have three door handles, accommodating people who are short, medium, and tall. That would silence the objections. But it would also require a lot of expenditure.

When people’s life span reaches an average of ten years, however, they will be shorter than a midget. They will be shorter than a child. A child’s hands can reach the door handle now. Actually, there are many issues worth protesting. An infant could protest, “Why was I born so little? I should be big right from birth.” Old people can protest, “Why should I age? I want to remain young forever.” If you dwell on these matters, there will never be peace on earth. There will be chaos everywhere instead. And right within this chaos, there will be major calamities.

When the kalpa of decrease reaches its end, another period of increase sets in. Every hundred years, human life span will increase by one year, and human height will increase by one inch. This increase continues until human life span reaches 84,000 years, at which point another period of decrease sets in. When human life span decreases to 80,000 years, Maitreya Bodhisattva will appear in the world to teach and transform sentient beings. Unlike Sãkyamuni Buddha who spoke Dharma for 49 years in over 300 assemblies, this Bodhisattva will manage to finish teaching and transforming all the sentient beings with whom he has affinities in a single day and night. He will do it very quickly.

Recollecting how, during countless eons in the past, / The Buddha cultivated the Ten Powers. It’s not known how many kalpas the Buddha has cultivated. A period of increase and a period of decrease comprise one kalpa. One thousand of those kalpas make up a small kalpa. Twenty small kalpas make up one medium kalpa. And four medium kalpas make up one great kalpa. Imagine how great a number that is. It’s hard to reckon. Professor Cheng Xi wrote an interesting book called Chan Sayings of the Mind. In one of the sections he said, “From a young age I wanted to think up the greatest number. But how should one write out this large number? Add a zero to 1, and you have 10. Add another zero, and you have 100. Add three zeros, then there is 1,000. Four zeros will make it 10,000. Five zeros will make it 100,000. Six zeros will make it 1,000,000 (one million). Seven zeros will make it 10,000,000 (ten million).” Cheng Xi kept on adding more zeros until numbers filled up the entire room, the floor, the whole ceiling, the walls, and so on, but the numbers hadn’t run out. Then he went outside to draw more zeros, at which point he filled all of space with zeros. Not only did he not know how big the number was, he could not even count how many zeros there were. Well, the number of great kalpas resembles the number he wrote.

For hundreds of thousands of times more than this present analogy, the Buddha cultivated. In those countless kalpas the Buddha cultivated the Ten Powers. Some of you have left the home-life two-and-a-half days, and you complain, “But I haven’t attained anything.” Well, what do you want to attain? You think you receive something two-and-a-half days after you became a monk or nun? That’s a joke. The Buddha cultivated the Ten Powers for countless kalpas. These powers are developed gradually, bit by bit.

And was able to perfect every power . The Ten Powers enable one to perfect and achieve all powers. Thus King Lofty Banner understands. Yaksha King Power to Topple High Mountains Like Banners has understood this principle.

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