The Ten Patiences

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

 

Sutra:

The Bodhisattva Mahasattva, upon accomplishing these kinds of patience, attains a body that comes from nowhere, since it goes nowhere. He attains a body that is unproduced, since it never ceases to be. He attains a body that is unmoving, since it never decays. He attains a body that is unreal, since it is beyond falseness. He attains a body of a single attribute, since it is free of attributes. He attains limitless bodies, since the Buddhas’ powers are limitless. He attains an impartial body, since it is identical to Thusness. He attains an undifferentiated body as a result of impartially contemplating the three periods of time.

Commentary:

The Bodhisattva Mahasattva, upon accomplishing these ten kinds of patience mentioned earlier, attains a body that comes from nowhere, since it goes nowhere. Why is there no coming? Because there is no going. His body neither comes nor goes.  

He attains a body that is unproduced, since it never ceases to be. When there is coming into being, there will be ceasing to be. In contrast, when there is no coming into being, there is no ceasing to be. He attains a body that is unmoving, since it never decays. The Bodhisattva attains an unmoving body. Why? Because it does not decay. Without decay, how can there be movement or change?

He attains a body that is unreal, since it is beyond falseness. The Bodhisattva does not regard his body as real. Why? Because he has left falseness behind. Indeed, true reality is devoid of falseness. He attains a body of a single attribute, since it is free of attributes. The Bodhisattva has no concept of self, so he attains a body of one attribute or even no attributes.

He attains limitless bodies, countless numbers of bodies, since the Buddhas’ powers are limitless. There is no limit to these powers. He attains an impartial body, since it is identical to Thusness. Impartiality is Thusness. Thusness does not contain any partiality; Thusness is the absolute. He attains an undifferentiated body as a result of impartially contemplating the three periods of time. He attains a body that does not discriminate among the past, the present, and the future. 

Having achieved those ten kinds of patience, the Bodhisattva attains infinite numbers of bodies. Why don’t we ordinary people have infinite numbers of bodies? The reason is that we are incapable of being patient. Why can’t we be patient? It’s because we think everything in the world is real. Since we consider everything to be real, we cannot endure any perceived disadvantage. We cannot bear to suffer the slightest loss. Not to mention great losses, we can’t even take a word of criticism. We can’t stand it when people complain about us.

Just now I made a comment to a layman, who is from my hometown in northeast China. I said that nowadays, if you call someone a dog, he would get mad and say, “Why are you insulting me?” If, however, when language was first created, the word “dog” had designated a person and the word “person” had meant a dog, you would now get upset and afflicted if someone called you a “person.” Names and labels are false. However, since we cannot see beyond them and let go of our attachments to them, we say that someone is scolding me, or you, or him; hitting me, or you, or him. Ah, this is so much trouble. If we have no self—the “me and mine,” and no attachment to body, mind, or anything else, then when someone scolds us, we can treat the criticism as if a song were being sung for us. For example, you all sang a song at the airport today. I didn’t even know what the song was, but I said, “Very good, very good!” If you can treat a scolding as if it were a song, and think, “Ah, he’s praising me,” then you’d save yourself a lot of grief and affliction.

Since the Bodhisattva has successfully cultivated patience, he is endowed with limitless bodies. The sutra only mentions a few of them, but in actuality, the Bodhisattva has limitless, boundless bodies that pervade space and the Dharma Realm. One could never finish speaking of them. Thus, the first version of the Flower Adornment Sutra alone contains verses equal in number to the dust motes in ten great trichiliocosms. See how many that is! Now, we are lecturing on the smallest version of the sutra, and it still has eighty-one chapters and very many verses, perhaps a hundred thousand verses.

All of us should understand what patience is. As I often say,

Patience is a priceless treasure many lose or misperceive.
Make it yours, and who can measure all the good you’ll then achieve?

Students of Buddhadharma must learn patience. We must endure what others cannot endure, bear what others cannot bear, eat what others cannot eat, and yield what others cannot yield. You must truly practice this, not merely talk about it. As it is said, “Bodhisattvas fear the cause, not its effect. Ordinary people fear the result, but not its cause.” To what extent are Bodhisattvas afraid of planting the causes? At the formative stage of cultivation, they are very careful not to plant undesirable causes by mistake. When it comes time to undergo the consequences, Bodhisattvas accept them gladly.

Ordinary people, on the other hand, plant causes without fear. They casually commit murder, set fires, scold and abuse others. When it’s time to bear the retribution, however, they become afraid and complain, “Oh, why must I suffer so? Why is my life so hard?” Since they planted the causes in the past, they must bear the corresponding retribution now.  

For example, the world at present is filled with dangerous situations. These are retributions resulting from negative karma that sentient beings have created in the past due to their delusion. Failing to understand the principle of cause and effect, they struggle against the results of their own doing. The more they fight, the deeper the enmity. Be sure to remember that, as students of the Buddhadharma, we should avoid contending with others at all costs. We should take our losses and then forget about them. By taking a loss, we actually gain some advantage. We should not fight with anyone.

Sutra:

He attains a body that reaches all places, since his pure eyes perceive impartially without hindrance. He attains a body free from desires, since he knows that all dharmas neither unite nor separate. He attains a body as boundless as the void, since he has a treasury of blessings and virtue as inexhaustible as the void. He attains a body endowed with impartial eloquence based in the infinite and perpetual Dharma nature because he knows that the marks of all dharmas are just a single mark and that their nature is no-nature, like the void.  

Commentary:

In cultivating the Bodhisattva Path, the Bodhisattva acquires a body capable of myriad changes and transformations. He attains a body that reaches all places. The Bodhisattva can send transformation bodies to any place with which he has affinities, and to places as large as a Buddhaland or as small as a mote of dust—even the finest mote of dust bordering on nothingness.

The Bodhisattva is able to do this since his pure eyes perceive impartially without hindrance. The Bodhisattva has attained the pure Dharma eye, the pure wisdom eye, the pure heavenly eye, and the pure flesh eye. What is meant by pure? It means having no defiled thoughts, no deluded thoughts, and especially no thoughts of desire. Devoid of thoughts of desire, one attains the pure Dharma eye, which can see all the Dharma treasuries throughout space and the Dharma Realm. People who have not attained the pure Dharma eye must read the printed texts of sutras. When you open your pure Dharma eye, however, you will see that empty space and the Dharma Realm are filled with places for awakening and Dharma treasures.  

You will also see infinitely many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in space throughout the ten directions, all expounding the Dharma and lecturing the sutras for sentient beings. That is an inconceivable state. Not only are the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas expounding the Dharma and reciting the sutras, if we want to recite the sutras, we also can take in the reality underlying all dharmas at a glance. These abilities describe what’s meant by “pure eyes perceive impartially without hindrance.”

When you open your Dharma eye, you enter deeply into the Sutra Treasury and have wisdom like the sea, with no hindrances whatsoever. You can see through anything; walls, mountains, or stones cannot block your vision. You can be on one side of a mountain and see what’s on the other side. You can see what’s on the other side of a wall. You also can read people’s minds and know what deluded thoughts they are having. Although you know, you should not tell them, “I can read your mind.” If you say that, no one will dare to draw near you, because they don’t want you to know their ugly, unworthy thoughts.

Thus, you must “harmonize your light” and “mix with the dust”—be the same as ordinary people. As [Laozi] said,

Harmonize your light;
Mix with the dust;
Blunt the sharpness;
Untangle the knots.

Harmonize your light: Be the same as everyone else. Mix with the dust: Don’t reveal your purity. If others know you are pure and they feel that they are impure, they would be afraid to draw near you. It’s like if you have a precious pearl, keep it in your bag. Don’t show it to others, saying, “See my pearl? It’s worth millions.” When thieves see your treasure, they will surely find ways to steal it.

If you have the pure Dharma eye, people cannot steal it from you, but they still can be jealous of you. They wonder, “Why don’t I have that? I have left the home-life and cultivated for so many years, eating only one meal a day. Why do you have that ability and I don’t?” Their envy disturbs their minds so much that they cannot be at peace whether sitting or standing. At night, they toss and turn, unable to figure out whether they are jealous or obstructive or what. Thus, you must appear to be the same as others. This is to “Harmonize your light; mix with the dust.”

Blunt the sharpness: Hide your wisdom. Don’t let it show. Untangle the knots: In that way, you avoid contention. Since people think you are the same as them, they will not be jealous or obstructive.

The previous line in the sutra described how the Bodhisattva attains a body that goes everywhere he wishes because he has the pure Dharma eye. The next line puts it even more clearly: He attains a body free from desires. The primary desire is that of lust—sexual desire. It is the root of birth and death. Why do we undergo birth and death, death and rebirth? It’s because we have thoughts of lust. Once thoughts of lust are gone, birth and death come to an end. Some of you may say, “I’ve severed all my sexual desires, I don’t have them anymore.” Are all your sexual desires really gone? Actually, they’re still hidden inside. You just think they’re gone, because you can’t detect them. The thoughts of lust in your eighth consciousness may be even more numerous than the motes of dust that make up Mount Tai. Even something as small as a mote of dust can accumulate gradually and form something large over time. However, since you don’t realize this, you think all your lustful thoughts are gone. Yet these bad habits are still latent.

If they were really all gone, there would be proof. What proof? When such a person walks, his feet do not touch the ground. His feet may seem to be on the ground, but they actually don’t touch it. Thus, he doesn’t make any sound when he walks, unlike us when we go banging up the wooden stairs—thumpity-thump—especially those of us who wear leather shoes. It sounds just like horses walking on concrete with their horseshoes—Clip-clop! Clip-clop!

Being free from desires means not producing a single thought. When all thoughts of lust are gone, you become so light that when you walk it’s like floating on air. You may be thinking, “Sometimes I see the Master walking as if floating on air. Has he left all desires?” No, that’s when I’m drunk. When I’m sober, I walk the same as you. “Master, you drink alcohol?” Not only that, I also smoke. “Then you’re the same as us,” you think. That’s right. I drink the wine of prajna and smoke the cigarettes of wisdom. The more I smoke, the more energy I have. That energy is wisdom. Wisdom can transform into spiritual powers. Some people say that I have spiritual powers. Well, I got them from “smoking.” Having removed all desires, there’s nothing to be gotten at; one neither drinks nor smokes. But don’t take me as an example of one who is free from desires. My desires are diminished, but not totally gone. If they were all gone, I would have risen to the heavens long ago. Since I haven’t risen to the heavens, I have yet to attain “a body free from desires.”  

The Bodhisattva has a body free from desires since he knows that all dharmas neither unite nor separate. This knowledge is very natural, not at all artificial or forced. The words “unite” and “separate” have various interpretations, but I don’t want to say too much, for fear of confusing people.

Woman: You are not confusing us.

Venerable Master: Then how would you interpret those words? I’ll tell you my explanation. To “unite” means to get married; to “separate” means to get divorced. For people who are free from desires, neither marriage nor divorce exists. For them, everything’s okay. Do you understand? That’s all there is to it. The Buddhadharma is right next to you, not 108,000 miles away. What’s the point of explaining the Buddhadharma so abstractly that it becomes useless? When I explain sutras, I talk about nothing but eating, wearing clothes, and sleeping (i.e., our daily lives). If you are clear about those principles, you can realize awakening and become a sage. If you aren’t clear about those principles, then you are muddled when you come and muddled when you depart, covered by a blanket of confusion when you die at the end of a muddled life. On top of that, you don’t understand any sutras. You may want to understand, but my lectures are confusing, so you can’t. That’s why I’m telling you the plain truth now: That’s what it’s all about! 

He attains a body as boundless as the void, since he has a treasury of blessings and virtue as inexhaustible as the void. The Bodhisattva attains a boundless body, since he has accumulated a treasury of blessings, merit, and virtue as limitless as the void. He attains a body endowed with impartial eloquence based in the infinite and perpetual Dharma nature. The Dharma nature is fundamentally equal. His eloquence is unobstructed. He can come up with reasons where there are none. He is an eloquent speaker and a skillful debater, because he knows that the marks of all dharmas are just a single mark. What is this single mark? It is markless and quiescent. And he knows that their nature is no-nature, like the void. Dharmas take no-nature as their nature. Basically, there are no dharmas to speak of. They are like the void.

Sutra:

He attains a body of measureless and unobstructed sound, because he is unobstructed like the void. He attains a body endowed with all skillful, pure Bodhisattva practices, because he is unhindered in all places like the void. He attains a body of the successive continuity of the oceans of all Buddhadharmas, because like the void it cannot be brought to an end. He attains a body that can display limitless Buddhalands in every Buddhaland, since he is free from greed and attachment, and is boundless like the void. He attains a body that can display all sovereign dharmas without rest, for he resembles the void and the ocean in their boundlessness.

He attains a body of all indestructible and solid strengths, as a result of sustaining all worlds like the void. He attains a body endowed with keen faculties and as strong and indestructible as vajra, because like the void he cannot be burned by any of the kalpic fires. He attains a body with the strength to uphold the entire world as a result of having power of wisdom like the void.

Commentary:

The Bodhisattva attains a body as impartial as the void. He also attains a body of measureless and unobstructed sound. You could say that his body is measureless and unobstructed, or that his sound is. Why? Because he is unobstructed like the void. Nothing can obstruct his body or sound, because he is void-like and free from attachments. He also attains a body endowed with all skillful, pure Bodhisattva practices, because he is unhindered in all places like the void. No matter where he is, nothing can obstruct him. He regards his body as being like space.

He attains a body of the successive continuity of the oceans of all Buddhadharmas, because like the void it cannot be brought to an end. He attains a body that can display limitless Buddhalands in every Buddhaland, since he is free from greed and attachment, and is boundless like the void. Like space, he has no greed, no attachment, and no boundaries. He attains a body that can display all sovereign dharmas without rest, for he resembles the void and the ocean in their boundlessness. All dharmas appear very naturally without cease. Why doesn’t the Bodhisattva need any rest? Why is he so carefree? It is because he has no limits.

He attains a body of all indestructible and solid strengths, as solid and indestructible as vajra, and therefore powerful. The Bodhisattva attains this body as a result of sustaining all worlds like the void. Although the void is empty, it upholds all worlds. He attains a body endowed with keen faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and as strong, bright, sharp, and indestructible as vajra, because like the void he cannot be burned by any of the kalpic fires. None of the three disasters, the eight difficulties, or the calamities of earth, water, fire, and wind, can destroy the void. Fire cannot burn the void, and wind cannot blow it away; even the fires that burn at the end of a kalpa cannot harm the void. This is because there is nothing at all in the void. He attains a body with the strength to uphold the entire world as a result of having power of wisdom like the void. His power of wisdom is like space.

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