Practices and Vows of
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Chapter Forty, New Edition

 

To Worship All Buddhas

 

SUTRA: 

Samantabhadra told Sudhana, “Good man, to worship all Buddhas is explained like this. There are Buddhas, World Honored Ones, in the ten directions and the three periods of time, to the exhaustion of the dharma-realm and the reaches of space, that are as numerous as the smallest atomic particles in all Buddha kshetra-lands. Because of the power of Samantabhadra’s practices and vows, I have a profound mind of faith in and understanding of them as if they were right before my eyes. With pure karma in body, speech, and thought, I always worship them.”

COMMENTARY: 

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to the youth Sudhana, Good man. You are a good man who cultivates the spiritual path. “You have asked, “What is the meaning of to worship all Buddhas?’” “Now I’ll explain this for you.” To worship all Buddhas is explained like this. There are Buddhas, World Honored Ones, in the ten directions and the three periods of time, to the exhaustion of the dharma-realm. “To the exhaustion” literally means to reach the point that it no longer exists. However, the dharma-realm can never not exist. And the reaches of space. Space also can never not exist. This means exhausting the reaches of space and pervading throughout the dharma-realm. The ten directions include north, south, east and west, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest, and above and below. The three periods of time are the past, present and future. Are as numerous as the smallest atomic particles. Smallest atomic particles are literally the “most minute particles.” In all Buddha kshetra-lands refers to all of the worlds or lands of the Buddhas. There are so many Buddhas, World Honored Ones, in the ten directions and the three periods of time, throughout the dharma-realm and the reaches of space that they are as numerous as atomic particles.

Because of the power of Samantabhadra’s practices and vows. I practice the conduct of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. His practice is so great that it exhausts the dharma-realm and the reaches of space. Because I rely on the practices and vows cultivated by Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, I have a profound mind of faith in and understanding of all Buddhas, as if they were right before my eyes. When bowing in worship to the Buddhas, you should make the following contemplation in your mind: “I am in front of the Buddha. The Buddha is right before my eyes.”

There is a verse that you should know when you are bowing to the Buddha. This verse is normally used as a reflection when one is performing the Great Compassion Repentance. It says,

The worshipper and worshipped are by nature empty and still.
The path of the response invoked is difficult to conceive.
This Bodhimanda is like the pearl of the Heavenly Lord.
Shakyamuni Tathagata’s image appears within it.
My body appears right before Shakyamuni Buddha.
I bow my head at his feet and submit my life in worship.

The worshipper and worshipped are by nature empty and still. The person who is bowing to the Buddha is the “worshipper.” The Buddha that we are bowing to is the “worshipped.” Whether we are referring to our self or to the one that we are bowing to, both are empty and still in their basic nature. Within this emptiness there is a kind of force or power that can respond when invoked. Therefore, the verse continues, The path of the response invoked is difficult to conceive. This path is inconceivable. Although ultimately the Buddha and you are empty, when you bow to the Buddha a response is invoked in the path between the two of you. This kind of situation cannot even be imagined. It’s difficult to conceive of. “The path of words is severed.” You wish to speak about it, but you’re at a loss for words. “The activities of the mind are extinguished.” Your mind wishes to think about what this experience is all about, but it cannot do so. This Bodhimanda is like the pearl of the Heavenly Lord. This Bodhimanda is like the pearl that sits before the Heavenly Lord. What is the function of this pearl? All images of the world appear within this pearl. Shakyamuni Tathagata’s image appears within it. Shakyamuni Buddha’s body appears within the reflected light of the pearl. My body appears right before Shakyamuni Buddha. My body manifests an image that appears before Shakyamuni Buddha. I bow my head at his feet and submit my life in worship. Before the Buddha, I make a five-point prostration (head, two arms and two legs) and wholeheartedly bow to the Buddha. You should have this kind of intention when you bow. This is what is meant by the Sutra’s words, “I have a profound mind of faith in and understanding of them as if they were right before my eyes.” When you bow, you imagine that the Buddha is before you and that you are in front of him. You appear before each other.

Confucius said, “Sacrifice as if they are present. Sacrifice to the spirits as if the spirits are present.” This means when I sacrifice on behalf of the dead, it’s as if they are actually present. You perform the sacrificial rites on behalf of the deceased ones as if they are present. So Confucius also said, “As if they are above you.” When you worship and sacrifice on behalf of the spirits, they are right above you. He also said, “As if they are on the left and right.” It’s also as if they are to your left and right. “As if” implies that you imagine that they are right above you and to your left and right. When you bow to the Buddha, it is the same way. It’s as if he is above you or to the left and right. If the Buddha is right in front of you, you will certainly be extremely reverent when you worship him and won’t be too casual. For example, when you see a person, you make a gesture of respect. If the person is not present, you will be more casual.

With pure karma in body, speech, and thought. This means to be completely pure. You cannot commit any of the ten evil karmas, and then bow to the Buddha. You must have pure karma in body, speech, and thought when you do this. Previously I explained that there are three evil karmas performed by the body. They are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. You can’t take the life of a living creature, and then say “Oh! I’ve done something wrong by killing. I’ll just bow to the Buddha to repent of my offense.” However, you don’t bow to the Buddha when you haven’t killed. You only bow to the Buddha when both of your hands are completely smeared with blood. That’s having impure karma of the body. Nor can you go someplace where a person has something of great value and steal it, and then afterwards think, “Oh! My stealing is a violation of the moral precepts. I must quickly go before the Buddha and bow in repentance.” This, also, is not having pure karma. Whether you are a man or a woman, if you engage in all sorts of improper sexual behavior, and then think, “Oh! I’ve done so many bad things. I should quickly bow and seek repentance before the Buddha.” This is having impure karma when bowing to the Buddha. If you want to have an efficacious response from your bowing, you must refrain from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.

There are three evil karmas in the mind. They are greed, anger, and delusion. I frequently talk about greed. Why are people always busy and in a hurry, never resting from morning until night? It’s just because of greed. Greedy intentions control you, so that you never have a single moment of respite. When you are unable to attain what you want, then you get upset and afflicted. Why are you so afflicted? It’s an indication of your own foolishness. You’re so deluded, that you get all upset. People with wisdom never get afflicted, regardless of what situation they encounter.

How deluded and foolish do people become? It’s quite laughable and pathetic. It’s like a person who has never studied. He’s never attended elementary school, high school, or college. He sees that a person who has acquired a Ph.D. has much honor and glory. People address him with the title “doctor.” Then the person, who has never studied, also wants a Ph.D. Who would award a Ph.D. to someone who has never studied in school at all? It’s impossible. It is also like a person who has never learned the Buddha-dharma or listened to lectures on the Sutras. He hears that becoming a Buddha is the most exalted state, and thus expects to become a Buddha. Isn’t this foolish? Or one does not have any accumulated wealth, yet wants to make money by doing business. If you don’t have any capital, how can you have a business and make money? Another situation is the most laughable. A person has not bought a lottery ticket, yet he expects to win the grand prize. This is ridiculous and impossible!

Still another foolish way of looking at things is expressed in the following verse:

May the flowers ever be beautiful each day.
And why can’t the radiant moon be full each night.
May the waters of the earth become wine,
And money grow on all the trees of the forests.

A person loves flowers the most. He wishes that flowers remain beautiful forever, and never wilt. Isn’t that just wishful thinking? Another person thinks, “It’s best when the moon is full. Why must the moon wane? It should be bright and shining every night.” A person who likes to drink wine wishes that wherever there is water it will change and become wine. Whenever he wants a drink, he can conveniently drink some wine. He thinks that would be the greatest. However, this is something that can never come about. Another one who is greedy for wealth thinks, “Oh! All the trees in the forest should transform into money-trees. Then whenever I need some cash, I can go and pick some money from the trees. That would be terrific!” Again, this is impossible.

May the flowers ever be beautiful each day. The first person who wishes the flowers to ever remain beautiful, wants beautiful things to stay the same forever. The others want wine and money to be freely available everywhere. And why can’t the radiant moon be full each night. Amongst the four vices of wine, lust, avarice, and temper, this belongs to “temper.” Although he wants the moon to be full each night, this is not possible. Therefore, he becomes displeased. Being displeased is related to the vice of temper. Thus these lines of the verse represent the desires for sex, alcoholic drink, wealth, and anger. If one were not so foolish and deluded, one would not have so many afflictions.

We can create many types of bad karma with our mouth. There is frivolous speech, which means we say improper things. For example, men talk about women and women talk about men. They say things that haven’t the least bit of usefulness or goodness. This is speaking in a debased manner. There is false speech in which one tells lies. An example of a major lie would be when you murder a person, and then when asked, “Did you murder this person?” You say, “I didn’t murder him. It wasn’t me.” There are also average lies and minor lies. There is harsh speech, which refers to cruel and evil speech. People don’t want to even hear such talk. The last one is divisive speech, wherein someone uses double- tongued speech to create conflict between people.

All of the above are karmic obstructions. If you have any of these faults, then your karma in body, speech, and thought is impure. When bowing to the Buddhas, you want your karma in body, speech, and thought to be pure.

I always worship them. Always means that you constantly cultivate pure body, speech, and thought karma while worshipping the Buddha. Just now I explained how killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct are impure. Although these are impure, if you bow to the Buddha with the wish to change these faults and start anew, it is much better than not bowing at all. However, this cannot be called bowing to the Buddha with pure karma in body, speech, and thought. When you worship the Buddha, you want the three karmas of body, speech, and thought to always be pure.

SUTRA: 

In each and every place where there are Buddhas, I manifest ineffably ineffable number of bodies as numerous as the smallest atomic particles in a Buddha kshetra-land.

COMMENTARY: 

One worships and reveres the Buddha, in each and every place where there are Buddhas. The Buddhas are measureless and boundless, and in our minds we imagine manifesting our own measureless and boundless number of bodies to worship them everywhere. I manifest ineffably ineffable number of bodies as numerous as the smallest atomic particles in a Buddha kshetra-land. The bodies we manifest are so numerous one could never finish describing them. “As numerous as the smallest atomic particles in a Buddha kshetra-land.” The number of bodies is like the smallest atomic particles in a Buddha land. The Buddha-dharma has inconceivable states like this. If you produce a mind that totally fills up the dharma-realm, then you will have so much merit and virtue it will also pervade the dharma-realm.

Take Sudhana’s experience with Maitreya Bodhisattva as an example. When he started his quest he first bowed to Manjushri Bodhisattva as his teacher. Then Manjushri Bodhisattva told him to go south to pay respect in over 100 locations and he encountered 53 good teachers in succession. When he found Maitreya Bodhisattva, he saw his dwelling with its towers adorned with the seven precious things. These towers were infinitely multi-layered. That is, each tower had towers inside it, and each of these towers in turn had towers within each one of them. The towers went on in this way ad infinitum, so that it was not known how many towers there were altogether. In each of these many towers was a Maitreya Bodhisattva proclaiming the Dharma. The youth Sudhana saw numberless Maitreya Bodhisattvas, but he also saw that there were just as many manifestations of himself bowing to the Maitreya Bodhisattvas in each of these places. Like the towers, there was layer upon layer without end, so it could not be known how many there were.

Therefore, as I now explain The Flower Adornment Sutra , you should also cultivate this kind of “contemplation of the dharma-realm.” For example, even though you are practicing bowing to the Dharma Flower Sutra , here in the Buddhist Lecture Hall, you should contemplate that you are in front of all the Buddhas of the ten directions as numerous as smallest atomic particles, so that before each Buddha, you are bowing to the Dharma Flower Sutra. You should produce this kind of infinite and inexhaustible mind. Because “everything is only made from the mind,” if the scope of your mind fills up the entire dharma-realm, and you manifest bodies to bow to that many Buddhas, then all of these Buddhas will accept your bows.

SUTRA: 

Every single body worships all Buddhas everywhere, who are as numerous as the smallest atomic particles in ineffably ineffable numbers of Buddha kshetra-lands.

COMMENTARY: 

Each of your bodies everywhere worships Buddhas like particles in ineffably ineffable Buddha-lands. Although you have not yet become a Buddha, you imagine that you are able to manifest a body like this before each Buddha to worship all Buddhas everywhere.

There are not a lot of people attending our Summer Study Session, but some of you are quite sincere and sit in meditation very well. In cultivating the path, if we have a lot of people this is good and if we have few people it is even better. One person is not too few, and ten thousand people are not too many. Why? Cultivating the spiritual path means that one cultivates one’s own path. No one can represent you in cultivation, nor can you cultivate on behalf of someone else. Therefore, there is a saying, “I eat my fill myself. I end my own birth and death as well.”

Ananda felt that because the Buddha was his older cousin, he did not need to cultivate the spiritual path, and thus he did not develop samadhi- power. What was the consequence of this? All the other Arhats cultivated and became enlightened sages, whereas Ananda was stuck at the position of a sage of the first fruition or level of enlightenment (Stream-Enterer).

Today some people told me that their hands or legs sometimes shake involuntarily. They asked, “What’s the reason behind this?” This is a stage that one ought to go through when sitting in meditation. Someone else asked, “Why haven’t I had this experience?” It’s because your skill is still not adequate, or you have already gone through this state in the past. Your hands or legs can move by themselves and sometimes your eyes involuntarily open and close over and over again, and you don’t understand why. You don’t want to open and shut them, yet they do so on their own. This might seem very unusual to you. When this happens some people might ask, “Am I possessed by a demon? Has the demon- king come to make my body shake like this?” Others might ask, “Am I sick?” Or some people might be so frightened that they think they are on the verge of insanity.

You need not react in this way. This is merely the workings of your qi (energy) and your blood. Because in the past you had not worked hard at cultivation, so your blood and qi did not flow freely. However, now you are making an effort to practice, so your blood and qi are trying to penetrate through the areas that were previously blocked. When they reach these blockages, you may shake or twitch. Normally your arm or leg will twitch 36 times in accord with the body’s 36 joints. This is also analogous to the six kinds quaking. If your house (your body) shakes, don’t be afraid, because this is just the way the blood and qi function.

SUTRA: 

When the reaches of space come to an end, my worship will also come to an end. However, the reaches of space can never come to an end, therefore my worship has no end. In the same way, when the realms of living beings come to an end, when the karma of living beings comes to an end, and when the afflictions of living beings come to an end, my worship will also end. Since the realms of living beings up to and including their afflictions have no end, my worship has no end. It continues in thought after thought without cease. I never tire of this karma in body, speech, and thought.

COMMENTARY: 

When the reaches of space come to an end, my worship will also come to an end. What is empty space? 38 Empty means unreal. Space means non-existent. When does space exist? You don’t know. Is there any time that it ends? No. Space has no beginning or end—it is beginningless and infinite. When did space begin? Never. When will it no longer exist? Never. The Sutra says that when the reaches of space no longer exist, my worship will also come to an end. My worship of the Buddhas of the ten directions will no longer exist when space is exhausted. However, it is impossible for space to not exist, therefore my worship will never end. I continuously worship all Buddhas. Therefore, the Sutra says, However, the reaches of space can never come to an end, therefore my worship has no end. This worship is infinite and inexhaustible. Exhausting the boundaries of future time, I will worship all Buddhas.

In the same way, when the realms of living beings come to an end. I worship all Buddhas in the same way until the realms of living beings no longer exist. When the karma of living beings comes to an end, that is, when the karma of living beings ceases, and when the afflictions of living beings come to an end, my worship will also end. When these three things, the realms of living beings as well as their karma and afflictions come to an end, my worship will end.

Since the realms of living beings up to and including their afflictions have no end. There is no time when the realm of living beings can end. This is also the case for the karma of living beings and their afflictions. Up to and including their afflictions have no end. The afflictions of living beings are generated by ignorance. Their karma is created by afflictions. And living beings themselves are created by the force of karma. The realm of living beings, their karma, and their afflictions can never cease; they can never come to an end. My worship has no end. Therefore, the power of my vow to worship all Buddhas also is without end.

It continues in thought after thought without cease. My sincere thought to worship and revere all Buddhas is continuous. Each thought connects with the next in succession, one after another. They are continuous and unceasing. I never tire of this karma in body, speech, and thought. My body, mouth, and mind never become weary. My body and mind will never become tired. With pure karma in body, speech, and thought, I worship the Buddhas forever without end.

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