The Sequence of Teaching the Dharma

When teaching the Dharma, one must not only suit the spiritual faculties (indriya) of sentient beings, but should also transcend those faculties, guiding and elevating the faculties of sentient beings. Because the faculties of sentient beings vary in a thousand different ways, one cannot teach only low and shallow levels of Dharma; profound Dharma and even more profound Dharma should all be taught. Teaching it is not necessarily for the sentient beings present now—it must also be for the sentient beings of future generations, and for those of great spiritual faculties. Those whose faculties are insufficient may just listen and let it pass; if they do not understand, they should hold it in doubt, but should not lightly draw conclusions.

When I teach the Dharma, I must first lay the groundwork, taking care of sentient beings of every level—high, middle, and low—taking care of both this life and future lives, and, more importantly, considering the development of Buddhism as a whole. Therefore I cannot fully accommodate the specific circumstances of every sentient being, and of course there will be some people, or even many, who do not resonate with it. I am fully aware of all these situations in my mind; I have my own arrangements for all matters, and the Buddha is also supervising from behind. Śākyamuni Buddha has an overall and comprehensive arrangement for the Buddhadharma of the Sahā world; we do not know it. We need only abide calmly, temporarily absorbing the Dharma that resonates with ourselves, and for the time being set aside the profound Dharma without concern.

When the World-Honored One had just attained the Way in the Sahā world, He taught the Huayan Sutra (Avataṃsaka Sūtra) to sentient beings—bodhisattvas of great minds—while the immeasurable hosts of devas and the disciples among humans, especially the śrāvaka disciples, were as if deaf and mute. The World-Honored One knew this, yet the World-Honored One still had to teach the Huayan Sutra, laying the groundwork for the entire Buddhadharma of the Sahā world and making the path to buddhahood clear, so that the disciples would understand the entire sequential stages of Buddhist practice and have a clear picture in their minds.

Only after finishing the Huayan Sutra did the World-Honored One begin to teach the disciples the coarsest and shallowest Buddhist Dharma, leading the assembly in practicing the four Āgamas, starting from eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and realizing the first fruit.

My propagation of the Dharma is the same: I must also lay the groundwork for all the Dharma that sentient beings need to practice, make clear the crucial points of practice, and only then lead everyone to begin cultivation from the foundation, from the coarse and shallow Buddhist Dharma. The online propagation of the Dharma before this was not true propagation of the Dharma; it was merely a stage of groundwork and warm-up. The true leading of the assembly in practice has not yet begun.