Patriarch's Teachings: Direct Interpretation
Chapter Seven: Explanations of Passages and Paragraphs from Buddhist Sūtras (Five)
Twenty-eight: Original text of the Madhyama Āgama, No. 10, the Sūtra on the Exhaustion of Defilements: 有七断漏烦恼忧戚法。云何为七。有漏从见断。有漏从护断。有漏从离断。有漏从用断。有漏从忍断。有漏从除断。有漏从思惟断。
Explanation: There are seven methods for severing the outflows of defilement and eliminating sorrow and distress. What are the seven? The defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through view; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through guarding; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through distancing; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through proper use; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through endurance; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through removal; the defilement outflows of existence in the three realms are severed through contemplation.
Original text: 云何有漏从见断耶。凡夫愚人不得闻正法。不值真知识。不知圣法。不调御圣法。不知如真法。不正思惟故。便作是念。我有过去世。我无过去世。我何因过去世。我云何过去世耶。我有未来世。我无未来世。我何因未来世。我云何未来世耶。自疑己身何谓是。云何是耶。今此众生从何所来。当至何所。本何因有。当何因有。
Explanation: What does it mean that the outflows of the three realms are severed through view? Ordinary foolish people do not get to hear the true Dharma, do not encounter true good spiritual friends, do not know the noble Dharma, cannot master the noble Dharma, do not know the true reality of dharmas, and because they do not contemplate correctly, such thoughts arise: "I existed in a past life; I did not exist in a past life; by what cause did I exist in a past life; what was my past life like; I will exist in a future life; I will not exist in a future life; by what cause will I exist in a future life; what will my future life be like." They doubt their own physical body — what is it, and why is it so? They also wonder where sentient beings actually come from and where they should go after death; what cause originally brought sentient beings into existence, and by what cause sentient beings will continue to exist.
Original text: 彼作如是不正思惟。于六见中随其见生而生真有神。此见生而生真无神。此见生而生神见神。此见生而生神见非神。此见生而生非神见神。此见生而生此是神。能语能知。能作教作。起教起。生彼彼处。受善恶报。定无所从来。定不有。定不当有。是谓见之弊。为见所动。见结所系。凡夫愚人以是之故。便受生老病死苦也。
Explanation: Because ordinary people are ignorant, they have these incorrect deliberations. Among these six view-positions, following the arising of their views, their own thoughts and notions arise, believing that sentient beings truly have a sovereign called a spirit (ātman); or, following the arising of their views, their own viewpoints arise, believing that there truly is no spirit governing sentient beings; or, following the arising of their views, such an opinion arises, believing that there truly is something called a spirit within sentient beings that can see that spirit;
or they believe that there truly is something called a spirit within the bodies of sentient beings that can know that no spirit exists within the bodies of sentient beings; or they believe that there is no spirit within the bodies of sentient beings that sees a spirit; or they believe that this is the spirit, which can speak, can perceive, can act, can teach action, can rise and lie down, can teach rising and lying down; it can be born in this or that place and receive wholesome and unwholesome retribution; it certainly comes from nowhere, certainly does not exist, and certainly should not exist. These thoughts, viewpoints, and opinions of ordinary people are the defects produced by their incorrect views; they are swayed by their own views and bound by the fetters of their own views, and therefore ordinary people must undergo the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death.
Original text: 多闻圣弟子得闻正法。值真知识。调御圣法。知如真法。知苦如真。知苦习。知苦灭。知苦灭道如真。如是知如真已。则三结尽。身见戒取疑三结尽已。得须陀洹。不堕恶法。定趣正觉。极受七有。天上人间七往来已。便得苦际。若不知见者。则生烦恼忧戚。知见则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从见断也。
Explanation: Disciples of the noble ones who have heard much get to hear the true Dharma, encounter true good spiritual friends, master the noble Dharma, and know the most true reality of dharmas; they truly know suffering, know the arising of suffering, and truly know the path of practice for the cessation of suffering. After knowing thus the true truth of the five-aggregate world, the three fetters will be exhausted; when the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), attachment to rites and precepts, and doubt are exhausted, one attains the fruit of srotāpanna. From then on one no longer falls into evil destinies and is certain to proceed toward true enlightenment; at most, after seven rounds of rebirth between the heavens and the human world within the three realms, one extinguishes the suffering of existence in the three realms and reaches the end of suffering. If one does not possess such knowledge and view, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if one possesses these views, one will not undergo the suffering of affliction and sorrow. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through view.
Original text: 云何有漏从护断耶。比丘。眼见色护眼根者。以正思惟不净观也。不护眼根者。不正思惟以净观也。若不护者。则生烦恼忧戚。护则不生烦恼忧戚。如是耳鼻舌身意知法。护意根者。以正思惟不净观也。不护意根者。不正思惟以净观也。若不护者。则生烦恼忧戚。护则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从护断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through guarding? Bhikṣus, when the eye sees forms and one well guards the eye faculty, contemplating material form as impure with correct deliberation, that is severing through guarding. Not guarding the eye faculty means viewing the physical body as pure with incorrect deliberation — that is not guarding the eye faculty. If one does not guard the eye faculty, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if one guards the eye faculty, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. Likewise, guarding the faculties of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, contemplating sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas with correct deliberation and cognizing them correctly, is severing the outflows of the three realms through guarding. Those who well guard the faculties of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind use correct deliberation to observe the impurity of sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas; those who do not guard the faculties of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contemplate the six sense objects with incorrect deliberation, viewing the dharmas of the six sense objects as pure. Those who do not guard the faculties will give rise to afflictions and sorrow; those who guard the faculties will not give rise to afflictions and sorrow. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through guarding.
Original text: 云何有漏从离断耶。比丘。见恶象则当远离。恶马恶牛。恶狗毒蛇。恶道沟坑。屏厕江河。深泉山岩。恶知识恶朋友恶异道。恶闾里恶居止。若诸梵行与其同处。人无疑者而使有疑。比丘者应当离。恶知识恶朋友恶异道。恶闾里恶居止。若诸梵行与其同处。人无疑者而使有疑。尽当远离。若不离者。则生烦恼忧戚。离则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从离断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through distancing? Bhikṣus, when you see vicious elephants you should keep away; likewise vicious horses, vicious cattle, vicious dogs, venomous snakes, dangerous roads, ditches and pits, dark concealed latrines, rivers, deep springs, mountain cliffs, bad teachers, bad friends, followers of other wrong paths, bad streets and neighborhoods, and bad dwellings — you should keep away from them. Because when pure practitioners dwell together with them, people who originally had nothing to doubt will give rise to doubts, and therefore you should keep away. If you do not become weary of and distance yourself from these, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if you distance yourself from them, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. This is the meaning of severing the outflows of the three realms through distancing.
Original text: 云何有漏从用断耶。比丘。若用衣服。非为利故。非以贡高故。非为严饰故。但为蚊虻。风雨寒热故。以惭愧故也。若用饮食。非为利故。非以贡高故。非为肥悦故。但为令身久住。除烦恼忧戚故。以行梵行故。欲令故病断。新病不生故。久住安隐无病故也。若用居止房舍。床褥卧具。非为利故。非以贡高故。非为严饰故。但为疲惓得止息故。得静坐故也。若用汤药。非为利故。非以贡高故。非为肥悦故。但为除病恼故。摄御命根故。安隐无病故。若不用者。则生烦恼忧戚。用则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从用断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through proper use? Bhikṣus, if you need robes, it is not for the sake of profit, not out of arrogance and conceit, and not for the sake of adorning and embellishing yourself; you wear robes only to shield against mosquitoes and flies, wind, rain, cold, and heat, and out of a sense of shame and remorse. If you need food and drink, it is not for the sake of profit, not out of arrogance and conceit, and not for the sake of health and pleasure; you take food only in order to let the physical body remain longer, in order to eliminate afflictions and sorrow, in order to practice the pure life, in order to cut off old illness and prevent new illness from arising, and in order to dwell long in ease without sickness.
If you need a dwelling, house, bed, mattress, bedding, and so forth, it is not for the sake of profit, not out of arrogance and conceit, and not for the sake of adorning and embellishing yourself; it is only so that when weary you can rest well, and so that you can sit in quietude and cultivate practice. If you take medicines, it is not for the sake of profit, not out of arrogance and conceit, and not for the sake of bodily health and happiness; you take medicines only to remove the affliction of illness, to sustain and protect the life faculty, and for the body to be at ease without the suffering of sickness. If you do not use these things, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if you use them, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through proper use.
Original text: 云何有漏从忍断耶。比丘。精进断恶不善。修善法故。常有起想。专心精勤。身体皮肉。筋骨血髓。皆令干竭。不舍精进。要得所求。乃舍精进。比丘。复当堪忍饥渴寒热。蚊虻蝇蚤虱。风日所逼。恶声捶杖。亦能忍之。身遇诸病。极为苦痛。至命欲绝。诸不可乐。皆能堪忍。若不忍者。则生烦恼忧戚。忍则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从忍断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through endurance? Bhikṣus, diligently cultivating to sever evil and unwholesome dharmas, because of cultivating wholesome dharmas, one should constantly raise such intention, concentrate and be diligent in practice, so that even if the body's skin and flesh, sinews and bones, blood and marrow all dry up, one does not abandon diligence. Only when one has attained the goal of cultivation that diligence pursues does one let go of diligence. Bhikṣus, when cultivating the path you should also endure hunger and thirst, cold and heat, mosquitoes, flies, lice, and fleas; even when oppressed by fierce wind and scorching sun, you can endure harsh curses and blows from staffs. When the body encounters illness with extreme pain, even to the point of life about to end, all unpleasant things can be endured. If one cannot endure, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if one can endure, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through endurance.
Original text: 云何有漏从除断耶。比丘。生欲念不除断舍离。生恚念害念不除断舍离。若不除者。则生烦恼忧戚。除则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从除断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through removal? Bhikṣus, when thoughts of greed and lust arise in the mind and one does not remove, sever, and abandon them; when thoughts of anger and thoughts of harm arise and one does not remove, sever, and abandon them — if one does not remove, sever, and abandon them, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if one can remove, sever, and abandon them, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through removal.
Original text: 云何有漏从思惟断耶。比丘。思惟初念觉支。依离依无欲。依于灭尽。起至出要法。精进喜息定。思惟第七舍觉支。依离依无欲依于灭尽。趣至出要。若不思惟者。则生烦恼忧戚。思惟则不生烦恼忧戚。是谓有漏从思惟断也。
Explanation: How is the outflow of the three realms severed through contemplation? Bhikṣus, contemplate the first, the mindfulness factor of enlightenment; contemplate the five aggregates, disengagement from the five aggregates, dispassion toward the five aggregates, the mind not grasping the five aggregates, the wish to extinguish the five aggregates, and finally the arising of the bodhi mind that seeks to escape birth and death, gradually reaching the diligence factor of enlightenment, the joy factor of enlightenment, the tranquility factor of enlightenment, and the concentration factor of enlightenment. Then contemplate the seventh, the equanimity factor of enlightenment; when the mind has truly disengaged from the five aggregates, is utterly without desire for the five aggregates, has severed all grasping, and has the ability to extinguish the five aggregates, one reaches the limit of escape from birth and death. If one does not contemplate the seven factors of enlightenment, afflictions and sorrow will arise; if one contemplates the seven factors of enlightenment, afflictions and sorrow will not arise. This is the principle of severing the outflows of the three realms through contemplation.
Original text: 若使比丘有漏从见断则以见断。有漏从护断则以护断。有漏从离断则以离断。有漏从用断则以用断。有漏从忍断则以忍断。有漏从除断则以除断。有漏从思惟断则以思惟断。是谓比丘一切漏尽诸结已解。能以正智而得苦际。
Explanation: If it is desired that a bhikṣu's defilement outflows be severed through view, they can be severed through view; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through guarding, they can be severed through guarding; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through distancing, they can be severed through distancing; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through proper use, they can be severed through proper use; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through endurance, they can be severed through endurance; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through removal, they can be severed through removal; if it is desired that the outflows be severed through contemplation, they can be severed through contemplation. In this way, the bhikṣu's defilement outflows of the three realms can all be completely exhausted, all fetters of affliction completely untied, and he can reach the end of suffering with right wisdom.
Twenty-nine: The First Contemplation of the Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Land of Bliss (Amitāyur-dhyāna Sūtra)
Original text: （佛说）如来今者，教韦提希，及未来世一切众生，观於西方极乐世界。以佛力故，当得见彼清净国土。如执明镜，自见面像。见彼国土极妙乐事，心欢喜故，应时即得无生法忍。佛告韦提希：汝是凡夫，心想羸劣，未得天眼，不能远观。诸佛如来，有异方便，令汝得见。
时韦提希白佛言：世尊！如我今者，以佛力故，见彼国土；若佛灭后，诸众生等，浊恶不善，五苦所逼，云何当见阿弥陀佛极乐世界？ 佛告韦提希：汝及众生，应当专心系念一处，想於西方。云何作想？凡作想者，一切众生，自非生盲，有目之徒，皆见日没。当起正念，正坐西向，谛观於日欲没之处，令心坚住，专想不移。见日欲没，状如悬鼓。既见日已，闭目开目，皆令明了。是为日想，名曰初观。
Explanation: In order for people whose mental power is weak to be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) at the end of their lives, the Buddha taught sentient beings an expedient method: first, facing west, contemplate the setting sun, then the water contemplation and the ground contemplation. Once these three contemplations are accomplished, rebirth in the land of bliss at the end of life is guaranteed. There are sixteen contemplations in total, and each contemplation involves the Buddha's blessing and support; if sentient beings were to accomplish the contemplation solely on their own, it would probably be very difficult, because the Buddha said that sentient beings' minds are weak and their contemplative power feeble. Why are sentient beings' minds weak and their contemplative power feeble? Because for immeasurable kalpas sentient beings have had deeply entrenched karmic seeds and too much grasping at worldly dharmas; their minds are too scattered and cannot concentrate all their energy on one thing, and therefore it is not easy to accomplish anything, so they can only rely on the Buddha's blessing and support to complete the contemplation.
The Buddha said: I now teach Queen Vaidehī and all sentient beings of the future to contemplate the land of bliss in the west. Because of the blessing of the Buddha's power, in this very life one can see the pure land of the land of bliss, just like holding up a bright mirror and seeing one's own face; one can directly behold with one's own eyes the supremely wondrous and blissful things of that land. Then the mind gives rise to joy, and because of that inner joy, one at that very moment attains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), knowing that all dharmas are transformed by illusion depending on one's own mind, that all are unborn, that none truly exist; being patient with this fact, one attains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The Buddha said to Queen Vaidehī: You are still an ordinary person, with weak mental power and no contemplative ability; you have not attained the divine eye and cannot see over great distances, much less see the land of bliss; yet the Tathāgatas of the Buddhas have certain skillful means by which they can enable you to behold the land of bliss.
Queen Vaidehī said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, just as I now, because of the blessing of the Buddha's power, am able to see that Buddha-land; if after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, those sentient beings of later times, whose natures are turbid, evil, and unwholesome, and who are oppressed by the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death — how will they be able to directly behold Amitābha Buddha's land of bliss? The Buddha told Queen Vaidehī: You and these sentient beings should single-mindedly tie the mind to one place and think of the west. How should one think? Among all the sentient beings who wish to contemplate, except for those born blind, all those who have eyes can see the scene of the sun setting behind the western hills.
You should raise right mindfulness, be mindful of only one place, sit upright facing west, and carefully and single-pointedly observe the place where the sun is about to set, letting the mind abide very firmly in that scene, contemplating that scene exclusively without shifting. At this time one should be able to see the sun about to set, its shape round like a great drum suspended in mid-air. After seeing the setting sun, whether with eyes closed or open, one should see it clearly. Seeing it at all times without losing it, the meditative concentration (samādhi) is accomplished. This is the sun contemplation, the first of the sixteen contemplations.
What the Buddha taught in the original text means exactly this. To make the contemplation easier, when the sun goes down we can record a video with a mobile phone; the video is more vivid and clear, and more helpful for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and memory. The setting sun should not be white; the sūtra says it is orange-red, the kind that is red with a slight tinge of yellow. What the true appearance of the setting sun is like must be seen with one's own eyes — the more real, the better.
The western setting sun is generally the one at five or six o'clock; it should not be imagined, and not photoshopped. Choose one that you rather like, save it in your phone, and view it and contemplate it over a long period. Do not contemplate several different ones; you must be single-pointed, not mixed, otherwise meditative concentration will not appear. Also do not add other patterns or backgrounds; patterns and backgrounds will distract attention and make it hard to attain concentration — the simpler the image, the better. We are not trying to appreciate scenery; if there is an appreciating mind, that is a scattered mind and a greedy mind, and then meditative concentration cannot arise.
After selecting the setting-sun image, view it every day, and afterward let the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) imagine and recall it. When the recollection has become fairly firm, so that you can recall it at any time, then train yourself to see the setting-sun image before your eyes with eyes closed; after the setting sun can appear at any time with eyes closed, finally practice so that with eyes open or closed, the setting sun is always before your eyes and the image does not disappear — then the sun-contemplation samādhi is accomplished.
When the third contemplation is accomplished, the Buddha guarantees that sentient beings will be reborn in the land of bliss at the end of life, and during this period the meditative concentration is never lost — this practice is extremely superb. When the samādhi is accomplished, heavy karma becomes light and light karma disappears. Therefore the accomplishment of all meditative concentrations and samādhis can dissolve karma; especially in Pure Land practice with the Buddha's blessing, karma can be dissolved even more, and the samādhi state can be maintained without loss. By the time the seventh contemplation is accomplished, all the karma of the three evil destinies is completely eliminated, enlightenment occurs immediately, and one sees the Buddhas of the ten directions standing before one.
This is a method for transforming and subduing the manas. Once the manas has been subdued, whatever meditative concentration one cultivates afterward can be accomplished quickly, and all kinds of samādhi become easy to accomplish with practice. After the sun contemplation is accomplished, then contemplate water, and the water contemplation can also be accomplished quickly; after that comes the ground contemplation, and when the ground contemplation is accomplished, rebirth in the land of bliss is guaranteed.
Select one setting-sun image, view it over a long period, and then recall it. When you can recall it at any moment without losing it, then with eyes closed it is constantly before your eyes; after it can constantly appear with eyes closed, then practice seeing it with eyes open. If with eyes open or closed you can constantly see the setting-sun image, and it is not lost or dispersed, the first contemplation is accomplished. Once the first contemplation is accomplished, the second contemplation is easy to accomplish, and even the third contemplation is easy to accomplish. Rebirth in the land of bliss is then assured. After the first contemplation is accomplished, cultivating any other contemplative practice becomes easy to accomplish; the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi (buddhānusmṛti-samādhi), seeing the mind and seeing the nature — none of these will be difficult. For those with relatively grave karmic offenses, through such contemplative practice the Buddha has already guaranteed that the karma can be extinguished, and moreover one can be reborn in the land of bliss and can also see the mind and see the nature.
Thirty: A Brief Summary of the Sūtra of the Ten Dharmas of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna-daśa-dharma-sūtra)
The Buddha said that bodhisattvas who delight in the Buddha's Dharma should respectfully make offerings to good spiritual friends; for the sake of hearing the Dharma, obtaining the Dharma, and seeking the Dharma, they should endure the various sufferings and unsatisfactory things of the world; for the sake of accomplishing the Buddha's Path, they should make great vows, practicing what is hard to practice and enduring what is hard to endure, never resting or ceasing until they reach the stage of Buddhahood — this is the conduct of the bodhisattvas.
The Buddha said, how should bodhisattvas practice in accord with the Dharma? Bodhisattvas observe the five aggregates — the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of volitional formations, and the aggregate of consciousness — as impermanent, suffering, empty, and not-self. Although they contemplate thus and think thus, they do not become disenchanted with the five aggregates the way the arhats do. The arhats cultivate only wanting to extinguish suffering, attain liberation, and escape the three realms; they do not want to accomplish the Buddha's Path, their compassionate minds are thin, they pay no heed to the suffering of sentient beings' birth and death, and they do not wish to benefit and gladden sentient beings in this world. Bodhisattvas are not like this: their minds are vast, their compassion great, and they pity sentient beings, vowing that in the course of cultivation over immeasurable kalpas they will extensively deliver immeasurable beings and then accomplish the fruit of Buddhahood.
In that case, bodhisattvas cannot abandon the five aggregates and extinguish themselves into nirvāṇa; rather, life after life they must retain the five aggregates and use them to benefit themselves and others. The Buddha said that bodhisattvas must not only use the five aggregates but must be skilled in using them — skillfully employing, skillfully upholding, and skillfully cultivating them. The arhats fear the five aggregates, believing that possessing them brings them suffering feelings; bodhisattvas, knowing that the substance of the five aggregates is originally the tathāgatagarbha, no longer fear the world of the five aggregates, because the five aggregates are illusory, conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha; as long as one does not raise inverted notions toward the five aggregates and does not grasp at the five aggregates, there will be no suffering feelings.
The Buddha further explained how bodhisattvas observe the five aggregates as suffering, empty, impermanent, and not-self, yet do not become disenchanted with them. The Buddha used analogies to show that bodhisattvas should have wisdom and should not reject the body of the five aggregates. For example, a wise person sells poisonous substances, packages them well, but does not consume the poison himself. Or, for example, someone makes offerings to the fire deity: after making the offering, although he reverently praises it, he does not touch the fire with his hand, lest he be burned and suffer affliction. Bodhisattvas are likewise: although their minds incline toward nirvāṇa and accord with nirvāṇa, they do not realize and seize nirvāṇa, and do not enter nirvāṇa. For once one enters nirvāṇa, one can never again have the five aggregates with which to study the Buddha's Dharma, extensively benefit sentient beings, and accomplish the Buddha's Path — that would be a regression from bodhi and a great loss! Although bodhisattvas do not realize and seize nirvāṇa, their minds are without afflictions and are not defiled by worldly afflictions; such bodhisattvas are the most worthy of veneration.
The Buddha spoke verses in praise of the great bodhisattvas. First, the bodhisattvas have great wisdom, possessing the prajñā wisdom of the patience with non-arising and the wisdom of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas from the vaipulya Yogācāra teachings; second, the bodhisattvas have fearlessness, not fearing birth and death, extensively delivering immeasurable beings in the long river of birth and death within the three realms; further, the bodhisattvas have the wisdom eye and the dharma eye, their wisdom pure. Such bodhisattvas are great bodhisattvas of the first bhūmi and above, endowed with the wisdom of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, having entered the family of the Buddhas, being the Buddha's own sons, able to share the Buddha's family enterprise on His behalf, possessing skillful means to deliver sentient beings and supremely wondrous wisdom, and their far-reaching renown surpasses that of the followers of the two vehicles of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
Such bodhisattvas truly understand the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and not-self nature of the five aggregates, understand the arising-ceasing, flowing nature of the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses, and know that the self is illusory and unreal. Even so, they cannot bear to pass into extinction; seeing that sentient beings in the world remain long in birth and death and yearn for liberation, for the sake of sentient beings they do not realize and seize nirvāṇa and do not abide in the unconditioned state of nirvāṇa, because that would be of no benefit to sentient beings. Regarding conceit, the Buddha said that the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas have already departed from all forms of conceit, their minds compassionate and sympathetic, constantly mindful of sentient beings. They constantly move about in the world, live by alms-begging, and proclaim Dharma teachings from which all sentient beings can benefit.
During forty-nine years of teaching the Dharma, the World-Honored One spoke many esoteric utterances whose meanings sentient beings did not understand, accepting and interpreting them only by their surface meaning; hence it is very difficult to "rely on the meaning, not on the words." The following are some of the World-Honored One's esoteric utterances, not known to sentient beings.
(1) The Tathāgata predicted that śrāvakas would attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but it is not as literally stated. The reason for such predictions is that śrāvakas also have the Buddha-nature, the nature to become Buddhas, and therefore can also become Buddhas. Moreover, the śrāvakas whom the Tathāgata predicted are either bodhisattvas practicing in secret, or śrāvakas who will later turn to the bodhisattva path; they temporarily cultivate the śrāvaka path of liberation to sever afflictions, and when their Mahāyāna good roots mature, they will cultivate the bodhisattva's six pāramitās and myriad practices, cultivating the prajñā and Yogācāra wisdom, and thereby will in the future accomplish the Buddha's Path.
(2) The World-Honored One repeatedly told Ānanda that He suffered from backache, but it is not as literally stated. The Buddha said this out of pity for sentient beings; He did not truly have pain or illness. Because His disciples, when ill, were unwilling to take medicine, which obstructed their cultivation, the Buddha took the lead in using medicine to treat illness; seeing that even the Buddha used medicine, the disciples, when ill, no longer felt ashamed and also used medicine for treatment.
(3) The Buddha said He was old and decrepit and needed an attendant, but it is not as literally stated. The Buddha never grows old and never becomes feeble; it was merely a manifestation for the sake of sentient beings.
(4) The Tathāgata debated with the non-Buddhists, but it is not as literally stated. The Buddha no longer had any adversaries; it was a deliberate manifestation, so that when the disciples encountered adversaries, they could say, "Even the Buddha was like this, let alone us," and when they again met with adverse conditions, they would not feel very ashamed.
(5) A poisonous thorn injured His foot, manifesting the receiving of karmic retribution, but there was no such thing. The Buddha had long been free of the retribution of evil karma; out of pity for ignorant sentient beings who create karmic actions, He manifested receiving karmic retribution. Seeing that even the Buddha received karmic retribution, sentient beings think, "How much more so we," and thus dare not create karma.
(6) Devadatta made himself an enemy of the Buddha, but it is not as literally stated. For many lifetimes Devadatta had been the Buddha's good spiritual friend; he manifested opposing the Buddha everywhere, thereby highlighting and displaying the Buddha's virtues. Seeing the Buddha's virtue, sentient beings feel boundless reverence and one after another take refuge in the Three Jewels and follow the Buddha in study and practice.
(7) The Tathāgata went out on alms rounds with an empty bowl, but it is not as literally stated. The Buddha's merit is immeasurable; He could do without food and drink, and even if He ate, He could transform food Himself; and even if He did not transform it Himself, there are immeasurable sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions who make offerings to the Buddha. The Buddha manifested in this way so that those disciples of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) who could not obtain alms, comparing themselves with the Buddha, would not feel inferior, ashamed, worried, or distressed.
(8) A woman placed a wooden basin on her belly and slandered the Buddha, but it is not as literally stated. This woman was a manifestation; there was no such thing. The Buddha made this manifestation in order to comfort the disciples of later ages. When the disciples are slandered, they will think, "Even the Buddha was slandered, how much more so we," and thus their minds will not regress from the Path.
(9) The Buddha ate horse fodder for three months, but it is not as literally stated. The Buddha manifested this in order to deliver five hundred horses. The head of those horses had also, through the power of his vows, been born into a horse's body, so as to expediently deliver the five hundred horses, and the Buddha also assisted in delivering them. Therefore sentient beings should form wholesome karmic connections with good spiritual friends; when they undergo retribution in an evil destiny, the good spiritual friend will go into the evil destiny to deliver them — how fortunate it is to encounter a good spiritual friend. With the Buddha's merit, whatever He ate was the supreme flavor, let alone horse fodder. During those three months of eating horse fodder, the Buddha not only delivered the five hundred horses but also delivered several hundred bhikṣus. Therefore, in studying the Dharma we must rely on the Tathāgata's true meaning, not on the surface meaning of the Tathāgata's words; rely on the Dharma, not on persons; rely on definitive sūtras, not on non-definitive sūtras; rely on wisdom, not on consciousness — there are in total four reliances and four non-reliances, and we must strive to study and cultivate them.
