Selected Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra)

Original text:大王。应作是念。我当云何。于人天中。得为眼目。于长夜中。得为照明。于爱河中。得为船筏。于险难处。得为导师。无依怙者。为作主宰。自得度已。复能度他。自解脱已。令他解脱。自得安隐。令他安隐。自证涅槃。复令他证。大王。不应观彼。现在世间。所受富乐。五欲自在。诸根如幻。境界如梦。谓于色境。声香味触。心生贪着。无满足时。

The nirvāṇa realized by an arhat means that after the five aggregates of the physical body have ceased, the physical body never arises again—the body is reduced to ashes and wisdom is extinguished. The arhat neither continues to study and cultivate the Buddha-Dharma nor brings benefit and joy to sentient beings; his compassionate mind is thin, he has no wish to become a Buddha himself, and he cannot lead sentient beings to attain buddhahood together with him. Therefore, the arhat's nirvāṇa without remainder is not ultimate. The most ultimate nirvāṇa is the non-abiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa) realized by the Buddha, who never abandons any sentient being. The mind and conduct of bodhisattvas differ from those of arhats: although capable of entering nirvāṇa without remainder, they do not enter it; life after life they cultivate and realize the Buddha-Dharma within the three realms, constantly benefiting themselves while also guiding sentient beings toward benefit. Thus bodhisattvas are greater than arhats, more compassionate than arhats, possessed of greater wisdom than arhats, and of broader spiritual powers than arhats.

With earnest, heartfelt exhortation, the Buddha advised His father that he should not regard the wealth, pleasure, and free indulgence in the five desires currently enjoyed in this world, and then give rise to greedy attachment to the objects of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, with no moment of satisfaction—no longer craving those states of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. When the mind craves the five desires and the six sense objects, it is not easily satisfied. The World-Honored One's father had been king for several decades, enjoying the worldly pleasures of the five desires, yet still did not know their suffering and did not know to seek liberation. The Buddha therefore exhorted him: you should no longer crave the wealth and pleasures of this world, because the faculties are like illusions and the states of experience are like dreams. All six faculties are illusory transformations: the eye faculty should not crave forms, the ear faculty should not crave sounds; do not become lost in the pleasures of the five desires, living a life of debauchery and extravagance. All of these are illusory transformations; the states of the six sense objects are all like dreams, not real, and will vanish into illusion at any moment.

Why did the Buddha repeatedly exhort His father the king? Because the wealthy and powerful are very difficult to liberate; they have long been intoxicated in the pleasures of the five desires and cannot easily extricate themselves. The poor, however, live lives of hardship and deeply feel the suffering of the world; when they encounter the Buddha-Dharma, they will spontaneously and courageously practice and cultivate with diligence—except for those whose merit is too meager (alpa-puṇya), who, preoccupied with making a living, rush about in worldly life and are unable to study and practice the Buddha-Dharma.