Issue 274

Having said all this, how did he become a heavenly lord? Was it a promotion from an earthly lord to a heavenly lord? In Canton, every household makes offerings to an earthly lord. Was it a promotion from an earthly lord to a heavenly lord, or rather first from an earthly lord to a human lord and then to a heavenly lord? No. Then how did he become the heavenly lord?

During the time of Kasyapa Buddha, this heavenly lord was a woman. Do not have any ideas of how phenomenal she was. The heavenly lord was originally a woman. She resolved to build a temple for Kasyapa Buddha. What circumstances led to this resolve? She saw a dilapidated temple with no roof and no ceiling. Under the onslaught of the elements of water and wind, the Buddha image in the temple was losing its gold gilding, peeling off from the face and washed down by the rain. Seeing this, she was crestfallen and said, “Oh, my! This Buddha image is already soiled. Now it’s wind-blown and rained on. Oh, this is very discomfiting!” Hence, she resolved to rebuild this temple.

Since she did not have any money, she asked her friends and relatives, “I want to rebuild a temple but I am penniless. Could you all help me? Please tell your relatives and friends. Let’s all together do this charitable deed and repair this temple.” Her friends and relatives agreed, “Okay, let us work together and build a temple.” Eventually, thirty-three people came forward. She was the one who initiated this project. The other thirty-two volunteers likely were mostly women, but this is unverifiable in history. Even if there were men, there were very few. Men probably thought of themselves too highly and they did not like building temples, so they let the women deal with it.

At any rate, these thirty-three women finished rebuilding the temple. They built a jeweled pagoda too. Each person donated a little money and all his/her effort in building this temple and pagoda. At the end of their lives, these thirty-three people were reborn in the heavens. Each person has one layer of heaven, so there are thirty-three heavens. Trayastrimsha Heaven is located at the center of these heavens, and Shakra is the heavenly lord. This is the origin of the Trayastrimsha Heaven.

What is the meaning of “heaven”? It has no meaning; if it has, it would not be called “heaven.” Why? Heaven abides by the moral code of natural spontaneity. Heaven is ‘natural’. The thirty-three heavens manifested out of the karma of the thirty-three people. Without these thirty-three people, there would be no Trayastrimsha Heaven. That is why I say it has no meaning. If you wish to go to that heaven, then that is meaningless. Therefore, we should not wish to go to Trayastrimsha Heaven.

‘Palaces’ here refers to the best and the most beautiful new models, like some of the Chinese imperial palaces. Nonetheless, the celestial palaces are even more exquisite and ineffably wonderful.

Spiritual penetrations. ‘Spirit’ is ‘heaven’s mind’; ‘Penetrations’ is ‘wisdom nature’, meaning it belongs to the category that has wisdom. With ‘Penetrations’, everything is without obstructions; with ‘spiritual’, everything is magical and mystical. There are six kinds of spiritual penetrations. Six can converge to one; one can separate into six. To speak of them individually, there are six; to speak of them combined, there is one.

To speak furthermore, there is not even one. Originally, there are no spiritual penetrations; originally, there has been spiritual penetrations. How can we say there was no spiritual penetration and there always was spiritual penetration? This is a wonderful topic to discuss. However, for now, let us first explain the six spiritual penetrations individually. Afterward, we will dwell on “Originally, it is spiritual penetration; originally, it is not spiritual penetration. Originally, it is one type of spiritual penetration; originally, there’s not even one type of spiritual penetration.”

Individually speaking, here are the six spiritual penetrations. 1. Penetration of the Heavenly Eye, 2. Penetration of the Heavenly Ear, 3. Penetration of Knowing Others’ Thoughts, 4. Penetration of Knowing Past Lives, 5. Penetration of Traveling Freely, 6. Penetration of being Free of Outflows. Penetration of Traveling Freely is also known as the penetration of spiritual states and the penetration of wishes fulfilled. Now, let us talk about the Penetration of the Heavenly Eye. We are alike in the sense that we are all people. However, some people differs from others. How do they differ? Some people can observe the trichiliocosm just like looking at an amalaka in the palm of their hand. Venerable Aniruddha attained the penetration of the heavenly eye. He was foremost in the heavenly eye. He’s simply that. With the Penetration of the Heavenly Ear, one can hear all the sounds throughout the human realm, the heavens and the entire trichiliocosm. With the Penetration of Knowing Others’ Thoughts, one knows what you are thinking before you articulate it. With the Penetration of Knowing Past Lives, one knows everything you did in your past lives, both good and bad. Penetration of spiritual states: this is what we discussed earlier about ‘spiritual’. It is a kind of inconceivable state. ‘Spiritual’ and ‘wondrous’ bear some similarities. That is why these two words are used conjointly in a phrase to signify an inconceivable state, unfathomably spiritual and wondrous. Penetration is the sapience to pass through all impediments. Obstructions may be initially present, but eventually surmounted. For example, a wall presents an obstruction, but if you drill an opening through it, then you can pass through. Our ignorance obstructs the brightness of our inherent nature. If you use your wisdom sword to pierce through your ignorance, that would be penetration.

Penetration of no outflow. Why do we human beings not become Buddhas? It is because of our outflows. Why do we human beings not become Bodhisattvas? It is also because of our outflows. These outflows leak into the Triple Realm, namely Desire Realm, Form Realm, Formless Realm. Not only do outflows lead into the Triple Realm but also to the nine realms. The nine realms are the realms of the Bodhisattvas, Sound Hearers, Condition-enlightened Ones, gods, humans, asuras, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals. Beings in these nine realms do not become Buddhas because of their outflows. Without outflows, they would be Buddhas. Where do these outflows come from? From ignorance. If you can break through ignorance, you would not have outflows. If you cannot break through ignorance, your outflows will lead you to leak until you have nothing left. Hence, very few people are able to attain the penetration of no outflows. If you have no outflows, you have ended birth-and-death. Your outflows disable you from breaking free from birth-and-death. Having outflows is comparable to a leaky bottle. No matter how much you fill it, it keeps leaking to the point where nothing is left; it cannot keep its contents. If you get rid of outflows, then you would attain the penetration of no outflows.

“Originally, there are no spiritual penetrations.” refers to us, ordinary people with no spiritual penetrations. “Originally, there has been spiritual penetrations.” refers to those who have attained the fruition of sages, who have always had spiritual penetrations. Ordinary people do not have spiritual penetrations; sages do. Do sages get their spiritual penetrations from the outside? No, they have always had them. Did ordinary people lose their spiritual penetrations? Is that why they do not have them now? No. They still have their spiritual penetrations in their inherent nature. However, they are unaware of its presence and do not bring them out. All the while, they think they do not have them. For this reason, it is said that ‘originally, there are no spiritual penetrations.’

It is not important whether we have spiritual penetrations or not. Do not think that having spiritual penetrations is equivalent to having attained the Way or having certified to fruition. Having spiritual penetrations is excessively far from certifying to fruition/ attaining the Way. We should not be content with a little gain. Getting just a tael of gold and you think, “Oh, I struck it rich this time!” Other people with millions and millions of wealth do not even think about it, as if it does not exist. So what is the big deal with your one little tael? Do not be content with a little. ‘Being content with a little, and stopping mid-course.’ is the state of beings in the Two Vehicles, not for those with the Mahayana bodhisattvas’ nature. Do not think that if you have spiritual penetrations, you are super-duper. That is infinitesimal because you still have attachments and object of satisfaction. “Grade” refers to classification of the same kind.

Thus I have heard. At one time, the Buddha was in the Trayastrimsha Heaven speaking Dharma for his mother.

Thus I have heard. Now that we are simultaneously lecturing on the Vajra Sutra, the Earth Store Sutra and the Dharma Flower Sutra, we will be explaining “Thus I have heard” three times. ‘Thus’ is a term to signify that the Dharma thus spoken is credible. The Dharma that is not ‘thus’ is not credible. This Dharma we have here now is a Dharma that is ‘thus’. ‘Thus’ also signifies a seal of approval. With this seal of approval, the dharma cannot be altered. “Thus I have heard” is one of the four answers the Buddha gave Ananda. When Shakyamuni Buddha was about to enter nirvana, Ananda cried himself senseless, forgetting everything. It is Venerable Aniruddha who told Ananda to ask the Buddha the four questions. Although Venerable Aniruddha did not have the Flesh Eye, he had the Heavenly Eye and he was especially composed and calm.