Issue 276

At that time, uncountable many Buddhas and Great Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas from infinite worlds in the ten directions assembled.

At that time, from infinite worlds in the ten directions. Worlds throughout the ten directions are the dependent retribution while all the ineffably ineffable Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas are the proper retribution. People are the proper retribution; the world, dependent retribution. These are the two types of retributions. ‘At that time’ can be explained in five ways. First, this refers to the time when the Dharma is about to be spoken, the time when the Dharma is being spoken, and the time when the Dharma has already been spoken. Here, it would be when the Buddha wanted to speak the Dharma, then when the Buddha was explaining this Dharma of filiality, and then when the Buddha finished explaining this Dharma of being filial to one’s parents. This is the first explanation.

The second explanation is to refute the heretics, who speak Dharmas that do not specify past, present or future; they are vague. The second explanation contradicts the heretics by explaining Dharmas of the past, the present and the future. So this is the second explanation.

The third explanation refers to the time of sowing. Sowing means planting the seeds upon the earth for growth. After sowing, there will be a time for ripening and harvesting. What happens after ripening? It is time for liberation. This is also the meaning of ‘at that time’. The third explanation means to say that someone who has never planted good roots, essentially has no good roots. An example is the elder who wanted to leave the home life but was rejected by the great arhats who contemplated upon his potential but saw that he had never planted any good roots within the last 80,000 great eons. “Do not think that leaving home is easy to come by; it is made possible by having planted Bodhi seeds in lives past.” Hence, those who have now left-home must have planted roots of goodness within the last 80,000 great eons. Do not think one can casually leave home to be a monk or a nun.

To those who have never planted roots of goodness, teach them to do so. To those who have never recited the Buddha’s name, teach them to recite. To those who have never upheld mantras, teach them to uphold. All these constitute planting roots of goodness. Once the seeds are planted, they will grow and mature. It is like farming, in which seeds planted in spring time are harvested in the fall since the seeds have grown and matured. If you do not harvest the matured growth, it would be useless. You have to gather them in. Gathering them in means attaining liberation. Meaning to say, teach those who have not planted good roots to do so; teach those who have planted good roots to leave the home life and be monks/nuns. Becoming monastics signifies ripening. Next is for monastics to become Buddhas, and this requires certifying to the fruition. Having certified to fruition means having attained liberation.

Therefore, it is not the case that after listening to sutra lectures twice, you think it is enough and decided to listen no more. The more you listen, the more you learn of this knowledge. Otherwise, you will not increase your knowledge of Buddhist studies.

The fourth explanation talks about the necessity to have ‘proper’ teachers, ‘proper’ teachings and ‘proper’ learning. You need to have a teacher who is truly proper to speak the Dharma. Next, the teacher needs to speak the proper teaching. After listening to the proper teaching, you need to exercise proper learning. If you do not study properly, even proper teachings are of no benefit to you. Or, you may have proper teaching and want to study properly, but if you do not have a teacher who truly understands the Buddha dharma, then you cannot learn. So this is the fourth explanation.

The fifth explanation of ‘at that time’ is the time when the Buddha was willing to speak the Dharma and living beings were willing to listen to the Dharma. Speaking the Dharma and listening to the Dharma occur simultaneously; neither one is higher nor lower. The time is opportune for bestowing the teaching and receiving the teaching. The Buddha wanted to speak such dharma and living beings wanted to hear such dharma. They are in sync. They are on the same level, neither high nor low. Above are five explanations of ‘at that time’.

In this sutra, ‘thus’ fulfilled the condition of faith; ‘I have heard’ fulfilled the condition of hearing; ‘at one time’ fulfilled the condition of time; ‘Buddha’ fulfilled the condition of a host; ‘Trayastrimsha Heaven’ fulfilled the condition of a location; ‘speaking Dharma for his mother’ fulfilled the condition of an assembly. Although the Buddha was speaking the Dharma for his mother, there were a great number of heavenly beings and human beings who followed the Buddha to listen to his dharma. Just the Buddha’s constant disciples already numbered 1,250. Hence, the lord of Trayastrimsha Heaven, Indra, served as the Dharma Protector, the Host of Vegetarian Offering and the one who requested the Dharma. So, even though the sutra text stated the Buddha was ‘speaking Dharma for his mother’, he was also speaking Dharma for the great assembly. Hence, this line fulfills the condition of an assembly. Aforementioned are the Six Fulfillments.

At that time, uncountable Buddhas and all the great Bodhisattvas with lofty resolves throughout the ineffably ineffable worlds in the ten directions throughout the Dharma Realm all gathered. See! All the Buddhas and the great Bodhisattvas gathered when the Earth Store Sutra was being spoken. How much more should people come together when the Earth Store Sutra is being spoken! Now that we are speaking the Earth Store Sutra, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions will come. Open your Buddha eyes and take a look at all the infinite and uncountable number of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas throughout the ten directions now gathered here to support this Dharma Assembly.

To praise how Shakyamuni Buddha is able to manifest the inconceivable power of great wisdom and spiritual penetrations in the evil world of the Five Turbidities.

All the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas throughout the ten directions went to the Trayastrimsha Palace to praise Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni is Sanskrit. Shakya is a surname; Muni is a first name. Shakyamuni is his specific name. Buddha is a common name for all Buddhas. Each Buddha has his unique name.

In this case, Shakyamuni. Translated in Chinese, Shakya means ‘capable of being humane, Muni means ‘still and quiescent’. What does it mean by ‘capable of being humane’? It means that he can universally rescue all beings by means of his humaneness and virtue. ‘Still and quiescent’ means unmoving, tranquil and free from sounds and scents.

Confucianism speaks of, “Having arrived at quietude, there is nothing more! There is neither sound nor scent.” This refers to having arrived at the original substance which is quiescent and unmoving. Quiescent and unmoving is Samadhi; capable of being humane is wisdom. How come the Buddha can rescue living beings universally with humaneness and kindness? It is because he has wisdom. Capable of being humane is to accord with conditions. Still and quiescent is to remain unchanging. The Buddha always stays unchanging, yet he always accords with conditions. Although the Buddha always accords with conditions, he always stays unchanged. In this still and unmoving Samadhi, he can connect to responses.

No matter how many variety of thoughts living beings have, the Thus Come One knows and sees them all. The Buddha sees them all because he is capable of being humane; he knows them all because he is still and quiescent. Do not think that no one knows what we are doing. The Buddha knows everything that we do. So if we are but ten percent sincere in our cultivation, we will receive a ten percent response; if we are 100 percent sincere, we will receive a 100 percent response. If you are millions upon millions of times sincere, then even though Shakyamuni Buddha is there on that quiescent and unmoving fundamental enlightenment, he will connect with you immediately, providing you with a helpful response so that you will be successful in your practice soon. This is what ‘Shakyamuni Buddha’ means.

The Buddha has perfected self-enlightenment, enlightenment of others, and conduct of enlightenment. As it is said, one becomes a Buddha when “he has perfected the three types of enlightenment and is replete with the myriad virtues.” The three types of perfected enlightenment are: initial enlightenment, fundamental enlightenment and ultimate enlightenment. “Buddha” is half of the transliterated Sanskrit word, “Buddhaya”. What kind of an individual was the Buddha? The Buddha is a greatly enlightened one. If every one of us cultivates according to the Buddhadharma, we will reach this kind of enlightenment, this level of fruition. Shakyamuni Buddha long ago said, “All living beings can become Buddhas”. Why? It is because all living beings have the Buddha nature. As long as you are willing to work hard on your cultivation, you can become a Buddha.

In the evil world of the Five Turbidities: The Five Turbidities are: 1. Kalpa Turbidity, this is an impure time and age. 2. View Turbidity, the views are impure. 3. Afflictions Turbidity, impure because of people’s afflictions. 4. Living Beings Turbidity, living beings are impure. 5. Life Turbidity. Our lives are defiled and impure.

The Shurangama Sutra says that when sandy soil is placed in a bowl of clear water, the soil loses its original function. What was the original function of the soil? It acts as a holdback. When people walk on the ground, the soil supports them. Without the earth (soil), we would fall into the sea. The layer of earth is supported underneath by water. Below the water is fire. Sometimes volcanoes erupt, a result of transformative function. Since there is fire underneath the layer of water, would the fire not be smothered by the water? Since there is so much fire, the water is not able to put it out. If you want to know this kind of principle, you must study the Buddhadharma more in order for you to understand.

The Shurangama Sutra says, “Earth loses its holdback ability and water loses its cleanliness.” This is turbidity. This evil world of Five Turbidities is like a comingling of water and earth. This world is neither clean nor clear. In what way? To illustrate, let’s take kalpa – period of time, which cannot be distinguished as well. In the past, someone asked me, “What is period of time?” Well, there is no period of time because it is indistinguishable. This is the Kalpa Turbidity.

View Turbidity. How can our views be differentiated clearly? There is no way. Can you divide up everyone’s views, categorizing some as my views and some as your views? Where do you draw the line between your views and my views? There is no demarcation and thus it cannot be clearly defined. The views are all mingled. This is the View Turbidity.

Afflictions Turbidity. Everyone has afflictions. You have your afflictions; I have my afflictions. Our afflictions got mingled and cannot be distinguished. Some say, “I know these afflictions are mine and those afflictions are yours. If so, how come you can incite my afflictions? If these were mine, you should not be able to incite them; if your afflictions were yours, I should not be able to incite them as well.” From this observation, our afflictions have no demarcation lines. They are mingled and turbid.

Living Beings Turbidity. In this lifetime, one living being may be a person. In the next lifetime, he/she may be a dog, and in subsequent lifetimes, maybe a cat, a mouse or even an insect that crawls all over the place. There is nothing definite. How can you draw clear distinctions? Living beings mutually cooperate to start a large company; their distinctions are unclear. In this large company, it is either you being sold or you selling others. We are all inter-related in coming and going. Is this not turbid? This is Living Beings Turbidity. Life Turbidity – our destinies are likewise turbid.

The Five Turbidities are extremely complicated. And yet, Shakyamuni Buddha is able to manifest the inconceivable power of great wisdom and spiritual penetrations in this worst world – the evil world of Five Turbidities. He can manifest inconceivably wondrous wisdom, the subtle, wonderful and inconceivable power of wonderful great wisdom, wonderful spiritual powers. Inconceivable means that it is unimaginable and unthinkable, subtly and wonderfully incredible. This is the power of great wisdom and great spiritual penetrations.