Guanyin Bodhisattva is Our Brother (Issue 305)

The Flower Adornment Sutra says: “The Bodhisattva has this thought: from time without beginning to the present, all living beings and I have been brothers. We have been fathers and mothers to each other. We have been sisters to each other. We have been husbands and wives to each other.” You told me you didn’t believe; that’s simply because you don’t understand the underlying principles in the Flower Adornment Sutra.

Not only does the Bodhisattva see living beings in that way, but even the Buddha contemplates living beings and knows that all men were his fathers in the past, and all women were his mothers. Since the Buddha sees living beings as his fathers and mothers, that is why I said Guanyin Bodhisattva sees living beings as his brothers and sisters. How could this principle be unreasonable? You don’t believe simply because you don’t have this kind of wisdom and knowledge. Or it may be that you don’t have enough experience. That’s why you’re so ignorant and skeptical.

Why does the Buddha want to rescue living beings? Because he can see that, “All men have been my father, and all women have been my mother.” His fathers and mothers are suffering in the six destinies of rebirth, so he wants to rescue living beings at all costs, and help his parents escape suffering and attain bliss.

Every day we recite the name of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva and bow to Guanshiyin Bodhisattva, but when Guanshiyin Bodhisattva appears in person before us, we don’t recognize him. That’s why I say we living beings are extremely pitiable. What do I mean when I say Guanshiyin Bodhisattva appeared in person before us, and we are unable to recognize him? It’s our big test. When we recite Guanshiyin Bodhisattva’s name, we should learn to be like him. Guanshiyin Bodhisattva possesses great kindness, great compassion, great vows, and great strength. When we recite his name, we should also learn to have great kindness, great compassion, great vows, and great strength just like him. No matter who mistreats us, our minds must remain calm.

No matter who curses at us, we should endure it. No matter who hits us, we should bear it. Even if someone were to kill us, we should also bear it patiently, and recognize it as our rightful due. Why should we see it as our due? Because if we hadn’t scolded others in the past, others wouldn’t curse at us now. If we hadn’t hit someone in the past, he certainly wouldn’t come to beat us now. Why would someone want to curse at us, hit us, or kill us? Because in the past, when we were stupid and ignorant, we cursed at him, beat him, or killed him. So, in this present life, the same situation is happening to us, and we should pay off the debts that we accrued in the past. In the past, we did not understand this principle, so we didn’t settle the debts that we owed. Now that we understand, we should honestly acknowledge the unpaid debts. When we can acknowledge these debts, then we can see Guanshiyin Bodhisattva, and we can truly count as one of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva’s Dharma-relatives.

When we are reciting Guanyin Bodhisattva’s name, we shouldn’t criticize other people as soon as we meet them. If we’re always looking at the faults of others, it proves that our own suffering hasn’t come to an end. We haven’t pulled up the roots of suffering. So, all of us must clearly recognize the situations that occur. We must thoroughly understand the Dharma. People who study the Buddhadharma have to be able to apply the Buddhadharma. If we cannot apply it, then no matter how long we cultivate, the Buddhadharma merely remains Buddhadharma, and we are simply us. But if we know how to apply it, then we can become one with it; we become indivisibly united with the Buddhadharma.