The Ten Dharma Realms Are Not Beyond a Single Thought

If you wish to understand

All Buddhas of the three periods of time,

You should contemplate the nature of the Dharma Realm:
Everything is made from the mind alone.

If you wish to understand, if anyone wants to know and understand, all Buddhas of the three periods of time, the Buddhas of the three periods of time were all originally people who became Buddhas.

You should contemplate the nature of the Dharma Realm. Take a look at the nature of the Dharma Realm. Each living being in the Dharma Realm has its own nature. You have your nature, and I have my nature. For example, your temper is a bit bigger than mine, and my temper is a little deeper than yours. What would you say? Are they different or not? Pigs have pig-natures, horses have horse-natures; men have a masculine nature, women have a feminine nature. Each kind has its own nature. Those who have a sweet tooth have a sweet nature. Those who like sour food have a sour nature. Those who like spicy flavors have a spicy nature. Those who prefer bitter food have a bitter nature. Cultivation is also bitter in nature. Trees have the nature of trees, flowers have the nature of flowers, and grasses have the nature of grasses. Each kind has its own nature; hence, we call it the nature of the Dharma Realm. Now, do you understand? In the past, you thought this referred to the nature of the Dharma Realm. Now, I’ve explained it as the “nature of the living beings” in the Dharma Realm.

Everything is made from the mind alone. The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “The myriad dharmas are made from the mind alone.” The Buddha is created by your mind. If your mind cultivates the Buddhadharma, then you will accomplish Buddhahood. If your mind is delighted by Bodhisattvas, then you will practice the Bodhisattva Path and become a Bodhisattva. If your mind wishes to fall into the hells, then you’ll head in the direction of the hells, and eventually fall into the hells. That’s why it’s said, “The Ten Dharma Realms are not beyond a single thought.”

(1) The Dharma Realm of the Buddhas

Neither great nor small,

Neither coming nor going,

In worlds as many as motes of dust,

They shine upon each other’s lotus thrones.

Neither great nor small: When I first heard the Sanskrit word “Buddha,” it sounded like bu da (Chinese for “not big.”) What is not big? The Buddha. It means he has no arrogance, no pride, and no ego. He is not small either. If he weren’t big, but he was small, then he wouldn’t be the Buddha either. The Buddha is neither big nor small.

Neither coming nor going: The Buddha’s Dharma-body reaches to the ends of space and pervades throughout the Dharma Realm. It is nowhere present and yet nowhere absent. If you say it goes, to where does it go? If you say it comes, to where does it come? The Buddha’s Dharma-body is universally pervasive; it is not only in this world, but in worlds as many motes of dust. In limitless and boundless worlds are all the Buddha’s Dharma-body; that’s why it is said to be in worlds as many as motes of dust.

They shine upon each other’s lotus thrones. The light emitted by the Buddhas in this Dharma Realm shines on the Buddhas in other Dharma Realms; and the light of the Buddhas in those other Dharma Realm also shines on this Dharma Realm. The Buddhas are seated on lotus thrones, shining their lights upon one another and causing the earth to shake. Not only do their six sense organs emit light and shake the earth, their every hair pore emits light and shakes the earth. Furthermore, from each hair pore appear limitless and boundless number of Buddhas in worlds as many as motes of dust. Every one of the Buddhas emits light, infinitely and boundlessly. These lights are non-conflicting. These lights mutually blend in harmony. So, in Buddhism we have unity of lights. In the same token, there shouldn’t be clashes between people. This inter-shining means your light shines on me, and my light shines on you. The lights shine on one another, similar to the way the holes are mutually connected in the circular net canopy of the Lord of the Great Brahma Heaven. The multiple layers of his imperial net are infinite and inexhaustible. The first Dharma Realm, the Dharma Realm of the Buddhas, is such.