Issue 291

Now in this sutra passage, the Buddha said that he contemplated with the Buddha Eye. Using the Buddha Eye, he contemplated upon all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Sound Hearers, Those Who Enlighten to Conditions, Pratyekabuddhas, dragons and spirits of the eightfold division. Their numbers cannot be exhausted. “I do not know the numbers in detail,” Shakyamuni Buddha said. Those beings have been taken across to become Buddhas a long time ago by Earth Store Bodhisattva, all these Bodhisattvas are being taken across in the time when Earth Store Bodhisattva was on the cause ground, will be taken across are all the dragons and spirits, gods and all beings of the future, have been brought to accomplishment, are being brought to accomplishment, or will be brought to accomplishment by Earth Store Bodhisattva [Ksitigharba] throughout many eons.” In the Chinese language, the word ‘accomplishment’ consists of two characters that signify lush and lofty because the fruition attained is the highest. It also denotes filiality: being filial to one’s parents. In China, ‘filiality’ is not something that can be shouldered by just anybody. So, who can? The emperor. Emperors of ancient times governed the world by way of filiality, and achieved the loftiest virtues.
In this sutra, Earth Store Bodhisattva has helped all beings realize Buddhahood. Now, he is helping living beings be Bodhisattvas; in the future, he will help all beings accomplish Buddhahood, the highest fruition. This concept encompasses three processes: 1. planting, as in planting seeds. 2. maturing, as in the planted seeds of grains growing from out of the soil when they are nurtured and irrigated. 3. being liberated, as in liberation after reaching maturation for a while. In other words, it is making beings who have not planted any good roots to plant good roots; it is making beings who have planted good roots to grow; it is making those whose good roots have grown to mature; it is making those whose good roots have matured to attain liberation. Hence, these are the three meanings of “accomplishment”.

Manjushri said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, throughout many eons in the past, since a long long time ago, I have cultivated good roots and my wisdom has been certified as unobstructed. I have already certified to unobstructed wisdom. Unobstructed wisdom is the Four Unobstructed Eloquences; the Four Unobstructed Eloquences are the Four Unobstructed Wisdom. The Four Unobstructed Eloquences are:

1. The Unobstructed Eloquence of Dharma. The dharmas spoken are very reasonable. Though it is one principle, it can be differentiated into millions and millions of principles. Although they are millions and millions of principles, they can all revert to one principle.
2. The Unobstructed Eloquence of Meaning.
3. The Unobstructed Eloquence of Speech: words spoken truly make sense.
4. The Unobstructed Eloquence of Delight in Speaking: one delights in speaking.

When I hear what the Buddha says, I immediately accept it with faith. Since I, Manjushri, cultivated Mahayana dharmas in the past, I believe instantaneously what the Buddha says. But Hearers of small attainment, such as Sound Hearers, Those Who Enlighten to Conditions, gods, dragons, and the rest of the Eightfold Division, i.e.yakshas, ghandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, and maharagas and all beings in the future who hear the Thus Come One’s true and sincere words, will certainly harbor doubts. Look! As truthful as the Buddha’s words are, these beings are still skeptical. What more with my disciples? Some of my disciples do not believe in my explanation of the sutras and want to run away. No wonder Manjushri said all of the Eightfold Division does not believe and questions the Buddha’s spoken truths.

Some people think it is very commonplace to hear sutra lectures such as what we are doing now. Actually, it is the most difficult thing to come by, especially here in America. Take a look at how many places offer sutra lectures, line by line following the sutra text and explaining the meaning word by word? None. In the Western nations, it is extremely rare. Moreover, since Westerners have never understood Buddhadharma, they do not recognize the true and actual Buddhadharma that they now hear.

It is like people who have never seen gold – when you give them gold they regard it as copper. Another analogy is when people regard diamonds as glass because they don’t recognize diamonds. Similarly, when you explain genuine Buddhadharma to those who do not recognize it, they regard it as something very ordinary, they said it is external and not internal. Actually, how can you understand the internal if you do not even understand the external? The internal and the external should be governed simultaneously. Without understanding the principles, you cannot practice cultivation; without practicing cultivation, you cannot understand the principles. Hence, understanding and practice must mutually correspond. Understanding means to understand the Buddhadharma; practice means to cultivate according to the Buddhadharma.

When Shakyamuni Buddha explained this Earth Store Sutra, even Manjushri Bodhisattva raised his concern about Sound Hearers of the small attainments, gods, dragons and the rest of the Eightfold Division, and all beings in the future – that they could not believe it. Since they have no good roots or insufficient good roots, when they hear the true words spoken by the Buddha, they are certainly skeptical and have doubts. Even if they receive the teaching most respectfully. Suppose they receive the teachings, it is only temporary because their faith only lasts for a short period of time.

For example, there are people who take refuge with the Triple Jewel, but they have no faith because their minds are full of deviant knowledge and deviant views. When you explain the Proper Dharma to them, they do not understand. Because they do not understand, they cannot avoid slandering it. When Shakyamuni Buddha was in the world, Manjushri Bodhisattva made this suggestion: My only wish is that the World Honored One will proclaim for everyone what Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahasattva practiced and what vows he made while on the level of planting causes. I wish that you, World Honored One, will speak more about Earth Store Bodhisattva Mahasattva, this great Bodhisattva. What practices did he cultivate and what vows did he make in past lives? When we make vows, no matter what it is, we must keep our words and fulfill our promises. No matter what kind of hardship or difficulty we encounter, we should carry out our vows. . .that now enables him to succeed in doing such inconceivable deeds. This Earth Store Bodhisattva achieves this type of inconceivable state.

The Buddha said to Manjushri, “By way of analogy, suppose that each blade of grass, tree, forest, rice plant, hemp stalk, bamboo, reed, mountain, rock, and dust mote in a Three Thousand Great Thousand World System was a Ganges River. Then suppose that each grain of sand in each of those Ganges Rivers was a world and that each dust mote in each of those worlds was an eon.
Then suppose that each dust mote accumulated in each of those eons was itself an eon. The time elapsed since Earth Store Bodhisattva was certified to the position of the Tenth Ground is a thousand times longer than that in the above analogy. Even longer was the time that he dwelled on the levels of Sound Hearer and Pratyekabuddha.”

The Buddha said to Manjushri. Shakyamuni Buddha told Manjushri Bodhisattva, let me give you an analogy.  “By way of analogy, suppose that each blade of grass, tree, forest, rice plant, hemp stalk, bamboo, reed, mountain, rock, and dust mote in a Three Thousand Great Thousand World System was a Ganges River. We are not talking about just one of each of these items, but all the grasses, all the trees, all the edible rice plants, all the usable hemp stalks etc. How many bamboos and reeds are there in a Three Thousand Great Thousand World System? Can you count all of them? You cannot. When there are a lot of dust motes, they become mountains. There are so many things in the Three Thousand Great Thousand World System. If each item was one, what would be the total?

If every blade of grass counted as one Ganges River, then the number of Ganges Rivers that existed would be uncountable. Not only every blade of grass, but every tree, forest, rice plant, hemp stalk, bamboo, and reed too, to count as one Ganges River. One item is one Ganges River; two items are two Ganges rivers; three items are three Ganges rivers; four items are four Ganges rivers…The number of grass and trees are practically infinite, so there would be infinite Ganges rivers. This means that there are so many that the figure cannot be calculated. If each item were to turn into a Ganges River, how many sand grains would be in those Ganges rivers?

Then suppose that each grain of sand in each of those Ganges Rivers was a world. If every sand grain in all those Ganges Rivers were a Three Thousand Great Thousand World. And that each dust mote in each of those Three Thousand Great Thousand worlds was an eon. Then suppose that each dust mote accumulated in each of those eons was itself a great eon. The time elapsed since Earth Store Bodhisattva was certified to the position of the Tenth Ground is a thousand times or longer than that in the above analogy. Even longer was the time that he dwelled on the levels of Sound Hearer and Pratyekabuddha. Not to mention how long Earth Store Bodhisattva was a Sound Hearer, how long he was a Sravaka, how long he was a Pratyekabuddha. Earth Store Bodhisattva’s conduct and vows have been in existence for a long time.

“Manjushri, the awesome spiritual strength and vows of this Bodhisattva are inconceivable. If good men or women of the future hear this Bodhisattva’s name, praise him, behold and bow to him, call his name, make offerings to him, or if they draw, carve, cast, sculpt, or make lacquered images of him, such people will be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three one hundred times and will never fall into the Evil Paths.”

Manjushri, Shakyamuni Buddha called out, the awesome spiritual strength and vows of this Bodhisattva are inconceivable. Which Bodhisattva is the Buddha referring to? It is Earth Store Bodhisattva. His awesome virtues, spiritual powers and vows are inconceivable. To save all beings with profoundly heavy offenses, he uses his awesome might to subdue them. He made these vows:

Unless the hells are empty, I will not become a Buddha.
Only when all beings are saved, will I then certify to Bodhi.

He wants to save all beings before he becomes a Buddha. If there is one being who has not been saved, he will not become a Buddha. This is why it has been so long and he is still not a Buddha. After this being is saved, another comes; it never ends. One being is born, while another passes away; or one being passes away while another being comes into the world. There are ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times more living beings that are born than those passing away. Let us calculate and see if there are more deaths or births in San Francisco right now. Deaths come after aging and sickness; whereas birth only requires ten months of pregnancy, a relatively shorter period of time. Since it takes decades before people die, the number of births surpasses the number of deaths by millions more. This makes Earth Store Bodhisattva’s work so tedious that up to now, he still cannot become a Buddha.