The Buddha told Subhuti, “All bodhisattvas should master their minds in the following way:
“All sentient beings—whether they are born from eggs or wombs, through moisture or transformations, whether they have forms or not, are with or without thoughts, or are not completely with thoughts or without thoughts—I will liberate and deliver to the ultimate nirvana. And yet, of the innumerable sentient beings being liberated and delivered, there really are no sentient beings that are liberated or delivered. Why is this, Subhuti?
“Because if a bodhisattva holds a view of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva.”
What is anuttara samyaksambodhi?
It is perfect enlightenment;
it is right equality and right realization.
Right equality is due to non-phenomena—
all are equal because everything is innately empty.
Right realization is
the realization of this true reality.
August 28, 2021
Today we will first complete chapter two. Subhuti asked Sakyamuni Buddha,
“World-Honored One, when good men and good women give rise to the mind of anuttara samyaksambodhi and strive for perfect enlightenment, how should they dwell in their minds, and how should they master their minds?”
Last time I asked what anuttara samyaksambodhi mind is. It literally means “right equality and right realization.” Samyak means right equality, and sambodhi means right realization. Anuttara means unexcelled. In other words, anuttara samyaksambodhi is the unexcelled right equality and right realization—highest perfect enlightenment.
What do they mean? What is right equality? What is right realization? There are profound meanings behind them. Anuttara samyaksambodhi means the highest perfect enlightenment. It is easy to say the words “perfect enlightenment.” But what does it really mean? One must understand the deeper, more profound meaning of these words.
Upon Sakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, he turned the dharma wheel three times, as we all know. The first turning of the dharma wheel was at Deer Park. This was turning the wheel of the Lesser Vehicle, which was teaching the four noble truths of suffering, cause of suffering, end of suffering, and the path to end suffering.
The second turning of the dharma wheel was at the Bamboo Grove Monastery, Rajagriha. What did he teach? The Buddha taught prajna. The essence of prajna is non-phenomena (all phenomena are intrinsically empty).1In Chinese 無相 wuxiang. “Wu” literally means “no, without,” and “xiang” can mean “phenomena, forms, appearances, marks, characteristics, or even notions.” Here we translate “wuxiang” as non-phenomena.
In which city did the third turning of the dharma wheel take place? It took place in Lotus City. What did the Buddha teach? The Buddha spoke on the enlightening reality [dharma that transcends the mundane world].
What is right equality? Non-phenomena is right equality. The Vajra Sutra reveals that inherently all phenomena are empty; since they are all empty, everything is equal. What is right realization? Right realization is when one realizes this enlightening reality. This is so profound. Don’t you agree?
The Vajra Sutra is exceedingly profound. It teaches the enlightening reality and encompasses two kinds of wisdom: the wisdom of the nature of equality, which is right equality, and the perfect mirror-like wisdom,2Like a reflection in the mirror, it is transient, illusory, and inherently empty. which is right realization. These two wisdoms are extremely important concepts in Buddhism.
Sakyamuni Buddha performed three turnings of the dharma wheel and taught right equality and right realization—the highest and perfect enlightenment. The first turning concerned the four noble truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the ending of suffering, and the truth of the path to end the suffering.
They are all the ultimate truth. Equality is the ultimate truth. Perfect and enlightening reality is the ultimate truth. Non-phenomena is also the ultimate truth.
The Vajra Sutra discusses the perfect enlightenment—right equality and right realization. Contemplate it. As I continue with my exposition, you will come to a greater understanding.
The Right and Ultimate Meaning of the Greater Vehicle
Now we will discuss chapter three. What is the Greater Vehicle? It includes many different sects of Mahayana, and Tantrayana is one of them.
The Buddha told Subhuti, “All bodhisattvas should master their minds in the following way:
“All sentient beings—whether they are born from eggs or wombs, through moisture or transformations, whether they have forms or not, are with or without thoughts, or are not completely with thoughts or without thoughts—I will liberate and deliver to the ultimate nirvana. And yet, of the innumerable sentient beings being liberated and delivered, there really are no sentient beings that are liberated or delivered. Why is this, Subhuti?”
This passage relates to right equality and right realization. The Buddha says that whether beings are born from eggs or wombs, through moisture or transformations, they will be delivered equally.
“…born from eggs or wombs…”
Chickens, turtles, and most birds are born from eggs. Humans are born from wombs, as are many animals. Animals are either born from wombs, eggs, or through moisture.
“…born…through moisture…”
Many aquatic beings are born in water, which is referred to as being born through moisture. Viruses and germs are born through moisture. Do you know why a true vegetarian should not get vaccinated? Because after they get vaccinated, they will kill the COVID-19 virus. A virus is also a living being. Either the virus or the vegetarian dies if he gets infected. Right? So for a vegetarian, being vaccinated means killing.3Translator’s note: what Grandmaster means is that rather than focusing on becoming a vegetarian to avoid killing, we can “avoid killing” by performing deliverance before consuming anything as it delivers even microorganisms to be reborn into a better state. In fact, if one is supposed to die, then one will die.
The Buddha says, “A mouthful of clean water has 84,000 germs. If you don’t chant a mantra for them, it is as if you are killing sentient beings.” Plants are also living beings. When you uproot a carrot, it cries out, argh! Do you think vegetables don’t cry? They grow, so they are alive and have cells too. Do you think that by being a vegetarian, you don’t kill anything? That is wrong. Do you know who created the rule requiring monastics to be vegetarian? It was Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty.
Are Thai monks vegetarian? [Thai monks and nuns are not vegetarian.] They still maintain a lifestyle closest to ancient Buddhism—how they eat, dress, or live. Other Buddhist sects have changed, especially Chinese Buddhism, which adopts vegetarianism. The vegetarian tradition originated from Emperor Wu of Liang, who also initiated the tradition of using burnt incense to etch dots on a monk’s head. In Thailand, do monks have these dots? No. Prior to Emperor Wu, this tradition did not exist. Why do they require marks on a monk’s forehead? Because they lack the mind of equality.
Although Emperor Wu was a Son of Heaven with a Buddhist heart, he caused chaos in his inner palace. After he established his capital at Jiankang, he took his opponents’ concubines for himself every time he won a war. His first wife regretted that he ever became emperor because she never saw him again afterward. The Casanova emperor was extremely lustful. He married the most seductive woman from the previous dynasty. Do you know how many children he had? Many. Two of the daughters he had with that gorgeous woman engaged in incestuous relations with their uncles. It was all so horrendous. The palace had many maidens in attendance. Once, he saw a maiden’s legs as a breeze lifted her skirt, so he had his way with her that night. The emperor was so licentious.
The Emperor Liang Repentance is a very popular repentance ritual. It is not really his—it was named after him because he asked the sangha to compile a repentance ritual to bardo deliver a beloved concubine. Any time Emperor Wu encountered adversities, he retreated to the temple he built next to the palace, the Tongtai Temple, and became a monk. But then his ministers urged him to return to the palace to resume being emperor. This happened three times since the temple was just next to the palace. But one cannot escape retribution, as Emperor Wu ended up starving to death in his own palace.
Let’s see, where was I? I am not criticizing Emperor Wu; after all, he was a Buddhist emperor who built countless temples. Because of Emperor Wu, vegetarianism and incense scarring exist in Chinese Buddhism.
“…born…through…transformations…”
What does this mean? It means they come into existence from transformation. The COVID-19 virus is in the air and can mutate—it transforms. Transformations take place when different factors come together. This is born through transformations.
Why does the sutra mention the four forms of birth? This has to do with equality—the equality of liberation and deliverance.
“…whether they have forms or not, are with or without thoughts, or are not completely with thoughts or without thoughts—I will liberate and deliver to the ultimate nirvana.”
What does forms mean? Form is tangible whereas no-form is intangible. So what kinds of things are intangible? Something like germs. Can you see viruses and bacteria with the naked eye? They were once considered intangible. However, you can see them under a microscope now. For instance, we know that coronavirus has a form—it is round and wears a crown. A ghost has no form. The bardo spirits are also formless and intangible.
“…with or without thoughts…”
Those with thoughts and those without thoughts. What sorts of things are without thoughts? Even plants have thoughts. Rocks have no thoughts, or do they? Strictly speaking, they do have “thoughts.” Look at gems and jewels; they have a magnetic field. Science shows that if you cut them in half, their magnetic fields will decrease and they will not shine anymore, or one half will and the other half won’t. It is hard to find anything that is without thoughts.
“…or are not completely with thoughts or without thoughts…”
It is not with thoughts and not without thoughts. It is in between. Or sometimes with thoughts and sometimes without.
Sakyamuni Buddha equally liberates and delivers all sorts of beings to the ultimate nirvana. In ultimate nirvana (nirvana without remainder) there are no causes and conditions to be born, and thus, no causes and conditions to die. Liberation means extinction—the ending of suffering, which is one of the four noble truths.
“…liberate and deliver…”
In the last phrase of this excerpt, liberate relates to extinction as in the four noble truths, and deliver is the salvation of sentient beings and guiding them onto the path.
“…of the innumerable sentient beings being liberated and delivered…”
The number of sentient beings liberated and delivered is infinite, innumerable, and boundless. There was a bodhisattva who wanted to do just the same. Which bodhisattva was that? He vowed before numerous buddhas, “I want to deliver all sentient beings. If I don’t deliver them and breach my vow, may my head split open.”
It was Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva who made this vow before all the buddhas! It was said that he vowed in front of one billion koti buddhas. One koti equals ten million. In front of countless buddhas, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva vowed to deliver all sentient beings. He further vowed that his head would split into pieces should he fail and abandon this vow. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is extremely compassionate, and he delivers the most sentient beings. What a vow he made!
That’s all for today. Om mani padme hum.
Who are you?
Is your name you?
Is your body you?
Is your mind you?
After reading this exposition,
you will know
who you really are!
August 29, 2021
Since Sakyamuni Buddha’s era, a precept not to neglect [the guru] has existed. As a Buddhist disciple, you violate this precept if you do not attend your root guru’s ceremony, especially if you can attend but do not. It is acceptable if you cannot attend for good reasons, but not otherwise. By not coming, you undermine your guru’s ceremony.
As a Buddhist disciple, if you never attend the ceremonies conducted by your root guru and live within a 50-mile radius, you undermine the ceremony and the guru, and you will be reborn as a clam for a hundred lifetimes.
Especially with the Manohara Vasudhara Ceremony today, your violation is even more severe. You will be born into a poor family in the next seven lifetimes in addition to being inside a shell for a hundred lifetimes. You will always live alone until your next reincarnation. Look around and see who is not here—I am not threatening you. But I am not kidding! This precept of no negligence does exist. Read the sutras! Sakyamuni Buddha states it in the sutras.
How did the precepts come about? Precepts were created because there were six bhiksus who often made transgressions. Consequently, Sakyamuni Buddha established the precepts. They were established by the Buddha and not by Grandmaster. This precept of no negligence is a serious matter, and it is not something to be casually taken. If it were I who specified it, then it might not matter so much. But all precepts were determined by Sakyamuni Buddha, including this precept of no negligence.
As for Subhuti, he attended all teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha on non-phenomena during the second turning of the dharma wheel. He attended all the discourses except on two occasions: one time when he was so ill that he could not walk and a second time due to a funeral in his family. He attended all the Buddha’s teachings about non-phenomena and only missed them twice. The Venerable Subhuti was the paragon of a spiritual cultivator.
It’s such a pity if you chose not to attend the Manohara homa ceremony today because even if you are doing fine in this lifetime, you don’t know what will happen in your future lifetimes!
[During a dharma discourse, Grandmaster also answers questions from disciples in the Q&A session. The following question is included here because it relates to the Vajra Sutra.]
A question was received from Lei Fengpei in Malaysia. When he was ordained, he was given the dharma name Shi Lian Shui [meaning “Lotus Who”]. Your dharma name is very good. It lets you ponder who you really are. [During an earlier Q&A session, Grandmaster asked him with a pun, “Lotus Who, who are you?”] This time, he writes that his name is Lei Fengpei. But Lei Fengpei is just a name; it is not the real you. You need to seek the real you. Only when you have found the real you will the name Lotus Who be meaningful. When I asked, “Who is Lotus Who?” you answered, “Lei Fengpei.” But Lei Fengpei is just a name, your name. Your answer is meaningless.
Everybody’s name is meaningless. Your physical body is meaningless; your face is also meaningless. Those are only fleeting phenomena. I am asking you, “Lotus Who, who is Lotus Who?” And you must be able to answer it! If you can’t answer it correctly, I will pull down your lama skirt and beat you five hundred times from behind. Since you have read the Vajra Sutra, you should understand who you really are.
[Grandmaster reads Lotus Who’s question.]
Homage to Grandmaster. Amitabha. In the article “Pride and Prejudice” in your book no. 214, The Precious Sword of a Yogi, you wrote that the view of nihilism, existentialism, and asceticism are all deviant paths. Even upholding the universe as a temporary coexistence is also a kind of wrong view.
But doesn’t Buddhism emphasize that everything arises due to causes and conditions, all arising and ceasing are impermanent, and the true nature of all causes and conditions is emptiness? Aren’t no-self and empty-nature the correct views of buddhadharma? Don’t the formation and extinction of the universe arise due to causes and conditions and cease due to causes and conditions—and aren’t they just temporary and illusory formations? Why do you state that they are the wrong views?
That is an excellent question. Once you finish listening to [or reading] my exposition of the Vajra Sutra, you will understand. You asked why I wrote that the view of nihilism, existentialism, and asceticism are all deviant paths. They are indeed the wrong views! You asked why the temporary coexistence of the universe is also a kind of wrong view. It certainly is the wrong view. You asked, “Doesn’t Buddhism stress that everything arises due to causes and conditions, all arising and ceasing are impermanent, and the true nature of all causes and conditions is emptiness? Aren’t no-self and empty-nature the correct view of buddhadharma?”
All the above are just “terms.” As mentioned in the Vajra Sutra, the correct view is that there is no time or space.4In other words, nothing can exist when there is no time and no space. Therefore, even the universe does not exist Strictly speaking, the coexistence of causes and conditions is also the wrong view—the deviant view. It is pride and prejudice. There is a book called Pride and Prejudice, correct? Who authored it? I know it was not authored by a Chinese.
Let me tell you, those who can but choose not to attend their root guru’s ceremony are said to have “pride and prejudice.” If you are very sick or have an emergency or urgent matters to attend to, at least you have good reasons. But if you can attend and choose not to, that is analogous to pride and prejudice. You violate the precept of no negligence. The worst retribution is to be reborn as a seashell at the bottom of the ocean. Seashells stay there and don’t open their shells, except for a small gap sometimes. Their shells open only when they are cooked and ready to be eaten.
I am telling Lotus Who to listen to my discourses on the Vajra Sutra. It is spoken very clearly by Sakyamuni Buddha. I have stated that the Vajra Sutra destroys everything, including time, space, and even the buddhadharma. Everything arises due to causes and conditions; however, all arising and ceasing are impermanent, and the true nature of all causes and conditions is empty. It is correct that Buddhism talks about the above; however, even this, we want to destroy!!
You asked, “Don’t the formation and extinction of the universe arise due to causes and conditions and cease due to causes and conditions?” If there still is a “universe” in your eyes, and if you still have the view of arising and ceasing, and causes and conditions, then you don’t understand the ultimate truth.
With respect to the ultimate truth, the so-called endurance is not endurance; it is endurance only when there is no endurance. Real endurance is when there is no need to endure. It is called endurance only when endurance does not exist.
In the sangha community back then, many respected Subhuti, but many disparaged and criticized him as well. When Sakyamuni Buddha acknowledged Subhuti as the first arhat to abandon desires, he responded that Sariputra and Moggallana should be the first arhats recognized for abandoning desires. Subhuti was a very humble person, and he added, “I am not the first arhat to abandon desires because should I have such a thought, I would not be the first arhat who abandoned desires.” Sakyamuni Buddha praised him for this.
If you listen attentively to the Vajra Sutra, you will understand who you really are. Now, continuing on chapter three.
“I will liberate and deliver to the ultimate nirvana. And yet, of the innumerable sentient beings being liberated and delivered, there really are no sentient beings that are liberated or delivered.”
This is the most crucial statement: you deliver sentient beings, but there really are no sentient beings to deliver.
Avalokitesvara made a vow to deliver all sentient beings. He eventually discovered that the number of sentient beings he delivered did not increase or decrease. Not even one sentient being had been delivered! Sentient beings remain sentient beings, and they do not increase or decrease. Avalokitesvara was in total despair and abandoned his vow to deliver sentient beings. His head then split into ten pieces. Amitabha Buddha, his guru, came to the rescue and said, “You silly child!” Amitabha Buddha then formed ten heads from the ten split pieces, plus one Amitabha head on top. He transformed Avalokitesvara into the Thousand-Armed Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara with eleven heads.
“Why is this, Subhuti?
“Because if a bodhisattva holds a view of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva.”
This is the answer. Bodhidharma also answers this question. Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty asked Bodhidharma, “Who is this person standing before me?” How did Bodhidharma answer this question? Can you answer such a question? It is very simple! You must have read about this well-known anecdote. [Someone replies that the answer is, “I don’t know.”] To say I don’t know is not good enough. It is not a complete answer, only halfway there.
It is written here that if a bodhisattva holds a view of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva. If in his mind, a bodhisattva still has a self (having a notion of “I”), still has a notion of others and sentient beings, or has a notion of time, then he is not a bodhisattva.
We all know about the phenomena of self, having a notion of self. The phenomena of self and the phenomena of others are related to individuals. The phenomena of sentient beings relates to all beings and things, and the phenomena of lifespan relates to time—or the length of time. According to the Buddha, sentient beings refers to space, and lifespan refers to time.
This is a very crucial meaning of the Vajra Sutra: there is no phenomena of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan.
Let me explain time. What time is it now? It is 4:56 p.m. Where does the concept of time come from? It is defined by human beings. What is time? Is there time? There is no such thing as time—time as we know it is defined by human beings. If there was no concept of time, what would happen? Think about it.
We are currently in the year 2021, according to the Gregorian Calendar. This is the number of years since the birth of Jesus. It has been over 2,000 years since Jesus was born, and Sakyamuni Buddha was born earlier than Jesus, over 2,600 years ago. Laozi of China was born even earlier. There were even earlier ones, all of which were determined by time.
Who defines time? Human beings. No phenomena of lifespan means there is no time dimension. When there is no concept of time, how can there be any coexistence of causes and conditions? There are neither causes and conditions nor the arising and ceasing of the causes and conditions.
The spatial dimension also does not exist. When there is no notion of sentient beings, it means all phenomena of sentient beings do not exist. Since there are no sentient beings, how can there be any coexistence of causes and conditions? There is none. The causes and conditions do not exist. All arising and ceasing of causes and conditions, too, do not exist. All these concepts—affinity, impermanence, inherent empty-nature of the causes and conditions—are nonexistent!
Lotus Who asked, “Doesn’t the buddhadharma stress that everything arises due to causes and conditions, all arising and ceasing are impermanent, and the true nature of all causes and conditions is emptiness? Why are they the wrong views?”
When sentient beings do not exist, how can there be any of the above? Thus, they are the wrong views! In fact, buddhadharma is also the wrong view! Is there a buddha? There are no buddhas and no sentient beings!
Someone with a notion of self and others is at an even lower level. A bodhisattva with a notion of self?! How can a bodhisattva have a notion of self? If you still have a self, you surely are not a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva always thinks for the sake of others and never thinks of “I.”
As a Buddhist practitioner, you do your best in life and cultivate spiritually according to your affinity. Your spiritual cultivation and whatever you do is for the sake of other beings. You do not live for your own sake. You are a bodhisattva if you perfect the six paramitas of generosity, endurance, precepts, wisdom, meditation, and diligence. You practice for the sake of sentient beings and not for yourself.
In fact as a bodhisattva, you do not even think about this, and you do not keep “sentient beings” in mind. You just practice! In this way you are a bodhisattva. Conversely, if you cultivate the six paramitas yet still hold the phenomena of sentient beings, then you are not a bodhisattva.
The threefold wheel of intrinsic emptiness is about this. There is no giver, no recipient, and nothing is given. Only when you are in such a state are you a bodhisattva. What I am expounding here is very profound and deep.
So nobody is giving the six perfections, nobody is receiving the six perfections, and there are no six perfections. Like today about this discourse, the person giving the discourse does not exist, the recipients—you as the listeners—do not exist, and the discourse itself also does not exist. This is the ultimate truth.
Hence, Sakyamuni Buddha states that if anyone says that the Buddha has given dharma teachings, he slanders the Buddha. Do you understand? Even the buddhadharma has been annihilated. What a profundity!
Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty built many temples and thought he generated great merits. But in the eyes of Bodhidharma, it was nothing. The emperor asked Bodhidharma, “I built so many temples and cared for so many monks. How is my merit?” Bodhidharma spoke the truth, “No merit whatsoever.”
Upon hearing the answer, the emperor became outraged and refused to listen to Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma left, and the emperor sent troops to hunt him down. Later the eminent monk Zhi Gong told the emperor that Bodhidharma was right and that his words were the truth. So the emperor requested Bodhidharma to return, but it was in vain because Bodhidharma had gone to the northern kingdom of Wei.
Emperor Wu was a Buddhist, but he had not reached this level. His mind was dirty too. Didn’t I talk about him yesterday? When the wind blew and lifted the skirt of an imperial maid, he had her for the night. She then gave birth to a child. Even though he was a child of the emperor, everybody in the palace looked down on him due to his mother’s low status. When he was young he was bullied by his siblings, but eventually he commanded the armed forces.
One time, Emperor Wu asked the Venerable Zhi Gong to foretell his future. Zhi Gong did not dare to say and simply pointed to his own throat and neck [in Chinese, throat is hou and neck is jing]. It so happened that a general from the Northern Wei kingdom named Houjing defected and requested to serve the Southern Liang. Eventually Houjing surrounded and besieged the capital Jiankang, where the palace and the emperor resided. Had the emperor’s youngest son—the son of an imperial maid who oversaw the military—led a counterattack, he could have saved the emperor. However, he did not, and so the emperor died of hunger in his palace, something that he never expected to happen to him. As an emperor, Emperor Wu of Liang was not bad, but he had done many bad things.
That is history. The past and all its eminent figures come and go like ocean waves.
Om mani padme hum.
How to know events from the past, present, and future?
Without any notion of time and spatial dimensions,
one can go anywhere, anytime.
September 4, 2021
“Because if a bodhisattva holds a view of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan, then he is not a bodhisattva.”
Someone asked about the above phrase, “Grandmaster, why did you say that the phenomena of sentient beings refers to the spatial dimension and the phenomena of lifespan refers to the time dimension?” The above passage teaches us not to hold any views on time and space. Let me explain why the phenomena of sentient beings belongs to the spatial dimension and the phenomena of lifespan belongs to the time dimension.
Lifespan symbolizes time. How come? Some people live long and some people die young—that’s the phenomena of lifespan. In Buddhism, when [the notion of] time does not exist, it is referred to as the three times are one. What does this mean?
The past, present, and future are all-in-one and intermingled. I can know about past lives and future lives. How can I know? Because I hold no notion of lifespan, I am free from any phenomena of time. With no notion of time, time simply does not matter. This is called the non-phenomena of lifespan.
Intrinsically, time does not matter. The concept of time is a human invention. Years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds are all determined by human beings. Who can calculate the “somber sky, terrene earth, and vast desolate universe” [a poem from the Thousand Character Classic to describe the beginning of a universe]? Who can calculate how long it has been?
Sakyamuni Buddha and Buddhism use kalpas. The first kalpa is called the Initial Kalpa, and the last kalpa is called the Innate Joy Kalpa. The current kalpa is called the Auspicious (Bhadra) Kalpa, and there will be a thousand buddhas in it.
If you cultivate spiritually until you reach the state of non-phenomena of lifespan, then you can easily go back and forth between the past, present, and future. You know who you were in your past lives and who you will be in future lives. The three times, referring to the past, present, and future, are all-in-one and exist simultaneously. The terms “past,” “present,” or “future” were also invented by human beings; when we say something happened in the past, it can also happen right now or in the future. One can freely go back and forth between the past, present, and future when one has no notion of time. This is the benefit of having no phenomena of lifespan.
Let me explain the non-phenomena of sentient beings. When you have no notion of spatial dimension, you are in the state of non-phenomena of sentient beings. Sentient beings refers to all things—living and otherwise.
Whenever I want to see you, I can go wherever I want in a split second, whether you are in Malaysia, Taiwan, England, France, Sweden, Iceland, the North Pole, the South Pole, or anywhere. I can go there because I have no notion of space. You cultivate spiritually until you reach the realm of no-space. You can go anywhere when space does not matter. You will be there in the blink of an eye. You don’t need to waste time flying or riding on clouds or mist. No need to chant a mantra to summon a cloud and sit on it to go somewhere.
The most incredible part about such a realm is that you can go to any pureland or buddhaverse such as Amitabha’s Sukhavati, Avalokitesvara’s World of Omnipresence, Ksitigarbha’s Jade Green Profound Pureland, or Aksobhya’s Abhirati. There are many more benefits, I’m telling you. Non-phenomena of sentient beings means no spatial dimension.
Sakyamuni Buddha told Subhuti about not holding onto any phenomena of sentient beings, lifespan, others, and self.
Do you know that the Jokhang Temple and the Ramoche Temple each enshrine a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha? One is a life-size statue of an 8-year-old Sakyamuni Buddha, and the other is a life-size statue of a 12-year-old Sakyamuni Buddha. For which princess was the Jokhang temple built? There were two princesses—the Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal and the Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty—who went to Tibet to marry the local king, Songtsen Gampo. Which statue did Princess Wencheng bring? The statue of the 12-year-old. Princess Bhrikuti brought the statue of the 8-year-old. One is at Jokhang Temple and the other is at Ramoche Temple, right?
How did the statues come about? One came from China and the other one was from Nepal. Who carved them? Where did the materials come from? Do you know? The materials came from Maitreya Bodhisattva, and Viswakarma carved them. Maitreya Bodhisattva gathered lots of gold, silver, and jewels and gave them to Viswakarma, who created the statues. But why are the statues replicas of an 8-year-old and 12-year-old Sakyamuni Buddha? Sakyamuni Buddha was the one who told Viswakarma to create these statues. How did Viswakarma know how tall Sakyamuni Buddha was when he was eight and twelve?
Sakyamuni Buddha told him, “My wet nurse, who nursed me when I was young, is still alive. You can ask her; she knows how tall I was when I was eight and twelve.” Viswakarma found the wet nurse and she told him, “Yes, I know because I nursed him at Kapilavastu City. There are two statues in a pavilion there—one is shorter and one is taller. The shorter one is the same size as the 8-year-old Sakyamuni Buddha, and the taller one is the 12-year-old. You can go measure them.” So Viswakarma knew about the heights.
Grandmaster knows all these things from the past. How can one know? How can one know the story behind the statues of the 8-year-old and 12-year-old Sakyamuni Buddha—how they came about, their measurements, and their appearances? How can this be? Because I hold no notion of space, so I can go anywhere. And I can go back to the past with no notion of time. So I know these things, but do you? The ones who don’t know, don’t know. The ones who know, know. Today, I am telling stories for you.
The images of Subhuti, Sariputra, Moggallana, and Ananda—four of the Buddha’s chief disciples—were carved behind these two statues, but not Mahakasyapa. How come? Because Mahakasyapa left the sangha after arguing with Ananda. Sakyamuni Buddha tried to keep him in the sangha, but he said, “It’s hard for me to accept how you live and dress so extravagantly. I am first and foremost in monkhood cultivation. I still follow the sound-hearer’s way.”
What is a sound-hearer? Around Sakyamuni Buddha were ten sound-hearers, also called the ten great arhats. Why are they called sound-hearers? Who are they? The term originates from the fact that they personally “hear” Sakyamuni Buddha’s dharma teaching. They hear the Buddha’s voice and attain sravakahood/arhatship from it.
I know the stories behind the statues of young Sakyamuni Buddha and the images of Sariputra, Moggallana, Subhuti, and Ananda behind them. But most people only know these statues and not the stories. To know something like this, one must forgo the phenomena of space and time. This is the Vajracchedika Paramita Sutra discourse for today.
Last time I talked about Buddhist disciples who breach the precept of no negligence if they don’t come and listen to their guru’s dharma teaching. However, now there is an exception due to COVID-19. It is understandable if you do not come to the dharma teaching because you are afraid of the coronavirus. Maybe you fear gatherings and worry about getting infected. Large gatherings are not allowed during the pandemic and there are many rules, so it is not considered a breach for such a special case.
Although you cannot make it in person, you can watch it over the internet. As such you do not violate the precept. When Grandmaster gives a dharma teaching, yet you intentionally do not come and do not participate even when you can, you are violating the precept of no negligence.
Om mani padme hum.
