19  Across All Dharma Realms

Now we will discuss chapter nineteen—Across All Dharma Realms. It is a short chapter in which the Buddha talks about blessings. Don’t you think this passage is similar to chapter eight? In that chapter, Sakyamuni Buddha compares the blessings of a person who fills the three-thousand-great-thousand-world with the seven kinds of precious jewels as an act of giving with the blessings of another who upholds and recites the Vajra Sutra. Which of the two will receive more blessings? If one fills the three-thousand-great-thousand-world with the seven kinds of precious jewels as an act of giving, their blessings¹In this case, we are only talking about blessings, whereas sometimes, Grandmaster talks about merit. The Buddha and Grandmaster talk about both. will indeed be enormous. However, it is still inferior to the blessings of someone who upholds and recites the Vajra Sutra.

In this chapter nineteen, the comparison is this:

“Subhuti, when blessings are existent and real, the Tathagata will not say that one gains enormous blessings. However, when blessings are nonexistent, then the Tathagata will say that one gains enormous blessings.”

This is what the Buddha says. If the merit is real and actual, then the Tathagata will not say such merit is enormous. Why is it that when there is merit, the Tathagata says that merit is not enormous? Because only when merit is nonexistent is it considered enormous. As you recite the sutra, do you understand what the Buddha is talking about?

This is the Buddha’s answer to the question, “Why?” Although Subhuti says that [an act of giving] generates enormous merit, the Buddha explains,

“Subhuti, when blessings are existent and real, the Tathagata will not say that one gains enormous blessings. However, when blessings are nonexistent, then the Tathagata will say that one gains enormous blessings.”

What is Sakyamuni Buddha talking about here? What does it mean? Please do not take this sentence literally. People with true blessings never talk about blessings—this is called non-dwelling. One performs an act of giving without dwelling, meaning giving without motive, and particularly not to obtain blessings. Only then will such blessings be enormous. If you give for any reason, then its blessing will be small or even none.

This entire statement teaches us about non-dwelling; the Buddha teaches us to give without dwelling. In chapter eight, he gave the comparison of magnanimous giving—which generates tremendous blessings—but nevertheless still generates much fewer blessings than upholding and reciting the Vajra Sutra. This time in chapter nineteen, he talks about giving without dwelling and with dwelling. Without dwelling, one generates enormous blessings, whereas if one dwells on it, the blessings won’t be enormous because it is conditional.

Therefore, whatever we do, we should not do for blessings. We just do it according to our roles and responsibilities in spiritual cultivation and not ask for anything in return. This is called enormous blessings. On the other hand, if you act with motives, such blessings will be small or absent, as the Tathagata says.

That’s why when Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty asked Bodhidharma how much merit he had generated from building numerous temples and caring for multitudes of monastic Buddhists, Bodhidharma replied, “No merit whatsoever!” The emperor’s actions were all for the sake of merit. Thus he had no merit—none whatsoever!

All acts of giving should be done without any reasons; this is called giving without dwelling, which will generate enormous blessings and merits, but not if you do it with a motive or purpose in mind. This passage is very simple to explain.

Why is the title of chapter nineteen Across All Dharma Realms? What does it mean? Considering its content, the title could have been something like Is Blessing Existent or Nonexistent? How is the title—Across All Dharma Realms—related to the existence or nonexistence of a blessing? It is, of course, related. It means that there is no blessing whatsoever in all the dharma realms.

Let me give a simple example: Earth is one of the planets in our solar system. Which planet in the solar system has blessings? Neptune? Mars? Earth? What blessings are there on Earth? Our sun is just one of the hundreds of suns out there. We can barely go beyond our own solar system, as there is a sort of heliopause—a boundary of gas and dust clouds even thicker and denser than the sphere around the earth. There are no blessings in the entire solar system, much less Earth, which is like a tiny grain of sand! How can there be any blessings on it? Here we are talking only about one solar system. But such a case applies to all the dharma realms. Do you know how many dharma realms there are?!

If you have a vastly transcendent view and understand buddhadharma, you know that buddhadharma is truly boundless and limitless. Infinite without boundaries is buddhadharma—this is what Across All Dharma Realms means.

Russia and Ukraine are at war. With respect to the whole universe, they are like two tiny worms fighting each other in a cesspool. In the whole universe, it’s as if nothing is happening.

When I was little, I saw red ants and black ants fighting each other in the courtyard of the dormitory of the Taiwan Power Company at Linsen Road in Kaohsiung City, where I used to live. In Taiwan ants are everywhere, and the smallest morsel of sweets instantly attracts many ants. The red and black ants fought fiercely, biting each other, and their remains could be seen all over. As a naughty little kid not wanting to see such bloodshed, I placed several pieces of paper there and burned them from both ends. They all died. I didn’t know any better then. So up to now, I still perform bardo deliverances for them.

Let me ask you now, how are these ants related to heaven, earth, and consciousness? With respect to the whole universe, their lives are minuscule. From the ants, you can infer the lives of human beings. Frankly, the lives of human beings are also minuscule—and worthless. Having said that, wars are nonetheless heartless and merciless. We are all human beings; why must we kill each other?! There is no need for wars! I am pondering…why must people bring disasters upon themselves? What is with the bombs, nuclear, chemical, and all those weapons?! When killing others, you are killing yourself!

COVID-19 alone has caused more than enough problems for humanity. Students don’t act like students, workers aren’t like workers, and even we, the dharma propagators, can’t travel to spread dharma. Before, we could freely travel everywhere, but not now when many countries are in lockdown. We’ve been in isolation for two years due to COVID-19. Confined at home, students eventually lose their social ability to interact with each other. Many people continue to work from home, and not everyone has returned to the office. Such is the case with Microsoft. There is no longer any social interaction, affecting people mentally and emotionally. This kind of psychological atrophy is quite cruel.

Across All Dharma Realms means that buddhadharma is boundless and infinite. What have you understood from this? You should remember to open your heart and mind widely and be more tolerant, generous, and all-encompassing. Avoid being narrow-minded or short-sighted. Open your heart wide; be more embracing. There is nothing you can’t tolerate or accommodate. Try not to have eyes as small as mung beans. Why let your mind and heart be as small as those of the ants, that you must haggle with each other? Just open up your heart and mind and be as expansive as the boundless buddhadharma and the boundless dharma realms. Don’t be like the ants! Don’t be like turtles, because turtles only look at what is in front of them.

Everyone should learn to be more tolerant. Buddhadharma teaches tolerance; it is vast and all-embracing. With a boundless heart and mind, you can embrace anything and everything. Wars between countries, problems within families, and enmity and animosity between individuals occur because people lack tolerance and cannot embrace each other. Grandmaster has learned to be kind to everyone, including those who are evil.

While sitting on the dharma throne at the Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple, I once declared that Grandmaster Lu would never sue anyone. When I got off the dharma throne, Master Lian Ji told me, “You are wrong. If you don’t sue others, others will sue you.” Well, if that’s the case, then I suppose it’s just my bad luck. It’s okay. Let them file the lawsuit, but I’ll never file a lawsuit against anyone because by suing, you cause suffering—people suffer when dealing with a lawsuit. It doesn’t matter how badly people may treat me; I won’t file a lawsuit.

My guru, Jesus, also teaches loving one’s enemies. What Jesus says—loving one’s enemies—is also buddhadharma. This is the meaning of Across All Dharma Realms.

In the past I criticized some people in my articles. By doing so, I brought them misery. And for that, I sincerely repented. I no longer ridicule the Ghost Witch [concerning how she was wrong about predicting that I would die at 73] during New Year’s. Why bother? Was writing those five books about what she had done right or wrong? It’s hard to tell. In my book Wrathful Vajra Eyes, I criticized many people, including Lin Yun and Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan. I shouldn’t have done that, because criticism brings distress. Before you criticize anyone, remember that you should not cause any suffering for anyone.

Someone once asked Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet, three questions, “What is the easiest, what is the hardest, and what is the greatest?” Tagore replied, “It is the easiest to blame others; it is the hardest to know oneself; and it is the greatest to love without asking for anything in return.”

What Tagore says is what Grandmaster has been talking about today—Across All Dharma Realms. Criticizing and blaming others is the easiest thing to do. Knowing oneself is most difficult: do you truly know yourself and your thoughts? It is the hardest thing! The unconditional love that asks for nothing in return is the greatest, which is what the Vajra Sutra talks about today—an act of giving without dwelling. It is to give without asking for anything, without any motive, and without dwelling. I used to write modern poems, so I know Tagore’s poetry collection. He is an admirable poet. That’s all for tonight.

Om mani padme hum.