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Part 8
The Thus Come Ones are most difficult to encounter. After immeasurable eons, one might get to see him. If one wants to obtain the merit and virtue of the Buddha, one must practice the Ten Kings of Vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva.
- To Worship and Respect all Buddhas.
- To Praise the Thus Come Ones.
- To Extensively Cultivate Making Offerings.
- To Repent of Karmic Obstacles and Reform
- To Follow Along and Rejoice in Merit and Virtue
- To Request the Turning of the Dharma Wheel
- To Request that the Buddhas Remain in the World
- To Always Study with the Buddhas
- To Constantly Accord with Living Beings
- To Universally Transfer all Merit and Virtue.
The Buddha praised Universal Worthy Bodhisattva for speaking this Dharma. Good Wealth, the Bodhisattvas, and the Great Assembly are extremely delighted. They accepted and practiced the ineffably wonderful Teaching.
Annotation
We have reached the culminating point of the Youth Good Wealth’s spiritual journey to draw near to and learn from the Good Knowing Advisors. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva who is the most perfect of all the Great Bodhisattvas gave Good Wealth his final lesson and transmitted the Dharma of his Ten Kings of Vows to him and the assembly. A verse in praise says,
‘What Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is enlightened to
All Buddhas alike praise with joy:
Having attained the great Spiritual powers of the Buddhas,
He travels throughout the entire Dharmarealm.’
The final part of the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra elucidates very clearly, the Ten Great Kings of Vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva.
Tripitaka Master Hua says,
‘Making vows is the first of the crucial matters in cultivation. If you don’t make vows, your cultivation lacks focus and direction.’
In his previous life, the Venerable Ananda was extremely impressed by the personal attendant of Padumuttara Buddha. At that time, he made a vow before that Buddha that he would in the future be the personal attendant of a World Honored One. Padumuttara Buddha told him that he would be able to fulfill his vow under Shakyamuni Buddha. Many of Shakyamuni Buddha’s foremost disciples were able to fill those different posts of discipleships because of the vows they had made in past lives. Vows are very powerful and help one to maintain one’s cultivation and resolve in the face of all difficulties and most trying situations. By making vows, one will be able to find the strength to sustain one’s practice even when one encounters hardships. By constantly keeping one’s final spiritual goal in mind, one views adversities from a different level.
It is said,
‘Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goal.’
By bringing forth the unsurpassed intent, we promise ourselves that we will persist in that direction until we arrive at our target destination. We totally commit ourselves and aspire toward that aim.
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained it in the following manner,
‘Do not say that vows are empty and without benefit… If our resolves are true, then we can realize our goal. When our vows are vast in scope, then our practice will go deep. If our vows are big, then we will be firm in our practice. Empty-space is not big, don’t think it is, the Mind-King is much bigger than empty space. Vajra is not durable, vow-power is most durable. Make the power of your vows the most durable of all things.’
A vow is something one promises solemnly and earnestly to do.
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua says,
‘If you cultivate according to the Ten Great Vows of Universal Worthy, you will not go down the wrong road.’
Every single vow is inconceivably magnanimous and one needs to bring forth a supremely great Bodhi Resolve in order to maintain them. We will now take a look at these Ten incomparable royal emphatic declarations of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva.
That means, very reverently making obeisance in one’s mind and with one’s body one bows to all the Buddhas. People may bow to a statue of a Sage for a number of reasons. Some may worship out of timidity, while others might do it to obtain benefits.In the book on The Four Lessons, Yuan Liao-Fan says,
‘Respecting someone, being courteous to someone is usually considered good.. however… we need to go further and understand the motivation behind them. Only then can we determine whether it is true merit or demerit. Generally speaking, as long as it benefits humankind then scolding someone is considered merit; but, if it is for one’s own selfishness then respecting others and treating others with courtesy is considered demerit…’
The first King of Vow is practiced with an honest, sincere and profoundly respectful mind. There should be no phoniness behind the act of worship. One cannot be said to be truly worshipping the Buddha if one’s body, mouth or mind is still impure. When one’s three karmas of body, mouth, and mind are totally pure, then one is already constantly worshipping and respecting all the Tathagatas.
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva does not worship the Buddhas only on their anniversaries or during a ceremony. He had vowed to continuously worship and respect all Buddhas without ever stopping and without ever growing tired of doing it. His supreme respect towards his Teacher, the Buddha, is carried out to the loftiest and most inconceivable spiritual level.
The seven types of bowing were mentioned earlier in section twenty-three.
After one has made obeisance to the Buddha, the next appropriate thing to do is to either inquire after the World Honored One or to praise him.
Some people flatter others in order to gratify the vanity of others. However, flattery is false speech because it is insincere. It is to butter someone up for impure selfish motives. That is not what the second king of Vow is about.
To practice the second vow, one must sincerely mean what one says. An especially wonderful praise of the Buddha is by National Master Ch’ing Liang:
He is wealthy with ten thousand virtues,
And cleansed, without the finest dust.
Therefore, our World Honored One
The ten bodies just fulfilled,
Proper Enlightenment first perfected,
Rides vows and conduct all-pervasive.
He unites with empty space in substance and nature,
Is wealthy with ten thousand virtues,
And cleansed, without the finest dust.
The pellucid waves of his deep, sea-like wisdom,
Are empty, yet hold a myriad reflections.
The full moon of his glistening, space-like nature,
At once scatters into one hundred streams.
Without rising from beneath the King of Trees,
He extends to seven places in the Dharma Realm.
He sat beneath the Bodhi tree and spoke the Flower Adornment Sutra.
Unhindered by the bounds of afterwards,
He pervades the nine assemblies, as he first succeeds.’
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva vows to go throughout the ten directions to praise and glorify all the Buddhas continuously without ever stopping, and without growing tired of doing it.
Third Vow: TO EXTENSIVELY CULTIVATE MAKING OFFERINGS
Some people give things or money to others in order to bribe them or to get others to perform favors for them. The third king of vow has no such defiled connotations in it.
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva wants to make really fine and superior offerings to the Buddha. His gifts are incomparable, inconceivable and colossal in size. When Great Bodhisattvas see the Buddhas, they would very spontaneously want to make the most superb and grand offering to them because,
‘In the heavens above, in all that is below,
nothing compares with the Buddha,
Throughout the worlds of the ten directions he is matchless.’
Hence, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva wants to give offerings which are unsurpassed in size and scope to the World Honored One. Furthermore, he will make the offering of cultivating in accord with the Buddhadharma. That offering will make all Buddhas happy.
He also vows to make offerings to all living beings. He will in moment after moment, practice giving in all these ways without ever stopping or growing weary of doing it.
Fourth Vow: To Repent of Karmic Obstacles and Reform
Two of the most well known cases in Buddhist history of people who have repented of their offenses and then went on to reform themselves successfully are Angulimala and King Asoka. Angulimala was a ruthless serial killer who murdered many people in order to collect their fingers. However, after he met the Buddha, he changed completely. He became a monk and cultivated very diligently until he became an Arhat.
After winning a very bloody war, king Asoka was filled with great remorse. Later he became a Buddhist and ruled the country and spread the Dharma through peaceful means.
These are examples of violent people who upon realizing their past ghastly mistakes gave rise to shame and remorse and became a spiritual hero. It is said,
“Great evil, when transformed becomes great good.”
No one is eternally evil or beyond redemption.
We have discussed repentance and reform earlier in Section thirty-five.
A worldly hero refers to one who is a warrior, a soldier who goes into a battlefield and fights. But, a spiritual hero is one who uses the sword of wisdom to slay his inner thief of ignorance and conquers himself.
Someone says, ‘Most people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy trying to put the blame on someone else.’
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua often says,
‘Truly recognize your own faults,
And don’t discuss the faults of others.
Others’ faults are simply my own faults:
Being one in substance with all is called Great Compassion.’
Even if one has not killed anyone in this life, still one has committed all kinds of atrocities and heinous acts in one’s past lives. In that sense, one can also see one’s faults in others. The weaknesses and mistakes that one sees in others are also the errors and imperfections that one has now or in previous lives. It takes a really long time for one to discover all of one’s countless vices of the present and past lives. There is a certain section from the chapter on the Ten Inexhaustible Treasuries of the Avatamsaka Sutra which is an especially powerful revelation of one’s past grave offenses:
‘From beginningless time onward, we and all living beings have mutually been one another’s father, mother, older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister, son and daughter. But because we are filled with greed, hatred, and stupidity, arrogance and deceptiveness, and all sorts of other afflictions, we have also mutually hurt one another and reciprocally exploited one another.
‘We have lusted, raped, injured, and killed. There is no evil we have not committed. It is this way for all beings. Based on their afflictions, they double their manifold evils. For that reason, among everyone there is no mutual respect, no mutual veneration, no mutual compliance, no mutual humility, no mutual guidance, and no mutual regard. Rather, there is a furthering of mutual killing and harming, so that everyone becomes revengeful enemies.’
A line from chapter twenty-one of the Avatamsaka Sutra says,
‘When Great Bodhisattvas cultivate practices for countless eons, they never afflict a single living being.’
I have hurt people and living beings in this life. But when I wanted to make amends for it, it was too late.
‘Of anguish, none is greater,
Than such painful realizations which comes too late
For the other party and living beings are already dead.’
There are at least two reasons why studying the Buddhadharma is so wonderful. Firstly, when I look into this Great Bright Mirror of Truth, I can see my own ugliness and errors so clearly. Secondly, I can also learn about all the wonderful ways in which I can rectify my faults if I wish to change and reform myself.
Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua exhorted saying,
‘Establish merit to atone for your offenses - do not pass your life in vain. Own up to your debts - pay them back. Don’t prolong them. Don’t seek outside aid, so that you accumulate more debts. Instead establish merit to offset the offenses you created in the past. Don’t pass your life in vain.’
People usually blame others when things go wrong. But, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva makes a vow to repent of all karmic hindrances and to reform. When he encounters obstacles, troubles, adversities or inauspiciousness, he blames himself. Since he no longer blamed others, he could devote his energy and time on correcting his own faults, on transcending all afflictions until he became the most perfect of all the Great Bodhisattvas.
Fifth Vow: To Follow Along With And Rejoice In Merit And Virtue
This King of Vow means that when we see, hear, or read about others doing acts of merit and virtue, we also gravitate toward that direction and perform similar good deeds with a cheerful countenance and heart. This vow also means that we should not rejoice when others commit offenses and we should not follow along when others are doing evil. It is like the moral precepts which have an active or doing aspect and an inactive or stopping aspect.
One should not skip doing all the little good deeds and just concentrate on doing only great deeds in order to have a gigantic mountain of merit and virtue. If one performs good deeds for the sake of gaining monumental benefits, then, one’s benevolent acts will be devoid of great merit and virtue because it has been undermined by one’s greed for profit. To uphold this vow, one must practice giving which is unconditional so that one’s deeds will not be stained by impure motives.
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva courageously and vigorously maintains this vow on all levels. He constantly rejoices and follows along with the merit and virtue of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Hearers, those Enlightened to Conditions, and all living beings. He happily emulates all good conduct.
It is exceedingly difficult for living beings to rejoice and follow along with the merit and virtue of Sages. To eventually overcome that difficulty, one can begin by doing good deeds according to one’s strength and capacity. When one’s merit and virtue increases through one’s frequent cultivation of giving, one’s inner strength and capacity to do good will also increase, enabling one to give on a higher and higher level.
Sixth Vow: To Request the Turning of the Dharma Wheel
This king of Vow means, we formally and earnestly beseech the Buddha and his disciples to activate our inherent wisdom by giving us the Dharma, to teach us how to obtain liberation by speaking the Dharma.
There are two kinds of wheels that are in perpetual motion. The first is the wondrous Dharma wheel, which is turned by the Buddha and his disciples. The second is the revolving wheel of birth and death, which is turned by living beings. The Buddhas and his disciples turn the unsurpassed Dharma Wheel to enable living beings to transcend the turbid wheel of birth and death. Shakyamuni Buddha, upon his enlightenment, immediately set the Dharma wheel in motion by expounding the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva vows to go everywhere throughout the ten directions and in the three periods of time to always request the Buddhas to turn
the wonderful Dharma wheel; thereby enabling all living beings to understand, awaken to and eventually certify to the knowledge and wisdom of the Thus Come Ones.
Seventh Vow: To Request That the Buddhas Remain in the World
This is a very filial vow. After the Buddha finishes teaching those with whom he has affinities, he will manifests entry into Nirvana. Thus, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva has vowed to request all the World Honored Ones not to enter Nirvana, but to dwell eternally in the world, in all realms of existence, in order to benefit all living beings.
If that is the case, then why did Shakyamuni Buddha enter Nirvana? Did Universal Worthy Bodhisattva forget about his vow? Well, I believe that Universal Worthy Bodhisattva did request the Buddha to stay on in the world. That is why, in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says that although he manifests entry into Nirvana, in reality, the Buddha does not really pass into extinction but remain on Vulture Peak and always speaks the Dharma. However, the Buddha did not continue to dwell on in the world in his physical flesh body that could be seen by ordinary people. Perhaps, when Universal Worthy Bodhisattva was requesting the Buddha to dwell forever in the world, most of the people and even the Sages in the Great Assembly could not see or hear him doing it. Why? It could have been just like in chapter twenty-seven of the Avatamsaka Sutra, where it says that Universal Worthy Bodhisattva was actually next to the Buddha, but the Bodhisattvas could not see him because he had entered the Lion Sprint Samadhi.
Eighth Vow: To Always Study With The Buddhas
This king of vow means, one will constantly listen to and follow the Buddhas’ Teachings. If one wishes to perfectly realize one’s ultimate complete potential, one must always draw near to and learn from the Dharma Kings.
Once there was an Arhat who saw a Brahman teacher beating a schoolboy. That Arhat told the Brahman that that boy was a reincarnation of a rsi (seer) who investigated only worldly books diligently. He said to the Brahman,
‘He took delight in studying worldly books, discussing only the heretical theories and never researching into the truth. He wasted his spirit and wisdom and is still involved in the wheel of rebirth. By virtue of his surplus good deeds, he has been born your son. But, the study of the diction and language of worldly books simply wasted his energy. How can that be the same as the Tathagata’s holy Teachings, which give rise to bliss and wisdom in a mysterious way?’
In the past, after the emperor of China had read the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Tsang’s translation of the Yogacarabhumi Shastra, he said to his ministers,
‘We see that Buddhist scriptures are comparable with the immeasurable height of the sky or the fathomless depth of the sea. The Master has obtained the profound Dharma from foreign countries; but as we were busy in military and state affairs, we did not have time to engage ourselves in pursuing the teachings of the Buddha. Now we have come to see that the teachings have a far and profound origin. We can hardly know their limits. Compared with the Buddhist Teachings, Confucianism and Taoism, including all the nine schools of thought, are merely a small pond in contrast with the great sea. It is ridiculous that the world should say that the three religions are equal in value.’
Thus, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva vows to always study with all Buddhas because the World Honored Ones’ Understanding and Practice are Complete.
Ninth Vow: To Constantly Accord With Living Beings
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva first gives living beings something they like so that he can teach them the Dharma later. He showers them with his Great Kindness and takes care of them to make them happy. Then, he speaks Dharma for them. He is using the highest method, which is Gentle-Compassion, to influence and take across countless living beings. He understands human nature extremely well, and knows exactly what each living being likes and dislikes. He has studied and mastered the voluminous text on the innumerable living beings. Thus, he is perfectly well equipped for this exceedingly difficult task of ‘constantly according with all living beings,’ serving them, making offerings to them, and transforming himself into all these different types of beings in order to teach and rescue them. He vows to forever do this without ever stopping and without ever growing tired of doing it.
Tenth Vow: To Universally Transfer All Merit And Virtue
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva does not have even a hairsbreadth of selfishness. He is going to take all of his merit and virtue he has obtained from upholding his first nine Kings of Vows and completely transfer them to all living beings throughout the Dharma Realm. After giving away all of his merit and virtue to living beings, he still feels he has not done enough for them. So, he vows to also take on all the sufferings that living beings are due to undergo. He wants to undergo suffering for them so that they can be happy, cultivate and obtain liberation. He vows to transport all living beings safely to the other shore of peace and bliss while he remains behind to stand in for them, to undergo suffering on their behalf.
‘Transference’ has been discussed earlier in section twenty-five.
The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas say,
‘All of my merit and virtue belong to living beings, and all of living beings’ evil karma and offenses are mine.’
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva has boundless merit and virtue to give away, because he is constantly also upholding his previous nine vows. He will always transfer all of his merit and virtue universally throughout the Dharma Realm and never grow tired of doing it. He will in thought after thought, in moment after moment, throughout the infinity of space and until the ends of the boundaries of the future, always maintain his Ten Royal Vows without ever stopping.
After Universal Worthy Bodhisattva had finished expounding upon the Ten Kings of Vows, Good Wealth, all the Bodhisattvas and the rest of the assembly were filled with boundless joy. They all received the Teachings and practiced it.
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