The chapter on Worshiping the Buddha's Light in the Infinite Life Sutra states: "For the Sravaka Bodhisattva, all light is obscured, only the Buddha's light shines brightly." This clearly states that only the Buddha's wisdom is completely perfect, and all sentient beings should believe what the Tathagata says. In everyday life, when we face people with profound knowledge, it is naturally difficult to express our own opinions; because what we see and know, they understand better than us, and what they know, we do not know. Therefore, when we come into contact with highly educated people, we can only listen silently. Likewise, Prince Ajatashatru and the five hundred elders, although they were the most intelligent and blessed people in contemporary society, after hearing the World-Honored One speak of the wisdom and blessings of Amitabha Buddha, they could only bow their heads in obeisance and listen, unable to utter a word. Because they themselves know that if they compare their wisdom and blessings with the Buddha, it is like comparing the volume of a drop of water to the water in the four oceans. Indeed, if we compare our wisdom with the Buddha's wisdom, it is like comparing the light energy of a firefly to the light of the sun.
In the chapter on Hearing Blessings and Wisdom of the Infinite Life Sutra, it is written: “If in a previous life one had not cultivated blessings and wisdom, one would not have been able to hear the true Dharma here. Having made offerings to the Tathagatas, one should happily believe this.” The chapter on All Vows to Become Buddhas of this sutra also says: “The causes and conditions of King Ajatasatru and the five hundred elders were not small, because in their previous lives they had made offerings to four hundred billion Buddhas. From eons ago and even during the time of Buddha Kasyapa, they were all disciples who relied on the Buddha. Now in this life they were able to meet the Buddha and listen to the Dharma, so their good roots continuously increased, quickly achieving the fruit of the path.” Today, if we are able to meet and receive this sutra, then we certainly have a great affinity with the Buddha. As the sutra says, from past lives until now, we have not planted good roots with one, two or three Buddhas, but have planted good roots with countless Buddhas, so that we can be like Prince Ajatashatru and the great elders who heard the Buddha Speaks of the Great Vehicle of Immeasurable Life Sutra, patiently develop faith and love, vow to uphold, read and recite, practice according to the instructions in the sutra, grasp the virtue of the name Amitabha Buddha to enter the One Vehicle Sea of Vows, teach each other in turn, guide each other to realize the unsurpassed path of Amitabha.
The Buddha Speaks of the Great Vehicle of Immeasurable Life Sutra is the most precious material in the entire world. The Buddha abides in true wisdom, speaking this sutra to nourish wisdom, to enrich the lives of practice for living beings, to help living beings quickly realize the Dharma body in one lifetime. Every time we recite this sutra, we will realize more profound and wonderful meanings, which will open up the wisdom in our Self-nature and gradually grow, quickly achieving Buddhahood. Therefore, in the Chapter on the Need to Practice Perseverance, the Buddha told sentient beings to always remember this sutra without stopping, and they will quickly attain enlightenment. Why? Because when a practitioner reads this sutra once, he will receive the Buddha's empowerment once; when he reads this sutra twice, he will receive the Buddha's empowerment twice... If someone often recites this sutra with good karma, the more he reads it, the more interesting he will find it; he will read it over and over again without getting bored or tired. Just like that, wisdom and morality will continuously grow until he attains the Buddha's Dharmakaya.
Layman Dong Phuong My said: "Studying Buddhism is the enjoyment of human life." Why? Because those who recite the sutra will receive the Buddha's power, allowing them to live in the Buddha's Transformation City and practice in peace; that is the enjoyment of human life. If we are not blessed by the Buddha's power, how can we practice in peace in this Dharma-ending Age? We ourselves must know that our small practice power in this life cannot withstand the immense sinful karma that we have accumulated from countless previous lives; the knowledge of ordinary people cannot destroy the endless afflictions of the world; only the Buddha's power and Buddha's wisdom can help us avoid karma, transform our current living conditions and have a peaceful life of practice. A peaceful living environment in a world full of evil and suffering is the Transformation City that the Buddha bestows upon those who recite the Buddhist sutras.
In the past, when the Buddha preached the sutras, he often used the same way of speaking over and over again with different words, different examples, different angles, different depths of realms, etc., so that upon hearing it, people would immediately remember, understand clearly and encounter profound things to awaken their Self-mind. There are many people who, after hearing the Buddha preach the sutras, immediately attained the fruits of Srotapanna, Sakrdagamin, Anagami, Arhat, and even Non-Retrogression. Yet today, there are many people who do not believe in the Buddha and refuse to uphold and recite the sutras. This is because they do not understand the profound meaning of the sutras, or do not know how to uphold the sutras, so they do not know the benefits of reciting the Buddhist sutras, which can help them quickly open up their wisdom, transform their body and mind, and realize the Dharma body. Furthermore, because those who study the sutras do not have patience, they often feel afraid of the repetitive words, and because they do not understand the profound meaning of the Buddha, they hastily think that they are not good, not practical, not suitable for modern life, etc. In the sutras, the Buddha said that such thoughts are simply due to their karmic obstacles and disasters from previous lives that have not yet ended, causing them to have doubts and not be able to believe in or like the Buddhist sutras. For that reason, the great monks and intellectuals have used the expedient power to shorten the sutras, but without increasing or decreasing the meaning of the sutras, to encourage practitioners to recite the Buddhist sutras, in order to gain true benefits from the Buddha. Therefore, we cannot underestimate the recitation and listening to the Buddhist sutras.
Those who recite the sutras with good karma can have profound understanding from each word, each sentence, each idea in the sutras. Why? Because from reciting each word, each sentence repeatedly in the sutras, concentration is achieved, and from concentration wisdom is born. If Buddhists control their six senses, use their whole mind, heart, and good karma to penetrate the Buddhist sutras, they will feel wonderful joy, full Dharma joy, wisdom will arise, and they will enjoy all the peace and happiness in life. Thanks to that, no matter how long the sutras are, they will still find them short. Why? Because the more they read and reread, the more wisdom will arise, so they will become more and more interested, never bored, never satisfied. In fact, whether a sutra is long or short depends on the reader's mentality. If the reader does not have enough good roots with the Buddha, he feels that reading and reciting sutras is a difficult and unpleasant task, so he feels that the sutra is long. As for those who have good roots with the Buddha, they feel that reading sutras is the enjoyment of life; therefore, day and night they often rest their minds on the Buddhist sutras, never knowing when to get tired, so they see the sutras as not long.
Because from ordinary sentient beings to great Bodhisattvas in the ten directions of the Dharma realm, all request the Buddha to speak the Dharma, the Buddha, in accordance with the causes and conditions of each person, transforms the Dharma differently, so that each person's root can enjoy the wonderful Dharma happiness that is suitable to their root nature. If someone sees the Buddha Dharma as always the same, then that person must not know how to study the sutras, does not understand the sutras, and also does not know how to uphold the sutras. The more people read the sutras, the more they see the realm of wisdom constantly changing, that is because their wisdom is constantly growing, they are gradually penetrating the meaning of the Tathagata's treasury. In other words, every time we study the sutras, listen to the sutras or recite the sutras, our wisdom grows, so every time we study the sutras, listen to the sutras or recite the sutras, our understanding changes. Our understanding today is not the same as yesterday's understanding because our wisdom today is not the same as yesterday's. If we study Buddhism for many years but our understanding of the sutras does not change, it means we have not made progress, our wisdom has not grown.
Those who receive and uphold the sutras with a pure and empty True Mind will have an unimaginable understanding with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. What is that understanding? It is the reception of the Buddha's wisdom light shining directly into the depths of our hearts, so that our impurities are naturally eliminated, our good birth occurs, our body and mind become supple, joyful and peaceful. Therefore, those who study Buddhism in the ultimate sense must begin by worshiping the Buddha, bowing to the Buddha, reciting the Buddha's name, reading and listening to the explanations of Mahayana sutras until their hearts develop true faith and full Dharma joy, then they will see the Buddha. The Buddha they see is their own eternal Dharma body.
A normal Buddhist student must go through three stages. First, they begin to see and know the Buddha through the ordinary seeing of the form through reading sutras and listening to the Dharma. Next, they see the Buddha through faith in the Buddha through understanding the Dharma. And finally, they see the Buddha through their own True Mind and Self-nature, that is, they see their own eternal Dharma body. In the beginning stage of studying Buddhism, we are all often caught up in the disease of attachment, so we see all dharmas as having self, duality, and distinction. This is nothing strange, it is just our habitual tendencies from beginningless time until now. Thanks to the diligence in studying Buddhism, reading sutras, and listening to the Dharma without interruption, we gradually naturally realize our own erroneous understandings; and from there, we will gradually replace the ordinary person's way of knowing with the Buddha's pure and clear way of knowing naturally, without having to force ourselves to work.
In the Great Teaching of Dependent Origination Chapter of the Infinite Life Sutra, the Buddha emitted a bright light that clearly revealed the ten directions of the world, including all the impure and pure realms, with the purpose of explaining that the Buddha Speaks of the Great Vehicle Infinite Life Sutra is not only for a certain species of living beings, a certain group of living beings, or only for wise people, the foolish cannot practice it. The Buddha promulgated this sutra for all living beings in the ten directions of the Dharma realm, without distinguishing between hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, gods, or even the ranks of Mahayana Bodhisattvas. Whoever has the affinity to receive this sutra with a sincere and earnest heart, absolutely desires liberation, and always has the highest level of mental concentration, then that person has all the affinity, good roots, and conditions to penetrate the Dharma treasury of the Tathagata. Not only that, in the future they will also have the ability to expound this sutra with the experiences from their studies and practice in this life in a very profound way. The things they have are all due to a sincere and respectful heart to study Buddhism, not due to worldly knowledge. That has been clearly stated, the sincere and respectful heart to study Buddhism is the most important factor of a Buddhist student, not due to worldly knowledge.
In the chapter All Vows to Become Buddhas, the Buddha talks about the affinity of his teachings to the princes from countless eons ago until now, with the aim of suggesting to us that on the path of cultivation of everyone there are karmic causes and effects. When we look at reality, we will clearly see that if the practitioner finds the right Dharma, the right teacher with whom he has planted the good causes and conditions from his previous life, then the good roots he cultivated in his previous life will automatically manifest immediately, naturally giving rise to great joy in his heart, full of Dharma joy, helping him to easily sublimate in his practice and achieve more quickly; because he does not need to practice again from the beginning. On the contrary, if in his previous life, he did little good, created too much evil, never made connections with Buddha and good intellectuals, then in this life he will encounter only adverse events, enemies and confrontations, unable to meet the Buddha's teachings, a good teacher or a good friend suitable to his nature; that is, his practice is hindered, good roots and Dharma joy are difficult to manifest.
In reality, thanks to studying Buddhism, we can clearly see the causes and effects that occur in this life. The good people who help us or the bad people who oppose us are all people who had a close relationship with us in the past, and in this life they meet again only because of a predestined relationship. Regardless of whether that predestined relationship is good or bad, for those who truly study Buddhism, they will use it as a condition to improve, transforming all good or bad predestined relationships into good roots. They have wisdom, knowing how to rely on the current predestined relationship to transform it into good predestined relationships for the future. They change their realm by changing their ordinary consciousness to the Buddha's wisdom, and they change their behavior in body and speech to be like the Buddha when interacting with people. People with such wisdom and a sincere heart who study Buddhism will certainly be able to change their ordinary realm into a holy one in the future.
People who study Buddhism cannot change their realm because they do not know how to study Buddhism, so they have not yet achieved true success in Buddhism. They need to review and change their way of studying Buddhism, must concentrate on reading sutras, listening to Dharma and reciting Buddha's name more, to understand the Tathagata's Dharma clearly, have clear understanding, and practice correctly. If the principles and practices of cultivation do not harmonize with each other, it will easily create obstacles, increasing karmic obstacles and afflictions in the life of cultivation. If the more we practice, the more afflictions, delusions, and attachments arise, and we cannot be at ease and free in all dharmas, then we must know that the main reason is that we do not truly study Buddhism, or misunderstand the Buddha's teachings.
Furthermore, those who study Buddhism must have a deep awareness of the law of cause and effect and must know how to be in harmony with living beings; that is, they must know how to treat everyone according to their wishes, with a pure, equal, and compassionate heart, and should not be arrogant and force them to follow their wishes. The Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra teaches that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, according to the wishes of living beings, will immediately appear in that body to speak the Dharma to them if they are worthy; this is because he has profound wisdom and skillful means. Those who study Buddhism must have broad wisdom and understanding, and must look far ahead to guard against obstacles that can happen at any time; Because if we have extensive knowledge, foresight, and preparation, then when karmic retribution suddenly occurs, we will know how to respond, not be afraid, not be caught in the net of demons.
When demons, heretics, and karmic creditors come to destroy us, we will know how to resolve our hatred and guilt towards them, know how to transform resentment into kindness, and know how to encourage them to rely on Buddha and Bodhisattva together to avoid demonic obstacles on the path of spiritual practice and liberation. People who study Buddhism like this will certainly have achievements. We should know that when we practice and have a little achievement, we will certainly encounter many demonic obstacles. Why? Because demons and karmic creditors do not want us to achieve spiritual practice. Demons and karmic creditors will examine the remaining mistakes in our body, speech, and mind and throw the net to catch us. Therefore, practitioners must not be arrogant, that is, they must always rely on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to be protected and protected by the Three Jewels so that they do not fall into the net of demons. Practitioners must also not be lowly, they must strive to practice Precepts-Concentration-Wisdom to subdue demons and control evil thoughts that appear in their minds. Reciting sutras and reciting Buddha's name are the most effective methods of practicing Precepts-Concentration-Wisdom, capable of helping us subdue both internal and external demons.
Thành công là khi bạn đứng dậy nhiều hơn số lần vấp ngã. (Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.)Jon Bon Jovi
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58. LÊ THỊ MỚI (1935 - 2011, 76 tuổi)
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