Part 6 – 1
Subhuti said to the Buddha, “World Honoured One, will any sentient beings develop genuine faith by hearing these words?”
The Buddha said to Subhuti, “Don’t talk in that way. In the last five hundred years after the death of me, the Realised One, there will be those who keep the precepts and do good deeds, conceive faith in these words and consider it to be true. You should know that because those people have planted roots of goodness, not with one, two, three, four, or five Buddhas, but with infinite thousands of myriads of Buddhas, they will conceive pure faith on hearing these words for even a moment.”
Commentary:
The statement “In the last five hundred years after the death of me, the Realised One, there will be those who keep the precepts and do good deeds, conceive faith in these words and consider it to be true” means that no matter how much time passes after Shakyamuni Buddha’s death, the true-Self that is the essence of not just Shakyamuni Buddha but us—what he sought to show us—remains unchanged, neither coming nor going. It signifies that there will be practitioners who cultivate merits and those who realise the true-Self.
Even after countless ages have passed since Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, those who, without seeing the living Buddha in person and only hearing his teachings, give rise to faith are individuals who, in their past lives, planted virtuous roots with countless millions of Buddhas. Due to the great merit accumulated in past lives, they encounter the Buddha’s teachings. Thus, those of you reading this Sutra at this very moment are the ones who, in past lives, planted virtuous roots with countless millions of Buddhas and have now obtained this rare and precious opportunity.
This hard-earned opportunity must not be wasted in vain.
Here, “they will conceive pure faith on hearing these words for even a moment” means hearing these words as they are for even a moment, without being swayed by forms or words, and realising the true-Self. The purpose of following the Buddha’s teachings and studying this Sutra is to give rise to pure faith in a single moment and realise the true-Self.
The purpose of the Buddha’s teaching was not to enable us to accumulate knowledge through a literal understanding of certain facts but to help us give rise to pure faith and realise the true-Self by seeing and hearing his words as they really are. In other words, the Buddha’s intention in giving sermons was not to convey facts but to reveal the true-Self.
Thus, as stated in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “When the Dharma explained in words is vainly discriminated with limited wisdom, obstacles arise, and one fails to know their own mind,” while reading the sutra, we must not stop at understanding it through words, as is our long-standing habit. Instead, we must transcend words to give rise to pure faith and realise the true-Self.
Disciple: “What is the true-Self?”
Master: “It is not words.”
Disciple: “If it is not words, how can I know it?”
Master: “Ask again.”
Disciple: “What is the true-Self?”
Master: “You deaf fool!”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Zen Fools 