20140425《靜思妙蓮華》先權後實勤修成道(第291集)
⊙今佛引述過去諸佛，眾生從諸佛所聞法，成佛果，無不從眾生精誠勤修中而成道。
⊙「舍利弗！如來但以一佛乘故，為眾生說法，無有餘乘若二若三。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙「舍利弗！一切十方諸佛法亦如是。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙序品中「因佛光照見萬八千土」：無不為實施權，會權歸實至於一切，十方諸佛出世，無不先權後實，說諸法亦如是。
【證嚴上人開示】
「今佛引述過去諸佛，眾生從諸佛所聞法，成佛果，無不從眾生精誠勤修中而成正道。」
今佛引述過去諸佛
眾生從諸佛所聞法
成佛果
無不從眾生精誠
勤修中而成正道
佛陀時時在說法時，會引過去的佛等等，很多的過去佛的值佛，生生世世的緣。尤其是《法華經》，將要開講之前，佛陀出定，不就是一直在讚歎，從過去無量億千萬佛所修行，這也就是在引述，他還未成佛以前，所親近過的諸佛有很多，累生累世，不斷修行，從佛教法，這樣不斷過來。
所以「眾生從諸佛所聞法」，就說很多眾生，全都也是從諸佛的時代，這樣聽佛(說法)過來的。所說的眾生，也就是過去諸佛，也是經過了眾生，也是經過凡夫，經過凡夫，才又受再過去的諸佛，這樣的教育。釋迦牟尼佛就是其中一位，他也是從一位凡夫開始，從諸佛的地方，這樣用心修行過來。
所以「成佛果無不從眾生，精誠勤修中而成道」。現在他能成佛，還是一樣，無不是從眾生的時代，眾生就是凡夫，就是從凡夫的時代，這樣發心開始就是精進，非常誠意，很虔誠，精誠的心這樣勤修，就這樣，一路勤修過來。這全都是從過去的諸佛的教法，這樣依教奉行，生生世世在諸佛道場勤修過來。不只是他一位，就是過去諸佛也是一樣，一樣是這樣反反覆覆，累生累世這樣前後修行，前後成道。
我們現在已經瞭解了，佛他是用心要來引導我們眾生，人人本具佛性。我們大家這段在無量劫以前，我們不知道遇過了多少佛，我們不知道在多少的佛所，都有聽過佛所教法。我們在這這輩子，與釋迦牟尼佛特別有緣，同生於此地球上，尤其是還是在現在，娑婆世界的教主，釋迦牟尼佛，在化度的時代。
所以說來，佛陀的慈悲，他從他自己，他不是天生就是佛，他要告訴大家，(曾經)還是與我們一樣，也是凡夫，也是經過了無量諸佛所教化。其實，無量諸佛還是又經過了，過去諸佛所教育，所以，輾轉不斷修行，不斷成就，不斷教育，這就是佛的世界。也就是我們人人心中如來的世界，人人本具清淨本性。
佛陀就是希望我們的，無量佛的世界，能夠成就我們人人、眾生的心靈世界，希望我們眾生能夠及時覺悟。那就是從現在諸佛，所給我們的法，循此法規，我們就軌道，找回我們無始以來，已經成就如來本性。這是佛陀的慈悲。
所以，在前段的(經)文，釋迦牟尼佛喚：「舍利弗！如來但以一佛乘故，為眾生說法，無有餘乘若二若三。」
舍利弗
如來但以
一佛乘故
為眾生說法
無有餘乘
若二若三
《法華經 方便品第二》
佛陀就是以一佛乘，他開門見山，直指人心，明心見性。所以這麼簡單，只為了這件事情，一乘實法，要來向眾生說。但是，眾生就是根機(不同)，所以佛陀不得不為實施權。為了要讓大家從這個心，凡夫心，無明的念，要如何讓他的無明，一層一層去除，漸漸回歸我們清淨的本性。這是一實之法，但是就是大家無法一時就瞭解，所以不得不小乘、中乘。其實小乘、中乘，只是要讓我們這樣，一層層的無明去除，讓你能夠到達，無明全部去除之後，剩下的就是真實的質，那就是大圓鏡智了。
就如我們看到我們的慈濟人，一些人間的菩薩，常常就看到他們去一家家庭，裡面所囤積著，是非常多骯髒的東西，這些骯髒的東西，還有很多的生靈在裡面，有蟲、蟑螂、老鼠，甚至蛇，這樣在屋裡。與這樣的人，苦難人，身心、病痛，我們慈濟人發起了大心，大家相約一起就去了，去為他打掃。
看，這些垃圾，其實還未骯髒以前，每一項都是從新的開始。因為年久月深，他人在用，不要了丟掉，他把它撿回來；或者是自己在用的，用久了，這樣丟著，變成破爛，變成堆積在一起，叫做垃圾。
慈濟人，仔細地一件一件，一直搬出去，一件一件為他挑選過，能夠回收的回收，不能回收的就處理掉它，能用的，重新洗過，洗得很乾淨，家裡全部為他打掃，打掃得煥然一新。之後，就將人洗乾淨，該剃頭的剃頭，刮鬍子的刮鬍子，身體洗好，衣服換好，床鋪已經鋪乾淨了，這樣再將人扶啊扶進來。很清爽，哪怕此人身體有病痛，恢復了這麼好的房屋，這麼乾淨，他的內心也會很歡喜，瞭解他的生命，原來還有這麼多人在疼惜。
這是要向大家譬喻，我們人人無論年齡有多少，無論身體是健康或是病痛，我們都同樣要用同等的愛心，要如何為他輔導，讓他的內心能夠得到佛法。無論他是老人，或者是臨命終人，我們還是一樣，要給他一股清流教育他。何況說我們現在很有福，在身心健康的時代，我們就能接受到佛法，這個心宅，我們自己要清掃，不是等到我們滿身是病，或者是業報現前，自己已經沒辦法了，所剩的日子不多，我們不要等到那個時候。
我們現在聽到，我們要趕緊自我清掃，掃得我們內心的大圓鏡智，趕緊清、洗、擦，讓我們的無明一層層，一直去除，我們的本質，就是那面圓鏡，這個智讓它現前。所以，佛陀來人間，就是要指導我們，人人懂得用功，自己回歸自性，自己趕緊清掃我們的心宅。
佛陀說，唯一佛乘，就是要讓我們趕緊，將那些無明去除，最重要的目標就是清淨。內心清淨、明亮，這種真如本性現前，就沒有二乘、三乘，是一佛乘。這是前面所說的。
我們現在就來看這段(經)文，佛陀這樣說：「舍利弗！一切十方諸佛法亦如是。」
舍利弗
一切十方諸佛
法亦如是
《法華經 方便品第二》
其實，十方諸佛法也是一樣，要「開、示」眾生，是用一乘佛性，是要讓人人全都能成佛，就是用此法，所以「一切十方諸佛法亦如是」。
記得在〈序品〉中的開頭，佛陀打坐時，入無量義處(三昧)，眉間毫光不斷放射，眉間毫光照萬八千佛土。大家應該還記得那一段經文，還未說《法華經》之前，開始佛陀就先現出這種實相。
人人的心，其實與佛心同等，我們的神通變化與佛也是一樣。不過，佛陀的神通所放現出去的，都是光明，我們的神通都是到處雜念。我們放射的神通也很快，我們在放射的神通——喔，想到了，昨天誰中傷我一句是非，我很氣。放射昨天，不只，去年，不只，十年前，在某某一個地方、在某個時間、某個空間。凡夫這心靈的神通放射出去。時間很快。
佛陀的光，他的光芒，他放射出去，那就是在萬八千的佛土，很多佛的世界。佛的世界是清淨光明，那些佛的世界，是佛陀來看每一位眾生，心中都有那念真如的本性存在。所以為一施權，為一乘，所以施權，也是為眾生來施權。
序品中：因佛光
照見萬八千土
無不為實施權
會權歸實至於一切
十方諸佛出世
無不先權後實
說諸法亦如是
「施權」就是方便，無不為實施權，說出來，「會權歸實至於一切」，在那期間讓光明放出去，那就是「會權歸實」。那就是要向大家表達說，過去是應眾生的根機，現在眾生的根機，差不多能夠成熟了，現在要將此「權」會合回來，要告訴大家：不只是這樣，在這權中還有一個真實、無上正等的妙法。這是在《法華經》的開頭，這樣告訴大家。
「十方諸佛出世，無不先權後實」，這是每一尊佛都一樣，「說諸法亦如是」。這是佛陀他向舍利弗說，「一切十方諸佛，法亦如是」，與我現在一樣。因為眾生，累世以來的眾生，名稱為眾生，就是全都一樣，一念之差，千萬念之錯，一念無明起，三細無明生，現在要讓大家知道三途六道，無不都是從那一念的，微細無明這樣產生出來。所以現在這些無明，要如何來收合起來，那就是要用三乘的教法。所以為一乘開三乘，用三乘來適應根機。
就如我們大地需要雨露滋潤，剛剛好的雨露，大地就能五穀豐收。若是下大雨，豪大雨，豪大雨，那就是過量，就山崩、土石流，這就是不適量。佛陀的智慧，就是要視如何適量。所以二三天前說，「如理智」、「如量智」，那就是要如何讓眾生，能夠漸漸來接受、瞭解，甚至能夠及時發心修行。這是佛陀巧妙方法。十方諸佛出世，無不都是先權後實，說諸法亦如是，與釋迦牟尼佛一樣。所以我們大家要時時多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Teaching the Provisional before the True (先權後實勤修成道)
Date: April. 25. 2014
“The present Buddha described past Buddhas. Sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas. To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.”
When the Buddha teaches, He frequently refers to past Buddhas and how They each had the karmic affinities to encounter Buddhas, life after life. In particular, before expounding the Lotus Sutra, He emerged from Samadhi and continuously praised practices He learned from countless past Buddhas. Thus, He cited His experiences prior to attaining Buddhahood. He had drawn near many Buddhas and, over many successive lifetimes, continuously practiced Their teachings. So, “sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas.” That is to say, many sentient beings had listened to the teachings of past Buddhas. The sentient beings we speak of are all past Buddhas; They each also lived as sentient beings, as ordinary people, and as ordinary people, received the teachings of previous Buddhas and received the teachings of previous Buddhas. Sakyamuni Buddha was one of these; He also began at the state of an ordinary person. Then as He learned from all Buddhas, He mindfully engaged in spiritual practice.
“To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.” He was able to attain Buddhahood through that same process of starting as a sentient being. This meant He started as an ordinary person and had been focused since He formed aspirations. He diligently practiced with great reverence. As He sincerely practiced the Way, He accepted and acted according to the teachings of past Buddhas. Lifetime after lifetime, He diligently practiced at the practice centers of all Buddhas. He was not the only one.
All Buddhas went through the same process, repeatedly learning from past Buddhas and, life after life, engaging in spiritual practice to attain enlightenment. Now, we know and understand that the Buddha mindfully guided us sentient beings because we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.
Through countless kalpas, who knows how many Buddhas we have met and in how many places we have listened to Their teachings. In this lifetime, we have a special affinity with Sakyamuni Buddha, so we are born on the same planet, Earth, and in particular, at a time when He is the founder of Buddhism in the Saha World, in the era of His teaching.
So we are born on the same planet, Earth, and in particular, at a time when.He is the founder of Buddhism in the Saha World, in the era of His teaching.Therefore, the Buddha is very compassionate for telling us that He had not always been a Buddha.
He tells us all that He used to be just like us, an ordinary person who had also experienced the teachings of infinite Buddhas.
Actually, infinite Buddhas have also experienced the teachings of previously Buddhas.
So, the continuous cycle of engaging in spiritual practice, attaining Buddhahood and teaching is the state of a Buddha.This is also the state of the Tathagata in each of our hearts; we intrinsically have this pure intrinsic nature.
The Buddha hopes that the state of infinite Buddhas can perfect the spiritual state of all sentient be He hopes that we sentient beings can immediately awaken.So based on the teachings all Buddhas have given us, we must follow His rules and set out on this path to rediscover the Tathagata-nature that we have had since Beginnignless Time.
This shows the Buddha’s compassion.
So, in the previous sutra passage, Sakaymuni Buddha called out, “Sariputra, the Tathagata, gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings.There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”
The Buddha utilizes the One Buddha Vehicle to get straight to the point, to directly point to our hearts, so we can understand our minds and realize our true nature.His goals are this simple; He comes only for this purpose, to teach sentient beings the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.Due to sentient beings different capabilities, the Buddha had to teach the truth through provisional means.He did this to help us eliminate these ignorant thoughts from our ordinary minds, layer by layer, so we can gradually return to our pure intrinsic nature.This is the teaching of the One Reality.
However, we cannot understand it immediately, so He has to teach the Small and Middle Vehicles.In truth, the Small and Middle Vehicles can help us eliminate layers after layers of ignorance.Once we have completely eliminated ignorance, the only thing left is our true essence, our great prefect mirror wisdom.
Take many of our Tzu Chi volunteers as examples.These Living Bodhisattvas frequently go to households of the elderly, which have accumulated many old and dirty things.Within this mess, there may be many living beings such as bugs, roaches, rats and even snakes.These creatures live under the same roof as these people who suffer physically and mentally.Tzu Chi volunteers form great aspirations and work together to clean these homes.Look at all this trash.Before becoming so dirty, each item had once been new.As time passed, after being soused by others, they were thrown out and retrieved by these people.Perhaps these people used the items themselves, then threw them aside after a while.So, new things become old and ragged.Thrown into piles, they become trash.
Then Tzu Chi volunteers come to carefully remove [the trash] piece by piece.They carefully sort out these things; they recycle what can be recycled and dispose of the things that cannot be recycled. As for the things can still be used, they wash them clean. They also clean the entire house till, it looks brand new. Next, they clean up the care recipients, giving haircuts to those who need them, shaves to those with beards. After these people are bathed and dressed, after the beds are made, [volunteers] help them get situated. Even if [the care recipients] are physically ill, upon seeing the house cleaned up so well and restored so beautifully, they feel very happy as well. Then they realize that there are still many people who care about them. This is an example to show all of you that regardless of how old people are, whether they are healthy or ill, we should counsel all of them with the same kind of love to help them take the Buddha-Dharma to heart. Whether we encounter old people or people who are near the end of their lives, we should share pure teachings with all of them. Moreover, we ourselves are very blessed to now be receiving the Buddha-Dharma while we are healthy in body and mind. We must clean out the house in our hearts and not wait until we are ridden with illness or are facing our karmic retributions, already at the point where we cannot do anything, and do not have much time left. We must not wait until that moment. As we hear these teachings right now, we must immediately begin to clean that great perfect mirror in our minds. We must immediately clean, wash and wipe away our ignorance, layer by layer. Our basic essence is that perfect mirror, so this wisdom will be revealed.
The Buddha comes to this world to guide us so we will work hard and return to our [intrinsic nature] by quickly cleaning out the house of our hearts. The Buddha taught the One Buddha Vehicle to help us quickly eliminate our ignorance. Our most important goal is to purity our minds until they are clear and radiant. Once our Tathagata-nature manifests, we will not need the Two or Three Vehicles, only the One Buddha Vehicle. This is what I mentioned earlier.
Now let us examine this passage in the sutra. The Buddha said,
“Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”
In truth, the Dharma of all Buddhas is the same. They “open and reveal” [teachings] to sentient beings with the One Buddha Vehicle. To help all of us attain Buddhahood. They utilize this teaching. Yet, people remain the same. So, “the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this”.
Recall the beginning of the Introductory Chapter. When the Buddha sat in meditation and entered the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings, the light between His brows continuously radiated and illuminated the 18,000 Buddha-lands. You probably still remember that passage. Before He gave the Lotus teachings, the Buddha manifested this ultimate reality. In fact, our minds are equal to the Buddha-mind, so we have the same spiritual powers as Him. However, with His spiritual powers, the Buddha radiates light that is illuminating, whereas our [lesser] spiritual power [causes us to] give rise to discursive thoughts. With our spiritual power, we also travel quickly, [but land on thoughts such as,] “Oh, I remember. Yesterday someone hurt me by saying this, so I am very angry.” The power does not just lead us to yesterday, but last year, or perhaps ten years ago.
[It leads us to] a certain place, a certain time, a certain space. Exercising our spiritual powers does not take very long.
The Buddha’s radiance, the light that the Buddha radiates, [illuminates] the 18,000 Buddha-lands. The worlds of many Buddhas are pure and bright. These worlds are what the Buddha sees in the hearts of sentient beings, because each of us have that pure Buddha-nature. So, He gave provisional teachings for the sake of the One Vehicle, for the sake of sentient beings.
In the Introductory Chapter: The Buddha’s light illuminates 18,000 lands for the sake of teaching the truth through provisional means. Then the provisional is brought back to the true. Thus, Buddhas of the ten directions, who come to the world, all first teach the provisional, then the true. They all give teachings in the same way.
“Provisional” teachings are skillful means. For the sake of true teachings, He gave provisional teachings. “Then the provisional is brought back to the true.” During the time that He radiated light, He was [highlighting the provisional] to lead us to the truth. By doing this, He was telling everyone that in the past, He adapted to sentient beings’ capabilities. But now that their capabilities were almost mature, He gathered those provisional teachings and told everyone that this was not all there was.
Within the provisional teachings is a true, supreme, perfect and universal wondrous Dharma. This was what the Buddha stated at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra. “Buddha of the ten directions, who come to the world, all first teach the provisional then the true. All Buddhas do the same thing, “They all give teachings in the same way.” This was why the Buddha told Sariputra, “The Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”They all did the same things as Him because sentient beings, lifetime after lifetime, have always been the same. One aberrant thought led to millions of erroneous thoughts. An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. Now let me explain that the Three [Evil] Destinies and Six Realms were all created because of that single subtle, ignorance thought.
So, how do we now draw in and gather up these ignorant thoughts? We must utilize the Three Vehicle teachings. To teach the One Vehicle, the Buddha utilized the Three Vehicle teachings that suited various capabilities.
Similarly, our land needs the nourishment of rain. With just the right amount of rain, the land can produce a bountiful harvest. But if there is heavy rain, it over-saturates the land and may cause landslides and rockslides. This is because the amount is unsuitable. With His wisdom the Buddha can perceive the suitable amount.
So, for the past two or three days, I have discussed ultimate wisdom and relative wisdom. These help sentient beings gradually accept understand and even aspire to engage in spiritual practice. These are the Buddha’s skillful means. All Buddhas of the ten directions first gave provisional, then true teachings. They all give teachings in the same way that Sakyamuni Buddha did. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
⊙今佛引述過去諸佛，眾生從諸佛所聞法，成佛果，無不從眾生精誠勤修中而成道。
⊙「舍利弗！如來但以一佛乘故，為眾生說法，無有餘乘若二若三。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙「舍利弗！一切十方諸佛法亦如是。」《法華經方便品第二》
⊙序品中「因佛光照見萬八千土」：無不為實施權，會權歸實至於一切，十方諸佛出世，無不先權後實，說諸法亦如是。
【證嚴上人開示】
「今佛引述過去諸佛，眾生從諸佛所聞法，成佛果，無不從眾生精誠勤修中而成正道。」
今佛引述過去諸佛
眾生從諸佛所聞法
成佛果
無不從眾生精誠
勤修中而成正道
佛陀時時在說法時，會引過去的佛等等，很多的過去佛的值佛，生生世世的緣。尤其是《法華經》，將要開講之前，佛陀出定，不就是一直在讚歎，從過去無量億千萬佛所修行，這也就是在引述，他還未成佛以前，所親近過的諸佛有很多，累生累世，不斷修行，從佛教法，這樣不斷過來。
所以「眾生從諸佛所聞法」，就說很多眾生，全都也是從諸佛的時代，這樣聽佛(說法)過來的。所說的眾生，也就是過去諸佛，也是經過了眾生，也是經過凡夫，經過凡夫，才又受再過去的諸佛，這樣的教育。釋迦牟尼佛就是其中一位，他也是從一位凡夫開始，從諸佛的地方，這樣用心修行過來。
所以「成佛果無不從眾生，精誠勤修中而成道」。現在他能成佛，還是一樣，無不是從眾生的時代，眾生就是凡夫，就是從凡夫的時代，這樣發心開始就是精進，非常誠意，很虔誠，精誠的心這樣勤修，就這樣，一路勤修過來。這全都是從過去的諸佛的教法，這樣依教奉行，生生世世在諸佛道場勤修過來。不只是他一位，就是過去諸佛也是一樣，一樣是這樣反反覆覆，累生累世這樣前後修行，前後成道。
我們現在已經瞭解了，佛他是用心要來引導我們眾生，人人本具佛性。我們大家這段在無量劫以前，我們不知道遇過了多少佛，我們不知道在多少的佛所，都有聽過佛所教法。我們在這這輩子，與釋迦牟尼佛特別有緣，同生於此地球上，尤其是還是在現在，娑婆世界的教主，釋迦牟尼佛，在化度的時代。
所以說來，佛陀的慈悲，他從他自己，他不是天生就是佛，他要告訴大家，(曾經)還是與我們一樣，也是凡夫，也是經過了無量諸佛所教化。其實，無量諸佛還是又經過了，過去諸佛所教育，所以，輾轉不斷修行，不斷成就，不斷教育，這就是佛的世界。也就是我們人人心中如來的世界，人人本具清淨本性。
佛陀就是希望我們的，無量佛的世界，能夠成就我們人人、眾生的心靈世界，希望我們眾生能夠及時覺悟。那就是從現在諸佛，所給我們的法，循此法規，我們就軌道，找回我們無始以來，已經成就如來本性。這是佛陀的慈悲。
所以，在前段的(經)文，釋迦牟尼佛喚：「舍利弗！如來但以一佛乘故，為眾生說法，無有餘乘若二若三。」
舍利弗
如來但以
一佛乘故
為眾生說法
無有餘乘
若二若三
《法華經 方便品第二》
佛陀就是以一佛乘，他開門見山，直指人心，明心見性。所以這麼簡單，只為了這件事情，一乘實法，要來向眾生說。但是，眾生就是根機(不同)，所以佛陀不得不為實施權。為了要讓大家從這個心，凡夫心，無明的念，要如何讓他的無明，一層一層去除，漸漸回歸我們清淨的本性。這是一實之法，但是就是大家無法一時就瞭解，所以不得不小乘、中乘。其實小乘、中乘，只是要讓我們這樣，一層層的無明去除，讓你能夠到達，無明全部去除之後，剩下的就是真實的質，那就是大圓鏡智了。
就如我們看到我們的慈濟人，一些人間的菩薩，常常就看到他們去一家家庭，裡面所囤積著，是非常多骯髒的東西，這些骯髒的東西，還有很多的生靈在裡面，有蟲、蟑螂、老鼠，甚至蛇，這樣在屋裡。與這樣的人，苦難人，身心、病痛，我們慈濟人發起了大心，大家相約一起就去了，去為他打掃。
看，這些垃圾，其實還未骯髒以前，每一項都是從新的開始。因為年久月深，他人在用，不要了丟掉，他把它撿回來；或者是自己在用的，用久了，這樣丟著，變成破爛，變成堆積在一起，叫做垃圾。
慈濟人，仔細地一件一件，一直搬出去，一件一件為他挑選過，能夠回收的回收，不能回收的就處理掉它，能用的，重新洗過，洗得很乾淨，家裡全部為他打掃，打掃得煥然一新。之後，就將人洗乾淨，該剃頭的剃頭，刮鬍子的刮鬍子，身體洗好，衣服換好，床鋪已經鋪乾淨了，這樣再將人扶啊扶進來。很清爽，哪怕此人身體有病痛，恢復了這麼好的房屋，這麼乾淨，他的內心也會很歡喜，瞭解他的生命，原來還有這麼多人在疼惜。
這是要向大家譬喻，我們人人無論年齡有多少，無論身體是健康或是病痛，我們都同樣要用同等的愛心，要如何為他輔導，讓他的內心能夠得到佛法。無論他是老人，或者是臨命終人，我們還是一樣，要給他一股清流教育他。何況說我們現在很有福，在身心健康的時代，我們就能接受到佛法，這個心宅，我們自己要清掃，不是等到我們滿身是病，或者是業報現前，自己已經沒辦法了，所剩的日子不多，我們不要等到那個時候。
我們現在聽到，我們要趕緊自我清掃，掃得我們內心的大圓鏡智，趕緊清、洗、擦，讓我們的無明一層層，一直去除，我們的本質，就是那面圓鏡，這個智讓它現前。所以，佛陀來人間，就是要指導我們，人人懂得用功，自己回歸自性，自己趕緊清掃我們的心宅。
佛陀說，唯一佛乘，就是要讓我們趕緊，將那些無明去除，最重要的目標就是清淨。內心清淨、明亮，這種真如本性現前，就沒有二乘、三乘，是一佛乘。這是前面所說的。
我們現在就來看這段(經)文，佛陀這樣說：「舍利弗！一切十方諸佛法亦如是。」
舍利弗
一切十方諸佛
法亦如是
《法華經 方便品第二》
其實，十方諸佛法也是一樣，要「開、示」眾生，是用一乘佛性，是要讓人人全都能成佛，就是用此法，所以「一切十方諸佛法亦如是」。
記得在〈序品〉中的開頭，佛陀打坐時，入無量義處(三昧)，眉間毫光不斷放射，眉間毫光照萬八千佛土。大家應該還記得那一段經文，還未說《法華經》之前，開始佛陀就先現出這種實相。
人人的心，其實與佛心同等，我們的神通變化與佛也是一樣。不過，佛陀的神通所放現出去的，都是光明，我們的神通都是到處雜念。我們放射的神通也很快，我們在放射的神通——喔，想到了，昨天誰中傷我一句是非，我很氣。放射昨天，不只，去年，不只，十年前，在某某一個地方、在某個時間、某個空間。凡夫這心靈的神通放射出去。時間很快。
佛陀的光，他的光芒，他放射出去，那就是在萬八千的佛土，很多佛的世界。佛的世界是清淨光明，那些佛的世界，是佛陀來看每一位眾生，心中都有那念真如的本性存在。所以為一施權，為一乘，所以施權，也是為眾生來施權。
序品中：因佛光
照見萬八千土
無不為實施權
會權歸實至於一切
十方諸佛出世
無不先權後實
說諸法亦如是
「施權」就是方便，無不為實施權，說出來，「會權歸實至於一切」，在那期間讓光明放出去，那就是「會權歸實」。那就是要向大家表達說，過去是應眾生的根機，現在眾生的根機，差不多能夠成熟了，現在要將此「權」會合回來，要告訴大家：不只是這樣，在這權中還有一個真實、無上正等的妙法。這是在《法華經》的開頭，這樣告訴大家。
「十方諸佛出世，無不先權後實」，這是每一尊佛都一樣，「說諸法亦如是」。這是佛陀他向舍利弗說，「一切十方諸佛，法亦如是」，與我現在一樣。因為眾生，累世以來的眾生，名稱為眾生，就是全都一樣，一念之差，千萬念之錯，一念無明起，三細無明生，現在要讓大家知道三途六道，無不都是從那一念的，微細無明這樣產生出來。所以現在這些無明，要如何來收合起來，那就是要用三乘的教法。所以為一乘開三乘，用三乘來適應根機。
就如我們大地需要雨露滋潤，剛剛好的雨露，大地就能五穀豐收。若是下大雨，豪大雨，豪大雨，那就是過量，就山崩、土石流，這就是不適量。佛陀的智慧，就是要視如何適量。所以二三天前說，「如理智」、「如量智」，那就是要如何讓眾生，能夠漸漸來接受、瞭解，甚至能夠及時發心修行。這是佛陀巧妙方法。十方諸佛出世，無不都是先權後實，說諸法亦如是，與釋迦牟尼佛一樣。所以我們大家要時時多用心。
Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Teaching the Provisional before the True (先權後實勤修成道)
Date: April. 25. 2014
“The present Buddha described past Buddhas. Sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas. To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.”
When the Buddha teaches, He frequently refers to past Buddhas and how They each had the karmic affinities to encounter Buddhas, life after life. In particular, before expounding the Lotus Sutra, He emerged from Samadhi and continuously praised practices He learned from countless past Buddhas. Thus, He cited His experiences prior to attaining Buddhahood. He had drawn near many Buddhas and, over many successive lifetimes, continuously practiced Their teachings. So, “sentient beings learn the Dharma by listening to all Buddhas.” That is to say, many sentient beings had listened to the teachings of past Buddhas. The sentient beings we speak of are all past Buddhas; They each also lived as sentient beings, as ordinary people, and as ordinary people, received the teachings of previous Buddhas and received the teachings of previous Buddhas. Sakyamuni Buddha was one of these; He also began at the state of an ordinary person. Then as He learned from all Buddhas, He mindfully engaged in spiritual practice.
“To attain the fruit of Buddhahood, they have to reach enlightenment through focused, sincere and diligent practice.” He was able to attain Buddhahood through that same process of starting as a sentient being. This meant He started as an ordinary person and had been focused since He formed aspirations. He diligently practiced with great reverence. As He sincerely practiced the Way, He accepted and acted according to the teachings of past Buddhas. Lifetime after lifetime, He diligently practiced at the practice centers of all Buddhas. He was not the only one.
All Buddhas went through the same process, repeatedly learning from past Buddhas and, life after life, engaging in spiritual practice to attain enlightenment. Now, we know and understand that the Buddha mindfully guided us sentient beings because we all intrinsically have Buddha-nature.
Through countless kalpas, who knows how many Buddhas we have met and in how many places we have listened to Their teachings. In this lifetime, we have a special affinity with Sakyamuni Buddha, so we are born on the same planet, Earth, and in particular, at a time when He is the founder of Buddhism in the Saha World, in the era of His teaching.
So we are born on the same planet, Earth, and in particular, at a time when.He is the founder of Buddhism in the Saha World, in the era of His teaching.Therefore, the Buddha is very compassionate for telling us that He had not always been a Buddha.
He tells us all that He used to be just like us, an ordinary person who had also experienced the teachings of infinite Buddhas.
Actually, infinite Buddhas have also experienced the teachings of previously Buddhas.
So, the continuous cycle of engaging in spiritual practice, attaining Buddhahood and teaching is the state of a Buddha.This is also the state of the Tathagata in each of our hearts; we intrinsically have this pure intrinsic nature.
The Buddha hopes that the state of infinite Buddhas can perfect the spiritual state of all sentient be He hopes that we sentient beings can immediately awaken.So based on the teachings all Buddhas have given us, we must follow His rules and set out on this path to rediscover the Tathagata-nature that we have had since Beginnignless Time.
This shows the Buddha’s compassion.
So, in the previous sutra passage, Sakaymuni Buddha called out, “Sariputra, the Tathagata, gives only the One Buddha Vehicle as teachings to sentient beings.There are no other vehicles, not two or three.”
The Buddha utilizes the One Buddha Vehicle to get straight to the point, to directly point to our hearts, so we can understand our minds and realize our true nature.His goals are this simple; He comes only for this purpose, to teach sentient beings the True Dharma of the One Vehicle.Due to sentient beings different capabilities, the Buddha had to teach the truth through provisional means.He did this to help us eliminate these ignorant thoughts from our ordinary minds, layer by layer, so we can gradually return to our pure intrinsic nature.This is the teaching of the One Reality.
However, we cannot understand it immediately, so He has to teach the Small and Middle Vehicles.In truth, the Small and Middle Vehicles can help us eliminate layers after layers of ignorance.Once we have completely eliminated ignorance, the only thing left is our true essence, our great prefect mirror wisdom.
Take many of our Tzu Chi volunteers as examples.These Living Bodhisattvas frequently go to households of the elderly, which have accumulated many old and dirty things.Within this mess, there may be many living beings such as bugs, roaches, rats and even snakes.These creatures live under the same roof as these people who suffer physically and mentally.Tzu Chi volunteers form great aspirations and work together to clean these homes.Look at all this trash.Before becoming so dirty, each item had once been new.As time passed, after being soused by others, they were thrown out and retrieved by these people.Perhaps these people used the items themselves, then threw them aside after a while.So, new things become old and ragged.Thrown into piles, they become trash.
Then Tzu Chi volunteers come to carefully remove [the trash] piece by piece.They carefully sort out these things; they recycle what can be recycled and dispose of the things that cannot be recycled. As for the things can still be used, they wash them clean. They also clean the entire house till, it looks brand new. Next, they clean up the care recipients, giving haircuts to those who need them, shaves to those with beards. After these people are bathed and dressed, after the beds are made, [volunteers] help them get situated. Even if [the care recipients] are physically ill, upon seeing the house cleaned up so well and restored so beautifully, they feel very happy as well. Then they realize that there are still many people who care about them. This is an example to show all of you that regardless of how old people are, whether they are healthy or ill, we should counsel all of them with the same kind of love to help them take the Buddha-Dharma to heart. Whether we encounter old people or people who are near the end of their lives, we should share pure teachings with all of them. Moreover, we ourselves are very blessed to now be receiving the Buddha-Dharma while we are healthy in body and mind. We must clean out the house in our hearts and not wait until we are ridden with illness or are facing our karmic retributions, already at the point where we cannot do anything, and do not have much time left. We must not wait until that moment. As we hear these teachings right now, we must immediately begin to clean that great perfect mirror in our minds. We must immediately clean, wash and wipe away our ignorance, layer by layer. Our basic essence is that perfect mirror, so this wisdom will be revealed.
The Buddha comes to this world to guide us so we will work hard and return to our [intrinsic nature] by quickly cleaning out the house of our hearts. The Buddha taught the One Buddha Vehicle to help us quickly eliminate our ignorance. Our most important goal is to purity our minds until they are clear and radiant. Once our Tathagata-nature manifests, we will not need the Two or Three Vehicles, only the One Buddha Vehicle. This is what I mentioned earlier.
Now let us examine this passage in the sutra. The Buddha said,
“Sariputra, the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”
In truth, the Dharma of all Buddhas is the same. They “open and reveal” [teachings] to sentient beings with the One Buddha Vehicle. To help all of us attain Buddhahood. They utilize this teaching. Yet, people remain the same. So, “the Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this”.
Recall the beginning of the Introductory Chapter. When the Buddha sat in meditation and entered the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings, the light between His brows continuously radiated and illuminated the 18,000 Buddha-lands. You probably still remember that passage. Before He gave the Lotus teachings, the Buddha manifested this ultimate reality. In fact, our minds are equal to the Buddha-mind, so we have the same spiritual powers as Him. However, with His spiritual powers, the Buddha radiates light that is illuminating, whereas our [lesser] spiritual power [causes us to] give rise to discursive thoughts. With our spiritual power, we also travel quickly, [but land on thoughts such as,] “Oh, I remember. Yesterday someone hurt me by saying this, so I am very angry.” The power does not just lead us to yesterday, but last year, or perhaps ten years ago.
[It leads us to] a certain place, a certain time, a certain space. Exercising our spiritual powers does not take very long.
The Buddha’s radiance, the light that the Buddha radiates, [illuminates] the 18,000 Buddha-lands. The worlds of many Buddhas are pure and bright. These worlds are what the Buddha sees in the hearts of sentient beings, because each of us have that pure Buddha-nature. So, He gave provisional teachings for the sake of the One Vehicle, for the sake of sentient beings.
In the Introductory Chapter: The Buddha’s light illuminates 18,000 lands for the sake of teaching the truth through provisional means. Then the provisional is brought back to the true. Thus, Buddhas of the ten directions, who come to the world, all first teach the provisional, then the true. They all give teachings in the same way.
“Provisional” teachings are skillful means. For the sake of true teachings, He gave provisional teachings. “Then the provisional is brought back to the true.” During the time that He radiated light, He was [highlighting the provisional] to lead us to the truth. By doing this, He was telling everyone that in the past, He adapted to sentient beings’ capabilities. But now that their capabilities were almost mature, He gathered those provisional teachings and told everyone that this was not all there was.
Within the provisional teachings is a true, supreme, perfect and universal wondrous Dharma. This was what the Buddha stated at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra. “Buddha of the ten directions, who come to the world, all first teach the provisional then the true. All Buddhas do the same thing, “They all give teachings in the same way.” This was why the Buddha told Sariputra, “The Dharma of all Buddhas of the ten directions is also like this.”They all did the same things as Him because sentient beings, lifetime after lifetime, have always been the same. One aberrant thought led to millions of erroneous thoughts. An ignorant thought creates the Three Subtleties. Now let me explain that the Three [Evil] Destinies and Six Realms were all created because of that single subtle, ignorance thought.
So, how do we now draw in and gather up these ignorant thoughts? We must utilize the Three Vehicle teachings. To teach the One Vehicle, the Buddha utilized the Three Vehicle teachings that suited various capabilities.
Similarly, our land needs the nourishment of rain. With just the right amount of rain, the land can produce a bountiful harvest. But if there is heavy rain, it over-saturates the land and may cause landslides and rockslides. This is because the amount is unsuitable. With His wisdom the Buddha can perceive the suitable amount.
So, for the past two or three days, I have discussed ultimate wisdom and relative wisdom. These help sentient beings gradually accept understand and even aspire to engage in spiritual practice. These are the Buddha’s skillful means. All Buddhas of the ten directions first gave provisional, then true teachings. They all give teachings in the same way that Sakyamuni Buddha did. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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