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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0229

Lamrim Volume 1:  P34-LL9-LL1

Date: 2020-06-08 ~ 2020-06-10

Topic: Rely on Bodhisattvas’ commentaries to delve into the intended meaning of Buddha’s teachings

So if you asked, “I have encountered some of the teachings Buddha taught; although I did not hear it directly from Buddha in person, with Buddha’s teachings in the scriptures, I have read them. Do I count as the one having adequate capacity?” Yes! A case in point is that we have encountered Je Rinpoche’s teachings now; we did not hear Je Rinpoche imparting The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment in person, but Je Rinpoche said, “For those disciples who miss me and have faith in me, you may read two of my compositions on the stages of the Sutrayana path and Tantrayana path.” Buddha also had similar exhortations, urging us to delve profoundly into the scriptures so we can obtain wisdom that is like the ocean. [00:39]

If we can’t comprehend the meaning of the scriptures, how can we delve deeply into them? This is the core issue, we can’t even grasp the literal meaning, how can we delve into the deeper meaning? Just likewise, when we first started to study Pointing the Way to Reasoning, if there is no teacher explaining it to us, and we are simply given a copy of the translated text to study entirely on our own, without a teacher, would we be able to truly comprehend its intended meaning? Understandably, we still need someone to help us, right? How did the commentaries composed by the eminent masters and Bodhisattvas come about? It is because there were people who were not able to understand Buddha's teachings. Hence, it is not that after Buddha gave the teachings, these eminent masters needed to compose commentaries as if there were gaps to be filled. If the purpose of those eminent masters composing the commentaries were to fill up the gaps, then it must be because the disciples could not comprehend Buddha’s intended meanings. Therefore, Bodhisattvas and eminent masters came to teach us. Take Manjusri Bodhisattva for example, he is the teacher of seven Buddhas! Many eminent masters were also Buddha’s manifestations; Buddha came back to teach us, devising for us more minute and detailed steps so that we can advance further on the path. [01:45]

The most excruciating suffering all sentient beings in the three realms have to endure is the cycle of death and rebirth, and the root cause for death and rebirth is ignorance that arose from grasping on intrinsic existence. The purpose that Buddha came to this world was to help liberate all living beings from cyclic existence. To emancipate all sentient beings from death and rebirths, Buddha would need to cause living beings to realize that the self does not exist intrinsically. Among all scriptures, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (also known as the Prajnaparamita Sutra) explores the concept of lack of intrinsic existence, with the most extensive and sound reasoning. That is why the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is the king of all sutras! The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra says, “Therefore, one should know that the mantra of the perfection of wisdom is the mantra of great knowledge, the precious mantra, the unexcelled mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled, the most extraordinary mantra, the most excellent, sublime, supreme, and brilliant mantra, the mantra that quells all but not to be vanquished by any.” Buddha also exhorted Ananda in the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, “Ananda, you should know! Other than this profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, if you forget to uphold my other teachings, such a misdeed is minor. If you don’t properly uphold the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, or even forget to uphold one verse, the transgression is very serious.” This is the advice Buddha gave to Ananda. And Buddha continued, “Ananda, you should know! If you properly uphold the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, or even uphold one verse at heart, the merits thus reaped are immeasurable.” Pay attention! If one can uphold only one verse, the merits accumulated are immeasurable. There is all the difference in the world between upholding one verse and the immeasurable merits. Buddha continued exhorting, “If you don’t properly uphold the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, or even forget to uphold one verse, the severity of the transgression is equivalent to the immeasurable merits mentioned above.” In other words, the transgression of forgetting to uphold one verse will bring about far-reaching and dire consequence; namely, the impact of this causality is considerably profound! Buddha continued explaining, “Ananda, you should know! If Bodhisattvas make offerings, respect, revere, and praise the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, it is equivalent to directly making offerings, respecting, revering, and praising me and all Buddhas of the three times in the ten directions.” This passage means that if Bodhisattvas are able to make offerings, respect, revere, and praise the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, then such practice is the same as making offerings to a perceived object [v.1 p.197] – not visualizing but perceiving an object– respecting, revering, and praising Shakyamuni Buddha and all Buddhas of the three times in the ten directions. Making offerings to the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is equivalent to making offerings to immeasurable Buddhas. Moreover, offerings made directly to the perceived objects, the merits gained are incredibly huge. [04:26]

Then, Buddha said again, “Ananda, you should know! If Bodhisattvas heard about the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, and they develop purified sincere attitude, respect and cherish the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, that is equal to developing purified sincere attitude, respect and cherish the ultimate enlightenment of all Buddhas in the past, in the future, and at present. Ananda! If you worship me and do not relinquish me, you should also worship and do not relinquish the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra; you shall not forget even one verse.” Did everyone notice this section? The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra carries considerable weight in Buddha’s mind! How earnest Buddha was while exhorting Ananda! If we sincerely worship Buddha, and do not renounce Buddha, then we should sincerely worship the profound Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and do not renounce it. Moreover, Buddha’s expectation was not forgetting even one verse; the best is to keep all of them at heart! This is Buddha’s earnest expectation of us! [05:25]

Does everyone still remember Master Xuan-zang’s story mentioned in the previous teachings, about how he translated the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra? The Sanskrit version of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra has 200,000 verses in total. Due to the earnest requests from the disciples, Master Xuan-zang once thought about simplifying the translation of the Sutra. That night, Master Xuan-zang had a very scary nightmare. The next day, Master Xuan-zang shared the dream with his disciples and decided not to simplify the translation of the Sutra. That night, he dreamt that Buddha exuded light between the eyebrows, and many auspicious signs. So, Master Xuan-zang dared not simplify the translation of the Sanskrit. He did it word for word and finished translating the entire 600 chapters of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Evidently, how prudent and earnest Master Xuan-zang was towards the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra! [06:05]

The content of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is very vast; it is impossible for us to fathom its meaning on our own. In order for Buddha and Bodhisattvas to help us understand the apparent meaning of wisdom of emptiness as well as the esoteric meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, commentaries like the Ornament for Clear Knowledge, the Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, and the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment appeared in this world. So, why did these commentaries appear in our world? They are here to match our capacity! The commentaries can greatly and fundamentally help us understand Buddha’s intended meanings, giving every one of us a starting point based on our individual capacities. So, the appearance of these commentaries is the manifestation of the compassion and wisdom of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas! How rare and precious it is for us to encounter these commentaries! [06:50]

The commentaries in itself have the quality of rectifying and rescuing – rectifying our mental momentum and rescuing us from cyclic existence. Let's study earnestly together! Otherwise, how can we repay Buddha’s kindness? How can we repay our teachers’ kindness? How can we repay the kindness of our parents? [07:12]

讲次 0229

标题 依菩萨释论，方能趣入佛陀密意（二）

音档 4A 02:31 ~ 05:16

日期 2020-06-08 ~ 2020-06-10

广论段落 P2-L9 ~ P2-L10 由是菩提道次引导分四……引导学徒之次第。

手抄页/行 第1册 P98-L8 ~ P99-LL3　( 2016 南普陀版：第1册 P98-L8 ~ P99-LL3 )

手抄段落 不过这个地方……这个我们要了解的。

00:00

那如果你问：“我也遇到佛说的那段法了，我虽然没有亲耳听到佛陀讲，但是佛陀把他的法留在经典上，我也是看到了，那我不算应机吗？”是看到了！比如说现在遇到宗大师教法，我们没有听到宗大师亲自给我们讲《菩提道次第广论》，但是宗大师也说：思念我、对我有信心的弟子们，可以去看我写的两本显密道次第。佛陀也有这样的叮咛，要去深入经藏，智慧如海。 00:39

那看不懂，怎么深入呢？问题就在这儿，浮面的意思都看不懂，如何深入呢？就像我们一开始，假如没有人讲《摄类学》，就把一本《摄类学》的著作翻译过来学习，没人教，看能不能学懂呢？所以现在还是需要有个人帮我们，对不对？祖师、菩萨的论是怎么出现的？就是因为有看不懂的人。所以不是说佛宣讲了经典之后，这个祖师还要再造论，好像为了填补什么空缺。如果真的是为了填补空缺的话，那一定是学法的人不明白，所以菩萨、祖师们才来教我们。像文殊菩萨，是七佛之师啊！很多祖师也是佛陀化现的，他就再来教我们，给我们设计更细密的阶梯让我们往上走。 01:45

三界有情最深的痛就是生死之痛，生死的根本就是自性执的无明；佛陀出世的目的就是为了解脱众生的生死，而要解脱众生的生死，就是要令众生证达无自性。在所有所有的经典当中，《般若经》以最广泛的理路探讨无自性的道理，因此《般若经》是经中之王呀！ 《般若经》说：“如是般若波罗蜜多是大神咒、是大明咒，是无上咒，是无等等咒，是一切咒王，最尊最胜、最上最妙，能伏一切，不为一切之所降伏。”佛陀在《般若经》中也叮嘱阿难：“庆喜当知！除此般若波罗蜜多甚深经典，受持诸余我所说法设有忘失，其罪尚轻。若于般若波罗蜜多甚深经典不善受持，下至一句有所忘失，其罪甚重。”这是佛陀叮嘱阿难的。然后又说：“庆喜当知！若于般若波罗蜜多甚深经典，下至一句能善受持不忘失者，获福无量。”注意哦！能有一句受持不忘的，就获福无量。一句和无量福，差距是多大？还有叮嘱说：“若于般若波罗蜜多甚深经典不善受持，下至一句有忘失者，所获重罪同前福量。”就是忘了一句那个罪，也是无量，它这个因果是非常巨大的！还有说：“庆喜当知！若诸菩萨供养恭敬、尊重赞叹甚深般若波罗蜜多，则为现前供养恭敬、尊重赞叹我及十方三世诸佛。”如果菩萨能够供养恭敬、尊重还有赞叹甚深般若波罗蜜多，则现前供养——不是观想，是现前供养——恭敬、尊重赞叹释迦佛及十方三世诸佛，供养《般若经》就等于供养无量诸佛，而且是现前供养，现前供养得到的福是很大的。 04:26

然后又说：“庆喜当知！若诸菩萨闻深般若波罗蜜多，起殷净心恭敬爱乐，即于过去未来现在诸佛无上正等菩提，起殷净心恭敬爱乐。庆喜！汝若爱乐于我、不舍于我，亦当爱乐、不舍般若波罗蜜多甚深经典，下至一句勿令忘失。”大家有没有看到这一段？ 《般若经》在佛陀的心中，是何等的份量啊！他在叮嘱阿难的时候用何等殷切之心啊！如果真的是爱乐佛陀、不舍佛陀的话，那么就应该爱乐、不舍般若波罗蜜多甚深经典。而且他的标准——下至一句都不要忘，最好全记得！这是佛陀对我们的殷殷期待啊！ 05:25

大家还记不记得以前有讲过玄奘大师翻译《般若经》的那个公案？梵文版的《大般若经》总共有二十万颂，因为弟子们的劝请，玄奘大师曾经一度想要简译，结果晚上就作了很恐怖的恶梦。隔天玄奘大师把梦境告诉大家，决定不要简译，当天晚上就梦见佛菩萨眉间放光，有很多吉祥的梦兆。所以玄奘大师不敢删减梵文，一字不差、完整地翻译了六百卷的《大般若经》。由此可见对于《般若经》慎重的程度，是多么地殷重啊！ 06:05

《般若经》的内涵非常地广，我们仅凭自力无法了解，佛菩萨为了令我们了解《般若经》的显义空性和隐义现观的密意，所以才有《现观庄严论》、《道炬论》、《菩提道次第广论》出现于世。这些论是为什么而出现的？就是为了应我们的机啊！可以极大地、根本性地帮助我们了解佛陀的密意，让我们在各自修行的缘起点上都有一个下脚处。所以这些论的出现，正是佛菩萨悲心和智慧的体现啊！而对于值遇这些论的我们来说，该是多么地难能可贵！ 06:50

论，具足修改、救护两种功德——修改我们的相续，救护我们的生死。我们一起好好用功吧！否则何以报佛恩？何以报师恩？何以报父母恩啊？ 07:12