Buddha

Because this sutra does not list in detail which bhikkhus are present, although there are 8,000 people, he will not directly list 16 monks like the "Amitabha Sutra". Here is a general summary. The same goes for Bodhisattva Mahasattva. Mahasattva talks about sentient beings with great minds. In fact, this is also mentioned in the Amitabha Sutra.

Why do you want to say that they are big bodhisattvas? It is not simply called a bodhisattva, because these sages are ranked higher among bodhisattvas, and they are more thorough in attaining the level of the Dharmakaya. In terms of the order of bodhisattvas, Tiantai Sect divides the order of bodhisattvas into forty-two positions. If the ten-belief position is also included, it is fifty-three. The Bodhisattva Mahasattva has completely ascended to the ground, at least above the first ground can he be called a big bodhisattva. If you are truly unshakable from the level of defilement, at least the Bodhisattva of the Eight Realms is at least above the Eight Realms Bodhisattva, because the Bodhisattva of the Eight Realms really does not move, and he will not regress. The "big bodhisattva" in this place is actually different from other bodhisattvas, different from some bodhisattvas who are said to be convenient and clever. It is a bodhisattva who finally achieves the fruit status through his own corrections, and he has a grade of ignorance. Only Dharmakayas who have proved a Dharmakaya can be in this rank.

Why is it called Da? There are four major types:

First, be willing to be big. Every Buddha, every Bodhisattva, they have made big aspirations because of the land. For example, the Medicine Buddha in this sutra has made twelve great wishes; Amitabha has made 48 great wishes; Guanyin Bodhisattva also has 12 great wishes. Therefore, every Bodhisattva or every Buddha, they have great aspirations as their support in place, and they are nothing more than self-interest and others. They are all seeking Buddha's fruit and lowering sentient beings, but when they make a vow, they have specific wishes. It may be different, that's it, but the purpose is to make preparations, so their wishes are very grand. Since we are studying Buddhism and Bodhisattva practice, it is also practical in our own lives, so we should make big aspirations. Because any action must be supported by previous aspirations, actions without aspirations can be said to have no leading foundation and are also very troublesome. Although I am on the line and did not initiate a big wish, I have already walked on this path. In many cases, I will get tired of walking. Not only ordinary beings, but even the saints of the path of liberation, the Arahants of the second vehicle, they will be tired.

In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha used a metaphor for a temporary rest for these tired sentient beings: a big businessman led a group of small businessmen to go far away and walk around. Now, these little businessmen are tired from walking and don't want to go anymore. At this time, the businessmen said that our destination was almost here. The big city in front was our goal. These people were very happy and finally arrived. After getting to rest in the big city, the big merchants told everyone that this is not our ultimate goal. This place is just a place for us to rest, and everyone has to continue walking. The Buddha used this as a metaphor. The Buddha first talked about the two multiplication method, which allowed him to be liberated first; the Buddha also taught everyone the essentials of the Mahayana method and encouraged everyone to move towards the Mahayana. Therefore, we must have this kind of great willingness to support us at all times, otherwise we really cannot go on.

Second, the line is big. Behavior can be embodied in two aspects, that is, self-interest and altruism. From the perspective of self-interest, you can truly do what is really related to yourself, because you have to be responsible to yourself. But when it comes to altruism, this really requires one's own heart. Bodhisattvas of this type are not only more profitable in self-interest, but also very profitable in altruistic behavior, and they are ultimately successful.

Third, the time is big. Time is the meaning of time, because in order for them to achieve the holy path, especially the kind of bodhisattvas who want to be enlightened, miraculous enlightenment, and immediately become Buddhas, how long will it take for them to pass their own practice? The Buddhist scriptures say that "three cultivating blessings and wisdom" are required for the three great monks to do so. The time span is very large.

Fourth, the University of Germany. Because these bodhisattvas are in the process of gradual practice, he can gradually get rid of his worries, and his virtues will gradually arise. There are three kinds of obstacles in sentient beings: defilement, karma, and retribution. The Buddha has three virtues, the virtue of liberation, the virtue of Prajna, and the other is the virtue of compassion for sentient beings. Therefore, through practice, he gradually became responsive to the three virtues of the Buddha. This is also the miraculous method of merit that slowly manifests, so he can be called the Great Bodhisattva.

Tianlong Babu

Next, after the Great Bodhisattva, other protectors are listed. This sutra is composed of eight parts of the heavenly dragons, in fact, they are contained in every sutra, and they are generally used as protectors, so many sutras are also called eight parts. Their main role is to protect the Dharma and allow the Dharma to circulate exceptionally.

first day. Naturally, it means that the heavens and the human beings, the beings of the heavens, and even the gods, are all within the category. Translated by heaven, it means nature, light, freedom, and so on. This kind of person’s merit is very good. They enjoy everything better than human beings, and they also have some magical power changes, and even some. The kung fu of meditation. The heavens of desire, form, and formlessness, the higher their meditation skills are, the better. Of course, this is all related to their practice. This is the level of heaven and humanity. The blessings of the heavens and humans are great, but after the blessings are enjoyed, they will enter a new cycle, and Tianfuxiang will enter the cycle in the same way, so we don't need to envy them.

Second, the dragon. The Chinese claim to be descendants of the dragon, so the Chinese are no strangers to the dragon. Such sentient beings have divine powers and can constantly change clouds and rain. In the dragon way, some are in charge of clouds, some are in charge of rain, some are in charge of fog, and some are in charge of wind. There are all kinds of things. It has great power, but it is still a beast.

Third, Yasha. Yacha is very strong, strong and light, and walks very fast. The faces of this type of sentient beings are not so good-looking, so you can see the Yasha in a lot of portraits, but there is still a bit of evil.

Fourth, Ganda Po. Gandapo translated it as Xunxiang, and some of them were called Xiuxiang. Gods of this kind specialize in inhaling fragrance to survive. So there are all kinds of sentient beings, not all of them eat, he is a fragrant, he is still a god of music, and he specializes in playing music in the heavenly palace of heaven and human beings.

Fifth, Asura. Asura translates as non-heaven. This type of sentient beings have the blessings of heaven and man, but they do not have the virtue of heaven and man. Their hatred is very heavy. If they are not paying attention, they will be angry. This is asura. This way of beings is very ugly for men, but women are very beautiful. When we talked about Shi Ti Huan Yin, we mentioned Asura, because Asura often fights with Shi Ti Huan, and because King Asura has a daughter named She Zhi, She Zhi married Shi Ti Huan Yin. . She is from Ashura. She herself is very beautiful, but she is also very suspicious. Because Shi Tihuan is a heavenly clan, she often travels around. She is a little worried when she is at home alone, and she is afraid that Shi Tihuan will be messy outside. Engage in the relationship between men and women. Once Shi Tihuan went out again, she secretly followed behind, but when Shi Tihuan found out, he beat her with a lotus stem. It stands to reason that the lotus stem is not a powerful thing. , It won't hurt much. But because of the aversion of this type of sentient beings, she became angry at once, and when she went back, she told King Asura. As soon as King Asura thought, if my daughter married you, you still fight. He gathered his people and started fighting with Shi Tihuan.

Sixth, Garuda. In translation, it is called Golden Wing Bird God, and it is also called Dapeng Golden Wing. This type of bird eats dragons. Its wings are very wide. When it wants to eat a dragon, it uses two wings to face the sea. The sea water separates naturally, and its claws stretch out to catch the dragon. It was eaten. Because he often eats like this, the Dragon King is terrified in his heart. If you keep eating like this, you won't be able to eat up my dragon sons and grandsons. I begged to Buddha Shakyamuni, and Buddha Shakyamuni pulled a strip of robes from his robes, and gave them to them, saying you go back and tie robes to every dragon. It Won't eat it anymore. This problem is solved, because this is the thing on the Buddha's robes, it has a sheltering effect, and the Buddha protects him. Garuda did not dare to eat anymore. He was hungry, so he went to find the Buddha. You protected the dragon. What should I do if I am hungry? The Buddha said that this problem is easy to handle. Every time my disciples eat, I will give you a portion first. Therefore, when we fast in the morning or at noon every day, the waiter mage always goes out to eat, and he also reads the verse: "Dapeng golden-winged bird, wilderness ghosts and gods...", visualize the food all over the ten directions , So that they can be full.

Seventh, Kinnaruo. Kinnaruo is the god of singers, their voices are very nice, and they basically exist as musicians in the Tiangong. Such sentient beings are human images, but they have long horns on their heads.

Eighth, Mashuluga. Human body snake head, human body, snake head, there is a legend in China, it seems to be Fuxi, but Mahu Luoga is just the opposite.

In fact, there are various images of the Heavenly Dragon Babu, and they all play the role of protector of the Fa in every Fa conference. In fact, many of these sentient beings have very, very long lifespans, and some of them are even the previous Buddha who was born. They may have all come to hear the Dharma and righteousness, and this Buddha is born again to listen.

Immeasurable masses

Why do we need to add "infinite masses" at the end? Because all sentient beings represented by the three series of Bhikkhus, Bodhisattvas, and Tianlong Babu series can be regarded as among the immeasurable people, and the immeasurable people are subdivided in the "Chinese Sentences". In the process of each issue of the Buddha's teaching, it is actually There are four kinds of masses.

The first is to initiate the crowd. For example, if the Buddha wants to teach this sutra, one person first wants to ask questions. For example, the "Diamond Sutra" is Subhuti, and this sutra is the Prince Manjusrifa. In every sutra, except for the Amitabha Sutra, no one took the lead in asking questions, and many other sutras were asked by people. The people who ask the questions are called the initiators. Because of their questions, this session of the Fa conference can be carried out. This is called the initiators. In fact, many of them are out of the level of liberation, and they may have a very clear understanding of this level of Dharma. However, he observed with his own wisdom and found that there are still people among the public who do not understand this truth. In order for those who do not understand to hear and understand, he deliberately pretended not to understand and asked the Buddha. Therefore, this type of people is actually very powerful, and from the perspective of attainment and fruit, their fruit status is very high, but in order for the Dharma to spread, they have to play this role.

The second is to act out the crowd. They have good roots in the past. Now the opportunity has matured. The questions asked by the initiating crowd are actually asked to them, so that they can truly understand. Called the crash crowd. In fact, in each session of the Buddha's Fa conference, there are not many initiating congregations, but there are very many initiating congregations. This classic is the prince of Manjusri Faith and the Twelve Medicine Chasers. Basically, these people are considered as the initiators, and the incumbents are the immeasurable Tianlong Babu, the immeasurable monks, and even the other bodhisattvas. One of them.

The third is to influence the people. This is very subtle. In fact, this group of people understands better than the initiation of the people. He is here to help the Buddha teach. To give a simple example, in the twelve years after the establishment of the Sangha, Buddha Shakyamuni had no precepts. Everyone followed the law and the law, but in the end some people started to be inferior to the law. The Buddha based on them If they are not as good as the law, they have gradually begun to make a lot of precepts. In fact, these people knowingly violated them. Because the last Buddha was called Kassapa Buddha, Kassapa Buddha’s Dharma fortune was actually shorter than that of Shakyamuni Buddha. It was because he did not formulate the precepts at that time. Later, the Buddha Dharma declined very quickly. Later, these people felt that it still had to be. Precepts serve as support, so some people deliberately do bad things and let the Buddha control the precepts. In fact, this type of people is equivalent to influencing the people. They may be the Buddhas of the past, or even the Great Bodhisattvas, but in order to help the Buddha propagate, he finally manifested as a group of people who assisted the Buddha's education. There are It may look like a wicked person. For example, Deva Dado looked very evil. He committed the five-inverse felony and was born in the blood of the Buddha. This is because of him. However, the Buddha said in the Lotus Sutra that this person is a great bodhisattva, and he also made a manifestation in order to prevent sentient beings from committing such evil deeds again. Therefore, such people are considered to influence the public.

The fourth is to connect with people, which is different from the previous three. Such a person may have a thinner root of goodness and a lower level of faculty, but it doesn’t matter. This kind of person has come to him because he has seen the Buddha and heard the Fa. It is said that vajra seeds have been planted in the Alaya Consciousness, and when the karma is mature, they will slowly sprout, and finally grow into a towering tree, blooming and bearing fruit, but for now, he started from this session of the Fa conference. The benefits gained from it will not be much, it’s just that it’s planted there, but even if it’s because of the reason, the merits are incredible. It’s just that compared to the other three types of initiating, acting, and influencing The benefits obtained in this session of the Fa conference are still relatively small, so it is called to connect with the congregation, that is, the Buddha uses this period of Dharma to form a relationship with him. I hope that the future relationship can mature, and it is still not able to become the current one. If it can't be used immediately, it's called rapport.