Thich Nhat Hahn
Sunset at Vulture Peak
where the Buddha often preached

“Buddhahood in Three Dimensions” by Thich Nhat Hahn
(continued – 6)

last paragraph of part 5 – Never Despise is very sincere and has great equanimity. He never gives up on us. The meaning of his life, the fruition of his practice, is to bring this message of confidence and hope to everyone. This is the action of this great bodhisattva. We have to learn and practice this action if we want to follow the path of the bodhisattvas. The sutra tells us that when Never Despise was near the end of his life he suddenly heard the voice of a buddha called King of Imposing Sound (Bhishmagarjitasvararaja) teaching the Lotus Sutra. He could not see that buddha but he clearly heard his voice delivering the sutra, and through the power of the teaching, Never Despising Bodhisattva suddenly found that his six sense organs were completely purified and he was no longer on the verge of death. Understanding deeply the message of the Lotus Sutra, he was able to touch his ultimate dimension and attain deathlessness.

We can hear in the sound of the wind in the trees,
 or in the singing of the birds, the truth of the Lotus Sutra.

  We have already learned about the infinite life span of a buddha in the ultimate dimension. In terms of the historical dimension, a buddha may live one hundred years or a little bit more or less; but in terms of the ultimate dimension a buddha’s life span is limitless. Never Despise saw that his life span is infinite, just like the life span of a buddha. He saw that every leaf, every pebble, every flower, every cloud has an infinite life span also, because he was able to touch the ultimate dimension in everything. This is one of the essential aspects of the Lotus message. When his sense organs had been purified, he could see very deeply and understand how the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) produce the six kinds of consciousness. When his senses had been purified he was capable of touching reality as it is, the ultimate dimension. There was no more confusion, no more delusion in his perception of things.

  This passage describes a kind of transformation that we too can experience. When the ground of our consciousness is prepared, when our sense consciousnesses and our mind consciousness have been purified through the practice of mindfulness and looking deeply into the ultimate nature of reality, we can hear in the sound of the wind in the trees, or in the singing of the birds, the truth of the Lotus Sutra. While lying on the grass or walking in meditation in the garden, we can get in touch with the truth of the dharma that is all around us all the time. We know that we are practicing the Lotus samadhi and our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are automatically transformed and purified.

  Having realized the truth of the ultimate, Bodhisattva Never Despise continued to live for many millions of years, delivering his message of hope and confidence to countless beings. So we can see that the Lotus Sutra is a kind of medicine for long life. When we take this medicine, we are able to live a very long time in order to be able to preserve and transmit the teachings in the Lotus Sutra to many others. We know that our true nature is unborn and undying, so we no longer fear death. Just like Never Despise, we always dare to share the wonderful dharma with all living beings. And all those who thought the bodhisattva was only making fun of them finally began to understand. Looking at Never Despise they were able to see the result of his practice, and so they began to have faith in it and to get in touch with their own ultimate nature. This is the practice of this great bodhisattva—to regard others with a compassionate and wise gaze and hold up to them the insight of their ultimate nature, so that they can see themselves reflected there.

Next – helping those suffering from low self-esteem to overcome this delusion.