“The period of time since I became Buddha is an incomprehensible number of eons.”

This quote from “The Life Span of the Tathagata” section of the Lotus Sutra is the crux of the entire Sutra.

This is difficult to understand at first.  We tend to think that it has only been 2,500 years or so since the historical Buddha became enlightened, taught, and entered nirvana.  So how could he have said at the time after his enlightenment that it had already been an incomprehensible period since he had been enlightened?  I think that we have to look at this life 2,500 years ago as an expedient, and that in fact it had been an unfathomable period of time since he had become Buddha.  And you have to understand this to have a basic understanding of Buddhism.

When asked the purpose or goal of Buddhism, most people would reply with something like, “To achieve Buddhahood.” However, this is in fact not the case.  Why?  Because all sentient beings are already fundamentally the Buddha.  Thus, the goal is not to achieve Buddhahood, but to discover that we are already Buddha.

Before enlightenment, of course, one doesn’t know that.  But after enlightenment, one realizes that we all have been Buddhas for a fathomless period of time.  But if we have been Buddhas for incomprehensible eons, why do we have to discover Buddhahood again?  So that we all may come to learn our fundamental nature.  Consequently, we use such terms as “discover Buddha nature” over and over as an expedient towards this goal.

It is not just the Buddha who has been enlightened for a fathomless period of time, but all sentient beings, all forms of life, all rocks and boulders, all that exists and all that doesn’t exist—everything has been enlightened for this incomprehensible period.

We usually call the world in which we currently live the world of hardship, suffering, or illusion.  But once you really look beneath the surface, you will discover that this is, and has been for a fathomless period of time, the world of paradise.  So the purpose of Buddhism is not to turn you into a Buddha, but to have you become awakened to the fact that you have been Buddha for an incomprehensible period.

This is what you must realize. And at the same time, you must come to the realization that there is no place in the ten directions that is not a Buddhafield, that is not the Pure Land, that is not paradise.

In other religions, people talk quite a bit about “saving” and “being saved.”  But in Buddhism, such concepts are irrelevant.  In Buddhism, all you have to do is attain the realization that you are fundamentally Buddha, and that every place is a Buddhafield, the Pure Land.  Therefore, why would you have to have someone else save you?  In Buddhism, the concept of saving is absolutely irrelevant.  This is what makes Buddhism unique from all other religions and philosophies in the world.  No other system of thought has ever made such a claim.

The meaning of “Buddha” extends to “non-producing, non-extinguishing.”  To say that everything has been enlightened for an incomprehensible period is the same as saying that there is nothing that is not this “non-producing, non extinguishing”—it applies to people, to animals, to plants, to minerals, to the sky, to everything that is, to everything that isn’t, and to every place in the universe and beyond.   Every thing and every place is “non-producing, non-extinguishing.”  So fundamentally every thing is Buddha, and every place a Buddhafield.

If so, then why are we sentient beings in a world of suffering? 

A person who closes his eyes cannot see the rising sun, no matter how brilliant it may be.  To him, everything is dark all the time.  It’s the same thing.  If we open the Eye of the Mind, we see the daylight; we see the entire universe. We see that there is nothing that is not Buddha, and no place that is not paradise.  If we just open the Eye!

But it is those who do not know this, those who have not opened this Eye, who think, “I am a sentient being” and “This is the world of hardship and suffering.”

So the basic issue is this one of an open Eye or a closed Eye.  If the Eye is open, you see the brilliant Light; but if the eye is closed, there is nothing but darkness. And who wants to live in a world of darkness?  I would think that everyone would like to live in the world of Light, the world of Buddha, the Pure Land.  So you must try as hard as you can to open this Eye of the Mind.  Then you will have solved everything.  The big issue is not whether you’re going to heaven or paradise. That’s nonsense.  The issue is to open the Eye of the Mind and to resolve everything here and now.

The Lotus Sutra continues:

For the sake of instructing all beings, I say as an expedient that I shall pass into nirvana, even though I never die and always remain here to explain the Dharma.

What the Buddha was saying is that just as it had been a fathomless period since he was enlightened, he will remain enlightened for fathomless periods to come.  He is eternal in his presence among us to explain the Dharma.

By “here” he did not mean India or Korea or any place in particular.  By “here” he meant everywhere in the universe.  Buddha takes endless forms, and there is no place where he does not manifest himself.  And that is why he called this “the infinite universe,”  “the eternally abiding.”  There is nothing being produced, and there is nothing being extinguished.

Song-chol (1912-1993)

Excerpted from Echoes on Mt. Kaya – Selections on Korean Buddhism

As with many other writings, there are always parts that stop us in our tracks. Is it the translation or my lack of understanding? This is a very rich talk covering many advanced concepts, some of which I would even classify as “not tending toward edification,” as the Buddha said in response to some questions asked of him. The places where we stop are meaningful koans in and of themselves.

We are all aware of receiving teaching from traditional sources; few can hear the teaching of inanimate things or non-verbal, animate beings.  One can see the depth of learning available; how many will keep sculpting away to reveal the masterpiece within?

The pine tree’s voice is always whispering,
Yet how many pause to listen?
For when the churning mind is still,
The Diamond Heart within
Reflects even the falling dusk that
Shrouds every eye and branch,
And hears, but listens not.
Walking, then, with Courage and Kindness,
Never ceasing to walk in Wonder,
We follow our ancient path.
For the Way of the sword is folded two;
Like the rose, we have thorns,
And like the rose, we unfold.

Ji Aoi Isshi

Ever Here,

Elana, Scribe for Daily Zen