Last week I talked about “The Buddha Speaks of Amitabha Sutra” and only talked about one word – “Buddha”. I thought I had finished talking about this Buddha word, but when I flipped through the book and looked again, I realized I have not finished talking about it. So today we will still talk about the word “Buddha“.
Last week, I said that “Buddha and sentient beings are the same“, because “sentient beings are Buddhas who have not awakened“, and “Buddha is Buddha who has already awakened“. The difference is just that one has already awakened and the other has not. So, today I will explain how “Buddha has three differences“.
The first difference is that “He is different from ordinary people“.
Ordinary people are trapped by the six sense objects, trapped within these six dusts so they are called ordinary people. The Buddha is beyond these six dusts.
What are the six dusts? They are form, sound, fragrance, taste, touch and dharmas.
Form is color.
Sound is any sound, especially pleasant sounds.
Fragrance is the distinction between fragrant and odorous.
Taste is the sensation of the tongue, a delicious feeling of eating.
Touch is if you touch something good, you know it is good; if you touch something bad, you know it is bad.
Dharmas – generally speaking, all phenomena in the world are called dharmas.
Ordinary people are called ordinary people because they are stuck in the six dusts and have not transcended them. Buddhas themselves have gone above the six dusts. Ordinary people themselves have no self-awareness and do not feel that they are ordinary people. Since they have no self-awareness, they cannot awaken others. Buddhas are different from ordinary people because they have awareness and enlightenment and are thus different from ordinary people. If ordinary people have awareness and enlightenment, they will be like Buddhas.
The second difference is that “Buddhas are different from ordinary two-vehicle students of the way.“
We call them “two-vehicle students” because they know that they need to be aware and enlightened, but they cultivate by themselves and ignore sentient beings. They only cultivate themselves, those who cultivate just for themselves are called “two-vehicle students.” Two-vehicle students can only be aware of themselves but cannot awaken others. In other words, they can enlighten themselves through practice, but they do not have the intention to save others. So their realm/level is limited, known as self-perfected man, this is the difference between Buddha and “two-vehicle student“.
The third point is that “there are also differences between Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.”
Bodhisattvas can be enlightened themselves, and can save sentient beings and also make them enlightened, this is a Bodhisattva. But there is a difference between Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, Bodhisattvas are still slightly afflicted by emotions, this emotional attachment is a type of feeling. Generally speaking, Bodhisattvas are not yet completely perfect, that is, there is still a little bit of dust in their perfection; the Buddha surpasses Bodhisattvas and is completely perfect, so we rarely see Buddhas shedding tears.
Sometimes we see Bodhisattvas shedding tears of compassion. Avalokitesvara once shed two tears compassionately. According to Tibetan legend, because Avalokitesvara shed two tears, one tear became Green Tara and the other became White Tara, and both were reincarnated into the human world to save sentient beings.
Bodhisattvas are also called “awakened sentient beings“. The three words “awakened sentient beings” have a meaning, which is to give one’s wisdom to sentient beings so that they can be enlightened. However, because the Buddha himself has perfect wisdom and complete perfection, thus the Buddha himself does not save sentient beings with a special focus on sentient beings, but rather a going with the flow deliverance.
So there is a difference here: Buddha is a complete perfection deliverance, while Bodhisattva is compassionate with feelings. So Buddha is perfect, while Bodhisattva still has a little dust, and is still contaminated; these are the three differences between Buddhas and sentient beings, ordinary people, Arhats, and Bodhisattvas.
Most Buddhas have no troubles at all, if they feel even a little troubled, they are not considered Buddhas. Thus us sentient beings currently, if we go to save other sentient beings compassionately, then we are called Bodhisattvas and not Buddhas. It is because Buddhas are already completely detached from troubles, completely free of troubles, that is, they have realized the supreme enlightenment and have the six great supernatural powers.
Buddha is also addressed by another name, next week we will talk about this. This name is like how we in the past have often mentioned the ten names. It is:
Tathagata,
Worthy of Offerings,
Truly All-Knowing,
Perfect in Wisdom and Conduct,
Immaculately Departed One,
Knower of the World,
Supreme Sage,
Tamer,
Teacher of Heavenly Beings and Humans,
Buddha.
This name is very long, there are ten names in total, this is representative. It seems that we will continue to talk about the word “Buddha” next week.
Om Mani Padme Hum.