CHAPTER TWO：THE GOAL OF THE BUDDHA'S TEACHING

《To Understand Buddhism》

Venerable Master Chin Kung (淨空法師）

CHAPTER TWO：THE GOAL OF THE BUDDHA'S TEACHING

From the intrinsic nature of Buddhism, we proceed to the goal of the Buddha's teachings. This   goal is to break through delusion and achieve enlightenment. The Buddha pointed out to us why we   are leading lives of suffering and why the six realms   of reincarnation exist. It is so, because the wisdom   and virtuous abilities in our original nature have yet to   be uncovered. Thus, all our viewpoints and ways of   interacting with life and the universe are incorrect.   The erroneous acts committed due to these incorrect viewpoints and ways have resulted in the suffering of reincarnation within the six realms.  

The goal of the Buddha's teachings is to help   and to guide us break through our delusion, to be   awakened and to escape this suffering and obtain   happiness. What do we seek in Buddhism? We seek   Annuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi（阿耨多羅三藐三菩提）, the Perfect Complete   Enlightenment. The Buddha teaches and hopes that   all of us will attain this ultimate enlightenment, in   other words, will become a Buddha.

The Perfect Complete Enlightenment can be explained as three levels: Arhats（阿羅漢）, Bodhisattvas and   Buddhas. The first is "Proper Enlightenment" In our world, there are some very intelligent and wise people, such as scientists, philosophers and religious   leaders. They have reached higher realization than   most people have.

However, although they may    have reached a certain level of realization, the Buddha would not  recognize their knowledge as the   proper enlightenment, because they have not severed their afflictions. They still dwell on the rights and   wrongs of others, on greed, anger, ignorance and   arrogance. They still harbor wandering, discriminatory thoughts and attachments. In other words, their   minds are not pure. Without the pure mind, no mat ter how high the level of realization one reaches, it is   still not the proper enlightenment.

In Buddhism, the standard for proper enlightenment is the pure mind from which wisdom arises. It is   the wish of all Buddhas that we attain this proper enlightenment. This is the level or degree of an Arhat   and is similar to attending a university to earn an undergraduate degree. Therefore, Arhat, Bodhisattva   and Buddha are titles similar to degrees of enlightenment attained in Buddhism. Those who achieve   proper enlightenment are called Arhats. Arhats do   not have illusory or misleading thoughts and viewpoints. They do not dwell on the rights and wrongs of   others, or on thoughts of greed, anger, ignorance or arrogance.

From this, we can comprehend intuitively the   difference between Buddhism and worldly education. From the Buddha, we learn the true teachings   and proper enlightenment. Only with this proper en  lightenment can we escape all sufferings to obtain   true happiness. As human beings, we undergo the    sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death. We   do not attain what we seek, are parted with our   loved ones and find ourselves in the presence of   those whom we resent or even hate. We are surrounded by all these sufferings with no  apparent way   of being truly free. Only after learning Buddhism will   we be able to reach genuine liberation.

The Flower Adornment Sutra（華嚴經）explains to us, "All   sentient beings possess the same wisdom and virtuous capabilities as the Buddha, but these qualities   are unattainable due to wandering thoughts and attachments."（一切眾生，皆具如來智慧德相，但因妄想執著，不能證得）This clearly explains the root cause of   our problems. Practicing Buddhism is to accord with   the teachings of the Buddha, to rid us of wandering,   discriminating thoughts and attachments. Thus, we   uncover our pure mind, in turn giving rise to true wis dom, which is proper enlightenment. Therefore,   Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would not recognize the   intelligent and worldly wisdom, as it lacks the pure mind, the proper enlightenment. Upon attaining   proper enlightenment, we have the ability to tran  scend the endless cycles of birth and death, not to   mention the ability to solve everyday problems.

Whether talking about the Buddha's education   or worldly education, it is essential to understand the   concept of delving deeply into one method in order   to attain achievement. This is especially so in Buddhism. One who truly wishes to learn effectively   needs to follow only one teacher and practice only   one path to ensure a smooth journey. When follow ing two teachers with two different paths, we are   bound to become confused as to which path to   take. Even worse, following three teachers catches   us at a T street. With four teachers, we are caught at   a cross street. Today's young people like to learn a   lot, but fail to attain a good result. The problem lies   with being caught at those cross streets, confused as   to which way to take. To succeed and attain   achievement in practicing Buddhism, we need to   follow just one teacher and   concentrate on just one   method.

What is this achievement? True achievement is   attaining a pure mind. Upon achieving some degree of pure mind, we will have fewer afflictions and   thus an increase in true wisdom, enabling us to solve problems in this worid and beyond. Without this true   wisdom, there is no way to truly solve problems.   Therefore, true wisdom is essential in leading a happy   and fulfilling life. On a broader scale, it can help us   to solve society's problems.

Today there are many intelligent politicians who   thought they were very smart but have ended up   bringing their countries to the brink of disaster, as well   as putting their citizens through much misery. What is   the reason for this? These leaders have not severed   their afflictions, discriminating and wandering   thoughts, and attachments. Consequently, their first   consideration is their own benefit, their selfattachment.

The Buddha taught us to attain true wisdom by   first breaking free of our own viewpoints. Without this   wisdom, we could misinterpret the meanings within   the Mahayana sutras. If we are able to part from the
selfish mind, then true benefits will definitely be received. With proper enlightenment, only when we   have no ego or self-attachment, will we be able to   differentiate true from false, proper from deviated,   right from wrong and beneficial from harmful. Without    breaking through our own viewpoints, we will not    have these abilities. From this, we understand there is    a standard to the proper enlightenment.

One level above the  "proper enlightenment"（正覺）is the   "Equal and Proper Enlightenment."（正等正覺） Equal means   equal to the Buddha, but not yet having become a   Buddha. This level is higher than that of an Arhat. The   equal and proper enlightenment requires us to break   through one degree of ignorance, to attain one degree of Dharma body. At this point, the way we view   the reality of life and the universe is very close to that   of the Buddhas. One who achieves the equal and   proper enlightenment would be called a Bodhisattva.

The Flower Adornment Sutra（華嚴經）explains the fortyone levels of Bodhisattvas, all of which have these   levels of enlightenment. After breaking through the   very last degree of ignorance, perfecting wisdom
and enlightenment, one achieves the "Perfect   Complete Enlightenment"（無上正等正覺） that is Buddhahood.

Therefore, Buddha, Bodhisattva and Arhat are common titles, not a specific name for a specific person.
They are titles similar to those of Doctorate, Master or   Graduate degrees. For example, in the name Guan
Yin Bodhisattva, Guan Yin represents great compas sion and kindness. The title of Bodhisattva is similar to
a Masters Degree. Presently, people have misconceptions about Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, thinking   these names are specific beings. They do not understand that these titles refer to any being who possesses those characteristics. Buddha or Bodhisattva,   when added to a name is simply referring to a specialty.

From the intrinsic nature of Buddhism, we realize   that our purpose of practice is to seek wisdom. In   Zen（禪宗）, this goal is called, "In pursuit of clarity of mind to   see into one's self-nature." In other words "Complete   Enlightenment." In the Pure Land School, this is   called "One Mind Undisturbed（一心不亂）." The Pure Land   School is unique in that not only do we seek to have   One Mind Undisturbed but also seek birth into the   Western Pure Land. This is unlike other schools, which   rely on one's own strength of cultivation in seeking   solely one goal. The Pure Land method has two   goals that can be achieved in one lifetime.

One who is very familiar with the Infinite Life Sutra   and understood its teachings would be free of   doubt. The full title of this sutra reveals the goals of   our practice: The Buddha Speaks of the Infinite Life   Sutra of Adornment, Purity, Equality and Enlighten ment of the Mahayana School. Infinite life and    adornment are what Pure Land practitioners seek.   Infinite life refers to the merits and virtues of one's   perfect self-nature. Adornment refers to perfect   complete wisdom with great ease and fulfillment. Purity, equality and enlightenment are the methods,   the three ways of practice. Upon attaining any one,   all three are attained. Of all the schools of Buddhism, none surpass these three ways of practice.

The Zen School uses the awakening path to   reach the great enlightenment and attain the clarity   to see into one's true nature. Buddhist schools other   than Zen stress the practice of understanding or   proper viewpoints, until reaching great complete   understanding. The Pure Land School, on the otherhand, concentrates on the pure mind. A person with   purity of mind will naturally be non-discriminating and   awakened. An awakened person will naturally have   a pure and non-discriminating mind. The route chosen may be different but all reach the same goal. In   Zen practice it is expressed as "obtaining clarity of
mind and seeing into one's true nature."  

Different schools may use different names but   the results or the level of the state of mind are the   same. Therefore, to criticize any other schools would   be to slander both the Buddha and the Dharma. All   these methods were passed down to us from Buddha Shakyamuni. Choosing any path will enable us   to attain achievement. How can we say that one   method is better than another? From all these different methods we just need to know how to choose the one method that is most suitable for us and our   level.

First, if the level of the method we chose were   beyond us, making it difficult to practice, we would   not succeed easily with that method. Second, it   needs to be suitable and convenient for our manner   of living. Third, it needs to be compatible with modern society, because we cannot separate ourselves   from society or other human beings. Therefore, we   need to consider these factors when choosing our   method of cultivation.

However, no matter which method one practices, it is essential to be rid of self-viewpoint and attachment in order to obtain the benefits from practice. Or else, like so many have experienced, the   great efforts put into the practice will have been in   vain.Some practitioners have felt that even after   years of practice they have achieved virtually nothing, even to the point of feeling that they were better   off before they practiced. It seemed as if the more   they practiced, the worse they felt. All this comes   from having chosen a method that was unsuitable   for them. This is similar to choosing an unsuitable   major in school.

When we choose a major that is not   suited to our foundation and ability, we have an extremely difficult time trying to succeed. Choosing the right major makes studying much easier, so we   will have a much better chance of success. The   same thing goes for practicing Buddhism. If we do   not know our own capacity, we can test ourselves.   

Like myself, for example. After reading many   Mahayana sutras, I thought myself incapable of any   achievement. I wanted very much to sever my    wandering, discriminating thoughts and attachments, but was unable to. Finally, I chose the Pure   Land method to attain achievement. It does not require one to be completely rid of but rather to suppress these hindrances. As long as we are able to   suppress all afflictions, we can still be born into the   Western Pure Land carrying over our existing karma.

This method suits me very well and thus is how I   chose it. Previously, I had tried Zen, the Teaching   Schools, the Esoteric School and the practice of following the precepts, but could not reach achievement with them. Thus, I came back to the Pure Land   method and wholeheartedly delved deeply into the   Buddha Name Chanting Method while concentrat ing solely on lecturing on the Pure Land sutras. These   are my experiences from decades of practice.