In the Samyukta Agama, the Buddha wants Ananda to answer how he would explain if non-Buddhist monks were to ask the Buddha why he teaches celibacy. At one time, the Buddha was in the city of Sravasti at the Jeta Grove Monastery teaching the Dharma, and he asked Ananda, “Supposing there was a non-Buddhist monk who came to you and asked, ‘Ananda, why does the Buddha teach his disciples to be celibate?’ How would you answer him?”

Ananda replied, “Lord Buddha, I would tell them in accordance with your teachings that we practice in this way to renounce form, so that attraction does not arise in the mind. When one is able to turn away from desire he can proceed to eliminate all afflictions until he attains liberation and realizes the state of tranquility, emptiness of the mind, and the universal nature of the Dharma, which does not arise or cease. After having turned away from physical form, we practice with the remaining four aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. One who is no longer bound by the five aggregates can connect to the Buddha mind. Lord Buddha, if non-Buddhist monks were to ask me such a question, I would answer them in this way:’

The Buddha said, “Well done, Ananda, well done! You should answer the question in this way. And why is that? I definitely teach celibacy so that people may practice the renunciation of form, turn away from desire, eliminate all affliction, and attain liberation.”

In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha further tells Ananda, “Lay a mat for me between two trees in such a way that my head points north and my face looks to the west. Why? In the future the Dharma will spread and advance far north.”

Ananda answered, “Yes.” and laid out the mat at once.

At that moment, all the deities who lived in those trees caused the trees to bloom out of season, and they scattered their flowers on the ground. The Buddha told Ananda, “The deities living in these two trees have made an offering of these flowers, which are blooming out of season. However, this is not the way to make offerings to the Buddha.”

Ananda asked, “How then should one make an offering to the Buddha?”

The Buddha replied, “If one is able to receive the Dharma and practice it, then enlightenment is used as a flower offering. Only in this way can one make real offerings to the Buddha.”

At that time, Ananda said to the Buddha, “While the Buddha is in the world, the monastics from all directions, the elder monastics, and the practitioners with deep understanding of the teachings and the monastic rules have all come to see the Buddha. We disciples make use of such opportunities to pay homage to and learn from them. But they will not come after the Buddha’s final nirvana, and we will lose what all these good Dharma friends could teach us.”

The Buddha replied, ”you should not despair. All you need to do is constantly remember the four kinds of mindfulness. The first is to be mindful of the place the Buddha was born, the second is to be mindful of the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the third is to be mindful of the place the Buddha turned the Dharma wheel, and the fourth is to be mindful of the place of the Buddha’s final nirvana. Ananda, all good men and women who receive and uphold what the Buddha has taught should be mindful of the place the Buddha was born and remember the Buddha’s virtue of practicing the Dharma over many kalpas; be mindful of the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment and remember the Buddha’s virtue of subduing the armies of Mara; be mindful of the place the Buddha turned the Dharma wheel and remember the Buddha’s virtue of compassion to broadly liberate sentient beings; and be mindful of the place of the Buddha’s final nirvana and remember the Buddha’s virtue of his unshakable peaceful tranquility. Anyone who upholds these four mindfulnesses and four virtues will not be separated from the Buddha and good Dharma friends, day or night.

“Ananda, do you think you will have no protection and will lose your support after the Buddha’s nirvana? Do not think this way. All the teachings and precepts I have given since I attained Buddhahood will be your protection and your support. The Buddha’s teachings will become a Dharma vessel that allows living beings in the period of the declining Dharma to sail over to the shore of liberation and serve as protection and support for timid bodies and minds. For those who can put the Buddha’s final teachings into practice, it will be as if the Buddha is still in the world.”

Why do sentient beings suffer? Why are they not enlightened? Because of affliction and attachment. As soon as we form attachments we cannot attain liberation, as our afflictions become inexhaustible. But where do these attachments come from Attachments are produced by a mind that is ignorant and selfish. We must not become attached to what we hope to attain, for what we know is so limited, and attachment just makes that limited knowledge even more rigid and narrow. If we can get rid of our selfishness and our deluded attachments we can eliminate our afflictions. With no afflictions we can attain enlightenment and liberation, and experience the perfection of nirvana in the human world.

A jet airplane can fly at the speed of sound through the use of turbojet engines. The way that a turbojet engine works is by suck- ing air into a compressor, the air is pressurized and enters a combustion chamber where it is mixed with fuel and burned, which then immediately flows through the turbine, causing the turbine to spin at high velocity. Finally, the high temperature and high velocity exhaust jets out the nozzle. It is this reaction that supplies the powerful force of propulsion.

Isn’t human life like this? If one can bear it, then high pres- sure and blazing fire can be transformed into a propelling force for progress. Difficulties and trials can become the gateways to success, and our thinking can transform difficulties into positives. Buddhism has many sayings that refer to this phenomenon, such as “the blaze of flames can become red lotuses” and “affliction is enlightenment:’ When we live our lives with determination and diligence anything is possible.

We do need both success and liberation in this life, it is only that it is impossible to achieve either of these by looking outwardly. Rather, one must come to recognize the truth that all phenomena are empty: Emptiness includes both existence and non-existence; emptiness is causes and conditions, for only true emptiness allows for all of wondrous existence. We should all go and directly investigate our own minds and find our own prajna wisdom. The mind of prajna is solid as a diamond, able to break through defilement and sorrow. Practicing the Dharma makes me feel happy, enriched, and blessed. Nothing is lacking. Everything happens naturally, and success simply occurs when the causes and conditions are right.

It is difficult to be born as a human being, and the Dharma, too, is not easy to encounter. Given that in this life we have obtained this human body and have the opportunity to hear the Dharma, our causes and conditions must be really special.

Humanistic Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism and the Buddhism of the bodhisattva path that brings happiness and well-being to people. It is a Buddhism that advocates cultivation without attainment, and seeks to bring widespread success and universal liberation to living beings. When we make the Mahayana vow, we set our aspiration for enlightenment, the compassionate mind, and the development of skillful means. When we do so we can experience the mind-to-mind Dharma transmission of the Buddha through our intrinsically pure mind of prajna.

The Platform Sutra says: “Kindness and compassion is Avalokitesvara. Joy and equanimity is Mahasthamaprapta. The capacity for purity is Sakyamuni” These clearly show how important the mind of purity is.

I have been a Buddhist monastic for more than seventy years now, yet I have never spoken with the Buddha nor has a bodhisattva ever laid his hands upon my head to assure me of my future enlightenment. I have always been seeking, searching, and wondering: Where is the Buddha? Over the last few decades, I have gone to India on seven occasions to seek out the sacred sites related to the Buddha. I wandered over and looked around Lumbini Garden where the Buddha was born. I went to places like Uruvilva Forest, where the Buddha cultivated asceticism, and the Nairanjana River, where he bathed after renouncing his asceticism, hoping that I could see some traces of the Buddha. I bowed in homage to the Buddha’s seat under the bodhi tree where he attained perfect enlightenment, hoping that the Buddha would appear to me. I circumarnbulated the teaching platform from which the Buddha turned the Dharma Wheel. And in particular, I bowed in homage at the sacred site near Kusinagara where the Buddha entered final nirvana. I could not bear leaving that place, for it seemed I was already drawing near the Buddha.

Later on, I felt that when eating, I was sharing the meal with the Buddha; when walking, the Buddha was guiding me. I arose in the morning with the Buddha, and went to bed each night holding the Buddha. I felt the Buddha in my heart, and knew that the Buddha is present wherever there is light, fresh air, and life. After all, the Buddha is the dharma realm and the universe itself.

There is a saying in Buddhism, “If you wish to know the state of the Buddha, you must make your thoughts as pure as empty space.” If you can enlarge your mind to encompass space itself, then you will know what the Buddha is like. As Buddhists, we must realize our everlasting wisdom and let our lives flow into the universe, where we can be together with the Buddha and become one with space itself.

The Buddha is part of the human world, and so are we. What is the secret to success and fulfillment? It is to be found in the unrestrained and limitless potential of the mind of prajna. Single-mindedly thinking of the Buddha and single-mindedly acting like the Buddha combines knowledge and action into one, just like the two wings of a bird or the two wheels of a cart. Whether you are a monastic or a layperson, worldly or transcendent, the Diamond Sutra is a sutra that we can all receive with conviction and conscientiously put into practice in a flexible and practical manner.

The great Tang dynasty poet Li Bo once wrote: “People today cannot see the moon of ancient times / But the moon tonight once shone upon the ancients.” There is no such thing as “modern” or “ancient” when it comes to the Dharma; enlightenment is in the moment! By universally bestowing the Dharma through skillful means, the Buddha was teaching wondrous applications of the Diamond Sutra to Subhuti and the other twelve hundred and fifty people assembled there. And since the Buddha is not bound by time or space, he is teaching us, as well.

Consider again the expression “Pervade across the ten directions and extend down through the three time periods:’ The expression “extend down through the three times periods” means to transcend the past, present, and future, while “pervade across the ten directions” is to transcend space, just as Amitabha Buddha is transcendent with infinite life and infinite light. Humanistic Buddhism is what we apply in daily life. We must transcend time in how we treat others and deal with our affairs. We cannot think about one time only, for yesterday, today, and tomorrow all exist in this instant and must be well looked after. Then there are the various conditions of one’s relationships with the older, younger, and one’s own generation, all of which must be well looked after. If you are unable to pervade across the ten directions when managing some enterprise, you will find that you offend your superiors and create difficulties for your subordinates. When we first encounter the Dharma, it may seem deep and profound, but when we apply it to our life the Dharma is simply what makes everything wonderful.

It is my wish that all people will become awakened to, live, and realize a life of freedom that does not abide in anything, and that together we can find fulfillment in this world, and achieve great success.

Source: Hsing Yun. Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra. Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.