People often ask me, “The Fo Guang Shan monastic order is large and its activities are on an immense scale, how do you manage it all? How do you keep everyone focused, harmonious, and without contention?”

I always like to reply by sharing an old Buddhist expression: “Pervade across the ten directions and extend down through the three time periods.”¹

The expression “Pervade across the ten directions and extend down through the three times periods” describes our own intrinsic Buddha nature. The size of everything in the world is limited, the only things large enough to “pervade across the ten directions” are prajna, our intrinsic nature, and the Dharmakaya. Such things are so large that nothing is outside them and so small that nothing more can be contained within; for they pervade everyplace and exist everywhere. In terms of time, although our physical bodies are born and die and our lives come to an end, our intrinsic Buddha wisdom can transcend the temporal limitations of past, present, and future. It neither arises nor ceases and does not come or go, which is why it “extends down through the three time periods.”

The year I stepped down as abbot of Fo Guang Shan my successor, Venerable Hsin Ping, would come and ask me the same question whenever any major event was about to take place at the monastery. He would ask, “How should we handle it this year?”

I would always answer, “Look to what was done before.”

Referencing earlier precedents means striving for consistency with the monastery’s guiding principles, yet as times change, all things should also undergo some reform and innovation. This is why I said to look to what was done before, not to follow what was done before.

To build people’s faith in the Dharma I have gone from riding a bicycle down to the village in my early years to taking automobiles. Because of this modernized society, instead of walking, I can now fly to and fro through the sky. I deeply appreciate how these modern forms of transportation offer many conveniences for teaching the Dharma. However, an appropriate respect for tradition can allow people to see the true meaning of Buddhism. For example, beginning in 1988 and continuing every other year afterwards, Fo Guang Shan has an alms procession, in which monastics collect donations with their bowls as in the time of the Buddha. Not only does this activity serve to bring the light of the Buddha’s compassion to every corner of Taiwan and give Buddhists an opportunity to make offerings and generate merit, it is a good experience for the monastics as well. In 1988, I launched a series of events across Taiwan entitled “Returning to the Buddha’s Time,” featuring ceremonies, performances, and a Dharma talk. The events used modern audio-visual multimedia to enable the audience of tens of thousands to travel back in time and return to the sacred site of Vulture Peak where the Buddha was teaching twenty-five hundred years ago and share in the Dharma joy of Buddhist chanting.

The policy of referring to past precedents is a manifestation of “extending down through the three time periods.” Whenever some improvement is introduced, it goes through a process of discussion and coordination and then later becomes widely known to everyone. Meetings are an indispensable part of this process. There are times when students ask to attend our meetings, and I do not refuse them.

In the past I served on the monastery staff, and while taking care of guests I developed a keen awareness as to how all things are connected. Each moment can be considered as a point that leads to some other point, together these points make a line, and by observing many of these lines, one comes to an understanding of the whole. By seeing some individual matter as part of the whole, then one can tweak its temporal and spatial qualities in just the right way so that nothing will be left out.

Buddha nature permeates everywhere, “pervading across the ten directions and extending down through the three time periods.” Because of this, in terms of our essence, both the Buddha and I possess the same Buddha nature. Therefore, I need not submit to force, nor become beguiled by wealth and honor. I am one with all living beings. Sometimes I may sit upon a high throne and expound the sublime truths of the Buddha, while at other times I can toil and work for the benefit of living beings and contribute through my sacrifice. I can be great or be small, I can come first or come last, I can do with or do without, I can handle happiness or suffering, I can expand or contract, and I can bear being full or being hungry. I was not born with the ability to do everything, but I am always willing to try.

It is because of the maxim “pervade across the ten directions and extend down through the three time periods” that we must throw open the universal gate. There can be no racial barriers or special treatment. We must be able to lead people from all walks of life, regardless of their religious and social backgrounds, into sharing equally in the benefits of the Dharma. This will enable all living beings from different regions of the world and different stations in life to benefit from the Dharma’s various positive connections, and bestow them upon society.

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

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Footnote:

1. 橫遍十方，豎窮三際: The ten directions are the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, plus above and below, and the three time periods are the past, present, and future. There is a suggestion in the Chinese expression that space exists on a horizontal plane and that time exists on a vertical plane, with the two together encompassing everything. Ed.