Selected Lectures on the Sutra of the Meeting of Father and Son
Chapter One: King Śuddhodana Sees the Buddha for the First Time
Original text: 尔时净饭王。并诸营从眷属等。见诸阿修罗王。乃至外道婆罗门。蒙佛授记。发希有心。叹未曾有。世尊言音。美妙清澈。一切世间。闻者忻悦。时净饭王。始见如来。以爱恋故。情意殷勤。
Explanation: King Śuddhodana, along with his trusted guards, attendants, and ministers, at this Dharma assembly, saw the World-Honored One give predictions of future buddhahood to the asura kings and even to some non-Buddhist brahmins. He thereupon gave rise to a sense of wonder, exclaiming that he had never encountered such a magnificent assembly, and praised that the World-Honored One's voice when teaching the Dharma was so wondrous and clear that everyone in the world who heard it would feel joyful and delighted. Because this was the first time King Śuddhodana had seen the World-Honored One since He left home to cultivate the path in the Snow Mountains and attain buddhahood, he still cherished affection for his former son, and his feelings of attachment remained very deep.
Original text: 尔时世尊。知彼父王。心之所念。而告之曰。大王。我所说法。初中后善。其义巧妙。清净一相。梵行圆满。今正说者。所谓分别。六界差别。分位法门。王当谛听。善思念之。时净饭王。即白佛言。善哉世尊。愿乐欲闻。为我宣说。忆持信受。
Explanation: At this time, the World-Honored One knew that his former father the king still harbored feelings of longing for Him in his heart, and said to King Śuddhodana: Great King, the Dharma I teach is good in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end; its meaning is ingenious, and I use various similes and parables so that sentient beings can conveniently understand and accept it with faith. These Dharma meanings are all of the mark of purity, with the pure conduct perfected. What I am now teaching is the so-called dharma gate of discriminating the differences and positions of the six elements. Great King, you should listen carefully and contemplate these Dharma meanings well. At this time, King Śuddhodana said to the Buddha: Excellent, World-Honored One! I earnestly wish to hear the World-Honored One proclaim it for me. I will hold it in memory and accept it with faith.
At this great assembly, the lords of the twenty-eight heavens in total—the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm—as well as the non-humans, all received predictions from the Buddha. King Śuddhodana saw the Buddha give predictions of future buddhahood to so many humans and non-humans, and even to non-Buddhists. Having never heard of or witnessed such a scene before, he greatly praised it as rare and hard to encounter.
Every sentient being, after attaining buddhahood, possesses the thirty-two marks and eighty subsidiary characteristics, one of which is the mark of the "brahmā voice"—the Buddha's voice is extremely wondrous and clear; when hundreds and thousands of kotis of humans and devas come to listen to the Dharma, no amplifier is needed, and everyone can hear it. Moreover, not only can humans understand the language the Buddha speaks, even ghosts and spirits, animals, and sentient beings of the six realms can all understand it; Chinese people can understand it, and people of other countries can understand it too; people of different languages and different races can all understand it, and bodhisattvas from other buddha-lands can understand it even more readily, and all can hear the Buddha's voice clearly. This is one of the Buddha's virtues.
All people in the world, including all sentient beings of the three realms (the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm), feel great joy and happiness upon hearing the Buddha's Dharma voice. Since the World-Honored One left home to cultivate the path in the Snow Mountains, this was the first time King Śuddhodana had seen the World-Honored One. He still had the affection of father and son, and still regarded the Buddha as his own son. When he first saw the Buddha, the thought in his mind was still that he himself was the father-king and the Buddha was his son, so the Buddha should pay him a greeting. King Śuddhodana stood there waiting for the World-Honored One to salute him, while the World-Honored One stood opposite, waiting for King Śuddhodana to salute Him, because the World-Honored One knew that He was the supreme honored one of the three realms; although King Śuddhodana was His father, he was still an ordinary person. At this point, the World-Honored One's disciples said to King Śuddhodana: The World-Honored One is now the supreme honored one of the three realms; you should prostrate to the World-Honored One. Upon hearing this, King Śuddhodana understood and immediately prostrated to the World-Honored One.
Brahma conduct means pure conduct; when the body, speech, and mind attain purity and there is no defilement of desire, that is brahma conduct. When pure conduct is perfected, that is the perfection of brahma conduct—the mind has no mental activities defiled by greed, hatred, and delusion, and the mind attains purity. What the World-Honored One is now expounding is the dharma gate of the differences and positions of the six elements, namely the six great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness—the positions, definitions, differences, boundaries, functions, and so forth of these six dharma gates.
King Śuddhodana expressed that after hearing the World-Honored One teach the Dharma, he would hold it in memory, keeping the Dharma in every thought. The prerequisite for holding it in memory is hearing the Dharma; understanding what is heard is determination (adhimokṣa), and only after determination can one hold it in memory. If one does not understand, it is easy to forget, and when trying to recall, one cannot remember. After understanding and remembering the content, one need not memorize it; when it is brought up, one immediately knows what it means—this is holding it in memory without forgetting. The prerequisite for holding it in memory without forgetting is understanding, and the prerequisite for understanding is listening carefully, listening attentively; listening attentively means listening with full concentration, with the mind in meditative concentration. Therefore, before teaching the Dharma, the Buddha always tells His disciples, "Listen carefully, listen carefully, and contemplate it well." Listen carefully and earnestly, and afterwards contemplate it carefully—not just listening and letting it go, but after listening, one must still contemplate and reflect; only after contemplation can one understand, and understanding is determination (adhimokṣa); after determination, one can naturally remember it.
Not being able to remember the Dharma one hears is not merely a matter of poor memory; it also depends on whether one understood it at the time, and whether one contemplated it after listening, and whether the contemplation was deep and thorough. If one cannot do these things, one will not remember it and will not know what one heard. The next step after holding it in memory is accepting with faith—believing and receiving it. The next step after receiving it is practicing in accordance with the teachings. When one practices in accordance with the teachings, the Dharma one has learned becomes one's own—this is the sequence of cultivation. First listen attentively, then contemplate, hold in memory, accept with faith, and practice accordingly.
