Dharma Outline????8 - 3 Make sure the seeds you plant are perfect 注意你播下的種子是不是圓滿

(English Subtitles) Lectured by Master Jìng Jiè (淨界法師) from Taiwan. 佛法修學概要
Subtitles: [102] What is a "small" motivation? What is a "large" motivation?
Let's look at the third pair, "small" and "large". Please clasp your hands.
Small – viewing the three realms as a prison, regarding birth and death as foes, only intending to liberate oneself, not intending to liberate others; such a motivation is called "small".
Large—My vow will not be fulfilled until the sentient beings of the realm are fulfilled;
my vow will not be attained until the path to bodhi is attained.
Such a motivation is called “large”. The preceding passages all point out the motivations of ordinary people: "evil" and "right," "false" and "true."
The preceding passages all point out the motivations of ordinary people: evil and right, false and true. This passage is discussing the realm of sages; "small" and "large" refer to the different scales. people: evil and right, false and true.
Here we are talking the realm of sages; small and large refer to the different scales of their perspectives.
Let's first look at the motivation on a small scale: They regard this world as suffering, only intend to liberate themselves, but are unwilling to liberate others. For those who practice Hinayana Buddhism, there are two situations: First, the environment they encounter is too painful.
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So, the Sutra of the Eight Great Awakenings says that one of the reasons why Bodhisattvas cultivate merit is to try their best not to let life fall into too much suffering.
Although this karmic consequence is only temporary,
it has great aftereffects. People can experience slight pain because pain can motivate us, but extreme pain can generate aftereffects and damage your compassion.
Extreme pain can damage your inner self, causing you to develop an extreme aversion to life. This is a serious problem, and it has harmed your great compassion.
So, the Sutra of the Eight Great Awakenings says that Bodhisattvas accumulate good deeds because they have to avoid falling into overly painful karmic consequences. This is for those who don't seek rebirth in the Pure Land, so they have to accumulate sustenance.
You may say: What to be afraid of pain? I can gain experience. But you may not be afford to experience it. If the hardships you encounter in life are too unbearable, there will be aftereffects.
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That's the problem. View this world as a prison, and regard life as a foe. Because the pain is so intense for you, no advice is helpful, leading to extreme pessimism about life.
That is why he dares not care about beings, because he was scared when thinking of birth and death. Having to return to the Saha world to ferry sentient beings terrifies him. This has terrible consequences.
Such a motivation is called 'small'. Narrow-minded motivations will not lead to great achievements.
We certainly regard Arahants as saints, but compared to the Mahayana Buddhism, it's a pity, even though they also accomplished a great deal.
If you open the Lotus Sutra and read it, you'll see that Venerable Sariputra did quite a lot.
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He complained to the Buddha, “I, like Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, have entered the nature of emptiness.” Venerable Sariputra was present at almost every classic text. He said: "Buddha, why have I only attained the status of an Arahant?"
Venerable Sariputra was present at almost every classic text. He said: Buddha, why have I only attained the status of an Arahant? I can do nothing but cultivate emptiness, formlessness, and vowless in the mountains. While Manjushri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva are able to ride on a thousand-petaled precious lotus to
turn the great Dharma wheel in the ten directions, adorned with myriad virtues. What he means is: Buddha, are you being biased?
The Buddha said that “the nature of Dharma is as vast as the space, but the aspiration of sentient beings is small.”
The Buddha said: The nature of Dharma is as vast as the sky,
but the aspiration of sentient beings is small. The merits of the Dharma are immeasurable, so why do they seem so small in your mind? Because your motivation is small! You have diminished the merits of the Dharma.
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The Buddha said, “Does the rain from heaven show favoritism?
Rain nourishes the earth universally. If you are a small blade of grass, you absorb less rainwater; if you are a large tree, you absorb more. It has nothing to do with the rain itself, right? The rain represents the Buddha's Dharma water.”
When I talked about observing the nature of void of all phenomena,
and no me and non-abiding, why do Mahayana bodhisattvas generate bodhicitta from void and non-abiding, and you do nothing out of non-abiding but go biased towards void? So it's your own mindset that operates wrong, not the Dharma itself.
Every Dharma door is a path to Buddhahood; there is no difference.