The Illusion of Time

In the Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra （般舟三昧经）, it is thus stated,

‘All the Past Buddha upheld and obtained the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation, making offerings of four necessities joyfully to attain Buddhahood.

All the present Buddha also uphold and obtain the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation, making offerings of four necessities joyfully to attain Buddhahood.

All the future Buddha will also uphold and obtain the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation, making offerings of four necessities joyfully to attain Buddhahood.’

It means all the past, present and future Buddha become the Buddha by dwelling in the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation.

People will ask, ‘Amitabha Buddha has just accomplished Buddhahood for ten kalpas. Even if you say a hundred kalpas, how can all the past Buddha also accomplish the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation to attain Buddhahood?

Do you mean his Shifu, Lokesvararaja Buddha also obtain the Samadhi of Amitabha recitation to accomplish Buddhahood?

How could this be possible?’

This state of course can be explained by using words but according to our mind nature, the above passage is too difficult to understand.

It is because this is the state of the Buddha. Only after you have arrived at the Western Land and accomplished Buddhahood will you be able to understand, to penetrate its meaning.

For a mundane man like us dwelling in this worldly realm, a world of birth and extinction, a world of transmigration, there is the appearance of past, present and future.

Am I right?  

For the Buddha and Bodhisattva who dwell in Great Nirvana, that is the state of no birth and no extinction.

All the Buddha are enlightened and certified to the genuine mark of all dharma which is originally without birth and death.

As it is without birth and death, there will be no difference in the past, present and future time.  

But as they are talking to living beings like us, they say there is the past, present and future.

For them it is no birth and no death, so where is the past, present and future?

They have already released themselves from the bondage of time.

That is why they are always at ease.

For them, there is no obstruction when they talk about the past, present and future.

But it is impossible for us to understand this state.

Below I will give two examples to explain this.

For example, there is a road with the width of a car. When we are travelling on this road, we will have to line up one by one. Can the car at the back overtake the car in front? It is impossible to overtake. If the car in front refuses to move on, we will have to stop.

But there are roads of double lane, three or four lanes. If a car at the back is travelling fast it can overtake the car in front and move on.

What do I mean here? We mundane men’s mind is just like that narrow one lane path. As we are narrow minded, our thoughts on past, present and future are revealed in a single line mindset. For us the past is the past, the present is the present, the future is future. It is impossible for this mindset to jump across any restrictions. It is bounded by the way of thinking.

For an arahant, his mindset could be the three or four lanes path. For him there is no past, present or future because he is able to know the past and also the future in the present one thought. His mind is able to take a detour and travel on.

But this is a challenge for us as we are very narrow minded. We are travelling on the one lane path. The arahants’ mind is the four lanes path. For a bodhisattva the expand of his mind could be eight lanes path, or even fifty lanes path. Then for a Buddha it is not a problem of how many lanes. The expand of his mind could extend horizontally, going up into the space, or even travel underground. For him it is in all directions, three dimensional. It is unnecessary to follow the thinking of mundane mindset with the attachment to fore and hind. For him the back part can be brought forward, the front part can be brought backward. He is all at ease, without any obstacle.

Another example is about washing face in the morning. If we on the tap slowly, the first drop of water is not the last drop of water. The drop of water behind cannot come forth to be the first drop. This is because the pipe is very narrow. The next drop of water is behind the first drop and others all queue up. They come out from the tap drop by drop naturally because the water is controlled by the tap and the pipe.

Now I would like to ask a question. Look at the great ocean. Does the water in the sea flow this way?

In the ocean, which one is the first drop? Can you find it? Which one is the last drop? Can you differentiate it?

The mind of a mundane man is being hindered by the narrowness of self-attachment, self-view. When it is controlled by time, there is the appearance of birth and extinction.

So, our understanding of the surroundings is limited as we are controlled by the restriction in the concept of past, present and future. It is like the water that drips out one by one. This is the past drop. This is the present drop and this is the future drop.

When Sakyamuni Buddha and all the Buddha attain Buddhahood, they thoroughly penetrate all the myriad dharma, all the myriad appearances in the Universe, the past, present and future time because of a clear and unhindered mind which is able to reveal itself as expansive as the great ocean.

In the ocean like water we cannot differentiate which one is the first drop of water, which is the last drop. We cannot differentiate them yet they are all there, in the great ocean.

When a man attains Buddhahood, all the myriad appearances in the universe, the concept of a mundane man on past, present and future, do not exist in the mind of a Buddha. The Buddha only uses the language of a mundane man to explain the dharma so that they can understand. In his mind, he says, ‘This is not the real meaning that I am telling you.’ But to teach in accord with the standard of the mundane beings, he has to use the three periods of time, past, present and future, the east, west, north and south directions, to explain the dharma for us. For a Buddha, he has broken through the concept of time and space. He does not have the concept of past, present and future. But for our sake, he has to talk about the three periods of time as it is the limited understanding of a mundane man.

I also have written one analogy. For example, when we see a film show. Do you know what a film show is? The picture appears with a series of pictures closely related that move on not more than one upon twenty-four seconds.

Our eyes have the effect of continuity. All the actions in one second are presented in 24 pieces of photos, in a flow of photos from the projector. Then when we see these photos, we see a continuity in them, a flow of actions. If we study these 24 photos, we can see the slight differences in every change of actions. The whole series will join to become one continual action. There is the front, the medium or the last photo to present one continual action.

But if we cut down these 24 pieces of photos and place them on the table, we can see the first action until the last action at once. Am I right? If they are not on the table, but come out from the projector, we can only see one by one, the first photo follows by the next until the last. When we see the first photo, we cannot see the photo in the middle, neither can we see the last photo. But if they are on the table, we can even mix up all the sequences, or put the last photo to become the first photo and vice-versa.

What am I trying to point out? I am trying to say the past, present and future photos of a mundane man are not seen in this way in the eyes of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This is because they see everything at a glance. For them everything appears clearly in one glance. They can also arrange the actions as they like. They can put the past into the present and place the present moment into the past without hindrances.

This is an analogy to put forward my idea and every one can think about this point.

In the Flower Adornment Sutra, it is thus stated, ‘In one single mindfulness, I can see the three periods of time. All the kalpas in the three periods of time, I can enter all of them in the arising of one thought.’

For a Buddha, in one single mindfulness he can see the three periods of time, the past, future and present time.

Of course, it is very hard for us to understand this point. This is the inconceivability of the Buddha Dharma.

That is why we must accomplish the Buddhahood.

Otherwise, we will not be able to understand these words. After speaking so much yet we still cannot understand. We wonder how to put the past into the future. We really have no way to understand this. I also cannot give any more explanation. I have tried my best, to give these three examples for you to ponder.

A Dharma Teaching by Venerable Master Shi Jing Zong, the Abbot of the Hong Yuan Monastery, Anhui, China. Title: The illusion of time

An extract of the above teaching:

For a mundane man like us dwelling in this worldly realm, a world of birth and extinction, a world of transmigration, there is the appearance of past, present and future.

Am I right? 

For the Buddha and Bodhisattva who dwell in Great Nirvana, that is the state of no birth and no extinction.

All the Buddha are enlightened and certified to the genuine mark of all dharma which is originally without birth and death.

As it is without birth and death, there will be no difference in the past, present and future time. 

But as they are talking to living beings like us, they say there is the past, present and future.

For them it is no birth and no death, so where is the past, present and future?

They have already released themselves from the bondage of time.

That is why they are always at ease.

For them, there is no obstruction when they talk about the past, present and future.

But it is impossible for us to understand this state.

Below I will give two examples to explain this.

For example, there is a road with the width of a car. When we are travelling on this road, we will have to line up one by one. Can the car at the back overtake the car in front? It is impossible to overtake. If the car in front refuses to move on, we will have to stop.

But there are roads of double lane, three or four lanes. If a car at the back is travelling fast it can overtake the car in front and move on.

What do I mean here? We mundane men’s mind is just like that narrow one lane path. As we are narrow minded, our thoughts on past, present and future are revealed in a single line mindset. For us the past is the past, the present is the present, the future is future. It is impossible for this mindset to jump across any restrictions. It is bounded by the way of thinking.

For an arahant, his mindset could be the three or four lanes path. For him there is no past, present or future because he is able to know the past and also the future in the present one thought. His mind is able to take a detour and travel on.

But this is a challenge for us as we are very narrow minded. We are travelling on the one lane path. The arahants’ mind is the four lanes path. For a bodhisattva the expand of his mind could be eight lanes path, or even fifty lanes path. Then for a Buddha it is not a problem of how many lanes. The expand of his mind could extend horizontally, going up into the space, or even travel underground. For him it is in all directions, three dimensional. It is unnecessary to follow the thinking of mundane mindset with the attachment to fore and hind. For him the back part can be brought forward, the front part can be brought backward. He is all at ease, without any obstacle.

像我们这样的凡夫，住在这个世间，生死轮回的世界，就有 过去，现在和未来。对吗？而佛，菩萨住在大涅槃，没有生也没有死。所有的佛觉悟后，证得诸法实相，本就没有生死。

没有生死，就没有过去，现在，未来。但要跟我们这样的众生说话，就说有过去，现在未来。佛没有生死，哪里有过去，现在和未来 ?

他们已经从世间解脱出来。所以他们时时自在。

他们可以谈过去，现在，未来，没有障碍。但是我们无法明白他们的境界  。

下面，我举了两个例子。

比如，有一条路，是一辆车的宽度。在这条路驾驶，我们必须一辆接着一辆。 后面的车可以超越 前面的车吗？不可能。前面的车如果不动，我们   就得停车 。                                           

但是有些路是双线，三四条线。后面的车如果驾得快，他可以超越前面的车 。

这是什么意思？

我们凡夫的头脑犹如狭窄的单线路。我们心胸狭隘，

我们的思惟 就是单线 的，就有过去，现在未来。

对我们来说，过去 是过去  ，现在是现在，未来是未来。

我们无法跳出思想的限制，我们被思想所捆绑。                                        

而一个阿罗汉，他的思维可能是三线或者四线的路。

对他来讲，没有过去，现在，未来。

因为在当下这一念，他能知道过去与未来。他的心是可以绕道后在直走的。

但是，对我们来说，这是一个考验。

因为我们心胸狭隘。我们只能走在单线上。

阿罗汉的心是四线道。

菩萨把心打开  可能就是八线道，十五线道。

佛不再限与几条线道。他的心可以横开，向上入空，或者向下入地。

佛的心  是四方八面的，三维式的。

不像凡夫的思维，有前有后。  

对他来说，后面可以拿来前面，前面可以移后。

佛一切自在，没有障碍。