Chapter 16. The Life Span of the Tathagata
Exactly how long is the life span of the Tathagata? From the moment of his enlightenment to his teaching of the Dharma, was it merely those few decades we witnessed in India? The Tathagata addressed Maitreya Bodhisattva and the entire assembly, saying: “In truth, it has been an immeasurable, boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of nayutas of kalpas since I attained Buddhahood. Suppose one were to take five hundred thousand myriad nayuta asankhyeya trichiliocosms and grind them into atoms of dust. Then, passing through five hundred thousand myriad nayuta asankhyeya lands to the east, one drops a single atom of dust, continuing eastward in this manner until all those atoms are exhausted. Do you believe the number of these worlds could be calculated?” Bodhisattva Maitreya and the other beings replied: “World-Honored One, they are beyond calculation, immeasurable and boundless.”
Shakyamuni Buddha then addressed the Great Bodhisattvas: “Virtuous men, I shall now declare this clearly to you. If all those worlds—whether they received a dust atom or not—were again ground into dust, and if each atom represented one kalpa, the time since I attained Buddhahood would exceed that number by hundreds of thousands of myriads of nayuta asankhyeya kalpas. Since that time, I have always remained in this Saha world, preaching the Dharma and teaching others; I have also led and benefited sentient beings in hundreds of thousands of myriads of nayuta asankhyeya other lands.” Through this analogy, the Buddha explains that the time since his enlightenment is incredibly vast—far beyond the billions of years of our Earth’s existence. The time since the Buddha attained Unexcelled, Complete, and Perfect Enlightenment is profoundly ancient, and in truth, we are all Tathagatas, sharing the same age as the Buddha.
Because in a previous chapter the Buddha spoke of his passing and his entry into Nirvana, he explains in this chapter: “Virtuous men, the life span I achieved through the merits of my past practice of the Bodhisattva path is not yet exhausted; it is even more enduring than it currently appears. I do not actually enter Nirvana now, but I say that I am about to pass away. The Tathagata uses such expedient means solely to teach and transform sentient beings.” In this Saha world, within this specific dimension of time and space, the Buddha manifested a human life span of eighty-odd years before showing the appearance of Nirvana. You might think his life had reached its end at eighty, but in reality, he could have continued that life indefinitely. He manifested Nirvana only as an expedient means to teach beings. Having attained great mastery over life and death, he may choose to stay or depart as he sees fit. Our Dharma-nature is neither born nor extinguished. If we realize the perfect nature of the Tathagata within ourselves, we too could manifest for a very long time. Why, then, does he manifest Nirvana in every realm and every era?
He said: “If the Buddha were to remain in the world forever, those with meager merit would not seek to plant good roots. Poor and lowly beings would become attached to the five desires—wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—and fall into the net of deluded thoughts and false views. If they saw the Tathagata always present and never entering Nirvana, they would become arrogant and willful, eventually growing weary and negligent. They would fail to realize how difficult it is to encounter the Tathagata and would not develop a heart of reverence. Therefore, the Tathagata uses this expedient: ‘Bhikshus, you should know that the appearance of a Buddha in the world is rare and difficult to encounter.'” Why is this? Because those with little merit may pass through immeasurable eons, some seeing a Buddha and others not. Thus, the Buddha says: “Bhikshus, a Tathagata is difficult to see.” Upon hearing this, sentient beings realize how rare the encounter is and thus plant good roots. So, although the Tathagata does not truly pass away, he speaks of his passing. This is the method of all Buddhas: when the conditions are right in a particular time and space, they manifest Nirvana, yet they never truly perish. The life span of the Tathagata is infinite. Shakyamuni Buddha continues to teach us in this Saha world; we have followed him and studied the Dharma life after life, and we remain his disciples to this day.
The Buddha then shared the “Parable of the Skilled Physician.” The story tells of a doctor who was excellent at treating rare and difficult diseases and had more than ten children. One day, while he was away, the children accidentally consumed poison. By the time he returned, the poison had begun to take effect. Seeing their father, the children cried out happily: “Father, please cure us quickly! We have taken poison and are in great pain. Please save us!” Seeing his children rolling on the ground in agony, the father used his wisdom to find the finest medicinal herbs from across the world. He prepared a medicine with perfect color, fragrance, and taste for them to take. Some of the children, whose poisoning was relatively mild, immediately took the medicine and were cured. However, others were so deeply poisoned that their minds were clouded by hallucinations; they did not value the medicine and refused to take it.
What does the Buddha intend to illustrate with this? We are just like those children. The Buddha has prepared the Dharma gates for us, yet sentient beings are often attached to the five desires. Some take the medicine, but others, though they know the suffering of greed, anger, and ignorance, are too distracted by their pursuits to take it when the time comes. The father thought: “These children are pitiable. They are so deeply poisoned that I must use a clever stratagem to make them take the medicine.” He told them: “I am going on a long journey and am now very old. It is possible I will not return. I am leaving this prepared medicine here. If you feel unwell or if the poison flares up, remember to take it!” The children agreed. The father then departed, and after some time, he sent a messenger back to tell them that their father had died. The children began to wail, realizing they had no one left to rely on. They thought: “Now that our father is dead, we have no protection. These medicines are all he left us; if we don’t take them now, we will have nothing.” They rushed to take the medicine and were cured. Once they were well, their father immediately returned, saying: “I am not dead; I am neither born nor extinguished.”
In this parable, the Buddha is the physician. He has prepared the medicine of the Six Perfections for us—the best medicine in the world, crafted with his wisdom to help us repent and eliminate greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. Some of us take it promptly, while others are muddled, taking it only occasionally or forgetting it entirely because the poison is too deep. The Buddha speaks of his Nirvana to make us cherish his teachings. He tells us he is gone so that we will value the Dharma gates he left behind and study them earnestly. He manifests Nirvana solely to make us treasure the path. In truth, the Buddha is immortal. Even when manifesting in our world, he has attained such mastery that he could appear ageless. Every manifestation—whether birth, old age, sickness, or death—is done for the sake of our enlightenment. If he judges that showing Nirvana will benefit his disciples, he does so. He told his disciples: “I am the same. Since I attained Buddhahood, immeasurable eons have passed. For the sake of saving sentient beings, I use expedient means to say I am passing away. Do not think I have spoken falsely; there is no error of falsehood in me. I manifest in this way only to deliver you.”