Reaching Past, Present and Future

Yutang Lin


Time flows constantly without pause and break.
Past situations seem lost yet could be revisited.
Coming conditions are sometimes seen in advance.
Practicing Dharma is reaching past, present and future.

Comments:

Dharmadhatu as a whole has no limits of time and space. We are limited by our sensual experiences; consequently, it is commonly held that past events are gone and could not be reached, while future has not arrived and therefore could hardly be predicted. According to the experiences of Buddhist practitioners it is possible to see events that happened even before this life, and to foresee the development of events in the future. Based on such experiences it is conceivable that past, present and future are concurrently within the Dharmadhatu as a whole. Each one of us is limited by individual karma to be able to see only bits and fragments of the Dharmadhatu.

From considerations above I have come to realize that, while engaging in Dharma practices one should visualize that the practice is benefiting and reaching all sentient beings in past, present and future, but not just limited to sentient beings of the present time. In this way the practitioner would readily merge into the totality of the whole Dharmadhatu.

Written in Chinese and translated on July 10, 2000
El Cerrito, California


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