Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Seeing All Appearances as Pure (心境一如 諸相清淨)
Date: January.31.2018
“Occasionally, we see purity and do not see defilements or evil. Discriminating between purity and defilement is the view of sentient beings’emotions. When the state of our mind is unchanging, what existence and non-existence can be discussed? We do not know how the cities, mountains and rivers disappeared.”
Sometimes we see purity, or do not see defilements or evil. In our daily living, what we see around us is a state of complete purity. In some places, there are defilements and evil. Outside, after someone cleans up, that place will be clean. A place that no one cleans becomes defiled and repulsive. Whether a [place] is clean or defiled, this discrimination depends on us humans. If a place is dirty, once we clean it up, it will be spotless. For a clean place, if no one maintains it or if we put many dirty things there, its purity will turn into defilement. This is all created by humans. What we create is a matter of our state of mind, of our emotions and views. It depends on what we create. With discrimination, we know that something is evil or filthy so we must quickly eliminate it. If a group of people has love, if they know to have self-respect and care for and protect their environment, with their emotions and views, they will ensure that their entire environment will be very clean.
But if these same people are lax, if they do not care for the environment and also do not cherish themselves, in their laxity they refuse to take action, and this place will become filled with turbidity and disorder. It is the same principle.“When the state of our mind is unchanging, what existence and non-existence can be discussed?”How could there be talk about what is good, what is bad, what is dirty and what is clean? No matter what it is like, this is all created by our human minds. Humans, unenlightened beings, cause the [state of]“not knowing how the cities, mountains and rivers disappeared.”
In the past we clearly saw a beautiful mountain. There were mountains, rivers and flowing streams; the scenery was very beautiful. But after some time, [without us even realizing it], we had already flattened the mountains and built roads. [This place with] streams of flowing water has become a big, flat land. Or perhaps it is left with dry creeks. The rivers’water is gone. This environment is changing; mountainous sceneries have become cityscapes. This is what humankind does. Often, as I am traveling [around Taiwan], when the car I am in passes over a bridge, I naturally look out the window. A few decades ago, when the weather was good, the stream would have clean water flowing, giving people a very refreshing feeling. Gradually, after a few decades, we will no longer see this. We cannot see the stream’s pure water flowing anymore. It has dried out, and the riverbed is now continually rising. Sometimes dirty water is flowing there, very filthy water streaming down. This means the mountain is continually being damaged. The mountain is also gradually collapsing. As the mountain collapses, its rock no longer stay in place, and [its ability] to conserve water and soil is lost. The mountains, rivers and land have already changed. This is due to the damage caused by humankind. So, in places where people live, the purity or defilement of those places depends on whether or not people are diligent and put effort into cleaning up the environment. This is good for people’s health and for the cleanliness of the environment, and the air will get better as well. This depends on people’s diligence; when we put in effort and work hard, this land will be very beautiful. The fields and areas surrounding the houses will be all lush and clean. Isn’t this the same for our minds? If we mindfully tidy up the ground of our mind, it too can display beautiful scenery with mountains, rivers and flowing water. Our spiritual landscape will [also] be able to conserve water and soil. With water and soil, this ground will be covered in lush greenery. What beautifies that landscape is goodness. We will also have [respect for] different levels. This is a principle. When we interact with people, if we know this person is an elder, we must be respectful and look up to them as if to Mount Tai.
Following the rules of propriety, we need to treat our elders with respect. People nowadays no longer [pay attention] to these rules of propriety. We also heard [what happens in] the western education system. There is a professor who has a high academic position in the US. He came to Taiwan, and we invited him to our school to give a class to our students. After the class, he came to the Abode to sit down for a chat with everyone. He talked about his spiritual journey. He had a chat with a group of Pure Practitioners. They started talking about excellence. How do we improve our interpersonal relationships? During the conversation, he mentioned how, in the US, students and teachers are considered equal. When a teacher enters, [the students] do not announce, “Rise, bow”. This does not happen in the US, but it is still the case in Taiwan. In Taiwan , how long will this like of etiquette be maintained? This is treating people according to seniority. In the past [we would say,] “A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime”, this is part of our Chinese concept of morality. We must know to be grateful and show respect to our parents and teachers. Thus we say, “A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime.”Clearly, from this description, we know that people’s mindset is one of principles and propriety. This is how we can improve [relationships].
In the past, people’s spiritual excellence and the way they improved their lives was truly outstanding. This was so beautiful!“With principles, we have propriety.”Principles are seen through people’s propriety. When we [act with] propriety, we have principles; without propriety ,we do not have any principles. If families lack proper family values, people in society will be lacking in propriety. Think about it; this is what we need to worry about now. When things are clean, when we have tidied up so it is very clean, then our environment will be very elegant. This is improving our environment, making our environment the best it can be.
Likewise, in the state of our minds, if we do not have propriety, then we will not have principles. This means our state of minds will be in chaos. We are filled with confusion due to our ignorance and afflictions. Afflictions create ignorance, and ignorance creates karma and delusions. Once we create karma, we will not understand the principles. This goes from the superficial to the profound. In our lives, we can realize the existence of principles and see how they remain or disappear. Are the principles still here? We must look to our external environment; from our external environment, we can see what our inner spiritual state is like. This is looking at the external to see what is inside. So it says, “Occasionally, we see purity and do not see defilements or evil.”This is what we see. So, “Discriminating between purity and defilement is the view of sentient beings’ emotions.”We can look at the outside environment from within our minds, and from the outside environment, we can analyze sentient beings’ [inner state]. When everyone gathers together, their emotional state, their mindsets, can all be seen [externally]. So, “When the state of our mind is unchanging, what existence and non-existence can be discussed?”What “existence and non-existence” would there be to talk about? When our minds are unchanging, when we have returned to True Suchness, to our innate One Vehicle nature of True Suchness, we will have no more afflictions. When we do not have any afflictions, how can there be right or wrong? We will simplify everything.
Everything will be simple, and there will be no difference between right and wrong. Everyone will be completely good, and since they will all be good, everything [they do] will be right. Everyone will be in accord with the principles; the principles will be part of our daily lives. Then, there will be no difference between right and wrong, because everyone will follow the principles. Then naturally, “We do not know how the cities, mountains and rivers disappeared.”Nature will always be like this. Nature does not change; nature is just like this. It is just that it has been changed by humankind into cities, towns and villages. These are places where people live. When people enter into conflict with nature, these things happen. Nature’s landscapes change. Look at what it is like now. Many beautiful mountain landscapes are gone. We must mindfully comprehend this. When we look at how humankind has treated the earth, we can see how the four elements are imbalanced. So, this has caused the climate to change. These changes in the climate are due to how, since ancient times, humankind has continuously damaged the mountains and rivers and gradually polluted the air. Our atmosphere is now reacting to this, which has caused the climate to change. When the climate changes, nature also changes. Looking at the present state of nature, it is already [affecting] human lives; there are already “climate refugees”. When we see weather reports, we feel scared and worried.
In the US, the weather [brings about] impermanence. That kind of impermanence and drastic changes are also found in a vast land like the US, even in such a rich and powerful country. They also have climate refugees. {An example of} climate refugees in the US are [people from] an island called Isle de Jean Charles. This island has been continuously sinking. [The government] keeps calling on these people, hoping they can quickly leave this small island. In fact, on this small island, there are not many people, but the government is willing to spend a lot of money [for resettlement]. They are telling the people there to quickly leave. This small island was originally 6.5 km [wide], but now its [width] is less than half a km but now its [width] is less than half a km. We can see that with a width of 6.5km, this small island was quite expansive. There were people living there, and the environment was very good. Their ancestors all lived in that place. There were not many people living there, but the land was not very big either. However, the ocean kept flooding [the island], and the land kept sinking. Presently, less than half a kilometer remains. Half a kilometer, only about 500 meters of dry land [remains], but the people do not want to leave. The government has put aside a large sum of money, US$48,000,000, wishing to [help] the island’s residents leave. But these people think, “My ancestors are all here.” They are unwilling to abandon the place where their ancestors lived. This is how stubborn humans are. What if another disaster comes? With the changes of our climate, as the land keeps sinking, if there is another severe storm, what will happen to these people? These are people’s attachments and the earth’s changes. The earth is changing, and so is the climate. Between heaven, earth and people, what is the reason there are changes in the climate in the world? Why does the land keep on sinking? This is all created by humans. It is due to the afflictions of ignorance and delusions in our lives that make us repeatedly create [karma]. The land that their ancestors left them is gradually disappearing. Like this, the next generation has no choice but to move. Unless they are to disappear with the land, they will have to move. So, when we speak of things lasting forever, as long as people keep creating [karma], even things [we think] will last forever [are affected by] karmic forces, by sentient beings’ collective karma. As for these people’s ancestors, speaking of human beings’ ancestors, aren’t we ourselves also ancestors of human beings? We are continually transmigrating. So, when the Buddha saw a pile of white bones. He said, “This pile of white bones is from my parents in many lifetimes.” This pile of white bones came from people who were each other’s parents. Now, those white bones were in front of them, but the people had already returned to this world. They may have come as parents, sons or daughters or as enemies hurting each other. Did they come out of grace or animosity? There are so many complicated [relationships]. Although we now see a pile of white bones of people who were relatives in the past, in their next life, they might have nothing to do with each other. Or, they might feel mutual love, hate, passion or animosity, leading them to hurt and kill or oppose each other. We cannot know for certain. These are our ancestors. Actually, isn’t this the case also for us? When we all meet each other, it could be that we had very deep affinities in the past, but we are unaware of this. This is due to continuous deluded karma. We pass our lives in delusion, without any control, unaware of anything. So, love turns into hatred. We are repeatedly dragged through the cycle of loving, hate, passion and animosity. This is how distorted our lives are. The Buddha thoroughly understood the principles; He came to this world to let us know about these things. So, we should live together in harmony and interact with each other with love. Whether it is with the external environment or in our interactions with other people, we must treat our environment and others well. If we can do this, there will not be any conflicts, no passion and animosity, afflictions or ignorance. We will have none of these, these are the principles that the Buddha always wanted to tell us, so we must mindfully seek to comprehend them.
We have already seen the previous sutra passage, but let us discuss it again. “At that time the Saha World instantly transformed to become clean and pure. The ground was made of crystal and there were magnificent trees of treasures. Ropes made of gold bordered its eight paths.”
Sakyamuni Buddha called on His manifestations in countless lands to gather together. So, since so many Buddhas were about to come, that area needed to be very large. In the same way, when in the future we begin to bring back great numbers of true principles, we must clean up the ground of our mind so that it is very expansive. Our minds must be able to embrace the universe, without any turbid or defiled things in them. Only then will we be able to accept the true principles when they return. Only then will we be able to take in the principles of the One Vehicle’s True Dharma, the perfect teachings. Previously we talked about the analogies of the stupa of treasures and its surroundings. This means the Buddha was about to reveal many true principles. The Buddha’s manifestations refer to the true principles; these true principles were about to arrive.
The Saha World is our mental state, so we must transform everything that is defiled and evil into purity. We must quickly and earnestly clean our mental state. We must clean it [to the point where]. “The ground is made of crystal and there are magnificent trees of treasures” and moreover, “Ropes made of gold border its eight paths.” The Eightfold Right Path is about to start appearing; right understanding, right views, right mindfulness, right thinking and so on are what we need to bring forth.
The next sutra passage then says, “There were no settlements, villages or cities, oceans, rivers, mountain streams, forests or lakes. Precious incense was burned, and Mandarava flowers were scatted all across the land.”
We have now taken this place, this Saha World, as the ground of our minds. The Saha World now did not have any settlements, villages or cities. There were none of these; there were no settlements. What are settlements? They are places where men and women live together. These are called settlements in villages where people assemble, there are families of men and women. However, the pure eland did not have them in this state of mind, no has the mind of a man or a woman; everyone had the minds of Bodhisattvas. They did not have any discriminating thoughts or defiling prejudices about men and women, none at all. They were all Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. So, what is called a settlement means a very chaotic place. Whether mate or female, good or evil, the places where all kinds of people gather are called settlements. This place did not have any more [settlements]. Moreover, “in this true reward-land, all were supremely virtuous people who had formed Great Vehicle aspirations.” This place did not have any complicated people, meaning there were no complicated mindsets, no discrimination between men and women, good and bad; these complicated mindsets were all gone. This place was the true reward-land. The true reward-land is the pure realm of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. If we take the Buddha’s heart as our own, we will be in a pure and tranquil state. So, “They were all supremely virtuous people who had formed Great Vehicle aspirations.”Thus, there were no “appearances of settlements, city walls or towns.” There were none of these distinctions. There were no such things as cities, regions, provinces, countless or towns; there were none of these. All these were transformed into a pure land. When our mental state is completely unbiased, this is true equality. Everyone is Buddha, everyone is a Bodhisattva.
There were no settlements, villages or cities: Places where men and women live together are called settlements. In the true reward-land, all were supremely virtuous people who had formed Great Vehicle aspirations. Thus, there were no appearances of settlements, city walls or towns. None of these existed at that moment.
So, “The land where the Tathagata’s perfect reward-body abides has the Flawless Five Aggregates as its essence.” The land where the Tathagata’s perfect reward-body abides has the Flawless Five Aggregates as its essence. We must mindfully seek to comprehend this. The Five Aggregates are form, feeling, perception, action and consciousness. Everything has form, the earth’s mountains and rivers also have form. The decorations in front of us are all form. The floor that we sit on, the celling above our heads and so on are also all form. And yet, what kind of mindset are we using to create that environment? With our eyes, roots and dusts converge. Then what is our mindset as we look at this state? Everyone is engaging in spiritual cultivation, so the environment that we create is an environment of pure and tranquil practice. The roots and dusts [connect to create] our state of mind. In this place, what our ear-root hears is the Dharma. Have we taken the Dharma to heart? If we have, we will be full of Dharma-joy. If we were living outside [the Abode], what would we be busy with at this hour? Or would we still be in bed? Would we be there, wasting our time? If we were lax, we would remain [in bed], wasting away our time. Or would we be someone who, in the early morning, is already working hard to give and accomplish things for the sake of humankind. Moreover, on this planet, our morning here is nighttime for another place. The environment is different.
However, for all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in any environment, their Five Aggregates are pure and without Leaks. Being without leaks means that the Dharma has not leaked away, they are full of principles. Seeing any physical forms, we immediately understand them, we are completely clear on the principles of all physical forms. As for the principles of human life, we know them inside and out. We thoroughly understand “birth, aging, illness and death” and how people’s states of mind “arise, abide. change and cease.” People’s minds are unable to forever remain this tranquil. Only the spiritual state of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, is [always] tranquil and clear. No matter what happens, they are completely clear on the principles. So, it is said, “The Five Aggregates are empty.” They are empty, so empty they are pure, like the state of a crystal. It exists, it is real, but it is completely translucent. There us no object to differentiate it. This is having “the Flawless Five Aggregates its essence.” They are tranquil and clear, fixed only with true principles. Their [Aggregates] are filled with true principles. Regardless of what they see and hear or what they come come into contact with, everything is completely clear to them. So, they have “the Flawless Five Aggregates as their essence. This is the tranquil and undefiled state of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
What about us ordinary beings? Our minds are filled with defilements, this is due to our Five Aggregates. Thus, we create a lot of fifth. So, we should be very clear on the principles. Then we will not become defiled, this is having “the Flawless Five Aggregates.” Although we have a human body and live in this world of the Five Turbidities, our minds are completely clean, as translucent as crystal. This is all Buddhas’ and Bodhisattvas’goal in coming to this world. “Due to the merits and virtues from His past cultivation of all the Great Vehicle Dharma….” He was able to live among the defilements of this evil world of the Five Turbidities, to go among people and teach and transform sentient beings without becoming defiled. Since He was without Leaks, although He was human and lived among humans, He was not tainted by them. This was the result of long-term practice of the limitless merits and virtues of the Great Vehicle Dharma. In this way, He was able to remain unobstructed. In that magnificent state, the afflictions and ignorance in our surroundings will not cause obstructions. In the true reward-land of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in that state of mind, we are not obstructed. So, we still remain in a magnificent state of wisdom. With this kind of wisdom, we can distinguish all principles and will not be defiled by lack of understanding of the principles. So, this is being in the true reward-land. This is the principles.
At the end of our spiritual practice, we reach this true reward-land. This is a land that is as pure as crystal, it is the Eightfold Noble Path. This Eightfold Path, the road bordered by golden cords, can be completed in this way.
This means that the land where the Tathagata’s perfect reward-body abides has the Flawless Five Aggregates as its essence. Due to the merits and virtues from His past cultivation of all the Great Vehicle Dharma, He obtained the wisdom of this unobstructed, magnificent state. This is known as the true reward-land.
So, “There were no settlements.” There was no need [to speak of] this village, that town or that city. There was no need. Everything was completely pure. Taking the Right Path as the border meant there were no settlements or the like. “The crudeness and defilements of the Saha World were removed.” This is how we should receive this Dharma. We must remove ignorance and defilements from our minds. We must completely eliminate them.
“People with mature affinities remained.” The people with mature affinities naturally remained, while those without affinities, people who still had afflictions and ignorance in their minds, had to leave. They had to disappear, to go away. The defilement of the Saha World, this kind of fifth, were no longer there. So, those who were able to stay, “people with mature affinities, remained.” Those with good karmic conditions stayed. When the Buddha was about to begin teaching the Lotus Sutra, when the conditions were beginning to mature, 5000 people left the assembly. People with mature affinities remained. When He taught the Dharma, they understood, so He bestowed predictions of Buddhahood for them. The same principle applied here. So, “People with mature affinities remained. They remained in this assembly “heavenly beings lacked the proper capabilities and thus left.” People who lacked the right capabilities naturally left. “Those who were defiled instantly became pure. Are we defiled or pure? It depends on our state of mind. Those who had to leave naturally left. They were not willing to stay in this environment.
Without human settlements, the crudeness and defilements of the Saha World were removed. People with mature affinities remained, while heavenly beings lacked the proper capacities and thus left. Those who were defiled instantly became pure.
“They did not know the trees of treasures and ropes of gold came into existence.” How did these trees of treasures and ropes of gold come into existence? “They did not know how the cities, mountains and rivers disappeared.” Actually, when the ground of our minds can be this pure, the principles are already in our minds. Without our awareness, they have matured. As long as we earnestly accept the Dharma, in the ground of our minds, we will naturally, without even knowing it, give rise to wisdom. We cannot see how our wisdom grows, but in our understanding of people, matters and things, it will naturally be there.
Their bad habitual tendencies from the past naturally disappeared. We must earnestly change our past unwholesome habitual tendencies. We must eliminate our bad habitual tendencies to be able to take the true principles to heart. So, “Occasionally, we see purity and do not see defilements. Purity and defilement lets us see the mental state of sentient beings.” We were just talking about this. We see purity and do not see defilement. Without our awareness, our minds become pure. There are no more defilements in us. This is created by our own state of mind. When we are willing to accept the Dharma, our minds will naturally be pure. When we put in the effort, listen to the Dharma and take it to heart, our afflictions and ignorance will naturally disappear. So, “The state of our mind is unchanging.” The land [of our mind] is the same. It all depends on whether we put in the effort, whether we sincerely accept the Dharma. This is all in the mind, so what “existence” and “non-existence” is there to discuss? This depends on our minds.
They did not know how the trees of treasures and ropes of gold came into existence. They did not know how the cities, mountains and rivers disappeared. Occasionally, we see purity and do not see defilements. Purity and defilement are the views of sentient beings’ emotions. When the state of our mind is unchanging, what existence and non-existence can be discussed?
As for “oceans, rivers, mountain streams, forest or lakes,” the oceans and rivers represent the varying depths of wisdom of the practitioners of the various vehicles. We have formed aspirations, but is our wisdom shallow or deep? Is our wisdom like an ocean or is it like a river? This depends on our minds. So, “mountain streams” represents Samadhi and wisdom. “Forests and lakes” refers to how mountainous land contains trees and all kinds of things. “Now that He revealed the true reward, all returned to the one reality, all appearances were gone.” Now, in this true reward-land, it was the same; everyone likewise listened to the Dharma and delved deeply into it. We have the same Dharma and the same mindset, so we should all be able to return to this pure place. We should not be in that complicated state, in the forest with all those weeds, trees and inhabitants.
It should not be like this. We should all be in a pure [land].
Oceans and rivers: This represents the varying depths of wisdom of the practitioners of the various vehicles. Mountain streams: This represents Samadhi and wisdom. Forests and lakes: This represents all the factors of enlightenment. A large pool of water is called a lake. Now that He revealed the true reward, all returned to the one reality; all appearances were gone.
So, “Precious incense was burned, and Mandarava flowers were scattered all across the land.” This land was very flat, and its ground was made of crystal. We talked about this previously Sakyamuni Buddha transformed it all. What this means is that the Dharma He taught, regardless of how vast or distant it was or how long [He taught it], was brought before our eyes in its entirety. [This entire land] was as pure as crystal. "There were magnificent trees of treasures, and ropes made of gold” bordered its eight paths. So at this place, “precious incense was burned.” There was very valuable incense. Everything in this land was in a state of purity. Where incense is burned is a very elegant place. So, “Mandarava flowers were scattered all across the land.” This represents practicing good causes without any deficiencies. Bodhisattvas cultivate causes, and the state of Buddhahood is the fruit. We must mindfully comprehend this. This land was so clean. The ground of our minds was originally this clean; it was a tranquil and pure land. So, we must be mindful and earnestly maintain the ground of our mind as a pure land, as a tranquil and clear land. This requires us to be diligent. The source of this diligence is for us to always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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