Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Suffering Arises from Defiled Affections (染情生苦 宜修淨戒)
Date: July.18.2018
“When our minds are disturbed, it is difficult to endure. The views of self and other, male and female afflict and disturb us. The source of the eight sufferings is our defiled affections, which give rise to love, hate, passion, animosity and meeting with those we hate. The truth of suffering is that it derives from sensory appearances and our sense organs, caused by the accumulation of cravings from the Sensory Roots and Dusts. We must bring all suffering to cessation and practice the pure precepts. All the teachings of the path are wondrous and good to contemplate.”
Everyone, we should mindfully seek to understand. People’s minds are indeed in a state of confusion; this is the most difficult thing for us to bear. People’s suffering is not the suffering that comes from lacking material goods in their lives. People’s suffering comes from the afflictions we cannot sort out or put aside in our relationships with others. “When our minds are disturbed, it is difficult to endure.” This is very bothersome. What bothers us are our afflictions. Our emotions constantly trouble and confuse us; they bind us up. This is truly hard to endure.
This is where our suffering lies. Because of the appearances of others and self and of male and female, because of all kinds of appearances like these, our discriminating mindset gives rise to improper relationships between men and women. This creates all kinds of troubles for society, all kinds of afflictions and all kinds of turmoil. So many afflictions are due to views and appearances. Our view of a human, view of self, view of a lifespan, view of men and women and so on, all of these are what trouble us.
So, there are the Eight Sufferings. There are fundamentally eight sufferings in life. The source of these basic Eight Sufferings is love, hate, passion and animosity, these defiled affections. Where does all this arise from? Does it arise from nowhere? No. We all are born of our parents. However far you may trace back the source, it will always lead back to the entanglements between men and women. So much suffering derives from these. So, the source of the Eight Sufferings is the arising of defiled affections. Do you know the Eight Sufferings? They are birth, aging, illness, death, parting from loved ones, meeting those we hate, not getting what we want and the raging of the Five Aggregates. However, their most basic source is “defiled affections.” So, for us humans, reproduction is a complicated affair. Furthermore, so much of our ignorance, so many of our afflictions and so forth all continue to derive from these passions, this love, this hate and animosity. They constantly proliferate in this way. This [disrupts] families, societies and the world; for the sake of these affections, people’s minds are deluded and many afflictions and karmic forces are created. It all arises in this way.
So, there is “the truth of suffering.” This suffering continues to proliferate. This is all due to the “senses”. Our sensory Roots and all sensory appearances are the most basic [cause]. If we think about this a little more deeply, isn’t true? It is! So, “[It is] caused by the accumulation of [cravings] from the Sensory Roots.” As for sense objects, our eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body connect with the external conditions and thoughts of craving and attachment arise. When our eyes see something, when our Six Roots encounter the Six Dusts, this is when the Six Consciousnesses arise. So the Sensory Roots and Dusts lead to craving and attachment. Because of this, many chaotic and confusing things continually proliferate in our world. As spiritual practitioners, we work hard to calm the mind. We first get rid of the source of the chaos, so that we will no longer have this source of passion and desire. Without this sensual desire troubling our mind, our mind will naturally be very peaceful. We can maintain Samadhi and thus be stable in our direction. The sights and sounds around us, the Sensory Roots and Dusts, will be unable to entice our minds. If we move in a direction where we first set aside these sense objects, these Dusts, then once they are gone, we can concentrate on “bringing all suffering to cessation” by practicing the pure teachings with a pure mind. Our minds will naturally be able to focus on the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, the Three Flawless Studies. As we cultivate and uphold listening, contemplation and practice, if we lack precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, if precepts, Samadhi and wisdom leak away, we will be unable to concentrate on listening. We will unable to contemplate the subtle and wondrous teachings with a calm mind. We will be unable to put the teachings into practice, earnestly engage in practice with peace of mind.
So, if we want to really accept the Buddha-Dharma, we must first cleanse and refine our mind. Only by cleansing and refining our mind, cleansing and refining it with pure water, will we have a way to get rid of our afflictions and ignorance, to eliminate the source of our afflictions. This is how we deal with the world. Amidst all the complications in the world, we need to learn how to still our minds so that we can absorb the subtle and wondrous principles. In our daily living, this is indispensable, a necessity. We must certainly first get rid of the source of this ignorance and these afflictions. So, we need to understand the truth of suffering. When it comes to the origin of “suffering,” the reason so much suffering accumulates and proliferates is “causation”. As so many sense objects accumulate, our sensory organs go into action, craving these external Dusts. Our Roots connect [with them] and create karma. So, to really engage in spiritual practice, we need to extinguish suffering at its source. We must bring all suffering to cessation and practice the pure precepts. This is fundamental. We need to be very mindful of this!
When it comes to the pure precepts, we put these spiritual teachings into practice on the broad and great Bodhi-path. We must contemplate the subtlety and wonder of all these various teachings. “All the teachings are wondrous.” The Dharma is wondrous; we must contemplate it well. There are all kinds of teachings on the path that are all truly sublet and wondrous. We should put effort into mindfully contemplating them. The teachings are so numerous that if we tried to investigate and realize them all, there wound truly not be enough time. So, we must not waste time amidst the sense objects, stirring up afflictions that disturb people’s minds or take in many afflictions that can throw our emotions into chaos. This is will cause us to give rise to that kind of afflictive emotions that are truly difficult to bear and endure. This all comes from the views of self and other, male and female; these trouble and disturb us. From the initial source that caused our afflictions to our ultimate direction, our goal, which is to eliminate those afflictions in order to return to the Dharma, we must contemplate it all mindfully.
People have so many afflictions, infinite and countless numbers of afflictions. What is their source? The Buddha gave us so many teachings that will cure these afflictions. How many has He already taught us? How many of them have we heard? How many teachings do we have that will cure these afflictions? If we use all of these many teachings and are still unable to cure these afflictions, what should we do then? That is very simple; when we think about it to the end, there is just one thing. “We must know the source.” We must get rid of the source. So, we understand that their source lies in the afflictive emotions of love and hate, affection and enmity. These things continually entangle us, but now we know the source of our entanglement. The source of the Eight Sufferings is “defiled affections”; they arise because of defiled affections. Defiled affections originate with the [sexual desires] between men and women. These disturb our thinking, so what continually arises is love and hate. Between love and hate, animosity can easily arise. If we love someone but cannot have them, it can turn into animosity, resentment, hatred, jealousy and so on. Many things that are seemingly quite simple actually contain very profound principles. Many complicated things and afflictions are actually very simple if we understand them. So, as for what is correct and what is mistaken, if our aim is right, nothing is really that complicated. So, when it comes to the path, although it is very subtle and wondrous as long as our minds can settle down, we can earnestly contemplate how to use this Dharma to cure our many afflictions. The way to cure them is so simple. If we know the source, “By grasping one truth, we understand all truths.” We will understand them clearly. So, this is what we should mindfully realize.
“Manjusri!” This is the previous passage. By understanding these things, it will be a lot easier for us to understand the teachings that follow. Manjusri, furthermore, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not be attached to the idea of women’s bodies as objects of desire and for that reason teach them the Dharma. They must not delight in looking at them either.
When it came to fully explaining this passage, it was very troubling it was very troubling. Ancient times and our modern era are truly very different. If we look back on the Buddha’s era or on Confucius’ era, during Confucius’ time, Confucius also said, “Women and children are the hardest to deal with.” Women are undervalued during Confucius’ era as well! He said the most difficult people to deal with are women and children. Are women and children the same? Thinking about this is truly exasperating. How many strong women do we have now in this modern era? Moreover, women have accomplished so much. Many heads of state now are women who are able to lead their people with ethical and humanitarian views. There are many women like this. Women are brave. We often speak of “a mother’s strength”. This means that when a woman becomes a mother, she will take care of her child. For the sake of her child, she will be very brave; we see this often. Women labor so hard for their families. When men create all kinds of karma, it is women who clean up after them.
I often watch the show Grassroots Bodhi. Although that TV program is very down to earth, its message comes through very clearly. On it we see many mothers who undergo great difficulty to support their family, who very bravely face the situations that they find themselves in. It is very down-to-earth, with real-life stories.
Every morning we listen to the volunteer assembly. In the [Tzu Chi] hospitals, we can also see and hear so many stories like this. We can see those real-life family situations, real stories of what is happening in society. In truth, women are more resilient than men. So, it is very strange; why do passage like this continue to have this [prejudice] against women? However, as we just recalled, women in fact do also have many different kinds of psychological states when it comes to their way of thinking, to relationships between men and women and so on. Men are like this, too. However, the Buddha was very meticulous. The Buddha expounded the sutras for women and women were able to awaken, receive predictions of Buddhahood and attain Arhatship. There were many like this. What this passage is actually emphasizing is all about our mental attitudes.
When it comes to relations between men and women, we must not allow our mind to be tempted by others. This does not just apply to women, but is something true for both men and women. We can all listen to it again.
The previous sutra passage states, “Manjusri, furthermore, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not be attached to the idea of women’s bodies as objects of desire and for that reason teach them the Dharma. They must not delight in looking at them either”.
In this passage, the Buddha goes into more detail to make it a little clearer for everyone. The Buddha worried about [His disciples] getting involved in improper relationships. Was He shunning women? Since the Buddha had told everyone that all sentient beings are equal, why would men and women be viewed differently? Without the view of [self and others] or the view of sentient beings, how could there be views of men and women? Unfortunately, in this world, many calamities have been due to relationships between men and women.
These in particular cause much disturbance and trouble people’s minds. So, at this point, the Buddha wanted everyone to pay even more attention to and be even more clear about this. Thus, He especially [pointed out to them that] they should not get close with women, because if women have seductive attitudes or if they expose their bodies, when it comes to women’s bodies, men might let their imaginations run wild. So, this is why He say here, “Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not be attached to the idea of women’s bodies as objects of desire”. He did not want their imaginations to run wild when it came to women’s bodies.
So, “For that reason [they] teach them the Dharma. If we want to teach others the Dharma, our own minds must be very stable. Our minds have to be upright and very stable. Otherwise, while teaching women the Dharma, our minds will be on their attractive bodies, and we will let our imagination run wild. This will not do. So, our spiritual aspirations have to be firm. People whose resolve is not firm are not suitable [to teach the Dharma]. We must not treat women’s bodies as objects of desire and teach them the Dharma for this reason. We cannot teach women in order to get these women to like us. Not only must we not try to win a woman’s favor by teaching her, we should also not “delight in looking at them”. If we are attracted to a woman, we should do our best to avoid her, not always try to get close to her. This is to protect our minds. If you are already tempted by a woman, you need to immediately avoid her. You must not keep [thinking], “I feel so sorry for her, I need to teach her the Dharma. I need to guide her”. This not necessary. This is because you have already taken a liking to her, because you already have a soft spot for her. If you teach her the Dharma, it should not be out of pity for her but for the purpose of truly bringing purity to her heart. We do not teach the Dharma for any one person in particular. It is not that we particularly like someone and therefore teach her the Dharma, no. This is how sympathy turns into affection. Furthermore, if our intentions are not pure. Extramarital affairs and improper relationships can also begin this way. The affections between men and women are extremely complex and extremely fragile, not something to play with. So, this is something to be very cautious and mindful of.
So, if there are times “when they enter others’ homes, they must not converse with young girls, virgins, widows and the like”.
If they were to go into household where a family is living, they should not be alone with a single woman, a virgin or a women without her husband. It is not acceptable to speak with her alone. When we enter someone’s home, we must have a legitimate reason for being there. It is not right to purposely go and look for an unmarried woman or a widow to chat with. So, this is something we must be cautious of.
The next passage states, “Furthermore, they do not draw near to the five kinds of pandakas or become close with them.”
Besides not getting close to women, beside not giving rise to desirous thoughts about women’s bodies, we should also not associate with the five kinds of pandakas. This is saying to be cautious when making friends. We should not get close to these five kinds of pandakas who have improper thinking. We should put effort into looking at this further.
Furthermore, they do not draw near to the five kinds of pandakas or become close with them: They are also cautious in making friends so they never draw near to the five kinds of pandakas, who have improper mindsets. People like these have a temperament that is full of defilements and lack the resolve of great men, so He warned [His disciples] not to draw near. Becoming close with them could damage our own spiritual aspirations. If our mindset becomes unsound, our aspirations may be damaged and our Bodhicitta disrupted.
We wish to teach and bring purity to others, use the Dharma to bring purity to people’s minds and help them correct their thinking. If we wish to purify those whose mindsets are not proper, we should first consider what we are capable of. If our spiritual resolve is not sufficient, then we should not do it; we should not approach or get close to them. We can be friendly with them, but we should not become close with them. This is because our own perspectives and thinking may still not be all that stable, because we ourselves have still not taken the Dharma very deeply to heart. We need to assess our own abilities. “People like these have a temperament that is full of defilements”. If their attitude is not upright and we want to draw near to them, then we must put our hearts into using the Dharma to purify them. If our mastery is insufficient, then we should not even try. If for the moment we do not have the ability to transform someone we must temporarily heighten our vigilance. This is because of their different mindset; they “lack the resolve of great men”. They lack that bravery, that resolve and the focus on the noble path in the world. If people have improper mindsets, we are “warned not to draw near”. We must not keep trying to get involved with them, nor keep trying to draw near to them.
In order to preserve our mind’s [integrity], we should keep our distance from them, for we have still not taken the Dharma deeply enough to heart. We have still not reached the stage where the Dharma will not leak away. When it comes to precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, we are not yet replete with these. So, we must train ourselves first, otherwise our thinking and perspectives may still be influenced by others. [We should not] “become close with them”. We should not draw close to them, nor should we become intimate with them. It will not be suitable to be very close with them. It “could damage our own spiritual aspirations.” The Buddha wished to teach us how to take precautions against this, how, when it comes to men and women, spiritual practice is the same for both. It is the same for both bhiksus and bhiksunis. When bhiksus are faced with these pandakas, “the five kinds of pandarkas, they too must heighten their vigilance.” It is the same in regard to women. They need to analyze this carefully.
It is evident how frail men’s minds are. Whether in regard to women’s appearances or in regard to those who are “pandakas,” their minds can be easily shaken.
The Buddha wanted everyone to heighten their vigilance. This is not the fault solely of the women. He was actually talking to an audience of men on how to conduct themselves with women, on how to conduct themselves with other men, on how they should look upon and treat them. They had to be very mindful with all of this. Women should be vigilant of themselves. “Have I conducted myself incorrectly?” “Perhaps I have not acted correctly in my appearance and in the way that I have carried myself, have I displayed a flirtatious attitude and disturbed people’s minds?” People say, “The river water may be disturbed but a monk’s mind is not to be disturbed.” Trying to affect a spiritual practitioner’s mind is very serious karma.
So, these are the Roots and the Dusts. For men, women are objects of desire. Because of our appearance, when people look at us, if they give rise to desirous thoughts we are their “Dusts”. A man’s appearance can also disrupt a woman’s mind. This is like Virtuous Eye Pratyekabuddha who we talked about yesterday. When a girl saw him, that girl’s heart was moved. That elder’s daughter became so enamored by that Pratyekabuddha that the Pratyekabuddha gouged out his eye for her. [He told her], “You love my eye so much. Here, this is my eye.” His spiritual aspirations were so firm that he preferred to harm his body rather than let his mind be moved. He would not become entangled by the affections of that woman. His spiritual aspirations remained firm. Only when our practice reaches such a level will we truly have a way to transform others. Otherwise, if we are weak ourselves, how can we transform others? This is what we really must be mindful of. So, as they “lack the resolve of great men. He warned [His disciples] not to draw near.” We should not get involved with them, not approach them or become close with them. To become intimate or get close to them is something we should not do. If we do, we will damage our own spiritual aspirations.
So, “If our mindset becomes unsound, our aspirations may be damaged and our Bodhicitta disrupted.” If our mindset is unsound, this will happen. Our aspirations will be disrupted; our Bodhicitta will be disturbed. So, we need to be thoroughly mindful.
The above are people whom all Bodhisattvas should not take joy in seeing nor converse with nor become close with nor indulge in interaction with. It is because they are not vessels for the Dharma and will only add to their impurity. This will not help to spread the Dharma.
So, this is for those Bodhisattvas with newly-formed aspirations. They say, “I want to form great aspirations and I want to make great vows to go among people and transform sentient beings.” However, as mentioned earlier, there are all kinds of vicious situations, all kinds of improper ways to make a living, ways that involve killing and so on, so we must really heighten our vigilance. Even when it comes to a woman’s appearance, we must [be vigilant]. So, He said to these newly-inspired Bodhisattvas. “If you wish to get close to these people and help them, then you must be very mindful!” In regard to women, to men and to pandakas, we need to remind ourselves to be vigilant. We have already talked so much about this, about how we should not draw near them, nor constantly think about getting help from them. It is the same. We should not even think of going to see them, of getting close to them, nor should we keep trying to talk to them. If we speak with them, we must let them know, must let them understand that the things that we say will be of help to them.
We talked about this before. No matter a person’s occupation or how they may be living, we must always be very cautious with them. We should not “become close with nor indulge in interaction with [them].” We should not indulge ourselves in these kinds of inappropriate relationships, continuing to wallow in that place, interacting with the people there. This will not do. We need to be upright and correct. If we remain upright, we will not stir up emotions like these that cause trouble. “It is because they are not vessels for the Dharma.” Even if you want to try and force these people to change, even if you form Bodhisattva-aspirations and wish to try and transform them, they do not yet have the karmic conditions, they are for us to transform. For the time, they are not vessels for the Dharma. If they are not vessels for the Dharma, we will have no way to [teach them]. Their minds still cannot hold the Dharma-water; their buckets are still too dirty. We cannot put the water of the Dharma in them. They first need to be washed clean; only then can we pour in the Dharma.
This is like how the Buddha taught Rahula, telling him, “This bucket is for washing feet. If you had just washed your feet and then dumped out the water, would you put rice in this bucket, rice that you would eat?” Rahula replied, “Venerable Buddha! That bucket would be filthy! It would not be a clean bucket; how could you ever put rice in it?” The Buddha told him, “That is correct. If your mind is impure, then how can the Dharma enter your mind?” The principle is the same. So, if our minds are not yet pure, then we are “not vessels for the Dharma.” If people’s minds are not pure and we want to teach them the Dharma, they will not have any way to accept it. So, they are “not vessels for the Dharma”. The Buddha did not say that they will never attain Buddhahood or that they can not engage in spiritual practice. He did not say that. It is just that at the moment, there is “no Dharma to transform them.” There is still no way to transform them, so they are “hot vessels for the Dharma.” They will only add to their impurity. If we put the Dharma in there, it is like putting water into a dirty place; it will get dirty. The principle is the same. So, “This will not help to spread the Dharma.” Teaching the Buddha-Dharma to them would be like talking to a wall; it would be totally useless. This is what we need to try and mindfully realize.
Next it says, “They do not enter others’ homes alone. If for some reason they must enter alone, they should focus their minds on the Buddha.”
We should not enter others’ homes alone. We need to mindfully comprehend how to interact with these people, how to approach these people. If we have very close interactions with them, not only might our mind become influenced by them but if it goes on for too long, people may also become suspicious and they may wonder, “What exactly is the relationship between these two people?” They will begin to become suspicious. This is something we need to avoid.
In the past, during the Buddha’s lifetime, there was a bhiksu who wanted to go among people to transform them. When he went out with his alms bowl, there was a family who always received him warmly. He often failed to follow the Buddha’s rules and visited this family daily, visited them on a regular basis. There was a girl in this family who go on very well with this bhiksu, who would speak to him very warmly. The bhiksu always taught the Dharma to that girl. However, while the girl listened to him, she was not listening to the Dharma; she only wanted to hear him speak, to hear his voice and to look at him. So, when they were together, while he thought she was listening to Him teach the Dharma to her all the while she was thinking, “You always want to get close to me. That is why you teach me the Dharma.” So, between these two there were many interactions. Sometimes she would go look for him on the street. Sometimes the bhiksu would visit the girl’s home. It was like this until the neighbors noticed. “That bhiksu has become so close to this girl. This girl seems so intimate with this bhiksu.” He himself became alerted and was very upset. “What shall I do?” He thought about this inside a garden, and the more he thought about it, the more upset he became, but the image of that girl kept floating in his brain. The neighbors reprimanded them; they blamed them and criticized them. He also knew that he should not violate precepts. He wanted to abide by the precepts but inside he was confused. He later thought of ending his life.
The tree spirit in the garden knew that he actually never wanted to break the precepts, but [he saw] what the bhiksu was thinking, how his thoughts were troubling him. So, the tree spirit manifested in the form of that girl. [The bhiksu] saw this illusion, saw an illusory image of this girl appear. The girl said, “Since things are like this, since the two of us get along so well, it is better if you return to the lay life. We can start a family.” When the bhiksu heard her talk about returning to the lay life, it suddenly startled him and he awakened. “I cannot go back to the lay life. I wish to remain a monk. I must not violate the precepts.” It was then that the tree spirit spoke, “Right! You not being able to return to lay life shows how firm your spiritual aspirations are. The reason the Buddha taught us to ‘contemplate the body as impure’ is because of the defiled [affections] between men and women. Men and women becoming close is the source from which transgressions derive. Why is it that you cannot experience the truth of the Buddha’s teachings? You must settle your mind!” The bhiksu then woke up as if from a dream. “It’s true! Since I have no intention of returning to lay life, why do I continuously allow my aspirations to be [led astray] by the Roots and Dusts and the fantasies that disturb my thinking? Both Roots and Dusts and fantasies [affect me] Why? I must think more about the Buddha’s teachings, contemplate the body as impure, learn to understand how these Roots create entanglements between men and women that cause this body to become polluted.” With this, his mind settled down. He engaged in contemplation and was finally able to achieve realization of the Buddha-Dharma. He truly awakened and realized the fruit of Arhatship. This is a story that is found in the sutras.
So, we should know that when we associate with women, or when men and women associate with each other, it can invite criticism and suspicion. It can make people suspicious. We should not lead sentient beings to deludedly give rise to transgressive thoughts.
They do not enter others’ homes alone. If for some reason they must enter alone, they should focus their minds on the Buddha: This is to avoid criticism and suspicion. To help sentient beings keep from deludedly giving rise to transgressive thoughts, they should avoid deviant and defiled affinities. We must safeguard the affinities that bring purity to our mind and distance ourselves from affinities [that lead us away] from the right path and affinities that scatter [our minds].
In the interactions between men and women, we should avoid suspicion. We must not cause sentient beings to give rise to deluded thoughts, to create transgressions with their thoughts. We must do our best to avoid this.
We “should avoid deviant and defiled affinities.” When it says “deviant,” it means we have already deviated from our path, have deviant thoughts, deviant and incorrect views. We should quickly use the Dharma to purify our minds and to protect the purity of our minds. We should continue to return to our purity, the purity in our thinking. This is just like that bhiksu. The tree spirit reminded him, so he thought, “That’s right! I must quickly focus and concentrate on the Buddha’s teachings!” So, “We must safeguard the affinities that bring purity to our mind.” We must avoid defiled affinities, and safeguard the affinities that bring purity to our minds. We should put effort into “distancing ourselves from affinities [that lead us away] from the right path.” If affinities [do not accord with] the right path, then we should distance ourselves from them. We should also hasten to get rid of the affinities that trouble our minds.
They do not enter others’ homes alone: Alone, they cannot enter the secular residences of others. For fear of making a mistake and inviting criticism and suspicion, they should not enter alone.
“They do not enter others’ homes alone.” We must not enter other people’s homes alone. If we do go into other’s homes, we must not speak with virgins or widows. If for some unavoidable reason, we must enter a secular residence, then this is the time that we should be very mindful in taking precautions. Taking precautions means we should carry with us a sense of fear that will prevent us from making mistakes. We should be very cautious not to attract criticism or suspicion upon ourselves. So, we should not go in by ourselves.
If for some reason, they must enter alone, they should focus their minds on the Buddha: Should causes and conditions require them to enter people’s homes alone, they should focus their minds on the Buddha. In doing so, they will collect and bring purity to their minds and safeguard and uphold the pure precepts.
If for some reason we have to enter alone, we should remind ourselves to be vigilant. So, if we are “required to enter alone,” we need to be vigilant, so we should “focus our minds on the Buddha.” Thus “Should causes and conditions require them to enter people’s homes alone, they should focus their minds on the Buddha.” By focusing on the Buddha we can collect our mind and keep our mind pure. We can safeguard and uphold pure precepts. We should mindfully seek to understand this.
“If they teach the Dharma to women, they should not smile to let their teeth show
nor expose their chests. They must not become close with them, even for the sake of the Dharma, much less for any other purpose.”
This says that when teaching the Dharma to women, we should not laugh loudly. When we speak, we should just speak, speak very correctly and properly. We can be gentle, but we should not laugh while teaching the Dharma. We should remain upright when teaching the Dharma, especially when teaching women; when men are talking to women, they should remain all the more dignified. “They should not smile to let their teeth show, nor expose their chests.” This is because women have their own eye-roots, and they too come in contact with “form”. As we were talking about before, women can also become attracted t men! This happens frequently, and it can complicate things in our society. When it comes to relations between men and women, then women are entangling themselves with men. So, when men are in the presence of women, they should remain very dignified. Thus, when the “Roots” meet the “Dusts,” we need to be very cautious.
If they teach the Dharma to women, they should not smile to let their teeth show, nor expose their chests: If they have the affinities to teach the Dharma to women, they should not show their teeth when they smile in order to be cautious and serious. They should cover their chest in order to be restrained.
“If they have the affinities to teach the Dharma to women, they should not show their teeth when they smile.” If we smile, we should smile slightly. The Buddha smiled slightly when teaching, but it was not as if he would laugh out loud. Some, when they speak, cannot even finish their sentence before laughing out loud like this. He hoped that when we speak, we will truly remain correct and dignified. “We should not show our teeth when we smile.” If we smile, it should be a slight smile. The Buddha would have a slight smile as He taught. This was “in order to be cautious and serious.” He was very careful, very cautious, very disciplined in teaching the Dharma. Moreover, “They should cover their chest.” We too need to keep our bodies covered. During the Buddha’s time, the monks would expose one of their shoulders, buy when they taught the Dharma to women, they would cover up the exposed shoulder as well, so that it would make them more dignified and their chest s would not be exposed. Therefore, we need to be very careful.
Showing our teeth as we smile is frivolous. Exposing our chest is indecent. Both are considered to be deviant conduct that we must distance ourselves from. This is because showing our teeth as we smile and exposing our chest will cause others to have more unwholesome thoughts.
“Smiling to let our teeth show” means we should not show our teeth when we smile. “Exposing our chest” is undignified, so we must not do it. When it comes to the way people view us, we always need to maintain dignity in our demeanor. So, we need to put effort into being mindful. “Deviant conduct” is conduct that deviates from the proper path. What is the path for teaching the Dharma? It lies in taking great care in our demeanor. We should not expose our teeth when we smile, nor should we expose our bodies. This is all “deviant conduct”. It is not dignified and is against the rules. We should put effort into being mindful of this. So, if we teach the Dharma like this, “smiling and showing our teeth and exposing our chest will cause others to have more unwholesome thoughts.” If we are teaching the Dharma while looking like this, not only will people not accept the Dharma, it may even destabilize their minds.
So, in the past, Amanda asked the Buddha, “In the future when the Tathagata is gone, what should we do when we see women?” The Buddha told him, “Avoid meeting them, and if you meet them, avoid conversing with them.” [He said], “Stay away from them.” “If you should meet them, then do not talk with them. Focus your thoughts on the Buddha.” What method should we use to teach the Dharma? There must be rules that we follow. Of course, I would like to cite further from the sutras, but we do not have enough time. So “They must not become close with them, even for the sake of the Dharma, much less for any other purpose.”
They must not become close with them, even for the sake of the Dharma, much less for any other purpose: with right mindfulness and genuine intentions, it is still inappropriate to become close with them, much less for other, unwholesome, reasons. In teaching the Dharma to women, in order to avoid criticism and suspicion, they should not become close with them [for the Dharma], let alone for other reasons.
For the sake of the Dharma, we need to be very cautious. When speaking alone with a woman, we must to be cautious and discipline ourselves. “Even for the sake of the Dharma, with right mindfulness and genuine intentions” means we must be sure to have right mindfulness. We must have genuine intentions to act for the sake of the Dharma. Only if our minds never leave the Dharma will we be able to teach the Dharma among people, to teach the Dharma among women. So, when we are teaching the Dharma, we need to be cautious, not to mention how, when teaching the Dharma, we must not become close with them. This is neither suitable nor correct. So, when teaching the Dharma to women, we should avoid criticism and suspicion. “We should not become close with them [for the Dharma], let alone for other reasons.” When teaching the Dharma, we should always be upright, not to mention at all other times. So, we should always be very cautious. When men and women interact, they need to be very vigilant and remain dignified when talking with others. So, we must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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