Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Treat Delusion by Meditating on Cause and Effect (愚癡迷惑 以因緣治)
Date: February.04.2019
“Those who are foolish and do not understand must treat themselves with the meditation on karmic cause and effect. This is to meditate upon the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. Those who are lost and deluded deny the law of karma. They are confused and unclear about the Dharma and are attached to nihilism or eternalism. Thus, they are said to be foolish. Because they were stingy with the Dharma in their past lifetimes, they have this karmic retribution in their present life.”
We must be mindful! The teaching of the intrinsic helps us thoroughly understand our lives in this world. How did we come here? Now that we are in this world, we should always be mindful of how our thoughts arise. If we are foolish, we will not be able to understand why we were born, our objective in life or where we will go in the future. If we cannot understand these things, we will always be disturbed by afflictions. Ignorance is what causes afflictions, and with afflictions, we create karma, resulting in a lifetime of continuous confusion. What should we do if we are like this? What should we do when we meet people like this? We “must treat [ourselves and others] with the meditation on karmic cause and effect.” We must guide them with the meditation on causes and conditions. As are the causes, so will be the conditions. We should not do things that we should not do. For any thoughts that we should not have, we should hurry to correct them. We should stop doing what we should not; we should not continue to do it. If we are already doing it, then we should hasten to change. This is all a matter of the workings of karmic cause and effect. If we have not created the causes and conditions, we will not receive any retribution.
So, we must be extremely cautious when it comes to evil causes and conditions and proactively create good causes and conditions. When it comes to right and wrong, we must clearly [discern] them. We must be very clear on these things. This is the meditation on karmic cause and effect, which we must earnestly apply to treat [delusions]. We may ask, where do karmic conditions come from, and where do the karmic conditions for life arise? We have clearly known the answers to these. This is how life originates through the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. If we do not understand the 12 Links, then we will remain confused, deluded and in denial of the law of karma. So, we must understand the entire sequence and how the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence give rise to one another.
What are the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence? Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation, volitional formation gives rise to consciousness, consciousness gives rise to name and form, name and form give rise to the six entrances, the six entrances give rise to contact, contact gives rise to feeling, feeling gives rise to craving, craving gives rise to grasping, grasping gives rise to becoming and becoming gives rise to birth, aging, illness and death.
Our lives will end in aging and death. If we understand the law of karma, then we know that ignorance arises from the afflictions of greed, anger and delusion. Our fundamental ignorance arises in this way. Perhaps in our past lifetime, we gave rise to greed, anger and delusion, and our afflictions and ignorance led us to act in all kinds of confused ways. Then, when our previous lifetime ended, without any control of our own, we are led by our karmic conditions into this present lifetime in the world. As we are reborn into this life, we journey upon our past acts of ignorance.
At this time, we have this consciousness. When our parents conceive us, our mother becomes pregnant. When she first becomes pregnant, there is nothing there to speak of; it just looks like a bubble that gradually takes shape. This is our [past] actions, our causes and conditions beyond our control, that come together in our confused “consciousness”. Then, through the affinities we have with this pair of parents, we are conceived. At that point, we are still at the stage of “name and form.” When we first enter our mother’s womb, we are only a cluster of cells that is gradually forming. We gradually develop from a bubble into a cluster of cells, and then while in our mother’s womb, the extremities gradually begin to take shape. Our head, hands and feet slowly begin to form, and we take the form of a human.
At the same time, our six entrances begin to develop. The six entrances, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, all begin developing and become complete. When the time comes, after 10 months in the womb, we are born when gestation is complete. When we are born from our mother’s womb and come into contact with the outside world, as our whole body comes in contact with the outside air, the pain we feel is like being cut with a knife. We feel pain and suffering, so we let out a cry. This cry is from the extreme pain and suffering of our bodies; [the air] stimulates the nerves, so we cry. Why else would children cry out when they are born? They feel the pain from stimulation, so they cry. The first thing we experience when we come into the world is pain and suffering. We then begin to experience the love of our parents, heat and cold and so on.
Over time, as we grow older, we gradually accumulate more and more experience and our consciousness gradually forms. Our desires become more and more complicated. We have desires right from the start. We get hungry and cry. When we wet ourselves, we know we are uncomfortable, so we cry out. We gradually make distinctions in body and mind. As we get older, we start to know to choose the food we want to eat. “I want to eat this, I don’t want that. I want that.” We start being picky even with the things we eat. From the time children are small, their desires gradually increase. They choose and hold on to things. From the time when they are little, they gradually develop their cravings and desires. So, we experience “craving”.
Craving then leads to grasping. “I crave such a thing, so I want to grasp it. If anyone goes against my wishes, I will fight them!” With this kind of craving and grasping, as we age, we continuously increase in our ignorance and afflictions. We then create [karma] and so on.
Next, “becoming” refers to the karmic forces; we gradually begin creating karma. Whether our actions are correct or incorrect whether we are right or wrong, we start creating great numbers of karmic forces. Throughout our lives, the karmic forces created in confusion again make us give rise to again make us give rise to craving, feeling, grasping and so on. Throughout our already complicated lives, we keep creating karmic forces. After we are born, throughout our entire lives, we do good and evil and create good and bad affinities and so on. In this way, in this lifetime, we go from being children, through our youth, middle age, prime years and into old age. We go through our life in this way until we grow old, become sick and then die. Does our life end with death? No, it does not! Without any control of our own, volitional formation leads to consciousness, name and form, the six entrances, contact, feeling, craving, grasping and becoming. They continue to cycle like this. These are the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. These 12 Links of Cyclic Existence are beyond the control of unenlightened beings. It all beings from what we call ignorance, then from ignorance stems greed, anger and delusion. [The cycle of] ignorance, afflictions and creating karma continues on. Ignorance leads to actins throughout our lifetime. In our actions, the Five Roots, Five Dusts and Five Consciousnesses come together, and throughout our lifetime, we become attached to appearances, names and forms. We become attached to names and all kinds of external forms. In such circumstances, our six desires constantly connect with the Roots and Dusts. Our consciousness keeps connecting with them senses them, gives rise to craving and desire and tries to grasp them. In our interactions with other people, we constantly create bad and good affinities etc. Our entire life is inseparable from these 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. After going through the 12 Links our entire life, the 12 Links continue to lead us through our affinities with our parents.
Then again, without any control of our own we follow this cause and return to the world.
In this way, we go through this cyclic lifetime after lifetime. This is called the 12 Links if Cyclic Existence. The causes from our past lifetimes resulted in our current lifetime. We do the same in our current lifetime as well; in our current lifetime, we constantly create [karma], form the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence and will again be reborn in our future lifetime.
In our daily living now, without any control of our own, we continue to create [karma] as we go through the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. These are the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence.
The 12 Links of Cyclic Existence [listed] earlier encompass the arising of delusion, creation of karma and experience of rebirth throughout the Three Periods. With all our karmic causes and effects, we go through this cycle again and again without end.
These 12 Links extend like this throughout the past, present and future. We are subject to them every day. They extend back into the past as well, for it is due to the karma we constantly created that we have been reborn in this place. We create a cause, which gives rise to an effect and we suffer from its retribution. Over and over again, “We go through this cycle again and again.” We keep on cycling without interruption. Everyone, this is how we came here. In the future, this is how we will go. This is what we are doing now, creating [karma] through our greed, anger, delusion, ignorance and afflictions, never distancing ourselves from the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. So, every day, we are confused and deluded. Some people do not understand the Buddha-Dharma and are unwilling to accept it, so they will “deny the law of karma”. This is because they do not know and are unable to understand that in our every thought and every action, we are constantly creating karma. The [only difference] is whether we are creating good or evil karma. When we create good karma, we of course form good affinities. Bodhisattvas “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions” when among people in this lifetime with their bodies and mind.
So, in our daily living, it is very important for us to “transform consciousness into wisdom”. This also helps everyone know that in our life, we have delusion in our consciousness. Our Six Sense come into contact with the external form, sounds, smell, taste, touch and [mental] phenomena. [Mental] phenomena [connect with] our mind-consciousness. These are the Six Senses, the Six Senses Objects and the Six Consciousness. Our optic nerves and auditory nerves [allows us to] see and hear things, and then we distinguish among the forms and appearances of things. When we hear sounds and distinguish whether we like it or not, this is our “consciousness” that [takes action]. We make distinctions with our consciousness. So, we need to transform our consciousness into wisdom. When we hear something, we should contemplate it carefully and ask, “Is this the right way to do it? This is not right!”. Then we can suggest, “Doing it this way would be better. Oh! Okay, let’s do it together”. When it comes to how accurately we see things, “Look! There is clearly a difference in height! Can’t you see that? I cannot see it. Well, I can see it! If you can’t, maybe you should measure them.” “Oh! Indeed! Indeed! They are different heights!” If they are different heights, will that be problem? Yes, it will. If the pillars we use when building a house are uneven, then the house will not be straight. The principles is the same. Our measurements must be accurate. We are very attached to “fame”, but if we analyze it, what is fame? Is it something we need to strive for? No, there is no need for it.
In the world, what ordinary people [use] is their consciousness”. “Because of the environment I am in and my needs, will fight for what I desire. I will give my all to fight for it!” Yet, for people with wisdom, is this necessary? What we really need to do is take a step back and see the bigger picture and broaden our minds a little so that everyone will be at peace. This is wisdom; there is no need to fight! So, in our everyday living, we must live with wisdom; this is different from fighting for things with our consciousness. So, when it comes to good and evil, evil [actions] begin when people use their consciousness to fight for some advantage. No matter if it is right or wrong, they will fight over it. Those who have wisdom will deal with that matter with an open heart and pure thoughts; whatever they do is very peaceful and greatly benefits others. They understand cause and effect, and they know that as are the causes, so are the effects. If people do not understand the cause and only want to fight over and grasp things in the end, they will not have anything but infinite suffering. If people do not understand karmic cause and effect, they will be confused and deluded and “deny the law of karma”. These are unenlightened beings. They fight over [what is in] their consciousness, which is mistaken. We should “transform consciousness into wisdom, into profound discerning wisdom, universal equality wisdom [and] great perfect mirror wisdom and bring all things to fruition peacefully. This is “all-encompassing wisdom”.
We must be very mindful; this is what we call spiritual practice. “They are confused and unclear about the Dharma”. These are unenlightened beings. “They are attached to nihilism or eternalism. Thus they are said to be foolish”. Because of these attachments, they accomplish nothing in their lives. [They say], “So what? In this life, I can do whatever I want”. They just do whatever they want to do. They do not believe in future lifetimes or in later effects [of their actions]. This is called “nihilism”.
Or they may be [attached to] “eternalism”, people fight for things because they think their lives will last forever, never giving a thought to the impermanence of life. How long can we keep on fighting? Life is so impermanent, yet they keep fighting for fame and fortune. They continuously expand their business. Having made lots of money in the world, they still want more, never thinking of how long they have to live. This is called “attachment to eternalism”. People “attached to nihilism or eternalism” are “foolish”. This is “because they were stingy with the Dharma in their past lifetimes”. They were like this in the past; they never knew to earnestly do good deeds. Or if they did good deeds, they never knew to seek wisdom. Some people were stingy and unwilling to do good deeds. Some did good deeds only because they sought blessings. They only sought protection or blessings, and that was all; they never earnestly sought the Dharma. People like these “were stingy with the Dharma”. They did not wish to seek the Dharma, and if they were to attain the Dharma, they would be unwilling to share it with others. They were “stingy with the Dharma.
Some refused to give their money to charity, while others, though they understood the Dharma, refused to share it will other. People like these are said to be stingy So, “They have this karmic retribution in their present life”. In this lifetime, they may not be free or be able to do as they like; they may encounter many negative karmic conditions and may be foolish, confused and so on. These are people who do not understand the Dharma, who are confused about the 12 links Cyclic Existence. Naturally, they are confused. So, we need to earnestly seek to awaken. We must understand the 12 Links and remember it at all times to avoid letting our consciousness lead us astray. We must transform consciousness into wisdom. We need to understand the 12 Links and understand the law of karma. Now, let us carefully revise to teachings.
In the previous passage, the essence of the Dharma we just discussed is what we should all mindfully seek remember. We should clearly understand the origins of our lives and be very cautious when it comes to the actions we take in our daily living. Only by understanding the sutra passage can we accept and apply it.
In the previous sutra passage, [the Buddha] says, “At this time, their father returns home. His sons have drunk poison. Some have lost their original mind, while others have not lost it.
We should mindfully seek to remember the previous passage. In the next passage, [the Buddha] says, “Seeing their father from afar, they all greatly rejoice. They bow and kneel down to greet him. ‘How wonderful; you returned safe and sound. We were foolish and took poison by mistake. We hope that you will save and cure us and grant us more time to live’.”
The father has previously gone away and has been gone for some time. During that time, the children “drink another, poisonous, medicine”. They have taken poison, so they are truly suffering and struggling. In a previous passage [the Buddha] said that they are “twisting and turning”. Some of them are seriously poisoned and are in great pain.
At that time, right when the children are suffering, their father returns home. When the children see their father has returned, they greatly rejoice. They must be very happy then. “We are in great pain, but because our father is a famous doctor and he has returned, we will be saved”.
So, they rejoice and naturally “bow and kneel down to greet him”. They are very respectful. Their father [has been gone] a long time, and his children have been in suffering and in torment for a while by then, so they rejoice when their father returns. So, they [say], “How wonderful; you returned safe and sound”. They quickly come to greet him, “Father, did you have a sage trip? You have now returned. We missed you very much, because we foolishly took poison. We were hoping that you would return quickly to save us! We want to continue living. We want to lice a little longer”. This is a common sentiment we all know. “Seeing their father from afar, they all greatly rejoice.”
Seeing their father from afar, they all greatly rejoice: The way ordinary beings look up at the Buddha is like how these sons see their father from afar; they all greatly rejoice. Seeing or hearing the Buddha appear in the would are occasions for joyful reverence. So, it says, “They all greatly rejoice.”
For unenlightened beings, it had been a while since the Buddha-Dharma had last been in the world, from afar. So, when the Buddha suddenly attained Buddhahood in the world, it represented the end of the Buddha’s causes and conditions in the past. During the time when there was no Buddha-Dharma in the world, everyone was lost. So, when the Buddha suddenly appeared again in the world, it was like they were “seeing their father from afar.
“Seeing from afar” means that they were separated for a very long time, separated for a very, very long time. Now they suddenly saw the Enlightened One; the Enlightened One who had understood all things in the universe had appeared. This was like how children might feel upon seeing their father return home after having been gone for a very long time.
So, the Buddha in this world is “the guiding teacher of the Three Realms” and “the kind father of the Four Kings of Beings”. He is like a father or a teacher. This is what the Buddha is like in the world. When the children saw their father return home after being away for a long time, “They all greatly rejoiced”; they were very joyful. “Seeing or hearing the Buddha appear in the world” is always a very joyful occasion. When sentient beings know that a Buddha has appeared in the world, everyone rejoices. When an Enlightened One comes to the world, He brings many benefits to people. He opens and reveals wisdom to sentient beings, so everyone rejoices.
“Seeing from afar” represents how it had been a very long time. It had been a very long time before a Buddha again appeared in the world.
Seeing from afar: When the Buddha appears in the world, sentient beings also see the Buddha’s body. However due to hindrances in views and thinking, they are obstructed from the Fivefold Dharmakaya and are unable to meet and serve the Dharma-body. Thus, it says “see from afar”. When the Buddha appears in the world, “sentient beings also see the Buddha’s body”.
The Buddha indeed appeared in that era; in those circumstances, He was born in the kingdom of Kapilavastu and attained Buddhahood. He taught the Dharma there, so sentient beings indeed saw the Buddha. “However, due to hindrances in views and thinking, they are obstructed from the Fivefold Dharmakaya”. Sentient beings have hindrances in their perspectives and thinking. Their perspectives and thinking obstructed them from the Fivefold Dharmakaya. What is the Fivefold Dharmakaya? The Fivefold Dharmakaya refers to the precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberation’s understanding and views. These are the Fivefold Dharmakaya. Our precepts are part of the Dharma-body, for only by upholding the precepts can we keep our bodies pure. Only by upholding the precepts can we prevent afflictions and attachments from constantly arising in our minds. So, we must have the precepts, for only when we keep the precepts in mind can we have the power of Samadhi. Only with the power of Samadhi can we know our direction in life and know to “actualize the Six Paramitas in all actions” to clear this path. We should know how to clear this path using these six kinds of methods, which include giving and upholding the precepts. We should focus on this path and give of ourselves through these methods.
So, we must have precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are three of the Six Paramitas. There are also “giving” and “patience”. And what else? “Diligence”. So, we must be diligent; we must be diligent to attain “liberation” and “liberation’s understanding and views”. Precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, liberation and liberation’s understanding and views are five total. Together, they are called the Fivefold Dharmakaya.
Yet, as unenlightened begins, we are always obstructed by our “views and thinking”. Our views as sentient begins are turbid. The turbidity of our perspectives is severe, obstruction our precepts, Samadhi and wisdom and obstructing us from attaining liberation. Because we do not have precepts, Samadhi or wisdom, naturally it is impossible for us to be liberated. When we cannot become liberated, we cannot clearly understand liberation’s understanding and views, the wisdom of the Buddha. Our “views and thinking” obstruct these five, so “Due to hindrances in views and thinking, we are obstructed from the Fivefold Dharmakaya.”
Because our perspectives and thinking have totally obstructed us, we “are unable to meet and serve the Dharma-body”. It becomes impossible for us to see our own Dharma-body. The Buddha-nature is intrinsic to everyone. These children all intrinsically possess the Buddha-nature. This is talking about the disciples of the Buddha. We all have Buddha-nature, but we have become sick. This is because for a long time now, we have “drunk another poisonous, medicine”. As unenlightened begins, for a long time, we have been instilled with incorrect perspectives and views. We are constantly instilled with deviant ideas, so our perspectives are incorrect. Thus, in this unenlightened state, we keep circling throughout the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. We have always been equal to the Buddha [in our nature], and this is why we can return to our nature of True Suchness. We are simply obstructed by our perspectives and our thinking from advancing in the direction of precepts, Samadhi and wisdom. Because we are hindered, our understanding and views have become totally confused. Because of this, we cannot see the Dharmakaya, so it says “seeing from afar”. It seems very distant, as if the Dharma, the Dharmakaya, were very far from us, when in fact we have always been replete in it.
So, the Dharmakaya we speak of is inherent in all, yet unenlightened beings feel that it is very distant. This is why it says they “see from afar”; they feel that it is very distant, when actually we intrinsically possess it. So, “They bow and kneel down to greet him. How wonderful; you returned safe and sound.”
They bow and kneel down to greet him. “How wonderful, you returned safe and sound”; They bow to pay their respects and inquire about his daily living. The Buddha proclaimed He would enter cessation and return to the source; this would be like leaving home and only returning after a long time. So, they sons say, “How wonderful; you returned safe and sound.”
This means that when [the disciples] saw the Buddha in the world, they gave rise to the thought that it was rare to encounter a Buddha. They knew the Buddha had already thought the Dharma for over 40 years and that He now “proclaimed He would enter cessation”. He was old by then and was about to leave [this world]. They thought that after He was gone, it would be a very long time again before they would have a chance to meet another Buddha. Since it is not easy [to meet a Buddha], when will this occur? So, they began “bow and kneel down to greet him”.
“How wonderful, you returned safe and sound.” Through their Dharmakaya, they give rise to reverence from their hearts, so “They bow to pay their respects and inquire about his daily living. The Buddha proclaimed He would enter cessation and return to the source.” He hoped we ourselves would know that. In the past, we have lost our wisdom-life and that now we must quickly return to the Buddha-nature we intrinsically possess. The Buddha opened and revealed [the teachings] for us, so it is now time for us to realize and enter them. This is “like leaving home and only returning after a long time”. Though it appears to talk about their father, the principles are actually about what those children intrinsically possess, which is the wisdom-life we have all always had. Before we heard the Buddha-Dharma, it was as if we had never possessed [this wisdom]. But after understanding the Buddha-Dharma, we realize we have always possessed it. We possess it, but we thought it is far away when actually it has always been very close to us.
So, we should now quickly return to the source and truly begin to take responsibility for our wisdom-life. We should restore our wisdom-life. So, “This would be like leaving home and only returning after a long time.” We should remind ourselves to be vigilant for we have been lost for a very long time. We should now return home to our nature of True Suchness. “So, the sons say, ‘How wonderful, you returned safe and sound.’” It is time to return. So, they say, “We were foolish and took poison by mistake. We hope that you will save and cure us and grant us more time to live.”
We were foolish and took poison by mistake. We hope that you will save and cure us and grant us more time to live: They regret their past misdeed of mistakenly entering a deviant course. They hope the Buddha will take pity on them and transform them with skillful means, and also grant them more wisdom and a longer lifespan.
We should repent. This is why we often say, “I repent, I repent.” To repent is to regret our past misdeeds, so we must correct ourselves! So, “They regret their past misdeeds.” We indeed made many mistakes in the past. We “mistakenly entered a deviant course”. Our perspectives and thinking had become deviated; they were not correct. We should now ask the Buddha to “take pity on us,” to have compassion for us and hasten to save is.
So, we should start to have reverence toward the Buddha-Dharma now. The Buddha is always in the world. The Buddha, the Buddha’s Dharmakaya, is always around us. Furthermore, it is in our hearts. We should respect the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, for the Three Treasures in our self-nature forever exists. We have within us the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. These are the Three in our self-nature. So, we should respect ourselves and respect the Dharma. Thus, we should truly be reverent and mindful and embrace and accept it through skillful means. Sentient begins are our spiritual training ground. Sentient begins are the wondrous medicine that enables us to attain the teachings of the path. So, we should mindfully seek to develop our wisdom-life and devote ourselves among people. We must “transform them with skillful means”. We must grow ourselves and also widely transform other people.
So, [the disciples] wanted Him to also “grant them more wisdom and a longer lifespan”. How do we increase our wisdom and our lifespan? That depends on us being earnestly mindful. “Thus, they are able to recognize their father upon seeing Him”.
Thus, they are able to recognize their father upon seeing Him and know that he is the Great Medicine-King. They beseech Him to save their wisdom-life. Sentient beings who have formed great aspirations take the world-transcending and flawless seeds of wisdom as their life.
This is the analogy that [the Buddha] used. A father has left home. Although he has been gone for a very long time, the father has now returned home. We still can recognize the Buddha. We still can recognize our father. So, we must recognize our nature of True Suchness. If we do not know ourselves, then we can never be saved. In order to grow our life, our wisdom-life, we must awaken our own nature of True Suchness. So, we must recognize our intrinsic self. What does life look like? Wisdom-life is in fact everlasting. Life is dimensionless and intangible. When we transform it, our wisdom-life is everlasting. This is what we must recognize in ourselves. So, we “know that He is the Great Medicine-King.” We must know that the Great Medicine-King treats this time and this world. Where do we go to find this wondrous medicine? The Dharma is the best medicine for the world. The Buddha, in His wisdom, came to prescribe this medicine, so we should know to take it. So, “They beseech Him to save their wisdom-life.” What they wish Him to save is their wisdom-life. We are now in this world, and the Buddha-Dharma is now in the world. So, “Sentient beings who have formed great aspirations take the world-transcending and flawless seeds of wisdom as their life.” We should all understand this.
We have already formed great aspirations, great aspirations to be among sentient beings. We must use world-transcending and flawless wisdom and not merely seek worldly blessings; we need to transcend the world. When our mind is without hindrances, there are no hindrances. We can come and go in the world to help others. This is our long lifespan; this is something we can [attain].
When covered by ignorance and afflictions, [these seeds] cannot sprout and grow. Then, our [wisdom-] life will be in danger of being cut short. This demonstrates why they all rejoice upon seeing the Buddha.
[The seeds] are “covered by ignorance and afflictions.” Our nature of True Suchness has been covered by ignorance and afflictions. Haven’t I talked about “the Tathagata in bonds”? Our innate Tathagata-nature has been bound by our afflictions. In this mundane world, our afflictions bind us, so our nature of True Suchness remains hidden by ignorance and afflictions. “[These seeds] cannot sprout and grow”; we are unable to grow them. When it comes to our wisdom-life, we keep saying that we must grow our wisdom-life, which is our nature of True Suchness, but we need nutrients to do this. Where are these nutrients? For a while, we kept talking of how the lotus blooms as beautifully as it does because of [the mud] in its lotus pond. The sentient beings in the evil world of turbidities are the nutrients for our wisdom-life.
“Our wisdom-life will be cut short.” If we do not get these nutrients, it will not be able to grow. If we do not give it nutrients and always let it be buried beneath afflictions, over a long time, our wisdom-life will not be nourished. Then, our wisdom-life will be cut short. What about our lifespan? It will be like our lifespan is cut short, and our wisdom-life will never be able to grow. So, we should seize the present moment. When we have the karmic conditions, we should make use of them among people in order to nurture our wisdom-life. So, this is why we rejoice upon seeing the Buddha. Now we understand. We must understand that this is how we should walk upon the road of life.
Everyone, we must be mindful of the Buddha-Dharma. We need to thoroughly understand the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. We must not let our perspectives or thinking obstruct us from the Fivefold Dharmakaya. Precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberation’s understanding and views are the Fivefold Dharmakaya. If we have the Fivefold Dharmakaya, we will not be obstructed by our perspectives and thinking. Our wisdom-life will not become buried beneath afflictions and ignorance. We will then naturally be able to transcend these. So, we must all always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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