Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Fragrance of the Virtue of Liberation (修諸善法 解脫德香)
Date: August.27.2019
“As we uphold precepts and do good deeds, we acquire the fragrance of merits and virtues. This means our wisdom will shine like a lamp, the fragrance of our virtue of liberation will be smelled everywhere, and we will freely exercise our loving-kindness, compassion and power of vows. This is like burning incense in a censer to perfume the Ten Realms.”
Everyone, please be mindful and hear this clearly. It seems like everything we have talked about these past few days has been almost the same. I say “almost,” [because] even a smell deviation can take us far off course, so we must listen carefully. When “we uphold the precepts and do good deeds,” the merits and virtues we thereby accumulate begin wafting throughout the ten directions. As humans, when we try to do good deeds, be good people, interact with people, deal with matters and so on, how can we harmoniously treat other people and handle matters, while also benefiting others and creating blessings for society? If we can do these things, then naturally, our relations with others will become mutually joyful and satisfying. We will pass on virtues to one another, allowing them to spread out. “So-and-so in such-and-such place doing some good deeds there. Oh! I’ve heard about them” and so on. This is how our reputation can spread like a fragrance. This is the fragrance of accumulated good deeds.
When it comes to merits and virtues, we accumulate merits with internal cultivation, and we gain virtues through external giving. So, “[this] fragrance of merits and virtues” should help us understand ever more clearly how to practice doing good deeds. We must persevere in this for a very long time! Life is about learning to be good people and doing good deeds. [Then], “our wisdom will shine like a lamp.” Thus, our good deeds are [like] points of light, and [the light of] wisdom comes from the accumulation of all these good deeds. Wisdom comes from experience. Through the good deeds that, we continuously do in this world, as we devote ourselves to handling matters and become able to do them smoothly, this serves as a learning experience for us. When we handle something in a way that turns it from something negative to a positive, this process [can bring] everyone into harmony. We also begin to feel, “I have learned something new from this, I know the right way to handle this situation.”
In this way, our wisdom comes from experience. As our wisdom gradually accumulates, it begins to shine brightly, like a lamp. First, it illuminates ourselves, and then it begins to shine even more brightly, illuminate external things, as well. Then, both inside and outside are illuminated. This is how “our wisdom [shines] like a lamp.” This is the radiance of wisdom. So, “The fragrance of our virtue of liberation will be smelled everywhere.” We gain “the virtue of liberation” by cultivating the precepts, Samadhi, wisdom, liberation and liberation’s understanding and views. This is “the virtue of liberation.” “Liberation’s understanding and views will come into being.” We have talked about this before, when “the fragrance of our virtue of liberation [comes] into being”. This fragrance will then be smelled everywhere, for it is able to spread [all around us]. So, “We will freely exercise our loving-kindness, compassion and power of vows.” [Others] will smell this [fragrance], which comes from the power of practicing our compassionate vows. With loving-kindness, we view all sentient beings impartially. We cannot bear to see them suffer, so we begin thinking of ways to create blessings for those sentient beings. When there is suffering, we must exercise our compassion by going among people to relieve them. So, this is the power of our vows to practice loving-kindness and exercise compassion. Thus, we repeatedly [return] to help others. Isn’t this what everyone says about Guanyin Bodhisattva? [She] “returns on the ship of compassion.” Is Guanyin the only Bodhisattva who does this? Every Bodhisattva and every Buddha returns like this on the ship of compassion. “This is like burning incense in a censer to perfume the Ten Realms.” This is like burning incense in a censer. When we light some incense, its fragrance, the scent of its fragrance, begins to waft upward. So, “The incense in the censer is now burning.” When we light a stick of incense, it continuously emits a fragrance. We have discussed “the ten realms” before. There are also “the ten directions”. These are east, west, south and north, the four intermediate directions, and above and below. These are “the ten directions”. We can accumulate merits, virtues and good deeds by going among sentient beings to transform them. [As we go] among people, we train ourselves so that we are able to attain wisdom which can illuminate ourselves. From within this clear illumination, we can then illuminate [the things] around us. This requires us to be earnestly mindful, patient and persistent. Thus, through continuous effort, [the wisdom] we attain [enables us] to know all things in the universe; the principles that apply to both the macrocosm and the microcosm are identical.
This is like the 12 Links that we spoke of before. “The 12 Links of Cyclic Existence” start with ignorance; a deluded thought creates the Three Subtleties. Greed, anger and delusion are formed [out of] ignorance; due to ignorance, we take action, and thus we begin the continuous progression that [is called] “the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence.”
The 12 Links of Cycle Existence give rise to both good and evil. Dioxin poisoning [makes people ill when] they consume [contaminated] animals. So, they way to treat this illness is to keep a plant-based diet.
The 12 Links of Cyclic Existence can give rise to both good and evil. When we do good deeds, we are able to attain the fragrance of virtue, since goodness, is fragrant. And if we do evil? A life that spirals downward [has] a stench. So, when it comes to good and evil, good enables us to benefit others, while evil harms living beings and destroys everything. This is “evil.” Whether good or evil, it will always arise through the 12 Links. Ignorance gives rise to volitional formation, which gives rise to consciousness, which in turn gives rise to name and form. This is when the human form develops. [Immediately after conception], before our Six Sense Organs have developed, all we can say is that we are “becoming.” From the time a life is conceived, when a woman says, “I am pregnant!” the Six Roots gradually take shape. When the time comes, [this new life] encounters the world and begin to have feelings. Thus, [the cycle of the 12 Links] continues, from birth to old age, illness and death. During the time we are in the world, will we do good deeds or will we create evil? This depends on each of our perspectives and how we form habitual tendencies, which lead to good or evil karmic conditions. This is how the cycle repeats itself. This is how our lives are. What about in the macrocosm? The macrocosm consists of all things; there are innumerable living beings [encompassed in] the totality of life. Some we can see and others we cannot. When it comes to our own bodies, this is how they begin to take form. In both visible and invisible ways, through the sexual union of our parents, through this wondrous phenomenon, a delicate life is created by the sperm and egg and thus begins to take form. Some people were born with incomplete [sensory organs]. When [one of] the Five Roots is incomplete, we can see it [in their] head, face, hands and feet and all their functions. The Six Roots also include consciousness; a person may look able-bodied from the outside, but they may be mentally challenged, [or] their intelligence may be very low.
I saw a report on Da Ai TV about [one of] Tzu Chi’s care recipients. This man, who was more than 40 years old, only had the intelligence of a three-year-old. He appeared completely well and [seemed to be] able-bodied, but his intelligence only developed to [the stage] of a three-year-old. His intelligence did not develop after that point. Within the microcosm [of his body], some of his subtle and intricate cells never developed, so he remained stuck at that stage of development.
This is like (in 2019), when we went to Vietnam to investigate why there was an entire village where many people had poor eyesight or were blind. Their eyes could not see anything. Were they born that way? No. So, we asked our medical professionals, research professors and doctors to hold free clinics to investigate. Was there any way they could resolve the problem? Was there any medicine that they could prescribe to prevent this? This was the goal of [our visit] this time. After visiting the village [suffering] blindness, we wanted to continue, so we said, “This is the southernmost part of Vietnam. We should also go check on [people] in the northernmost part of Vietnam.” [We had gone] to that place [almost 20 years ago] to hold free clinics, and we discovered something tragic. Many of the children born there had physical deformities or missing body parts. Some were born with heads as big as winter melons, with very thin necks and very thin arms and legs. They were confined to their beds because their limbs were completely malformed. The limbs of some children were crooked and bent. There were many babies with deformities. It was truly [unbearable]. These days, medical technology and research has improved since that time, so I hope we can do our part to find a way to help them. Those deformities seem to have been passed down gene rationally. There are now several generations of children with such [deformities], so we must find a way to help them. We know that in the past, during the Vietnam War, when US soldiers were in Vietnam, they sprayed defoliant on the forests. They wanted to completely defoliate the trees so that people would have nowhere to hide. Thus, the trees were all bare of any leaves. [The residual contaminant was determined to be] the cause of these high rates of birth defects. Why was this happening? What was causing those pregnant women to keep having children with birth defects? What was the real reason? With improved scientific and medicine technology, we quickly seized these karmic conditions to see if, through research, we could help to prevent [the defects] from being passed on. A group of our doctors went, and some of our gynecologists went, too.
For example, Doctor Zhu, who is well-versed in genetics, went along. So, he went there to have a look, but due to time constraints and because of environmental reasons, he was not able to go [to that village]. This was the last time they went. So, from what we could understand from the information that the locals provided, they [found out] what was causing [those birth defects]. This was due to the many countries who [also] wanted to help with this problem. Through research [conducted by] many countries, the cause was identified as the toxin, dioxin. One day on my way back from Hualien Jing Si Hall. Superintendent Lin said to me, “I also want to return to the Abode”. While we were riding together in the car, I asked him about that case. He explained to me that, in this case, it would be best [for everyone] there to eat a plant-based diet because of this poison, [dioxin]. This poison has [a major] impact. If people eat the meat of [contaminated] animals, “Illness enters through the mouth”, as we say. This is the source of these health defects. So, [we must] “treat an illness at its root”. Has research ultimately determined the cause? A cure has not yet been discovered at the moment. According to what everyone is saying, the only solution is to follow a plant- based diet. Only a plant-based diet will protect people’s health there, because they will not be consuming animals. By not eating meat, naturally [their toxin levels] will not increase. Moreover, for young, unmarried women, once they are accustomed to a plant-based diet, their bodies will be clean of [the toxins]. Without these toxins in their bodies, when they [eventually] give birth, none of [the defects will be passed on]. This is truly incredible! So, in this “[combination] of the Buddha-Dharma with medical treatment”, we must mention how, “From the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom liberation’s understanding and views arise”.
In this convergence of the Buddha-Dharma with medical treatment, [it is] from the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom that liberation’s understanding and views arise. By researching brain tumor treatments, we developed a wondrous method to find a cure.
In this world, when some people sprayed poisonous [chemicals], even after several decades, even after half a century, there are still people being affected by hereditary defects, which have been continuously passed down. What could they do? This required a method [which] does not depart from “the precepts”, [in this case], the precepts of not eating meat and not taking lives. So, when it comes to the precepts and Samadhi, they require firm resolve. Our resolve to do this comes from wisdom, for it is from wisdom that determines our understanding and views, [which in turn, inform] our wisdom. With wisdom, we resolve to [uphold] “the precepts”.
So, they are now researching a cure. We also listened to the superintendent at the morning volunteer assembly. Superintendent Lin said that now they are “researching brain tumor treatments”. Through all the research they have done, they have discovered a wondrous cure. Brain tumors develop in people’s bodies when their cells suddenly mutate and become [malignant]. The microcosm of our body and the macrocosm that we live in are similar, in that there are infinite numbers of extremely subtle and intricate forms of life, which are visible and invisible [to the eye]. These extremely intricate forms of life [can be] both good and evil. How should we react to good and evil? [Those] we consider to be good are helpful and beneficial to people. [They emit] “the fragrance of merit and virtue”. [Those] which are evil corrupt people, disrupt society and [communities] and disrupt people’s bodies and their ways of living. They even pollute the biosphere of our bodies. So, “the fragrance of our virtue of liberation” can only be gained by us human beings when [we cultivate] the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom, when we give rise to wisdom. In order to learn to go among people and help them find the road to health and peace, this is very important.
So, this previous passage says, “Moreover, regarding the fragrance of Hearers, the fragrance of Pratyekabuddhas, the fragrance of Bodhisattvas and the bodily fragrances of all Buddhas, they will be able to smell them all from afar and know where they are”.
When we understand the essence of all life, [we see that] we come and go according to the Four Noble Truths and the 12 Links of Cyclic Existence. This starts with Hearers and Solitary Realizers, all the way to Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, who have continued practicing this way and of transforming sentient beings. So, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas become imbued with this fragrance through their virtue. This can be “smelled from afar”. The fragrance of their virtue can spread throughout the world and bring benefit to everyone, for their goal is to save all sentient beings.
The next passage say, “Though they smell all these fragrance, their nose-root will remain undamaged and faultless. Should they wish to discern them and explain them to others, they will always remember them without error”.
Although they can smell so many types of fragrances, “their nose-root will never form attachments”. We smell these things, but [our minds] are so clear that neither good nor evil can disrupt them. This means we know how to [understand things] virtuously. [By using] the right views and understanding, we can discern everything.
Though they smell all these fragrances, their nose-root will remain undamaged and faultless: Through they smell all these various fragrances, their nose-root will never from attachments. With their right views and understanding, they will be able to discern them all without ever damaging their pure nose-root.
With myriad ways of living in this world, how do we eliminate evil and accept new [ways of doing things]? We must not adopt any negative way of living. Goodness is fragrant. We need to filter everything [through our] right views and understanding in order to [properly] discern them and not let bad things disturb us.
This is how to not damage our “pure nose-root”. We must be mindful [as we learn to properly] discern the world. We must discern clearly between good and evil. We must discern them clearly through their scents.
The nose-root can smell the fragrances of all kinds of accumulated virtues without sustaining any damage or making mistakes. Ordinary beings can smell these fragrances by cultivating various virtuous practices. We use our nose to detect odors, which are [part of] the air. We smell all kinds of fragrances in the air, which we are able to discern as they come into contact with our nose, which remains undamaged and faultless.
“The nose-root can smell the fragrances of all kinds of accumulated virtues without sustaining any damage or making mistakes”. To most of us, it must seem that only those who have cultivated much virtue should be able to [clearly] discern whether such scents are right or wrong. What we want to inhale is goodness. Thus, everything we smell is fragrant.
This is something we need to learn how to do. “We use our nose to detect odors, which are [part of] the air”. This is our nose’s [function]; its function is to smell things. Actually, what we can smell are the [scents] of all things on Earth and in the universe. Are this person’s thoughts virtuous? Or is this [the scent of] evil thoughts? What are they doing? Within this atmosphere, we can use our wisdom to distinguish. Wisdom comprises [both] discerning wisdom and impartial wisdom. With this [wisdom], in an expansive space, we can impartially use our wisdom to discern everything. “We smell all kinds of fragrances in the air, which we are able to discern”. Whether something is bad or good, just by smelling it, when our nose comes into contact with it, we can tell so much about it, without taking in anything negative. So, [the nose] is always faultless and undamaged. Our nose is never affected by this. Our nose is always the same as it ever was, but it has this kind of wisdom.
Spiritual practitioners in this world are able to smell all the fragrances throughout the trichiliocosm from afar, as if they were right at the tip of their noses, yet they remain unaffected by whatever their nose comes into contact with This is the meaning of “undamaged”. They can also discern fragrances both far and near distinctly and clearly. This is the meaning of “faultless”. Whether they smell them or not, they remain at ease.
“Spiritual practitioners in this world…”. [Even] as average worldly people, we “are able to smell all the fragrances throughout the trichiliocosm from afar”. When we understand that this is discussing the desire, form and formless realms, we can then understand this on our own. As long as we engage in spiritual practice, as long as we know these teachings, we will understand [the nature of] desire, how desire arises in the mind. When we know the forms of material things, yet we do not desire or crave them, then material things can no longer hinder us. Even when we have material possessions, we are not biased toward them. When desirous thoughts do not arise in us, we attain the purity that we constantly speak of, the purity of spiritual practitioners. Purity means that we are now free of greed and attachment to forms and appearances. This is the formless realm. There are tangible things which may be very valuable, but we have no greed for those things in the form realm.
And what about desire? This is when we crave to attain something. We think of every way and any means to obtain it. When we simply must grasp onto something, this is what we call desire. For us ordinary people to understand [the concept of] the trichiliocosm, the only thing we can do is go to our minds and find ways to eliminate ignorance so that ignorance and afflictions do not lead our minds to create [karma]. When afflictions and desirous thoughts arise, we create [karma] and stir up even more afflictions, creating many evil causes and evil retributions. When we engage in spiritual practice in this unenlightened realm of ordinary beings, we come to understand the principles and thereby rid ourselves of ignorance. Then, our mind will no longer give rise to desire. We may look at things and know their value, but that is enough. We may even be able to discern their forms, but we have no greed or attachment. How valuable something is does not matter to us because we do not want it, and so we do not need to understand it. This way we are no longer influenced or hindered by the coarseness or fineness of [material] things. This is the trichiliocosm.
This means we must understand that, because this is the place we are in now, we always need to think of the best way to understand [the concept of] the trichiliocosm. If we try to speak about it too profoundly, since we are still unenlightened, as unenlightened beings, can we ever expect to reach the heavens beyond the Three Realms? This is impossible, unless we accumulate so much goodness that we can reach from the heavens of the desire realm to the heavens of the form real, only then can we reach the heavens of the formless realm. We are better off staying here and earnestly cultivating ourselves. It is as if the fragrances of the trichiliocosm are “right at the tip of their nose”. By engaging in spiritual practice, we naturally come to understand the principles.
Several days ago, we said that, as spiritual practitioners, it is not our nose-root that smells, but actually our consciousness that [connects with] the atmosphere and can determine whether something is good or evil, or whether we are pure or defiled. We become naturally able to sense this. So, “They remain unaffected by whatever comes into contact with their nose”. We do not need these things right next to us, for they do not hinder us. So, “undamaged” [means] [our nose-root] is never damaged. Our nose-root stays as it always is; it is just a question of its sensitivity. This is like the dogs that many military and police use to find things and to sniff out drugs. Those dogs can sniff out and find things, like finding out if there are drugs hidden inside of people’s luggage. Things that we humans cannot see or smell, dogs can sniff them out because they have this ability. These dogs are also used in emergency rescue. The dogs can tell where humans may be located just by their scent. The dogs go on front, and wherever they stop, wherever they sniff, that is where humans may be [buried].
We can see how sharp these dogs’ noses are. Spiritual practitioners can be this keen, too, but as humans, we lack this specific ability. So, we must put effort into being mindful. Dogs can sniff out and detect things, without affecting their sense of smell. This is true for us humans, as well. “We can discern fragrances both far and near distinctly and clearly”. We can tell if something is far away or nearby without error. “Whether we smell them or not, we remain at ease”. Whether we smell them or not, whether we can smell something or not, we remain at ease.
Should they wish to discern them and explain them to others, they will always remember them without error: The previous passage discusses what they will smell on their own, while this discusses how they will simultaneously benefit others. Should they wish to explain to others what they have learned through their nose-root, they will remember things clearly and without error.
“Should they wish to discern them and explain them to others,” “they will always remember them without error”. If we want to explain something to others, as we mentioned earlier, we must have personally smelled it. We must detect those scents ourselves. “This is what it [smelled] like”. All [the scents] in the air are what we must be able to understand. That is for ourselves. Now, as for teaching [others], we can “simultaneously benefit others”. We already know what these scents are in order to teach them to others and enable everyone to cultivate [this] virtue of being able to discern between good and evil. If we wish to engage in virtuous practices, then we begin by doing good and abandoning evil, and we begin to teach others so that they will know how to eliminate afflictions and purify their Six Roots to be at ease. We must teach others so that we can “simultaneously benefit [them]”. So, [we must] “explain to others what [we] have learned through [our] nose-root”. When we tell others about our experiences, we can share these methods with them. So, [we must] “remember things clearly and without error”. We must remember our experiences so that we do not need to smell it now just to tell others about it. When we are able to recall it, although we have left the environment, we can teach others what we remember. This benefits both ourselves and others. Having attained these methods ourselves, we go on to teach others. This is how we go among others to teach and transform sentient beings.
Regarding the various aforementioned fragrances, when beings both sentient and non-sentient throughout both the Four Noble Realms and Six Unenlightened Realms smell these fragrances, they will be able to take them all in.
Beings in the Four Noble Realms can recognize all of those various aforementioned fragrances. Hearers, Solitary Realizers, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas are the Four Noble Realms. Heaven, asura, human, hell, hungry ghost and animal [realms] are the Six Unenlightened Realms. There are both sentient and non-sentient beings. Non-sentient beings are things like plants, trees and stones. This is the realm of non-sentient beings. The realms of sentient beings comprise all other forms of life. So, [we can] “smell these fragrances and will be able to take them all in”. We can take all of these things in like this. Everyone, how profound are these principles? They are so profound that we cannot understand them even when explained. [But] we can also discuss them very simply. From medical treatments to the macrocosm, the microcosm, various ways of life, material objects and so on, even human beings’ health and illnesses, we need to be able to take all of these in. Once we take them all in, we need to find the way to prevent [evil]. This is why we need precepts, Samadhi and wisdom.
In short, when we go back to the source, if we want to thoroughly understand the principles of how all things live, the only way is to transform ourselves by upholding the precepts. Upholding the precepts, engaging in spiritual practice and accumulating good merits and virtues take a very long time, and we must continue on without interruption. It is like steering the ship of compassion and repeatedly coming and going like this, never straying from these principles, never straying in our direction, which is to rescue others. So, rescuing ourselves and others is the Bodhisattva-path to Buddhahood. We must always be mindful!
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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